Chapter 22 #2
“We know something bad happened, all three of us felt it. Did you forget we’re all witches, boy?
Or that we have a deep connection to you?
When your dads couldn’t get hold of you, they called me, and you know how shrill Hayden gets when he’s panicking.
He was ready to call international rescue and fake a medical emergency to try and get himself airlifted off that cruise ship.
Lucas had to talk him off that particular ledge.
I told them I was already in London, so after that, I had to tell them the truth. ”
I sigh. “It’s alright, Grumps. This is my fault.
I should have told them the truth from the beginning.
” I rub my face tiredly and head towards the kitchen, needing some caffeine before I call my dads back.
But as I get to the door of the living room, I stop dead.
Sam is laid out on the sofa, where he’s obviously spent the night.
His clothes are rumpled from sleeping in them, and there are bloodstains on his shirt.
My gaze tracks across to the empty glass and the bottle of Glenfiddich Grumps gave me when I moved to London, now minus about one-third of the contents.
“What happened?” I hear Grumps ask. “Was it the demon? The killer?”
“Both,” I mutter, still fixed on Sam. He opens his eyes and meets mine.
“Well?” Grumps says impatiently. “What happened?”
“They’re both dealt with. It’s over.”
My phone starts vibrating in my hand again, and when I glance at the screen, I wince. “Grumps, I have to go. Dad’s calling me. I’ll call you back later and explain everything, okay?”
“You’d better,” he huffs, and hangs up as I accept the call from my dad.
“Harrison!” Dad’s voice is so loud I have to pull the phone a few inches from my ear. “What the hell happened? Are you okay?”
“I’m okay, Dad. I’m sorry I didn’t answer your calls. I put my phone on silent for a funeral yesterday and forgot to change it back.”
“A funeral? Do you mean your mother’s?” he says sharply. I can hear how angry and concerned he is. The two usually go hand in hand with him.
“No,” I reply quietly, my eyes still on Sam, who is watching me, his expression unreadable. “That was weeks ago. This was Tristan’s dad’s funeral.”
“Oh? Did he get murdered too?”
“No.” I wince. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the truth about Vivienne.”
“When did she die?” he demands.
“Just before you left,” I confess.
“You let us get on this cruise ship and go on bloody holiday knowing your mother had just been brutally murdered by a psychotic witch and said nothing?”
“Dad, I—” I break off, unable to force the words past my lips. There’s a hot, hard ball of misery trapped in my throat. I deserve every accusation he throws at me. I was in the wrong and I know it.
“What happened last night? Are you hurt?”
“I—”
“Don’t even think about lying to us, Harrison Ames. You are in so much trouble right now. Tell me the truth.”
“I was barely hurt. I’m fine now.”
“Is Sam there?”
“Yes,” I mutter. Sam hauls himself off the sofa and steps closer to me, so I can only conclude he has had no trouble hearing every word out of Dad’s mouth.
“Give the phone to Sam,” Dad demands.
“What?”
“You heard,” he snaps. “Sam, the dreamy PI, right now.”
I switch to speakerphone, not that it’s necessary at Dad’s current decibel level, and hold the phone between us, mouthing sorry to Sam.
“Hello, Mr Ames,” Sam says to announce his presence.
“It’s Hayden, and don’t lie to me. Tell me exactly what happened to my son.”
Sam lifts a brow, and I nod in resignation. There’s no way Dad’s gonna let it go until he has the full story, but I suppose the one plus is that Dad’s not close enough to murder me.
Sam shakes his head and draws in a breath.
“One of Harrison’s very distant cousins turned out to be a homicidal maniac.
He strung Harrison up over a giant flaming pentagram, then stabbed him in order to use his blood to open a devil’s trap and set an ancient demon loose on London.
Fortunately, he was a terrible aim and managed to avoid skewering anything important. ”
“Harrison was stabbed?” Dad shrieks.
I glare at Sam. He could’ve softened the truth a little. “Barely stabbed,” I say reassuringly.
“Which hospital are you in? I want to speak to your doctor.”
“I’m not in the hospital,” I reply. “Like Sam said, the knife missed all my internal organs.”
“Actually, Olivia did say it nicked your liver.”
“Not helping,” I hiss to Sam.
“Who the hell is Olivia? If your liver was damaged, you should be in hospital. You could have internal bleeding. Sam, call an ambulance!”
“Dad, just listen, okay? I’m fine. Olivia is a witch I met who can do the things I can. In fact, she’s a great deal more powerful than I am. She healed me with magic. I don’t have any internal bleeding and the wound is fully sealed, no stitches. I promise.”
“It’s okay, honey. Just breathe,” I hear Pops murmur in the background, then his voice is suddenly louder. He’s obviously taken the phone from Dad.
“Harry,” Pops exhales heavily. “I’m glad you’re okay, but I don’t even know where to start. There’s a lot to unpack.”
“Pops, I really am sorry I lied to you. I just wanted you to be safe. Isaac Crawshanks, the aforementioned homicidal distant cousin, had already taken out Vivienne. I couldn’t risk either of you getting hurt.”
He sighs loudly, and I can hear Dad still ranting in the background. “Honey, honey… No, put that down!” Pops calls out.
“What’s he doing?” I frown.
Pop sighs even louder this time. “What do you think he’s doing, Harry? He’s trying to commandeer a lifeboat.” His voice gets a little fainter as he turns to speak to Dad. “Sweetheart, do you know how far it is to paddle back to England from here?”
“I’m not going to paddle back to bloody England!” he shouts, his tone waspish. “I’m going to paddle to the nearest island and then I’m going to bloody fly back to England like a civilised person. And Harrison,” he shouts loudly in the background, “you are so bloody grounded when we get back.”
“You can’t ground me.” I roll my eyes. “I’m thirty years old. I may have made some questionable decisions lately, I’ll admit, but with the best intentions. I wanted to keep you all safe.”
“I do understand,” Pop says after a minute, “but you should’ve told us. It should’ve been our decision. Your dad and I will be on the next flight home and then we’re all going to have a very thorough discussion about this. That includes you, Sam.”
“Don’t look at me,” Sam says coolly. “I didn’t find out Harrison was Viv’s son until he was strung up like a side of beef and being poked with a pointy stick by an absolute nutcase.”
“You lied to Sam?” Pops says, and there’s so much disappointment in his voice that I feel sick. “I thought we taught you better than that.”
I swallow painfully. “You taught me to protect the people I love.”
There’s absolute silence, and when I lift my eyes to Sam, he’s staring at me.
“The people you love?” he murmurs.
“I think you two need to talk,” Pop says firmly.
“Now I’m going to go and stop your dad before he gets us arrested for piracy.
He’s two seconds away from marching up to the bridge and threatening bodily harm to the captain in an effort to get him to turn the ship around.
We’ll disembark at the nearest main port and fly home. ”
“Okay,” I agree, my eyes still locked on Sam. “I love you.”
“Love you too, honey.” Then the call cuts off.
For several long minutes, Sam and I just watch each other. Finally, he rubs a hand over his face and looks down at himself.
“I should go,” he murmurs. “I need a shower and a change of clothes. I’ll…” He shakes his head, like he doesn’t know what he wants to say.
I don’t know what to say either. I don’t have a clue how to begin fixing the mess I’ve made.
“I have to go,” he repeats, and turns to leave.
I watch miserably as Sam heads for the door, but at the last moment, he pauses, his hand pressed against the frame.
“Sam, wait!” I say desperately. I don’t want him to walk out, but I don’t know how to make him stay.
He lets out a slow breath, his gaze fixed on the door and his back to me.
“I’m so mad at you, Prickles,” he whispers, “but I don’t know how to stop wanting you.”
My heart hurts, my stomach hurts, my head hurts. I open my mouth, but the words won’t come.
Instead, I watch as the door closes behind him.