“Oh my God,” Ben said. “I’ll head over there right now. I’m four hours or so away, near Jackson, but I’ll get started now. Keep me posted if you hear anything else. And thanks, Lucas. I hope no one was hurt.”
“Will do, buddy. I’m glad you weren’t there when it happened.”
“Yeah, me too.” Ben hung up the phone and looked around. “Well, I better get going. If it’s going to look realistic, I better hurry over there. Wish me luck. Maybe we can talk about this other stuff at another time. It was nice meeting all of you, even if the circumstances weren’t ideal.”
Abbie started to get up but Ben put his hand out.
“Ben, I want to go with you,” she said.
“No. You know you can’t. It would be too suspicious. We can’t give them anything out of the ordinary to make them think twice about me.”
“He’s right, Abbie,” her father said. “He’ll be fine. Trust in him.”
Ben smiled. Well, at least he had won her father over. And all it took was defying death and killing the woman he thought was his mother.
“I’m going to walk you out, at least,” Abigail said, resignation in her voice. Turning toward the others, she said, “I’ll be back in a few minutes to answer any questions.” She saw Zoe wink at her as she left the room behind Ben. Incorrigible, that one.
A few steps down the hallway, Ben turned toward Abigail. “Abbie, so much has happened today that I really haven’t been able to talk to you about us. My life has been hell the last several months without you. I don’t ever want to go through that again. You know I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Have your feelings changed for me?”
Abigail stared at him for a moment, but didn’t say a word. Then, when he was about to ask again, she put her arms around him and kissed him so thoroughly, he lost all track of time. He didn’t remember when he enfolded her in his own arms, but he knew that she felt right there. Her body fit within his embrace so perfectly. Her lips were intoxicating, the perfect mix of tender and firm. Even the taste of her and the texture of her tongue on his sent a shiver up his spine.
They kissed for a long time. He had thought before that it was heaven when he kissed her at the waterfall in Yellowstone, and again the few times he had the circumstances to do so, but if that was heaven, then this was somewhere outside of the universe. It could have been what they had been through, or it could have been that he knew now that they would be together. When they finally broke free and she stepped back, he could hardly catch his breath.
“W—” was all he had time to get out before she stepped back in and kissed him again for good measure. This one didn’t last nearly as long. That was probably a good thing because he wasn’t sure his heart could handle the rush. He might have to work up to it. He would gladly practice any time she let him.
“You were saying?” she cooed.
“I do really have to go, huh? Damn.”
“Ben, take care of what needs to be taken care of, but come back to me as soon as you can. I can’t wait to pick up where we left off.” She trailed her finger across his chin and tapped his lips. “Can’t. Wait.”
“I can’t, either,” he said, more than a little breathily. “So, I can safely assume that you still care for me?”
She reached around his neck and pulled his head down to hers and kissed him again. “I love you, silly. Of course I do. I have for ages. Now go before my willpower is not strong enough for me to let you go.”
He understood exactly what she was talking about. “Okay. I’ll be back soon.” He headed straight for his car, got in, and drove back the way he had just come.
Chapter 40
Ben returned to Aqua Terra four days later. Remembering to get her number before he left, he and Abbie had been in contact by phone and text any time he wasn’t busy with lawyers, police, relatives, and friends. As soon as he stepped from his car in the large circular driveway, Abbie ran from the house and nearly bowled him over with her embrace.
He leaned down and kissed her, savoring the feeling of her, the taste of her mouth on his, and her scent.
“Mmmm,” he said when they came up for air. “I missed you.”
“And I missed you, Master Mason.” She bit at his lower lip as she said it.
“Ahem,” a deep voice said from the doorway. “Would you like something to drink, Ben? It’s sort of a long drive.”
“Yes, thank you, Landon. That would be perfect.”
He swept his arm down and scooped Abigail up, kissing her as he walked.
“You don’t need to carry me over the threshold just yet,” she said. “Soon, I hope. But not yet.”
“I want to practice,’ Ben said, nuzzling at her neck. “I don’t want to mess it up when the time comes.”
They went inside and sat in the sitting room. Landon Henderson had some tea brought and they discussed the state of things.
“They’re not looking at me as a suspect,” Ben said. “In fact, they’re considering it an accident. There’s not even a case open. I’ve been talking to the lawyers and after all the paperwork is done and filed, I’ll own all my family’s holdings, including the controlling share of Huntsman Consolidated. Margaret had the will written up with me as the heir because it would have been too suspicious to name someone else. She probably figured she would outlive me, anyway.”
“That’s…great,” Abbie said, though her tone didn’t match her words.
“It is great, Abbie. The first thing I did was make it clear that there never was and never will be anything between me and Penelope. As soon as you marry me, it will all be ours.”
“Ben,” Abbie said. “I won’t be upset if you have your lawyers write up some kind of complex prenuptials. I’ll understand.”
Ben stared at her, then at Landon—who shrugged—and then back at Abbie. He took her hands in his and looked into her eyes.
“Abbie, you just don’t understand, do you? None of that stuff means anything to me. If you want, I’ll give it all away to charity. You’re the only thing I want. I already chose you over money, and I would do so again. Every time. I don’t want to hear anything about prenups. We’re going to be together forever, so what use will those be?”
Ben didn’t remember much in the minutes after he said that because Abbie pushed him back and kissed him so thoroughly he forgot his own name.
When she released him, Ben saw Landon sitting there, staring at his tea cup.
“Sorry,” Ben said.
“Don’t apologize,” Landon told him. “I understand completely.” Turning to Abbie, he continued, “But you, young lady, need to comport yourself in a more polite manner.” He winked at her and she smiled back at him.
“I’ll do my best, but it has been days since I’ve seen him.”
“Yes, yes. Ben, I was asked by the Council if you would be willing to meet with them. Abbie told us you would be back around this time and they are all here at the estate.”
“Sure,” Ben said. “I’ll tell them what’s going on and we can finish our conversation from last time.”
“Good,” Landon stood up. “Please follow me.”
The same women and men were sitting around the table in the meeting room. Witches and warlocks, Ben guessed he should say. It was going to take some getting used to, marrying into a family like Abbie’s.
“That’s great news,” Charlotte said after Ben told them about the state of his inheritance. “I’m glad you weren’t implicated. It is not much of a consolation after what Margaret did to your family, but it’s something.”
“Yes, it is,” Ben said. “Thank you.”
“We have been doing some research and have some theories on how you were able to withstand Margaret’s powers,” Charlotte continued. “We believe that it is possible that you have the blood of witches and warlocks in your family.
“When a member of a magical family does not manifest the talent for using magic, we nickname them a ‘skip.’ It is conceivable that your family had several
skips in a row, enough that no knowledge of your magical background survived.
“In situations such as that, a witch or warlock will begin to demonstrate their powers around the time of puberty, or just before, if they ever do indeed come into their power. They will suddenly be able to do things, to manipulate the element to which they are attuned, and they soon find others who can teach them.
“For you, though, there was no such manifestation. Your power, whatever it is, activated on its own in response to a dangerous situation or maybe in response to interaction with Abbie and her magic. I know a witch from a water coven in Idaho who has the ability to read not only magical ability, but the element to which the person’s power is attuned. I would like her to read you, to test your abilities and give us more information on exactly what your powers are. Would you agree to this?”
“Sure,” Ben said. “I’m as curious as you are, but I don’t think I’m any kind of warlock. I’ve never shown any kind of power over any element or any other magical ability.”
“Be that as it may,” Charlotte answered, “the testing will give us more information. I’ll call my friend and have her here within the next couple of days. Thank you, Ben. Sometimes little mysteries end up being very important when it comes to magic.”
“I’ll definitely do what I can to help,” Ben said. He looked to Abigail and then around the table at the others. Finally, he asked, “Did you ever figure out what Margaret’s plans were? I mean, why was she killing other witches? It doesn’t make sense to me.”
Sophia Hill spoke up. “We are still not sure. We do know that in some of her attacks, she tried to make it look as if other elemental magic users, air or earth, were causing the deaths. We can’t figure out what benefit that would have for her, though. It almost looks like she was just trying to start a war for no reason at all.”
“It’s the only thing that fits,” Landon Henderson said. “All those they killed were in some way working to unite different covens or different elemental groups. We may never know. At least her plans for fomenting war are over now. Maybe we can settle back into—”
A loud knock at the door interrupted what Abbie’s father was saying.
“Yes,” Charlotte called out.
A young man poked his head in the room. He was breathless and a sheen of perspiration covered his forehead. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but someone is here wanting to see Uncle Landon. He says he’s a friend, that something has happened you need to know about. His name is Michael Morgan.”
Landon rose from his seat. “Michael? Where is he, Jack?
“He’s right here behind me.”
“Let him in,” Charlotte said.
“Michael,” Landon said. “I wasn’t expecting you. Is there something wrong? Can I help you in some way?”
“Yes, Landon,” he said, “I hope so. We have a crisis in my coven, and in a few other air covens I know of. Deaths. Deaths caused by magic users, mostly fire witches. We have kept it internal, but yesterday, the leader of my coven was murdered. You and I have talked about your wife and the way that she was killed, and I convinced the Council to allow me to seek aid from your coven, and to offer ours to you.”
“Yesterday, you say?” Landon asked. “What time? Where?”
“It was evening, just as it was getting dark,” he said. “In the hills just southeast of here. She and two others were ambushed. It seemed very close to the way you described what happened with Olivia.”
Landon pondered for a moment. “It couldn’t have been Margaret this time.” He turned and looked at the rest of those gathered. “I don’t think we have resolved the problem after all. Please Michael, sit. Have some tea and tell us everything. We have a lot to tell you as well.”
Thank You!
Thank you for reading Water & Flame, the first book in the Witches of the Elements series. Please consider taking a moment to post a review where you purchased the book. Reviews are important in helping other readers find exciting books and help authors to continue to write them, as well as providing valuable feedback for the author. Your honest review would be very much appreciated.
If you would like to get information on upcoming books, such as book 2 of the ?Witches of the Elements series (Wind & Wave), please visit my web site at pepadilla.com and join my mailing list.
I also appreciate any comments I receive, so please feel free stop by my web site and comment on the site itself or to send me an e-mail at [email protected].
Also by P.E. Padilla
Adventures in Gythe:
Vibrations: Harmonic Magic Book 1 (also available as an audiobook)
Harmonics: Harmonic Magic Book 2
Resonance: Harmonic Magic Book 3 (to be released in 2017)
Tales of Gythe: Gray Man Rising (also available as an audiobook)
The Unlikely Hero Series:
Unfurled: Heroine is a Tough Gig (Unlikely Hero Series Book 1) (also available as an audiobook)
Boxed Set (with other authors):
Gypsies After Dark
About the Authors
Aside from working a regular job, raising a daughter, and wrangling a dog that outweighs her, Alejandra Vega is also a superheroine. Don’t ask her about it because she’ll deny it. Press the issue and she may have to kill you. Nevertheless, despite her busy schedule, she still found time to co-write her debut novel in the Witches of the Elements series, Water & Flame. Look for her wherever people are in danger from supervillains.
About the Author: P.E. Padilla
A chemical engineer by degree, air quality engineer by vocation, certified dreamer by predilection, and writer by sheer persistence, P.E. Padilla learned long ago that crunching numbers and designing solutions was not enough to satisfy his creative urges. Weaned on classic science fiction and fantasy stories from authors as diverse as Heinlein, Tolkien, and Jordan, and affected by his love of role playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons (analog) and Final Fantasy (digital), he sometimes has trouble distinguishing reality from fantasy. While not ideal for a person who needs to function in modern society, it’s the perfect state of mind for a writer. He also writes young adult fantasy/action & adventure under the pen name Eric Padilla, and lives in Southern California, though he would like to be where there are more trees.
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pepadilla.com/
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Water & Flame (Witches of the Elements Series Book 1) Page 25
