A Wicked Good Witches Paranormal Romance Books 1-7 (Wicked Good Witches Seasons) Read Online Free

hey… enough bitching for one morning. I enrolled in classes,” he announced, ending his tirade and starting a new subject.
    “Really? That’s great, Michael.” She gulped, this revelation catching her off guard. She tried to sound excited and upbeat, but Michael knew she was disappointed by this news. Her smile never faded, but he sensed the brightness of it, lessened. Her eyes dancing just a little less.
    Emily realized she’d given herself away and tore her gaze off him, her cheeks fiery with embarrassment.
    “It’s not for a while yet. Summer’s just started really. Fall’s still a ways away.” He hated hurting her. It left an empty pit in his gut.
    “I’m really happy for you,” she told him. She meant it. She didn’t want to see him leave the Isle, but she wanted nothing more than for him to be happy. And he wasn’t, here.
    “Thanks, Em. So… have you ever thought about going back to college?”
    “You know I can’t, Michael. I left because Dad needs me here. And he’s stubborn about moving anywhere else. I really don’t know why that is, but…”
    “Sorry. It was dumb of me to even bring it up. Of course you have to be here.” They were at her bookstore. “I guess I’ll see you later, Em.” Goddamn idiot. That’s what I am.
    Hurting people. Disappointing people.
    These were things he excelled in, by not living up to people’s expectations of him. Expectations he didn’t want to live up to. And never asked for.
    “Later, Michael.”
    “Yeah, bye, Em. Have a good day at work.”
    “Thanks, see ya.” She tossed him another wide smile, and gave her lips a timid pull with her teeth. Lips he’d very much like to wrap his mouth around. And taste, and tug at. Instead, he fled.
    She always made him feel bad for wanting to leave the Isle. Not on purpose, and she never once vocalized it. But he saw it in her eyes. Felt the cut of it in her words. Her reactions to him.
    But what scared him most, is if there was one thing, one person, that could get him to stay on the Isle, it would be Emily Morgan.
    But she would never ask him to stay. Never in a hundred years if she thought it would make him unhappy. She liked to make people happy, thrived on it, almost to a fault. Hell, she lit up the darkest room just by entering it. Everyone loved Emily. Him more so than anyone… Shit! He could not afford to think like that.
    Michael forced the thought out of his mind. He’d never found the courage to come out and ask her. If she said yes, she did want him to stay, he’d never be able to leave. And he needed to leave. To get off this lame-ass hellhole of an island before he was sucked in so deep he never left. Or never explored the world. Like every other Howard that had come before him.
    He didn’t want that fate. He didn’t ask for it.
    Didn’t he get a say in his life, at all?
    He looked up to see William not too far ahead, heading into the mansion. No doubt testing the potion. Which obviously worked. “Good job, Melinda.” Too bad there wasn’t a potion for getting his sister over her aversion to life outside the mansion.
    His feet stopped moving for a moment. He held a breath.
    He was going to have to go home and face Charlie. Face whatever this day brought him. Regardless, he was proud of his sister, she was getting better every day, without the help of any potions. Her panic attacks were less frequent. And cautiously, she was immersing herself back into the outside world.
    Mainly, what this really meant was Michael didn’t need to stay on the Isle. They’d be fine without him.
     
    ##
     
    William reappeared in the kitchen of the Howard Mansion, with Michael just behind.
    “All went well?” Melinda asked the vampire.
    “Yes. As expected, no one realizes I am not a thirty-one year old man.”
    Melinda nodded satisfactorily, and turned to Michael. “You’re back sooner than I expected.”
    “It was just a quick walk with Emily to work at the bookstore.”
    Charlie’s eyes lit up. “I