Chasing the Witch (Boston Witches) (30 page)

“I’m sorry we fought earlier, my love, and I’m glad Hannah is safe,” he said as he pressed a kiss to her temple.

“I am, too, but you’re going to have to come to terms with the fact that I’m not always going to do what you want.”

He sighed. “I know. I wish you would, though.”

Caroline laughed and playfully punched his arm. “Where’s the fun in that? Life would be so boring if I always agreed with you, wouldn’t it?” He tipped her lips up to his and kissed her softly. “Yes, it would, my darling. I quite enjoy our little spats, because then we get to make up.” He turned and pounced on her and she giggled into his lips.

“Wait, there’s something else we need to discuss,” Caroline said as she wiggled out from underneath him.

“Oh, and what’s that?” Patrick asked.

“Why didn’t you tell me about Alex? That was kind of a huge thing to leave out,” Caroline whispered, afraid of what the answer was going to be. Patrick sighed and sat up on the couch.

“What do you know?” he asked her.

“I know that he was involved with Hannah’s mom before you got out. And I know that you set the shadow wraiths on him.” Her voice was barely audible.

“That’s all true. Angeline was involved with Alex before, and also a little after, her coven released me. It wasn’t like I stole her from Alex; she came to me willingly.” Caroline made a rude noise. “Really, Caroline? You asked me about this. I did not really want to tell you. I’m not proud of it.”

“I know. I’m sorry. Go on please.” She motioned for him to continue.

“It wasn’t long before Angeline and I were living together. Soon after that, she was pregnant. Alex couldn’t let her go and he blamed me for her leaving him. I can agree that if I hadn’t come along, then she probably would have been with him for a while longer. But she would have left him, eventually. Angeline was not a sweet person by nature and this is why she and I worked together.” Caroline rolled her eyes at the last bit. Patrick smiled and continued his story.

“Alex would show up at all hours of the night screaming for her. Finally, right before Hannah was born, he challenged me to a duel,”

Caroline laughed. “A duel, really?”

“Yes, a duel. It’s not uncommon for witches or warlocks to fight in duels. As I was saying, he challenged me; but Angeline took pity on him and refused to let me fight. It was worse after that; he did everything he could to make us unhappy. He cast spells on our home and on the people around us. He was a man possessed. I got so sick of it, I finally called the wraiths. I’m not proud of what I did; but it’s done. I can’t take it back. He escaped, so that’s something at least.” His voice trailed off.

“Well, that’s…” Caroline wasn’t really sure what to say to that.

“Yeah, well, now you know. Does this change anything for you?” he asked softly, sadness in his eyes. Caroline reached out and caressed his cheek.

“Of course it doesn’t change anything. But that being said, I don’t like that you did it and I hate that I had to hear it from my sister. If I have to see her smug face another time when she tells me something awful about you, I may just kill myself.” Caroline huffed out a breath, clearly irritated. Patrick pulled her in close and kissed her gently.

“I’m sorry, my love. Do you forgive me?” There was a hint of a smile pulling at his lips. Caroline knew she couldn’t stay mad at him, but that didn’t mean she was going to make it easy for him.

“I think you’re going to have to persuade me,” she said suggestively, as she got up and sauntered into the bedroom.

William and Jilly were cuddled up in her room watching TV in bed later that night. Jilly was restless; she kept shifting around trying to get comfortable.

“Everything okay?” William asked, after she shifted for the fifth time in ten minutes.

Jilly sighed. “I guess so. This has just been a rough week. I’m worried about Caroline. I’m worried about this mystery person who’s looking for Hannah. And most of all, I’m pissed at my grandmother for lying to us. If I had the time right now, I’d track her down and give her a piece of my mind.”

William chuckled. “Anything else you want to add to your worries?”

Jilly laughed. “I know, I tend to take on the world and then I make myself sick with worry. So tell me, are you and Nik really going to let your brother talk to Sabine?”

“We don’t have any other choice at this point. If she knows who’s after Hannah and the others, we have to let him. We’re going to take him tomorrow. For the record, I don’t feel great about it, either.”

Jilly patted his arm absently, as she thought about the situation. “I guess we’re going to have to trust him at some point. He is Hannah’s dad. I think in his own way he loves her enough to do what’s best.”

William looked at her. “I hope you’re right.”

Jilly opened her eyes, and she was in the forest again. The fog was so thick she couldn’t see anything but the trees.

“Hello?” she called out into the darkness.

“I’m over here. You may as well join me,” a familiar voice said in resignation.

“Patrick?” Jilly asked.

“Who else would it be? You always seem to crash my party in the middle of the night.”

Jilly slowly walked through the forest until she found him sitting in front of a small fire. “You’re alone?” she asked him, feeling slightly nervous about what she was walking into.

“Yes, and I had planned on keeping it that way. Since you’re already here, though, you may as well sit down.”

Jilly sat down and they looked at each other over the flames. “What’s on your mind, Jillian?” he asked her quietly.

Jilly sighed. “I just want to know I can trust you. And honestly, I didn’t mean to come here. I’m new at this whole teleporting thing.”

Patrick smiled at her in the darkness. “With this situation, Jillian, you can trust me. I have too much to lose if this goes wrong. Caroline and Hannah are everything to me and I only want to protect them. You can understand that, right?” His expression softened.

“I can understand that, Patrick; but you can’t go all rogue on us. We all need to work together. It’s not going to help anyone if we’re at odds on this. I want to trust you because Caroline trusts you; but you’ll have to earn that.”

He smiled at her. “Understood.”

Jilly smiled back. “Okay then, I’m glad we had this chat. Where are we, anyway?”

“In the woods behind my cabin.” He didn’t say anything else; he just looked at the flames dancing around the logs.

“Do you think you can give me a ride home?” she asked quietly.

“You can’t be serious,” Patrick said with a laugh. “You popped in here on your own, can’t you pop back?”

“It’s all very new. Usually when it happens, I’m sleeping. So, I’ll ask again, can you give me a ride home?”

Patrick sighed. “Very well then, come along back to the cabin with me and we’ll see about getting you home.”

William was pacing around in the kitchen when Jilly snuck back in. “Where on earth have you been?” he asked as he pulled her in close and nearly squeezed the life out of her.

She pushed him away a bit. “Geez, Will, calm down. I had a chat with your brother, actually. It wasn’t planned; I just sort of popped in.”

“And how did that go?” He raised a brow in question.

“Okay, I guess. We sort of cleared the air.” William made a motion with his hand for her to elaborate on that. “We’re going to have to trust him. As hard as it is for us, we need to believe that he has Hannah’s best interest in mind. It’s not just Hannah, Caroline is in danger from whoever is looking for Hannah, as well. Out of all of us, he has the most to lose if this goes wrong. This person wanted Caroline from the beginning; I doubt that they’ve given up since Sabine failed.”

William was silent for a moment, taking in what Jilly had said. “I agree with you. He does have the most to lose in all of this. I’m still skeptical. I’m going to take it on a case-by-case basis, for now. We’ll start with the trip to see Sabine and go from there.” He exhaled and rolled his shoulders, trying to erase the strain he was feeling. “Now, my darling teleporting fiancé, we should get some sleep.” Jilly smiled and allowed him to lead her up to her room.

Jilly woke up early and tiptoed out of the room, so she wouldn’t wake up William. There was a note from Alex taped to her door. He said he had gotten an urgent phone call early in the morning and had to return to Russia, but he would be in touch in a few days. Jilly padded down to the kitchen and found Hannah already at the table. She looked up from her book and smiled when she heard Jilly come in.

“You’re up early,” Jilly said as she started to make coffee.

“Yeah, I’ve gotten used to getting up early, so I could be out before Walter opened the store back in London.”

Jilly nodded. “What are your plans for the day?” she asked.

“I don’t have any, seeing as I’ve been house bound since we got here.”

Jilly smiled. “Well, baby doll, that’s going to change, today. First, we’re going shopping and then we’ll go explore the city a bit.”

Hannah’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Yep, we’ll go when the guys leave.” She grabbed her mug of coffee and joined Hannah at the table.

Hannah reached for Jilly’s hand and her eyes went blank. “Ones who have been lost will be found. But not all will be restored.” Her eyes cleared and she groaned. “Ugh, I really hate that. Did I at least tell you something good?”

Jilly was pensive. “I’m not sure yet. I’ll let you know.” She drank her coffee in silence, and Hannah returned to her book.
Do I really even want to know what that’s supposed to mean?
Jilly thought as she looked out the window. A few minutes later, they were joined by William, Nikolai and Katya. Nikolai smiled at them and headed straight through to the other room to make a call.

“Morning, guys. There’s coffee in the pot, but I haven’t made anything for breakfast,” Jilly said apologetically. “Oh, and Alex is gone. He left a note taped to my door. He had to return to Russia for something. He said he’ll be in touch soon, though. I honestly think it has more to do with Patrick than anything pressing that he had to do in Russia.”

“I agree, it would be difficult to see the man who destroyed your life every day,” Katya said.