“Ash.” Aidan grabbed Ash’s shoulders and shook him. “Wake up.”

I stepped closer, watching my cousin. How in hell had he fallen under Brooke’s magic so easily?

“Hit him,” Landon said.

“Are you crazy?” Caleb snapped at Landon.

“Landon is right,” Douglas said. “It might be the only way to wake him up.”

“Shit,” Aidan cursed. He let go of Ash’s shoulders, pulled his arm back, and landed a punch in Ash’s stomach.

“Ow,” Ash gasped, both from the air that rushed out of his lungs and from breaking Brooke’s spell. “That hurt, you stupid …” His words trailed off. He glanced around, as if searching for something. “I fell under her spell? And she’s gone now?”

“Amber and Tessa took her upstairs,” I said. “But she’s gonna stay at the manor for the time being.”

“That was strong,” Ash said. He snapped his finger. “Just like that. I looked at her and bam. I was gone.”

“I felt the pull too,” Caleb said.

“Me too,” Aidan confessed.

“I guess it’s safe to say we all did,” Douglas added. “But for some reason, it was stronger with Ash.” He looked at me. “When did Anna say the potion should be ready?”

I said, “A few more days.”

“That might be too long since we don’t know how long she’ll be staying here,” Douglas said. “Call Anna and ask her for more of those protection potions she made for you. Anything that helps us resist Brooke’s spell will make life easier for all of us.”

“I’ll call her right now,” Caleb said, pulling his phone from his pocket. He walked out of the library as Cole came in.

“Here,” he said, handing me Brooke’s duffel bag. “Mrs. Finnygood went to Brooke’s bedroom and picked up all of her things before the police arrived. She handed me them after everyone was gone.”

“Thanks,” I said. “And her car?”

“Taken.” Cole pressed his lips tight. “The chief decided to keep it in case she came back for it.”

“Shit,” I muttered.

Douglas sat down again. “So, Cole, tell us all you know.”

Cole approached the table. “The victim was Karl Randall.”

“A fae,” Landon said.

“That was the man Amber said jumped at them out of nowhere,” I said with a sharp inhale.

“Yes.” Cole nodded. “His body was found two blocks from the inn, toward downtown, an iron dagger deep in stomach.”

“And why are they associating this with Brooke?”

“Because Mrs. Ackerman saw Karl come on to Brooke,” Cole said. “She even said he ran after her and Amber for a while.”

“So now the police are after Amber too,” Aidan said and Cole nodded. “Great.”

“Okay, okay, let’s back up,” Douglas said. “What do we have here so far?”

I spread both letters on the table. “Brooke received the letter on the left a week ago. She saw the Willow Harbor stamp on it and came here to find her father. And she received the note on the right this morning, right before Karl came after her. It’s the same handwriting.” I explained how Brooke and Amber had gone to Urban Grind and that Brooke had found the folded paper in her pocket. “Whoever sent these notes got too close to her this morning.”

“And we have no idea who this person is and what he wants,” Aidan said.

“It can only be a naga,” Landon said.

“Probably her father,” Ash added.

“Yes, but why would her father send her a letter, get her to come here, then send another note telling her she’s in danger and that she should leave?” Cole asked. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“I know,” I said. Brooke was lost and heartbroken over it right now. “What about the nagas in town? Have we talked to them all?”

“Yes,” Douglas said. “Everyone here talked to a couple of them. We covered them all, and it seems no one has any idea about what’s going on.”

“Yeah,” Ash said. “Most of them have heard about the new girl in town looking for her father, but they didn’t realize it was a siren looking for a naga. They seemed surprised.”

That didn’t sit well with me. Someone out there had to know about this. “Still, one of them could be lying.”

“True,” Landon said, “but unless you plan on scaring or torturing all of them to get some answers, we won’t get anywhere like that.”

“She’s in danger,” Aidan muttered. “So, whoever sent the notes is trying to warn her? About the deaths?”

“Maybe he’s killing the people and framing her, trying to scare her,” Ash suggested. “Sick, but who knows what’s behind this person’s reasoning.”

No, her father wouldn’t do that. Kill innocent men to frame Brooke, to scare her away? It didn’t make sense.

Douglas sighed and we all looked at him. “There might be another way to draw this person out.” He looked at me, and I knew what he was going to say before he even opened his mouth. “We use Brooke as bait.”

“No way in hell!” I snapped.

“It might be the only way,” Douglas said.

I shook my head. “No way.”

“No, don’t dismiss it yet,” Cole said. “It could work.”

“Right, it could,” I said, my tone harsh. “And she could get hurt in the process.”

“Nathan,” Aidan called. “Think about it, man. It’s not like we plan on abandoning her. We would be there, watching her, protecting her.”

I folded my arms. “It’s too risky!”

“Unless you plan on sitting here and waiting for a miracle, it might be the only way,” Ash said.

I wanted to punch him in the gut like Aidan had done. I growled.

“Okay, okay,” Douglas said, standing up. “We don’t need to decide this right now. Nathan, you probably should ask Brooke if she wants to do it or not.” As if I would let her do it, no matter what she thought.

“So what do we do for now?” Ash asked. “Just wait?”

“We should organize a patrol schedule,” Douglas said. “Take turns and go out in town, search every inch of it, and try to find whoever could have sent these letters to Brooke. Both eyes open. We don’t want any more deaths in town.”

“Yes, sir,” Aidan said.

“What about the potions operation?” Landon asked.

“That takes a backseat until we figure out what’s going on with these letters and both deaths,” Douglas said.

---

Caleb and Ash went to Anna’s to pick up more of the potion that would protect us from Brooke’s magic, Landon and Aidan stayed with Douglas at the manor’s library to make a list of places we should explore tonight, and Cole went back to the police station. According to him, the police were looking for Brooke so she shouldn’t even go to the manor’s front yard in case anyone showed up unannounced.

I found the girls in one of the guest bedrooms. The door was wide open and I halted there and watched for a minute. Brooke was leaning against the window, looking outside, while Tessa and Amber were seated on the armchairs to her right.

“We’ll find a way to fix it all,” Tessa said, always positive. We needed more people like Tessa in our little group.

“Yes, and you’ll be back to normal in no time,” Amber added, trying to be helpful, which surprised me since she was the snapping and glaring type.

Brooke scoffed. “Normal? What is normal for a siren?”

“I …” Tessa opened her mouth, but she stared at Amber, her eyes round as if asking for help. Tessa was new at this hunter thing. She probably had no idea how the life of a siren could be.

Amber knew, though. “There are other sirens living in town right now. Hell, there are nagas living in town right now, and I’m sure you wouldn’t be able to tell they are different just by looking at them.”

“And they live a normal life?” Brooke asked, still looking out the window.

“Yes,” I said, stepping in the room. Brooke spun around and faced me, while Tessa and Amber seemed to take a long, relieved breath. “A witch friend of ours is working on a potion for you. It’ll inhibit your powers and you won’t need to worry about going out in public anymore.”

“It sounds too good to be true,” she whispered.

“Sometimes magic can be too good to be true.” I halted in the middle of the room and dropped her bag over the large bed. “And sometimes magic can be evil, but that’s why we’re here. To fight evil.”

She looked down at her feet. “Like evil sirens.”

“You’re not evil.”

“You don’t know that,” she said, her voice louder, but shaky. “I’ve spelled several men since arriving here. I just spelled your cousin, and I’ve even spelled you. To be honest, I’m starting to think I might have a hand in the death of Robbie and that other man.”

I took a step closer to her. “Why would you think that?”

She shrugged. “Because … you saw how I was enthralled by the ocean when I arrived. At that moment, I wasn’t myself. I wasn’t in control. What if it happened again? What if I was in a trance and killed them without meaning to?”

Amber stood. “I was with you the entire time after Karl bumped into us. Then Nathan came. You couldn’t have done it.”

“True, but there’s still Robbie. I was alone at the inn the entire night.”

“Mrs. Finnygood would have known if you had left in the middle of the night,” I said. “She would have told us.”

Her brows slammed down. “I feel like I’m in some sort of jail.”

Clearing her throat, Tessa stood from her seat. “We’ll …” She gestured to the door. “Wait outside?”

I looked at Tessa and Amber. “The guys and I will go out later tonight. You two and Sophia will stay with Brooke.”

Tessa nodded. “All right. We can plan some fun stuff to do.” Only Tessa would think of fun stuff to do when there was so much danger around. She smiled at Brooke. “Meet us in the kitchen later. I’ll make some dinner for us.”

Brooke didn’t say anything until after Tessa and Amber left.

“Fun stuff to do?” she asked me. “Doesn’t she know what’s going on?”

I felt a grin pulling at the corners of my mouth, but I forced it away. “That’s Tessa for you. She’s always trying to live the best side of life. I confess it can take a while to get used to it, but … it makes everything better. We risk our lives daily for this town, and we’ve lost too many friends and family. Everyone here has lost someone to demons, vampires, and other supernatural creatures. If we let it, revenge and anger would rule our lives.” I paused. “Hunters have a supernatural bond created by a witch, but we are mostly humans, you know. We have to slow down and live every once in a while.”

She let out a long breath. “I’m sorry.”

“For?”

“For being snappy and rude and … I don’t know, lost and stupid.” She placed a hand over her heart. “There’s too much happening and I can’t keep up with it.”

I walked up to her and leaned against the window right beside her. “I know. And it’s okay. You don’t need to make sense of it all now. The only two things you need to understand now is that, unfortunately, we have to limit your contact with males of any species.” At that, she took a large step back. What the hell? “And that we’re trying to find out who sent you both letters and why. You have to trust us and let us do our job.”

She swallowed hard. “You should go then.”

I frowned. “Um, is there something else bothering you? Did I do something to you?”

“You just said it yourself. I should limit my contact with males, and you have to do your job, so … you’re better away from me.”

I exhaled. “Brooke … if there’s one thing I don’t want to do it is to be away from you.” Her eyes widened. Her red lips fell open. I wanted to kiss her so badly. “But I understand if you don’t feel the same. Tell me you don’t, and I’m gone. Just say the word, and I’ll leave right now.”

She stared at me, those huge green eyes wreaking havoc within my soul, until she finally wetted her lips with the tip of her tongue and whispered, “I don’t want to lie.”

That was it. I couldn’t resist anymore. I took one large step toward her, hooked my hand around her neck, and pulled her to me.

Then I kissed her.