Finding Midnight (20 page)

“Yes,” Hunter said as Sully trotted up
holding Morti by the scruff of his neck between his teeth. Morti
looked hilarious—his hair stuck out everywhere in stiff tufts from
the dried drool that acted as a sort of crazy styling gel. Summer
asked him to get her medical bag for her, which he quickly
retreated to obtain, Morti in his mouth.

“What is the BROOM?” Summer asked.

Ms. Midnight said, “The BROOM is the
Brotherhood of Reformed Order of Magic, dear. Given I’m the last of
the Midnight family, you came here.” She looked straight at Hunter.
“You stole the RAT and killed Ms. Ash who was guarding him, which
is how you ran into Summer.”

“YOU killed Sully’s mother?” Summer said,
appalled.

“Yes,” he said sadly.

“In his defense, he couldn’t possibly have
known that she just gave birth to the pup a few days earlier,” Ms.
Midnight stated. Hunter did not meet Summer’s eyes. “Then you took
the RAT and tried to get what information you could from him. I
don’t envy you that. Morti is an arrogant, annoying creature. I’m
sure you inflicted no more torture on him than he did on you.”

Hunter tried to laugh but it was too
painful.

“But something tells me that you did not act
on this alone,” Ms. Midnight surmised.

“Why’s that?” he asked.

“I’m not sure. There’s something though,
maybe the remorse I sense in you,” she said speculating.

“It’s true. I was contracted to capture the
RAT for another party,” Hunter admitted.

“But you didn’t hand him over, why?”

“I hoped I could get the information I
needed without getting the RAT killed,” Hunter answered.

“What do you care if the RAT is killed or
not?” Summer said.

“Oh, trust me, dear, he cares. And I’m
guessing this was a last ditch chance at whatever it is you hoped
to do, or you wouldn’t have made such a deal, am I right?”

“Yes,” he said as Sully trotted up with
Morti still in his mouth and Summer’s case hanging from his
tail.

“Good boy!” she said, taking her case.

“Good boy indeed!” Morti said. “Now is
someone going to get me out of this mammoth’s mouth?”

Ms. Midnight shook her head no, followed by
Hunter and Summer. “Well, isn’t that just perfect,” they heard him
say as Sully trotted off happy as a lark. “You’ll be sorry. I’ll
make you all pay for this torture.”

Summer started to clean and suture Hunter’s
wound.

“You see, Summer, dragons can’t exist
without magic. In my own opinion, magic shouldn’t exist without
dragons. Dragon magic is some of the most extraordinary magic there
is. What is it your employer promised you?” Ms. Midnight asked
Hunter.

“They said with the RAT’s help my mate could
be brought back to life,” Hunter said.

“My poor, sweet dragon…you do realize now
that they lied?” Ms. Midnight said sadly.

“But they said—” Hunter said in
desperation.

“I’m sure they said all kinds of things, but
it is impossible. If magic could bring back the dead, don’t you
think everyone would bring back their loved ones?” Ms. Midnight
explained.

“But there’s a spell, I’ve seen it…” Hunter
implored.

“Yes, my dear. There is a spell. A spell of
the darkest of all magic. A spell that was bound in death in which
a reaper was deceived into giving an evil witch the words to bring
back the dead, but, darling…what comes back is not who we remember
our loved ones to be; only the body comes back. Their soul, the
essence that makes them who they are and what we loved, does
not.”

“I can live with that,” Hunter said.

“No, darling, you can’t. No one can and no
one should. There is no love or light of any kind in the shell that
comes back. There is only darkness, death, and evil.”

“How do you know?” Hunter said.

“I know and I wish to God I didn’t. I knew
the evil witch who attained the spell from the reaper. I saw what
he did with the spell and what came back in the place of the
witch’s loved one. I saw it. I experienced it. I knew all the
people involved and more importantly, I know how it ended and
believe me, that is not something anyone should ever have to live
their lives knowing.”

Tears rolled down Hunter’s face. He knew Ms.
Midnight was telling him the truth. He was the last of his kind and
there was nothing he could do about it. Ms. Midnight gave him a
moment to mourn the hope that had driven him to this task.

“Can I ask who was your employer?” Ms.
Midnight said.

“You can, but I think you may already know.
I also think I should tell you that they know about Summer,” Hunter
said.

This statement seemed to unnerve Ms.
Midnight but she tried to cover it with a question. “What do you
mean, exactly, when you say they know about Summer?”

“I mean they know she has magic. It wasn’t
my intent to reveal anything to them I didn’t have to, but when
they contacted me last, they wanted to know why things were taking
so long. They didn’t know I already had the RAT at the time, but I
figured they’d be checking on me soon. I told them there was more
than one witch to contend with, not to mention a hellhound
protecting the household. They questioned me to no end about the
second witch. I told them what I knew, not knowing what I later
learned from the RAT. I didn’t know.”

“You couldn’t have known. No one knew,” Ms.
Midnight said sadly.

“What are you talking about?” Summer said.
“I’m not a witch.”

Hunter and Ms. Midnight exchanged a look.
“There are many things that need to be shared, now that the cat is
out of the bag. I had hoped we would have more time. I promise we
will talk about this more in the days to come, but now it is
imperative I know who your employer is,” Ms. Midnight said
anxiously.

Summer was tying the last knot of the
sixteen stitches she sewed to close up Hunter’s wound. She could
tell that Hunter was apprehensive to say the least, but the look on
Ms. Midnight’s face in lieu of the answer had Summer nervous as
well, even though she wasn’t entirely sure what was going on.

Hunter took a deep breath and exchanged a
glance with Summer before he said, “The Macabres.”

*****

Apparent by Ms. Midnight’s reaction, the
name Macabre was one she feared. She went off muttering to herself,
shuffling towards the confines of her home. Summer felt this was
best. At the very least, the woman had a pretty eventful day. The
name was not one Summer knew, but it seemed even taboo to
Hunter.

She helped Hunter to stand and offered him a
place on her couch for the night after they had a little something
to eat. She felt sure Ms. Midnight would probably offer him a room
in the mansion, but she thought it best to let Ms. Midnight absorb
all that she had heard from Hunter and let that sit for a while
before confronting her with more questions.

Summer lay in bed that night confused by all
she heard and seen that day. She had a ton of questions but
truthfully she was glad for a little time to wrap her head around
what had been thrown at her.

A witch?
Why did they think she was a
witch? Why did it matter if this evil family, the Macabres, cared
about her being here? She was certainly no threat to them. Of
course, then there was the fact that Hunter was a dragon, not a
demon—and not just a dragon, but the last dragon.

As she rubbed the item on her necklace she
realized if he was a dragon, she was carrying a part of him around
on her neck. That seemed a little creepy and she instantly released
the scale, letting it drop to her chest.

Sully was content with his new buddy and was
not letting the cat out of his sight—not for a second. The cat was
not getting away anytime soon either. Sully had a paw on his tail
and he rested his head across Morti’s belly and back. The cat was
NOT happy, but was in no position to do anything about it.

At first he pleaded with Summer to help him,
but when that failed he just incessantly complained. Even Sully got
tired of his whining, so he set his other paw on Morti’s head,
making it impossible for the cat to open his mouth to speak. A few
grunts and groans were heard before Morti finally gave in and went
to sleep.

*****

Summer got ready for work quietly, letting
Hunter sleep. Sully had the upside down cat in his mouth ready to
go to the clinic, but Summer insisted he needed to leave the cat at
home. As if his little hellhound heart was breaking, he sadly
released the crabby cat with extremely crazy hair with one last
lick. The cat scrambled for the mansion like any captive animal
might.

When Sully and Summer arrived at the clinic,
Nick was dropping off Tori. They both headed to her and Sully,
which surprised Summer. Nick rarely got out of the car and even
more rarely ever talked to Summer.

“Hey, Summer,” he said sadly with his hands
in his pockets.

“Hey. What’s up?” Summer said, wondering why
Tori and Nick looked so sullen.

“It’s Jackson,” Tori said. A flood of
memories from the day before and the fight between Hunter and
Jackson came back to her. It seemed like days ago after what
happened last night.

“Oh, is he okay?” Summer asked.

“He’s physically okay…” Nick said
sharply.

“Oh? Well, that’s good,” Summer said,
ignoring his harshness.

“You really need to talk to him, Summer,”
Tori implored.

“Why? I can’t ever get a straight answer out
of him,” Summer said.

“Not everyone is an open book!” Nick said.
Tori pushed him away with a palm to his chest; obviously this was
Tori’s way of telling Nick to take a breather. He sulked to the car
and seated himself in the driver’s seat.

“Look, I know he’s been evasive, but he’s
really torn up. I think if you were to talk to him now, he might
reveal why he’s been the way he’s been,” Tori said.

“I don’t know, Tori,” she said.

“Please?” Tori pleaded.

“Fine. Tell him I’ll meet him at the park
for lunch, if he wants,” Summer said.

“Good. That’s perfect. Thank you,” Tori
said, hugging Summer and then running off to tell Nick and say her
goodbyes.

Summer watched as Tori spoke to Nick. They
really were good together. She had a way of calming the beast in
him and knew how to talk to him. He seemed incredibly grateful for
this. She caressed his hair and yanked one of his ears, making him
smile, then kissed him goodbye. She’d never seen Tori so in sync
with a guy and it was really nice.

Tori made her way to Summer and even gave
Sully a scratch on his ear while she called him “Slobber-puss” and
opened the door to the clinic. Too bad she had to talk with
Jackson, because she really would’ve liked talkinh to Tori about
last night’s events.

Chapter 17

Nick and Jackson were waiting at the park
when Summer and Tori arrived. Nick seemed to be in protective mode
standing stoically, his arms crossed against his chest. Jackson was
partially leaning, partially sitting on the wooden picnic bench
staring off towards the woods. The boys had chosen a shaded table
whereas Summer and Tori usually sat in the sun on the grass to eat.
When the two pairs came together, Nick picked up Tori by the waist,
bringing her up to his height and kissing her. Jackson on the other
hand never made eye contact with Summer when she approached.

Tori pulled Nick by his large tattooed
forearm to another shady place out of earshot of Summer and
Jackson, where they planted themselves on the grass, trying not to
watch.

Feeling incredibly uncomfortable, Summer
broke the silence between them with, “Your nose? It’s okay?”

He reached for his nose and said, “Yeah,
it’s fine.”

“Look, I don’t know what was said between
you and Hunter or why you were even fighting, but I’m sorry for
insinuating you were a danger to me. I don’t feel that way,” Summer
said.

“I appreciate that,” he said quietly.

“I have to say, though, I’m very unsure
about what this is. I feel like I shouldn’t speak of certain
things. When I do, you seem to…I don’t know…pull away, I guess,”
Summer tried to explain.

“It’s not your fault. You’re right. There
are things about my past I am…ashamed of and I don’t know how to
respond to questions that may refer to that time of my life.”

“Why can’t you just tell me what it’s all
about?” Summer asked.

“Because I’m not sure how you’ll react. What
if you find it too horrible to deal with and you won’t see me
anymore?”

“At this point, don’t you think if you don’t
tell me, I might do the same thing? I’m not saying I will, but
you’ve got to admit you’re not telling me is causing a problem
too,” Summer said.

“Yeah, I do see that. It’s just, well, it’s
hard. Nick’s the only one I’ve ever told.”

“I’m sorry it’s so hard. I wish it weren’t,”
she empathized.

He took a deep breath. “My father was a
dignitary and my family moved all over the world. His biggest
career move was to the Japanese consulate. He had this gift for
languages and picked them up very fast. My father spent the bulk of
his time in Tokyo, but my mother, my brother and I set up residence
in Hakone. I was sixteen when we moved and my brother was eighteen.
My brother had always been a handful for my parents and he and my
father butted heads constantly. Far away from the bustling city of
Tokyo, I took an interest in the himitsu-bako crafting.”

“That’s the puzzle box craft you told me
about?” Summer interjected.

“Yes. I had a knack for the woodworking and
was privileged enough to work under Master Yoshito Yamamoto when he
was first out on his own.”

“Sounds exciting.”

“It was, but that all changed with one visit
from my brother. My brother, Victor, came home one night after been
gone for almost a month. He was pale white and acting strange. He
spoke of the city and the excitement he had found there, and begged
me to go with him. My mother was beside herself with worry. She saw
something was wrong with him. She asked me to go with him to see if
he was in trouble or report back where he went off to when he
wasn’t home. I agreed for her sake and traveled with my brother
that very evening.