Chapter Twenty-Three

  “Are you okay?” I asked Angelo as he walked into my office. It had been an hour or so since Fox had removed Ramona and then disappeared. Afterwards, everyone had gone their merry way, and I’d told Angelo to meet me at Hallowed Homes. He and I needed to have a conversation.

  When Angelo arrived, I had a first aid kit already laid out on my desk. “Sit down and let me clean up those wounds on your face.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “You may think you’re fine but you look like crap.”

  Ramona’s tears weren’t the only inky thing about her. Everywhere she’d scratched or touched Angelo in her wraith form, her inky black residue was left behind. The longer the stuff sat on his skin or inside the wounds from her claws, the more it would seep into his body, eventually polluting his bloodstream. Not that much would come of that pollution—his incubus blood cells would reject her contamination, but he could still suffer a lowered immune system.

  He groaned and sat down on top of my desk to let me tend to his injuries as he winced and grumbled with each touch. “You’re such a baby,” I teased.

  “A baby with hopefully a new commission,” he said, smirking.

  “You don’t work here,” I reminded him, my eyebrows reaching for the ceiling. “I fired you, remember? And, last I checked, you haven’t been rehired.” I pressed harder on one of his gashes than I needed to, but I smiled all the same. He had this coming to him, regardless of the fact that he’d come to my defense.

  “Even after today?” He asked, wincing. “You’d still deny your favorite brother a job after he took on a wraith for you?”

  “My only brother,” I corrected him. “Besides, have you forgotten why I fired you?”

  “For faulty reasons,” he responded with a shrug. “You fired me over a lie you were told by the same wraith that just tried to kill us and our clients.”

  I looked at him as the pieces started to fall into place. Ramona had been lying about what had happened between them—when she’d said he’d demanded sexual favors from her. Truly, she’d just wanted to get him out of the way and thanks to Angelo’s habit of being a 24/7 jerk, she knew it wouldn’t be hard to convince me that he’d attempted to intimidate her. That part I understood, but there was still one piece to the puzzle that was missing.

  “So that night at the Broomstick Diner,” I started as I moved to the next gash on his face and dousing the cotton ball with rubbing alcohol, set to cleaning the wound as he continued to wince. “When I caught you yelling at Ramona.”

  “What of it?”

  “What were the two of you arguing about?”

  “You,” he answered with a shrug.

  “Me?”

  He nodded and then further explained. Apparently Ramona’s plan where I was concerned was to first ruin Hallowed Homes, so she killed Darragh and Cranough, hoping their deaths would start to destroy Hallowed Homes’ reputation. And then she’d frightened Saffron to death after her interview, in order to ensure I didn’t hire anyone new.

  The gnomes had been next on her list. Only this time, she’d planned to get me involved. She’d intended to lure me to the golf course, telling me the gnomes were encountering some type of problem with the property. When I arrived to help, she was going to murder me, after having already done away with all the gnomes. And then she intended to frame me for the deaths of Darragh, Cranough, Saffron and the gnomes, blaming it on the fact that because I hadn’t been feeding properly, my hunger finally got the best of me, and I went AWOL, attacking as many creatures as I could. Because I’d be dead, I wouldn’t be able to defend myself. And she didn’t imagine Angelo would defend me, since all he wanted was to ruin me anyway.

  “But why did Ramona tell you all this?” I asked, shaking my head.

  Angelo shrugged. “She misjudged our sibling animosity and believed I hated you, so she figured I’d want in, that I’d help her with her plan.” He cocked his head to the side as he looked at me. “And of course I played along with her for a while, so I could understand just exactly what she was planning.”

  “And the argument that happened between the two of you the night I saw you with her at the Broomstick?”

  “I told her the plan had too many holes in it and that I wouldn’t have anything to do with it. Of course, that infuriated her, and when I told her she’d better abandon the plan altogether or I’d alert the authorities, she further refused so… I lost my temper.”

  “Hmm,” I answered, chewing on my lower lip as I recalled Angelo’s anger that night. I’d never seen him so fired up before. “So why didn’t you come to me to warn me about what Ramona was planning?”

  He shrugged. “I planned to tell you, but then you fired me and pissed me off.”

  “I pissed you off enough that you were going to let Ramona kill me?” I asked, my mouth dropping open.

  “No, of course not,” he responded and shook his head like I was stupid for thinking so. “That’s why I showed up at the gnome compound. I knew she was going to stick to her idiotic plan, so I came prepared to kill her before she could kill you or them.”

  I nodded and then took a deep breath as everything began to settle and I started to see my brother in a different light—a light I’d never before seen him in. “I’m sorry, Angelo.”

  He frowned up at me, appearing surprised. “For what?”

  “For thinking that you were behind the murders.”

  He shrugged. “I mean… I guess I can see how you would have thought it was me.”

  “And I’m sorry for believing Ramona when she said you came onto her. I should have known better.”

  His frown grew more pronounced as his eyebrows met in the middle of his face and his eyes narrowed. “She said I came onto her?”

  I nodded and explained the conversation that had occurred right after he’d left the Broomstick. All the while, the disgust on his face grew.

  “Fifi, you really thought I would have demanded sexual favors from her?” he asked, frowning at me. “Don’t you know me at all? Ugh, that’s disgusting.”

  I laughed at his revulsion as I cleaned off the last of his wounds and began clearing away the cotton pads and alcohol into a small plastic bag. I would throw the bag into a fire later, because that was the only way to dispose of wraith contamination.

  “So how do you think Ramona killed Darragh and Cranough?” I asked, before answering part of my own question. “Well, she killed Darragh with the Spirit Bane but where did she get it?”

  Angelo shrugged. “The Underground Potions market is thriving, as you know. She could have gotten it from anyone. The point is that she did get it and that was how she killed Darragh.”

  “And Cranough and Saffron?”

  “And I’m fairly sure she scared them both to death as wraiths are known to do,” he answered on a shrug. “Just like she would have attempted with the two of us.”

  “Hmm.”

  “I’m not exactly sure, though, because we never got that far in our conversations. I guess you’ll have to get that answer from Fox.”

  I nodded and then was quiet for a few seconds. “I really thought you hated me.”

  “Well, you aren’t my favorite person sometimes and I hate the way you’re running this place,” he continued as he looked around and then shook his head. “But I wouldn’t want you dead.”

  “You wouldn’t?”

  Much to my surprise, he reached up and smacked me lightly on the back of the head like he used to do when we were kids.

  “I’m your brother, dummy. No, I don’t want you dead.”

  I laughed and closed up the first aid kit, putting it away before sitting down at my desk to face him. We both just sat there for a moment, looking at one another. I was exhausted. Relieved, yes, but exhausted.

  “I wouldn’t want you dead either and I’ve never hated you,” I said with a smile. “Just for the record.”

  “Good to know,” he answered with a low chuckle.

  “Okay, so,” I started, needing to move on to the next topic. “Regarding your employment here.”

  “Am I still employed here?”

  I laughed, enjoying the power I had over him—at least for the moment. “No, you know you aren’t.”

  “Can I come back?”

  “On one condition.”

  He frowned. If Angelo hated one thing, it was rules. Well, now he was about to get a whole bunch of them. “Which is?”

  “You need to let me run this place the way I want to run it and stop trying to second guess me and constantly make me look bad in front of my employees.”

  “Ugh,” he grumbled.

  “I mean it, Angelo.”

  “Okay, what else?”

  “You have to start seriously following my rules.”

  “And what rules are we talking about?”

  “No ruining marriages and families,” I started. “In fact, no seducing clients at all, that means no feeding off anyone you meet through Hallowed Homes. I’m introducing a strict no-business-mixed-with-pleasure rule.”

  “Ugh,” he grumbled again.

  “I mean it, Angelo,” I warned him.

  “What else?”

  “No sabotaging me. Your previous behavior is part of the reason I believed Ramona when she told me you tried to seduce her.”

  He shrugged. “That’s fair, I guess.” Then he extended his hand. “Deal?”

  “Deal,” I answered as I shook it. “But, this is your last chance.” He nodded, and we both were quiet for a few seconds before a smile took hold of my mouth. “I’m proud of you for doing what you did, Angelo,” I started, needing him to hear these words even if he probably didn’t want to hear them. In general, Angelo wasn’t an emotional person. But, this was the first time he’d ever actually acted like a brother, and I wanted him to understand how much I appreciated it and him. “You finally became the big brother I always dreamed you could be.”

  He rolled his eyes and made a disgusted sound but I could tell he was happy by the big smirk that soon took control of his mouth. “Don’t let it go to your head.”

  ***

  “Why would you go willingly into a dangerous situation like confronting Ramona without me?” Roy asked a few hours later. We were standing in his living room, facing each other, and he didn’t look happy. Once Angelo left the office, Roy texted me to ask me to stop by and now here I was.

  “I’m a big girl, Roy. I knew what I was doing, and I wanted to take care of the issue myself.”

  “And Taliyah?”

  I nodded. “Well, including Taliyah, I guess.”

  “I’m still upset with you because you took a chance you didn’t need to,” Roy said, nodding down at me. “I’m your friend and that’s what friends do—they’re there for each other and in my case, I protect you and I don’t want that changing.”

  “Well, I appreciate that.”

  He nodded and then started pacing his living room floor, running his hands through his hair and appearing completely agitated. “You have no idea how worried I was!”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I had no idea where you were going and it was everything Fox could do to try to keep up with you! You were driving like a bat out of hell!”

  “I didn’t even realize you were following me.”

  “Yeah, because we could barely keep up!”

  I just smiled at him and watched him continue to pace. Then, touched by his obvious concern for me, I walked up to him and took his hand, stopping him where he stood. “I’m sorry I didn’t include you, Roy, but I appreciate everything you did in coming after me. And I appreciate your friendship more than you know.”

  As I held his hand, I noticed something interesting in the way he looked at me. There was just something in his eyes—something that seemed almost like… desire? It caused me to immediately reflect on the way Poppy had insisted she was fine with the idea of Roy and me dating. I couldn’t explain why, but at that very moment, the idea didn’t seem so… bizarre or so wrong.

  I leaned up on my tip toes, about to tell him he didn’t have to worry about me and that I could take care of myself, but before I could utter a word, his lips were on mine. I was slightly confused for a moment, because I didn’t remember coming in for the kiss and, furthermore, I was pretty convinced Roy was only interested in my friendship. But, no, we were kissing and he’d definitely been the one who initiated it and…

  Will you stop overthinking and just enjoy this! The succubus yelled at me.

  I’m not sure how long it was that we kissed, but in that lip-lock, I could feel the succubus drawing his life energy and it felt… incredible. When we finally pulled away, I immediately opened my mouth to apologize, somehow worried that I was again at fault for what had just happened. But, before I could say anything, he kissed me again. And this time, he didn’t just kiss me. This time his hands were in my hair and his body was pressed up against mine. This time the kiss was… different to any other kiss we’d ever shared.

  When he pulled away a few seconds later, I was speechless. Confused, baffled, excited, nervous…

  “Dinner tomorrow night?” he asked, further shocking me.

  I didn’t understand what was going on. How was it that we’d just gone from friends to… kissing to… him asking me out on a date? Was he even asking me out on a date or maybe he was just asking me to dinner… as friends? Hmm, I wasn’t sure. In fact, I had no idea what was going on.

  “Um,” I started, fully aware that only the other day he’d said he wasn’t over Poppy. And, furthermore, there was still the promise I’d made to myself—that because Roy and I were very close friends, I wouldn’t risk our friendship. Besides, my terrible luck with men was never far from my thoughts and I really didn’t want to add Roy to my long list of failed relationships.

  Whatever this kiss was, whatever these kisses were, we could still write them off as brief moments of madness—just whims we both happened to give into.

  “Um?” he repeated.

  “Dinner… as friends?” I asked.

  He seemed as confused as I was. “I don’t know, Fifi.”

  “I don’t know either… I mean, I don’t understand what’s going on between the two of us right now.”

  “I know we’re friends,” he started, but then shook his head. “But…”

  I stepped away from him and when he attempted to pull me back into the heat of his embrace, I held one hand out to keep him where he was. “Let’s not mess this up.”

  He frowned. “What does that mean?”

  “It means… we’re good as friends, Roy, so let’s just… keep it at that.”

  He nodded and gave me an understanding smile. “Let’s still do dinner tomorrow night, I mean… if you’re free… and it’ll be a non-date.”

  I grinned. “A non-date it is.”

  The End

  ~~~~~

  Return to Haven Hollow in:

  All Hallow’s Eve

  ~~~~~

  Return to the Table of Contents

  ALL HALLOW’S EVE

  A Haven Hollow Novella #10

  (Remarkable Remedies)

  by

  J.R. RAIN

  &

  H.P. MALLORY

  All Hallow’s Eve

  Published by Rain Press

  Copyright © 2021 by J.R. Rain & H.P. Mallory

  All rights reserved.

  Ebook Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  All Hallow’s Eve

  Chapter One

  Candy littered the ground like confectionary shrapnel.

  Main Street unfolded on either side of me, disgustingly picturesque, with a dusting of red and gold leaves on the roof of each eclectic shop. More mottled orange and brown leaves gathered on the curbs, clogging the paths of the storm drains. The grove of maple trees that dominated the median looked pathetic without their layers, hunched over as the wind stripped more leaves away with every gust.

  No projecting here. Not at all.

  Haven Hollow Elementary had rolled through town earlier in the day, spouting sweets from their cartoonish floats like lava from a papier-mâché volcano. The little ones had scavenged the best stuff, leaving only Smarties, Sweet Tarts, and Peeps on the street—the rejects left to melt into sugary piles under the next torrent of rain.

  I kicked a packet of Smarties out of my path with a frown as I continued to march down Main Street. If I’d been in a better mood, I might have ducked into Sweeter Haunts, the Halloween-themed candy store for some home-made candy corns, or Stomper’s Creamery, owned by Haven Hollow’s resident centaur, Stanley Stomper, for my favorite: chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, topped with hot fudge.

  But I wasn’t in a good mood. Why? I guess you could say I was feeling sorry for myself—at least that’s what Wanda would have called it.

  Regardless, I was living in one of the few safe havens for the monstrous or supernaturally inclined, but in many ways, I was still alone. With only two days until All Hallow’s Eve (Or Samhain as the coven called it), I should’ve been at home in Portland with my mother, Tabitha, and my Aunt Celestine, as well as the other witches of the Crescent Circle Coven, preparing for the most important night of the year.

  I wasn’t feeling melancholy because I missed my mother, either. She’d made her choice when she’d allowed my Aunt Celestine to kick me out, simply because I’d stood up for Wanda, after she’d been kicked out of the coven. As far as I was concerned, I had no mother or aunt anymore. In fact, I’d started referring to my mother as ‘Tabitha’ just to further push her away, at least in my own mind.

  So, no, I wasn’t feeling sad about Tabitha or Celestine. I was feeling nostalgic for the celebration of Samhain, itself, and the way in which we celebrated it. Every witch on the estate would harvest apples from the orchard or gourds we’d planted earlier in the year. My brother, Charmin (who now insisted on being called Maverick, probably after watching ‘Top Gun’ one too many times), and I would take a share of what we’d harvested to the edge of the property as an offering to the Autumn Fae, essentially bartering to keep them off the property for another season.