by T. M. Cromer
The hair on Nash’s arms rose, and a chill chased along his spine. There was no doubt in his mind that Alastair would do what he thought was necessary, even to the point of murder should the need arise. Nash rested a hand on his father’s shoulder. “You’ll get no argument from me, Sperm Donor. Let’s try to gain permission from Isis. I’d like to clear Uncle Ryker and bury Beecham in the process, if we can.”
17
Ryker and GiGi left Alastair’s living room and headed to the garden to walk off some of their building tension. They had another thirty minutes before they agreed they should be concerned about Sebastian and Arabella.
“I was happy to see you and Baz getting along,” GiGi said as she tucked her arm through his.
“I won the girl.” His tone and expression were smug, causing her to bite back a smile.
“Hmm, you make this sound like a contest. Did you only want me because—” She didn’t have time to finish the thought before he swung her around to kiss her.
As their tongues tasted and teased one another, GiGi practically purred her enjoyment. His hand slid down her backside to cup her buttocks and draw her closer. Ryker worshiped her with his mouth, taking all she offered and more. This was what she’d missed all those years, what she craved on a daily basis. His simplest touch drugged her and made her weak at the knees, at the same time, firing up her blood.
When he drew back, an intense, ready-to-ravish gleam was in his eyes. She leaned into him for a second helping.
“While I’d hoped we could get back here, I never dared dream.” With his index finger, he smoothed back the wind-blown locks from her face. “I fear for you, sweetheart.”
“I’ve survived this long, babe. It will take someone a helluva lot tougher than ol’ Harold to take me down.”
His frown showed he wasn’t going to be easily teased out of his concerns.
“Ryker. I’m going to be fine. I swear I won’t take unnecessary chances with either of our lives.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” His mouth eased into a slight smile. “Now, tell me how much more handsome I am than Sebastian Drake.”
“He’s standing right behind me, isn’t he?”
Ryker’s grin gave him away.
“You are so obvious, husband.”
“Isn’t he, though?” Sebastian laughed.
As one, they faced the siblings.
“Arabella,” GiGi greeted. “You are looking well. Thank you for accommodating us. I know it couldn’t have been easy to upend your evening to sit around this place.”
The dark-haired woman cast a cursory look around and smiled tightly. “It won’t be a hardship. However, I am concerned for Baz. The idea of him sneaking out Council evidence disturbs me on every level.”
Ryker stepped forward and offered his hand to shake. “Your brother is doing me the greatest of favors. If there is any way I can repay you both for the sacrifice, all you have to do is say the word.”
GiGi almost laughed when Arabella’s strikingly handsome face softened. “Baz lives for intrigue.”
“Just like someone else I know,” GiGi muttered.
Ryker lightly side-checked her with an elbow. “The intelligence games are now for the young.”
“Just keep it that way.”
“I’ll take Baz inside and check what the gang has come up with. I’ll leave you ladies to talk.”
After the men had gone, Arabella turned to GiGi. “My brother is disappointed.”
“I can’t help that.”
“No, I don’t suppose you could. I must say, I’m a bit disappointed myself. I like you, GiGi. It would be wonderful to be part of such a large and loving family.”
In an impulsive move, GiGi gave the other woman a hug. “You and your brother are now honorary Thornes. We’ll always support you both.” She laced her arm through Arabella’s and guided her down the stone path. “Besides, my brother has plans for Baz and my cousin Mackenzie. She’s a doll, and you’re going to adore her as much as we do.”
“I know it’s wrong of me, but I want a woman who will give him a difficult time.”
“Mackenzie is your woman.”
“Brilliant.”
“She’s that, too,” GiGi quipped.
Laughing, the two of them headed toward the house to join the others.
Inside, plans were underway to gather the members of the Witches’ Council.
Sebastian decided to contact the one other leader Georgie Sipanil had previously indicated she trusted. “I’ll pop over to Councilman Stanley Smythe’s house tonight and explain the circumstances. Perhaps he can call a meeting to order.”
“Don’t give anyone notice of your intentions, son,” Alastair warned. “Go and come right back. Be sure you don’t touch a thing. I wouldn’t put it past Beecham to have his finger on the pulse of all that is happening. We don’t need another one of our group framed for a crime.”
“You think he’d risk another strike against a council member this soon?”
“Based on what we’ve discovered about Beecham’s plans to start a second war, I’m left with little doubt.”
“Valid point.”
“Just be careful, please.”
“Why, Alastair Thorne! If I didn’t know any better, I’d believe you actually like me.”
GiGi laughed when her brother rolled his eyes. From her angle, she could tell he fought a smile. Without a doubt, Sebastian Drake was a charming devil.
Alastair tugged on his cuffs and straightened his tie. “On that note, dinner will be ready. Alfred should be arriving any moment to inform us to take our seats.”
Sure enough, Alastair’s prediction proved true, and for the second time that day, GiGi was awed by his uncanny ability to know things.
The family and two guests meandered to the dining hall and took their seats. It wasn’t lost on her that this might be the last meal they shared if Harold Beecham succeeded with his scheming. As she glanced from beloved face to beloved face, she was filled with a deep sense of fear. She never wanted to lose a single one. They were all essential to her peace of mind.
Ryker placed an arm along the back of her chair and leaned close to ask, “Are you all right, sweetheart?” His voice was low and for her ears alone, yet her brother looked up from his salad to meet her worried gaze over the table’s distance. One of his arrogant blond brows lifted in question.
“I love you, brother,” she mouthed.
“I love you, too,” he mouthed in return.
She ducked her head to hide her emotional response, appreciating her husband’s supportive hand as he caressed her neck.
“You have no need to fear for Al, GiGi,” Ryker murmured. “Your brother leads a charmed life. He’s practically indestructible.”
She couldn’t disagree. Alastair had survived more than most. “Preston’s death is still raw,” she said. “I couldn’t bear it if I lost Alastair, too.”
“That’s what this is all about. Beecham and Victor Salinger need to be taken off the playing field. In that order. Then our family should be safe.”
She loved that he said “our family.” With a light squeeze of his knee, she focused on her meal.
* * *
Ryker understood GiGi’s fears without needing her to elaborate. He’d lost his beloved sister to a monster, just as she’d lost her brother. Now, his own neck was on the line. If they couldn’t prove he didn’t kill Georgie, there would be no place he could hide. There was no need to point out the ramifications of failure. The severity of the punishment would be enough when the time came. Not that he was ready to call it quits or die for a crime he didn’t commit, but he had to be realistic. He had a short window to make all this go away, or he was royally fucked.
His dinner companions all seemed to be of the same somber mind, shooting the occasional disquieted glance his way. Never had he wanted to yell as much as he did now. He wouldn’t. He’d been trained to keep cool at all times, and he would. Hotheads never lasted long in the field.
&nb
sp; What would have happened had Beecham murdered Trina and let his anger die with her? How many lives would’ve been spared in the interim between then and this moment? Had Beecham sent him to Marguerite knowing she would play the black widow in Harold’s web of lies, ready to kill Ryker after her attempted seduction?
“You’re awfully quiet, babe.”
He grimaced. “I guess I’m feeling what everyone else is: a heavy dose of worry.”
“Understandable. But we will win.”
“GiGi, you do realize there is nowhere for me to run should this go south, right?”
“You won’t need to. Let them come.”
Her steely determination made him chuckle. “I’m glad you weren’t as angry with me as you pretended to be in the past, sweetheart. If you’d truly hated me, I would be a pile of ash somewhere.” Casually, he took a sip of wine.
“Then I suppose you’re lucky I don’t carry a grudge.”
He sputtered his drink, much to his wife’s amusement. As he mopped up his chin and chest, he caught Alastair’s self-satisfied expression. Yeah, old Al had a lot to be pleased about. His dirty trick to lock him and GiGi inside their house had worked exceedingly well.
“What did you come up with to protect the girls, brother?” GiGi asked.
“I have a bevy of guards at both the Carlyle estate and Thorne Manor. They all know they better protect Rorie and her daughters or die in the process. If they don’t, they’ll face my wrath.”
Sebastian sent him a wry look. “I’m glad I chose to make nice rather than gain an enemy in you, Thorne. You are one scary sonofabitch.”
“You chose wisely, Drake.”
Everyone at the table laughed, and the somber mood was broken. They spent the remainder of the dinner socializing. A few hours into the evening, Ryker and GiGi made their excuses.
“We’ll be down at first light. If anything drastic happens in the meantime, you know where to find us.”
Ryker led GiGi to his room. She stopped just outside the door and laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“On the rare occasions when I’ve stayed here to look after Rorie while Al was on some trip or another, I used this room. I suspect this has always been your room when you stayed over.” She patted him on the chest and entered. “Do you suppose he was trying to get us back together even then? Maybe he thought if one of us showed up while the other just happened to be asleep in this bed…?” She trailed off with a naughty look.
“Remind me to kiss that crafty bastard in the morning for having my back.”
“Too bad our timing was terrible,” she teased.
“Well, we’re both here now. No reason we can’t make up for lost time.”
Laughing, she drew him farther into the room and flicked a hand to magically shut the door.
18
The next morning was an exercise in patience. Something Ryker knew GiGi found difficult. She fiddled where she was normally casual or serene, and she seemed a little irritable and snappish to the others at the breakfast table.
As she lifted her knife only to put it back down for the third time, Ryker captured her hand and kissed her palm. “You’d think after last night, you’d be nicer to everyone around you,” he teased.
She looked startled, but her standard humor returned in a flash. “True.” She did a quick scan of the table and returned her attention to him. “They are all going to believe you are leaving me dissatisfied with your lovemaking.”
“Hardly that.” He nipped her fingertips and grinned when she laughed. Picking up his own silverware, he divided and buttered the blueberry muffin on his plate then handed half to her. “You still have that satisfied glow.”
A light blush tinged her cheeks, and the loving smile she now sported was certain to match his. She nibbled her half-muffin then set it down.
“I can’t get rid of this feeling of impending doom,” she confessed.
All the Thornes were intuitive to a large degree. GiGi fell only a step below Alastair in her ability to pick up on the vibrations around her. The siblings were naturally skilled like no one Ryker had ever encountered before. Added to that was keen intelligence. He’d learned a long time ago to trust their instincts.
“So what do you want to do?” he asked in a low voice.
She seemed surprised he’d posed the question to her. Shaking her head, she squeezed his fingers. “I don’t know. I’m sure I’ll feel better when Baz returns with Trina’s clothing, along with the assurance he’s gathered the Council.”
“I know. It goes against my nature not to act, especially on my own behalf.” He gave her hand a return squeeze then drew back to dig into his meal. “But we need to bide our time and try not to irritate everyone around us in the process.” He winked in the face of her scowl. “If it helps, I’ll let you do that thing you did last night again right after breakfast.”
She snorted her laughter, drawing the attention of their dining companions. A quick glance showed everyone smiling indulgently and perhaps on Alastair’s part, a little smugly. Ryker met his best friend’s direct gaze and silently conveyed his thanks. Al nodded in return. There was no need for words between the two men. They’d been friends many years and, for the most part, were able to read each other with a simple look.
“I intend to drop in this morning and check on Autumn,” GiGi announced. “Al, do you want to go with me to visit Rorie?”
“Absolutely.”
She faced Ryker. “Stay out of trouble until I return?”
“You’re cracked in the head if you believe I’m letting you out of my sight until Beecham is six feet under, sweetheart.”
“It’s only to see family, Ryker. I have no intention of knocking on Harold’s door.”
“Right,” he snort-laughed. When she stared him down, he shook his head and sighed. “It goes against my better nature to let you run around brewing up trouble, sweetheart.”
“Don’t be overbearing, babe. It doesn’t suit you.” She leaned down and placed her lips on his. “I have phone calls to make.”
Although he was curious, he refrained from asking about her plans. She’d tell him when she was good and ready and not a second before.
After she left the room, Ryker addressed Alastair. “She won’t handle it well if we can’t convince the WC of my innocence.”
“None of us will. If I know my sister, her ‘phone call’ will be to buy an island in the Pacific as a backup plan.”
“If the worst should happen, don’t let her do anything foolish or impulsive, Al. Please.”
“I can’t promise that, my friend. We are both likely to act in conjunction. If you are found guilty, it will be both GiGi’s and my first priority to remove you from harm. Anything less is an unacceptable outcome.”
Ryker sighed his frustration with the siblings and turned his attention to a watchful Nash. “What about you?”
“This might shock a few of you, but I’m in one-hundred percent agreement with the sperm donor. We will do what is necessary to save you.”
Fear and irritation at their stubbornness manifested into a sharp anger. “You are a damned stubborn lot, you know that? Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. That should be on the Thorne family crest.”
Nash’s jade green eyes lit with laughter although his expression remained impassive. “I’ll have new banners made up.”
“You remind me of your mom at times, Nash. I miss her. But I’d also be doing her a disservice if I let you cross the Council for my benefit.” Nostalgia and regret bubbled up. “She’d want you safe.”
“She’d want me to be a free thinker and to stand by my family. I’ve read her journals. Loyalty was important to her.”
Alastair’s head whipped around to stare at Nash. “Journals?”
“Of course! Let me see what I can find.”
Within seconds, Nash had vanished.
“Do you all share one collective brain wave?” Arabella asked curiously from her seat midway down the table. “I swear,
since I’ve been observing you all, it’s as if you interact without needing to say a word.”
“You have no idea. They’re all a trial,” Mackenzie stated from beside her, as she casually scooped out a bit of her soft-boiled egg. The twinkle in her eye belied the put-out quality in her tone.
In a spontaneous, astonishing move, Alastair tossed a balled-up napkin at the oh-so-prim Mackenzie, hitting her in the center of her forehead. She sputtered out her egg and turned incredulous blue eyes on the patriarch of the Thorne clan.
With a simple snap of her fingers, she flung egg in his direction. Already anticipating her response, he teleported, appearing directly behind her. He leaned in to kiss the crown of her head. “You’ll have to be faster than that, child. I was the initial instigator of family food fights.”
His deep laughter echoed about the dining hall even after he left.
“That’s a side of Alastair Thorne you never see,” Arabella said in awe.
“You’re family now, dearest.” Mackenzie patted her hand. “You’ll see more of his playful side going forward.”
“The whole lot of you are uncivilized, aren’t you?”
Ryker laughed and pushed away from the table. “You have no idea.”
GiGi made the rounds through the family. She explained what Ryker intended to do with the blood magic and how he hoped to be able to clear his name. She also explained her contingency plan. If things went wrong, she had every intention of getting Ryker out of the country and off the Witches’ Council’s radar. If it meant fleeing, her contact with family would be curtailed to emergencies only. The risk to those she loved would be too great if she and Ryker became outcasts in the magical community.
The last call she made was to her coven. She was the only Thorne who still subscribed to quarterly gatherings with other witches. Mostly, the practice of rituals had fallen out over the last twenty years or so. At three p.m., her group of friends met at a pub they frequented, roughly twenty miles from the Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. All but one showed up.
