Witch Avenue Series (The Complete Set)

by Bolton, Karice

  I took a step back and watched Dace straighten up and drop his arms to his side. Bakula wrapped her arm around his shoulders.

  “You’re right and that’s why you are who you are,” Dace said defeated, his voice solemn. “I just hope it’s enough.”

  The doorbell rang and I nodded. “I do too.”

  Turning toward the foyer, Dace and Bakula followed me to the entry as I let Angela and Jenny in. I got a quick hug from Jenny and a longer one from Angela.

  “I still can’t believe how cool fairies are,” Angela said, letting go. “And to think I’ve lived eighteen years never even knowing they existed.”

  Dace rolled his head in annoyance and pulled Bakula through the door.

  “We’ll be in touch,” Bakula said to me as she was whisked through the door.

  “What was that all about?” Jenny asked.

  “More of the same,” I said, closing the door.

  “The guys are out back,” I said, ushering them down the hall.

  “Hey.” Trevor’s grin widened as Angela stepped out to the backyard.

  Trevor and Logan were securing the window into place, but Trevor managed to make his part in the process look far more impressive once Angela appeared. Logan started laughing.

  “So Dace and Bakula stopped by,” I started.

  “Yeah?” Logan said, finishing the last of the installation.

  “Apparently the Praedivinus have had some places destroyed.”

  “How so?” Trevor asked, stepping away from the window that now looked as good as new.

  “I guess some fires were set. Dace and Bakula think it was the Demonikers. It’ll be interesting to see if we hear anything on the device we placed,” I suggested.

  “Totally,” Logan replied, wiping his brow.

  “There was something odd about Dace and Bakula’s behavior though. It felt kind of staged,” I continued.

  “How so?” Jenny asked.

  “I don’t know. I might just be paranoid, but part of me wonders if they’re the ones who started the fires. Not them, but I mean the fairies,” I replied.

  “Still thinking along those lines, huh?” Jenny asked, crossing her arms to warm up. “Let’s get inside and discuss. I’ll put some water on.”

  Logan started putting the tools away while Jenny and Angela went back inside.

  “I’ve got it,” Logan said to Trevor.

  “You sure?” Trevor asked.

  “Completely,” Logan said.

  “He’s got me to help,” I teased. “We’ll be right in.”

  Trevor smiled and followed Angela and Jenny inside.

  “It’s nice to have you alone,” I said quietly, leaning over to help pick up the extra shims. “The fairies mentioned us separating again. This time they said the nectunt makes you more vulnerable.”

  “It doesn’t sound like you believe them?” Logan stood up and began walking toward the shed, with me following right behind.

  “I don’t know.”

  He opened the shed doors and placed the tools on one of the tables and grabbed the shims from me and tossed them next to the tools. “I can put this stuff away later,” he said, but rather than step out from the shed, he pulled me in.

  “I don’t want to be separated from you either,” he said quietly, placing his hands on my hips. “But we don’t want to do anything foolish.” His hands guided me closer as he spoke.

  “I know, but I don’t see how our being apart would do anything besides make us more vulnerable,” I whispered.

  Logan tipped his head and softly touched my cheek. “It’s nothing we need to decide now.” He paused. “But I do find it odd that you’re so worried about being away from me for a short time now, when you’re so willing to leave my world forever,” he said, moving his lips close to mine. The charge of his words ran through my body, bringing me closer to him.

  “We can’t. Not with everyone in the house,” I insisted, putting my hands on his chest to push him away. The firmness underneath my palms didn’t help the cause as I imagined running my fingers along his bare chest.

  Catching my feeble attempt at protesting he teased, “Can’t what?”

  Bringing his lips down to mine our mouths melded into one. His kiss deepened with intensity as he slid his hands down my shoulders. I let my arms fall to my side as he pressed against me. The heat from his body spun me into a place of comfort as his lips softened my soul.

  He slowly released his lips from mine, but his mouth lingered.

  “I will do whatever I have to do to keep you safe,” he murmured, “even if that involves leaving you for a short time.”

  My heart plummeted as the words left his lips, and I dropped my gaze to the floor. Logan slid his finger under my chin, bringing my eyes back to his. His words still vibrated inside of me as I stared into his deep, blue eyes. I didn’t want to be separated from him, from this, even for a short time. I brought my hands up to his abdomen and began tracing the hardened dips and valleys as I contemplated what to say; how to persuade him that no matter what we needed to remain together.

  “My worry is that if the fairies are playing both sides that maybe separating us is part of their plan,” my voice trailed off.

  He nodded and folded his hand in mine, quickly kissing my head. “I know, babe. We won’t do anything lightly, but our guests are probably wondering where we are.”

  “Now you worry about that?” I teased, shoving away the sadness.

  “Somebody has to be the responsible one.” His eyes brightened.

  “Whatever,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “But I’m pretty curious to find out what’s on those recordings. Maybe it will calm my fears.”

  “Or make them worse,” he teased.

  ***

  Jenny flashed me a knowing smile, which I ignored as I padded into the dining room. I was all too aware that my cheeks were flushed. I flipped on the light in the dining area. The room was a comfortable one. Matching the décor in the rest of the home, the dining room table was spacious, with its large planked top and bold design, and allowed for us to spread out nicely. The linear chandelier with frosted shades didn’t provide much light. It was obviously chosen for its style over function, so I decided to light some candles that were along the hutch.

  “I’ve got hot cocoa and tea coming our way,” Angela chimed from the kitchen. “I just need to know where the cups are.”

  “Left cabinet by the sink,” I hollered from the dining room as I lit each orange soy candle.

  Trevor, holding the cups, followed Angela into the dining room. She set a tray down with cups, hot water, cookies and two tea containers.

  “I’ll go get the cocoa,” she said, turning back toward the kitchen.

  “I filled her in slightly about your vision,” Trevor said quietly. “She’s not taking it all that well.”

  “I can imagine not,” I said, furrowing my brow. “You did tell her it might not be real, right?”

  He nodded. “I don’t think she heard that part though.”

  Jenny, Angela, and Logan all came into the dining room and took a seat. We had spent the entire afternoon and most of the evening listening to the recordings from Ethan’s office, and we came up empty handed.

  “I’m feeling uneasy about who’s doing what,” I said. “I understand just because we didn’t hear Ethan or anyone implicate themselves in the Praedivinus fires doesn’t mean they didn’t still set the fires. But there’s a part of me that thinks we would have heard something about it in these recordings. Just a smidge of something.”

  “I can understand that logic,” Trevor agreed, sitting back in the chair.

  “So can I, but I don’t think we should all of a sudden act like we’re dealing with anything logical,” Jenny said. She was pouring herself a cup of tea, and Angela was endlessly mixing her hot cocoa. I definitely needed to go over my visions with Angela or she was going to be useless. I glanced at Trevor and nodded.

  “On another note, you know the vision I had might no
t be real,” I offered, looking at Angela.

  “And if it is?” she countered.

  “Well, then we’re at least in the know. It’s better to be on alert than have something happen that we didn’t plan for.”

  “But how can we really plan for something like this?” she asked, arching her brow.

  “We can’t completely,” Jenny said, trying to help. “But we’ll show you a picture of Caitlin and...”

  “I can be as paranoid as Triss,” Angela said wryly.

  “Pretty much,” I said, shrugging. “In all seriousness, though, it’s good to be on guard and if you see anyone that looks like her run the other way. Literally.”

  “Wow. You’re really making me feel at ease…” She half-smiled and took a sip of her cocoa.

  “Well try to lay low and we’ll try to get to her first,” I responded.

  “Now you’re talking,” she replied.

  “We’ll put some feelers out to make sure she’s still in Illinois,” Logan told Angela. “And go from there.”

  Angela threw a grateful smile at me and looked sheepish. “I guess I should toughen up if I really want to be involved with you guys.”

  “It wouldn’t hurt,” Jenny said laughing, grabbing a cookie.

  “You joked something about the dating world outside,” Trevor said, looking over at me.

  “It’s caused its fair share of problems,” I said. “When we were at Ethan’s, I tapped into his mind and actually found out what might have started him down the path of hating my father and Logan’s.”

  “Really.” Jenny slid forward in her chair, completely intrigued.

  I nodded. “Yeah. Ethan dated Lara in high school. My dad didn’t approve so they broke up for a bit, and it looked like during that time she dated Logan’s dad. Ethan actually walked in on them together and that seemed to sow the seed of vengeance, even though Lara and Ethan wound up together.”

  “That’s ugly,” Angela said quietly. “That someone would kill over that? He’s not right.”

  “Well that’s not the only reason, but it certainly seemed to fuel the hatred,” I said. “Regardless, I think what we need to concentrate on now is how to manipulate things without actually taking sides. There’s no winner in this.”

  “How so?” Jenny asked.

  I let out a deep breath and reached for a cookie before I began. “Every day things are more volatile. We don’t know who to trust, and we can’t rely on anyone to give us accurate information. There are only a few things that are certain. One is that the product that both Praedivinus and Demoniker are trying to formulate is absolutely impossible for them to create. Even if they stumble upon the right ingredient, the fairies have to bless it and that’s not going to happen. The second thing that we can be certain of is that both sides will stop at nothing to find the impossible, which means that the only way for this to end is if they stop themselves.”

  “Or each other,” Logan muttered.

  “That’s exactly where I was going,” I replied, picking at my cookie. “I think the only way to end this once and for all is to take a cue from the fairies. Go one step further and not only play each Order against each other, but actually encourage them to destroy each other.”

  “Whoa, Triss,” Trevor whistled. “How would we even begin to set up something like that?”

  “That’s where you guys come in,” I chided. “I just came up with the idea. Now it’s your turn to figure out how to execute it.”

  Jenny’s mouth dropped open, and Logan started laughing.

  “Kidding! I don’t actually know. I’ve been thinking about everything that’s happened over the last several months, trying to mentally catalogue things, and hoping that something will pop in my head that will end this mess. And it’s just not coming.”

  “I actually think that pitting them up against each other is a really good idea,” Trevor agreed.

  “And whether or not the fairies have already started doing that for us is irrelevant at this point. We can use it to our advantage,” Logan continued. “And if they’ve had nothing to do with things then so be it.”

  “I think our window of opportunity to pull something like this off will come up quicker than we think,” I said.

  “No doubt,” Logan agreed. “And I’m not sure it should be done in Seattle either.”

  “I was thinking we might want to use my dad’s compound,” I said, pressing my lips together.

  “How so?” Logan asked, narrowing his eyes on me.

  “Well, since I’m theoretically the leader of the Praedivinus Order —”

  “What?” Trevor interrupted.

  My cheeks got hot, and I looked at Logan for help. I hadn’t actually meant to divulge that piece of information yet.

  “According to the bylaws, upon the death of Triss’s father, she became the next in line,” Logan said.

  “I wondered about that,” Trevor said.

  “You knew about it?” I asked.

  “No, definitely not. I just wondered who had stepped up to take your father’s place, and it didn’t seem like anyone had, which had me puzzled.” Trevor leaned back in the chair, extending his hands behind his head, letting out a deep breath. “But that certainly changes the possibilities.”

  “Anyway, I was thinking that could be a great way to get the Praedivinus back there.”

  “But how would that get the Demonikers back East?” Logan asked, his expression quizzical.

  “Maybe imply that I’m going to allow the Praedivinus to merge with them. Since that’s what Ethan wants, he might be willing to overlook a few things to get it.”

  “It might be worth a shot, but I don’t think we should rush into it,” Jenny said.

  “We’ll think of other options too,” I assured her. I backed up from the table and stood up, but I stumbled, the table catching me. A twinge of horror ran through me as this reality attempted to collide with another realm. I saw flames dancing against the night sky, my eyes scanned down to the base of the flames, and I gasped as the building came in view. Mom’s Witch Avenue home was on fire.

  “Are you okay?” Logan asked, standing up quickly. He grabbed me as my body weakened.

  I began shaking my head frantically.

  “My mom’s home. It’s on fire,” I whispered while more images forced their way into my mind.

  “Now?” Logan yelled.

  “I think so. I don’t know,” I said. The next image that plowed its way into my mind was of Ellsy sleeping in her bedroom. We might be too late. I ran out the front door before anyone had a chance to say anything. I heard Logan directing Trevor to call 911 as I climbed in the car and started reversing down the driveway. Logan ran up against the side of the moving car and hopped in the passenger seat right before I popped the car into drive, flooring the accelerator.

  Logan was frantically dialing his mom’s cell phone, and I was commanding my iPhone to call my mom. Neither of us got any response, but we kept trying as the car flew down the small city streets. I was careful to not take off any side mirrors, but that’s as far as my concern went. My pulse was racing as I fought internally with whether what I saw was real or imagined. I couldn’t tell. I had no idea.

  “Let’s just pray that I’m wrong,” I whispered.

  “You haven’t been so far,” he mused.

  We turned down the avenue and saw the fire trucks already pulling up to our home. The street was blocked off with two police cars and an ambulance. I didn’t even bother finding a place to pull over. I just put the car in park, braked it and hopped out, running between the emergency vehicles. I heard calls to stop running, but I didn’t until I reached our home.

  “People are in there,” I hollered to anyone who would listen.

  “How many?” a fire department official asked, walking toward me.

  The hoses were dragged across the street to bring the spray, but I refused to look.

  “At least one,” I said, trying to catch my breath.

  “Sir. Sir. You can�
�t go in there,” the man next to me yelled.

  I whipped my head to see Logan break down the front door to the home, and all I could do was let out a scream as I dropped to my knees.

  ***

  I looked up to see Logan staggering out of the home, holding his mom as several firemen barged into the home. Applause erupted, but not before the Captain began reprimanding Logan. The medics quickly surrounded Logan and his mom, and all I could think about was my mom. Ellsy was having difficulty breathing and didn’t look like she’d be able to provide much information. I ran toward Logan, who caught my stare as he shook his head.

  “She wasn’t inside?” I asked.

  “No. Not that I could see,” Logan responded. “And I tried to ask my mom, and I got a head shake so I think we’re lucky.”

  We walked across the street to where Jenny, Angela, and Trevor were all standing. I turned to face the house and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The smoke was billowing out of the ground floor windows. I couldn’t see flames. The fire hoses were gushing, and it took everything I had not to manipulate the water, but the firemen were the ones who knew how to fight this fire, not me.

  “Get the irons,” a fireman yelled.

  “Got ‘em,” another one responded.

  My heart ached as my calls and texts remained unanswered. I wanted to believe that my mom wasn’t inside but not hearing from her only added to my distress. I texted my aunt again, hoping that my mom was with her and still nothing.

  Logan wrapped his arm around me and hugged me, kissing the top of my head. “It’s going to be okay,” he whispered. “She’s not inside.”

  Relief spiked through me when I heard my aunt and mother’s voices shouting from down the street. They were running toward Ellsy who was strapped to oxygen. I don’t think they saw us. Logan squeezed me as we crossed the street to meet my mom and my aunt.