‘I’m so sorry it didn’t work out with you and my father.’
Elvira sniffed and searched for a handkerchief. Elena passed her the tissues again. ‘You could have been my daughter, the daughter I could have had.’ She wiped her nose. ‘I have Grace. I’m grateful for that, but finding out today that you were Rory’s, well, it has moved me deeply.’
‘I’m grateful you found me, aunt. I always have been. I love you more than I ever could a mother I have never known.’
‘Part of Pris’s rebellion was to stop me being with Rory. She seduced him. He denies it, takes all the blame on himself, but I knew. I saw what she did because I followed her. I didn’t confront them then, but later. My mistake. I waited until Rory was too far in to extricate himself with honour. It was a real mess. Lots of angry words, lots of tears and shame.
‘You see, your mother didn’t know I really loved Rory. It was my secret. Stupidly, I thought if anyone knew then something would happen to prevent our joining. I was so young then. Pris hadn’t loved a man — couldn’t understand. To her, Rory was a means to an end. But when she looked at me, at my distress, she understood the depth of my feelings.’
‘That must have been terrible for you both.’
‘It was. I never saw her again. She ran away. I could never bring myself to forgive Rory. He’d fallen for Pris too, loved her. I couldn’t forgive him for loving her instead of me.’
‘And now how do you feel?’
Elvira’s eyes widened. ‘I don’t really know. I feel confused and troubled. I don’t know how to make things right. I have wronged your father for so many years. The negative feelings I had damaged myself, as well as him.’
Elena told her what had happened with Drew, and his plan to rape her. She fixed another whisky for Elvira and made one for herself. ‘Tell me about Drew’s mother. I got the sense that there was trouble with her, too.’
‘Louisa Devereau. Mad Louisa they called her. She wasn’t mad, though, just scheming. You’d think Rory Penderton would have grown a bit of backbone by that time. No, she seduced him while he was still getting over Pris and me. He did care for me, I know now. Before he was a month into the relationship, she was pregnant. She demanded and received a big financial settlement, and then took off to Europe before Drew was even out of nappies. By then, Rory Penderton was over women, according to general report. I never spoke to him or saw him again until this afternoon.’
‘Oh, Aunt.’ Elena opened her arms and embraced Elvira. She couldn’t help the tears. So much pain. ‘So no one knows where Mother went?’
‘No, only hints.’
‘Hints?’
‘Yes, I shouldn’t tell you this because it’s only rumour. There has been talk of a dark witch operating in the north.’
Elena pulled out of her aunt’s embrace. ‘You think my mother is this legendary dark witch?’ She burst out laughing. ‘Of course my mother isn’t evil. She can’t be. I’m not evil.’
‘You see, I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s only a rumour.’ Elvira patted her on the knee. ‘Forget I said it.’
Elena looked down at her hands. She was gripping them together, and so she slowly released them. ‘I will forget it.’ But the damage was done. The image of her mother that she had created and cherished cracked. There was no denying it.
‘Now before you change the subject again, tell me how you are. Grace says you are in love with this human lawyer. Rory seemed to think so, too.’
Elena frowned. Why was everyone talking about her feelings? ‘Grace talks too much. What does my father know? He’s only met me once.’
Elvira smiled at her. ‘Your keenness to avoid the topic is a sure sign that they are right.’
Elena squinted at her. ‘But why are you pushing this? I thought you’d be against it. He’s human, you know. Human, through and through. Wouldn’t such a union be objectionable?’
‘Not if he was the one for you. I was wrong to encourage Drew because he was a warlock. I didn’t take into account his personality or anything. I was blinded by my own prejudice.’
‘So, me being a full witch doesn’t have anything to do with this change of heart?’
Elvira sniffed. ‘You have so little faith in me…but yes, that does make things a little easier. Rory reminded me that you should be allowed to pursue your heart, regardless of who the person is.’
Elena stood up and went to put the kettle on. ‘Elena?’
Her aunt got up to join her. ‘What is it?’
‘I don’t know how I feel about anything. There is no future with Jake. You should have seen him, the look on his face when the spell was lifted. He was angry and full of hate. It was a silly dream to think…to allow myself to…’
She wiped at her tears and poured hot water into cups for tea.
Elvira was quiet as she took the tea from Elena. ‘I’m sorry to have such a sad face,’ Elena said as she turned to make her own cup.
Elvira wiped a tear from her eye, smudging her mascara. ‘I feel for you, dear. I too have loved and lost. I would spare you that pain if I could. I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you.’
‘Here I was thinking I did such a good job of handling things on my own.’ She managed to smile through her tears.
‘I have to go now,’ Aunt Elvira said after a few minutes. ‘Something has come up. Before I go, I forgot to mention the council have met out of session. There should be an email waiting.’
In the space of a breath, her aunt was gone, leaving her still steaming cup of tea on the bench.
Chapter 17
Before going to bed, Elena checked her email. There was a message from the council. She skimmed all the technical stuff and reached the judgement proper. They had decided that she did no wrong. That she had acted with the best intentions, and there were extenuating circumstances that needed to be considered as well. What extenuating circumstances? That she had no willpower? That she was attracted to Jake? That didn’t seem right.
She logged off the computer and was about to go to bed when she remembered. Wards. She needed to place wards. That required a bit of study, so she went to the spare room, climbed up on a chair and took down the box of books she had stashed up there. Fel meowed at her, and asked what she was doing.
I’m going to study, she thought back at her cat.
Now you want to study? The cat shrugged, or gave a good impression of doing so. You never studied when you were younger.
Funny. I studied.
The cat faced her and flicked its tail. You need to get that tom back…and soon.
Thanks for the advice. For the moment I want to keep prying lowlifes out of my life.
Fel started licking her paws, then yawned. The tom was good for you.
Elena ignored Fel. She was not going to spill her heart to a ghost cat.
The cat, realising that Elena wasn’t leaving the room, jumped down. I’m going to talk to the neighbours.
Elena shrugged, watching as Fel slinked away. She turned her attention to the box of books, lifting them out one by one and spreading them on the floor. These books were what she had of Grace’s special schoolbooks from the magic school, that Elena had never attended. Grace had given them to her when she moved in with Declan, thinking that Elena would find them useful. Elena had thought it was because she couldn’t bring herself to throw them out.
It took a few finger glides of the indexes of five of the books to find what she was looking for. She opened the book and studied the page. There were many types of wards. The simplest she could do. Thinking on her aunt’s words, she studied a more complex one. If she had the talent but hadn’t developed it then she could do this one if she chose to push herself.
She was still digesting the fact that she could develop further as a witch. She’d always been happy with her lot in life, accepting things as they were. Now after Jake she wasn’t. She couldn’t blame her aunt for her lack of development, either. If she had wanted to, she could have pushed herself to develop as far as possible, could h
ave been more adventurous.
Shaking her head as she read, she thought back over her life as a witch. Always caught up in being a half-witch, a discarded child and feeling sorry for herself, she had accepted that she’d always be an outsider.
She had thought herself above the folk, because she was half-human and understood that world. A sad laugh bubbled up inside her when she recollected her morally superior attitude. Must defend the humans. Must have moral fibre and not abuse the power. Where did that go when she had Jake at her mercy?
So much for being morally upright. She’d stuffed that up, hadn’t she? Jake hated her now, deservedly hated her for what she’d done. She’d have to eat humble pie with him. There was no way she could leave the situation as it was. They would have to meet again, and she would have to explain herself. It was the only way she could feel right with the world.
So the council didn’t lay the blame on her. That didn’t cut it. Meeting with him wouldn’t be in the expectation of a change of heart, but she owed it to him and to herself to make it right. She didn’t want to end up like Aunt Elvira and have a tangled lump of hurt in her past, nor did she want to leave Jake damaged.
Her attention returned to the book and the ward. It was rather complicated. It took a while for her to remember the steps. After committing the spell to memory, she thought she was ready.
Climbing to her feet, she went outside to set the exterior ward. After three attempts and a lot of cussing, she was ready to give up. She peered around, hoping the neighbours weren’t being disturbed by her futile efforts. She closed her eyes and calmed herself. You can do this. You can.
The next time she tried the ward, it slid into place like pieces of a jigsaw. With a swell of pride, she studied it. No way was another warlock or witch going to spy on her, and no way was one coming anywhere near her without her knowledge. The thought, that Drew had watched her with Jake, mortified and sickened her.
To complete the ward, she needed to place the remainder of the spell inside the house. This would allow her to monitor and control it.
Standing in the lounge room with her hands on her hips, she surveyed the ward with a smile of satisfaction. It was done. The most complex spell she had ever attempted. She would thank her aunt tomorrow for helping her see the way. Now that the ward was in place, she only had to maintain it to keep it working.
Turning around, a wave of tiredness hit her. Learning and setting the ward had taken hours, and the use of magic had drained her. It was three a.m. by the time she went to bed. She was so tired she didn’t change the sheets. These were the bedclothes she’d shared with Jake. She inhaled deeply, drawing in his scent, despite the memories it invoked.
Elena wanted to sleep. Her feet hurt. That pain echoed her misery. A tear slid across her cheek. More followed, and before long she was sobbing and hugging a pillow. In the dark small hours, the sadness left her and she was able to contemplate the positives of her situation. A small smile broke, followed by a sniff. Some good had come of this. She’d found a father, and maybe he would find contentment. She suspected that her aunt still loved Rory Penderton, and would be able to forgive him. That would be interesting to watch.
As she lay in bed, her cat jumped up, kneaded the bed covers and lay down beside her.
Dream, Fel thought at her, and her contented purr sent Elena off to sleep.
Jake’s scent filled her dreams. He smelt so good. All through the remainder of the night she thought of him, reliving their moments together. Now, as she dreamed, she was untroubled. She saw the encounter as it should have been; free from guilt.
Fel meowed in her dreams. Mellow relaxation enveloped her. She was happy to dream of Jake and herself together again, reliving that amazing first encounter with the chin-up bar. That man had melted her. She turned over and got a mouth full of cat fur. Fel’s purr didn’t skip a beat, and once again she dived into her erotic dream.
* * * *
Jake woke to the sound of the phone ringing. He shook his head, trying to dislodge sleep and ease the crick in his neck. He’d fallen asleep on his desk again. He blinked to clear his vision. It was overcast outside, and grey light spilled in through the windows. Sydney Harbour was washed out and sad, exactly how he was feeling.
The phone kept up its persistent wail. He lunged for it. ‘Yes?’
‘Hello, my name is Rory Penderton…’
Jake got ready to hang up the phone. Damn telemarketing at this time of the morning. He clenched his jaw, ready to slam the phone down and then paused. That name was familiar. He brought the handset back to his ear. ‘Penderton?’
‘Yes, we met at my house on Saturday.’
Klaxons were going off in his brain. He was trying not to think about her. ‘Yes, you’re Elena’s father.’
‘Yes, I am. I need to talk to you.’
‘Sure, anytime,’ he replied. Maybe when it didn’t hurt so much and in a situation he could control.
‘Excellent. May I come up?’
Jake nearly dropped the phone. ‘You’re at my building? Now?’
‘Yes, just outside.’
Jake checked his watch. It was 6.30 a.m. on Monday morning. He’d have to let him in.
‘I’ll come down.’
Within five minutes, Rory Penderton was in Jake’s office. Jake rested his rear on the front of the desk, and folded his arms across his chest. He kept his face impassive as he took in the older man standing in front of him. Elena sending her father was an interesting ploy, one that surprised him. She must like to strike while the wound was fresh.
‘Elena doesn’t know I’m here.’
Jake chewed his cheek. How did Penderton know what he was thinking? Still, he didn’t feel guilty thinking ill of Elena. It was good to give his anger focus.
‘So, to what do I owe the honour of this visit?’ Jake asked, locking his expression down. He didn’t want to give anything else away. His feelings were his own, and not for others to scrutinise.
Rory Penderton sent his gaze around the room and rested for a brief moment on the view. The sun had managed to break through the cloud cover, adding a silvery glow to the atmosphere.
‘No honour is intended. I think we need to talk about things, about who you are.’
This got Jake standing up straight. It certainly wasn’t what he was expecting the conversation to be about. No pleas for forgiveness on Elena’s behalf. No mention of her at all.
‘Is this some kind of joke? Because it’s not funny.’
Rory Penderton relaxed his stance, but his gaze was fierce. ‘Is your grandfather Gregor Royston?’
Jake rocked back on his heels. It was certainly being dished up to him today and it wasn’t even seven a.m. ‘Yes. I’ve never met him though. You have a problem with him?’
Rory shook his head. ‘No, son. You need to go visit him. I’ve come to take you.’
Jake laughed, a bitter chuckle. ‘Why would I do that? I don’t know the old bastard.’
The older man opposite him shrugged. ‘You will get to know him.’
Jake was concerned that Elena’s father was serious. ‘My father hated him. I don’t even get on with my father very well. If they are alike, I wouldn’t even waste my time.’
Rory stared, his grey-green eyes piercing. Jake shook himself. That was uncanny, because he was sure he sensed Penderton looking into him. Yet, Penderton kept on staring. Jake squirmed a little and moved behind his desk to break eye contact.
‘You’d better leave. I’ve got a busy day ahead. In fact, I have a busy life, so don’t bother contacting me again.’
Penderton didn’t budge. Not that he expected him to. He’d shown a bit of bluster, but he may as well be lying on the ground waiting to get his stomach scratched for all the effect he had on Elena’s father.
‘Jake you need to do this. It’s important.’ There was no hint of desperation in Penderton’s voice. He stood firm, like he’d never back down. He detected hints of Elena in him. Oh God, Elena. She’d turned his life upside dow
n, and now her relatives were giving him grief.
Jake sat down and leaned back in his chair. ‘I don’t need to do anything. You should leave.’
Rory stepped forward, grabbing the chair in front of him as if he owned the place and sat down. Before Jake could react, the old man leaned forward and said, ‘It won’t take much of your time. I can guarantee you won’t regret it.’
A laugh escaped. It was like spam, click this link and you can collect your lottery winnings. ‘Is he dying? Am I to inherit or something? I’m not interested. I’ve got stacks of money. I don’t need to see some old man who has never been interested in me.’
Rory sat back in his chair and folded his arms. ‘That bad, huh?’
Jake sent him a scathing look and pursed his lips. He didn’t trust himself to respond. It might all come out — the black grime of rejection, the loss, the pain.
‘I know you’re hurting. I can sense it from where I’m sitting.’
Jake jerked once, unable to stifle his reaction. His mouthed an ‘o’ of surprise, and let out a squeak.
The old man kept talking though, not even interested in his response. ‘I don’t know if the old man is dying. I expect not, he’s as strong as an ox. I don’t know if he’s as rich as a sultan, or as poor as a church mouse. We’re not on such terms. But I do know where he is, and you need to go see him.’
‘Why?’ Jake hated how plaintive his voice sounded. He was intrigued by this man, and yet also keen to be free of him.
‘For Elena’s sake.’
‘Ah, I thought we’d come down to her.’ The mention of Elena sent emotions charging through his body, blending with the hurt, making it fresh as the moment it was inflicted. ‘Why should I care about her?’
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