17. Chapter 17 #2
John’s stomach twisted. The Templars were escalating, and he was the one who had brought trouble to the clan.
Sienna frowned. “Something is making them nervous. Maybe they’re worried we’re going to finally break this curse. Which means we need to figure this out. Let’s talk through things. Megan?”
Why wasn’t he surprised that Sienna would take charge?
Megan walked over to the whiteboards. John followed her and stared at the timeline and notes. His heart sank to see his past spread in front of him in clinical detail.
“I haven’t gotten through all your journals yet. I’m trying to see if anything appears cyclical,” Megan said.
“Meaning?” John asked.
“I wondered if some of the attacks were separated by a certain number of years, or time of year. The same with some of your continued discoveries surrounding the curse. So far I don’t have a definite rhyme or reason as to why they attacked you.
Except for some of the obvious ones.” She pointed at the middle board.
“For example, you reported getting attacked a few years ago, which was around the same time as you acquiring the painting.”
“Luckily I’d hidden the painting somewhere they couldn’t find. But all these events do seem to be haphazard for the most part.”
“Ryan had an idea about that,” Sienna said.
“What sort of idea?” John asked.
“He thought that we might be looking at this in a silo. Were there events going on in the world that might have caused you to discover things and/or precipitate an attack from the witches or Templars?”
Megan nodded. “That makes sense.”
“Ryan and I talked to Jonas this afternoon. He’s taking the notes you’ve made and comparing it to events using some computer programs. Hopefully he’ll find something that helps us.”
“I wondered why my texts were going unanswered,” Marcus said.
Sienna nodded. “Yeah. You know how Jonas is when he starts a new project. He’ll stay in his IT cave until he has some info for us.”
Right now hiding in a cave sounded like a good idea to John.
Sienna turned to Adam. “Mia still not responding?”
“I haven’t heard from her. We aren’t sure that she’s checking the message board any longer.”
“John and I were talking about that, and he came up with an idea,” Sienna said.
And they all turned to look at him. Wonderful.
“If Mia is seeing your communications, then we can assume she isn’t answering because she doesn’t trust you.
She thinks you abandoned her, and even though Tessa tried to explain about your amnesia, that doesn’t mean she believed her.
But she might respond to someone she does trust. Someone who she knows from her past life. ”
“You mean me,” Megan said. “I think that’s a good idea.”
“I don’t like it.” Eric added. “What if Megan becomes a target?”
“We’re all targets at this point,” Sienna said.
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Eric scowled.
Megan walked over to him and placed her hand on his arm. “Eric, I would just be sending her a message in the chat group. It isn’t a secret that I’m married to you and live in the clan house. I think it makes sense for me to try and get her communicating again with us.”
Marcus chimed in. “We know that Mia hid Lily away. But do we really know who she was hiding her from? We assume it’s the Templars or witches, and maybe that was the case back then.
But a lot could have happened since. If Mia has truly drank the Templar Kool-Aid, she could think that we’re the bad guys. ”
Tessa shook her head. “Mia was angry and confused when I talked to her. I’m not convinced that she’s fully turned to the dark side yet.
If Megan tries to reach out to her, it could work.
Maybe start the conversation with talking about art or something that she would remember from when you were her TA and she was your professor at Vanderbilt. ”
“I still don’t like it,” Eric said.
“What do you think, Adam?” Sienna asked.
“I think it’s worth a shot. We don’t even know if she’ll see it at this point, but if she does, she may be willing to open communications again with Megan.”
John watched the back and forth with interest. He’d never been a part of a family who actually listened and valued each other’s opinions.
He might not have been in love before, but he understood Eric’s concern for Megan.
“We could go another direction. Maybe we need to dangle something in front of Mia—a carrot.”
Sienna narrowed her eyes at him. “Let me guess. You’re the four-hundred-year-old carrot?”
“It makes sense.”
“You were just attacked by Templars. What if she comes after you?”
He shrugged. “Witches or Templars. They’re going to keep coming after me regardless. If we think Mia is the key to help us break the curse, then I say it’s worth it.”
Sienna looked at Adam, who inclined his head at her before she responded to John. “Let’s start with Megan trying to communicate with her through the chat group to see if Mia will respond. We can always dangle the carrot if we don’t hear from her. Eric, Megan, are you okay with that?”
Megan nodded. Eric wrapped his arm around his wife’s shoulder before answering a reluctant, “Yes.”
“Great.” Sienna took a step back. “As soon as Jonas has any information for us on his computer program, I’ll let everyone know.”
They filed out of the room. Sienna held back and John followed suit until they were the only two remaining.
“I know you weren’t expecting to deal with everyone tonight.”
“It is what it is.”
Her eyes danced. “That’s a very laid-back answer.”
“Coming from me, you mean.”
She headed toward the office door. “Well…yes. Thank you for coming to dinner. The girls were tickled you were there, especially Lily.”
Warmth filled his chest. “Tell them good night for me.”
They reached the foyer, and Marcus walked up to them. “I can take you back to the cabin if you’re ready.”
“Unka Gumpy!” Bella yelled.
He turned to see Megan carrying Bella and Lily skipping next to Tessa as they walked toward him.
“The girls wanted to say good night,” Megan said.
Bella held her arms out to him, and he swallowed before taking her from Megan. Lily wrapped her arms around his legs, and he stood there speechless.
He had spent centuries on the run, trying to find a way to break a curse and return magic to the world again. He’d faced numerous obstacles and dangers—droughts, plagues, wars—everything had been thrown at him.
So why did two little girls almost bring him to his knees? Sienna stood in front of him with a brilliant smile and shiny eyes. Correction. There was no almost about it. Why did two little girls and their spitfire aunt bring him to his knees?