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Her father moved toward her mother and X watched warily as he took her mother’s hand and kissed it. She marveled at the viable emotion she sensed as she watched her father gaze into her mother’s deep sea green eyes; so much like her own. She thought it was sad that they should be apart.
Without taking his eyes away from her mother’s he answered, “You daughter, you.”
“Why?” she asked as her tongue moved to her inner cheek.? She had a bad feeling about this.
Suddenly he snapped himself to attention and turned to gently indicate with a slight wave of his hand, “Shall I get to the point? Yes, I think so. Galen, as you know, is interested in courting you. I wish this to go forward as quickly as possible. I have, in fact, wished for it for quite some time.” He inclined his head, “Galen told me of his great affection for you a year ago, but I knew you weren’t ready. I gave you the respect of waiting until you finished your education. You had your bit of fun, but that time is over.” He opened his arms wide as though bestowing an enormous gift on her. She felt a sick sensation in the pit of her stomach.
&n
bsp; “My interest in this daughter, is simple. I wish for the Debbin House to be joined with the Radley House. It will not only increase our powers as a coven, but as a family unit. It will combine all of our abilities in a way never imagined by any warlock or witch ever before. The two houses joined in this manner will make us virtually invincible.” He clapped his hands together. His smile was enormous as he added, “The children from such a match will have formidable magic—my grandchildren. Nothing could please me more.”
Galen stepped toward her and unconsciously, she stepped backward. What the hell was this? Had she somehow fallen through a hole to another century? She was not going to take part in this marriage of convenience. She had known Galen a good part of her adult life and he had always displayed a partiality for her. She didn’t like him and she knew she couldn’t love him. Some women might find him irresistible, with his dark auburn hair and the peak it formed in the middle of his forehead along with his charming smile, but these masked his dark cold eyes. This is exactly what her mother had been warning her about, this day. She had laughed it off. She couldn’t believe her father could be so archaic.
She could never consider Galen Debbin as a husband and her father couldn’t force her into such a match. She folded her arms across her middle and started to speak, but her mom interrupted her with a wave of her hand and said, “We are honored Harlan, my love, however, I don’t think our daughter was thinking of courtship or marriage at this stage of her life. You know that she has plans to go to New York in the fall and start working toward her Masters degree.”
“I will never allow anything to prevent her plans for continuing her education,” her father said softly. “I see no reason why marriage should interfere with that.”
“I am not interested in marriage,” X stuck in, thinking this entire conversation bordered on the insane. She had to do something quick.
Her father looked serious as he raised an eyebrow. “No? Perhaps I speak of it too soon. There is no reason why you cannot go on a date or two and get to know one another.” He turned back to his wife. “You know Rachel, in the end she doesn’t have a choice. This is my will. They will marry. I also believe that their union was predestined to be the most spectacular union of our kind. Because of my great affection for our daughter, I do not mind if she needs a bit of courting to feel more comfortable about it.”
Her mother shot her daughter a meaningful look and said with the link that was theirs alone, don’t speak.
“Of course,” her mother responded. “What happens if our daughter refuses to be married?”
“For now, I only ask that she allow Galen to court her,” her father said sounding reasonable. Exerilla had heard him very clearly say that she actually had no choice. He was willing to bide his time, but only for a short while. She loved her father; though he had changed. He was no longer putting her needs first. She knew he was allowing her to think that he was reasonable by condoning a brief courtship. He wanted her eased into the situation, but in the end she could see that he meant this to go forward at all costs.
“Of course, but today Exerilla and I have plans,” her mother said with a tentative smile. “Galen is welcome to come for cocktails with you tomorrow evening. Perhaps he can take X to dinner sometime after that.” She eyed her husband flirtatiously and Exerilla wondered what her mother was doing.
Two things were off here.
Her mother despised Galen Debbin. She would never let her go anywhere alone with him. He was not only a Dark Warlock, but ugly rumors abounded around him. Rumors called him a vicious murderer, who killed for the thrill of it.
She wondered why her mother was so ready to accept the union.
The second thing was the sorrow she saw in her mother’s eyes when she looked at her father. Her feelings toward him might have changed.
Exerilla felt a wave of loss because she saw a dark force ever hovering about him. His stance was more aloof, even when he looked at her. His love for her and her mother was unshakeable. It was a viable separate entity and yet, she knew in that moment beyond a shadow of a doubt, that her father would not allow his affection to deter his purpose.
This time, her mother meant to take her father on.
Obviously, her mother was stalling for time. For what possible reason, she hadn’t a clue. She looked from mother to father and kept quiet. She would keep still now because there was no way in hell she was going to go to dinner or anything else with Galen Debbin, let alone marry him.
“That is more than fair. I had expected our little X to put up a fight. She never liked being dictated to.” He smiled and Exerilla saw pride light up his handsome face. He had always called her X, just like her friends. He would tease her and tell her that she would always be his X-factor. She had never really known just what he meant by that, but she was now beginning to see. She was an answer to his need for power. That sudden realization hurt.
She shrugged but gave him a half smile. “Yup, you’re so right; I don’t like being dictated to. I have known Galen a very long time, and I won’t insult him by refusing to have a few dinner engagements with him to see how we feel about each other,” she said, hoping her father would not see through her lie.
Her father was all too pleased with the outcome of this initial meeting. He merely bowed in his old world style. He murmured that he adored her. With a sudden flick of his wrist, the dark cloud that delivered them into Exerilla’s home enveloped the two warlocks and took them away.
Her mother grabbed Exerilla’s shoulders and said in a desperate tone, “Hurry, there is no time to waste!”
All at once she realized what her mother was talking about. She had heard all about this earlier that week and had laughed it off. Now it was looking as though it might turn into a reality, but she wasn’t ready to accept it.
She knew that her mother was only trying to protect her, but she just couldn’t comply with her wishes.
She had her summer planned. She had a summer job lined up, and then Columbia in the fall. This wasn’t fair. There had to be another way.
What her mother was asking seemed extremely drastic. It wasn’t as though she wanted her to go off on some summer vacation. She wanted to send her two hundred years into the past.
