With immense trepidation, I approached Evangeline's body. She was dressed in a shapeless, dingy white gown that hung from her gaunt form.
With a featherlight touch, I pushed the hair from her face. Tears slicked my cheeks. I tugged my sleeve down and used it to wipe away the dirt and grime from her cheeks. Her features were so soft and sweet that it was hard to imagine anyone wanting to hurt her.
“I'm so sorry, Evangeline. You didn't deserve this to happen.” My voice was so small and quiet that I wasn't entirely sure I had actually said it out loud. “It’s all my fault… Maybe if… Maybe if I hadn’t moved to town you’d still be alive.” I choked on my words.
I pressed a hand over her heart. If only my powers could bring her back.
I could almost imagine how her heartbeat would feel under my hand, if I could coax her back to life.
Wait.
I could feel a heartbeat. The dull throb of one, barely there.
My breath caught in my throat as I leaned in closer and felt her neck for a pulse.
“Alice, what are you doing?” Johannes asked from behind me, his voice sharp.
“She has a heartbeat,” I said, my fingers still pressed to her neck. “She—she had a heartbeat…”
I gripped the sides of her face and tried desperately to focus any semblance of magic I could to heal her. My hands glowed, but nothing seemed to be happening to her.
“Why isn't it working?” My voice was shrill with panic.
Atohi pulled me hands away. I jerked, trying to go back to Evangeline, but he held tight.
“Let me check her.” He waited until I nodded, then released me to lean close to her. He sniffed deeply. “A potion? Or a poison—wait, there’s something in her mouth.” Atohi gripped her chin and tilted her head. He pulled from her mouth a small metallic ball no bigger than a marble.
“What the hell is that?” My voice was shrill.
“An iron ball coated in a potion.” Atohi held it up to the light before dropping it onto the table and wiping his hands. “Iron is poison to Fae, but for it to be coated like that… Someone had to have given it to her intentionally.”
“But… if they were trying to kill her with the iron, why add the potion?” When I looked at her, I could see color coming back to her cheeks already just with the removal of the metal ball.
“They weren’t trying to kill her.” Johannes stepped around me to scoop Evangeline into his arms. “Someone must’ve been trying to make her look deceased so they’d get rid of her…”
“Is there something for me to do? If… If I can heal her in any way…” I wrung my hands as I looked up at Johannes.
He shook his head. “Now that the iron is removed, we have to wait for her to awaken.”
With that he left the room, leaving me standing there to stare after him. I startled when Atohi wrapped his arm around my shoulder and tugged me into his chest, but I sagged into him when he rubbed at my back.
“Is there really nothing I can do to help? This is all—” Atohi cut me off with a press of his lips to mine.
“Alice, you can’t take the burden of this all on your shoulders. The blame goes to whoever is taking the Magi and Fae, not you. Hey, look at me.” He cupped my cheeks. “Tell me that it’s not your fault.”
“Atohi, that’s—”
“Ah-ah, unless the next words are ‘not my fault,’ I don’t want to hear it. Alice, by coming here, you didn’t cause any of the kidnappings. They were happening before you arrived. But, if there is one thing that is your fault…”
My heart was nearly bursting from my chest while I listened to his every word, readying myself to apologize for whatever it was.
“It’s setting me free…” He laughed at my stunned expression and gently wiped at the tears I didn’t realize had fallen. “If you hadn’t come here, I’d still be stuck in that house. I wouldn’t be on the road to repairing my relationship with my brother. I wouldn’t have gotten to meet my nephew. So, keep that chin up, okay?”
I nodded and pressed my head against his chest. His words bounced around my mind. I knew he was right, but it was so hard trying not to take everything on by myself.
~~~
It was impossibly early in the morning, but I still found myself checking on Evangeline.
I wasn't the only one, though. Johannes sat in the corner on a plush armchair. He stared at her but didn't seem to be actually looking as he chewed at the inside of his lip. I could practically see a black storm cloud hovering just above his head.
“She's breathing much better now,” I offered in an attempt to break his intense concentration.
He didn't say anything in reply, and barely gave me a nod of his head to even indicate that he had heard me.
“Why didn't you say anything about her?” After everything we’d gone through already with things being unspoken and hidden, why keep something so important locked away?
He finally looked at me. “Ever since Doctor Thompson went missing, she would leave for days at a time to go look for him. She'd been living here for close to two years. She's quiet, keeps to herself, and did her work. I wasn’t surprised when she didn’t contact me. I foolishly assumed she was just absorbed in what she was doing.”
I rose from my perch on the end of the bed Evangeline slept on and stood before Johannes. “When she wakes up, she may be able to tell us about the place they took her to.”
Johannes rubbed at his chin and the stubble that was forming. That itself was a testament to how stressed he was with the situation.
“You should really get some sleep. I’m sure Chesca would be willing to take watch for a while.” I offered as I took his hand and tugged gently to try to pull him from his seat.
“I’d like to stay here a bit longer,” he said as he freed himself. “But please rest up. It’s almost morning.”
~~~
After a precious few hours of sleep, I found myself rummaging through Johannes's cupboards for anything I could fix for breakfast. I felt triumphant after finding everything I needed to make blueberry pancakes. Everyone loves those, right?
I nearly jumped out of my skin when I turned to find Atohi sitting in one of the tall counter seats. He rested his chin in his hand and smirked at me.
“You are huge. How are you so quiet?” I leaned on my elbows in front of him.
He laughed. “Something I picked up at Hecate. We used to sneak out to the roof to watch the stars.”
That familiar, ugly clench in my chest presented itself again. “Did you used to do that with Zella?” I scratched at my nose like it was just a casual question, not one rooted in a jealousy that I couldn’t shake.
Atohi shook his head, but before he could explain, Johannes spoke from the kitchen doorway. “It was brother bonding time.”
Atohi rolled his eyes. “Ghoul and Lycan Magi are both empowered by the moon. It feels good to just bathe in the light.”
Atohi stretched, his back popping in the process, then eyed the stove hungrily. “I am so ready to eat.” He patted his stomach.
“Are you sure you should be cooking?” our gracious host asked. “I do prefer my kitchen unscorched.” His words just dripped in mischief.
I glared and pointed my spatula at him after I had turned back to the stove. “Normally I don't like to swear, but I think this situation truly warrants it: Fuck you, Johannes.”
He smirked. “If you’re so keen. I'm sure Atohi wouldn't mind excusing us for a moment.”
I threw the spatula at him. He barely had to move to avoid it.
“So glad the ass in you could make a reappearance.”
Johannes grabbed the spatula from the ground and deposited it into the sink before finally saying with the small genuine smile of his that rarely ever made an appearance, “Something needs to help us retain the illusion of normalcy.”
I sighed. “I won't argue with that.”
Chapter Seventeen
Ben hummed happily to himself as he continued to stuff pancakes into his mouth.
It warmed my heart to see him eating my food like it was ambrosia. I supposed it was a lot harder for me to mess up flapjacks than it was peach cobbler…
Johannes clucked his tongue. “Benjamin, swallow what's in your mouth before you shovel more in. Where are your manners? Where are you even picking this up?”
As one, we turned to look at Atohi.
His fork stopped midway to his mouth, where his cheeks bulged.
“What?” he asked, muffled around his pancakes.
Johannes pursed his lips. “Look what you are teaching my son.”
Atohi took a deep swig of milk. “Look. I've had to eat scraps of garbage and whatever poor creature crossed my path at the wrong time for fifty years. I will shovel food if I want to shovel food. It's not my fault Benji has good taste in role models.” He shrugged his well-muscled shoulders.
“Benji?” Johannes echoed in distaste.
“Uncle 'Tohi calls me that, Papa!” Ben chirped.
“I think it's a great nickname, sweetie.” I patted the back of one of his hands after Johannes made a less than enthusiastic noise.
A flurry of footsteps came barreling down the stairs, and a second later, Chesca skidded into the kitchen. Johannes and Atohi were on their feet in a split second.
Her voice was frantic. “She’s awake!”
Johannes moved toward the stairs. “Benjamin, stay here.”
“What? I want to go too.” He pouted, sliding down from his chair.
Johannes said his name again, frowning. I could already see the fat tears welling up in his eyes and the conflicted emotions warring on Johannes's face.
I knelt next to Ben and pulled my phone out to hand it to him. “Here, you can play with this until we get back, okay? That'll be fun, right?”
“Can I play the bubble game?”
“Of course, sweetie. See if you can beat my score, okay?” When Ben nodded, I pressed a kiss to his forehead and followed the others upstairs.
The three of us joined Chesca in Evangeline’s room. She gasped and sat up as soon as she saw Johannes.
“Master, I found him! I found the man stealing people!”
Atohi and I exchanged a What the hell? look.
“You make her call you that?” I asked incredulously. That was messed up on levels that surprised me even for Johannes.
“It wasn't my idea.” He glared at Chesca.
“We'll worry about my strange kinks later,” she said as if it were nothing out of the ordinary. There was no way I was letting it go permanently, but Chesca was right—talking about that wasn’t nearly as important as finding out what had happened to Evangeline.
“Where did you find him?” Johannes pressed.
“A-About an hour from here. Someone saw through my glamour, and they—they grabbed me while I was walking to my hotel room. I screamed, but no one came.” Her voice was soft.
“Was it the pair that brought you here?” I asked.
She jolted and looked at me so nervously that I felt bad to have startled her. I thought she’d noticed us come in with Johannes, but she was looking at me now like she’d never seen me before.
Finally, she said, “I didn't see who brought me here, but I did see the man in charge. Light hair and green eyes.”
“Anything else about him that might help identify him?” Johannes leaned forward.
“On the inside of his wrist, there was a strange symbol tattooed.” Her eyes darted around as if looking for something before she hopped out of bed and ran to one of the ornate sconces on the wall. She plucked a candle and put it between the tops of her fingers that she had clenched into a fist. “It was like this.”
Johannes frowned. “A hand of glory… It’s the symbol for a top class of Collectors. This is why they’ve been so cocksure. No one goes after them because of the power they possess.”
A hand with a candlestick… I know I’d seen that before, but where? I gasped. “I know who it is.” My hands shook with the realization. I knew there was something wrong with him when he wouldn’t leave me alone about Atohi. He wanted him. Cole was trying to use me to take Atohi into this sick game of his.
I felt ill. He’d been under our noses this entire time.
“It’s Cole… He was always so desperate for me to give him information about the wolf.” My eyes darted to Atohi. “He wanted you.”
I glanced at the bedside clock and realized it was already close to eight in the morning. That means Cole would be at the school, which was where I needed to be.
“I’ll get him. If I hurry, I can get to work before the school day starts and—"
“And what will you do to him when you find him, Alice? You can't just rush out there with no plan.” Johannes's tone was harsh, but it seemed more from worry than from ill will.
A rush of stubbornness washed over me. I knew he was right, but all I could think about was putting an end to this.
“I can call John. He’s Fae, he can stop Cole from leaving, and then we can get him.”
“Alice, don't be stupid. We don’t know if we can trust him yet. What if he just alerts Cole? He could disappear, and we’d have to start all over. With Benjamin’s situation, we don’t have room for that sort of error.” Johannes rose to his feet and stood towering before me.
My teeth ached from how tightly I had clenched my jaw. After a moment of an intense staring contest, a large hand grabbed my upper arm to gently guide me away.
“I’ll go with you,” Atohi offered.
I pulled away from him. “I know you both are worried, but you don't have to chaperone me like I'm a defenseless child.”
“If you don't want to be treated like a child, than you ought to stop behaving like one,” Johannes snapped. “You are being obstinate for no reason.”
Hot, angry tears lined my eyes, which only led to more frustration.
“I'm leaving.” I turned on my heel.
“Please don’t go, cherie,” Chesca pleaded.
“Alice, you get back here right this moment,” Johannes called after me. I ignored him despite his livid tone following me down the hallway
I took the stairs two at a time. Upstairs, I could hear Atohi’s low voice trying to calm Johannes down.
I was nearly out the front door when I heard Ben call for me. I stopped dead in my tracks.
He stood in the hall behind me, looking pale and upset. “Why are you leaving? Can I come with you?”
I bit the inside of my cheek. I wanted to take a walk to clear my head before I called John, but… maybe sitting out back with Ben would be okay.
“Sure. Grab your jacket, sweetie.” I pocketed my phone when I helped him zip up the coat.
Benji practically buzzed with his happiness as we walked around through the backyard to get to the concrete patio that was surrounded by a white privacy gazebo. Leaves crunched beneath our feet. They must’ve blown in overnight.
“That was a really big one!” he exclaimed, pointing out an orange maple leaf that now looked a little worse for wear.
“That was definitely a really big one. But I think this one might be even bigger.” I lifted my foot over the leaf I’d spotted, shooting Ben a teasing look.
He gasped. “No, I want to do it!”
I feigned reluctance. “Oh, all right. You can squish it.”
He bent down and picked up the leaf. “Let's save it.”
I laughed. “Sounds like a good idea. We could press it later so you can keep it forever.”
“Okay, I'll keep it safe.” He nodded decisively as he clutched the stem in his hand, careful not to crush it.
I grabbed my phone out of my pocket as it rang. Johannes’s contact photo popped up: a picture I had taken of him and me on a date before I had known about any of the magic that existed in this world.
The urge to swipe to ignore the call threatened to consume me, but, well, I had just taken his child and left in a huff. I was only in the backyard, but it was unfair of me to not say anything.
“Hello?” I finally answere
d.
“Alice, where is Benjamin?” His voice was rigid, but I could hear an edge of panic.
“We’re in the backyard, that’s all. I needed some air.”
“You can’t just disappear like that, especially with Benjamin. You know how tense things are right now. Just because we know it’s Cole doesn’t mean we’ve gotten through this situation.”
I opened my mouth to respond but paused for a long moment to stare at the rosy cherub cheeks of the sweet boy beside me. Johannes was correct, but Ben was just so happy to be outside. How long had he been locked inside Johannes’s house? How long since he’d had someone from outside these walls to pay attention to him, to spend time with him?
“Alice.”
Johannes’s voice brought me back to the conversation.
“Fifteen minutes.”
“What?”
“We'll be out here for fifteen minutes. You can even watch from the window.”
“This is not a negotiation.”
“Please,” I implored quietly in hopes that Ben wouldn't be able to hear. “He needs to be treated like a normal child too.”
Johannes sighed heavily before conceding. “You're going to make me grey prematurely.”
“At least you'll look your age, old man,” Atohi taunted in the background.
“Fifteen minutes, and then we’ll both be inside.”
Johannes reluctantly agreed and hung up. I sat in one of the chairs set up around a glass table. Now that I took a chance to look around, it was actually pretty nice out here.
“Are you having fun, Mama?” Ben stood in front of me and leaned on my legs to get close to my face. Him calling me Mama made me smile.
“The most fun! How could I have a bad time with you?” I kissed his forehead.
“Can we do this again? I... I like spending time with you. It makes me feel happy.” He looked away from me as if he was suddenly feeing shy.
Tears were flowing freely down my cheeks. He was so sweet and innocent. Protecting him was all I could think of.
When a saline droplet landed on his sleeve, he finally looked up at me.
Eyes Like Autumn (Seasons of the Magi Book 1) Page 22
