“How could you let this happen?” he asked.
“Me?”
“Who else? You’re the one who started our family down the road of witchcraft. You’re the one who put us in danger.”
“It wasn’t my fault.” Madison heard her own pleading voice and winced. She would never convince her father of anything.
“You’ve been practicing magic for years.”
“I don’t practice magic at all.” Not really. She just sang.
“Don’t think I don’t know about you taking lessons from that half brother of yours.”
“That was a long time ago. He was just showing me how not to hurt myself.” At the time he wouldn’t have shown her anything else, although since learning that she was his half sister, he had offered to show her more. Almost all the family secrets, in fact. No thanks. She already knew more than she could handle. And she wasn’t a part of his family. Not really.
“Please. You already knew about your real father by then. Don’t deny it. I know you tried to tell the Scots you had no idea, but they weren’t fooled.”
Her real father? Madison squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn’t handle anymore of this conversation and as rude as it was, there was only one thing she could think to do. “Good-bye.”
She hung up.
Madison spent the rest of the night awake. She never slept at the full moon, but she usually tried. Tonight, she didn’t bother. She spent hours flipping through channels, watching late night TV until they faded into infomercials. Then she watched those.
She had never felt more alone in her life. Her father despised her. She’d known that for a long time now, but their conversation had torn open that old wound. He’d sold her out the previous year. Apparently he’d approached Victor Blackwood when she was eighteen, telling him he had a daughter and asking for money in exchange for keeping his silence. Madison had no doubt that the powerful sorcerer had no need to put up with such threats, but Victor had wanted her to have the money, even if he didn’t feel he could openly acknowledge her. Phillip hadn’t given any of the money to her. It turned out that he lost it all in a bad investment shortly before he kicked her out of the house. Maybe that was why he’d completely lost it when he learned that she’d studied music at college instead of math, as she’d led him to believe. Either way, he’d asked her to move out.
That was the night David had attacked.
Victor Blackwood learned that Phillip had never given her the money about a month later because Madison had been cleaning houses to make ends meet. Victor had given her more money, directly and anonymously this time. Then Victor had proceeded to curse Phillip’s future financial dealings. Madison didn’t learn any of that until six months later, when a desperate Phillip told her then-fiancé, Nicolas Scot, that her biological father was his family’s enemy.
Nicolas had betrayed her that same day, proving to Madison just how good a judge of character she was. Nicolas had enticed her in the first place by being there for her in the midst of pain and confusion – first from Phillip kicking her out of the house and then David McClellan trying to steal her soul. She’d feared magic, and Nicolas had offered her shelter. He’d shared some of his own doubts with her and she’d listened. He was the eldest son, the one who shared his father’s gift, expected to follow in his father’s footsteps. They even looked alike. But he wasn’t his father, he swore.
Madison wasn’t so sure, not after Nicolas had so fully embraced his father’s hatred of the Blackwood family. Yes, his father had recently been murdered and he was grieving, but even that was not enough to forgive the way he had turned on her upon discovering her link to Victor Blackwood.
She would never forget that night. The feud between the Scots and the Blackwoods had exploded and she’d already gotten caught in the middle of it. The terrible irony was that Evan himself – her half brother, even if they hadn’t known it at the time – had kidnapped her in a desperate move to rescue his cousin, Amanda, whom the Scots had taken hostage. And as if the relationships weren’t tangled enough, Amanda was Scott’s sister, putting him squarely in the middle of the incident as well.
Evan hadn’t hurt her. Now that she knew him better, she couldn’t imagine that he would have, but he had frightened her and pushed her away that night, forcing her to choose sides in a feud that had taken on a life of its own. Forcing her to side with her fiancé and the rest of the Scots. Irony, apparently, was not yet finished with her.
This time it was Nicolas who held her hostage. He became effectively deaf from the instant he learned of her blood tie to the Blackwoods, refusing to hear any of her protestations. He called her names she tried to forget, accused her of betraying him, then shoved her in a magically warded room until “I figure out what to do with you.”
Madison had miscarried a baby that night. She’d sobbed so hard that it felt as if she’d cried the baby out. And there had been a moment – only a moment but one that still haunted her – when she’d wished the baby away.
The loss of her unborn baby might not be Nicolas’s fault; she’d been so early in her pregnancy that she hadn’t even told him about it. He still didn’t know. Almost no one did. But she knew, and when she wasn’t blaming herself, she blamed him.
Cassie had never understood Madison’s relationship with Nicolas. To be fair, Madison had never done a great job of trying to explain. She’d loved him, in a way. For a while they’d each been what the other needed. She’d needed a refuge, and he’d needed someone to understand him and listen to him. But looking back, Nicolas had been more a friend than a lover and Madison’s greatest regret was not his loss, but the loss of the child she’d never known.
Now she had no one. She didn’t trust easily and of the people she did trust, Clinton was a newly bitten werewolf, Kaitlin had probably become a vampire by now, and Cassie was married to Madison’s half brother Evan, who wanted more from her than she wanted from him.
Or face it, she still hadn’t completely forgiven Evan for kidnapping her during the feud. Scott had been a part of that too, but since his sister had been a hostage she didn’t blame him as much. Besides, he hadn’t been her friend. He hadn’t been hers in any sense of the word.
Evan, on the other hand, had befriended her even before he knew they shared DNA. He’d taught her a bit of magic. Not the big secrets, but enough to keep her from hurting herself. He’d offered her a job when she’d had trouble making ends meet.
The only difference between Evan and everyone else who had betrayed her was that he’d apologized. Madison even thought he was sincere, but she didn’t know what to do with the apology. Evan would do anything for his family, which meant she was safe with him as long as he was sure she qualified.
What would happen if she told Evan what she really thought of his father? Of the entire Blackwood clan, which hadn’t exactly welcomed her with open arms? What would happen when she confessed that she had no idea how Victor had even been sure of her parentage? It’s not like they looked anything alike. She looked like her mom. And as far as she knew, no one had done a DNA test. She didn’t even want to be Victor’s daughter.
* * *
The doorbell rang mid-morning, snapping Madison out of a sort of semi-conscious stupor that bore little resemblance to actual sleep. She had hoped she might manage a nap once the sun came up, but no luck. Maybe she’d collapse into an exhausted slumber sometime the next afternoon, just in time to ride out the last night of the full moon. In the meantime...
Madison peered through the peephole, one of many lessons she’d learned from both Evan and Cassie. Never open the door for a stranger. It was the same lesson she’d learned as a child, but with a broader understanding of consequences.
Speak of the devil. Evan stood on her doorstep, holding a baby in his arms.
Madison opened the door. “Hi, Evan. What are you doing here?”
“Ana’s teething. Had her mommy up all night. Cassie just fell asleep so I thought I’d take the baby out of the house for a couple of hours.�
�
“Of course.” Madison pulled the door open wider and gestured the pair inside. Anastasia squealed and did a sort of nose-dive towards Madison’s arms as Evan strode by. Madison caught the girl mid-jump.
“It’s nice to see you too,” Madison said to the baby. She positioned the infant so she could blow a couple of raspberries on her tummy. Anastasia squealed in delight.
“She loves you,” Evan said.
Madison hugged the baby close, loving the feel of the tiny, wriggling body and the faint scent of breastmilk and baby shampoo. She wanted one of her own in a big way. Someone to love unconditionally. Someone to love her that same way. Unlike some other parents she knew, she would never betray that trust.
“Have you had breakfast yet?” Madison asked. She’d been sipping coffee all morning but hadn’t had any actual food.
“She has,” Evan said. “I bought donuts but I left them in the car because I couldn’t carry it all.”
“Donuts?”
“I’ll bring them in.”
Madison spread a baby blanket on the living room carpet and lay Anastasia down on her stomach. Within seconds she was on the move, not quite on hands and knees but close, taking off to explore parts of the house unknown. Anastasia hadn’t been doing that the last time Madison had seen her.
“Oh no you don’t. My house isn’t baby-proofed.” Madison set Anastasia back on the blanket and dug through her diaper bag for something to distract her. Before she found anything, the baby was off again, headed for an end table where Madison had a hot cup of coffee.
Easier to move the coffee, Madison decided. She picked up the mug and took it to the sink. By then Evan had returned with the donuts. He glanced at the coffee cup, at the half-empty pot on the counter, then up at her face.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing. Do I look like something’s wrong?”
“You look like you haven’t slept.”
“Oh that.” Madison shrugged. “It’s the full moon. I’m always nervous at the full moon. You know that.”
“I know a werewolf can’t get inside this house. I made sure of that.”
He’d insisted, actually. Madison hadn’t wanted any of his protections but he hadn’t taken no for an answer. So her house was warded against everything Evan could think of – and he thought of a lot.
“What’s going on?” Evan asked.
“It’s just...” Madison sighed. There really wasn’t a good reason not to tell him. And it was exactly the sort of thing he wanted from her. Trust.
But as if her general uneasiness around him wasn’t enough, Evan seemed to want to make up for over two decades of lost time. Cassie had confided in Madison that Evan had always wanted a brother or sister, so maybe that was part of it, but he tried too hard. Was too intense. They couldn’t go back twenty years, they could only move forward. Maybe if he would accept that, things could be better between them. Maybe.
“Madison?” Evan urged.
“My brother was bitten by a werewolf last month.”
Evan’s eyes widened fractionally. “Where is he?”
“I don’t know. That’s part of the problem.”
“I’ll give Scott a call.” Evan reached into his pocket for his phone.
“Scott knows. I went to him yesterday.”
“You went to Scott? Without me?”
“Well, I didn’t figure there was much you could do. I thought you’d call him.” Madison gestured at the phone. “I just cut out the middle man.”
“I’m not a middle man, I’m your brother.”
“Sorry.” She’d hurt his feelings. She should have known she would, but it hadn’t been her primary concern after Clinton had called. “Clinton called at two in the morning. I didn’t want to wake you.”
“Last night?”
“No, night before. I wouldn’t have gone to Scott during a full moon.”
“No, of course not.” He ran his fingers through his shoulder-length hair, a nervous gesture of his. “That was brave of you. I know he scares you.”
“A bit.”
“Just a bit?”
“Okay, a lot.” Madison selected a donut from the box while she worked to compose her thoughts. “He and I drove to Springfield together yesterday to look for Clinton.”
“Did you?” There was something like steel in his tone.
“I had to do it. Scott and I had a long talk on the way. We’d never done that before. It was... enlightening.”
“Madison, look at me.”
She did, studying the face that looked absolutely nothing like hers. They each took after their mothers. The only feature they shared in common was dark, chestnut hair, but it wasn’t such an unusual color.
“Stay away from Scott. You did the right thing going to him, but now let him do his job.”
Madison hesitated. He still didn’t know all of it. And he didn’t know she planned to go with Scott when he went looking for Clinton. Judging by the look in Evan’s eyes, she’d be better off keeping the rest of it to herself.
Madison looked past Evan to the living room, where Anastasia was attempting to pull the drapes down on top of her head. They’d probably stay put, but it was as good a cover as any. “Anastasia, no!”
* * *
Scott wasn’t at all surprised to find Evan Blackwood waiting patiently on his living room couch when he limped inside his house Tuesday morning. He barely grunted a greeting to his friend before sidling past him to his bedroom where he grabbed a fresh change of clothes and headed for the shower. He didn’t feel human again until he took his shower, and Evan knew it, which was why he didn’t say a word until Scott finished.
“Better?” Evan asked when Scott sat next to him on the couch.
“As good as can be expected.” He never felt completely human, no matter how much he washed.
“A wolf killed a couple of campers Sunday night. Did you hear?”
Scott gritted his teeth and nodded, once. Since he had two rogue wolves running around, he had expected it, but Saturday afternoon he had been too busy trying to protect his pack from some unknown danger to properly contain Clara – assuming she had been the wolf to do it. It could have been Clinton, but his instincts told him otherwise. He didn’t even think Clinton was still in the area, but he had absolutely no proof of that.
“What’s going on, Scott?” Evan asked.
“Pack business. Nothing you need to worry about.”
“I do worry when it involves Madison.”
“I take it you know about her other brother, then?” Scott asked.
“Yes. And the fact that you spent Saturday together.”
“I didn’t touch her.” Much. Intentionally.
“If I thought you had, I wouldn’t have waited for you to take your shower.”
Scott grunted again.
“Madison said she went straight to you for help,” Evan said. “She’s not as afraid of you as she should be.”
Scott laughed, even though nothing was funny.
“What?” Evan demanded.
“You still don’t know her very well if that’s what you think.”
“And you do?” Evan scowled. Scott knew he’d hit a sore spot, but he was the last person to advise his friend on how to deal with his sister.
“All I know is there are some things more important to Madison than fear. And apparently, Clinton is one of them.”
“I see,” Evan said, but Scott wasn’t sure he did.
“I’ve never seen anyone more brave in my life. Jessica was here when she stopped by and Madison didn’t even let that bitch scare her off.”
Evan’s eyebrows went up. “Jessica scares me.”
“Exactly.”
“All right, look.” Evan stood and ran his hands through his hair. “There’s no reason for you two to spend time together anymore, is there?”
“If so, are you offering to chaperon?”
“I’m serious.”
So was Scott, but he didn’t say so. “I
’m going to be on my own from here on out.”
“All right. I’m trusting you, Scott. Don’t make me regret it.”
Chapter 7
SCOTT HAD NEVER TRUSTED HIS INTUITION where Madison was concerned, but he had never felt so conflicted either. Part of him wanted to bring her with him – the part of himself that still wanted her as his own, that still dreamed it was possible. But doing so could not be more selfish, nor was it likely to work. Bringing her with him could do nothing but subject her to terrible danger.
Yet he had made a promise to take her along, which was why he now had to do whatever it took to convince her not to come. He thought he could dissuade her, but to do so he’d have to reinforce her worst fears of him.
She opened the door before he’d even rung the doorbell, clad in black jeans and a billowy dark green shirt that didn’t do much to enhance her luscious hourglass figure, though the color suited her smooth olive complexion. She had a black purse slung over one shoulder, and a look of determination shining in her eyes. She smelled more of determination than fear at the moment, a fact that nearly made him lose his resolve. He admired her courage, even as he shored up his own determination.
“We need to talk,” Scott said.
“I didn’t think we could afford to wait. We’ve already lost three days.” She wasn’t stupid. She knew he had come to talk her out of it, and she was trying to forestall the conversation.
“We can afford a few minutes,” Scott said. “I can, at least. You need to stay here.”
“I knew you were going to say that.” Her face fell, and she bit her bottom lip before saying, “I’m going.”
“Let’s talk,” Scott said again.
Madison stood aside, ushering him into her living room. He had never been inside this house, but it felt instantly familiar. Her scent lingered in the air, and he viewed the interior through what he knew of her, both from Evan and from the small-town rumor mill. She had sprung for expensive black leather sofas before she’d learned where her inheritance had come from. (After that, according to Evan, she kept trying to clean out her bank account by giving the money to charity.) But the house didn’t have much of a lived-in quality to it. There was no clutter, but not in the way of a fastidious cleaner. It was more like she never touched it. Down a short hallway he could make out several doors; one stood ajar and through it he could just make out a piano surrounded by scattered sheets of music. Her music room was clearly where she lived.
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