Chapter Fifteen
She stood silently on the patio staring into the night sky, far enough from the city lights that the sky showed a beautiful canvas of stars, sparkling like diamonds on a blue-black blanket. She wasn’t sure how she was feeling when she sensed Caleb’s approach.
“Did they finally leave?” she questioned, as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close, relishing the feel of his breath against her neck.
“Finally,” he told her.
“Kaitlyn put up much of a fight?” She felt the smile that spread across his face. “We’re twins,” she reminded him.
“Really, I’d never have known.”
“Smart ass,” she giggled as he nuzzled her neck.
“She didn’t want to leave, none of them did, but I finally convinced them I’d take very good care of you.”
“Oh, I’m sure Brennan had a few choice words when you told her that.” Kevan laughed, picturing her big sister’s reaction.
“Considering how long I’ve been around, she even surprised me with her mouth.”
“We’ve learned a great many things from our family, other than mistrust of the cairbare,” Kevan sighed. “You’d be shocked to hear my mother and aunt. They look like such good and proper ladies, but they would put a truck driver to shame with their mouths.”
“Niall was the one who shut Kaitlyn up. He told her she was acting like a spoiled brat, and that if she didn’t leave his sight, she was going to get a spanking.” Kevan let out a snort of laughter, she knew how pissed off that would make Brennan.
“Damn, I’m sure that went over like a lead balloon,” Kevan told him.
“She shut up, and stormed off in a huff. This will not be the end of her tirades,” Caleb foresaw.
“They’re protected?” she whispered, as a shiver of fear swept through her.
“Completely. I may not like or trust Joseph, but he definitely knows his spells, and the house is surrounded by a dozen warriors who’d die to protect them.” Kevan closed her eyes, feeling a moment of relief wash over her.
“You ready for bed?” he enquired.
“Can we stay out here for a while?” she asked, turning to face him.
“We can do anything you want, as long as we’re together.” The new lovers settled into a lounger to embrace the quiet, and snuggle under the stars.
“Isn’t the sky beautiful?” Kevan blurted out. Caleb just held her, knowing she wasn’t looking for answers. “Caleb, with everything going on around us, I’m finding it hard to take the time to settle down and see the beauty of something as simple as the stars in the sky. Keep reminding me, okay?”
“You got it sweetie. Now, are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” he asked.
Kevan tucked her face into his neck. “I’m really scared!” she whispered, finally. “Some guy we don’t know murdered our great grandmother for some deadly book, and now we learn it might have to do with a book of spells horrid enough to make Joseph more pale than usual. A mad and dangerous fuck wad is out there trying to drag my family into his bull, and now we’ve done this ceremony which will likely bring us to his attention. I can’t believe I was so stupid; we should have never done that ceremony!”
“Kevan,” Caleb forced her to look at him. “Stop second guessing yourself, we don’t know he’s coming after you. We’re just speculating. We need to find out why he went after Daphne. What did she know or have that he wanted? That’s what we need to figure out.”
“What about the book?”
“We’ll deal with the book when we have to, but it’s only one part of this; we have a lot of questions and very few answers, so we deal with them one at a time.”
“Yeah, like what led Dreyden to Daphne in the first place? What’s in that diary that made him to believe he needed to do what he did?”
“Kevan, you’re going to drive yourself crazy. We’ll figure this out, I promise.” leaning over to caress her lips with his, he added, “we’re going to get the answers we need, don’t worry.”
“Do you know how surreal this whole thing is?” Kevan said with incredulousness. “If you’d told me two months ago everything that was about to happen, maybe us girls would have changed our minds, not moved in together.”
Suddenly something clicked in Caleb’s head at Kevan’s statement. “I’m sorry, repeat that?”
“What?” Kevan looked at him.
“What you just said.”
“What? That we might not have moved in together? We likely would have, we all love that house.” Kevan looked to Caleb’s face. “What?”
“How long has it been since you’ve all been together?”
“What?” Kevan was confused.
“How long since you’ve all been together?” Caleb asked again, excitement making his pulse thump like a drummer giving a beat.
“I have no idea, years, I guess, between one of us being in school or travelling, maybe five or six years.”
“So, two months ago you all moved into the old family home. Daphne’s home, correct?”
“Well some of us have been there longer, but this is the first time that all ten of us have been in the house together at the same time. Caleb what are you getting at?” Kevan questioned, sitting up to study a face she barely knew, for answers.
“Since you’ve all been together, has someone, I don’t say the youngest family member, had a birthday?”
Kevan gave him a look of surprise. “How… two actually; Aiden and Myrna turned 21, about six weeks ago.”
“It’s finally starting to make sense,” Caleb whispered.
“What is making sense?” Kevan asked. “Caleb, talk to me.”
“Up until about six weeks ago, we had no idea where you were. When we lost the connection with Daphne, we lost the ability to sense you, until about six weeks ago. It started to return very weakly at first, but it’s been getting stronger every day. I think it was started when Brennan claimed the Stones of Tarin, followed by Myrna & Aiden’s birthday, now you all being together. It’s all starting to make sense.”
“Well, I’m glad one of us understands, because I sure as hell don’t,” Kevan told him.