We headed straight for Matthew Blair’s house where Ana had spent her first night away from home – and from mommy. I wondered if she’d missed me as much as I’d missed her, but pushed the thought aside as idle and useless.
Ana did give me a satisfyingly enthusiastic greeting when I walked into the living room. Her eyes brightened, her chin lifted, and she cried, “Ma!”
When I picked her up, she dove for my right breast, once again leaving me with the paranoid notion that she thought my breasts were called Ma and that she liked them more than me.
“Hey, I missed you too,” Evan said, ruffling the baby-fine hair on the top of her head.
“Ma!” Ana insisted, smacking my chest with her open palm.
“All right, all right.” I nestled into the same chair I’d used yesterday, and proceeded to give her what she wanted. What we both wanted.
“She did fine last night,” Kaitlin said from the kitchen. A quick glance told me she was preparing snacks for the White Guard meeting that was due to start in only a couple of hours.
“She didn’t fall out of bed?” I asked.
“Nope. Although actually …” She stopped talking and I craned my neck to look over my shoulder at her.
“What?” Evan asked.
“It’s nothing, really. Innocent. But Jay crawled out of my bed sometime during the night and back into his own bed – with her. I didn’t notice until this morning so they might have slept together all night.”
I wanted to ask if she’d gotten a picture of it, but something in her tone suggested she was more disturbed by the incident than she should be. I’d always sensed that something dark lurked in her past; I only hoped she’d find a way to open up to me – or to anyone – sooner or later.
Matthew chose that moment to come downstairs. He ignored me and Evan, going straight to Kaitlin to gather her in his arms. I turned my head to give them some privacy.
I gazed down at my daughter, feeling the connection strengthen between us, feeling the magic grow within me. I had only nursed her one time yesterday, and the magic had dwindled almost to nothing. It stirred now as I recognized its presence, once again inviting me to use it, play with it, give it life.
Become like Mom.
“Did you talk to Belle?” I asked Matthew.
“She rearranged her schedule so she could see your mom tomorrow,” he replied. “She’s amazing. Your mom’s in good hands.”
Evan and I stayed until the meeting, helping Matthew and Kaitlin get ready and discussing the agenda. Finally, when the other members of the inner circle began to arrive, Kaitlin took Jay and Ana upstairs to watch a movie.
“Not Frozen,” I found myself saying. As far as I knew, there was no connection between the Disney movie and what had happened. I didn’t like to believe in coincidences but, looking back, I supposed it wasn’t exactly a shock that the most popular Disney movie of the modern age had been recently viewed at a daycare. Maybe seeing it had inspired Haley, activating her sinister power – that could happen, when children weren’t born with a gift – but if so, I doubted I would ever know for sure.
In the meantime, the movie remained unsettling. No use tempting fate.
The inner circle consisted of Matthew’s family – his brother Robert, his mom, and his dad – plus Linda and Clark Eagle, Kevin Hastings, and Scott Lee. Scott was the newest member, and as he brought our numbers up to ten, probably the last for a while.
My role in the White Guard was ill-defined. I think in Matthew’s view, I was the seer, but as I still hadn’t seen very much, I wasn’t always sure what to do. Evan had only recently let me come in person at all; he’d spent a long time allowing old resentments and jealousies get in the way of common goals. It probably hadn’t helped that Alexander DuPris had stolen a blood sample – it still left us wondering what part of Evan’s actions had been his, and what part had been manipulated. We would probably never know, although I privately thought that Evan didn’t need to be manipulated to feel jealous. Especially where I was concerned.
I half listened as the meeting was called to order and old business was discussed. Evan reported on his progress – or lack thereof – with the latest slaver ring to pop up in the Midwest. Clark Eagle chimed in then with recruitment numbers, which were well up. Scott Lee had nothing new to say about werewolf pack alliances. And finally, Caroline reported that the Magical Underground Newsletter continued to print propaganda and outright lies about us.
“Two people were frozen to death a few days ago,” Matthew said, finally.
I focused my attention back on the meeting.
“Evan assures me that the culprit – a little girl – has had her powers bound,” Matthew continued.
“I’ve also agreed to teach her to use her powers when she’s older,” Evan said, shooting me an unreadable look.
“That’s a good idea,” Matthew said.
“It is?” This came from Kevin Hastings, Evan’s uncle on his mom’s side. Kevin’s role in the inner council was more a unifying one – he was related, either directly or through marriage, to most of the powerful sorcerers in Eagle Rock.
“I’m not saying we need to let every magical secret get out into the general public,” Matthew said, “but yes, people with power need to be able to use it. This has always been taken care of somewhat unofficially, by relatives, even distant ones, but not everyone can find a relative to teach them.”
“Especially lately,” Linda Eagle chimed in.
Matthew nodded, and I could tell he had spoken to her before the meeting. “Tell everyone what you told me.”
Linda cleared her throat. “Babies are getting stronger. I’ve been a midwife for almost fifty years – I helped give birth to most everyone in this room. Kevin was one of my first.”
Kevin gave her a wary smile and a nod.
“Anyway,” Linda continued, “things have been changing. It didn’t happen all at once. It happened so gradually I almost missed it, but people have been getting stronger. Every year, maybe, there’s an infinitesimal change – the mamas are channeling more and more magic while they’re pregnant. But in the last few years, the changes have been sharper. More noticeable. Why, little Ana saved her mama’s life when she was barely an idea!”
I stiffened, then nodded, remembering that everyone in this room knew Ana was a healer. It had taken a great deal of trust to share that secret, but we had all revealed important truths about ourselves last summer, after Mathew returned from Pennsylvania, to help unite us.
“Cassie’s mom had real trouble controlling little Michael’s fire gift while she was pregnant,” Linda went on, “and she’d done it before with Nicolas. Michael’s stronger than Nicolas, although you’d better watch who you say that to.”
I grinned at the thought of my brother being told anyone was better than him at anything, let alone the thing that personally defined him – fire starting.
“Kaitlin had trouble with Jay too, though she put her trust in modern medicine instead of me.” Linda’s tone clearly told us what she thought of that decision. “That might have been Kaitlin’s own inexperience with magic, but my impression is Jay’s a prodigy.”
“He is,” Matthew confirmed.
“And Michael and Maya keep slipping their bindings,” I said.
“There are others,” Linda said. “Possibly more babies born to the mundane community with magic, too, but most of those end up being delivered at the hospital so I don’t have direct knowledge. What I do know is that magical talent has been increasing for decades, and lately it’s increased sharply.”
“I have more,” Matthew said. “The seers in my family – and there is one every other generation or so – have been keeping journals for centuries. I’ve got records going back to the 1700s. Now, no one came right out and said that magic is getting more powerful, but it’s clear by reading the accounts that over time, sorcerers have been able to do more. Each new generation seems stronger and more capable than the last.”
“How much o
f that is knowledge?” Clark asked. “My family has records, too, which include spells that improve upon the spells of the previous generation. The potions, the rituals, the enchantments – we can use magic more efficiently than we used to and in that way, do more.”
“And there’s the node,” Robert added. “This area wasn’t settled until the 1800s, and it’s the strongest node the family ever had access to. There was definitely a jump in power and potential when our family moved here – our great-great grandmother said so in pretty much those words.”
“This is all fascinating,” Caroline Blair said from her place in the corner. “But what, if anything, do we do about it?”
Caroline had a quiet strength about her that some people misinterpreted as weakness. I had been one of those people, years ago. Now I knew better. She’d had her magic stolen from her as a teenager, just like my mom, but she’d conquered her past to become a powerful matriarch. I almost hated to see what she’d be like when she had grandchildren – which might be soon. Matthew and Kaitlin were very serious, plus rumor had it Robert was seeing someone.
“I’m not sure there is anything to do,” Kevin said. “We take each child as an individual, like always, binding powers when necessary.”
“The powers aren’t always staying bound,” I said. “And with mundanes involved, it’s easy to think more kids will slip through the cracks. I’d rather not wait for another death to find the next one.”
“So what do we do? Institute a universal testing program?” Linda Eagle sounded half-serious, which was more than I expected.
“Maybe.” I wasn’t sure that was the answer – and it was invasive. There was no good way to measure a person’s magical potential without a blood sample, and nobody was going to hand over blood in Eagle Rock. I’d seen to that personally.
“The Magical Underground educates young, unconnected sorcerers,” Evan said.
“The Magical Underground also uses blood magic,” Kevin said.
“Let’s table this for now,” Matthew said, perhaps sensing an argument on the horizon. That ability was one thing that made him so good at what he did. “I’ll speak with each of you privately over the next week and we’ll revisit it at our regular meeting. In the meantime, there’s something about a fairy in McClellan’s shop?”
Kevin snorted, apparently thinking it was a joke. No one else did.
“There is something in the back of that shop,” Evan said. “Christina Scot called it a fairy; I’m just going to call it … unusual.”
“Scott?” Matthew asked. “What do your instincts tell you?”
Scott’s nostrils flared as he considered the question. “It’s nothing I’ve ever seen before. I don’t like it, whatever it is. It makes me uneasy.”
“It makes me more uneasy that a man like Cormack McClellan has it,” Evan added. “I haven’t proven that he’s taken over his brother’s trade in soul magic, but the man’s evil.”
Scott nodded, once.
“All right.” Matthew nodded, decisively. “Maybe we should steal the creature, and study it for ourselves.”
Robert cleared his throat. “I’m not comfortable with that. Human or not, we can’t just imprison it without a reason. Or was I the only one who went to law school?”
“The law doesn’t apply to non-humans,” Matthew replied, but he held up his hands when Robert started to say something else. “I take your meaning, though. Maybe we can try to befriend it.”
“I’ll join the rescue team,” Robert said. “If we’re going to try to make friends, having an empath along will help.”
“Evan?” Matthew asked. “You’re leading this team.”
Evan nodded. “Robert’s welcome to join.”
“Anyone else want in?” Matthew asked.
“Me.” I raised my hand.
“No,” Evan snapped.
“I’m your distraction,” I said. “I think I’ll have much more luck than you did.”
Evan arched an eyebrow. “How?”
“I’ll tell him I might know who killed his brother.”
Scott tensed. He had killed Cormack’s brother, David, when the older McClellan tried to steal Madison’s soul.
“I won’t actually tell him,” I hastened to add, “but it will be distracting.”
“It’s a good plan,” Matthew said. “It’s better than any distraction strategy I’ve come up with.”
Beside me, Evan tensed. He hated sending me into danger. He hated it even more when I was right about needing to go into danger.
“I’ll be fine,” I assured him. “You and Scott and Robert will all be there to back me up.”
He started to say something, but my cell phone vibrated between us. I dug it out of my pocket and glanced at the caller ID.
“It’s the sheriff,” I said before accepting the call. “What’s up?”
“We’ve got another deep freeze. It’s bad this time – two fishermen are dead and two others are in the hospital with severe hypothermia and frost bite.”
“That’s impossible.” I shook my head. “Evan bound Haley’s powers.”
Beside me, Evan stiffened.
“Oh, it’s worse than that,” the sheriff said. “Haley and her family haven’t returned to Eagle Rock yet. They’re still in Kansas City.”
“It wasn’t Haley?”
“It wasn’t Haley.”
“But she made the mist …” I shook my head again, feeling far more than chagrin at my stupidity. I’d made a mistake that cost two more men their lives, and maybe two others. It was unforgivable.
The sheriff was talking again, but there was a sort of buzzing noise in my brain and I barely heard him. “I thought it was tied to the mist too. It was so thick, and then so cold … we almost died. It was an understandable assumption.”
“Assumption, yeah.” And we both knew what assuming did. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the back of the love seat. “You suspected, didn’t you?”
The sheriff didn’t answer right away. “I … I felt like we were missing something.”
“Me too. We both should have listened to our instincts.”
Evan’s hand came to rest on mine, offering me comfort I didn’t deserve and support I didn’t need. Numbness had me in its grip, but I steeled myself; I couldn’t make this right, but I couldn’t fall apart either. I still had answers to find and a culprit to stop.
“Who were the men attacked?” I asked. “Do we have names? Was there any connection to Nadine and Jared?”
“They’re tourists. The two in the hospital – the only two we’ve been able to get to so far – have Illinois state IDs.”
“What about rentals? Fishing gear? Boats? Any local connections there?”
“Looking into it,” he said.
“But your instincts say that’s not it, don’t they?” I asked.
“Yes,” he admitted, “but I also think that whoever’s doing this, it’s intentional.”
“Let me think and get back to you.” I hung up without saying goodbye, then turned to the eagerly eavesdropping council. “We’ve got a killer on the loose.”
Chapter 18
EVAN DIDN’T SLEEP IN ANOTHER ROOM that night, but he didn’t pull me into his arms and make love to me either. We sat there awake for a long time, neither of us speaking, crushed under the weight of things left unsaid. I thought of Belle, who would not be conceived tonight, and of Little Henry, who still had a chance tomorrow.
I slept restlessly that night, burdened by images of frozen corpses I prayed were not visions of more death to come. At least I didn’t dream of more children.
McClellan’s store opened at ten o’clock the next morning. I was there at ten thirty, going straight in the front door, while Evan, Scott, and Robert snuck around back. My mission: To keep Cormack from realizing he had intruders in the back of his shop until it was too late.
I sauntered in with my sunglasses on, removing them the second the bright morning sunlight gave way to the darkness of the interior. Th
e place always had seemed to want to live up to its nature. A handful of glass display cases along one wall were well lit, but the rest was as gloomy as a tomb.
I felt Cormack’s eyes on me from the moment I entered the store. His brother had made some half-hearted attempts to control me before he’d died, but Cormack had only ever made one attempt – possibly because I married Evan shortly thereafter. I’d like to think I intimidated him, though.
I didn’t go to him immediately. Instead, I wandered through the store, taking note of the items for sale. Most of the objects here promised power in one form or another – pocket illusions, simple potions, minor curses, and much more. I paused before a display of stones promising good luck, wondering if there was anything to them or not. I touched one and did, indeed, feel the faintest flicker of magic. They weren’t powerful, and I couldn’t be sure that luck was their true aim, but they really were magical.
I made my way past displays of rejuvenating drafts and beauty products, stopping again before a shelf of fertility aids.
“Looking for something in particular?” Cormack’s voice came from directly behind me, startling me.
I jumped and turned to look into the dark, hooded eyes of Cormack McClellan. For a split second, I thought I was looking at his brother David, and then the differences between the two brothers became clear. Cormack was shorter and stockier than his brother, although they did have the same round face, slight nose, dark hair, and green eyes.
I swallowed, nervously. “I’m looking for truth.”
“Ah, then you’ll want these.” He led the way past a bookshelf laden with tomes I barely had time to make out, although I wondered if Magical Transference might be among them. I almost hung back, but he was looking at me expectantly from beside a shelf of potions, rings, bracelets, and necklaces.
“We’ve got your basic truth serum, of course.” He pointed to a vial with a clear liquid inside. “These are effective as long as you can convince the other person to drink it and if you know the right questions to ask.”
Frozen: a ParaNormal mystery Page 16