The Banshee's Embrace (15 page)

             
"That was crazy," she murmured. "Crazy good."

             
"Yeah." He couldn't quite catch his breath, but he tightened his hold on her.

             
Even with Gabriella, there hadn't been that kind of magic.

             
"Did I see actual sparks?" Jacqueline asked. "Were we really floating?"

             
"Yeah."

             
"Wizard sex is awesome."

             
Toby grinned, tempted to point out that her husband had been a wizard, too. But he thought better of it. Husbands, ex-girlfriends--that would spoil the mood and he didn't want that.

             
For a few minutes, they lay there in silence.

             
"Toby," she said at last. "I think there is something you should know."

             
"What? You're not a virgin?"

             
"Ha-ha," she said and he couldn't help but grin. "No. This is more serious."

             
"Okay." He sat up in bed and faced her.

             
"The man who killed my husband…you know him, too."

             
"Who was it?"

             
She chewed on her lip and gave him a worried look before spitting it out.

             
"It was Gabe. He's not really the Keeper of Souls."

             
"Then who is he?" he asked.

             
"Your son."

             
"Jacqueline, my son could not have killed your husband."

             
Toby kept his words calm, but inside he could feel a slow rush of heat at her accusation. The subject was a painful one to begin with, one he tried not to dwell on. He'd thought more about his past, including the loss of his dead son in the last day than he'd ever done before.

             
"Toby, I know it sounds crazy and I'm not trying to hurt you," Jacqueline began, but he cut her off and got out of bed.

             
"Then don't."  He glared at her, unable to stop himself. "Don't talk about things you don't understand."

             
"Look, while I was trapped in the funeral home with Derek, Gabe came to me and said that he wasn't really the Keeper of Souls. In fact, he made it sound like he'd made some sort of deal with the hag to get into the box. He knew I'd open it eventually. It was his way of appearing to be part of my family, so I would trust him. I don't know what happened to the real Keeper of Souls, or even if there ever was one.  I don't think I can believe much of anything that Gabe says." Jacqueline took a breath. "The thing is, when you were coming to save me, Derek asked Gabe if he wanted to stick around and see the death of his father."

             
Toby frowned.

             
"That doesn't mean--"

             
"Derek was talking about you! And then Gabe took off."

             
"He didn't want to get caught. You just said yourself we can't trust anything he says."

             
"Look, I know this is hard to believe, but I know what I heard." She crept up behind him and put her hands on his shoulder. "Will you tell me the story of your son and Gabriella?"

             
Toby thought about that as she massaged his shoulders. He never let anyone in when it came to the past. There were times when he felt like he needed to talk about it, but there had been no one he trusted that much.

             
Until now.

             
He felt completely comfortable with Jacqueline.

             
Maybe it was because he'd spent the last year secretly watching her, observing her in his bar or on the street, but he felt like he really knew her. Deep in his heart, Toby knew she would never betray the trust of a friend. She wasn't that kind of person.

             
"Maybe if you can't talk about it," Jacqueline whispered, "you could show the past to me. Sort of like what you did when I talked about the night Eric died."

             
He pulled away from her soft touch and turned to kiss her. Desire stirred in him again as she caressed his chest and then wrapped her arms around him. It was tempting to throw her down on the bed and make love to her again.

             
But instead, he chose to let her into his life.

             
"Close your eyes." She did as he asked and he kissed the tip of her nose. "Now just relax. I'm going to show you everything. And then you'll see that Gabe can't be my son."

             
He placed his hands on her arms and took a breath.

             
"Let the past and the present be one for a time." Toby began to chant…

             
A gust of wind blew through the room, bringing in the past.

*****

             
"Get out of my sister's life." Derek Spark sneered at Toby, his contempt for the man obvious. "She doesn't need you to protect her. That's what family is for. You are not a Spark!"

             
"You're the one who betrayed us to your family. We had everything under control until you butted it like you always do." Toby fumed. Gabriella's brother had always been unreasonable. Why couldn't he look past the rules of the Brotherhood and see that things could change." I'm a Williams and soon you'll have a nephew with the last name."

             
"Not one that I would acknowledge!"

             
"Then don't. We don't need you in our lives, Derek. It will hurt your sister to cut you out, but she'll survive."

             
"Will she? I don't see how. Living with you and your kind would be enough to kill her!"

             
Toby sighed and things were quiet for a moment.

             
"I can't leave her or the baby, Derek. I love her." Toby grabbed Derek's arm, trying to make him understand. "All this stuff about wizard bloodlines not mixing is just old fashioned nonsense. I doubt it's even true."

             
"What would the Brotherhood say if they knew about your new found viewpoint?" Derek asked. "Do you think they'd be as open minded as you are? I doubt it. They'd be down here to kill the child and probably my sister in a heartbeat. You may believe in change, but the Brotherhood clings to its archaic notions. And rightly so!"

             
"C'mon. Don't tell me you really buy into the story they tell about what would happen if you mixed wizard blood? It's just a myth, a rumor created by some old wizards a long time ago who were probably pissed off about something. The idea was to keep their children away from each other." Toby watched Derek's face flush a deep red.  "Gabriella and I didn't set out to defy the Brotherhood. We fell in love. She didn't think she could even have children!"

             
"You fell in love?" Derek glared. "Then if you loved her, you should have left her. Not carried on with this."

             
"It's too late now."

             
"Is it?"

             
The question didn't come from Derek. But Toby knew that voice, and his heart sunk.

             
He turned to face his father who stood solemnly in the doorway.

             
"What are you doing here?" Toby asked. "Who told you?"

             
"Your mother."

             
The older Williams stared at his son, displeased.

             
"What are you going to do?" Toby rarely felt fear, but looking at his father, the feeling began to overtake him. His father never went against the Brotherhood. He often represented them in matters of wizard law, which was why Toby had not told his family about Gabriella. He had no doubt Josiah Williams would do whatever the Brotherhood commanded.

             
Even if it meant killing his own grandson.

             
"Where is Gabriella?" Josiah asked.

             
"She's in the delivery room," Derek said.

             
"I will see her at once." Josiah gave his son a stern look. "You stay here, Toby."

             
"What are you going to do?"

             
"What I must."

             
"No!"

             
Toby could see it in his father's face--Josiah would kill both mother and child.

             
He moved to stop the older wizard, but found himself pinned to a chair, bound by the restraints of magic. His father's magic was far more powerful than his own.

             
Derek laughed.

             
"Excellent!" He smiled at Toby. "I believe I'll assist your father."

             
"That's probably a good idea. Brotherhood laws prefer a witness from each family." Was that sympathy drifting through his father's eyes? Toby couldn't tell for sure and he didn't care as rage poured over him.

             
"Come on then, Spark. Let's go."

             
Josiah left the room, followed by Derek.

             
It was the longest ten minutes of his life. It seemed the hospital had gone quiet. Toby knew it was due to a time altering spell. It would allow a wizard to do whatever needed to be done without mortals ever knowing. Toby had used it himself on several occasions, never dreaming that it would be used to murder his child.

             
He thought about Gabriella and the baby and contemplated killing his father.

             
But in the end Toby could do nothing but wait until Josiah returned.

             
Josiah entered the room and nodded at Toby.

             
"It is done."

             
As the binding spell faded, Toby pushed himself to a standing position. He ran down the hall, passing doctors and nurses who were just beginning to catch up with time. Gabriella's room was just around the corner. Maybe there was still time…

             
But the moment he saw her, his pretty dark haired Gabriella, he knew it was too late.

             
"Stillborn," she said, looking at him with dull eyes. "All that worry between our families was for nothing. We didn't end up creating a powerful new breed of wizard. Your father came here for nothing."

             
"Stillborn?" Toby let the words register, not sure how he felt.

             
"The baby didn't even cry." But Gabriella did. Her sobs filled the room, making Toby's heart ache. He moved to comfort her, but she would have none of it. "No! Don't touch me. Just…just leave me alone!"

             
She glared.

             
"This is your fault, Toby! We never should have done this. I told you that our love was forbidden, but you kept pushing at me, breaking me down! And now…look! We have nothing!"

             
"Gabby, I love you. You're grieving right now. In time--"

             
"In time? In time I'll forget you. Go. I can't look at you."

             
Toby was shocked by her words, but pressed on.