Witch's Awakening (14 page)

“I wonder what she's doing here.” Brenna waved to her elder aunt, who got out of the truck clutching a large, white envelope.

Doris came up the front walkway, looking grim despite the cheerful mint green pantsuit she wore. “I know what you're up to.”

“Busted,” Fiona murmured.

“Just keep quiet,” Brenna whispered to her sister.

“I knew the minute you found the book,” Doris continued as she mounted the front steps. “Frances called me right away and we talked about what we needed to do with Sarah out of town.”

Brenna stood her ground. “We need to get that book in order.”

“Well, that's what Frances said.” Doris thrust out the envelope she was holding. “Here, take this. It's the part of the book I found at my house.”

“Why did you have part of it?” Brenna took the envelope.

“We told you…we used to take parts of the book to study,” Doris retorted. “I thought I brought all my sections back, but when I looked around my house after Garth was killed, I found these.”

The envelope was thick.
A significant portion of the book,
Brenna thought.

Doris shifted from foot to foot and avoided Brenna's gaze. “Frances has a few parts she's trying to chase down. I'd imagine there are other parts strewn here and there all over this house. Maybe even in other places. I've asked Diane, and Frances is talking to Estelle. I don't believe Maggie's family has anything since there were no girls in her family before her.”

Eva Grace stepped forward, her expression disapproving. “I wish you'd told us this instead of just trying to hide the book from us.”

“We were ashamed,” Doris retorted. “And Sarah's not going to be happy that I talked to you about it. She was trying to get the book in order before Celia was taken. Then we were so…” She shook her head. “We were just beaten down. And there were you girls to take care of and other business to attend to. We had all the pages we needed to teach you young ones the craft, just as we taught our daughters. We decided that's all we needed.”

Opening the envelope, Brenna found brittle old pages and saw old-fashioned handwriting. She knew just enough Gaelic to make out the first words. “This is Sarah Connelly's writing,” she said. “The answers to all of our questions could be right here.”

Eva Grace and Fiona crowded around her, anxious to see the pages.

“Our family had the complete book for a long, long time,” Doris said, her tone defensive. “That never stopped the Woman before.”

“Is that why you all think we shouldn't try?” Brenna asked.

Doris drew herself up. “I've brought you what I had. Frances will too. And we'll take your side against Sarah about your locating the book against her wishes. As for the other pages…” She swept a hand toward the house. “See if you can locate them magically, the same way you found the book today. Sarah, Frances and I never could, but maybe you have power that we didn't. Maybe if we had tried before Rose died, when we were all together…”

Kind and forgiving as always, Eva Grace stepped toward her. “Don't worry, Doris. We know you tried to save the next generation and you want to save us.”

“Do you?” Doris accepted the redhead's embrace, but her gaze was on Brenna. “Do you really understand the guilt we bear for bringing you all into the world? At one time or another, every single one of us thought we had the answer. It's been twenty-eight years since Celia died. We even hoped it was over, that it wouldn't happen again. Then poor Garth…”

“It's all right,” Eva Grace said, patting her back.

Doris's voice trembled as she hugged Eva Grace again. “Oh, my dear girl. You've borne the worst of all of this, losing your mother and then your true love. It's not fair. We're all just sick. But we've never let the worry or fear keep us from living and loving and sticking together as a family. We can't turn on each other.”

“Of course not,” Fiona said, moving to hug the older woman, too. “We will always stand together.” She turned to Brenna. “Won't we?”

“Of course,” Brenna said, but she made no move to join the group hug. All she knew was she held magic in her hands, the writings of a witch who had crossed the ocean to start a new life for her family. She wasn't sure if there could be any forgiveness for allowing these precious words to become separated from
The Connelly Book of Magic
.

Maybe that's why the book was no longer able to speak as family legend said it could. Or that was why the guards Sarah had set up hadn't held. Because the book wasn't whole. It was weak, as she feared her family had become.

Eva Grace drew away from Doris and looked at Brenna. “What do you think we should do?”

“Let's find the rest of the book,” Brenna murmured. “Let's make it as it should be.”

She turned her back on her family members and went into the house, more determined than ever to fit all the pieces of the puzzle together and end the curse.

Chapter Thirteen

Jake made it until almost three that afternoon before calling Brenna. He considered that a major achievement in restraint. Though he was busy with paperwork for the unusual number of citizens arrested during the weekend, he thought of her at odd moments. He remembered her lips against his, her honeysuckle scent, and how right she was about his need to shift and run.

She answered on the first ring, eager to talk about the parts of the family magic book that she, Eva Grace and Fiona received from Aunt Doris and Aunt Frances. Brenna related the correlations between family history and what the two of them found in the records at the courthouse.

Though he wasn't sure how it happened, Jake ended up inviting the three Connelly witches to dinner at his cabin. It was two more than he wanted, but it felt like the right thing to do.

He was putting together a salad when Eva Grace and Fiona arrived. They crowded into his small kitchen. Fiona opened the bottle of Cabernet on the counter. Eva Grace pushed him aside to add dressing to his salad. Aware of her culinary skills, Jake let her take over.

Fiona took wineglasses from a shelf and filled three. “What's that wonderful smell?”

“Lasagna,” Jake answered.

“You made lasagna for us?” Eva Grace said.

“I made extra last time, and I just pulled it out of the freezer for tonight.” Jake didn't want to be rude, but they were missing the most important person in this group. “Where's Brenna?”

Fiona looked at Eva Grace and giggled.

The redhead gave her younger cousin a reproachful glance as she explained, “Brenna decided to drive over alone so we wouldn't have to go out of our way taking her home tonight.”

“At least that was her story,” Fiona murmured into her wine.

“Ignore Fiona,” Eva Grace said as she turned toward the oven. “Is the lasagna ready? We can get the bread warming while we wait for Brenna. I brought bread from the bakery, of course. I need butter and garlic—”

Her words were interrupted by a crash outside. Jake took off before he could think, racing out of the kitchen, through the living room and outdoors.

His stomach clenched as he saw Brenna's SUV wedged alongside a pine tree next to the house. Her head was against the window. What looked like blood smeared the glass. Jake's breathing slowed. He felt like he was running in quicksand as he rushed across the yard.

Overhead, wings beat against the hot still air. A shrill scream cut through the woods. Jake saw the flash of a bird's white face and recognized the eerie sound.

The owl was again calling for Jake.

He got to the vehicle as quickly as he could, wrenched the driver's door open and braced to catch Brenna. She swayed as she looked up at him with glazed eyes. Blood trickled from a cut on her forehead.

“I hit my head.” She struggled against the seatbelt.

Jake knelt beside her. “Don't move now. Take it easy.” He undid the seatbelt that pressed her against the seat and eased her out of the car. Brenna showed him her bloody fingers.

“I hit my head,” she mumbled again. “And I'm bleeding.”

“Oh my God,” Fiona said as she and Eva Grace arrived. “Is she all right?”

“She's got a cut on her head,” Jake said. “Let's get her in the house and see if there are any other injuries.”

Brenna looked up at him again and frowned. “Damn it, shifter, I don't like how you're always coming to my rescue. I can take care of myself.”

Relieved by the humor in her voice, he helped her stand. “Much more taking care of yourself and you're going to kill me, witch.”

Eva Grace took one arm and Jake the other. They walked Brenna onto the porch and through the door Fiona held open. Jake insisted Brenna lie down on his sofa while he got the first aid kit, towels and a washcloth. Fiona hurried off to rescue the lasagna before it burned and get ice.

With the sure, capable hands of a healer, Eva Grace cleaned the blood from Brenna's forehead and checked her from head to toe. Aside from the cut, Brenna had only a raw, red mark on her neck where the seatbelt had tightened to hold her in place. Best of all, she looked more alert by the moment. She winced at the alcohol Eva Grace used and rolled her eyes at Jake as her cousin fussed over her. “I think I'll live.”

Eva Grace told Jake to hold a cloth over the cut and apply gentle pressure. She took Brenna's hand and murmured softly. Jake was sure her words were laced with magic.

“Shouldn't we cover her up?” he asked.

“Good idea.” Eva Grace unfolded a comforter from the end of the sofa and draped it over Brenna. “There, now, she should be—”

“I'm right here.” Brenna pushed Jake's hand away with a grumpy sigh. “You're hurting my head.”

“Here's some ice.” Fiona handed Brenna a bag of ice wrapped in a kitchen towel.

Jake lowered himself to his whiskey barrel coffee table and took a deep breath. He was coming down from his adrenalin rush. “What caused you to go off the road?”

“The owl,” she said and pushed the blanket off. “Did you see it? It swooped down at my windshield. I jerked the wheel. Next thing I know, I'm parked against your tree.”

“Is it the same owl you saw the night Garth died?” Eva Grace asked.

Brenna rubbed her face and Eva Grace tucked the blanket back around her legs. “I don't know. It looked the same. But it seemed huge as it flew at my windshield. I swear the wings completely covered the glass and blocked the light. It was incredible.”

“I saw it, too,” Jake added, “when I ran outside. It was…” He started to say it had been calling to him, but he decided that might sound weird even to a group of witches. “It made that hissing sound again.”

“He's warning you, maybe,” Fiona murmured.

“How do you know it's a male?” Brenna retorted. “It could be a very wise, old female.”

“It's a male,” Jake said, not certain how he knew, but he did.

“Depending on where you live, owls can be a sign of good or evil,” Fiona continued. “In India, they're always seen as bad omens, bringers of ill will and servants of the dead. With Native Americas, they're considered wise and aid in helping humans see in the dark. Native Americans believe owls reveal deception.”

“They're also perceived to be spirit guides and can bring healing to a situation,” Eva Grace added.

Brenna once again shoved aside the comforter and waved Jake and Eva Grace away as she sat up. “I don't know why the owl was chasing me. We're here to discuss something much more serious than a crazy bird.”

“You sound like your usual self,” Eva Grace said and headed for the kitchen. “I'm going to make tea.”

Jake took the ice pack and held it back to Brenna's head. “I don't have any tea,” he called after her cousin.

Eva Grace laughed. “I have tea in my purse. You have your first-aid kit and I have mine. I'll get the bread in the oven, too. I think our patient will be ready to eat soon.”

Brenna took control of the ice and held it in place herself. She looked from Jake to her sister and back again. “Do both of you think the owl has something to do with the Woman in White?”

Fiona shrugged. “Is there anything happening these days that doesn't have to do with her?”

“Of course it does,” Jake said. “The bird's trying to tell us something.”

“I don't speak owl,” Brenna said with a grumpy sigh. She leaned her head back against dark leather cushions of his sofa. Bruises from Saturday's attack were fading, but the new marks stood out against the white skin of her neck.

Only then did Jake take full notice of how Brenna looked in a fitted sundress of scarlet, slender gold hoops at her ears echoed by a gold disc on a chain at her throat. She wore makeup, too, a dusting of peach across her cheekbones, her lashes a dark sweep over emerald eyes.

And while Brenna in her usual jeans and T-shirt attire was just fine with him, she was stunning in red.

She caught his appreciative study, and another of those electric moments passed between them.

He wished she'd use her magic to make her sister and cousin disappear.

As if she read his mind, Fiona cleared her throat. “If the two of you are just going to sit here making eyes at each other, I'm going to help Eva Grace.”

Brenna ignored Fiona as she left and held out her hand to clasp Jake's. “Thanks.”

“I didn't do anything.”

“You left that tree growing right next to your house. Otherwise, my car would be sitting in your living room. My insurance company would not be happy.”

“I'm sure the tree was just waiting for you to hit it.” His fingers curved around hers. He was pleased Brenna didn't pull away.

“Dinner's ready,” Eva Grace called from the kitchen.

Jake did his best not to groan.

He helped Brenna up, and they went to have dinner and discuss what the three women learned from
The Connelly Book of Magic
.