“I’m wearing my boots. But she hasn’t spoken to me, no.” I closed my eyes to the dark and listened. Tanner’s heartbeat quickened. His breathing was ragged, in and out through his nose. I caught the faint but familiar scent of mint. “Do you think she’s here? Is she looking for you or for the—”
Tanner pushed me away and clamped his hand over my mouth.
“Shh, Calliope. Don’t say it. Don’t think it.”
I expected his eyes to go all flickering gold on me. If they did, I didn’t see. His hand stayed on my face as he pivoted his body and tucked me under his arm. He again brought his lips to my ear.
“Take off your boots,” he whispered. “Now.”
With a shuffle, he released me, slipped out of his flip-flops, and bent to help get the boots off my sweaty feet. My toes reached for the ground and spread.
He. Is. Mine.
“Shit. She’s here.”
Before, the Apple Witch had broadcast her presence by sending her voice into my head. This time, she went for a grander entrance, stepping out from behind the curtain of night like a Vegas magician’s assistant.
Jessamyne in human form was as stunning as I had imagined. The waves of hair falling to her waist were the color of apple wood, the palest soft brown. Her wrap dress showed off voluptuous breasts and shapely legs. Gold bangles circled each wrist, clinking as she moved, and the air was redolent with apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon.
I had to take a deep breath. I was terrified of her deviant mind, yet I was staring at her breasts because she had one hand resting on her stomach area and the other just under her navel. Every gesture was clearly meant to announce one thing and one thing only.
The bitch was belly-cupping, a gesture familiar to every pregnant woman on the planet.
She grinned at Tanner, came to a stop, and let her hands linger before she pulled her hair away from the side of her face and twisted it into a loose knot at her nape. Hands on her hips, she dropped all pretense of a blushing, newly impregnated nymph and got to the point.
“Something tells me you two know one another.”
I ignored the comment. I wasn’t going to let her bait me into doing something stupid. Kissing Tanner wasn’t supposed to make me feel stupid, but right now? I had to shake off the lingering sensations and get my head into whatever game the Apple Witch was playing. “Where have you taken Abigail and Clifford?”
“Abigail might be dead. And I suspect Clifford will not last much longer.” Jessamyne took another step toward Tanner and paused. The beguiling scent of baked apples advanced with her. “I wanted to bring them to Mother’s healers, but…” She stopped speaking.
“Where are they now?” I asked again, clenching my hands, ready to spring myself onto the Apple Witch or go tearing in whichever direction she pointed.
“After Tanner gave me…” She stroked the upper curve of her breast before continuing, “After Tanner and I…”
“Jessamyne,” he said. “Stop. Please just tell us what you’ve done.”
“I left them at the hospital.”
“The one here on the island?” I asked, dumbfounded. I would not have thought to look there. Chalk one up for the bat-shit crazy.
Jessamyne nodded. “I put the two of them and Tanner in a truck—such a pedestrian vehicle—and my driving might have been erratic because a police officer flashed his pretty lights and made me pull over. I explained the situation,” she said, teasing her fingers along the fabric highlighting the V of her cleavage, “and he escorted me right to the hospital, didn’t even ask to see a license or what was in the back of the truck. Just, ‘Yes, ma’am, follow me.’ I left before Jack—was that his name?—could ask me for my phone number. I don’t have a phone, but I do love having a well-trained wolf to play with when mine is otherwise engaged.” Her eyes raked Tanner up and down. She shrugged. “Maybe next time.”
“Then what did you do?” I had to unclench my jaw to ask. Sure as night followed day, Officer Jack Kaukonen would be paying me another visit.
“I left Tanner at your house,” she said. Jessamyne turned her back to him and focused on me. “In case you’re as ignorant of Tanner’s background as it appears you must be, my mother is a druidess. She is the head of her Order, and she is Tanner’s teacher. As her student, he made certain promises. He has yet to fulfill them to my…” She caught herself. Her smile went sly and calculating. “To my mother’s satisfaction.”
“What is your point?”
“Your people are safe, and I have what I came for. Though I do wish my wolf was returning home with me.”
Tanner’s low growl raised the hairs on the back of my neck higher.
I spun away from Jessamyne and grabbed the front of his shirt. “I want to go to the hospital. Now. Are you coming?”
He nodded then retracted in on himself. His hands were in clear view when a bony set of fingers enfolded my waist and spun me to face Jessamyne.
Instead, I faced the darkness beyond the house’s yellowish lights. What I thought were fingers were branches. Getting up in my personal space was an old, old apple tree. Two of its most arm-like branches were ringed with Jessamyne’s gold bracelets. Its trunk had a sinuous twist, the leaves on its branches glossy and unblemished. Littered among those healthy leaves were hundreds of tight buds, waiting to be coaxed into blooming.
If this body bears me no fruit, I will be back for what is mine.
Chapter 10
Branches quavering, the Apple Witch made her way past the open gate and down the Pearmains’ driveway toward the road.
Her timing was impeccable. Her presence, her words, her entire demeanor had built an insta-wall between me and Tanner. I retrieved my boots, stomped over to my car, and tossed them into the passenger seat’s footwell.
“I’ll tell the others
