Frustration clawed at my throat. We were stuck in an endless loop.
“Has anybody considered that Wesley was never meant to be taken?” Aurora asked. “The assumption has always been that he was targeted to lure Hadley. That symbol was designed to draw in Hadley. Her specifically. What if there were just enough common genes to draw in Wesley by accident, and the reason Hadley’s motherdidn’t know he was there was because he wasn’t supposed to cross over?”
I sat there for a long time, dumbfounded by the question. “Do you think that’s possible?” I asked nobody in particular after a few seconds.
“It makes as much sense as anything else,” Galen admitted as he rubbed his back. “Maybe Declan didn’t actually kidnap Wesley. Maybe Wesley ended up over there by accident and he doesn’t remember because he’s not paranormal.”
“Or someone on the other side used magic to make him forget,” Booker said. “Memory spells aren’t all that difficult. Maybe it was Hadley’s mother. Emma was a witch. Perhaps she found Wesley and he didn’t want to leave. She was his daughter, after all. I can see him putting up a fight.”
A sickening sensation lurched in my stomach. “She hexed his memory to make him forget, then pushed him through a plane door and saved him.” I felt certain that was how it had played out.
“Wesley crossed over by accident because he’s Hadley’s grandfather,” Lilac surmised. “No one was expecting him, so he flew under the radar until Hadley sent her mother looking for him.”
“Time moves differently there,” Galen said. “I bet Emma found Wesley within a few hours and managed to get him through a different door.”
There was just one problem. “How did he end up in the cemetery?”
“He could have made it to the cemetery and hit his head in his haste to get away from the zombies. Maybe he crawled into the building and was there a short time before you guys found him."
“So we’re back to Hadley being the ultimate target,” Galen said. “Wesley was a mistake. Declan wanted Hadley to cross over.”
“We’d assumed that Declan had to have someone here working with him,” I said. “That might not be true. We can’t explain the symbol in the field, and if Declan can reach into my dreams from the other plane … .”
“Then maybe he can do other things,” Galen finished.
“Declan may not be able to cross over,” Gertie said. “Clive couldn’t, and he died there. Yet Emma managed to get Hadley and Wesley to this side.”
“Why is she over there?” I demanded. “Why didn’t she get to go someplace wonderful and beautiful to rest?” Now that I was more convinced than ever that my mother was on that plane my anger was starting to build.
“Hey.” Galen sensed I was about to careen over an emotional cliff. “We’re going to figure it out. Don’t get too worked up.”
“What if it was your father?” I challenged.
“Then I would say he deserved it,” Galen replied. “We’re going to figure out a way to get her to that restful place. I swear to you.”
“Sorry. I just … I always imagined her floating on a cloud in a beautiful place. That plane is ugly. My mother doesn’t deserve an ugly place like that.”
“It’s okay, baby.” Galen pulled me into his arms and rested his chin on top of my head.
“She might have been trapped on that plane for some reason we don’t yet understand, or something else might be going on,” Gertie said. “I can try to do some research. I don’t know much about dhampirs so I’ll actually enjoy reading up.”
“Did you deal with Declan a lot?” Lilac asked. “You must have crossed paths with him.”
“Only a few times,” Gertie replied. “Nothing stands out. He wasn’t a pleasant man. I had no idea what he really was. I need to think back on our interactions now that I know more.”
Lilac bobbed her head. “What are the rest of us going to do?”
“We need to see Wesley,” Galen replied. “They’re releasing him today.”
I opened my mouth, but Galen pushed forward before I could speak.
“He’ll be coming back to the lighthouse with us,” he said. He didn’t seem keen on the idea, but it was what I wanted to hear.
I let out the breath I didn’t even know I’d been holding. “Yes. He’ll be coming home with us.”
Galen squeezed my shoulder. “Other than that … .”
“You should go to the Voodoo Lounge,” Gertie volunteered.
