Summer Magic (The Thorne Witches Book 1)

by T. M. Cromer

“I only use it to keep the hair out of my eyes,” he explained.

  “May I?” she asked with a gesture toward his scalp.

  He nodded, and she was left to wonder how he portrayed such trust when he had to be squirming inside.

  With a wave of her hand, she closed her eyes and visualized a David Beckham-ish style; shorter on the sides but longer and wavy on top. She imagined his hair with subtle highlights and lowlights. When she opened her eyes, she caught her breath.

  Alastair, with his modernized style, was drop-dead gorgeous.

  “Oh, Dad!” she breathed.

  Nerves got the better of him, and he produced a mirror with a snap of his fingers.

  His grin was warm and engaging, occupying nearly half his face. “Well done, child. Well done.”

  She inwardly preened.

  With his new do, Alastair looked almost as young as Nash. Granted, witches and warlocks aged slower than the average human which made her father the equivalent of a thirty-five-year-old non-magical human.

  Nash voiced her thoughts. “No one would guess you’re close to sixty.”

  “Because I’m not.”

  “What?” Summer, Coop, and Nash chorused the question in the same tone of “Are you insane?”

  Alastair chuckled. “I’m closer to seventy-five. As are GiGi and Preston. Thank the Goddess for good genetics, huh?”

  “If I look that good at seventy, I’m going to offer up praise every day,” Summer said with complete truthfulness.

  Coop wrapped his arms around her and placed a soft, honey-sweet kiss on her lips. “You’ll look even better.”

  “I’m a little pissed you took the fun out of mocking his hair,” Nash said to Summer. “I suppose I still have that god-awful suit to poke fun of.”

  Alastair studied Nash’s clothing for a moment before he snapped his fingers.

  Summer giggled when she realized he’d traded their outfits.

  Nash scowled and magically changed into a clean set of clothes. “Not cool. Do you think I want to wear Alastair Thorne cooties?”

  Laughter bubbled up and out of her. “Cooties? Are you five?”

  Coop held up a finger. “Uh, babe, you do remember you used the term Rosie cooties, right?”

  Her scowl matched her brother’s. “Shut it.”

  “Incoming,” Nash said.

  The air crackled and three of her four sisters appeared.

  “How do you do that?” Summer asked him.

  His grin was lopsided and crafty. “Trade secret.”

  Summer greeted her sisters then took the measure of the room and its occupants. The mounting tension was a living, breathing thing.

  Autumn’s eyes swept Alastair before she turned her attention to Nash. “You the guy with the bat?”

  Oh, hell! Big sister wasn’t happy.

  Had Nash not raised his brow and put on the arrogant Alastair mantle, he might’ve gotten away with a scolding. As it was, Nash never saw the fist coming.

  He bent double and cradled his eye socket. “Sonofabitch!” His resulting sneeze from the cussing brought five curious raccoons to the kitchen slider.

  “I suppose we can be grateful they aren’t those muscled male kangaroos like they have in Australia,” Spring said with a nod in the direction of the back door. “Those fuckers are creepy.”

  Summer laughed so long and hard her family cast her worried looks. Life had been one major curve ball after another in the recent months. Her sanity was up for debate. But as she wiped away her amused tears, Summer realized she wouldn’t change her new normal. Life had become exciting in a way it had never been before.

  Her gaze rose to meet Coop’s shining blue eyes. In his gaze, she found a love that would sustain her for life.

  “I love you,” she mouthed silently.

  They stared at one another for a long moment. Then he was beside her, gathering her close. “I love you,” he said aloud. “More than I ever thought was possible to love another person.”

  “Oh, Coop’s game is getting gooooood!” Winnie squealed.

  They all laughed, and an easy camaraderie formed.

  “Let’s get this meeting out of the way. I need to ice my eye and get back to work,” Nash commented impatiently.

  Alastair stepped forward and arched a thin beam of red light toward his son’s injury. “Does that take care of it, or should I kiss it and make it better?”

  Nash grimaced but had the good manners to mutter a surly thank you.

  Summer grinned when she caught his good eye. She was going to like having a big brother. Nash didn’t know it yet, but he’d just become one of their own. A Thorne in the truest sense of the word.

  Coop released her with a quick squeeze. “I see Winnie brought some of her incredible cinnamon rolls. I call dibs on that top one.”

  Alastair put his finger on it. “This one right here?”

  Coop glared. Seemed he didn’t care for Alastair cooties any more than Nash.

  Summer giggled as she expected Alastair intended when he winked in her direction.

  Her father spread the warm icing on the bun and nodded to Winnie. “Thank you, child. I’ll leave you all to your planning. Should any of you wish to see Aurora, my door is open.”

  Stunned silence greeted his departure.

  “It’s like you altered his personality with that haircut,” Nash exclaimed.

  “Stop! He’s not the monster you believe him to be,” she admonished as she accepted the cinnamon treat Coop placed on the table before her. “He has feelings like the rest of you.”

  The surprised expressions on her siblings had her biting back another laugh. For so long they’d all viewed Alastair as the bad guy, but perhaps the true story still needed to be uncovered. But before she included her new brother in the planning stages to retrieve the Chintamani Stone, she needed to be sure he was on their side.

  “Nash, you’re either with us or against us. I’d like you to be with us. The stone is important to reviving our mother.” She swallowed hard and forced back the image of her beloved mother’s corpse-like body. “You said you lost your mom at an early age. Wouldn’t you do anything possible to have her back?”

  Nash’s somber jade-green gaze studied her at length. “I would.”

  She smiled her relief, but it died when he held up his hand.

  “But I won’t help Alastair.”

  She dropped her gaze to the maple-wood table to hide the effect of his words. To say she was disappointed was to put it mildly. She’d hoped he was on board to save her mom. “I see.”

  “I don’t know if you do, Summer.” Nash pulled out a chair, flipped it around, and sat beside her. With arms along the top of the chair back, he rested his chin atop his crossed forearms. “I’m sorry. If I could help you, I would. But I work for the witches’ council. Alastair is at direct odds with the council. He flaunts his power and butts heads every chance he can.”

  “But this isn’t for him, cousin,” Spring said in her beautiful, modulated voice, the one designed to bring men to their knees. “It’s for us.”

  His troubled expression said he was considering the request.

  “Will you at least think about it, Nash?” Summer urged. “You don’t have to decide today. We still need to determine the whereabouts of the Chintamani Stone.”

  With a slight grimace, he surveyed the group. “All right. I’ll think about it. Perhaps if we can utilize the power of the stone without letting Alastair get his hands on it…” He trailed off and shrugged. “We’ll talk more soon.”

  He patted Summer’s arm and rose to his feet. “I have to go. Mr. Carlyle, do you wish to go back to retrieve the vehicle?”

  “I’ll go,” Winnie said. “Coop, you enjoy the rest of the weekend with Summer. I’ll be back Monday morning to return you home.”

  After Nash and Winnie teleported, Autumn sank into the nearest chair. “I don’t trust him.”

  “You don’t trust anyone,” Summer countered.

  “True, but I esp
ecially don’t trust him or his father.”

  “Agreed,” Coop said as he swung a leg over Nash’s abandoned chair. “Although, they both have a certain charm that sort of grows on you.”

  Spring joined the trio at the table. “I say we find the artifact we need and don’t let either of them know until it’s time to revive Mom.”

  “I think that’s a good plan. We also need to get busy on Coop’s training if he is to accompany me to China,” Summer said. “Tums, will you consider training him?”

  Autumn thunked her head on the table. “Ugh! That means I have to return to Podunkville.”

  “Just for a while. Please?”

  “What about Winnie or Spring?” Autumn hedged.

  Spring shook her head when they all faced her. “Can’t. I’m too busy with all the weddings coming up this fall. Between the shop and getting bulbs planted for the spring, I don’t have a minute to spare.” The cagey look in Spring’s emerald eyes was suspicious at best, but her excuse sounded plausible enough. “I believe Winnie will have the same problem with filling her internet orders. That leaves you, sister,” Spring said to Autumn.

  “Fine. I’ll do it,” Autumn grumbled as she lifted a bun from the basket. “Anything else?”

  Summer took a deep breath and blurted, “Yeah, you’ll need to train Keaton too.”

  “Fuck. No.”

  “We may need him before this is done,” Coop said.

  “I don’t see how,” Autumn argued. “We’ve done fine without him until now. There’s nothing a novice warlock like Keaton can do for our family.”

  “Tums, I never ask you for anything. I’m asking you now. Please help me train Coop and Keaton,” Summer pleaded. “I originally asked Alastair, but I don’t want to be indebted to him if I can help it.”

  “I’ll think about it,” her older sister grumbled. “No promises. But first things first, Coop. You need to get your parents to remove their original spell. Until then, any training is a moot point.”

  “They fly home this week. I’ll talk to them then.”

  “This means you’re determined to go after the rock by yourself?” Autumn asked Summer.

  “I think we have to give weight to Helena Roerich’s diary. If it’s true that only a couple in love can retrieve the Chintamani Stone, then that’s me and Coop. But we need to wait until he is at full force.”

  “How long do you think Mom has?” Spring asked.

  “Six months? A year on the outside. I got the feeling Alastair is desperate.”

  “Okay. Then we do this thing the Thorne way,” Autumn said.

  “What’s the Thorne way?” Coop asked.

  The sisters shared a wicked smile. Summer was the first to answer. “Similar to the three musketeers but it’s more of a witchy quartet version.”

  “Oh, lord.”

  He was right to be concerned. When the sisters joined forces, trouble was sure to follow.

  Epilogue

  One month later…

  Coop’s gaze swept the aisle of the barn before coming to rest on the scurry of squirrels in front him. If anyone caught him trying to talk to the animals, he’d die of embarrassment on the spot.

  “Okay. Let’s do this thing.”

  He concentrated on the raw power that wove its way through his veins. With a concerted effort, he visualized the magic forming into a centralized ball. Once he held the sphere in his mind’s eye, he directed the magic to each cell in his physical makeup. His hands glowed bright, and he shot a triumphant look in Saul’s direction.

  The leader of the squirrel mafia didn’t look impressed. If a squirrel could shrug its shoulders and roll its eyes, Saul would be that squirrel.

  As the yellow glow shifted color to a darker more orange tone, Coop’s triumph turned to unease. The power built faster than he could contain it. The orange light shot toward Saul at the same time Eddie’s trunk reached through the bars of his pen to scoop the furry rodent out of the path.

  Luckily for Saul, Eddie had quick reflexes. Otherwise, Summer’s familiar would be charred to a crisp. Also, Coop had the good fortune for his electrical bolt to have ground out in the dirt of the breezeway.

  “That sonofabitch nearly cooked my goose! Did you see that, Rocco?”

  Coop frowned and glanced around. Had someone left a television or radio on for the barn animals?

  “Thinks he can throw freaking magic around all willy-nilly like some fucking David Copperfield or some shit,” the guttural voice complained. “I should freakin’ show him what happens to warlocks who think they—did you just sniff me?”

  “Can’t help it, Saul. You smell all nutty and delicious. Like a peanut butter sandwich,” someone replied in a contrite tone.

  Saul? Surely it was a coincidence. Coop’s wary gaze shifted to where the squirrel faced off against the elephant.

  “You don’t fucking go ‘round sniffing another man’s junk! Stupid big-assed, saggy-skinned, perverted mutherfucker!” Saul paced back and forth in front of the elephant pen. His tail hair stood on end as if he were fearful or, in this case, enraged. His stubby little arms waved about in the air like an old Italian mama scolding her young. “You know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna teach you a fucking lesson, is what I’m gonna do. Touch my junk?” The furious squirrel faced his more laid-back rodent companion. “Get me de knife, Rocco.”

  “Uh, boss, I don’t know if it’s such a good idea. The boss-lady might get pissed, ya know,” Rocco tried to reason.

  “Do I freakin’ look like I care?” Saul demanded. “I’m going to castrate me a mutherfucking elephant, that’s what I’m gonna do.”

  Dumbfounded and speechless, Coop watched the drama unfold. Damned if Saul didn’t remind Coop of a squirrel-like Robert DeNiro, right down to his little New York street-thug accent.

  “Saul, think about this, man. Eddie’s balls are three times your size,” Rocco said with a skeptical look at the elephant’s scrotum. “You’ll need a knife bigger than you could possibly carry.”

  Eddie stroked his trunk down Saul’s puffed up back.

  The squirrel turned positively rabid. “Don’t you freakin’ touch me you mutherfucker! What did I tell you about touching me?”

  Saul stomped off, and Coop figured he’d heard the last of the threats until the squirrel returned, dragging a rusted vintage razor blade circa 1889 or earlier.

  “Grab some bale twine,” Saul directed Rocco. “We’re gonna tie him up.”

  Things just got real in the animal barn.

  Coop had heard enough and whipped out his phone.

  Summer picked up on the first ring. “Hey, Coop.”

  “Yeah, I need back up in the barn. Shit is going down.”

  He heard the wheels of her office chair roll back along the hardwood floor.

  “What kind of things?” she asked.

  “It’s Saul. He plans to castrate Eddie.”

  Her laughter echoed around the barn as she instantaneously appeared beside him.

  “It’s not funny, Summer. I don’t know how to disarm a squirrel without one of us getting hurt. You see what he’s packing?” Coop demanded as he thrust his cellphone back inside his pocket.

  She doubled over, and tears streamed from her eyes.

  Irritation flitted through him. Here he was, trying to get her help to defuse an escalating situation, and there she stood, laughing so hard she sounded like a wheezy asthmatic.

  “What the hell?” he demanded.

  When she could finally keep a straight face, she wiped the moisture from her eyes. “He threatens Eddie at least three times a week. Poor Eddie can’t keep his trunk to himself.”

  “Macy is going to be heartbroken he is cheating on her.”

  Summer’s giggles erupted again. He noted the exact moment she realized he could hear the animals.

  “Coop! How… what… you…?”

  With a sheepish grin, he told her what he’d done.

  Instead of the anger he’d expected, she laughed and clapped her
hands. “Well done!”

  “You’re not mad?”

  “I might’ve been had you burned down my barn, but no, I’m not mad. I’m proud of you.” She embraced him and laid her cheek against his chest. “Extremely proud.”

  “Babe?”

  “Mmm?”

  “How about we teleport into the hayloft?”

  She laughed her delight. “I knew you were the one for me the moment I saw you, Cooper Carlyle. I’m glad you finally came around.”

  “I’m slow, but I’m not a complete idiot.” Coop lowered his head and captured her mouth with his. The languid kiss rocked them both. “I love you, Summer Thorne.”

  “I love you too, Coop.”

  Alastair Thorne smiled at the image of the couple in the mirror. He waved his hand and gave the two of them their much-needed privacy. After he placed the mirror on the bedside table, he perched on the edge of Aurora’s bed.

  “It took them long enough, but I think those two crazy kids are going to make it.” He smoothed back her black hair and traced her delicately arched brow. “You’d be proud of our daughter, my love. She has your temperament.”

  He straightened the already perfectly aligned buttons on her nightgown. “I suppose our next project is Autumn. She’s going to be a tougher nut to crack. But I won’t give up. I made you a promise, and I intend to keep it.”

  Alastair looked away from the pale face and out the floor-to-ceiling window of her room toward the setting sun. He blinked away the building moisture and smoothed a hand down his already pristine tie. The remaining words he wanted to say were trapped in his throat. None of them mattered. He’d spouted them all before. Promised her the moon and stars to return to him—all to no avail.

  But he could, and would, follow through on those promises. He would see that her children were happy—even if he had to manipulate her daughters to make it so.

  * * *

  Love what you’ve read? Turn the page for an excerpt from AUTUMN MAGIC.

  Autumn Magic Excerpt

  Nine years ago…

  Today was the day.