Chapter Twenty-One
Ida leaned back and let out a breath of relief. She hadn’t expected this day to come, had given up hoping or dreading that it would, and now that it had, she felt only one thing. Blessed.
She could feel Grace in her mind. Her beautiful daughter was there. Guided by the words of her father, she’d found Ida and her children and now help was on the way.
Ida hoped there was strength in the rescuers because the people who had taken her and the children were the most evil beings she’d ever encountered. They served a mistress whose heart was black: Asha Iltani.
Grayson had told Ida about Asha, about a lot of the people he knew from the other side and where their allegiances lay. He’d warned Ida that this day might come, when the Dark Fae would send their minions. The spell he’d created had been powerful and would last a long time, but it was not what anyone thought it to be.
Everyone assumed it was a cloaking spell, a way to hide the town from the Dark Fae. That was, she agreed, a silly assumption. The Dark Fae had known about John Legacy and his family for centuries. They’d simply chosen not to move against him because Genevieve Beaudreaux had married him and used him for her own means in service to the Darkness.
Grayson’s spell was a cloaking enchantment, a spell created to hide Michael’s daughter Elena as well as Ida and Grace. Grayson’s King and brother Michael had Grayson’s sworn promise to create and execute the spell. He knew their enemies in this realm were many and should he fall to them, his family’s bloodline had to continue.
It would, through Michael’s children, and through Grace and her children. Ida looked at Sherri and Theo, sleeping on the ground beside her, their faces dirty and tear-tracked. Soon she’d have to wake them and hope because of their youth, they would be able to suspend disbelief and tap into their Fae nature.
She leaned back and closed her eyes, hearing Grace’s voice in her mind. We’re coming, Mama, we’re coming.
I know, sugar, and I’ll be ready when you get here. I’ll keep your babies safe.
I love you, Mama.
I love you, baby.
Grace kept her eyes closed. She was having a tough time keeping a firm grip on things. Part of her wanted to scream, beat her way out of the vehicle and run as fast as she could, hoping she’d wake from this bizarre dream and find herself in her old room at her mother’s house.
The things she’d witnessed the last few weeks were so unbelievable that she still had times when she wondered if she’d just lost touch with reality. Was she really living this, or was she strapped to a bed in a loony ward somewhere drooling and rolling her head around while impossible visions played out in her mind?
That would almost be more believable than what she was living. How could any of this be true? Beau could transform into an animal, there was a Vampire driving the car, and her father was the brother of a man people claimed to be the King of the Fae from another dimension.
If that were not unbelievable enough, she’d seen Ily turn into a dragon woman, an old woman spew black smoke that Ily swallowed and spit out as light, and she’d mentally communicated with her mother thanks to encouragement from her dead father in a journal he wrote when she was a child.
Grace looked in Beau’s direction to find him watching her. “I feel like Dorothy.”
“Looking for the Yellow Brick Road to get to Oz?”
“Something like that.”
“Are your mom and children okay?”
“So far.” She leaned her head on his shoulder, glad they were sitting in the back seat so she could be closer to him. “This feels like a bad dream.”
“They’re going to be okay, Grace.”
She nodded and closed her eyes, sending thoughts to her children and telling them over and again how much she loved them and what a great life they were going to have in Legacy with Gran and their friend Mr. Beau.
Grace knew it was presumptuous, but if she was going to paint a picture of a happy life for her children, Beau had to be part of it.
Please let it happen, she prayed. Let us save them and save Ily and have a chance at happiness.
“Turn to the right at the next intersection,” Beau instructed the driver. “The old sawmill will be on the left.” He turned his attention to Grace. “Do you know exactly what your mother can see?”
“The front. She can see the old sign above the mill. The letters are almost faded away.”
Beau scanned the right side of the road as the driver made the turn. “It has to be that abandoned house across the road.”
Beau’s father, John, who sat in the front passenger seat, instructed the driver to turn into the sawmill. They pulled around to the back, parked and waited for the other two vehicles to do the same.
Everyone got out and listened as John and Severin outlined their plan. Grace was shocked when she heard Severin say her name and everyone looked at her. She’d been so focused on staying connected with her mother that she had not been paying attention to what was being said.
“I’m sorry. What?”
“We need you to instruct your mother to add her energy to yours and that of your children and enforce the protection around the building where they are being held.”
“There’s protection?” Grace was stunned.
“Yes, your mother and your children have created a shield.”
“My−children?” At that moment, a gentle breeze could have bowled Grace right over. Since when could her children do anything out of the ordinary?
“Grace, focus.” Severin directed. “We’re going to protect you, but you’d going to have to be the one to go in after them. You will be able to breach the barrier without harm and without destroying it. Are you listening?”
“Yes, yes. I’m listening.” Grace wanted to buy into this, but she honestly didn’t believe what he was saying. There was a mistake. Her family couldn’t perform magic.
Gracie, you need to listen to him. Your daddy would want you to trust him, so do it for him. Do it for me and Sherri and Theo.
“Grace, we need you to communicate this to your mother. When I give the word, she and your children need to join hands and recite this simple children’s song. ‘Ring around the rosie, a pocket full of posies.’”
“’Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.’” Grace recited the end.
“Yes, but they are not to sing those words until you’ve joined their circle and I give the word. Just the first two lines, over and over and while they recite it, have them imagine that a bubble of light is forming around them, getting brighter and brighter. Can you do that?”
“I can but—but how will you let me know when to sing the last two lines?”
“The same way your mother does.” Severin reached out and placed both hands on the sides of her face, lowered his head so that their foreheads were pressed together and whispered softly. “One to one until it’s done.”
Almost immediately, Grace heard Severin in her mind. Working together, we will secure the safe release of your family, Grace, but we must trust one another.
“I’ll do whatever you need me to do.” Grace looked over at Beau. “Just promise that whatever happens, you’ll make sure my kids are safe.”
“You have my word,” Beau said. “So, are you ready?”
“As I’ll get.”
At a nod from Severin, Beau continued. “Tell your mother what we need her and the kids to do.”
Grace nodded and turned to walk away a short distance. Mom?