Retribution (53 page)

Apparently he had no idea he'd been crushing her, or he would have said a lot more than sorry. “I know,” she mumbled, laying her head on his shoulder. She hated that he'd been right about not realizing his own strength. That could definitely become an issue if her heart continued its odd spikes.

He headed for his cousins then jerked to a halt, and as Layla raised her head to find out why, her bonded light was forced into hiding. She gasped as the stifled emotions engorged her speeding heart. Then she watched Quin’s bonded light disappear, but his aura remained, swelling with dark and turbulent colors.
 

“What the hell is this?” he barked, and the next thing Layla knew, she was on her feet behind him, stupidly staring at his back. She didn’t even know how she got there, just that he’d put her there.

She leaned to the side and peered around his tense torso. Then her numb lungs flooded with oxygen.

There, right in the middle of the lawn, on their knees and restrained by magical cords, were two Unforgivables.

“What are they doing here?” Layla demanded, looking at Drystan and Devlin. Then her mouth fell open as her heart plummeted.

Their clothes were singed and smeared with soot; their faces and arms looked sun-burnt; and their auras blazed as they glared at their captives.

Layla stumbled toward them, her feet heavy, like she was walking through a dream… through a nightmare. Then strong fingers wrapped around her wrist and pulled, yanking her from her dreamlike state-of-mind.

“Ow,” she mumbled, looking at Quin’s hand.

His expression shifted, displaying his regret, but then his eyes hardened as he took her by the waist and pulled her against him.

Everyone else on the lawn stayed frozen for several shocked seconds. Then Caitrin came to his senses and jumped into action. He moved behind the Unforgivables, using a foot to push them onto their faces. Then he secured them in his own magical cords, including new mind shields. Searching the crowd, he pinpointed the two biggest wizards on the lawn. “Weylin, Conan, keep these two incapacitated.”

Father and son approached, taking the translucent ropes from Caitrin, who summoned two chairs as he turned to Devlin and Drystan. “Sit down. Let Serafin look at your wounds.”
 

The suggestions went ignored as Drystan and Devlin turned their attention to the sky, and Layla looked, too, panic bubbling up in her tight chest, her pulse out of control. “No…”

A colorful cloud came into view over the western tree line, steadily descending toward the lawn. Then Selena appeared with Alana in her arms and Brayden clutching her side. Tears streamed down Selena’s dirty face as she landed, and Brayden ran to Drystan, who scooped him up on his way to his wife and daughter.

Layla couldn't breathe or speak or move as she waited to see Alana's face, which stayed buried in Selena's neck until Drystan whispered something in her ear.

Raising her head, the toddler shifted on Selena’s arm, and a wretched cry burst from Layla’s throat. “No.”

Fighting a gag, she looked from Alana's raw, soot-covered body to the Unforgivables, and her feet threw a fit, her heaving torso locked in Quin’s firm embrace.

“Where's Edana?” Cadman demanded. “Where's my daughter?”

“She's okay,” Devlin assured. “She stayed to deal with the hexless authorities.”

“What happened?” Caitrin asked.

Devlin swallowed and bowed his head. “The shop's gone. We couldn’t save it. Alana…” He paused and clutched his heart. “...Alana got the worst of it. She struggled with her water magic under pressure, and the flames got to her before we did.”

Serafin flew to Alana and vanished her burnt clothes, but he worked around Selena's arm. “What have you done so far?”

Taking a steady breath, Selena blinked back moisture and calmly answered. “We treated the blisters and did what we could to soothe the burn, but we had to get out of there before the police arrived. They would have sent her to the hospital.”

Serafin continued his examination, healing as he went, and Caitrin turned toward the Unforgivables. “They did this?”

“Yes,” Devlin confirmed, narrowing his eyes on the offenders. “Drystan and I flew in as they were flying out.”

“Any bystanders hurt?”

“No. The shop was closed.”

Caitrin searched out a group from the Cormac/Adair coven. “Contact all the shops. Tell them what's going on. They need to get their customers out and close up early. They shouldn't let their guard down while people remain in the buildings.”

Layla fought burning hot tears as she pushed at Quin’s arm. “Let me go,” she whispered, trying to sound calm, but she wasn’t calm, she was the opposite of calm. “I need to make sure Alana's okay. She was never... This wasn't supposed to touch her.”

Quin didn’t let go, but he carried her to Alana, and Layla quickly wiped away tears while composing herself. “Hi, sweetie,” she greeted, trying not to expose her anger.

When Alana spoke, her voice was so sad, Layla could have sworn she felt her heart crack. “Hi, Waywa.”

Layla tried to find an unscathed section of the toddler’s hand to hold, but the whole thing was red and swollen, so she gently ran her fingers into her hair. “I bet that was scary.”

“Weawy scawy,” Alana confirmed. “I couldn't use my watew. I wasn't stwong enough.”

Layla and Selena objected at the same time. “That's not true.”

“See?” Selena continued. “Layla doesn't think you're weak, and she has super strong magic, so she must know.”

Layla raised her eyebrows and nodded. “I do know. I've seen you perform very special magic. You're the strongest two-year-old I've ever met.”

Alana lowered her eyes. “But my magic didn't come when I cawed it.”

“Because you were surprised,” Layla explained. “Sometimes, when I'm surprised, my magic won't come right away, but that's okay. It’s still in there. Try it now. See if you can get Serafin in the face with your water.”

Alana hesitantly looked at Serafin, who smiled. “Go for it, my dear. It helps me heal when I have a face full of water.”

“Otay.” Alana’s tiny features pinched in concentration. Then she giggled as water flew from her hand and hit Serafin’s face.

“There's that water magic,” Layla praised. “It was just being lazy, but I bet it will know better the next time it’s surprised.”

“I hope so.”

“Me, too, angel. Are you still hurting?”

“I'm bettew.”

“Good. And now that Serafin has been sprayed with water, he'll have you back to normal in no time.”

“Yep,” Serafin agreed. “You’ll be as good as new very soon.”

“Can you tell me where it hurt the most?” Layla asked.

Alana held up her right hand. “When my magic was supwised my hand got hot.”

“Does it feel better now?”

“It's stiw hot.”

Serafin gently took Alana’s wrist, and Layla spoke again. “What else got extra hot?”

“My foot,” Alana answered, lifting her right leg, which was burned from the knee down. “And my awm.”

“You got that, Dr. Serafin?” Layla asked, winking at Alana, who giggled.

“Got it,” Serafin replied. “Hand, foot, arm.”

“Good.” Layla glanced at her house. Then she closed her eyes and waved a hand. “Guess what, sweetie?”

“What?” Alana asked.

Layla tried to match her enthusiasm, but with little success. “I have all the ingredients for a tea party in my living room, and they're just waiting for a special hostess like you to serve them.”

“Weawy?”

“Yep, and my special candy stash is in there, too. Why don't you and your mom go have some tea and junk food while Dr. Serafin takes care of you?”

“Otay.”

Layla kissed Alana's forehead then looked at Drystan. “You and Devlin should take Brayden in for candy while the three of you heal. In fact,” she added, scanning the rest of the crowd, which included Shaylee and several other small children, “all the kids should go in for a snack.”

“Good idea,” Daleen agreed, gathering the kids.

Layla watched them cross the lawn and disappear into her house. Then her gaze flipped to the Unforgivables, her jaw flexing as her lungs heaved. “Let me go, Quin.”

Quin looked at the Unforgivables, who remained uncooperative as Caitrin questioned them. Then he scanned Layla’s aura, which had doubled in size and swam with crimson veins. “I’m not letting you go,” he refused.

“Then carry me over there.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“Fine.”

She held out a hand, and Weylin and Conan let out a yell as they floated into the air with their captives. Wiggling and cursing, all four bodies hovered across the lawn then came to a rest on the grass in front of Layla.

Quin started backing away, but jolted to a halt when Layla shouted.

“Stop! If you're worried Caitrin's spells aren't good enough, bind them with yours. There's no way a couple of bottom feeders like these will be able to break through your spells.”

“Geez, gorgeous,” Weylin breathed, still recovering from his trip across the lawn. “Do you have any idea how uncomfortable that is when you're not expecting it?”

Layla ignored him and stared at the Unforgivables – a man and a woman, on their knees with their heads bowed. “Look at me,” she ordered, but their eyes stayed on the ground. “Look at me!”

She struggled against Quin’s hold, her bloody aura enveloping the accused, and they finally looked up, gasping at her huge power-band, the ominous haze around it, and the black chasms staring them down.

Weylin chuckled. “Didn't see that coming, did you?”

They didn't respond. They just stared at Layla with open mouths and frozen auras.
 

“Did you know that baby was in there?” Layla seethed. “Did you know there were kids in that building when you burned it down?”

The female’s face flushed as she nervously stuttered. “I... we...”

“Keep your mouth shut, Doreen,” the male ordered.

Layla's left hand whipped through the air, and several small slashes tore open the frail skin of the wizard's lips, but he just laughed as blood trickled down his chin. “What do you think that's going to do, witch? Get me to spill my guts?”

“I could do that for you,” she offered, raising a hand, and every eye in the clearing widened as it came back down. His guts didn't spill, but six deep gashes ripped across his torso, slicing through cloak and skin.

“Get her out of here, Quinlan,” Kemble ordered.

“No,” Layla snapped.

“This isn't necessary, dear,” Kemble insisted. “Caitrin and I will deal with them.”

“No,” she whispered. “Don't you dare move, Quin.”

Quin swallowed as he closed his eyes, taking a moment to consider his options. Then he leaned in and found Layla’s ear. “What do you expect to gain from this?”

“Answers.”

“And revenge?”

“That depends on their answers.”

“You're not the vengeful type.”

“We'll see.”

“Quinlan,” Kemble interrupted.

Quin met his dad's stare. Then he shook his head. “I’m not denying her this. Look at her aura. That’s not going away on its own.” Turning forward, he gave her a squeeze. “What do you want to do, love?”

Her aura pulsed as she answered. “If they won't give us answers, I'll take them. Move me closer and release their mind shields.”

He took a deep breath then cautiously stepped forward, his alert gaze flipping between the Unforgivables. “If you blink wrong, I'll gouge your eyes out. If your fingers twitch, I'll tear your arms off, and if you hurt even a hair on my angel’s head, I’ll make you wish you were never born.”

The female didn't move a muscle, but the male defiantly glared at Quin. “He knows she's with you. He's coming for her, and there's nothing you can do to stop him.”

Quin ignored the threat and took another guarded step, overriding Caitrin’s magic and breaking the captives’ mind shields. “Get it done, Layla.”

She leaned forward, putting pressure on Quin's arm as she lifted Doreen's face. “Did you know that baby was in the building when you threw your fire at it?”

“Keep your mouth shut, Doreen,” the male ordered. “Don't tell her a damn thing.”

The back of Layla’s hand slammed into the wizard’s face, and his head snapped sideways as fresh blood oozed from a gash along his cheekbone. He tried to shake off the hit, but Layla’s palm came down on his forehead.

She gasped and swayed while pulling away, and Quin took a step back, trying not to panic. “What was that?”

“His brain,” she answered, “every thought the bastard has ever had. Move me back.”

He obeyed, and she grasped the wizard's head once more, muscles flexing as she closed her eyes in concentration. The prisoner thrashed, and Quin narrowed his eyes on him, ready and willing to commit murder.

Doreen sobbed and slouched, and Quin glanced at her before looking back to her partner. “What do you know, Doreen?”

“I didn't know the baby was in there,” she cried. “I swear I didn't.”