After the Summerland (The Witches of Spring Hill Book 1) (21 page)

Cian jumps in, “I
thought it would be a good idea to have some in case the Alexanders were
there.”

“And were they?” Selene
asks Xavier.

“No, they weren’t,” he
responds. “But we figured after what happened today, we shouldn’t take any
chances. C’mon, Aunt Selene. You’re making a big deal out of nothing. Can we go
in now?”

She stands staring at
Xavier for a moment, then says, “Fine, let’s go. But this conversation is not
over and if you ever sneak out of the house again or don’t tell me where you are,
there’ll be more than just a slap. Understood?”

They all said they
understood and walked around to the front door behind Selene. Xavier suspects
Brianna’s suggestion to block his mind worked. Selene would never have let them
off so easy, had she known where they spent their evening. She stopped them at
the door, leaving them outside on the porch. Only after she put in the alarm
code, did she come back to let them in. Oh yes, Xavier thinks, she is
definitely getting more paranoid and much more dangerous every day.

After getting caught trying
to sneak in, Xavier, Cian, and Brianna lay low for a while and avoid meeting up
with the Alexanders other than at school. At home, they don’t talk to each
other about anything they learned from the Alexanders — just in case Selene had
the house bugged. Occasionally they text each other, but eventually decide that
even that much communication isn’t safe. They stay with Selene at home when
they aren’t in school so they won’t cast any more suspicion on themselves.

It is clear to all of
them that Selene is building her energy for something, but even Xavier has been
removed from her innermost thoughts. He knows it will take her a long time to ever
trust him again, if ever. He suspects she tried to read his mind the night they
got in; but when she failed, she knew that he was blocking her in order to keep
something from her. Brianna gave him an amulet that he wears all the time, even
when he’s not around Selene. She’s distanced herself from them emotionally and
although he has tried to bring up the Alexanders on more than one occasion, Selene
only half listens and eventually walks away from the conversation, sometimes
when he is still in the middle of a sentence.

Every day is a challenge
and they know for sure she is planning something, but have no idea what it is.
She spends a lot of time locked in the
back room
that
only she has access to. They know when she is practicing magic, because the
energy inside the house pulsates, but so far they haven’t seen any evidence of
her spells.

Cian and Brianna press Xavier,
urging him to remember something, anything that will help them
find
out what Selene’s plans are for all of them. Xavier
explains that anything she told him was strictly for whatever she was working
on in the moment. Selene never told him her long-term plans, other than getting
the house on the hill, which they all already knew about. They pressed him about
the day she went to Peter’s, but again, he insisted he didn’t know what she was
doing there, only that she was going.

Though Xavier didn’t
want to tell the Alexanders about what happened with Selene the night they returned
from their house, Cian insisted on telling Chloe. He wanted her to know that
the blocking spell that Brianna taught Xavier seemed to work, but that they
couldn’t talk to them outside of school. He told her about the night Selene
caught them trying to sneak in and how she is acting even more paranoid than
usual. He stressed that pressure was building at home and although it was tense
before, it’s now feeling like a pressure cooker.

Chloe told Rowan and
Kaiden what was going on with the Silvans and after hearing they were on lockdown,
they made the most of their hours together at school. They are always careful
not to acknowledge each other until they are safely inside, away from the observing
eyes of Selene. They sit together at lunch and the
Alexanders’
old friends look on, mostly disappointed in being excluded. The Alexanders and
Silvans strengthen their bonds with each other and their lunch conversations are
about what they learned from the grimoires, new spells, and just getting to
know everything about each other. All of them wish they could spend more time
together outside of school.

Although Xavier,
Brianna, and Cian have racked their brains for a good excuse to get away, they can’t
ever come up with something that wouldn’t make Aunt Selene suspicious. The way she
has been acting lately only confirms that she won’t tolerate any more mistakes
from them. Although they would love to go to the clearing like Chloe keeps
suggesting, it is much too risky to take the chance. They bide their time,
hoping that an opportunity will present itself.

Chloe and Cian have
several classes together and they spend more time together than anyone else.
Although they desperately want to be alone and even considered ditching school
for a day, they wait patiently like everyone else. Cian knows if Selene ever found
out how much he cared for Chloe, not only would Cian be in danger, but he would
also be painting a target on Chloe’s back.

Brianna and Kaiden only
have two classes together and unfortunately, don’t sit anywhere near each other
in either one. They walk together to their classes and settle for making eyes
at each other whenever possible. Occasionally Kaiden opens his mind, and focuses
his energy toward Brianna so she can read his thoughts. They make a game of it
and although Kaiden does not have the ability to read minds, he doesn’t need to
be psychic to know how Brianna feels about him.

Even Rowan and Xavier
are getting along. Rowan wasn’t sure how she felt about Xavier, but when Kristen,
Rowan’s old friend, attempted to chat him up, Rowan made it clear to her that Xavier
was off limits. Although not ready to admit she was interested in him, she
certainly didn’t want anyone else interested in him either.

She waits impatiently
for her abilities to manifest and spends a lot of time talking with Brianna in
PE. Whenever they are told to find a partner or pick a team, Rowan and Brianna
gravitate toward each other. While Brianna’s abilities are getting stronger,
Rowan’s have yet to make an appearance. Brianna continues to reassure her and
insists that it will happen and to stop worrying about it. For the first time,
Rowan is enjoying having a friend she considers her equal.

Liam, Marcus, and Peter
continue their search for information about Selene. Liam and Marcus agree that
whatever is drawing her to them is something more than just the power the land
will give to her. Whenever they ask Peter about the note left at his house, he
simply shrugs and insists he has no idea what the note could mean. Liam asked
Peter if it is possible that Selene had some right to the land, but Peter
scoffed at the question and redirected him to keep looking at her life in
California.

They already made some discoveries about her
life in California, but were still unable to find anything about her past. They
were all on edge waiting for her to make her next move. Peter still hasn’t gone
back to his house, opting to stay with Marcus in town. Liam has the kids
driving themselves to school, so they have the means to get away from the
school, if necessary. It is a waiting game and unfortunately for them, Selene
has the advantage. Liam no longer sees her around town and often wonders how she
spends her days. It seems strange to Liam how when she first got to town she
spent so much time chasing him and then suddenly seemed to lose interest in him
all together. He can’t help but wonder if she found whatever she was looking
for elsewhere.

Although Selene
intended to start her ‘siege’ on the Alexander’s property right away, instead
she finds herself drawing it out as long as possible. She can feel her power
strengthening from the negative energy emanating from town. The Alexanders are on
edge and the more anxious they become, the more they feed her dark powers,
making her stronger everyday.

Even at home she has
been drawing on the fear coming off her niece and nephews. Although she sometimes
misses collaborating with Xavier, she enjoys how the power rolls through her
when she is in their presence, especially Brianna. This surge of power she feels
is addictive, so she decides to continue to let her strength build and hold off
on her attack for a bit longer.

She was determined to
find out what went on the night the kids were out late. She knew they were with
the Alexanders — the sprigs of rosemary gave them away. She found the same
sprigs in Peter’s house when she searched through his belongings. As much as
she wanted to know what happened, she knew she could no longer trust any of them,
even Xavier. When she tried to look in his mind, she was blocked, and it seemed
as if the harder she pushed, the more he pushed back until finally she gave up.

Instead of asking them for the truth outright,
or telling them she knew where they were, she lets it go, allowing them to
think that she believed the little story they concocted. As much as she would
enjoy the looks on their faces and their begging for forgiveness if she called
them out, she wasn’t quite ready to blow her cover yet; especially when she
decided the next best thing would be to set a trap and let them lead her to
what she wanted.

After the night she
caught them out, she thought about various punishments, including making them
walk to school, but after giving it more thought, she realized it would only
make it easier for them to meet up with the Alexanders again. So she continued
driving them to and from school and observed them closely when they went in and
came out. Even though she never saw anything suspicious or unusual, she assumed
things were happening behind closed doors.

She noticed the
Alexanders were now driving themselves to school. She filed that away as useful
information, along with the fact that Peter was staying at Marcus’s house
instead of at his own. He had not gone back to the house since the day she cast
the spell, other than to pick up more clothes. She knew that because she
happened to be at the house when he got there. She was standing at the back
door trying to figure out how to break in to check on the bugs she planted,
since she had not heard anything at all since she planted them. She was glad she
took the time to hide her car, and although tempted to scare Peter a little,
she wasn’t quite ready to make the next move. She had to admit she was curious
about the relationship between the Alexanders and her niece and nephews, which
gave her an idea of how she could find out more, without anyone’s help.

When Selene told Xavier
that she would be going out of town the following day for a long weekend, she
enjoyed the shocked look on his face. She liked watching him try to hide his
excitement from her, and rather than calling him on it, she gave him an extra
moment to collect himself. She turned her back on him and continued packing
while explaining that she received a call about some unfinished custody business
in California that she had to tend to.

She looked at him knowingly and said, “I
trust that you will take care of things around the house while I’m gone?”
Before he could respond, she told him that she would drop them off at school on Friday
and would return home on Sunday afternoon. Xavier told her not to worry, that he would
take care of everything. Selene just smiled with her back to him and said, “Oh,
I’m sure you will.”

Xavier can hardly wait
to tell Brianna and Cian the news, but instead of telling them at home where Selene
might overhear their excitement or pick up on their happy moods, which she has
been doing more of lately, he holds it in until they get to school on Friday
morning.

As soon as Selene
drives away, he says, “Aunt Selene is going out of town today and will be gone
until Sunday afternoon.”

“No way…” Brianna
responds disbelieving. “She wouldn’t go out of town now, not with the way things
have been at home.”

“Maybe she needs
something for whatever she is planning,” Cian says. “Which means she may be
about to make a move. We need to talk to the Alexanders as soon as possible.”

As if on cue, the
Alexanders pull into the parking lot and like they have been doing for the past
month, they don’t even look toward the Silvans.

“Come on, let’s get
into school to tell them.” Cian jogs toward the school and when he turns his
head to see if his sister and brother are with him, he has a vision of Selene
parking somewhere nearby. He stops suddenly and looks around the parking lot
and across the street, but doesn’t see the white Mercedes anywhere. Like his
sister, he worries that all is not as it appears, and he cringes at the idea
that his aunt is setting them up.

When he voices his concern to his brother,
Xavier pats him on the shoulder and says, “I saw the plane ticket, man. Her
flight leaves in a couple hours. She said it had something to do with our
custody, so it might not even have anything to do with what is going on here.
Just chillax, brother, stop worrying for a minute.”

Only slightly relieved
by what his brother said, he lets it go, forgetting about it altogether when he
sees Chloe walking toward him in a flowing purple dress that looks stunning on
her.

“You look amazing,” he
says, giving her a hug and a quick peck on the cheek. He still hasn’t really kissed
her, but even just kissing her cheek is enough to make his day.

“If it’s true, we just
got the best news, ever!” Brianna says bursting with joy. “Aunt Selene is going
out of town, to California, until Sunday afternoon.”

Kaiden immediately
wonders what this could possibly mean, but rather than voice his concerns he
smiles back at Brianna and says, “Finally, you guys can come back up to the
house!” He grabs her hand and is about to pull her into a hug when he notices
Chloe texting. “Who are you texting, Chloe?”