by T. M. Cromer
He hung up after three. She could only assume he was going to wade into the fray.
GiGi showed as Autumn tossed the phone aside.
“Nice timing, Aunt GiGi.”
“Move your hands and let me work.”
Like the time a few months earlier when Summer had been shot, GiGi used the added boost of her wand and arched a magical purple light into the bullet hole. And as before, the healing light did its job. Within seconds the slug was removed, and the entrance wound was cauterized to stop the flow of blood.
Autumn knew there was more to it, but not being the healer of the family, she only grasped the basics.
“Is he going to be okay?” Chloe asked tearfully.
“He is, dear child. Thanks to you,” GiGi said as she smoothed the girl’s sweat-dampened hair back from her face. “You can let go now.”
“What if he d-dies?” she whispered.
“He won’t. Aunt GiGi is the best in the business. If she says Derek’s going to be okay, then he’s going to be just right as rain.”
“He saved me from the b-bad man,” Chloe said between sniffles.
“Then he’s a true hero, child,” GiGi informed her. “Now, go wash your hands and face, then wait in the kitchen for your father. Autumn and I are going to see young Derek is comfortable upstairs.”
“Yes, Miss GiGi.”
When Chloe was out of earshot, GiGi demanded the details.
Autumn told her what little she knew, including a rundown of her time at the monastery.
“Lin? You’re sure his name was Lin?” GiGi asked sharply.
“Yes. Do you know him?”
“I do. As do Preston and Alastair. We all go back a long way.”
“What’s that fucker’s deal? He’s determined to see me burn at the stake.”
“Lin was part of a task force to hunt witches and warlocks,” GiGi informed her.
“Was? He isn’t any more?”
The dark-blue eyes of her aunt—more serious than Autumn had ever witnessed them—took on a haunted look. “He’s the only one left.”
“Let me guess. He went up against Alastair and my father, and everyone on his side was wiped out.”
“Yes.”
“Goddess! No wonder he hates our family.”
“He’s the reason your mother is the way she is.”
Autumn reeled with the news. “Lin is the reason Mom is in stasis?”
“For the most part, yes.”
Wrapping her head around a story that had played out twenty years before was difficult. What was even more difficult was the thought that it had all come around again. Who would pay the price this time? Her? Keaton? Chloe?
Lin seemed to have a hard-on for making Autumn suffer. If she had to sacrifice herself to keep Chloe safe, she would. That little girl had come to mean more to Autumn than her own life.
“I need to check on Chloe. Can you teleport Derek to my old room?”
“Go. I will see to it. I will also let his parents know he will be in stasis here to finish healing.”
“Thanks, Aunt GiGi. I love you.”
“I love you, too, child.”
Autumn found Chloe staring morosely at the table, her little hands folded in her lap as if she expected the worst sort of punishment.
“Hey, kid. You doing okay?”
The dark head came up, and tear-bright eyes blinked up at Autumn.
“Is he really going to b-be okay?”
“He really is,” she assured the girl with a hug. “Thanks in huge part to you. Your magic helped me to keep him stable until GiGi could work on him. You should be super proud of yourself. I know I’m proud of you.”
“It’s my f-fault,” Chloe said tearfully as she swiped her running nose with the back of her sleeve.
Autumn conjured a box of tissues and set it on the table. Next, she conjured a three-tiered chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting, two plates, and a couple of forks. “How so?”
“If I hadn’t g-gone with that man, Derek wouldn’t have t-tried to save me. He wouldn’t have been h-hurt.” Chloe’s words were peppered with little catches from her emotional upset.
Autumn squatted next to the child and brushed a hand along her hair. “You can’t think like that. Derek chose to help you of his own free will. And I’m sure he doesn’t regret a second of saving you, because that’s what he did.” She kissed Chloe’s forehead. “Lin is a very bad man who is out to hurt my family. He was going to use you to get to me because I love you. If anyone is to blame, it’s me.”
The air crackled around them, signaling a group teleport. Autumn’s sisters, along with her dad, Coop, and Keaton all appeared in the hallway off the kitchen. Coop and Keaton looked a little haggard, but her sisters and father looked as if they’d been for a stroll instead of in a fight for their lives.
Keaton was the first to reach Autumn and Chloe. He hauled his daughter into his arms and held on tight.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” she sobbed. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t you dare apologize. You did nothing wrong,” he returned gruffly.
Tears burned behind Autumn’s lids as she watched the scene unfold. Keaton was the best of fathers.
Still holding Chloe, Keaton reached up and jerked the necklace from where it was anchored around his neck. With a show of disgust, he threw it on the table in front of Autumn. “I’m out of this whole crazy mess. Do what you want with that, I don’t care. But when it affects my daughter…” He compressed his lips, unable to finish.
Autumn reached for his arm, but he backed away. “Keaton?”
He shook his head and backed from the room with Chloe clinging tightly to his neck, her spindly legs wrapped around his waist. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
The ugly, negative feelings seizing her chest weren’t pleasant. She wouldn’t hold her breath for that call. With shaky fingers, she lifted the necklace and slipped it into her pocket. The damned thing had to be cursed, but she intended to follow through and deliver it to Alastair. It was long past time to get it out of their lives and in a more secure location.
Chapter 20
Keaton’s phone call came an hour later. Without preamble, he asked, “How do I ward my home?”
“You can check with your parents to see if perhaps they’ve already done it. But it isn’t difficult. Your family grimoire should have a recording of the process.”
“Can Chloe be safeguarded against danger with a spell?”
She grimaced at the aggressive tone in his voice. While she understood it, she needed to tread carefully. Keaton was on the edge, and any little thing could set him off.
“Not that I know of, but I can come over and help you research—”
“No. Your family has done enough,” he snapped.
“Keaton—”
“I don’t want to talk about this now. I have a terrified daughter who is devastated because her friend was shot on her behalf. I can’t deal with your family drama right now, Autumn.”
His attitude was warranted, but it hurt nonetheless.
“Let Chloe know that Derek will wake in a few days’ time. If she wants to visit him at any point, she is more than welcome.”
“She can wait until he wakes and visits her here. I don’t want her anywhere around any of you until the threat of Lin is neutralized.”
“Understood.”
Keaton hung up without a by-your-leave or even a fuck you. His coldness was reminiscent of their fight in the clearing all those years ago. The ache it caused her heart was debilitating.
“That the boyfriend?”
She spun around and faced her father. “I don’t know if he’d consider himself my boyfriend at this point. Putting his kid in danger might’ve been the deal-breaker.”
“He’ll come around.”
“I don’t know, Dad,” she said as she sat at the kitchen table. To avoid his penetrating gaze, she picked at the cake frosting. “He’s pretty pissed—and rightfully so.”
“
He’ll realize this was not your fault,” Preston assured her.
“But it is my fault. If I hadn’t agreed to go after the Chintamani Stone for Uncle Alastair, I wouldn’t have put Keaton and Chloe on Lin’s radar.”
“We’ve always been on his radar, child. His brand of hatred goes back centuries.”
She frowned as her father settled across from her and cut a slice of cake for them both. “How can he be that old?”
“He isn’t, but the society he worked for was. It was known as the Désorceler Society. For generations, it was his family’s job to hand select the members to hunt witches and warlocks.” Preston shrugged and chewed a bite of cake before continuing. “When the Witches’ Council decided on a counter attack, a large-scale battle ensued. Lin’s entire family were casualties of the war. Mother and younger brother included.”
“Oh, Dad!” While she hated Lin, she felt compassion for what he’d been through. “Aunt GiGi said Lin was responsible for Mom’s stasis state. Was it part of that war?”
Preston sighed and laid down his fork. “Yes and no. The war took place about twenty years before you were born.” His dark amber eyes looked through her, at some distant memory. A minute or two ticked by before he explained. “Your mother and my brother Alastair had been childhood sweethearts. They were inseparable. Like you and your Keaton in the early days when you first dated.”
Autumn nodded her understanding.
He picked up his fork and toyed with the layers of the cake. “I loved her even then. Her laughter. Her flashing eyes. I knew she loved Alastair, but I didn’t care. In my heart, I wanted her for myself.
“Then the Witches’ Council called my brother to fight. I was only sixteen at the time, but powerful in my own right. Not nearly as powerful as Alastair or my father, but strong. Or so I thought. I was naive.”
She covered one of her father’s large hands where it rested on the table, but remained silent.
Preston flipped his hand and entwined their fingers. “Warlocks are notoriously hard to kill, but it isn’t impossible. There were traitors out to save their own hides. The Désorcelers were far-reaching. They made promises they had no intention of keeping, but those witches or warlocks in fear for their own lives had no way of knowing that.”
“What happened?” Autumn asked softly. “How did you and Mom end up married?”
“Alastair was captured. Rumor came to us that he’d been tortured and killed. I lived for years with the belief that it had been all my fault. Had I not been there that day, he would never have been taken. But he sacrificed himself for me. For his little brother.”
“Oh, Dad.”
“Aurora continued to mourn him for years. In the beginning, she was inconsolable. She told me later, she felt her only recourse was to leave Leiper’s Fork. One day, years later, I came across her while traveling. I think perhaps we were both trying to run from the pain of loss.”
“Where did you meet?”
“France. A little out-of-the-way village. There she was, sitting at an outdoor cafe, reading a book, and sipping coffee.” He smiled at the memory. “I couldn’t believe my eyes. Anyway, we struck up a conversation, and the rest was history. We grew close and married, had you kids. Then three years into our marriage, Alastair showed up—alive and well. Or as well as someone who had been held captive for years could be.”
“She left with him?”
Preston shook his head. “Not at first. But at night, when she thought I wasn’t listening, I could hear her crying. I didn’t doubt that she loved me. But it was never going to be a fraction of the love she held for my brother.”
“I’m sorry, Dad,” she whispered around the lump in her throat.
He patted her hand and conjured a brandy. After a fortifying sip, he continued. “You know about the affair and the birth of your twin sisters.”
“I do.”
“I hated him at that point. Hated her too. But I didn’t feel as if I could live without her. So I clung with all my might—to her, to the twins. Except Holly had an aversion to me. I don’t know why. For as much as Summer loved being in my arms, Holly was the complete opposite. If I came near, she’d scream.”
He took another long drink. “Aurora decided to send Holly to Alastair. And afterward, your mother was a shell of her old self. She was so unhappy. One day, I came home, and she was gone. No note. No goodbye.” He used the heel of his hands to rub his eyes. “I knew she’d gone to him. But at least she left me you kids. It gave me something to live for.”
“How did she end up in stasis?” Winnie asked from behind Autumn, startling both her and Preston.
“Lin caught up with them. His intent was to kill my brother, but Aurora moved in the path of the bullet. It tore through her chest and nicked an artery. A wound like that can be healed if a witch is quick enough. But the bullets he uses are laced with a special poison. One deadly to witches. GiGi and Alastair were sick for days after they attempted to heal her.”
“What?” Surely Autumn had misheard.
Preston froze in sipping his drink.
“Dad, Chloe helped me and GiGi heal Derek!”
He shoved to his feet and grabbed Autumn’s hand. “Winnie, get GiGi and tell her to head to the Carlyle estate.” With that, he teleported himself and Autumn to Keaton’s house.
“Keaton!” she screamed as soon as she saw him sitting on the porch swing. “Chloe! We have to get to Chloe!”
Keaton surged to his feet and didn’t stop moving until he hit Chloe’s bedroom. Preston and Autumn were hot on his heels.
They all skidded to a halt when they saw the child lying on the floor by her dolls. Sweat beaded the little girl’s brow, and her pain-filled eyes stared straight ahead.
“Good Christ!” Keaton shot to his knees and cradled her close. “She’s barely breathing!”
“Move aside,” Preston ordered.
“No! I—”
Autumn fisted a hand and jerked sideways. Keaton’s arms dropped down, allowing Preston to scoop up Chloe before she hit the floor. Because the rage in his eyes promised retribution, she fisted her other hand to keep Keaton frozen in place.
“Take her into the living room, Dad. GiGi should be here any second.”
An inhuman cry erupted from Keaton, and he shifted in place. Her hold on him was weakening fast. In about one minute, she was going to be dealing with over six-feet of enraged male.
“Keaton, you need to calm down. You are not helping Chloe. She needs the help only my father and GiGi can provide,” she said, trying to infuse a calm note to her voice.
He snarled his response.
“Keaton, please,” she pleaded. Sweat broke out on her own upper lip. Whatever Lin had laced those bullets with was now coursing through her own veins. She’d been poisoned along with Chloe, but she refused to draw attention to herself until the child was cared for. “Let them help her.”
Once again, he shifted. Her fragile hold broke. He shoved by her and charged from the room. Knowing she’d done all she could, she used the last of her magic to teleport home. She never made it farther than the foyer before she collapsed in a heap on the old oak floors.
“You do know Autumn was poisoned too, brother.”
Keaton rounded the corner to the living room and overheard GiGi’s comment.
“I know. She wants us to treat Chloe first.” Preston’s response was gruff.
“There may not be enough to treat Chloe, Autumn, and the boy,” GiGi warned as she injected the syringe tip into Chloe’s vein.
“What are you doing?” Keaton demanded. “What did you give her?”
“Calm down, son,” Preston growled. “It’s an antidote to the poison Lin used.”
“Lin?” Keaton’s gaze ping-ponged between Preston and GiGi. “Lin poisoned my daughter?”
“The bullet was laced with poison that is fatal to witches. When Chloe and Autumn helped Derek, they were infected,” GiGi explained.
“Why weren’t you?” he asked as he rushed to his dau
ghter’s side. “Or me, for that matter?”
“Because I didn’t use direct magic on Derek. I used a tool. Chloe and Autumn were hands on.”
Panic swelled in his chest, and Keaton had a hard time grasping what was being said. His daughter had been lying in her bedroom—dying—as he sat brooding on the porch and nursing a beer.
He knelt beside her and brushed the dark hair back from her pale face. “When will we know?”
“Twenty-four hours,” GiGi said as she packed up her small bag of medicines. She handed him a slip of paper with her phone number. “Keep pushing liquids and call me if anything changes in her condition. Where’s Autumn?”
He frowned and looked toward the hall. She should’ve arrived right behind him. “I left her in the bedroom.”
Preston ran for the room and came back alone. “She must’ve headed back to the manor.” To Keaton, he said, “Don’t be an ass this time around, son. She was only trying to help you and yours.”
“She’s the reason my daughter is in this condition,” Keaton snapped.
Autumn’s father shook his head with a look of pity. “From one stubborn fool to another, don’t let pride be your downfall,” he said and disappeared.
“My brother isn’t wrong. Lin and his kind would’ve found your family eventually. It’s what he does.” GiGi patted the shoulder closest to her. “Get your parents back here immediately to help extend the perimeter and enforce the wards on your estate. Phillip will know how it’s done,” she said, referring to his father. “Call me if Chloe worsens.”
Then she, too, was gone. Keaton was left alone with his suffering child and a purple card that contained a single phone number.
In the long hours during the night, he kept vigil beside his daughter’s bed. Knox and C.C. took turns delivering soup, coffee, and fresh water for him to bathe Chloe. By morning, his parents had returned, thanks to Coop’s summons.
“How is she?” Phillip asked.
“No change,” Keaton answered without emotion. He was too spent.