by Anna Abner
Holden Clark and Rebecca Powell stepped into her periphery. Perfect timing. A spirit must have tipped them off.
“Fucking witch magic,” Holden said. “I feel so inadequate.”
“Better late than never,” she greeted. “Channel into me. I’m finishing this now.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he drawled, already drawing spell marks with a blue highlighter. “Becca, stay behind me.”
Dani gathered her power and focused every ounce of rage and pain and spirit mojo at the Carver. He turned white as his body flash froze into a human-shaped ice pop. Another little push and he burst into a million tiny snowflakes that slowly floated to the ground.
Dani let go of her power and returned to earth, her hair filtering down around her shoulders.
With an oomph, David sank onto his knees.
Dani rushed to his side. “How bad is it?”
“I’m okay,” he said. “Nothing permanent.”
Derek moaned as he came to, and he didn’t sound so good. He huddled against the wall, the bruises on his face standing out even darker against the chalky pallor of his skin.
“Holden.” Dani called, and her friend bounded over. “You can’t leave him like that.”
Having no doubt who she was talking about, he glanced in Derek’s direction. “He tried to hurt Rebecca. He’s damned lucky I didn’t kill him.”
“Look at him.” As if on cue, Derek dropped his forehead to his knees and covered his head with both arms. “It’s cruel.”
In her sky-high heels, her perfect blonde hair bouncing, Rebecca crossed the stinking room, ignoring Holden’s shouted warnings, and placed a tentative hand on Derek’s shoulder.
“What am I supposed to do?” Holden turned pained, shiny eyes on Dani. “He could hurt her. He could—” His voice broke. “—take her life.”
Pursing her brow, Dani studied Derek. He’d been an active member of the Dark Caster’s cabal, but he’d failed, and been punished by both Holden and the Dark Caster. She didn’t think he had much fight left in him.
“He won’t,” she said with conviction.
Holden laughed bitterly. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Then we help him,” she said. “We show him how to use his powers for good. But you can’t leave him this pathetic creature the rest of his life.”
Holden stared at Derek for a long, tense few moments.
“She’s got a point,” Rebecca said, smoothing Derek’s messy hair from his brow. “This isn’t right.”
“I know,” he said in a tiny voice before dropping to his knees and adjusting the spell circle he’d already drawn.
“Can I help?” Dani asked.
“I got this.” He glanced over his shoulder at a bare expanse of cream-colored wall. “Olive, honey, I need you.” After a moment, Holden spoke in Latin.
Nothing happened at first. She couldn’t feel his magic or sense any change at all. But then Derek lifted his head and, ignoring Rebecca, pinned his gaze on Holden.
“No.” He leapt to his feet and made a run for it.
But Holden was faster and grabbed his hoodie in both hands, yanking him close. “Chill out.”
Trying to help, Dani reached for the back of Derek’s neck and sent him a small calming wave of energy. He bucked like he’d been shot.
“Don’t touch me,” he shrieked at her, squirming even harder. But Holden had him in a death grip.
“Calm down,” Holden repeated, shaking him roughly. “You and I are going to have a conversation.”
“Look at his face,” Rebecca pleaded. “Don’t hurt him worse.”
“I’m not going to hurt him,” Holden said, “as long as he plays nice.”
Derek ceased struggling, and his eyes glazed over. “How could you?” he accused, his voice ragged. “I was in the hospital learning to feed myself and how to speak. I still can’t tie my own shoes!” A single tear fell. “What kind of a monster are you?”
Holden’s expression darkened. “You tried to summon a demon into the woman I love. You’re lucky you’re still breathing.”
“If you’re going to take it away again, I’d rather you just kill me. I can’t go through that again.”
Holden dragged Derek through the foyer. “I’m not going to cast on you, and I’m not going to kill you. We’re gonna go get some malts at my diner and talk like men. Because Dani says I have to teach you the responsibility you have to the world. But if you so much as look at me funny, I will put your head through a window, understand?”
Dani couldn’t hear Derek’s mumbled response as the two men and Rebecca pushed through the exit doors because just then David, with a great deal of effort, propped himself against a wall and called her name.
Dani flung her arms around him, and he made an oomph sound before hugging her back. He felt solid and safe. Like home. Like family.
“I love you,” she blurted out. Because it was deep-down true.
“You are so remarkable,” he said against her ear. “Daniela, you take my breath away. I love you, too, darlin’. So much.”
“Are you hurt?” she asked, pulling away to inspect him. Her hands brushed his face, his shoulders, and down his chest. No bleeding wounds. No missing limbs.
“You’re touching me,” he said, a satisfied smile transforming his strained expression. “You can control it.”
“Yes.” She’d learned a lot of things about her power today, but most importantly that she didn’t have to be afraid of it anymore. Even during the scariest parts of her attack on Jeff and the Carver, she’d been in complete control. From now on she would be in charge, not the other way around.
“No more accidents?”
“No. But,” she added, “I wouldn’t sneak up behind me anytime soon, if I were you.”
“Noted.” He pulled her hips flush with his. “Dani, a lot of things became real clear when I thought I was going to die on that filthy red carpet over there. And the most important decision I came to is that I want to put a baby in you.”
She couldn’t breathe for a moment. “You do?”
“I do. I really, really do.” He dropped a kiss on the tip of her nose.
He better understand all the disclaimers. “But I’m not normal, David. I never will be.”
“I don’t want normal. I want you.”
Her mind raced. A baby. All her own. “You’ll have to bind my magic. I couldn’t trust myself for an entire nine months.”
“If you want.”
“A baby,” she marveled. “We’ll have to wait until my business is established.”
“And we’ll need to be married first. Unless you want to give my poor mother a stroke.”
Dani pretended to consider it until David pinched her under the ribs. “Sorry. Yes, of course.”
“That’s a yes to marrying me?”
“Is that a proposal?”
“No, what was I thinking.” He released her and sank to his knees, not doing a very good job disguising a groan of pain as he hit the floor.
“Stop it.” She tried to pull him back up. “I was kidding.”
He pinned her with a solemn stare. “I’m not. Dani, I let you slip out of my fingers, and I’ve spent a whole year regretting it. I’m not waiting anymore. I love you. I love how being with you is so easy. I love the way you are with Ryan. I’ve never been happier. Please, will you marry me?”
She clutched him tightly to her chest. She might never let go. “Yes.”
Chapter Twenty
Cole had traveled barefoot and alone from one end of Auburn to the other, eating scraps from trash cans and sleeping in alleyways behind deserted strip malls. Steph had followed him for a while, chattering in his ear about Dani and Holden and getting help until he couldn’t take the sound of her voice anymore and tuned her out. Either she’d left him, finally, or he was getting good at ignoring her because she was no longer visible.
But the blisters and the empty stomach and the isolation had all been worth it because he’d made i
t. He stood, bedraggled and exhausted, in the parking lot of a former church on the corner of Commerce and Parkwood in Auburn, North Carolina.
Someone had burned it to the ground.
He crunched over dead insects and bird feathers and then charred bits of wood and blackened metal. Someone had beaten him here. Someone had destroyed the only link he had to the Dark Caster. But the cool thing about necromancers like him was they could communicate with not only their own spirits, but all spirits.
“Do you hear me?” Cole shouted over the sounds of traffic and a car radio, confident at least one of the Dark Caster’s spirits lingered to keep watch over the property. “You tell the Dark Caster—” He pulled back his shoulders. “I want to join. I want to open the Chaos Gate.”
* * *
Joan Wilkes let Dani in and then returned to the computer in the living room.
“Hi, Mrs. Wilkes,” Dani greeted. “How are you?”
Over the past week, Dani’s relationship with David’s mother had improved, though gradually. Joan still didn’t trust Dani not to break David’s and Ryan’s hearts, but she was warming to the idea of her son starting a new family. Joan wasn’t a bad person. She was just very protective of her son. Once Dani proved she was in love with David and loved Ryan unconditionally, Joan eased off a bit.
“I’m doing well, Daniela. David hasn’t returned yet from picking up Ryan.”
“No problem.” She straightened her jean skirt and short-sleeved tee. “I’m a little early.”
She rounded the kitchen island and inspected the contents of the fridge. She’d been spending so much time at David’s condo in the evenings after work, he’d started buying her favorite snacks. Smiling to herself, she popped open a cold can of Sprite and took a long sip.
Since her business license application had been resubmitted and approved by the city of Auburn, she may not have to make the forty-five minute commute between her home and David’s anymore. She was going to start looking for an apartment in Auburn very soon. She’d already given Regina her two weeks’ notice.
“Dani, is this yours?” Joan came around the kitchen counter with Dani’s newly minted business plan in her hand. Dang it, Dani must have left a copy on David’s computer desk.
Prepared to be somehow insulted, Dani squared her shoulders. “Yes, ma’am, it sure is.”
Joan scanned the pages. “Amazing. You came up with all this on your own?”
That didn’t sound like a put-down. Dani gave the words a second to sink in before answering. “Yes, I did.”
“Did you know I used to teach grade school?” Joan asked, still perusing the pages. “It seems like a million years ago, now, but I did. I really enjoyed it, too. Hmm.” She pointed to a line on the page, and then met Dani’s gaze. “I love your idea. I can see you have some start-up money, but maybe you’d be willing to take on a partner?”
Dani blinked. Was she hearing the woman correctly?
“I’m not qualified to manage the facility or anything like that,” Joan added, “but I’d love to invest in it. For a share of any profits, naturally.”
Her eyebrows stuck somewhere near her hairline, Dani said, “You want to invest in my day care business?”
“Yes, I do. Will you keep me apprised of all updates as it moves forward?”
Dani was at a loss for words.
“Is that a yes, Daniela?” Joan chuckled good-naturedly.
“Yes. Thank you, ma’am. That’s very generous of you.” She’d never considered having a partner. The only person who had shown interest in helping was Georgie. She’d insisted on teaching at Dani’s new preschool, but her friend didn’t have any money to put in for the start-up costs. And there were a lot of those.
If Mrs. Wilkes came on as an official financial partner, not only would Dani be able to open the center sooner, but the bank would be much more inclined to loan her the money she needed.
Mrs. Wilkes set the pages on the counter and veered around Dani, giving her shoulder a light tap. “Call me Joan. If we’re going to be spending this much time together, we might as well be friends.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Crap. “Joan.”
“Do you mind if I take a soda for the road?” She stuffed a can of Sprite into her purse. “See you later, Daniela.” She left out the front door, giving a small wave over her shoulder.
Dani had barely finished her drink before the doorbell rang. She assumed Joan had forgotten something, so she hurried to open it.
Emi stood on the landing. “Hi.”
“You look different,” Dani observed, ushering her inside. The girl had pulled her hair into a sleek ponytail, wore a jumper and more age appropriate makeup.
“Yeah, well, I want my teachers to take me seriously again.”
Emi stood shyly in the foyer, her arms folded. They’d seen each other once since their late night adventure. Dinner at IHOP. It had been a little awkward with David translating for Tony, but Emi had seemed to soak up the positive attention. Dani knew she’d gone to her first therapy session and it showed in her open and relaxed expression.
“Good for you,” Dani said. “Does your mom know you’re here?”
“I told her I got a babysitting job after school.” Emi scanned the room. “Is he here?”
“I don’t know. I can’t see ghosts.”
“You’re not like David? I thought you were.”
“No, I’m a witch. I don’t talk to the dead.”
“A real witch?”
Dani shrugged. “The real deal.”
“How do you get to be one of those?”
“You have to be born one.”
“So, your parents were witches, too?”
Good question. Dani had wondered about that. “I don’t know. My parents abandoned me at birth.” Rounding the kitchen island, Dani poured the girl a glass of ice water and slid it across the counter.
“Sometimes I feel like my mother abandoned me after Tony died.” Emi’s gaze swept the room again. “She’s not the same, either.”
“Have you talked to her about it?”
“She’d only start crying. It’s not worth it. I tried talking about Tony once, but I felt so sick inside afterwards…”
“Well, you can talk to me about Tony anytime,” Dani promised. “And David, especially.”
The front door opened. “And David what?” He paused when he spotted Emi. Ryan strolled in, though, not bothered in the least that they had a teenage girl in their living room.
“Emi told her mom she got a babysitting job after school,” Dani explained.
His eyebrows shot up. “Hold on, Tony is talking a million miles an hour over here.” After a pause, he said to Emi, “I won’t let you lie to your mom. So, be here after school with your homework. You can sit with Ryan and do it together.”
Emi’s face brightened. “Really? Thank you, Mr. Wilkes. I’ll take such good care of Ryan. I swear. I’ll be the best babysitter you ever had.” She bounced on her toes, looking pleadingly at David and then at Dani. “I feel better when I’m here. Even if I can’t actually hear him or see him, I know he’s here, and I can still talk to him.”
David emptied the contents of his pockets on the foyer table and then slipped his arm around Dani’s shoulders, his palm sliding up and down her bare arm. “You’re welcome here anytime. As long as your mom knows where you are,” he amended.
Ryan ran down the hall. “Daddy, can I play ducks on the ‘puter?”
“I’ll help,” Emi exclaimed. “I love computer games.” She smiled at Ryan. “Will you show me your game?”
He shrugged noncommittally but headed for the computer desk in the corner of the living room, Emi in tow.
Chapter Twenty-One
Two Years Later
“Ryan, wait up!” Dani called. She rested one hand atop her bulging belly to steady the baby inside her as she jogged after her stepson.
He had spotted his daddy in the crowd of classic car enthusiasts and couldn’t contain his excitement.
“Don’t run.” Emi gripped Dani’s arm. “I’ll get him.”
Grateful for the help, Dani slowed as Emi chased Ryan. The girl who felt, after two years of close contact, like her little sister, had changed a lot from the first time Dani had seen her. She was a junior in high school now and choosing between the University of North Carolina and Duke University to study veterinary sciences.
Thanks to Emi’s extra attention, Ryan was doing well in his first grade class. Every day after school he was bussed to Dani’s One Family Day Care Center where he had a snack and played with Legos while he waited for Emi to show up for their daily homework sessions.
Dani caught up to Ryan and Emi a few moments after they found David. He replaced his digital camera in his shoulder bag and backed away from the glossy black 1971 Nova he’d been photographing to slip an arm around Dani’s bare shoulders.
His touch was a salve, easing the slight sunburn and the beginnings of a headache as well as the perpetual pain at the small of her back. She didn’t flinch away or freeze up. No, she melted into him.
Dani’s magic was safely under her control. She hadn’t had an accident since that day two years ago when she’d given David an unexpected jolt. She was confident she could prevent any further mishaps. She knew much more about her power since she’d fully accessed it that day against Jeff and the Carver. She could hug her stepson and not be afraid of hurting him. And she could love her husband without leaving permanent scars.
“Hey, darlin’,” he greeted, “did you find the drink tent?”
“Oh, yes. We all shared a smoothie.” She rattled the Styrofoam cup in her left hand. “I brought you a soda.”
“Thank you.” He kissed her before accepting the cold drink and gulping it down.
“Did you get all the shots you wanted?” she asked.
“Pretty much.” He patted his shoulder bag, a satisfied smile on his handsome face. “Ready to go home?”
Ryan took the lead, followed closely by Emi, while Dani and David, walking hand in hand, followed more slowly.
All those years that she’d isolated herself, both physically and emotionally, she’d never dreamed how sweet life could be when she freed herself to love completely. And that’s how she and David loved each other—completely.