Page 76 of Extra Witchy

Your father and my mother had an affair.

“Is everyone else inside?” she asked, rather than prolong the most awkward encounter of her entire life.

“They are. It’s just my brother, Paul, and my sister, Ruth. Our partners aren’t here at the moment. We thought it best if we didn’t overwhelm you with new faces.”

“I appreciate that.” She stepped forward, moved to pull the door open, but Brian stayed her with a brief touch on her arm.

“Dad doesn’t have long. I suspect he’s been holding on for you. I don’t blame you for not coming sooner—it’s so much to take in—but he’s suffered a lot the past couple months. I understand if you’re not kindly disposed toward him. I doubt I would be either. But it would mean a lot to the rest of the family if you couldsayyou forgive him, even if it’s lie.”

“To let him go peacefully?” she guessed.

Brian. Paul. Ruth.Her siblings had names now. So did her elusive father, Dennis Seaton. She stared at the paper placard outside his door, the man Junie had loved and failed to keep beside her, the one who had chucked them both. She raised her face, wishing she felt nothing—that tears didn’t sting the back of her eyes.

Just then Trev strode up and registered the scene. He hugged her immediately. “You got this. I’ll be right here if you need me.”

Bracing, she separated from him, opened the hospital room door, and went inside. The smell hit her first—sickness overlaid with cleaning products, a faint mustiness that no amount of lemon solvent could scrub away. Paul stood by the window, staring out at the parking lot; he appeared to be the youngest—in his midforties, which still put him seven or eight years older than Leanne. He resembled his brother, Brian, though Paul lacked the same distinguished air. The woman, Ruth, had bright-blond hair that came from a bottle, and she wore plenty of makeup, unsuccessfully trying to conceal dark circles and pallor that came from spending all her time at the hospital.

More magic washed over her, much fainter from Paul and Ruth. Realization hit her like a ton of bricks.They’ve been feeding him their energy to keep him going until I got here.It was no coincidence Dennis Seaton had managed to hold on while waiting for Leanne. His two youngest children had given themselves over to fulfilling that last request, and this display of filial devotion choked her up a bit. While he might’ve been shitty to Junie and Leanne, he must have been a much better dad to Ruth and Paul—that they’d go this far. The council disapproved of witches sharing magic in this fashion, as it skirted perilously close to necromancy.

Yikes. I must have that in my lineage as well.

Despite Ruth and Paul’s best efforts, Dennis Seaton looked like he had one foot over the threshold already. His skin was waxy and thin, bruises up and down his arms from bloodwork and IV tubes being moved. Witches tended to live a long time, as they were immune to certain human ailments, but other illnesses were unavoidable. She couldn’t see much of his face with the oxygen mask covering the bottom part. His eyes were closed, and Leanne had a hard time imagining him healthy and alert. His magic fluttered within him, a dying trickle that filled her with sorrow for never knowing him when he was hale, when he might’ve taught her about spell work or some important father-daughter truth she’d never learn.

“Dad.” Ruth pressed his hand. “She’s here. Wake up. You wanted to meet her.”

At first, there was no reaction. Leanne wondered if she’d left it too late. Then her father’s eyes opened, a weak and watery gray with blue flecks and darker circles around each iris.I have his eyes.That absurd thought shook her. An unsteady breath shuddered out of her as he raised a shaky hand, reaching toward her. She didn’t want this, didn’t want any of it; it was too bittersweet to say farewell at their first meeting.

I never had a dad, and now he’s dying.

But she stepped forward anyway, taking his bony fingers in hers. He was so cold that she nearly let go, but he held tight. “Sorry. Sorry. I…” A coughing fit took him, then he managed to say, “My fault. Sorry.”

Granting Brian’s request was nothing, she realized. “It’s okay,” she said. “I have a good life. My husband is outside waiting for me, I have a degree in communications with a minor in political science, and I was just elected to the city council in St. Claire. You can go with my blessing. I don’t hold anything against you.”

Ruth let out a little sob, and Paul turned from the window with an incredulous look. Brian made some vague gesture preventing the younger brother from articulating his skepticism. Leanne covered the old man’s hand with her other one and held on as he gasped for breath. A single tear trickled down his papery cheek, then the machines went wild.

Five minutes later, Leanne lost the father she’d never known.

***

It didn’t take long before Leanne staggered out, pale, trembling, and shell-shocked. Trev caught her when she stumbled, and the rest of the family emerged from the hospital room, the woman weeping openly while her brothers tried to comfort her. Hospital staff ran in, but death could only be delayed for so long.

He had no idea what the hell he was supposed to do in these circumstances. They couldn’t expect Leanne to help with funeral plans, right? Would they expect her to attend? Quietly, he took his wife’s hand and tried to convey support while people whose names he didn’t even know cried in front of him. The oldest brother conferred with the hospital staff in a low tone, presumably making arrangements.

Leanne squeezed Trev’s hand. When he leaned closer, she whispered, “Should we go? I have no idea what I’m doing here.”

Before they could make a break for it, one of her brothers strode over. “I just want to thank you again for making the trip. You did everything—”

“Except show up on time,” the other man sneered. “You’re not even part of our family! Your mother seduced our dad, and yetyou’rethe only one he cared about seeing at the end? Do you have any idea—”

“Paul,” the older one cut in sharply.

While Trev wasn’t necessarily Junie’s biggest fan either, it wasn’t fair to blame a twenty-year-old girl for the choices a grown man had made. Plus, he felt the way Leanne recoiled, and hell no, he wasn’t having that. “I get that you’re upset,” he said coldly. “But my wife did your family a favor. If your grief means you can’t be civil, then we’re done.”

He pulled Leanne with him toward the elevators, ignoring the older man’s attempts to get him to slow down. Finally, she tugged on Trev’s hand. At least she looked amused now rather than shaky. He’d never seen her so uncertain before, and damn, it nearly did him in.

“I didn’t know you had that in you,” she said.

“Too much?”

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