Gone With the Witch (36 page)

"Please come to the island with us. Humor me," Aiden said so softly and with such a raw look of yearning, that Storm felt a shiver, as if he'd stroked her with his gaze.

Disarmed, there was nothing she could do but turn and
make her way toward the car, carrying Becky, while Pepper
and Ginny chatted behind her, which meant that Aiden was
pushing the wheelchair along the uneven terrain, his gaze warming her back.

A shiver of awareness radiated inward to all her
welcoming parts—parts that should have known better
than to shiver in anticipation of
something ..
.
someone
... they could no longer have.

His wife had died
yesterday,
for heaven's sake.

Storm stopped when she saw his coach parked beside her car, the dragon's tail mostly on the grass. Memories
rushed her at the sight.
Forget both dragons, missy,
she told
herself.
No more dragon games for you.

A few people looked twice as they passed the coach, but
nobody stopped. No crowd had formed. She guessed their notoriety had finally breathed its
last,
thank the angelic
protector of all fools in merry widows who car
ry
hand
cuffs.

Before Aiden set up the makeshift ramp he'd impro
vised for Ginny's wheelchair, Storm took Becky and Pep
per inside and gave
them
drinks.
Lemonade for Pepper,
and juice for Becky's sippy cup.

Aiden got Ginny up the ramp and into the coach,
then
he took her straight to the big bedroom at the back so she could lie down.

Storm changed Becky's diaper,
then
she put her in her car seat on the sofa nearest the driver and passenger seats up front. Pepper buckled herself in beside Becky.

Pepper was the only reason Becky removed her arms from around Storm's neck. Thank the Goddess for the
unexpected gift of sisters who attracted toddlers. When
Becky started stealing Pepper's face paint, Storm took
wipes from her purse and handed one to Pepper, then she used the other on Becky.

Aiden shut the bedroom door and came down the hall with a bag of books and toys for Becky, and Pepper dove right in.

"Storm," Aiden said. "You might want to use one of
those on your own face.

Pepper giggled.

Storm went to the bathroom mirror to see nightmare cat
staring back at her. Face clean, she returned to find the
girls laughing. It occurred to her that Becky had perhaps
not seen too many small people in her short life. She'd
been rather isolated in Ginny's cottage. Pepper would be good for her.

"Pepper, do you mind watching Becky while 'I unpack the car?" Storm asked.

Pepper looked surprised. "Thank you for trusting me.
I'll take good care of her."

Storm kissed her sister's brow. "Thank you for watching
her."

Becky raised her little heart-shaped mouth for a kiss,
too. Storm chuckled, kissed her, and cupped her cheek.
"
Be good for Pepper."

"Pep," Becky said, and nodded.

Storm rescued Warlock first and left him in his carrier
in the air-conditioned coach. Then she went for Pepper's things.

"You lost your clothes a second time, didn't you?"
Aiden said.

Startled, Storm jumped. "Someone took off in his mo
tor coach with them"

"Bet you didn't buy that saucy sundress at a mall. If you did, it'd be black. But it looks too good to be yard sale fare.
Turquoise, Snapdragon?"

"Don't call me that!"

Aiden stepped back. "I'm sorry. Time warp"

Their eyes met, and Storm felt hers fill, damn it. She blinked and raised her chin.

Aiden's arms fell to his sides. "I apologize ... for everything."

"Let's move it," Storm said. "Those two aren't going to sit and play quietly for very
long."

"Right" Aiden took Pepper's broken suitcase, radio
box, and backpack, leaving Storm with the paper bags.

After everything was inside, Aiden drove her car around
behind the coach, and Storm watched him hook it up to be
towed, the silence between them deafening. "This dress has
a designer label," Storm said to break the tension. "Pepper
`acquired' it, among other things, from Marvelanne's closet
when she packed."

Aiden shook his head, looking almost proud.
"The
cheeky little thief."

"She learned from the best."

"You have to give Pepper points for thinking of you."

"Hah. You think she took it for me? Turns out we wear the same size. To quote Pepper, `We just stretch and fill it out differently.' And it's longer on her. Pepper took this dress for herself."

"Stealing a dress like that isn't the same as stealing a
sugar packet," Aiden said. "Do you have a little delinquent
on your hands?"

"The sugar packets were the tip of Marvelanne's vice-berg," Storm said. "I hope with all my heart to turn Pepper in a new direction. After this dress has been cleaned, it's going back to Marvelanne with anything else the chip off
the old klepto took. I'm gonna have Pepper work off the
cost of cleaning
an
d
postage at the Immortal Classic."

"You're gonna be good for her," he said. "Already, she's
wearing less makeup. So are you, come to think of it."

"Maybe that's because most of my makeup is in your coach"

"Ah, right." He wiped his hands on his jeans. "You told
Ginny she could call you if she wasn't happy at assisted living. That was nice, Storm."

"Withering witch balls, don't go telling anybody.”

“Scout's honor.
Here you go, all hitched and ready to roll"

"As far as looking less goth," Storm said, "now that I've

got
Pepper, I made her promise not to go goth until high

school
, so I intend to tone it down myself, for a while. "Keep the blue hair," Aiden said. "I really love—”

“
Awkward moment," Storm said, and walked away.

Chapter
Fifty

WHEN Storm returned to the coach, Pepper had opened
the carrier, and Warlock was now sitting on Becky's lap licking her hand and giving her a fit of the giggles.

Aiden went into the bathroom to wash his hands from hitching up the tow, and Storm spotted the kitchen drawer
where she'd found the sea horse. She removed the necklace and put it back where she found it. After all, it belonged to Claudette when she and Aiden were together. It must mean
something to him, if he'd kept it for a year and a half.

When she heard him coming, she shut the drawer and headed for the passenger seat.

"
Are we leaving catastrocat loose while we d
ri
ve?"
Aiden asked.

"I'll hold him in my lap," Pepper said.

Storm turned in her seat. "He might scratch you. He
goes a little bonkers when we start driving."

"
Me
and Becky wanna see him go honkers."

Becky nodded.
"Bonks."

Aiden tilted his head as he focused on her, like he didn't
know what was missing, and Storm kept herself from

covering
the spot where the sea horse had rested. "Pepper can hold Warlock while we take off," he said, heading toward the kitchen area behind her, as Storm faced forward.

"If it turns out psycho cat needs to be crated," Aiden said,
"we'll stop and crate him. How's that for a compromise?"

"Great," Storm said. "Everybody ready to roll?" she asked, still facing forward.

After some rustling, and some Aiden-type footsteps that
stopped behind her, the copper sea horse slipped between her breasts.

Aiden took forever hooking it, as if he were stroking her
on purpose in a place that yearned for his touch.

Storm remembered the feel of him stroking her there, and wondered if he did, too. "I'll get it," she said, pushing
his hands aside and hooking the clasp. “According to
Celtic myth," she said, "the sea horse is the
tr
ansporter to the afterlife, or Summerland, as we call it."

Aiden gave her a double take. "As in ... Claudette
chose you to help her cross over?"

"I've been wondering about that myself. I believe I was the last person she spoke to. In my mind, I heard her say, `Thank you,' and `I'm ready.' And I bade her merry part, and wished her a safe journey ... into your marriage ... I thought."

Aiden lowered himself to the driver's seat.

"Are you all right?" Storm asked.

"My belief system has been scrambled," Aiden said,
"but other than that, I think I'm okay to
drive."

"I'll drive if you want."

His smile was weak. "I'm not up for getting seasick.”

“I'd drive straight down the highway this time."

"So you say, but we never know what'll pop into your

head
, now do we?"

"No," Storm said, only just realizing it, "and we never will." The prospect pleased her.

Aiden hooked his seat belt. "Ready, Becky? Ready, Pepper?"

"Ready," Pepper said, and Becky nodded.

Pepper held Warlock in her lap while Aiden pulled out
of the parking lot. "This is not as much fun as the first
time:' he said
. "
Something's missing."

Storm looked at him. "What?"

"Elephant poop" He winked. "We need at least a foot to
stage a good getaway."

Storm found herself smiling until Becky screeched and Pepper giggled.

Aiden looked in the rearview, and Storm turned in her seat.

Warlock hung from the ceiling-fan paddles.

"That's
his
favorite carnival ride," Aiden said.

Storm pointed to her cat. "Is that what he was doing that
night?"

"Yes, except that there's no trampoline with bruisable parts beneath him this
time."

Aiden drove toward the interstate.
"North to
Salem, right?"

"Now you ask?"

"Chalk it up to ... a journey of discovery."

"Who discovered what?" -

Aiden looked in the rearview.

Storm looked, too. Pepper was reading Becky to sleep.

"Triton discovered Elektra," Aiden said, "and before
you zap me, remember that aliases are necessary within range of kiddos and kleptos, okay?"

Stotm gave a nod of consent. "Go
on "

Aiden nodded as well. "Triton and Elektra discovered they were both misfits who belonged nowhere. They were
the same in those ways. T
ri
ton wept in loneliness, and only
Elektra heard."

Storm shrugged, not totally agreeing. "I'll grant you
that once Elektra realized T
ri
ton was as flawed as her, she didn't feel as compelled to hide. So, yes, in that way, they were the same."

"And yet:' Aiden said, "
they're
a study in contrasts “

“Explain:' Storm said.

Aiden changed lanes. "T
ri
ton grew up alone and lonely.

Elektra and her sisters raised each other, not lonely, but alone. Elektra rebelled against what she missed. Triton accepted his aloneness."

"He embraced
it."

Aiden tilted his head in concession. "Triton was popular
and a good athlete, a member of the in crowd, a class
officer, while Elektra was a self-appointed outcast—a
rebel with attitude who dressed different and looked differ
ent, the only way to prove she didn't care what anyone thought."