“You’d be surprised how many there are,” Jilly said with a laugh. Hannah grabbed the book from Jilly and headed upstairs, leaving Jilly in the kitchen.
Caroline was unpacking when Patrick came back. She arched an eyebrow at his appearance. “What happened to you?”
“My brother and I had a little chat,” he replied dryly.
Caroline laughed. “Must have been some chat.”
“Something like that,” he said “I’m going to go shower off. Care to join me?” He raised an eyebrow suggestively.
She made a face. “I think I’ll pass, not terribly excited about a bloody shower.”
Patrick tossed his shirt at her. “Your loss.” He peeled the rest of his clothes and walked naked to the bedroom.
Caroline sighed as she watched him go. How on earth had she fallen in love with that man? But that was it. She was in it for the long haul, now. She finished putting her things away and wandering into the bedroom, sprawled out on the bed listening to the shower.
“I’m all clean in here. Do you want to come dirty me up again?” he called out from the bathroom.
Why not, she thought as she peeled off her clothes and climbed in with him. Caroline let the water run over her skin as Patrick pulled her close. She ran her hands over his back, letting her fingers slide across his wet skin. They kissed and explored each other’s wet bodies until the water went cold and they had to get out. He toweled her off and carried her into the bedroom to finish what they started.
Caroline felt dizzy with desire. “Patrick,” she breathed out as he bit into her shoulder. “I can’t wait, I need you.” She all but screamed the words. He kissed her lips and took what was his.
William found Jilly right where he had left her in the kitchen, with her nose in a book.
“Did you find anything?”
“Hmm? Oh yeah, Hannah brought it up to Alex. She found my mom’s journal. I was just going through it a little. It’s weird to see her handwriting after so many years.”
“Where is Hannah, anyway?”
“She’s exploring the house. She’s already found one of its secret rooms. Now she’s off to find more. I’m glad she’s got something to do.”
“Me, too. This whole situation has to be so awful for her.” He grabbed Jilly’s hand. “Want to take a walk with me?”
“What, now? Is it safe?”
“We’ll be fine. Patrick and I have something of an understanding.”
Jilly nodded. “Okay, let me get my coat.” She met him on the back porch a few minutes later and they set off into the forest together, holding hands.
“I just wanted to see how you’re feeling with everything that’s going on. Do you still want to go ahead with the wedding as planned?”
Jilly stopped and turned to face him. “I’m in this, Will; whether Caroline is involved or not. Do I want her to be there? Obviously yes, but I’m not going to postpone my life because she’s made a stupid choice.”
William smiled and pulled her in for a kiss. “I love you, Jill.” She smiled at him and they continued walking. An hour into their walk, William stopped suddenly. “Get behind me.”
Jilly looked around to see what was out there. Liam walked casually out of the trees. William narrowed his eyes, studying the man before them. It looked as though life had not been peaceful for him since they last saw him. His clothes were worn and ragged and his red hair was long and shaggy.
Liam held up his hands in a gesture of peace. “I’m here for myself, Will,” he said calmly.
“Let’s hear him out,” Jilly whispered to William.
He nodded. “What are you after, Liam?”
“I need your help.”
William laughed. “Why on earth would I want to help you after what you did to us?”
Liam hung his head in shame. “Look, I know I was an ass. I’m sorry. Sabine can be very persuasive when she wants to be. You of all people should know that. She had some leverage over me. I was promised certain things to help her.” He seemed unwilling to go into more detail.
“What do you want from us, then?” William asked impatiently.
“I didn’t know she was working for your brother all along, Will. I didn’t want to help her, but she has Maggie! I didn’t have a choice.”
William frowned. “Why didn’t you say something before now? It’s been like six months.”
Tears slipped out of Liam’s eyes. “She still has her, Will. Sabine said I’d have her back when I delivered the girl.” He gestured to Jilly. “She kept promising I’d get her back, but I never did. I’ve been trying to follow Sabine for months but she hasn’t led me to Maggie, yet.”
William was quiet while he listened to what the man had to say. “Ok, I still don’t get where we come in.”
“You have Sabine, right?”
William looked at him through narrowed eyes. “Hold my hand, Jilly,” he whispered. Jilly quickly grabbed his hand and held tightly. William chanted a phrase over and over again until an orb of purple light appeared in the palm of his hand.
“Step forward, Liam, and hold out your hands.” He deposited the orb into Liam’s waiting hands and stepped back. “Are you still working for Sabine?”
Liam looked nervous. “No, I’m not working for Sabine. I just want my Maggie back.” Jilly watched all of this with fascination, not knowing what the orb was or what was supposed to happen with it.
William spoke again, his tone measured. “Are you working for my brother?”
Liam’s eyes widened. Fear was almost palpable on his face. “No,” he whispered. The orb shot out tendrils of light that wrapped themselves around Liam’s wrists. He screamed in pain, sinking down to his knees.
William’s eyes darkened in anger. “You and I both know that’s not true.”
Liam squirmed in pain. “I’m sorry, Will, but they have Maggie. I’m going to do whatever it takes to get her back.”
William walked over to where Liam crouched. “What exactly did you think was going to go down today? We were going to just take you at your word and take you to Sabine? Are you supposed to be her rescuer?”
Liam nodded sadly. “I didn’t want to cross Patrick. I didn’t have a choice when he asked me. All I can say is that I’m sorry.”
Jilly didn’t know what to say. On the one hand, she was pissed that he thought he could lie to them. On the other hand, she understood that he was in a tough place. She pulled William away. “We need to help him.”
His eyes widened. “What do you propose we do? We can’t exactly bring him home with us.”
Jilly arched a brow. “Why not?”
“You’re not serious, are you?” William asked.
“We can’t let him go now. Patrick would know that he’s lying if he says he hadn’t talked to us. I think we should just bring him home and decide what to do after.”
William thought it over for a few minutes. “Okay. Nik and I will figure out what to do with him.” They walked back to where Liam was lying on the ground, writhing in pain. William waved his hand and said a few words quietly, and the purple light surrounding Liam disappeared. Liam looked at them warily. William put out a hand to help him up. “You’re coming with us. We’ll figure out what to do with you, later,” William said.
Liam almost looked relieved. “Does this mean you’ll help me?”
“I haven’t decided yet; but while you’re at Jilly’s house, you will be on your best behavior.”
Liam nodded his head frantically. “I won’t step a toe out of line, I promise.” He sketched a cross-my-heart gesture on his chest. William made an unintelligible noise and they all started off for the house.
William opened the back door and ushered Liam into the kitchen. “Sit down, please. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He shot Jilly a “watch him” look and bounded up the stairs in search of Nik.
Jilly sat down across from Liam. “Would you like something to drink or eat?”
He looked at her for a moment. “Water would be nice, thank
you.” Jilly nodded and got up to get him a glass of water. She shot him a quick glance and decided to make him a sandwich as well. He looked like he hadn’t eaten in a while. She felt sort of sorry for him, “sort of” being the operative words.
Jilly looked at him through narrowed eyes, as she set the plate before him. “What exactly was your plan today, anyway?”
He looked at her and shrugged. “I don’t know. I saw you guys leave and I just went with it.” Liam tore into the sandwich like it was the best thing he had ever eaten.
Jilly laughed under her breath, her eyes lit up in amusement. “That’s an interesting way to go about it.” She got serious again. “Look, Liam, I don’t like that you’re working for Patrick; but I do understand why you are. I want to help you get Maggie back, but I need to trust you. There are things going on in this house that would not benefit from Patrick knowing about them. It’s bad enough that Caroline’s probably already told him everything that was happening before she left. I can’t deal with you telling him anything more. Also, I’m going to have some ground rules.”
He nodded and motioned for her to continue. “Rule number one, stay away from Hannah. That poor girl has been through enough at the hands of Sabine and she doesn’t need you bugging her or causing problems.”
Liam was quiet for a few moments. “He wants her, you know.” His voice sounded sad. “Patrick wants Hannah; but I’m not sure why. There are others beside me who are after her. Patrick gave us all specific instructions. I was not sent for her.”
Jilly nodded, trying to absorb what he had just told her. “Ok, so rule number two is you stay in the house. Unless William or Nikolai say differently, you’re under house arrest.”
“Fair enough. Any more rules I should know about?” There was a hint of humor in his voice. Jilly almost found it endearing.
“I’m sure Will is going to have some to add to the list.” She heard Nikolai’s voice as the men came down the stairs.
Nikolai shot Liam a disapproving look as he walked into the kitchen. “Come with me,” he said in a flat tone. Liam pushed his chair back and followed Nikolai out the back door.
“What’s the plan for him?” Jilly asked when they were alone.
“Nik’s going to question him further before we decide if we’re going to trust him. He’s going to be staying at a safe house of sorts that Kat and Nik set up years ago.” Jilly cleared Liam’s plate from the table and sat down next to William by the fire. Hannah wandered in from the other room and William’s eyes widened in shock when he saw the necklace she had on.
“Where did you get that?” His tone held something neither girl understood.
“I found it in a chest, upstairs. Jilly said I could wear it.”
“Will, what’s wrong?” Jilly asked when she noticed how agitated he was getting.
“That’s not an ordinary necklace; it’s a talisman of sorts. It has belonged to many powerful witches since the dawn of time. I’m curious to know how it ended up in an old chest in your house.”
Jilly shrugged. “I’ve never seen it before today. Hannah said she found it with my mom’s journal. What’s the big deal with it? I get that it’s old, but it’s just a necklace, Will.”
He shook his head. “That is not just a necklace, Jill, Every witch who has possessed it has left a piece of her power within the stone, and not all of the witches were good. There is some very powerful magic held inside of that ruby. Legend has it that whoever wears the stone can harness the power within. It would amplify anyone’s power one-hundred fold.”
Hannah shifted uncomfortably where she stood. “Ok, maybe I don’t want to wear it after all,” she said as she lifted the chain over her head.
William walked over to her and put it back around her neck. “Don’t worry, it’s not going to go off on its own or anything. You’re perfectly safe.” Hannah nodded uncertainly and excused herself upstairs.
Jilly quirked an eyebrow up at him. “What was that?”
He sighed. “Nothing. I just don’t want her to be afraid of things she doesn’t understand. She’s going to run into a lot of that living with us.”
Jilly smiled and kissed him softly. “You really are a sweet man, Will.”
Patrick and Caroline were lying in bed together, wrapped up in blankets. He had his arms around her, pulling her close to him.
“There’s something I should tell you.” His tone of voice made Caroline sit up and look at him.
“This sounds serious…”
He nodded and sat up as well. “I need to tell you about Hannah.”
Caroline’s anxiety level skyrocket when he said Hannah’s name. “What about her?” she asked.
“She’s my daughter, Caroline,” Patrick said quietly.
“What? How is that even possible?”
He sighed, not really wanting to go into the details but knowing that he had to. “I’ve gotten out of the tomb before, fifteen years ago. I was able to convince a group of young witches to help release me; and one of them happened to be Hannah’s mom, Angeline. We began a relationship almost right off the bat; she was young and very sweet. We had Hannah exactly ten months after I was released and I was so happy when she was born. Angeline started to have doubts about releasing me from the tomb. One night, she left Hannah with her sister and hatched a plan. She gave me a sleeping potion and got me back into the tomb by herself. I woke up as she was trying to recite the spell to imprison me. However, you know that it’s not a spell that you can do alone. The magic was too much for her and, as the tomb sealed shut, she died. I was forced to watch her burst into flames. She faded away screaming my name.” He stopped there and looked down at his hands, unsure of how Caroline was going to react.
“Hannah’s your daughter, then,” she said quietly.
“She is. Are you going to be okay with this?” He tilted her chin up, searching her eyes for the answer.
“I’ve come this far, haven’t I?” she smiled weakly.
“There’s more. Hannah’s in danger. Before I got out, Sabine was working for someone else. He hired her to find you, Katya and Hannah. He was very vague on why; but Sabine has never been discriminating on her employers, as long as they have the means to pay her.”
Caroline nodded, “Okay, so what are we going to do about this? We should probably talk to Jill and your brother, don’t you think?”
Patrick groaned and thumped back into the pillows. “I was rather hoping to avoid that; but if we must, we must.”
Caroline laughed and threw a pillow at him. “I’m not really looking forward to it, either. When I left, it wasn’t exactly on good terms. Do you want to call or should I?” He shot her a look and she sighed as she got out of bed to grab her phone. She padded across the floor wearing nothing but the skin she was born with, goose bumps covering her as the air hit. She snatched her phone out of her bag and raced back under the covers. “Are we ready for this?”
He looked into her eyes and kissed her softly. “I’m not sure if that matters anymore, love.” She took a deep breath and dialed Jilly’s number.
Jilly looked down at her phone. “Caroline’s calling me,” she said to William. “Should I answer? I don’t know if I’m ready to talk to her.”
William reached over and grabbed the phone. “Hello?”
“Hey, Will, we need to talk. Can we meet today?”
He sighed. “About what, Caroline? You’ve made your choice; so can you just leave us alone for awhile?”
There was a catch in her voice when she replied, “This is important, Will. It involves all of us. Can you please just hear us out?”
“Hang on.” He put his hand over the phone. “She wants us all to meet. They have something important to discuss. Do you want to do it?” Jilly nodded her head. “Ok, when and where?” he asked, when he put the phone back up to his ear.
“We can come to you if you want. I don’t really care where we meet.”
“Fine, be here in an hour. Tell my brother to behave himself.” He hung u
p before Caroline could reply. “I guess we should go and tell the others,” he said as he trudged up the stairs.
An hour later, Caroline and Patrick sat in the car in front of Jilly’s house. “I feel like I’m out past curfew or something,” Caroline said, trying to lighten the mood.
Patrick sighed. “We should probably go in.”
Caroline shot a sideways glance at him. He sounded almost resigned; she had never heard him that way. As they got out of the car, they linked hands. She felt the familiar zing of electricity and was reassured. They walked up the front steps to the door and knocked.
Jilly opened the door, a false smile plastered on her face. “Hi, come on in,” she said as she stepped aside for them to enter. Nikolai and Katya were seated by the fireplace and Hannah and William were on the couch.
Caroline felt Patrick stiffen when he saw Hannah sitting next to William. “It’s okay,” she whispered as they sat on a loveseat that must have been conjured up to accommodate them.
William turned to face his brother. “Okay, we’re all here. What do you have to say?”
Patrick let go of Caroline’s hand and stood up. “What I have to say concerns all of us, but Hannah in particular. This isn’t going to be easy to hear, but it needs to be said.” He turned to face Hannah and spoke directly to her. “I am your father, Hannah.” There was an audible gasp from everyone in the room.
William’s eyes narrowed. “How is that even possible?”
Patrick smiled wryly. “As I told Jilly before, this isn’t my first time out of the tomb. I have been out one other time, fifteen years ago to be precise. Hannah’s mother, Angeline, along with her coven, released me.”
“Why on earth would you ever go back in then?” William asked incredulously.
“It was not by choice, brother. Angeline gave me a sleeping potion and sealed me in the tomb. The magic within her burned her alive; the spell is too difficult for one witch alone and the magic turned on her. It was not a pleasant thing to witness.” His voice lowered to almost a whisper, his eyes never leaving Hannah’s face. “I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt her, or you.”
Chasing the Witch (Boston Witches) Page 16