Fighting the Flames (Firefighter Romance #1)(79)

Gabe and Toby rushed to him, both chanting.

They sucked into the past:

“I can't do this.” Josiah Williams stared down at the small baby Gabriella held in her arms. “My grandson must live.”

“What?” Derek looked stunned. “You would go against the Brotherhood? They won't allow a wizard of mixed blood to be born. They'll kill you.”

“Then we need them to think the baby is dead.” Josiah looked at Gabriella. “And you must never tell the Brotherhood or my son any different.”

“What are you going to do?” Gabriella clung to the bed, trying to protect her baby as best she could. “I won't let you murder my child.”

“No. We'll tell everyone the baby was stillborn.” Josiah quickly chanted a command spell. Gabriella's eyes dulled, and she sobbed uncontrollably as the older wizard took the baby from her. “Derek, will you protect our families, or do I have to spell you, too?”

Derek stared at the wizard, the hate in his eyes obvious. A lesser wizard, though, he didn't dare fight Josiah.

“What do you want me to do?” he asked.

“Take the baby and find it a home. Let it grow up far from our clans, never knowing about its powers or heritage. This is the way to protect it and our families from the wrath of the Brotherhood.” Josiah handed the baby to Derek. “If you speak a word of this to anyone, I will personally hunt you down and extract my own brand of punishment.”

Derek took the baby and disappeared into the corridor. Josiah bent over the weeping woman and stroked her hair.

“It is for the best, my dear. You and Toby may love each other, but the Brotherhood doesn't understand such things. All they see is the potential for our powerful bloodlines to cross and create something that they can't control.” He headed towards the door. “Toby really loves you, though. Take comfort in that, even if you can't be with him.”

Gabriella only cried harder.

The past rushed away, returning them to Merlyn's Bar.

“You lied,” Gabe whispered, staring down at his uncle. “You lied from the moment I met you.”

“I was protecting you,” Derek said through gritted teeth.

“No, you wanted to punish my father. So you bided your time, didn't you?” Gabe shook his head. “That's what this has always been about.”

“Why did you kill my husband?” Jacqueline asked butting into the conversation. “What does that have to do with revenge?”

“I told you the truth about that. We were tracking Eric because he had been looking for us. Derek’s family had excommunicated him. They kicked him out and wanted him dead,” Gabe said.

“But why Eric? Why would they hire someone outside of their family?”

“Eric must have been part of the Spark family,” Toby said. “A cousin, maybe?”


“That's what Derek said.” Gabe kicked at his uncle, who remained silent on the ground. “We needed to kill Eric, so he'd leave us alone. Only thing is, we hadn't counted on the wife getting in the way. I thought he was in the car that night, not you, Jacqueline. And who knew he'd married a future banshee? I knew his job was protecting supernatural beings, but to marry one? He must have really loved you, Jacqueline. Once we realized what we'd unleashed with Eric's death, Derek thought he had a way to get revenge on Toby and have something that would get him back into his family's good graces.”

She blinked. Part of her assumed she might have been the target. A hand covered her mouth as she processed his words. Revenge. All of this was due to revenge. Derek killed her husband, forced her to become … all because … Her hand dropped, tightening into a fist.

“Revenge? Because he loved your sister?” Jacqueline shook her head, meeting Derek's defiant gaze. “You're really a jerk, you know that?”

“Toby brought shame to my family,” Derek said void of emotion.

“Oh, please.” Jacqueline rolled her eyes and took a step forward. “He did no such thing. He loved your sister.”

“It doesn't matter,” Derek said to Gabe. “You were still rejected by your father's family. I was the one who found the Harringtons. They were good to you, and when they died, who was there for you?” His eyebrow lifted. “I was. I helped you along the way. I even taught you how to assume the forms of different people. If I hadn't done that, you would have been caught by Toby the night you killed Eric.”

“You were the man in the bushes.” Toby tilted his head. “I saw you, but you didn't look like this.”

“I taught him well.” Derek laughed. “Williams wizards can't even begin to assume other identities with the ease that a Spark can. Lucky for me, the boy has at least some of my sister's genes.”

“Did you kill my adoptive family?” Gabe’s jaw tightened, forming a scowl. “I always thought their deaths were suspicious. It seemed too convenient to have you swoop in at exactly the right time to help me out.”

Derek said nothing, but the way his eyes shifted guiltily was proof enough.

Gabe let out a shriek of primal rage. Power lifted his body into the air, and electricity crackled from his fingertips, even as it poured from his mouth and eyes. He aimed all of that energy at Derek.

“You betrayed me, Uncle,” he shouted, “And you killed the mother and father I loved—the ones who really raised me.”