Emma Jean smiled through her tears. “That sounds just like your mother,” she said. “I guess she did love me.”
“Of course she loved you,” Chloe said, hugging her. “And I love you too.”
When they parted, both women had tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces. “So, what are we going to do about your uncle?” Emma Jean asked.
“Are you sure it was him?” Gabriel asked, getting to his feet. “Michael was going to trace the call, but that takes time.”
“Oh, it was him,” she said. “He started out the conversation demanding to know who Chloe was and why she was answering the phone. When I didn’t give him the right answers, he accused me of replacing him, of giving his inheritance away to a stranger. Then he demanded my book of shadows, insisted that as the only child, it belonged to him.”
“You refused, and he put a spell on you that would have killed you if Chloe hadn’t reversed it,” he said, all the pieces of the puzzle falling into place. “He’s going to come for it, isn’t he?”
Emma Jean nodded. “But it doesn’t belong to him, or to me anymore,” she said. “It belongs to Chloe now.”
***Chloe***
Chloe looked down at the book in Emma Jean’s lap, not sure she wanted it to be hers. Even without touching it, she could feel the magic trapped inside its pages, could feel it humming through her veins, its ancient energy blending with her own until she jumped up from the bed to get away.
“I don’t know if I want it,” she said, staring at it horrified.
Emma Jean finally looked down at the book and gasped. “What happened here? Is this blood?” she asked, clearly rattled.
“I cut my finger on some glass and a few drops accidentally got on the cover,” Chloe said, backing away from the bed.
She felt Gabriel’s strong arms wrap around her from behind, and comfort washed over her. “The book started to glow, and then, I don’t know how to describe it except to say that it looked like the book shot lasers at Chloe,” Gabriel, stumbled over his words.
Emma Jean looked down at the book, then back up at Chloe. “Oh, dear, you really are home, aren’t you?”
“What does that mean?” Chloe asked, tired of riddles.
Emma Jean looked over her shoulder at Gabriel. “Does she know?”
“Know what?” Chloe demanded. “Is there still something I don’t know.”
“She knows most of it,” he said, leading her over to the chair. “Let’s sit down.”
Instead of pushing her into the chair, Gabriel sat down, then pulled her onto his lap. When she resisted, he held on a little tighter and whispered in her ear, “Just be still for now, unless you can’t control yourself when we’re this close.”
She gave him a dirty look but shifted into a comfortable position, feeling slightly ridiculous but better with his arms around her. “Are you happy now?” she asked.
“Very,” Gabriel answered.
Emma Jean was grinning at them. “You do make a cute couple,” she said.
Chloe opened her mouth, but Emma Jean held up her hand. “Okay, I’ll get on with it, as you would say. You are a direct descendant of the first witch who came to Prospect Falls, sent here to protect the people of the valley from the demons that had followed them from the old country,” she said, then looked at Gabriel.
“She put a heavy protective spell on the valley, a spell that could be renewed each year by either herself or one of her descendants,” Gabriel said. “It was very powerful and complicated magic, but it has protected the town all this time.”
“The only problem is that no one in our family has done the spell in a long time,” Emma Jean said. “I always thought someday your mother would come back and take her rightful place here at Baxter House, but that wasn’t to be.”
“But what about you? Didn’t you do the spell?” Chloe asked, trying to block what she knew was coming next.
Emma Jean shook her head. “Simon made me refuse,” she said, her face full of regret.
“Since then, we’ve been using outside magic when we can find it,” Gabriel said. “But it isn’t working very well; the demons are getting closer and closer to town.”
The reality of what they wanted her to do began to sink in. “You want me to do the spell,” she said, beginning to tremble. “I can’t do it. I can’t use my magic; it’s dangerous.”
That night so many years ago came alive in her mind, her mother’s smile of joy, her father’s proud look as she’d handed over the locket. It was all over so quickly, only took minutes, in fact, for the magic she’d so trustingly placed inside the locket to destroy the two people who loved her most in the world. Her chest heaving with panic, she jumped out of Gabriel’s lap and ran for the door.
“Chloe, wait,” she heard Gabriel say as she slammed the door behind her.
Chest heaving, the images of that night still playing over and over in her mind, she looked up and down the hallway, then headed for the main staircase. It was dark on the third floor, and she felt an unearthly presence following her but she ignored it and went to the little door at the end of the hallway. Unlike the attic, when she threw open the door, sunlight flooded the dark hallway. Stepping through the door, she carefully closed it behind her, and climbed the steep steps, emerging into the octagonal room that rose from the back of the house.
Although dirty, the huge floor-to-ceiling windows on one side of the room let in the early morning light, and Chloe instantly felt better as she stood, letting it soak into her body. She stopped trembling, and her breathing returned to normal. She sighed with relief when she realized the terrible memories were gone. Collapsing onto the bed that was pushed back against one of the walls, she closed her eyes, exhausted from the battle to banish them from her mind.
Chapter Thirteen
***Gabriel***
Gabriel started to go after Chloe, but Emma Jean said, “Let her go.”
He looked over at the door but sank back down in the chair. “I need to help her,” he finally said.
“Give her a few minutes, then go after her,” Emma Jean said. “She’s had to absorb a lot since she got here.”
“She thinks her magic is dangerous, and it has something to do with this,” he said, pulling the locket out of his pocket. “When I found her in the attic, she was holding this and sobbing.”
Emma Jean gasped. “Oh, I haven’t seen that in years,” she said, and held out her hand.
He got up and gave it to her. “Chloe said her mother had one just like it.”
“Felicity and I both had one. I had them handmade for us when she turned thirteen,” Emma Jean said, holding the locket up to the light. “Felicity was wearing hers when she left, she never took it off, but it hurt too much to wear it so, I put mine away and never wore it again.”
“She must have kept it all those years, but I still don’t understand why Chloe was so upset,” Gabriel said.
“I think the only way you’re going to find out is to ask her but go slowly; she’s not going to want to talk about it,” Emma Jean said.
“But I have to try,” he said. “I can’t watch her fight it alone anymore.”
Emma Jean smiled at him. “She’s a lucky girl,” she said. “Now, go see if you can find her, but if you want my guess, she’s up in the workshop.”
Gabriel climbed the stairs to the third floor and walked down the hallway, his heart pounding in his chest. It was silly to be scared, but he couldn’t seem to convince his body that there was nothing hiding in the shadows but spiders and dust. When he finally reached the door and swung it open, it was still a relief to see the bright sunlight penetrating those shadows.
He climbed the stairs, the bright light blinding him, and emerged at the top of the stairs to find Chloe curled into a ball, sound asleep. She looked so young and innocent, her dark hair curling around her face, her cheeks pink with sleep, he couldn’t stop himself from crossing the room, leaning over, and brushing a kiss across her lips.
She woke with a start
and sat up. “Gabriel, how did you find me?” she asked, rubbing her face with her hands. “I wanted to be alone.”
“I thought you’d been alone long enough,” he said, sitting down beside her. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask you again if you want to talk about it. I’ll just sit here quietly with you.”
Chloe looked over at him, relief on her face. “I’m just not ready,” she said. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to tell that story. It hurts too much.”
“That’s okay; we all have things in our past that we’re not proud of, but that’s not what defines us, Chloe,” he said. “That mistake isn’t who you are; it’s only part of your past. Punishing yourself isn’t going to change what happened. Either way, I’ll be here for you.”
Chloe leaned up against him. “Sometimes, I wish I could just hit a reset button and go back to when my life was simple.”
Gabriel looked down at her but didn’t say anything right away. “So you’d be willing to give up Emma Jean and the tea house, all your new friends?” he finally asked. “You’d be willing to give up what’s between us?”
She looked up at him. “I don’t know what this is between us,” she said, jumping up from the bed. “I’m a mess, Gabriel; how am I supposed to know what I feel? Suddenly, I have a family, but oops, my uncle is trying to kill my grandmother. Then I find a guy I could love, and boom, he’s a dragon shifter committed to protecting a town from terrible demons.”
Gabriel couldn’t help the silly grin that spread across his face. “What did you just say?”
“Which part? The part where my life had been turned upside down, I’ve been possessed by a book of shadows, but the only thing I can think about is you?” she asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
“That last part,” he said. “That’s the part I want to know more about,” he said, getting to his feet.
Chloe let out a frustrated sigh. “Gabriel, I’m serious,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
He took a couple of steps toward her. “So am I,” he said. “I’m not going to push you, Chloe, but I’m not going to give up either. I’m going to stick by you until you’ve had time to sort all this out, but I promise you, when it’s all over, you’re going to see that we’re meant to be together.”
Chloe sucked in a deep breath. “Gabriel, don’t do that to me,” she whispered, desire blossoming in her eyes. “It would be so easy to just give in, to fall into your arms, but I can’t. I know that’s hard for you to understand, but it’s just the way it has to be.”
“I’ll take no for an answer for now,” he said, then reached out and pulled her into his arms. “But I won’t promise not to kiss you.”
She didn’t try to get away as he slowly lowered his mouth to hers. Instead, she sighed deeply and wrapped her arms around his neck. He slipped his tongue into her mouth, savoring her sweet flavor, then kissed her until she was breathless. When he gently pushed her away, her eyes were filled with desire, and it took all his strength to take a couple of steps away from her.
“I think we should start by building a fire,” he said. “Then, I’ll go downstairs and get us something to eat.”
Chloe stared at him for a moment, swaying slightly on her feet, her cheeks rosy with pleasure. “What are you talking about?” she finally asked, looking around the room.
“Emma Jean is better, and the tea house is running just fine,” Gabriel said. “As your doctor, I prescribe a day of laying around doing nothing.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re up to something,” she said.
“Me?” he asked innocently. “I’m just trying to make you feel better.”
***Chloe***
Chloe watched Gabriel building a fire in the circular fireplace that dominated the center of the room. She still wasn’t sure about Gabriel’s plan to shut themselves away for the day, but when he’d mentioned a nap, she’d given in. For days, she’d either slept poorly or had all of her energy drained by the magic that just wouldn’t leave her alone. Locked away, she’d be safe for at least a few hours: no new surprises, no chance for her magic to be awakened.
It had sounded like heaven, and she’d given in, but now she was having her doubts, wondered if she was tempting fate. As much as she wanted to just forget everything for a few hours, she knew that was impossible, as impossible as it was becoming to resist Gabriel and the comfort he offered. With all the other surprises in her life, now wasn’t the time to add a romance into the mix, but it wasn’t just comfort Gabriel offered: it was passion, pleasure, and even happiness—all the things she’d always wanted but didn’t believe she deserved.
When he finished with the fire, Gabriel turned and looked over at her. “It should start warming up in here pretty soon,” he said, then threw a couple more logs on. “Are you hungry? I could go downstairs and find us something to eat.”
Not the least bit hungry, the thought of food almost nauseating, she shook her head. “Thanks, but I’m okay,” she said.
“How about some tea?” he asked. “I bet I could talk you into some tea.”
“That does sound good, but I can go down and get it myself,” she said. “I feel a little guilty that everyone is working, and I’m up here doing nothing. Maybe I should get dressed and—”
“Chloe,” Gabriel interrupted her. “You’ve had a bit of a shock, and you really do need to take it easy. Charlie is having the time of her life running the tea house, so stop worrying. I think it’s distracting her from the upcoming wedding.”
“Wedding?” she asked.
“She and Vincent are getting married at the festival next weekend,” he said. “They’ve only had a few weeks to plan it.”
“At the festival...oh, I thought...” her words trailed off. “I guess I thought they’d had it planned for a long time.”
Gabriel shook his head. “Charlie moved to Prospect Falls about a month ago; she’s... well, she’s a demon hunter. Our council sent her to help us.”
It took Chloe a second to absorb the fact that the perky woman she’d met the day before was a dragon shifter. “You mean she’s a...” She couldn’t finish her question.
“A dragon shifter?” Gabriel finished for her. “Yep.”
Chloe sighed. “Just when I think I’ve got this town figured out, you throw something new at me,” she said. “I think I need that tea now.”
Gabriel laughed. “I think we’re almost done with surprises, but we won’t talk about the demons if you don’t want to,” he said. “I’ll go get that tea.”
While he was gone, Chloe tried to organize her thoughts and discovered that things were a bit clearer now that she had the truth. It was still a shock to think that Emma Jean was her grandmother, and it was going to take some getting used to, but lots of things made sense now: her feeling of coming home, the way her magic seemed to sync with the magic around her.
When the book of shadows popped into her mind, she pushed the thought away with a shiver, not ready to deal with that yet. Which left her only with Gabriel, the dragon shifters, and the demons, a neat little package of the unknown that made her feel both thrilled and frightened. But sitting in the quiet attic, the fire popping merrily in the background, she let Gabriel seep into her mind, and soon, she was smiling, filled with a warmth that comforted her.
Sighing because she knew that she was fighting a losing battle, she let her imagination run wild. She let herself think about what it would be like to love and be loved, and realized that she might be missing out on the best thing that ever happened to her, that she might be destroying something special. Gabriel had accused her of punishing herself, and he was right; for years, she’d stopped herself from caring about anyone, lived a lonely life because of her guilt.
As much as she wanted to shed the guilt, it held on, digging its terrible claws into her and popping up when she least expected it. She knew her parents’ death was an open wound, a wound that she refused to let heal, but how could she let it when she still missed them so much. What
she craved was their forgiveness; it was the only thing that would take the sting away, the only thing that would free her of the sorrow that haunted her.
Feeling the tears streaming down her cheeks, she reached up and wiped them off, knowing that she was just wallowing but unable to stop herself. When her eyes cleared, she looked up to find the air shimmering in front of her. Alarmed, she backed up against the wall, unable to look away as two shadowy figures began to appear. Her heart pounding, she tried to remember anything she could about apparitions, but her mind was blank.
Then, just as panic began to well up inside her, the figures solidified, and she was facing her parents. “Mom, is that you?” she asked.
“Yes, sweetheart, and your father is here too,” her mother said.
The tears were back, streaming down her face, but she didn’t feel them. “I’ve thought about you so much, wanted to talk to you,” she said, not willing to let the moment pass. “I wanted to tell you how sorry I am. I didn’t know. I believed Melinda. I thought she was telling me the truth.”
“Oh, sweetheart, we know that,” her mother said. “I’m just sorry I didn’t see it coming. You got drawn into something that was beyond your years or training. I wish that had never happened.”
“So, you forgive me?” she asked.
“We forgave you the moment it happened,” her father said. “You weren’t to blame, pumpkin.”
Hearing her father’s pet name for her nearly did her in, but she took a deep breath, knowing they couldn’t stay much longer. “I’m so confused; everything is so different all of a sudden. I don’t know what to do,” she said.
By the time she’d finished her sentence, her parents were already fading, but her mother’s words rang loudly in the nearly empty room. “Follow your heart, Chloe; it will guide you well.”
Guardian Dragons of Prospect Falls: (A Paranormal Shifter Romance) Page 44
