Page 43

The baby slept, peaceful, oblivious to the chaos around her. Still clutching the knife in one hand, Gabi used the other to straighten the little blanket over Mia’s legs. It was a favorite, pink and purple and adorned with dancing unicorns.

She stood beside her daughter’s crib for several long minutes, listening, wondering where Blake had gone. He wasn’t at the window; she didn’t hear him at a door, or whispering threatening words, or laughing. Maybe he was gone, for now. Maybe something had scared him off.

It had been foolish of her to think even for a minute that she could have something meaningful with Silas, or anyone else. Her situation had not changed, and the feelings she had for him were only going to make it harder for her to leave. And she was going to have to leave, that much was clear.

The trick was to find a way to get out of town without Blake realizing she was gone. She had to have the chance to get down the road without him knowing it, had to be far away before…

The doorbell rang, and Gabi almost came out of her skin. The ring was followed by a pounding on the door, and then a voice calling her name. Silas’s voice.

Gabi looked at Judge, who’d planted himself beside the crib. “Stay,” she said, but the instruction was unnecessary. The bloodhound was on guard, and didn’t look as if he’d be going anywhere any time soon.

Without turning on a single light, Gabi made her way to the door. With her hand on the deadbolt she asked, “Silas?”

“Yes. Are you ok?”

Gabi glanced toward the window and saw headlights on the road outside her house, she heard the gentle roar of engines as more vehicles approached. Silas had not come alone. How had he known?

She unlocked the door, opened it. Silas rushed in and straight into her arms.

“You’re shaking,” he said, holding on tight.

“Blake was here,” she whispered. “He looked in the window, he banged on the door. I thought… I thought…”

Silas backed up a little, saw the knife in her hand, and gently took it from her. “It’s ok. He’s gone now.”

Gabi instinctively looked toward the window. “Are you sure?”

Through the still-open door she saw the men in her yard. Luke Benedict headed to the right side of the house; Travis to the left. They both had flashlights they swept this way and that. On the street others had gathered. Eve and Ivy, Marnie and Clint. Jordan and a man who stepped off his motorcycle and joined the others. They stood in a small group, talking in low tones, watching her and Silas. She was pretty sure she heard a curse word from Ivy.

Gabi looked into Silas’s face. “How did you know?” He’d come to her rescue, bringing the cavalry with him. “Did a neighbor call you?” She tried to think of who might’ve had a good enough view to see Blake skulking around in the dark.

Silas looked down at her, his mouth hard, his eyes unreadable. After a moment he said, “We need to talk.”

* * *

Gabi sat in her favorite chair, legs tucked beneath her, eyes wide. The others had left, after making sure no one was skulking around the yard or any of the neighboring yards. They’d all gone home to make plans for the coming days, to mull over their options while they tried to sleep.

None of them were going to get much sleep until this was done.

“I don’t understand.” It wasn’t the first time Gabi had said those words, in the past hour. Seemed like much longer than a single hour but the clock didn’t lie.

Explaining to a Non-Springer what they’d stumbled onto wasn’t a simple thing, and he’d had very little practice. He’d made the mistake of trying to explain what he was to Samantha, but obviously he hadn’t done a good job. It had not gone well.

None of the Springers were experts at this. They’d spent their entire lifetimes hiding who and what they were. It was a rare occurrence for someone from outside to get any kind of explanation.

Not everyone was on-board with him telling Gabi anything at all. Several of them thought the best idea was to get her out of town by any method possible, just as Jenna wanted. They said he could lie, if necessary. He could use force, if there was no other way. Amnesia punch was always an option. He’d bet his last dollar Ivy was at her place now, cooking up a batch.

But Jordan and Marnie both liked Gabi, and they wanted her to stay. If that meant coming clean they were more than willing, and they convinced their men, the way women often did. Luke and Clint were such suckers. The others were swayed by the possibility that Mia had Springer blood. The future of Mystic Springs depended on the young people, and there were precious few. More were coming, thank goodness, but at the moment the population swung heavily to Boomer. There shouldn’t be more Springers in The Egg than there were in the school, a small K-12 schoolhouse with a psychic at the head of the operation. Those kids got away with nothing.

Silas didn’t want Gabi to stay because she knew how to cut Marnie’s hair, or because the town needed Mia and would need her more as the years went by. He wanted her to stay because in the past week, in a handful of days, he’d come to need her. Gabi said she didn’t want love.

It might not matter what she wanted.

Chapter 15

Magic didn’t exist. She might not know much, but that was a given. Everything Silas was telling her could be explained away logically. Why did he look so damned serious! This was a joke. Had to be.

Luke hadn’t known she’d needed those particular deadbolts, it had just been coincidence.