Fire Spell (18 page)

It hurt to hear her say that. I couldn’t imagine Finn walking out of my life forever with no trace of his existence. I always thought I would know where he was, or what he was doing even if we weren’t together. How did Gigi live with that loss in her heart for the rest of her life?

“Did he have a last name? At least that’s something I could give to Finn. He doesn’t know who his parents were. He was adopted by humans.”

“Leo Giovanni.”

“Is that Italian?” It sounded Italian, like mobster kind of Italian.

“Yes, my dear. Why?”

“Because Finn’s last name is Delano. Doesn’t it seem strange his human parents are Italian?” Maybe I was reading too much into it.

“I’m not sure.” She stood from the bench. “I’m headed in this direction.” She pointed to the street closest to us. It was the route to her townhouse. She wanted to see something between her and Leo one last time. I knew by being here, she was resolved with never coming back to this day.

“Gigi, what else? What else do I need to know to defeat them?” I didn’t want to talk about the
Fire Spell
, but these catastrophes seemed to descend upon my life when other more important things should be at the forefront, like spending time with my grandmother. I would give anything to spend the day with her on this bench laughing and talking.

She wrapped her arms around me. I inhaled the lavender for the last time. “You’re going to be fine. You’re a strong witch.” She patted my back as if she was sending me off to school. “But watch the moon cycles. They begin to gather during the new moon, but on the first night of the full moon on the last Friday of the month is their ceremony. There should only be one of those all year, so I hope you haven’t missed it.”

I took a mental note: first full moon Friday. It was like figuring out the date for Easter each year. I hoped it hadn’t happened yet. Maybe we had months to prepare for it. Maybe I would be able to make sense of everything by then.

“Bye-bye, dear. See you for dinner tomorrow.” She giggled then crossed the street.

I watched as she passed a storefront and walked out of view. My heart sank. I felt like I had lost her all over again.

I looked at the bench. I needed another moment to pull myself together before I returned to the present. My world was suddenly a heavy place to be in.

T
HE CONFERENCE
room was quiet as I closed the supply closet door behind me. I pulled out my phone to check the time. I had no idea how long I had been in 1949. The minutes had blended into hours, and all I could do was try to absorb the enormity of what was in front of me.

My phone buzzed in my hand, taking in missed calls and texts that couldn’t reach me in 1949.

There was one from Ian.

We have a problem. Call me when you’re back.

I immediately tapped on his name to make the call. “What’s wrong?” I ditched the usual pleasantries.

Ian cleared his throat. “I think you’re going to have to come down here.”

“What do you mean? Where’s Finn?”

There was a long silence.

“Oh, he’s here.” My brother didn’t sound happy.

“So what’s the problem? Bring him back. I have to go look up moon charts and find out when we’re supposed to perform the spell.”

“Ivy, he’s not coming with me.”

I leaned against the conference room wall.

“What? He has to.” I was starting to get angry and I didn’t mean for it to rub off on Ian. I knew he was the messenger.

“He’s in the middle of something big and he won’t tell me what it is, but maybe you can figure it out or at least convince him to put it on hold. I’ve tried everything.” He paused. “Ivy, he’s different.”

I closed my eyes and sighed into the phone. “Ok. Text me the address. I’ll be there tonight. I have a few things to take care of here, but I’m on my way.”

“Will do. Sending it now.”

I ended the call and waited for Ian’s text. Things could not spiral out of control more than this. What could have gone so terribly wrong on Finn’s quest to make him deny his best friend’s request, or mine for that matter? The sinking feeling hit me again. What if I had been right? What if he had gotten over us, and the idea of a
Fire Spell
completely disinterested him. Maybe saving the world didn’t matter to him anymore. Could the quest have taken over?

If my keys weren’t in my room, I would have hopped in my car and headed south for Savannah without talking to Jack, but they were tossed somewhere in my leather bag and I wasn’t about to fiddle with a spell to hotwire my car. My mechanical skills weren’t that great.

I slipped the keycard into the door and pushed it open. Jack and Holly were on the bed watching a movie. They looked happy, chummy I’d say. At least he looked like he was in a better mood.

“Hey. How did the
Time Spell
go?” Holly asked. “We were watching a John Wayne movie. These westerns are kinda hot.”

I groaned. Right now, I would trade in all the world’s disasters and write that damn western if I could.

Jack stood and walked toward me. “You ok?” His eyes bore into mine as if he was searching for any ounce of hope I could give him.

“Um, are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Holly interrupted the moment.

“Right. I know.” I turned to face her. “I need your help while I’m gone.

“Gone? Where are you going?” Jack’s voice was rough.

I picked up my jacket and slung my leather bag over my shoulder. Maybe if I raced out of here it wouldn’t be nearly as awkward.

“I have to drive to Savannah. Ian needs help.” I looked at Holly. “Can you look up all the moon phases for this year and find the one when the first day of the full moon lands on the last Friday of the month? There should be only one all year.”

She looked puzzled.

“Grandma Grace told me that’s when we have to do the
Fire Spell
.”

“You talked to your grandmother?” Her voice rose an octave.

This would be hard to explain. “I did. She
Time Spelled
at the same time I did, and we ran into each other. Although, I’m starting to think nothing that has happened lately is a coincidence.”

“That is crazy.” Holly’s mouth was open.

“My head is still spinning. But, she told me more about the spell, and if I don’t get Finn on board with this plan, we’re going to have sixty-five more years of nightmares and evil cloaked men threatening people I care about.”

“What else?” she asked.

“There’s an island right off the harbor. Not Fort Sumter, but north of it. Can you research it for me? I don’t know if it will give us any more information or not, but it can’t hurt.”

Jack stepped forward. “I can do that. There’s no way I’m sitting here without doing something.”

Holly smiled. “We’ll handle the Scooby gang part. You go. If you need anything else, let me know.”

I reached for the door handle. “Keep Jack safe. I should be back later tonight.”

“Wait.” Jack placed his hand over mine. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s not safe.”

He pulled his shoulders back. “Then in the hall. I’ll be two feet from her.” He pointed at Holly.

I nodded and closed the door behind us. I could hear piano music playing through the overhead speakers.

“Maybe my timing is terrible, but who is this Finn guy? Is he the ex you uh…is he the one?” Jack’s eyes darted back and forth.

His timing was god-awful. I clutched the strap on my bag. “I-I— It’s complicated, but yes.”

“Ivy, I don’t understand anything that is going on.” His eyes shifted. “Nothing makes sense after this morning.” His thumb brushed along my jawline. “You and I make sense. I don’t know what I have to do to prove that to you.”

Of course Jack would be the type of man to fight for the woman he loved. Wasn’t that one of the things about him I always thought was so amazing? I couldn’t start a relationship conversation again. “Is that what you wanted to tell me?”

“Yes, and I want to throw your arms around my neck and kiss you until you think you’re drowning in me and just when you think you can’t take anymore, I’ll kiss you again. And this time you’ll ask me to open that door and take you to bed and finish everything we started.”

My knees went a little weak and I gripped my leather bag.

He whispered, “That’s what I wanted to say.”

I nodded. “Ok. Ok.” My breath was ragged, and my heart rate was bumping through my veins.

He squeezed my hand. “I’ll see you later tonight.”

“Yep, see you later.”

I turned for the elevators and walked away before Jack tried that kissing move. Just talking about it made me blush. Dammit, he wasn’t making this any easier.

I
GRIPPED
the steering wheel and pointed my car south. I had two hours of South Carolina and Georgia roads to navigate. Ian hadn’t called or texted again. My phone rested in my cup holder, and I pressed my Bluetooth function so I could let him know I was on my way.

“Hey, I’m on the road. Should be there in two hours,” I reported.

“Good. Things aren’t getting any better.” Ian sounded worried.

“What are you talking about? Is Finn ok?” I pressed my foot harder on the accelerator.

“Ivy, spells are falling apart everywhere.”

“What do you mean?”