“I’ve wanted to say more than that,” Evan snarled.
“Then why are you here, if you think I’m so evil? Why don’t you form your own movement?” Matthew put up a hand to forestall an answer. “Oh, but wait. I know! You wouldn’t dirty your hands with mind magic – except that love spell you put on your wife which for some reason doesn’t count – but you know you can’t topple Alexander without it.”
“I didn’t put a love spell on my wife!”
“Oh really?” Matthew turned to his father. “True or false?”
“False,” James said, still maintaining his outward calm.
“You want to play the true or false game?” Evan asked, glancing between father and son. “Then tell me, Matthew, do you still want Cassie?”
“No,” Matthew said, because he couldn’t say anything else. He couldn’t believe Evan had asked.
“True or false?” Evan asked James.
“False.” James cringed. He couldn’t lie about what his gift told him.
“She’s yours, Evan,” Matthew said. “I won’t get between you.”
“True,” James said without being prompted.
“But you still think it was okay that you tried to force her in the first place.”
Matthew didn’t say anything. Evan would never believe him, but what he had actually done was far more complicated. Yes, he had influenced her. What suitor didn’t? He had also taken advantage of her during a stressful time in her life, although she was responsible for more of her actions at the time than she wanted to admit. But he had never lied to her, not even – no, especially – when he’d told her he loved her. How could he have done? He’d cast a spell to let her read his mind, after all. Her desire to make love to him and her decision to put his ring on her finger had not been, as Evan had later convinced her, a product of any “mind mojo.” Looking back, Matthew believed it had been her own emotional vulnerability and need for revenge, but at the time he hadn’t seen anything but the perfect woman for him. She hadn’t even been too upset when she’d discovered he could read her mind; that truth had ended more than one relationship before it began.
Matthew had taught her to fight mind magic, not that she’d ever thanked him for it. And maybe that hadn’t been his whole purpose, but he had wanted her strong, not weak. He wouldn’t even have minded her turning around and using some of what he taught her right back on him. It had worked for his parents, after all.
He’d never said any of that out loud, and never planned to.
“Nothing to say?” Evan asked when the silence had grown uncomfortable.
“You wouldn’t understand,” Matthew said.
“True,” James threw in.
“Have you ever even asked your mom if she wants out of her marriage?” Evan asked.
“I’m happy,” Caroline said, her gaze fixed on her husband. “I don’t want out.”
“True,” James said, smiling fondly at his wife.
But that hadn’t been the point of Evan’s last question. The point was that Matthew had never asked. In his defense, he had never doubted it, but he had never asked. He should have asked.
“I think we’ve said enough.” Matthew considered trying to put a calming spell on Evan, but decided against it. That would only mask the problem, and this was something that had been coming for a long time. “This meeting is adjourned.”
Evan picked up his phone – Cassie hadn’t said a word the whole time – and stormed out of the house. Clark, Linda, James, and Robert followed him out, a little more slowly. Caroline hung back.
“Go on, dear,” she said to James. “I’ll see you at home.”
James gave her a swift kiss on the cheek before heading outside with his younger son.
“What was that about?” Matthew asked. “You provoked that argument.”
“He doesn’t trust you,” Caroline said.
“That definitely proves you’re an empath,” Matthew said sarcastically.
“Don’t take that tone with me.”
“Sorry.” He rarely apologized, but when he did, it was usually to his mom.
“You need him to trust you, and the only way to do that was to get this all out in the open.”
A month ago she might have had a point, but now Matthew had other problems. She didn’t know about them, and he wondered if they’d both made things worse. No, Evan didn’t trust him. He didn’t trust Evan, either. And now it went beyond Cassie.
“I didn’t realize you still wanted the girl.” Caroline arched an eyebrow at her son.
“I’m not pining after her. I just... she was kind of perfect for me.”
Caroline sighed and shook her head. “No she wasn’t. Wrong temperament. And despite what you always believed from watching your father with me, you would never be happy for long with a woman you coerced into loving you.”
Matthew wasn’t sure about that, but it was probably a moot point. There weren’t many women in the world he couldn’t coerce, at least to some degree. And after all, it had worked for his parents. It wasn’t a typical romantic story; most didn’t find the idea that they had each essentially worked love spells on the other romantic at all, but James and Caroline Blair were proof that love came in all shapes and sizes. And it could grow in the most unusual places.
“Mom, you are happy with him, aren’t you?” Matthew asked.
“Yes.”
“You’d tell me if you weren’t?”
She hesitated. “I don’t know.”
“Mom–”
She held up a finger. “I’d tell you if I needed out and didn’t think I could get out on my own, but that’s not the case. Your father never held me that way, despite what most people think. Yes, he bought me from a man who had stolen my magic, but in his mind he was rescuing me from a far worse fate. He probably did at that. And he would have let me go if I’d ever really wanted out.”
“I should at least have asked.”
“It’s not something children usually think to ask their parents. Not even when they’re twenty-eight. Don’t let Evan score that point on a technicality. He doesn’t know you. In his defense, you haven’t let him know you. He’d probably feel better about you if you found yourself a wife.”
“Right, because I don’t have enough on my plate.”
“The right woman will help clear it off.”
With that, Caroline disappeared through the front door and out into the muggy June evening.
Chapter 6
KAITLIN RETURNED TO CONSCIOUSNESS SLOWLY, ONE sense at a time. Touch came first. She felt a firm mattress beneath her, a soft blanket above her. She was cocooned in warmth and for some time, that became the only important thing in her world. Her mind drifted lazily within that feeling of security. She didn’t have to do anything at all. No one expected anything of her – no work, no food, no blood...
She noticed smells next. There was an underlying scent of disinfectant, reminding her of a hospital. Except something was off... a tang she couldn’t identify or maybe didn’t want to identify. It was too peaceful here within her cocoon of warmth and peace.
She heard the hum of an air conditioner. It was the only sound in the room, except for silence, which became increasingly oppressive as she tried to rebury herself in lethargy.
The world was hard. The world was painful. This warmth was all she needed. All she wanted. She could just stay here forever.
Except...
“Jay!”
Kaitlin sat bolt upright, opening her eyes for the first time as she attempted to take in her surroundings through a new haze of panic. It was a room. A white room with a white bed and an ugly turquoise floor. There was a machine next to the bed with lines on it that went up and down in an erratic reflection of her pounding heart. Near that machine, an IV bag hung from a pole. Kaitlin fol
lowed the tubes leading from the bag to her arm, where the needle had been secured with medical tape.
A hospital. She was in a hospital. She didn’t remember coming to a hospital but memories were hazy. She’d run from Jason and Xavier, she knew that much. But Jason could find her anywhere. He’d said so. He had drunk enough of her blood that he would be able to find her anywhere in the universe. Wherever she was, he would know.
That made one of them.
There was a spot of blood on the hospital sheet that caught Kaitlin’s attention for a moment. She wasn’t supposed to leave blood lying around. Cassie had taught her that, and Jason had confirmed it. But if she was in a normal hospital, they had probably taken samples of blood to send to a lab and they wouldn’t think twice about a tiny drop of blood too small for anyone to notice.
The room contained two doors, one of which stood ajar. Through it she could see the rim of a toilet; obviously the bathroom. The other door was closed, the heavy wood panels a stark contrast against the white of the nearby walls.
Kaitlin swung her legs off the side of the bed, stripping away the covers. She wasn’t naked. Thank God for that. She wore an ugly pink spotted hospital gown that tied in the front. Clutching it against her chest, she stood, teetering slightly in her attempt. A wave of dizziness washed over her and she grabbed at the edge of the bed for support.
The exterior door swung open on silent hinges and in walked a man who was way too good looking to be a doctor, even if he wore green scrubs and a white lab coat. He couldn’t have been much older than Kaitlin, mid-twenties at the most, and he had exactly the sort of tall, lean frame that she always went for. Not to mention the I’m too cool for you expression on his face.
“Nice to see you awake,” the man said, offering her a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“Who are you? Where am I? Where’s Jay?”
“Your son is fine. Now lie back down before you hurt yourself.”
Kaitlin stood her ground, even though she had to clutch at the edge of the bed to do it. “I want to see him.”
“Soon. I’m a healer, by the way. Healer Jackson.”
The healer, whatever that was, crossed the room in two purposeful strides and firmly but gently eased her back down onto the bed. She was too weak to resist for long, and she finally gave in to the fact that this wasn’t the way to help either her son or herself.
Only when he seemed satisfied that she didn’t intend to bolt did he speak again. “The hunters have taken charge of your son for the time being. I know they’ll want to speak with you soon, but first we’re all curious about you. Why did you come here?”
Memories flickered across Kaitlin’s mind, too painful for her to want to grab hold. But there was a car, and a midnight run, and a baby in the backseat who needed her.
“It was the only place I could think to come. Vampires were after me.”
“Vampires had nearly sucked you dry,” Healer Jackson said. “Not to mention that you had too much venom in your system for us to flush it out. If you had died, you would have turned. You’d turn now if you died. We’ve had a hunter guarding your door for the past three days, just in case.”
“Three days?” Kaitlin felt suddenly dizzy again. “Is that how long I’ve been here?”
“Yes. And if you want to stay, you’re going to have to answer some questions. You are Kaitlin Meyer from Eagle Rock, correct?”
“Am I on trial?”
“No, but I can’t have you leaving this room before we get some things straight. We don’t normally let powerless people into the compound, and your magical ability rated an absolute zero.” His sneering face didn’t look remotely handsome now.
“Are you going to throw me out?” Kaitlin asked, renewed terror gripping her heart. Where would she go if they did? And were the vampires waiting for her outside?
“I don’t know,” the healer replied, his sneer fading somewhat. “Your son has a lot of potential. And the hunters are in desperate need right now.”
Desperate need? She didn’t like the sound of that. Maybe coming here hadn’t been such a good idea, though she couldn’t think of anything else at the time. Had she saved her son from vampires now, only to lose him to vampires in a few years, when he became a hunter?
“Don’t worry about your son right now,” he said, his tone not remotely reassuring. “You need to rest and recover. Then we’ll decide what we can do for you and your son. If I leave you here for a few minutes, will you promise not to try to move or otherwise exacerbate your injuries?”
Kaitlin hesitated. Something didn’t feel right. “I guess.”
“All right. Try to relax. It may be a few minutes.”
Healer Jackson left, closing the door behind him. A moment later Kaitlin heard the unmistakable sound of a lock clicking into place. So, that’s the way things were, huh? She wasn’t going to be a guest here so much as an unwelcome intruder, like a gnat. Healer Jackson hadn’t been anything but polite, but he had definitely looked at her like an inferior species.
And what was a healer anyway? She’d forgotten to ask in her concern for her son. He definitely didn’t have an MD, unless he’d done the Doogie Howser thing.
Kaitlin tried to do what the healer had advised and relax, but as the minutes stretched on she found that she couldn’t. The peace of unconsciousness had gone, leaving with it a strong need for action.
White. What was it with hospitals and white? Was it supposed to make her feel like the room was clean or something? She just wished there were something more interesting to look at. The room was small, maybe only three feet longer than the bed and five feet wider. Sharing the space with her, aside from the IV and heart rate monitor, was an oak nightstand with a single drawer. She flicked the switch on the small turquoise lamp atop the nightstand and opened the drawer, expecting to find a Bible or something. Instead, she found a newsletter proclaiming itself The Wizarding Word. Top story: “Girl Drained of Magic by Her Own Father.”
Magic drain wasn’t something that Kaitlin cared much about, although her best friend was obsessed with the issue. Then again, Cassie had personal experience with the subject. Kaitlin had never had magic, so she’d never felt entitled to it. She supposed it would feel pretty crappy to lose something like that, but why was it always girls getting drained? She’d almost asked Cassie that once, a long time ago, but thought it would come across as insensitive. But seriously, didn’t men ever get drained?
Kaitlin was considering whether to read the newsletter, more because she didn’t have anything better to do than because she cared, when she realized how badly she needed to use the bathroom. She had promised Healer Jackson that she would rest, but surely she could make it to a toilet five feet away without help. Not that he’d given her a call button or anything, so her choices were to grow increasingly uncomfortable or fend for herself.
Kaitlin drew in a deep breath, swung her legs over the side of the bed, and managed to get shakily to her feet. She didn’t even get dizzy this time, which she took as a good sign. Smiling to herself, she grabbed the IV bag from its hook on the pole and started walking toward the bathroom. She paused halfway, turned right back around, and stared at the heart rate monitor still beeping away without a care in the world. Then she looked down at her chest, which was blissfully lead-free. There wasn’t even any residual stickiness there.
“How...?” Kaitlin shook her head. She had bigger problems right now.
She managed to use the bathroom without incident and returned to her bed, hanging the IV back on the pole. She threw another curious glance at the monitor, then started to climb into bed.
She froze. What was that, under the bed?
Kaitlin knelt, pulling up the blankets to see what had caught her attention. There on the floor, barely sticking out from under the covers, was an empty vial of the sort people used to take blood samples. She p
icked it up and rolled it between her fingertips, frowning thoughtfully. But they wouldn’t collect blood here. Surely not?
The vial was labeled. Kaitlin saw her full name there in bold, even strokes. It was empty though. No one had taken her blood. Or had they? This had been under the bed. Maybe someone had missed it and replaced it with another?
What was it that the Scots had told her about blood and blood magic? She racked her brain but couldn’t remember much. It could be used for scrying; she would never forget that painful truth after what Jason had said. But what else had there been? Vagueness, mostly. She’d gotten the idea that maybe voodoo magic was real, that someone could use a sample of blood in conjunction with a doll to inflict pain. But mostly she just remembered: Never leave your blood lying around. Destroy it. Burn it.
Kaitlin climbed into bed, slipping the vial into a small front pocket of her ugly pink hospital gown. She had just picked up the newsletter to begin reading when the main door opened and in walked Healer Jackson, accompanied by three men and a woman who all crowded into the increasingly tiny space.
Kaitlin blinked in surprise. What were so many people doing here for her? It wasn’t as if she were dangerous, especially not to magic users. She’d seen some of the stuff that sorcerers could do and, if anything, she should be afraid of them. She would be too, just as soon as she stopped feeling so tired and worried about her son.
Yet these sorcerers filled the tiny room with their numbers. A middle-aged man wearing a black security uniform trimmed in silver came forward first. He had the air of rank and superiority. A name tag on his shirt proclaimed him to be “Jeffrey Jefferson.” Poor kid. His mother couldn’t have liked him.
A woman, also wearing a black security guard’s uniform, came up behind him. She couldn’t be much older than Kaitlin, but she also had an air of command about her. She looked at Kaitlin with cold, ruthless eyes that dared Kaitlin to step out of line. She would have been pretty if she’d smiled. Maybe. But at the moment Kaitlin had trouble picturing the Hispanic woman doing anything but glower. Her name tag read “Maria Vasquez.”
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