“Then why are you here?” Cece asked.
Werner stared at her, and Cece could feel the sting of tears when love radiated from his gaze. “Because you are my grandchild and a piece of my son lives on through you. I couldn’t stay away, Nietita.”
She looked away, blinking rapidly, and Briggs growled softly to her. “Are you all right, my mate?”
“Yes,” she said hoarsely, quickly wiping the tears from her cheeks. “Just a crybaby.”
Werner reached for her hand before glancing at Briggs and wrapping his hand around his coffee cup again instead. “Nietita, I looked you up before I came here. I know your mother died when you were only a teen and that your aunt died recently. I know that you’re alone and -”
“She’s not alone,” Briggs growled.
Werner nodded absently, his gaze still on Cece. “I had hoped that you would be open to a relationship with me. And, with time, perhaps your grandmother and uncle.”
“Cece, remember what your aunt told you,” Briggs said quickly.
“I know,” she said. She studied Werner. “I listened to you, will you listen to me?”
“Of course, Nietita,” he said.
“My mother died so young because she and my aunt were forced to do an amnesia spell, using dark magic, on my father’s family because they tried to kill my mother when she was pregnant with me. His family was angry that he was in love with an apprentice witch. They came to the house to kill my mother when they thought my father wasn’t there. Only he was there, and he protected her. He fought his own family, so my mother and aunt could escape, and was killed by the death spell they cast.”
Werner was staring at her, his lower lip trembling and his face slack with shock.
“His family staged his death to look like a car accident, but my mother and aunt knew his family would never stop hunting them. So, they used dark magic to cast the amnesia spell and made his family believe that he really had died in the car accident.”
Cece leaned forward, her gaze arrowed in on Werner’s. “When my aunt died, the spell was broken, and my father’s family would have remembered who my mother was and what happened. My aunt was so afraid for me that she contacted me from the dead to warn me. And she was right to do so. I’ve had numerous attacks on my life in the last few weeks.”
She sat back in her chair, her hands ice cold and nausea infusing her stomach. Werner stared silently at her before, his voice faint, he said, “Cece, I didn’t know about you until I read that letter. I did not attack your mother and try to kill her. I did not kill my own son.”
She studied him for nearly a minute before nodding. “I believe you.”
“Little witch,” Briggs said, “your aunt said -”
“My aunt said my father’s family, she didn’t tell me who in the family,” Cece said.
“My mate…” Briggs gave her an almost helpless look.
“Briggs, I believe him,” she said gently.
He nodded, and Cecelia gave him a grateful smile before turning back to Werner. “I believe you, but I also believe my aunt. Which means your wife or your son, or both of them, tried to kill my mother and now they’re trying to kill me.”
“No,” Werner said. “Nietita, that is not true.”
“I know you want to think the best of them, but my aunt wouldn’t lie about this,” Cece said.
“She was confused then,” Werner said. “Neither Adora nor Alistair would ever try to kill someone. They would not use dark magic.”
“Easy way to find out,” Briggs said. “Ask them.”
Werner flushed. “It is not that easy. I cannot simply ask Adora and Alistair if they used dark magic and accidentally killed Andrew.”
“It’s exactly that easy,” Briggs said. “Unless you’re worried about what they’ll do to you once they find out you went against their wishes and contacted Cece.”
The flush in Werner’s cheeks went a deeper red as he turned back to Cece. “Nietita, I do not believe that either my wife or my son is a danger to you, but now is not a good time to confess that I have met you. Finding the letter has brought up many painful memories for our entire family, and we’re not… we’re not in a good place right now. If they find out I went against their wishes and met you, I’m afraid it would destroy my relationship with them. I love my wife and my child. Do you understand, Nietita?”
“I do,” Cece said.
“Thank you. I promise that I will tell them, but I need time. In the meantime, if you tell me what attacks have been made against you, I’ll look into them. I have access to WWC resources that could -”
