“Come, son. Let’s get you inside.”
Tristian Crain didn’t ask him a single question about Gwen after that moment. He brought his son inside, walked him to the bathroom, started the shower, and walked out. When Chester heard him on the phone he assumed he’d called Alistair to tell him he’d come home. Chester didn’t stick around long enough to find out. He slipped from the bathroom, went to his room. Once inside he closed the door hoping with the shower still running his father would think him in it.
Chester packed a bag full of clothes. He slung it over his back and lifted his leg over the sill of his open window. When he touched down on the ground, he knew he’d never look back. He was going to join Hex and Finis in Cincinnati. That way he could be close to Gwen in case she needed him.
But first, he was going to say goodbye.
Chapter XXXII
Gwen felt a sense of loss when Silas entered the house alone. She knew it would hurt his feelings, and that Silas would have to tell him it was her wish for him to leave, but she didn’t think Chester would go without saying goodbye. She really didn’t want him to leave, but Silas was right. Chester deserved to live, not by his oath or his ancestors, but for himself. It was her gift to him. She knew he wouldn’t leave unless she let Silas tell him it was her plan all along. Even though it wasn’t. She went along with it, knowing she couldn’t be selfish and have him there like she wanted. As it was, she’d finally figured out that Silas had been right all along. Chester cared for her more than a friend cared for another friend. He never stopped. No, she knew he would be better off not having to watch her live a happy life with the man she loved and their child.
What was that saying? Better to have loved and lost. Gwen doubted that was what Chester was feeling when he left without a word to anyone. All she could do was try not to let it get to her.
The pains she’d had when they arrived at the cabin were murderous. She didn’t want to feel anything like that again. When the pain seared her insides and felt like tissue and flesh were ripping open, she thought she was going to die. She was still having small panic attacks about what labor would be like. However, Ophelia assured her it wouldn’t be as bad as what she’d already experienced. Gwen suspected what the girl meant, was it wouldn't be any worse.
Gwen woke that morning with a feeling of calm. She wanted to move around and go for a walk, but Silas was keeping her inside until he was sure Marshal could get the wards up around the property. She’d been adverse in spells, but Marshal was better. They’d always referred to him as the shield. He could keep anyone out of anywhere, without fail. Unfortunately for them and all other powers, it didn’t work on death watchers. Another reason why the Council used to take the children at a young age. Seraphina's journals finally told her the truth. The Council raised them and kept them in the confines of their mountain. Everyone else assumed they’d been killed because of their gifts. Seraphina uncovered the truth when she’d made a new Council.
Marshal spent the day using his blocking abilities to make sure the grounds were inaccessible to anyone. Anyone getting too close would simply have the urge to turn around, or forget why they were in the middle of the woods.
It was shortly after lunchtime when they finally entered the house and announced she could walk around the property. By then she was too tired and opted for a nap. Laying in the bed she shared with Silas on the second floor, she looked out the window. The dark curtains were placed over them to keep the light out after they had the baby. Little did Silas know, but it also kept it out for her as well.
The moon, no matter how thick the drapes had been, would always find her. She was a Crawford. Some things nobody but the women of her family knew. They were at their strongest when the moon was overhead. Since Seraphina wielded the moon magic, they had a connection to it.
Gwen rolled over facing the door just as it opened a crack. Silas peeked his head in.
“You awake?”
Gwen threw her hand over her stomach and rubbed just under her ribs. “This girl won’t let me sleep.”
“Someone’s here to talk to you.”
She cocked her head to look at him better, then began to move so she could sit up as Chester walked in the room. Silas smiled and closed the door softly, leaving her alone with her friend.
He looked at her with a sad expression on his face and put up his hand when she looked like she was about to yell at him.
“Remember the baby.”
“Of course, I remember the baby. It’s all I think about lately, except last night and today. I was too busy wondering if you were ok. Why did you leave like that?”
“I don’t know.” He pushed his hands through his hair. “I didn’t want to have one of those awkward goodbyes. You wanted me to leave, and that’s all I could think of.”
“You do know it is for your own good, right? Otherwise, I’d have you stay with us. Nobody... none of you should have to live like this, but Silas and I will do whatever we can to protect this child. She is what’s important.”
“I know. Your right. I just couldn’t think about what I was losing.”
“Chester.”
He put his hands out again in protest. “Now, Gwen hear me out.” He sat on the edge of the bed, but still out of her reach if she decided to hit him. “I have always looked after you. You’ve been my best friend since we were very little, just a fifty foot walk away from each other. Now, I have to find a way to live without you being that close. I’ve already lost any hope that we’d be together.”
He stopped for a moment when she closed her eyes and turned away. “It’s ok. I’ve gotten over it. You're still my friend. Everyone else in our little group is here because of you. None of them will care what I do, or where I’ll go from here. Just you.”
She opened her eyes and finally found her strength to sit up. “Chester, you’re not losing me. I’ll always be your best friend, but it’s too dangerous for you to stay here.”
“That’s another thing. I know that now. It doesn’t make it any easier to swallow, but I understand the implications. I just came back to explain that. Also, to tell you I’m going to move to Pleasant Ridge. Hex and Finis had the right idea.”
Gwen didn’t know what to say. Instead, she stood and walked around the bed to where he sat. He stood and she moved in sideways to hug him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and held her. His chin settling on her head. Gwen knew he was moving closer so he could travel in animal form and check up on them once in a while, but not so often that his scent would stick around for others to track and find. He could be careful when he wanted to. A small part of her was happy that he was going to act against Silas and visit them. Another part of her knew it would only be a matter of time before someone tracked him to her. Whoever was after Gwen had to know pretty much everything about her and her relationships with her friends, Chester most of all.
He kissed the top of her head and they pulled back, breaking their hold when the door opened again.
“Everything okay in here?” Silas stepped into the room. His dark eyes scanning both of their faces for emotions he may not have been able to feel.
“Yes. We’re fine. Chester was just saying goodbye.”
“Now, I think it’s time to get the boys and head out. The sooner we are all out of your hair the sooner you can get rest.” Chester gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and she quickly looked at Silas for a reaction, but there wasn’t one.
The three of them walked downstairs just as everyone else was packing up the bags they brought with them and settled them next to the door. The cars were moved closer to the small porch and Hex and Marcus started loading them up with the bags. Marshal, Marcus, and Elle jumped into Elle’s BMW. While Hex, Finis, and Chester took Silas’ silver Honda. The former would head back to Springfield, and the other three to Pleasant Ridge. None of them were leaving the state, but for Gwen, it felt like they would all be on the other side of the world.
Their friends hadn’t been gone more than an hour
and Gwen was in tears sprawled out on the sofa with her head in Silas’ lap. She knew pregnancy increased the emotions of a woman tenfold, but she couldn’t justify being that upset. She needed to calm down. Silas began rubbing her belly, and she closed her eyes.
Chapter XXXIII
Silas couldn’t believe Chester had come back. He also couldn’t believe he didn’t realize Gwen would be more upset by saying goodbye than she was when he just took off. He should have just stayed away. To top it all off, Chester announced his plans to stay in the same town as Hex and Finis. No doubt so they could all travel by animal and in a rotation to check on them. Silas hadn’t thought of those motives until the three of them were already gone.
Silas looked down at his wife, crying all over his lap. His jeans were soaked in tears and snot. She kept moving her face across his leg to wipe it clear of both, but he didn’t mind. He just hoped she would be ok, and that the early labor pains wouldn’t start again. Then he thought maybe it would be worse if she kept it all bottled up.
Two hours down and just eighteen years two months to go, if she delivered close to her due date, and he wondered if they would end up going stir crazy. How in the hell did they talk themselves into staying there, hidden away from the world? For the plan to work, they wouldn’t be able to leave the property.
Ophelia had volunteered for the role of caregiver. Who knew why, but she did, and she was quite good at it. For the next few weeks, she made sure Gwen ate properly, took her vitamins and drank plenty of water. Vital things that Silas himself had to admit he didn’t keep track of before Ophelia had taken it upon herself to care for Gwen.
Before long they settled into an easy groove. It was a week past Gwen’s due date, and they were feeling pretty closed in. Ophelia did all the shopping. Leaving once or twice a week, depending on Gwen’s cravings, and purchased food and baby items she thought they would need. She’d arrived at the house with a crib one day, and Silas told Gwen he’d put it together. It sat against a wall in the box for several weeks. Since she could give birth at any moment, Gwen slid the box over to him while he was eating his breakfast.
“But I have pancakes,” he pleaded.
“Nope, your daughter comes first,” she said with her hands on her hips. The black and white striped shirt made her look like a prison inmate. Silas’ pulse quickened and she only glared at him, pointing at the box. "Do you want your child sleeping on the floor? Or maybe you can, and she can have your spot on the bed?"
Ophelia told them during her last examination, that the baby’s head had dropped into the crowning position, and she'd started to dilate. So of course, he had to put his fork down and start building a crib.
Gwen walked over to Silas, and he abandoned the box to grab her by the waist and set her on his knee. One hand held her around her waist while the other cupped and caressed her face.
“You are simply amazing. You know that?”
“No.” She laughed at him.
“Well, you are. You’ve gone through all of this. Losing friends, your mom, and now all of your friends and you still have a smile on your face.”
“That’s because I have the two of you.”
Ophelia cleared her throat stepping into the kitchen by way of her room. “I’m going to go shopping. Need anything other than the obvious?” She fluffed her short bob and looked at her nails waiting for Silas to offer anything new for her to pick up. He was amazed at the transformation of the small girl. She’d gone from timid and shy to mother hen of the entire coven.
“No, I think we’re good.”
“Bottles,” Gwen said quickly as she pulled a pancake from the griddle and set it on a plate. “I don’t have any here.”
“Sure. I remember the ones you had in the other house. I’ll grab those.”
Silas heard the hesitation return to her voice. Having understood, he moved and put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s ok. It’s bound to happen.”
Gwen swung around. Confusion set on her face then her brows turned in realizing what Ophelia had done. “Oh, honey, it really is ok. It wasn’t something so traumatic that it haunts me or anything. Besides,” she said looking back at the pan, “I much rather the cabin in the woods. Feels homey.” Her shoulders came up and Ophelia blushed, but Silas couldn’t figure out why.
“Okay, well if that’s it.” She ducked her head through the silly beaded curtain hanging in the doorway that separated the empty room off the front of the house from the kitchen. Gwen insisted on hanging them. She’d also insisted on them being purple. It was her favorite color, so that wasn’t a big surprise.
Ophelia sighed every time she walked through it. She thought it would be better to add another entrance to the house and convert the space to a large bedroom. She thought Silas and Gwen would like a larger space of their own, and she would take one of the upstairs bedrooms. Gwen said no. She would find something to do with the space and left it at that. She had time to figure it out.
Silas went back to his chair and the box that now sat on the floor, opened up to expose the wooden frame of the crib he’d have to put together. He pulled the pieces from the box and studied each of them. Gwen continued cooking pancakes as if the entire coven were still staying with them. Silas didn’t have the heart to remind her that it was not the case. If he had to, he’d eat every one of them. Once he pulled the small package with nuts and bolts from the large box, Gwen turned. She bent down and grabbed a thick looking booklet of paper and handed it to him.
“What’s this?”
“The directions, I’d assume.”
“I don’t need those.”
“Why, you’ve put together a million cribs?” She laughed and turned back to the stove. “My daughter is not going to suffer a concussion as a newborn because you refused to follow the directions. Now, get to it, Mr.”
Silas leaped from his chair and wrapped his arms around Gwen, her back pressed firmly against him. He moved the hair from behind her, careful to not throw it into the pan and cozied into her neck, planting small kisses as he moved. Gwen turned her head to accommodate him, so she was looking out the window over the sink.
“No.”
She spoke so abruptly Silas jumped back. “I’m sorry. I’ll get back to the crib.”
“No, that’s not it.” She didn’t move.
“What is it? The baby?”
“No. Sabina.” She pointed out the window to the tree line beyond the property.
Silas moved to her side and looked out as well. Sure enough, little Sabina walked right for their door. She was completely dressed in black; jeans, shirt, boots, and cloak. The hood was lifted over her head. Her lips were blood red and contrasted against her fair skin and dark hair and clothes. She lifted both hands to the hood and pushed it down. Her hair had been spiked and pushed into the middle of her head. She looked like a snake slithering across their lawn.
“I told you, she couldn’t be trusted. She shouldn’t have been able to find this place. Let alone walk into it.”
“Silas. She’s my sister.”
“She’s also been keeping things from us. How do we know she’s not the one who’s been terrorizing us?”
“She’s only a child.” Gwen tossed the spatula into the sink and turned off the flame on the stove before heading to the door.
Gwen reached the porch and Silas quickly moved to her side. Sabina seemed to be sauntering her way across the yard. Her eyes held a menacing look and Silas felt Gwen shiver under his touch. He wrapped an arm protectively around her and pulled her close to him.
“Silas,” she whispered to him as Sabina made her way closer, but there was nothing they could do.
Silas pushed out with his senses and realized why she’d always kept her distance from him. Gwen never liked to read people, especially her own family. It was no wonder she’d never found out her sister’s secret. Gwen started to push back into him, making him backtrack into the house. Sabina noticed the movement and the corners of her mouth lifted. When Gwen turned, she had tears
in her eyes and they darted all around as if she were looking for an escape route through their home.
Silas pulled her inside and shut the door locking it as he dragged her through the house and back to the kitchen. Sabina didn’t let herself in right away. He knew locking the door against a witch was hardly going to keep them safe. His mind was scrambled. He couldn’t think straight. What should he do? What did she intend to do?
There was a soft knock on the door. “Trick or treat,” Sabina called from the other side of the door. Silas looked back at Gwen who clung to his back. “Honestly Gwen,” the door splintered into more pieces than Silas could count, spraying the empty room with chunks of wood.
“Why are you hiding in here? Don’t you want visitors?”
Silas looked out the window. The yard was full of men clad in black. Matching outfits complete with black turtlenecks and loafers, just as those who’d attacked them and killed Daniel. They swarmed the outside of the house, but none entered behind their mistress.
“Sabina,” Gwen started. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see my big sis. Is there a problem with that?”
“Why do I get the feeling that’s just not the case,” Gwen asked her sister. She moved closer to Silas’ side. He knew she wouldn’t show her fear. She’d face whatever it was her sister was there to do.
“Oh, Gwenie. Always the optimist. What other reason would I have to seek you out while the rest of the world thinks you’re dead?”
Silas suddenly realized where they had gone wrong. “You didn’t get what you wanted.”
“You're absolutely wrong. I got exactly what I wanted. Seraphina.”
“What?” He couldn’t understand what she was talking about.
Gwen moved to a chair and sat down. “I should have known. How could I have been so blind? What did I do to you, other than be born first?”
“Nothing. That’s all there is. Isn’t that enough?”
Turning the Stone (The Blood Rites Trilogy Book 2) Page 19