Induction, T.K. Eldridge [read aloud books txt] 📗

Sin

I’d become too used to worrying about Sid these days. I realized this as I drove us back through the city to Grandpa’s house on the other side of Belle Cove. “You okay, sis?”

“Oh, my gods, Sin, stop asking me that, please,” Sid said as she thumped her head back against the headrest.

“Look, I know the last thing you want to do is visit Grandpa, but..”

“Whatever gave you that idea? The fact that he always treats me as a second-class citizen and barely acknowledges the fact that I’m a breathing human being? Never mind that I’m his actual granddaughter.”

“And what about Grandma Fortin? She would say ‘warlock’ like it’s a curse every time she saw me. Like it’s my fault I’m both male and a witch. No one even uses the term warlock because it means traitor, not male witch,” I reminded her.

“So, we both have grandparents that make us want to scream, punch them, or blow up something in their general vicinity. Yay us.” Sid said.

“And after we visit Grandpa, we should probably go visit Grandma Fortin. See if she’s heard anything. You know she won’t call us to give us intel and will make us go in person.”

Sid snorted laughter into her travel mug. “Careful, Sin. Your snark is showing.”

It felt good to hear her laugh. We’d not had much reason to over the past few days. After the park fiasco and the house burning down, we tried to go see the house and got turned away. Grandpa paid some folks to empty the garage and move the vehicles and the stuff into a storage shed at the cabin, and the debris was getting hauled away and the site cleared. Going through the things stored in the garage had been harder than we’d expected. Realizing a whole lifetime’s worth of photos and memories had gone up in smoke, along with family heirloom furniture pieces, Mom’s wedding dress, Dad’s favorite fishing hat, all of it gone.

We made our way out the other side of the city and down the cliff road. A twisting road ran from the city to the lighthouse on the peninsula. About a hundred feet below, the ocean crashed against the rocks, sending spray into the air. I glanced over and saw Sid staring out the window, watching the waves. “That view is the best part of this ride, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it’s the best part of visits to Grandpa’s place. I always like it best from the other direction, though.”

“Ha. Ha. Okay, suck it up, sweet cheeks. We’re about to face the dragon in his castle.” I knew that would get a laugh out of her and I wasn’t disappointed. I pulled up to the gates, punched in the code, and drove us up to the house a couple of minutes later. The Boudreau mansion sat on several acres of prime waterfront property with the house at the top of the hill to best capture the views of the ocean. The main part was a three-story square in the brick Georgian style, built in 1702, with wings added on to either side in the late 1780s and a back addition of a Victorian conservatory using steel in the late 1800s. We had been raised knowing the history of the house as much as knowing the history of the family that built it and still lived in it. Our father’s family, a long and proud line of shifters.

I got out of the car and stretched, doing my best to give Sid a few moments to prepare herself. I loved my Grandpa, but he was a real dick when it came to the way he treated my sister.

By the time I got around the car, Sid was standing outside it, tugging on her clothes and twisting her hair around a finger. I gave her a shoulder hug and kissed the top of her head. “Just breathe, Sid. We’ll get out of here as soon as we can, okay?”

“I’m gonna hold you to that,” she said as she forced a smile to her lips and walked up the steps with me.

I pushed the front door open and called out. “Grandpa, we’re here.”

His responding bellow came from the back of the house, which meant he was in his library. “Back here, my boy.”

We walked past the central staircase down a hall lined with antique portraits of ancestors. Mahogany floors covered with imported, antique carpets muffled our steps as I led the way to the library. Sid slowed her steps the closer we got until I reached back and took her hand. I gave her the ‘knock it off’ look and she stuck her tongue out at me. Yeah, we were that mature.

I tugged Sid’s hand to pull her closer. “Behave.” I hissed, then nudged her into place beside me. We walked into the library side by side.

“A pleasure to see you, Sinclair.” Grandpa B said from his seat behind his desk. “Oh, and hello, Sidonie.”

“Grandfather Boudreau,” Sid said, staying by the door.

I moved to the two chairs in front of his desk and dropped into one, eyes on my grandfather as he stared at my sister.

“Are you going to come join us, Sidonie?” he asked.

“It’s Sid, Grandpa. And I’ll come join you if you really want me to, otherwise, I can go find something else to do and leave you here with your favorite grandchild.”

I grinned at Grandpa, knowing her attitude was one of the things he admired most about her, but would never tell her as much.

“Come sit, Sid. Please,” he said.

That had me sitting up and staring at him. “Okay, Grandpa. What’s going on?”

Sid walked over and sat, giving him the same worried look I was wearing.

“We found your mother.”

My heart stuttered. I felt it skip in my chest. “Is she alive?”

“Where did you find her?” Sid asked.

“Yes, she is alive, and two of my men found her at the lighthouse. Someone had left a cryptic message tied to the gate with some of her hair. She’s at Alicia’s house right now, being seen by the healers.”

Sid and I both got to our feet, ready to head out right then when Grandpa spoke again. “Wait, you two. Please, sit for a few more minutes.”

“But, Grandpa,” Sid started to argue.

“Please,” he said again.

We both sat down on the edge of our seats. Sid was twisting her hair into a knot and my knee was bouncing so fast, my calf was cramping.

“Your mother said they still had your father. It’s some organization calling itself The Purist League. They want to eliminate all impure shifters and witches from existence.”

“That’s why they wanted to exchange them for us,” I said. “So they could kill us?”

“However, we have since learned that your father escaped, and they tracked him back to your house. They burned it down, thinking he was trapped inside. He wasn’t. We don’t know where your father is right now, and your mother was injured trying to escape with him. They didn’t want her death on their hands, so they dumped her at the lighthouse and left us a message. I guess they’re more afraid of the Fortin family than they are of the Boudreaus.” He got to his feet, fists resting on his desk as he leaned forward. “I think it’s time they learned to fear both families. Don’t you?”

All I could think about was Mom, hurt and Dad, somewhere out there with these Purist idiots hunting him. Luckily Sid had more clarity.

“Fear? No, Grandpa. Fear isn’t going to work with people calling themselves Purists. They’re acting out of fear. Fear that something different, something like Sin and I, are going to change how they live their lives, how they exist in the world. We don’t need to make them fear us. We need to get them to understand and accept us.”

He gave a derisive snort and shook his head. “Damned fool girl child. Your brother certainly got all of the brains in that birthing. Why don’t you just go to the kitchen and get us some drinks while your brother and I handle things?”

Sid got to her feet, grabbed a crystal vase off the desk and lifted it over her head. I grabbed it before she could throw it, set it on the desk and faced our grandfather.

“With all due respect, sir, shut your fucking mouth. You ever speak to Sid like that again and it will be the last time you speak with either of us. Understood?” I had to breathe a couple of deep ones after that