Chapter 20 Flew!
TWENTY
Flew!
After breakfast, I dealt with the dishes. We got cleaned up, and dirty, and cleaned up again. I loved the way he washed my hair. He was thorough but gentle. While I conditioned and dried it, he went down to his workshop until it was time for the drive to the gallery.
Dressed and ready, I got to the bottom of the stairs with my backpack and saw our dining table. It gleamed under the light. It was a dark walnut with an inlay of a reddish curly sinker heartwood pine. It was stunning.
Seeing the table made me want to step up the schedule on the light fixture I was making. Maybe I’d work on that today for a bit. It’d be nice to take a break from octopuses. I also needed to tell my agent Mary Beth not to accept big orders like this again. Too much repetition drove me insane.
Declan had three chairs built and was working on the fourth.
“Wait. We never talked about the new client.” I ran my gloved hand over the table. “Does he want you to make a dining set for him?”
Declan looked up and gazed at me for a long moment. It made butterflies take flight in my stomach. Finally, he nodded, putting aside his tools.
“He does. A dining table, twelve chairs, a buffet, two coffee tables, and three end tables.”
“Holy moley. That’ll keep you busy for a while. Can you deliver the pieces as you finish, or does he want it all at once?”
He took my hand and walked me out to his SUV.
“I’ll deliver in sets. The dining table and chairs all together.
The buffet on its own. Then the coffee tables together and the end tables together.
I want it to be easy to integrate my pieces into his home, cutting down on all the rearranging of furniture. ”
We got in and I rubbed his knee. “Congratulations. That’s fantastic, and a huge order.”
He dropped his hand onto mine and squeezed as he pulled out of his parking lot and onto the main road. “Thanks, love.” A half minute later, he was turning into the gallery parking lot. He gestured with his other hand. “Whose car is that?”
I shrugged. “I don’t recognize it. Maybe someone left their car here and went for a walk.”
He parked beside Bracken’s SUV, and we went through the gate to the deck.
“Arwyn!” I was suddenly wrapped in a hug.
Luckily for me, my Aunt Elizabeth knew not to touch any exposed skin, like my neck and face.
Uncle Robert mostly stood behind his wife but wrapped an arm around me as well.
His eyes widened as he looked down at my stomach.
He was a wicche healer. Of course he picked up on the little one.
When I nodded, he glowed, turning to shake Declan’s hand.
I didn’t think Elizabeth and Frank caught what was happening. Faith already knew but she was standing farther down the deck, close to Cecil’s home. She waved at the water and walked toward the group.
“Not that I don’t appreciate it, but why the hugs?” I asked.
Declan and Robert were standing apart from the group, talking quietly.
Elizabeth took my hand and pulled me toward the bench where Frank sat. He looked a little embarrassed but grateful. I had no idea what was happening.
“She came last night,” Frank explained. “We’d all finally gone to bed. It was a stressful night. Faith woke up a little before two.”
His sister took over the telling of it. “I was wide awake.” She snapped her fingers. “Out of nowhere. I felt something weird in my stomach and knew it was the wards. I don’t know why.”
I nodded. “We created them, so we feel it when they’ve been crossed or messed with.”
“I went to my window,” she continued, “and saw her standing in the middle of the street. It was like you said. She was dressed in dark clothes, a hood hiding her face, one hand moving while the other was fisted around something.”
“She called me,” Frank said. “I wasn’t really asleep, so I was up and in her room in a few seconds.”
“Robert and I were trying to sleep,” Elizabeth put in, “but every little house settling noise had us awake. As Frank said, a stressful night. We heard Faith hiss something, then heard Frank’s door open and his footsteps, so we were out of bed in a flash too.”
“I couldn’t see her spell like you can,” Faith said, “but I know it didn’t work.”
Frank huffed out a laugh. “She was pissed about it too.”
Faith nodded. “She stomped across the street and tried to step onto the lawn.”
“Big mistake,” Frank laughed.
They shared a look, grinning.
Elizabeth squeezed my hand. “When she tried to cross the property line, she flew back into the street.”
“Flew!” Frank echoed with a laugh.
Faith made an arcing motion with her hand. “Like she was catapulted across the street. “She landed kind of on the bumper of a car. It looked like it hurt.”
“She also set off the car alarm,” Frank said, “so she was limp-running away from the sound.”
“We couldn’t see if she had a car waiting to pick her up,” Robert added, “or if she’d parked down the street. We were happy the wards worked and she was knocked on her butt.”
“If you hadn’t insisted on warding the car and the house last night,” Elizabeth said, her eyes glassy with tears, “I don’t want to think about what she could have done.”
“We want to thank you,” Robert said, walking over to rub his wife’s shoulder.
I waved away their thanks. “It’s important that you’re all protected.” I looked at Faith. “I woke up at the same time you did. I checked all our windows, trying to find her, but she wasn’t there.” I rubbed my gloved hand over my forehead. “There’s something, though, that doesn’t make sense.”
The gate beside us opened and Bracken walked in.
“Is it how she knew where this family lived and why they were important? I’ve been wondering the same.
Did I lead her there when I went to dinner?
” He glanced around. “Sorry to interrupt and to eavesdrop. I was working.” He gestured to his RV, which was only a few feet from the gate.
“I leave the windows open so I can listen to the surf.”
“You’re always included and invited,” I told him.
He inclined his head toward me, a small smile on his face.
“Thank you, my dear. I had the same thought, though. How did she know to go after Elizabeth’s family?
The family goes by Bishop, not Corey. The children work here, but you’ve only been open a few weeks and no Swans have been in the gallery since Milo was here with the shipping crew.
The kids weren’t even working that day.”
He scratched his jaw. “Faith was inducted into the Corey Council earlier this week, but Sybil hasn’t announced it to the family yet. How did the Swans know to go after Elizabeth’s family?”
I considered that for a moment. “Uncle John knows, but he would never do or say anything to harm you. As an aside, I think everyone here knows this except for you and Frank,” I said to Aunt Elizabeth. “Declan and I are having a baby.”
Frank nodded and gave his sister a sly grin. “I told you.”
“Yeah,” she replied, “but I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to say anything. Aunt Sybil said what happened in Council meetings was confidential.”
“Two things,” I began. “First, everyone here is trustworthy. You can tell your family anything you want. If Mom were here, I’m sure she’d agree. Second, the other person who knew Faith had joined the Council—”
“Was Colin,” Faith finished for me. Her hand went to her mouth. “Do you think he’s working with the Swans to get back at us?”
“I doubt it,” I said, “but it’s a possibility. We need to consider it. Of course, that means Uncle Joe or Aunt Sarah might have said something. We might have a leak.”
Bracken held up a finger. “Don’t forget. Your mother contacted the Wicches’ Council about you three attending the general meeting. She probably gave them the names of the Corey Council, so any number of wicches might have passed that on to Catherine Swan.”
I slumped against the back of the bench. “Damn, that’s right. I bet that was how they got Faith’s name. I’ll call my mom and see who she spoke with.”
“Good,” Elizabeth said. “Meanwhile, we know the kids are safe here and at home.”
“And in the car between the two,” Frank added. “Hopefully, we can figure this out before school starts again.”
“Oh, speaking of which.” I unzipped my backpack and took out my sketchbook. “Does someone named Neil throw big parties?”
Faith nodded but Frank’s brow furrowed.
“Neil?” he asked. “He’s not a wicche. He’s rich and throws pool parties when his parents are out of town, but he’s actually a pretty chill guy.”
“I had a dream last night,” I told him. “Two guys were trying to convince you to go to Neil’s party. You seemed hesitant, telling them you had to work here the following day. They said you’d be an idiot to miss one of Neil’s parties, especially this one since it was the start of senior year.”
“Has that happened?” Robert asked his son.
Frank shook his head. “It’s too early. His parties are usually the weekend before school starts.”
I took out the sketches of the two teens I saw in my dream. “Do you know these two?”
Frank’s whole demeanor drooped. “Yeah. I thought they were friends of mine.”
“They might be,” I said. “I saw them working together to talk you into going to Neil’s party.
You went to your mom’s car to talk to her.
I couldn’t tell if you actually wanted to go or if you were pretending to ask her to save face.
” I tapped his knee. “What I do know was there was someone else in their car, someone who didn’t want to be seen.
It’s very possible she’d spelled them to get at you. ”
Faith sat on the bench opposite ours. “I don’t understand. Why are they focusing on Frank? He didn’t do anything. I’m the one on the Council. Why would she spell his friends?”
Robert sat beside his daughter, wrapping an arm around her. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out.”
“Overly complicated,” Declan murmured.
I looked up at him and nodded. “Our friend Orla, an owl shifter, made the same observation.” I tapped my gloved finger to my lips.
“I don’t think I’m allowed to discuss that case.
” I turned to Bracken. “Let me ask you this. Would it seem out of character for Catherine Swan—who seems to be the mastermind behind all of this—to create overly complicated schemes in order to—I don’t even know why. ”
Bracken stared down at the boards of the deck for a moment.
“She hasn’t changed. No. It’s not out of character.
She needs to prove she’s smarter than everyone else by creating—as you say—overly complicated plans that rarely work.
Mary mocked her for it once. Catherine was visiting.
She was bragging about a spell she’d created.
I didn’t understand at first why she was speaking so loudly, but Mary overheard, as Catherine intended, and asked her what kind of spell.
Catherine explained. Mary stared at her a moment then laughed, shaking her head as she walked out of the room, muttering about Catherine being an idiot.
Catherine was so angry, she cussed at me and stormed out of the house. ”
“Interesting,” I said. “Orla says that makes her more dangerous because her schemes aren’t logical.”
Bracken nodded. “Orla is again correct.”
Declan pointed to the gate and waved Bracken out of the way. A moment later, Carter pushed through and stopped, confused by the crowd.
I checked the time on my phone. “Oh, shit. We need to get moving.”
Frank popped up and gestured to his sister. “We didn’t finish filling in last night. We need to hurry.”
I flicked my fingers, unlocking the back door of the gallery.
“We’ll let you work,” Robert said. “We wanted you to know how grateful we are.”
Elizabeth squeezed my hand. “I get so worried about something happening to them, but knowing they’re here with you gives me some peace. Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the baby, though. When are you due?”
Declan and I shared a look. “No idea. Uncle John is going to try to track my progress in order to give us an estimate. This baby is half werewolf, and wolves have a much shorter gestation period.”
Robert held up a hand. “Do you want me to check?”
I stood and moved to his side. “I’m feeling pretty lucky we have two healers in the family.”
He rested his hand on my lower abdomen and closed his eyes. After a moment, he smiled. “She’s strong. I’d guess she’s at about sixteen weeks of development.”
Before he could move his hand, I pressed mine to it. “You know why I asked Uncle John to monitor me, right?” I never wanted Uncle Robert to think I didn’t value him.
He nodded. “I have my wife and daughter to love and take care of. I’ve been worried about him too. Hopefully, monitoring a new life will help pull him out of the darkness he’s mired in.”