Page 51 of Lahaina Noon

“Mmm,” Gabe mumbled around a mouthful. “I love the ones with cheese and jalapeño.”

“Gabe,” warned Bridget.

He swallowed, clearing his throat. “Sorry, Mom.” he grinned at her and mimicked a sing-song voice, “No talking with your mouth full.” He looked over at Liam, “Moms, am I right?”

Liam laughed, “You think she’s bad? My mom would have smacked me in the back of the head. And Drake, well, he’s just as stuffy about manners.” He dropped his voice to copy Vaughn’s, “Pick up the trash from your room. Don’t forget to pick up the dry cleaning, quit staring at that young lady’s—”

“And that’s enough of that,” Vaughn interrupted.

Gabe was still snickering when a frantic knock beat at the door.

Vaughn leapt to answer it, moving with a speed Bridget wouldn’t have believed possible if she hadn’t known about dragons. When the door opened, Marco rushed in, closely followed by Siobhan and Killian.

“Drake, man, you’re okay!” Marco breathed, patting him on the shoulder like he wasn’t sure he could believe his eyes. “What is wrong with you guys!” he yelled. “We’ve been trying to call you all morning!”

Liam grimaced, “I forgot to charge my phone last night, battery is dead.”

Bridget and Vaughn looked at each other. They had both left their phones in the bedroom last night when they went on their adventure. They hadn’t checked them since they’d returned. Vaughn turned to Marco, demanding an update, while Bridget ran to the bedroom to get hers.

She pulled it off the charger where she’d left it and saw dozens of missed calls and text messages. Most of them were from Jorrie and Jack. Quite a few texts from her friend group as well. Glancing through them, she came to understand something drastic had happened early that morning, and no one knew where they were. She debated briefly about who to call first, but by this time, they were probably together. She dialed Jorrie, who answered on the first ring.

“Bridget? Bridget! Please, God, let that be you!” she shouted.

“Jorrie!” Bridget shouted over her friend, “It’s me. I’m here. I’m fine.” She heard Jorrie let out a breath.

“Thank God, oh thank God. Jack! She’s fine. I have Bridget on the phone. She’s fine.”

Bridget heard an engine revving and pictured them speeding down the road in Jack’s classic Mustang.

Jack was shouting, “Where is she, are they at Vaughn’s? Let her know we’re almost there.”

She heard tires squealing as they went around a corner fast. “Yes, I’m at Vaughn’s, I’m here, he’s here. Gabe and Liam are here. We just didn’t have our phones with us.”

Jorrie was quiet for a minute. “Bridget, I’m so sorry. I know how much that place meant to you.”

Bridget’s mind reeled. What place? What was Jorrie talking about? She heard a car door slam.

“We’re here,” Jorrie said breathlessly, “We’ll be right down.” The call disconnected.

Just then she heard Gabe wail loudly as if in pain. Bridget dropped the phone and ran back to the living room. What the hell hadhappened? She said “Jorrie and Jack are in the garage, they…” she trailed off.

Gabe was sitting on the sofa, looked shell shocked, and Vaughn was pacing the floor, fury waving palpably off of him. His talons were snicking in and out, and smoke was pouring from him like a chimney. Marco and Killian were standing between them all, clenching their own fists.

Gabe looked up at her and sobbed “Mama!” She ran to him, wrapping her arms around him. He held onto her, shaking, and crying. “The house Mom, the house.” It was all he could say.

She looked to Vaughn for answers. All she could get from him was black waves of anger and something about Shadows and her house.

Another burst of frantic knocking on the door sent Killian rushing to open it. Jack and Jorrie burst in like a whirlwind and ran straight to them.

“Aunt Jorrie!” Gabriel wailed, throwing himself into her arms.

Jack picked Bridget up and squeezed her so hard she couldn’t breathe. He put her out at arm’s length and looked her up and down— for what she wasn’t sure, but he seemed satisfied and pulled her back in.

She could hear Jorrie crooning to Gabe the way she had when his father had died. She rocked him like a baby, and it was telling of his state of mind that he didn’t protest. Bridget couldn’t take it anymore. She backed away from Jack and started speaking, softly at first, “Look, I appreciate you all being here, and I’m so glad we are all here and okay, but I have yet to know what actually happened because no one seems to be able to give me a straight answer.” Fear got the best of her, andshe shouted, “So will all of you, just stop andtell me, what the fuck is going on!”

Everyone froze and stared at her in shock. It was quiet except for the sniffling coming from Gabe.

Vaughn rushed to her side. “Bridget, my love, I’m so sorry.” He pulled her gently to his chest. “The Shadow Claw, they retaliated for our escape yesterday, and now they’re playing hardball. My darling, they set fire to your house before we could finish warding it. I’m afraid there’s nothing left.”

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