Blessedly Bound

by Lucretia Stanhope

  “I have, really. I was home all day, knitting.”

  He laid one of the bags on the counter. Inside of it was a letter.

  She looked at the scrawled handwriting. It was a threat, telling her to keep her nose out of the past or else. In the other bag she saw the large knife.

  Her coffee spilled as her hands shook.

  Curtis reached out and took her cup, setting it down. “You see why it's not a good idea to chase down bad guys?”

  She nodded. “I was here alone. What if they had knocked? I could have let them inside. You have to find them.”

  She felt a familiar relief wash over her and saw Sebastian round the corner. “Curtis,” he said as he walked in the room.

  Gwen took a few shaken steps and allowed him to fold her in his arms. He had to fight the urge to kiss or stroke her hair while they had company.

  Curtis eyed them suspiciously, and then sipped his coffee. “You may want to stay with her a while. She had a shock. I'll get on this, Miss Hensley. You rest and try to take it easy. Please, as we spoke about earlier, do something else, something safer.”

  “What happened?” Sebastian asked.

  Curtis showed him the letter and knife.

  Sebastian hated they were in plastic. He would have loved the chance to get a good sniff of them.

  After Curtis left, Sebastian cleaned up the kitchen for her, and they went to his house.

  Gwen told him about the day, about Lenny, and then the note, which he already knew about.

  “Wait, you summoned a spirit?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “Full of surprises. I wish you would let me show you things before you jump in with both feet. We will have to call him again and release him from your call. A passed soul resides in a different reality than we do. The longer he stays tied here, the more dangerous he becomes.”

  “I was going to ask you about that. Thank you.”

  “Anything at all from Lewis?” he asked and hated the sadness that instantly came to her eyes. She told him no and he let that drop. Rather than focus on that, he took her outside to work more on her magic. He wanted her to feel safe, wanted her to be safe, and there was only one way to do that.

  “I think I should go to the yarn group. I don't want to let whoever it is pin me inside, in hiding,” she said as they sat inside having a break.

  He pursed his lips. “Can you miss this one? Your detective should have something this week, right?”

  “Yeah, so he says.”

  “If it means a lot to you, I could linger close by.”

  “No, I have disrupted your nights enough. I'll go. I'll have my phone and call if anything odd happens.”

  After their break they settled in and knitted. Gwen was close to finishing his scarf and surprised to see he was making fast work of her shawl.

  “That's looking lovely,” she said.

  He smiled. “Nothing will ever be lovely enough for you, but I do hope to make a valiant effort. I will work on it while you sleep and maybe tomorrow we can try these on. That would make your lone adventures seem safer to me.”

  “I'm a little nervous to be honest,” she said, as she worked the next row, not looking at him.

  “I understand. It's new and a little scary to me as well. I think you and I have enough respect for each other not to abuse the intimacies it will grant us.”

  “I know that. It's just with what happened to Lewis, maybe I don't need to be linked with anyone.”

  “Gwen,” he said, and sat down the shawl, walking over to her. He ran his fingers through her hair and she leaned against his waist. “It's not your fault. I can't say exactly what happened, but you must know it wasn't you.”

  “You can't know that. I did demand a lot of him and all I offered in return was what? More demands.”

  “It's the nature of the relationship. When you raise a witch, it is like raising a child, they need you, they demand time and energy, and the reward is often just getting to see them succeed. It's worth it. He will grow into his role in time.”

  “It doesn't sound very rewarding.”

  “It is. There is nothing more wonderful than working magic with your witch, and watching as they blossom into something beautiful and powerful.”

  She looked up seeing pride, happiness, and sadness behind his eyes. “Do you think he will come back? Will he be the same again?”

  “I can't say. I'm sorry. Know you will never be alone. I promise you that.”

  “But I am, Sebastian. I was alone today. I was alone when I clumsily called the ghost. I was alone when a killer stood at my door. Either of you would have sensed him, but I was alone. Lewis has left me and you can't be there all the time. Ever.”

  Sebastian hated that she was right. For all the precautions he helped her with, there was no way he could be there during the day. “No, I can't.”

  “Demanding witch, right?” she asked and laughed. “I think once the killer is caught I won't feel so scared to be alone.”

  “Once you feel comfortable with what you are, you won't be afraid to be alone.”

  “Maybe.”

  “No maybe, give me a little more time. You will amaze us both.”

  She leaned against him again and he stroked her hair.

  He wished more than anything he could be everything she needed, but she was right. He never could. Ever.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  G wen finished the scarf for Sebastian and left it with Yardley, along with a note, before she left for the yarn shop. In his study, she saw the progress he made while she slept, and while he made an impressive and beautiful amount, it wasn't finished. She decided to go anyway. It was just to town and she would be with a group of people. Safe, normal people. Friends.

  As she expected everyone was there, including Trisha. All of them were excited about the festival that was just a few days away. Most of the idle knitting chatter was about the various things they looked forward to the most at the festival. The more they talked, the more Gwen started to look forward to a weekend of normal activities to take her mind off the horrible things she had been surrounded by lately.

  On the way home, she called Sebastian to let him know she was okay and to see if he wanted to watch over her while she tried some things he taught her.

  He told her he was finished with her shawl and they agreed to meet at his house to try them on before they practiced her techniques. She was surprised he opened the door instead of Yardley. It was clear he was nervous about her being alone, and wanted to make sure the bond had worked.

  “Hopefully after tonight you can have your nights back,” she said, as they stood in his study.

  “I wish I could make you understand that my nights are yours. There really is nothing I would rather be doing.”

  She gave him a weak smile, still feeling like she needed to work on being alone and not being so demanding of people who she loved. She was terrified to lose Sebastian and afraid to strangle his space like she had Lewis. She was determined to give him space to paint, or whatever else he wanted to do that had nothing to do with her or what she needed.

  He held the scarf, which was masculine and refined just as he was. When he wrapped it around his neck she couldn't help but smile as his face lit up with excitement.

  “It looks wonderful on you,” she said as she adjusted it a little and ran her hands over it, smoothing it. She continued to smooth the scarf as she thought about what might happen when she put on the shawl, and wondered if she was ready for that type of connection with him.

  “You're stalling, that unsure still? I expect you will feel a similar sensation as when you feel Lewis trying to connect with you. We can slowly walk through the rest together.” He held out the done shawl and she beamed at him.

  “It is stunning,” she said.

  He had managed all the design elements as if he had been knitting for years.

  “Ready?” he asked, his voice gentle and his demeanor was patient as he had always been.

  She
nodded and he reached around her, placing the shawl around her shoulders. She felt a surge as her magic mingled with, and tapped into his. The rush made her cheeks blush. She held onto his hands as she adjusted to how his magic felt. “It's strong.”

  “Very, you have more than I imagined or sensed,” he said smiling, the twinkle she missed seeing in his eyes had returned.

  After she felt like she was ready, she asked, “What should we try first?”

  “The most important thing right now is that you can get help in a hurry. I am going to go to the kitchen. I want you to talk to me after I leave.”

  “Okay,” she said, and squeezed his hand before letting go. She watched as he crossed the room and paused at the door, turning, looking at her, and smiling with all his features.

  After he walked out, she paced, letting herself feel him moving away. With his magic mingling with hers she found her senses were sharpened. She could hear his footfalls and smell the trail he left in the air as he walked away. When she felt him stop moving, she tried to reach out with her thoughts.

  “I really sense you strongly now,” she said.

  “It is quite a mesmerizing sensation, isn't it?”

  Even in her head his voice seemed so smooth. How was she going to function with him exuding sexy into her mind, she wondered?

  “We'll figure that out together too,” he said.

  “Oh gawd.” She put her hand on the chair. It was a very strong bond if her thoughts that she didn't project still found their way to his mind.

  “Call me to your side,” he said.

  She only called to Lewis like that a few times in panic. She tried to imagine something that would cause her to panic in order to call to him with the right amount of intention. Her mind flicked to the knife in her door and she felt the cold, alone fear deep inside. She used that to call to him.

  He felt her panic, felt her fear, loneliness, and desperation. He caught a flash of the knife in the door and the next sensation was a flash of movement. When the movement stopped, he was beside her, his arms around her. “I've got you.”

  She enjoyed the embrace a moment and then stepped away, looking at his face. He seemed very comfortable with the connection. “Is this how it always is with you? I mean in the past, with your other witches? I never felt so connected to Lewis. Not without a real effort.”

  “This is a different magic bond. I assume since we forced it we made it less pliable, perhaps? I've never felt anything like it either.”

  “I feel your emotions. I can hear even your most subtle thoughts. It's a little much,” she said. “How are we not going to pry on each other’s private thinking?”

  “Practice. There are other things we can explore, but maybe we should first practice how to back away from thoughts and loosen this up a little.”

  She agreed and settled in by the fire in his study to practice talking without opening up so completely. The link was strong and they actually had to make a big effort not to share everything with each other.

  “I'm not sure it is so much either of us prying as that there is an open flow now,” he said, feeling frustrated that nothing they did seemed to ease the communication with any permanence. With effort they could close the flow, but as soon as they let their attention drift it started again.

  “There are still things…” she started to say and paused. There were a lot of things she wasn't ready to know. She certainly didn't want to know what it was like to kill. “Things I don't want to understand, or feel.”

  “I would take the scarf off first. You will never have to experience anything like that because of me,” he said out loud.

  “Will my every thought always go straight to you now?”

  “It seems, at least while we wear them. Maybe I should always have mine on and then you can just put yours on when and if need be.”

  “Maybe, but if I am alone and someone sneaks up on me, what good will it do me then?”

  He sighed. He had never imagined the link would be so free flowing. None of his prior links had ever been. It wasn't his intent that they invade each other’s minds like this.

  “Maybe we are thinking about it wrong,” she said after hearing his thought. Her hand reached out touching his face. “Maybe it only feels like an invasion because it is new. We've always been honest with each other. It's just a deepening of that.”

  “Breathtaking as usual,” he said, and placed his hand on hers. He loved the way it felt when their skin touched. There was an instant peace that made him feel like everything would be as it should be.

  “It's always that way for me too,” she said. “Maybe we shouldn't do that tonight. This already feels too intimate.”

  He agreed and took his hand away from hers. They decided to spend a little more time getting used to the new communication.

  “So, what else do you think we can do?” she asked as they walked around practicing comfortable dialogue.

  “I would like to explore what this does for your elemental work.”

  “Yes, I do feel that the power inside and even outside of me feels much more…” She paused looking for the right word. “Available.”

  They walked outside and she did a few things, finding that a mere thought was all it took. Her intentions barely needed to be whims for there to be a response.

  “This could be a little dangerous really,” she said, half kidding.

  “No love, even playing, your whims are gentle and sweet. However, should someone corner you, they are in trouble.”

  “Will you need to be there, with me? I mean if I am wearing this and you are far away, can I still call on your power?” she asked.

  “Yes, this bond eliminates the need for proximity.”

  She took his hand in hers. “Thank you. I finally feel safe. It means a lot that I can feel safe even when I am alone.”

  They spent the rest of the night practicing, with and without the shawl because she still needed to be alone during the day. There was no way he could risk the connection while he slept. Even though she might still get benefits while he slept, if she panicked and summoned him, it would be very bad for him. They both understood the power boost was a nighttime only thing.

  L ewis felt the connection between Sebastian and Gwen as soon as they made it. It wasn't that he heard their thoughts because he had disconnected himself from her when he left, but he felt the magic surge in the air. Sebastian was arrogant and probably took no precautions, he thought. Lewis would not be surprised if Fannie and god knows how many other creatures felt it too. That wasn't his problem, she had made her choice and he was done, he decided.

  He hadn't gone back to Fannie, hadn't gone to reconnect either. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do yet. He flew, relaxed in the wind, contemplated what things meant to him, and where he wanted to go from there. He did love Gwen, and felt he would probably stick around until he was sure the killer was captured. Beyond that it wasn't clear. He liked that. No rules. No path. No fate. Just empty space to fill with whatever he wanted.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  G wen spent Thursday at her house. She wanted to get used to being alone. She wanted to be self-reliant for a change.

  Most of her day was spent in the altar room reading spells. Her and Sebastian had been so distracted with the shawl and scarf that they hadn't done anything with Lenny.

  She was hoping to find some sort of way to make a stronger connection with him.

  She felt a rush of hope when her phone rang and she saw it was Pratch. The hope was quickly replaced by disappointment while they talked.

  “It seems someone else is working this angle on another case. The file has been pulled,” he said regarding the juvenile records.

  “Pulled, so it's just gone? You can't see it? Isn't there something digital in this day and age?”

  “Think of all the records that would need to be made digital. It's temporarily gone until they are done with it.”

  “Do you know who? Who signed it out?”

  “It wa
s signed out by your sheriff. Maybe he is as close as I am to finding answers.”

  She took small comfort that at least Curtis had taken her seriously and was looking into things. Maybe she would run into him at the festival and ask about what he found in the file. “What did you find out on the name changing trail?”

  “Still chasing that down for the brother. It wasn't the first change. From what I can tell, both brothers changed identities a few times. If you don't want to know what name the brother ended up using, I can stop now. I know your grandfather started as Gregory Weston and ended as William Hensley, everything in-between I have, though there doesn't seem to be any reason he kept altering his name, other than burying the past. I found no crimes under any name he used. His brother, who is five years younger started as Clinton Weston. He changed his name a lot as a young man, but with good reason. He had a slew of charges, some minor and some not so minor. A real psycho that one.”

  “Really?” was all she could manage to say as the information sunk in. “So, his brother, was he wanted? What sort of crimes are in his past? Are you close to his current name?”

  “He is wanted for questioning in a few unsolved cases of murder, and missing persons. He has minor convictions for assault under every name he assumed. Has a really nasty temper.”

  “How on earth does he get granted name changes if he is wanted?”

  “Miss Hensley, men like that don't get legal identity changes. Not like your Grandfather, that is why it is taking a little longer.”

  “Oh, I see.”

  “No, you don't. Some of the names he used were related to missing persons. Likely he killed them as well.”

  They talked a little more and he promised to call as soon as he had a name for her to give to Curtis. They agreed she was done asking questions herself. The hardest part for her to reconcile was that this man, this evil man who seemed to hurt or kill for fun was her great uncle. Her only family.

  Any bit of bravery she had managed earlier was gone and she gathered her things before heading to spend the rest of the day with Yardley.