Autumn Calling (25 page)

“Thank you, Hunter. I just wish I wasn’t
such an open book for you.”

“It’s a talent.”

“A scary one at that.”

“Depends on how you look at it.”

She smiled at his comment, but it worried
her how easily he read her. This could be a problem if she ever
needed to keep a secret from him. She said her goodbyes and headed
for work.

* * *

A meeting between Morti, Hunter, Summer, and
Myrtle was called several days later to discuss and possibly of
setting a plan into action for recovering the egg and breaking the
dragon out. A week from today they would attempt to break into the
house using the secret door by the chimney. Though the plan was
hinged on reconnaissance trips to find the trigger for opening it.
That was Hunter’s mission for the next few days. All would be
called off if that part of the plan failed.

Of course, Summer didn’t feel confident
about the whole deal, since even once in the secret passage, they
had no idea how to get into the room that supposedly held the egg.
The egg could have been moved, it could be magically cloaked. In
fact there were so many variables, she felt sure the patrol would
fail and someone was bound to be hurt or worse if that were the
case.

She didn’t voice her opinion though. She
felt sure the others knew there were many holes to their plan, but
maybe they’d get lucky.

When the meeting came to an end, she
lingered to talk with Aunt Myrtle. She felt she needed to tell her
what she’d been up to in case something were to happen. At first
their conversation casually related to lessons with Morti and how
he’d been since Myrtle reprimanded him about his being rather
un-approachable. Slowly though it veered from that and into the
Macabres as every conversation of late tended to. This was her
chance to bring up her meetings with Autumn and her latest with
Marcus.

“Speaking of the Macabres, I need to tell
you something, Aunt Myrtle,” Summer started.

“Oh? And what might that be, child.”

“I’ve…well, I’ve been in contact with
Autumn.”

“Really? You don’t need me to remind you
just how dangerous that can be, right?”

“No, but I felt I needed to try. She
contacted me. She had questions—a lot of them about Violet and
Ivy.”

“Interesting. Maybe the Macabres have not
been very forthcoming with the information they let reach her.”

“It would seem that way.”

“And how did this gabfest go?”

“Good. Very well. I feel we are both caught
in a web we don’t fully understand.”

She nodded her agreement of the analogy.
“Have you spoken to her since?”

“I have. A couple of times—in person, in
fact.”

“That’s a little chancy don’t you
think?”

“I felt like I needed to show her the same
trust she’d put in by approaching me in the first place. That had
to have been hard.”

“I see. Somehow I get the feeling I’m not
going to like where the end of this conversation leads me.”

“You might not, but you’ve been so good to
me and I wanted to be honest with you. Maybe even help you to
understand why I’ve done what I’m about to say.”

She took a deep breath and said, “Go
on.”

“Autumn suggested I meet with Marcus.”

Myrtle shook her head as if that would
somehow negate what she had just revealed, but continued to
listen.

“The first attempt in meeting with him, I
was attacked by Juliette who disguised herself as my driver.”

“Oh, dear Lord,” Aunt Myrtle said covering
her mouth in shock.

“I know. It was bad, but Marcus and Autumn
kept her from doing anymore than injuring me.”

Myrtle kept her hand over her mouth. It
seemed to Summer that this somehow kept her from screaming her
concerns at her, and thankfully it seemed to be helping—so far.

“Marcus and Autumn have since moved out of
the Macabre mansion to distance themselves from Yvonne and
Juliette,” Summer said then paused for a moment to see if Myrtle
had anything to say, she didn’t.

“About a week ago, I was picked up by Marcus
and Autumn and taken to where they are now living and we had dinner
together…as a family.”

“Oh, child, I know how badly you want to
have a family, but you need to be more careful,” she finally
said.

“I’m trying to be, Aunt Myrtle, but each
side needs to make concessions.”

“I know, dear, but risking your life is not
the way.”

“You don’t understand. There is so much
miscommunication between the families. We discussed the past in
length. You should have seen how he still mourns Violet. He spoke
of her so sweetly.”

“They’re very good at deceiving.”

“Maybe, but I believe him.”

“Of course, you do. You want so deeply to
believe, you can’t see the lies.”

“They’re not lies, Aunt Myrtle. I think
after the attack on my life by Juliette, he sees the Macabres were
to blame for throwing a wrench into his marriage at every
turn.”

“And why would they do something like that
to their own kin?”

“Once Violet was pregnant, the Macabres got
what they wanted. All they had to do was get rid of Violet once the
baby was born. He thinks Juliette and Yvonne are the ones who
planted the potion in his pocket to make the Midnights
suspicious.”

“How convenient, and the letter?”

“The letter from his mother? It could have
easily been faked. No one was ever able to confirm it. The
Midnights all assumed it was true.”

“And next you’ll be telling me that the
bedroom incident was a fake too?”

“Actually, yes. Marcus did have a twin
brother, if you recall. An identical twin brother, that is.”

She could see doubt in Aunt Myrtle’s eyes,
but she could also see the realization that it could have been a
set up. “Though I’m not inclined to believe this nonsense, why in
the world would his family do such a thing.”

“They all agreed there should not be a
Midnight living in their house. The only one who disagreed was
Marcus. I imagine they thought they were doing him a favor. Marcus
could see the stress of the families were taking their toll on
Violet. He bought a cabin in the woods where he planned to live
with his new family once we were born, but as you know that all
came crashing down. As we talked about all this, he never once said
a bad thing about Violet or the Midnights for their plan to take us
that night. He’s just sad it ended in Violet’s death and his not
knowing me.”

“It’s a lovely story, sweetheart. You know
Ivy wanted to believe Marcus all along. I think she liked him. I,
too, thought he was upstanding, until well, everything went to
pot.”

“I know you don’t believe his story. All I
want is that you can admit that the evidence against him is all
circumstantial and there is a possibility he’s telling the
truth.”

“That’s a lot, considering what we’ve been
through and the loved ones we’ve lost.”

“You said it yourself, Yvonne is not above
orchestrating such an elaborate frame. She’s done it once
before.”

“Yes. It’s true. She’s pure evil, that
one.”

“Do you feel that because I’m related to her
that I am evil too?”

“Not at all. You didn’t live with them. You
weren’t raised by them.”

“You’re right. What about Autumn? Do you
believe she’s evil?”

“I don’t know her. That’s not a fair
question to ask.”

“It’s not, but it’s also not fair to assume
one is evil because of their biological relations. Violet saw
something in Marcus—something good enough to bypass all the bigotry
she’d been told about the Macabres. Despite everything you knew
about the Macabres you like Marcus and Ivy welcomed him into the
family. Doesn’t that count for something.”

“Yes, dear. It means the man is very good at
deceiving those with trusting souls.”

“Possibly, though I believe he’s been dealt
a crappy hand by first his own family and then his in-laws. I don’t
plan on following the same train of thought as the Midnights. I
feel life is too short to believe that everyone is bad until proven
good. Believing the good in someone should be like guilt—one should
be considered innocent until proven guilty.

“I will see Marcus again and Autumn, for
that matter, despite what the family thinks and if things progress
agreeably, I’d like to have him in my life for the unforeseeable
future,” Summer said. And with that, she left a flabbergasted
Myrtle in her parlor.

The cool air felt good on her skin as she
walked along the pathway from the house through the medicinal herb
garden then on through the graveyard Tori loved so much. She really
missed Tori. How good it would be to have a heart-to-heart with
her. It had been so long. Her conversation with Aunt Myrtle had
gotten her vexed. She felt like she constantly had to argue with
the Midnights for them to see reason.

And then she wondered if what she was
feeling was what Violet felt having to constantly defend Marcus.
Why was everyone so hell bent on hating one another? A little trust
and faith would be such a nice change. Before she’d found out she
was a Midnight or a Macabre she lived her life trusting people
around her, having faith in people as a whole.

Now her life was filled with suspicion and
hate. Tori had told her once she was naive about people, and maybe
she was right, but giving someone the benefit of the doubt was
something she prided herself on. Sure it opened her up to those who
abused that trust, but it also brought opportunities that might not
have ever happened if not for a little credence on her part.

As her frustration evaporated into the
graves that surrounded her, she felt the phone in her pocket
vibrate then ring. On the screen a familiar name appeared—Jackson
Lordsly. What would he be calling about from so far away? she
thought. Should she answer it? Would that be breaking some
confidential trust she had with Daniel? She wasn’t sure. It was
three rings in of debating with herself before she thought she
better answer it since it could relate to the plan they’d discussed
this evening.

“Hello?”

“Summer?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s Jackson. Sorry to be bothering you but
I’m in…need of your assistance,” he said with a note of
urgency.

“What is it?”

“I…” his voice paused as if he’d dropped the
phone, then a different voice continued. “We’ve got your friend
Jackson here and if you don’t meet us when and where we say, we’ll
kill him.”

“Who is this.”

“Why your Aunt Juliette, of course.”

“What have you done?”

“You’re not really in any position to be
asking question right now. Come to the mansion. You have forty-five
minutes. I know how you are without a car these days so I’m
allowing a little more time. Come alone or you both die.
Understand?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” The phone went dead.

When did Jackson get to the states? It
didn’t seem as if Hunter had any knowledge of this. Maybe I should
call Nick. Here fingers quickly dialed the number.

“Yeah.”

“Nick. It’s Summer.”

“Yeah.”

“When was the last time you talked to
Jackson?”

“Why? What’s it to you?”

“Just answer the question.”

“Fine. I guess it was two days ago.”

“Did he mention anything about coming
home?”

“No. What’s this about?”

“I just got a call from him. The Macabres
have him.”

“Son of a…”

“I’m sorry. I know you blame me for this,
but if I don’t meet them they said they’d kill him.”

“Where do they have him.”

“At their mansion, I assume. That’s where
they want me to go.”

“I’ll be right over.”

“NO. They’ll kill him. Please. Nick. You
can’t. I have to do this.”

“They’ll kill you both.”

“I don’t think so, but I’m not chancing his
life on it. I’ll go. But if you don’t hear back from me, let the
Midnights know, will you?”

“Yeah, but I don’t think you should go
alone.”

“It’s the only way. Just promise me you
won’t come. They said if anyone else showed up they’d kill him and
I don’t want you to have that on your conscience. Promise me.”

“Fine, but if I don’t hear from you by say
ten o’clock, I’m calling in the cavalry.”

“I guess that will have to do.”

“Be careful.”

“Thanks,” Summer said and hung up the phone
to ready herself.

The last thing Summer wanted to do was deal
with Juliette again. Should she call Marcus? She didn’t feel right
about that. Yes, he was her father, but in her mind, he wasn’t her
go to person when she needed help or advice. No. They weren’t in
THAT place yet, maybe one day soon, but not now.

She tried to prepare herself mentally and
then headed out. Sully came prancing up to her as she was swinging
her leg over to straddle the bike. “No, sweetie. You can’t come. I
don’t want you to get hurt.”

The hellhound looked at her sideways with
his sad droopy eyes and then slipped his head under her hand for a
pet. She gave him a good ear rub and then opened the gate which
Sully darted through.

“Seriously, Sully, you can’t come. Now go
back in there,” she directed him. He sat down and stared at
her.

“I don’t have time for this, Sully. Go back
into the yard. Go.”

He considered her demand as more of a
suggestion, but apparently deciphered her tone to mean business. He
slowly got up and meandered into the yard, turned around and
watched her close the gate between them. Though putting him in the
yard really served no purpose as he could easily leap the fence and
had done so many, many times on his little adventures around
town.

As she rode through the town in the dark,
passing houses with warm golden light filling their windows from
within, she thought of Juliette and how she had tried to kill her
last time she saw her. This time though, she wouldn’t be disguising
herself and Summer could be more prepared if she attacked.
If
she attacked—more like when she attacks
, Summer thought, but IF
she survived, maybe this entrance to the house could be used to her
advantage. Not that Juliette would let her out of her sight, but
she might get a better idea of the layout of the house including
dogs, or henchmen hanging around.