“Cinn, she just wants to know if she’s going to be punished for what her parents did . . . or at least, what her father did.”
“Sabina, there will be none of that in this house!” Alistair renewed my earlier thoughts about him being the big bad warlock as he reprimanded his daughter and almost put his fist through the table. He stood and pointed a finger at her in kind. “I had been left to believe my daughter dead for seventeen years, and now know she is alive and that I have a beautiful granddaughter . . . I will see my daughter and her husband come home, and if you don’t like it, well, you were free to leave ages ago,” he said, pointing to the house.
Sabina slid her chair out and stood from the table. “Well, I guess we know now, Gwen was always the favorite.” She turned on her heels and stomped her feet like a small child, all the way into the house.
“Please forgive her; she wants so badly not to be the youngest. Were her mother here . . . well, she’d feel different about it anyway.”
The old man sat back in his chair and stroked the gray hairs that covered his face. He looked deep in thought, and then jumped as if he had been struck by lightning.
“Training, that’s another reason I needed you to come here. With the threat still looming over your parents, I need to know you will be safe from that family. If they know anything about you, they may try to use you to bring your parents out of hiding prematurely.”
I had thought about that once already. I wasn’t particularly fond of the whole being eighteen-thing anymore. Finding out I was a witch with magical powers, well okay, sure, I’m game. Then to find out you may likely be used as a pawn in a never-ending war against your families, no . . . not game. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to crawl back under the rock that was my innocent seventeen-year-old mind, or stick it out and play along.
“You don’t want to do that.”
I looked up at Alistair as he sat back down, shaking his head. “Excuse me?”
“I said you don’t want to do that,” he said, looking at me as he produced a pipe from thin air.
“Don’t want to do what?” I asked him.
“You wouldn’t want to ignore the part of you that makes you who you are. It may not be who you were, but it’s who you are now,” he said, lighting a match.
“How?”
“I’m a clairvoyant. I can see what’s in your mind, and hear things as you think them. It’s one of my special gifts.” He rocked back in his chair.
“Does everyone have a unique or special talent, as well as being a witch or warlock?” I asked, and then remembered Chad behind me. “Or shifter?”
“Oh, no . . . there are no shifters in this family. We do have shifters in our covens, and each of the leading members of the family has a shifter in their coven that serves as their protection. Such as the young Chadwick, here. His father before him served as protector of your mother, Gwendolyn.” Alistair stood and started to pace around the table.
He told me about the basic makeup of the magical world. Not every witch had a protector assigned to them as I had thought. Just those that were priests or priestesses. He told the story of what happened when my mother and father had come to tell him that they were in love and wanted to marry. He had given his blessing, but only if Isabella would as well. If she disagreed, then it would not be allowed.
Isabella Crawford had the biggest heart any one person could have. Each of the four people sitting around the table had equally nice things to say about Isabella, and were equally saddened to talk about her. She was able to sense what was in a person’s soul. So if she said someone was worthy to be with her daughter, then it was the truth.
When Gwen went to speak to her mother, Isabella had asked to speak with Silas alone. When she was finished, she had called for Sabina to get Alistair so she could tell him her decision on the matter. She had been ill for many years and was confined to bed as a result of the illness.
Alistair never had the opportunity to speak with her. By the time he arrived to her room, Isabella was gone. She was dying anyway, and everyone knew it, so when Alistair heard Sabina accuse Silas of her mother’s death, he told her to shut her mouth and not to say it again. He didn’t believe for one minute that his daughter would be in love with some kind of monster. He knew the Sigmis family was evil, but he had firmly believed Silas when he said he had abandoned his family and their ways of doing magic.
Sabina swore to her father, saying her mother told her that Silas had spelled her to an early grave. Before she could leave the room and get her father, Isabella was gone. Sabina’s screams were heard throughout the house, and by the time Alistair had made it to his wife, she had already taken her last breath.
Silas was scared at what Alistair might do to him if Sabina convinced him that what she said was truth, so he fled. Cinnabar and Barnaby had pleaded with him to stay for my mother’s sake, but he let fear get the best of him.
Alistair admitted to being a ruthless man in those days, and that my father had every right to fear him. He had only wished Silas had stuck around long enough to hear that he didn’t believe Sabina’s terrible lies. Alistair knew how much Sabina despised her sister, and would do anything to compromise her happiness. He believed with all his heart that Silas and Gwen were both free of any wrongdoing, and that his youngest daughter had used her mother’s passing to her advantage to get one over on the couple.
“When father learned of the fire, and that the two of them were dead . . . well, he didn’t speak for a year,” Cinnabar explained when Alistair excused himself back into the house. He had become very tired and asked that we come back the next weekend to begin training, since I would not be able to miss school.
My time in the Crawford house was educational at best, but more work than anything. My grandfather wanted me to be able to defend myself as much with my physical attributes as well as with magic. Saturdays were spent in the back of the land in and old barn. I was made to bail hay, feed the animals, shovel out the stalls, and even paint a fence. He claimed it was to strengthen my body, and that the extra help around the farm was nice.
Alistair didn’t give me my orders and leave me to it. He usually gave me a hand, and told me stories of my mother’s childhood. I got the distinct impression that Cinnabar was my mother’s favorite, and that her and Barnaby hadn’t always seen eye to eye.
“I think when Barnaby heard of your parents’ passing, he decided to love her a little harder, in hopes that they weren’t really gone.” He knocked the pipe against the pigs troth to free it of its contents. “Sabina, on the other hand, she was always so jealous of Gwen. I was too blind to see it, until it was too late.”
I could see the sadness resting on his face before he turned away from me. “You’re done for the day, see you next week?”
“Um, no . . . my parents have some family thing planned. I have to be there.” I looked down at the mud on my boot, rather than face him. I had come to both admire and fear him over the last few weeks. I honestly felt as if we had been together my whole life. I didn’t want to disappoint him.
“No, no worries. You should spend some time with them. The next few weeks will be busy for you. You will need to have a clear head.”
CHAPTER TEN
Getting to know my family was exciting, but I also felt like I had started to abandon the family that raised me. So, after a month of going back and forth to the Crawford’s farm house, I decided to spend a weekend at home with my family and hang out with my friends. I felt horrible lying to my grandfather, but I needed some time off from body and magic training. My friends and I had our regular circle three nights a week and one with the rents on Friday nights. I had Saturdays with the Crawford’s, and I managed to negotiate Sundays for me time.
Since I hadn’t really spoken much to Crystal about everything that was going on with me, I decided to spend some time with her. We hardly saw each other in school, and didn’t ever have an opportunity to speak privately at circle meetings, so we planned a day of girl stuff.
“Honey, are you awake?” Helen called through my bedroom door.
“Mom, I’m downstairs.”
Helen made her way down and gave me a look. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Yes . . . why?”
“Normally, you’re not up this early on the weekends. Even when you drive out to . . . Where is it that that family lives?”
“Alistair Crawford, he lives in Springfield,” I said, pronouncing Alistair.
“Okay,” she said, and moved to the counter to get herself a cup of coffee.
“I’m fine, and I’m not going this weekend. I’m going shopping with Crystal.” I popped the last of the waffle into my mouth and began to wash my plate.
“Oh, well good. You need to spend time with your friends.”
Helen didn’t say anything more, but she did sit at the table with a grin and sipped her coffee. I guess I should have known spending so much time up there would make her feel some sort of way. I slipped behind her and gave her a quick hug before heading outside.
Crystal showed up in her yellow bug. It was the same car she had been driving since she was sixteen. Her mom gave it to her early for a birthday present, because she didn’t have time to bring her to school in the morning. That was the year Elle had received the promotion with her firm.
Chad had been my constant companion over the course of the last month. We had spent so much time training and driving, there was barely any time to just be a new couple. So, we had set aside some time later on for an actual date. Crystal and I going shopping was a kill-two-birds kind of scenario, and she knew it.
“So, you going to share any details about this whole new family of yours?”
“Not much to share, really. I have two nice uncles and a grandfather, and a crazy aunt. Every time I see the woman, I get goose bumps.”
“Really? That means you’re sensing something wrong in her.”
“Like what?”
“Don’t know, but that’s what goose bumps mean. Think of them as like a warning signal for people who are no good. Remember the prickling on the back of your neck in the haunted house?”
I could imagine Sabina not being a great person to be around. Lucky for me, I never had to be around her that much anyway. She usually left the house the minute I walked in the front door.
We got to the small shopping plaza in record time. Crystal parked the car closest to the end of the plaza, where we would end our shopping tour. That way, when she was tired of walking and wanted to leave, she didn’t have far to go. It was a trick she had figured out only on her second trip to the plaza, after getting her car.
“So, what are you looking for exactly?” Crystal asked me as she locked the car.
“I have no idea.”
We started in the small boutique, full of nothing but clothes, and ended up making our first purchases in the shoe store. I had, what seemed like, a million pairs of shoes, and I probably hadn’t even worn them all. I decided on a black skirt and a black and silver top to go with the new black boots I had picked out. Crystal liked her clothes a bit more colorful than I did. She grabbed a bright pink dress and a pair of yellow heels.
As we walked through the center of the plaza, we noticed the Santa and his elves taking pictures with the little kids.
“We should do that.” Crystal grabbed me by the arm and started pulling me in the direction of the Santa Clause.
“Um, no we shouldn’t.” I planted my feet still and she turned on me, stomping her foot like a small kid throwing a tantrum.
Her bottom lip flew out and her cheeks puffed out. “Pleeeeaaasse!” she whined like a toddler who knew exactly how to manipulate her parents.
I looked around, making sure nobody from school was close by. “Fine, but let’s make this quick . . . okay?”
We walked up to the elf and handed her ten dollars to sit on the old guy’s lap. She gave us a dirty look as she lifted the velvet rope to let us pass.
“Keep your hands above the waist,” Crystal squawked at the man in the red suit.
He must have gotten that look a lot, because he raised his hands in a surrendered gesture.
We sat down, and the elf that took Crystal’s money snapped the camera and printed out our picture. Crystal grabbed the envelope and handed it to me. “Merry Christmas,” she said, making me take the envelope.
“Thanks, I’ll hang it on my wall.”
I placed the picture in my shopping bag and we headed to the car. I was excited to go home and get dressed for my first actual date. I didn’t even remember if he had told me what we’d be doing.
“Where is my car?” Crystal screamed, hysterical.
“You parked it right there,” I said, pointing to the newly empty spot.
The wind picked up and snow had started to fall while we were inside the plaza. The sun had gone down, but it was barely one in the afternoon.
I looked across the parking lot and noticed, what looked like, two red eyes glaring at me from the trees. I had begun to think that the Sigmis family wasn’t actually looking for me. It had been an entire month without any more of what had happened on my birthday.
“Crystal,” I said, pointing to the spot by the trees where her car sat.
“How did it get there?”
“Don’t know, but do you see what’s behind it?” I pointed in the direction of the glowing red eyes.
“No, what do you see?”
“Nothing, let’s just go.”
We made it to the car and the red eyes didn’t move from where they were. I felt around in my bag for the pepper spray I carried, but pulled my hand back when the core gravel rock sliced my finger. I had forgotten it was in there. Once we were safely away from the shopping plaza, I opened the window when Crystal stopped at a red light, and tossed the rock out onto the grass.
About a block from my house, Crystal got a text from her mom, and she wasn’t happy. I told her I’d walk the rest of the way and grabbed my bags from the back.
Not long after I started walking, I heard another set of footsteps coming up behind me. I turned around, but nobody was there. I could see the gate that lined the yard next door to mine, so I quickened my pace. I stopped and looked behind me when I heard footsteps again.
Something was flung over my head so I couldn’t see, and two very large arms wrapped around my body, pinning my own arms to my side. I screamed as loud as I could, but no sound came out of my mouth. I started to panic and couldn’t think straight. Was this a test to see if I was learning anything from training or was someone really trying to hurt me?
I realized it was the latter when a searing pain developed in my head. I couldn’t think of what to do, other than kick my feet, which I had started to do the minute they left the ground. They were the only thing I had control over. I couldn’t produce sound from my mouth, and therefore, I couldn’t say a spell.
Alistair had been trying to teach me how to create a spell from thought alone, but I hadn’t been able to do it, no matter how much I practiced. I told him about the incident with the pillow, and later with the door. He said the ability was in me. I just had to figure out how to use it on command. I didn’t think I would be able to do it. My thought process had diminished when the blanket covered me, and I was unable to scream my head off. I calmed my breathing as my abductor carried me through, what sounded like, a wooded area.
Would a person capable of using magic actually need a blanket to cover my head, or to carry me off to an unknown area in the woods? I wouldn’t know what I was dealing with until I was put back on my feet and they removed the blanket. I decided to stop wasting energy on kicking when it was obvious that I wasn’t going to be able to free myself that way. I hung onto the shoulder of, what I assumed, was a large man, based on the sound he made when he breathed and grunted. I listened to the footfalls with each movement of his shoulders. The one I hung over dug into my stomach, and became very painful as we went on. We came to a stop not much farther along, and I was thrown, my rear making a resounding thud on t
he soft ground. I lifted my hands to make sure I could and reached to pull the blanket from my head.
“What the hell?” I looked around and realized I was alone. There were large footprints near where I had been dropped, but other than the prints, there was no sign of anyone in the woods with me.
I had to double my efforts to move. The pain in my stomach tightened, as did my rear from the landing. I tried to stand, but the ground shifted under my feet, and I fell backwards into the moss and dried leaves that covered the area. I heard a twig break up ahead of me and looked to see if someone or something would follow.
“Hello? Who’s there?” I could hear my voice echo as a shudder flew through me. Quickly, tears started to fill the lower lids of my eyes, but I swiped them away.
Taking a deep breath, I tried again with more anger than fear. “Who’s out there? Why did you bring me here?”
“To talk.” I heard a man’s voice coming from behind a tree, off to my left.
“I do have a phone you know.” I made it perfectly clear I was not amused, nor would I be afraid of a coward hiding.
“I don’t have the number. Sorry,” the voice stated. I tried to tell who it was, but it wasn’t a voice that I recognized. It sounded like it was being modified by a device of some kind.
“Then talk, but let me see who I’m talking to.” I tried to stand again, but it felt as though my behind was glued to the mound I sat on.
“You’re a warlock?” I asked. “Why cover me with a blanket and carry me off into the woods? You could have used magic.” I moved my feet so my knees were against my chest.
“It’s the middle of the afternoon. How would I have kept that from being seen?”
“Oh! And it was easy not to get caught putting a blanket over my head and kidnapping me?” I laughed at his idiocy.
My nerves were intact and I was more annoyed than anything. He had used a blanket to avoid being caught using magic. What a joke.
“Just tell me what you want. I have somewhere to be. People will be looking for me.”
Immortal Slumber Page 10
