Chasing the Witch (Boston Witches) (27 page)

“Fair enough. Any more rules I should know about?” There was a hint of humor in his voice. Jilly almost found it endearing.

“I’m sure Will is going to have some to add to the list.” She heard Nikolai’s voice as the men came down the stairs.

Nikolai shot Liam a disapproving look as he walked into the kitchen. “Come with me,” he said in a flat tone. Liam pushed his chair back and followed Nikolai out the back door.

“What’s the plan for him?” Jilly asked when they were alone.

“Nik’s going to question him further before we decide if we’re going to trust him. He’s going to be staying at a safe house of sorts that Kat and Nik set up years ago.” Jilly cleared Liam’s plate from the table and sat down next to William by the fire. Hannah wandered in from the other room and William’s eyes widened in shock when he saw the necklace she had on.

“Where did you get that?” His tone held something neither girl understood.

“I found it in a chest, upstairs. Jilly said I could wear it.”

“Will, what’s wrong?” Jilly asked when she noticed how agitated he was getting.

“That’s not an ordinary necklace; it’s a talisman of sorts. It has belonged to many powerful witches since the dawn of time. I’m curious to know how it ended up in an old chest in your house.”

Jilly shrugged. “I’ve never seen it before today. Hannah said she found it with my mom’s journal. What’s the big deal with it? I get that it’s old, but it’s just a necklace, Will.”

He shook his head. “That is not just a necklace, Jill, Every witch who has possessed it has left a piece of her power within the stone, and not all of the witches were good. There is some very powerful magic held inside of that ruby. Legend has it that whoever wears the stone can harness the power within. It would amplify anyone’s power one-hundred fold.”

Hannah shifted uncomfortably where she stood. “Ok, maybe I don’t want to wear it after all,” she said as she lifted the chain over her head.

William walked over to her and put it back around her neck. “Don’t worry, it’s not going to go off on its own or anything. You’re perfectly safe.” Hannah nodded uncertainly and excused herself upstairs.

Jilly quirked an eyebrow up at him. “What was that?”

He sighed. “Nothing. I just don’t want her to be afraid of things she doesn’t understand. She’s going to run into a lot of that living with us.”

Jilly smiled and kissed him softly. “You really are a sweet man, Will.”

Patrick and Caroline were lying in bed together, wrapped up in blankets. He had his arms around her, pulling her close to him.

“There’s something I should tell you.” His tone of voice made Caroline sit up and look at him.

“This sounds serious…”

He nodded and sat up as well. “I need to tell you about Hannah.”

Caroline’s anxiety level skyrocket when he said Hannah’s name. “What about her?” she asked.

“She’s my daughter, Caroline,” Patrick said quietly.

“What? How is that even possible?”

He sighed, not really wanting to go into the details but knowing that he had to. “I’ve gotten out of the tomb before, fifteen years ago. I was able to convince a group of young witches to help release me; and one of them happened to be Hannah’s mom, Angeline. We began a relationship almost right off the bat; she was young and very sweet. We had Hannah exactly ten months after I was released and I was so happy when she was born. Angeline started to have doubts about releasing me from the tomb. One night, she left Hannah with her sister and hatched a plan. She gave me a sleeping potion and got me back into the tomb by herself. I woke up as she was trying to recite the spell to imprison me. However, you know that it’s not a spell that you can do alone. The magic was too much for her and, as the tomb sealed shut, she died. I was forced to watch her burst into flames. She faded away screaming my name.” He stopped there and looked down at his hands, unsure of how Caroline was going to react.

“Hannah’s your daughter, then,” she said quietly.

“She is. Are you going to be okay with this?” He tilted her chin up, searching her eyes for the answer.

“I’ve come this far, haven’t I?” she smiled weakly.

“There’s more. Hannah’s in danger. Before I got out, Sabine was working for someone else. He hired her to find you, Katya and Hannah. He was very vague on why; but Sabine has never been discriminating on her employers, as long as they have the means to pay her.”

Caroline nodded, “Okay, so what are we going to do about this? We should probably talk to Jill and your brother, don’t you think?”

Patrick groaned and thumped back into the pillows. “I was rather hoping to avoid that; but if we must, we must.”

Caroline laughed and threw a pillow at him. “I’m not really looking forward to it, either. When I left, it wasn’t exactly on good terms. Do you want to call or should I?” He shot her a look and she sighed as she got out of bed to grab her phone. She padded across the floor wearing nothing but the skin she was born with, goose bumps covering her as the air hit. She snatched her phone out of her bag and raced back under the covers. “Are we ready for this?”

He looked into her eyes and kissed her softly. “I’m not sure if that matters anymore, love.” She took a deep breath and dialed Jilly’s number.

Jilly looked down at her phone. “Caroline’s calling me,” she said to William. “Should I answer? I don’t know if I’m ready to talk to her.”

William reached over and grabbed the phone. “Hello?”

“Hey, Will, we need to talk. Can we meet today?”

He sighed. “About what, Caroline? You’ve made your choice; so can you just leave us alone for awhile?”

There was a catch in her voice when she replied, “This is important, Will. It involves all of us. Can you please just hear us out?”

“Hang on.” He put his hand over the phone. “She wants us all to meet. They have something important to discuss. Do you want to do it?” Jilly nodded her head. “Ok, when and where?” he asked, when he put the phone back up to his ear.

“We can come to you if you want. I don’t really care where we meet.”

“Fine, be here in an hour. Tell my brother to behave himself.” He hung up before Caroline could reply. “I guess we should go and tell the others,” he said as he trudged up the stairs.

An hour later, Caroline and Patrick sat in the car in front of Jilly’s house. “I feel like I’m out past curfew or something,” Caroline said, trying to lighten the mood.

Patrick sighed. “We should probably go in.”

Caroline shot a sideways glance at him. He sounded almost resigned; she had never heard him that way. As they got out of the car, they linked hands. She felt the familiar zing of electricity and was reassured. They walked up the front steps to the door and knocked.

Jilly opened the door, a false smile plastered on her face. “Hi, come on in,” she said as she stepped aside for them to enter. Nikolai and Katya were seated by the fireplace and Hannah and William were on the couch.

Caroline felt Patrick stiffen when he saw Hannah sitting next to William. “It’s okay,” she whispered as they sat on a loveseat that must have been conjured up to accommodate them.

William turned to face his brother. “Okay, we’re all here. What do you have to say?”

Patrick let go of Caroline’s hand and stood up. “What I have to say concerns all of us, but Hannah in particular. This isn’t going to be easy to hear, but it needs to be said.” He turned to face Hannah and spoke directly to her. “I am your father, Hannah.” There was an audible gasp from everyone in the room.

William’s eyes narrowed. “How is that even possible?”

Patrick smiled wryly. “As I told Jilly before, this isn’t my first time out of the tomb. I have been out one other time, fifteen years ago to be precise. Hannah’s mother, Angeline, along with her coven, released me.”

“Why on earth would you ever go back in then?” William asked incredulously.

“It was not by choice, brother. Angeline gave me a sleeping potion and sealed me in the tomb. The magic within her burned her alive; the spell is too difficult for one witch alone and the magic turned on her. It was not a pleasant thing to witness.” His voice lowered to almost a whisper, his eyes never leaving Hannah’s face. “I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt her, or you.”

Tears slid down Hannah’s cheeks. “What now? Am I supposed to love you and call you dad? After you sent those things after me and the only parents I’ve ever known?” She was almost screaming at him.

He frowned. “I did not call forth the wraiths. That’s the other reason that I needed to speak with you all. Sabine told me that she was hired by someone and I believe he is the one who called forth the wraiths. We need to question her about him. I’ve not been able to get through to her since you’ve captured her.”

Everyone was quiet for a bit after that. William finally spoke up. “Is this for real or is this some elaborate scheme to get Sabine out?” He studied his brother’s face, looking for the lie.

“I’m a lot of things, William, but I’m not a liar. I think we both know that.”

“It’s not going to be that easy, Patrick. I cannot and will not ignore what I know just because you ask me to.” William’s hands were clenched into fists at his sides. Jilly touched his shoulder, feeling the rage simmering just below the surface.

“Patrick, you’re going to have to give us more to go on than this,” Jilly said. “You can’t undo years of distrust in a moment.”

Patrick scrubbed his palms over his face with a sigh. “We don’t have to like each other. I’m just asking for you to believe that in this instance, I have just as much to lose as you all do.”

William studied him and nodded. “Okay, I believe you. So what’s the next step? Talking with Sabine?”

“That would be my first thought, yes,” Patrick replied. Hannah stood and ran upstairs, the revelations taking their toll.

Jilly got up to follow, but William stopped her. “Let her be for bit, Jilly. She needs some time to process this on her own.” Jilly nodded and sat back down.

Nikolai spoke up. “Are we honestly supposed to just let you walk into a secure prison? I need some sort of assurance that you won’t try anything.”

Patrick sighed. “Look, I understand that you don’t trust me. I really do, but this is my daughter we’re talking about. I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize her safety. We need to know who hired Sabine. We might have better luck if I speak with her. You obviously haven’t gotten through to her.” The last bit was spoken with derision.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Nikolai spat out.

“I think you know what it means. You all haven’t exactly solved a ton of problems yet, have you?” Nikolai sprang from his chair, launching himself at Patrick.

“Enough!” Caroline screamed. “Why on earth does everything have to be a fight? We are all on the same side with this. You boys need to grow up and learn to work as a team. Hannah’s safety is the most important thing here, so get a grip and let’s make a plan.”

Everyone was suitably chastised and they set about preparing for what would come next. It was decided that William, Patrick and Nikolai would speak with Sabine and they would go from there.

After Caroline left, Jilly sat in the kitchen by the fire. She was sad to not have her sister there and angry that she had even left in the first place. She looked up when Hannah came in.

 “Hey, I was going to come look for you in a few minutes. I wanted to give you some time. Are you okay?”

Hannah shrugged and put on a weak smile. “I guess. It’s just weird, you know. I knew I was adopted. I just never imagined I’d actually meet my birth dad. He’s not exactly what I pictured.”

Jilly snorted. “I know the feeling. He’s not what I pictured for a brother-in-law either. What I will say is this, he seems to care for you enough to come and ask for help. That has to count for something, right? The question is, do you want to know him? He’s your dad. You’ve got to be at least a little curious about him.”

“I am. I’m just more nervous than curious right now. Plus, Will obviously doesn’t like him, and I trust his opinion more than my own.”

“Hannah, Will loves him. Patrick is his brother, so of course he loves him; they just have a complicated relationship. I think knowing that Patrick isn’t responsible for all of this crap going on is going to help in that respect, too. We won’t be angry if you want to know him, honey. He’s your dad and you have every right to have a relationship with him.”

Hannah was quiet for a while, just looking into the fire. Finally she spoke, her voice almost a whisper. “Maybe you should be easier on your sister. I’m hoping for her sake and mine that Patrick isn’t a bad guy. Even if he is though, she loves him and you should support her the way that you will support me if I choose to get to know him.” She got up and left Jilly once again alone by the fire. She knew Hannah was right, of course, but she did not have to like it.