Free Ghast Me Gently (Wicked Good Witches Book 4) by Starla Silver Page A

a sudden stop upon seeing Melinda, along with William nearly sinking his teeth into a stranger’s neck. “William! What the hell are you doing?” He had never seen the vampire behave in this manner before.
    “I smell your blood,” William spat angrily. His rage aimed purely at Riley.
    Everyone stood, frozen, staring at William with no idea what to do. How exactly did you stop a vampire on a sudden and inexplicable rampage?
    “I have a stake in my car,” warned Mack. She’d never make it to her car and back in time to cause any actual damage to the vampire, but she hoped her reminder would be enough to catch his attention.
    It worked. Shook him out of whatever rage he’d gotten himself into.
    William let go of Riley and stepped back. His chest heaved, his lips furled in anger. His fangs retracted but the look on his face was scandalous.
    “ His blood… he’s a Deane .”
    They had never heard such spite spewing from his mouth before. William had stored the blood smell into memory long ago, so as never to forget the smell of Deane blood.
    No one spoke; everyone was too stunned. Not just by William’s revelation, but by his reaction of coming face to face with a Deane.
    Melinda couldn’t look at William. Too mortified by his reaction to Riley. They’d just been kissing and his smell would be all over her. It was all out in the open now, at least with William. He knew this was the guy she’d been seeing. Her secret was out, and out in the worst way.
    She had expected some anger, and disappointment, but she hadn’t expected the level of hatred and distrust that lashed out of the vampire. And she had no idea how much was just because of his Deane blood, and just how much was due to the fact it was a Deane she’d been seeing. The worst possible betrayal…
    Why didn’t I just tell everyone? Like Riley did with his brother… once again, her avoidance of potentially awkward and difficult situations was making things ten times worse than they needed to be.
    This was not how her family, and especially William, should have found out about Riley. But here they were now. She’d have to deal with the consequences. She held her breath, waiting for the inevitable onslaught of questions to begin.
    “A Deane?” Michael finally mustered out. Under his breath he noted, “I guess it’s clear how William really feels about them…”
    Melinda heard her brother’s remark and cringed. She wanted to sink into despair. But she needed to fix this, if not for her own sake, for Riley’s. He didn’t deserve this. It was one thing she felt confident about.
    “What are you doing here?” Charlie interrogated Riley unkindly. “And what the hell are you doing with my sister?”
    Before Riley could speak, Melinda found her voice, pleading, “Stop. Just stop. Everyone please, just… take a breath. I can explain all of this.”
    They each looked at Melinda expectantly. She gulped hard, having no idea what she was actually going to say.
    “Um. Well, you see,” she started out shakily. “I fell asleep after lunch and had a dream . You were all busy helping Eva, so I decided to handle it on my own. I saw Riley…”
    Emily coughed, choking.
    Melinda knew she had just put two and two together. Michael patted her back, but she waved him off saying she was okay. She shot Melinda an agonizing gaze. This is why her friend had been in hiding. It was a guy problem, but not one Emily could have guessed in a hundred years. Melinda had fallen for a Deane… this was not going to end well.
    “Riley? Your name’s Riley is it?” confirmed Charlie.
    He nodded tightly, but did not dare speak.
    “Will you let me finish, please?” Melinda eyed her brother with pleading vexation.
    “Sorry, go ahead.”
    “Anyway, in my dream I saw Riley helping a child on the beach. There was this massive rogue wave and he was trying to keep the boy from drowning.” She glanced at Riley. He was not about to disagree with this incorrect version of the story.