I brushed fallen hair from my face. “So …what are they doing that they need to enhance?”
A slight hesitation arrived. “Again, it’s just hearsay. We’ll talk about it when I get there.”
“If you know something, I want to hear it now.”
Only her breathing travelled the line.
My pulse picked up a notch. “How bad is it—what they’re planning?”
She heaved a deep sigh. “I’ll tell you tomorrow.”
My hand fisted. “No. Now.”
“It won’t make any difference whether I tell you now or when I get there. Tomorrow is soon enough.”
My fist thumped the table. “I want to know now.”
“Well, I’m not bloody telling you over the phone,” she snapped. “I’ve asked you to wait. Now I’m telling you to wait. You can demand as much as you like, but I will not budge.” She paused, maybe to see if I’d retaliate further. “There is something I want to check with you before I come, though, something I want to double-check here—to clarify what I’ve been told.”
“What?” I sounded like a rebuked brat.
“The tea. Not the first one, the second one—you said it was different. Were you certain?”
“Yes, it smelled completely different. It tasted different from how I’d expected the first one to as well.”
“Whoa, back up,” Jess said. “You drank the tea?”
My gaze lifted to the others. It dawned on me I hadn’t told anybody about my tea sampling. “To begin, it was just a taste out of curiosity, but . . .” I met Connor’s eye. “I only did it so Josh couldn’t drink as much.”
As he gave a small nod, I looked back down at the phone. “Why, Jess? What was up with that tea?”
“Give me the flavours again. I’ll double-check on what I already think, and I’ll talk to you about it tomorrow. But, if it’s what I believe, it’s nothing you have to worry about, okay?”
“Sure,” I mumbled.
“Now …the tea?”
“Honey seemed to be the strongest element, but it also had hints of grass and wood and some spice. If I had to name it, I’d go for cayenne.”
Scratching arrived through the phone’s speaker as she scribbled them down. “Got it. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
“Sure,” I said. “But promise you’ll call if you think there’s anything I need to know sooner.”
“Of course I will.”
“What the hell won’t she tell me?” I murmured as she hung up.
22
Waiting sucked—especially when I didn’t know what I waited for. Once I’d finished making Connor’s necklace, and one for Beth, I had nothing left to occupy me. Even pinning up the Sator Squares had done little to alleviate the ever increasing panic over what Jess could know.
Deep down, I knew it had to be bad.
The clock read four p.m. as I paced the kitchen and mentally calculated the drive to Jess’s house, wondering if she’d be angry if I showed up demanding answers on Christmas Eve. How would her kids react to their aunt turning up in no mood for festivities?
I marched through to the others in the living room. “Nate, I need the truck keys.”
He cocked his head. “Where are you going?”
“Tomorrow is too long,” I said. “I’m going to Jess’s to get some answers.”
Nathan narrowed his eyes.
“Do you really want to wait until tomorrow night?” I lifted my hands, brought them to rest on my hips. “I can’t.”
“If that’s the soonest she can get here, we don’t have much choice.”
“We’re only waiting because she won’t tell me something unless it’s in person, and because she can’t get here until tomorrow.” I moved nearer to him. “There’s nothing to stop me from going to her. Then she’ll have no choice but to tell me. I can be there by six. The sooner I know what I’m dealing with, the sooner I can plan.”
Although Nathan made no verbal reference to my singular person involvement, the glint in his eye told me it hadn’t gone unnoticed.
Ethan pushed to his feet. “You can’t go alone.”
I sent him a scowl, looked back to Nathan. “So, can I borrow your keys?”
“We’ll take my truck,” Ethan said.
As Nathan turned from me to Ethan and tension claimed the shoulders of the two men, I realised I had no chance of leaving without a fight—so I went with using Ethan’s eagerness to my advantage.
I nodded to Ethan. “Okay.”
Nathan climbed to his feet. “How long to your sister’s?”
“One and half hours—two at the most.”
“And you’ll call as soon as you get there?”
“If that’s what you want.”
I got the impression he didn’t trust me to return. Maybe he thought I planned to find the witches’ whereabouts, ditch Ethan and race off to save the world—which, in actual fact, wasn’t a bad plan.
I held Nate’s stare steadily.
He nodded. “Do not let her out of your sight, Ethan.” His eyes never left mine. “If she looks like she’s going to bolt, drag her back here—kicking and screaming, if you have to.”
I withheld my sigh.
“I want you back here tonight. No later than first light. Do you understand?”
Ethan nodded.
“Okay. Go.”
• • •
We made it through Shrewsbury traffic, and at ten-to-six, I knocked on Jess’s front door, jigging on the spot whilst I waited for her to answer. As I sent a backward glance to Ethan in the truck, where I’d made him wait, the kids shouted to their mum inside the house that someone had knocked.
“Coming,” Jess said, footsteps descending the stairs.
Following a rattle of keys worthy of a caretaker, Jess emerged around the swinging door. I stared up at my sister, her appearance a contrast to my own—brown hair and small, hazel eyes to my blond and big blues. Even our noses and mouths didn’t match, yet strangers always pegged us as sisters.
She sighed before smiling, giving a slight head shake. “Why aren’t I surprised to see you here?”
“Sorry.”
As she peered down from the step, her gaze travelling over my face and my body, a frown crossed her features. “You look bloody awful, Jem.”
My shoulders lifted in a shrug.
Jess held her arms open. “Come here.”
I didn’t need to hear the invitation twice. As I stepped up to her, she wrapped her arms around my back, holding me close. We stayed there for seconds before she took me by the shoulders and pulled back.
“You’re really not holding up very well, are you?”
I went to shrug again, but stopped myself and shook my head.
“You’d better come in.”
“I’m not alone.”
She scanned the dark over my shoulder. The narrowing of her eyes told me when she’d found the hulk in the truck. “Who’s with you?”
“Ethan. He’s gone all overprotective.”
Her head tilted toward the truck. “Does he know how to behave?”
Jess had never met Sean or any of his family. In fact, I’d not seen her since being bitten, thanks to a long distance relationship we’d always had going on. I cocked my left eyebrow. “Of course he does, Jess. We’re not monsters, you know.”
Her lips twitched. “You’d better come in, then.”
I twisted and waved at Ethan to join us and turned back to Jess with her attention pinned on the truck as though waiting for the freak show to arrive.
The dropping of Jess’s jaw told me the exact moment Ethan came into view. “Holy shit! He’s fucking huge.”
I almost laughed at Jess’s reaction. After spending months with the p
ack, their sizes had become irrelevant to me.
Ethan joined us, resting his hand on my shoulder. Even positioned a step lower, he towered over my shorter-than-me sister.
Jess’s mouth opened and closed as if she had something to say but thought better of it. Instead, she moved back and waved her arm in an arc as invitation to enter.
We headed straight for the kitchen. The array of flavours permeating the room identified curry as the contents of a pot atop the stove. Spiced steam brought heat to the room, enhancing that already offered by the radiators, and sweat popped out across my upper lip. As I grabbed the hem of my sweater to tug it over my head, Ethan mirrored me and removed his own.
From head to toe Jess’s gaze travelled over him, lip caught between her teeth.
I’d seen her look at men that way before. Maybe she’d change her mind once he opened his mouth.
She brought her attention back to me. “You want to know?”
“Not want. Need,” I said.
“Mind waiting until I’ve fed the kids? I can pack them upstairs then, give us some privacy.”
A sideways glance brought Ethan’s small nod into view. “Sure.”
“You’re welcome to join us,” Jess said. “I haven’t got enough naans for the two of you, but you can share the rice and curry.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Me either,” Ethan mumbled.
Jess folded her arms. “When was the last time you ate, Jem? You look like shit.”
I shrugged.
“She hasn’t eaten since early yesterday,” Ethan said.
I sent him a glare.
“And you?” Jess turned on him. “Have you eaten today?”
“I had lunch,” he said.
“That was six hours ago,” I snapped.
“You’re in no position to lecture me, Jem. I’ve eaten a damn sight more than you over the last couple of days.”
“Okay, quit!” Jess held up her hand. “Sit down. Both of you.”
Glowers passed between Ethan and me as we took seats at opposite sides of the table. Jess withdrew plates from the cupboard, a serving spoon from a drawer. We stayed silent as she dished up the meal and carried ours over to us.
“Thanks,” we said in unison.
Jess crossed back for the others. “Gus! Jake! Dinner!”
Feet pounded the stairs, and laughter preceded their barged entrance. “Auntie Jem!” Jake said. “Are you here for Christmas? Is this your new boyfriend?”
“That’s a fine welcome,” I said to Jake. “Are you too big to kiss your aunt now?”
He smiled and offered his cheek.
As I kissed him, I drew him in for a hug, peering round at Gus—always shyer than his older brother. I crooked my finger at him. He took a step forward, and a poke of my fingers to his ribcage produced a giggle. “Now that’s more like it,” I said with a smile.
Jake climbed from my hold, turning to Ethan. “Are you her new boyfriend? Are you staying, too?”
Ethan chuckled. “No, her boyfriend’s my brother.”
“And I don’t think I’ll still be here in the morning,” I said.
Jake’s face screwed up a little, but still Ethan held his attention—Gus’s, too, observing from beneath his brothers arm. “What’s your name?”
“Ethan.”
“You’re big, Ethan.”
Ethan smiled down at him. “I get that a lot.”
• • •
With the kids lured upstairs by a bowl of popcorn and a DVD, I turned on Jess. “Okay, what’s going on? What wouldn’t you tell me over the phone?”
She took the chair between Ethan and me, but twisted toward me. “The man I met with this morning? He used to be in the same coven as this Marianne.” She took a deep breath. “As soon as I told him she was a twin and her sister’s name was Amber, he had no doubts who I was talking about. Apparently, there were a few of them in the coven who wanted to …try something different.”
I frowned. “Something different? What does that mean?”
“The few witches had concerns about the …purity of the magic they produced. They were convinced the dilution in the witches’ bloodline was to blame—”
“Dilution?”
She nodded. “There aren’t that many male witches left. For years now, witches have been breeding with ‘normal’”—she did quotation marks with her fingers—“humans. Some witches worry the dilution in the blood, because there are very few purebloods left, is affecting their powers. Most simply accept it.” She shrugged. “What can be done about it? It’s just how things are. But some friend of Marianne’s—Stephanie, I think he said her name was—has spent the last year or so coming up with ideas on how to boost the abilities of their offspring—”
I blinked. “Sorry—who?”
“I’m sure he said her name was Stephanie.”
I glanced at Ethan, back to Jess. “That can’t be right. I’ve met this Stephanie. She was shy and timid and—”
“He seemed to know she was the instigator, Jem.”
“But, she—”
“She played you.” Jess held my eye.
I blew out a breath as my frustration threatened to kick in and turned back to Ethan. He raised his palms as if to say ‘How the hell do you expect me to know anything involving women?’.
“Okay,” I said to Jess, “what else?”
“My contact heard, before he left, that a handful of witches—Marianne and Amber included—decided to follow this Stephanie in her ideas. Apparently, the coven leader found out they were practising outside the accepted boundaries, but when questioned, they talked their way out of it. When they got out of control, and the coven stepped in to put their foot down, the group left. Nobody knows where they went. Rumours have it that one of them inherited a property somewhere, but nobody knows for sure.”
“But …what has this got to do with Josh and Danny?”
She peered off toward the blackness beyond the window. “The witches wanted to find another supernatural race. They looked at all kinds. Sorcerers. Vampires. Half-demons. And . . .” She faced us again. “And werewolves.”
My pulsed picked up. “What for?”
“Some witches consider themselves superior to everyone else. These witches were convinced, if they could find another supernatural race they deemed worthy, they could produce a master race. A stronger race, with physical powers as well as mental—”
“What?” Ethan and I gasped out our response together, sending each other a glare before I stared back at Jess. “They’ve taken the boys for breeding—that’s what you’re saying, isn’t it?”
Jess nodded.
“Are you sure?” I had to check. “How can you be so certain?”
“I wasn’t …until I made the connection with their latest home brew. I thought, at first, it sounded like the flavours to boost fertility . . .”
Bile lodged in my throat. “Well . . .” I couldn’t breathe properly.
“That might explain the menstruating,” Ethan finished.
“You’ve come on?” Jess asked.
I nodded. “Last night.”
Her brows lifted. “And you drank the tea when?”
My brow creased. “Monday.”
“All this is doing is solidifying my theory,” she muttered.
“Okay, back up.” I glanced between Ethan and Jess. “If this is truly their goal, how the hell do they plan on getting the boys to …impregnate them? And what if it doesn’t work?”
“Everything has been building up to this—the binding and summoning to get them to comply when the time’s right, the fertility tea to ensure they’re capable. And by waiting for the night of the blue moon, the magic of the binding, the fertility potions, the mating ritual itself—they�
��ll all be enhanced. Powerful. They can’t possibly fail.”
My teeth ground within my tightened jaw. “Are you telling me Sean has been taken by a bunch of power hungry bitches”—the expanding panic bubbled to the surface—“who plan to trick the boys into thinking they want sex with them just so they can get pregnant with their fucking babies?”
“Pretty much. Yes.”
“Over my dead body!”
I flew to my feet with fisted hands, and Jess scrambled away. Her unbalanced chair toppled with a crash as she backed into the corner.
My glower followed her, my chest heaved. Even when Ethan stepped between us, my eyes refused to focus elsewhere.
He took my fists.
I snatched them away, sidestepping to get to Jess, to demand she tell me she’d made a mistake, to shake some sense into her ridiculous shoulders.
The conviction never once left her eyes.
Ethan’s hands grabbed my face. A small jerk brought my attention onto him. “You need to calm down.”
“How can I?” I gasped out the breath I’d held. “It’s nothing short of fucking rape.”
“We’ll find them before then,” Jess said.
“How?” My bottom lip quivered. “We have no idea where they are.”
“I’ll help you.” Jess came around Ethan’s shoulder. As his hands released me, hers took their place. “Trust me. I know what I’m doing. I promise you, we’ll find them.”
“Promise is a major word, Jess.”
“Yes, I know.”
23
The others were still up when Ethan and I returned home around midnight. When we told them of the witches’ power trip, Connor and Nathan had exploded.
By two a.m., after the others had dispersed into the living room, I paced the kitchen—just as I had at one. Neither my body nor my mind would relax.
How could they, knowing what the witches were going to do to Sean—my Sean?
My hands curled into fists, uncurled, curled again.
How bloody dare they? What right did they have to take the boys to feed their over-inflated egos?
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