43. Chapter 43
Chapter 43
It was time to get back to her life. Tessa sat in the living room with Lily while she played with Adam the Dragon. Had it only been a few hours since Adam had told them what had happened to him? And since she had backed away from him?
She would return to work tomorrow. Tessa had already argued the point with almost everyone in the house, stating that she couldn’t stay cooped up there forever and why would the Templars come after her again if Mia let her go in the first place?
Time to get some semblance of normalcy back in her life. Which was why she was sitting with Lily and not in the office where they were discussing how to tell the other clans about the Templars and witches. To prepare for war.
The buzzer in the entry sounded, and when no one answered it, it buzzed again. Tessa started toward the foyer and met Marcus there as he clicked on the intercom to the front gate.
“What is it?” Marcus asked.
The guard responded. “There is some woman at the gate who refuses to leave.”
Marcus glanced at Tessa. “If you weren’t here already, I would assume it was you.”
“Ha ha.” Tessa froze. “Wait. Could it be Mia?”
He clicked on the intercom switch. “Did you ask her name and what she wants?”
“I tried. She won’t let me get a word in to find out what’s going on.”
Another voice overrode the guard. “I know my daughter is in there. I want to speak to her right now.”
Tessa’s stomach dropped. It couldn’t be. She reached forward and pushed the button. “Mom?”
“Tessa Marie Stuart, you have a lot of explaining to do!”
What the…what? “How did you know where to find me?”
“I put one of those nifty tracking apps on your phone the last time you came to visit me.”
“Mom!”
“Like mother like daughter,” Marcus said.
“Who’s interrupting us while we’re trying to have a conversation?”
Marcus blinked.
If he thought Tessa was bad, he was in for a rude awakening. “That’s Marcus. He’s a bit of a grump. I think it comes with old age.”
“Tessa! That is ageist! If he’s a grump, it doesn’t necessarily have to do with old age. He could have a whole host of reasons. Men of a certain age can have some medical issues that might make them a bit curmudgeonly.”
Marcus buzzed the gate. “Let her in!”
“What’s the matter, Marcus. You don’t want her talking about what your host of reasons could be over the intercom?”
“I told Eric you were trouble the first day I met you.”
To be fair, she had threatened him and Eric. She chuckled. “Just wait.”
Marcus opened the door, and they stood out on the steps. A rental car pulled down the drive and parked. Lina Stuart emerged from the car in all her glory. Tessa was pretty, but her mother’s beauty was otherworldly. Which was part of the reason why Tessa never let her own looks get to her. Tessa glanced over at Marcus, who gaped at Lina for a moment before his perpetual head-of-security scowl snapped into place.
“Why are you here, Mom?” And how soon could she get her calmed down and away from dragon central?
“You have been ignoring my calls and texts for days! I knew something was up. So I came to check on you. Why are you staying in this mansion?” She leaned over and whispered way too loudly, “Sweetheart, you aren’t involved with the mob, are you?”
Deep breath. “No. This is where Megan lives now.”
Lina peeked through the open door and took in the foyer and staircase. “Good for her!”
“ Mom .”
“What? It’s wonderful that she’s found someone to be happy with, and if he comes with money, why not embrace it?” She turned to Marcus. “And who is this?”
“This is Marcus. Marcus. This is my mother, Lina Stuart.”
“This is Marcus? You made him sound like he was one step away from the grave. There’s nothing further from the truth.” And she smiled, which normally caused even the strongest of men and women to fall under her spell.
Marcus scowled even more and grunted.
And Lina Stuart’s eyes widened at the response. Time to intervene.
“Mom. Why don’t you come inside? I’ll go find Megan.”
Her mom narrowed her eyes at Marcus before turning to her and smiling. “That sounds wonderful. And then you can tell me why you have been ignoring me.”
Let’s see…abduction? Dragon leader amnesia? Missing oracle girl? Not something Tessa planned on talking about. And speaking of Lily, she poked her little head around the corner to peek into the foyer.
“And who do we have here?” Lina gushed.
“This is Lily.”
“Aren’t you adorable!”
Lily nodded and Lina laughed. “I like a girl who knows who she is.”
Lily beamed at her.
“Why don’t you go sit in the living room with Lily? I’ll go find Megan and see if Bella is awake.”
Lina followed Tessa into the living room and looked back at a still-scowling Marcus. “You’re sure this isn’t a cult?”
Tessa sighed. “It’s not a cult. It’s a family that runs a business together.”
“Like Dallas or Dynasty .”
“Exactly.” Tessa had watched enough reruns of those eighty shows with her mom over the years to get the reference. If JR Ewing could have sprouted wings, that would have added a whole new can of worms to that show.
Lina sat on the couch, and Lily scrambled up beside her with a handful of books. “I’ll leave you both here for a couple minutes, okay?”
“That’s fine, dear. Lily and I will get to know each other.”
Tessa made a beeline to the office and flung open the door, which brought in a gust of air and sent papers on the desk flying around the room.
Megan, Sienna, Eric, and Adam looked up in surprise. Even Bella, who was sitting on the floor, stopped playing.
“Sorry about that.”
They started to collect papers from the floor.
“Is something wrong?” Megan asked.
“No.” Yes! “Well, my mom is here.”
Megan blinked. “Lina is here ?”
“Yeah. She’s been worried about me because I haven’t been answering her calls or texts the past few days.”
“How did she know where you were?” Sienna said.
Tessa could feel her cheeks heat. “She put a tracker on my phone.”
Eric smirked.
Tessa held up her hand. “Don’t say a word, Eric.”
Megan walked to the side of the desk. “Bella, honey, leave that be.” She squatted down to take a paper from the baby.
“Tessa, come here.”
Tessa walked over. “What is it?”
“This is the scroll that Bella is holding. Didn’t you say that the wording changed when she held it.”
“Yes.”
“Well, it’s not changing now.”
Adam, Eric, and Sienna walked over as well.
Tessa frowned. “I don’t understand. We were sitting at the desk and I was studying it and Bella put her hands on it and the wording changed.”
Megan handed the scroll paper in its protective sleeve to Tessa and then picked up Bella.
Sienna gasped and pointed at the scroll. “Look.”
The wording changed and Tessa had trouble breathing.
“It wasn’t Bella. It was you,” Adam said.
Tessa gaped at the scroll and dropped it onto the desk. It turned back to indecipherable scribble. “How was I able to change the words on the scroll? I’m not magical.”
A voice chimed in behind them. “It could be because you’re a witch, dear.”
They all turned toward the door. Tessa’s mother was standing there holding hands with Lily.
Tessa started to shake. “Mom, what are you talking about?”
“I told you that your grandmother was a witch.”
“ Yeah . But I just thought you meant she was, well, witch- y. ”
Lina smiled. “Oh, Mother was a crank even on her best days. But she was also a witch. Unfortunately her powers were limited, which made her surly. And when she tried to train me, she proclaimed me a lost cause. Said something about magic dying out over the generations.
“Even though I have never had any active magic, I could sometimes sense ‘other’ around certain people. It’s like static electricity, a tingling sensation, and let me tell you this house is full of electricity. Including this special little girl. She’s like a light switch.” She squeezed Lily’s hand. “We were reading in the other room and Lily stopped me. She wanted me to come to the office with her. Was quite adamant about it.”
Of course she was. Had she seen Tessa touching the scroll in a vision? What did this all mean? “Why didn’t you ever tell me I could have powers?”
“Your grandmother didn’t sense anything in you and I didn’t either. I didn’t want to make you feel less than because you didn’t have powers. I wouldn’t do to you what Mother had done to me. Plus, I’m not sure you would have believed me if I had tried. You are quite hardheaded when you want to be.”
Tessa’s hard head was beginning to hurt. “If you don’t sense any powers in me, then why can I do this?”
Lina shook her head. “I said ‘didn’t,’ as in past tense. I can definitely sense other in you now. Maybe it started from spending time around here.” She looked at the rest of the group. “And since you all are as surprised as she is, I guess that means this isn’t a coven.”
“No,” Megan said.
“Megan! It’s so good to see you. And this must be sweet Arabella. The pictures don’t do her justice.”
“Yes. And…um…this is my husband, Eric, and his sister, Sienna, and brother, Adam.”
“I’m sorry to barge in here but I hadn’t heard from Tessa and the tracker app said she had been here for several days. You understand I was worried about her.”
“Of course,” Megan said since Tessa wasn’t wanting to exchange pleasantries right now. “Did you fly in from Miami?”
“Yes.”
“You must be hungry,” Megan said. “Sienna, can you take Bella, Lily, and Lina to the kitchen and see what snacks Marilyn might have for them. We’ll be along in a few minutes.”
“Of course.” She reached for Bella and started herding Lina and Lily from the room.
Lina smiled like what she’d said hadn’t just changed everything for Tessa. “Talk to your friends, dear, and then we’ll catch up. You can decide how much you want to tell me about what’s going on around here.” She looked down at Lily. “I have some chocolate chip cookies in my purse to contribute to our snack time.”
Sienna got them moving again. “Did you bake them?”
“Goodness no. I’m a shopper not a baker.”
And their voices faded away. Megan latched on to Tessa’s arm and sat her down on the couch. “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know what I am right now.”
Megan nodded. “It’s a lot to take in.”
Tessa squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. “I guess the way Nadia treated me makes sense now. She acted like I should know what was going on, and she said she sensed me. She sensed I was a witch?”
Eric nodded. “That might have been the reason she decided to grab you. Trying to figure out what you were up to since you weren’t working with them and you were asking questions about Mia.”
“Can you sense anything with me?” Tessa asked.
Eric shook his head. “No. But I’ve only ever sensed other dragons.”
She turned to Adam, who had been quiet throughout this whole fiasco. “What are you thinking?”
“You didn’t have any idea you were a witch?” he asked.
Tessa tensed at his question. “Of course not. Do you think I’m some undercover witch trying to gain access to your clan? If you remember, you and Eric pulled Megan into this curse cluster, and I came along to protect her from you.”
Adam held up his hands. “I’m just trying to understand. You didn’t feel anything?”
Tessa’s last nerve snapped. “No. Until Lily drew the picture of you with claws, you didn’t know you were a dragon, right?”
Adam sat across from her. “I’m sorry. It just seemed too coincidental to find this out now. I know you’re not trying to hurt us.”
Tessa blew out a breath and then another. “I know what you mean. Is this the curse moving us around like puzzle pieces on a game board? Insert witch here? I don’t like feeling out of control.”
“Trust me. I know. That’s how I’ve felt for the past fifteen months.”
“But you’ve gotten it all back now. You can be the head of this clan and run a multimillion-dollar business again if you want. And whatever you decide, you will fight to protect everything you’ve built here.” Tessa’s heart ached but she needed to say it. “Which is why I need to back away from you all.”
“Tessa, no!” Megan said.
“Can I talk to Tessa alone?” Adam said.
Megan opened her mouth like she was going to argue, but Eric reached for his wife. “We’ll give you a few minutes.”
They shut the door on their way out. Fine. He wanted to be alone? That would give her a chance to push her point home.
Adam turned back to Tessa. “I know you’re in shock right now. We all are, which is why I put my foot in my mouth a couple minutes ago. But you don’t have to go anywhere.”
“Adam. I’m a descendant of the people who wanted to snuff your kind out of existence. Who took your memories. The very people you just declared war against yesterday . Do you really think your clan is going to want me to be associated with you? With any of you?”
“You’re panicking right now. I get that. I really do. I ran when I thought I might hurt Lily, and look what happened.”
“You came home to your family and your clan.” She swallowed. “But this isn’t my family,” she said even though the words seemed to burn her throat.
“Megan is like a sister to you. What about Bella and Lily?”
“That’s who I’m thinking of right now. We don’t know what my being a witch even means. I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt them somehow.”
“You’re not making any sense right now,” Adam said.
And hadn’t Tessa heard that more times than she cared to admit. A model is to be seen not heard. “I am making sense. You just don’t agree. I’m going to leave and figure out what all of this means for me. As leader of this clan, you should agree. It’s going to be hard enough letting the clans know you’re alive and that you need to prepare for battle against the Templars and witches, without throwing me into the mix. You need to protect your family and clan.”
His eyes tightened as did his jaw as he sat there staring at her. Were they going to have a staring contest? If so, she would be the winner.
“We all have had a lot of things thrown at us in the past few days. And we need to prepare to face the clans. I’m not going to argue with you. For now . If you need space to figure things out, then take some. But I have a feeling Megan is not going to be so understanding.”
She wouldn’t be. But Tessa was not going to let anyone talk her out of keeping them all safe. Even if it meant she couldn’t be a part of their lives.