Tied Bond (Holly Woods Files, #4)

Smashwords Edition

© Emma Hart 2016.

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

www.emmahart.org

Photography and design by Regina Wamba of Mae I Design.

Editing by Michelle Kampmeier.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Books by Emma Hart

About TIED BOND

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

About the Author

Coypright Notice

The HOLLY WOODS FILES series:

Twisted Bond

Tangled Bond

Tethered Bond

Tied Bond

Twirled Bond

Burning Bond

Twined Bond

The BY HIS GAME series:

Blindsided

Sidelined

Intercepted

The CALL series:

Late Call

Final Call

His Call

The WILD series:

Wild Attraction

Wild Temptation

Wild Addiction

The GAME series:

The Love Game

Playing for Keeps

The Right Moves

Worth the Risk

The MEMORIES series:

Never Forget

Always Remember

The BURKE BROTHERS series:

Dirty Secret

Dirty Past

Dirty Lies

Dirty Tricks

Holly Woods is going to hell in a handbasket—but this time, Satanists aren’t to blame. Halloween is.

Nonna doesn’t understand why there are skeletons and demons everywhere. Mom is threatening to stitch a devil into Nonna’s pillowcase if she doesn’t shut up. Bek is bumbling over a date with Jason, the handsome FBI agent who conveniently got himself relocated to Austin, and I… Well. I’m considering running away to a town without the crazies.

Nothing new here.

Everything is going smoothly—too smoothly—and I can’t shake the feeling that something is about to happen. Drake insists I’m being paranoid… But when a body turns up at the Holly Woods Halloween party, we have a whole lot more than a murderer to worry about.

Because the prime suspect is his mom.

And it’s my job to prove she’s innocent.

“K
ellie! You put-a that-a devil-a down!”

“It’s not a devil, Liliana. It’s a demon. One that will find its way into your bedroom if you don’t get. Off. Of. It!”

I fold my arms across my chest and lean against the front door. Have you ever seen an elderly Italian woman and a fifty-something-year-old woman playing tug-of-war with a decorative demon? No?

Lucky you.

“I do not-a care! It is-a not-a going on-a my-a house-a!”

“It’s my house!” Mom yells. “You haven’t paid rent for ten years!”

My eyes widen. Oh boy. Here we go.

“I no need-a pay-a rent! I cook-a, I clean-a! That-a is-a my rent!”

“You clean the
kitchen
, you crazy old lady!”

Nonna gasps, her hand flying to her chest in dramatic horror. “I am-a not-a crazy!”

“You’re so crazy you’re lucky you’re not in a home!”

“Noella!” Nonna spins, pointing a wrinkled finger in my direction. “Am-a I crazy?”

Way to put a girl on the spot, Nonna.
“Well…” I say slowly. “Crazy is a strong word…”

“Aha!”

“But, then again, so is normal.”

“Noella!”

“What? You asked, I answered.”

She sniffs and pulls her light wrap around her shoulders. “Why-a you-a here? Don’t you-a have-a to feed-a your man?”

“No. He’s working.”

“Aha! I will-a call-a Drake and report this… This-a
merda
!”

Mom staggers back, her jaw open. “Liliana! That language is not appropriate!”

“Neither is-a your-a demons!” Nonna finally manages to wrench the demon away from Mom and waves it enthusiastically. “Pah!”

Then, to Mom’s undisguised horror, she throws it onto the ground. My eyebrows shoot up, and I step to the side as Nonna storms toward me. Well, as quickly as an old woman with a cane can storm, that is.

“Liliana! You pick that up right now!”

“No! I call-a the police-a!” Nonna frowns and waves her cane in Mom’s direction. “You-a disturb-a the peace!” She turns and shuffles into the house.

“She’s not actually going to… Never mind,” I say, hearing her yell down the phone. Yep, she’s actually calling the police station.

That’s a new one, even for the Bonds.

“She’s crazy!” Mom’s face is bright red as she bends forward to pick up the demon Nonna defiled with dirt. “She needs to be put in a home!”

“You’d need to get her sedated before you tried that.” I straighten a pumpkin Nonna apparently knocked over. “Just put the demons somewhere she can’t see them and then the problem is solved.”

“Oh yes?” Mom raises her eyebrows then pulls out a giant cloaked figure. “What do I do with Lucifer?”

I stare at the five-foot-tall devil decoration that usually spends the holiday hanging on the tree at the bottom of the yard. Its motion-sensor makes it moan every time someone walks past it, and the long robes are forever getting caught on the bush beneath the tree.