Hannah nodded and scrubbed her arms as a chill washed across her. The terrible memory remained crystal clear even though she had only been six years old when it happened. They had found her mother dead, propped against a tree, out beside the lake. She had been writing in her journal and just died. Autopsy was inconclusive. No heart attack. Nor an aneurism. Not even a stroke. Her mother had been in perfect health for a young woman. She was merely dead. The one strange bit of evidence was that every hair on her body had turned a snowy white. Even her thick, black eyelashes. It was as though the dark blonde woman had suddenly become an albino. Another startling discovery was her once vibrant green eyes turned solid black. Granny had never alluded to what killed Mama until a few years ago, when she turned eighty. The next day, she died the same way.
“I wish Jake were here. He would know what to do.” Hannah went to the freezer and yanked open the stainless-steel double doors. “Is there any of that mint chocolate chip ice cream left? The one you listed to go with the special today?”
“You are going to puke.” Millie reached in the drawer for a couple of spoons. “And Jake would not know what to do. I wish you would stop making him out to be such a flawless hero.”
Hannah backed out of the freezer with two barrels of chocolate mint ice cream. As she turned to bump the freezer door shut, she shot Millie a wilting glare. “Don’t speak ill of the dead. Especially not Jake. You knew what kind of person he was.”
“Exactly!” Millie took one of the ice cream containers and thumped it onto the counter. “Jake never treated you as good as you deserved and I never understood why you took it. You lost your mom when you were six and your grandmama raised you to be the most independent little brat in Jasper Mills. But when it came to Jake, you followed him like a starving puppy. Jake MacPherson barely looked down from his pedestal long enough to give you the time of day. It shocked the whole town when he returned from med school and married you. Everybody figured he’d come back with some big city trophy wife on his arm. We all nearly fainted when you pulled yourhead out of Jake’s fan club long enough to go to veterinary school. We hoped then you had finally gotten over him.”
“Jake loved me!” Hannah tossed the other ice cream container onto the counter and stormed across the kitchen. She couldn’t believe her best friend had the gall to stand there and say such things, even though a tiny voice in the back of her head agreed with everything Millie said. “If you’re finished lecturing me on how you can’t believe my dead husband could have loved me, I think I’ll head home.”
“That is not what I meant and you know it!” Millie smacked the counter. “I admit Jake loved you in his own self-centered, egotistical way. When he had nothing better to do. I’m just saying he never showed you the attention you deserved. You never put up with anyone else’s crap and yet you took his bullshit by the truckloads. How many nights did we spend in this very kitchen, perched on these wobbly stools, eating ice cream because Jake didn’t have time to spend with you? I bet I gained twenty-five pounds the first year you two were married.”
Hannah stopped part way through the swinging doors, remembering the lonely first year of her marriage. As much as she hated what Millie said, her friend had a point. “I have no idea what to tell you. I guess everybody has a weakness and he was mine. Perhaps you’re right. So he wasn’t such a hero. But I loved him, and now he’s gone. So, let’s leave it at that. Okay?” Stepping back into the kitchen, Hannah released the door. “Dish up the ice cream, will you? Double scoops. You’re looking a little thin.”
“She canna sell it!Fold time and space and transport her here immediately. We will keep her here until she discovers the error of her ways. Are ye listening? Why do ye wait? Why do ye tarry when ye know we run so close on time?” Thaetus’s high-pitched screech nearly shattered Taggart’s amulet creating their connection in the center of the hotel room.
Taggart scrubbed his face with both hands. Centuries had passedwaiting for the stars to properly align and gift them with the Sullivan bloodline. The first age of Guardians, the Alexanders, had turned dark and destroyed themselves long ago. He worried his hands through his hair while pacing the confines of the tiny room. “Ye ken as well as I that an unwilling Guardian will never do. I will get her to come around. She just needs a bit of time. The attack in the woods frightened her. ’Tis only natural she be put off by that which she doesna understand. ’Tis a well-known human trait.”
“Then explain it to her! The next clutch of Draecna are due to hatch in three Erastaedian double moons. ’Twould be nice to have a fully trained Guardian to ease them into the worlds and help them learn to power the portals. Septamus grows surlier each day, asking where the Guardian is and what’s taking so blasted long. He tires of the Guild members tending the nursery. Ye ken how they are, Taggart. The last clutch tried to eat the Guild member bringing the wee ones into the world, then all but one of them died. I dinna ken if ye’ve met the one survivor, but rumor has it he isna quite right.”
Taggart passed his hand over the spinning purple jewel on the coffee table. “Trust me, Thaetus. Hannah will come around. It is in her heart. I just need a little more time to warm her to the idea. And I could use some help from the Guild. Have them ramp up the protection surrounding the gateway. There must be no more intrusions from the other side.”
“Do ye think it was Sloan?” Thaetus’s voice became hushed and the spinning amulet dimmed as though the jewel itself feared being overheard.
“Who else?” A growl escaped him as he resumed pacing. “It might not have been his energy I sensed. But the forest reeked of his sinister essence.” The stench still clung to his mind like a greasy film.
“Ye looked into her heart?” Thaetus interrupted. “What in the name of Isla’s golden beard did ye think ye were doing looking into the woman’s heart? Take care, Taggart! 'Tis forbidden. Ye ken that well enough. No entanglements with the one ye are sworn to protect.”
“Do not presume to tell me how to do my job!” Taggart bared his fangs at the spinning gem. “I looked into her heart to betterunderstand her. The woman still grieves for a husband she lost to war. Do not question my dedication to the Guild. I am not only the Protector, but also the one who discovered the lost thread of the Sullivan line. Remember?”
“Aye, Taggart. Ye gave up everything for the cause. Ye even revealed yer true self and sacrificed yer precious Mia.” Thaetus’s voice echoed from the depths of the amulet; the transmission weakening as the spinning of the jewel slowed.
Taggart almost choked on a bitter laugh as he moved to stare out the window. “Mia sacrificed me. I had nothing to do with it.” A familiar ache gnawed at him. Thaetus would have to mention her name and stir up the old ghosts.
“Take care, Taggart. We will mind yer back as best we can. But bring the woman home soon.” Thaetus’s voice cut off as the amethyst rattled to a standstill on the top of the table.
7
“Why did you slam his tail in the car door?” Hannah studied the little boy as he squirmed beside his mother.
“Is that why he bit you?” The woman snorted a laugh and nudged the boy as though they shared a private joke.
“Wouldn’t you bite someone if they broke your bones?” Hannah clipped the film to the light table mounted on the wall and tapped on the glowing white line of the break.
The puppy on the exam table sidled closer to and snuggled against her. He flattened his ears at the boy and the woman, baring his teeth every time either of them moved.
“That’s just great! I paid six hundred dollars for this mutt and now you’ve ruined him! We’ll never be able to sell him when we get to Chicago.” The gum-popping female with the snake-print nails smacked the stainless-steel table.
Hannah stifled a shiver of pure rage as it rippled across her. She would never return this defenseless dog to this heartless woman. With his coloring and build, he promised to look a great deal like a pedigreed boxer, especially if he had his tail docked. But the animal’sthoughts revealed the poor little mutt was in the middle of a scam. This woman came from out of town, figuring the Jasper Mills’ vet would be none the wiser.
Hannah would bet her finest scalpel this spike-heeled witch only stayed a few steps ahead of the law. She glared at her, picked up the dog, and cradled it in the crook of her arm. “Did you and your son just move here? I don’t remember seeing you in my office before.”
The woman shook her head while snapping her gum even louder. She shoved her son toward the table. “We’re just passing through on our way to bigger and better things. We heard you were the closest vet.” With a dip of her head at the pup, she drummed her fingernails on the counter while glancing at the instruments nearby. “Can you just clip off his tail or what? I really need to sell him or something to get some of my money back and besides, won’t he be in a lot less pain if you bob it?”
“Hold that thought.” Hannah slipped through the doorway around to the countertop phone in the waiting area. With the puppy in one arm, she jabbed in a number, then spoke quietly so the woman couldn’t overhear. She barely controlled her tone. On their way to bigger and better things. She would show that animal abuser bigger and better things. She finished the call, rounded the corner, and gave the woman her most professional smile. “I have a solution to your problem, but it will be a few minutes to arrive.”
The fidgeting woman’s face brightened. “Great! I heard you had a real way with the animals. That’s why we brought him here. Maybe he’ll turn out to be a little moneymaker after all. I could really use a break.”
