The Witch's Consorts: The Complete Series, page 68
Mom shifted her weight uneasily. “I just wanted to say my piece. Her coming back, this strange trip you went on, leaving all your clients—I don’t know what to think. I just want to know you’re okay.”
“I am,” I said. “Nothing’s wrong at all.” Well, other than the malevolent demons lurking less than a day’s drive from here, but she didn’t have a clue about that. She was just, what, trying to protect me from a broken heart?
She’d always fussed a little more over me, as if she wasn’t sure I really could handle the real world after all the time I spent staring at screens, but I’d thought she’d gotten over that. I had survived on my own just fine since I’d left for college eight years ago. How much more proof did she need?
“Ky,” she said, “if you’d just think what I’m saying through, make sure you really know what you’re doing here…”
I got up. I didn’t know whether I felt more hurt or angry, but neither of those emotions was going to take this conversation anywhere good. “I always know what I’m doing, Mom. I thought you’d trust my judgment more than this by now. Are you hassling Seth about how he’s been spending his time lately?”
Mom blinked at me at the mention of my twin. “Why?” she said slowly. “What has your brother been doing that I’d be worried about?”
Crap. She didn’t realize how much time he’d been spending with Rose too. I guessed with him out in his new house out of town where he could hop the stone wall into the estate without anyone noticing, the gossip mill hadn’t started going about him too. He’d slipped under the mom-concern radar… until now.
“I don’t know,” I said, hoping my face didn’t show how flustered I felt. “I was just making a point. You definitely don’t need to worry about him either. And I, ah, do actually have a job to get back to at home, so I’d better get going. Thank you for the pie!”
“Kyler,” Mom said, but I was already heading out the door with a little wave.
Chapter Three
Rose
When I stepped close to the stone wall that surrounded the estate, the magic I’d already cast into and over those worn blocks tingled over my skin alongside the cool early morning breeze. Still there, still holding, but not with enough power that I felt completely secure.
The sun was only just peeking over the horizon, streaking the sky with a hazy glow, but I had to do this outside work now before the estate’s few remaining employees from town showed up. I could only imagine what people would be saying if word got out that the newest Lady Hallowell went dancing along her wall every day.
The grass whispered under my bare feet as I set them down in the first movements of the form. I reached to the spark of my magic inside me and pushed that energy out through my body with the weaving of my hands. Every gesture I made called for protection, for shielding. I sent that energy up from me, all around the estate. The Frankfords might control some of my actions with the oath we’d taken, but I wasn’t letting them get anything else from me. No magic of theirs was going to break through this barrier to spy on us. No sound would travel over these walls from more than a few feet away.
It would have taken hours for me to circle the entire estate with its extensive forested grounds. At the back I simply cut across the gardens, tying my protections to the farthest hedges. When we’d first returned here, I’d laid down a basic warding spell around the whole property. I’d bolster that once a month. The guys and Naomi knew not to say anything sensitive that far from the house, just in case.
My two guests… well, I hadn’t been able to explain to them why I was setting up protections in any detail, but they’d gotten the gist. I didn’t think they’d be shouting about their secrets in the forest anyway.
That forest used to be the part of the estate that gave me the most sense of safety. Back when it’d been just me and my father and the employees, I’d escaped the loneliness of the big old house to ramble among the trees with the guys who were now my consorts. Recently, while we’d still had to hide our relationship, we’d snuck out there to meet. So many fond memories were tied to those woods—and now the Frankfords’ looming threat had cast a shadow over them.
I set that thought aside and focused all my concentration on solidifying the magical wall laid over the real one.
By the time I’d made it back to the front gate, my muscles were trembling from the effort and sweat had formed on my forehead. I wiped it away, letting the strain fall from my body with an exhaled breath. I had a lot of power—Naomi said more power than she’d ever seen any witch use before—but not a lot of practice yet. An hour of concentrated magicking every morning should be doing wonders for my endurance.
I was just turning away from the wall, wondering if I might slip up to the garage-top apartment and pay Gabriel an early visit, when an engine rumbled up the road outside. Not one I recognized. I stepped closer to the wrought-iron bars of the gate, into the range where my voice would travel past it if need be.
The tan compact pulled to a stop just outside. The driver-side window rolled down. A woman with a wispy black pixie cut leaned her head and arm out. She didn’t speak, her mouth set in a flat line, just flashed an ID with a crest I knew way too well. She was requesting entrance on the authority of the Assembly’s Justice division.
I gave her a tight smile and pressed the controls for the gate. The Frankfords had sworn that they and their allies would see that the charges they’d encouraged against me were dropped and that they wouldn’t pursue any further ones, but that didn’t mean the rest of the Assembly couldn’t take issue with what I did. I still had to play by their rules when they came calling.
The woman drove in and parked to the side of the drive just inside. The gate clanged shut behind her car. I stood there, fighting the urge to fidget, as she grabbed something out of the passenger seat and got out.
There was no way to know whether this particular Assembly enforcer was just a regular witch or one with ties to the Frankfords. I couldn’t exactly ask her.
She shut the door and adjusted her leather satchel over her shoulder. “Investigator Ruiz on behalf of the Assembly,” she said. “I believe you’re Lady Hallowell?”
“That would be me,” I said. “What’s this about? I didn’t know there was anything to investigate here.”
One of her thin eyebrows lifted. “Two witches with no relation to your family have recently disappeared from their homes—and we’ve determined arrived here. Their families are concerned. I’m simply here to make sure there’s no reason for that concern.”
Oh. I should have expected this. I had expected a visit like this in the first few days after Lesley had turned up, but when no one had come calling, I’d assumed that was the end of it. Had it really taken the Assembly this long to figure out where she and Imogen were, or had their families been waiting for what they felt was the best time to prod me?
And if the latter, why had they chosen now?
I couldn’t exactly ask Ruiz either of those things. I gave her another polite smile and motioned toward the manor. “There isn’t anything to be concerned about, but why don’t you come in so we can talk. You can speak with the witches you’re here about too if you want. If they’re not up yet, they should be soon.”
Ruiz nodded and followed me to the house. I ushered her through the grand front hall into the less imposing sitting room off to the side. If it’d been a little later in the day, one of the staff would have ducked in to see if we wanted anything, but right now it was on me to act as full host.
“Can I get you some water or something else to drink?” I asked as Ruiz sat on the velvet cushion of the settee.
She waved her hand dismissively. “No need. I’d rather get out of your hair as quickly as possible. Let’s get down to business.”
I could appreciate that attitude. She didn’t seem accusatory so far. I stayed wary, but my fingers unclenched as I sank into the armchair across from her.
She opened her satchel on the mahogany coffee table between us and took out a computer tablet that she flicked on. As she tapped through to whatever files she was looking for, the corner of my lips quirked up. Most of the witching folk I knew were still stuck on pen and paper. Kyler would have liked this one.
“So,” Ruiz said, looking up from the tablet, “can you confirm that Miss Lesley Portsmith and Miss Imogen O’Brien are currently in residence on the Hallowell estate?”
“They are,” I said. From the hum of the pipes overhead, at least one of them was currently in residence in the shower.
“And on what date did each of them arrive here?”
I thought back and told her. Ruiz typed on her tablet’s screen.
“What reason did they give you for coming here?”
I paused. I didn’t want to get my guests in trouble—or Naomi, for putting out that whisper that the Hallowell estate was a good place to seek sanctuary.
“They didn’t feel safe, and they thought they’d feel safer here,” I settled on. “Maybe because I’m a young witch like them, managing the estate on my own? And because I made it through the trouble with my father.” I didn’t know how much the investigator knew about my arrest and the chase across the country last month, but Dad had been arrested by the main body of the Assembly. The Frankfords couldn’t have erased their memories of that.
“That’s all there was to it?” Ruiz said skeptically.
“I think if you want more details about their situations, it’d be better if you asked them directly,” I said. “I don’t know how much they’d want me to share. And that should be up to them, shouldn’t it?”
Ruiz considered me for a moment. I thought I caught a flicker of a smile. “I guess you’d be proving them wrong for coming here if you said anything else.”
“Is that a problem?”
She shrugged. “Not necessarily. I’ll see what they have to say for themselves. You hadn’t been in contact with them before they arrived here?”
I shook my head. “I met Lesley once or twice at functions in Portland years back when her family was visiting, but we never talked outside of that. I don’t think I’ve met any of the O’Briens at all.”
“And what have you done for them since they’ve arrived?”
“The usual things you’d do for guests?” I said. “Made sure they had a place to sleep and food to eat. Other than that, they haven’t asked for anything.”
“Hmm. Have you told them anything to encourage them to continue feeling they’re unsafe if they leave here?”
I’d told them I believed them, that I knew sometimes consortings were twisted for bad ends. I hadn’t volunteered any specifics because the oath stopped me from doing that. “I don’t think so,” I said honestly. “But I wasn’t going to turn them away when there’s no reason I couldn’t take them in.”
Something in the cock of Ruiz’s head sent an uneasy jitter through my nerves. I had the sudden suspicion that she was using magic right now, magic she’d put in place before she’d gotten out of that car, to help her judge my reactions. A lie-detector test of sorts. It couldn’t be an official one, because she’d have needed my permission for that, so it wouldn’t be incredibly effective, but she was gleaning something from whatever physiological responses she was tuning into.
Well, fine. I was telling the truth.
Ruiz looked at her tablet. Then she raised her gaze to meet mine again. “Regardless of what you know about Miss Portsmith’s and Miss O’Brien’s specific situations, have you seen reason to believe that there’s some sort of malicious activity in the witching community that witches like them would need to be protected from?”
My spine stiffened. How the hell could I answer that? “What do you mean by malicious activity?” I asked, keeping my voice even. If she knew something already, maybe I could at least acknowledge it, even if I couldn’t volunteer the facts.
The investigator’s expression offered nothing. “I was hoping you could tell me.”
“I…” The few things I could have told her, the bits of my own experience not covered by the oath, would have sounded crazy without proof. I saw a demonic creature in a cave on a cliffside. Yeah, that would go over well.
“I’ve seen reason to be wary,” I said finally.
“What reason?”
“I’m sorry. I can’t discuss it.”
Ruiz’s eyes searched mine, and in that moment I thought I saw real concern on her face. Something had slipped through the Frankfords’ cover-ups, something had made her worry, and she wanted to stop it, not support it.
“Lady Hallowell, the Assembly can’t help you or the other women here unless we know what we’re dealing with. If you have a complaint to make, I’m here to take it.”
My throat constricted. “I can’t discuss it,” I repeated.
I couldn’t tell if my emphasis was enough. Ruiz studied me a moment longer and then leaned back. “You can always come in to the Justice Division if you have something to report. You can even ask for me directly. And if we find any evidence that leads back to you, we’ll have to bring you in and insist on a full interrogation.”
That last remark could have felt like a threat, but Spark help me, I wished they would find that evidence. That it didn’t all hinge on me like it did right now.
“I know,” I said, and couldn’t help adding, “I’m sorry.”
Ruiz let out her breath. “I suppose you’d better send down your guests now, if they’re ready to speak with me.”
Ruiz sent me out of the room while she talked with Imogen and then Lesley. They didn’t look unsettled when they emerged, but Ruiz came out with a frown. When she left, after one last pointed glance at me, I went up to my bedroom and flopped on the bed. Emotion was tangled tight in my chest.
A minute later, the door eased open. Gabriel climbed on beside me. I turned, scooting closer into his embrace.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“For now,” I said. “I think so. I guess it’s possible the Assembly will decide I’m harboring fugitives or some other stupid charge and come back to arrest me for that.” I didn’t have a whole lot of faith in the Justice Division’s version of justice these days.
“They’ll see,” he said, kissing my temple. “We’ll expose the Frankfords and the rest of them, and the families like your aunt’s will stand up and end this.”
“I just wish we had more. All those files don’t do us any good if we can’t find verification somewhere else that the oath doesn’t cover. They’ve been scheming for so long, drawing in so many people… We don’t even know which women they’ve roped in, not for sure. Frankford was too damned careful even with his private files.” There were records on those witches, of course, but under aliases I didn’t know.
“We’re making educated guesses, chasing down those leads. Kyler’s out near the coast right now looking into some things, isn’t he?”
“Yeah.” I didn’t like that either. They’ve sworn not to hurt any of my consorts, but he was still so much more vulnerable than I was. “I wish that video you took had turned out better.”
Gabriel had managed to film the demon and some of the confrontation with my father in the cave on a phone. But when we’d viewed it later, the image had been blurry, the audio distorted by a warble of the energy that had been pulsing from that portal. We weren’t convincing anyone of our outlandish story with that as our only concrete proof.
“We’ll get more chances,” Gabriel said, hugging me tighter. “I know we will, because I know you, and I know there’s no way you’d ever give up on this.”
I hugged him back, tucking my head into his warmth. Having Gabriel’s confidence meant more than I knew how to say to him. He’d lost his father because of how mine had treated them, tossing Mr. Lorde aside after generations of loyal service to the Hallowells. But he’d come back to me, supported me, sworn himself to me with more love than I ever could have asked for.
He kissed the side of my face, my cheek, heading toward my lips. I raised my chin to meet his mouth. But I only got to enjoy the heady heat of his kiss for a few seconds before the sound of the gate buzzer filtered through the door.
I groaned, but my pulse skittered at the same time. Maybe the Assembly was coming back to arrest me already.
“Do you want me to come with you?” Gabriel asked. If he’d been on duty, it’d have been him opening the gate anyway.
“Let me see who it is first,” I said.
From the huge windows at the front end of the house, I could see down to the gate even from the second floor. A cherry-red Mustang was parked by the gate. And the young blond woman who was just stepping up to the bars was familiar enough that my breath caught in my throat.
Gabriel glanced at me. “You know her?”
I managed to nod. “That’s Caroline Almeida. Her parents are some of my father’s—and the Frankfords’—closest colleagues. What the hell is she doing here?”
Chapter Four
Rose
Caroline Almeida sat primly on the same settee Investigator Ruiz used less than an hour ago. She looked so polished with her impeccably subtle make-up and the crisp cut of her blouse over her tailored slacks that it was hard to feel she’d take me seriously as lady of this estate. I was still in my dress that was rumpled from casting, my hair mussed after my snuggle with Gabriel. For a few seconds, I was taken back to those teenage years when I’d wandered around the witching get-togethers in Portland feeling gawky and out of place.
Then Caroline rubbed her mouth with a brisk motion of her hand, her eyes twitching away from me and back, and I realized at least part of the reason she looked so stiff was nerves. She didn’t know what to expect from me either.
“Oh, hey, another visitor?” Naomi said, ambling in. “Nice to meet you! I’m Naomi.”
Caroline went even more rigid, but she accepted Naomi’s handshake. Her gaze shot back to me.
