Page 93 of Wicching Hour

“Yes,” I said. “They’re getting tricky. I put a fae ward on the building, knowing she couldn’t break it, but I exempted everyone here tonight. I didn’t want any of you zapped by the ward. Frank was looking out the window and Calliope seems to have figured out a way to sneak past the ward through him.”

There was a knock at the back door and then Jake opened it. He nodded to everyone and then his gaze found me. “There were two men in a pickup truck. We clocked them when they drove by slowly. One of them hopped out of the truck with a Molotov cocktail he lit and threw. I tackled him, but he’d already let it go.”

He shook his head in disbelief. “It hit the side of the gallery, splashing fire, and then water flooded off the roof, putting it out. There isn’t even a scorch mark where it hit.”

Declan moved to the door, but Jake held up his hand. “We got it. Tyler got the one driving. Both are on the ground, trussed up with bungie cords we found in their truck bed.” He looked back at me. “I called the detective that was here earlier to say we had a couple of arsonists for her.”

“Thank you—both of you—very much,” I said.

He waved off my thanks. “Your ward did most of the work. I’m going to get back so Tyler’s not on his own when the detective arrives.” He went back out, closing the door behind him.

“She does love her distractions, doesn’t she?” I glanced over at Bracken, who was writing in his journal. “Everything okay?” I asked him, moving back to the table and sitting beside him.

“Hmm? Oh, I don’t think anything is okay right now.” He wore the barest of smiles. “I think, though, that itwillbe.” He finished his note and then turned back to me. “How did you know what was happening with Frank?”

“How do I know anything?” I asked. “I was feeling defeated. I just wanted to crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head, which isn’t like me.”

Declan chuckled. “You’re more the shove-the-big-idiot-who-thinks-you’re-a-conwoman-off-the-deck-and-into-the-ocean type.”

The memory of our first meeting warmed me, helping me shake off my unease. “Good times. Anyway,” I said to Bracken, “I wanted to get out of the responsibility of all this.” I gestured to the maps. “I knew then that something was happening to me. Yes, I’m exhausted and have been emotional today, but IneedCal caught and that damn book destroyed. Then I noticed Frank had yet to move from the window and him telling me to destroy Gran was totally out of character.”

“I said what?” His voice was still weak.

I shook my head as Robert’s grip on his son tightened. “It wasn’t you,” I told Frank. “Cal hates Gran. She thinks she should have been made the Council’s third years ago. She believes herself extraordinary and is angry that no one else, especially Gran, recognizes that.”

I studied Elizabeth’s family a moment. The fear was palpable. “It’s okay,” I told them. “You don’t need to be a part of this. I can do it.”

I stood and braced for what would come next. Declan opened his mouth to protest, but I shook my head. It wasn’t right to ask people to do something they couldn’t. Declan rubbed his forehead but held his tongue.

Elizabeth looked outraged. “You arenotthis family’s sacrificial lamb! We weren’t prepared. That’s all. Now, we will be.”

Robert nodded, a fire in his eyes. “She has no idea what we’re capable of.”

“Mom hasn’t paid much attention to my family, which is fine by us,” Elizabeth said, looking at Robert. “That means, though, that the rest of the family are unaware of our gifts.”

“Fascinating,” Bracken said, “and quite smart. What they know, they exploit.”

Elizabeth nodded, unhappy with the truth of that statement. “As you know from Sylvia’s wake, both Robert and I can speak directly into another’s mind. It was a gift of Bridget’s and mine. As far as I know, none of the other siblings can do it. Bridget and I used to carry on full conversations, each in our own classrooms, at school.” She smiled, remembering.

“After Michael was killed and she took her baby and ran, the link was still there, but she was silent. Sometimes I’d feel her grief, her fear. I’d speak to her, but she never spoke back.” She brushed away a sudden tear. “Maybe she worried Abby would think I’d been told about her sorcery and would come after me. I don’t know,” she said on a shrug. “I doubt Abigail would have noticed. I’m easy to overlook in the family.”

“She’s an introvert,” Robert explained, “in a family that prides itself on back-stabbing and clawing one’s way to the top.”

Elizabeth smiled at that. “I’m quiet and not even a little competitive. When the others were vying for attention, I was in my room reading. I had Bridget, though, so being overlooked was okay. It meant I didn’t have to deal with the fights and tensions. After Bridget disappeared,” she said, her voice faltering, “I faded away with her. People would walk right past me and ask Mom if she’d seen me.” She gave a bitter laugh. “And most of the time, Mom would say no.”

Robert kissed his wife’s forehead, murmuring something to her. She nodded, patting his chest.

“When Robert and I fell in love, I taught him my little trick.” She tapped her forehead. “I had a kind, loving voice up here again.” She gave her husband a kiss. “The point is, Cal will have no idea what gifts we have.”

Faith smiled at that. “You saw that Frank can create illusions that look and feel real.”

I nodded, remembering the tiny dragon that had walked across my palm.

“What I can do is a little different,” she said. She closed her eyes, held up a hand, and rain began lashing the windows. Lightning flashed across the sky and thunder boomed.

Faith was an elemental!

FORTY-ONE

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