Hexed (The Gwen Sparks Series Book 4)
Read Hexed (The Gwen Sparks Series Book 4) Online
Authors: Stephanie Nelson
Tags: #Book 4 in the Gwen Sparks Series
Hexed
Book 4 in the Gwen Sparks Series
Stephanie Nelson
Copyright © 2014
All Rights Reserved.
ISBN 13: 978-0-9906519-2-5
AUTHOR’S NOTE
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.
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Table of Contents
HE FOUND ME wandering down the street. Darkness shrouded his big body in shadows, but I knew it was him. The memory—my only one—of the strange woman animating rose bushes flashed through my head. The vines had coiled around the man’s legs as though they were living things with a heartbeat. I swallowed around the dryness in my throat, not daring to take my eyes off his figure. My hands shook with almost the same ferocity of my heartbeat. Wherever I was, the laws of normalcy did not apply. Things were not as they seemed, not as they should be. The thing was, I could not remember how I had gotten here. More than that, I couldn’t even remember who I was. The man—Dorian I believe he said his name was—had called me Gwen. I wanted to trust that if only because it would give a name to this stranger I’d become. Names are powerful. They categorize and explain things, and right now, some explanation would be nice.
“Don’t run,” Dorian said right in front of me. I jumped back, a scream leaving my throat as my brain fought to process how he had just been forty feet away and was now standing right in front of me. His fingers curled around my arm with enough pressure that it didn’t hurt, but I knew I wasn’t going anywhere unless he let me.
“Gwen, calm down,” he said in an uncharacteristically soothing tone, one that did not fit a six-foot-three man wearing leather and sunglasses. My brain spent a split second wondering why he needed sunglasses at night, but the severity of my situation kicked that curiosity to the curb.
“Let me go.” I thrashed against his hold, yanking my body backwards to break his grip. His fingers only grasped me tighter. It only took me a couple minutes to realize that this man wasn’t going to let me go anytime soon. My best defense was playing along, pretending I was calm and ready to listen. I stopped my struggle, took a couple deep breaths, and stared up at Dorian.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he told me, his grip loosening the slightest bit. I nodded all the while thinking that I trusted him about as much as a cobra. His hair was the color of a raven’s feathers, so dark it glistened against the streetlamps.
“Someone hexed you,” Dorian continued, keeping his voice calm. “What do you remember?”
I processed his question and tried to remember something—anything. “Nothing.”
“That’s what I was afraid of. You don’t remember anything about your life, or yourself?”
“That’s what nothing means, isn’t it?” That came out way snarkier than I intended, but I thought I was due for some sarcasm, considering. Taking a moment to breathe and collect myself, I asked, “What do you mean when you say someone
hexed
me? As in witches, potions, and spells?”
Dorian’s fingers fell away from my arm. He scrubbed a hand over his mouth and chin, tilting his head toward the midnight sky. My feet itched to run but my brain halted them until he answered my question. I really was interested to know what he meant. Plus, this town wasn’t a place I really wanted to be alone in, even if that meant taking my chances with the dangerous man before me.
“We were in a bakery,” Dorian started. “I don’t know what happened. One minute you were across the shop looking at cupcakes, and the next you were gone.” He shook his head as though he couldn’t understand the very words that left his lips. “The owner of the bakery did something to you. All she told me was that she had every right to kick out ‘nuisances’.” He silently chuckled to himself, entertained by an inside joke I wasn’t part of. “I came out of the shop and saw you standing in the middle of the street a couple blocks away. The rest of the story you know.”
“Yeah, you chased me down like a lunatic and then that woman had rose bushes attack you,” I said with a huff, taking a step back. “You know, if you want me to trust you then you need to stop attacking me.”
Dorian snorted. “Attacking you? That’s a little dramatic, don’t you think?”
“What would you call it?” I bit out, remembering how scared I was when he chased me down the street. When looking at Dorian, one wouldn’t associate him with
safe
. His very appearance screamed ‘danger.’
“I call it saving your ass,” Dorian said just as harshly. “Again. But do I hear ‘thank you, Dorian for chasing my ass all over town so I don’t get myself in trouble’? No.”
“So, you do admit that you were chasing me,” I said, smiling a little, despite myself.
Dorian let out a groan, half-turning his body as though trying to decide if he should stay or just leave me stranded. The sudden realization that I needed him hit me hard. If he decided to leave, I would be lost. I couldn’t remember if I had a home or even lived in this town.
“Thank you,” I said between my teeth, hating that I had to say it but knowing it needed to be said. It was the middle of the night, and I was tired and freezing. Dorian seemed to know me, probably knew where I lived. If I had any hope of remembering myself, he was my only option.
“That painful, huh?”
“Who’s ungrateful now?” I asked him, crossing my arms. “I said what you wanted to hear, now tell me how to fix this.”
“I think your manners disappeared with your memories. I didn’t hear a
please
in there.”
“Ugh!” I ran my fingernails through my hair, getting even more annoyed when they snagged in tangles. “Forget it, I’ll figure this out on my own.” I started past him, tensing as I waited for him to grab me again. When he didn’t, I stopped a couple feet past him. I had no clue where I was going.
“Can you
please
point me in the direction of the police department?” If anyone could help me figure this out, it would be the cops. A victorious smile spread across my lips as I realized that I didn’t need Dorian’s help after all.
“It’s that way,” he said pointing in the opposite direction. “About three blocks down and to the right.”
Nodding, I turned and walked past him again. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed he was smiling. What the hell was so entertaining?
AS I FOLLOWED Gwen, I wondered why the hell I put myself through this. She had been nothing but a thorn in my side since I first met her, yet here I was secretly trailing her as she made her way to the police station. She hugged her hands to her arms, and I knew she must be cold. I should have given her my coat.
What has happened to me? Give her my coat, seriously?
That woman not only annoyed me with her ability to get herself in trouble, but my reaction to her also frustrated me. I spent eons wandering this world, entertaining myself between the legs of willing women. Gwen was just another woman in a long line of many. At least, that’s what she was supposed to be. I’d screwed up and slept with her, breaking another of my rules. I only had two: don’t sleep with spirit walkers under my tutelage and never bring the dead back to life. I had broken both rules for her. I didn’t know why, couldn’t figure out my motives where she was concerned. She is beautiful, but I’d spent time with a lot of beautiful women, and I wasn’t the type of man that let a pretty face distract me. I’m not a man at all, not really.
Gwen stumbled, tripping over a small pothole in the street. I snorted with laughter, smothering a hand over my face when she turned to inspect the noise. Hiding behind a tree, I peeked around the trunk. She wouldn’t see me; I was hidden by the shadows of the branches. When she began walking again, I slipped out of my hiding spot and followed. My eyes traced her body, enjoying the spill of ebony hair down her back and the sway as her hips moved. Just a day ago, we’d been tangled in sheets and covered in sweat. I thought getting a taste of the very woman who aggravated me for so long would eradicate her from my mind. I thought after I satisfied my need for her, she would cease to complex me. I thought wrong, and it pissed me off. I didn’t get attached to people, didn’t see the point in it. Everyone dies, their meager existence a tiny speck in time while I continue on, wandering the earth like all the lost souls in the realm of the dead. The only infinite thing in this world was death—me. Gwen would die eventually and become just another one of my memories, a woman from a time in my very long existence. I had no business submersing myself in her world any further. My subconscious whispered for me to walk away, leave before things got more complicated. I ignored the warning and continued following her.