~ NEW ~ EXCERPT BELOW ~
As a wolf shifter in Forbidden, Kentucky, Brody's no stranger to weird. Packing enough rat traps to maim a small army, he's ready to battle the bad magic that plagues his old house. He knows just who to call for backup, too—the donut-crafting, magic-wielding woman of his dreams.
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My parents’ old house looked more like the setting of a slasher film than the bucolic scene of my childhood. This was the place I’d grown up, but somehow, it had become more haunted than the Forbidden B&B. I didn’t know what it was about this place, but it gave me the motherfucking creeps.
Checking my phone to see what time it was, I swore. Pearl was late. Had she forgotten?
Just as I went to text her to ask, I heard the rumbling of a big truck.
And then Pearl came into view.
My heart flipped in my chest like I was a teenage boy hyped up on Mountain Dew. My dick also responded like I was a teenage boy--immediately getting hard just at the thought of being around Pearl. Fuck’s sake, down boy.
She pulled up the drive and parked next to my truck. “Deliciously Magical” was emblazoned on the side. She was delicious. Or she smelled that way, anyway. How many times had I jerked off to the thought of what she would taste like?
She climbed out of the truck and I looked away to gain control of myself.
“Hey,” she said, striding forward with a canvas sack at her side. “I brought all my stuff. Shall we get started?”
“Yeah, sounds good.” My voice came out hoarser than I wanted, but she didn’t say anything about that and we walked up to the porch together.
I couldn’t help holding back a little to admire her ass in those tight jeans she wore. I’d been fantasizing about that ass for years.
She turned around suddenly and if it weren’t for my quick shifter reflexes, she would’ve caught me staring. Actually, fuck. She’d caught me.
She blinked quickly and cleared her throat before speaking. “Um, so I thought I’d start with a simple cleansing spell.”
I kept my gaze on her face and did my best to keep myself together.
“Cleansing spell sounds good,” I said. “No one’s been in the house in years, so, I don’t know, all kinds of bad shit could’ve built up.”
“Exactly.” She gave me a proud smile. “Have you been reading up on this?”
“Nah, just had a chat with Cordelia. She said remnants of past hurts can build up in an empty place, when there’s nothing positive going on to interact with them. She used some word, I can’t remember what the fuck it is. Nullify?”
Pearl beamed. “Nullify is the one. Anyway, shall we?”
Oh, right. I was the one with the key to the front door. I twisted it in the handle and pulled the door open.
Dust and a dank, old smell immediately filled my nostrils. A sneezing fit overtook me, so I turned away from Pearl. Didn’t want to coat her in my snot.
After the fourth sneeze, it seemed like I was done with them, so I turned around. “Sorry about that--”
The words froze on my lips. Pearl was leaning against the door frame, her eyes shut, her mouth open. Her entire body shook. She was about to fall to the porch floor. Reaching out, I grabbed her just in time.
“Pearl?”
Her eyes remained closed. She kept shaking. Was this some kind of seizure? What was I supposed to do? Panic charged through my veins. I tugged her away from the door frame and onto my lap.
“Pearl, talk to me. Babe, come on.”
The shaking eased, and her eyes fluttered open. “Brody.”
“Yeah, I’m here,” I said.
We were so close to each other, our faces nearly touching.
“Let me go,” she said.
“Not yet, I need to make sure you’re okay--”
“I mean it--there’s bad magic in there and it made me sick.”
I held tight to her. “I’m not letting you go until I know you’re—”
Her chest heaved, and she coughed. She warned me with her eyes to let her go. She didn’t want me to keep holding her.
I’d hold her. I’d hold her no matter what.
And then she vomited all over me.