Magick (Immortals and Magick Book 2) (21 page)

I stared straight ahead, fighting off tears and fear for my parents. They accepted me as I was, but never really embraced it. They just chose to believe that I eschewed conventional religion and was being my weird self by embracing witchcraft. I never tried to convince them that I had power, that I could do all the things I could without even casting a spell. They would have no idea what was coming for them.

“I let Anna know. She’s going to sit with Harley and send Gareth and Damien. They are both at my house. I also told my parents. They’re coming.”

I only nodded. The sinking feeling in my stomach was a black pit, sucking everything in. I knew they weren’t safe. I knew something was happening to them, something bad.

Noah screeched to a halt in front of my childhood home and I was slightly relieved to see lights on, until I remembered that they hadn’t answered the phone. Both cars were in the driveway.

I was out of the truck and running before Noah could even put it in park. I heard him yelling after me, but I couldn’t stop. Until something made me stop. I fell to the ground, having hit a brick wall. I got up and turned around, looking for a threat. All I saw was Noah standing by the truck, but I knew he created the wall.

“Let me through Noah.” I growled but he just shook his head and motioned me back.

We stood glaring at each other. “I need to get in the house.”

“Not until we assess. You could be running straight into a trap.”

My shoulders slumped because I knew he was right. I walked grudgingly back to the truck, terror, fear, and worry trying to escape and rule my emotions.

“Can you feel them?” Noah asked as I stood next to him, both of us looking at the house.

“No. It’s hard for me to sense non-magickals. Even my own parents. I’ll try though. Can you sense if there’s anything around the house?”

“Well, we kind of made a big entrance, so if there’s anything here, they know
we’re
here.” Noah whispered, but he closed his eyes to focus on our surroundings. I did the same, sending out my sense to the house. Usually, I could get some feel of my parents but now I got nothing. I had no way of knowing from out here if they were dead or alive. I pushed that thought away.

I turned around quickly at the sound of another vehicle pulling up, but it was just Amity and Ben, who quickly came to stand next to us.

“Anything?” Ben whispered as Amity reached out for my hand. All awkward feelings aside, I grabbed it, grateful for the comfort and strength she poured into me.

“Something. I can’t tell what.” Noah responded, and I nodded, feeling the same oddness in the air. Then a voice floated out of the dark. A voice that made the Jacobs family all turn white.

“Look here, a Jacobs’s family reunion. How appropriate. I didn’t think to find you here, Mom and Dad.”

The voice came from nowhere and everywhere, soft and menacing. I turned my head, trying to find the source, but all I saw were shadows and darker pools of black.

“This should be sweet for you then Helene.” Another voice spoke, one that
I
knew. Gemma.

“Come out you bitch, so I can finally kick your ass.” I hollered, but all I got in return were two throaty chuckles. Then it hit me. Helene? Noah’s sister? She was dead, Gareth having killed her when she was turned into a vampire. And not the good kind.

“Helene?” I heard Amity whisper and I turned to her as a tear rolled down her cheek. Oh god, it was Helene.

“Mother. I didn’t expect to see you here.” Helene materialized out of the darkness surrounding the porch. I had been about to run right into her, if it weren’t for Noah.

“I think they’re thinking the same thing of you, Helene.” Gemma moved to stand next to Helene, two beautiful but deadly predators.

“Where are my parents?” I demanded, giving Amity’s hand a squeeze. I sent her back some of the strength she had given me. I needed her. I needed all of them, but the two men seemed to be frozen in place.

Gemma laughed again and it made me want to punch her right in the face.

“Hmmm, wouldn’t you like to know?” she sneered, turning her beautiful face into the mask of a monster.

I let go of Amity’s hand and started forward, but Noah snapped out of his daze and grabbed my arm as I pushed past him.

“Teagan, don’t. It’s what she wants.” He whispered fiercely in my ear, but I still pulled against him. I was so sick of this whore of Padraigan’s that I just wanted to tear her apart.

“Of course it’s what I want. Actually, I wouldn’t mind tying her up and then having a go at you, big boy, while she watched. Oh, should I not say that in front of your parents?” Gemma crooned, a look of mock contrition on her face. Helene grinned, but her eyes were completely dead.

“Helene, I don’t know what happened to you…” Noah started to speak, but Helene cut him off with a growl.

“Your friend happened to me. He tried to kill me. He failed, obviously, but you did nothing to help me, no one came looking for me. What did happen, was you retained his friendship, forsaking your own sister. For that, I’ll take your darling girlfriend and rip her to shreds.” Helene hissed, while Gemma shot her a menacing look.

“No that little bitch is mine. Padraigan gave her to me.” Gemma said to Helene, and I started to wonder if all this was going to be resolved by a vampire catfight in my parent’s front yard.

We couldn’t be that lucky.

“Helene, we came looking for you. There was nothing there. Gareth thought he killed you. Your body, obviously, was gone. We thought you were dead!” Ben finally found his voice, but there was so much pain in it that brought a sob from Amity.

“I’m supposed to believe that my powerful sorcerer parents couldn’t feel their daughter in pain, being tortured from the wounds that bastard inflicted? Not likely.” She snarled and launched herself at Ben. He was taken off guard and didn’t have time to protect himself, so she plowed straight into him.

Amity screamed and instinctively threw out her hands, twin balls of flame leaping from her palms. They landed uselessly as Helene jerked her father up into the air. I couldn’t tell if Ben was stunned that he didn’t try to protect himself, but he dangled helplessly from Helene’s arms.

“Teagan!”

I turned back to Noah as Gemma rushed at us. Noah threw his own flames but she moved so quickly that nothing hit her. My head snapped back as she passed us, and I felt blood pour down my cheek. I brought my hand up and it came away tacky with blood. I looked at it, not comprehending.

“Get down!” Noah yelled and pushed me to the ground. He flung more fire at Gemma and I heard her scream, but then she was in front of me again, her face close to the ground and right up in mine. I felt another pain, this time across my neck and then Gemma was gone, flinging herself back with incredible speed, out of the way of Noah’s fire. I heard Amity scream behind me, but I couldn’t turn around to see what was going on, focusing on where Gemma twirled herself around the front porch bannister, like some sick, demented stripper on a pole.

“Oh, what’s this? We’re too fast for you sorcerer? That’s too bad.” Gemma taunted, just as she launched herself back at Noah. This time she connected with him hard and he went down, almost on top of me. He pushed off with a grunt of pain, and I saw his left arm hung awkwardly at his side. The bitch had dislocated his shoulder.

“Keep her off me.” I snarled at Noah and he nodded. I stood and threw my hands up to the sky and called on the weather.

I heard it when Gemma hit the wall surrounding us. I heard Amity scream again, Ben’s name this time. I also heard the wind as it kicked up. I drew energy from the ground, from the air. Clouds started to build in the sky.

“Teagan, I can’t hold her for much longer.” Noah ground out, and I knew between the pain he had to be in and the fear for his own parents had to be bearing down on him.

I closed my eyes and dug deep. Thunder crashed and the first flash of lighting lit the sky. From somewhere outside of my head, I heard voices raised. Gareth and Damien. Then I felt a hand on my ankle and knew Noah was pushing whatever he had left in him at me. I felt it flood through me. I focused on the electric in the air. I felt the bolt forming. I opened my eyes and stared right at Gemma.

“So long you fucking bitch.” I said as I brought the bolt down.

It cleaved right through her, the energy from it throwing me and Noah backward. We collapsed in a heap, against the base of the oak tree in the front yard. Noah groaned as I shook off the impact. Gemma was gone. There was nothing left of her but a pile of blackened earth and ash.

“Teagan, my mother and father.” Noah’s voice was heavy with pain and I spun around to see Gareth and Damien picking up Amity.

“Your mother is with Gareth and Damien. Did you see where Helene took your father?” I asked, bending down to assess his shoulder.

“No. Find him, please.”

“Teagan, stay with Noah. I’ll look for him.” Damien said and then took off towards the side of my house.

“Do you want to do the shoulder thing the old fashioned way?” I asked Noah but he was two steps ahead of me. Drawing from somewhere deep inside of him, he wrenched his shoulder back in place, then slumped back against the tree, exhausted. I quickly put my hands to it, running the last of my energy into healing.

“Your parents. Go.” He pushed me away and I looked up as Gareth brought Amity to sit next to Noah.

“Gareth, they’ve got nothing left. Can you keep an eye on them?” I asked Gareth as he crouched down.

“Teagan, you have nothing left either.” He observed, correctly. I shook my head in negation.

“I have anger. That’s enough for now.” I stood and took a deep breath. That was all I had. I couldn’t call the weather when I was in my house. My fire was nothing compared to Noah and Amity’s and Helene and Gemma moved so fast. I had no idea where Helene was, but my parent’s still needed to be found.

I turned toward the house and climbed the steps, looking warily about me. Helene could be anywhere or she could be gone. I reached the front door and gave it an experimental twist. It opened quietly, and I slid in, only opening the door a fraction. I quickly searched the downstairs but they weren’t there.

I approached the staircase next, moving as quietly as I could. My heart was thumping loudly in my chest, and I knew that if there were a vampire in here, I probably sounded like a heard of elephants to them. I moved slowly up the staircase, slightly sideways so that I could keep the upper hall in view. My bedroom came in to view first, the door closed. Then my brother’s room, door also closed. The hall bathroom door stood open, and I could see from the light thrown by the landing light that there was nothing in there.

I stepped onto the landing and eyed the two bedrooms doors to my right, then looked towards my parents’ bedroom, door also closed. Crap. I had to check each room. I tiptoed to my old bedroom door and put my ear up against it. Then I reached out with my senses. Nothing. Not even that oddness that we felt earlier. I repeated the process at my brother’s door and got the same result. I turned to my parent’s room.

I pressed myself to the door and immediately felt the change in the air. She was in there.

“I can hear you out there Teagan. I heard you when you came in the front door. Why don’t you join us?” Helene’s voice came from the other side of the door, almost sounding bored.

I took a breath and turned the knob.

The first thing I saw when I opened the door were my parent’s. Alive. Helene, or Gemma before she was turned to toast, had tied them up and put them on the bed. They both turned terrified eyes to where I stood in the doorway, and I felt a bit of relief flood through me.

“They’re fine. For now. Well, Gemma may have had a little snack.” Helene said and I snarled at her.

“Oh, you’re feisty. A good addition to the powerful Jacobs clan. I’m sure my parents are thrilled. My mother, anyway. She likes strong women.” She laughed as she stepped down from where she was perched in the window.

I came a bit farther into the room but she stopped me, her hand out, finger moving back and forth.

“That’s close enough. I’m only here long enough to deliver a message, as much as I’d like to stick around and take care of the rest of the trash.”

“I can fry you where you stand. I don’t need to be closer.” I said, my voice full of the disgust I felt for her.