Of Witches and Warlocks: The Complete Series

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The lights suddenly flipped on and I jumped as my dad stepped into the kitchen, carrying bags of groceries. Stopping cold, he stared at the gruesome scene, eyes roving across the floor to where I sat shaking against the refrigerator.

Shelly screamed as she entered, dropping the groceries she was carrying and turned to bury her face in Brad's shoulder.

"Portia!" my dad called to me, quickly setting his bags on the counter. Both he and my mom rushed to my side. "Are you okay? What happened? Did you do this?" he asked in rapid succession.

My teeth were chattering as I tried to talk. "Brian snuck up on me. He threatened me and tried to bite me. Vance found us. They fought, and Vance . . .Vance ... he . . . ," I trailed off, staring at the body in front of me.

Grandma set her groceries down and dug through a drawer, grabbing a linen tablecloth. Shaking it out, she covered Brian's remains, but I couldn't get the image out of my head.

My dad shook me hard trying to get me to focus. "Portia, did Vance kill Brian?" he asked, staring straight into my eyes with a look of concern.

I nodded.

"Where is he now?"

"I don't know. He left," I said, my voice quivering uncontrollably with the shock of what I'd just witnessed.

"He left you here? Alone? With this?" he asked incredulously, gesturing to the scene behind him.

"Yes," I said, and a sudden wave of guilt washed over me. "But it was my fault."

"How's this your fault?" my dad replied, standing and crossing his arms over his chest.

"I've never seen anything like that before, let alone coming from Vance. I mean I've always known he was powerful, but . . . he scared me," I explained. "He saw the look on my face afterward, apologized and then left."

My dad turned to the others who also had stricken looks on their faces. "Brad, Shelly, go find Vance," he ordered. "And tell him I said to get back here right now!"

"No!" I slowly rose to my feet and tried to summon some courage. "Let me go."

"Are you sure that's the best thing to do?" my mom spoke up. "What if there are more people from Douglas and Fiona's coven out there?"

"Brian said he was looking for me on his own. No one else knows where we are. He was gloating over how he found me without their help. It'll be fine, Mom," I said, hesitating as I stared at the sheeted body. "I need to get him out of here."

"Portia, we've got this taken care of," my grandma said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Go find your husband."

Glancing at the sheet one more time, I wrapped my arms around myself and walked out the door. I exited the keep and headed out into the night air, instinctively knowing exactly where to look. Slowly, I crossed the grounds around the massive structure until I reached the remains of the old crumbling Kirk.

I could see his outline in the darkness, kneeling over the ruins of the ancient altar, his head held in his hands. Moving quietly, up the stone-strewn aisle, I reached his side and knelt beside him. He didn't move or acknowledge my presence, and his mind was closed off to me behind a wall of steel.

Waiting for him to say something, I held still beside him. Several long minutes passed by and he didn't move or speak.

I needed to reach him, somehow. It needed to be something he would really hear and understand. The answer came to me in that moment. "Lord," I prayed out loud, looking up at the starry heavens that showed through the giant holes in the beamed structure. "I'd like to thank you for all the many blessings I have. I'd especially like to express my appreciation to you for my loving husband, who would do anything in his power to protect me from harm. Please, please, let him know how much I love him, even when things scare me unexpectedly. I love him with all my heart. Amen."