by Kathy Dexter
Well, this was Hunter’s chance to track down her sister. So why was she sitting here, her fingers playing a silent tune on the steering wheel?
She pushed open the car door and climbed out.
Shadow leaped from behind a tree and sashayed toward her. She curled her tail high in the air and trotted to the grass where she sat on her haunches.
Hunter shouldn’t keep Clarissa waiting, but she could use some time to prepare for what her grandmother would tell her. Hunter dropped to a soft patch next to the cat. “Got any advice for me, Shadow?”
Shadow tilted her head sideways and meowed.
“Waiting for me to blather my deepest, darkest secrets?” Hunter rested on her elbows and stared into the canopy of branches where a few birds seemed to dance together among the leaves before soaring upward and fading into black dots in the vastness of the sky. She envied their joy and wished she could be that carefree. “Have any relatives, Shadow? A sister, perhaps?”
A mingle of soft hisses, warbled chirps and squeaks answered her.
“Too bad I don’t speak cat.” Hunter’s words were flippant even if her mood was strained. She sat up, snatched a blade of grass and tore it into pieces. “If only you could tell me what to say to a sister I haven’t seen in ten years and don’t remember. Where do I start? Do I ask where she’s been? Why we haven’t seen each other all this time? What if she wants nothing to do with me since I disappeared from her life? Does she know anything about me? Damn!” Hunter pounded the ground. “What a mess!”
The cat pounced onto her stomach, gabbled in her face, and used a paw to pat Hunter’s arm.
Hunter leaned forward and rubbed her cheek against the cat’s. “Crazy beast.”
Shadow bounded toward the back of the house.
“Must be where Clarissa is.” Hunter jumped up and followed the cat to the backyard.
Clarissa sat in one of the white rockers on the porch.
“Hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long,” Hunter said.
“Enough time to do some thinking. For you, too, I suspect.” Clarissa waved her to the neighboring rocker. “This may take a while.”
Hunter dropped into the seat and stared across the small expanse of green grass to the rocks and the lakeshore. She took a deep breath and released it. “So I have a sister.”
“Katelyn. Three years younger than you.”
“Where has she been?”
“With her uncle Gideon, brother to your father, my oldest son.” Clarissa paused a moment before continuing. “Your parents had no wills, no provision for you girls. I applied to the courts for custody. So did Gideon and Miranda. The judge decided they were more. . .age appropriate.”
“You wanted both of us?”
Clarissa reached across to touch her cheek. “Of course.”
“But Gideon and Miranda didn’t?”
“Oh, they fought to get Katelyn and you, finally compromising by splitting custody. The judge agreed.”
“What if we didn’t want to be separated?”
“If you had your memory, the situation might have been different. But you were in the hospital, and Katelyn needed a home.”
Guilt weighed heavily. Hunter should have been there for her sister. Wasn’t fifteen old enough to take care of a twelve-year-old? “What about later? When I was out of the hospital.”
Clarissa gazed toward the water. “By the time you were well enough, Katelyn had established a life with Gideon.”
“She didn’t want to visit me?” Hunter’s heart hurt at the thought her sister had turned away.
Shadow vaulted into Clarissa’s lap, snarled and squawked before uttering a low growl.
“Shhh!” Clarissa stroked Shadow until the cat quieted. “Katelyn did see you in the hospital and became distraught about your care.”
“What do you mean?”
“She overheard two nurses concerned about the medications you were being given. Katelyn did everything she could to wake you and became convinced you’d been sedated so she couldn’t talk to you.”
Hunter thought about Dr. Paul and the drugs he’d prescribed for her. Like the ones he’d given to Sylvia West? “No one listened to her?”
“An overly dramatic twelve-year-old who’d recently lost her parents?” Clarissa’s laugh was brittle. “Instead, they barred her from the hospital, claiming she made your condition worse.”
“Who barred her?”
“Your aunt Miranda. And your personal physician, Dr. Paul Fleming.”
“Figures.” Hunter stood and paced the porch.
“They couldn’t keep her away, though. A clever girl, your sister. She came back with the sapphire amulet and placed it around your neck to protect you from any further damage.”
Hunter clutched the dragon. “Why didn’t she come to see me after I was released from the hospital?”
“By then she’d moved in with her uncle Gideon, and traveling to the city became difficult. The adults around her kept insisting it would be too traumatic for both of you. So Katelyn immersed herself in her studies and pretended she had acquiesced.”
“Pretended?”
Clarissa looked into Shadow’s eyes. “It kept her safe. And you.”
Hunter tossed her hands in the air. “I don’t understand. How were we in danger?”
“You ask such a question after you were attacked at the book signing?” Clarissa’s eyes flashed. “Your parents were murdered. We don’t know why. But somehow you and Katelyn became targets as well.”
“Someone tried to hurt my sister?” A heavy knot twisted in Hunter’s chest.
“Katelyn learned that her skills––similar to yours––could cause trouble for her. So she hid her magic, claimed she had no such abilities, and managed to live under the radar.”
Hunter dropped into the rocker. “How did she know threats were near?”
“Spirits from the other side alerted her.” Clarissa rocked.
A buzzing purr grumbled from Shadow’s entire being.
Clarissa bent her head close to the cat’s ear and hummed a lulling melody. Shadow closed her eyes and appeared to sleep.
“How did Katelyn communicate with the spirits?” Hunter had no idea how that could be done.
“Twyla Temple is a psychic with an extraordinary gift. She contacted Katelyn when spirits clamored about evil forces closing in on her.”
“A séance? The only one I ever attended seemed like a scam to squeeze money out of naïve believers.”
“You haven’t been in Mystic Lake that long. Or met Twyla.” Clarissa smiled. “A most unusual young woman. She has the ability to connect with many who have crossed over to the other side.”
Could that include Connor and Meredith Sloane? Had they reached out to warn Katelyn? And not Hunter? “Didn’t Twyla have any messages for me?”
Clarissa’s eyes glinted. “She tried to contact you, but Miranda refused to let her talk to you. Called Twyla a con artist out to take advantage of her niece.”
Aunt Miranda tightening the bubble wrap once again. Heat steamed. Then Hunter let it go. What good did anger do? Miranda would always insist on protecting the helpless girl in her custody. Even though Hunter had grown up and could live life on her own.
“Finn Franklin suggested I contact Twyla about a séance to reach Mary Hawthorne,” Hunter said.
“Not a bad idea.” Clarissa tilted her head, a forefinger on her cheek. “Mary hid the grimoire just for you. Lucky the thieves didn’t get it the night of the Masquerade Ball.”
“What if Twyla could help me talk to my parents? Maybe I could find out what happened, how they died.”
Clarissa’s face paled. “Oh, Hunter! That knowledge may be why someone has tried to kill you. You could be putting your sister in danger as well.”
“How could that be? According to the news articles, Katelyn wasn’t near the boat when our parents died.” Hunter’s hands shook, and her heart raced. She couldn’t let her sister be hurt. “And if she hasn’t used her magic, w
hy would anyone threaten her?” Something else Clarissa said popped to mind. “Besides, didn’t you say that the spirits warned Katelyn that evil stalked her?”
“I’m sorry, my dear. I didn’t mean to suggest you’d carelessly expose your sister to killers.” Clarissa patted her hand. “Several years ago, the Gyld discovered from the writings of the Ancients that Katelyn is key to keeping their mystical gifts, spells, and rituals out of the hands of those who would use them to gain control of the magic in this world as well as other planes of existence.”
“Writings besides Mary Hawthorne’s grimoire?”
“Oh, yes. Riley saved a grimoire that had been stolen from Zarya Ronan, her other grandmother.” Clarissa’s eyes gleamed. “Careless of Zarya, particularly since she is one of the leaders of the Gyld. It’s a miracle other Ancient writings haven’t disappeared.”
Like the manuscripts Hunter and Riley hid in the paintings in the museum. Targeted by the thieves who attempted to rob the museum the night of the Masquerade Ball? Too many complications. Right now I have to concentrate on keeping my sister safe.
“According to Riley, the Ancients expect me to translate their language in Mary Hawthorne’s grimoire,” Hunter said. “Maybe the book can provide a way to protect Katelyn.”
“It’s time to do that, child. Deviltry lurks in the shadows.”
“The same evil that murdered my parents? And stole ten years of my memories?”
“You’ll probably find out when you break the spell.”
All the more reason to decipher the grimoire. But Hunter had a more immediate worry. “What about my sister? I have to see for myself that’s she’s safe.” How did Katelyn feel about losing mother, father and sister for all these years? At least she had an uncle and a grandmother to watch over her, but was that enough? Urgency overwhelmed Hunter; she had to locate and protect the sister she couldn’t remember.
Shadow sprang from Clarissa’s lap and darted across the porch to Hunter. The cat rose on hind legs, her front paws reaching upward. Sparkles of frosty whiteness wrapped around the feline shape, pulling and stretching it like a hunk of taffy. Then the sparkles flashed in alternating rhythms, brightening and dimming. In a burst of light, the cat disappeared.
A young woman with short, curly black hair stood in Shadow’s place. Hunter had seen her before, outside the cottage when Lou had offered to help decode Mary Hawthorne’s message. The stranger had nodded and faded into the woods.
Right where Shadow should have been.
Now the woman stood in front of Hunter.
Right where Shadow should have been.
With the same odd mix of one blue eye and one green one.
The curtain in Hunter’s brain flew aside briefly. “Kat!” she shrieked and wrapped her arms around her sister.
CHAPTER 35
A GLOW WARMED Hunter’s insides and bubbled through her core. A sister. Family.
But how did I recognize her when I haven’t broken the spell?
Kat’s odd eyes––one green and one blue––blazed with an odd brilliance. Good question.
Hunter blinked. You can mind link.
My survival has depended on it. A touch of––bitterness? anger?––zinged along the mind link.
Not quite the joyous moment one would expect of a family reunited. But then Hunter realized she shouldn’t have anticipate that. Her sister, alone, hanging tough. And Hunter couldn’t help her. Heartsick, Hunter clutched her amulet.
Clarissa moved closer and put a hand on each granddaughter’s shoulder. “Why don’t we go inside? I’ll make some tea while the two of you talk.”
Opening the back door, Hunter led the others into the living area. While Clarissa crossed to the kitchen and searched the cupboards for ingredients, the two sisters drifted toward the windows overlooking the lake.
“Clarissa doesn’t know you can mind link?” Hunter whispered.
“No. Nor some of the other gifts I have.” Kat kept her voice low as well. “She’s only aware I can shapeshift.”
So Kat kept her magical skills a secret from their grandmother. Why? A question for another time. Other, more critical complications, leaped into Hunter’s frenzied thoughts.
She gazed at the waves lapping against the shore. Where to start? She pressed her head against the glass pane. “Why would anyone destroy our family, make us suffer, split us up? It’s beyond comprehension.” Feet as leaden as the sorrow weighing heavily in her stomach, Hunter staggered to the sofa and sat next to Kat. “I should have been there for you.”
“But you weren’t. You deserted me.” Kat clapped a hand to her mouth. “Sorry. I have a nasty streak that lashes out now and then. Not your fault someone put a spell on you and wiped away your memories.”
“Clarissa told you.”
“I told her.”
Hunter was bewildered. “How did you know?”
“Before the doctors kicked me out of the hospital, I visualized the curtain across your mind.” Kat’s face reddened, and she turned away, avoiding eye contact. “I’m not proud of what I did next, but rage lit like a bonfire, while terrible loneliness froze my soul. Murdered parents and a sister lost in some kind of trance. Too much for a twelve-year-old to handle. I climbed on the bed and scrunched my head against yours––you and I often communicated mentally back then––and yelled at you to wake up. I needed you.” Her hands flexed into fists.
Hunter wrapped her arms around her middle. “I didn’t know.” The havoc in her stomach roiled upward.
Kat rubbed a hand across her eyes. “I held a grudge for a long time.”
“Even with a spell controlling me?”
“I thought if you loved me enough, you could break it.” Kat blew out a short, harsh laugh. “The dream of a child who’d lost everything. I blamed you, blamed everyone, for destroying my life and withdrew, refusing to speak, to connect to those around me.”
Pain ripped across Hunter’s inner core. “I let you down.”
“You couldn’t help it.” Kat’s lips twisted in a parody of a smile. “Even in my withdrawal from the terror consuming me, I realized you were in trouble. Someone had tried to kill you. Hit you over the head. Without Logan’s help, you probably would have drowned. I learned all that before I visited you in the hospital.”
“No adults you could talk to?”
“I tuned into their auras. Wicked intentions colored the world around me. I couldn’t differentiate the signals enough to figure out who to trust. I only knew you weren’t safe. That’s when I had a meltdown––screamed for help, demanded the police protect you. The hospital called the authorities, who forcibly removed me.” Helpless fury flashed from her odd eyes. “No one listened. A grief-stricken kid was all they saw.”
“Oh, Kat!” Hunter slipped to the floor and buried her face in her hands. She tried to bite off sobs that tumbled uncontrollably from her throat. A few escaped.
Kat’s arms twined around her sister. “I didn’t want to leave you. Ever.”
Hunter shifted in order to hold Kat. “You came back to the hospital. Clarissa told me you sneaked in.”
“With the dragon amulet.” Kat’s grip tightened. “I tracked its magic vapors to the secret cranny in your closet. When I touched the dragon, I knew it would protect you. So I slipped into your room and put it around your neck. Told you never to remove it.”
Musical notes chimed from the kitchen. By the time, Hunter and Kat managed to get to their feet, Clarissa scurried in with a tray. “That was my cell. I must leave. Luckily I finished making the tea.”
“Is there a problem?” Hunter asked.
“Reenie Stoner’s in the hospital, apparently poisoned. Riley and I will hurry there to use our magic. As we did with Chief Stoner and Logan when the garage exploded.”
Hunter seized her amulet. “I should go with you.”
Clarissa flapped her hands at her. “No, no, child. Riley and I can handle this. You stay here with Kat. See if she’s able to bring back your memories.” She reach
ed into her wicker basket, pulled out a black pouch, and handed it to Kat. Clarissa hugged them both and bustled out the back door.
Hunter pointed at the pouch. “Not an ordinary bag?”
“I use it to hold a few magical objects I’ve collected over the years. Tough to carry when I shapeshift, so Gran kept it in her basket.” Kat placed the pouch on the coffee table. “Maybe she thought I could use something in it for protection. Although you look pretty harmless.”
“So you have a sense of humor.”
“Alleviates the tension now and then.”
Hunter managed a smile and poured tea for both of them. Several swallows eased a knot, but her voice still crackled with unshed tears. “You could have used the dragon to keep yourself safe.”
“And then you’d have been destroyed. I can take care of myself.” Fathomless, stormy pools of green and blue swirled in Kat’s eyes.
“I’ve only begun to test the dragon’s abilities.”
“When I heard you’d be coming to Mystic Lake on your book tour, I’d hoped the amulet had broken the spell and I’d have my sister back.”
“Instead, you wound up saving me again.” A deep breath quivered from Hunter. “As Shadow. At the Masquerade Ball and at the cottage.”
“I’ve been able to shapeshift for a long time. You gave me the name Shadow. When you didn’t recognize me in my animal form, I knew the spell still imprisoned your mind.” Kat leaned back and closed her eyes, but clasped her sister’s hand. “Doesn’t seem fair.”
“It’s not.” Hunter squeezed Kat’s hand. Anger sizzled. “We’ll find out who did this.”
Kat shifted until she faced Hunter. Mismatched eyes flamed. “Vengeance. To melt the ice around my heart. Make me feel human again.”
Hunter’s fist pounded against her knee. “Yes. I want someone to pay for the wounds inflicted on us.”
“More importantly, to stop the enemy from striking again. Too many attacks against you. You’re still in danger.”
Hunter shook her head. “Why wait until now? The murderer had ten years to get rid of me.”