WB (27 page)

“My own sister! I can't believe she would do something like this, be so cruel! I would WARLOCK’S BRIDE JENNIFER RINEHART 112

carve her heart from her chest if I had her here this moment,” Helene said fiercely, knuckling away her tears with a shaky hand.

Laurent looked shocked by his mother's bloodthirsty wish. But I wasn't. Every time I looked at her it was blatantly obvious she had been in pain too many years. Grief had etched a rocky landscape in her delicate face, even her voice seemed to throb with remembered anxiety and fear.

She endured the abduction of her daughter, a miscarriage and the slow, painful death of her husband. Gage said she never remarried and as far as he knew she hadn't dated since my father died. She was a woman trapped between the world she once had and the present reality that was too full of shadows of a once happy past for her to move on.

Finding me had gone a long way towards freeing her, but she still had a wary look in her eyes. Like she was afraid it was all a dream and she could wake up at any moment. I totally knew how she felt and I smiled at her with sympathy.

Laurent frowned in thought, “When are they planning the attack?”

I was embarrassed to admit I didn't know and even more upset to reveal that I didn't have a phone number to contact Gage. Suddenly it seemed ominous that he hadn't given me his number.

Laurent left the room to speak with one of the guards about the plans for Hugo and I turned to Helene with a smile.

“So, my darling, how are you? When will you and Gage set a day for the marriage?”

She asked with a delighted grin, practically rubbing her hands together with glee.

Before I could answer she burst out, “I have the best caterer in Paris. I told her all about you and Gage and she is planning a magnificent feast; white truffle canapés, goat cheese pinwheels, gravlox, oh, she is going all out for you two. Oh, and we have to get you a dress, most of the designers are full up for the year, but I know a few people who owe me favors and I think we can find you something in time or we could make a trip to New York or Milan if you like. I think it will be fun, don't you?”

“We aren't getting married!” I didn't mean to growl it, but I was getting tired of the near constant presumption. Sheesh, everyone had us paired up and married. If I wasn't careful they'd plan our baby shower and anniversary parties too.

She had a confused frown now and said, “He hasn't asked you yet? Is he waiting to settle things with Hugo and Celeste? Are you fighting about where to get married or the guest list?”

“Oh, he's asked me, many, many times. He's even started demanding I marry him, that it's my duty as a witch. But I wont. I can't do it. He doesn't love me, I'm not even sure that he really likes me. He wants a wife, a good breeder for his purebred warlock babies.”

My voice tapered off at the end and I had to clear my throat as I felt it tightening up with emotion. I gave her a brilliant smile and a shrug, as if to say, 'such is life.' But it hurt so much I wanted to cry and eat a pound of chocolate.

“He has really made a muddle of things, hasn't he? I warned him, oh yes, I did. But men, they never listen, do they?” She shook her head in amazement and reached for my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Everything will be right in the end. Don't worry darling.”

I nodded to show her I agreed and she beamed at me and gave me another hug.

Everything wouldn't be alright, it couldn't be. I wasn't sure if I would have the strength to leave him when the time came. I wasn't sure if I would want to. I was so in love with Gage that WARLOCK’S BRIDE JENNIFER RINEHART 113

just the thought of leaving him made my vision blur with tears and my hands tremble to touch him again.

Everywhere I looked I saw reminders of him. I was jumping at every noise I heard outside, hoping that he had returned. I couldn't pinpoint when my feelings for him changed from fear and annoyance to love and lust, but they had and there seemed to be no going back now.

Laurent came back for a moment and told us he had just enough time to meet up with the covens for the attack. Helene tried to persuade him to stay with us, but I felt a sneaky relief that Laurent would be up there with Gage.

He had the broad shoulders, long legs and loose grace of a hunter. I liked the thought of him fighting alongside Gage. They could keep each other safe.

After Laurent left, we lapsed into a moody silence. The hours stretched before us, a long wait for the men to call or come home.

Taryn coaxed us to the kitchen for lunch and dinner, but I ate little and found that no book, magazine or television program could keep my interest for long. Every few minutes I found myself in front of the windows looking out at the empty driveway. Taryn was quiet too and I remembered that it was members of her pack with Gage and Laurent in Idaho.

How did women in the olden days do it? Waiting weeks and months for word of their loved ones? All that waiting would drive me insane, already, I felt a little crazed as I picked at my fingernails and paced around the house, making frequent stops at the front door to look outside.

A sidelong glance at Helene made me realize that she was in the same boat as me. She sat rigidly on the edge of her seat, her eyes glazed and focused a few inches above the television.

She picked at her dinner and her hands were nervously active, smoothing her hair, picking lint from her pants.

I didn't know what to say to alleviate her fears. I wasn't sure there was anything anyone could say to me to stop my worrying, so I didn’t bother . I tried to watch Pride and Prejudice, but Elizabeth and Darcy’s problems seemed silly and trite now. I barely noticed when Helene retired to one of the upstairs guest bedrooms.

A long yawn caught me by surprise and I found my eyes were heavy with sleep when the movie was over. After bidding a quiet goodnight to Taryn and the guard, I slowly walked upstairs to bed. I knew there were three more guards outside and I felt a momentary annoyance that Gage hadn't taken them with him. What good were they doing here when the fight was with Hugo in Idaho?

The bed was cold and a hint of the olive oil soap Gage liked, lingered on the pillows.

With an exhausted sigh I curled up on his side of the bed and in minutes was fast asleep.

WARLOCK’S BRIDE JENNIFER RINEHART 114

It seemed like seconds, but must have been hours later when I heard a dull 'thwump'

sound. I am generally a pretty light sleeper. Every car door slamming and scooter motoring by jars me awake.

I heard a light tread on the stairs and sat up in bed, my heart racing with exciting. Maybe Gage was back? A quiet scraping sound came from outside, followed by a muffled groan and a second solid 'thump.'

Something wasn't right.

The house was too quiet, I couldn't hear the guards outside or the television downstairs. I scrambled from the bed and before I could talk myself out of it, I was kneeling on the floor next to the large armoire. The armoire blocked me from the view of anyone standing at the door, but it wasn't a good hiding place if someone decided to do even a minimal search of the room.

Light from the moon filtered in through filmy white curtains and I watched with dread as the brass doorknob slowly turned and the door pushed open. My eyes closed a moment as I silently wished that I would look up into Gage's smiling face. He would laugh to see me crouched down here on the floor and then he'd gather me into his arms and take me to bed.

I opened my eyes and barely restrained a horrified gasp as I saw Celia's small form dart towards the side of the bed. She held a handgun which she lowered as she registered the empty bed and room.

I held my breath waiting for her to start searching the place. Good one Anna, you found just about the most obvious hiding place. But to my surprise, she looked in the bathroom and then backed out pulling the door closed behind her.

My heart was pounding and I was frozen in indecision. What should I do now? It was obvious she wasn't alone, how else could she make it past the guards unless she had backup?

My next thought was for Helene. If Celia was checking all the rooms, her next stop would be the guest bedrooms. With a gasp of horror I stood up quickly and a cold sweat broke out on my forehead.

The balcony for my room ran the length of the west side of the house and if Taryn had set up my mother in one of the two rooms next to mine I had a chance to reach her before Celia if she checked the rooms on the other side of the hall first.

I quietly dashed for the French doors to the balcony and with tense hands carefully pulled them open and silently closed them behind me. A quick look into the bedroom window of the room next door revealed a neatly made bed, and I tensely sprinted to the next window. Bingo, a small lump was under the covers and I saw a long thin arm curved over the top of the blankets.

With shaking hands I pulled the glass door wide. Distantly, I heard more doors opening and closing and I was too aware of how little time there was for me to get Helene out of here.

I gave my mother's arm a firm shake and she turned to look at me with wide eyes, instantly awake.

“Celia's here,” I whispered.

With a shaky gasp, she sprang from the bed and followed me out onto the balcony. The WARLOCK’S BRIDE JENNIFER RINEHART 115

floorboards were cold and damp on our bare feet as we quickly moved to the far corner. It was only a matter of seconds before Celia discovered where we were and I wasn't sure what our next move should be.

“Listen Anna, I can't fly like Laurent, but I can help us get down to the ground. Do you trust me?” She asked.

I nodded.

She closed her eyes and frowned. I glanced down and a momentary vertigo made the world tilt. The ground looked a million miles away and hard as ice. No way could I make that jump.

Helene's eyes were tightly shut and a look of intense concentration contorted her face.

Her lips moved silently and I saw her hands stretch out in front of her, the fingers shaking a bit as they seemed to almost play over an invisible piano. Her eyes snapped open and she gave me a fierce look of satisfaction.

“Hurry Anna, you first, I can't hold it for long,” her eyes were wide open and teary with the strain. Her lips continued to move in a silent chant and as I watched her, her head drooped a bit. I looked to where her hand was pointing and started in amazement.

Shimmery, silver stairs arched out from the edge of the balcony sweeping gracefully to the ground. The stairs looked solid enough but I was afraid to try them. I heard Helene give a low moan of pain and didn't waste any more time thinking.

I climbed over the railing and placed one foot on the top stair. It felt solid and warm underfoot and so I quickly stepped all the way out. My breath was held waiting to see if I was about to plunge to the ground, but the stair held.

The stairs were strangely warm and smooth underfoot and with arms stretched out to my sides to help me balance, I walked as quickly as possible down to the ground. When I reached the bottom I turned to gesture for Helene to follow me down but was shocked to see her stagger back a moment, going down on one knee. Her hand clutched at her head and her eyes were unfocused as she gazed out through the bars of the railing at me. Like a movie projection, the stairs winked in and out of sight a couple of times before disappearing completely.

Great! What would we do now?

“Helene, climb over, I'll try to break your fall!” I whispered, holding my hands up to her.

It didn't seem possible to me, she was at least fourteen feet up and the gravel strewn ground was hard and cut cruelly into my bare feet, but I couldn't think of anything else to do.

I stood with my arms raised up as she leaned over the balcony. Her face was pale with fear and her eyes red rimmed as she said in a harsh whisper, “Run.”

For a moment I wasn't sure what she had said and I stood there dumbly, waiting for her to start climbing down, but with a last anxious grimace she said, “Please Amelie, run!”

Then I watched as she turned back for the French doors and slipped inside of the house, closing the door quietly behind her.

WARLOCK’S BRIDE JENNIFER RINEHART 116

My heart was pounding with fear and I realized with a start of shock that my face was wet with tears. I wiped my face on the sleeve of my nightshirt and glanced around with frightened eyes.

Helene's return to her bedroom was a death sentence. I didn't know what Celia was thinking all those years ago when she kidnapped me, but it certainly wasn't warm and cuddly feelings for her younger sister, Helene.

A light coming on in the kitchen had me stumbling back a moment, my eyes darted

wildly, looking for a place to hide. But the trees were sparse and low around the house.

Windswept bushes and the occasional tuft of sea grasses made for an unimpaired view of the ocean but made hiding near impossible.

I thought about the guards Gage left behind to protect me and my heart contracted with pain imagining their crumpled and dead bodies lying in the house. Taryn must be among them.

The thought of vibrant and cheerful Taryn dead was too much. This was all my fault!

Running for the beach wouldn't help. The shoreline snaked around for miles before coming to the small town of Cannon Beach and I knew I wouldn't make it there unseen and what would I do when I got there? I couldn't go to the police.

Hugo and his men would kill the small Cannon Beach police force without a second thought. There wasn't anywhere to hide in Cannon Beach where they wouldn't find me and without transportation, I wouldn't make it far on foot without money. Leah and Patty were a phone call away in Portland, but I couldn't involve them and by the time they drove here it would be too late.