After the Summerland (The Witches of Spring Hill Book 1) (26 page)

She takes a moment to
watch him move things around on the shelves and open drawers, as if he is
taking stock of their refrigerator. His hair is even more disheveled than
usual, as if he just ran his hands through it before coming down.

“Good morning,” she
whispers, as she makes her way toward him.

Startled, he replies, “Hey,
good morning. Did I wake you?” He notices she took the time to brush her hair
before coming down. He can’t help but like how fresh she looks in the morning,
especially because he knows she did it for him. He runs his fingers through his
hair again, wishing for the second time that he had remembered his brush.

Chloe smiles and not
being able to resist his pull, wraps her arms around him.

“I can’t believe you
are here, in our kitchen,
snooping
through our refrigerator,” she says teasingly.

He laughs, “I was not
snooping
. I was going to make everyone
breakfast, you know, as a thank you for letting us stay here this weekend and
everything else…”

They spent most of the
night reading through the grimoires. Cian couldn’t believe how much their aunt
withheld from them about their craft. It became obvious she only told them what
would help her get what she wanted from them, and didn’t even consider what
they would want to know for themselves. So many of the books were about the
Scotts’ genealogy and it made Cian wonder about his own lineage. Cian believed that
it was necessary to know the past in order to better prepare for the future,
and afterward he and Brianna talked about finding their grandparents when
everything was settled here. They needed to know more and Selene made it
obvious that she couldn’t be trusted for the answers. Asking anything of her
now would only raise suspicion.

Without saying anything,
Cian and Chloe slipped into an easy rhythm. Chloe started the coffee and pulled
out all the ingredients Cian needed for his ‘famous’ cinnamon rolls. He explained
how when he was little, his mom baked a lot and he used to sit on the counter
and ‘help’. Right before she got sick, she taught him how to make her family’s
cinnamon rolls, his favorite breakfast. He was only eleven, but they turned out
perfect that first time and every time since. His mom said he had a knack for
baking, but after she died he stopped altogether, until recently.

Since he had
the recipe memorized and didn’t use yeast like most cinnamon roll recipes, he
had the time. He liked the precision of baking — every ingredient needing to be
measured exact, unlike cooking where the more spontaneity, a pinch of this or a
handful of that, the better the results.

By the time Cian had
the dough started, Chloe had the bacon pulled out and was frying it. Her
favorite breakfast was bacon, egg, and cheese casserole, which Liam usually
made, but since discovering her abilities, she loves cooking. She uses herbs
and spices that she had never heard of before and cooks with such flare.
Together she and Cian make a good pair in the kitchen. They whisper and laugh
comfortably while preparing breakfast, whispering spells over the food. They
are just putting the final touches on their dishes when Liam makes his way into
the kitchen, followed by everyone else.

After an amazing
breakfast with everyone comfortably full, they sit around the table and make
plans for the day. The thunderstorm is strengthening outside, ensuring that no
one will be going back to the clearing today. The weather is too volatile and
after what happened last time they decide to wait until they are better
prepared.

Instead, they will spend the day going through more of the books and
grimoires. The Silvans agree to sit down with Liam and tell him everything that
their aunt has told them since they learned they were witches, in the hopes of
finding something that will help them. Marcus and Peter will drive by the
Silvans on their way into town and report back their findings.

Once everyone disperses,
Peter pulls Liam aside and asks, “Who’s on duty at the station today?”

“Dave is, why?” Liam
responds, wondering what his great grandfather is up to.

“Oh, I was just waiting
for a package from the private investigator we hired to find information about
Selene. Last week he called and said he had some information he would mail to
me. I’ve been waiting for it all week. I’m surprised it hasn’t turned up yet.”

“He was going to mail it
to the station?” Liam asks, surprised this is the first he’s hearing about it.

“Uh, yeah. I figured it
would make more sense since someone is always there and it would be unlikely
Selene would steal the mail from there, right?” Peter says clapping Liam on the
back.

“I guess so,” Liam
replies, confused. “I’ll call Dave and see if anything has arrived yet.”

“Nah, that’s alright.
No need to bother him. It’ll be nice to just pop in and see what’s going on
anyway,” Peter replies, hoping that Liam will just let this go.

Just as Liam opens his
mouth to say something else, Marcus walks in and says to Peter, “Ready, Pops?”

“I’m ready. Let’s go.”
He pats Liam on the arm a second time and heads out the door. Liam watches his
dad and granddad make their way out to the truck in the rain. Liam can’t help
but be suspicious of what the old man is up to. He’s been acting strange for a
while and it’s probably time to ask him outright what he’s up to.

Liam and the kids are
sitting around the table talking when Liam’s phone chirps with a message from
Marcus.

Selene’s home — car in driveway,

lights on in house, movement inside

“Well, we all were
right not to believe your aunt… because she’s home,” Liam tells Xavier,
Brianna, and Cian. The room goes still as everyone considers what this means.
“She knows we’re here,” Brianna says nervously, the first one to verbalize what
everyone is thinking. “Otherwise she would have texted us last night to ask
where we were.” Liam nods in agreement.

“As much as we’d all
like to hide out here, I think we need to go home. If we don’t, it will only
bring more trouble in the long run,” Xavier says.

Brianna shakes her head,
no. “No, Xavier, I don’t want to go. If you want to go, that’s fine, but I
won’t be her punching bag again. I’m done being her victim.” Kaiden pulls her
in his arms and says, “You’re not going anywhere, Brianna. No way in hell I’d let
you go anywhere near her ever again without protection.”

“Maybe I should just go
then,” Xavier says, already thinking that he needed to do this alone. “I can
still act like I’m helping her, and that way she won’t even involve you and
Cian. Okay, Brianna?”

Cian sees Liam look at
Xavier questioningly. Knowing that Liam doesn’t trust Xavier, he says, “I’ll go,
too, Xavier. I’m not afraid of her. I should be there so I can get us out of
there if I have a vision and learn that something is going to happen.”

Chloe looks nervously
at Liam and wonders how her dad is even considering allowing two teenage boys to
go down to meet a powerful witch alone. Before she can say anything, Liam looks
at Cian and nods. The kid is sharp, Liam thinks. There is no way in hell I
would send Xavier down there alone when he now knows every single thing about
this family. “Okay then. I’ll take you two down and Brianna will stay here. If
you have any trouble — and I mean
any
trouble at all, you just call and I will be there in five. Agreed?”

Cian and Xavier nod
their heads in agreement and head upstairs to get their bags. Liam texts Marcus
explaining that Xavier and Cian are going home, but Brianna is staying here at
the house. He tells them to continue watching Selene until he drops Xavier and Cian off, giving
Liam time to get back up to the house. Liam hates leaving anyone alone right now, but he
can’t see putting his kids in harm’s way. He plans on saying a few words to
Selene when he drops them off, but without knowing the extent of her
powers, he does not want Chloe, Rowan, and Kaiden anywhere nearby.

“Dad! I can’t believe
you’re going to let them go!” Chloe says angrily. Liam responds, “Chloe, I
don’t have a choice. I can’t keep them here and if they don’t go home now,
she’ll just come up here looking for them, and that can’t happen.”

Rowan just sits at the
end of the table watching everyone move around her. She can feel something big
burning up inside her. It started as a wave of heat in the pit of her stomach
when she heard Selene was home, and now it is a moving thing, sliding along her
skin. It was consuming every part of her, like a fire moving through a dry
forest.

“Ro? Are you okay?”
Chloe asks her sister who has an intense look in her eyes. When Rowan doesn’t
respond, Chloe snaps her fingers at her sister, whose green eyes flare back to
attention.

“Just worried,” Rowan
says looking toward her sister, smoldering in anticipation for what she senses
is coming.

Cian hugs Chloe goodbye
in front of Liam and then dashes back in after Liam and Xavier walk out the door.
He grabs her and kisses her with every ounce of love he can pour into her. When
his lips touch hers, he has the vision of the two of them in the future and
although he has never done it before he speaks a spell and knows it works when
she pulls away gasping.

“I saw!” she says
smiling, amazed at what he has just given her. The image of them when they are
old was as clear as a digital image. She can see the wrinkles at the corners of
their eyes from all the joy they have shared over the years. No longer worried
about what will happen with Selene, she returns his magic with her own. She
removes her amulet from her neck, casts a spell of protection and gently ties
it around Cian’s neck. He smiles at her as the horn blows outside. “I love you,
Chloe. I’ll see you soon,” he says as he dashes out the door. Chloe smiles
sweetly and watches as he climbs in the jeep. She puts her fingers up to the
glass and waves to Cian as Liam pulls out.

Brianna sits in the
chair with tears streaming down her face. “I just couldn’t do it,” she says,
over and over again.

Chloe and Rowan sit
next to Brianna and comfort her, trying to ease away her needless guilt and
shame. “You’re doing the right thing,” Rowan says. “They can protect themselves.
Besides, think about it; now, they won’t have to worry about protecting you,
too.”

Chloe adds, “Brianna,
no one should live in fear, especially in their own home. You know you can’t
change how she treats you, so you’re doing the only thing you can do, which is
to change yourself by not being her victim.”

“The saddest part is
that Selene probably won’t even care that I’m not there,” Brianna says, feeling
more alone than ever without her family.

“Who cares what
she
thinks? And you’re not alone,” Rowan
reassures her. “You have your brothers, and Kaiden, and we’re here with you, now.
We’ll help you get through this, Brianna. Just remember, you are a witch, a
powerful witch with amazing abilities. You don’t need Selene… you’ve never
needed Selene. You said before that you’ve always been able to read people, so
start focusing on enhancing your own abilities, and forget about her. Let go of
the negative seeds she’s been planting in your mind for the past five years.
You’re better than that witch.”

Brianna smiles and
wipes away the tears, “You know what? You guys are right. This isn’t me. I’m
not this person; I’m not a victim.” With that, they go into the family room,
light some candles, and try to learn as much as they can to protect the people
they love.

Liam pulls up alongside
Marcus and Peter before continuing to the house. “Anything?” he asks.

“Nothing. We can see her
moving around inside; but so far, she hasn’t come out.”

Liam tells them that if
he is not out in ten minutes to come looking for him, and call for back up. He
asks if they’re armed and they both nod in confirmation. “Me too,” Liam says, adding,
“but I sure hope it won’t come to that right now.”

Xavier and Cian remain
quiet throughout the exchange and know that the guns will do nothing if Selene
casts a spell on them. It will all come down to what kind of mood she is in
when they walk through the door. Xavier asked Liam not to come in with them,
explaining that it would only make her more irate, but Liam insisted.

As they close the car
doors, a curtain twitches in Selene’s bedroom. Xavier says to Cian, “Let me go
first and I’ll do the talking.” Cian agrees and steps aside for his brother.

Selene opens the door
before they are even on the porch. “Well, isn’t this just a lovely surprise,
y’all come on in and sit a spell,” she drawls in a southern accent. Even though
neither he nor his
family have
an accent, Liam resents
her mocking his town, his people.

“Selene, I’m dropping
these boys off, but Brianna is staying with us. If I hear of you putting your
hands on either one of them, I will personally arrest you for assault. I don’t
know what the hell you are up to; but I can tell you this, you will not win
against me or my family.”

The fake smile vanishes
from Selene’s face and she glares as she says, “Is that a challenge, Chief
Alexander?”

Liam smirks, “It’s a
fact, Miss Silvan.”

Turning to Cian and Xavier, he
says, “Are you sure you want to stay?”

“Oh, please! Spare me
the drama. I thought you left the drama queen at your house. I’m not going to
hurt them. They’re my nephews, for God’s sake. Now thanks for dropping them
off, Chief. Oh, and you can tell Peter and Marcus, they can leave my street,
too. Or else I’ll have to call the police about a suspicious vehicle,” she says
as she steps aside for the boys to walk through before slamming the door in
Liam’s face.

Liam gets back in the
car uncertain if he is doing the right thing. Legally she hasn’t done anything
yet, and really if she wanted Brianna home he would have to bring her home. He
can’t legally keep the kids at his house, without her permission. She made it
perfectly clear she doesn’t care about Brianna though, or else she would have
said something about her coming home. He just has to trust that Xavier and Cian
know what they’re doing. Cian he trusts, Xavier… he’s still not so sure
of.