The Werewolf Dates The Deputy - Kristen Painter Page 0,44
you already answered some questions about the incident yesterday at one of your listings, but do you have time for a few more?”
“Sure. How are you doing, by the way? I know there was magic in that bomb. I did a walk-through with Deputy Cruz to make sure there wasn’t any other damage to the home, and I could just sense it.”
“There was. Alice is working on figuring out just exactly what kind of magic. And I’m doing fine. The physical effects weren’t really lasting.”
“That’s not what I heard.” She laughed. “Sorry, you know how word spreads in this town, and being a witch and all, anyway, it’s been all the buzz in the coven.”
Jenna paused for a breath. She shouldn’t be surprised. “What do you know?”
“That you and Titus Merrow were both the victims of a love spell that apparently had a binding agent in it.” Pandora’s voice went from amused to serious. “Word has it that you can’t get too far away from each other without experiencing some pain.”
Jenna sighed. “That would be accurate.”
“You don’t sound thrilled.”
“It has its ups and downs, I’ll say that. But it would be great to have our freedom back.”
“I’m sure. Well, the good news is Alice is calling a special meeting of the coven tonight to share her findings and put us all to work on a solution.”
“That is good news.”
“No kidding! I mean, I don’t need to remind you what happens when the moon turns full.”
Jenna paused. “Um, I think you do, because I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh. Did you not speak to Alice yet today? She just sent out an email letting us know time is of the essence because if the full moon rises before this spell is broken, the effects become permanent.”
Titus hung up his phone but sat staring at it, letting what he’d just heard sink in.
His door burst open, and Jenna stood there, looking like she’d been slapped. “We’re in trouble.”
He nodded. “Yeah, we are.”
She frowned. “Wait. Why do you think we’re in trouble?”
“Because Alice just called me and—”
“This spell becomes permanent on the full moon? Yeah, I know.”
“No, that’s not what she—hang on, what?”
Jenna came in, closed the door, and sat in the chair across from his desk. “I just got off the phone with Pandora. Which reminds me, I never did ask her about the Lemmons.”
“What do you need lemons for?”
“Not the fruit. The people who own the house. Listen, Pandora said Alice is calling a special coven meeting to try to help us, which is great, but Pandora also said she heard it’s urgent because this spell becomes permanent when the full moon rises. That’s not what Alice told you?”
“No. She said she’d like samples of our blood and a few strands of our hair to help her diagnose a solution to the spell. She thinks if she can’t break it, she might be able to counterspell it. Enough to free us.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “The full-moon thing is not good.”
“No, it’s not,” Jenna said. “Maybe she didn’t tell you because she didn’t want to freak us out. That’s only a few days away, right?”
“Yes.” He rocked back in his chair. “Three days, actually.”
“And the race is two days after that.”
“It’s going to be hard to run that if we can’t be apart.” He sat forward. “We need to get Alice these blood and hair samples immediately.”
Jenna stood. “Let’s go.”
He got up. “Just need to grab my keys. We’ll deliver the stand to Agnes at Bell, Book & Candle after we leave the Ellingham estate. Meet you at the truck? It’s unlocked.”
She nodded and headed in that direction.
He went toward the kitchen to get his keys off the rack. His head was spinning. It was one thing to be temporarily under this love spell, but to have it be permanent? To spend the rest of his life never being able to be more than a hundred feet away from another person? Even if you loved that person, that would be an incredibly limiting way to live.
Especially when those two people were first responders, like he and Jenna were. How would Jenna ever chase down another suspect? Or hunt for a lost child? Or drive street patrols?
How would he run into a burning building to rescue those trapped inside? How could he do school visits to talk to kids about fire safety? Or teach CPR at the senior center?
Both of their lives would be severely impacted. They had