Page 8 of Discovered Magic
“That’s why you spent so long here, wasn’t it? You were using my home to hide,” Beth concluded.
“Primarily, yes, but I also enjoyed your company, or I wouldn’t have stayed. It happens to be close to where my best friend lives, and it allowed me to keep tabs on him from afar.”
“Yet you never thought to check up on me afterward?” she asked without a hint of the bitterness one would expect.
“I did, actually, but I didn’t want to lead anyone to your door. You were safer without me around.”
She watched him for a long beat, as if to test his sincerity. Finally, she nodded and held out her hand. “Come. I want to tell you about her life and her boyfriend, Wilder.”
“I’ve recently met him. Turns out, he’s a cousin to that best friend I mentioned.”
She smiled a moment before her heartbreak seeped through. “He’s in a worse state than I am, if you can believe it.”
“Yes, I saw for myself,” Alex said as he entered the foyer and cataloged the changes four decades had wrought. His gaze swept the family room, and the pictures nestled on the mantle beckoned. He drank in all the images of Abbie at various stages of life. “Why didn’t her magic evolve, Beth? You and I are both witches. Did you bind her powers?”
“No. And I never understood it either. We tried everything we could to bring them out, even enlisting the aid of a local coven.”
A picture of young Abbie gracing the camera with a gap-toothed grin was his favorite of the bunch, and he traced her face with a finger. “She’s beautiful.”
“Have you looked in the mirror?” Beth replied dryly.
He chuckled and spontaneously hugged her. “Thank you. It’s easy to tell she was loved and well cared for.”
“She was my everything, Alex.” Raw honesty shone on her face. “I’ve been so broken for the last two years.”
“I have a special talent and very powerful friends, love. If Abbie can be returned to you and Wilder, I’ll make it happen.”
Wilder spent the afternoon tying up legal loose ends. He wanted to ensure his will was in order in case things went sideways. After visiting his mother and younger brothers, Heath and Coleman, he paid a call on his sister, Liz.
She opened the door with a broad smile, but it faded in slow increments.
“Wilder? What’s going on? Are you okay?”
He snorted as he crossed the threshold. “I haven’t been okay for two years, Liz. But I have news.”
“What is it?” she asked as she led the way to the kitchen.
Wilder wasn’t surprised to see her husband, Rafe, at the counter with a glass of wine and a laptop. Ever the diligent businessman, he barely looked up as he toasted them.
“Wine or coffee?” she asked Wilder.
“Coffee, please. I still have a few things requiring my attention.”
After starting a fresh pot, Liz faced him. “You don’t ever seek anyone out. Start talking.”
He couldn’t prevent the grin. His little sister was born bossy.
“Maybe I’ve turned over a new leaf and have become social again.”
“Right, and pigs fly.” She withdrew a couple of hand-thrown pottery mugs from the cabinet before adding, “But if you’ve suddenly rejoined the world, I’m happy for it.”
Wilder waited until she filled the cups and handed him one.
“I’m going back to the mountain to search for Abbie.”
“What?” She shared a horrified glance with Rafe, then refocused on him. “Wilder, what the hell are you doing? You know I love you and want to see you happy, but this has reached so far past the obsession stage that it isn’t healthy.”
“I spoke to Alexander Castor today. He’s Cousin Alastair’s friend?—”
