“Did you call them?” Scott pitched his voice low, as if I couldn’t hear them.
“Yes, but they’re doing the spell. That must be why no one is picking up.” Scott nodded at Portia’s explanation, but I didn’t correct them. There was no need for them to know, not until I’d killed the one responsible.
Gravel flew as Scott turned onto a small road and raced forward. A small cabin appeared ahead, and I knew that’s where we were headed. My connection to Milo became stronger, and I felt marginally more in control of the magic, just from being closer to him. The car slammed to a stop in front of the door, but I stopped them from jumping out with a single word.
“Stay.”
They froze, their seatbelts half undone, as I slipped from the car. Garvin threw the door open as I approached, and I noted his face was sympathetic, but there was no hint of devastation. This puzzled me, because I knew if Sinclair was gone, he would be broken hearted. I ignored the oddity, more concerned with finding Evan and Milo.
My thoughts seemed to conjure him, because Milo appeared in front of me a moment later. He jerked me into his embrace, and suddenly the power that had consumed me, subsided. My vision cleared as my heartbeat slowed, and I would have collapsed if he hadn’t been supporting me.
Even as weak as I felt at the moment, I had to know.
“Evan?”
“Is dead.” Milo’s reply garnered mixed feelings. I was happy Evan was dead, but disappointed I hadn’t been the one to do it.
“Sinclair.” My voice broke as I said her name, and his arms tightened around me.
“I’ll take you to her.”
He guided me down the hall, each step a slow hell, as I contemplated seeing Sinclair’s dead body. I wanted to scream how unfair it all was. I’d just found her, and it was my fault Evan was close enough to harm her. If I could raise the dead, I’d bring her back in a second and then bring Evan back, so I could kill him myself. Rage warred with the grief inside of me, and my steps slowed as the grief won out. Not having revenge to focus on, and with Milo filtering the power that pulsed through me, I was left with nothing but the hollow ache of loss.
We paused next to a door, and with a light tap, Milo pushed it open.
“Kincaid! You’re okay!” The tight embrace I found myself locked in felt surreal. My arms hung by my sides, as she squeezed me so tight, the air left my lungs. “I thought we’d lost you. The power you were channeling was insane. Without the drugs and Milo … we didn’t know if you could survive it.”
“But you’re alive.” The words were barely audible, since I had no breath, but she heard them.
“Yes, because of Milo.”
Her arms loosened as she made to take a step away from me, but I brought my arms up around her and hugged her to me. Tears soaked her shirt as I realized she was alive. I didn’t fully understand how. I’d watched her die, but she was here. Somehow, because of Milo she’d survived, and even as I wondered how, I knew it wasn’t important, because all that mattered was she was alive.
“Glad to see you.” Luke patted my shoulder, and I clung tighter to Sinclair. They were both alive, and it would be okay now.
“I hate to break up the reunion, but this place isn’t safe any longer.” Garvin sounded more serious than I thought him capable of, and it was enough to draw me away from my sister. I kept my arm wrapped around her waist, hugging her to me as we looked at him.
“This seems like a long-haul proposition we have here, and random places to stay for the night aren’t going to cut it. We need a permanent base of operations. Somewhere we can fight Mitchell Davis from.” He traded a glance with Sinclair, a silent communication. “It’s time we went home.”
“But is it safe?” I gave her a worried look. No place felt safe to me at the moment. My kidnapping and believing Sinclair dead had destroyed any semblance of peace I’d possessed. It seemed as if our enemies were everywhere.
“Yes,” Garvin answered, and I gave him my attention. “I’ve had some work done on the house, while we’ve been here. I’ve installed extra security measures, such as gates, fencing, and bullet proof windows. Things of that nature. The house is big enough for all of us, and at this point, I believe it’s best if we stick together.”
“Quinn.” Sinclair stated her name as a promise, plan, and question all in one.
“We can search from there, as well as here,” Garvin pointed out. “Right now, we don’t have any clues …”
“We do. It’s not much, but I saw her with someone. A coven. Maybe we can find out more about them.” I scanned the faces around me, our own makeshift coven, complete with people I trusted implicitly, their actions proving more than words ever could. Garvin caught my eye and nodded.
“We will find her, but we need to be in a position of strength.” He eyed us, and we began to nod. We were tired of running, of reacting instead of acting. It was time to take a stand against Mitchell.
“It’s settled then. Are we good to leave tonight? I want to get the hell out of this place.” He shuddered, and a slow smile crossed my lips. It felt unfamiliar, smiling, since all of my emotions over the past two weeks had been of terror and hate. But witnessing a man, wearing a Hawaiian print shirt paired with chartreuse cargo shorts, take control of a gang of misfits, would give anyone cause to smile.
“We’re good.” My nod set everyone into motion. Some started packing up what we had, and others collected things we might need. Milo held my hand, his thumb stroking the back of it as I let go of Sinclair. She moved away, and Milo pulled me close.
“Where is he?”
Milo didn’t ask who, just drew me back into the hall, skirting around his father as he did so. Patrick gave me an understanding nod, but didn’t speak. We went outside and he brought me to a picnic table they’d laid the body on.
“We didn’t know what to do with him. Didn’t want him in the house, though.” I felt his gaze on me, but I couldn’t pull my eyes away from Evan’s body. “I slit his throat. I didn’t stop to think, just reacted from the vision.”
Blood coated Evan’s shirt, his face had a gray cast, and the only thing I could feel was a vicious disappointment that I hadn’t been the one to take his life.
Milo’s words finally cut through my anger, and I glanced at him.
“Vision?”
“Yeah, your vision. You shared it with me. As soon as my vision cleared, I saw him about to attack. I was able to wrestle the knife from him before he got to her, and stuck it in him instead.”
“It was a vision.”
“Yeah, you’ve been sharing your visions with me over the past two weeks. Luckily, you had that one when you did. A minute longer and it would have been too late.”
I nodded, grateful. Our bond had been what saved us all. He’d saved my sister, and the same vision had given me the strength to break the drugged stupor I was in. One thing didn’t make sense, though.
“Where did the power come from? I thought it was Sinclair’s death, but obviously not. There was so much power coursing through me.”
“Part of it was your own power building. Without me to help you control it, it was overwhelming you. We also think Evan’s power flowed to you when he died.”
“But why me? Sinclair was right there.”
“I was the one to kill him, and I’m bonded to you. The magic flowed through me to you.”
“It burned out the drugs in my system. I killed everyone in that house and then torched it.”
“I’m glad. We don’t have time to go back and do it now. Pretty sure you sent a message to dear old dad though.” My grin was barely more than a grimace, at the thought of my father. I hoped he understood the message. It wasn’t a warning, but a promise.
“We can go now.”
Milo nodded, sparing a glance for the corpse lying there. We couldn’t leave any evidence behind, so I whispered, “Ash.” A flick of my finger, and he burst into flame.
“Hello.” Kai bounded up to us, tail wagging. “Got any marshmallows? That�
�s a nice bonfire.”
A genuine smile crossed my face at the familiar sound of Kai. I’d missed him fiercely in the few moments of awareness I’d had.
“I think he missed having someone to talk to,” Milo said, catching sight of my smile, and correctly assuming it was due to something Kai said.
“He had you.”
“Not exactly. We did a spell that blocked Evan’s mind reading, but it also blocked Kai being able to communicate with me telepathically.” Milo gave him a rough scratch behind the ears, causing Kai’s butt to wiggle.
“It’s true, and you can never tell him, but I actually missed talking to the brute.” I laughed, or attempted to, but it came out more like a choke. The gnawing of my stomach came to my attention, as did the insane thirst. I had no idea when the last time I ate or drank anything was, which might explain my aching throat.
“I think we can safely lift the spell, now that Evan is gone. Kai occasionally has a good idea,” Milo joked, and something about his words bugged me. The idea that it was safe to lift the spell, it didn’t feel right, but I couldn’t place it.
“Occasionally? Are you kidding me? I totally saved your ass with that mental blocking spell.” Kai nipped at Milo’s hands, frustrated he wasn’t hearing his side of the argument.
“Boys!” I raised my hands, and as I dropped them, the spell was lifted. “Argue amongst yourselves. I need food.”
“Sorry.” The apology came at me from both sides as they said it in unison. I shook my head, unconcerned about the apology.
“I’m glad to be with you.” I drew them both into an awkward three-way hug, which they allowed for roughly thirty seconds before Kai wiggled free.
“I’m going to hunt before we leave. The smell of roasting meat has got me hungry.” He raced into the woods, and I cast a last glance back at the ‘roasting meat.’
“Yep, I actually missed that mutt. Don’t tell him I said that.”
I chuckled painfully. “No worries, both of your secrets are safe with me.”
We went inside to see most everything was packed and ready to go. Everyone had gathered around the table, and they’d set whatever food was in the house out. I grabbed a bottle of water and started to guzzle it. The act of swallowing was painful, but the liquid slowly eased the burning. Milo set a plate in front of me, along with more water.
“We’ll wait until nightfall and then go. Kincaid, do you think you can cloak the SUV, until we’re out of town? It’ll be a tight squeeze with all of us, but I think it’s safer with one vehicle.”
I nodded, and gestured to the food.
“Let me fuel up, and we should be good. I can teach Sinclair how to do it too.” I caught Portia’s eye. “You too.”
She was startled, I could tell. “You think I’m strong enough?”
“You might not be able to cloak an entire building, but yeah, I think you’re strong enough to cloak yourself.”
Within a few minutes, Sinclair and I had managed to demolish all of the food on the table. We both had incredible appetites, due to the amount of magic we’d burned through, and it felt like I hadn’t eaten in days.
“Good Lord, I’m gonna have to tell the housekeeper to quadruple the groceries with you two around.” Garvin tsked and shook his head. “I tell you, it just ain’t fair.
“How are we going to find Quinn?” My question interrupted Garvin’s admonishment and drew everyone’s attention.
“I can check the police database when we get back. Do we know if her name is actually Quinn?” Luke glanced at us curiously. Both of us had changed our names over the years, but Quinn wouldn’t have needed to. The only issue was she was adopted as an infant. Would her adopted family have named her Quinn?
“We’ll go with yes.” Sinclair’s voice was decisive. If there was a way, I believed our mother would have made sure Quinn kept her name. It was one we all remembered.
“I can give you a description of the woman I saw with Quinn, as well. I know Quinn is with her, or was with her at some point. And of course, a description of Quinn herself.”
“She’s distinctive,” Sinclair commented with a smile.
“That hair. It’ll attract attention.”
“Coupled with our eyes … she’ll stop traffic.”
“What does she look like?”
“Flame red hair and our blue eyes. It’s a dramatic combination.”
I noticed Luke scribbling in a notebook, keeping track of everything we mentioned. I tapped the back of his hand to get his attention.
“I’m sorry if I’ve messed up your life. You’ve been here longer than intended. I hope it hasn’t interfered with your job.”
He shook his head, and gave me an understanding smile.
“I took a leave of absence when I went with Sinclair to find you. My job is safe, but I will go back to it when we get home. I have a feeling we might need the security of a badge living in the house.” He gave me a pointed look. “If for no other reason than to hide the trail of dead bodies.”
I flushed, the thought that I was more like my father and grandfather than our mother washing over me. Sinclair was more like our mother, even down to her resemblance to her. I had inherited my coloring from our father’s side, and it seemed his violent nature.
“I don’t mean just you, Kincaid.” He shot a quick peek at Sinclair. “We all have secrets.”
“Quinn was the sister hidden the best. We never found even a whisper of her in the years I searched.” Patrick’s voice drew my attention. “We had no idea what she looked like, or really what her ability is. Your mother was very careful with her.”
“I imagine she had good reason.” I glanced at them curiously. “Do we have any idea of what her ability is?”
“Flight. It’s the only clue we have.”
“Seriously? That might be cooler than your gift, Sinclair.”
She nodded, with a mischievous smile on her face. “But it can’t do this.” Her eyes darted to Garvin, and I noticed the clown standing behind him preparing to blow one of those plastic party favors.
We all laughed as Garvin jumped a mile and ran around the kitchen, screeching.
“I swear to God, Sinclair. Why do I keep you around?” The clown chased Garvin, and he swatted at it, not pausing. “Make it go away! Right now! I swear I will tell everyone about the time you wore the …”
The clown disappeared instantly, and Garvin stopped, turning around to shake his finger at Sinclair. “That was not nice!”
The rest of us broke into laughter as she attempted an apologetic look.
“You’re right. I’m sorry. Forgive me?”
He huffed, a pout on his lips as he gave her a narrow glare.
“Don’t give me that look. It doesn’t work on me. Maybe on your muscled man toy, but not me! I’ve known you too long to fall for that face.”
“I’ll let you give me a makeover, and Kincaid too.”
“What?” I shot a look at Sinclair as she dragged me under the bus with her.
“Deal!” He clapped his hands with a giddy delight, and I gave Sinclair a ‘what the hell’ look. She shrugged her shoulders, her smile not the slightest bit remorseful at using me for her apology. I shook my head, and then laughed at her lack of shame. Sisters indeed.
Chapter Fourteen
Milo
The grounds of this southern plantation home were as immaculate as the house. Kincaid had called it when she first saw the place.
“Are we in Gone with the Wind? Did you magically replicate Tara?” We’d craned our necks coming up the circular drive, positive we’d been transported back in time. The only things disturbing the picture were the barely perceptible cameras, and the iron fence around the property.
Sinclair laughed and told us no. Garvin’s family was originally from the South and built the house to remind them of home. She told the story of when they first met, and he’d accused her of being a voodoo priestess, and how she’d had to ask what voodoo was.
That had been two da
ys ago. Luke had gone back to the police force to search for any clues to Quinn’s whereabouts. Sinclair and Kincaid had spent the time catching up, learning about each other’s lives. It left me at loose ends as I avoided my father.
“It’s beautiful out here.” Portia looped her arm in mine, effectively trapping me. She arched an eyebrow, well aware of my tendency to evade questioning. “It’s time we talked, brother.”
“I thought you’d be busy with Scott.” I turned to stroll down another path, her steps in tandem with mine. My words were an attempt to cloud the issue, but she wouldn’t allow it. They’d been spending time together, and I knew Kincaid didn’t care, but I didn’t like it. Scott had proven himself when he’d located Kincaid, but he’d still been engaged to Kincaid under false pretenses.
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