Haunting Shadows (Book 2)

Chapter 64

She was as beautiful as James remembered. The years have done nothing to mar her physical appearance. While her heart might have grown as cold as ice, her beauty would always remain fiery. Jane Eleanor was stuck speechless as her gaze drifted back and forth between her son, and the man she claimed to have loved many years prior. James was curious what she’d answer. How exactly did she plan on explaining this situation to who she believed was her only living child?

“Zane, dear, whatever this man has told you is a lie. He is nothing more than a vile monster that needs to remove himself from our home immediately. “

Zane’s eyes narrowed into thin daggers, the hardness in them unquestionable. He may have defended his mother earlier, but there was nothing other than pure hatred in his eyes as he looked at the woman who took his sister away from him. “So he’s not really my father? You never slept with him before and after you married Lord Eleanor?” His tone was sharp and crisp. He was allowing his mother no room to maneuver.

She open her luscious lips to speak, but closed them promptly. James cursed himself for still finding the little things she did endearing. He had loved her at one point, and those feelings didn’t just go away because he wanted them too. He dug his nails into his hands in an attempt to keep his thoughts at bay. This was more important that reminiscing about the past.

“Zane, son, you must listen to me before this man is able to corrupt your thoughts…” Lady Eleanor began.

“The only one here who has been corrupting him has been you, Jane,” James answered, his arms crossed over his chest.

Jane show him a deadly look. “It is Lady Eleanor to you. You have not earned the privilege of calling me by my first name.”

“I think having two children with you qualifies as me ‘earning that privilege’ as you say.”

“Two children you abandoned!” the Lady raised her voice, something she hardly ever did after earning her title as the wife of Eleanor estate. She turned her gaze back to her son. “He had probably told you that I wouldn’t allow him to see you or Lana. That I am the villain in all of this, when the cold reality is that when I told him of the two of you, he didn’t believe me! He hadn’t wanted anything to do with the two of you!”

“Lies!” James countered. “I may not have believed you at first, but when I finally accepted it, and wanted to meet them, you wouldn’t let me!”

Jane balled her hands into fists. “I was prepared to leave my husband for you, and what did you do? You ran away!”

“I didn’t run away! You left me no choice!”

“You are a sorcerer for the gods’ sake! You had a choice!”

“You were willing to leave Lord Eleanor for him, and you know he’s a sorcerer. But you killed my sister because she’s a witch?” Zane quiet voice cut through the room. The boy’s anger had taken on a silent, but deadly quality and James was glad that he was not on the receiving end of it.

Jane’s expression turned cold suddenly. “Those were different times, Zane. Back when I knew James, the laws of magic weren’t as strict. These days they are no longer the same. It was either have Lana be killed, or have all of us be killed! I am sorry for her loss, and I miss her as well, but I did what had to be done.”

James tried to reign in his anger. Any previous feelings of love or lingering attraction he had felt for this woman vanished along with her words. “You tried to kill our daughter. Our daughter! You could’ve hid her! Or if she was such a problem with her magic, you could have sent her to me! Problem solved! You didn’t have to try and kill her!”

“What does it matter now? She is dead.” Her words were cold and said without emotion. James was struck by how hollow she had become. Everything he had loved about her before, was gone. She was an empty shell, a mere ghost of the woman he had known and made love to.

“You’re right. It doesn’t matter. She is no longer part of your life, nor will she ever be. And I’m here to make sure that Zane no longer has to deal with you ever again as well.” He turned to Zane, the boy who was seconds away from falling apart. Mary walked to his side and seemed to help him remain on his feet. “Zane, have you heard enough to believe me?”

Zane nodded.

“Are you willing to come with me?” James asked, unsure, but hopeful.

Jane watched her son with widened eyes, angry widened eyes.

“I am.”

“I’m coming with you,” Mary quickly piped up.

Zane moved toward James, Mary on his heels, as Jane watched the scene in horror. James noticed the glint that entered her eyes – a glint that meant something devious was going on in that mind of hers.

Before Zane and Mary could reach James, Mary was suddenly flung backward until she was suspended in the air a breath away from Lady Eleanor. Lady Eleanor whose eyes were glowing black. “I will be damned if I allow you to take my son!” She yelled and Mary started choking.