by Joyce
She backed down. I knew she was terrified, having dreaded this moment for so many years. But it was upon us now. We needed to be very careful what we did and said next. Attacking Drago didn’t seem like the best course of action to me. It wasn’t completely my decision, but I hoped even Brian would see that Drago’s magic was beyond us. This needed a diplomatic solution.
Elsie and I sat at the small table with Dorothy and Drago. Olivia hovered above us. Brian sat just behind Drago and Dorothy as though it was a strategic choice for him. I doubted it was, but it did keep him from glaring at them.
In the old days, before Olivia’s death, and before Dorothy joined us, it was just the three of us. We’d sat at this table in Smuggler’s Arcane surrounded by books of magic, herbs, candles and other witch’s tools. We’d worked on our spells and discussed the world across tea, and the occasional chocolate cake.
Time passed and we held our magic in check, not going beyond the small acts of daily life—repairing flat tires and broken dishes. Elsie and I had married men without magic and each had a child with no magic. We were women, mothers and wives more often than we were witches. That distinction, and our choices, had left our magic weak and fading.
But things had changed.
“What brings you here?” Dorothy asked her father. “I mean, I know you didn’t just come to see me, right? It’s been a long time between visits.”
We all stopped speaking, surprised that she’d asked the question. She’d seemed so enthralled with him. The question, and the tone, might be saying otherwise.
Drago smiled and took a careful sip of his tea. “Surely a man might come to meet his only child who was kept secret from him for so many years.”
His strangely iridescent blue-eyed gaze locked with hers across the table. Brian covered Dorothy’s hand, and Olivia moved in closer with a sigh that whispered through the shop.
“You’ve never come before,” she said. “I know how powerful you are, or at least are said to be. You could’ve found me if you’d really wanted. I never even knew I had living parents until last year.” She shrugged. “Well, at least one of you is still alive.”
“I’m very sorry.” Drago’s words sounded sincere. His face appeared to be earnest. “Believe me, if your birth hadn’t been hidden from me by your mother, I would’ve been here long ago to claim you as my daughter and heir to my magic. Nothing could have kept me away.”
His glance toward Olivia was both angry and unflattering. “It was wrong for you to keep her a secret, Olivia,” he said. “I did nothing but show you kindness. You believed the things the council says about me without giving me an opportunity to prove that I am not the man they say I am.”
“Isn’t this excellent tea?” Elsie nervously laughed. “I’m thinking about a second cup. Anyone else?”
But everyone else was involved in a staring contest as we all waited to see if Drago could or would try to take Dorothy away.
Father’s and daughter’s gazes finally broke free. Dorothy’s uncertain brown eyes went to Brian for support. Drago saw where her attentions were riveted and looked down to study the tea in his cup.
“I can see I make you unhappy,” Drago said. “I assure you, my intentions are honorable. I don’t want to disrupt your life, Dorothy. I just wanted to see you for myself. I’d like to be part of what you do from here on. I know it will take some time to get used to me. But I have as much time as you need.”
He slowly got to his feet as we all watched him carefully—and held our breaths.
“But I won’t force myself on you, no matter what anyone has told you about me. Your mother did a remarkable job of hiding you. I truly didn’t know you existed until yesterday.” He smoothed a hand down her sleek hair. “You are the only child I have ever conceived, my only heir. That means something to me. I’ll be close by, my dear, if you decide you’d like to talk.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Let’s have lunch. I’m sure your protectors wouldn’t object. Shall I give you a call? Or you could call me when you’re ready.”
“I don’t have your cell phone number,” Dorothy calmly replied.
He smiled. “I don’t need one, darling. Speak my name and I shall be there.”
He vanished, and the rest of us let go the breaths we’d been holding.
CHAPTER 2
“Never mind the tea. I think this calls for a drop of whiskey.” Elsie got up to rummage around behind the counter.
“There is no whiskey. You don’t even drink whiskey,” Olivia snapped at her. “You’d better stop keeping company with that werewolf. He’s teaching you bad habits.”
Elsie had been dating Larry Tyler, a local werewolf who lived on a houseboat so he could escape to the sea when it came time for his monthly change. All of us liked Larry—we’d known him as a shop customer for years. He was fun, vegetarian and a great friend. But Olivia was right. Dating Larry had changed Elsie. For the better, as far as I was concerned. She was a lot more like her old self that I recalled from our younger days. She was stronger and healthier. Even her magic had come up a notch or two. I was excited for her, though her daughter, Aleese, wasn’t.
Olivia and Elsie just liked to give each other a hard time. It was friendly, the kind of joking that could be done with someone you’ve known all your life.
“I’m with Elsie.” Brian dumped out his cold tea and took a flask from his pocket. He poured whiskey into his cup and held it out. “Anyone else?”
Elsie took some with a scornful glance at Olivia, but Dorothy and I abstained.
“I wish I could have a drop or two,” Olivia said.
“Are you dating a werewolf too?” Elsie asked with a laugh. “Oh no. You’re a ghost. I almost forgot. Ghosts don’t date, do they?”
“Why are you always so mean about me being dead?” Olivia demanded. “It’s not like it was my fault. I don’t like being dead, you know.”
“I think we should all go home and get some rest,” I recommended. “It’s been a long day and we’re all on edge. We’ll meet back here tomorrow to resume training.”
“Sounds like a good idea.” Brian put his arm around Dorothy’s shoulders. “How about dinner, beautiful?”
“I think Molly’s right,” Dorothy said, surprisingly stern about it. “I think we should each go home and get some rest. I’m exhausted. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Okay.” His smile vanished. “I’ll be here. Just don’t take off with your dad without telling me, okay?”
“What do you mean?” Olivia asked. “Dorothy’s not going anywhere with Drago. I’ve told her what he’s really like. She knows better. She wouldn’t do anything like that after all I went through to keep her safe.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” he replied, “but I know what it’s like to have relatives who are uber powerful and want to lead you astray. It can be very seductive.”
He and Olivia stared at Dorothy as though she was a specimen they were about to dissect.
“I’m not going anywhere with Drago,” she denied. “I mean, sure he was captivating and knows everything after being alive so long. No telling what he could teach me and the wonders of the world that he could show me.” She took a deep breath. “But I’m not interested.”
Brian appeared unconvinced. Olivia looked tearful and uncertain.
“Really,” Dorothy continued, “I’m not interested—at least not enough to run away with him. Maybe to have lunch with him. Or drinks. Or something. What? He’s my father. I can’t just ignore him even if he is evil.”
Dorothy said good night and picked up her mother’s staff so that Olivia’s ghost would accompany her. It was the only thing that tethered Olivia to her earthly form. Olivia had collected runes for it—she was an air witch—for many years. Dorothy, an earth witch, was only able to wield her mother’s staff because they were blood relatives. Dorothy’s own tool was a piece of emerald cull
.
As soon as they were out the door, Brian turned to me and Elsie.
“I’m not gonna get a wink of sleep worrying about her. I might as well hang around their house until we find out what’s going on. I wish I wouldn’t have found an apartment already. I could still be living with them. You two want to take shifts on this or what?”
“I really think this is Dorothy’s decision,” Elsie said. “Like you said, many witches have powerful, seductive friends and relatives who could lead them astray. She has to figure this out for herself.”
“But she doesn’t have the background for it,” he argued. “I grew up in the Fuller family with the Grand Council breathing down my neck and my parents trying to tell me what I should do. Dorothy doesn’t have that experience. And she trusts everyone.” Brian, an air witch, took out his wand.
“I think Elsie’s right,” I agreed with her. “We can’t actively interfere, as much as we might like to. But the three of us could put a locator spell on her so that if he does manage to convince her to leave, we could find her. It would give us the chance to talk some sense into her.”
“Okay.” He nodded. “Let’s do that. I’m not giving her up without a fight.”
“That’s the spirit.” Elsie patted him on the back. “You have to fight for what you want. Look at me and Larry. We couldn’t even be together if it was up to other witches and the council.”
Elsie was a fire witch. She took out her sword and repeated an incantation for power.
I was a water witch—the most powerful among us as far as elements went. Wilmington was in a strong position for water magic, sandwiched between the coast and the river. I had always used a small cauldron as my symbol of magic until last year when I’d rediscovered the amulet passed down to me from my mother. Now I used that strong charm that held a bit of the sea in it—a gift to an ancestor from an ancient sea god. I could feel its strength flow through me.
The three of us held hands and whispered a locator spell that would keep Dorothy in our sights. It was her decision to make, but I was too fond of her to take it for granted that she would ignore her father’s charm. At least we could offer help and guidance if she needed it.
Creating the spell was much simpler now than it had been last year. Elsie and I were more focused and in tune with our magic. Brian, of course, not only had youth and focus on his side, he had passion and fear motivating him. He loved Dorothy. I didn’t believe that he would let her go so easily.
Elsie, Brian and I set stronger protection spells on the shop before we left. I wasn’t sure there was a spell we could conjure that would keep Drago out, but we all felt the need to try. I locked up and followed Brian and Elsie into the parking lot. Brian left in his bright red corvette with the WCHYMAN license plate, a gift from his family.
“What do you think, Molly?” Elsie asked as we got in my car. “If Drago was here to hurt Dorothy or take her away, he was certainly nice and polite about it, wasn’t he? Not like the water witch trying to take Brian! I’m sure he could’ve done whatever he wanted and we couldn’t have stopped him. Maybe Olivia has exaggerated how evil he was so we’d be on her side in all this.”
“Maybe he really only wants to connect with her.” I started the car. “Although I really believe Olivia felt that there was a threat or she wouldn’t have gone off on her own to have Dorothy in the first place. I can’t imagine she wanted to leave Drago, as exciting and fascinating as everyone seems to feel he is. But if he’s telling the truth, and she’s his only child, that could make someone different. Or maybe he’s not as evil as Olivia thought he was.”
“Or he’s mellowed,” she said. “Either way, it’s not like she ever said he wasn’t charming.”
“That’s true. But all we can do is keep an eye on Dorothy and see what happens. She’s an adult, and all this was started a long time ago. Olivia made her choice when she and Drago made a child.”
“And now those roosters have come home to roost.”
I dropped Elsie off at her home. She waved as I pulled away. Traffic was light in Wilmington. Storms were moving in from the Atlantic. I’d felt them coming a few days before the weatherman mentioned it, and so did Elsie, Brian and Dorothy—as well as every other witch. They’d been coming to Smuggler’s Arcane for protection candles and other storm-related magic paraphernalia. We were as ready for what was coming as possible.
My son, Mike, was home on a break from East Carolina University, which meant a ton of laundry and other problems that had come up while he’d been gone. His cell phone had died, and my husband, Joe, had taken him to get another. Mike had slept the whole first day he’d been back and then had eaten two pizzas by himself. In between he’d talked about a girl he was dating at school—nothing serious, he assured us, just wanted us to know.
Joe and Mike were still out. I didn’t mind. It would be good to have some time to myself to decompress. Life had been crazy the last week or two. I decided to take a nice pomegranate bath and lie back with a cucumber face mask on for a while. I needed a little tinting on my brown hair. Maybe some blond highlights? Those would look good with my dark blue eyes. I was no beauty, but I tried to keep up with my appearance.
My key was barely in the lock when my familiar, Isabelle, let me know that we weren’t alone. She was a large, gray long-haired cat who held the spirit of a witch who’d been burned at the stake in the 1300s. She was very protective, waiting at the door for me as I opened it.
“What’s wrong?” I could feel her distress as I put my handbag on the counter. “Who’s here?”
Before Isabelle could answer, my niece, Sunshine Merryweather, stepped forward. Her visit was a surprise, since I’d just seen her in Norfolk, Virginia, before I went to pick up Mike from school.
“Sorry to drop in on you this way, Aunt Molly,” she apologized. “But some things have happened at home that I need your help with.”
CHAPTER 3
I saw the terrible mark on her pretty face. “What in the world happened to you?”
Sunshine was a powerful young witch. She was a great deal more powerful and independent than myself, or her mother, my sister, Abby. She’d moved away from the area almost as soon as she’d reached adulthood and rarely came to visit. We were a little too tame for Sunshine. She had grand plans for her life and didn’t hesitate to go after them.
“I was hoping Mom was home, but she’s off somewhere and I can’t reach her,” Sunshine said. “I guess you can see I’ve been injured, and I brought someone with me who needs healing worse than I do.”
She gestured to a woman on the sofa who was as yet unmoving.
“How did this happen?” I glanced at Sunshine’s injury, but the other woman’s condition was much worse. I carefully checked her, guessing it was a magical injury and not something she could have healed at the hospital. “She’s near death. I hope I can help her, since I’m assuming you can’t.”
Sunshine tapped her purple fingernail on the counter. She was plump with a ripeness of life that showed in her bright blue eyes and pink cheeks. She had a mass of strawberry blond hair that never stayed where she put it when she tried to clasp or pull it back. It truly had a life of its own.
“You know how it is, Aunt Molly. I’ve never been a strong healer.”
“It’s true. You need patience for that. Never your strong suit.”
“Can you help her? I’m not worried about me. This thing on my face won’t heal, but it’s not going to kill me.”
“Of course. I can help both of you. But I’d like to hear how this happened. What caused these marks? They look like more than scratches. Was poison involved?”
I took out a glass bottle of water I’d blessed with moonlight. Other ways could have worked, but being a water witch, I needed my element. Sunshine gave me a quick rundown of what had been happening at her detective agency since I’d been there. I felt sure she was holding something back, b
ut I didn’t mention it. She needed my help, not my curiosity.
Closing my eyes, I sprinkled some of the purified water onto the woman’s wounds. Sunshine and I had moved her to my bedroom, where we could work without being interrupted. I invoked the strongest healing spell I knew as I smoothed the water on the woman’s shoulders, back and chest. It was as though something with claws had grabbed and ripped at her.
With the water and the spell put to good use, I turned to Sunshine. “Now you.”
“You don’t have to do this, Aunt Molly. I’ll be fine.” She shook her head. “Besides, I might have to come back again before this is over if you heal me now. Just take care of Malto, please.”
“All right. But don’t wait too long. I don’t like the way that looks. I know you don’t want your mother to see it.”
“You’re definitely right about that!”
I knew my sister didn’t approve of Sunshine’s life as a private detective taking care of problems that involved werewolves, witches and other creatures. Abby felt like her daughter should get married and settle down. She wanted her to move back to Wilmington to be part of her coven. My sister was a true conservative witch who felt strongly about witches staying with their own kind. She’d almost hit the roof when she’d found out that Sunshine had been dating a werewolf last year.
I checked the woman on the bed. Her wounds were starting to fade, and color was coming back into her face. Sunshine and I concentrated our magic and healing energies on her friend. I carefully directed some of those energies toward my niece too. She seemed more stressed than usual and less happy. Whatever was going on in her life wasn’t good.
Joe got back and came in to see what was going on. His thick dark hair had a few more strands of silver every year, and his lean face had a few more wrinkles. But I seemed to love him better too. “Molly?” He waved to Sunshine and stared at the woman on the bed. “What’s up in here?”
