"Why are they here?" The three of them stopped on the landing, with the two men looking to Maggie.
"I'm supposed to know?" Maggie gestured. "I'm thinking, okay?"
Kellan sighed. "Okay. Look in this room, up at the ceiling. And then I want to show you the one in the master bedroom."
Maggie looked into the room where Rose slept. Justin heard her swift intake of breath then she was out the door again. "A sleep spiral. A very strong one, I might add," she said, yawning. "Next?"
Kellan led the way down the hall to the end of the wing, where the door stood open. A huge bed, bare of sheets, dominated the large room. Right over the bed someone had painted a wreath of roses and ivy.
Justin looked closer; entwined there in the foliage were runes. The design looked older there, different somehow from the other paintings he'd seen. He frowned at Maggie, who looked at him with wide eyes. She licked her lips, and panic crossed her face.
She fled the room.
Kellan looked to Justin with raised eyebrows. "What was that about?"
"Don't know. Let's find out, shall we?" The two men left the room, but Maggie wasn't in the hallway.
Justin shook his head. "I'll find her. You go do whatever it is you were going to do."
Kellan grinned. "You got your eyes on that, then?"
"Do you?" Justin frowned.
"Nah. She's pretty, but no pushover. She's smart, plus, you know. A witch. I like my women a lot less complicated." Kellan clapped his brother on the back. "Enjoy yourself."
"Yeah. Whatever." Justin shook his head and went downstairs. He found Maggie standing in the great room, deep in thought.
"Well?"
Maggie jumped. "Well." She shook her head, focused. "Like I said, a strong sleep spiral on the ceiling in Rose’s bedroom. It’s mostly calming, protective, with reassurances of safety and happiness while encouraging sleep. The one in the master is different." She blew out a breath.
Justin looked at her quizzically. "Something wrong?"
Maggie grimaced. "It's—there's a strong sexual pull to that particular spiral," she said, and wiped her hands on her thighs. "Sex and fertility and deep, abiding love. I'm dead certain you don't want me yanking you in there for a hot and sweaty bout of sex. I mean, I don't want to yank you in there. I mean…damn it."
Justin grinned, and his grin got even wider when she flushed. "Never mind. I understand your meaning."
"Okay. When I walked through the kitchen, I found more spirals. Ones of blessings. Protection. Love of family, love of brothers. Respect. That kind of thing."
Justin frowned. "I never thought she manipulated us like this."
"It's not manipulation, exactly. It's more of a wish, a hope, or protection at its most basic."
"And the sleep spiral? Rose took a look at it and was out."
"That can happen. I'll study it closer. My guess is it depends upon the mood of the person who looks at it. Someone who needs sleep, needs to feel peaceful, will find what he needs in that room. Someone who isn't as needy won't be as affected by it. But that's all speculation at this point."
"Hmmm." Justin thought of the two men who had slept in that room as boys. One the product of rape; the other tossed out by his mother. The spiral in that room made sense.
Maggie brought out her cell phone. "I'd like to take photos of every painting. I'll need to get my good camera from home, but I don't want to waste time and they really should be documented. I can use my phone, if you don't mind?" Her brown eyes had cooled and only mild interest showed there now.
"Not at all. Feel free. I'll be outside when you're ready to go." Justin watched as she went toward the kitchen. He didn't know if he preferred her hot and angry, or distantly polite. Both made him itchy.
He headed outside, glancing at his watch. Three o'clock. He huffed out a breath and followed the sound of voices around to the back. Kellan raked dead leaves from the overgrown bed of roses while Gabriel took out his excess energy on a pile of logs that needed to be split for firewood.
The rhythmic thunk of the axe, plus the soothing sounds of the rake, took Justin back in time and he looked about absently, as if expecting to see his father there, directing the other two. He shook his head at the fantasy and leaned against a sycamore tree.
"Now there's good, productive work for your idle hands," he called. Kellan shot him a grin over his shoulder, while Gabriel hefted his axe.
"There's another axe here. Join me," he said. "We'll race," he added, chuckling.
Justin eyed his younger brother. "Considering you're bigger than me, I'll pass on that, thanks. So, I've been thinking."
"Ah. Something new. Good for you," applauded Kellan.
"Smartass. What I want to know is, why did the demons leave? Why didn't they fight?"
Gabriel thunked the axe deep into a log and came over to Justin. "Perhaps they were just waiting for Dorothy to click her heels so they could go home?"
"You're both smartasses." Justin shook his head and grinned from one to the other. “Danny called, changed the meeting to midnight tonight. Are you both still in?"
Kellan snorted. "Of course."
"Couldn't keep me away."
"What about Rose?"
Gabriel frowned. "We'll keep her here. The house has enough protection. She'll be fine."
"I want Maggie here with her. She can do research," Justin said.
"That works, if she doesn't mind."
"Maggie will have to pick up clothes, being a girl. She can pick up food and stuff, too. And once she's back, you can join us." Justin looked up at Gabriel who leaned against the house.
"You guys should know Satine contacted Rose today in the hospital. Rose couldn't keep her out."
Kellan sent a disgusted look toward Gabriel. "And you're just now telling us?"
"First opportunity. Rose is supposed to hand the three of us over to Satine tonight."
Justin snorted. "Hell. No way is that going to happen."
"Of course not. We'll carry on as planned." Kellan sent a dark look toward Gabriel.
"Just checking. I'll give Maggie a heads-up. Maybe she can put an obscuring spell or something on Rose while she's here, to make it harder for Satine to find her."
Justin held up a hand. "I’ll deal with the witch. You guys keep taking your sexual frustrations out on the gardens. Luckily there’s a lot to do out here."
“Sure is,” Gabriel retorted. “You’ll be taking your turn at it.”
“Dream on.” Justin turned and went into the house.
* * *
"I'm not done taking pictures," Maggie protested as Justin marched her out of the house. "I need a couple more hours."
"You'll get them." He opened the passenger door of his Jag. "Right now, I need to get you to your car and your laptop. I need you to shop for food for a few days, and I need you to drive back out here to take care of Rose tonight while my family and I meet up with Danny. So please. Get in the car."
With a suspicious glare, she got in. "Why don't you want me at the meeting with the weres?"
"They aren't big on witches," he said. "I'm doing you a favor. Trust me."
"You're being overprotective. I can take care of myself. Let me go with you, and leave Rose to Gabriel."
"I need Gabriel with me. I'm asking you to guard Rose.”
Maggie lifted an eyebrow. "Why do I get the sense of being railroaded?"
Justin turned to her and pinned her with a glare. "Look. Satine will try to use Rose to get to Gabriel. If I could be in two places at once, I'd be guarding Rose myself. I am asking you to do that for me. Would I do that if I didn't think you capable?" He stared her down.
"No," she allowed. "Okay. Got it."
He started the car. "Good. You can take as many pictures as you want, do all sorts of research while you're there. As far as I'm concerned, as soon as Gabriel arrives back to the place after the meeting, you can go." He pulled out and headed down the long drive.
"At least tell me where you'll be. What you're doing tonight."
Justin swung onto the 405 Freeway going south and merged into the slow-moving traffic. "We're meeting with the Weres at our office in Santa Monica at ten to discuss the, ah, disposal of Satine and Vlad."
"You're going in tonight?"
"Not necessarily," he said. "We're considering all the options."
"I hope you have Doc Cavanaugh on your speed dial. I have a feeling you're going to need her."
Justin pushed aside the thought. "We need you to keep alert. Try to stay with Rose, if at all possible. You two should be okay in the house tonight. It's not like the neighbors are so close they can see the house. No one will know you're there."
Maggie sniffed. "Just keep me informed. You did such a lousy job of it earlier."
Justin flashed a grin. "I could always dip into your mind."
Like this. Do you want me to message you
this
way?
Maggie stiffened beside him. "No! Stay out of my head. Don't do that unless there's no option. Got it? Just text me, or something."
Justin turned onto the southbound freeway, satisfied.
* * *
Rose sat in a tree swing in the citrus grove. "It's so beautiful here."
Maria Therese smiled. "This house is filled with love. You should stay here until you and Gabriel are ready for your own home."
"Gabriel is fighting me. Fighting what might be between us."
"He is fighting with himself, child. He hasn't yet learned to accept his entire heritage. Instead he picks and chooses." Maria Therese shrugged. "If he doesn't learn to use all of himself, he will fail."
"Die, you mean."
"Perhaps. There is more than one way to fail." Maria Therese reached out and took Rose's hands in her own. "You do matter to him. But he is afraid to love."
"He thinks he's incapable of love." Rose rested her head on Maria Therese's hands. "I am so angry at Satine, at my own part in Gabriel's problems. I'm afraid we’ll lose."
"Dear child. Don’t let fear stop you from doing what needs to be done." Maria Therese's voice filled with emotion. "You cannot stop events from unfolding. You both must move forward. Have faith in each other. Gabriel will remember who he is in the end."
"But are we going to win? Can you promise me that we win in the end?"
Maria Therese smiled. "I haven't been shown the end. But I do know that if you don't go into this battle, you will all lose more than you can know. None of you will be able to run from the fate that will await you, if you refuse to act. Gather your courage. Do what must be done." She moved as if to leave.
"Wait!" Rose left the swing to stand beside her. "Just tell me one thing. The demon on me—it seems to drain me too much to be useful. How do I get around that? How can I use it and push through the weakness that comes?"
The older woman looked at her steadily. "Mephisto is drawn to you. He will give you more than he will take, in the end. I know it’s dangerous, but I deemed it necessary to use him. You need his strength, his power, to do what must be done."