I lie down, taking up the length of the back seat, and throw my arm over my eyes. When I let it fall to my side a couple of minutes later I look up at Ethan to find him staring at me through his overhead mirror. He quickly looks away, however he doesn’t show any embarrassment at being caught.
The endless silence spreads out between us and eventually I fall asleep. I don’t know how I manage it, since being in such a small space with Ethan puts me on edge. The boredom of not talking probably drove me to nod off.
I wake up at around three to find Ethan with his eyes closed in the driver’s seat. I’ve only ever seen him sleep once before. He doesn’t sleep like a human would, all slouched back with their face hanging to one shoulder. Ethan sits up straight and is fascinatingly still. The only thing that’s different about him from when he’s awake is that his eyes are shut and his breathing is deeper.
I drag my gaze away from his perfect face and peer inside the cave, but it’s still empty like before. Only a couple more hours until morning. Only a couple more hours until I might have my dad back again.
Crossing my fingers in hope, I lie down and go back to sleep.
Chapter Ten
You’re Sure To Have Some Visitors
“Wake up,” says an attractive voice, a hand touching lightly on my shoulder. I open my eyes to find Ethan hovering over me and I jerk away in fright.
“What are you doing?”
“I was trying to wake you up,” he says, turning back around in his seat. “It’s morning and Edwards still hasn’t made an appearance.”
“Morning?” I ask, suddenly aware of the daylight streaming through the tinted windows of the car. Daylight that Ethan isn’t even squinting his eyes against. What’s he doing out here like this? He should be at home asleep in a light-free room.
“Ethan, you can’t be out in daylight,” I say, unable to hide my concern.
He gives me a look, seeming surprised to find I care about him getting hurt. Hell, I’m surprised myself.
“I will be fine. The windows in this car are made from a special material that filters out most of the effect daylight has on me.”
“That kind of technology actually exists?” I ask in amazement.
“It does if you have the money to pay for it.”
The fact that Ethan is out in the sun has momentarily distracted me from the real issue at hand. Edwards still hasn’t shown up. My gut sinks with despair. Pulling myself together, I rummage in my pocket and retrieve the copper coin he gave me.
“He said if he wasn’t back by morning that we could leave and he’d find me using this,” I say, holding up the coin.
“Yes, I remember,” says Ethan, starting up the engine.
“Wait!” I exclaim, reaching forward and gripping his upper arm to prevent him from driving away. “Shouldn’t I go inside and check the cave properly before we leave? They could be in the back somewhere.”
“They aren’t. I would sense Edwards’ demon blood if he were in there. The cave is empty.”
“Oh,” I say with disappointment.
Ethan resumes pulling away from the cave entrance. The ride back out of the beach is bumpy because of all the rocks. Ethan drops me off outside Finn’s house and then continues on to his own place. Unlike Finn’s, Ethan’s house has a garage to the side of it. I watch as the door opens automatically and he drives right in. I had been hoping he’d park in the driveway and then run from the car into the house so I could see what really happens when sunlight touches a vampire, but no such luck.
Just as I’m opening the front door, Finn pulls up. He and Ira are returning from their night of babysitting Rebecca.
“Where have you been, Petal?” Finn asks, approaching me and wrapping his arms around me. He gives me a peck on the cheek. I’m still unused to this new, affectionate way he treats me. Not to mention I feel strangely guilty for whatever the hell it was that happened between me and Ethan last night. A moment of hate passion, maybe? I lead Finn and Ira into the kitchen and make breakfast for the three of us, at the same time filling them in on last night’s events.
“I hope Cristescu behaved himself,” says Finn, hearing that I spent the night in Ethan’s company.
I swallow down a bite of toast, anxiety rushing through me. Do I tell Finn about Ethan’s strange, angry kiss? Nah, that won’t be leading anywhere good. I muster up a laugh. “Well, that depends on your definition of behaving. We spent half the time fighting and the other half ignoring one another.”
“Did he upset you?” Finn asks, all protective.
Ira sits with us at the table, silently tucking into his breakfast.
“He always upsets me. I’m used to it by now.”
“It doesn’t matter if you’re used to it or not, he has no right treating you like that. I have half a mind to go over there and knock some sense into the blood-sucker. The kind of sense knocking that involves a stake.”
“He’ll get over what happened eventually,” I say, brushing off his anger.
“He fucking better,” says Finn, placing his hand soothingly on my thigh. My breathing becomes slightly laboured at this, so I push his hand away, embarrassed since Ira’s right there beside us.
“So, what are your plans for the day?” I ask.
Finn dabs at his mouth with a napkin. “Ah, I’ve to do some training with the recruits down at one of the compounds. It’s a bastard of a job, especially since I didn’t get much sleep last night. I won’t be finished until late this evening, so I’ll bring back dinner for everyone.”
“Sounds good,” I reply, inwardly sighing. With Finn being gone all day, I won’t have anything to distract me from worrying about Dad and Edwards.
As though sensing my thoughts, Finn gives me a comforting rub on the back. “Hey, I’m sure this demon fella knows what he’s doing. Rescue missions never go down the way you plan them; there are always complications. All we can do is hope that he gets back here in the end.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” I sigh.
“Why don’t you go out and do some shopping today? Women find that shit relaxing, don’t they?”
“I’m not really one of those women, but I might give it a try. I do need some new boots.” I lift my foot to show him my scuffed old Doc Martens.
“There you go. Bring Rita and Alvie with you and make a day of it,” he rummages in his pocket, lifting out his wallet. Opening it up, he pulls out a few notes and tries handing them to me.
I gape at him. “I’m not taking that. I’ve enough money of my own after Pamphrock paid me.”
“Just take it. I want to do something nice for you.”
I glance down at the cash. “No, put it back in your wallet and stop acting weird, Finn.”
God, why does he have to be so nice right now? We’re not even together properly, and him trying to give me money like this makes me feel so awkward.
We stare each other down for a moment or two. Finally, he sighs and puts the money back in his wallet. There’s a small grin on his lips though. “You really aren’t one of those women,” he says with amusement. Then he leans in close and whispers in my ear, “You’re going to make me work for it, aren’t you?”
I glance at Ira again, but he’s in his own little world as per usual, not paying us any attention. I mouth the words “shut up” at Finn and he laughs.
“It’s a good thing I enjoy a challenge,” he says warmly, before stacking our empty plates and picking them up from the table.
I take a shower and change my clothes. Then I go out to Rita, asking her if she’d like to come shopping with me, my treat. I don’t have to ask her twice, especially after I tell her I’m paying. Noreen and Alvie end up coming along as well, and I tell them about Edwards going to hell to bring back my dad.
“He must be a very brave man,” says Noreen.
“Yeah. He kind of seemed to relish the potential danger. He kept saying how he wanted one last adventure.”
“Did he talk about any of his previous excursions?” Rita
asks, browsing through a rack of band t-shirts.
“To hell you mean?”
“Yeah.”
“No, everything was all so rushed. I didn’t really have much time to talk to him properly. We basically just collected him from the airport and brought him to the cave. Why do you ask?”
She grins at me. “Don’t you find it fascinating, the fact that all of these other worlds exist that we don’t even know about? The possibilities of what they might be like are endless.”
“I think I’ll stick with good old earth myself,” says Alvie.
“That’s you and me both,” I agree.
“I don’t know. Some day I’d like to try and figure out a spell that could open up a door to another dimension.”
“You already have. Remember, when you banished Theodore?”
“Yeah but that was a banishment spell. I’d like to figure out something less dramatic. A way of just stepping in and out whenever I like.”
“Oh my God, you’re jealous of Edwards, aren’t you? The way I told you how he just drew a circle in the air and a hole opened up.”
She shrugs and nods. “Maybe. It’d be cool to be able to do something like that.”
“You can do enough cool stuff as it is,” Alvie tells her.
“Not as many as Tegan,” she argues.
“Ugh. At least you know what you’re doing when you work magic. Half the time I’m clueless, and that’s pretty scary.”
It irritates me a little that she can’t just be happy with the magic she already has. I walk away from her and go over to another rack of t-shirts. I find a white one with the slogan “Keep Calm and Carry Garlic” written down the front. Snickering to myself, I throw it over my arm and decide to buy it. It’ll be funny to see how Ethan reacts when I wear it, if nothing else.
It’s after two when we get home from shopping. I go inside the house and hang out with Ira for a while. I ask him to tell me about his childhood growing up in Samoa, because I want something to distract me from worrying.
He talks for a long time, describing the island and the people, the way of life. I sort of get lost listening to his accent and the way he pronounces different words. Unfortunately, we’re interrupted by a knock at the front door.
Thinking it’s probably Rita coming in from her RV, I go to answer it. It isn’t Rita though. When I open the door there’s a very well dressed lady standing there. She looks to be in her late sixties and she’s got really weird hair. It’s split down the middle, with one side jet black and the other silvery grey.
“I’m here for Ira Wolf,” she says, eyeing me up and down with a snobbish air.
I eye her up and down right back, folding my arms and leaning back against the door-jamb. “Oh yeah, and who are you?” I’m not normally so rude to strangers, but this woman’s haughty demeanour puts me on the defensive.
“Do not play with me, little girl. I’m here for Ira, so bring him to me.”
“I’ll bring him to you after you tell me who you are, old woman.”
She sighs and flicks her long, two-toned hair over her shoulder. She’s wearing a fancy dress coat, black leather boots with severely pointed toes, and dark green leather gloves. She glances past me and into the house. “Ira!” she calls. “I know you’re in there. Come out here and face me.”
Seconds later Ira steps into the hallway. I turn back to see him standing there, a look of undiluted hatred on his face. “Emilia,” he growls.
Emilia? Oh wow. This is the witch who cursed him all those years ago? So much for her suffering her own curse right now. She doesn’t look like she’s suffered a day in her life. You can tell by her refined features and the lack of lines on her face, despite her age. Or since she’s a witch, maybe she just knows some spells to get rid of crow’s feet. I can’t believe she has the gall to show up like this.
“I knew my spell had been broken. I could feel it, but I’d been out of the country when it happened. I traced your presence to this house. This is the first occasion I’ve had to come and see for myself.”
“I hate to break it to you, lady, but I think you’re the last person Ira wants to see at the moment. In fact, I don’t want to see you either. I think it’s fucking disgusting what you did to him.”
She barely glances at me, her dark eyes seeking out Ira. “Tell this rude child to leave us. I want to talk.”
“Eh, I’m not a child and you’re not talking to him. Now go piss off back to wherever you came from.”
She glares at me, her nostrils flaring a little. Then quite boldly, she moves to walk past me and right into the house. Oh, the fucking cheek of her. I can’t help it, I get angry at how she just dismisses me like that. My magic bubbles up and my arm whips out; sparks fly from my hand and I knock her flat on her arse.
I momentarily think how ironic it is that I’m defending a big guy like Ira. I still kind of look upon him as this voiceless animal who needs to be protected. Every time I stare into his eyes I can see the dog he once was. He hasn’t changed back since the curse was broken, perhaps in fear of being stuck in his animal form again.
“How could you possibly…” she breathes, trailing off. She’s not looking at Ira anymore, now she’s looking at me with a mixture of fear and fascination.
“I’ll do worse than that if you don’t pick yourself up and walk away from this house right now,” I warn her.
“No, no, you don’t understand. You shouldn’t have been able to do that.”
“Oh yeah, and why not?” I ask, thinking she’s going to say something like, because you’re only a human.
But that isn’t what she says. Instead, she replies, “Because the only witches who possess that particular form of defence are those from my bloodline. I know every member of my family and I have never seen your face before in my life.”
“You’re lying,” I say, suspicious. Is this some sneaky tactic to get past me and put another spell on Ira?
“I’m telling you the truth. My name is Emilia Petrovsky, but my maiden name was Dragu. Only the Dragu women can wield electrical fire from the palms of their hands.”
She raises her hand to me and the same sparks fly out. The name Petrovsky rings in my mind, as I remember Noreen telling me of the magical family, the Petrovskys, and how she thought maybe my mother was the daughter of Filipp, the one who disappeared. I almost feel like being sick as the pieces fall into place. This woman – this witch, is possibly my grandmother. My grandmother cursed Ira. I can’t believe it. It makes so much sense, especially after what Ira said about Emilia’s husband being overly protective of his daughter. My mother.
“What’s your husband’s name?” I ask her quietly.
“Filipp,” she answers, her eyes narrowing as she studies me. “I hadn’t noticed before, but you have my daughter’s eyes. Who are you, child?”
“What was your daughter’s name?”
“Darya.”
“Fuck.”
“That sort of language is very unbecoming,” Emilia scolds. God, she really is my grandmother.
A warm hand touches my shoulder. “What’s wrong, Tegan?” Ira asks, standing close behind me.
I wince as I turn a little and look up at him. Gesturing to Emilia, I say, “I think she might be my grandmother.”
“Your grand-what?” Emilia exclaims, standing up now and dusting herself off.
I glance over at her. “You heard me. Your daughter Darya was my mother.”
“That can’t be. Darya never had a daughter. She was kidnapped and killed before she even turned twenty.”
“She wasn’t kidnapped, she ran away. At least that’s what I think happened. She died when I was little. I never had the chance to learn about her past.”
“Ran away..” says Emilia, shaking her head in disbelief. She takes a slow step toward me and reaches out to grab my hand. I don’t know why I let her, but I do. I’ve run out of steam with all of these revelations.
Emilia’s grip on my hand tightens. Her eyes are closed, but the lid
s are flickering fast like some kind of accelerated REM. Something deep inside tells me she’s using magic right now to read me, to determine if what I’m claiming is the truth. A minute later she opens her eyes and gasps, “It’s true. And you are exactly like my daughter, too. You possess the same power in your blood.”
I pull my hand away from her now.
“You must invite me inside. We have many things to discuss.”
“Hold up a second,” I say, blocking her from coming in. “We might be related, but as far as I’m concerned we have nothing to say to one another. If what Ira’s told me about you is correct, I don’t want to have anything to do with you.”
My granny was a serial cheater. Isn’t that just delightful?
“I was young and impulsive when Ira knew me,” says Emilia. “I am not the same woman I was back then.”
“People don’t change that much, and you weren’t that young. You were what, in your early forties twenty-five years ago?”
Emilia affects a pleading demeanour. “You must believe me, I did not come here to bespell Ira again. I came here to apologise. I had completely forgotten about what I had done to him until recently when I felt that the curse had been broken.”
“You forgot? How many people do you go around cursing that you could just forget? Ira was a young man with his whole life ahead of him, and you stole that from him just because he turned you down.”
She gives me a pleading look. Oh how the tables have turned. When she first showed up here she dismissed me as a minor roadblock to getting to Ira. Now it seems she’s all but forgotten about him and doesn’t want anything else but to do some long lost family bonding with me. Well, she has another thing coming if she thinks that’s going to happen.
“Darya disappeared almost directly after I cursed Ira,” Emilia explains. “Many dark years followed for myself and my husband. Anything that happened previous to that faded into the background, became meaningless.”