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  I felt Gus stiffen next to me, and I looked up into his eyes. He seemed confused and yet I sensed his yearning for his friend. It was obvious they were close and that Gus had thought he would never see him again.

  “Hey guys,” said the tall man with long black hair. “I’m sure you’ll have a gazillion questions, but I’m going to ask that you listen to what I have to say and then follow what Mac says.”

  Gus looked at his boys and then squeezed my hand. “I just can’t believe it,” Gus finally said. “Is it really you?”

  The man smiled. “It is. And this is my mate, Layla.”

  Freddy and Vinny waved to her but Gus’s nostrils flared. “Wait…your mate? Are you magical too?”

  Havoc smiled. “Oh yeah,” he said with a belly laugh. Even Mac chuckled. “You could say that. And Layla here is a water witch. “

  It was my turn to straighten up and pay attention.

  The woman waved but she didn’t say anything.

  “Layla isn’t able to speak,” Havoc said—but then I heard a voice inside my head.

  “Wilma, we have so much to discuss, but right now, you need to stay put. I was just like you. We’re working on a plan.”

  “I’m willing to listen.”

  Gus’s eyes shot to me. “Did she just—”

  I nodded and grinned at him.

  “Anyway, my actual name is Garrett Cocodri. When I found you guys, I was on the run from my father and some bad people. He was an alpha, like Mac.” He let that sink in for a bit.

  “No way,” Freddy said. “You’re a freaking werewolf?”

  Garrett grinned and I immediately noticed a lot of…teeth. No way, indeed.

  “I’m a Shifter, but not a wolf. My inner apex predator is a little less—”

  “Furry,” Mac said with a laugh.

  “Right. I’m more…of a water lover.”

  “A shark?” Vinny asked.

  Garrett laughed and then he frowned at Mac. “Wait. Are there shark Shifters?”

  Mac rubbed the back of his neck. “Probably, but I don’t intend to find out.”

  “No, not a shark. If it helps, I’m originally from Louisiana. From the Bayou. Which is where Layla and I live now. With our hatchlings.”

  “Hatchlings?” Freddy asked. “What the—”

  “Are you a damn alligator?” Vinny asked.

  Garrett grinned and then snapped his jaws together, which made Freddy and Vinny jump.

  “But how?” Freddy asked. “We toured with you for five years! How did we not know?”

  “Because I was hexed. I ran afoul of a witch down here. It’s a long story. Look, we can’t stay long. When Mac and Jacob say you’re safe to travel, you’re absolutely welcome in my congregation. In fact, I hope you’ll come.”

  “What? You run a church now?” Freddy asked.

  “No,” Garrett said with a patient smile. “It’s how we refer to our community. Mac has a pack, I have a congregation.”

  “Far out,” Gus breathed. “So, you know what happened to us?”

  Garrett nodded grimly. “I do, and I’m so sorry I disappeared like that. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have been there—”

  “Not your fault, kid,” Mac said. “They would have tracked you guys down as a band eventually since they were your damn groupies. Then we’d have a vampire alligator roaming around.” He rolled his eyes and Garrett laughed.

  “That would have been a disaster,” Zelda said. “Finish up, guys, I need to close this down before we get any other visitors.”

  “Right. It’s good to see you, and again, I’m sorry. I hope you can come down here, when you’re ready.”

  “I’m just glad you’re okay,” Gus said sadly. I gazed up at his handsome face and noticed his eyes were tinged with red. I tugged on his shirt and he looked down at me.

  “You okay?” I whispered.

  He wiped at his eyes and nodded.

  “We’ll see you soon,” Freddy said, and he and Vinny waved.

  “All right, step back and watch out, everyone,” Zelda said in an annoyed voice. She swirled her hands around and the portal began to shrink.

  Suddenly everything in the room began to rattle, and we all looked around. Gus wrapped his arms around me and covered me with his body when things began to fly around the room. A roaring sound filled our ears and I heard shouts from the men.

  Woodrow ran for me and hopped up into my arms.

  “Bloody hell, what was that?”

  “Well, fuck a duck!” Zelda shouted, before she started chanting.

  We saw Garrett’s worried expression, and Layla also holding her hands up and mouthing words. A black cloud of smoke-like substance filled the room, a loud popping sound echoed from the stone walls—and then it was over.

  “Holy interdimensional clusterfuck,” Zelda said, bending at the waist. She was trying to catch her breath.

  “Babe, what happened?” Mac asked her.

  I let go of Gus and hurried to her side, but she waved me away.

  “Something used me. It used my spell to enter the portal. Something looking for you.” She pointed right at me, her eyes wide with fright.

  Just then, we heard a loud crash upstairs and we all looked at each other.

  “Oh dear,” Bertram said. “Something has gotten past my wards. There is something foul in this house.”

  Chapter Eight

  Gus

  * * *

  Mac’s cell phone rang and he pulled it out with a curse.

  “Yeah, you guys okay on your end? Good. We’ll let you know. Give my love to Layla. Be safe.” He hung up with another curse. “I really fucking hate magic sometimes.” He put his arm around Zelda and she pressed her face into his chest.

  “That was so not cool,” she said.

  “I’m…thank you, Zelda, and I’m sorry,” I offered. “I can’t tell you what it means to know Havoc—Garrett, I mean, that he’s okay.”

  “Yeah, we’ve been so worried,” Vinny said. “Thank you. Now, what the hell is going on?”

  Wilma raised her hand. God, she was precious when she did that.

  “Excuse me. Um, does anyone see Bertram?”

  I looked around, as did everyone else, and our ghostly host was nowhere to be seen.

  “Reach out for him with your magic,” Zelda said. “You know what his signature feels like.”

  Wilma blinked. “I don’t know how.”

  “Huh,” she said. “I just assumed your fancy school would have taught you everything.”

  “Hey,” I said, reaching for Wilma and frowning at Zelda. I didn’t care that she could probably incinerate me with one look. No way was I going to stand for her disrespecting my woman. “No need to be rude. Wilma can’t help any of this shit. She didn’t curse herself.”

  Wilma stepped behind me. “It’s fine,” she murmured. “Zelda’s concerned because she thinks I have more power than she does.”

  Zelda gasped. “Now who’s being rude?”

  Wilma blinked. “I’m sorry. I haven’t had access to my magic in all of my one hundred thirteen years, so I don’t know I’m even doing it.”

  Mac and Zelda exchanged looks, and he sighed.

  “Look, what my mate is trying to say, not so delicately, is that you have to get this shit figured out, Wilma, and she’s not the person to help you. Ow!”

  Zelda zapped him in the ass with a cloud of sparks.

  “Don’t talk about me as if I’m not here! Listen, Wilma, there’s something about you…it was different when you were cursed. Now I can’t even be around you without wanting to fight you.”

  Wilma blanched. “I’m sorry if I offended you—”

  “It’s not you, it’s something… It’s like your magic has a direct line to my ‘don’t fuck with me’ button. Grrr, I’m so pissed right now! Mac, I’ve gotta go before I do something I regret. I’ll send help.”

  She poofed out of the room and left us all gaping.

  “Wow,” Vinny said.

 
“Rawr,” Freddy said.

  “Fuck,” Mac said, and he growled.

  “Alpha, I’m sorry—”

  “Don’t be,” he said, holding up a hand. “You did nothing wrong. It’s a witch thing, you’ll likely soon discover.” Mac looked at me. “I knew what I was getting into when I mated with Zelda, but you’re new to all this. I think you and I should have a chat.”

  I snorted. “I may not be as old as you, but I’ve had the birds and bees—”

  Mac clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Not this one, my friend. Not this one.”

  I swallowed hard and looked at Wilma.

  The space where my heart resided was full of emotion. For her. I loved her unconditionally and hated that she was hurting, but Mac was right. I learned less than a week ago that magical creatures actually existed. I wasn’t of much use in this scenario.

  “I think we should split up and go look for him,” Jacob offered.

  Freddy and Vinny groaned.

  “What?” Mac asked.

  “If you’ve seen one horror movie, or even an episode of Scooby-Doo,” Vinny said, “you‘d know that all the crazy shit happens when you split up.”

  “Yes,” Jacob said, “but if you hadn’t noticed, this place is huge and we’re more likely to find Bertram and whatever came through that portal if we each take a section.”

  “I love Scooby-Doo,” Freddy said. “Wait! I get to be Fred, and Wilma gets to be Daphne because she’s got the hair—”

  “No way,” Jacob said. “I’m Fred. He drives the cool van.”

  “Sorry, little bro-ther, you’re Scooby by default.” Mac snorted.

  “Great. That makes me Shaggy,” said Vinny. “Guess I better find some Scooby snacks,” he said with a laugh. “I’m actually hungry. Maybe I need more Captain Moo-gan.”

  Freddy and Vinny bro-slapped but Wilma’s anxiety killed any silliness I might have joined in.

  Mac nodded. “Bad plan or not, we need to find Bertram. I think that’s a good idea, splitting up. Jacob, you go with Wilma and Vinny. Gus, you and Freddy come with me.”

  A growl came up from my chest.

  “Now, now,” Mac said. “It’s time you and I had that conversation, so I’m trusting my bro-ther your mentor, with your mate and you just need to chill out.”

  “I don’t like this,” I said through gritted teeth. I looked to Wilma for her assent, but she was staring off into space, chewing on her fingernail.

  She needed someone who knew the right thing to say, and right now, that wasn’t me. I was ready to lock her in a padded room to keep her safe. I pointed a finger at Jacob. “If any harm comes to her—”

  “I’d expect you to tear me a new asshole. I swear. No harm shall come to her.”

  Wilma finally looked at me. “I’ll be okay. At least I know Mac will keep you safer than I can.”

  “Querida—”

  She smiled sadly and led Jacob and Vinny out of the room.

  “Don’t worry, primo. I got this. He gets one claw or fang out of line and I can take him.” Vinny pointed his two fingers at his eyes and back at me.

  “Be safe.”

  Wilma nodded and then she scooped Woodrow into her arms and disappeared into the darkness of the hall, with Woodrow chattering in her ear.

  I turned on Mac, rubbing my chest where I already felt her absence. “Does it ever get easier?”

  “Manageable, but not easy. Let’s go.”

  “Wait, do you know your way around this house? Wilma said it changes all the time.”

  Mac sucked in a deep breath through his nose. “Not the house, per se, but I can smell the magic. We’ll follow that and any ghosts.”

  “Should we leave, like, bread crumbs?” Freddy asked, pocketing a scone from the basket on the end table beside the tall-backed chairs.

  “Where did that come from?” Mac asked. He sniffed the basket and frowned. “Put it back. I don’t remember seeing it. You can’t trust anything from here on out. Whatever came through that portal means to do us harm.”

  “Copy that.”

  Mac led us out of the parlor and down a long corridor that felt like it was five miles long by the time we reached the end. There was nothing there, just a tapestry with a sixteenth century map of England. Mac rested his hands on his hips and cursed.

  “Did you, uh, see any doors?” Freddy said. “Because I didn’t see any doors. Don’t hallways, like, lead to something?”

  “I definitely smell magic, so something came this way. Let’s work our way back.”

  I was still staring at the tapestry map when the fabric fluttered a little, like a breeze had blown by.

  “Did you see that?”

  Mac turned back and frowned at me just as it moved again, ripples moving from the center outward. I reached out to touch it just as Mac yelled, “No!”

  The fabric wrapped around my body and I was yanked forward into—

  Splash!

  I thrashed against the fabric, trying to free myself, when I realized…I didn’t need to breathe. I couldn’t drown. Right? I mean, maybe I could be the vampire Aquaman, which made me crack up. I swallowed whole buckets of water.

  “Just stay still,” Mac yelled from somewhere up above. “If you struggle, it won’t let go.”

  I let my arms drop to my sides, let my legs relax and, sure enough, the tapestry released its stranglehold and it floated away.

  I opened my eyes and found myself in some sort of…bathhouse?

  “You alright?”

  “Yes, yes I am. Come on in, the water’s fine!” I did the backstroke to get to the side of what turned out to be a pool. It was really quite lovely down there. The walls were a sky-blue tile interlaced with gold and navy. There were waterfalls coming from the walls on either side of the into the pool and at the far end, a lovely mosaic mural rose up from a separate bath, which I assumed was hot water, as steam rose from the surface. I never wanted to leave! It was incredible, and as I tread water, I thought there was nowhere I’d rather be.

  Mac and Freddy descended a staircase and met me at the side of the pool.

  “Come on—” Mac said.

  “The water is quite nice. Sure you don’t want to come for a swim? Man, I never want to get out.”

  “Hey, uh, Gus? Doesn’t he seem a little…off?

  My mind was in such a Zen state, everything felt hazy, warm. Inviting.

  “Uh-huh,” Mac said. They both stuck out their hands and yanked me from the water. “These pools are spelled. I can smell it.”

  We watched as the tapestry climbed out of the pool a few yards away from me and walk up the steps.

  “You don’t see that every day,” Freddy muttered.

  Once I was out of the water, I immediately recalled the intensity with which I wanted to find Wilma. The water had definitely dampened my desire.

  “Actually, that’s far from the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen,” Mac said. “Since meeting Zelda, yeah, weird shit happens on the regular.”

  “You don’t let it ruffle you, though,” I said, amazed at how chill he was, although there was often an undercurrent of frustration that surfaced every now and then. Like with his brother. “So what’s up with Jacob? He gets under your skin.”

  “That’s what siblings are supposed to do, aren’t they?”

  “Yes,” Freddy said without hesitation. When we glanced at him with eyebrows raised, he said, “What? You’ve met my brother.”

  “Funny, I’d think you’re the problematic one,” Mac said.

  “Hey! I resemble that remark.” Freddy shrugged.

  Mac and I exchanged looks and I nodded.

  “With Jacob, I don’t know,” Mac said. “I was pissed when he left with his vampire girlfriend.”

  “Was it because he left or because she was a vampire?”

  Mac frowned. “Both? More that he left, I guess. I’d always heard that vampires don’t necessarily mate like Shifters. I didn’t want him to go through that if it didn’t work out, you know? And I hated th
at he was walking away from his pack responsibilities, even though I knew staying was a bad idea, because with me being alpha and him being just as tough as me—”

  “This town ain’t big enough for the two of ya,” Freddy said.

  “Exactly. So him leaving was good for him, I guess. I just hate it.”

  “What about his mate?”

  “They didn’t end up being each other’s mates, so the whole thing was really his little rebellion. He swears he loves being both Shifter and fanger, but I wonder sometimes. I do know he loves traveling and seeing the world, so everything turned out how it was meant to, I suppose. Having him back has been, well, not completely awful. I guess I should thank you guys because I’ve missed him. But don’t tell him that.”

  “Not a word,” I said. “Now, do you smell magic down here?”

  Mac lifted his nose into the air and inhaled deeply, then he shook his head. “Nah. Only the pool. I think this was just a ruse to throw us off. Let’s get back up the stairs—”

  Just as he said that, the stairs began to disappear, turning the surface into a slick slide. The wall shifted and the doorway began to narrow.

  “Come on!” Mac bounded up the ramp in three steps and motioned to us from the doorway. “You guys can levitate, remember?”

  I looked at Freddy and his eyes were wide. “I don’t think I can do it, primo.”

  “I got you.” I took his hand, pictured myself through the opening, and a split second later, I was back standing in front of the tapestry. Freddy was on the floor.

  “Damn, dude. Watch the landing.”

  Mac pulled him up. “Stay close. If the house decides to change again, we could be separated and I don’t know how we’d find each other.”

  I touched the tapestry and, sure enough, the wall was solid behind it. “I guess we go back the way we came?”

  Mac sighed and we started back down the five-mile corridor, only this time, instead of being carpeted and the walls being covered with brocade velvet designs, the floor was stone, the walls were rough, and every few feet there were open-flame sconces. The farther we walked, the darker the hallway got. Then we ran into cobwebs and a rat ran by us…

  And we reached another dead end.

  “Goddamn magic haunted mansion bullshit! All right, start feeling around for a switch or a hidden doorway.”