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“You think I owe loyalty to that bunch of lunatics?” she asked. “They’re no more my family than your father was.”
“Well, who the hell is your family?” I demanded. “I would really like to know. Dad wasn’t enough. I wasn’t enough. Nana, the aunts and uncles. Is there anybody in this world you care more about than you?”
“Not really,” she said, placidly examining her manicure. She stopped suddenly, giving me a satisfied smirk. “Do you want to know what I find funny in all of this? It was your boyfriend Stephen who was so helpful. I told him all about you, you see. I arranged for the two of you to meet. I even provided him with a little liquid love potion to slip into your tea when you didn’t respond the way a normal woman would.”
I stared at her for a long moment. Love potion. That explained the ambiguous distaste I’d felt for “ideal boyfriend Stephen” since I moved to the States. He wasn’t around to refresh the potion or maintain the thrall. It explained why I couldn’t seem to remember all of the things we had in common or the reasons he was so bloody perfect. I wasn’t a bad girlfriend. I just had a fecking terrible mother.
Who was still monologuing, it seemed. “He’s been here all this time, didn’t you realize? He followed you just a few days after you arrived. We’ve been inside your house, rifled through your sad clothes and your sensible shoes. The only time he’s been in Ireland in the last few weeks was to pump your idiot cousin for information. Thanks to some herbal additions I put in a box of chocolates, your darling Penny spilled every secret she’s ever held in that empty head of hers. And I helped him ensure that she would never remember talking about you.”
I deeply regretted not whacking Stephen harder with that geode. Suddenly, my spontaneous nude snuggling with Jed didn’t seem so bad by comparison.
“Stephen was a tool,” she said. “A useful tool but a tool all the same.”
“I won’t argue with you there,” I muttered.
“You don’t think I know you, but I do. You want normal. You want to pretend you’re just like everyone else. It’s a criminal waste of talent. You didn’t think twice about meeting some nice little broker at a business meeting. You wanted that so badly you didn’t even question it. I would pity you if it wasn’t so damn pathetic.”>“In the grand Southern tradition, I won’t think about that right now,” I said. “I’ll think about it tomorrow.” I unhooked the bell from its mount and dashed for the back office. I jerked the safe open and eased out the little carrying case.
Behind me, a footstep sounded at the entrance to the office. I turned to find a familiar figure standing just behind me.
“S-Stephen?” I stammered, confused about why someone who was supposed to be in Ireland would be three feet away, holding what looked like a rather large handgun. What was happening? Why would Stephen come here at all, much less armed? He wasn’t even looking at me; his eyes were focused on the little wooden cabinet. Gooseflesh rose on my arms as I stood.
Heart hammering, I nudged the heavy safe door shut with my leg.
“Ah, ah, ah,” Stephen said, smiling blandly as he stopped the door with his arm. He edged me away from the safe, trapping me between him and the bookshelf behind me. He gave me a sly, condescending grin as he surveyed the contents of Uncle Jack’s cabinet. “She knew you would find them. You are such a clever girl, Nola. You know that, don’t you? Far too clever to shut yourself away in that stupid little village for that godforsaken clinic. I meant that. I want you to know that not everything I told you was a lie.”
Realization, cold and heavy, settled against my heart. “Sonofabitch! Did you sleep with me just so you could find the Elements?”
“Well, the lovely sex wasn’t about the Elements,” he said. “That was a special side benefit.” I raised my hand to slap him, but he shoved the gun toward my face, making me cower back. “Let’s just keep those fire-starting hands to ourselves, shall we?”
“You ransacked the shop, didn’t you? You hurt Zeb.”
“And the meathead out by the Dumpster.” He chuckled as I made a strangled gasping noise. “And I strolled into your house anytime I felt like it. Old houses are never quite as secure as you think they are. There’s always a window or door that can be jimmied. It doesn’t take much to slink around this town unnoticed. All it takes is a T-shirt with an inappropriate slogan and a John Deere baseball cap. I’ve been here for weeks, watching you, keeping track of your progress. She wanted to intervene, but why do the work when you’re doing it for us?”
“Why are you doing this? And who is ‘she’?”
There was that wintry smile again. “I wish I could say I was special, like you, that I was trying to restore balance to a family that’s been denied its magic for too long,” he said, his lips twisted into a mocking smile. “But I’ll be honest. It’s the money. The Kerrigans are going to pay handsomely for the contents of this cabinet. I couldn’t have gotten a mint for just one or two of the Elements, but all four together, in a handy carrying case? I’ll be set for life.”
“And how long do you think that life will be,” I asked, “once my family hears about this? Hell, when I tell Jane it was you who hurt Zeb, your life won’t be worth living. You’re going to spend the rest of your days looking over your shoulder for an entire family of pissed-off vampires, not to mention angry witches. I’d almost feel sorry for you, if you weren’t such a prick.”
“Well, I guess we’re just going to have to make sure you don’t tell anyone, aren’t we?” Stephen’s hand tensed around the gun, raising it to my eye level. Panic constricted my throat, but my hands flew up, at the ready. I have no idea what they were ready to do, but it startled Stephen enough to flinch. I snatched up a heavy amethyst geode from Jane’s desk and smashed it against his temple. He yelped, slumping against the wall, swinging the gun toward me. I darted to the side and beat his wrist against the shelves, over and over, until he dropped the gun to the floor. He growled, shoving me back against the desk so my head thunked against Jane’s laptop. The pain of my back colliding with the sharp edge of the desk had me howling. I swung my booted foot up in a vicious arc, connecting with his chin and knocking him back into the shelf, which collapsed, dumping heavy leather-bound books on his head. He sank to the floor, limp and unconscious.
Slowly, I sat up, turning my aching head side-to-side. Stephen was working for the Kerrigans all this time? I felt so completely stupid. How had I fallen for this twice? From now on, I would have to ask Penny to prescreen all of my dates. I cradled my face in my hands, praying for the throbbing to stop. I had to get up. I had to go check on Jed, get him help if he needed it. I just had to make my head stop spinning long enough to stand.
Somewhere in the distance, I heard the floor creak. My head snapped up, making me wince. A woman stepped into view, tall and willowy, with dark hair. For a moment, I wondered if it was a ghost.
“Mom?” I whispered.
“Hello, darling,” she said, smiling sweetly . . . right before she smashed a statue of Bast against my temple. I collapsed to my knees and fell on my face.
Ouch.
17
Some relationships cannot be fixed, no matter what you do.
—Love Spells: A Witch’s Guide to
Maintaining Healthy Relationships
