Chapter 13 #3
Fox was on his feet in a flash, his face turning bright red.
“I’m getting you’re the annoying nicknames guy, but I’m gonna draw the line right now.
No Harry Potter bullshit! You can go with Tabitha from Bewitched, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, or any of those four crazy bitches from The Craft, but no Potter references. ”
Rafe’s smile became a little feral, and he leaned forward like he was preparing to launch his long body at Fox. “And what are you going to do about it, Mr. Weasely? Turn me into a frog?” Rafe taunted, proving he knew far more about the Harry Potter series than Winter would have ever guessed.
“Fuck magic. I’ll knock your fangs down your throat with my fist.” As if to prove his devotion to the idea, Fox made a fist with his right hand and lifted it, ready to jump into action.
Everyone held their breath for a second, and Winter saw Aiden tense as if he were getting ready to jump into the middle of things, when Rafe fell back laughing.
“Now I understand why you decided to bring him home instead of killing him,” Rafe announced. He sat in his seat, snuggled close to Philippe. “You should hold on to your little flame. He’ll make your life interesting.”
“What?” Fox looked from Rafe to Winter, confusion scrawled across his face.
“Ignore him,” Winter muttered to mask his own feelings of surprise and pride. Fox was a bright flame making his life more interesting every night, but his brother actually noticed it? He grabbed Fox’s arm and pulled him back down to the couch. “We all do.”
“Now that you’ve stirred up enough trouble,” Marcus said, trying to redirect their conversation. “Have you heard from Zelda?”
Rafe rolled his eyes. “Of course I haven’t. Zelda doesn’t give a damn about our schedule or needs.”
“Sounds about right to me,” Fox muttered.
Aiden’s head snapped around to pin the witch under his sharp gaze. “You know Zelda?”
Fox quickly shook his head. “Not personally. Only by reputation as a troublemaker and meddler. But I’m sure she’s like all witches.
You can’t make any of them give a shit about what you want or need.
Even if it’s a life and death matter. If this didn’t have to do with a witch’s prophecy, I’d say you’re better off not getting in contact with her. ”
Bel shifted in his seat so he could get a better view of Fox, his mouth tipping into a worried frown. “You sound as if you’ve had some troublesome interactions with your own kind.”
Fox grunted. He dropped against the sofa, his arms folded over his chest as he glared at the coffee table. Winter had to lock his fingers together between his legs to keep himself from wrapping his arm around Fox’s shoulders.
“Witches typically only learn how to use magic through apprenticeships with other witches,” Winter explained. “And…they’re not exactly helpful about teaching the next generation of witches.”
“You can’t teach yourself?” Rafe asked.
“And risk blowing myself up?” Fox squawked.
“No, thank you.” He took another deep breath and released it noisily.
“What Winter is being too polite to say is that I don’t know shit when it comes to magic.
I can’t turn you into a frog. I can’t levitate things or make them disappear.
I can’t…” he stopped, his hands up in the air as if he were trying to grasp for another example before he finally dropped them.
“I can’t do just about anything you can think of.
It’s why this whole idea that I’m the witch from the prophecy is utterly laughable. I’m no one.”
Now Winter couldn’t keep his hands to himself a second longer.
He reached over and covered one of Fox’s fists with his own hand.
“Don’t talk about yourself like that. You’re not no one.
We just don’t know if you’re truly linked to this prophecy or in what manner.
We do know you don’t intend to hurt anyone in this room. ”
“Which is at least a good first step,” Ethan murmured.
A timer went off, and Fox immediately jumped to his feet.
“I’ll grab it.” He looked anxious and something else that Winter couldn’t quite put a name to as his eyes lingered on Winter for a second and then moved away.
Not that Winter could blame Fox for his nerves after everything he’d been put through already.
“I’ll help,” Ethan said, rising quickly as well. “I can at least remember how to use an oven from my human years.”
Fox opened his mouth like he intended to argue, but snapped it shut again and nodded. “Thanks. You haven’t been a vampire long?”
Ethan’s easy tone drifted into the background as he talked to Fox about how he and Marcus had met nearly a year ago. Like River, Ethan had an easy way about him that would help Fox to relax and maybe forget that he felt so lacking when it came to his abilities.
“If Fox doesn’t know anything about the prophecy or how he’s supposed to hurt the Variks, where does that leave us?” Wyatt asked.
And that was the million-dollar question.
Winter sat forward on the cushion and rested his elbows on his knees. “Pretty much at square one, knowing Damon wants the Varik clan destroyed.”
“And somehow the stars have aligned in a significant way to make that possible,” Rafe snarled.
“Who knows?” Winter threw his hands up in the air. “Fox brought up a good point that any witch can make a prophecy, but it doesn’t make it true. He claims I’m going to give up blood and survive on mashed potatoes. I don’t think that is going to come true.”
“Do you think that’s the case here? Should we stop trying to reach out to Zelda?” Aiden inquired.
A slow sigh slipped past Winter’s parted lips and he had to shake his head. “No, I think we still need to talk to her—or at least a witch who knows about the prophecy. The exact wording of it. We need to know how we’re being threatened and if Fox is in danger as well.”
“But…it would be wise if we didn’t put all our eggs in a single basket,” Marcus murmured. “Aiden and Rafe will continue to pursue Zelda. You and I can reach out to the vampire contacts we have. We need all information we can gather on Damon’s plans and movements.”
“What can we do?” Bel asked.
“Get Ozzie and any birds you can lay your hands on searching for anyone linked to Damon.” Winter shoved one hand into his hair, his fingers twisting in it.
“With Fox taken rather than killed, Damon is going to suspect we have him. He’d going to be planning an attack to get him back. We will need to be extra cautious.”
“Excellent point.” Aiden slowly looked at each of his sons. “Until this is over, no one within the clan travels alone.” He paused at Rafe. “Spread the word to Jullien, Gideon, Lola, and Ryder.”
“I will,” Rafe said. “I also have an interesting contact who is quite good at moving unseen among the vampires. I’ll see if he’s heard anything about Damon and his clan.”
Fox and Ethan returned to the living room, carrying plates of pizza, napkins, and glasses of water.
“The rest of it will be out in about twenty minutes, but I thought we could get started on this,” Ethan announced.
The wolves and Ethan fell on the food like they were starving while Fox grabbed just a slice to pick at.
Winter struggled to sit beside him and not pull him close.
The witch was a little more relaxed since disappearing into the kitchen with Ethan, but his mood was too somber.
He didn’t want Fox melancholy or darkly pensive.
It was better when he was laughing or teasing or even shouting at one of his brothers.
Well, that part was becoming one of his favorites.
But right now, he needed something to distract him or at least lighten his mood.
“How are the guitar lessons going, River?” Winter asked as the conversation fell into a lull while some of those gathered ate.
As Winter had hoped, River instantly lit up, the slice of pizza forgotten in his hand. “I’ve learned six new songs recently. I feel like I’m picking things up faster now. It’s all started to make sense.”
“I’ve also started teaching him the piano,” Marcus added.
Winter snorted. “Going to the dark side already. Just don’t let Rafe try to teach you the violin. He’s got zero patience.”
Rafe shrugged. “It’s true. I tried teaching the We—” For some strange reason Rafe stopped and stared at Winter for a second. His eyes darted over to Fox and then back to Winter. “I tried teaching Winter once when he couldn’t decide on an instrument, but it was an utter disaster.”
Winter stared at his brother, unable to guess at what he saw that convinced him to stop using the nickname. He smiled at Rafe and gave the barest of nods. In the end, the reason probably didn’t matter. He appreciated it all the same.
“Actually, we’re having one of the rooms in the house soundproofed, so I was thinking my next instrument would be a horn or something in percussion.” River paused and held up one finger. “That being said, I did see that insane wall of guitars over there. I think you need to play something for us.”
To his surprise, Fox’s hand landed on his arm and he turned to find his playful expression in place as he’d hoped. “You don’t just collect them? You play them too?” he teased.
“You haven’t played for him yet?” River gasped.
“We haven’t been back from Virginia that long. I thought we’d start out with things like sleep and food.”
“Music is food for the soul,” Bel murmured softly, and the Varik sons fell silent for a heartbeat. It was a phrase uttered by their mother their entire human lives, and Winter was positive they had all believed it.
Winter rose from the couch, walked over to the far wall decorated with guitars, and pulled down his favorite.
It wasn’t his oldest, fanciest, or even rarest. It was a run-of-the-mill Fender, but he’d always like the way this one just lay in his hands, as if she wanted to be played by him and only him.
He returned to his spot on the couch and began playing.
The songs just came off the tips of his fingers.
Old ones he played for his mother and once complained of hearing them too often.
Other songs he played only for himself when he needed to drown out the noise created by the ghosts floating through his house.
But the songs he played didn’t matter. He just wanted to play for Fox, hoping to erase the last of the worry from his eyes and the sad downturn from his lips.
He only stopped when the timer for the food went off and Ethan rushed to get it. He set the guitar safely aside and was stunned when Fox wrapped his arms around him as he started to turn back to his family.
“Thank you,” the witch whispered in his ear.
Winter closed his eyes, pressing his lips into the man’s slender shoulder, as he let his warmth wrap around him. For the first time in his life, Winter wasn’t thinking about his family, his duty, or even how he was going to hold his own sanity together. There was only Fox.
And he wanted the moment to never end.