33. Homecoming Havoc
HOMECOMING HAVOC
Starla holds the phone out, clicking so that one of the voicemails her father left her is on speaker phone.
“—know you’ve slunk back to that sad excuse for a community you call home.
Your grandmother cannot shield you forever.
Whatever tricks or magics that old crone is using will not be enough to withstand all my magic.
If you should continue to refuse, I have no problems taking it out on those she cannot hide.
You have until this evening to respond.”
Starla is glaring at the phone.
Jackal’s eyes are glowing.
Ji-hwan whistles.
“Your father does not like it when he doesn’t get his way,” the Were observes.
Starla scoffs.
“That’s putting it mildly.”
“He said ‘this evening.’ Is that the latest voicemail? When did he leave it?” I ask.
She checks the phone.
“Just over an hour ago. It’s coming up on late afternoon here. Impossible to tell whether he means evening in this timezone or Carolina Beach. It’s clear that he thinks we found a way to sneak past him and go home. He could be there already.”
My heart leaps into my throat.
Back to Carolina Beach. Where he’s vowing to go after Grammy Pearl and anyone else standing between him and his wayward daughter.
Exos stands next to the witch.
“Whatever he has planned, we can handle him. You’re not under any obligation to him anymore.”
Starla lets out a deep sigh.
“Grammy did promise closure. We’ll need to figure out where he is and what exactly he has planned. One easy way to do that.”
She walks to a small grassy area off the parking lot nearest the docks, then calls her father. She leaves the phone on speaker so we can all hear the incensed warlock when he answers.
“Where are you? Return immediately. This is the single most despicable thing you have ever done, you deceitful little—”
“If you can’t put on some of that politeness you’re always preaching I should use, then I do not have to take this call,” Starla snaps.
“How dare you! I am a councilman. Respected by not just witches and warlocks but many factions of supernaturals, and I—”
With a press of her thumb, Starla ends the call.
“Was that really wise?” Jackal asks, although he’s smirking.
“Time will tell,” she responds.
It doesn’t take long. Seconds later, the phone is ringing again. The witch picks up.
“Yes?”
“Ignore me if you like, but you will see this through. You gave your word.”
“I was under duress,” Starla argues.
“Duress? You are the one who chose Piers! Why you have to treat me like this after all I’ve done for you and offered you, I cannot imagine. Piers is beside himself.”
“I’ll bet Piers couldn’t pick me out of a lineup if I had my tattoos showing and my hair in its usual style. He wants to marry into your influence, not marry me. Sign a contract and have done with it, but leave me out of it.”
I can picture Councilman Taylor seething on the other end of the phone.
“That is not how things are done.”
“No, you all barter your offspring instead. As if the type of people who would sell their own children would so much as bat an eye if misfortune came to those same children later on. As long as you have what you want, it doesn’t matter.
I’m just a means to an end. That’s all I’ve ever been or could ever be. ”
I’m reminded of Seymour, and the four wives the councilman’s accountant has supposedly gone through. Maybe the Ender had the right idea. So many of these individuals are acting with apparent impunity.
Councilman Taylor makes a sound on his end of the call that tells me he’s clenching his teeth to avoid screaming.
“If you’d shown an ounce of real power, and an inclination to wield it, we could have been partners,” he says to his daughter.
Starla flinches as he continues.
“As it stands, you have been nothing more than a complication to my life.”
“Then leave me alone! Let me live my life without your interference, and I won’t bother you anymore.” I can hear the desperation in her voice, which means the councilman probably hears it as well.
“You are my child. You belong to me. To benefit me and serve my purposes. You will see this wedding through, along with the siren, or you will regret the consequences. I’m not to be trifled with, Starla.
I am operating on very little sleep, having chased you to this tourist-trap nightmare that I cannot imagine anyone decent wanting to settle in, let alone the daughter of a councilman.
I know the old woman is hiding you. If you don’t agree to meet me, I will simply have to start striking at those closest to you. ”
The witch puts on the deepest Southern drawl possible when she responds, clearly determined to incense the warlock further.
“Are you threatenin’ my friends?”
I imagine him grinding his teeth on the other end of the phone.
“I am negotiating.”
“Do you really think we won’t report this to the Magikai? You’ll be apprehended before you can cross the pond home.”
“As if I don’t have contingency plans for something like that. Some of my best business associates have been deep in the magical government. You don’t know who to trust, and who would turn out for my side and make things even more painful for you.”
Ji-hwan waves, and Starla mutes our end of the call for a moment.
“He’s bluffing. The government was nearly overrun by some less than wonderful characters a while back, but that’s largely been handled,” Ji-hwan insists.
He was an enforcer, along with Never. He would know better than the rest of us. But that doesn’t mean they caught everyone.
Starla unmutes our end of the call as her father blathers on.
“Right now I have an enforcer who owes me a great debt looking into a location of particular interest. A certain family of hyena shifters up in the Lake District? It would be a shame if there were a reason for him to have to pay them a visit. Perhaps a case of mistaken identity? They’ve been accused of a crime, and when the enforcer shows up for a routine round of questioning, he gets attacked.
Has no choice but to eliminate the threats. ”
A growl rips free from Jackal’s throat, and Exos barrels into the hyena, shoving him further into the overgrown grass and brush to block him from view as his fur rips free. My mate’s hackles are raised, his voice slightly distorted by fangs as he shouts toward the phone.
“Touch my family, and I will personally rip each limb from your body before I relieve you of your head,” he promises. His tone is deadly, and I have no doubts that if his sister, brother-in-law, or, tides forbid, Lottie are harmed, he will make good on his threat. No matter what.
I’d help him.
“Is that the rabid animal you bring along with you to my events? Still following you around like a loyal dog, is he? I have people awaiting a single word from me. You can’t possibly know them all.
I’ve been more than generous, coming all the way here.
I’ve even brought your grooms. A beach wedding is just as good as any other.
You have an hour to show yourselves. I’ll be watching your bar, and if you fail to show yourselves, I’ll burn it down myself. ”
“We can’t do that; we’re not there,” Starla blurts.
For a moment, the other end of the line is silent. Then, the councilman begins to laugh. An eerie, disturbing sound.
“Oh, Starla. I gave you too much credit once again. You couldn’t even find a way out of the country, could you. Is that it? You went to ground and let me assume you’d been smart enough to make it back to the coven leader. You’re even more of a disappointment than I thought.”
She doesn’t argue his point.
“You see why I can’t meet your deadline, then,” is all she says.
“Fine. We’ll make it midnight. I am not leaving this spot until this is settled. I won’t be stuck on a plane over the ocean while you find a way out of this. The beach by your precious restaurant. Just the two of you, or you will regret it.”
“Wait! Father, there is a crest above your office. Now that I know about Claude, may I assume it’s a family crest?”
“What are you getting at, my darling daughter?”
“Did you know about Leon Stone? Did you help him, or did Claude act alone?”
“Does it matter?”
Starla’s face falls at the flippant response. My eyes water, my heart breaking for my friend. Jackal, shifted back to his skin, is wrapped in a coat that Ji-hwan offers him. We all watch the witch.
“Of course it matters! I almost died. That man kidnapped me.”
“That wasn’t part of the plan.”
To her credit, Starla’s voice doesn’t betray her emotions, even as tears stream down her face.
“Well, I guess that answers that. See you tonight.”
The phone call ends, screen going black.
The witch sniffles but turns with a determined look to the rest of us.
“We need a plane. Now.”
“I’m on it,” Jackal says, pulling out his phone.
Ji-hwan and Exos imitate the action, all three trying to find us a charter that’s prepared to leave immediately.
I place a hand on my friend’s shoulder. She’s still wearing my song around her neck, containing all the magic I could still lose. And representing all the magic her line lost because of another selfish family member.
I doubt the councilman even knows the true reason their key isn’t what it used to be. It’s just a cruel joke of fate that his lightning is strong and hers is weak.
“We’ll get home, and we’ll figure something out.”
Her eyes flash bright.
“We’re not going alone. I’m done giving in to his ridiculous rules. He wants to see his daughter, fine. We’ll have a real family reunion this time. But he will be the one who regrets it.”
Sparks dance across her fingertips, and her eyes flash again.
No matter what her magic is or isn’t, Starla is a strong witch.
The councilman is planning on a scared daughter, so desperate to save her beach and friends that she’ll give in to his demands. He’s not going to like who shows up.