Long Lost Magic

by T. M. Cromer

  “Très drôle,” she drawled and rolled her eyes.

  Alastair met Aurora’s amused gaze and lifted a brow. She gave him an infinitesimal nod. Yes, when this was all over, and their family was safe from Delphine, the two of them would find a way to reunite husband and wife.

  “When nightfall comes, I want to trace Preston’s footsteps,” he told the others. “I’ll pick the lock on the back door, and the rest of you can enter under a cloaking spell. I’d like you to stay hidden, but vigilant. Spring and Knox are creating a modification to the spell so I can see and hear you should a warning be necessary. Quentin will bring it when I call him to come down later.”

  “That’s hours away,” GiGi protested. “What are we going to do during all that time?”

  Alastair stood and pulled Aurora to her feet. “My beloved and I are going to take a nap in the adjoining room. You and Ryker can amuse yourselves.”

  As they escaped through the door to the neighboring room, they heard Ryker and GiGi begin their squabbling. Alastair shook his head. “You’d think my brother’s death would have taught them something,” he muttered.

  Aurora closed the door and went into his arms. “They’ll find their way back to each other.”

  “Goddess, I hope so.”

  “You seem more at peace since talking to your brother yesterday.”

  “I am, a bit. It still hurts, but I have a purpose now.”

  She pulled away slightly to look up into his face. “Delphine.”

  “And Beecham, but Harold’s comeuppance is for another day. Hopefully not too far into the future.”

  “Are you going to leave that to Ryker? Trina was his sister, after all.”

  “Are you jealous of a dead woman?”

  “As much as you were of your brother.”

  Smothering a groan, he led her to the bed. “You’re not wrong. I was incredibly jealous of Preston. The years he was able to spend with you while I was away. The years he spent with you when I returned. All the beautiful children you created together.” He burrowed his fingers into her hair and tilted her head back. Burying his nose into her neck, he inhaled her unique scent mingled with that of Chanel’s famous perfume. His lips brushed over the rapidly beating pulse, and he grazed her with his teeth. “I was jealous of Isis and our deceased loved ones who spent all those years with you in the Otherworld. I was jealous of the bed that cradled your body while you were in stasis, and of the sheets that got to touch your lovely skin.” He lifted his head and gazed deeply into her loving eyes. “There isn’t anything and anyone I’m not jealous of when it comes to you.”

  “I’m yours, Alastair—just as you’re mine. That will never change in life or in death.”

  “Let’s make sure it’s in life and for a long, long time, okay?”

  His lips claimed hers, and it was a promise of that life, of their future life, and all the love he had to offer.

  Night fell, and Alastair remained awake. He stared unseeingly through the windowpane beyond the parted curtain from his place beside Aurora. She stirred and placed her palm over his heart. He glanced down in time to catch a ghost of a smile flit across her face as she snuggled closer to his chest. He could watch her for days. She was as incredible in sleep as she was awake.

  A soft knock sounded at the door. Alastair drew the sheet up to Aurora’s shoulder and called, “Come in.”

  Ryker gave them a cursory look and scanned the rest of the room as if looking for enemies. He would be in spy-mode to his dying day, so deeply ingrained was his training.

  “It’s ten. I think we should get this over with.”

  Lines of strain bracketed his friend’s eyes. The tell-tale sign that he was feeling beleaguered by GiGi.

  “I’d have thought you and GiGi would have spent your time more wisely,” he taunted Ryker.

  The other man snorted and jerked his chin toward the bed. “We can’t all laze about, making love all day. Some of us have work to do.”

  Alastair chuckled. “We’ll join you in a few minutes. In the meantime, make nice with your wife. We need everyone working as a unit.”

  “We will be. We have a common goal.”

  “Good.”

  The door clicked behind Ryker as he left them alone.

  “I’m worried.” Aurora sat up beside him and stifled a yawn. “I’m not sure any of this feels right.”

  “I know. It’s off somehow, isn’t it? I thought the worry on Ryker’s face was thanks to my sister, but perhaps it’s more.”

  “I’m going to call the girls.”

  Maybe it was a parent thing, or maybe after the death of a loved one, it was common to become paranoid about other family members. It could be because Aurora was putting off strong emotional distress, but Alastair’s radar was picking it up and making him uneasy as well. Nothing was certain. Yet, what he did know was that he would protect his family at all costs.

  “No. Do me a favor and call Quentin instead. Holly still has the tanzanite necklace we used to communicate telepathically when we were in Greece. Tell Quentin put it on and go to Thorne Manor. Have him drop Holly and the baby at my place before he goes. Alfred will watch over her.” He handed her his phone. “I’m going to go speak with Ryker and GiGi.”

  When he joined them, Ryker and GiGi where deep in discussion. Their conversation broke up when they noticed him.

  “You feel it, too,” he said flatly. “What do you suppose it is?”

  Aurora came running into the room. The sheet was wrapped toga-style around her, and her blue-tipped hair was tousled. Smudged mascara emphasized the terror in her eyes. “No one is answering anywhere.”

  “Get dressed,” he ordered. “Ryker, I want you to come with me. GiGi, please take Aurora and teleport to Rēafere’s Fortress without delay.”

  The women locked eyes, some type of silent understanding passed between them. Alastair knew he wasn’t going to like it. Sure enough, GiGi put her foot down and said they were heading back to Thorne Manor.

  “Good Christ, woman!” Ryker snarled.

  Alastair stopped his rant with a hand on his shoulder. “We don’t have time to argue. Aurora, quickly now, change into pants and sensible shoes. Preferably all black.” He waved his hands and changed into a black t-shirt, black cargo pants, and boots with soles that would deaden sound. Ryker did the same. Once the women saw how the men were outfitted, they created similar clothing for themselves.

  “We’re ready,” GiGi announced.

  With a critical eye, Ryker scanned her body. “Not yet. I’ll be right back.”

  Sixty seconds later, he had returned with a large black duffle bag. He unzipped it to reveal a whole host of weaponry.

  Ryker handed everyone a gun and two extra clips. Then, he removed a sheathed knife from the bag to strap to GiGi’s thigh. A secondary sheathed knife he stuck in to the small of her back.

  Without waiting for her consent, he gripped her face between his hands and dropped a hard kiss on her mouth. “For luck, sweetheart.”

  “For luck,” she said softly, touching her fingers to her lips.

  Because his paranoia was kicking into high gear, Alastair moved to each of them and whispered an instruction to teleport into the old barn on the Thorne property. He didn’t want anyone scrying to hear that part of their plan. It was enough that they would know the whole group was coming.

  He paused and sent out a magical feeler. Sensing the barn was empty, he nodded to each of them. He went first, followed by Ryker. The women showing up together a mere second later, hands joined.

  A single hand gesture signaled Ryker toward the rear door. Another sent Aurora to the loft. He nodded to the front window, indicating GiGi should be their lookout. Next, he conjured a scrying mirror. As he suspected, he couldn’t see into the house.

  He whispered the words to cloak the barn and those with him. “They’re here,” he said in a louder voice, confident they wouldn’t be heard. “I’ll teleport onto the porch. GiGi, wait exactly three minutes, then telepor
t into Preston’s room. Rorie, I want you to teleport into Autumn’s old room. Ryker, you take the basement.” Alastair conjured four watches and synced them with a swipe of his hand. “Put these on. In precisely four minutes, pull on your element and create an energy ball. Don’t hold back. Aim to kill, and if you get an opening, take it.”

  He met Aurora’s worried gaze with what he hoped was assurance. “I protect what is mine. Your children fall under that umbrella, my love.”

  She pressed her lips together and nodded.

  “Have faith,” he encouraged.

  “I do.”

  He didn’t bother with hugs, kisses, or any type of affection. Those things were for goodbyes, and he didn’t intend to lose another. Without further delay, he closed his eyes, warmed his cells, and visualized the west corner of the front porch. He opened his eyes and listened. Hearing nothing, he placed his back to the wall and peered around the corner. Seeing it was clear, he inched his way to the kitchen window and peered into the room. He mentally cursed his blocked sight line to the living room. When this was over, he intended to talk to the family into a modern, open floor plan.

  Pulling back, he crept around the side of the house and peeked through the sheer curtains. Only Keaton and Autumn were present. They sat together hands clasped together, faces pale. Upon closer inspection, Alastair noticed Autumn fixated on a point on his side of the room just to the right of the window. Without removing her eyes from whatever she was focused on, she moved her head to the right once as if she were stretching her neck.

  He held up a single finger—certain she could see him—and then pointed to the direction she indicated. Again, without glancing his way, she moved her head in a downward motion. It was a slow, steady bob as if she were stretching. Her lips twitched as if she struggled to suppress her smirking smile. Keaton, on the other hand, wore a scowl that promised retribution. Righteous fury burned in the young man’s eyes.

  Only two reasons could enrage a man to that degree in this situation. One, someone held his wife hostage, and two, someone was using his daughter for a shield. Alastair suspected both. But little Chloe was smart, she’d see a chance to escape and take it when presented. He pitied her captor when Keaton got his hands on them. They wouldn’t be long for this world.

  Alastair ducked into a squat and scanned the area around him. Closing his eyes, he felt for the closest presence. Two feet to his left. A small figure radiated fear and was located directly in front of a much larger person. Positioning himself behind the wall where he felt the physical energy. He glanced at his watch. He had roughly two minutes before the others arrived.

  Taking a deep breath and offering up a silent apology to the great-great-grandparent who built their family home, he created a three-by-seven-feet opening in the wall. Hooking an arm under the startled man’s gun arm, he lifted up and back, securing a hand around the back of his enemy’s neck. “Dormio,” he whispered. He caught the man’s weight as he fell asleep.

  Keaton jumped up, ready for action, and Autumn pulled Chloe against her massive belly.

  With a finger to his lips, Alastair whispered, “Cloak yourselves and get out of the house. Go to the old barn. Now.”

  “Spring and Winnie are somewhere in the house,” Autumn whispered back. “Five men showed up and separated us all.”

  “Where is Summer?”

  “I don’t know. Delphine took her away.”

  “How did she neutralize all of you at once?”

  “I don’t know that either. I’ve never seen anything like it. A knock sounded on the door. When I answered, she waved her hand, and it was like ten Blockers in that one small gesture.”

  “I thought Knox was with you,” he whispered as he peeked into the hall.

  Her face paled. “Before he knew what was happening, Delphine injected him with something. It was like an elephant tranq or something. He went down fast.”

  “Okay. Get out now. I’ll find the others and make sure they are safe.”

  “Be careful, Uncle.”

  “Always. Go.”

  28

  Aurora felt the energy shift in the barn and lifted the gun to defend herself if she needed. When Autumn showed up with her husband and step-daughter, Aurora quickly tucked away her weapon. She wrapped her eldest daughter in a tight hug. “Thank the Goddess,” she gushed. “Where are your sisters?”

  “I don’t know exactly.” Autumn relayed the facts as she knew them. “I’m worried for Summer. Delphine took her out of the house.”

  “She wouldn’t have gone far,” Ryker said. “Her minions would need her black magic to stay hidden when Alastair arrived.”

  “I agree,” Autumn said. “Either Winnie’s workshop or Spring’s garden center would be the logical location.”

  “The greenhouse,” Aurora corrected. “She could cloak herself and still see the front yard.” Trying to calm her racing heart, she faced Ryker. “If Alastair teleported to the front porch, she would have seen him.”

  “Fuck!” He ushered them away from the doors and into the old elephant enclosure. “New plan. You all stay here out of sight, and I go warn Alastair.”

  “The hell you are!” GiGi exclaimed. “Not without backup, Ryker.”

  “I’ve been doing this type of thing for the better part of my life, sweetheart.” He moved close to her, but didn’t touch. Lovingly, his gaze swept her features. “I’ll be fine. But if not, then the keys to my ‘Vette are hidden under the workbench in our garage,” he said. “I give you my permission to drive it.”

  “I’ll use it for scrap metal if you get yourself killed.”

  “More reason for me to return unharmed.” With a wink, he was gone.

  “That thick-headed bastard,” GiGi growled.

  “I have a plan,” Aurora said, stopping her sister-in-law before she warmed to a rant. “I do need your help.” She smiled at Autumn. “Tell me, dear, what exactly did the man holding you look like?”

  Delphine glanced back at the unconscious Summer. She hated having to drug her, but if she was Alastair’s daughter, chances were she was a powerful witch in her own right. It was doubtful the woman was stronger than the black arts of Delphine’s ancestors, but she couldn’t take the chance.

  “If I was smart, I’d poison the lot of you and be done with it,” she told the sleeping Summer. With a heavy sigh, she faced the house. After Alastair was gone, Delphine would persuade Harold Beecham to relocate her family with added protection. Somehow. In some way.

  A slight ripple on the side of the porch closest to her caused Delphine to squint into the darkness. If she had to guess, it was a cloaked Alastair. He had to have guessed by now she and Henri had left New Orleans. As she watched, a hole opened in the wall and the light from the living room poured out onto the side porch.

  “I had no idea he could do that,” she said aloud. Again, she glanced back at Summer. She watched her blonde cousin for the span of ten heartbeats. Her breathing was deep and normal for someone asleep.

  A minute later, her man Rufus staggered out of the opening, holding his head. He looked back toward the hole in the wall as if in terror and ran toward the greenhouse.

  “Don’t lead him here, you idiot!” she muttered.

  But either Alastair hadn’t seen him escape, or he didn’t care about one foot soldier when he was concerned with finding her hiding spot somewhere in that huge Victorian home.

  Rufus paused a few feet from the door and bent to catch his breath. He touched the heel of his hand to the wound on his head.

  Frustrated because he was blocking her view of the home, she visually checked her sleeping prisoner then opened the front door to the greenhouse. “What are you doing, you fool?” she hissed. “You could have led Alastair straight here!”

  As he looked at her, his fear disappeared and he straightened. A sly smile crossed his face. “It’s not Alastair you have to worry about, Delphine. It’s me.”

  Rufus conjured an electrically charged orb in the palm of his hand and flung
it at her chest. She dove to her left but not before the ball slammed into her shoulder and sent her crashing back into the glass structure.

  Large, wicked shards rained down, and Delphine threw her arms up and out to create a bubble of protection. Not-Rufus charged her, and she called up the fragments from the ground and shoved them toward her attacker. The glass collided with whatever magical shield he had in place.

  “Who are you?” she demanded as she stalled for time to think of her next move.

  Not-Rufus snapped his fingers, and the glamour surrounding him fell away.

  “Aurora!”

  “That’s right, you bloody bitch. I suggest you pray to whatever black-hearted devil you worship, because I’m sending you to hell.”

  A cat yowled in the distance. The wind around them picked up to storm force. The trees thrashed to and fro under its power. The knife Aurora removed from behind her back was lethal looking. She blew on the tip, turning it a white-blue.

  “This is going to sting, and I’m going to enjoy every second of it,” she shouted over the elements she’d stirred.

  Delphine spread her arms, palms down. Without removing her eyes from the enraged woman in front of her, she called her magic to her. “Dearest Ancestors, hear me now—” She grunted as something small and hard punched her in the back. Dropping to her knees, all she knew was darkness. As the last of her life force faded, she caught a glimpse of Preston’s spirit standing behind Aurora. He smiled his pleasure at seeing her die in the same manner he had—a bullet to the heart.

  * * *

  The wind returned to a gentle breeze, and the cat stopped its bitching. Aurora twirled her knife and jammed it into the sheath at the small of her back. She didn’t pause to congratulate GiGi for her stellar shooting skills. Instead, she rushed to her prone daughter.