“She’s knows about my situation? How could she? I just found out.”
“She doesn’t even know you exist. She has other business here besides me, but I have never told her of your existence and I don’t believe she knows, but I wouldn’t put it past her. I only have ever wanted to protect you, but I see now I should have trusted you more. For that, I am sorry.”
“It’s okay.” This was a lot to take in. “I take it Mom doesn’t know about her?”
“I’ve never told her and she has never asked. I love your mother, Paisley, and would never be unfaithful to her.”
“I believe you.”
He handed her a key and she took it. “Feel free to come in here and look around. It wouldn’t hurt for you to study the maps. Get a feel for the country.”
She tightened her fist around the key. “I’ll do that.”
“Now you need to get home. Get some rest.” He pulled her off the couch and pecked her on the top of her head. “I love you. Go.” He pointed to the door.
“I love you, too.” After everything that had happened, she couldn’t help but feel that there was much more her family was keeping from her. It was not a comforting feeling. As she passed by the coffee table, she grabbed a handful of cookies for her and Addison on the ride home.
****
As she turned the car onto her street, her heart sped up and her stomach dropped when she spied K.G.’s car parked at the curb. After parking, she tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, unsure if she wanted to go in her house. She knew K.G. could hold her own, but Lana did have the ability to perform magic. She bit her lip, took the key out of the ignition, and turned to Addison. “Ready?”
She looked uncertain. “I guess.”
“Let’s do this.” With more courage than she felt, she opened the back door and entered the kitchen. She paused by the doorway leading into the living room, but didn’t hear any fighting or shouting. In fact, she didn’t hear anything at all. The house was too quiet.
She motioned for Addison to go ahead of her. As she crept around the corner, K.G.’s body came into view, then Lana’s. Lana stood on one side of the coffee table and K.G. on the other. Paisley couldn’t read the look on Lana’s face, but as she moved along the wall she saw the look on K.G.’s. She knew that look all too well. She was pissed and held a snoring Jynx in her arms. “Isn’t this nice.” When she didn’t receive an answer, she walked closer to K.G.
She slipped her hand under the back of K.G.’s white shirt and started rubbing her hand along the small of her back. Lana tensed and frowned when she noticed where Paisley’s hand had disappeared to. Paisley leaned up and whispered in K.G.’s ear. “Please calm down. Please.” She continued to rub her back, and after a few minutes she felt her start to relax into her touch. Paisley smiled and kissed her cheek, then turned to Lana who snarled at them. Good grief. She and Lana hadn’t known each other long enough for her to be jealous. “Have you two been properly introduced yet?”
Lana waved her hand in the air. “I don’t care who she is, but she needs to leave.”
“Listen, bitch,” K.G. said. “I have more of a right to be here than you.”
“Wait. Wait.” Paisley held her hands up. “Please don’t fight. Lana, don’t make me choose, because you won’t like the outcome.” She smacked K.G. on the arm when she smirked.
“Quit touching her. You’re married, Paisley, and even though you may be friends, that doesn’t change the fact that you are my wife.”
Paisley groaned, then stepped away from K.G and ran her hands through her hair. Why did things have to be so complicated? All she wanted was five minutes of peace in her own home. Just five. “All right. Yes, according to you, I am your wife, but this is my life and I am sorry if this hurts, but K.G. has a part of my heart and she always will. I love her and I don’t even know you. Lana, you have to see how crazy this whole thing is.” She waved her arms in the air. “You have to.”
Lana grunted. “I do, Paisley. I really do, but what do you want me to do when you have your hands all over her?” She glared and pointed at K.G. “If the woman you were married to suddenly started grabbing and kissing her ex, would that make you upset?”
K.G. shook her head. “Yes, it would, but I don’t know you. You just appeared. How do I know you can be trustworthy? We don’t know anything about you.”
“I am a princess and her wife. That’s all you need to know.”
“Look, we are not getting anywhere. K.G., love, did you come by for anything particular?”
She cuddled Jynx to her chest and smiled at Paisley. “I just wanted to check on you.”
Paisley’s heart melted at the two of them. It would have been so much easier if they had made it as a couple. “Have you been here long?”
K.G. eyed the clock above the T.V. “Maybe an hour.”
“I was at my parents’. I talked to my dad.”
“How’d it go?”
“Lana, could you give us a few minutes alone?” She looked ready to protest, but at the last second seemed to think better of it and walked out of the room. K.G. sat Jynx on the floor, then flopped onto the couch and pulled Paisley onto her lap. She could understand Lana’s point, but K.G. was her soft place to land and she would be damned if she was made to feel uncomfortable in her own home. Paisley leaned into her and sighed. “It went all right. He told me that I should follow my heart and if that didn’t lead me to Lana, then I should find someone who did capture it.” She played with K.G.’s hand that rested on her knee.
“I agree. Your dad is a wise man.”
“Please don’t tell anybody I just told you that. I don’t know. It’s a mess. They want me to go home with her. To her country. In another realm. How crazy is that?” K.G. hugged her tighter.
“It is crazy, but I think you should at least give it a chance. She seems capable of keeping you safe, and from what you told me yesterday, you need to be protected. I don’t want anything to happen to you and if that means going to Dangor…” she hesitated, “then you should go.”
Paisley sniffled. “I am going to miss you and everyone. This is my home.”
“I know. I am going to miss you, too.” She grew quiet. “You’ll be back. Won’t you?”
Paisley raised up and sucked in a breath when she saw K.G. fighting back tears. She leaned forward and kissed her on the lips before pulling away and resting her forehead against K.G.’s. “Yes, I will be back. I have to figure out what my power is and then I will be back. Nothing and no one is going to keep me from coming home. I promise you that.” She ran her fingers down K.G.’s cheek, then kissed the tip of her nose.
K.G. pulled her tighter and rested her head in the crook of Paisley’s neck. “This feels like good-bye.”
“No. Never. Me and you against the world. We have too much shit we still haven’t gotten into yet.”
She laughed and kissed Paisley’s neck. “You got that right.”
She pulled away and reached for the tissue, and handed K.G. some. At this rate, she should buy stock in them. “Look at us. We’re falling apart.” She laughed, then blew her nose.
K.G. closed her eyes, then sucked in a breath before opening them again. “I should go.”
“Okay, but you are always welcome here.”
“I know.” She stood up and patted Jynx on the head before they both walked to the front door and stepped out onto the porch. She took hold of Paisley’s hands and cradled them between hers. “If you need anything, anything at all, all you have to do is ask. I don’t care what it is, what time it is. I don’t care. We will find a way to take care of it. Together.”
Paisley slipped her arms around her neck and sighed. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. She felt it deep in her gut, but couldn’t pinpoint what exactly it was. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” She kissed her on the cheek, winked at her, then headed down the steps to her car. Paisley heard the door open behind her but ignored it and watched K.G. wave at her then se
ttle into the driver’s seat. When she started the car and pulled into the street, Paisley turned back toward the front door, only to whirl around a second later when something compelled her to do so.
Without thinking, she ran off the porch toward K.G.’s car that was getting ready to turn left, when suddenly Lana grabbed her from behind and Addison ran into the road. Time stood still as a scream ripped from Paisley’s throat and they watched in disbelief as K.G.’s car exploded by the stop sign. Lana flung them both to the ground and covered Paisley’s body with her own as parts of the car flew in all directions.
Paisley elbowed her in the stomach, scrambled up, and raced toward the burning car. Her chest heaved as the flames grew higher and hotter. She skidded to a stop and fell to the ground, scraping her knees. The flames raced toward the sky, and then everything, including what was left of the car, disappeared. She turned her head in circles, but there wasn’t a trace of anything left. She gulped in deep breaths, digging her hands into the few ashes that were left on the ground, and sobbed. She fell forward, her hands smacking the road to keep her head from hitting the pavement, then grabbed her chest when a sharp pain raced from her head to her feet. She didn’t have the strength to fight when someone picked her up and carried her into the house.
“Paisley. Paisley.” Paisley couldn’t stop the tears, and she buried her head in Lana’s chest. Lana pulled her tighter and rested her chin on the top of Paisley’s head. “Addison,” Lana said. “Did you get a sample of the ashes?”
“Yes.”
“Paisley.” Lana wiped the tears running down her cheeks. “We have to get you out of here. Okay?” Paisley nodded, not exactly sure what she was agreeing to, but accepted Jynx when someone placed her in her arms. “Addison, are you ready?” Lana knelt and took Paisley’s hand. One minute they were in her own living room, and the next they were in her parents’.
“Kate!” Her dad screamed for her mom, who came running into the living room, followed closely by Grams. He knelt next to Paisley and she fell into him and cried on his shoulder. “What the hell happened?” He glared at Lana as he pulled Paisley into his arms.
“Lana,” Kate said. “What happened? Answer me now.”
“K.G. came to see her and when she left her car exploded, then disappeared. Everything disappeared.”
“What? K.G. is dead?”
“Yes.”
When her words registered, Paisley pushed her dad away, stood up, and started pacing. “No.” She ran her hands through her hair and shook her head. “No. She cannot be dead. I was just talking to her!” She grabbed handfuls of Lana’s shirt, then pushed her away. She stumbled over the coffee table but was able to right herself.
Lana held her hands up. “Paisley, I am sorry.”
Paisley screamed. “No, you’re not. You didn’t even like her. Did you do this? Did you do this?”
“I didn’t do this. I may not have liked her, but I never would have killed her, and to be honest I don’t believe the Brotherhood would either.” She held a small cup out to Kate. “These are some of the ashes that were left from the car when it blew up. It’s all that was left. After it exploded, it disappeared.” She shook her head. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Everything disappeared.”
Grams took the cup from Kate and peered at its contents. Paisley bit back a sob when she shook her head and looked at Paisley. “No, Grams. Please tell me this isn’t happening.”
“P.J., I can’t do that.” She gave the cup back to Kate, left the room, only to come back a short time later carrying a small black box. She handed Paisley and Addison each a necklace with a small clear stone hanging from it. Paisley didn’t ask her what it was for, but she did allow Lana to clasp it around her neck.
“Did the Witches of the Fellowship do this?” Lana asked.
“Who the hell are they?” Paisley fingered the necklace, then fell back onto the couch beside her dad.
“They are a group of thousands of witches that have banded together and formed an alliance of sorts. Each fellowship appoints leaders and they answer to the governing body of the main Fellowship.” Kate shook her head. “I don’t believe they would have done this. They wouldn’t have a reason to. It doesn’t make sense, but if it wasn’t the Brotherhood… I don’t know.” She dumped the ashes on the coffee table, then sucked in a breath.
Paisley jumped up from the couch. “What?”
“I don’t know how, but there is a lot of magic in these ashes. I don’t understand why a witch would want to take K.G. out of the picture.”
Paisley turned away from them and caught Addison’s eye. She blinked at her then looked away. “Yesterday,” she said in disbelief.
“Sweetheart,” her mom said. “You have to speak up.”
She blew out a breath. “Yesterday when Addison and I went to K.G.’s house there was a woman there. She was chanting and holding a book. I knocked the book out of her hand, and when she saw my necklace she picked the book up and left. When we sat down for breakfast, K.G. told us that before we walked in the woman told her she was a witch.” She rounded her shoulders and gasped in a breath when the ruby around her neck felt like it was vibrating. “I never thought she was a real witch.” She glared at her mom. “You didn’t tell me there were other witches out there besides us.”
“Paisley, this isn’t our fault and it isn’t yours.”
“Whatever.” She flicked her fingers. “If it’s the last thing I do, I will make whoever did this pay.”
“Paisley, no,” Grams said. “No. Revenge isn’t the option.”
She turned and looked out the window. That might be their choice, but it wasn’t hers. There was no way she could live with herself if she didn’t avenge K.G.’s death. She took off her glasses and sobbed into her hands, ignoring the voices around her. All she could see was K.G. winking at her, then the flames. She shook her head when her eyes started to blur. How could this have happened? She didn’t fight it when arms wrapped around her waist. “Is she really dead?” she choked out.
“Yes,” Lana whispered in her ear.
“I want to go to bed.” She allowed Lana to take her hand and lead her down the hallway to her childhood bedroom. She fell onto the bed, and Lana slipped her shoes off before climbing up beside her and wrapping her in her arms. Paisley settled down and laid her head on Lana’s chest. The steady rhythm of her heartbeat calmed her instantly and she closed her eyes.
****
Paisley groaned and kept her eyes shut as the sun filtered through the window. Whoever had opened the curtains would pay. She stretched under the covers, then stilled when the memories from yesterday slammed into the forefront of her mind. She fought back the tears and slowly opened her eyes until they become accustomed to the light.
The spot next to her was empty and cold. So much for Lana staying and comforting her. When her eyes adjusted, she threw the covers off and sat up in bed. Fuck. Lana had undressed her again last night. They would have to have a talk about personal space. She crawled out of bed and grabbed the jeans and shirt that were laid out at the foot of the bed and put them on. The familiar feel of her dad’s twenty-year-old cotton T-shirt comforted her more than she would ever admit.
She paused at the door when voices drifted her way. A lot of voices. When she rounded the corner into the living room, she stopped. Standing in the middle of the room were her parents, along with her grandma, Lana, Addison, and two strangers. The older woman she didn’t recognize, but when the other woman turned around, her stomach dropped and her heart started pounding in her chest. An anger like she had never known before consumed her. It was the same woman that had been in K.G.’s bedroom two days before.
Without realizing what she was doing and not fighting the urge, she ran to the couch, grabbed the back of it, and catapulted herself over, landing in a crouch in front of the coffee table and directly in front of the woman. Her dad grabbed her arm as soon as she stood up.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Paisley threw his hand off and
, out of the corner of her eye, saw Addison come up beside her. Her dad touched her arm. “Answer my question!”
“Paisley,” Grams said. “This is Gloria and her mother Catherine. They are from the Myers Fellowship.”
Gloria laughed. “If I had known at the time what a novice you were, I would never have run that day. Pathetic.” She shook her hands out. “You’re a joke.”
“Gloria,” Catherine said. “That’s enough. Keep your mouth shut.”
Paisley didn’t even try too tame the anger that manifested within her. She bit her lip and considered her words. She weighed the odds of killing her outright, but needed answers. “Why did you do it? Why did you kill K.G., and what are you doing here?”
Catherine looked between them. “It was an unfortunate accident. She was only trying to scare her, but the magic developed a life of its own. It was too much for her to handle.”
Paisley snapped her eyes to her. An ache started in her chest and moved outward toward her fingers. She bit her lip and rounded her shoulders to try to dampen the energy that was buzzing inside her head and shooting up her arms. If this is what her power felt like, it didn’t scare her as much as she thought it would. K.G. was an accident. An unfortunate accident. “If she didn’t know how to control the magic,” she bit out carefully, “then why was she using it to begin with?”
“Paisley,” her mom said. “Please. It was an accident.” But even as she heard the words, Paisley saw the look in Gloria’s eyes. Cold indifference. Accident or not, she wasn’t sorry K.G. was dead. But she would be. The ruby pendant around her neck vibrated and started to heat her skin where it lay nestled against her chest. Tingles started in the tips of her fingertips and she shook her hands out to try and stem the power coursing through her veins. She knew she should probably fight it, but she didn’t want to. “Paisley,” her mom said. “Please wait in the kitchen. There is a lot at stake here.”
How could her mom be so calm? Paisley slowly turned from Gloria to her mom, her movements more robotic than fluid. Was she really taking their side over K.G.’s? Over hers? Her mom’s words bounced around in her head and she tried to hold her temper back, but it was taking every ounce of self-control she had to stay calm. She glared at Gloria, pushed past her, and walked around the coffee table toward the kitchen. As she stepped past her mother, she stopped cold when Gloria’s words reached her ears.
The DragonWitch Tales - An Unexpected Beginning Page 6