Secret Of The Rose (Legacy Of Magick Series, Book 2) (23 page)

***    

A few hours later, I had gone outside to the terrace to get some air. It was easing towards 1:00 in the morning. The little tables that had been set up on the terrace were full with couples who sat and sipped drinks or talked away from the throbbing music. I leaned against the iron balcony and took in some of the cool night air while Duncan went to get us drinks. I gazed over the town square and smiled as I thought about how I’d done “The Time Warp” with Duncan and my
entire
family. Gwen, Bran, the girls, and even Great Aunt Faye. She’d strutted out there and belted out the words to the song, dancing in time with everyone else. I didn’t think I’d ever forget that, not as long as I lived.

People were still dancing away, and the music was a fun mixture of Halloween themed songs and, of course, anything that mentioned vampires, monsters, or Witches. I could hear the theme from
The Phantom of the Opera
being played, and it made me wonder at the identity of the man I’d seen dancing with Gwen. As if I’d conjured him up, the man dressed as the Phantom walked outside.

“Hi,” I said as he joined me at the balcony. “I love your costume.” I smiled up at him figuring he was an acquaintance of Gwen’s.

“Thank you,” he said.

My head whipped around at the familiar voice. The Phantom was none other than Thomas Drake.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

A couple of things occurred to me now that I knew the elegant, masked
Phantom of the Opera
was actually Thomas Drake. One: I wasn’t alone out on the terrace. I was protected by the crowd of people. And Two: Gwen had danced with him, seemingly enjoying herself. I wasn’t sure what that meant quite yet, but as talented of a Witch as my aunt was— she’d had to have
known
who her partner was.

Thomas stood with all the ease and charm of a snake. “How goes the search for the grimoire?” he asked in a pleasant, conversational tone.

I was surprised at the change of his approach. Compared to how strong he’d come on magickally in the library back in September, he was acting very differently tonight. In a bizarre way, he seemed almost courtly.
What was he up to now?
“The search goes slowly,” I said.

“Why is that?”

So he wanted to play innocent, did he?
I blew out a breath in annoyance. The various conversations by the other folks out on the terrace were allowing us a little privacy, but I still tried to keep my voice down. “There have been complications—
other
magicks to deal with. Some nasty poppets, girls getting injured... which really sounds like
your
style.”

“Poppets, you say?” He blew out a long breath, shaking his head slightly.

“Someone broke into our house recently.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “Too impatient to wait, were you?”

“Rest assured,
I
did not break into the manor. It would be impossible for me as there are magicks in place.” To my complete shock, he sounded almost offended that I would suggest such a thing.

“Well,
someone
did break in,” I said. “They ransacked the twins’ room, stole what cash they could find, and took some of Gwen’s jewelry.”

Thomas tipped his head to the side. “Has it ever occurred to you that the other magicks, and the break in, are merely distractions?” His voice sounded almost reasonable.

“No, but it had
occurred
to me that
you
are the most logical person behind all of our problems.”

Thomas stared down at the town square for a long moment. “What happened to Julian on the eve of the sabbat...” He stiffened and turned to look at the crowd on the terrace. I saw his eyes behind the mask shift and survey the area. “There is more going on than you know... We can’t speak here. We might be overheard.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

He sighed. “To the dance floor only.” He stood waiting, leaving it up to me.

I was curious but didn’t want to appear too eager, so I scowled at him. “Okay fine. After you.” I gestured to the ballroom.

“Follow my lead,” he said holding out his arm.

Maybe it was the Morticia costume that made me brave. Or, maybe it was the couple glasses of wine I’d had, but I placed my hand on his arm— the way you see people do in the old movies— and we walked coolly out to the dance floor. He held out his arms in a formal pose, and I stepped into a polite dance with Thomas Drake.

I was silently congratulating myself on my own chutzpah when I realized the song playing was Alanis Morissette’s “Uninvited.” It took everything I had not to shudder at the creepy and haunting song.

He pulled me a fraction closer as we danced. “There are competing forces at work. More than you know,” he said close to my ear.

“Such as?”

“There are
other
parties that want the Blood Moon Grimoire.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I have never lied to you— not about your father, or the grimoire. I admit I handled things poorly at the library, but consider what you have learned since you moved here. Everything I’ve ever said to you was the truth.”

My father.
Bran... and all of the family secrets
. I felt a wave of shame about my father and his past. It was a hell of a thing to recognize that Thomas was right. He’d never lied to me.

Thomas gave my hand a sympathetic squeeze. “You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

I jolted, realizing that he’d either read my face
or
my thoughts. I started to reply, but, stepping on the hem of my dress, tripped. Without missing a step, Thomas righted me.

“Are you alright?” Thomas asked.

“Don’t act all nice to me. It doesn’t suit you.” I frowned at him as much as I dared. I could
feel
eyes on us. We danced with a good ten inches of space between us. To anyone who watched, it probably seemed perfectly polite. The music swelled and offered me cover from eavesdroppers. “I’m dealing with my family. You should deal with your own,” I said.

“Families are complicated affairs,” he agreed. “Nevertheless, we are running out of time.”

“We have until April before the next lunar eclipse, if you want me to find the rest of the book, back off and give me more time.”

“The ‘rest of the book’?” His voice was low as he zeroed in on that statement.

Damn it!

“You have a part of the grimoire?” he asked.

I said nothing; instead, I flashed a fake and brittle smile.
Why had I thought I could handle myself with this man?

“Listen to me,” Thomas’ voice was soft but urgent. “You are not safe with
any
part of that book in your possession. For your own sake— bring it to me.”

“How very philanthropic of you.” I met his eyes, and watched his pupils dilate behind the mask. Something was frightening him, and I wasn’t foolish enough to think that it was me. I could
feel
the anxiety coming off him, and that fear was contagious. My own heart sped up in response to the emotions radiating off him.

“You’re in danger, more than you can possibly realize.” He gave my hand a squeeze. “Damn it,” he muttered, catching me off guard by turning us into an elegant little spin.

I struggled not to trip at his surprising dance move. “No more turns, I’ll fall on my face,” I warned him.

“If I solve one of the magickal problems your family is currently dealing with, would that prove to you that I’m sincere?” he asked.

“And you’d do that because you’re such a stand up guy?” I whispered back.

Alanis crooned through the speakers about wanting a moment to deliberate.

God, how freaking appropriate.
I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and saw Duncan walking towards us. “Here comes Duncan. How do you want to play this?” I asked Thomas.

“If you return to the manor within the next hour, one of the problems your family is facing will be solved,” Thomas said. He stopped dancing and stared into my eyes. “My word on that.”

I recalled my grandmother’s warning at her last appearance
. Alliances to be drawn..
.
dark magicks to neutralize, and enemies to defeat.
“Okay, one hour,” I said to Thomas.

“I’m cutting in.” Duncan reached out, taking my hand away from his Uncle’s grasp.

Thomas stepped back without a word and gave a slight bow. Duncan pulled me close as the song finished. Safely in his arms, I shivered in reaction.

“Thanks,” I smiled at Duncan. To my relief, the song the DJ played next was an old classic.

He frowned after the Phantom. “Who the hell was that?”

I hated lying, and I didn’t want to start now. “I’ll tell you later.”

“This old song suits you,” Duncan said.

I laid my head on his shoulder, and we swayed back and forth in time to the song. “You think I’m a spooky little girl?”

“Absolutely,” Duncan pulled me closer.

***    

I kept track of the time. As luck, or fate, would have it, most of the family had decided to call it a night within the hour. Ivy had gone off with Eric and his family to get breakfast. The O’Connells, Cypress, and Marie were heading home. Gwen was still speaking to a few folks from the chamber of commerce. Great Aunt Faye had announced she was going to stay a while longer. At the moment, a dashing older gentleman was sitting with her, and they were talking.

Duncan and I drove Holly back to the manor. I resisted the urge to rub my eyes, I was so ready to get my contacts out. We pulled in the driveway and Holly climbed out, tugging her witch hat off. Her hair was still pinned up in an elaborate up-do. I gave Duncan a kiss, held onto my little clutch purse, and scooted over on the bench seat. I attempted to slide easily out and managed to ease down to the driveway in my long dress.

“I’m ready to get this spray out of my hair,” I said to Holly, scratching at my scalp.

“Talk to you in the morning.” Duncan smiled at me.

“It
is
morning,” I said, fishing in my little bag for the house keys.

“You’re going to want to wash that hair spray out in the kitchen sink. I could help—” Holly stopped talking, and her head whipped up. I watched her eyes narrow. “Someone’s here. The intruder’s back.” She tossed her costume hat to me, and took off at a dead run around the back of the house.

“Shit! Holly, wait!” I hissed.

“Holly!” Duncan turned off his truck and was next to me a second later. Together, we went after her. I moved as quickly as possible, but form fitting, long dresses were simply not designed to run in. My heart pounded. It felt a little déjà vu as we ran together in the dark.
Like the night we’d rescued Ivy.
That realization pushed me into moving faster— long dress or not.

We skidded to a halt on the back patio. To my shock, my sweet, empathic cousin had a small person pinned to the wall next to our back door. In a spilt second, I saw that the glass in the door was broken, and the intruder was holding a backpack. The person was dressed all in dark colors and wearing a ski mask.

Holly’s forearm was up against the intruder’s throat. She leaned in, applying pressure, looking ready to do some serious damage. While the other person choked, Holly reached up and pulled the black ski mask off the intruder’s head, revealing a familiar brunette with short spiky hair.

“Leilah?” I sputtered, shocked to see the JV cheerleader. I glanced over at Duncan.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kick your ass!” Holly growled.

The tone apparently spurred Duncan to action. He rushed to the girls. “Okay Holly, stand down.” He reached up and tried to pry Holly’s arm away from Leilah’s throat.

I approached them while Leilah coughed and wheezed, even as she glared defiantly at us all. I reached out, placing a placating hand on Holly’s arm. “Blondie, I think your Wicked Witch costume has gone to your head. Where’d you learn a choke hold?”

My attempt at humor did not go over well. Holly snarled at me. Literally snarled. She showed her teeth and everything. Startled, I took a step back from her. I’d never seen her act like that before.

Duncan wasn’t fazed by the snarl. “Enough,” he said pulling Holly back. When he did, it caused Leilah to drop her backpack. When the bag hit the patio, something fell out. Time seemed to slow down as a poppet rolled and came to a halt face side up.

“What’s that?” Duncan asked.

Using my cousin’s costume hat, I reached down and picked up the poppet. The poppet obviously represented Holly. The red-gold curly hair was a dead giveaway. Wrapped in twine, this doll had the same type of cheerleading outfit as the other poppets had. However, this one’s face was melted off. I gulped as my stomach rolled.
Well, mystery solved as to the creator of the poppets.

Leilah laughed when she saw my reaction to the poppet. Duncan and I exchanged glances. Which was a mistake, as we’d taken our eyes off of Holly.

“You bitch,” Holly said to Leilah. There was no inflection in her voice, and I felt the hair rise on the back of my neck.

Leilah sneered at Holly, “You deserved it! I would’ve made the varsity squad if not for you! The
perfect
Holly Bishop, captain of the varsity team— thinking you’re so much better than everyone else!”

“You hurt my friends to try and get on the varsity squad?” Holly asked very quietly.

“Yeah? What are you going to do about it?” Leilah practically spit at my cousin. “A perfect little princess like you?”

Holly surged forward, but Duncan stepped between the girls. “Cool off, Holly.” Duncan warned.

“I’ll call the police,” I said. I reached in my purse for my phone while Duncan pushed a swearing, spitting and shouting Leilah against the side of the house. He held the girl firmly in place with a hand on her arm.

Leilah continued to shout insults even as Holly walked away and over to the edge of the patio. Holly turned her back to all of us, hugging her arms over her middle.

“That’s right,” Leilah yelled at Holly’s back. “Walk away, you prissy little bitch! You don’t have the guts to come at me with magick.”