Secret Of The Rose (Legacy Of Magick Series, Book 2) (27 page)

Cypress had discreetly filled me in on the recent developments up at the high school. The injured cheerleaders were recovering, and Leilah was now very subdued. She didn’t seem to be causing any more problems for the squad. Also, Cypress informed me, with no small amount of glee, that Leilah was now absolutely terrified of Holly.

With every passing day, Ivy seemed to be more her old self, but Holly had become even more sullen and withdrawn. I felt sorry that she was struggling, and was biding my time there. Part of me wanted to rap her head against a wall and tell her to snap out of it, while another part of me didn’t want to cross her.

I would remember what she’d done to Leilah with her magick for a long, long time. I never told anyone... but what I’d seen her do had given me nightmares. Gwen and Aunt Faye had been working with Holly making sure she had a tighter control on her temper and her magick, but those were private lessons, and they did not discuss them with the rest of us. I thought that might have been for the best.

Bran and Officer Lexie were an item now, and whenever Bran’s bedroom door was closed, I stayed away from that part of the house. We’d never discussed my bursting in on them, and I avoided him as much as possible. This wasn’t hard, as he typically ignored me whenever I was around. I didn’t think he was still holding a grudge about me punching him in the nose— part of me knew it went deeper than that. He was having to live with me, the child our father chose over him.

I guess it all came down to my realizing that my older brother not only felt hurt by my mere presence, but that he also didn’t want me as a sister. He felt rejected by our father, and I, in turn, felt rejected by my brother. I hoped that, in time, we’d work it out. Either that or I’d simply punch him again. Maybe not the most mature response on my part, but imagining it sure made me smile.

Rebecca Drake-Quinn had come over to view the photographs of the second set of grimoire pages. She wasn’t happy that the family wouldn’t tell her where they were storing the actual pages, but she graciously accepted the decision, especially after Duncan pointed out the farther away from Thomas the pages were, the better.

Gwen and Rebecca seemed to be on their way to becoming friends again, and I decided to wait until winter break to continue my search in the manor, in case the whole
Sub Rosa
clue still applied to the floral emblems that were worked into the architecture of the house.

The family was slowly working its way back to being whole, and by mid–November, things were going pretty well. Great Aunt Faye showed no signs of ever planning to leave, but the old girl had kept her promise and had been working with me on psychic abilities. I had learned that technically, I was a ‘sensitive’— not a Medium. A sensitive, Aunt Faye informed me, could see and interact with ghosts that were stuck in the physical realm. While a Medium acted as a bridge or a messenger for spirits that were on the other side of the veil.

Apparently, I could, in fact, be both snarky and ‘sensitive’ all at the same time.

I stood at the kitchen stove and put the finishing touches on supper. It was a cold gloomy day, and I wore old jeans, a university sweatshirt and mismatched thick fuzzy socks. The family was mostly at home, but Gwen was still out and on a holiday shopping trip to St. Louis with Rebecca. She had called earlier and told me to save her some supper since she wouldn’t be home until later.

I stirred the big cast iron pot I had simmering on the stove and listened to Ivy. She sat at the island and chattered about her plans for Thanksgiving with her father and his family. Holly sat at the end of the counter in a pink hoodie and jeans studying from a big book of spells. She still seemed to be moping. Great Aunt Faye came cruising in wearing killer black pumps, gray slacks and a burgundy, silk kimono. The old girl had nimbly climbed on a tall barstool and was holding court at the island with the twins.

“Bran’s home,” Aunt Faye announced. A second later, I heard the garage door open.

Bran came in through the potting room, his navy wool coat was damp. “It’s really getting nasty out there. It’s going back and forth between freezing rain and sleet.” He shook the damp from his coat and hung it to dry on the hooks in the potting room.

Holly went to look out one of the kitchen windows. As if on cue, the sleet started making little
pinging
sounds as it bounced off the windows of the manor. “The storm’s come in earlier than they predicted.”

“We have more company coming,” Aunt Faye announced.

A couple of seconds later, I heard another car out front, and when I glanced out the windows above the kitchen sink, I saw Duncan pull up in his blue truck. He hopped out of the cab and angled the brim down on his ball cap. He ran towards the front porch while the sleet dumped down.

“Ivy, would you go open the door for Duncan?” Aunt Faye asked. From her perch on the barstool, Aunt Faye couldn’t have seen out the window.

“Sure.” Ivy headed through the family room towards the foyer.

I raised an eyebrow at Aunt Faye, “Impressive,” I said at her announcement of Duncan’s arrival. In return, she patted her silver hair and smiled at me.

“The roads are going to be bad. I texted mom and told her to stay in the city for the night and not to risk the drive home,” Bran said.

“Good idea,” I nodded at him and went back to finishing up supper.

“Whatever it is you are cooking smells good enough to make the trip worthwhile,” Duncan said as he walked into the kitchen wearing boots, jeans and a heavy work coat. He gave me a kiss and went to hang his outerwear next to Bran’s.

“White chicken chili.” I told him. “A little something I
conjured
up.”

The timer went off on the oven. I grabbed a mitt and pulled a batch of corn bread muffins out. I flipped the muffin tin over and the muffins rolled out on a rack to cool.

“Holly and Ivy, would you get the bowls and plates out and stack them up on the counter?” I asked.

“Gotcha,” Ivy said and began to set up.

As I went to rinse out the empty muffin pan, I caught movement in the window above the sink. I stopped and looked.
What was that?
I shrugged, figuring it must have been my own reflection in the window. Then I froze and stared. The reflection was moving. With a feeling of dread coming over me, I held my breath and watched.

I saw a hand reach out and position a white, long stem rose on a wooden surface... As the rose stem was set into place, it finished an arrangement. The final rose had created an upright pentagram.

I came back to present time with a snap. I jumped back from what I had ‘seen’ in that window, and the muffin tin clattered down into the sink.

“Did you burn your fingers?” Duncan reached out for me as I stood there breathing hard. I swung my gaze past him. In the family room, Ivy was ragging on Bran about his new longer hair while he built a fire in the fireplace. Holly sat on the couch staring off into space.

The girls and Bran were preoccupied, so I said, “I
saw
something.”

“What did you see, child?” Aunt Faye asked.

I quietly told them what I had seen in the vision. “That’s the second time I’ve had this particular vision. Once at the masquerade ball and then today. I suppose I have roses on the brain right now...” I shook my head with an effort. I smiled and handed Duncan a metal box grater. “It’s probably nothing,” I said to them and asked Duncan to grate up some Monterey Jack cheese to top the chili.

Ivy slid back in the kitchen on her thick striped socks. “Can I do anything to help?”

“Sure.” I pointed at two avocados and asked her to dice them up in little pieces.

Ivy pushed up the sleeves of her black sweater, “I’m on it.”

“I’m not a big fan of avocados.” Aunt Faye frowned at the offending produce.

“Don’t worry,” I smiled at her. “You’ll like it.”

A short time later, the six of us all sat in front of the family room fireplace with bowls of white chili. I smiled at Aunt Faye’s careful tasting of the avocados mixed in her chili.

“This is wonderful,” she said after a moment.

“I’ve never had white chicken chili. It’s great,” Duncan said as he enthusiastically dug into the bowl.

“Told you.” I smirked at him.

Bran cleared his throat. “This
is
very good,” he said looking directly at me.

“Thank you,” I said, trying to be polite.

Aunt Faye sighed and slapped her bowl down on the family room coffee table. “How much longer are you two going to act like this?”

“Like what?” Bran and I said together.

“How long are you going to hold a grudge?” Aunt Faye asked Bran pleasantly.

Bran narrowed his eyes. “Until she apologizes for punching me in the face.”

“You’re going to have a long wait,” I said around a mouthful of chili.

“I’ve held my peace on this topic,” Aunt Faye began, “...until now.” She glared at the pair of us. “Your family has worked to repair the rift caused by recent events, but you two are still divided. That’s not a strong position to be in. Until you both come to terms with the fact that you
are
siblings, and set aside your differences, our enemies will have an advantage over us all.”

The room fell silent. I thought about what my great-aunt had said, and I realized that she was right. Merlin strolled in and sat beside the fireplace. He started to groom his paws and stared disapprovingly at me.
Jeez, shamed by a cat and an old Witch.

“I agree. This conflict is a weakness,” Bran said. “It can and will be used against us if we allow it to continue.”

“Fine.” I set my bowl down on the coffee table. “I’m sorry I punched you in the nose.”

“I am sorry for not handling it better,” Bran said, almost sounding sincere. “All I can say was that I believed that you
not
knowing I was your brother would keep you safer.”

“How’s that?”

“I knew that discovering the truth about our father would make you emotionally vulnerable,” Bran said. “You were only beginning to come to grips with your magickal talents. Being a full time student, learning magick, and building a new life here with us is a lot to take on. I wanted you to be at full strength and not conflicted over this.”

“Okay, I can
almost
see that,” I said to him and pointed to the twins. “But you’re forgetting that you and I aren’t the only ones who were hurt or made vulnerable by that secret.”

“I am not now, nor was I ever,
vulnerable
.” Bran argued.

“Rejection makes you vulnerable. It hurts, Bran,” I said making direct eye contact with my brother. “Whether that rejection is by a parent or by a sibling, it really doesn’t matter. It still hurts.”

Bran studied me as intently as I did him. “Point taken,” he said. “No matter who our biological parents are, whether we are siblings or cousins, we are
family
. We all share in the legacy of magick.”

“I guess we all better work on it,” Ivy said. “And Holly needs to stop sulking.”

“Hey!” Holly glared at her twin.

“I agree,” I nudged Holly who sat beside me on the couch. “Blondie, you really need to knock this off. So, you’re not perfect... No one is.”

“Holly,” Duncan said, “You’ve learned a hard lesson.” Holly met his eyes and seemed to be actually listening, so he continued. “Keep in mind that the mark of an adept Witch is one who learns from their mistakes, does not repeat them, and then goes forward.”

“I have learned,” Holly whispered. “And I am trying to move forward.”

“You’ll get there,” Duncan said confidently.

I leaned against him. “Thanks for helping her,” I said.

“No problem,” he said.

The family was quiet for a time as we all turned our focus on the meal. After we finished, Duncan had added a few more logs to the fire, and Bran was checking his cell phone. “Anybody want dessert? I made brownies,” I said coming back from taking the dishes to the kitchen.

Aunt Faye stiffened in her chair. Before anyone could answer about dessert, she spoke. “Listen to me, you must all pull together now,” she said her voice breaking.

“That’s a little out of left field…” I said to her.

Aunt Faye ignored me. Her eyes were clear, and she seemed to be looking past us, not at us. “More now than ever before,
you must be strong
,” she said.

I shuddered. Aunt Faye seemed to snap back to herself, but the look on her face had my heart beating faster. She had
seen
something.

Before I could ask her what she’d meant, there was a knock on the front door. “I’ll get it.” I went to the main foyer, opened the door and found Officer Lexie standing in the sleet. “Lexie, come on in.”

Lexie stepped in, took her uniform hat off and held it in her hands. “Autumn, is the family all here?” she asked.

“Yes.” I frowned at Lexie, who was standing there stiff and so official.
Oh god. Official. She was here in an official capacity.
I thought back to the vision I’d had in the kitchen a few hours ago and the words Aunt Faye had just spoken. My heart started to beat harder in my chest as I silently ushered Lexie into the family room.

“Lexie? What’s happened?” Bran said and stood.

“Can we all sit down?” Lexie asked.

I made myself go sit on the couch next to Duncan and the girls. I gripped Duncan’s hand.
This is going to be bad.
I sent the thought to him. Aunt Faye was pale and held herself very still. She met my eyes and nodded at me slightly. I saw a tear run down her cheek.

Bran sat back down and waited.

“Bran, Autumn, girls…” Lexie looked at all of us. “I have very bad news. I am sorry to inform you that your mother, Gwen Bishop, has been in a car accident. She was taken to County Hospital. Unfortunately she didn’t make it.”

“No!” the girls said in unison.

“The roads,” Aunt Faye stated. “The roads were icy from the sleet.” Merlin leapt up on Aunt Faye’s lap, and she wrapped her arms around the cat for comfort.

“That can’t be right,” Bran said, his voice sounding hollow. “I’d texted mom a couple hours ago and told her to stay in the city...”