“What if I don’t know the right questions to ask?” Coming up with the right questions was often harder than eliciting the truth anyway. You could always watch a person’s reaction for the truth.
“That gets much trickier. We’ve got the jewelry, which makes someone susceptible to suggestion and overtures of friendship – they become trusting. That can often lead to more truth, in the end.”
“But you have to convince them to wear it,” I said.
“True. That is the biggest downside of all of the less expensive options.” He gestured at the collection, then turned toward the more brightly lit display cases. “Now, if you’re interested in some real power, I’ve got a ring that you wear, which will allow you to detect the emotions of those around you.”
“You captured the soul of an empath?” I asked, thinking of Robert lurking in the back.
Cormack snorted. “You’re fixated on soul magic, aren’t you?”
“I’m fixated on the truth, like I said.”
He shook his head. “The White Guard has been after me for two years now, but they haven’t found anything. Has it occurred to you that there’s nothing to find?”
“How’d you make a ring of empathy then?” I asked.
“How does your family turn lead into gold?” Cormack countered smoothly.
“Touché.”
“But you’re not really here to buy anything, are you?” Cormack smiled, mirthlessly. “If you were interested in my trinkets, you’d have come years ago. It’s not like you don’t have the money.”
“No, I’m not here to buy cursed or evil objects.”
He shook his head. “One day, maybe you and I will come to an understanding.”
“I doubt it.”
“Me too, but life is full of surprises. Now, I assume you’re here to distract me while your husband does something I won’t like?”
“No,” I said evenly. “I’m here to bargain for truth. I want to know how you make those powerful artifacts, and you want to know who killed your brother.”
Cormack stilled, and I knew I’d gotten his attention. He might still suspect a trick, but he couldn’t help himself; he was intrigued.
“You know who killed my brother?”
“I might.”
“Don’t play games with me!” He took a deep, shuddering breath, then let it out. “He’s got a son, you know. I’m raising the boy now. He’s got a right to know why.”
“Don’t try to pretend your brother wasn’t a monster just because he had a kid. Anyone can have a kid.”
For a moment, I thought Cormack might physically attack me. Maybe I’d gone too far. Then he reached inside his pocket, withdrew a key, and wound his way around the display case to open it.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
He slid the ring of empathy onto his finger. “Do you know who killed my brother?”
“Your brother killed your brother,” I said. It was true – in part. The man’s actions had led to his own death.
“You believe that.” He sniffed the air. “And you’re never going to tell me. So let’s stop playing games.”
He suddenly flung out his hand and I was sure, for a second, that he was casting a spell at me. Then I noticed his hand was pointing slightly to the right of me and the door leading to the back of the shop had burst wide open. I couldn’t see anyone back there, but then, Scott was a master of illusion.
“Stealing from my shop?” Cormack asked. “When you can easily afford anything in here? What is the world coming to?”
“What are you talking about?” I asked. “There’s no one back there.”
“No, there’s–” He stopped, suddenly, his eyes popping open in shock. “What are you doing?”
In a flash, he was back on this side of the counter, racing for the door to the back. I followed, slowly, wondering what had gotten into him. He’d seemed so cool and confident only a moment ago – part of the game, I thought, but now he’d obviously conceded.
He went straight for an iron cage set atop a tall shelf, now empty, with the door thrown wide open. His eyes darted around the room, skimming past the doorway where I stood, feeling a lot less smug than I thought I would at this moment.
“You have no idea what you’ve done,” he said.
“I haven’t done anything,” I lied.
“It’s inhuman. Evil.”
“That’s rich, coming from you.” I felt uneasy, though. Just because an evil man kept something prisoner, didn’t mean that thing wasn’t also evil.
“The destruction it can cause...” Cormack shook his head. “You have no idea what you’ve done.”
“Then tell me.”
He opened his mouth as if to speak, then shut it again. “No. This is your fault. Your doing. If you want it undone now, I have a price.”
I didn’t ask, because I thought I knew what he wanted.
“Who killed my brother?” Cormack asked, apparently not feeling the need to wait for my response.
I shook my head and stepped back, hitting something hard and familiar. Evan.
“You’ll want my help,” Cormack said. “You’ll need it. Believe me. And when you do, that’s my price.” He held out the same hand he’d used earlier and with another flick of a spell, the door to the back slammed shut in my face.
“I don’t suppose Robert managed to befriend it,” I whispered as I turned toward Evan.
“It flew off,” Evan replied.
“I think we’ve made a mistake.”
“So do I.” This came from Scott, who appeared from beneath a veil of invisibility a little past Evan.
“Can we follow it?” I asked. “Find out where it’s going and what it’s doing?”
“Yes,” Scott replied. “I think I can smell it.”
* * *
Scott followed his nose out of the shop and east along Main Street, pausing at the intersection that would take him south to Lakeshore Drive. Pausing, he nodded that direction and began running, while Evan went back to get his car.
Robert joined us in the car, though he didn’t say much as we caught up with Scott and stopped to let him in. He couldn’t smell anything from inside the car, but there was only one way to go along this road – it dead-ended at Lakeshore Drive.
When we reached the intersection, Scott got out again and I braced myself, sensing what was coming. He must have sensed it too, because he picked the trail back up almost instantly.
It was going toward the castle. It was headed for Mom.
Scott climbed back in the car and this time we didn’t stop or speak until we reached the castle. When we arrived in the circular driveway out front, everyone poured out, somehow sensing that this was the place. This was where the little creature had gone.
Scott sniffed the air once again before nodding at an upstairs window which, I noticed, was cracked open.
“It shouldn’t be open,” I said. “It’s forty degrees out here.”
“Who’s home right now?” Evan asked.
“Probably just Mom,” I said. “The kids are at school, except the twins, who are with Kaitlin.”
“Can you get us in?” Scott asked.
“I hope so.” The last time I’d tried to get insinde my childhood home, a hell hound had attacked, but that was at night. This was late morning and, as far as I knew, I still had permanent resident privileges.
Moving quickly up the front steps, I had a sudden and vivid memory of Mom as she’d appeared in my dream – eyes wide and staring, face pale, lips blue. I’d never seen what killed her, but I’d sensed she’d taken her own life. Now, I wondered if I’d understood that vision correctly.
The door opened easily for me and when I stepped aside, Evan, Scott, and Robert all passed through the wards. They wouldn’t be as strong on another sorcerer’s home turf, but they were welcome here as my guests.
We paused in the living room, quiet, listening.
“I don’t hear anything,” Scott murmured. Since he had keen werewolf hearing, that
boded ill.
“I feel something,” Robert said, and his voice sounded strained. “Despair. Utter despair. Hopeless.”
I glanced at him, at his strained face that only marginally reminded me of his brother’s. Robert and I had never spent much time together, but I’d always gotten the impression that he was the gentler brother. Right now, his handsome face was twisted in pain and angled slightly upward, toward the ceiling.
“The library,” I said, and led the way up the stairs, taking them two at a time as I raced to get to my mother before it was too late.
The library door stood open. Mom lay on the floor, motionless, an empty bottle of wine on its side by her outflung right hand. Something – I couldn’t identify what – flitted around her head. It was more like a pulsing light than anything else, fleeting and ephemeral.
“Get away from her,” I demanded as I charged across the room, kneeling at my mother’s side. I drew in a deep breath and forced myself to look down at her still form.
Her chest rose and fell slightly. She was alive.
“Drunk again?” I asked angrily, lifting the bottle and tossing it aside.
Was this me? Was this my future? Broken and bleeding, unable to care for myself, let alone anyone else?
Behind me, Robert moaned.
“What’s in her hand?” Evan asked.
I glanced at her left hand, which clutched a tiny vial I hadn’t noticed before. Narrowing my eyes, my heart beating a little faster, I pried it loose from her fingers. It was unlabeled, but I sniffed the residue within the bottle.
“Death Sleep,” I whispered. It was the gentlest, deadliest potion I knew – first putting you into a deep sleep, then ending your life painlessly. “Oh God, Mom? Mom?”
I turned to Scott and Evan, both standing there with mouths hanging slightly open. “In the laboratory next door, there’s got to be a purgative!”
Scott moved first, Evan on his heels. Meanwhile, I propped my mother upright, wondering how long it had been since she’d taken the poison and how long she had left. It worked in minutes.
“Call your cousin, Belle,” I said to Robert, who was still moaning. “She was supposed to come over today. Tell her it’s an emergency.”
He didn’t speak for a long moment, but when I shot a look at him over my shoulder, he managed a nod. His eyes looked haunted, and his hands shook, but he pulled a phone from his jeans pocket and tapped the screen. He held it to his ear just as Evan returned with a stoppered vial.
“Lift her,” Evan said.
I tugged my mom into a sitting position, propped against my side. Evan slid to his knees in front of her and forced her mouth open, then tipped the contents of the vial into her mouth.
“How quickly will this work?” I asked.
“Imme-” Evan began, but stopped when Mom jerked forward and began spewing liquid all over him.
It wasn’t pretty. I won’t go into details for the sake of the more stomach-sensitive reader. Suffice to say she spent the next five minutes vomiting, gagging, and dry heaving. The mess was impressive. The smell was worse.
Finally, the spasms passed and she blinked her eyes open, staring numbly at her saviors. Her eyes were dull, almost as lifeless as they had appeared in my dream, and she let out a soft sob as she closed them again.
“You should have let me die,” she whispered.
“Is Belle coming?” I asked Robert.
“She was already on her way when I called,” he said. “I-I can’t stay right now. The pain … I’ve failed everyone, I know I have. Everyone would be better off if I were dead.”
“Robert?” Scott asked.
“It’s not him,” I said. “It’s Mom. But maybe he shouldn’t be alone right now.”
“Where’s the fairy?” Evan asked, suddenly looking around.
I rotated my head slowly, scanning every inch of the library, finally settling my gaze on Scott, who sniffed the air.
“Gone,” he said. “I think it’s gone. I can track it again.”
“No,” I said, surprising everyone in the room with my vehemence. Three powerful men all looked to me for direction. It was an odd moment, not because it had never happened before but because it struck me that my mom wasn’t the only one who’d felt like a failure recently. Maybe the fairy had been after me as well.
Yet these three men didn’t see me as a failure, or at least, they still had faith in my abilities.
“No,” I repeated, “not right now. We don’t know what it is or how to capture it, but it did this to Mom. Probably others.”
“Cormack McClellan knows how to capture it,” Scott said gruffly.
“And all I have to do to get the information from him is start a feud between two powerful families.” I shook my head. “I just ended a feud between two powerful families; I’m not starting another one.”
Scott blew out a long breath. “So what do we do?”
“Spread the word: No one should be alone right now.”
Scott nodded and started for the door.
“Take Robert with you,” I said. “He needs to get away from Mom. Caroline Blair will know what to do for him.”
Scott paused. “I didn’t drive.”
“Take one of the cars. Keys are on hooks in the kitchen.”
He nodded, retreated a few steps, then urged the other man forward, out of the library. Neither said a word.
“He’s right,” Mom murmured. “Everyone’s better off without me. I’ve failed everyone.”
I didn’t trust myself to speak. Part of me was so angry with her I couldn’t see straight. Didn’t she understand what she had? Nine children. Nine! Including twin toddlers who needed her. How dare she check out? Yes, she’d lost Dad, but so had I. We all had. And yes, she had made mistakes, but so had I. She was the only one falling apart.
But how much of what she was saying was truly her, and how much was that Fairy of Despair?
Chapter 19
I’M NOT SURE HOW LONG I STAYED on the floor with my mom. Probably not long, but it felt like an eternity. Finally, Evan’s phone rang and he ducked out to answer the call. At about the same time, the front doorbell rang and I dashed downstairs to greet Belle, a seventy-something woman with long gray hair twisted into an elegant knot at the back of her head. It made me think of a crown.
She smiled the moment I opened the door, a smile that looked so genuine, that felt so real, I wanted to smile back. I couldn’t quite manage it, but at least I wanted to smile.
She didn’t ask questions, but went straight to the library where she told me to wait outside while she stabilized Mom.
“Was that Belle?” Evan asked as I stared at the closed door, wondering what was happening on the other side.
“Yes.”
“Your mom’s in good hands.”
I turned to him, sensing he was about to leave me alone with this situation. “Where are you going?”
“Your Aunt Sherry just got back in touch with me about trying to heal the lake shore. She’s willing, but it’s best if we get started right away.”
“Oh.” I didn’t look at him. I didn’t want to talk about the lake shore right now, not after what had just happened.
“Will you be okay here?”
“Fine. Just fine. Go on.”
He hesitated. “I can stay if you need me.”
I shook my head. If he stayed, he’d make me feel worse. Besides, I had Belle, and she seemed to know what she was doing.
“Go on.” I gave him a quick hug and then a shove toward the stairs. He took the hint.
I spent the next half hour pacing back and forth in front of the library door, wondering what was going on in there and what I would do next. What I could do. I wasn’t willing to leave my mom alone, but I also wasn’t willing to let the kids stay with her in this condition. Sheriff Adams had mentioned a psychiatric hospital a few days ago, but that idea didn’t sit well with me either. Who knew what mundane doctors would do with her, to her? Take her blood? Force her onto medication th
at might or might not help, especially given that a supernatural creature was at least partly responsible?
Finally, the library doors opened and Belle appeared, leading Mom out. I was almost surprised to see her on her feet. I started to say something, but Belle quickly shook her head and led the way to the master bedroom. This time, she allowed me to follow.
“Find some comfy clothes to change into,” Belle said. “I’ll need you to leave the bathroom door cracked while you shower.”
Mom did as she was told, like some kind of obedient child, while Belle watched and maintained the utmost composure. It was almost surreal, watching the woman work. After the way Robert had cracked, I hadn’t been convinced that an empath could stand up to the strain.
“What should I do with her?” I asked Belle in a low voice when Mom started the shower. “I don’t want to leave her alone.”
“No, she can’t be left alone,” Bell agreed. “This is bad, some of the worst depression I’ve ever seen. It’s taking all I have to keep her stable right now.”
Since she wasn’t even breaking a sweat, I found that incredible, but I didn’t say anything. Matthew had said she was the best. Apparently, she was.
“I’ll need to cancel my other appointments or reschedule them with my apprentice,” Belle continued. “I’m afraid I can’t trust your mom around a novice.”
“Robert looked bad,” I said.
“I’m not surprised. He’s good, but he’s young, and he’s never trained in empathic healing. Make sure Caroline gets a look at him before he’s left alone.”
“That’s where Scott took him, I think.”
“Good.” She smiled, a tiny hint of weariness just showing around the corners of her mouth. “I’ll take her back to my place tonight. She’ll need some intensive work for a while; I can’t say how long. Is there someone who can watch the children?”
“Me,” I said instantly.
Belle eyed me up and down, making me painfully aware of the difference in our age and experience. We might both be moms, but she’d left the diaper stage ages ago and actually, had grandchildren now. I was just beginning.
“They’ll be frightened,” Belle said finally. “Would you mind if I sent my apprentice to work with you, maybe tomorrow or the next day? We’ll have to check her schedule first.”
Frozen: a ParaNormal mystery Page 17