“You’ve felt alone for a good deal of your life, yes?”
I nodded. The lump of truth swelling in my throat made it hard to swallow.
“And now, this morning, when you look around you, look around the breakfast table, what do you see?”
The reflection in the glass doors didn’t allow me to see much more than the vague shapes of heads and shoulders moving about the kitchen area. But I got what he meant. “I see friends. Friends and allies who will help me protect my sons, defend my house, and strengthen my magic.”
I wanted to ask the questions pinching my heart, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t feeling strong enough to handle knowing what had provoked my mother to leave Maine in such a hurry and why her parents and Christoph hadn’t been around for us when I was growing up.
“I am here now. Use me. Use my knowledge.” Christoph lifted himself off the railing and landed beside me. He held my upper arms gently, worried eyes the shade of aged pewter searching my face. “Nothing will ever take away the guilt I feel for choosing a life that did not include being close to you, but when Kazimir sent out the call for a gyrfalcon shifter, I knew it was time for me to see my family again. I am here for you and Harper and Thatcher.” He squeezed my arms. “Look at me, my dear.”
I did. I let the tears flow, let the outermost blockages around my heart break off, and hoped all of them would keep going and flowing until they’d passed through me and dissipated into the ground.
“Let me help you. Let me stay here with my great-grandsons. Harper’s going to need the kind of guidance I can give.” He looked over his shoulder, high into the branches of the fir tree where my eldest son rested. “I can help him through his anger and his fears. And you…” He leaned back, assessing me. In that moment, I understood that he did not find me wanting in any way. Another piece of the wall around my heart broke off. I’d erected the damn thing to keep out the relatives who’d abandoned me and my mother. “You,” he continued, “deserve to take this time to study and find out everything you can about who you really are.” Christoph’s eyes glistened. He relaxed his grip, used his thumbs to clear the tears from my cheeks. “Think you can do that for me? For your sons? For yourself?”
“Oh, yeah,” I mumbled, my nose starting to run. “But I have a job and—”
“Details,” he said, smiling. “C’mon, I’m starving, and I should get myself inside before the neighbors call the police about the giant bird in your yard.”
I placed a hand against the longest feathers at the tips of my grandfather’s wings and let him lead me inside.
Tanner looked up. “We were just talking about Cliff and Abigail,” he said. “Calliope, I filled everyone in about Jessamyne. Mostly.” His face was shaded. I named the color remorse. “And Rose would like for you to call her.”
Rose was the head witch of the covens in lower British Columbia and sister to River, another of the druids Tanner had introduced into my life. They, along with the Plant Witch, Belle de Boskoop, had taken Cliff and Abi’s grandsons to the farmhouse as soon as we realized Cliff and Abi were gone.
“Do we have a plan?” I asked. I dared them to mention the state of my face.
The trio of druids nodded in unison.
“We think it best that you, Rowan, and Christoph stay here. Wes, Kaz, and I will meet up with River and Rose.” Tanner waggled a cell phone in my direction. “And we check in every half hour.”
“The kids stay here too?”
“Until James comes to pick up Leilani, yes. And if he has more information or if there’s a change of plans, we need to know that as well.”
Wes added, “No more assumptions or going out alone until we have Abigail and Clifford back.”
While the men gathered their things, I puttered in my kitchen, putting knives and such back where I liked them stored.
“Calli,” said Christoph, “could I have some of those waffles you made?”
I pointed out the basket of eggs and the dry ingredients I’d use to mix the first batch of batter. “There’s milk and orange juice in the fridge. Make enough for the kids.”
He laughed and hugged me around the shoulders. “Guess that’s my cue I’m on KP duty.”
“Hah, I guess it is.” I lifted my gaze to his and saw only warmth. And love.
I could get used to this.
Or at least the more pleasant aspects of having another adult in the house.
Chapter 5
My moment of basking in familial love lasted a handful of seconds—the feeling of being rubbed a little raw by Tanner’s encounter with Jessamyne resurfaced, I didn’t like the trio of druids assuming they knew what was best for me and my sons, and a car roared past the driveway.
The driver stopped the vehicle with a squeal of tires on macadam and backed up, slow and steady. I recognized Leilani’s father James Brodeur at the wheel.
“Did you guys do something extra-extra with the wards?” I asked. James seemingly had no problems the day before, but the confusion—and frustration—on his face said he might not have access to the driveway. Or even see the entrance.
“Oh, we sure did,” said Kaz. “Why? Is someone here?”
“James. Probably wants to pick up Leilani.”
“He and Malvyn will have to be attuned to the new settings. I’ll go guide him in.” Kaz bounded down the front stairs and called to James. Frustration melted into relief as the half-witch botanist ducked his head into the car and turned the steering wheel.
Harper appeared from around the left side of the house, striding across
