In her magickal protest, Margareta actually made a bigger mess as the dust spread over the middle of the floor. Ruth finally reached the jar. She lifted it, shaking the contents to gauge how much was left.
“The cute one let us in,” Florence said with a wink. “Would you rather he left guests out in this rain?”
Andrea gave a small smirk at that. It was impossible to tell which MacGregor her aunt meant by the cute one. She lifted her arms to the side and moved to hug the woman. “I have missed you so much. What are you doing here?”
“The spirits told us to come,” Florence said.
“They speak and you must listen,” Andrea answered.
“So true,” Florence agreed. “Besides, we were worried about you. It sounded like you needed us on the phone.”
“And you needed cheese?” Andrea asked with a laugh.
“Well, I mean, while we’re here and all, might as well stock up,” Florence agreed.
Andrea released her aunt so she could hug her grandmother. The familiar embrace of her grandmother combined with the smell of her floral perfume. A tear slipped done Andrea’s cheek. “You probably shouldn’t have come, but I’m happy to see you.”
“Time portals are some pretty powerful magick,” Ruth answered. “We couldn’t leave you to face them alone.”
“I take it these two belong to ya?” Margareta inquired, even though the answer was obvious.
“Ma, behave yourself,” Kenneth scolded. He still held his daughter. “We’re lucky to have the extra protection.”
“Hello, sweet one,” Margareta said to Jewel, lightly stroking her back.
“Oh, another cute one,” Florence said, flashing a smile at Kenneth. “Who might you be?”
“Grandmama Ruth, Florence, I’d like to introduce you to my boyfriend, Kenneth, and his daughter Jewel,” Andrea said.
“Well done.” Florence nodded in appreciation. “Any chance he’ll put on a kilt later like that other one?”
Kenneth chuckled but inched closer to Andrea.
“Come on, Florence, we have lots to do,” Ruth said. “There’s a hammer in my purse if you need it. Hang those charms.”
“Whoa, hey, wait.” Andrea rushed forward to stop her aunt before Margareta had a chance to yell again. “Let me see those.”
Florence handed the fistful of charms over. Andrea in turn lifted them toward Kenneth. “Any chance you can help them out? These need to hang from each window.”
Kenneth tried to lift his hand, but Jewel beat him to it. She wiggled in his arms and said, “Poof!”
The charms disappeared in a small explosion of light only to reappear floating in front of the windows. Jewel clapped at the good job she’d done.
Kenneth motioned his hand, causing the charms to hook over the sill instead of magickally floating.
“Well, aren’t you a special little lady,” Ruth said. She held up the jar of brick dust. “Any chance you can poof this into a line in front of each window for me?”
“Oh, that’s not—” Andrea tried to stop the request but it was too late. Jewel waved her hands. The jar made a tinkling noise as brick dust flew out of it. Lines formed in front of the windows but they were drawn perpendicular, not parallel.
“Close enough,” Ruth said. “Andrea, go fix those.”
“Yes, Grandmama,” Andrea automatically answered.
“I got it,” Kenneth said, sweeping his hand to straighten the lines magickally so she didn’t have to.
“Now that is a handy little trick.” Florence grinned. “What else can that finger do?”
“Leave Andrea’s boyfriend alone,” Ruth scolded, swatting Florence’s arm.
“I’ll find your uncles,” Margareta muttered under her breath. “We’ll take care of it.”
“Of what?” Andrea interrupted, letting the woman know she’d heard the comment.
“We’re not taking anyone’s memories,” Kenneth stated.
“But they saw…” Margareta motioned to Jewel. “And they’re throwing dirt around.”
“Ya wanted us here, ma,” Kenneth said, “so ya got us. This is part of it. You’re going to live with Andrea’s family’s brick dust. A little more protection can’t hurt.”
“They won’t tell anyone anything.” Andrea glanced at her relatives. They pointed up at the chandelier and started wiggle-dancing. They laughed amongst themselves. “No one would believe them anyway, not really. They’ve always been eccentric and are known for telling tall tales.”
At least, Andrea always assumed along with everyone else that they had been tall tales. Now knowing the MacGregor family and seeing magick and shifting firsthand she wasn’t so sure.
“Let’s go find that one in the kilt,” Florence said. “He said he wanted to ask me a question.”
Andrea took a deep, slow breath. Her aunt had to be talking about Raibeart.
“Make sure ya tell him no when he does,” Kenneth said to Florence. Apparently, he’d come to the same conclusion. “With my uncle, the answer is always no.”
“Why don’t we see if we can find ya a guest room first?” Margareta said, trying to gesture for the women to follow her toward the back wing past the kitchen and office library.
“Why? Did you lose an entire room?” Ruth snickered at her own joke.
“I think I’m going to need a map to get around this place,” Florence added, good-naturedly. “Andrea, why don’t you give us a tour and catch us up on everything that’s been happening?”
It sounded like an easy request, but it wasn’t. Florence’s expression shifted just enough to show she was concerned.
Kenneth nodded when she glanced at him. “Go ahead. Ma and I will get lunch ready, won’t we ma?”
He didn’t give his mother a chance to argue as he began walking toward the kitchen with Jewel.
“Ruth, Florence, it was very nice to meet ya lovely ladies. I look forward to getting to know ya both,” Kenneth said with a charming smile at the two women. “You’re welcome to stay as long as ya wish.”
Both she and Ruth angled their heads to watch his ass as he walked away.
Florence elbowed Andrea in the ribs. “I can see why ya fell for this one. Well done, child. Very well done.”
Chapter Twenty
Kenneth loved watching Andrea with Ruth and Florence. The two older women were a handful without a doubt, but they made Andrea smile and that expression lit the entire room. At least, it lit up the room for him. His ma was another matter.
Jewel had instantly taken to calling Ruth and Florence, “Gran-mama,” and, “Aunt Gran-mama,” in an attempt to mimic Andrea. Margareta stiffened each time the joyous words came out of the child’s mouth. At one point, his ma dabbed the side of her eye before she muttered some lame excuse to leave the living room.
Suddenly, Florence reached out and grabbed Ruth’s arm. The women sat on the couch with Jewel between them. Her expression fell and she glanced around before settling her gaze on the window.
“It’s time,” Florence said.
Ruth stiffened and followed her gaze.
Even Jewel’s smile faltered as her expression turned serious. She placed her hand over Florence’s so they both held Ruth’s arm. “It’s okay.”
“What is it?” Andrea stood from her chair and hurried toward the window. “Kenneth, look.”
Andrea reached her hand back without turning. Her fingers moved as if grabbing for him. He joined her at the window. Water dripped down the pane, making it hard to see.
In the distance, the skies had shifted from the storm-grays to include a blood-red light.
“Is it… fire?” Andrea asked, leaning to the side as if a new angle would reveal the answer.
Eerie clouds rolled across the heavens, like the dust kicked up from the hooves of running horses. Only, there were no horses.
“What is it?” Andrea asked.
He wrapped his arm around her waist, not taking his eyes off the sky.
“It’s okay,” Jewel repeated.
>
“Andrea, I want ya to take Jewel and hide,” he whispered.
“You’re coming with us, right?” she demanded.
At that he turned to meet her gaze. “I trust ya to protect her.”
“But you’re going to be there, right?” she insisted.
She knew the answer. He didn’t need to tell her.
“It’s okay,” Jewel said, louder.
“Kenneth, Andrea,” Ruth called in concern.
They both turned to where Jewel was levitating over the couch. She wore a long t-shirt over leggings. The leggings had holes from where the bracelets had been yanked off. Her eyes flashed with flames.
Ruth and Florence backed away from the girl in fright.
“Flo, get the charms,” Ruth ordered.
“No, wait.” Andrea stepped forward. “It’s not a possession.”
Ruth and Florence looked as if Andrea were clearly insane.
“She has magick powers,” Andrea said. “She’s a phoenix.”
“Jewel, love, get down,” Kenneth ordered. He grabbed the bracelets off the floor and clutched them in his hand.
The flames in Jewel’s eyes spread down her cheeks like tears, trailing down her neck before alighting her entire body. The fire had a pink tint to it.
“No!” Kenneth had seen the flames of rebirth before. He knew what this meant.
Kenneth charged toward his daughter, leaping into the air to catch her and hold her. Her skin burned his clothes and sent him flying back. He caught himself as he landed on the floor.
“Jewel,” Andrea called to the child. “It’s time to stop. Why don’t you come down and we can play a game? Bath?”
Jewel burned brighter. He couldn’t lose her. Not again.
Kenneth tried to stand, but his body shook. He felt as if he couldn’t catch his breath. His heart tightened in his chest.
“Nooo,” the ragged cry escaped him more as a groan of pain.
Andrea started toward him.
“What’s that?” Ruth asked from the window.
“Someone’s pulling up the drive,” Florence added.
Kenneth motioned for her to check who was coming.
Andrea changed course and hurried to the window. “It’s Erik, Rory, and Euann.”
“Is Trina with them?” Kenneth asked.
“I don’t know,” Andrea answered. “Erik is hanging out of the top of the car with his arms outstretched. It looks like lightning is zapping along his skin. I think he’s fighting the weird storm clouds.”
Kenneth kept an eye on his floating daughter. He inched toward her, wanting to pluck her out of the air but when he’d tried her magick had repelled him and left him weak. He focused his shifter hearing beyond the window. The sound of a revved engine hummed faintly from outside followed by shouts.
“Jewel,” Kenneth tried to stay calm. “It’s all right. Please come down.”
“My stars, that boy nearly crashed into a tree,” Florence exclaimed.
Kenneth insisted. “Is Trina with—?”
Jewel sparked and disappeared, leaving behind glowing embers floating softly to the ground. Kenneth darted forward to see past the couch to look for a baby. She wasn’t on the floor.
“Jewel,” Kenneth cried out.
“Jewel?” Andrea ran from the room and he could hear her calling for his daughter. “Jewel!”
“She’s outside,” Ruth yelled after Andrea.
Kenneth stumbled to action. His limbs felt heavy. He dragged his feet, unable to run. He heard the front door open.
“Come on, Junior.” Florence grabbed him by the arm and began walking him toward the door. The older woman was surprisingly strong as she propped him up.
This kind of weakness was new. He tried to call upon his magick, but all he managed was a faint stirring that tingled his fingertips.
“What’s going on?” Margareta appeared in the doorway to the dining room. She leaned against the frame, breathing heavily. “I don’t feel well.”
Angus joined his wife, pulling her against his chest to offer support.
“Who turned off the magick?” Raibeart demanded as he appeared behind them. His disheveled clothing looked as if it had come from the dirty laundry pile. His shirt was on backward and inside-out. “I had to dress myself. By hand.”
Shouting sounded outside. Kenneth continued for the front door. Andrea had left it open and the blood-red light filtered in indicating it was growing stronger.
“Like a mortal,” Raibeart added.
“What’s going on?” Angus asked, his eyes meeting Kenneth’s.
“Jewel,” Kenneth answered. Had the child sucked all of their energy to fuel her own magick?
“There we go. Almost there,” Florence said.
Kenneth shrugged off her hand when they finally made it to the front door. “Stay inside. You’re safer in here.”
“Raibeart, check on Cait and Murdoch,” Margareta said, going to her knees. “Make sure they’re unharmed. And call the children.”
“On it,” Raibeart acknowledged.
Kenneth stumbled onto the front steps to lean against a column. The bracelets were still clutched in his fist. The car Rory and his brothers had been driving had been parked on the lawn. Skid marks rutted the earth where the tires had slid. Erik’s body poked out of the sunroof and he lay across the top of the vehicle. His hand moved weakly, but he did not push himself up.
Everything was cast in blood-red. Andrea stood on the lawn near a hovering Jewel, but she faced away from the fiery child to shield her from a dark shadow.
“You will not have her, Mama Cecile,” Andrea yelled, “or whatever you are.”
Kenneth tried to reach Andrea but the closer he moved toward his daughter the weaker he became until he fell on the ground. The cobblestone of the drive bit into his skin. He reached his hand toward Andrea, trying to give her the bracelets.
Rory and Euann escorted someone from the back seat. Even though it had been years, Trina Castelaww looked exactly as Kenneth remembered, down to the same denim jeans and faded tan jacket. Her button-down shirt hung open over a brown t-shirt. The wind blew the long, straight strands of her graying black locks across her face.
She jerked her arm away from Euann. The wind shifted to reveal her irritated expression. That is where he saw the difference the years had brought. Dark half-circles framed the underside of her tired eyes. Her skin pulled against her features as if she had stopped eating. He knew she was somewhere around three hundred years old, but her age should not have marked her face to such an extent.
Euann fell to the ground. Rory stumbled, but then veered to the side to land in the grassy lawn.
The dark shadow in front of Andrea began to take a human form—arms, legs, and a head. Kenneth crawled toward her. He would spend his very last breath trying to defend Jewel and Andrea.
Chapter Twenty-One
If Andrea had thought her night in the swamp was terrifying, then this moment was beyond anything she could define. Smoke had rolled over the landscape, gathering to create the familiar shape of Mama Cecile. Jewel had appeared hovering over the lawn and the phantom had gone directly for her. Andrea jumped between them to block the phantom from reaching the child. She had acted on instinct but hadn’t expected her presence to stop Cecile.
Jewel’s body threw off an intense heat and she felt like she stood with her back to a bonfire. It contrasted the chill radiating from the phantom.
Tick, tick, tick.
She sensed Kenneth the moment he stepped out of the house. Her attention was already split between the phantom and Jewel, but she managed to glance in his direction. His skin had grayed, as if all the magick had drained out of him, like when Jewel took Murdoch’s powers. Was Jewel hurting her family to borrow their magick so she could hover in a ball of flames? Or was it the doing of the phantom who brought with it a bloody storm?
She again glanced to the side. Kenneth’s head dropped to the ground. Her heart leapt into her throat.
“K
enneth!” She wanted to go to him, but she couldn’t leave his daughter unprotected.
Tick, tick.
The phantom inched closer, not taking a corporeal form.
The large oak by the vehicle parked on the lawn began to tremble. Leaves withered and fell. This was it, the moment she’d dreaded. In the town below she heard the screech of tires before metal crashed into metal. Dark smoke trailed from somewhere beyond the driveway. The shouts that came after the accident were faint, but they reminded her of the vision of the end.
Tick, tick, tick.
This was it.
“You can’t hide. You can’t seek. You can’t find the will to speak,” came the disembodied sing-song voices of the ghost twins as the blurred image of the girls ran past them. Andrea couldn’t be bothered with the ghost children at the moment.
“Stay back,” Andrea warned the phantom. “I won’t let you hurt this child.”
A smoke-formed arm lifted, growing fingers.
“I’ll go with you. Just leave her alone,” Andrea ordered. “If you want someone, take me.”
Andrea had no magick, not like the others. She had no way to fight evil smoke. Fear told her to run and hide. Instinct made her stay. She could not abandon Jewel and Kenneth. She cared more for them than she did herself. She had known for years that she was marked for death. This was her curse, not theirs.
The smoky fingers touched her flesh, slipping past her skin toward her heart. She gasped at the pain that radiated through her.
“Geneva Castelaww,” a woman shouted. Andrea guessed her to be Trina, Jewel’s grandmother. “What do you think you’re doing, girl?”
The phantom turned to the woman.
“Hey, baby, it’s me, your mama.” Trina softened her tone. “I’ve been trying to find you.”
Geneva’s figure began to solidify into that of a young woman. The mask of Mama Cecile slipped away.
“Geneva?” Kenneth’s voice was hoarse. He lifted his head to watch as Geneva took a step toward her mother. “How?”
Magick and Mischief (Warlocks MacGregor Book 7) Page 15