Chasing the Witch (Boston Witches) (31 page)

“Don’t worry, I’ll whip us up something in a jiffy.” She wandered around the counter and rummaged through the cabinets and made French toast, eggs and bacon for everyone.

Nikolai came in from the other room a few minutes later and caught William’s eye. “We’re all set to take your brother to see Sabine this morning. When do you want to go?”

“I’ll call Patrick after breakfast and see if he can come as soon as possible. I want to be done with this as quickly as we can.”

Nikolai nodded and took a seat across from Jilly. “I think we should bring Liam with us. Hopefully Sabine will tell us where his wife is.”

William agreed. “I just hope she’ll tell us what we want to know.”

“I’ll have one of my men bring him by before your brother gets here.”

After breakfast, William called Patrick to set up the meeting with Sabine. “Does an hour from now work for you?” he asked his brother.

“That will be fine. I’ll be over shortly,” Patrick replied before hanging up. William sighed, resigning himself to the coming events. He found Jilly in the kitchen clearing the breakfast dishes from the table.

“Need some help?” he asked.

“Sure. When is your brother coming over?”

“Soon.” The gloom he was feeling made its way into his voice.

Jilly turned around from the sink and looked at him pointedly. “You need to just get over it, Will. This is happening. You said the same thing to me in New York--this is about the girls and their safety. I don’t trust Patrick with most things, but I do with this. I hate to keep repeating myself, but you keep making me.” The last bit was said with a laugh.

William threw his hands up in defeat. “Okay, my love, I give up. I won’t be mopey about this anymore. So, what are your plans for today?”

Jilly smiled brightly. “Kat and I are going to take Hannah shopping and to explore the city a bit.”

William smiled. “I’m sure she’ll like that. Plus, she could really use some new clothes.”

A few minutes later, when kitchen was spotless, Jilly and William went out to sit on the porch.

“Can you imagine how nice it’s going to be when all of this is over?” he asked.

“Yes, I can, because hopefully by that time we’ll be married. Where do you want to live after we get married?” Jilly asked him seriously.

“I sort of just figured we’d live here,” he replied. “We can knock out a wall or two and enlarge your bedroom so it’s big enough for the both of us.”

Jilly nodded. “Are you sure? You wouldn’t rather move to a new house?”

“Yes, I’m sure, my darling. I wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t sure. This is your home. I’m perfectly comfortable living here as well; so why wouldn’t we live here?”

Jilly’s eyes shone brightly with unshed tears and she kissed him gently on the lips. “I love you,” she whispered.

“I promise I’ll love you until time ceases to exist, Jilly,” he whispered back. Their private moment was interrupted by Patrick’s car pulling up behind the house. Jilly put on a smile and stood up as Patrick joined them on the porch.

“Jillian,” Patrick said with a nod in her direction. “William,” he said with another nod at his brother.

“Won’t you come inside, Patrick?” Jilly asked as she held the door open. Hannah was standing at the counter flipping through a magazine when they came in.

Patrick’s eyes lit with pleasure when he saw her. “Hannah, you look lovely. It’s so nice to see you.” Jilly could see that he wanted to embrace the young girl. She was proud of him for resisting the urge, Hannah wasn’t quite there yet, with him.

“It’s nice to see you, too,” she said quietly. She glanced quickly at Jilly before retreating up the stairs to her room. Patrick sighed and sat down at the table.

Jilly touched his arm and he looked up at her. “She’ll come around. It’s just a lot to take in.”

He smiled. “I know, it’s just wonderful to see her after so many years apart.” William was surprised to see that the smile on Patrick’s face was sincere.

“Listen to Jill, she knows about these things,” he said as he motioned for his brother to follow him into the other room.

Nikolai came down the stairs just as they were entering into the living room. Hannah must have told him to come down. “All right, boys, are we ready?” he asked.

“Yeah. Don’t forget we’re bringing Liam,” William replied.

“He’s in the car already with my men out front,” Nikolai responded.

Patrick nodded and walked out to get into the car. William gave Jilly a quick kiss. “Have fun, today. Buy lots of things you don’t need.”

Jilly laughed. “We will, I’m sure. You guys be careful.”

“Always,” he said and blew her a kiss on his way out the door.

Thirty-five minutes later, Jilly, Hannah, Katya, Emily and baby Camille were perusing the racks at Old Navy. Jilly loaded Hannah down with more stuff than she could carry and sent her off to the dressing room.

“You should have seen the look on Patrick’s face when he saw Hannah this morning,” she said to her friends, while they waited for Hannah to emerge. “His eyes lit up with such pleasure. He really looked like a different person.”

Emily smiled. “Children will do that to a parent.” She thought about the profound affect Camille had on her life and she was only just born. “As awful as he is normally, where Hannah is concerned, he definitely loves her.”

Jilly sighed. “I just wish we could trust him with everything else.”

“We need to give him this chance to prove himself. Then we’ll talk about trusting him,” Katya said.

“I know, I’ve just been lecturing William a lot about trying to trust him again.”

Katya playfully bumped into Jilly. “You need to let him figure this Patrick situation out in his own time. He’s been dealing with guilt and anger for a few hundred years.”

“All right, I give up, I’ll leave him alone. I just hate that it’s bugging him so much,” Jilly said, clearly defeated by Katya’s logic.

“At least your heart is in the right place. Still, be sure to give the poor guy a chance to come to terms with this,” Katya said with a laugh. Hannah came out dressed in dark denim skinny jeans and a purple V-neck sweater and all of the women ooohed and aaaahhhed over her.

“Okay, so those are a definite yes,” Jilly said. “Now go and try the rest on. We have even more places to go after this.” Hannah laughed and went back inside. Twenty minutes later, they were all carrying bags out of the store. Jilly had purchased everything Hannah had tried on.

“Okay, now let’s go and find some shoes for you,” she said with a wicked gleam in her eye.

Nikolai’s black SUV pulled up outside of Sabine’s prison and all of the men emerged from the car. Nikolai went first and gave the order to let them in. They followed the same set of tunnels that William and Nikolai had used to visit Sabine, previously. Finally, after what felt like forever, they reached the door to her cell.

Patrick began to open the door, but William stopped him. “We’ll be going in with you.”

“Of course you will. I never thought I’d be going in alone.” William nodded and allowed Patrick to open the door.

Sabine was sitting on her bed with her back against the wall. “Patrick, cherie, it is wonderful to see you, again. Have you come to free me from my prison?” There was laughter in her voice, as though she didn’t have a care in the world.

“Who are you really working for, Sabine?” Patrick asked in a lethal tone.

Her smile faltered slightly. “What do you mean?”

“Answer the question. I will not ask it again.” His face was devoid of emotion.

Sabine appeared pensive as she planned her next move.

“Why should I tell you?” she asked defiantly.

Patrick smiled, but it was not a pleasant expression. “Just because you cannot die does not mean you cannot experience pain, my darling.” His voice was a whisper, but she had definitely heard him.

“His name is Valdus. He is Vampire.” An expression of terror covered her face.

William was slightly shocked to hear that a vampire was using an amaranthine for help. “What does he want with the women?” William asked, not waiting for Patrick to ask another question.

“I know not what he desires them for; I was only hired to retrieve them.”

William scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Where is Maggie?”

Sabine smiled. “Is Liam here?” Nikolai opened the door, and Liam walked in trying to mask his worry.

“Just tell me where she is, Sabine,” he said quietly. “I’ve done as you’ve asked.”

She smiled again. “It is not I who possesses your Maggie. You should take that up with Valdus.”

All of the color drained out of Liam’s face. “Where can we find him, then?” he asked in a shaky voice.

“Oh, who knows where Valdus is; he’s probably somewhere in Europe. He always was partial to Germany and Romania. Vampires do love dreary weather and all that melodrama Eastern Europe is always dripping with.”

“Explain to me why it is that we need you still?” Patrick asked impatiently.

“Valdus will never let you find him,” she said with a smile.

“Again, you don’t answer my question. You are trying my patience today,” Patrick said, as he took a step toward her. Her outwardly calm expression cracked a little and she shrank back against the wall.

“I will take you to him.”

He shook his head. “Just tell us where he is.”

“No, either I go with you or you’ll never find him.” Her courage was back and she stuck out her chin.

“Talk it over with them. I’ve heard all I need to hear,” Patrick said as he stalked out the door.

Liam followed Patrick out and stopped him in the corridor. “Will you help me get my Maggie?”

Patrick looked at him disdainfully. “Why should I do a thing like that? Isn’t that what my white knight of a brother is for? Take it up with him. I only desire to find and destroy Valdus.” Liam grabbed his arm but Patrick shook it off and continued walking.

Jilly and Hannah were standing at the railing of the pier looking out into the ocean. “Thank you for today,” Hannah said.

“Of course! You’re family now, sweetie. Anything we can do for you, we’ll do. I’m just glad we got you some new things that fit you properly.” Jilly’s cell phone rang, and she grabbed it out of her bag.