Authors: Susan Squires
“Moot point. He couldn’t face us every day. This is better for everyone.”
Except Elaine, Kemble thought. What a mess.
He’d known as he texted Morgan that they were exiling Mr. Nakamura that Elaine would remain dead. Was that like killing her again?
“It was the right decision,” Jane whispered.
He shook his head, not sure he could speak.
“I just hope his church support system can keep him from
. . . dark thoughts.”
He gave her a squeeze.
Life went on, just like Senior said. “What man wouldn’t give his eye teeth to land a forgiving woman?” She turned her face up for a kiss. Kemble was glad to oblige. Cares fell away as he probed her mouth with his tongue. He had Jane. And she loved him. He wasn’t certain about her love just because she’d developed a power. He could feel it in the way she clung to him. He’d never been so glad he was a big guy. He wanted to be strong for Jane. He thought back to that time when Jane had said his mother wanted to protect him. They’d been trying to shield him from the fact that he wasn’t Senior for a long time. Or maybe from the effect that fact had on him. He’d been needy. That was going to stop. No one had time for that anymore.
He still wasn’t Senior.
Nobody was, maybe not even Senior at this point. But Kemble had magic in his own right. He’d been thinking about some of the things you could accomplish with what he could do. It wasn’t a stupid power. Would it be enough to make him useful? He’d been afraid when the Clan attacked. He hadn’t been sure his plan of action was the right one. But he’d stepped up to the plate and done something. Maybe that was all you could expect of yourself. If that turned out to be all the courage he could muster, maybe it would be enough. It had to be, for the family’s sake, for Jane.
But Jane
was strong too. The way she’d taken charge of Mr. Nakamura, the contractors, and the family was certain proof. It would be Jane who held this family together through all this adversity if anyone could. He kissed her again, very thoroughly. They’d do it together. And by damn, he was going to hold up his end.
“
I knew it.” The voice was flat.
Kemble
and Jane jumped apart as though they were middle school kids caught necking behind the tetherball courts.
“
What do you want, Tamsen?” Kemble growled.
“
It finally happened for you.” Tamsen’s red hair glowed in the afternoon light like the fire this morning. Kemble realized that Tamsen had changed in the last few days. Her aura of resignation cut Kemble to the quick. He never thought he’d miss that girly shriek.
Kemble looked down at Jane to see her blushing furiously.
Tamsen gave a sad smile. “Come on. The family’s out back. They’ve got questions.”
Jane put her hand through Kem
ble’s arm and squeezed. They followed Tamsen out through the kitchen, which still had burn marks but was at least dry, onto the deck.
Drew got up to meet them. She looked more serene than she had i
n weeks.
“
How are the visions?” Jane asked her best friend and now sister-in-law.
“
I think I found a way to control them.” Drew gave a small, wry smile. “I just sort of thrust myself into them more forcefully and walk around. I wish I’d figured that out sooner.”
“
You take . . . control?” Kemble asked.
“
Yeah.” She shrugged. “A little. Sometimes. If they’re the longer kind and not just the flashes. I’m not very good at it yet. But just taking action seems to make the flashing kind fade into the background.”
“
This sounds good.” The family desperately needed some good news.
Kee
, Devin, and Michael all got up from where they were sitting and gathered Jane and Kemble over to the big silvered teak table and sat them down. The sun was still fairly high over the ocean at six o’clock in late May, but the vibrantly purple jacaranda tree gave the terrace shade. It was going to be the kind of sunset where a big orange ball sank into a glinting steel sea. He couldn’t see any damage to the house from out here. Instead, Kemble saw Lanyon out in the yard teaching Jesse how to play the kazoo. It all looked almost normal. Except for the fact that the Parents weren’t here.
“
Mother still in with Senior?” Kemble asked.
Jane nodded as she scooted in next to him on the bench side of the table
, her back to the sun. Drew handed Jane the broad-brimmed floppy straw hat she’d been wearing. Tamsen plopped down on the other side. Jane took the hat gratefully. It shaded her entire face. “We’re going to have to pry her out for dinner,” she said. “Which is a self-serve taco bar, by the way, and I’m taking no complaints.”
“
Don’t tell me they made you cook dinner.” Kemble frowned. “Does Jane have to do everything around here?” He scanned the table.
Jane looked up at him.
“Tacos are easy. You can barbecue steaks tomorrow night, if you’re so concerned.”
Wasn
’t Jane getting feisty?
“
No complaints,” Michael assured her. “But here’s the best part about Drew’s vision.”
Kemble looked down to see Jane’s wary look.
“The funeral one?” she asked.
Drew nodded.
“That’s the one that’s been driving me to distraction. I just pushed in and walked around in the vision until I knew more about it. I feel bad for feeling relieved—but it’s Elaine’s funeral, not Father’s. Of course we’d all be there. We loved Elaine. I didn’t see Father. But he wouldn’t be there. He’s . . . ill. But he’s not dead. And we get through the ceremony without a Clan attack as well.”
Kemble felt
relieved. At least the grave was a sorrow realized and not one yet to come. Then he felt guilty for being relieved. His decision to tell Morgan he was exiling Mr. Nakamura was the reason there would be a funeral.
Drew reached across and took his hand.
“You look exhausted, brother. We all collapsed out here and napped off the shock. You and Jane took care of everything.” She cleared her throat and removed her hand. “Don’t think we aren’t grateful.” Oh, that was hard for Drew to say. But she needn’t get used to it.
“
Can’t say I did a great job. Not like Senior would have.”
“
Oh, stop,” Drew admonished. “Who came up with the strategy for Devin to blast the wine bottles?”
“
Who led the effort to save Senior?” Michael added. “And plugged Senior back in before it was too late?”
“
Just about got Tris killed,” Kemble muttered. “Almost didn’t make the reboot on the respirator in time either. And I forgot to check the credentials of the cleaning crew this morning.” He ran a hand through his hair. Then he felt Jane squeeze his arm.
“
One of Edwards’ men took care of that. You did fine,” she said softly.
“
Yeah,” the Kee/Dev Consortium said, in unison.
“
You got us through it,” Devin said simply, shrugging.
“
And mostly intact,” Keelan qualified. “Which I didn’t think was possible.”
“
Only with Jane’s help,” he said, clearing his throat, uncomfortable.
“
Which brings us to the main point,” Kee said. “What’s with you two? How did it happen? When did you know?”
Drew piled on.
“I thought your real father’s name was Pedrino, Jane. You got Butler from your stepdad, didn’t you? Italy is hardly a Celtic hotbed.”
“Are you questioning my Italian mother’s contribution to my obvious skills?” Michael asked. His real name was Michelangelo. Drew punched his arm.
“You’ve got it a bit tangled up,” Jane said. “Aurie Butler was supposedly my real father, but apparently my mother doesn’t even know who my real father is. “
“
I could never keep the men in your mother’s life straight.” Drew shook her head.
“
Neither could she,” Jane said, shrugging.
“
We might have known your power would be Darkness,” Kee said thoughtfully. “You always sat in the shade, ever since I can remember.”
“
Bet what you liked about photography was all the time in the darkroom,” Devin added.
“
Sure saved our butts last night,” Michael muttered.
Kemble felt a small
smile touch his lips. “She certainly did.” His heart seemed big in his chest. He was so proud of Jane.
“
When did you know?” Drew asked. “I mean, that you loved each other. I could have sworn you weren’t in love when you got married.”
Kemble wished he were anywhere else. Did they have to pry so when he and Jane hadn’t even had a chance to talk about it themselves? He didn’t relish rem
embering how he’d married Jane with so little concern for her and what she wanted. He’d bought her a house without asking her, and pushed her into a wedding in a suit that needed to go to the cleaners with no bridesmaids and almost no honeymoon. He felt himself flushing.
“
I was,” Jane answered, unexpectedly. “In love.” She looked up at Kemble with apology in her eyes. “I’ve been in love with you since I was about twelve.”
Kemble
was horrified. “You were?” That made him a hundred times more insensitive. A million. “I never knew. . . .”
“
Thank goodness,” she sighed. “I couldn’t have borne it if you thought your little sister’s mousy friend had a crush on you.”
“
You weren’t mousy,” he said loyally.
“
You know I was. Wasn’t I, Drew?”
Drew suppressed a smile.
“Not a fashion plate. No matter how hard I tried.”
Jane didn’t suppress her smile.
“And you did try, poor dear.”
“
You looked wonderful at the museum opening,” Kee declared.
“
She was coming out of her shell by then,” Drew mused. “I think we know why.”
Oh, no. Don’t start talking about sex, Kemble prayed silently. Jane won’t be able to bear that. He looked down and saw her blushing furiously. But to his surprise she said,
“Exactly.”
Everybody but Tamsen grinned. They’d all had that rush of feeling too, the overwhelming sex
ual attraction, the acceleration of the senses.
“
I don’t get how this works,” Michael said, frowning. “Drew sees me on a TV show, not even in person, gets a power and runs three thousand miles to reel me in. We weren’t in love, let alone . . . uh . . . intimate. But Jane and Kemble had known each other forever before it happened.”
“
Dev and I, too,” Keelan offered. “It really sneaked up on us.”
“
Well, darlings, I always knew it would happen for me.” Drew’s confident drawl was back. “I was expecting it, watching for signs. Kemble thought it would never happen for him.” “And Jane . . . I think Jane didn’t feel like she belonged with the Tremaines. Not true of course. She’s been taking us in hand one way or another for years. Just quietly, behind the scenes, so we wouldn’t notice. But she wouldn’t have guessed she had magic. And you two. . . .” She gave Devin and Keelan a stare. “You had a little barrier too. You were living as brother and sister—adopted, of course, but still.”
“
Yeah. That was a bitch,” Devin agreed. “I was sure I was going to hell.”
“
I was already in it,” Kee whispered fervently.
“
So you’re saying we didn’t find each other earlier because we didn’t feel like we deserved true love?” Jane asked, frowning.
“
Let’s just say you were a little repressed. And both sure you didn’t have the gene.” Drew gave each a pointed look.
“
Darling,” Michael said, hauling her into his side. “You were plenty repressed when you found out that I was an alcoholic who was still in love with his dead wife.”
“
Not repressed,” she scoffed. “I tied you to the bed while I put you through detox. I’d say I was a woman who knew what she wanted.”
“
Okay, depressed then.” Michael grinned at her.
“
Well, depressed, sure. Who wouldn’t be depressed if they found out their Destiny was a lug like you?”
At that m
oment, Kemble felt Jane stiffen. He jerked his head up and saw his mother standing in the doorway. She looked so fragile. Her skin was almost translucent, and for the first time, he could see she would be sixty this year. He jumped to his feet. “Let me get you a chair, Mother. How is Senior?”
“
The aide is bathing him. I wanted to, but they said. . . .” She trailed off. Where was the confident matriarch he knew and loved?
Kemble
pulled up an armchair to the head of the table and settled her into it. He wondered how much she had heard. Was she affronted that they had been discussing family business without her? Because he and Jane getting a power was not just personal. In times like these, it was family business first and foremost.