Autumn Storm (8 page)

“Thanks,” she said.

“I mean that in a positive way. Not sure if
it came out that way or not.”

“I understood. My case worker tried to help
me remember. She let me read my file.”

“Case worker?” he asked. “Like at the
hospital?”

“No, at the orphanage. I’m an orphan.”

Beck said nothing. The tension was back.

“You’re doing it again,” she said,
frowning.

“Sorry. Just, uh, thinking about
something.”

“You okay?” she asked. Autumn studied him.
Something she said upset him. She had no idea what.

“Yeah.” He forced a smile.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“No.”

“Are you going to be washing your hair on
Sunday?”

He laughed. “No. We’ll hang out.
Promise.”

Could she tell how freaked out he was? Beck
tried to keep smiling and talking. Autumn was eyeing him, though.
He thought it strange she showed up to the boarding school with an
amulet already but dismissed his instinct. There was no way his
mother wouldn’t warn him, right? Weren’t they all in this mess
together?

Maybe it was a huge coincidence. He
desperately hoped so. He didn’t know how to use his magick anymore
than he had almost two months ago. He wasn’t ready for the
reincarnated Summer to appear.

“When was your accident?” he asked. “You
seem to have healed quickly. I mean, if it was recent.” Nothing he
said came out right around her. He wasn’t certain if it was nerves
or simply trying to be a decent person. He’d been happy being a
semi-normal teen obsessed with blond girls and music. The
transition into a protector hadn’t yet clicked like he hoped it
would.

“You’re so odd,” Autumn murmured. “Three
months this weekend.”

It wasn’t a coincidence. Summer went off a
cliff three months ago on Sunday. The placement of her scars, the
orphan story, déjà vu … hell, even her name!

The damn former Mistress of Dark kept her
secrets too well.

“You’re doing it again!” Autumn exclaimed.
“I swear, I’ll walk home, if you don’t stop it.”

Beck almost laughed at her threat, aware she
wasn’t going to walk anywhere with her leg like it was. For once,
he didn’t say what he thought.

“Did you have fun at the game?” he asked
after a long pause. If he didn’t get his mind off his discovery, he
was going to go as crazy as Decker.

“I did, thanks. Adam and Jenna will make
such a cute couple.”

“Didn’t she just get here?”

“I don’t think that matters to guys like
you.”

Beck did laugh at this. He wasn’t sure what
to think, knowing Summer was sitting in the car with him. It was
exhilarating to know she was alive. She was also very different
than the timid, impressionable girl he remembered, and that made
him want to doubt she and Autumn were the same person. He rather
liked talking to her, which was a first for him. Normally, he
wasn’t as interested in talking to a girl as much as he was
figuring out how to get her pants off.

Since breaking up with Dawn, he’d kept his
pants on. His father advised him to be more careful, but it was a
combination of getting Dawn pregnant and his new role that made him
more cautious. He hadn’t come to grips with the idea of being a
father
and
the protector of all Light witchlings.

It was a lot to ask, considering the
importance of both to someone who hadn’t wanted to deal with
reality before a few weeks ago.

“It sorta sucks,” he voiced out loud.

“Adam and Jenna?” Autumn asked.

“Oh, no. Growing up, I guess.”

“It does. I want to be normal.”

“You’re too cute,” he replied with a grin.
“And special.”

“All of us are,” she said. “I mean, we have
weird superpowers, right?”

That part of Summer remained, the one that
had no idea how beautiful she was. If not for Dawn, Beck might’ve
broken his blonds-only rule when Summer arrived to the school a few
months ago. Expressive brown eyes, milky skin, hourglass shape and
huge breasts. She’d been innocent and sweet. Yeah, he saw what drew
Decker to her.

Autumn had a different kind of beauty. She
had a delicate build with large, striking blue eyes, long hair that
formed natural corkscrews, and a rounder face than Summer’s. She
was shorter and slender with a touch of olive to her skin that made
her white-blond hair stand out. While gentle, Autumn possessed a
more critical eye and thicker skin. She wouldn’t let someone like
Dawn push her around, as Summer had.

“None of us will ever be normal,” he said
with a snort, mind on the night he made a deal with the forest
creatures to reincarnate Summer.

“Keeps things interesting.” Autumn shifted
her leg.

Beck wanted to curse. His earth magick was
sometimes a little too subtle. It had been warning him Autumn was
in pain all night, and he hadn’t paid attention. One day, he’d be
able to respond to his instincts better.

“Here. You’re hurting.” He held out his
hand.

“I’m not
hurting.
”

“Whatever,” he said, amused at her arch
tone. “Take it, woman.”

Autumn did so grudgingly. Summer wasn’t
stubborn, either. Autumn’s body pulled at his magick and relaxed as
it spread through her. She sighed.

“I don’t know how you do it,” he said,
listening to what the magick told him about her injuries. “You’re
in a lot of pain.”

“You grow a tolerance to it.”

Beck glanced at her, dismayed to see she was
serious. His sense of excitement at Summer surviving faded,
replaced by the reality that she’d probably suffer the rest of her
life. Was a second trial worth it?

“I’m so sorry,” he said.

“I’m not. I pulled through when no one
thought I would. I’m grateful.”

He said nothing and squeezed her hand.
Autumn rested her head against the headrest. Within minutes, she
was asleep. Her body told him she hadn’t had a moment of sleep
without pain. Beck pushed more of his magick into her, wanting to
make up for the guilt stinging his emotions. He spent the trip home
in thought.

She slept until they reached the school. He
nudged her awake, released her and walked around the car to open
her door. She took the hand he offered. He didn’t risk her
rejection and instead helped her up the stairs. Too tired to
object, Autumn and waved at him with a yawn as she entered the main
house. Beck crossed his arms in the cold night and waited for her
to close the door behind her.

Now that she was gone, he could freak out
all he wanted. He rubbed the back of his head and trotted down the
porch stairs to his car. He wasn’t accustomed to the intensity or
wide range of his emotions and slammed his hand into the car roof,
frustrated. Resting his forehead against the cold metal, he focused
his thoughts. He needed to talk to his mother tonight.

“Hot date?”

Beck cursed himself quietly for not
listening to his magick. He’d set up an alarm of sorts to warn him
when Dawn was around. His father advised him to avoid the girl at
all costs, especially being alone with her. She was unstable enough
to accuse him of anything and everything under the sun.

The alarm was going off, and he’d been too
freaked out by Autumn to pay attention. One day, he’d get this
right!

“Hi, Dawn,” he said and lifted his head. He
forced a smile, determined not to get sucked into Dawn’s moods.

She came from the direction of the kitchen
entrance, dressed for a night out. Beck’s gaze swept over her. She
wore a tight mini-dress and heels high enough to bring her close to
his six-foot-two height. Dawn had always been the most beautiful
girl he’d ever seen, with features and a body that got her into
modeling when she was twelve. She’d left her career for the
boarding school when she was fifteen. Right now, she was pretending
to be friendly and sweet with a smile that used to pull him in.

As hot as she was, regret and guilt had long
replaced anything else he felt for her.

“Hi, Beck,” she said.

“I’m taking off,” he said and opened his car
door.

“It’s a girl.”

He froze. His gaze dropped to her abdomen.
At four months pregnant, she was starting to show and still dressed
for the club. Dawn shivered, appearing vulnerable in the cold
night. She hugged herself.

“I’m giving her my last name,” Dawn
continued. “I, um, wanted to see if you had any name ideas.”

Beck was silent for a long moment. “I hadn’t
thought about it.”

“Huh.” She raised an eyebrow, and a spark of
anger in her gaze warned him.

“I mean, you just told me it was a girl.
I’ll have to think about it,” he added quickly.

Dawn drew closer. She stood a couple of feet
from him. The world was closing in on him. First Autumn, now a baby
girl. Beck wanted to run away screaming.

“Is … she healthy?” he asked.

“Of course. I don’t smoke or drink anymore.”
Dawn reached out to him and took his hand. She placed his palm
against her lower belly.

His earth magick felt the new life. Beck
swallowed hard. He left his hand on her stomach when she dropped
hers, unable to fathom the idea that his own child grew there. He
wasn’t ready to be the protector of Light witchlings. He was even
less prepared to be a father.

“Are you certain we can’t … make things
work, Beck?” Dawn asked. “Even for her?”

He understood how dangerous the question
was. Beck thought hard for an answer that wouldn’t set her off.
When he was quiet, she stepped closer.

“Wouldn’t it be nice to be a family?” she
asked.

“I’m not ready for that,” he said at
last.

“And I am? So what, you’re going to make me
raise
your
kid alone?”

She was right. This was as much his
responsibility as hers, and entirely his fault for not thinking
before sleeping with every blond girl that crossed his path. Beck
didn’t know what to say.

“Your father’s legal team hasn’t even asked
for visitation. Does that mean you don’t want anything to do with
us?” Dawn searched his gaze.

“I’ll make sure you’re both taken care of,”
he replied hoarsely.

“I’ll never model again, Beck. You realize
that, don’t you? And it’s your fault!”

Overwhelmed, he said nothing.

“Fine, abandon us!” Dawn whirled to
leave.

Beck caught her arm. “Dawn, wait.” He sought
anything to say. “I don’t want to abandon you. I want to be a part
of my daughter’s life.”

“What are you saying?”

“I don’t know.”

She sighed noisily. “You don’t know. Great
one, Beck. Daddy is right. You’re an irresponsible, immature
idiot.”

You don’t know the half of it,
he
agreed silently. “I need time to figure things out, Dawn.”

“What is there to figure out? We’re having a
baby. If you want to see your daughter, you’ll give us a
chance.”

“Let me think about it.”

“You’re such a loser. Master of Light?
You’re worthless, Beck!” She strode away.

Beck didn’t wait for her to make it inside.
He dropped into his car and slammed the door closed, locking it. He
couldn’t handle another surprise this night. His jaw was clenched
tight enough that the muscles on both sides were twitching.

What he hated most was that Dawn was right
about him. He was a horrible Master of Light. He’d make a terrible
father. He sat for a long moment, until the chill of the night made
him shiver. Pulling himself out of his mind, he started the car and
drove it down the gravel road to the paved road leading towards his
parent’s cabin.

He pulled into their driveway, noticing that
there was light on in the family room. It made the pine trees
outside the window glow. Someone was up. He hoped it was his mom.
Beck waited for the garage door to open then pulled in. He trotted
up the stairs leading from the garage to the kitchen.

The cabin was warm and smelled of cinnamon.
He walked down the hallway on the ground floor into the family
room. His step slowed.

His mother was there, but she wasn’t going
to be in any shape to advise him. A beer glass filled with what
looked like his father’s expensive scotch was on the table beside
the couch. It was half empty. Next to it was an orange prescription
bottle. His mother was on the couch, asleep. The former Mistress of
Dark, she wasn’t the kind of person one could creep up on. If she
didn’t sense him, she was beyond out.

Beck picked up the bottle, not surprised to
see it was for sleeping pills. He knew why she was hurting: Beck’s
life was a mess and Decker was going crazy. He brushed his mother’s
face with his fingertips. Her shadows inched away from the Master
of Light. Earth magick confirmed what he thought.

“You okay, son?”

Beck glanced towards the recliner. His
father was sitting with an electronic reader, wearing jeans and a
t-shirt. He removed his glasses.