Page 40 of Wicching Hour (The Sea Wicche Chronicles #3)

FORTY

I’m Telling Dad!

“T ry and fail,” Robert contended. “They wanted you on the Council as a child. You held out until you were twenty-eight and established in the art world. I thought for sure that bribing you with this gallery would get you on board, but still you resisted.”

“Wait a minute.” I looked between Robert and Elizabeth. “Do people think I was given this cannery?”

They shared a look and then nodded.

I stood, suddenly pissed off. “Serena said something similar once. Who the hell told people that?” I paced between the worktable and the kitchen. “No wonder the rest of the family hates my guts.”

When I passed Declan’s chair, he snaked an arm out, pulling me to his side.

“This is why all the cousins thought those earrings I was given at graduation were from John and Sylvia. They really do think I’m a spoiled brat who gets whatever I want.”

“The earrings you’re wearing?” Elizabeth asked.

I nodded, still fuming.

“I was told they were left to you from your Great-Gran,” Elizabeth explained. “That they had been made to celebrate a Corey Cassandra.”

Faith began to raise her hand and then stopped, no doubt remembering she wasn’t in class. “That’s not what we heard. We were told that Aunt Sylvia and Uncle John used the money they’d saved for Cal’s college tuition to buy them for you, that you’d seen them in a jewelry store and begged Sylvia to get them for you.” She shrugged. “They said that you were powerful but unpredictable, so everyone had to keep you happy.”

My anger was turning to grief. I didn’t want to cry—stupid hormones. I needed to keep myself pissed off. “Just so everyone here is clear, these earrings were a graduation gift from my father—not that anyone told me that. I just found out a few weeks ago that he’s wanted to see me my whole life. And I paid for this building and all the renovations. Gran bought the property when I was a child?—”

“I’m not sure she did,” Bracken interrupted. “You told me that story weeks ago and I looked into it, because it didn’t sound like something Mary would do. I checked the history of this building. After it was closed in 1971, it languished for decades and then was finally sold to an entity called Mac Lir Properties when you were five.”

I went stiff.

Bracken watched me a moment. “I’m not positive, but I believe your father could be Manannán Mac Lir, fae Irish sea god. Didn’t you tell me you were about that age when you found the cannery and that pedophile followed you here?”

Elizabeth and Robert went on high alert and Faith looked down.

I nodded. “And Dad told me his name was Mac.”

“The name on the deed changed to Arwyn Cassandra Corey when you were about ten. My guess is he noticed you breaking in, exploring, hanging up your art, and he wanted it to be yours.”

Declan shook his head in disbelief, looking up at me. “How much did she charge you for this place?”

I felt dead inside. It was one thing to use me and my gifts for the betterment of the family, but now she was stealing from me. “Three million,” I whispered.

Elizabeth’s eyes went wide. “Mother charged you three million for a gift from your father?”

My eyes filled, but I angrily dashed the tears away as Declan pulled me onto his lap. “Gran said it was easily worth five million, but she’d take the loss and sell it to me for three because she knew I loved it.”

“Where did you get that kind of money?” Faith asked, her voiced hushed.

Shaking my head, I gestured around us. “My art. I’ve been selling my pieces since I was a teenager. Mary Beth, my agent, was in Carmel for another artist’s showing. She walked by a tiny gallery on the way and saw one of my paintings in the window. She came to see me and signed me that same day. I was thirteen. She’s been selling my work ever since. I do readings too, but I use that money to cover daily expenses. The proceeds from my art sales go into a special account. All I’ve wanted since I was little is to have my own gallery.”

I leaned on Declan when he wrapped his arms around me. “Why?” I whispered.

“Sometimes,” Bracken began, his voice somber, “people are alienated from friends and family as a means of control. If they’re the only ones showing you love and affection, you’ll do anything for their approval. It’s like a beaten stray who’s finally adopted. That dog will be more loyal, more vicious against threats, than one who has enjoyed love and safety all its life.”

“Not my mother,” I protested, sitting up straight. “She wouldn’t do that to me.”

He nodded, not looking entirely convinced. “You’re probably right. You two wouldn’t have been at odds with one another for so long if she was in on it.”

“You should sue for that three million,” Frank said from the window. “Destroy her.” The rage in his voice made us all turn to him, but he kept his back to us.

Feeling hollowed out, I wanted to crawl back into bed and pull the covers over my head. I didn’t want to do this tonight. I didn’t want to—wait. Standing abruptly, I looked around the room and then at the maps.

“Oh, no you don’t, Calliope. You’re not derailing our plans.” Suddenly concerned, I watched my cousin a moment and then said, “Frank, why don’t you come back and help us plan.”

He didn’t move.

“Declan,” I said softly, moving across the studio toward Frank. “I need my octopus bottle.”

He was up and bringing it to me a moment later. I took off my gloves and he poured some ocean water into my palms.

“Hold him for me,” I whispered.

Frank spun, enraged, but Declan was too fast. He had his arms around him, pinning Frank against his chest. Robert was up and started to say something, but Bracken hushed everyone.

“Frank, you’ve been standing over here, looking out the window for a while now. I won’t hurt you. I promise. I just need to make sure Cal hasn’t made her way past my wards through you.”

I laid my damp hands on either side of his face and heard the chanting almost immediately. Gathering my magic, I let it flow through my veins and collect in my hands. I needed to impose my will. Cal had no counter to fae magic. I let the tidal wave build in me. When it was cresting, ready to slam down, I let it pour out of me, washing through Frank, telling it to cleanse Cal and her demon from his mind.

Seawater splashed at my feet. When I opened my eyes, I saw a terrified and drenched Frank staring back at me.

“Wh—what happened?” he asked, his voice shaking.

Robert and Elizabeth ran over, pulling Frank into their arms. They held him close, getting wet themselves.

“Is he okay now?” Elizabeth asked, panicked.

“Yes,” I said. “They’re getting tricky. I put a fae ward on the building, knowing she couldn’t break it, but I exempted everyone here tonight. I didn’t want any of you zapped by the ward. Frank was looking out the window and Calliope seems to have figured out a way to sneak past the ward through him.”

There was a knock at the back door and then Jake opened it. He nodded to everyone and then his gaze found me. “There were two men in a pickup truck. We clocked them when they drove by slowly. One of them hopped out of the truck with a Molotov cocktail he lit and threw. I tackled him, but he’d already let it go.”

He shook his head in disbelief. “It hit the side of the gallery, splashing fire, and then water flooded off the roof, putting it out. There isn’t even a scorch mark where it hit.”

Declan moved to the door, but Jake held up his hand. “We got it. Tyler got the one driving. Both are on the ground, trussed up with bungie cords we found in their truck bed.” He looked back at me. “I called the detective that was here earlier to say we had a couple of arsonists for her.”

“Thank you—both of you—very much,” I said.

He waved off my thanks. “Your ward did most of the work. I’m going to get back so Tyler’s not on his own when the detective arrives.” He went back out, closing the door behind him.

“She does love her distractions, doesn’t she?” I glanced over at Bracken, who was writing in his journal. “Everything okay?” I asked him, moving back to the table and sitting beside him.

“Hmm? Oh, I don’t think anything is okay right now.” He wore the barest of smiles. “I think, though, that it will be.” He finished his note and then turned back to me. “How did you know what was happening with Frank?”

“How do I know anything?” I asked. “I was feeling defeated. I just wanted to crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head, which isn’t like me.”

Declan chuckled. “You’re more the shove-the-big-idiot-who-thinks-you’re-a-conwoman-off-the-deck-and-into-the-ocean type.”

The memory of our first meeting warmed me, helping me shake off my unease. “Good times. Anyway,” I said to Bracken, “I wanted to get out of the responsibility of all this.” I gestured to the maps. “I knew then that something was happening to me. Yes, I’m exhausted and have been emotional today, but I need Cal caught and that damn book destroyed. Then I noticed Frank had yet to move from the window and him telling me to destroy Gran was totally out of character.”

“I said what?” His voice was still weak.

I shook my head as Robert’s grip on his son tightened. “It wasn’t you,” I told Frank. “Cal hates Gran. She thinks she should have been made the Council’s third years ago. She believes herself extraordinary and is angry that no one else, especially Gran, recognizes that.”

I studied Elizabeth’s family a moment. The fear was palpable. “It’s okay,” I told them. “You don’t need to be a part of this. I can do it.”

I stood and braced for what would come next. Declan opened his mouth to protest, but I shook my head. It wasn’t right to ask people to do something they couldn’t. Declan rubbed his forehead but held his tongue.

Elizabeth looked outraged. “You are not this family’s sacrificial lamb! We weren’t prepared. That’s all. Now, we will be.”

Robert nodded, a fire in his eyes. “She has no idea what we’re capable of.”

“Mom hasn’t paid much attention to my family, which is fine by us,” Elizabeth said, looking at Robert. “That means, though, that the rest of the family are unaware of our gifts.”

“Fascinating,” Bracken said, “and quite smart. What they know, they exploit.”

Elizabeth nodded, unhappy with the truth of that statement. “As you know from Sylvia’s wake, both Robert and I can speak directly into another’s mind. It was a gift of Bridget’s and mine. As far as I know, none of the other siblings can do it. Bridget and I used to carry on full conversations, each in our own classrooms, at school.” She smiled, remembering.

“After Michael was killed and she took her baby and ran, the link was still there, but she was silent. Sometimes I’d feel her grief, her fear. I’d speak to her, but she never spoke back.” She brushed away a sudden tear. “Maybe she worried Abby would think I’d been told about her sorcery and would come after me. I don’t know,” she said on a shrug. “I doubt Abigail would have noticed. I’m easy to overlook in the family.”

“She’s an introvert,” Robert explained, “in a family that prides itself on back-stabbing and clawing one’s way to the top.”

Elizabeth smiled at that. “I’m quiet and not even a little competitive. When the others were vying for attention, I was in my room reading. I had Bridget, though, so being overlooked was okay. It meant I didn’t have to deal with the fights and tensions. After Bridget disappeared,” she said, her voice faltering, “I faded away with her. People would walk right past me and ask Mom if she’d seen me.” She gave a bitter laugh. “And most of the time, Mom would say no.”

Robert kissed his wife’s forehead, murmuring something to her. She nodded, patting his chest.

“When Robert and I fell in love, I taught him my little trick.” She tapped her forehead. “I had a kind, loving voice up here again.” She gave her husband a kiss. “The point is, Cal will have no idea what gifts we have.”

Faith smiled at that. “You saw that Frank can create illusions that look and feel real.”

I nodded, remembering the tiny dragon that had walked across my palm.

“What I can do is a little different,” she said. She closed her eyes, held up a hand, and rain began lashing the windows. Lightning flashed across the sky and thunder boomed.

Faith was an elemental!