Chasing the Witch (Boston Witches) (13 page)

“We’re going to find her, Jill. We’ll be in the city soon and we can search all day and into the night, if you want.”

“I won’t sleep until I know she’s safe. Whatever those shadows were that were coming for her, they were terrifying and I do not want her to face them again on her own. And I will not allow whatever Sabine has set after her to win.” She turned and faced the window, watching the trees slide by. William admired her tenacity, but he was a bit concerned with going up against something unknown. He didn’t like the sound of these shadows. Fifteen minutes later, the car dropped them off in the center of the city and they began their search for Hannah. Jilly did not know the name of the bookstore, only that it was massive and it was next to a large alleyway. There were countless places to look, so they got started quickly. William had a good idea of where he thought it was, so he quickly led Jilly through the crowded streets toward one of the back alleys. There were many older stores and the area was kind of run down.

Jilly stopped and looked around for a while. “I think this might be the area, but it’s hard to tell. It was dark and rainy before, and I didn’t get a good look at the storefront.”

“Let’s keep walking a bit and see if anything catches your eye,” William said, as they started to walk again. Twenty minutes later, Jilly stopped in front of the door of an old bookstore.

“This is it, Will. I remember the sign in the window.” William entered first, leading Jilly as they walked into the bookstore.

“It really is a lot bigger than it looks from the outside, isn’t it?” Jilly said as they started walking through the stacks. They passed the old shopkeeper and he scowled at them as they walked by. Jilly started walking faster, pulling William behind her through the store. They finally came to the area she remembered finding Hannah, but it was empty of anything but books. Jilly let out a sigh of frustration and sank to her knees. “I was so sure that she’d be here. I mean, why else did I see her here in the dream?” Jilly was startled by a loud voice from behind them.

“If you’re looking for young Hannah, she usually comes by in the morning. You’ve missed her by a few hours,” the dour old shopkeeper said as he walked over to them.

“How did you know?” Jilly asked, genuinely curious about how he had known.

“I recognize you from before,” he replied

Jilly’s face drained of all color. “What do you mean, before?”

“You were here earlier, weren’t you? I saw you come in out of the rain and drip water all over my floor,” the old man replied.

Jilly was too shaken to speak, so William spoke for her. “If you see Hannah today, can you please have her call any of these numbers?” He handed the man a card with a bunch of numbers on it. The man nodded and pocketed the card. William led Jilly back out into the street. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and called his driver to pick them up.

“Come on, let’s go wait at the little cafe around the corner. You need to eat something.” Jilly allowed William to drag her along behind him through the street and she was only vaguely aware of where they were walking. When they reached the cafe, William deposited Jilly at a small table on the patio and went inside to get them some coffee. Her mind was racing. She went over and over the events of the day, trying to make some sense of what had happened. William returned a few minutes later, carrying coffee and a bagged pastry under his arm.

“You need to eat,” he said as he set the pastry in front of her, along with one of the coffees.

“I’m not hungry,” Jilly replied.

“That wasn’t a request, Jill. You’re in shock and you should eat and get something warm into your system before we discuss what happened,” William said. Jilly glared at him then ripped into her danish, tearing off a small piece and shoving it into her mouth. William waited until she had eaten the whole thing before speaking.

“I don’t think you were dreaming, Jill. I think you teleported yourself here, somehow. Or maybe you were dreaming; but in your dream, your consciousness astral-projected you here in real life.”

“But how is any of that possible? Have you ever heard of this happening?” Jilly asked, her eyes full of questions waiting to be answered.

“Anything is possible with the amaranthine, Jilly. When magic comes into play, there are no certainties.” He stopped talking as a car approached them. “Come on, our ride is here,” he said as he helped her to her feet and into the car.

Caroline was happy to be home. A feeling of bliss exuded over her whole being as she walked through the door of the house. Katya had said they would be by a little bit later, after they had seen to Sabine’s jail cell. Caroline took her bags upstairs and dumped them on the floor of her room, vowing to unpack later, and checked the messages on the machine. There were a few from Emily and way too many to count from the shop. She shook her head and looked at her watch to see that it was 2:30 P.M. She decided that she should go in for at least a few hours to get some things done. She tried to call Jilly, but it went straight to voicemail; she left a message for her sister to call when she got a chance.

Caroline changed her clothes. Even though she had not been wearing them long, she always felt rumpled after travelling. She snatched her keys off the bed and headed downstairs to the kitchen to grab some lunch before she left. As she stepped into the kitchen, she screamed in terror. The handsome dark haired man she had been dreaming about for months was seated in one of the big leather chairs by the fireplace. Her first instinct was to throw herself in him arms, but she ignored that. Terror won out.

He smiled at her. “Hello, Caroline, how was your flight?” he asked in a velvety voice.

“Who are you?” Caroline asked, her eyes narrowing.

“Oh, I think you know who I am. Why don’t you have a seat?” he said as he gestured to the chair opposite him.

“Patrick?” she whispered. He nodded and smiled. “How are you here?”

“Please sit, we can have a much nicer chat once you’re comfortable.”

“I’ll stand, thanks. Please answer my question.”

“I broke through those pathetic wards my brother put up once everyone left town. After that, it was all too easy to lure a group of witches to me and convince them to let me out. Their power combined with mine was more than enough to break free,” he replied. “Now, my dear, what have you done with Sabine?”

“Sabine? Honestly, I have no idea where she is, nor do I care. She is vile and I hope I never lay eyes on her again,” Caroline spat out.

Patrick laughed and stood up, crossing over to her in an instant. “I’ll be seeing you again very soon, Caroline. Very, very soon,” he said as he caressed her cheek lightly with the back of his fingers. He looked at her once more before turning to leave.

Caroline clutched her hand to her chest. For a few minutes she sat in stunned silence. She couldn’t understand how the man from her dreams could have possibly been Patrick this entire time. He was always so gentle and loving, and this man was anything but. She jumped up and ran to get her phone. She streaked up the stairs and punched in the number Katya had given her.

When Katya picked up, Caroline said, “Patrick’s out,” and let the phone fall from her hands as she sank to the floor in fear. She heard Katya’s tiny voice telling her to stay where she was and that they would be over in five minutes. She pressed the end button, got up, and sat on the bed for a minute, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. A few minutes later, she heard the doorbell, and she made her way downstairs to let in Katya and Nikolai. As soon as the door was open, Katya flew through it and hugged Caroline tightly.

“Are you ok?” she asked.

“Yeah, he didn’t hurt me. He just scared me to death,” Caroline replied. Nikolai went to scout the outside of the house to see if Patrick was nearby.

“He’s not here, but he said he’d see me very soon,” Caroline said.

“That settles it. Nik and I are staying here with you or you are coming with us. Either way, we stay together,” Katya said.

Just then Nikolai came back inside. “He’s long gone, now. I can’t even feel a trace of him out there,” he said. Caroline looked at him oddly. “Oh, I guess William never told you about my special ability, did he? I’m a tracker. I can get in a person’s mind and find them, no matter where they hide. Patrick is powerful though; he has figured out a way to mask himself and keep me out. Normally I can feel the trace of the person’s aura around me if they have been nearby, but I cannot even feel that. I don’t like the idea of you staying here. Even if we’re with you, he knows this place too well. You should come with us for a while. I don’t think Will is going to want us to come to London, now. He won’t want us to leave the town to Patrick. Go grab your bags and let’s get going.” He gestured for Caroline to hurry. Both Katya and Caroline ran upstairs to find what Caroline needed. A few minutes later, they were all back in Nik’s car on their way to wherever they had stashed Sabine.

Jilly was numb. The events of the day had taken a toll on her mind and she felt as though she was close to shattering into tiny pieces. She soaked in a hot bath, trying her very best to not think about anything at all. She was staring at the ceiling, trying to imagine what it would be like to be normal, when William knocked at the door.

“Jill? Are you ok in there? You’ve been in the bath for a long time,” he said through the heavy door. Jilly could hear the concern dripping from his words, but she did not have the strength to care at the moment.

“I’m fine,” she said in clipped tones. She heard him sigh; and a few minutes later, heard his footsteps walking away. She sat up in the tub, put her chin on her knees and let the water run down her back in thick rivulets. She thought about Hannah and her heart felt as though it would break. She felt such sadness. After a few more minutes, she finally got up, stepped out of the tub onto the bath mat, and wrapped herself in a towel. She braced herself and quietly turned the doorknob and peered out into the hall. Luckily, it was empty and she quickly ran to her room. After shutting the door behind her, she climbed into bed and fell asleep.

William was worried about Jilly; this situation was going to be hard for her to deal with. He wanted to help her, but he could feel the wall she putting up around herself and he was not sure if he would be able to break through. He sat in the den at his desk doing some research on his laptop when his phone buzzed in his pocket. There was a message from Nik to call him back right away. He quickly punched in the number and Nik answered on the first ring, “Nik? What’s going on?”

“Patrick’s out.”

William was silent for a moment, trying to absorb what Nik had just told him. “What do you mean he’s out?”

“Exactly how it sounds. He’s out. He was in the house waiting for Caroline when she got home.”

William’s hand tightened on the phone. “Was she hurt?”

“No, he just scared her. I think he was sending us a message that he could hurt us if he wanted to. I think we hold all the cards right now, since we know where Mary is.”

“That’s what worries me, Nik. He will not be afraid to hurt people to get that information. We may need to move her somewhere else if we can.”