Fateful Attractions

by Lucretia Stanhope

  The rest of the way home he continued to ask her questions about the babies, and even talked about starting plans for a nursery.

  “Hey do you think we are having boys? Adorable little redheads like me?” He walked into the kitchen behind her and hovered near as she made coffee. “With your nose, definitely your nose.”

  “We are having a boy and a girl. I have no idea what color hair they will have, but there is nothing wrong with your nose. Did you want something with coffee? I may be upstairs a while.” She tapped her fingers on the counter. “Maybe you should go stay with Yardley, so you aren’t alone.”

  “I’m not leaving you alone. I’ll stay near the altar room.” He wrapped his arms around her waist. “One of each? You are magnificent. Hey, can I borrow your laptop? I want to look a few things up.”

  “Like? I mean of course you can, but what are you looking up?”

  “Baby stuff. I want to make them charms, but I want to research which stones.”

  “You really are excited?”

  “Don’t tell me you aren’t. A family, a beautiful magical family with my beautiful magical love.” He trailed kisses up her neck. “Maybe you should wait to do this summoning. What if it hurts the kids?”

  “It’s to make them safer. It’s for them.”

  “You sure? Can it wait? Until dark when your mysterious monsters are here to watch?” He stroked her back while she rested her head on his chest.

  “No. Lewis will be bound in a circle; it will be fine. I need to go read a few things to make sure I can do that right.”

  “So you assume he will be bound? You’ve never done it?” He hugged her closer, feeling extra protective. “Wait, let’s talk about this.”

  “I told you when we left after Dillon, the time to talk was past.”

  “But things changed as soon as you said we are having a family. It has to change things.”

  “It’s why the time to talk is past. Shane please, you are in great danger. Get the laptop and sit by the door if you must. I will leave it unlocked, but you only come in if someone is here and threatening, understand?” She finished her coffee quickly and grabbed a premade snack-cake from the cabinet. “You want one?”

  “No, I’ll make something later.” He trailed her up the stairs, stopping to get the laptop. After a kiss, he sat at the foot of the stairs with the computer and a cup of coffee.

  “Call Dillon while I am inside. Just to check in. Don’t mention any witch stuff, please. Or the kids, don’t mention that to anyone until we get to the doctor.”

  “Yes, dear.” His tone was playful but when he looked up at her his face grew serious. “Be careful.”

  She walked back down the few steps she had gone up and kissed him again. “I do love you. This will all be okay.”

  As he watched her walk up the stairs he thought he might actually be falling for her. She was different to most women, braver. Strange that he just realized that as the urge to protect her grew. “I love you,” he yelled up behind her.

  He smiled to himself as he searched out what gems to use to make charms for the kids. Mostly he wanted to make sure whatever he used was blessed for safety, or strength, or something to help them navigate the world of monsters they would face. Initially, he thought as soon as he did his part he would relax and enjoy the perks, but the second she said babies something changed. They were his babies and she was his, he wanted to keep them all as safe as he could. None of this was fair to anyone involved.

  He sighed and dialed Dillon.

  The phone rang several times before it went to his voicemail again. He left a fast message, telling him that Gwen was worried and he needed to call as soon as possible.

  While he searched the stones, he heard soft chanting drifting down and felt trepidation coming from Gwen. He was tempted to go up the stairs, but didn’t want to break anything she was working on. If the emotion changed to an actual fear or something intense he would go. He moved up the stairs and started searching again. Blue chalcedony was a beautiful stone with properties for protection from the undead. He tapped the screen as he thought back to his inventory. There were some pretty polished ones that looked feminine. Since vampires were the main threat he could use that for his daughter.

  Daughter.

  He smiled as he tried to imagine what the best traits from him and Gwen would look like. He sent himself a text with a note about that stone and started looking for something for his son. Something more masculine, still protective but more for a warrior, protector of his sister. He kept coming back to chalcedony because of the undead protective properties. He smiled when he realized the chrysoprase in Gwen’s charm was also a variety of chalcedony. He rubbed his head and then snapped his fingers, he had some moss and fire agate stones in the same family also. They would be perfect for his warrior son who needed to battle the undead.

  Happy with his choices, he sent himself another note, and then called Dillon again. There was still no answer.

  A wave of energy came down the stairs, it wasn’t aggressive but it told him she’d succeeded in summoning something magical.

  He put the computer away and sat at the top of the stairs, just in case.

  Chapter Seventeen

  G wen nervously fingered the charm in her pocket. Sebastian seemed to think she needed it on now. He did not trust Lewis. She’d taken his advice, as she always had, and carried it with her. That was before the feathers. Before Lewis might be hurt.

  She reasoned that even if he wasn’t hurt, maybe he could give her some insight. When the reason he would have that insight entered her mind, filling her with new doubt, she pushed it away. She needed to know he was okay at the very least.

  She chanted softly as she made a circle on the floor with the off-white powder she’d just made. It was a generic circle, one designed to keep in magical creatures. Something Sebastian taught her back when Lewis was still there, when he was still someone she would never consider needed a protective circle to summon.

  Once the circle was made she paced, thinking about what she was about to do. She wasn’t really using a spell to summon him. Maybe she needed to.

  Her eyes flicked to the shelves where she kept Lizzy’s spell books. If she called him with their connection he might be able to leave the circle, or vanish and reappear anywhere.

  Her fingers rubbed together while she considered waiting to talk to Sebastian. He would know exactly what could hold Lewis, if anything. She could use the time to scour the town for Dillon. That he hadn’t answered or returned her calls was playing on her nerves. Fear was the problem, fear of what Lewis might have become. Could she really stand to see if he had turned into something awful?

  “Stop being ridiculous, It’s Lewis. He could be hurt.” Even as she chided herself she knew it wasn’t entirely ridiculous. He had been menacing a few times, even when he was still with her. She was afraid of him just before he left.

  There was good reason she and Sebastian thought the charm was needed.

  After weighing the pros and cons of calling Lewis, the urge to do something about things before it touched her children won out. She took one more deep breath, closed her eyes, and called to him with every fiber of her being.

  She felt him the moment he manifested in the circle.

  His magic filled the room, pulsing out toward her.

  She opened her eyes. “Lewis.” Her voice was barely even a whisper. Seeing him standing there was more intense than she imagined.

  He looked at her at first startled, but then with a sadness in his deep brown eyes. The blackness of his hair still shimmered when he moved. His eyes narrowed in anger. “What is this?” His foot kicked at the circle and the powder shifted, having no effect on him. He stepped over the broken line and frowned at her. “Was that supposed to be for me?”

  She struggled for words, not even sure how she was feeling. The connection they had was not lost, she could feel him around her and inside of her. “Lewis, you are okay.”

  “Of course, I a
m okay. Why did you call me?” He stepped closer to her, allowing his aura to bump and press into hers.

  The sensation as he neared wasn’t aggressive. She started to relax. “I had to see you were okay. There have been deaths and then there were feathers at the last body. I thought you were hurt.” She stepped toward him and he wrapped his arms around her. “I couldn’t stand to think you were hurt.”

  “Shush, I’m fine. What’s this about bodies and why would you try to hold me in a childish binding?” His arms held her close to him as their individual magic presences continued to mingle.

  There was nothing that felt wrong about him. His embrace was as comforting as it ever was, more so. “I didn’t know. With how we left things.” She talked into his chest as she relaxed.

  “No matter what happens you will always be my witch.” His head turned toward the other side of the room and his eyes narrowed. “Who’s the witch on the other side of the door? What’s going on?”

  She swallowed and looked up at him. Could it be that easy? He left her, but here he was, ready to help? Did he really still consider her his witch? Sebastian said that bond was forever. “Josephine, she’s killing my loves, and I loved you, I love you. I thought she had you.”

  “I thought Sebastian would keep them away from you.” He brushed her hair from her face. “What do you know about Josephine? You shouldn’t be messing with them. I told you to leave it.”

  He knew the name. She knew he was connected somehow, but hearing him say the name out loud like it meant nothing, was troubling. She stepped back, feeling stronger just from his nearness. “I did leave it. She starting killing people and leaving their mutilated bodies here. In town. There seemed to be some order and you are next. I was afraid for you. There were feathers.”

  His brows furrowed. “Lots of creatures have black feathers. Did you hold them? Sense me? Wait, is that why the circle, did you assume I was involved?”

  “No.” She saw hurt register on his face. After the way they left things and how worried she had been, this was not how she wanted to start things off. “I didn’t hold them. I didn’t even see them. When they told me, I worried for you, not about you.”

  “No? Not about me, but you did this?” He kicked at the powder. “If this is where we still are, why did you really call me? Seek your help from Sebastian.”

  Her eyes looked away from him. “I’m sorry. It’s not where we are. It’s just that I didn’t know what to expect.”

  “I’ll never hurt you. Not you.” He reached a hand to her face. “Don’t you know that?” When his hand touched her face, gentleness radiated from him. “What can I do, now that you have me here?”

  “No, I’ve got this. I just needed to know you were okay.” She reached up and took his hand. “Can they hurt you? Will you help me understand what they are capable of?”

  “Not Josephine, Fannie, yes.” He kissed her forehead. “You’ve started something that can’t be stopped now.” His other hand rested on her stomach and he slowly shook his head. “This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not ever.”

  “You can tell? Already? Will she know? Fannie, I mean.” She stepped back from his touch, not sure why it felt intrusive. “I just found out myself.”

  He blinked a few times, observing her as she backed away. “Of course, I can tell. We are melded at a level deeper than you can imagine.”

  “Do you watch over me still?” She looked at his features that seemed to say he did still love her as his witch, but something felt wrong. Her instincts were telling her to grab the charm, and put it back in her pocket.

  “Always. It’s my purpose to protect you.” He took her hand and started toward the door. “How can I help you?”

  She felt a calm rush and then realized having Lewis would make the days much safer. “I need to find Dillon. I need to keep Shane safe while I deal with Josephine. I can’t do both. I couldn’t keep Steven safe.”

  “Who is here?”

  “Shane, the father. He’s in the most danger I think.” Her hand squeezed his and she probed him as much as she could, looking for any clue as to where he stood. Everything she felt was not only innocuous, it was soothing, yet her gut said to get away from him. “Is there something you need to get back to?”

  “There is never anything more important than you.” He put his hand on her back and led her toward the door. “I need to meet this witch who has enchanted you and endangered you.”

  She looked back to the charm and frowned, before wiping doubt from her face and mind. If it wasn’t founded, the last thing she wanted to do was hurt Lewis more than she already had.

  They walked out together to find Shane waiting at the top step. The two men sized each other up briefly, before both of them regarded the other as nothing to worry about. While they talked about the best way to move forward, Shane and Gwen ate some dinner.

  “I want to go to her place, I need to destroy her shrine at the very least to free those she already took. I need to know she doesn’t have Dillon. I’ve got to stop her before she gets to you.” Her eyes locked on Shane.

  “You’ll be going with her?” Shane watched the strange man who had an eerie perfection and a magical hum. He knew he wasn’t a man, not for real, and wondered if that was what there was about him he didn’t feel good about. Maybe the magic was messing up the signals he received. His ability to sense what people felt must have extended to magical things, because he could feel something nasty from her familiar. Angry, agitated. Betrayal, he felt a deep sense of betrayal, and wondered if she had betrayed him, or he intended to betray her. It wasn’t an emotion he was used to feeling.

  “I’ll be wherever she needs me.” Lewis flicked his eyes between the two of them and smiled.

  “He’s staying with you. That’s best. If I need him, I can summon, and if I summon him, it will be because that witch is with me and you will be safe either way.” Gwen shuffled the food on her plate, taking a small bite.

  “You can’t go alone.” Shane looked from her to Lewis. “She can’t go alone. Aren’t you some magical advisor to her? Tell her how foolish that is.”

  Lewis cocked his head toward Shane. “I think she and I know what she is capable of. She can go alone, and will be just fine. Better without you as a distraction.”

  Gwen smiled at that. Lewis didn’t put much faith in her in the past when Sebastian suggested the same thing. He must have been watching her progress in training with Sebastian. “Thank you.” She looked from Lewis to Shane and got up, walking over to him. “I need to know you will be safe.”

  Shane sighed and stood up, holding her. “Can’t I feel the same way? Did you tell him, did she tell you that witch froze her? You can’t think this is a good idea, not for real.”

  Her finger turned his head and attention back to her. “I told you Sebastian taught me to counter that now. I will be safe. I promise you I can do this.” She looked to Lewis, who was smiling as he watched them. “Stay here with him, please. Promise me?”

  “I promise to keep him with me.”

  Gwen kissed Shane and walked to Lewis. “Show me where she is. I need to go now, before, before dark.”

  Lewis cupped her face. “Easy, I understand.” He looked to Shane and then back to her. He kissed her forehead and she felt him press into her mind.

  An image flashed to an old house in what looked like a thickly wooded area. When she opened her eyes, she looked up and got lost in his eyes for a long moment. “Thank you, Lewis.”

  “Wait, no, excuse us a minute.” Shane reached out and took her hand. “I need a word.”

  “I don’t have time. Can we do this when I get back?” She felt urgency for Shane and wanted to go, but again felt something off with Lewis. Her fingers rubbed together. If she was wrong about Lewis being trustworthy, Shane was as good as gone. Dillon. She chewed her lip and closed her eyes. It wasn’t a risk she could take. If it was just her, she could, but not Shane. “Have you tried Dillon again?” She looked back to Lewis.

  Lewis
narrowed his eyes at her. “Did you need me? It’s getting near dark.”

  “Tomorrow, when we have more daylight.” She watched his face flash to something that looked more like angry than hurt. “I, if…”

  In an instant he was gone.

  “Sweetheart, that thing was not happy.” Shane pulled her close to him. “That’s your familiar?”

  “Upstairs, now.” She took his hand and started toward the altar room. Once inside, she gave him the charm. “Don’t ever take this out of your pocket. Sleep with it under your pillow.”

  Shane looked at the little bag in his hand. “What is this?”

  “It’s protection, designed specifically to keep him away.” She pulled him to her and held him, glad she hadn’t left.

  “Wait, you were going to leave me with something you have a charm to ward off? What the hell, Gwen?” Even though he felt a little angry he was more worried about her. “You’ve got to be more careful, take help and advice. What if he had wanted to hurt you, us, the kids?”

  “I thought it was different. I sensed it, I’m thinking of the kids. I’m out of time, Shane. Call Dillon. I know where I am going now. Lewis showed me that much.”

  “No, how can you even trust what he showed you?” He put the charm in her hand. “You take it. Don’t go, not alone. Look, I’m just as worried for the kids as you are. I’m also worried for us. You say we are safe at night. Go at night. Go with one of them.”

  “I…” She was looking up and shaking her head.

  “Look, it involves us, give me a say.”

  She put the charm in his pocket. “Fine, I’ll wait, let’s go find Dillon together.”

  He smiled and kissed her. They got in the truck and she drove slowly toward town, pulling off on a few side roads but finding nothing. Shane called Dillon a few more times.

  “So, Lewis, he left you, or you sent him away?” He wondered again about what he felt from him. “There was a betrayal?”

  Even though she wondered how he knew that, she didn’t wonder enough to want to think about Lewis anymore. He had come when she called. He seemed like he was there to help, but something was off. She sensed it and so did Shane. Lewis was with them, it made sense. Maybe he had come when she called to get Shane, or maybe her. “Yes, sort of both of us I guess. I’d rather we not talk about that. Did you find what you were looking for on the laptop?”