Nichole Harris-Shilo
Nichole pulled a hairpin from her mouth and pushed it beneath the loose bun atop Alyse’s head. “There. That should hold.” She stood back and looked from Alyse’s reflection in the mirror to Amy, who sat perched on the end of the bed. “Okay, yes.” Nichole’s grin grew wider, and she took a step back. “This is an excellent idea.”
Jeanne moved away from Amy and shook her head. “You look so much alike.” Her glance darted from one twin to the other. “Wait, you’ll need gloves.” She spun around and opened Nichole’s dresser drawer.
Both Amy and Alyse lifted their hands, looked at their nails, and turned to Nichole with identical expressions of confusion.
Overcome with laughter, Nichole leaned against the wardrobe. “Oh my gosh. I want a twin.”
“They’ll know us when we talk,” Alyse observed.
“True. You’ll need to keep quiet.” Nichole looked between the two sisters. “And remember to look at Jason like he’s the brightest star in your sky.” She put her hands to her heart and batted her eyelashes at the ceiling.
Amy laughed. “I don’t do that.”
“Yes, you do.” Jeanne smiled over her shoulder. “You always have.” She handed Amy and Alyse gloves that matched their dresses. “And Jason looks at you the very same way.” Jeanne stepped to the door. “I’d best get downstairs and help Cookie.”
“Thanks for your help.” Nichole closed the door and leaned her back against it. “Jeanne’s afraid to touch you,” Nichole whispered and tipped her head at Amy.
“I noticed.” Amy shrugged her shoulders. “But she stayed in the same room with me, and that’s a start.”
“Why?” Alyse rose from the chair. “What happened?”
Amy stood and straightened her dress. “I... displayed a skill the other night. Jeanne—along with a few others were—somewhat startled.”
“Somewhat?” Nichole snickered as she opened the door. “Yeah, I’d say they were a bit startled.” As soon as she stepped into the hallway, she heard voices from downstairs. “Merril’s home.” She glanced back at the Amy and her twin.
Unless they give it away, no one will be able to tell them apart.
“Let’s go.” She rounded the banister and hurried down the stairs.
Her glance caught Merril’s immediately. She bit her lip to silence a giggle as she hurried to his side.
Merril tucked her under his arm and kissed the top of her head. “Were you having fun?”
“Oh, yes.” She smiled up her husband. “I can’t wait ’til you see them.”
“You know what's coming, don't you?” Bay spoke to the room, but glanced at Bern and grinned.
Bern looked at his brother out of the corner of his eye and heaved a sigh. “Of course, I do.”
“What? What are they up to?” Jason turned as the swish of material and light footsteps descended the stair behind him. He stared at the women, dressed in his wife’s clothes, their hair styled into the loose bun Amy always wore.
The twins stopped at the bottom of the stairs and faced their audience. One wore a dark blue skirt and matching jacket, and the other a soft green dress.
“The challenge—” Bay told the dinner party “—is to determine which twin is which. It’s a game Bern and I played as children.” He set his glass on the table. “We learned to imitate each other’s mannerisms in order to fool our friends.” He smiled at his nieces and received two affectionate smiles back. “Oh, this will be difficult.” He rested his chin on his hand as his gaze darted back and forth between the women. “Remarkable, ladies. Well done.” He clapped his hands.
Nichole giggled and turned her head into Merril's shoulder.
“Can you tell them apart?” Merril asked.
“Yes, so I can't play.” She caught Jason's desperate look and dissolved into laughter. “And I can't help. I promised.”
“This is far better than charades.” Cat nudged her brother.
Cookie stepped into the dining room and stared opened-mouth at the two women. “Oh my stars,” she declared. “Dinner’s about ready.” She turned and left the room, shaking her head.
Bay and Bern strolled to their nieces and looked them over. They walked around the women, and then returned to the group by the table.
“I can't tell,” Bay confessed to his nieces with a shrug. He looked at his brother.
Bern pressed his lips. “I think I know.”
Bayard arched an eyebrow at Bernard. “In truth, you can tell? No guessing allowed.”
Bernard crossed his arms. “Oh, all right. I can't tell them apart.”
Bay looked to Jason, and his smile grew wider. “The pressure is on you, old man.” Bay nodded to his nieces. “Can you tell which one’s your wife?”
“I will in a moment,” Jason boasted. He approached the women and walked around them, looking them up and down. He stopped in front of them and studied their faces.
Both women looked at Jason with such exaggerated affection, everyone in the room laughed.
Jason chuckled. “This, I could get used to.” He tapped one finger against his lips and looked between the women. “You've hidden your hands, so no rings will give you away, and you’re not talking.”
“I suggested they not speak,” Nichole told the group. “Their accents will give them away. Therefore, this is a visual game only.” She began to hum a timing tune from a television game show.
“I have to say, this is remarkable.” Jason held a hand toward each woman. “I can’t tell you apart. You both look like Amy.”
“Let me help you out, Jason.” Jim pushed away from the wall and approached the twins. He crooked his arm to the woman in dark blue. “Would you join me for dinner, Miss James?”
Alyse’s eyebrows rose and her face flushed as she took his arm. “Thank you, yes.” She nodded to Jason and followed Jim to the table.
“And we have a winner!” Nichole clapped as Jim seated Alyse.
“How did you know?” Jason looked dumbfounded at Jim. “How could you tell them apart?”
“I can’t say.” Jim grinned at Jason and took his seat. “It would spoil their game the next time.”
“Next time?” Jason looked concerned when Amy took his arm.
“Twins never get tired of this game.” Bay sat at the far end of the table from Nichole and Merril. “You’ll tire of it long before they will.
Once everyone found a seat, Cookie, Jeanne and Lawna served roast pork loin with onions, mashed potatoes with gravy and new carrots from Henny's garden.
Conversation took second place to Cookie’s delicious dinner, but as the meal wound down, Nichole broached the subject of opening The Shilo to their guests.
“I don't know why not.” Merril nodded to Nichole and looked down the table to the James family. “The house has been cleaned and is only collecting dust.” His gaze found Bernard. “As long as you don't mind its recent history.”
“Your wife told us.” Bernard bowed his head for a moment. “I’m sorry for your loss.” He looked to his brother and niece. “But that won’t be an issue for us. In fact, cleansing the negative energy would give us an opportunity to work together.”
“Staying there would put us out from underfoot while we train Amy and Alyse.” Bay gestured toward his nieces with his fork, and then speared another piece of meat.
“Train?” Jason looked around the table. “Am I the only one confused? What training?”
“I told you what I saw coming.” Amy looked at Jason.
“You had a vision?” Alyse sat forward, across from her sister. “What did you see?”
Amy pressed her lips and glanced around the table. “Animals—running west as though possessed. They were a day, perhaps two, behind your train.”
“That close?” Bay fell back in his chair and glanced between his nieces. “That won’t give you much time.”
Cat pointed between Amy and Bern. “You’re the witches Hunter is looking for.”
Sam began to cough. He sipped water as he stared at his sister. “How do you know this? What did Hunter tell you?”
Cat shrugged one shoulder. “He told me nothing. I heard the two of you talk on the train.” She straightened her napkin.
“You were supposed to be asleep.” Sam took another sip of water.
Cat rolled her eyes at her brother and looked to Alyse. “It’s true though, you’re witches?”
“Wait.” Jason glared at Cat and Sam. “Who is this Hunter, and who are you calling a witch?”
Bayard cleared his throat. “I prefer the phrase ‘elemental manipulator’, but ‘witch’ is the more common term.”
Jason’s mouth dropped open, and his eyebrows rose as he stared at Bayard. He looked across the table to Cat and Sam. “The idea of a witch doesn’t bother you?”
Cat grinned. “We’re from N'Orleans, Mr. Harris. Voodoo queens and magic are not as uncommon there.” She rubbed her hands together and looked around the table. “I find this all very exciting.” Cat turned to Sam. “Although, I do wonder when Hunter will arrive?”
Sam wiped his mouth with his napkin and set it alongside his plate. “Hunter is exceptional at locating people,” Sam replied to his sister. “I would think no more than a few days.”
“If what Amy’s family believes is true, there’s a demon on the way. You should consider returning to Denver immediately,” Merril spoke to Sam and Cat. “You would be safer.”
Cat shook her head.
Sam leaned back in his seat and smiled at Merril. “Unless you turn us out, we’ll stay. If there’s an actual demon on the loose, this may be the safest place to be.” He tipped his head at Alyse and her uncles.
“There’s a lot to accomplish in a very short period,” Bernard told the gathering. “We need to ward both ranches—houses and barns. The ward will shield the people and animals inside.”
“More importantly, Alyse is already trained in her abilities. Amy is not.” Bernard took a sip of water and looked between Amy and Alyse. “You’ll need to practice working together. Your abilities are split oddly between you.” He glanced at Bayard. “Our instruction may not suffice for their peculiar challenge.” He turned to Alyse. “Your twyne with Amy will be much different than between Bay and myself.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Has everyone lost their minds?” Jason’s face had darkened, and his brow furrowed as he stared at Bernard. “My wife has no such abilities.”
“She made the water spin in our water glasses yesterday.” Nichole grinned at Jason.
“She helped set Tom's leg last night.” Jim looked straight at Jason.
“You healed by yourself?” Alyse looked across the table at her sister, her eyes wide.
Amy shook her head. “No. I guided Jim and Kelly to align the break. Tom will need a splint until the bone knits.”
Jason threw down his napkin on the table. “This is absurd.”
Alyse raised her brow at Jason. “Why absurd? I understand our skills are beyond your experience, but that doesn't make them any less real.”
“I don't believe you—any of you—possess magic,” Jason spoke to Alyse, then turned his gaze to the brothers, and ended at his wife. “I would know if you did.”
“Jason,” Alyse spoke in a sharp tone.
His scalding gaze jumped to hers.
She leaned toward him. “I don’t grant wishes. I don't put spells on people or spin straw into gold.” She looked up and down the table and met every eye. “If that’s the magic you’re thinking of, then I don't believe in it, either.” Her gaze returned to Jason. “I can only tell you the truth. There is an evil being—a demon—on his way here to kill your wife.” She pointed at Amy. “She has seen this demon advancing toward us in a vision.”
Jason’s high color had fled. He glanced to his wife by his side, and then back to her mirror image across the table.
Alyse pointed her finger at Jason. “I promise you, I have abilities that may save her life. She has abilities—skills she’s never learned to use—that could save mine.” She rose slightly in her seat and lowered her voice. “You don't have to take my word on faith, dear brother.” She arched an eyebrow. “I’ll be happy to prove my skill.” Alyse lifted her hand, drawing everyone’s attention as she uncurled her fingers.
As one, the gathering around the table leaned forward.
"Viens à moi, feu!" she commanded and raised her palm.
The group drew back as a tiny flare jumped from the wall lamp to dance along her palm. A collective gasp filled the room when the flame grew higher, its color evolved from a warm yellow tone to a sharp emerald hue. The fire floated just above the soft white skin of her hand. Her small display of magic held the room spellbound, as the flame danced before her face.
“That is so cool,” Nichole breathed, her eyes on the Alyse’s flame.
Alyse smiled at Nichole, and in one swift movement, she crushed the flame with her fist. “My grandmother trained me.” Alyse gestured to her uncles. “Trained us to fight using our skills. Both she, and my uncles, had to create offensive spells on their own. No coven would help us, or accept what we had to do.” Her voice lowered and stared hard at Jason. “The Prophecy of the Twins has come to pass, and we will stand or fall as a family.”
Nichole’s breath caught, and she swallowed. “You’re like—battlemages.”
Holy shit.
Bayard leaned forward and grinned at Nichole. “Battlemages? That sounds much better than elemental manipulator.”
“Tell me about this prophecy.” Jason glanced at his wife’s pale face, then at Alyse.
“I only learned of it myself after Amy and I twyned.” She cleared her throat and closed her eyes. “You will know them by their birth—crowned beneath a full moon on the witches’ High Sabbat. Their twyne shall wake the Demon. By Fire and Earth, he shall by felled—lest the twyne fails—then death shall reign.”
After a moment of silence, Bernard spoke, “Training will begin in the morning. While I work with the women at The Shilo, Bay can ward the buildings here. We’ll ward The Shilo after the people here are sheltered.”
“What can we do to help?” Merril took Nichole’s hand.
“There’s plenty to do.” Bay looked toward Merril. “The first step will be to assemble supplies to make defensive wards. I’ll make a list of what we need.”
“If you give me the list tonight, I’ll gather what we have,” Amy told Bayard.
Jason rose from the table and retrieved pencil and paper from the office. He handed them to Bayard.
“Thank you.” Bayard gave Jason a nod and began to make a list.
Merril addressed Alyse and Bernard. “For tonight, I’ll take you back to The Shilo before it gets too dark.”
As dinner broke up, several conversations sprang up. Bernard and Bayard worked on the list. Amy talked with Cat and Sam about Hunter.
Merril turned to Jim. “Have Kelly move their trunks to our small wagon and harness a team.” Merril stood and looked down at Nichole. “I want June out of here first thing in the morning, before preparations begin in earnest. I asked Timothy to accompany June to Denver and exchange the livery horses for ours. Instead of putting June in a saddle, she can ride in their wagon. She should be pleased with that.”
“You shouldn’t ask Timothy to be around June,” Nichole replied. “Ask Kelly or Bill.”
“With Tom laid up, Lloyd will need help with the livestock and taking care of Tom.” Merril shrugged. “The only hand with time to take June to Denver is Timothy.”
“Poor Timothy.” Nichole set her napkin on the table. “How will he stand it?”
“I asked him that same question,” Merril replied. “He told me June reminds him of his mother.”
“That poor kid,” Nichole muttered as she came to her feet.
Alyse turned to her uncles. “Before we go, I need to get a package out of my trunk for Amy.” She smiled at her sister. “It’s a present for you from our grandmother.”