Autumn Storm (The Witchling #2)(58)

“You have a tomorrow, Beck,” she said, reading his thoughts as only she was able to. “Her parents are witchlings. They need to hear from the Master of Light what happened to their daughter. You owe it to them, and you alone can bring them any sort of comfort. It’s what you do.”

His anger faded. She was right.

“Okay. I’ll go,” he said. No part of him wanted to perform this part of his duty. “What about Dawn?”

“Let the police handle the investigation.”

Surprised by his mother’s response, he studied her. She was as likely as Decker to go off and kill someone.

“That baby’s probably mine,” he reminded her. “Don’t do anything, mom.”

“I’ve got enough on my plate for today. When you’re back, we’ll talk.”

That scared him. Beck glanced at his father, not envying the man who somehow managed to keep his mother from becoming some sort of homicidal maniac. Not wanting to provoke her, Beck took himself to the place he’d been earlier in the day.

The house of Tanya’s parents. He lingered at the front door of their Cape Cod style home in Georgia. His hands shook. He had no idea how to tell them what happened. Did he mention to them that it was his fault?

The door opened before he was ready. Tanya’s mother looked like her daughter with large, dark eyes and long blond hair. She was smiling as she opened the door, expecting good news.

He had no idea what to say. After a moment, the hope in her eyes faded.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Can we talk?”





Chapter Sixteen





The sense of danger woke Autumn despite the pain meds she took before bed. Her eyes flew open, and she stared at the face peering into hers. It was Summer. The dark-haired ghost was scared. Orienting herself, Autumn sat up. She’d crawled into bed when Beck dropped her off and cried. When dark fell, she took a full dose of her painkillers to help her sleep, and her eyes were still swollen.

“What’s wrong?” she whispered to the ghost.

The door opened, and Summer vanished.

“Good. You’re awake already.” Dawn’s voice was cold. “Come with me.”

Autumn stared at her, ready to refuse and roll over to go back to sleep. She heard a click that sounded very much like a round being chambered in a gun. The air pushed at her, warning her of her danger again.

“I’m not going to say it again!”

“Okay,” Autumn murmured. She went to her closet.

“You won’t need your coat where you’re going.”

Autumn’s hands trembled. “Boots?”

“Hurry.”

She obeyed and snagged the two stones that were supposed to help her channel the elements from their place on the nightstand. A few minutes later, they stepped onto the porch. The cold air took Autumn’s breath away. She wasn’t expecting the shock to be so much colder than the temperature during the day.

“Come on,” Dawn said, pushing her.

Autumn caught herself on the porch railing. She’d been walking without her brace for several days, but she wasn’t too certain about the icy stairs. Snow had started to fall again, and she looked up at the dark sky before taking her first step.

While her pajamas consisted of long sleeves and pants, they were thin and did little to keep the chill away. Before she reached the bottom of the stairs, she was shivering.

“Dawn, you don’t –“ Autumn started.

“Shut up. Beck is mine. I’m so sick of people coming between us.” Dawn waved the gun around recklessly.

“I’m not seeing him!”

“You spent the night at his cabin!” Dawn snapped.

“Yeah, but it’s not what you – “

“Save it. After tonight, no one will come between us anymore. Now, walk.”

Her words chilled Autumn more than the night. Dawn had struck her as arrogant but not capable of killing someone! Autumn moved forward as ordered. The snow was up to her thighs. Not wanting it to soak through, she drew the air magick into her lungs and expelled it a few times.

Please clear a path, she asked it. Awe filled her as it obeyed. She couldn’t get over how responsive the magicks had become.

It didn’t matter, if she didn’t figure out how to get out of this. She thought hard about how to disarm the situation. Even if she got the gun away from Dawn, what would she do? She couldn’t hurt the pregnant girl and risk hurting Beck’s baby girl. She had to talk her way out of this, get the gun or at least, convince Dawn to agree not to shoot her, and bring them both safely back to the house.

Of all the nights for Beck not to be around … Autumn swallowed hard. She’d lost both Turner twins. Beck was visibly upset at her, but she’d been honest. She couldn’t be with him. There was something stopping her: her dangerous attraction to Decker and the uncontrollable instinct that compelled her towards him, even when she saw how fast he was falling to the Darkness. Her instinct to run away from him and to him were equally strong. She didn’t know what to do.

Although, Decker made the choice for her and walked away. She wanted to cry again but forced herself to focus. She wasn’t going to make it through the night alive, if she didn’t figure out how to deal with this pressing situation.