The Dutiful Witch (The Ward Witches) (11 page)

So he held onto her, cherishing both her and the fact that she was his. She was special, and he was glad to have found someone that worked so well with his life. He had worried that he'd be like his father and would have an unstable marriage with an unsuitable wife. But Fiona was nothing like his mother Gladys, and she was making everything she touched better. Including his heart. It was early days yet, but he couldn't help but think that they would have a strong marriage.

“
How did you like it?”

“
I liked it a lot. It was interesting to have those little vignettes that were all weaved together into a bigger story.” He liked that she liked the movies he enjoyed. He wanted to show her new things, even if it's just for her enthusiastic response.

“
There's a lot of this type of film by Hammer Horror.”

“
Perfect.”

“
What would you like to do now?” He asked Fiona.

She reached up and grazed his cheek with her fingers. “I'm enjoying sitting here.”

“
Do you want me to put in another movie?”

“
Not just yet.”

She shifted suddenly, and rather than sitting at his side with her head on his shoulder, she was laying on top of him and her lips were forceful on his. He responded passionately, moving so that he could haul her up against him. He could tell when she felt his arousal stir beneath her. He was actually rather surprised at the speed his body came back to life after all they had done earlier.

She gave a little purr and slipped a hand between them to drag her fingers along his length. He groaned and squeezed her butt.

“
Oh Fiona, what you do to me.”

“
You'll just have to keep me around then.”

“
That I will. I'll never get enough of you.”

“
Good. You're not supposed to. Now stop talking,” she said, making sure he obeyed by claiming his mouth with her own. He groaned, and his hands fell back to his side as he was incapable of doing anything but feeling what she was doing with her hand. Seb's hands gripped the pillow beside him as he enjoyed her ministrations. When he couldn't stand it anymore, he stopped her.

“
I need to be inside you.”

That was all it took to get her to move up and impale herself on him, both of them moaning at the same time. She clearly wanted to lead, and he was happy to follow wherever she went. He looked up at her uninhibited enjoyment of him, and Seb knew that as long as she was with him, he'd be a happy man. After all, she was his wife, and he loved her. He bucked up against her, and she grinned.

When they were both done, again, they cuddled on the couch, content to just be with each other. Seb petted along her arm slowly, just savoring her nearness.

“
I love you, Fiona,” he finally said, knowing that he needed to express himself or die from the strain of keeping it in.

But when he looked down after she didn't respond, he realized she was sound asleep. Sighing, he picked her up and carried her into the bedroom, nestling her under the covers. It would evidently need to wait until tomorrow. Upon further consideration, he should do something big to commemorate the moment he told her. Seb crawled in next to her for the night.

Seb woke up first the next morning. He smiled to see that Fiona was still asleep. She must have been really tired. He ached in a good way after using all those muscle groups that had been underutilized before he met her. After his shower, he woke her up gently.

“
Oh hey, what time is it?”

“
Nearly eight.”

“
I do need to get to work on time. Got to impress the boss,” she said with a wink, getting up.

“
I've heard he's a real hard-ass.”

“
Ah, he's not that bad.” She paused. “Did you bring me to bed last night?”

“
You passed out cold on the couch. I thought it would be best to let you sleep.”

“
Thanks. I need to check with Suzy before I go in to work. I need to make sure she's still got all the supplies and such to keep filling orders. It's really sweet of her to help me out.”

“
From what I hear, you're paying her enough to work hard for you.”

“
She works hard, and I reward good help.”

“
I'd agree. Suzy's been very loyal to the Coven, and I'm sure she's providing the same level of service to you.”

“
I've been thinking about how I'm going to protect myself against a future contact from Redman.”

“
Good. I care a lot about you, and I really don't want to see him get at you again. If there's anything I can do, please let me know.”

“
But I've also been wondering if I should do it or not.”

Seb's heart stopped for a minute. “Wait, what?”

“
If I let him contact me again, he might tell me somewhere to meet him or something that I can use against him later. If I block him, he'll be suspicious.”

“
You already said you didn't want to join him.”

“
But I can change my mind, or pretend to. Maybe I'm swayed by the temptation of power. But think of the possibilities if I act like I'm going to go along with it.”

Seb shook his head definitively. “No. There's no way we can risk that. You saw how drained you were after a few minutes of talking to him. He's evil, and we can't ignore that or let that go. It's a bad idea all around for you to even pretend to listen to him.”

“
But Seb, I could do a lot of good with it.”

He hardened his resolve and started pacing while talking. “No, Fiona. I don't want you getting hurt. I don't just want to protect you, I need to. He's proven that he's willing to kidnap and kill people. I saw what he and his lackeys did to Melanie. And I saw what that did to Justin. You heard what he did to your parents, and so did Justin and I. He's evil. There's no way to make sure you're safe if you put yourself out there as bait. You mean too much to me to do that.” He caught her eye and hoped that she could see how much she really did mean to him in his eyes.

She seemed torn, then she nodded. “If that's how it's going to be, then I'll protect myself.”

He was glad she capitulated so easily. Something inside her must have agreed with what he said. “Your potion didn't work as well as it could have. Take the amulet back from me.”

“
But then you won't be protected!”

“
He doesn't want me. He wants you. And I want you safe.”

She gave in again. “Alright. But I don't like this at all. I'm going to make you another one as soon as I can.”

“
I look forward to it. I'm not trying to be a heavy handed dictator. But you're mine now, and I don't want anything to happen to you.” He hugged her tightly.

“
I know you're not trying to be a dictator. You've been Duke a long time, and a husband a lot less time. You're acting kind of like a caveman, but I understand somewhat.” She kissed him. “If you think we'll be able to get Redman another way, I'll trust you.”

“
Thank you, Fiona.” He took the amulet off from where it had sat on his chest and draped it over her head. He watched as she got ready to go to work. She was precious to him, and he would see her safe, even if she didn't take as good of care of herself.

125

CHAPTER EIGHT

Fiona had barely reached her office when the phone started ringing. It was a cell, but she had left it in the office yesterday afternoon. As she picked it up, she noticed the light flashing to indicate that she had missed calls.

“
Fiona Ward.”

“
Don't you ever answer your phone?” Melanie demanded.

Fiona chuckled. “I only just got in the door. Besides, aren't you on maternity leave?”

“
I'm in my bedroom. That counts.”

“
But I'm sure you can do plenty of work from there.”

“
Of course.” Melanie realized her slip with a sharp intake of breath.

“
Alright, I've harassed you enough for today. Tell me what you were calling about and then go back to being a new mother, won't you?”

127

THE DUTIFUL WITCH

“
I've gotten great interest in you since that segment aired on TV.”

“
Oh?”

“
You're new and hot. Not to mention the sexy factor.”

“
Really?”

“
Oh yes. Plus you are an intelligent and likable woman who can provide the general public with a way of making the Coven more accessible. You're going to be great PR.” Fiona could hear Melanie's excitement through the line.

“
So glad I could help,” she said wryly. “You do remember I'm not good with crowds.”

“
I remember. You'll get better though, with experience. Anyway, it seems every magazine and newspaper are trying to get an interview with you. TV shows are trying to book you for another spot on the air. Perhaps live this time. Some are asking for an exclusive.”

“
Oh goodness. I don't know if I like the sound of that.”

“
It'll be fine. Just a friendly bit of advice: beware what you do when you're in public. If they can take embarrassing pictures, they will.” Fiona didn't want to think too hard about that.

“
I'll be careful. So what are you going to do about the interview requests?”

“
That's partially up to you. Personally I'd love to get you out any way and anywhere I can find. But I understand that you likely won't want to do that. I'm going to be generous since I am technically on maternity leave for a while longer. I think we'll do an exclusive with one magazine and one live television show. It won't sate the desire for your publicity, but it should make it a little lighter while not stressing you too badly. And I want to do it soon. Strike while the iron is hot and all.”

“
I do appreciate you taking my stress level into account.”

“
Of course. You're my sister as well as my project.”

“
So which TV show and which magazine?”

“
I think we'll go with Vanity Fair for your magazine interview and Good Morning D.C. for your television appearance.”

“
Good Morning D.C.? Isn't that all filmed in Washington D.C.?”

“
Yes of course. You'll have to head down there for the filming.”

“
Wow, Melanie, you don't do things by half measures.”

“
Of course not. Life isn't as much fun like that. The host is a friend of mine and a fellow witch, and I thought it would do you good to get out of your comfort zone. You'll have a great time, and it'll only be a short trip out there.”

“
I'm going to trust you on this one, as much as I don't like it. But you'll have to tell Seb yourself.”

“
I can do that. The plan is that you'll drive down one day, spend the night in a hotel, do the morning show, then do the magazine interview in the afternoon. You'll spend that night there too and drive back the next day. Unless you want to stay longer, of course.”

“
I think my position here is too new to leave it for too long. Besides, I don't want to go out there for too long without Seb, and I know he's needed here.”

“
I understand. I'd feel the same way if it were me and Justin.”

“
Are you going to come with me?”

“
No, I'm still on maternity leave,” Melanie joked. “I'm going to sent Tim with you, though. He's a fire witch with Coven Protection, and Justin feels he can afford to lose him for a few days.”

“
Alright. Arrange it with Seb and then tell me when.”

“
Thanks for being so cooperative.”

“
I'm quaking in my boots over here. I've just got to trust that you know what you're doing.”

“
And I do. I'll let you go so I can call Seb.”

“
Talk to you later.”

Not five minutes later, Seb walked into her office through the connecting door. There were thunderbolts in his eyes. “Melanie wants to send you to Washington D.C. I hear.”

“
That's what she's saying. I don't like it, but she seems to think it'll be the kind of coverage the Coven needs.”

“
I don't like it either. I'm worried about the threat of Redman and having you outside of our protection while he's at large.”

“
She's going to send Tim with me for that protection.”

“
He is a good agent,” Seb admitted. “But the whole affair still makes me nervous.”

She reached out and touched his arm. “To be honest, I'm more afraid of missing you terribly than I am of Redman.”

He looked touched. “I'll miss you too. I've only had you around for a few weeks, but you've become very important to me very quickly.”

“
I'm glad.”

“
I'll approve the trip. Use your Coven card to pay for all the expenses. No arguments.”

“
I won't argue.”

“
Get a nice hotel and everything. I want you to enjoy the trip but not want to stay any longer.”

“
You'll have to try harder than a trip to D.C. to make me want to stay away without you.”

He kissed her softly. “Good. For today, I want you to familiarize yourself with our current Coven House security protocols. Justin's making noise about changing things. I want to get your educated opinion when he makes a proposal about it, and to make sure you can give that, you'll need to know what's in place now.”

“
Sounds good.”

“
I'll send you over the file on the local network. This is, of course, highly confidential.”

“
Of course. I'll study it closely too.”

“
Good.” He kissed her again before making a clear effort to pull away and go back to his own office. She stood there staring at the door for a minute, thinking. Then she pulled herself together and got to work. Indeed, she saw the files in her official drop box and she started to study it. She had to hand it to Justin, he was very thorough. She had a feeling that the other members of the family didn't know about the surveillance cameras over at Ward Manor as well as at the Coven House. They surely knew that Justin and Seb cared about their safety, but they probably didn't know what measures they took to ensure that safety.

When she finished reading, she went over to the ops room to get a guided tour of the system. Fiona even got lucky and the man who would be accompanying her was available to show her around.

“
Hello, Duchess,” he greeted her. “Seb warned us that you might be stopping by.”

“
Hello Tim. You know, if you call me Duchess all through this trip, it's going to be very distracting. I'd much prefer if you called me Fiona.”

“
That sounds a lot easier to me too, Fiona. So, this is our main room. We've got the digital chalkboard on this wall, the monitors on the second wall, and the regular chalkboards on the others. This is where we have our twice daily meetings.” She looked around. An entire chalkboard was filled with information on the Dark Order activity. The other chalkboard had information about recent protestors against witchcraft. It was flagged as not urgent, but being monitored. The monitors flipped between the security cameras. “In the next room, we have all the cameras on dedicated monitors. Casey is watching those now.”

“
Hello, Casey,” she said as they looked into the other room.

“
Hello. It's good to meet you, Duchess.”

“
Please call me Fiona. It's nice to meet you too. What do you do here at Coven Protection?”

“
I'm in charge of information security. My main job is to monitor the Coven's network. There's all kinds of privileged information on the computers here, and I keep it protected. Anthony is out sick today so I'm watching the cameras. I've got to say that the computer work is much more interesting.” She laughed.

“
I'm glad you like what you do.”

“
It is more convenient that way. And it's nice to have an apartment here in the Coven House. I like living near other witches, and the rent is great.”

“
Then I'll hopefully see you around. I'm going to try hard to know everyone who lives here in particular.”

“
There's twenty of us who live here, and even more who work here on a daily basis, so you have your work cut out for you.”

“
Do you live here too, Tim?”

“
Yes I do. Like Casey said, it's nice to live among other witches. It's just different to be around people who you share something like that with. Plus around here, a lot of people hang out in the common areas, so it's easy to get to know new friends.”

“
How do you two feel about the latest publicity on witchcraft?”

“
It's a little weird,” Casey admitted. “I was the first witch in my family. Witchcraft was an open secret, so they managed to find the coven here when they found out what was wrong with me. My family never discussed my witchcraft, and we've basically cut ties since. But since the latest buzz started about witchcraft, both of my brothers have called me. They want to try to get to know me again after all these years. It's a little awkward, but I am glad that the general population is more knowledgeable about who we are and what we do.”

“
I'm from a family of witches,” Tim continued. “But it's always been a family thing. I had friends who saw me on TV with Seb call me because they were surprised I was a witch. What was your experience with the whole thing?”

“
I moved around a lot. My parents were worried that we needed to stay ahead of the Dark Order's inquisition, so we didn't tell anyone anything about ourselves.”

“
I'm sorry to hear that. It must have been hard on you as a kid,” Casey said, sounding genuinely sympathetic.

“
Ah well, it's over now. Though I will admit that it's hard to get used to the idea of being around a lot of people while putting down roots.”

“
I'll help you however I can,” Casey offered, and Tim nodded. “Seb has built a good community here, and we're here for you.”

“
Good to know.”

“
Is there anything else I can show you?” Tim asked.

“
Actually, I think I'm good. But it seems like it's about lunch time. Do you two want to come to the cafeteria with me?”

“
I've got to stay here with the monitors,” Casey said glumly.

“
I've been writing a report and was going to work through lunch, more than likely.”

“
Do you want me to bring you something?”

“
That would be great,” Casey exclaimed. “I hate monitor duty, and it's even worse when you're hungry.”

“
Alright then. I'll be back in a few.”

She dropped off the food and let them continue to work. Shortly after finishing her own lunch, Skylar showed up.

“
Hey, Fiona. Seb said it would be fine if I came in a little late this morning. I had some errands to run and I had forgotten to program your number into my cell.” She laughed. “If you'll give it to me again, I'll put it in there now.”

“
It's fine. I was doing some research on Coven Protection this morning anyway.” She gave Skylar her number, and Skylar set up her laptop.

Skylar turned to her again and blushed. “I took that potion last night.” She smiled really widely. “I really hope it works.”

Fiona grabbed both of her hands. “Good for you. I really hope it works out too.” Fiona used her water magic subtly, but she couldn't tell either way yet.

“
And I'll admit that Leo seemed extra excited about the whole thing knowing that it's going to make the baby we've been hoping for.” She blushed again.

“
Good for you!” She hugged Skylar. “Good for you.”

“
So, in a blatant attempt to change the subject, let's get to looking at these emails. I've been so happy at the result. People from across the country, and even some from other countries, have been emailing me about witchcraft. It's exciting.”

“
It sure is. But if you don't mind, I'd like to look some more at this Coven Protection stuff.”

“
Certainly. It's just nice to be working somewhere other than at home. I was working with Melanie before she went on maternity leave. It's harder to concentrate on work when I'm at home. I usually end up cooking something in the kitchen, and then we all eat way too much food. In a roundabout way, being able to work with you here is preventing all of us at Ward Manor from getting any fatter.”

Fiona laughed. “Well I certainly wouldn't want all of you getting fat.”

“
My thoughts exactly.”

They worked until five when Seb came in to get Fiona. “If you're leaving in a couple of days, I'm going to get in all the time I can with you. Sorry Skylar, but I'm reclaiming my wife.”