The Banshee's Embrace

by Victoria Richards

  She giggled a little as he fumbled to remove his clothes.

  "Slow down," she teased. "I'm not going anywhere."

  "No, you're not." Toby ran his hands along the length of her legs. Soft and smooth, just like he'd imagined. Her stomach quivered beneath his touch as he stroked and caressed her. When his mouth connected with her nipple, she gave another one of those moans that drove him crazy. Eagerly, he suckled at her while his hands roamed where they pleased.

  The dampness he felt between her legs enticed him, causing him to move lower.

  "Remove," he whispered and the panties disappeared. He grinned at the perks of being a wizard and he slowly, gently began to taste her. His tongue flicked at the most delicate part of her, causing her breathing to grow heavier. She twisted her pelvis as if to break away, but his strong arms held her firmly while he let his mouth suck and pull until he could feel her shudder with pleasure beneath him.

  "Toby!" she cried out, arching as an orgasm burst through her, turning her skin a soft shade of pink.

  "Shhh…" He soothed. "I'm not done with you."

  Toby covered her body with his own, and she clung to him, desperate and wanton. Her hands on him were almost enough to make him lose control as she guided him into her waiting chamber. When he entered her, he could have sworn the room lit up with electrical energy. Or maybe that was just how she made him feel--like together they created a current of power that felt too good to turn off.

  Jacqueline wrapped her legs around his body, forcing him to go deeper still, to touch the core of her being. Sparks sizzled off their skin as their magic united, blending them together. It felt almost as if they were floating, and Toby became aware that they actually were. Locked together, their bodies had lifted off the bed.

  "Whoa," he whispered.

  "No," Jacqueline said. "Don't stop."

  She surprised him then by taking control of the magic and somehow pinning him against the wall above the bed. Now she held the power, riding him, kissing his skin, fanning the flames of the fire, until they both found release in an explosion of passion that shook the entire house.

  Panting, Toby carefully willed the magic to float them back to the bed. Jacqueline wrapped her arms around him, her head nestled to his chest as they lay on the rumpled sheets.

  "That was crazy," she murmured. "Crazy good."

  "Yeah." He couldn't quite catch his breath, but he tightened his hold on her.

  Even with Gabriella, there hadn't been that kind of magic.

  "Did I see actual sparks?" Jacqueline asked. "Were we really floating?"

  "Yeah."

  "Wizard sex is awesome."

  Toby grinned, tempted to point out that her husband had been a wizard, too. But he thought better of it. Husbands, ex-girlfriends--that would spoil the mood and he didn't want that.

  For a few minutes, they lay there in silence.

  "Toby," she said at last. "I think there is something you should know."

  "What? You're not a virgin?"

  "Ha-ha," she said and he couldn't help but grin. "No. This is more serious."

  "Okay." He sat up in bed and faced her.

  "The man who killed my husband…you know him, too."

  "Who was it?"

  She chewed on her lip and gave him a worried look before spitting it out.

  "It was Gabe. He's not really the Keeper of Souls."

  "Then who is he?" he asked.

  "Your son."

  Soul Reaper

  "Jacqueline, my son could not have killed your husband."

  Toby kept his words calm, but inside he could feel a slow rush of heat at her accusation. The subject was a painful one to begin with, one he tried not to dwell on. He'd thought more about his past, including the loss of his dead son in the last day than he'd ever done before.

  "Toby, I know it sounds crazy and I'm not trying to hurt you," Jacqueline began, but he cut her off and got out of bed.

  "Then don't." He glared at her, unable to stop himself. "Don't talk about things you don't understand."

  "Look, while I was trapped in the funeral home with Derek, Gabe came to me and said that he wasn't really the Keeper of Souls. In fact, he made it sound like he'd made some sort of deal with the hag to get into the box. He knew I'd open it eventually. It was his way of appearing to be part of my family, so I would trust him. I don't know what happened to the real Keeper of Souls, or even if there ever was one. I don't think I can believe much of anything that Gabe says." Jacqueline took a breath. "The thing is, when you were coming to save me, Derek asked Gabe if he wanted to stick around and see the death of his father."

  Toby frowned.

  "That doesn't mean--"

  "Derek was talking about you! And then Gabe took off."

  "He didn't want to get caught. You just said yourself we can't trust anything he says."

  "Look, I know this is hard to believe, but I know what I heard." She crept up behind him and put her hands on his shoulder. "Will you tell me the story of your son and Gabriella?"

  Toby thought about that as she massaged his shoulders. He never let anyone in when it came to the past. There were times when he felt like he needed to talk about it, but there had been no one he trusted that much.

  Until now.

  He felt completely comfortable with Jacqueline.

  Maybe it was because he'd spent the last year secretly watching her, observing her in his bar or on the street, but he felt like he really knew her. Deep in his heart, Toby knew she would never betray the trust of a friend. She wasn't that kind of person.

  "Maybe if you can't talk about it," Jacqueline whispered, "you could show the past to me. Sort of like what you did when I talked about the night Eric died."

  He pulled away from her soft touch and turned to kiss her. Desire stirred in him again as she caressed his chest and then wrapped her arms around him. It was tempting to throw her down on the bed and make love to her again.

  But instead, he chose to let her into his life.

  "Close your eyes." She did as he asked and he kissed the tip of her nose. "Now just relax. I'm going to show you everything. And then you'll see that Gabe can't be my son."

  He placed his hands on her arms and took a breath.

  "Let the past and the present be one for a time." Toby began to chant…

  A gust of wind blew through the room, bringing in the past.

  *****

  "Get out of my sister's life." Derek Spark sneered at Toby, his contempt for the man obvious. "She doesn't need you to protect her. That's what family is for. You are not a Spark!"

  "You're the one who betrayed us to your family. We had everything under control until you butted it like you always do." Toby fumed. Gabriella's brother had always been unreasonable. Why couldn't he look past the rules of the Brotherhood and see that things could change." I'm a Williams and soon you'll have a nephew with the last name."

  "Not one that I would acknowledge!"

  "Then don't. We don't need you in our lives, Derek. It will hurt your sister to cut you out, but she'll survive."

  "Will she? I don't see how. Living with you and your kind would be enough to kill her!"

  Toby sighed and things were quiet for a moment.

  "I can't leave her or the baby, Derek. I love her." Toby grabbed Derek's arm, trying to make him understand. "All this stuff about wizard bloodlines not mixing is just old fashioned nonsense. I doubt it's even true."

  "What would the Brotherhood say if they knew about your new found viewpoint?" Derek asked. "Do you think they'd be as open minded as you are? I doubt it. They'd be down here to kill the child and probably my sister in a heartbeat. You may believe in change, but the Brotherhood clings to its archaic notions. And rightly so!"

  "C'mon. Don't tell me you really buy into the story they tell about what would happen if you mixed wizard blood? It's just a myth, a rumor created by some old wizards a long time ago who were probably pissed off about something. The idea was to keep their children away from ea
ch other." Toby watched Derek's face flush a deep red. "Gabriella and I didn't set out to defy the Brotherhood. We fell in love. She didn't think she could even have children!"

  "You fell in love?" Derek glared. "Then if you loved her, you should have left her. Not carried on with this."

  "It's too late now."

  "Is it?"

  The question didn't come from Derek. But Toby knew that voice, and his heart sunk.

  He turned to face his father who stood solemnly in the doorway.

  "What are you doing here?" Toby asked. "Who told you?"

  "Your mother."

  The older Williams stared at his son, displeased.

  "What are you going to do?" Toby rarely felt fear, but looking at his father, the feeling began to overtake him. His father never went against the Brotherhood. He often represented them in matters of wizard law, which was why Toby had not told his family about Gabriella. He had no doubt Josiah Williams would do whatever the Brotherhood commanded.

  Even if it meant killing his own grandson.

  "Where is Gabriella?" Josiah asked.

  "She's in the delivery room," Derek said.

  "I will see her at once." Josiah gave his son a stern look. "You stay here, Toby."

  "What are you going to do?"

  "What I must."

  "No!"

  Toby could see it in his father's face--Josiah would kill both mother and child.

  He moved to stop the older wizard, but found himself pinned to a chair, bound by the restraints of magic. His father's magic was far more powerful than his own.

  Derek laughed.

  "Excellent!" He smiled at Toby. "I believe I'll assist your father."

  "That's probably a good idea. Brotherhood laws prefer a witness from each family." Was that sympathy drifting through his father's eyes? Toby couldn't tell for sure and he didn't care as rage poured over him.

  "Come on then, Spark. Let's go."

  Josiah left the room, followed by Derek.

  It was the longest ten minutes of his life. It seemed the hospital had gone quiet. Toby knew it was due to a time altering spell. It would allow a wizard to do whatever needed to be done without mortals ever knowing. Toby had used it himself on several occasions, never dreaming that it would be used to murder his child.

  He thought about Gabriella and the baby and contemplated killing his father.

  But in the end Toby could do nothing but wait until Josiah returned.

  Josiah entered the room and nodded at Toby.

  "It is done."

  As the binding spell faded, Toby pushed himself to a standing position. He ran down the hall, passing doctors and nurses who were just beginning to catch up with time. Gabriella's room was just around the corner. Maybe there was still time…

  But the moment he saw her, his pretty dark haired Gabriella, he knew it was too late.

  "Stillborn," she said, looking at him with dull eyes. "All that worry between our families was for nothing. We didn't end up creating a powerful new breed of wizard. Your father came here for nothing."

  "Stillborn?" Toby let the words register, not sure how he felt.

  "The baby didn't even cry." But Gabriella did. Her sobs filled the room, making Toby's heart ache. He moved to comfort her, but she would have none of it. "No! Don't touch me. Just…just leave me alone!"

  She glared.

  "This is your fault, Toby! We never should have done this. I told you that our love was forbidden, but you kept pushing at me, breaking me down! And now…look! We have nothing!"

  "Gabby, I love you. You're grieving right now. In time--"

  "In time? In time I'll forget you. Go. I can't look at you."

  Toby was shocked by her words, but pressed on.

  "Gabby, where did they take the baby? I want to see my son."

  "I asked Derek to take it away." She sobbed again. "My son is dead."

  Our son, Toby wanted to say. Our son.

  But he didn't. Instead he backed out the door, numb with shock over the death of his child.

  Stillborn?

  Or had his father done something to the baby?

  It was a question that would haunt him forever.

  *****

  "Oh, Toby. I'm so sorry."

  Jacqueline's heart ached for the stoic man, and she wrapped her arms around him, wishing she could heal the wounds of his past. How awful to lose a child in the first place, but then to also have to wonder about whether or not your own father had played a part in it. She couldn’t imagine how Toby had dealt with that all these years.

  "What happened to Gabriella?" she asked.

  "She died a few months later. Suicide."

  Toby looked at her, the pain in his eyes raw.

  "I couldn't help her, Jacqueline. She just shut me out. I didn't understand it."

  "Oh, Toby." She kissed his cheek. "How awful for you."

  "I never got to see my son's body. The Spark family had a private funeral. Guess who wasn't invited? Me. My father and I never really spoke again. Even if he hadn't killed my son, I couldn't look him in the eye. That's when my mom started drinking, too. When my father died a few years later, I didn't even go to his funeral."

  He fell silent and Jacqueline continued to hold him, her mind whirling in a thousand directions.

  Derek had taken the baby's body away.

  The more she thought about it, the more convenient an excuse that seemed.

  What if Josiah Williams had just removed the problem, but not killed it? If he could cast a spell on Toby freezing him in place, surely he could cast a spell on Gabriella making her forget or become unaware of the truth about her child.

  In fact, that made perfect sense.

  After all, Derek had cast a spell on her to do his bidding.

  Her mouth tightened at the thought. He'd told her not to tell Toby about that. And she couldn't. The mere thought of telling him caused a sharp pain to race through her head as a warning.

  What was Derek going to make her do?

  She didn't want to be the one to break Toby's heart again.

  Maybe there was a way to warn him without actually telling him what had happened. If she could just find a magical loophole… But one thing at a time. She was certain that Gabe was Toby's son. If Derek had taken the child and he wasn't dead, then that opened a world of possibilities.

  The trick was getting Toby to see them.

  "Toby." Nervous, she took a deep breath. "What if the baby wasn't stillborn?"

  He stirred in her arms, but said nothing. Encouraged, she continued.

  "What if your father had a change of heart? Could he have put on a spell on Gabriella, making her say those things or make her think that the baby was dead?"

  "I don't know," he said, softly.

  "Maybe your father gave the baby to someone else."

  She felt Toby tense.

  "Are there spells that allow a person to command someone else to do things, but the person being commanded can't talk about it?"

  A sharp ache rose in her head as she asked the question, but despite the pain she persisted.

  "Yes. Command spells are powerful." He pulled out of her arms and turned to face her, frowning. "What are you getting at?"

  "Well, you said that you knew Gabriella loved you, but then she shut you out of her life, wouldn't even talk to you, right?" He nodded and she plunged on. "What if a command spell had been placed on her so that she couldn't tell you the truth about what really happened? I mean, that's how it works, isn't it? You know about the spell, but you can't talk about it?"

  Toby nodded.

  "So what if you knew you were under a spell, but weren't able to talk about it? Or if you knew your child was alive, but couldn't do anything to help him because of a spell?" Jacqueline stopped speaking, afraid to say the rest of her thoughts…the pain in her head increasing with each heartbeat.

  She didn't have to worry. Toby saw them.

  "You think Gabriella killed herself because she couldn't tell me the trut
h and she couldn't get to our child?" Toby asked.

  Jacqueline nodded.

  "Toby, maybe she really did love you, but had been commanded to stay away just to hurt you. Maybe her will wasn't her own," Jacqueline said.

  "I don't know… I never…"

  "Give it some thought," she said. "I really believe that Gabe is your son. Hell, he even has the male version of the name Gabriella. Gabe is short for Gabriel."

  Toby stared off into space, a trouble expression on his face before he stood up.

  "Forgive me, Jacqueline. I need a few minutes to think. Would you mind if I took a shower? Then I need to go back to the bar and make sure your friend, Angela, didn't burn the place down."

  "You left Angela in charge?"

  "It was a spur of the moment decision."

  "Go take your shower," Jacqueline said, but worry washed over her. Would Derek do anything to hurt Angela? "Hurry, Toby. I want to make sure Angela is okay."

  He nodded, but as he disappeared into the next room, Jacqueline couldn't help but ask herself the question that tormented her:

  What was Derek going to make her do?

  *****

  In the shower, Toby puzzled over the situation.

  Could it be true?

  Could his son be alive?

  Jacqueline's logic made sense. Thinking back to that night, he realized he had no reason to suspect that his child had lived. In his mind, he'd always assumed that if the child hadn't been stillborn, Josiah would have killed the boy anyway. Saving him, giving the baby a chance at life--that would have gone against the Brotherhood's wishes.

  His father never broke the rules.

  Still…something felt off.

  And then there was Jacqueline.

  She'd been trying to tell him something. He'd sensed the anxiety in her, but chalked it up to her being frightened about her experience with Derek. Toby had been afraid to push her about what had happened even though he really needed to know.