“Really? I should have stopped what I was doing, got the hell out of there, and looked for that prophecy. Had I done that, I could have given you what you needed.” Jason ran his hand across the stubble on his chin.
“They still would have killed you. You knew Mom was alive.”
She glanced toward the den, at the window that overlooked the yard and the forest. It was dark now, so she assumed Emily or whoever was watching was now gone. She turned back to Jason. “So, why are you awake?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Me too.”
Jason pulled hair from her face. “We need to get some sleep. Tomorrow is gonna be a rough one.”
Chapter 19
Morning came quickly. Just after sunrise, Annie, Jason, and Cham roamed the house, lost in their own thoughts, readying themselves for the day.
Annie checked her phone and glanced at Cham before kissing him goodbye.
“Be careful,” he said.
“I’ll see you soon.” Annie waved as she and Jason teleported to the alley.
The narrow alley protected them from view, dark as it was between two recently renovated buildings. Annie traversed the length, searching for cameras or recording equipment. She noted two metal doors, one in each building, and opened several garbage cans neatly lining both outside walls.
She glanced up. Neither building had windows to the alley. Walking to the sidewalk, she peered along the road.
“Anything?” Jason asked, amused by his daughter’s thoroughness.
“No. It’s quiet here.” She glanced up again. The building that housed Antique Symposium was three stories. The windows on the front of the building overlooked the empty street below. “I think we’re okay here,” she said as she slipped back inside the alley. She remained cautious, still reeling from the night before.
All of those crystals!
The Vampire Attack Unit had returned to the forest, where they had discovered twenty-five crystals spanning her entire life. Graham sent her the video of him and the team burning them all to ash. Knowing they were gone didn’t reduce Annie’s feeling of being violated. She paced beside the brick wall and glanced at her phone.
“Are you going to be okay?” Jason asked, worried for his daughter.
“Twenty-five crystals.” Annie kicked at the brick wall, turned, and leaned against it, resting her head.
“We figured they were watching you for years. How do you think they were doing it?” Jason asked.
“Not recording every bloody moment!” Annie whispered. She glanced at her phone,
Ten minutes!
“They’ll text when she leaves,” Jason said. He leaned against the opposite brick wall. “Can you do this?”
I’m fine, Annie thought.
Jason glanced at her. “What?”
“I hadn’t said anything yet. I’m fine, though.” Annie grumbled and watched her phone.
“I thought I heard your voice.” Jason frowned.
Annie looked at him. Her phone buzzed with a text from Brite: She just left.
*
Samantha looked out the sliding glass window into Don and Marina’s large back yard. The acre clearing was surrounded by a perimeter of thick trees with a magical protection spell that kept out the evil things that went bump in the night. While they had never had a vampire, werewolf, or demon attack the property, the spell didn’t keep out the billdads, magical elves, and magical, poisonous snakes. Samantha watched one such snake slither across the grass and make its way back into the wood pile.
It wasn’t much of a distraction like she had hoped. Today, the safety of this place couldn’t help her feel any less vulnerable than she did, not when she knew she’d be seeing her mother for the first time in twenty years.
I’m fine.
Samantha jumped when she heard Annie’s voice and turned back into the living room. It wasn’t the first time Annie’s voice rang in her head, though the first time it happened, Samantha swore she imagined it. Today, it sounded as though Annie’s voice came from beside her.
“Just nerves,” Samantha murmured to herself and looked back into the clearing. Wind began to blow across the trees creating a dull roar of white noise. She shuddered thinking of the moment she’d first see her mom again.
What will I say?
Her stomach churned. She thought she might stay home instead. But the curiosity was too strong and she had to know. Samantha glanced at her phone, exited the house, and teleported to the safe house to wait for Emily.
*
Cham walked along the sidewalk to the Wizard Guard safe house, one of two in Chicago, and one of six across the United States. He stared at the newly restored house, its fresh, white paint, the new porch, the newly planted bushes. Even the sidewalk had been fixed and was nearly smooth except for the wards drawn into the cement, hidden along the sides.
It’s amazing what magic can do, but the magic won’t be enough.
The magic buzzed against his skin as he stepped onto the porch. He hoped whatever tracking the Fraternitatem used to keep tabs on Emily and Shiloh would be well hidden once they arrived at the property.
He glanced at his phone before inserting his finger inside the blood lock, springing the door open. Safely inside, Cham locked the door and stood at the bay window, observing the neighborhood.
The house was located at the end of the street, with a pocket of trees to the south where Annie had taken the portal to the past. He glanced at the path coming from the trees; Samantha made her way from the trail.
I wish she had stayed home.
He sighed and opened the door. Samantha glared at him as she walked around him and placed herself on the sofa with a clear view of the door.
“She’s my mom too,” Samantha said as she crossed her arms against her chest.
Cham glanced down the street, the neighbors were gone or hadn’t left their homes yet. He closed the door and looked at his sister-in-law. “I’d rather you waited until we got her to the prison. This could go badly.”
“I just… I just want to see her,” Samantha said. She crossed her legs, bouncing her top one with nervous energy.
“Just stay out of the way. If you get hurt, John will kill me,” Cham said. He glanced at his phone as the minutes ticked by, beginning to regret agreeing to the plan.
*
Emily left the house at 7:44 a.m.; the gate swung closed behind her. She walked with a spring in her step, looking like she didn’t have a care in the world. While she did glance at Samantha’s townhouse as she passed, nothing in her demeanor implied that she knew who lived there or even cared. Brite watched as she turned the corner for work, sent his text, and teleported behind a thick, cluster of bushes.
He continued observing her, watched as her hips sashayed widely, making her skirt swing out on both sides. He wondered for a moment if she knew she was being followed, if she had been taught these exaggerated moves as though that would turn her pursuer away. But then, there was something so innocent in the way she moved, he thought, watching her pay for a newspaper at the local stand. Most people being followed would glance backwards maybe once and wouldn’t stop until they reached their destination.
Emily seemingly looked as though she had no idea her life was soon about to change. Brite continued to watch her stroll along the sidewalk. When she turned toward Antique Symposium, Brite texted the team and returned to Emily’s rooftop.
*
Shiff looked at his phone to note the time: 8:17 a.m. When he glanced back up, Emily had turned down the street and was a block and a half from Antique Symposium. Emily passed the alley, unaware that her youngest daughter lay in wait. She stopped at the front door, reached inside her backpack and pulled out her key card. She was so preoccupied; she didn’t see the man leaning against the streetlamp.
Jason turned and called her name. “Emily.” Emily froze at the sound of his familiar voice. Jason pulled off his cap.
“What are… You’re dead.” Emily stepped backward to create distance
between her and Jason.
“So were you,” he said and walked toward her. Emily stumbled back and fell against a warm body. She turned in fear.
“Hi, Mom,” Annie said as she pulled her mother into the alley.
*
From the moment Annie lay hands on Emily, her mother kicked out, waved her arms, and pushed against her. She wrapped her arms tightly around Emily and teleported them to the safe house. Emily, knowing she was being taken, fought against it even as the light and space swirled around her.
They landed on the back porch of the safe house.
“Let go of me! Let go of me!” Emily shouted as she began to run off. She ran into Jason as he landed and both fell into the newly planted sod.
“Stop. Emily, stop,” Annie said as she reached for her. Exhausted from the teleport, she whipped her hands over her mother and reached out to catch her as she fell. “Awesome,” Annie said as she and Jason pulled her up and walked her to the back door.
“What did you think she was going to do?” Jason asked.
“I was hoping she’d be too surprised to do anything.” Annie waved her hand across the back door and led them inside.
“What the hell?” Cham asked. Samantha turned to see her mother’s limp body being carried inside.
“We should have done this to get her here. She kicked the crap out of me through the teleport.”
Jason lay his wife on the sofa.
“What happened?” Samantha asked.
“Didn’t want to come,” Annie said. She glanced at her father, her mother, and Samantha. Samantha sat across from them, her mouth agape. “Okay. We have to get a grip. I’m going to wake her. You okay, Sami?”
Samantha nodded. Annie waved her palm and Emily woke. Her eyes darted from Annie to Jason and found Samantha.
Emily quickly sat. She scanned the room, clearly searching for an exit. When she saw the front door, she jumped up and lunged for it, jiggling the handle. When it wouldn’t turn, she attempted the lock, but it, too, wouldn’t budge.
“Let me out of here!” Emily shouted as she banged on the door.
“Emily. Stop.” Annie grabbed her hands and held them firmly. “No one can hear you. You need to calm yourself so we can explain.”
Emily pulled her hands from Annie and feverishly pulled on the handle. “When I don’t show up, they’ll get my son!” she screeched. She pounded the wood door. Annie reached for her mother, but Emily pulled her arm away from Annie.
“Mom. Please come in and let us explain.” Annie firmly grabbed Emily’s wrist, keeping her gaze on her mother.
“Annie?” Emily asked, recognition seeming to hit her eyes for the first time.
“Hi, Mom. Come with me.” Annie gently directed her mother to the living room, walking over the newly installed hardwood floor that covered the entire house.
Emily scanned the front room. The newly painted walls reflected the front window light, and the furniture was comfortable and soft. Cham smiled and motioned for her to sit on one of two sofas. She met Jason’s gaze and momentarily froze from fear.
“I need to leave. If I don’t show up they’ll—” She began to shake.
“Emily.” Annie took her shoulders firmly. “We know the Fraternitatem will figure out you’re missing. We have someone watching Shiloh. He’s safe and he’ll be with you soon. Come sit.” Emily refused and kept a firm hand on her shoulder bag, tears in her eyes. She kept them to the floor, avoiding Jason’s sad eyes.
“Mom.” Emily shuddered at the new voice and looked at Samantha sitting on the sofa.
Samantha, who had always been attached to the memory of her mother, cried as she watched Emily falter. She patted the sofa. Reluctantly, Emily sat beside her oldest daughter.
“Sami. My Sami.” Emily wrapped her arms around Samantha. Her shoulders heaved as she clung to her daughter.
Samantha, still so emotionally unprepared to see her mother, stared at Annie, tears streaming down her face. She held her mother and patted her back. “It’s okay, Mom. It’ll be okay.”
Emily pulled away. “I need to get my boy. Shiloh. They’ll get him.” She took a shallow, panicked breath. “I need my son.”
“The Wizard Guard will protect him. There’s someone at school to fetch him and bring him here. I promise,” Samantha said.
This is not what I expected.
Annie heard Samantha’s voice in her head as if she were speaking out loud. But Annie knew Samantha’s lips hadn’t moved. She stared at her. What? thought Annie.
“This isn’t how it was supposed to go. He’ll be so angry,” Emily looked at her hands in her lap. She shuddered, and tears fell to her pant leg.
Samantha and Annie exchanged glances.
“Emily,” Annie began. “I don’t know what the Fraternitatem promised you, but I expect they’ll kill you once you kill me or deliver me to them or whatever it was you’re supposed to do. Your son will be safer with us.”
“Son…” she murmured. “I need to go. PLEASE!”
“Mom! Stop! There’s a muffle spell around the house, so no one can hear you. Shiloh needs you to focus. Now. Or you’ll lose him,” Annie said.
Emily’s eyes darted from Samantha to Annie and back to Samantha. “I need to get home,” she said, fearful. “They’ll take my Shiloh!”
“Mom, he’s fine,” Samantha said.
Emily’s hand shook and her body quivered as she continued to cry. “They promised they’d leave you alone if I did what they asked. They promised to leave Shiloh alone. I need to go.”
“Emily… Mom.” Annie touched her mother’s cheek, her hair, her shoulder. To Annie, her own attempts at comfort felt fake as her own anger boiled at the surface. She found it difficult to care about what her mother wanted.
The boy is another story.
Emily kept crying. “I can’t lose him too.”
Annie glanced at Cham. He left the room to make a phone call.
Jason sat back, pain showing across his face, and observed his daughters as they attempted to comfort the mother they hadn’t seen in twenty years. The moment wasn’t special or loving; it felt stifled, suffocating. Annie’s newfound grief was strangling her.
Jason glanced at Cham as he returned. “Shiff and Brite are stationed at Shiloh’s school. They’ll bring him here as soon as they can get him.”
“What will you tell him?” Emily asked when she pulled away from Annie.
“It’s better you don’t know.” Cham sat beside Jason.
Emily wiped her tears away and looked at Jason. Annie read the pain on his face. It was the same pain he had lived with when Emily died.
“How did you… when?” Emily asked.
“I’m a corporeal ghost. Thanks to Annie, I’m here to protect my girls.”
But you’re not a ghost anymore.
Samantha glanced at Annie quickly but returned their attention to Emily who looked like she was still trying to process what was happening.
Annie’s stomach roiled. Her head ached with tension.
This is harder than I expected.
Samantha glanced at Annie.
Annie saw her confused expression and mouthed, “What?”
Emily held her hands in tight balls. “They kidnapped me. I waited for you and you didn’t come!” she screamed at Jason. “You didn’t come,” she murmured more softly.
“When I came home, your dead body was sprawled on the floor,” Jason said. “The girls were asleep in their rooms. Zola was missing.”
Annie had read Jason’s case file so many times she’d lost count. Emily’s revelation shocked her; it wasn’t what her father had recorded.
“All that stuff in the notes. The reasons you gave Dad eight years ago were lies. They didn’t tell you I was to receive powers? You didn’t trade your life for mine?” Annie asked cautiously.
She had no doubt the Fraternitatem had brainwashed Emily and what she was told made no difference. If Annie had to believe one of her parents, she would always choose her father,
even if what he was told came from the Fraternitatem. As she looked from her father to her mother to Samantha, her stomach churned with the anxiety and stress their reunion brought. It wasn’t happy; it wasn’t meant to be.
Annie turned away from her father. The ache in his eyes was much too hard for her to process. She turned to her mother instead. Her curiosity was so much greater than her desire to run from the tension.
Emily looked like she was feeling the stress too. She ran her hands through her hair, turned to Annie, and pursed her lips. “You have to understand. The Fraternitatem, when they want something, can be very forceful. They threatened Shiloh.” She closed her eyes and murmured something under her breath.
“Shiloh will be here soon,” Annie promised.
Emily nodded. “I’m sorry, Annie. I’m so sorry, but they were so convincing, claiming the only way I could save you was to come with them. I was so scared.” Her eyes were we, and her lips quivered. “I still loved you.” She looked at Jason, as tears ran down both their cheeks. “I didn’t—I couldn’t marry. Not until you died. I saw your body.” She hit her fists against her thighs. “I didn’t want to. But Levi, he… When Shiloh was born, they had a new way to keep me there. They threatened to take him from me if I left.” She slapped her thighs repetitively and began to rock herself.
“In the note you left for me, you mentioned that I was evil. You were coming to stop me,” Annie said.
“I don’t know. I don’t know.” Emily’s hands flew to her ears as she rocked harder. She slapped her head.
Annie grabbed her mother’s hands and held them firmly. “Cham, grab a crystal, please.”
Cham obliged and held the crystal over Emily; the rock lit up white, black, and dark purple.
“There are a lot of jinxes and spells. I wonder if that’s how they’re controlling her. I’d feel better if Dr. Christine examined her,” Cham said. “Emily, we’re going to get you help.” He left to call the doctor.
“Mom! Look at me.” Annie held Emily’s face in her hands. “Did they force Levi on you?”
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