Part 2
690 Words
Jaime was still sitting with her head down between her knees when there was another knock on her door. Not wanting Callen to see her so shaken, Jaime furiously wiped at her face before answering. Instead of Callen, Deanna Morgan stood there. Deanna's expression immediately changed from it's usual chipper grin and sparkling eyes to dismay. And then anger.
"Who the hell do I have to talk to?"
"No, no. It's fine." Jaime's voice cracked.
"It's not fine!"
Deanna's dark hair fanned out behind her as she spun around, ready to find out what was going on. Jaime grabbed her friend's arm and pulled Deanna through the portal. Callen's words echoed in her head so they stood in an awkward silence while Jaime tried to come up with an excuse.
"Did you see something?"
Jaime shook her head. "Don't worry. It's fine. I think it's fine."
They were both used to secrets so finally Deanna sighed. She took off her pleather jacket and tossed it over the back of the nearest seat. She plopped down after it, pulling out two movie tickets.
"I got these early. Now that we got one of our people downtown. Guess I should ask someone else?"
Jaime looked down at her dirt stained overalls. "I'm not ready to go out."
She looked at the dirt that still managed to get under her nails despite the gardening gloves. It didn't bother her but concentrating on anything else felt more manageable than remembering what had occurred a matter of hours before. Deanna cleared her throat when the silence dragged on too much.
"When does it start?" Jaime asked, suddenly worn out from crying.
Deanna checked the tickets with a manicured hand that suggested she'd just come from the nail salon. Her habits drew some scorn from the other earth witches, but she'd never cared.
"Thirty minutes. If we leave now we might just miss the trailers."
Jaime motioned towards her outfit again.
Deanna waved away Jaime's concern. "It won't hurt anyone. " She grabbed Jaime's hand and pulled her outside. "Let's go and get away for awhile."
They took their time getting to the movie theater, talking about anything except family business. Jaime was glad for the comfortable weather. As she walked under the trees she let herself listen to their songs. By the time they walked up the steps to the movie some of the heaviness had dissipated. Jaime laughed at the jokes she wouldn't usually find funny, talked in whispers to Deanna about bad scenes, good scenes, which actors they recognized, and ate bad snacks guiltfree. When the movie ended they walked back to the lobby arm in arm as if they were young children.
Reality came crashing back in when Jaime saw a group of people across the street laughing loudly and throwing back beers anyone else would at least hide in a water bottle. One woman, who's back was to them, has golden claw marks etched into the back of her vest. Magic radiated from it. The placement of the emblem didn't matter as long as you got the message; Aindach. The family that Blair, Callen's partner, was certain had burned down the original Timberhall home. The only thing keeping Blair from tearing down every bar flying those damn claw marks was one complication. Every family drew in recruits that held to their traditions and type of magic. Except the Aindachs. They took everyone, especially those angry at their own rejections from the other families.
When they attacked, the witch responsible likely used magic that couldn't be detected until it was too late. If left families scrambling to save what they could. In the aftermath it left them arguing. Had this truly been an outside attack or was this an inside attempt to kill off the heads of the family? Unless the Aindach witch was caught it was nearly impossible to pin anything on them. Any retaliation would be seen as the offending family trying to expand their territory. Weakness returned to Jaimie's legs when she remembered Dusk's words.
"You think she can replace me?"
Did Callen expect her to deal with them?
- Writer
