Must Be Magic (Spellbound) (31 page)

“Thomas?”

He took another step, and pain slammed into the back of his skull.

Darby couldn’t sleep, and it was all Thomas Lancaster’s fault.

She and Bryce were going to make this work, whether he liked it or not, but she’d really prefer the former. A lot.

Bryce might be less than thrilled that his father hadn’t told him about her pregnancy, but they’d all made their share of mistakes years ago. She and Bryce had started over. Why couldn’t she and his father do the same?

Thomas Lancaster loved his son. She’d seen the evidence of that when they’d gotten back to St. Lucia and he’d been the first one to reach for Bryce.

It was that bond that drove her out of bed, leaving Bryce asleep behind her. He’d fallen asleep almost the moment their heads had hit the pillow less than an hour ago. As exhausted as she was, she couldn’t seem to fall back asleep without knowing what to expect from his father.

She told herself it wouldn’t make a difference, but when they flew home in the morning—the thought made her stomach cramp up—she wanted to know where they stood.

Bryce didn’t stir when she scooped up her clothes and dressed in the bathroom. After running a brush through her hair, she slipped on some sandals, grabbed the key to the room and let herself out.

She might not be winning any points going to talk to Bryce’s dad so close to midnight, but if he’d already made up his mind to disapprove of her permanently, what was one more black mark on her record?

Knowing the Lancasters had had the misfortune of being assigned a bungalow almost directly across from her parents, she left the main building behind and crossed the grounds at a brisk pace.

Crossing paths with only a few people—the bigger crowds still lingered around the resort bars—she made good time, but found herself hesitating at the end of the walkway.

Maybe this was a bad idea.

She turned away, then forced herself back around and up the steps to the porch. A light was on inside. At least she wouldn’t be waking anyone up.

She knocked on the door and waited a few seconds, then knocked again after no response. Still nothing.

Maybe Bryce’s parents were still somewhere on the resort grounds? Given how tired they’d looked only yesterday, she couldn’t imagine them partying.

She knocked again, heard movement from inside.

So he was ignoring her? Seeing as she’d had more than her share of dealing with Lancaster men bent on ignoring her, she only knocked louder.

“Mr. Lancaster? Thomas?” Might as well get the formalities out of the way. She was pretty sure Finn didn’t call him Mr. Lancaster.

This time the curtain moved, and she gave up on knocking. There was no way he couldn’t hear her.

“I think there are some things we need to clear up and I’m not leaving until you hear me out.” There. She’d made herself as clear as she could.

The door opened, and she took the invitation, stepping into the bungalow that was a mirror image of the one she’d been in only days ago.

It felt more like a lifetime ago now.

Thomas sat in the chair farthest from the door, his face cast in shadows.

Without taking her eyes off him, she closed the door, prepared to talk fast. There was less opportunity for him to intimidate her if she did all the talking first.

“Look, I know I’m not your favorite person—” she began.

That was as far as she got. “You shouldn’t be here, Darby.”

Sighing, she took a step deeper into the room. “Can we talk, just for a few minutes?”

“Another time,” he growled.

Refusing to be put off by his attitude, she took another step, already eyeballing the chair opposite him, and nearly tripped on something.

She recovered quickly, glancing down to see what had almost embarrassed her more than she already was.

A shoe?

Frowning, she followed it to the leg partially blocked by the bed. Her pulse picked up speed, thundering in her ears by the time she recognized the person lying unconscious on the floor.

“Alex?”

She dropped to her knees, shooting Thomas an accusing look. “What the hell did you do to him?”

Blood trickled from a cut on Alex’s face, and she felt relief slide through her at the sight of his chest moving with shallow, but steady breaths.

“You should have left, Darby.”

She stilled at the familiar voice coming from directly behind her, then slowly turned around.

Chapter Fourteen

The gun was the first thing she noticed. A revolver, an older-style one that looked like something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie. But it wasn’t nearly as surprising as facing the person pointing it at her.

Libby.

Shock kept her from reacting for a long moment, and she waved her hand at the weapon.
“Exuro.”

Whatever impact her magic might have had, it was quickly countered by Libby’s.

“You’re still hurt, young one. Sit.” Her aunt motioned for her to take a seat on the bed.

Deciding it was best to go along with the command until she knew what the hell was going on, she did as she was told. She chanced a quick glance at Thomas, noticing for the first time the darkening shape near his temple.

Libby had been busy tonight.

The surreal thought would have been laughable if the gun weren’t still pointed at her. This was crazy. Libby didn’t hurt anyone. She’d been part of the Tribunal, had been thrilled when Tate took over her responsibilities so she’d have more time to go hang gliding or take tango lessons.

Darby was pretty sure this wasn’t the first time Thomas Lancaster had angered someone enough to make them want to lash out, but this was Libby. It didn’t make any sense.

“What’s going on, Libby?”

“I’m finishing old business.”

“With who?” She wasn’t sure how Alex fit into the whole situation. Had he stumbled across Thomas and Libby by accident, or had he picked up on some bad vibes?

“I couldn’t sit back and watch him do it to you.”

“Do what to me? Libby,” she prompted, regaining her aunt’s attention, “what are you talking about?”

Her aunt’s eyes, so much darker and angrier than Darby could remember, never left Thomas’s. “He was sabotaging your happiness. He does that. He couldn’t stop Bree and Finn from being together, but he was determined to keep you and Bryce apart. Always has been.”

“I don’t understand.” It was easy to say to buy time, hoping someone else would come along. Tate would sense the tension, wouldn’t she? Or at the very least realize Alex was hurt?

“He would have found a way, Darby. No matter how hard you tried, he would have found a way to come between you and Bryce, the same way he found a way to come between me and his brother, the same way he came between our parents.”

Darby’s head started to spin. “I’m not following, Libby. Could you just put the gun down so we can sort this out. Please.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Then talk to me. How did he come between you and his brother?” She’d never even heard they’d been a couple. And what did that have to do with Darby’s grandparents?

“He was mad. Always so mad. Even now, he’s sitting there, his fury just eating him up inside, driving him to make sure everyone else is just as miserable as he is.”

“Libby,” Darby said softly, “you dated his brother?”

She nodded, her eyes misting. “And he poisoned it by making his brother question everything. Thomas was always there, criticizing and judging, slowly eroding every moment of happiness until there was nothing left. He refused to see another bond forged between the Calders and Lancasters.”

“Another bond?” Their grandparents?

Libby nodded. “My father and his mother had an affair years ago. They’d been quite the couple when they were younger, but life took them down different paths and they didn’t reconnect until years later.”

“After my mother was happily married,” Thomas interjected.

“It wasn’t like that,” Libby pressed.

Thomas sneered. “It never is, is it?” He glanced at Darby. “You need to go find help. Now.”

Although she was fairly confident Libby wouldn’t hurt her, she couldn’t say the same about Thomas.

Staying put for now, she turned back to her aunt. “What happened after that?”

“Nothing.” Thomas met Libby’s enraged gaze. “Shortly after that, my parents picked me up from Danny’s house, and on the drive home my father confronted my mother about the affair with your father,” he snapped. “They argued and my father lost control of the car. My mother died moments after the crash.”

“But sparing you. Leaving you alive and so damn determined to make sure no Calder would ever be involved with your precious family.”

That was the accident her father had been talking about? The one that changed everything for Thomas?

It made sense, explained why he’d been so suspicious and negative where her family was concerned. If he’d blamed a Calder for breaking up his family, for taking his mother from him…

“Don’t feel sorry for him, Darby,” Libby warned. “He’s caused more misery than he ever experienced.”

“You have no idea what I experienced,” Thomas countered.

“Shut up.” Libby took a threatening step toward him.

Darby rose to her feet. “Whoa.”

Libby ignored her. “Why couldn’t you have been the one on the plane?”

The demand hung on the air between them.

Thomas’s eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”

“Not enough.” Her expression turned stricken, and she glanced at Darby. “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. The plane wasn’t supposed to crash.”

A buzzing filled Darby’s ears, a definite sign her brain was on complete overload.

“I just wanted him to suffer for a little bit,” Libby continued. “So I put a little something in his coffee.”

“Miles,” she whispered. “Miles drank your coffee.” She glanced at Thomas, remembering the conversation between Bryce and the pilot when they’d boarded the plane. “Miles was in pain. His heart.” Wasn’t that what Bryce had said after the crash?

“He shouldn’t have been. It was nothing like that,” Libby rushed to add. “It must have been something else.”

“His heart medication,” Thomas cut in. “Whatever was in the coffee must have interacted with his medication, triggered a heart attack.”

Libby shook her head.

“It’s your fault he’s dead.” Thomas stood, and Libby tightened her hand around the gun. “And you nearly killed Bryce and Darby. You talk about the things I’ve done, but I haven’t killed anyone.”

Licking her lips, Libby jabbed the gun in his direction. “You know exactly what you’ve done.”

“Don’t, Libby. It’s not worth it.”

Her aunt took another menacing step forward, and Darby reacted on instinct, putting herself in Libby’s path.

A heartbeat later the gun went off.

“Where’s Darby?”

“Lost her already?” Finn turned from his seat at the bar to face him. “This is becoming a bit of a habit for you guys, isn’t it?”

If Finn weren’t the only Calder he’d managed to track down without disturbing her parents, he would have walked away.

“I woke up and she was gone.”

Bree slipped an arm around his waist. “You guys made up? That’s awesome.”

Bryce nodded. It was much better than awesome. At least it had been until fifteen minutes ago when he’d found the bed empty next to him. “Do you know where she is?”

They both shook their heads.

“You’re sure things were fine between you guys?” Finn asked, still looking skeptical.

Bryce didn’t have time for an interrogation. He needed to find Darby. “I brought pens. We were good.”

“Pens,” Bree echoed, looking confused.

Finn frowned, then seemed to understand the significance. “She wouldn’t be with our parents and Dante is bunking with Alex.”

“Then where the hell could she be?” He turned and scanned the bar as if he could be that lucky and find her close. But that wouldn’t make sense. She wouldn’t have left their bed to come for a drink.

Not without waking him first.

Another thoughtful look crossed Finn’s face.

“What?”

“She mentioned your father earlier. I told her that he was part of the package.”

Not the best words of advice, considering Darby and his father’s history, but would that have been enough to coax her out of bed? Had she wanted a clean slate?

“Mom was staying with Angel tonight,” Bree said. “She’s still miffed about how he’s treated the Calders.”

This was news to Bryce, but not entirely unexpected. He’d sensed some underlying tension between them yesterday, and especially after she’d overheard their argument and discovered how he’d treated Darby all those years ago. “I’m going to check over there. If you come across her…”

“We’ll keep her with us right here,” Finn finished.