by T. M. Cromer
“I’m assuming you sent GiGi to find me in order to discuss the elusive Jace?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve read the dossier?”
“I have.”
“After all this time, I am still no closer to finding Aurora’s brother.”
“What about the woman…Sylvie? Do you think she would know where to find him?” Summer asked, coming to her feet to join them.
“It’s doubtful,” Alastair told her with a shrug. “I spoke to her a few years ago. She hasn’t seen Jace since the night of the fire.”
“Whatever became of her?”
Preston gazed down at the woman he’d always considered a daughter. In reality, she was the offspring of his brother and Aurora. But he couldn’t have been prouder had she been his own. She was intelligent, compassionate, and giving. And here she stood, ready to help find an uncle she’d only met once as a small child to ease her mother’s mind.
He hated to destroy her romantic dream that Sylvie and Jace might have reconnected, but after the revelation that he wasn’t Summer’s real father, Preston swore to himself he wouldn’t lie to her again. “She married a non-magical banker and had two children. Her husband and kids died about ten years ago. Oddly enough, in a house fire.”
“That’s horrible! It seems she wasn’t destined to be happy.”
“No, it seems few are. You’re one of the lucky ones, child,” Alastair said.
Preston shot a sharp glance in his brother’s direction. Did he truly feel that way? That few people experienced long-term happiness?
Summer sent him a troubled look before addressing Alastair. “You don’t intend to fight for Mama?”
“What’s to fight for, Summer? Please, tell me. Because from where I’m standing, there’s nothing left.” The flash of temper from Alastair surprised everyone in the room, himself included if his chagrined expression was an indication. He wasn’t given to emotional outbursts. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”
“It’s okay. I’ve overstepped.” Subdued, she stepped away from the table to gaze out the sink window. “I’m sorry, Father. I guess I thought that after all you went through to bring her back…”
“The woman who returned is not the woman I knew. As far as I’m concerned, Aurora died the day she took a bullet to the heart.”
“She’s there, Al,” Preston objected. “She just needs time to find her way back.”
“Can we shelve this discussion? It’s late, and I’m exhausted—as is everyone here, I imagine.” Alastair scrubbed his face with his hands. “I’ll return tomorrow at ten. We can discuss our next course of action at that time.” He stepped to where Summer stood by the sink. “I’m sorry for being gruff, child. My irritation with the situation wasn’t directed at you specifically.”
“I guess I believe you deserve more than the hand you were dealt.”
As Preston watched father and daughter, Alastair pulled her into his embrace and kissed the top of her shiny blonde head. They looked so much alike with their pale good looks and wide blue eyes. It was a wonder someone hadn’t mentioned their similarities prior to Summer’s discovery last year.
“Thank you. I’m glad someone does. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
After Alastair left, Preston faced a tearful Summer. “Don’t worry, my sunshine. We’ll find a way to reunite them.”
“Why are you willing to help?”
“He’s my brother, and what they shared was so much more than what your mother and I had.” He sighed and sank into a chair. “I’ve always loved her, but I knew her heart was his. After we believed he’d died, we found comfort in our mutual grief. Eventually, we developed a deep friendship. That’s what I shared with Aurora, and that’s what I missed when she was gone.” He sat back with a grimace. “But those two? They shared a love that was greater than any I’ve ever seen. They sacrificed for each other at every turn.”
Summer plopped down in the chair across from him. “I don’t understand how things went wrong when she woke up. What they need is to be thrown together on a quest similar to how Father manipulated my sisters.”
A light bulb went off, and the beginning of an idea formed in his mind. “Child, you are a genius.”
“I am? I thought Spring was the genius among us,” she laughed.
“All my girls are brilliant. And you may not be mine by blood, but you’re still my daughter.”
Summer rose and came around the table. She wrapped her slender arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. “I love you too, Dad. Let’s figure out a plan to get the two of them together over breakfast. I’ll text the rest of the family tonight so we can come up with a foolproof plan.”
“Like I said, brilliant.” He patted her arm and watched her exit the kitchen. He meant what he said about her being his daughter. From the time she’d been born, she was his little ray of sunshine, always smiling and reaching for him. She was the balm that soothed his heart when Aurora left him for Alastair. Now, Summer intended to be the glue that put the family back together, and Preston had no doubt she’d succeed.
6
Aurora woke to birds chirping from their perch on the railing outside. The robins, with their beautiful orangey-red breasts and their large inquisitive eyes, were a lovely sight to see first thing in the morning. A little warmth crept into her cold soul, as did determination to join the living. She’d wasted enough time in sleep.
Feeling twice her age, she gained her feet and made her way to the bathroom. She refused to look into the mirror over the sink, afraid to acknowledge the wraith that would be reflected back at her. She couldn’t bear to look into the dead eyes. After her shower, she would give herself a makeover. The first thing to go would be her long, limp hair with its dull shade.
With her new purpose came a surge of energy. The small spark resembling magic surprised her. Perhaps all was not lost.
She started the shower and stepped under the steaming hot water. She dropped her head back and let the spray soak her hair. Goddess, it felt fantastic! Nothing was as soothing or restorative as a shower. She took her time lathering her hair, relishing the luxuriously light-floral smell of the soap and the feel of scrubbing her scalp. There was something to be said about the real world versus the Otherworld. Hot Showers!
After another ten minutes, Aurora shut off the tap and stepped out. She wrapped herself in a large fluffy towel and sighed. Just the act of showering was taxing, but she would be damned if she went back to bed right away.
On wobbly legs, she made her way out to the porch and plopped down on the chaise. Because the morning was chilly, she wrapped up in the blanket Alastair had provided for her last night. With a deep inhale, she closed her eyes and savored the faint lingering smell of her ex-lover.
Though she’d denied it until this very moment, she was human enough to admit she missed what they had. But she would only move forward from here. She had to find herself after all this time. That meant no Preston to fall back on and no Alastair on which to rest her future.
Absently, she noted the number of cars in the drive: two more than last night. Her daughters must have decided enough time had passed and were impatient to see her again. Unease unfurled in her stomach. What would they think after twenty years? Would they hate her for leaving? For sacrificing her life for Alastair’s?
Curiosity and something akin to restlessness drove her to her feet.
“Pyewacket, are you still around?” she called out softly.
Within minutes, a scratching at the door sounded. An oversized black cat sauntered through the bedroom door she’d cracked open. With a rumbling purr, he wound through her ankles, wrapping his tail around her calf as if to hug her. Aurora almost wept with relief. Magical pets had roughly double the life span of their non-magical counterparts, but they weren’t immune to sickness and death.
“Hello, my beautiful boy. It’s good to see you again.” She bent and stroked the chest of her old familiar. “How have you been? Did you take care of my daughte
rs while I was gone?”
The shiny black head pressed against her shin.
“That’s good to know. Are you up to giving me an assist? I want to attempt some magic.”
This time the feline let loose a hoarse meow.
“Thank you, my darling.”
Scooping up the cat, Aurora waited for him to settle his weight before they headed into the bathroom.
“Pye, I need a makeover. I’m thinking a short cut with blue spikes that I recently saw in a magazine.” Alastair had left her modern fashion magazines as a way to entertain herself during her long hours of wakefulness. Until this moment, she couldn’t have said what was between the pages of those outlandish covers. Now, with clear precision, she recalled a pixie cut she’d seen. It was just the thing she needed for a change. “What do you think?”
Her familiar tilted his head in one direction and then the other as if to study his mistress. Another hoarse meow was Pyewacket’s agreement.
“Then let’s get to it. I’m bloody rusty, so bear with me.”
It took three tries and a cracked mirror, but the two of them finally synced their magic to create the perfect hairstyle along with a matching light-blue shirt and long, flowing black skirt.
“I like it!” she proclaimed. “What do you think, Pye?”
An enthusiastic rub from her ancient cat made her laugh.
“Okay, one task down, and now I’m starving. Shall we go rummage for food and meet the family?”
The cat purred, and she took it as a positive.
Slowly, she made her way down the stairs, pausing on each landing to rest. Once at the bottom, she swiped at the sweat dampening her brow and leaned against the bannister to catch her breath. Despite Alastair making sure Aurora’s muscles were worked during her long stasis, the long coma had taken a toll, and she was weak.
“Rorie!”
She saw Preston bearing down on her.
“Why didn’t you ring for help? I’d have carried you down.” He jerked to a halt a foot from her and smiled happily. “Your magic is back?”
With a grimace and a slight shrug, she said, “I wouldn’t say back. Pyewacket helped, and we may need to replace the upstairs mirror if you can’t repair it.”
Preston scrubbed a hand over his mouth to hide his amused grin.
“It’s all fun and games until someone destroys a hundred-year-old mirror,” Autumn snarked from behind him. Her daughter’s expression softened, and warmth filled her eyes. “It’s good to see you again, Mama.”
Without a word, Aurora opened her arms to her oldest child. As they hugged, a rightness settled in her chest. “I’m glad you made it back from the Otherworld, my sweet girl.”
“And I’m glad you’re back, too.” Autumn pulled away and fingered a blue section of Aurora’s hair. “I like the new do.”
Self-consciously, Aurora raised a hand to her cropped locks. “Yes?”
“It’s very hip.”
She glanced over Autumn’s shoulder to where three of her other children huddled in the foyer. Each woman looked so different from the other. Their coloring ranged from blonde to copper-brown to black, yet their expressions were identical in nature, each fearful of their reception. Tears silently streamed from their eyes as they stood together, holding hands.
Once again, she wordlessly opened her arms. In a rush, they swarmed her, and another small smidgeon of warmth filled her soul. Her lids fluttered closed as she struggled to take it all in, savoring their unconditional love.
The air crackled around them, and Alastair stepped through a fold in space. Aurora locked gazes with him over the heads of her daughters and froze. The uncertainty in his moody sapphire eyes tugged at her heart.
He ripped his attention from her and addressed Preston. “I can come back later. After the girls have had time to reconnect with their mother.”
In a blink, he was gone.
The misty look in Aurora’s eyes had laid waste to Alastair’s soul. Once upon a time, they’d been happy tears for him, and he’d been relieved to see them despite the fact they tore at his insides. This time, witnessing her with her family—in the setting he’d ripped her from years before—turned his world upside down. He could no longer do this to her. No longer put her through the emotional wringer any more than he could do it to himself.
The sight of her crying had sucker punched him and urged him to do whatever was necessary to ensure her happiness—provide whatever little bit of joy she could find. Somehow, he would convince Isis to reconsider. Hopefully then she would take him as the sacrifice she’d always demanded. But none of this before he made right the wrongs of the past. He needed to make sure Aurora, his siblings, and son were happy in addition to safe from family enemies. Then he would vacate their lives forever.
Decision made, he wandered the grounds of the Thorne estate, coming to rest down by the river on the southside of the property. Finding a nearby boulder, Alastair kicked off his shoes and rolled up his pant legs. With a quick glance around, he dipped his feet in the rushing water and closed his eyes. His element. The one thing he needed to help restore his mental and spiritual self.
He didn’t know how long he sat and absorbed the earth’s magic, but he couldn’t summon the want to leave this spot. A twig snapped to the left of his location, and he conjured an energy ball.
As Ryker Gillespie stepped from the woods with two fishing poles and a bucket of bait, Alastair shook his hand to disperse the elemental weapon.
“You could have texted me. Goddess knows, I might have fried your scrawny behind.”
“It’s not the Alastair Thorne way to strike first.”
“Isn’t it?”
“Maybe at one time, my friend, but not anymore. You’re going soft.”
“Kiss my—”
“Now none of that, Al. You might bring a plague of locusts down upon your beloved Leiper’s Fork.”
“I couldn’t give a blasted fig about Leiper’s Fork, Ryker, and you know it.”
“Right, well, the Thorne estate then.”
Alastair shrugged and accepted the pole Ryker held out. “Take a seat and hand over the bait.”
The two of them fished in silence for a while. Each catch was released with a magical boost to maintain the fish’s health.
“I’d have thought you and my sister were sleeping in after a passionate night of love making.”
Ryker snorted. “Truth? As soon as you left, she slapped my face and took off for a bungalow on Grand Cayman.”
“How do you know she went to the Cayman Islands?”
“I may have followed her to make sure she didn’t run into her standard trouble.”
Alastair grinned as he recast his line. “May have, huh? And who did you pose as this time?”
“Room service.”
“Pfft. As if she wouldn’t see through that one.”
“I’m certain I pulled it off.”
“Mmhmm.”
“Although, she and I are going to have a serious discussion about her stripping with the hired help in the room.”
Alastair was surprised he could still find a reason to laugh, but the high jinks between his sister and brother-in-law were too hilarious not to. “And that didn’t convince you she knew who you were?” he asked after he got his amusement under control.
“Your sister is a free spirit, Al.”
“My brain turned to mush at the image. Keep those little tidbits of information to yourself, all right?”
Ryker’s hearty chuckle made Alastair smile.
“I missed this,” he confessed. “For too many years, we’ve been fighting wars, playing spy games, or elbows deep in business issues. It feels good to do something simple from our childhood again.”
“I agree. I miss the simplicity of life.” Ryker paused a heartbeat before asking, “Do you want to talk about Rorie?”
“No.”
“I may be able to offer insight.”
Alastair snorted. “You’re in the same rickety boat, Gill
espie. Do you really think I’d take advice from you?”
“You don’t need to be an asshole about it,” Ryker muttered as he reeled in another fish.
With a heavy sigh, Alastair apologized. “You didn’t deserve to be the recipient of my temper today, my friend. I do appreciate your concern.”
“You and your family are important to me, Alastair. I haven’t been around as much as I should’ve, but it doesn’t mean I don’t love you all.”
“I know. If it’s any consolation, you would be the one I’d talk to if I desired to discuss my situation.”
“Fair enough.”
They fished in silence. Each lost to their own thoughts.
The air molecules heated around them, creating a hissing sound.
“Incoming,” Ryker muttered.
Preston arrived with a case of beer and a picnic basket. “Can anyone join this party, or is it just for the two of you sad sacks?”
Alastair nodded to the spot on his left. “It’s a good thing you brought refreshments otherwise you’d be out of our club.”
“There’s fried chicken and biscuits like our mama used to make.”
“Bless your interfering heart, brother. Now, hand over that basket.”
Alastair and Ryker wasted no time digging into the food as Preston picked up Alastair’s discarded pole.
As his younger brother opened his mouth to speak, Alastair cut him off. “This is a meeting of the lonely hearts club, little brother. If you try to offer any sage advice or words of comfort, I’m pushing you into the lake.”
“I was going to ask you to pass me a chicken leg.”
“Fair enough.”
7
“They’re coming.” Summer ushered everyone to the living room and grabbed the pot of coffee from the counter. “Try to act natural.”
