Lorelei snorted. “You’re willing to make a deal so an old fart can live longer. That’s smart.”
“I’m not finished,” I said, getting revved up. “You and any of your kind are never to step foot across our borders ever again. I don’t care if someone from the inside calls you directly and begs you. Every current resident and future possible town citizen are off-limits to you, your family, or any of your kind for the rest of eternity. Consider Honeysuckle Hollow off your radar for good.”
Nick opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, I held up a finger. “Oh, and just so you don’t find a loophole, anyone from here or any of their future generations cannot be approached, even if they are not living in our town. If someone can trace their roots back to Honeysuckle, then they cannot be messed with by any of your kind.”
Lorelei stomped over to stand next to her brother and look over his shoulder. “You’re being very thorough with your requests. This last one is a little out of our jurisdiction,” she mused, reading the details. “Are her abilities worth all of this trouble?”
“I have tested her talents already just to be sure, and I can tell you that you won’t be disappointed,” Nick lied.
“Hmm,” Lorelei grunted. “I’m assuming that’s all, so if you would be so kind as to sign at the bottom…no, wait. I’m sorry. The more I think about it, the less I’m inclined to give you what you want.”
Nick’s pen faltered on the paper. “But I thought you’d be happy to have a tracker at your disposal.”
“It would be a fantastic thing. An amazing acquisition. The problem is, Nicky dear,” she grabbed his chin with her fingers and leaned closer. “I don’t trust you.” With a vicious shove, she pushed Nick’s face, scratching his skin and making him bleed.
With a sneer, she snatched the contract and ripped it into shreds. “Oh, Nick. Did you really think you’d be able to make a fool out of me? You’d send me back to the company, thinking I had a witch with tracking abilities only to find out she couldn’t deliver.”
“Why would I do that?” he asked.
“So that you could swoop in with whatever you think you’ve gained from here and use it to get a promotion to rise above me,” she replied with venomous distaste. “Isn’t that just what Daddy would love. All those years where your traitorous mother hid you plus your lack of experience would be erased, and he’d finally have his firstborn, his beloved son, right there by his side. And then where would I be?”
“Lorelei, you’ve got it all wrong,” attempted Nick.
His sister reached into her bag and pulled out a glass jar with a multicolored glowing liquid sloshing inside it. “I found your secret hiding place. Did you think you could collect the souls and keep them from me? And why didn’t you create contracts for them?” Lorelei shook the contents, and my breath caught in fear of her breaking the bottle.
Nick stopped trying to placate his sister and turned on her. “Fine, you want the truth, you can have it. My biggest regret is that I ever allowed my father to manipulate me into thinking we could be a happy family if I came back with him. That I was missing out on something that would make me whole. Or that you actually cared at all for me.”
“Yes, Daddy said you were the easiest mark he’d ever manipulated. We plotted together to figure out the absolute best way to reel you in. Playing the doting little sister was fun at first but it’s gotten dull enough.” She yawned. “About all you were good for was doing my grunt work. And based on your lack of contracts, you couldn’t even get that right.”
“Why would I try to help you?” Nick challenged. “You think you hid your true self from me while acting like a loving sister? I’ve known all along that you were biding your time to slide your proverbial knife into my back. And wait until our father finds out about your little venture here.”
Lorelei narrowed her eyes. “You wouldn’t.”
“Why not?” he scoffed. “I’ve got nothing to lose at this point. Everything you wanted to happen in this small town that has done absolutely nothing to deserve you is completely off the books. You were trying to collect the contracts without Daddy Dearest knowing so that you could show up with your grand prize just to earn his attention. Pretty pathetic.”
The petty squabble between the brother and sister made me grateful for my own sibling but worried for my biological cousin. Abigail didn’t get to come back here to experience what a happy family life could be like. Instead, she was somewhere out there belonging to a bloodline that valued what you could do for them over who you were. If they were anything like Nick’s family, then my cousin could be in serious trouble.
“What’s pathetic is that Dad wanted to spend any time grooming you at all. I told him we should have killed the both of you,” Lorelei spit out. “But he wanted to keep you to become his good little lap dog.
Nick’s rage floundered. “What do you mean killed the both of you?”
A slow, revengeful sneer full of disdain and mockery spread on her lips. “Did you really think your mother died from a broken heart? Boo-hoo and all that?” She reached out and smacked the side of his head. “To make sure that she didn’t escape again, Dad sent me to end her life. I’m just sorry I never followed my instincts to take care of you, but that can easily be remedied. Who would come looking for you in this backwoods hick of a town?”
Nick doubled over, stretching his hand out for me to take. I grasped it and held on as he shook with unshed grief.
The situation had gotten well
