Autumn Magic

by T. M. Cromer

  “Is something wrong with it?” he asked, puzzled.

  She nodded and mock shuddered.

  Keaton tore off a piece of the pastry and popped it into his mouth. He chewed and swallowed with no sign of disgust. “Tastes great to me.”

  Disquiet stirred in her breast. Either he was messing with her, or the food was fine.

  She mimed a drink.

  With a wide smile, he conjured a cup of coffee for her.

  After a tentative sip, she held the cup to him to try.

  “It’s just the way you like it. Which is to say, it’s too sweet for me,” he laughed and tried to hand her the mug.

  With an emphatic shake of her head, Autumn held up her hands.

  “You have to eat or drink something, babe.”

  Hadn’t she eaten since she’d been awake?

  On her nightstand rested a pen and pad of paper. She picked them up and asked that exact question.

  “No,” he said after reading what she’d written. “You reject everything anyone brings you.”

  How long? she wrote.

  “Since you’ve eaten? Two days. You take a bite and spit it out. You don’t remember?”

  Why couldn’t she recall?

  Get me Alastair, please.

  Keaton took an inordinately long time reading the request. When he finally looked up from the notepad concern for her radiated from his eyes. “Is something wrong, Autumn? Tell me now.”

  I don’t know. I feel nothing. I taste nothing. Want nothing, except…

  He read her words and nodded thoughtfully. “Except?”

  I want to go back.

  “No!” He grabbed her hands and gave them a quick, hard shake. “Don’t ever say that again. We’ll figure this out,” he stated more calmly. “Give me time. Please.”

  Meeting his probing gaze was too difficult, and she avoided looking at him. Instead, she wrote, Alastair.

  “Okay.”

  She sighed her relief. Part of her knew Alastair held the key.

  Once in the hallway, Keaton leaned back against the wall outside Autumn’s room and gulped in large quantities of air.

  I feel nothing. I taste nothing. Want nothing, except… I want to go back.

  Her words freaked him right the fuck out. What was wrong with her? Why was she only a shell of her former self?

  He supposed her lackluster response to life could be a direct result of her near death. But Chloe and Derek had returned to normal upon waking. Keaton couldn’t understand what was different in Autumn’s recovery.

  Since Autumn seemed to think Alastair was key, Keaton intended to drag him here—kicking and screaming if he must.

  Keaton hurried downstairs and grabbed the first Thorne he ran into. “Winnie, I need a contact number for Alastair.”

  Her alarmed gaze flew wide. “Why?”

  “Autumn. She’s… off since she’s come back. You must’ve noticed.”

  She gnawed her lip in indecision. Finally, she said, “I’ll get his number from Summer and call him.” Before she finished speaking, Winnie had her smartphone out and had shot Summer a text. Within a minute, her phone pinged in return. She held up the device as he copied the number to his own.

  “Thanks.”

  “Are you sure you want to summon him?”

  “You make him sound like Lucifer,” he chuckled, but his insides were a jumble of raw nerves. Alastair Thorne was one of two men who terrified the bejeezus out of him.

  “Just be careful, Keaton. I suspect his help comes with a price.”

  He nodded and stepped outside to place the call.

  Five minutes later, Alastair sat on the edge of Autumn’s bed.

  “Hello, niece.”

  “Uncle.”

  Keaton reeled in shock. “You spoke!” he said accusingly.

  Her dispassionate gaze matched Alastair’s as they stared at him.

  “I’m just saying…” Keaton started. What the hell was he saying? He should shut up while he could. “I’ll be over here,” he muttered.

  He caught the flash of amusement in Alastair’s stare before the other man shifted his attention back to Autumn.

  “Why am I here?”

  “I’m cold inside. Everything is off. I thought you might know what is wrong with me.”

  A troubled expression crossed Alastair’s countenance. Autumn’s uncle cleared his throat. “I don’t know how much you know of my past…” he began.

  She cut him off with a wave of her hand. “All of it.”

  “I suspected as much. Isis does love to tell her tales,” Alastair said dryly.

  “Not Isis. My mom.”

  The air in the room crackled with tension. “You spoke to Aurora?” The husky quality to Alastair’s voice left little doubt how much the man loved Autumn’s mother. “She’s okay?”

  “She is.” Autumn met his gaze straight on. “She said you were in the Otherworld for a long while before returning. Back when Lin held you captive.”

  Alastair’s features froze in icy rage.

  Keaton’s gut tightened in response, but he stepped forward anyway. He’d protect Autumn until his last breath if he had to.

  “Calm down, boy. I’m not going to hurt her,” Alastair snapped without sparing him a glance. The older man rose to his feet in one elegant gesture. He moved to the window and stared at the vista on the other side of the glass pane.

  Keaton’s gaze connected with Autumn’s. She didn’t look nearly as ruffled as he felt. Apparently, she wasn’t concerned with pissing off the almighty warlock.

  “When the Désorcelers captured me, they took me to the monastery where you were held. That same quaint little dungeon in fact. I was left to rot with others, who soon became those corpses you had the misfortune to encounter.” Alastair spun around and pinned them with an emotionless stare. “Some of those skeletons had been my brothers-in-arms. One-by-one, we were taken out, tortured, and returned to the cell to sit in our own blood and filth.”

  He addressed Keaton. “I sent you into the cell to retrieve my niece because I couldn’t set foot in there. Not again.”

  “How did you escape?” Keaton asked quietly.

  “I died.”

  Whatever answer Keaton had been expecting, that wasn’t it. He shook his head in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

  “I died and went to the Otherworld. Isis kept my body in stasis until I could return. Her gift to me—her descendent.” Alastair gestured with a scarred hand to Autumn. “And I suspect her gift to Autumn as well. She loves her family fiercely and will bend the cosmic rules to save us if she can.”

  With the standard Thorne shrug of his shoulders, Alastair walked to stand beside Autumn’s bed. He held out his hand to her. She rose with his assistance and faced him.

  “How long did it take for the cold to go away, Uncle?”

  “I doubt it ever does. A piece of it will always stay with you. But I will do for you what another did for me.” So saying, he placed one palm flat over her heart and the other horizontally across her forehead. “Breathe and let the magic flow through you. Pull it deep into your cells and let it warm you again.”

  A red glow infused Autumn’s eyes, brightening her irises to amber from muddy brown. Her back arched, and her mouth dropped open in a silent scream.

  “You’re hurting her!” Keaton yelled as he surged forward.

  “Stay back, boy!” Alastair barked. “Never make the mistake of interrupting a spell.”

  “But—”

  “Shut the fuck up!”

  Keaton bristled with the need to challenge Alastair, but by the time he got his balls in hand to do just that, Alastair had stepped away from Autumn.

  “How do you feel?” he asked her.

  She turned luminous eyes on her uncle. “Almost normal.”

  “Each passing day you will feel more yourself.”

  “Thank you, Uncle.”

  “My pleasure, child.” He gestured to Keaton with a side nod. “Teach this one manners bef
ore he gets someone hurt or killed.”

  In a blink, Alastair was gone.

  Keaton rushed to haul her close. “He didn’t hurt you? You looked like you were in agony,” he said gruffly.

  “He was helping me. Yes, it hurt, but sometimes magic does.”

  “What was that? What did he do?”

  She shook her head in a helpless manner. “I guess the best way to describe it would be to say he restored the balance to my cells. They’d been in a death-like state too long, I think. It made returning impossible without his help.”

  “How do you know all this?”

  “As he infused his power into my body, the knowledge came with it. I don’t know how it’s done to be honest.” She smiled and placed her palm along his clenched jaw. “I’ll take that cinnamon roll now.”

  Keaton closed his eyes in relief. “Welcome back, babe.”

  “You know what I really want?” she asked a short while later.

  “What’s that?”

  “To see my daughter.” She laughed in the face of his confusion. “Chloe was ours first. The baby I lost. Apparently, she was determined to be born regardless.”

  He had no words. Chloe had mentioned Autumn was her mother when she woke up a few days ago. He had assumed it was a child’s flight of fancy.

  “You look shell-shocked,” she said. “Isis said it was so. Her words were something along the lines of Chloe and me being linked for many incarnations.”

  “Reincarnation is real?” Raised in a small town, with small town beliefs, it wasn’t easy to grasp things on a larger scale. While he’d always considered himself open-minded—with the exception of his reaction to Autumn’s confession years ago—it took him longer to wrap his head around the things revealed to him through the magical community.

  “It is,” she assured him. “Come on, let’s finish here, and I can tell you about all the times you, me, and Chloe were a family.”

  “Are you truly back?” he asked, afraid of the answer.

  “Mostly. Like Alastair said, there is a part that feels off. Not in a terrible way. Just distanced from the rest of me.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “I don’t know, Keaton. But let’s put it behind us for a little while. I want to taste food again. To savor the sweetness of the air. Spend time with you and Chloe. Can we do that without the twenty questions?”

  He nodded and took the hand she offered, knowing he’d go anywhere she cared to lead him.

  Chapter 24

  During their meal that afternoon, Autumn half-listened to Chloe chatter about whatever it was little girls liked to discuss without end. Periodically, Keaton would shoot a worried glance her way. Autumn would smile her reassurance.

  She understood his concern. From the moment Keaton heard Alastair say that not all of the coldness goes away, he’d been worried. But the hovering-helicopter act was getting on her last nerve.

  Only time would cure what ailed her. But neither of them would make it long enough to find out if he didn’t stop checking on her every five minutes. Granted, she’d only been revived a few days ago, but physically, she felt fine.

  Autumn needed a diversion and had just the thing. “I think it’s time we summon your familiars.”

  Chloe’s head whipped around, and the joyful light in her honey eyes made Autumn smile.

  “I’m assuming you’d like that?”

  Keaton frowned. “Do you have one? I’ve never seen you with an animal.”

  Of course, he hadn’t. She’d never called one to her. In the past, she’d borrowed her mother’s temperamental old cat for spells.

  After Autumn’s mother had left, loving or depending on another living being wasn’t something she’d been ready for. Or at least she hadn’t been until she’d hooked up with Keaton.

  In the time they were dating, she hadn’t spared a thought to finding a familiar. Afterward, their breakup and the loss of the baby caused her to shut down her heart. A familiar needed a strong emotional connection to be effective.

  “The timing was never right for me. But it is now. I say let’s have a ceremony. What do you think?” She infused fake cheer into her question.

  His keen gaze missed nothing, but he nodded anyway. “Sure. I say we do this thing. Uh, how do we do this thing?”

  Chloe giggled. “Daddy, you’re so silly. That’s what Mama is going to show us.”

  Autumn sucked in her breath and stared. She hadn’t given much thought to moving forward other than that she knew she wanted to spend time with Chloe whenever possible. But being called “Mama” brought their relationship to a whole new level.

  Chloe’s happiness faded to worry. “Is it okay if I call you Mama?”

  Locked in place, Autumn could only stare.

  “Babe?” An edge of strong emotion lurked in the single word. Yet, Autumn remained unable to acknowledge him.

  Tears flooded the young girl’s eyes, but still Autumn couldn’t speak.

  “I thought since Isis…” Chloe mumbled the beginning of her explanation then trailed off and cast her eyes downward.

  Autumn was out of her seat and around the table in an instant. She hauled the little girl into her embrace and buried her nose in Chloe’s strawberry scented hair.

  “It’s more than okay, kid,” Autumn whispered fiercely. “So much more than okay.”

  Over Chloe’s dark head, Autumn sought Keaton’s approval. His wide grin eased her insecurities. She cleared her throat. “How about we find our familiars now?”

  “Why don’t you already have one, Mama?”

  “I wasn’t ready,” she answered honestly. “I needed to be receptive and open for the Goddess to grant me that type of gift.” Autumn hugged Chloe again and said, “But I think you helped me with that.”

  Chloe’s sunny smile warmed another vital area of Autumn’s soul.

  Holding back her own smile became impossible. “Let’s do this thing! Race you to the clearing!”

  Mischief danced across Chloe’s face, and Autumn grabbed Keaton’s hand without warning.

  His confusion was short-lived as she teleported them both to the glen. Chloe was a mere second behind.

  “Nice!” Autumn laughed. “Have you been practicing these last couple days?”

  “Only to the barn and back. Uncle Knox has been helping me,” Chloe admitted.

  “How did I not know this?” Keaton demanded in mock outrage. “And when do I get to try?”

  Autumn and Chloe shared a laughing glance.

  “Okay, first things first. I need to cloak the area,” Autumn declared. “We can’t have people stumbling upon our ritual.”

  “What can I do?” Chloe asked.

  “Never try this until I say you’re ready,” Autumn infused sternness into her words. “I mean it, Chloe. I promise to teach you when the time is right, but it’s advanced magic. Do you understand?”

  After she received the nod of agreement, Autumn lifted her hands skyward and voiced the incantation. A slight pulse of the atmosphere around them was the only indication the spell had taken effect.

  “Now we cast the circle. Chloe, do you remember how this is done?”

  “Am I allowed to do it?”

  “I’d be honored to have you start the ceremony. Keep in mind, this one may take time. We need to call our animal to us and wait until it appears. If it hasn’t appeared within the hour, we close the circle and try again another day.” While she spoke, Autumn conjured ingredients they needed along with the athame and blanket.

  She handed Chloe the candles to light and proudly watched as the child cast the perfect circle. Once the girl had finished, Autumn clasped hands with her and Keaton.

  “Repeat after me…

  “By the Goddess’s divine will

  Fur, feather, fin, or scale

  I call unto thee.

  Creature of the earth,

  Please, come assist me.

  Honor, light, and love

  I shall provide for thee.
/>   As it will, so mote it be.”

  They repeated the chant in all four directions: north, east, south, and west. Once the call went out, they sat to wait.

  Chloe’s familiar was the first to arrive. From the air, a hawk swooped down and landed on the ground before her. “What do I do?” she asked in a loud whisper.

  Autumn bit her lip to hide her amusement. “Now, you ask the hawk its name, and solemnly request he assist you in your future magical endeavors.”

  The child frowned as if trying to memorize the exact wording Autumn put forth.

  “You don’t have to be quite that specific, sweetie. Speak to your new friend how you would speak to anyone else. But remember, he’s here because he wants to be. You don’t command him; you request.”

  After Chloe established a rapport with the bird, Keaton’s familiar appeared in the shape of an otter.

  “I’m not like you and Chloe, I can’t hear animals respond,” he said.

  “Because you aren’t listening, Keaton,” Autumn admonished. “Quiet your mind and let her show you the pictures in hers.”

  It took a good twenty minutes, but Keaton finally understood the concept of sharing thoughts with his new spirit animal. Before long, the otter was curled up in Keaton’s lap and staring up at Keaton as if he created the stars and moon.

  “Another female conquest,” Autumn muttered in disgust. “Good luck getting that one to do anything but stare at your beautiful face.”

  His wicked grin tickled her lady spot.

  She rolled her eyes and checked her watch. Only another ten minutes, and she’d have to give up on finding a familiar of her own this time around.

  “What do you think yours is going to be, Mama?” Chloe asked the question utmost in Autumn’s mind.

  “I have no idea. But if we continue the element theme, probably Smoky the Bear,” she laughed.

  They didn’t have much longer to wait. A shuffling sounded to the right and Autumn turned her head to greet the newcomer. A massive wolf with fur the most incredible shades of red she’d ever seen hesitated at the edge of the tree line. The beast cocked his head and met Autumn’s gaze across the distance.