Secret Of The Rose (Legacy Of Magick Series, Book 2) (21 page)

“Will she appear, do you think?” Gwen asked softly.

“I’ve never seen her inside the house— only outside in the rose garden. The ‘strong smell of roses’ thing... she does that in here off and on. It’s sort of her way to get my attention.”

The scent faded away, as if it had never been. I saw Gwen’s chest rise up and down, and heard her breath hitch. “Come over here,” my aunt said holding out her arms. I went to her and hugged her, hard.

Like the day in the park when Ivy and I had broken through the old spell that had bound my magick, I felt something else shatter and fall away. “I’m glad we’ve cleared the air,” I said as we held onto each other and those old, negative feelings faded away.

“Love you.” Gwen pressed a kiss to my hair.

“Back at ya.”
We couldn’t be divided any longer.
I thought.
Maybe after today, the gap between us will begin to close.

“We won’t
be
divided anymore.” Gwen picked up on my thoughts and squeezed me tight.

Damn telepaths.
I thought at her and smiled when Gwen laughed in response.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Trick-or-treaters paraded up and down the streets of the neighborhood. I sat with Duncan on the manor’s decorated wrap around porch watching as the little ones passed through the black metal gates. The tall gates were open tonight, and had been decorated with spider webs and bundles of cornstalks. Groups of flickering jack-o’-lanterns were grouped around the entrance. Once past the gate, the children were confronted by fabric ghosts that fluttered from the branches of trees. As they strolled up the front sidewalk, they wandered by fake tombstones and a creepy scarecrow who held court over the front gardens.

More jack-o’-lanterns lit up the front path and also shined from each porch step. Decorative orange lights and glowing spider webs were draped all over the front porch, while festive orange mums, spiked with twisty black branches, stood in tall urns at either side of the front door. Duncan and I waited for the children at the little bistro table and chairs the family normally kept on the far side of the porch. Tonight, the table was centered on the porch and boasted a long orange tablecloth with the large, candy filled plastic cauldron resting in the middle.

Holly and Ivy flitted to and fro, looking like specters in pale gray hooded capes and white face makeup, while they greeted the kids at the gate, and, sometimes, even escorting the more timid trick-or-treaters up to the house. The girls were having a blast, and were also keeping an eye on all of the flickering pumpkins and props in the yard.

Parents posed their children for pictures in the front yard. The mood was fun and festive with the cornstalks rustling in the breeze, the spicy scent of chrysanthemums in the gardens, and the tumbling autumn leaves crunching underfoot. The fog machine hissed, and ‘fog’ rolled across the lawn as more groups of children marched up the front steps to claim their candy.

Compared to the lack of Halloween decorations I had grown up with, the Bishop’s front yard was an extravaganza. There were over two dozen jack-‘o-lanterns displayed, and I had personally carved six of them. The pumpkin carving party had taken place the night before. We’d had made a hell of a mess in the potting room, but we’d had fun. Together... as a family. Which was nice after the tense week we’d endured.

Gwen and Great Aunt Faye would come to the door off and on during the evening to see the trick-or-treaters, but for the most part, they were busy inside prepping for a big Samhain gathering and feast with the coven that would begin at 10:00 pm.

“Trick or treat!” shouted a little angel, a winged fairy princess and a super hero.

Keeping in the spirit of things, I wore my new black boots, a long midnight blue broomstick skirt, and my favorite black lace top. A miniature Witch’s hat, attached to a headband, perched at an angle on my head— courtesy of Ivy. I’d left my long hair down, but the decorated headband kept it out of my face.

“Here you go.” I handed out candy bars to the trio of kids. Beside me, Duncan, who wore a black button down shirt and jeans, talked to the super hero who was proudly showing off his costume.

Ivy came at us in a full sprint asking for candy. “I’ve got a couple of little ones who are afraid to come up to the porch.”

Before I could scoop a few candy bars out of the big plastic cauldron, I saw Holly leading a pair of preschoolers up along the path.

“Oh. Never mind.” Ivy snatched the candy anyway, tucked it in her cape pockets and darted back down the sidewalk. I guessed Ivy knew the father, as she stopped and chatted him up while the little ones dressed as Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty walked up to the porch hand in hand with Holly.

I saw ‘Cinderella’ was having problems navigating the stairs with her big blue skirt, while her older ‘Sleeping Beauty’ sister hiked up her pink skirt, flashing jeans and tennis shoes, and climbed up the front porch steps. Holly solved the little one’s problem by scooping the giggling Cinderella under the arms and hoisting her up to the top of the steps.

“Twick or tweat,” said Cinderella, holding out her plastic pumpkin.

“Hi sweetie.” I smiled at the shy little girl, and my heart melted.
Oh god, I want one!

“Fanks,” she said as I dropped a couple of candy bars in her plastic pumpkin.

“Hi!” said Sleeping Beauty. “I can do a trick!”

“Okay...” I dropped the candy into her bag, “...what’s your trick?”

Sleeping Beauty looked back at her father who was talking animatedly to Ivy about the yard display. She giggled and held her hand out, palm up. I watched her frown in concentration, and, in the middle of her palm, an orange spark popped.

“That’s awesome!” Duncan said.

Holly gave the little girl’s shoulder a squeeze, “Well done!” she told her.

“Wow,” I managed. That little girl, who I’d estimated at maybe five years old, had done magick—raised energy right in front of us.

“Not supposed to do magick in front of people, Sissy.” Cinderella made a face at her big sister. “I’m telling Mommy.”

“Don’t be a tattle-tale.” Sleeping Beauty sneered.

Cinderella was clearly not intimidated. She started to cock back her candy laden pumpkin, and Holly neatly stepped between them before Cinderella could bean her big sister with it.

Their father arrived on the porch a second later. “Girls, behave yourselves,” he said cheerfully and was wearing a sweatshirt that said,
It’s Halloween, Witches!

I tried not to laugh as the little girls glared at each other.

Daddy scooped up Cinderella in one arm and took Sleeping Beauty firmly by the hand. “Girls, say thank you,” he told them.

“Thank you,” they chimed.

“Happy Halloween,” I said to the girls and their father.

“Happy Samhain.” The father tossed me a wink and strolled off down the sidewalk with his happy little family of Witches.

I sat there stunned for a few seconds. Holly picked up the candy filled cauldron and handed out to the next round of kids.

“You can close your mouth now.” Duncan nudged me.

“What? Oh.” I watched as Sleeping Beauty and her father, who was still carrying little Cinderella, moved off down the sidewalk and on to the next house. “Those little girls are Witches too. Aren’t they?” I shook my head in amazement and a tiny bit of longing.

“Sure.” Duncan shrugged like it was no big deal.

“Wow, they were so
open
about it.”

“Well, it is Samhain,” Duncan pointed out reasonably.

I had to laugh. “I see your point. That little Cinderella was awesome.”

“You want one of those for yourself?” Duncan grinned at me.

Damn it. He’d heard my thoughts.
“Well, not today. But some day I would like to have kids.”

“Yeah, those two were great.” Duncan winked at me. “I bet they keep their parents on their toes.”

“Oh man, I never considered that,” I started to smile, but a stray thought had me frowning instead.
How different would my life have been if Bran and I had grown up learning magick together?
It made me a little wistful, so I pushed it aside, determined to let nothing ruin the night.

Duncan peeked in the cauldron that Holly returned to the table. “When Julian and I were kids, away at boarding school, we used to try and outdo each other with magick.”

I blinked in surprise. “I didn’t know you’d gone to school together.”

“Yeah we did, up until college.” Duncan seemed to shrug the memory away. “We’re running low; I’ll go get more candy from Gwen,” he told us and went inside the manor.

This left me with Holly on the front porch. After the current group of kids skipped away, Holly took Duncan’s vacated chair. “Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are part of the Jacobs family. They’re actually our second cousins.”

I knew that name.
“Jacobs was Grandma Rose’s maiden name,” I realized.

“Yup.” Holly pulled her gray hood farther over her hair. “I babysit for them sometimes.”

“Those two little girls were adorable,” I said

Holly laughed. “Oh, well, it’s
adorable
that you think so.” She stood up and seemed to float gracefully down the steps. Her gray cape billowed romantically behind her as she moved farther down the front sidewalk.

“I have provisions!” The screen door slapped closed behind Duncan. He ripped open a bag of chocolate bars and started to pour them into to plastic cauldron. I smiled at him when he snagged one for himself.

“Those are supposed to be for the trick-or-treaters,” I reminded him.

“No worries. I can do a trick to earn my candy.”

“It better be good,” I said, thinking he would tell a joke or something.

Duncan tucked the candy bar in his shirt pocket. He stepped back from me and off to the left side of the porch. He shut his eyes and lifted his hands out to his sides, palms up. I could see that he was controlling his breathing as he stood there concentrating.

I swung my gaze nervously around, relieved we were having a lull in the trick-or-treaters. I turned my gaze back to Duncan and was startled to realize that he was glowing. A thin outline of light had flared out around his body. A breeze carrying fallen leaves came rushing across the porch, strong enough to send all of the decorations swaying back and forth.

As I watched, the light around his body seemed to pull in and become a bit more defined. The leaves that had blown across the porch suddenly, and impossibly, switched direction. They began to rise up and swirl around Duncan in a continuous tumble of some kind of wonderful enchantment. His eyes slowly opened and met mine.

Elemental magick.
I realized as my mouth went dry.
He was calling on the element of air.
Working with it, directing it...

It felt incredibly intimate, watching while the spell swept all around him. He held his hand out to me, and I felt the pull of his magick. I stood and went to him, no questions asked. As soon as I clasped his hand, a blast of air had my hair streaming back. I felt the familiar rush of our combined energy. Those spinning leaves made a cheerful rustling sound as he pulled me to him, and I became a part of his magick. Spellbound, I raised my mouth to his.

As we kissed, my hair billowed everywhere, and the tumble of leaves increased in speed and noise. For a few wonderful moments, I totally forgot that we were in plain sight standing on the front porch.

“Ahem.” Someone cleared their throat loudly.

Duncan and I broke apart, and the happy little whirlwind of autumn leaves stopped spinning. The leaves floated naturally and quietly back to the front porch. I pushed at the tangle of my hair to see who had interrupted us.

Aunt Faye stood there, her arms crossed over her chest. “I realize that it is Samhain, however, you two might want to be a bit more discreet with the public displays of magick.” She tried to look disapproving, but I could see she was fighting against a smile.

My face went red. I’d been so wrapped up in him that I’d forgotten the trick-or-treaters. “Sorry,” I said, trying to smooth my hair back in some semblance of order.

Duncan grinned unrepentant at Great Aunt Faye. “I had to earn my treat.” He patted the candy bar in his pocket.

Ivy came bouncing up the steps. “I want to hand out the candy for a while.” She snatched up the cauldron and took position on the porch. “Hey, Autumn. Your hair is full of leaves,” Ivy pointed out.

“I’ll help her with that,” Duncan said and plucked a few out of my hair.

Aunt Faye reached into a pocket of her velvet fringed kimono. “Here, I knew there was a reason I put this in my pocket.” She held out a small hairbrush to me.

I bit my lip to hold in the laughter and silently took the brush.

“You two... behave yourselves,” she suggested gruffly, and went back inside.

Ivy passed out candy to the next round of kids. As soon as they had run down the porch, Duncan took the brush from me and motioned for me to turn around. I tugged the headband out of my mess of hair and handed him the brush. He began working the tangles and bits of leaves out of my hair.

I turned my head to look at him. “I’ve never seen you do a spell like that.”

“Well, I didn’t want a five year old out-doing me on Samhain,” he said cheerfully as he brushed out my hair. “Besides, I really wanted that candy bar.”

“Oh my god. Competitive, much?” I rolled my eyes.

“What did you think of the spell?” Duncan asked a moment later.

I turned around to meet his gaze. “It was impressive
and
beautiful. I’ve never seen you work with an element before.”

He shrugged. “I have an affinity with the element of air— the same way that you do with the element of earth.” He finished brushing the leaves out of my hair. “I have a small connection with fire too, but air is my strongest element. I can teach you how to access their powers, if you like.”

I thought about that for a moment. “Yes, I would like that.” I smiled at him as he handed me the brush. I stuck the headband with its sassy miniature hat back on my head. I returned to my position on the porch in time to see a large group of kids walk through the front gate.