Winter of Discontent (Four Seasons Book 1) (21 page)

Chapter Thirty-seven – The Betrayal

Erik

It had taken us a couple of buses to get over to Arrowhead but, as Jared was there, we figured it only made sense to get a lift back with him. Ordinarily, I’d have stayed at Sarah’s for a couple of hours when we arrived back, but I needed to go home. I wanted to know what Dad thought about what had happened with the Seer. I knew they would want to keep me away from any possible repercussions but I was old enough now to make my own decisions. I can’t explain just how pissed I was that, by the time we pulled up at the house, Jared had already Whispered everything to Dad. Enzo hadn’t believed that we could Whisper over such long distances but we could. Dad and Jared were stronger than I was and they could go further than I could, but we were still pretty awesome compared to most. I think that possibly it was how close our relationship was that allowed us to communicate and sense each other over so many miles but, whatever it was, it came in very useful, and saved a fortune in telephone calls!

I was disappointed that Dad didn’t want to talk about it. He reckoned Jared had already told him enough and that we should put it to the back of our mind and let it lie. The only comment he made was his disbelief that we hadn’t heard any gossip about a Seer defecting.

‘Yeah, that surprises me, too, but he was telling the truth. He meant us no harm; here, you’d better put this somewhere safe, just in case,’ said Jared, as he handed Dad the cigarette packet with Menae’s details on it.

After dinner I planned to take a walk round to Sarah’s. A telephone call before I left however changed those plans.

I was upstairs getting changed when the phone rang. When I got back downstairs, Jared called out to me from the lounge.

‘Lorcan just rang. Apparently they have another meeting the day after tomorrow; we need to be there by all accounts.’

‘You’re kidding! Sarah’s gonna spew. We were supposed to be taking some time out together next week. Do I have to go? Surely it’d be OK if it was just the two of you?’ I protested.

‘No. I’m sorry, Erik, but we go as a family, you know that. This might be the second meeting in less than twelve months but we’ve only had these two in the last five years. Lorcan was adamant that he’d need our support with some of the other covens, so we have to go.’

‘Why? They are the same bastards that want to hunt down and kill Sarah. Why the hell would we want to support them?’ I spat.

‘For that exact reason, E. Think about it, if they have news of her whereabouts or have changed their plans in any way we need to know. We can’t rely on Leon to let us know – we never hear from him as it is.’

Jared was right; I guess it was the old ‘keep your enemies closer’ thing he had in mind.

I was right. Sarah spewed, totally lost it. Having sworn at me, which she never does, she promptly hung up on me.

‘She’ll come round,’ Dad said reassuringly as we boarded the plane.

‘She’d better!’

‘Come on, E, how’s she gonna resist your natural geeky charm? Just promise to do her homework and alphabetize her CDs and she’ll be putty in your hands!’

‘Not even vaguely funny, J!’ I snapped.

I was in no mood for humor. Jared and I were incredibly close, and I know he was only trying to lighten the mood, but I didn’t want to feel brighter – I wanted to sulk and wallow in self-pity. Although the prospect of having to control myself while I was alone with her wasn’t one I’d relished, I really had been looking forward to having more time together.

Dad had tried to ease the blow of missing half of my Spring break by booking us on a direct flight. It was still five hours long but it was better than a miserable stopover in Seattle.

Ben Tillington had offered to meet us at the airport. We weren’t keen on the idea but under normal circumstances we would have been happy about it so we agreed, to be sure we didn’t raise needless suspicions.

Ben and Jared spent most of the journey talking ice hockey; it never ceased to amaze me just how many subjects he could hold an informed conversation on.

When we arrived at Lorcan’s, the street was lined with a large quantity of parked cars and I guessed the meeting must be important if that many Warlocks had turned up.

As we stepped out of the car and made our way up the drive Jared held back.

‘
Something’s not right
,’ he Whispered to us.

Dad stopped for a moment and looked around. There didn’t appear to be anything out of the ordinary. Just then, Leon came out to greet us.

‘Logan. Boys.’ he said holding his arms out to us. ‘Come on in. It’s about to start.’

Jared shook his head but Dad beckoned us both on.

‘
Whatever it is, it’ll be OK. Leon wouldn’t call us in if there was anything wrong
.’

Jared put his arm around my shoulder as we went into the house.

‘Stay close to me.’

I just nodded. I didn’t sense anything was wrong, but the fact that Jared did made me uneasy. I trusted his instincts better than I trusted my own.

Lorcan’s house had two living areas downstairs with a set of ornate internal doors separating the two rooms. Last time we’d been there, we had held the meeting in just one room. However, this time there were so many Warlocks there that both had been opened up for them all to be accommodated.

‘Logan,’ said Lorcan warmly. ‘Welcome, come on in.’

Dad went through first – I followed him, and then Jared.

We had barely got through the door when it was closed tight behind us. The sound of it being slammed shut caused us all to turn and look; when we turned back, we weren’t ready for what we saw. There in front us, just a few feet away, stood Ben Tillington, complete with handgun pointed right at me. Jared saw him first; either that or he was just quicker than Dad was, as he moved to stand in front of me.

‘What the hell’s going on, Lorcan?’ said Dad fiercely.

‘This doesn’t have to involve you, Logan. It’s Erik we want.’

‘What? You’re joking right? He’s my son, for fuck’s sake – of course it involves me and whatever this is, you need to explain yourself.’

I tried to move Jared out of the way but he wouldn’t budge. By normal standards, I was super-strong but he was a lot older than me, his power was entire and I was no match for him. Unfortunately, Jared was no match for the two Warlocks that grabbed him by the arms and dragged him over the other side of the room. Before Dad or I had time to react, we were also restrained.

Without Jared blocking my view, I could see Ben clearly. He had a look of hate I hadn’t seen before.

Dad and Jared tried to pull free but couldn’t. They’d have easily taken these men one on one but two on one was just too much. Clearly, Lorcan had been concerned about Jared as the two holding him were built like Steve Austin.

‘So come on, Lorcan,’ Dad asked, ‘what’s this about?’

Dad’s tone was calmer. He was still angry but I guess he wanted to get things resolved peacefully.

‘He’s hiding that bitch,’ spat Ben. ‘Did you really think I was taken in? No Warlock shares his childbearer. But then, she wasn’t there for that was she? Bring her out!’ he shouted.

The door to the kitchen opened and in walked another Warlock, followed by Jess. She looked terrified.

She looked across at Ben, still pointing the gun at me, and started to cry.

‘Shut up!’ shouted Lorcan, as he slapped her hard across the face.

Jess stood there trying hard to hold it together. I should really have felt sorry for her but, in truth, I didn’t really care. At any other point in time, I’d have defended her but, right here, right now, things were too serious to worry about a slap across the face to some woman I didn’t really feel anything for.

‘Carry on, Ben,’ ordered Lorcan.

‘I came across your so-called childbearer last week. I recognized her straight away, but she had no idea who I was. I knew immediately something wasn’t right. It didn’t take me long to go into her mind and extract the information I needed. Just a shame she didn’t know where you were hiding the Moirai.’

‘I’m not hiding her,’ I protested.

‘The time for lying is past, Erik,’ interrupted Lorcan. ‘You either give her up or we have no choice but to hand you over to The Council. It didn’t have to be this way.’

‘Hold on, Lorcan. You are not handing my boy over to anyone. I swear to you, you harm him and I’ll kill you.’

‘Well, not today you won’t, Logan. The house is protected. I’m the only one here that can use magic. Release his left arm,’ he ordered.

Dad lifted his hand toward Lorcan. Nothing. He pushed it forward, the look on his face pure determination; but still nothing. Dad tried to pull free his right arm but the goon to the left helped pull him back in line.

‘Logan. We can resolve this without any blood being spilled. You must know where she is, give her up. Give her up, we’ll deal with her and then you can all go home.’

Dad looked across at me. It was clear he would do anything to protect me. They both would. I shook my head, I tried to Whisper to him not to do it but the protection spell stopped it getting through. I didn’t need to say anything, though. He knew what I was thinking, he knew I would never give her up and he knew I would never forgive anyone else that did.

He stood there looking at me. The room was eerily quiet but for the soft muted sobs coming from Jess. I could just about hear breathing coming from the two men holding me when, all of a sudden, I heard laughter. I looked across to my right and there stood Jared, laughing like he’d just finished watching
Seinfeld
. I grinned broadly. I had no idea what he was doing or what he was laughing at, but just the sound of him filled me with confidence.

‘Shut up. Shut the fuck up,’ screamed Ben, as he turned the gun to point at Jared.

I’d hardly had time to react when the door to the lounge threw open.

‘Just relax, Ben,’ came a voice from behind me. ‘No one needs to get hurt.’

‘Who the fuck are you, and how the hell did you get in?’ screamed Lorcan.

I recognized the voice, but couldn’t get free enough to look round. Although it wasn’t so loud now, I could still hear Jared laughing.

‘Are you OK?’ said the voice.

‘Yeah, I’m good. Glad to see you, though,’ answered Jared.

I looked across at Dad and he was smiling too, now. As the man walked forward and turned to face me, I could see why. It was Mr Trent. I wasn’t sure why Jared thought this was amusing. Lorcan had protected the house, so we couldn’t use magic. What the hell did he think Mr Trent could do to help?

‘I asked you a question!’ spat Lorcan. ‘How the hell did you get in here? I demand you tell me. Now!’

Mr Trent turned to face him.

‘You are in no position to demand anything of me,’ he said calmly. ‘Now call off  your dogs and let them go, before someone gets hurt.’

‘You’re the only one that’s gonna get hurt. Ben, shoot him.’

All eyes turned to look at Ben. He hadn’t moved since Mr Trent had told him to relax, but I don’t think anyone had noticed. We’d all been too busy concentrating on what Mr Trent was doing to notice much else.

‘Ben. I said shoot him,’ ordered Lorcan.

‘I can’t. I can’t move.’

It was true. Ben was as rigid and unable to shift as I’d been the night we’d first met Mr Trent, the night the Tracers came to our house.

Lorcan looked shocked. The house was protected – how the hell had someone not only gotten into the house uninvited but managed to put a ‘hold’ instruction on Ben?

But this wasn’t the only surprise Mr Trent had for him.

‘I will ask you just once more before I start to lose my patience – call off your dogs or I’ll put them down.’

‘You’re bluffing. I don’t know how you are doing this, but you don’t have the kind of power needed to cast in a protected house. So I’ll give you an ultimatum – turn around and leave now or I’ll put
you
down.’

Lorcan’s voice wasn’t as measured as it had been before Mr Trent arrived. When he was the only one able to cast he’d been confident, arrogant in the way he’d spoken to us, but now it was clear he was uncertain, nervous even.

Mr Trent turned his back to Lorcan and walked over to face me. I’d been the only one of the three of us that he hadn’t yet acknowledged.

‘You OK?’ he asked me quietly.

I just nodded. It was like I was holding my breath under water; I didn’t want to breathe out – the anticipation of what was coming next was almost unbearable.

Mr Trent turned back toward Lorcan but stopped and looked toward Ben. His gun was still pointed at Jared, who, by now, looked decidedly more relaxed than I felt.

‘Ben,’ said Mr Trent as he fixed his gaze on him. Ben’s eyes looked toward him and his outstretched arm started to move direction, away from Jared and toward Lorcan.

‘What the hell are you doing?’ shouted Lorcan.

‘I’m not doing anything!’ cried Ben. His arms were shaking. He must have been fighting so hard against what he was being forced to do, but he was powerless to stop.