Maverick couldn’t argue that, so he didn’t even try.

  Lorcan steered Maverick to a stop in one of the shadowy alcoves near the back of the club. The booth was a little sticky when I sat down, but Lorcan didn’t bother sitting. Instead, he backed Maverick against the table with another sharp smile. Maverick braced himself against the wood, straining away from Lorcan. One step forward, and they’d be chest to chest.

  “By the time you drag me back to Haven Hollow and brew the anti-potion, it will be too late,” Maverick laughed right in Lorcan’s face. “This body and the power that comes with it will belong to me for another year, at least.”

  Lorcan’s smile grew, fangs flashing in the shifting lights, and his expression was terrifying when the neon red washed across his face. He ran a gentle finger over Maverick’s cheek, down his throat, pausing above the throbbing pulse in his neck.

  “Oh, you may be in possession of Wanda’s body now, but you won’t have her powers.”

  Maverick frowned up at him as if to say he wasn’t following. Neither was I, for that matter.

  “You see,” Lorcan continued. “If you don’t return Wanda’s body posthaste, I am going to finish what I started months ago.”

  “What the hell does that mean?” Maverick demanded.

  “It means I will rip into that pretty throat of yours and drink my fill of you, just as I’ve wanted to do at least a thousand times. Once I drink my fill of you, you’ll simply... fall asleep and in three days, you’ll awake with fangs.” Then Lorcan sighed. “No magic, though, I’m afraid. Magic, most unfortunately, doesn’t survive the transformation from witch to vampire.”

  Maverick’s eyes were huge, and his borrowed face went pale. He looked like he might be sick.

  “You wouldn’t do that to her. She’d hate you for it.”

  Lorcan cocked his head to the side, as though he were pondering Maverick’s statement. But, I knew better—Lorcan wasn’t pondering anything. He was merely playing with Maverick—like a cat plays with a mouse before the final deadly blow. “Perhaps you’re right—perhaps turning Wanda’s body would mean the end for us, I don’t know. Of one thing I am quite certain though… Wanda would rather see her body undead than under your control.”

  Lorcan stroked a hand over the sleek fall of Wanda’s hair, brushing it away from one side of her neck. Maverick whimpered a ‘no’ and I almost felt bad for him when Lorcan placed a chaste kiss on the pale column of Wanda’s throat.

  “This won’t hurt... much.”

  Then Lorcan bared his fangs, which grew as we watched them. When he went in for the bite, Maverick shrieked as he jerked away, just as Lorcan planned.

  “No!” Maverick yelled, pushing at Lorcan’s chest as the vampire allowed him a foot or so of personal space. “I’ll give Wanda’s body back!” Maverick continued. “Just… just don’t bite me. I can’t… I can’t become a vampire. I won’t. ”

  Lorcan lingered above Wanda’s jugular vein a second longer than he had to, taunting Maverick, who continued to shake his head and writhe underneath Lorcan’s iron hold. A second or so later, Lorcan drew back and smiled angelically at the pair of us.

  “Excellent. Now it’s time for a little, old-fashioned body swap.” He smiled at me before returning his attention to Maverick. “What say you?”

  ***

  “Next time you’re feeling homesick, do me a favor,” Wanda started, adjusting the cold compress on her forehead. “Just ask me to drive past the Crescent Circle Manor so you can see for yourself just how truly miserable those witches are.” She sighed as she shook her head. “But, no more potions or surprises.”

  I knelt at the foot of the couch, mid-way through knitting a row of angora wool. After what I’d put her through, I owed Wanda another sweater—maybe four. And that might be exactly the thing that happened, since I was on house arrest for the foreseeable future. Not that I minded at all—just the fact that I still had a house—that meant everything to me.

  “I promise I won’t ever do anything like this again, Wanda,” I insisted. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Ugh, will you stop apologizing? You’ve said ‘sorry’ so many times, the word has completely lost its meaning,” she answered, tugging her sleep mask down to cover her eyes.

  The lapse into unconsciousness hadn’t lasted long the second time around, but it had still left her with a wicked magic hangover. She’d be spending the rest of Samhain on the couch, trying not to throw up. No apple picking, costumes, or campfires for Wanda this year. Meanwhile, Poppy, Libby and Darla ‘checked’ Finn’s Halloween candy, picking out a few choice morsels for themselves, before handing the pail back to the little guy.

  “She’s right, you know,” Lorcan said, weaving around a lounging Hellcat who was literally right in the middle of everyone and, as such, completely in the way. Not that I was surprised.

  “She’s right about what?” I asked.

  “You have to stop apologizing,” he answered with a quick nod. “We are well aware you didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

  I nodded but didn’t say anything because I was still overcome with regret and guilt. I didn’t imagine either feeling would subside anytime soon.

  “Wanda, we really should let you rest,” Poppy said, looking at Wanda with a mixture of care and concern.

  “Nonsense,” Wanda waved her away with an unconcerned hand. “Samhain is a time for festivity and family. And you all are providing both.” Then she waved her hand in the air again. “Continue with your festivities.” Then she lowered one side of her sleep mask and eyed the youngest one of us. “Finn, be sure to bring your aunty at least six Butterfingers.”

  Aunty? I didn’t know what to say about that, so I didn’t say anything at all. Finn, for his part, dutifully obeyed Wanda and carried his Halloween candy over to her, divorcing himself from his Butterfingers.

  At the sound of a high-pitched hissing, Lorcan disappeared into the kitchen and when he returned, he was carrying a steaming mug. He faced Wanda where she was happily munching on her Halloween score.

  “Here’s your ginger tea, my pet.”

  Wanda sat up with a groan and groped blindly for the tea, sighing in satisfaction when she took the saucer and tipped the steaming contents into her mouth.

  “I think I love you,” she grumbled.

  Lorcan’s grin could have lit the room and I suddenly hoped one day she’d say the same words to him, only in a more… meaningful sort of way. “Hmm, she’s worse off than I thought.”

  “Worse off?” I asked, looking up at him.

  He chuckled as he answered. “When is she ever this saccharine?”

  Wanda made a noncommittal sound and downed her tea, flopping back to the couch when she’d finished. Lorcan pried the saucer gingerly from her hand. I couldn’t say she was acting especially saccharine, but opted not to point that out.

  “Would you have actually done it?” I asked instead, facing Lorcan with interest.

  “Done it?”

  “Would you have turned Wanda fully if Maverick remained inside her body?” I took a breath. “You were kind of terrifying back in that club.”

  “What is she talking about?” Wanda demanded.

  “Astrid is referring to the fact that I am a most noble thespian,” Lorcan responded with a conspiratorial wink.

  “So you were… just acting?” I asked, somewhat amazed and also somewhat suspicious.

  His smile was sly. “The world may never know.”

  I shivered, deciding to think twice before ever pissing off my vampire uncle figure. At least the scene in the club had done one thing for me—it had killed whatever burgeoning crush I might have had on the vampire, flattened by a heavy dose of reality. And that dose of reality looked something like the fact that Lorcan was a vampire, and one day soon, he might fully blood Wanda, by accident or design.

  Lorcan pretended not to notice my apprehension and leaned over my shoulder. “What are you making?”

  “It’ll be a sweater, eventually.”

  “I was not aware you could knit.”

  I shrugged. “Sweaters are sort of my specialty. I’m not as good at enchanting clothes as Wanda is, but I try.”

  Lorcan studied the yarn in my lap with what looked like genuine curiosity—sort of like the way a cat spies a moving piece of string. “And what’s this one enchanted to do?”

  “If I followed Poppy’s instructions correctly, it should protect Wanda from anyone intending her harm.” It was going to be my substitute Samhain gift for Wanda since the first one had exploded in my face. I took a deep breath, realizing I needed to further explain. “I never want a repeat of this Maverick fiasco.”

  “Amen,” Lorcan said.

  When I dared a glance at Wanda, she was peeking from beneath her eye mask, a smile playing on her lips.

  “We still have one issue we haven’t discussed.”

  “What’s that?” I asked, concerned.

  “That jerk who upset you,” she answered.

  “Some jerk upset you?” Finn asked as he faced me.

  I smiled at him and shook my head. “I’m not upset, Finn,” I answered. Poppy, meanwhile, grabbed his attention as she pretended to steal something out of his bag of goodies and he immediately set to protecting it.

  I hadn’t even realized, until that exact moment, that I was over the whole Ethan situation. With everything that had happened, Ethan was the last thing on my mind.

  “I was thinking we have a few options open to us,” Wanda continued with a shrug. “We could hex him into becoming some awful creature—perhaps a tadpole. Or we could ensnare him in one of those crypts in the graveyard. Or, and this is my personal favorite, we could lock him up with Darla and Libby for the next, oh, week and allow them to drive him to complete insanity.”

  I laughed as I faced her and then took a deep breath. “Actually, we don’t have to do anything about him.”

  “We don’t?” she asked and seemed surprised as well as disappointed.

  “I’m kind of… I’m pretty much over Ethan, actually.”

  “Oh,” she said, and this time she definitely sounded disappointed. “Are you sure? He could provide us with a great opportunity to practice your witchcraft.”

  “I’m sure,” I answered on a laugh.

  “Listen to you… speaking about hexing the humans,” Lorcan said, laughing at Wanda. “How you managed to elect yourself a seat on the council, I’ll never know,” he continued. “But I can only imagine Roy’s reaction were he to hear you now.”

  “Well, good thing for him, he isn’t here,” she responded.

  The two of them just smiled at each other for another few seconds before it got uncomfortable and I cleared my throat.

  Lorcan seemed to remember himself and cleared his throat, too, before he faced Wanda again and, this time, he was all business. “I believe we are forgetting something, Wanda dear?” Lorcan said as he motioned to the hallway.

  “That’s right,” Wanda said while she sat up and smiled at me. “The Great Pumpkin dropped something off for you, Astrid. I believe it’s in the hallway.”

  I looked at her and frowned. “The Great Pumpkin? Isn’t that from a Charlie Brown cartoon?”

  Lorcan chuckled. “In attempting to invest herself in the Halloween traditions of the mundanes, I believe our highly esteemed Blood Witch has quite confused Charlie Brown with Santa Claus.”

  “Oh, put a stake in it,” Wanda grumbled. “I’m not confused.” Then she faced me. “Regardless, your Samhain gift is waiting for you in the hall.”

  I immediately ran over to it and, noticing the orange and black shiny paper and the glittery black organza bow, I tore into it with excitement.

  “No way!” Finn called from across the room as soon as I had the box out of its wrapping. “A PS4?”

  Surprised, I looked over at Wanda, who shrugged. “Since you’re grounded until you’re twenty-one, I figured I should give you something to do.”

  While I hoped I wasn’t really grounded for the next four years, I had to admit I was really excited about the PS4. “Thank you, Wanda,” I started.

  She put her face mask back over her eyes. “Thank Lorcan, too—it was from both of us.”

  “Happy Samhain, my dear,” Lorcan said as I walked over and gave him a hug. I followed suit with Wanda, who simply tapped me on the back.

  “Astrid!” Finn called out as he appeared beside me, his Halloween candy forgotten for the moment. “There’s this game called ‘Red Dead Redemption’ and it’s this shooter, western game that all the kids are talking about at school. Can we play it?”

  “Sure, we can play it.”

  “And there’s also ‘Jurassic World’ that my friend, Jonah, says it’s really good.”

  “Okay, we can play that one, too,” I answered as Finn beamed.

  “Finn, leave poor Astrid alone,” Poppy said on a laugh as she gripped her son by the hand, no doubt trying to give me some breathing space. “We need to think about heading home anyway, because you’ve got school tomorrow.”

  “Mom,” he argued, just like I knew he would. “It’s Halloween.”

  “I know, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have a science test tomorrow.”

  “Can I at least have a slice of pizza?” Finn continued, finding whatever excuse he could so he wouldn’t have to go home and get to bed. I’d spent enough time babysitting him to know all his tricks.

  “Pizza and then bed!” Poppy responded, her voice sounding further away as she escorted Finn into the kitchen.

  Wanda looked over at me then. “I’m proud of you, you know?”

  “You are?” I asked, clearly surprised.

  She nodded. “That wasn’t elementary magic, Astrid. You’re definitely advancing in your potions and your witchcraft, though your driving…”

  “Clearly you have not spent enough time with her on the road,” Lorcan admonished, shaking his head. “Her driving is really quite atrocious.”

  “Atrocious?” I repeated, glaring at him as I plopped my hands on my hips like I’d seen Wanda do a million times. “Come on, that’s a bit of a stretch, don’t you think?”

  They both turned to look at me and answered ‘no’ in unison.

  “If you think I’ve done such a bad job, why don’t you teach her?” Wanda fired the words right back at him.

  Lorcan looked at me. “I would be honored.”

  “Thank Hecuba,” Wanda muttered as she faced me again. “Anyway, aside from everything going to hell in a Prada handbag, I’m still proud of you, Astrid.”

  Heat crept into my cheeks, and I had to look down so she wouldn’t see how shiny my eyes were. Witches weren’t supposed to cry this much, dang it.

  “Thank you,” I whispered. “And thank you for not kicking me out.”

  Wanda’s smile grew and she let the mask fall back into place. “It wouldn’t be home without you,” she answered as she faced Lorcan, who wore a hopeful expression. “And you, too, you big undead penis-head.”

  The End

  ~~~~~~

  Return to Haven Hollow in:

  Mystic Veil

  Haven Hollow Book #11

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  Did you know that all the Remarkable Remedies stories are based on superstitions, some of which still exist today?

  If you’d like to learn more about the superstitions regarding Yule Logs, then read on!

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  Remarkable Remedies: The Superstitions Behind The Stories

  Lighted Candles and Evil Spirits

  Candles have long been associated with spiritualism.

  A candle going out during a ceremony was said to indicate the presence of a malign spirit, especially on All Hallow’s Eve, when evil spirits were thought to roam freely.

  Candles for All Hallow’s Eve were traditionally lit by villagers just before midnight and carried through fields and common lands. If the flames guttered and the candles died out, evil was afoot. If the candle kept burning, it was believed the villagers had escaped a haunting.

  Later, a candle was customarily placed at the bedside of the sick to keep demons at bay and if it burned blue, it was taken to mean that a ghost had entered the room, perhaps to escort the soul of the dying person to the beyond. If the candle went out for no reason, it was considered a sign that the patient would soon pass away.

  In the United States, it is considered unlucky to leave a burning candle unattended in a room, some saying doing so invites the death of a friend or relative.

  (All Remarkable Remedy Superstitions can be found in the book, Black Cats & Evil Eyes, A Book of Old Fashioned Superstitions by Chloe Rhodes)

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  About J.R. Rain:

  J.R. Rain is the international bestselling author of over seventy novels, including his popular Samantha Moon and Jim Knighthorse series. His books are published in five languages in twelve countries, and he has sold more than 3 million copies worldwide.

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