by R. M. Walker
“Agreed,” Matt replied and followed them into the room.
“Lock the door, Matt,” Nate ordered as he found Jonas’s number and hit the phone icon. It was answered straight away, and Jonas’s voice came out clear over the speakerphone.
“Have you found her?”
“Yes, we’re back at Matt’s. She wasn’t up to going to you, tonight.”
“Damn, okay. Look, I trust you all to handle this. Are you in one room?”
“Yes.” Nate sat on the windowsill, the others close by.
“Right. You need to ring the room in chalk. I’m going to send you a picture of a sigil that you need to mark out on the floor in front of any doors and windows in the room. Can you do that cleanly? If not, you’re going to have to get her here somehow.”
Matt crossed to his desk. He knew he had chalk in there from previous castings.
“Nate?”
“Matt is looking for chalk,” Nate replied.
“Did she tell you anything about what had her panicked?”
“Yeah, she did. It’s convoluted,” Nate said. “Apparently, Drew is her father, her biological father, and to top it off, her mother, Lynda, isn’t her mother but her aunt.”
“What?” Jonas sounded taken aback.
“Yeah, Lily is in a bit of a mess mentally. Drew’s a hedge witch from what we can figure out. He’s been talking to her about hedge magic and magic in general.”
“Did she give you away?”
“She said no, and I believe her,” Nate replied as Matt found the chalk and held it up for him to see. “Matt has the chalk.”
“He might be into hedge magic, but he’s not a hedge witch.” Rustling could be heard as he obviously shifted through books and papers. “A hedge witch generally isn’t powerful enough to use Obscurus Arcanum spells. They take a lot of power, a lot of focus, and it is essentially dark magic. Hence the name Dark Secret. He’s strong, and from that we have to assume he knows exactly what you four are.”
Nate didn’t like what he was hearing. Matt caught his attention by waving the chalk at him. He acknowledged him and moved away from the window. Matt started to draw the line underneath the window. The twins pulled the bed away from the wall, and Lily didn’t even murmur. Nate watched Matt draw the line as close to the wall as he could, moving in front of the wardrobe as it was too heavy to move.
“Here it is. I’ll send it to Josh’s phone. Copy the sigil exactly. Don’t leave out any marks or it’ll be useless. Whoever casts it will need to focus on protection and keeping out negative energy. Create the white space around you as you go. You know how. Can you do that?”
“Yes, we can do that. Matt’s started the circle.”
“So, he’s her father? But her mother isn’t her mother? Seems a little odd.”
“A little?” Nate snorted and shook his head, watching as Josh passed his phone to Matt.
“Why lie to her? I take it her mother knew all along she had magic? Oh, damn it all to Merlin!”
“What?” Nate demanded.
“She’ll take medication for her epilepsy. If her mother was lying about who she was and her father being dead, it stands to reason she knew it wasn’t epilepsy. I bet her medication was a suppressant, a way of keeping the magic locked down. Lynda made a mistake coming here; there are so many ley lines running through here. Add in you four, and nothing was going to stop Lily from getting visions. I expect her mother panicked with the frequency of her fits and upped the dosage. Does she have any of the tablets on her?”
“I don’t think so. She doesn’t have her bag or coat. We found her at the treehouse in the dark, huddled up and totally unresponsive until we touched her,” Nate said.
“Okay, well I’m certain that’s what’s blocking her and made her nose bleed. Her mother was pushing it down even more! Merlin, it was just as well Drew got to her. Any more of those tablets and it might have done irreparable damage to her.”
“She said something that we don’t get.”
“Lily?” Jonas asked.
“Yes. She said that Drew claimed he’s been kept from her all these years.”
“By her mother, er... Lynda?”
“No.” Nate drew a breath. “By the Council.”
“What council?” he asked, and more shuffling was heard over the phone.
“Lily thinks it’s the same one you told us about. She said he has a ring that has the same symbol as the one in the back of your book, the Ouroborus.”
“What?” Jonas barked down the phone, and the sound of a clatter was heard followed by swearing. He’d dropped something.
“Jonas, does it exist or not?” Josh called out.
“Not in the original form, no,” he answered.
Nate was certain that Jonas wasn’t keeping anything from them. He had no reason to, but he would try again for Lily.
“You don’t know about it at all?” Nate asked.
“No. It didn’t work, and it was dissolved. I’ve never done extensive research on it; I had no reason to.”
“Is there a chance it could still be around?” Nate asked.
“Well, if you’d asked me yesterday, I’d have said no. But now? I have no idea, Nate. She said he has a ring with the same symbol? The Ouroboros? Exactly the same?”
“She just said it was the same. We haven’t seen it,” he replied.
“We don’t like it,” Josh said. “How can a council that’s no longer in existence hold any sway over him? And how would they enforce that anyway?”
“I don’t like any of this, either,” Jonas said. “I’ve looked into him but can’t find anything odd. He’s a Doctor of History, teaching at Oxford University, and has been there for the past nine years. I found nothing that would indicate he was a witch. But then we know how to hide it well, so that doesn’t mean anything really.”
“What do we do now?” Matt asked. He ran the end of the chalk over his fingertips, his eyes on where Lily lay quietly curled in a ball on the bed.
“There isn’t anything we can—where is she? She’s very quiet through all of this. She’s not on her own, is she?”
“No, Matt helped her to sleep. She was so worked up, going in circles with it all.”
“Okay, well, let her sleep and see what tomorrow turns up. I think she needs to talk to him and her mother again. But I think one, or all of you, should try to be with her when she talks to them. If she wants, I can also come along when she speaks to Lynda.”
“She thinks you’re lying because of the council thing, holding back something,” Nate said.
“I’m not lying, Nate. I don’t know what his agenda is, or why he has a ring. There were rings, but I’ve only seen pictures of them, and they were only worn by the council members. Maybe it’s a fake he’s had made. Or he’s managed to find one. I don’t know. None of it is making much sense to be honest. We need to find out who her real mother is. I’m going to try and see what I can find out about it. What else is worrying her about me?”
“He told her that magic is not leaving this world.”
“What is he up to? There are fewer fae and witches. I’ve proved that myself. Look, if she can’t face either of them, tell her to come and look at her history in the Aperio. It will tell her whatever she wants to know. It will tell her who her mother was and who Drew is to her.”
“I don’t trust him. I didn’t before, and I do even less now.” Nate saw the others nod in agreement.
“He obviously knows what he’s doing. He’s waited till she’s eighteen until he’s made himself known to her. There must be a reason, and I can’t see how it’s a council that has been disbanded for over four hundred years. I’m going to do what I can to find out about this council. I have a few contacts I can email, make it seem academic. Hopefully I’ll have an answer by tomorrow. Are you going to college tomorrow?”
“I doubt it. I can’t see her being in any state of mind for that. She needs to talk to Lynda really.”
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“Okay, well, get those sigils done and don’t cross or break the line until the morning. It’ll keep him out if he tries to get to her. Try and sleep if you can. I’ll see what I can find out on this end, but if you need me, call me, no matter the time. If anything seems slightly off, call me. Do not hesitate. He’s a powerful witch, that much is obvious if he can shadow-self regularly.”
“Thanks, Jonas.” He’d been right. Jonas would never lie to or betray them. Drew, on the other hand, was dangerous, and Lily was his target.
“Talk to you tomorrow, and don’t forget to call me if you need me.”
Nate ended the call. He could feel the relative safety from the chalk circle already. It wasn’t failsafe—even the tiniest break in the line would be enough to render it useless—but along with the protection sigils, Lily would be safe from any nocturnal wanderings from Drew. His anger spiked, and he swore viciously. Drew had been messing with her, and it made him want to kill him.
“I want to go around there and kick it out of him!” He slumped into the chair, his hands in his hair. He looked at where the twins had taken residence at the bottom of the bed, back to back.
“You and me both,” Matt muttered. He had Josh’s phone in front of him and was squinting at the sigil Jonas had sent. “We have to be careful. He might not know what we are. If he doesn’t, we can use it to our advantage.”
“And if he does know?” Josh asked, watching Matt put down the phone and pick up the chalk.
“He doesn’t know about Jonas, even if he does know about us,” Nate said. “We remind Lily to never mention Jonas in front of him, and hopefully we’ll have an advantage there.”
“He might just be wanting to reconnect with his daughter,” Matt said doubtfully.
“Why would he wait eighteen years? If this council has stopped him, then he’s dangerous to her. Or he did something dangerous that made them decide to keep him away from her,” Jake pointed out.
“The Council could be a lie to try and justify why he hasn’t tried to contact her before,” Josh said.
“I think we have the reason for Lynda’s headlong run around the country. She’s been trying to hide Lily from him all these years,” Matt said. “Lily’s confused, but I think Lynda loves her.”
Lily shifted on the bed, and Nate looked down at her. Her breathing was slow and even as she slept. He blew out his breath, completely exhausted. A headache was brewing behind his eyes. They could do no more tonight, and if they didn’t get any sleep, they’d be no use tomorrow either.
Matt was the strongest of them when it came to protection magic, but he was just as tired as Nate was. “Matt, do you want me to do the sigils?”
“No, I’ll be fine. I’ll do them now. Get the mattress out so I can see what space I’ll have.”
“We’d best get it all wiped away tomorrow morning before Aunt June sees it,” Jake muttered as he tugged the mattress out.
“Stop!” Nate shouted as Josh headed to the wardrobe. “You’ll break the line!”
Josh stopped in time. “Sorry, habit.”
“We’ll all have to hang on till morning,” Nate said, shedding his jacket and shoes.
Matt knelt in front of the door and closed his eyes. He centred himself, and then with his eyes still closed, he drew out the sigil that he’d memorised. Jonas had trained them all in the art of protection building. Matt would imagine building a white space around the room. With each mark he made, the space would grow bigger until it enclosed everything within the chalk circle. The white space would remain until they broke the line. They’d be protected, and nothing would be able to get to Lily or them.
Nate traced a finger down her arm. Things would never be the same for her. He just hoped she’d get some answers. He didn’t want her anywhere near Drew until Jonas came back with more information.
It suddenly sank in that Lynda wasn’t going to want them there if she didn’t know they were fae. He sighed heavily and drew out his phone, tapping on Jonas name. It was answered immediately.
“What’s wrong?”
“We’re good,” Nate said, the phone to his ear. He saw the twins look at him in question. “If we’re with Lily when she talks to Lynda, we’re going to have to let her know what we are, aren’t we?”
He heard Jonas blow out his breath. “Yes, you are. She won’t talk about magic in front of you otherwise, and you really need to hear what she has to say about it. It may make her trust you more, or it may make her try and throw you out. Especially if she’s not magical and views all magic with distrust.”
“Bugger,” Nate muttered, knowing what he was saying was right.
“Stand your ground with Lynda, Nate. Do you want me to come over?”
“I think we need to get Lily to trust you first. She’s been listening to Drew longer than we realised. Everything is a contradiction for her at the moment. It’s cemented in her mind that you aren’t to be trusted.”
“Plus, I gave her an aneurism, or so she thinks,” he said dryly. “I don’t think I’ve ever regretted doing anything as much as I regret doing that, but I can’t change it. Okay, look, get some sleep, and call me tomorrow morning.”
Nate said goodbye and put the phone back on the table.
Matt sat back from the last sigil and scratched at the back of his head tiredly. “It’s done and will hold,” he said.
“Okay, there’s nothing else we can do, and we all need to sleep. We’re safe in here for tonight.” Nate grabbed the comforter from the end of the bed and covered Lily. He took his glasses off and lay down, careful not to wake her. The bed dipped as Matt got in, switching off the light.
He could hear the twins muttering together on the mattress, Lily’s even breathing, and Matt’s sighs as he got settled onto his side.
“We might have to admit we were wrong,” Josh spoke up from the floor.
“What?”
“Drew may not be dangerous. We’ve got to admit; ninety-nine percent of our issues with him was us thinking he wanted to fuck her. His interest in her kind of makes sense now that we know he’s her dad. Maybe we’re prejudiced against him for reasons that aren’t there.”
Matt spoke before Nate could open his mouth. “He’s set up a shadow-self spell, and more than likely he used it to get into her room at night. I don’t care if he’s Santa Claus delivering presents to her; that’s wrong!”
“Agreed. But if that was him both nights, maybe he was making sure we weren’t corrupting Lily into a gangbang or something. Maybe to him, we’re the bad guys,” Josh said.
“Bugger,” Nate snapped, realising that he had a point.
“He’s only ever defended her when he’s had a go at us, and each time it was warranted,” Jake added. “First with dragging her over the cliffs in shorts and tennis shoes and then announcing to the entire school that she’s easy.”
“She’s not fucking easy!” Matt exploded, sitting straight up and rocking the bed. Lily made a grunting noise, turned over onto her back, and started to snore softly.
“Try and kick her next time, Matt,” Nate snapped at him. “You didn’t wake her up properly!”
“All right, all right! I didn’t mean to.” Matt switched the lamp on and glared down at where the twins were sitting.
“We know she’s not easy, but we’ve made her look it.” Jake folded his arms and rested them on his raised knees. “You have to admit that!”
Matt grunted. “We weren’t careful enough, but she’s not easy.”
“We left her wide open for morons like Johnston. Drew said she was being talked about. You know what that place is like. What starts as someone saying we were both holding her hand in registration will have turned into a raging orgy behind the cookery block by the time last bell rings. You know that!” Josh crossed his legs and leant forward.
“Well, you were the ones to hang all over her, dragging her to registration holding her hands,” Matt snapped.
“We’ve all been g
uilty of holding her hand around college,” Nate said and sighed; they’d all made a mess of things. “If we’re going to carry on with all of us dating her, it’s going to get worse. We can’t seem to get our act together enough to stay away from her during the day or evening. Our parents have clicked on that we’re all dating her. They thought she was pregnant and that one of us was responsible. They didn’t question just Matt, they questioned all of us. We’ve fucked up big time, and I think once they think Lily is settled with her mum again, we’re going to get a roasting from them.”
“What do you mean if we carry on dating her?” demanded Matt, turning to face him. “Are you backing out of it? ‘Cause I’m telling you I’m not letting her go. She’s mine.”
“She’s ours too!” Josh glared at him. “We’re not stepping back for you.”
“I’m not backing out of it, but we have to consider that Lily isn’t going to like being called out as easy! Even if we stop holding her hands and putting our arms around her in college the damage is already done. Even if you do claim sole status with her, Matt, people are still going to see the four of us with her and put two and two together.”
“We need to keep our hands to ourselves. People will forget. They always do. Someone else will be the brunt of the gossip soon enough if we don’t give them anymore to gossip about,” Nate said, rubbing his eyes.
“Yeah, but it’s just so fucking complicated,” Josh moaned.
“In the grand scheme of what else we’re facing right now, it doesn’t matter,” Jake said and moved to lie back down. “We have bigger worries, and so does she.”
“Yeah,” Matt said.
“Agreed.” Josh slumped down beside his brother. “Can we get some sleep, please? We are so fucking tired our brains are quietly weeping.”
“Want me to sing you to sleep like your mummy does every night?” Matt suggested, settling down and switching off the light.
“Fuck off! We want to sleep, Matt. That would make our ears bleed,” Josh mumbled.
“Notice how he didn’t deny that she sings to them each night,” Matt stage whispered to Nate.
“I still think it’s why we never sleep at their place.” Nate welcomed the easy teasing for a few minutes. “They don’t want us to know she still tucks them in.”