by Allie Burke
Grant’s hand formed a closed fist, and he screamed at Elias. “You barge into this house, after you left, and make your mother cry? Who the hell do you think you are?”
Elias exploded back. “She’s crying because you keep her from me! Can you really be that fucking stupid? Worlds greatest dad, is that what you are, Grant?”
Jane’s hands flattened on each of Elias’s arms. When Grant’s fist went for contact with Elias’s cheek, it was slammed to a halt in the air, millimeters from Elias’s face. It had been—blocked. Tiny purple bolts charged into Grant’s hand, like a transfer of lightning. He immediately retracted it, held it in his other hand like it was broken. He took a few steps back, horror blotching every inch of his face. Okay. Kate had definitely not seen that before.
“Dad,” Elias said, his tone softer, “just have them arrested, or killed, I don’t care. I just want to live my life without the mob chasing my family. Take care of it, and I won’t ever come back.”
“Get the fuck out of my house,” Grant said, and ironically, he walked out.
Elias leaned forward to say goodbye, but Kate held onto him. She spoke to Jane around Elias’s muscle. “Jane, sweetheart, won’t you please have a seat,” she pointed at the dining room. “I need to speak to my son.”
Elias stepped back, linked his hand into Jane’s. “No.” Elias looked fearful, as if a separation from this woman, even for a few minutes, would mean something terrible for him.
Kate kept her eyes on Jane. “Please.”
Jane looked up at Elias, and he looked back at her, their eyes connected for a long, silent moment. She let go of his hand, moved to walk out of the room, but he yanked her back. He bundled her into his arms, kissed her hair.
“Thank you,” he whispered, and he let her go.
Jane glared at Kate. Kate longed to talk to her, sit with her, ask how she was doing. Kate wondered if Elias knew what Jane only suspected. For all she knew, Jane might not even know herself.
Jane turned, and walked out of the kitchen.
Kate went upstairs, and Elias followed.
Elias sat on his parents’ bed as his mom fumbled around in the dresser. He hadn’t been up here in years. Everything was so ridiculously expensive in this house, he had always been afraid to touch anything. The entire house was so brown and neutral, absent of any color. If Jeanine’s house could have an opposite, this was it.
Kate sat down next to him, and handed him a small velvet box. He opened it, revealing a flawless diamond ring. The stone was outrageously large.
“How much did this cost?” he asked.
“I’m not telling,” Kate said. “If it get’s back to your dad, he’ll really be pissed.”
“She already has a ring,” Elias said, ignoring her attempt at some humor.
“She’s very beautiful, Elias. This one,” she pointed at the box, “fits her better.”
Elias squinted at her. He didn’t understand why Kate didn’t want Jane wearing her mother’s ring.
“She’s one of them, isn’t she?” Kate asked.
“One of what?”
“I don’t remember what they call themselves. The, um, element witches.”
Elias’s deep gulp was loud in the quiet room. “Enchanters.”
“That’s right.”
“How do you know about them?”
“Jeanine would never forgive me if I told you.”
“Why do you care?”
It finally occurred to Elias that Kate must have hated her mother.
“That’s why you hate her so much, isn’t it, because she’s so much like your mother.”
Kate’s body twitched wildly, his words slicing her heart wide open. “Jeanine is nothing like her. Jeanine couldn’t have a heart as black as Eve Hadley’s, even if she spent the rest of her life trying.”
He shifted, the confusion pushing him away from what he knew. Kate had always complained about Jeanine. Up until now, he spent his life believing that his mother loathed her sister.
“Don’t let Jane wear that ring, Elias. Annabelle would roll over in her grave if she knew.”
Elias felt all the color drain from his face. It must have been as pale as his father’s was a few minutes ago.
“Jeanine was friends with Annabelle for a very long time, Elias,” Kate said. “I knew her mother, too. Elizabeth. Red hair, green eyes. Jane looks just like her.”
Elias relaxed, giving his mother some credit. She wasn’t as out of the Hadley loop as he thought.
Elias got up, pulled her into a hug. He kissed her cheek.
“I’m sorry,” Kate said.
He only breathed, didn’t answer her. He moved for the doorway, but she called him back.
“Ly.”
Elias gripped the molding of the doorway. The color in his face was back, ten fold. He felt heat rise into it, hotter than the rest of his body. He hadn’t heard that nickname since before Liam died.
He turned to her. “Don’t you ever fucking call me that.”
She shivered. Elias regretted his overreaction. As horrible of a mother he believed Kate to be, she would never have said it on purpose. It must have slipped out. Tears watered her face again.
“Tell her I love her,” Kate whispered.
“Who?” he asked.
“My sister.”
Chapter 17
Jeanine stood in her house, pacing up and down the hallway. She jumped at the knock at the door, ran to it.
She leaped onto Elias, held him in a tight squeeze. She put her hands on his face, asked him if he was alright.
“I’m okay.”
She maneuvered his face to the left and right, checking it for any sign of violence. Jeanine looked up at him, asking him a silent question.
“He tried, but he couldn’t get past Jane. Messed up his hand. You should have seen the look on his face.” Elias was smiling.
Jeanine wrapped her arm around Jane, led her into the house. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to him,” she whispered. “You know that don’t you?”
Jane smiled. They sat on the couch together, Elias sat on a chair next to them.
“Your mom?” Jeanine asked him.
Elias shook his head. “He’s having an affair.”
“She told you that?”
“No. But he is.”
“Excuse me,” Jane’s voice broke the conversation between them. She ran to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
“Is she okay?” Jeanine asked.
“Long drive. She probably has to pee.” Elias paused a moment, and said, “She told me to tell you she loves you.”
“Who? Jane?”
“No.” He paused again. “My mom.”
“Now I know your lying.”
Elias opened his mouth to answer, but Jane joined them again. Jeanine thought that Elias might pass out, his distress rolling his eyes around his head. Jane was green in the face. He ran to her, cradled her face in his hands.
As Elias spoke to Jane, Jeanine couldn’t see them. Again, she saw something flash in front of her eyes, something that wasn’t really there.
“What’s wrong?” Elias asked Jane.
“I think I need to see a doctor.” The beauty of Jane’s voice had been replaced by a raspy crackle. “Can you take me please?”
“Yeah. Jeanine, we gotta go,” Elias said.
“Call me,” Jeanine said. The words did not travel far, halting in the air as the front door slammed and trapped them inside.
Jane told Elias to drive to Hazel Grove’s only medical building. She spent the car ride with her cheek leaning against the window. As soon as they arrived, Jane jumped out of the car and ran to some bushes, bent over, heaving. Elias stood close, ready to be there if she needed him, but not forcing himself on her.
“I don’t know what to do,” he apologized.
She cleared her throat. “My energy—it’s gone.”
They walked together through the parking lot and into the double glass doors of the high whi
te building. They went to the elevator. As it ascended, Jane pressed her lips together and slammed her hand against the elevator wall. Elias let go of her other hand and stepped back. His heat could not be helping. Her hand frantically danced in the air, blindly searching for its companion. He returned, grasping her hand again.
“Don’t do that,” she whispered.
The elevator door opened. They walked into the hallway together, and entered a suite marked Charles Blaine, M.D.
It was a simple room, white walls, cheap abstract paintings hanging on them. There were blue chairs next to magazine racks, and a reception desk directly ahead. The room was free of patients, the desk empty.
A man emerged from the door. He was older, not quite Jeanine’s age, but close. He wore a long white doctor’s coat, traditionally dressed with a stethoscope hanging around his neck. The man stopped, his features suddenly stiff. His eyes grazed Jane’s white face, ghastly pale. He looked at her flickering eyes, struggling to stay open.
“Oh, dear,” he said softly. “Get her inside.” He held the door open for Elias.
Elias followed the doctor, scooping Jane into his arms, and laid her on a patient bed in one of the rooms. As her skin came in contact with the loud white paper on the rubbery surface, her head fell to the side and her eyes closed completely. Elias’s breath caught in his chest.
“It’s okay,” Charles said. “She’s alright. Her body needs rest.”
His assurance didn’t help. Elias couldn’t breathe.
Charles went to a small counter in the corner of the room and mixed several items in different bowls. Elias sat next to Jane, his hand tight in hers, gazing upon her face with frightened eyes.
Charles brought the bowls over, and placed one of them in Elias’s free hand. Elias looked down at the thick green liquid. The bowl Charles was holding contained a clear substance. He used a basting brush, and applied it to Jane’s entire face. It was just like Jane’s concoction.
“Are you an Enchanter?” Elias asked.
He answered without looking away from his task. “No, my wife is. I’m just an Enchanter doctor. Can you lift up her shirt please?”
He did, and found Jane’s stomach black and blue with bruises. He gasped.
“It’s alright,” Charles said. He took the other bowl from Elias, and began applying the liquid to her stomach with his fingers, massaging in circular motions.
“These are herbs. Rosemary, citrus, some oils. They will help more than any medication I can give her.” He continued his ritual. “What are her symptoms?”
Elias racked his brain. “She was throwing up.”
“She needs food. What else?”
“She said something about her energy, she said it was gone.”
“Gone,” the old man quietly chuckled. “More like stolen, I think.”
Elias wanted to sock him in the face. Why was he laughing? Elias must not have hid his feelings well, because Charles held his hand up defensively.
“Really, your girl is perfectly well. Well and pregnant.”
Elias didn’t really have some exaggerated reaction. Every nerve in his body charged with shock as the news was announced by the doctor, but he tried to stay calm. It didn’t really make sense.
“Uh, pregnancy, morning sickness and all that, it takes longer. Right?”
“Not this one,” he said, pulling Jane’s shirt back down. “Her energy is powerful. She’ll give birth in four months, five tops.”
“How do you know that?”
The doctor smiled a warming smile that must have made people that hated doctors feel much better. “I come from a long line of doctors. We have been treating the Brooks women for generations.”
There was that Brooks again. He ignored it. He didn’t have time for that right now. “Tell me what to do.”
Elias drove his sleeping Jane home, a bag filled with vitamins and instructions at her feet. He carried her inside, lying her down gently on the couch. He closed all the windows and curtains, keeping the light out, just as she liked it. He sat down with her, laying her head in his lap. In a few minutes time, he was asleep, one hand weaved into her hair, the other resting on her stomach, embracing his little girl.
Chapter 18
Grant left for work extra early, wanting to catch Ian before his meeting. He reached the office quickly, and ran up the stairs to knock on Ian’s slightly open door.
“Come in,” Ian’s voice drifted, and Grant walked in.
“You’re early,” Ian said.
Grant took a deep breath. “They went after my son and his fiancée.”
“Christ. Are they okay?”
“Yes. They weren’t hurt.” Grant could no longer look into Ian’s eyes. He had never felt so ashamed. “I sent a cruiser over to Elias’s place, it’s them. Elias will make a statement if needed.”
“I know this may be an awful thing to say, but, this is exactly what we needed. That fucking mob stayed off the radar since the trial started. I’ll call Raymond. They will never have the opportunity to come near your family again, Grant.”
Grant finally looked up at his boss. “Thank you, Ian.”
Ian nodded, and Grant walked out. He walked down the hall to his office, but Emily Greene stepped in front of him, blocking his path. She couldn’t have been more than twenty, blonde, large breasts. As he thought of her naked body hanging halfway off the desk in his office, he finally realized that, no matter how much plastic surgery she had, she could never be half as sexy as his wife.
“What happened to you yesterday?” she asked.
His tone constricted, Grant said, “I had a family emergency.”
“Oh, okay. Well, I can meet you in your office in five, we can catch up on what was lost.”
She mischievously smirked up at him. Family emergency, he’d said. She didn’t even ask if everything was okay.
“No.”
“No?” she asked, confused.
“No,” Grant said again. “I’m married. Leave me alone, Emily.” Grant walked to his office, leaving her speechless in the hall.
Grant closed his door, dropped his briefcase, and rushed to the phone. He dialed the court’s number. She answered after just ring.
“I hope I’m not too late,” Grant said. “Mrs. Linden, will you go out on a date with me tonight?” He spoke to his wife seductively, using the famous Linden charm to his advantage, the same charm that had been passed on to both of his sons.
Grant heard a loud exhale of breath through the phone, and then the answer came, the answer that stopped his hand from shaking as he held the phone to his ear.
“I would love to.”
Kate’s office phone rang again. After Grant’s call, she was bubbling with excitement. She knew there was a reason that she stayed with him all this time, after the anger and the betrayal. It wasn’t just the public humiliation of a divorce, she was loyal to him. She didn’t cheat, just because he did. She could never forget why she married Grant. It was just love. She had always loved him. She would always.
“Yes,” she answered the phone.
“Hi.”
Kate’s wide smile beamed through her voice. “Hi, Jeanine.”
“I heard you wanted to talk to me.”
“I said I loved you, not that I wanted to talk to you.”
Jeanine laughed. “Stubborn ass.”
“Yeah.”
“How are you, Katie?”
“Alright.”
Jeanine inhaled an annoyed breath. “You can leave him, you know. You don’t have to get a divorce.”
“Shut up.”
“When’s the last time you got laid?”
Kate shook her head. Good ‘ol Jeanine. There was no point in fighting her on it. “I don’t know.”
“You better hurry up and do something, girl. You’re getting old.”
“You’re older than me!”
“Well, I’m not the one about to be a grandma.”
Kate didn’t falter. She was completely aware of the fact. O
ne look at Jane, and she knew she was pregnant. Some weird instinct she always had. She just knew things.
“How’s she doing?” Kate asked.
“They just left. She looked almost as bad as you did when you were pregnant.”
Kate laughed. “Impossible.”
“I miss you,” Jeanine said. “Come see me.”
“You make sure my son invites me to his wedding, and I’ll see you soon.”
“Alright. Bye, Katie.”
“Bye, sis.”
Chapter 19
Jane woke suddenly, frantically calling out Elias’s name.
“Hey, beautiful, it’s okay, I’m here,” Elias’s deep voice traveled from above.
She looked up at his smiling face. His blue eyes calmed a tenseness in her heart that she didn’t even know was there. “Oh, Elias, I dreamed we had like ten kids.”
Elias’s head flew back with laughter.
The memory from the day before was absent from her brain. She had no idea what had happened. She glared at him, and his humor disappeared.
“You’re pregnant,” he said.
Her bottom lip quivered, and moisture glassed over her eyes. She craned her neck up to kiss him, but halfway there, her head clouded with dizziness. She brought her hand up to it, willing the queasiness to leave her.
Elias leaned down and kissed her cheek. “I’ll make you some food, and we’ll go for a swim. Okay?”
“Kay.”
He got up and walked into the kitchen, and she squealed into her knees. She was going to have Elias’s baby! A white wedding on the beach entered her thoughts. Her imagination progressed. She watched her belly bulge, her child grow, her hair turn gray. Elias was there with her in every scene.
Elias brought her lemon roasted chicken with rice pilaf and a cup of rosemary tea. He helped her sit up, and let her eat in peace while he took a shower. She was lying back down when he returned, her plate empty. He stood at the edge of the couch.
“Where did you learn how to cook like that?” she asked.
