“Ha! You wish. You stood there while the guy with the snake tattoo stabbed him in the thigh. You with your stupid crazy face.”
“How dare you?” she shrieked, then slapped my cheek. The sting radiated over the side of my face, and I gritted my teeth. “You can’t have that talent. No one’s been able to see the past or read the future since….”
I smirked and pushed down the sorrow that threatened to swallow me every time I thought of my parents. “My mother.”
She grabbed my throat with both hands, squeezing. I kneed her in the vagina—yep, no balls but it still hurt worse than waxing. Her hold loosened, and I barged forward, trying to chest her out of the way. Once I was past, I ran for the door she’d left open. I probably wouldn’t get far, but try telling my survival instincts that.
I was almost at the door! Just a few more steps. Crackle. Crackle. I could feel my hair lifting as static charged the air. My body froze, and I flew forward, the momentum of my flight actually making me fly. Great. This was going to hurt like a—” I smashed into the ground, my chest and face taking the impact. Sharp pain shot through my boobs and jaw. I hoped nothing was broken.
Snezana’s pink stilettos appeared in front of my face. She used one of her shiny shoes to push me onto my back. She started laughing. Her laughter grew until she was doubled over with tears pouring down her face. She slowly straightened and daintily dabbed at her face, obviously avoiding smooshing her make-up. Seriously? What did it matter what she looked like? Her only company was an unconscious person and someone who was about to be dead.
“Oh, you look hilarious lying on the floor in that running position with your legs bent. Not going very far, are you?”
I felt ridiculous, but I wasn’t going to admit it. “It’s quite comfortable actually. Who knew?”
She clenched her fists. “Enough! Time to die.” Her fingers wiggled. The air pressure built, and the static was back. My skin warmed. Then it got hotter, like I was standing too close to a fire. Jesus, she was going to burn me alive. Sweat beaded on my forehead, my skin and clothes damp, like I’d just been for a hard workout session. The heat went from uncomfortable to stinging. I bit my tongue. I didn’t want to die screaming, not for this witch.
Banging came from upstairs. Was that the thundering of many feet? Oh, please, merciful deities, be someone to save me.
Snezana’s brow furrowed, and she spun to face the doorway. The heat stopped. I took a deep breath of almost-relief. If that was just pizza delivery, I was still in trouble.
But there was a lot of rumbling, which could only mean multiple footsteps. “Down here!” I yelled. “Snezana’s gone rogue. She’s trying to burn me alive!”
“Shut it!” She kicked me in the stomach. I grunted. Dull pain radiated through my middle. “Wait here.”
Well, I couldn’t exactly go anywhere.
She made it up the first step then stopped, turned and raced back to me—quite a feat in those heels. She grabbed my straighter leg and dragged me along the concrete towards James. When we were halfway across, William, Beren, and four more uniformed PIB agents burst through the doorway, single file. They fanned out in a semi-circle, guns pointed at her, and blocked access to the door. Then her uncle entered, his face a thundercloud of anger.
Glory be to the PIB. I’d been saved! This time, my big breath out was all relief. I couldn’t be happier, even to see William. Now, who’d have thunk it?
Snezana gasped. She dropped my leg and assumed a relaxed, just-hanging-out stance, as if that would make the scene look any better. “Uncle, what are you doing here?”
“I would ask you the same thing, Snezana.” He looked past us to James’s still body on the mattress. “Beren, attend to him, please.”
“Yes, sir.” Beren ran to James.
I called out to him. “She gave him a needle about ten minutes ago. I have no idea what was in it. Some kind of yellow liquid.”
He held the needle up. “This one?”
“Yes.”
He broke it open and smelled it, nodded, then put his hands on James.
“Why did you do it, Snezana? You know this is going to break your mother’s heart.”
“He promised to marry me, uncle, but that bitch, Millicent, refused to give him a divorce.”
“That is such crap, obviously. Since when do you need to kidnap and drug someone who wants to be with you?”
She shot me a death glare. When she looked back at her uncle, she wore an angelic expression. “You know I don’t like anyone saying no to me. You want me to be happy, don’t you, uncle?”
Toot, toot, next train leaving for crazy town. All aboard.
He shook his head. “I love you like a daughter, Snezana, but this… I can’t understand how….” He grabbed a handful of his own hair and pulled. This must be hard for him to accept. I also wondered if he was feeling the guilt of ignoring the signs that she was a few spells short of a grimoire.
For someone wearing heels, she had catlike reflexes. She bent and grabbed my ponytail, yanking my head back and pointing her finger at me. Every PIB gun followed her movement. Yikes. Don’t shoot. I was so in the line of fire. My heart rate kicked up again. Sheesh, couldn’t this just be over already? How was it the bad guys never knew when they were beat?
“What are you doing? You know they’ll kill you if you kill me, right?”
“He’s my uncle. He’s the boss. There’s no way he’ll let them hurt a hair on my pretty head.”
Oooookay. Tickets, please.
Drake took a step forward. “Please, Snezana. Just come with us quietly. You haven’t killed anyone, so I can try and get you a lenient sentence. Don't make it worse.”
A lenient sentence. I don’t think so. Maybe he was just saying that to get her to play nice.
“Oh, but, uncle, it can’t get any worse. If I can’t have the man I love, then he can’t have his sister.” She wiggled her fingers, but before anything could happen, her uncle countered with his own finger wiggles, and her magic fizzled. Phew! Or maybe not.
Drake looked at me. His face paled. What? Was there a giant spider on my head? But then I felt it—my throat tightening. I tried to breathe in, but the airway had constricted. Oh, shit! I’d forgotten to renew my thought-protection spell.
“I’m so sorry, Lily. I’m a mind reader. Snezana! Retract the spell, this instant.”
“Not unless you let me go and promise I can have him.” She nodded towards James.
Air. I need air. Invisible fingers squeezed tighter and tighter. The crushing pain brought tears to my eyes. And God, I needed to breathe. It was hard not to panic, but the more I did, the less oxygen was in my system. Whenever we were dumped and dragged by a wave in the surf, we were told you had to go with it—relax until the churning was over, then it was safe to swim to the top. I pretended I was heading for the bottom, waiting for the time I could breathe again.
“Dammit, Snezana, stop it!” Her uncle sounded desperate.
“Nope.” She had her arms crossed, and she was shaking her head, smiling. The fight inside me faded. I wasn’t going to make it. My limbs felt like jelly. I gave in and tried to suck in a breath, but nothing was getting through. This was horrific, and only marginally better than dying by being burnt alive. I did my best to push down the rush of panic, but I was losing. I met William’s gaze. His eyes were wide, pupils dilated, but then he grew calm and gave me a sweet smile. At least I’d die looking at his happy face. Blackness crept into my vision, and my eyes closed.
Bang! The part of my brain still paying attention registered a gunshot, although I’d never heard one in real life, but hey, I’d watched lots of cop shows. What was that going through my throat? Air! The pressure around my neck eased, and oxygen rushed in. I gulped great globs of it, taking it all in, loudly, greedily.
Someone helped me sit up, and the cuffs were removed. I opened my eyes. Snezana lay dead in front of me, her blood languidly spreading over the floor. Her uncle was on his knees, his hand on her chest, fin
gers sitting in her blood. His head hung low. Defeated, grieving. Sadness swelled in my chest, but not for her—I honestly couldn’t give a crap that a psychopath was dead—but he was a man who had just lost someone he loved, and now he’d have to explain it to his sister. Coldness filtered through me, and I started shaking.
William crouched in front of me. He tilted my chin up so he could look into my eyes, probably to make sure I wasn’t blue and about to die.
“Hi,” I managed.
“Hi, yourself. Are you okay? Are you cold?” He took off his PIB jacket and put it around my shoulders. What a gentleman. He was always surprising me.
I snuggled into the jacket and tried to get warm. “Th— thanks. I’m k— kind of okay, and yes, f— freezing. But I’m alive, so that’s something.” My teeth were chattering but I forced a small smile. “Who shot her?”
His sad eyes said it all. “I’d do it again, too. Killing people is the worst part of the job, and we don’t have to do it all that often, but I had no choice. She was killing you.”
“Thanks, Will. I owe you one.”
He smiled. “Nah, you found your brother and gave me my best friend back. We’ll call this one even.”
“Are you suggesting you’re going to have to save my life again?”
“With you, anything’s possible.” I couldn’t help but return his grin.
Beren approached us. “Hey, kids, there’s someone over there who’s dying to see you.”
I cringed. “Bad word choice, mister.” But my heart soared. I was finally going to see my brother awake and get a cuddle back, and before you remind me that I hate cuddles, this was a special circumstance.
William helped me up. I limped to the grimy mattress in the corner. James sat against the wall, dirty, mussed up, and looking like he’d been on a two-week bender, but his eyes were open, and his lips were curved into a smile. “Lily. You’re the last person I expected to see.”
“You know I like to do the unexpected.” I dropped to my knees on the mattress and threw my arms around him. His trembling arms encircled me and squeezed. He reeked—no showers in a week would do that to a person—but I didn’t care. I snuggled closer. “Don't ever run off with psychopathic kidnappers again. Millicent’s been beside herself.”
“What about you?” he rasped.
“You know me; I knew it would be fine.”
“Such an optimist, sis.”
“You know it.” I pushed off the wall behind him and sat up to give him another once over. “You look like you’ve lost some weight. Did she feed you at all?”
“The first day she did, but she’d drugged it. How long have I been here?”
William spoke. “A week, dude. Sorry, we stuffed up. We never would’ve found you without your annoying sister’s help.”
“Hey, I'm not—”
“Just kidding.” William playfully punched my arm. Where was this happy William before? Oh, that’s right; he had his best friend back now. I was sure the joyful afterglow wouldn’t last long. In fact, his serious face returned. “James, I know you’ve been unconscious for a while, but do you remember who took you? She had some help.”
“Yes. It was payback. A couple of the guys from Eltham’s gang. We put Eltham away about eight months ago. He’s doing five years for drug trafficking. His cronies were only too happy to play along. Is she dead?” He tried to sit up and look over my shoulder, but he slumped back. Man, she’d really ruined him. I wanted to kill her, but luckily for her, she was already dead, because a shot to the heart was way nicer than what I had planned.
I looked around, and Snezana’s uncle was busy talking to the other PIB agents on the other side of the room. I lowered my voice. “Yes, but she was ready to kill me, and she framed Millicent. Let’s not even get into what she did to you, big bro. On one level, I’m sorry William had to kill her, but on another level, I’m not. What she did to you and me is going to stay with us forever.” I would surely have the nightmares to prove it, and James probably would too. “Anyway, no more crime talk. Waddaya say, we get you home to your gorgeous wife?” His smile was weak, but it was there. Yep, it was all worth it. I was taking my brother home to the woman he loved. I was sure it would take a while for both of us to recover from what we’d been through, but there was no time like the present to start healing. “I hope you don’t mind, but we’ll just hop through Costa drive-through on the way.”
My brother shook his head. “That’s my sister.”
I sure was.
Chapter 15
Taylor Swift pumped out of the speakers over the jubilant gathering. When I’d asked if I could hook my iPhone to her docking system, Angelica complied. She was quite on it for someone in their fifties. Canapé in hand, I chatted to Millicent and James, who had one arm slung around each other’s backs. I didn’t think they’d ever let go of each other again.
“Yeah, I have to book my flight back. I had to cancel one wedding already. I’d love to stay here forever, but it’s time to go back to reality.” Sigh—nothing lasted forever. I’d gotten the photos back to Tracy, but other work waited. I should be happy I’d had this much time with my brother.
James’s forehead furrowed. “Lily, you should stay here, with us.”
“I can’t. My life’s back in Australia… my job, my friends, my apartment.”
“But you still have so much to learn about your magic, and Angelica can help you with that.” It was true that I hadn’t confirmed whether those ghostly images meant someone was going to die, and I was curious as to what else I was capable of. But was that enough to want to stay here, leaving Michelle and Sophie and the beach lifestyle I loved? “You can get work here, and why not rent your apartment out? And England’s full of those historical buildings you love so much. You’ve already made new friends, and there’s always Skype for your old ones.” He had a point—goodness knew that was the only way we’d communicated for years. But moving countries was a crazy hassle, and who was to say they’d even grant me working status.
“I’d need visas, permission, stuff. Complicated stuff.”
“Our mother was an English citizen, Lily. Just apply. You don’t even need a visa. It’ll be a piece of cake.” Mmm, cake. Dessert was always my favourite part of a party, but it wasn’t out yet. Damn.
I shook my head. “No, James. My adventure’s over.”
He whispered something in Millicent’s ear. She nodded and made her way to another group of her friends. “Come with me.” James grabbed my hand and led me to the back garden, where it was quieter. Fairy lights hung from the trees, whimsical and pretty. He sat us down on a concrete bench that had cherubs carved into the plinth-like legs.
“I’ve missed you, Lily, but that’s not the only reason you should move here.” He held out his hands and mumbled something. Four small, camel-coloured leather books popped into his upturned palms. He handed them to me. “These were mum’s diaries. I found them after she and Dad disappeared. I’ve read them a million times, and I think it’s your turn to have them now. I’m glad I survived, because if I’d died, you never would’ve seen them. I haven’t even told Millicent about them. There’s something there. I kind of feel like they could help us find out what happened to Mum and Dad, but as many times as I’ve read them and been to some of the places they went to, I couldn’t find a connection.”
I drew in a quick breath. He’d hidden these from me? “But why wait until now to give them to me?” I stared at him, hoping he could see the hurt in my eyes. “You should’ve told me about these before. What the hell, James?”
He shook his head. “They had to be kept safe. Sorry, Lil.” He bit his bottom lip. Argh, how could I be mad at him? I’d just gotten him back.
I put three of the diaries on my lap and turned the fourth over and over in my hands, enjoying the smooth feel of the leather. My mother had touched this, probably took it with her everywhere. I opened it. Most of the pages were filled. The last entry was dated the 29th July, 2008. The day she disappeared. I swallow
ed. I thought life had thrown everything at me, so I wasn’t prepared for the bone-hollowing sadness that assaulted me. I clutched the book to my chest and sobbed. All those years she didn’t get to hold her children, to live her life, to go on holidays, to laugh and cry with her family. James and I had been robbed, and it broke my heart every day—the only way to go on was to not think about it, but now I had access to her again in a way. If it wasn’t rude to our guests, I’d run up to my room and read them all through without stopping.
James put a hand on my back and rubbed up and down. “I know. I miss them too.” His breath hitched, and I knew he was trying not to cry. We’d both been through hell. Sometimes I was jealous that he was older and had more memories of them, but then that probably hurt him more. It scared me that I might forget things. There were already a couple of memories that were fraying at the edges, no matter how hard I tried to keep them together. Maybe these diaries would mend them.
“There’s something else, Lily.” Worry darkened his tone. “I never told you the full reason I decided to stay here.”
“I figured Millicent was enough of a reason.” I smiled through my tears then sniffled.
“She was, for sure, but I originally came over because Angelica paid a visit.”
“What? You never told me. Why?”
“The day my powers came in, she appeared at uni when I was eating lunch outside.” He laughed. “I thought she was nuts, of course, but she told me some things about Mum, stuff not just anyone could’ve known unless Mum had told them, and I made her prove her magic.”
I giggled. “I did that too. As if I’d go off with just any old crazy who offered. I thought she was trying to kidnap me…” My voice sobered. “But it turned out you already had that covered.”
“Yeah. I’ve decided I don’t want another assistant. Maybe I’ll share William’s.” He put his hand over mine on the diaries. “You’re in danger, Lily. I’ve stayed here because I fit in so well, but also because working for the PIB gives me access to resources I wouldn’t otherwise have. It’s important we find out who’s behind our parents’ disappearance, Lily, because we’re next. Someone’s trying to end Mum’s line.”
Witchnapped in Westerham (Paranormal Investigation Bureau Book 1) Page 15
