by Kimbra Swain
“I feel it too. We might skip the trip to the office this afternoon. We all could use a little down time,” I said.
“I like that idea,” he admitted.
“Good. We will leave the funeral and go home. Let Tony and Ichiro know when we get there,” I instructed.
“As you wish, crazy woman,” he said pressing his luck with me. It was cute, and I shook my head at him.
As we passed through the graveyard, I could see several green tents up in the distance. There would be more people out here than the tents would cover, but hopefully it wouldn’t last long. Tony pulled over, and the men exited the car. Ashley didn’t move.
“I know all your tricks,” she said.
“What’s the deal?” I asked.
“Ichiro said I need to stop pushing you and Tadeas,” she said.
“He’s right. If he hadn’t asked you, I would have. We need to figure this out without you pushing it. If it happens, it happens,” I said.
She turned and looked at me, “It’s already happened. You’ve just got to give into it. Tadeas is not Lukas. He’s not Lincoln. I think half your problem is you need to get laid.”
“I don’t deny that,” I said frankly. “But you know I’ve never been one for frivolous relationships. And I do find him extremely attractive, but I have to be sure before we do anything, Ash. I don’t want to break his heart.”
“If you would just do it, you would realize that you love him,” she said.
“You get a premonition on this?” I asked.
“Yes, all the time. I’m sick of seeing the two of you in my head,” she finally admitted.
I didn’t know what to say. She got out of the car, and I sat there in silence. Tadeas opened the door, offering me his hand. I got out with him, and we walked toward the tents. The sun beat down on us. We all started sweating within just a few minutes.
“I told you. That didn’t go as planned, did it?”
“No. I’ll tell you about it when we get back. I’ve got a really bad feeling about this place,” I said.
A graveyard isn’t a pleasant place. It was a place of memories. Good memories. Bad memories. The dominant feeling usually was sadness and loss. What I felt seemed more like danger than anything else. “We shouldn’t shift here.”
“Why?”
“Spirits linger in a graveyard. We might be in more danger on the other side than here,” I said. He squeezed my hand as we approached the tents. People hugged and gave condolences to Mrs. Caroline Gilbert. I stood back and watched people approach her. She stood strong and stoic, but tear tracks stained her face. Andy met her at a charity event not long after he became proxy. Andy was one of the few proxy’s I didn’t faux date. He didn’t need me because he took the city under his wing from the moment I gave him the job. To be honest, he should have been regent. He and Lukas were very similar, only Lukas was much better looking.
Andy and Caroline were inseparable from that first moment. She came from a wealthy family, and she was active in charities and her church. The perfect southern woman. Regional expectations matter when you are a community leader. My heart broke for her. I knew what it was like to lose the man you loved. She locked eyes with me and walked toward us. Tadeas tensed and put my hand in his arm. I knew he wanted his hand free to pull his gun if needed.
“Caroline, allow me to express my deepest sympathies. On behalf of KBS, I want you to know that anything you or your children need now and in the future, will be provided,” I said when she stopped in front of me.
“Have you found him yet?” she asked.
“Found who?”
“Jamal. He did this. Andy was an idiot to trust him,” she spouted.
“Caroline, we can talk about this after the service,” I said. “There is no need for it now. We are devoting all our resources to finding Jamal and anyone else involved.”
“I want to pull the trigger,” she said.
In the KBS by-laws, treason was punishable by death. We executed former employees, especially when they caused the death of another operative. I walked closer to her and put my hands on hers. Tadeas moved his hand to my back, maintaining constant contact. “Caroline, you know me. I do not tolerate treason. Please, I swear to you. Justice will be served in this matter. I swear to you on my power.” My oath swirled around us in a humid breeze and rested at her feet. She looked to Tadeas. “Forgive me. This is Tadeas Duarte, my new partner.”
“I am deeply sorry for your loss,” he said kindly.
“He’s handsome,” she smiled causing him to blush.
“Is there more I can do, Caroline?” I asked.
“No, thank you for being here Abigail. I know you have been in this position before, and it means a lot to know you are back in the field,” she said, returning to her waiting family.
“Sorry, I should have introduced you sooner,” I said to him.
“It’s okay. She had her own agenda. Makes me want to kill whoever did this to her,” he said.
“Okay, Mr. Jaguar, let’s stay on the perimeter of this crowd. I don’t want to get hemmed in if something happens,” I said.
He kept his hand at my back as he watched all around us. Tony, Ashley and Ichiro stood on the other end of the crowd. Tony watched in the opposite direction of the casket. I closed my eyes and reached out with my senses. I felt several small talents around me. Nothing impressive. I reached further because the crowd was large even here at the graveside. There were people of all walks of life because Andrew touched every community in and around Atlanta. The evidence of that outreach stood around two green tents in the heat of a southern summer.
The preacher spoke a few words and offered a prayer. In the distance, a trumpeter played “Taps.” I forgot that I recruited Andy not long after he returned home from his military service. The solemn song drifted all around us. I felt its music as I held my magic in place feeling around us. Suddenly, I felt movement in the spectrum, and I switched my sight to the left of us. I felt Tadeas tense. In the spectrum, I could see him. Edgar Donovan stood leaning against a tree about 100 yards from where the graveside service was taking place. I felt a surge of energy. It slammed me and made my head throb. Tony started slowly moving toward us. Tadeas leaned into me, his eyes scanned the direction that I turned. He locked on to where Donovan stood. I suppose with his jaguar sight, he could tell he was there. He moved his body between us.
His smooth voice filled my head, “Abigail Davenport, I mean you, nor any person in this gathering harm. I only wish to speak to you. I swear on my power to you and everyone here.”
A warm, swift breeze blew through the whole congregation. When my head cleared, Tadeas had his hand on his gun inside his jacket. He had his arm around me, and instinctively I must have sheltered myself close to him. To everyone else, it looked like he comforted me during my grief. I put my hand on his as he touched the gun. “No. He swore on his power to everyone here. Don’t break the oath.”
Tadeas growled, “He’s been following us.”
“Yes, but remember, we have his daughter,” I explained.
He moved his hand from his gun, but still blocked me from looking at where Donovan stood. “I can see him now,” he whispered. “He dropped the invisibility spell.”
“Tell Tony to stay with Ashley and Ichiro,” I said still holding on to him, because oath or not, Edgar Donovan was a dangerous master wizard. Tadeas cut his head to Tony. He made a motion toward the vehicle.
The pastor finished, and the service started to break up. “Move over to the side and let some of these people start to leave before we approach him. He will wait.”
No one else from the funeral approached me although I recognized a lot of the faces from the personnel files of the KBS, Atlanta office.
Tony stood beside the running SUV, and Ashley and Ichiro were inside, armed and ready to fight if needed.
“Okay, I do not want to provoke him. Let him have his say, and he will go,” I said.
“I don’t trust him,” Tadeas sa
id.
“I thought you were the trusting one, and I was the skeptical one?” I smiled at him “He may want to speak to me alone.”
“That is absolutely not going to happen,” he said sternly.
I sighed, putting my hand in his, and we approached the Master Wizard and member of the GEA, Edgar Donovan.
“Good day, Miss Davenport. Mr. Duarte,” he greeted us when we got close enough to hear at a conversational tone.
“Mr. Donovan, what can I do for you?” I asked directly.
“I suppose speaking to you alone is out of the question?” he asked.
“It is,” Tadeas answered.
“Good man. I would like my daughter back, please,” he said. Before I could deny him, he continued, “You may not think much of me, Miss Davenport, but I do care for my daughter.”
“Sending her to Paris with a necromancer is hardly ‘caring’ for your daughter,” I replied.
“I will not explain my parenting methods to you,” he growled.
“She’s a grown woman, I suppose. And if she chose to go to Paris, despite her father’s warning, there is some merit in letting her find out for herself,” I stated. I suspected that was his intention. I could tell he cared for her.
“She is an adult and made a poor decision. We all have from one time or the other,” he relented. “Where is she?”
“She is in my care,” I simply stated.
“I will find her,” he said.
“You will try, but it matters not. Her mother has charged me with taking care of her.”
“So, you will teach her?” he asked with a hint of hopefulness in his voice.
“She has no desire to learn,” I stated. “Besides, the last thing I need is an apprentice. I am not a teacher.”
He put his hands on his hips turning away from us. He paced back and forth in frustration. The custom blue suit he wore fit him perfectly. He had no rough edges; he was tailored to perfection. His bright blue eyes never darkened despite his frustration.
“She must learn, Abigail. I trust you to teach her. Please convince her,” he finally said.
I was astonished.
“I think I missed something,” Tadeas said.
“We both did,” I responded.
“You may as well find it surprising, but her mother and I have reached our end on what to do with her. I don’t know what it will take to convince her that she must learn. If she doesn’t, Abigail, she would be a dangerous liability.”
“I cannot make her do something she doesn’t want to do. Lianne ordered me to take her. I don’t have time to babysit an adult.” At this point, Tadeas chuckled in my head. I grinned and continued, “Mr. Donovan, she is not my responsibility. Her safety, yes. Her training, no.”
“I will pay whatever the cost,” he offered.
“There is nothing you have I could want. Mr. Donovan, your activities with the GEA have not gone unnoticed. I have no desire to make deals with the enemy. I would rather make a deal with my Fae Aunt than you,” I explained, my anger rising.
“I understand what you are saying. And trust me, my dealings with the GEA are over. I am no longer a part of that entity. Their actions in Paris and in Boulder were outrageous, and I did not want to be a part of it,” he said.
“You were with them in Paris when you chased me through the city,” Tadeas said.
“I was there based on a lie, Tadeas. They told me that you were an untamed animal. I believed Father Sergio’s lies about you. I am truly sorry. When I saw you that evening with Abigail, I knew she was too sensible to have such a dangerous companion,” he reasoned with Tadeas.
“Do not mistake me, sir. I am very dangerous,” he growled. Donovan waved his hand at us both. I braced my shield for a magical attack, but his hand motion was nothing more than a hand motion.
“I trust that you are. Abigail tends to favor her friends on the dangerous side, but not untamed,” he provided.
“I’m not sure where you get off thinking you know so much about me,” I stated.
“I am a member of the Fraternity of Magic. Your formidable capabilities and your team are well known. I know everything about you, lest you forget you were trained by one of our own. I also know you died the night I saw you in Paris, and he saved you, again,” he growled.
I gritted my teeth. Before I unleashed on him, Tadeas clamped down on my arm. He knew how much it bothered me that so many people knew the truth about my life, and I knew so little. “That is none of your business.”
He put his hands up in surrender, “You are right. I came here only to inquire about my daughter and now know she is not being held hostage. Please take care of her. Call me, not Lianne, if you need me to retrieve her.” Taking a plain white card out of his pocket, he offered it to me as his countenance relaxed.
Flipping the blank white business card, I asked, “Using my tricks, Mr. Donovan?”
“Your tricks? My tricks, Miss Davenport,” he smiled as his blue eyes lit up. He faded from sight, and the eerie danger feeling we had felt all day faded.
“What tricks?” he asked. I showed him the blank business card.
“The number only shows up when I need it and speak his name,” I said.
“I’ve seen that before. Your aunt had one for you,” he said.
“Yes, I thought I made the damn thing up. Apparently not. It has several spells on it. One is just an invisible ink type spell that is triggered by speaking the person’s name. The next spell is a locator spell. It locates the person. Third it locates the phone closest to that person, and lastly, and I know mine do this. The card turns to ash within 5 minutes of using the card.”
“I don’t know what I did with the one your aunt gave me,” he admitted.
“And that’s why my cards destroy themselves,” I said. “I want to add a DNA component, that once I give the card out, only that person can use it. I don’t have time to experiment with that kind of stuff anymore.”
“Would you teach her if she wanted to learn?” he said changing the subject.
“I don’t have time for that either,” I said.
“But would you?” he asked.
“Maybe,” I replied. “Let’s go home.”
“Yes, I'm eager to rest,” he said, offering his arm.
As we walked away, I heard the call of a raven. I spun around to see where it went. Looking in every direction, I couldn’t spot it.
“Abby?” Tadeas prompted.
“I’m sorry. A ghost haunts me,” I said. He looked at me questioning. “Later, I promise.”
He conceded, but only because it had been a long day already.
We got in the vehicle, and as suspected, Ashley and Ichiro held fully loaded weapons. My team always had my back no matter what was going on between all of us. We understood the bigger picture despite petty arguments. I pulled out my phone and made a few purchases on the way back to the estate. Tadeas watched me curiously as I kept my devious plan to myself. I decided to surprise all of them. It would make for an interesting evening.
When we arrived at the estate, we all went inside. They started going in separate directions. “Hold up a minute,” I said.
“Despite our wonderfully exciting day, we are all having dinner together tonight. So, go do as you please for the next few hours, but around 7pm, I want everyone back down here for dinner. Clear?”
Ashley rolled her eyes. Ichiro said, “Sounds good to me.”
Tadeas quirked an eyebrow at me, but I gave him no more information. He shook his head and went upstairs.
Tony said, “Wherever there is food, you will find me.” I wished everyone was here because I had the feeling Atlanta would be home for a while, instead of Los Angeles.
I went upstairs to change clothes. I opened the door, and Tadeas stood there with his shirt off. My hormones screamed at me. He had stayed fit as an instructor. To be honest, I tried not to think about how great he looked. I didn’t need the distraction, but I was distracted now. I gawked at him for 2 seconds before
I realized it. He enjoyed my appreciation, but didn't speak.
“Whatever,” I said. I went into the bathroom and shut the door. I was embarrassed, but it was totally worth it.
“You can look all you want,” he said through the door.
“Go away. I wasn’t looking,” I lied.
“Sure. You know you are a terrible liar, right?” he laughed, and I heard him leave the room.
“Bastard,” I said. I changed into some cut-off jean shorts and a t-shirt. I went back downstairs. I could hear Tadeas, Ichiro and Tony out on the back patio. It sounded like they were going for a swim. I walked into the kitchen, and the items I had ordered sat on the counter in brown paper bags. Mrs. Strickland waited for me in the kitchen.
“Miss Davenport, I do not cook,” she stated.
“Who asked you to cook?” I said.
“No one, but these bags are full of groceries,” she said.
I laughed. “I’m cooking.”
“I had no idea you could,” she stated. I raised my eyebrow at her. “I mean. I’ve just never seen you cook.”
“Twenty years in isolation, you learn a few new hobbies,” I responded.
She smiled. “I suppose you do. Do you need me for anything?”
“No ma’am. Thanks for meeting the delivery driver,” I said.
“You are welcome,” she said.
“You can join us for dinner if you’d like,” I offered.
“No, thank you. I think I’ll just return to the guest house,” she said. She lived in the guest house and took care of the estate when no one was here. There was rarely anyone here, but the house was here for any KBS employee or Agency operative that might need it. We had dozens of such estates across the Western Hemisphere. I wasn’t sure what the magistrate for the Eastern Hemisphere did for his people. I never asked. Perhaps he and I should compare notes sometime. It had been a while since I had spoken to my “brother”, Quinn Davenport.
I took the items out of the bags and placed the ones in the fridge that needed to stay cold. I could hear Ashley stirring around upstairs and hoped she would get out of her mood soon. It bothered me that she acted like every premonition involved Tadeas and I. This happened once before with Lukas, and she pushed that relationship, too. Of course, she lied to me about it in the beginning, but later on I found out that she had seen far too much of us together.
