Chasing the Witch (Boston Witches) (18 page)

An hour after takeoff, Hannah was curled up on the bed in her room watching a movie. Jilly checked on her and made her way back to William so they could talk. Jilly blurted out all of the things on her mind. “I think we need a strategy. We need some sort of plan of attack. I don’t want to just blindly go into a bad situation where many people can potentially be hurt. We also need to decide what we’re going to do about Hannah. Do we think her parents are for sure dead?”

“I agree. Nik and I have already started thinking about a plan, but it’s still rough and we’ll talk more about it when we get home. As for Hannah, she can remain with us if she likes. I would love to have her. I don’t know a lot about the Shadow realm, so I’m not sure where Hannah’s parents were taken or if they were taken at all. Sabine could have just given orders for them to be killed.” Seeing the puzzled look on Jilly’s face, he continued with an explanation. “Shadow wraiths come from the realm of shadows. Usually when they are called into service, they come for specific people and take them back to their realm. I’m not entirely sure what happens to the people they take once they’re down there. Maybe they become shadow wraiths themselves. There are some wraiths that have become so powerful that they don’t need to be called to come up from their realm. They can come and go as they please, snatching people whenever they want. I don’t think the ones after Hannah are like that, though. Sabine called them and they can be called off. I’m hoping Kat can figure out a way to get rid of them without involving Sabine. I doubt that she’ll want to be helpful. Come sit down, your pacing is making me nervous.”

Jilly smiled and plopped down next to him. “I’d like Hannah to stay with us, but I think we should ask her what she wants. She’s had a rough year and telling her what she needs to do is the last thing we should do. I think we should find out if she’s got any family and go from there.” She sighed and leaned into William, letting his scent envelop her. “I’m done worrying now; let’s go watch a movie or something.”

William laughed, “Ok, as long as you’re done. Let’s go and see what we’ve got to watch then.” He got to his feet and pulled Jilly along after him. “I can probably think of something that we can do that’s more fun than watching a movie,” he said with a mischievous glint in his eye.

Jilly laughed. “Can you? Well, why don’t you tell me all about it then?” She let William lead her back to one of the bedrooms. As soon as they were through the door, he pulled her shirt over her head, marveling at how beautiful she was. Jilly yanked his shirt off as well and bit into his collarbone.

William growled and pushed her down on the bed. “See, isn’t this more fun than watching a movie?” He devoured her bare skin with his lips.

Caroline went to lie down in her room. She decided that going into work with two giant red handprints on her cheeks was a bad idea. She called in and told Tanya she hoped to be in later. She fell asleep quickly, her mind settling. She opened her eyes and she was back in her room in her house. Everything was dark, but she could see a light coming from the crack under her door. She got up and felt her way to the door in the dark, afraid of what she would see if she turned on the lights. She opened the door quietly just a crack and listened for any voices. She heard someone singing downstairs. She opened the door fully and padded down the hall. The singing grew louder as she made her way down the stairs to the kitchen. She found Patrick making breakfast in the kitchen, singing show tunes.

“Darling, you’re up. I was wondering if I was going to have to come up after you. Please sit and I’ll fix you a plate.” He gestured to the table and Caroline sat down hesitantly. He returned to what he was doing and finished making breakfast. He brought two plates full of food over to the table, setting one in front of her and then sat down across from her. “Tell me, my sweet, how did you sleep?” Caroline was unsure of how to answer.

“Honestly? I’m not sure. Am I dreaming now?”

Patrick laughed and despite herself, Caroline found she enjoyed the sound. “But of course you are; how else can I get you alone to talk?” He laughed again and Caroline found herself leaning toward him. “Let’s finish our breakfast and then we can talk more,” Patrick said sweetly. Caroline nodded and dug into her food, enjoying all of the flavors on her tongue. Once they were finished, Patrick took Caroline’s hand and led her out to the back patio.

“Please sit. Let’s talk for a while.” Caroline sat down next to him and let him draw her close. His scent was intoxicating. She felt as though she were actually breathing him in. “I think you’ve had the wrong idea about me all this time. I’m not the monster my brother makes me out to be. I’m as gentle as a kitten. You’re not scared of me, are you?” Caroline shook her head, sending her hair flying around her. She found herself tipping her lips up to his. The kiss was soft and sweet, and it ended way too soon for her liking.

“I need your help, my love. Will you help me?” He looked down at her, his eyes burning into her soul.

“Yes,” she said breathlessly.

Caroline went into the bathroom to see if the handprints were still there. They were faded quite a bit, but still visible. With a sigh, she went out to find Katya. She found her with Nik, sitting at the table with laptops in front of them. Katya was speaking in Russian to someone on her phone.

Nik looked up when he saw her and smiled. “How are you feeling? It must have been very disconcerting to feel him in your mind.”

Caroline smiled. “Yeah, that’s an understatement. I’m just glad he’s gone. Have you heard from Jilly or Will?”

“Yeah, William phoned an hour or so ago. They should be home in a few hours. Jilly is adamant about sleeping in her own home, so it looks like we’ll be moving again.” He shrugged his shoulders and huffed out a breath.

“Jilly’s very stubborn. It’s a Proctor family trait, sorry,” Caroline said with a laugh. “I’ll be glad to be in my own bed, though. Plus we have tons of space so there’ll be room for everyone. We have eight open rooms. I always thought it was funny that Jill lived in such a huge house by herself. When are we going over? After they get back or before?”

“I’m thinking before, so we can be there when they get home. I want young Hannah to feel welcome.” Katya put a hand on his and smiled as she listened to whoever was on the other end of her phone.

“I feel as though I’ve been living out of a suitcase, forever. It’s going to be nice to have all of my things in once place. Who’s Kat talking to?”

“Someone who may be able to help with the shadow wraiths that are after Hannah. He’s sort of an expert in the field of ghosts and wraiths. He might be coming here, if he can get away from his work for a few days.”

Katya hung up. “Alex said he’ll come. He’ll be here tomorrow night. He has a few ideas about how to get rid of them, but they may not work. We may have to compel Sabine to call them off.”

“Well, it’s a start at least,” Nik said as he stood up. “Go and gather your things, Kat. We’ll be leaving within the hour for Caroline’s house.” Everyone got up and went their separate ways to pack.

William went in to check on Hannah, on his way to speak to the captain. He found her asleep with the TV still on. He went in quietly to turn off the TV and cover her with a blanket. As he was bending down to pull up the blanket, her eyes flew open, but they didn’t look normal. They were a cloudy white color, and she appeared to be looking past him, or through him.

She grabbed his hand. “What you seek will never be; there cannot be two.” William jerked his hand away and Hannah seemed to wake up again. “Will? What’s going on?”

“You don’t know what just happened?” She looked confused and shook her head.

“I think you had a vision. You grabbed my hand, and your eyes were all cloudy. You told me that what I seek will never be; that there cannot be two. What did you mean by that?”

Hannah’s eyes grew wide. “I don’t know. I don’t remember saying any of that.”

William frowned slightly as he thought. “Has this ever happened before?”

“Yes, it’s happened before. Is this okay? Am I weird for doing this?”

William smiled and laid a hand on her shoulder as he sat beside her. “It’s totally fine. Every one of us has something different that we do. Want to see what I can do?” he asked with a wink. Hannah smiled and nodded her head. William made the TV remote and the phone on the side table fly in circles around their heads. Hannah laughed and caught first the remote and then the phone. “That’s not all either.” He held his palm out and a small blue flame appeared in the center.

“That’s so cool that you can do that. I wish I could do cool stuff like that. My stuff is weird.”

“Not weird Hannah, different. We’re all unique and you’re young still. You may have more talents we haven’t discovered, yet. Look at Jilly. She just discovered that she can teleport. We need to figure out how to control what you can do, or at least look for signs that it’s going to happen.” Hannah nodded.

“Did you have anyone in your family with abilities like you?”

Hannah shook her head. “I was the only one. Both my parents were as normal as can be.”

“Do you have any family in the states you want to find?” William asked cautiously.

“No, it was just me and my parents. What’s going to happen to me when this is all over?”

“Well, you can do what you want; but Jill and I would love for you to stay with us. I know we haven’t known you for long, but it feels right to have you with us.”

Tears crept down Hannah’s cheeks. “You have no idea what it’s like to finally feel safe after so long. I’ve been on my own for six months and I’ve been running for longer. I’m so tired; I can’t do it by myself, anymore.”

William pulled her close and hugged her, cradling her head against his cheek. “You don’t have to. You’re with us now. You’ll always have a place with us. I know we can never replace what you lost, but we can keep you safe.” They were both silent for a while. William let Hannah cry while he held her. He was appalled at what she had been through in her young life. Jilly found them sitting together on Hannah’s bed talking an hour later.

She came in and sat down next to Hannah. “What’s up?” she asked.