23. Twenty-Three
TWENTY-THREE
I managed to capture Aunt Tillie’s first attempt. It took a lot of effort to contain it. Her second shot knocked one of Mom’s favorite teapots off the shelf, and that’s when things got ugly.
“Stop it right now!” Mom exploded, her hair whipping back from her face like a scene from Firestarter . “Don’t make me lock both of you up!”
Millie ignored Mom and threw a zinger in Aunt Tillie’s direction. Despite her age, Aunt Tillie easily dodged it. Twila was not so lucky.
She went ramrod straight, a scream frozen on her lips, and then fell backward. Chief Terry caught Twila before she could hit her head. I scrambled to get to the far end of the room, where Millie was gearing up for another attack, but I tripped over Steve, who was crawling under the table.
I swore under my breath as I made it around him, but by the time I got to my destination Millie had made it to the door that led to the hallway. She would escape if she got through.
Aunt Tillie had figured that out too, and she conjured a huge ball of destruction.
“No!” I stepped in front of her just as she released the magic. I was lifted four feet off the floor. I put my hands over my head to shield it from the ceiling.
“Bay!” Landon yelled. He hadn’t taken refuge like Steve. He was still grappling with the fighting Aunt Tillies. Warm hands gripped my thigh and I knew they belonged to him. “Do something!” he shrieked at Aunt Tillie.
“It’s her fault for getting in the way,” Aunt Tillie fired back.
“Get her down right now!” Landon shouted.
“Oh, geez, you’re such a kvetch.” Aunt Tillie reversed the spell. She didn’t bother to cushion my landing, however. I dropped like a rock directly on Landon.
“ Oomph .” He did his best to absorb the blow but we both hit the floor hard enough to knock the breath out of us.
I recovered before he did. “Are you okay?” I patted his neck and arms. “You didn’t break anything?”
“Just my pride,” he gritted out, groaning as he shifted to look at the doorway that led to the hall.
Millie was gone.
Aunt Tillie pushed past Mom in an effort to reach the hallway, causing my mother to fly over the nearest chair. Chief Terry, who had placed Twila under the table—she was still frozen—lurched to catch Mom.
There was no stopping Aunt Tillie. She was going to chase Millie outside and put herself in danger, again. She was going to explode everything in her way. Thankfully, she didn’t get a chance, because Evan stepped in front of her and grabbed her shirt so she couldn’t get past him.
“And just where do you think you’re going?” he asked, looking around the room.
“Millie,” Aunt Tillie growled. She tried to overpower Evan with sheer force of will, but he was too strong. “Let me go!”
“I don’t think so.” Evan was calm. Other than Mom’s teapot, the destruction was purely cosmetic. “What happened?”
“Millie attacked Aunt Tillie,” I replied as I rubbed my elbow. It had taken the brunt of the drop from the ceiling. “I think she managed to get the drop on Aunt Tillie earlier today. She had her locked up somewhere.”
“In a barn on the old Finch property,” Aunt Tillie added. “She actually thought she could keep me captive in a barn. She warded it to the tenth degree but missed a few too many holes. I guess that shows who the superior Tillie is.”
That was up for debate.
“She was going to keep you there until she made her escape,” I guessed, rolling my neck. Little aches and pains were starting to make themselves known. “Do you know where she plans on going?”
Aunt Tillie shot me an incredulous look. She was still trying to make her way around Evan, but the vampire stood fast. “We didn’t sit down and have tea. I don’t care where she’s going. I’m going to end her.”
“You’re the reason she’s here. Why did you create her?” Something else occurred to me. “Actually, how did you create her?”
“Don’t worry about it.” Aunt Tillie shot me a death glare. “That doesn’t matter.”
“I think it does.”
“No, it does not. Suffice it to say that it was an experiment … and like many experiments, I didn’t like the outcome. She’s going back in the bottle.”
She was dreaming. I had no idea what Millie was now, but Millie was not simply going to toe the line and do as Aunt Tillie wanted. “We need to talk,” I said.
Aunt Tillie’s eye roll was pronounced. “I don’t answer to you.”
“You answer to me,” Mom snapped, her fury palpable. She’d crawled to her broken teapot and there were genuine tears in her eyes. “This was Mom’s teapot.”
My stomach clenched. No wonder Mom loved the teapot so much.
“Maybe we can fix it,” I suggested as I started toward her.
My knees protested crawling, and when I reached Steve, who was still under the table, I paused long enough to give him a tight smile.
“It’s okay to come out now. Dinner is still good. ”
Steve opened his mouth, then shut it. He opened it again, then shut it again. He reminded me of a guppy.
“It’s okay.” I used my kindest tone. “Millie won’t come back tonight.”
Steve finally found his voice. “How do you know that?”
“She would have to be an idiot to come back, and she’s no idiot.” I pinned Aunt Tillie with a dark look. “Unfortunately, she’s way smarter than she should be.”
“Oh, don’t look at me that way.” Aunt Tillie stopped fighting Evan and marched over to stare me down. “This is not my fault.”
I had to force myself to remain calm. “Whose fault is it?”
“Margaret. We had to do that spell because of her.”
“And the first time you brought Millie into this world?” I pressed.
“It’s not what you think.”
“Tell me what happened.”
For a moment, I thought she might tell me the story. She looked as if she wanted to. The expression was gone as quickly as it appeared, and she straightened.
“Don’t get in my way again,” she warned, her gaze bouncing between faces.
A genuine look of regret crossed her features when she looked at Mom, who was still fussing over the broken teapot.
“I’ve got this. Stay out of the way.” She marched toward the kitchen, casting her evil eye toward Evan. “That goes for you too.”
She swept out of the room, magic trailing behind her like hellhounds preparing for the hunt.
“What did I miss?” Evan asked when she was gone.
“Just the basics. Millie took Aunt Tillie captive. Aunt Tillie escaped. Millie says she has a plan. And I saw the naiad.”
Evan nodded. “I heard about the naiad. That’s why I’m here. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“I’m fine.”
He looked in the direction Millie had escaped, then in the direction Aunt Tillie had stormed.
“You probably can’t catch Millie,” I offered. “Until we know exactly what she is, we can’t come up with a plan to deal with her. Whatever Aunt Tillie says—and it’s a bunch of nonsense as far as I’m concerned—we can’t trap Millie wherever she was trapped before. That won’t fly this time.”
Evan nodded in agreement. “I’ll talk to Tillie. She needs to calm down first.”
“Thank you.” I accepted his hand when he extended it to help me off the floor. “Find anything today?”
“Not really,” he replied. “I spent a lot of time in the woods.”
The only reason I knew Steve was no longer under the table was because he’d focused his attention on Evan.
“And you are?” Steve asked, his eyes roaming Evan from the top of his head to the tips of his toes.
It was obvious he’d picked up on the fact that Evan was not some random friend who had dropped by.
My stomach tightened as I considered the ramifications.
“I’m Tillie’s first sidekick,” Evan replied. He didn’t extend his hand toward Steve in greeting. “I have to find her.” His eyes moved back to me. “I’ll be in touch.” With that, he followed Aunt Tillie, leaving me with a mess. A very big mess.
“I need more information about Millie,” Steve said, licking his lips as he glanced around the room. “Maybe a lot of information.”
Internally, I cringed. Outwardly, I smiled. “Of course.” I moved to help Mom with the teapot, careful to collect all the pieces. There was no gluing it back together. Thistle had become adept at repair spells, though. “Whatever you want to know, I’m here to provide.”
“What is Millie?” Steve demanded.
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
WINCHESTER REMAINED AT THE OVERLOOK . Landon was going through withdrawal he missed his dog so much.
Much like me, he knew Winchester was safer with Mom and the aunts.
If the naiad came calling, she might not care about sparing a dog.
Millie wasn’t as much of a concern when it came to animals.
She was part of Aunt Tillie, which meant she loved animals.
“Do you want to talk?” Landon asked when I emerged from the bathroom clad in shorts and a tank top, face freshly washed.
“I’d rather sleep. I hope that’s okay. I need to think.”
Landon lifted the blanket so I could crawl under it. “We can talk things through in the morning.”
I nodded. “Thanks. It was a really long day.” I rolled and rested my head on his shoulder.
He snuggled me at his side. “Steve will have more questions tomorrow.”
“Yeah. The paranormal world isn’t looking so fun now.”
“It’s a bigger world than he realized.”
“Maybe I should’ve eased him in. Throwing him in the deep end without knowing if he could swim might’ve been a mistake.”
Landon hit the switch on the lamp beside the bed. “It’s better this way. You can’t spend all your time worrying about how he’s going to react. He needs to keep up. You can’t break your rhythm, not when you’re dealing with something dangerous.”
I sighed and closed my eyes. “I don’t even know where to start.”
“I know.” He kissed my forehead. “Sleep. We’ll figure out where to start in the morning.”
“Okay. Sounds like a good idea.”
I was out within seconds, which is why I was disgruntled when the darkness began to ease, and I found myself in another dreamscape. The naiad was waiting.
“This is a surprise,” I said. She stood next to Torch Lake and looked out at the water. “I didn’t realize you had dream magic.”
“We don’t,” she replied, her eyes still on the lake. “We can access the magic of others, and you have dream magic.”
“It’s not very strong.”
“Strong enough for what we need.” She turned to me. “We need to have a discussion.”
“Oh, good,” I deadpanned. “There’s nothing I love more than hearing those words.”
The naiad didn’t smile. “You think it’s your job to protect humans.”
“I try to protect those who need it.”
“Even if the humans you’re currently trying to protect deserve death?”
The question was designed for me to fail. I went on the offensive. “Tell me what happened to your sister.”
“They killed her.”
“Yes, but why?”
“Because that’s what humans do.” The response dripped with disdain.
I opted for a different tack. “Did you attack the humans?”
“We told them they were invading our home.”
“Did you physically attack them?”
The naiad made a disgusted sound and turned back to the water. “They thought we were joking. They took one look at us, saw young women, and started insulting us. They assumed we were weak.”
I could picture the scene. “They probably assumed you were hippies out here smoking pot.”
“More or less,” she agreed.
“Do you even know what pot is?”
The look she shot me was withering. “We choose to live separately from humans, but we understand the ways of your world. We know what pot is … and fashion … and even the Kardashians.”
I cringed. “Sorry about the Kardashians.”
“Why are you apologizing for them?”
“It seems like someone should.”
“Yes, well, even in the paranormal world we have factions that only care about beauty and ignore anything of substance. There’s vapidness in every world.”
“I need to know the rest of the story. I know you don’t want to tell it, but I need to know.”
Her sigh dragged on for what felt like forever. “They assumed we were weak and began taunting us.” She didn’t look at me as she related the tale. “They tried to force themselves on us. It was as if they were feeding off each other. I’ve seen that with other species, but never humans.”
I felt sick to my stomach. “I’m sorry.”
“It shouldn’t have been a problem. Even though they vastly outnumbered us, we have magic. It should’ve been an easy fight.”
“It wasn’t,” I surmised.
“One of them had magic.”
I was thrown off guard. “Which one?”
“I don’t know yet.” She continued to stare at the water.
“I will find him. We had already won the battle when he swooped in to protect the others. He attacked. He somehow convinced the others to attack again. In the confusion, I ran into the woods. I assumed my sister was behind me. It was too late when I realized she was gone.”
“Who killed her?” I asked. “Was it the magical one? What was he?”
“A wizard of some sort. A warlock perhaps. He had magic like you, but different.”
“Not a vampire or shifter. You’re certain of that?”
“He was not a shifter.”
“Okay.” I blew out a sigh. “How have you been finding them? If you don’t know their names, how can you be certain you’re getting the right people?”
“You never forget the scent of those who killed your last remaining family member.”
Briefly, I shut my eyes. These men deserved her vengeance, but I doubted Steve would see it that way. “What will you do when you’re finished?” I asked.
“There is a door in the lake.”
“A plane door.” I looked at the lake. “You want to go to a different plane.”
“My people have been fleeing this land for years. Many have gone through that door. I wish to join them.”
“Do you have family there?”
“Perhaps. If not, I won’t be alone.”
“Can you open the door?”
“That’s why we were here. We were trying to figure it out. Then the humans came … and now it’s just me.”
I felt sad for her. “I know someone who can help with the plane door.” Scout would have no problem going to the lake and opening a door for the naiad. It would solve a multitude of problems. “I can have her there to open the door for you tomorrow.”
“I’m not ready yet.”
My hopes sank. “You’re going to kill them all?”
“I cannot leave this place until I do.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
“Even if they deserve it?”
“That’s not how things work here.”
“Then I’ll have to kill you too.” Her eyes were dead when they locked with mine. “I don’t look forward to it. If you get in my way, you will fall with them.”
I opened my mouth to argue with her, but she was gone. The dreamscape remained for several seconds, the calm water stretching around me, and then I was plunged back into darkness.