Eden's Playground: Graystone Academy Book One, BE Kelly [good short books .TXT] 📗

“Maybe we shouldn’t read these,” he said. It felt like he was lifting a curtain and peeking into his father’s personal life—it felt wrong.

“There might be a clue in these as to what happened to Bianca,” Eden said, looking over one of the notes. “I’d be happy to read the parts that are important and leave out the mushy bits if that will make the two of you less um—squirmy,” she teased.

“Squirmy?” Duff questioned. “Well, you try reading a love letter between your father and a former lover and we’ll see how squirmy you get.” Eden made a face, making them both laugh.

“Okay,” Anson said. “Let’s hear the less squirmy bits. You can just skim over them.”

Eden nodded and held up the letter, clearing her throat. The whole scene was almost comical—as if she was about to give an important speech.

“Well, it says here that your father is looking forward to their date on Saturday. He writes that his own father would be in town, but he was hoping to slip away and see her.” She stopped reading aloud and he could tell by the way that her cheeks heated to an adorable shade of pink, that she had run across a part that would make all of them squirm.

“Dear God,” she breathed. “I see where you two get it from, now.” She looked them over and giggled when they both groaned.

“Too much information, Love,” Anson chided.

“Sorry,” she breathed. He knew that she didn’t mean the apology. In fact, she was taking great pleasure in watching the two of them squirm as they did. “Let’s see here,” she said, looking over the letter again. “Well, this one is all squirm-worthy material, so I think we’ll skip to the next.” She carefully folded the letter and placed it back into the picture frame for safekeeping. Eden picked up another letter and opened it, taking a deep breath as if preparing herself for what she was about to read.

“Hmm—well, here it seems that they’ve had a disagreement. Your father says, ‘I can’t believe that after everything we’ve come to mean to each other that you’re going to allow your brother to tear us apart. I’m begging you to rethink walking away from me—from us.’ Wow, that’s sad,” she whispered.

“So, they broke up because your dad didn’t approve?” Duff asked.

“Well, I told you how my father feels about shifters. Maybe he didn’t feel that your father was good enough for his sister. He doesn’t think that shifters and witches should mix. Maybe he put his foot down and told his sister she wasn’t allowed to date your father.” Anson wondered what that would mean for the future of their relationship with Eden. He didn’t give a fuck if her father approved of him and Duff, but if Eden did, they wouldn’t last.

Eden folded the letter up and grabbed the last one on the desk, “Oh—this one is from Bianca to your father,” she said.

“Wait—why would dad have his own letters? Wouldn’t he have given then to Bianca? How does he have them?” Duff asked. That was a good question.

“Maybe she gave them back,” Anson said.

“Or maybe, he never gave them to her. Look at this,” she said, pointing out the first line of Bianca’s letter. “My aunt wrote, ‘Why haven’t you written me? It’s been almost two months and I’ve had no word from you, Dugan.’ Your father’s letters were both dated just days before this one from Bianca. I’m guessing that he didn’t give them to her.”

“Wow,” Duff said. “That’s kind of sad.”

“She goes on to say that she won’t wait around for your father forever. She wrote that if she doesn’t hear from him soon, she’s going to have to officially break things off with him and date other men,” Eden said.

“That’s harsh,” Anson said. “So, there’s a possibility that they weren’t even together at the time of her murder?” Anson asked.

“According to Bianca’s letter, no,” Eden said.

“What now?” Duff asked.

“I think we need to wake Glory,” Anson breathed. “I hate to say this but I think we need her help.”

Duff

They put their father’s study back together and walked down to the kitchen, finding the light on and Glory sitting at the table, sipping her tea. “I thought you’d want to talk to me,” she said.

“You mean, you rummaged through our minds and saw that we were going to wake you up anyway,” Anson accused. Glory smirked at him and shrugged.

“Do you want my help or not, Anson?” she asked.

“We want your help,” Eden quickly agreed. Duff was still trying to get used to their sexy witch taking charge, but he had to admit, he liked it. Eden sat down next to Glory at the table. “What can you tell us about the status of Mr. Kirkpatrick’s relationship with my aunt Bianca?” she asked.

“I was friends with both of them during my time at Graystone, although, your father and I ran in different circles. He mostly hung out with other shifters—mainly wolf shifters. And being a fae, I stuck with my own kind and even made friends with many witches, since we took a lot of the same classes—you know, spells and all,” Glory said. “As for if Dugan and Bianca were together at the time of her death, I have no idea. I can tell you that I remember seeing them around campus together. They caused quite a stir,” she said.

“How so?” Eden asked.

“Well, there were a lot of supernaturals who, like your father, believed that shifters shouldn’t mix with other supernaturals. Things were different back then, it was a different time, but you’ll still find that way of thinking today around campus, unfortunately,” Glory said. “I can’t remember much about your aunt’s death, Eden. What I do remember was that your father believed that Dugan Kirkpatrick was dating his sister, behind his back, and that he had killed her. That was the story he told campus and local authorities. It was the ultimate betrayal that