Magic In The Storm (24 page)

The trembling throughout Adriana’s body
increased as she allowed Morgan to lead her away from a stunned
Lady Vallentyn. Her tremors diminished as they moved further away
from Lady Vallentyn, although all of her muscles ached from being
tense for so long.

The further away they moved, the stronger was
the small voice that whispered in the back of Adriana’s mind.
It
is all right. There is nothing to fear. Morgan will take care of
you
.

It made no sense, but somehow, she was able
to heed the voice and continue on.

<><><>

“Could your mother have somehow transferred
some of her powers to you?” Nestor asked the following morning as
he, Morgan and Cosmina were discussing the events of the previous
evening.

“Is that possible? I didn’t know powers were
transferable,” Morgan said, taking another bite of his hearty
breakfast.

The hopeful light in Nestor’s eyes faded.
“I’ve heard myths, but they were probably just that. I’m simply
looking for some explanation for how you became so powerful
suddenly.”

“Well, no matter how you got the powers,
Morgan, I am very happy you were able to defend yourself and
Adriana,” Cosmina said, giving Morgan’s arm a pat.

He gave her a little smile. “Thank you,
Cosmina. I only wish I could stop worrying.”

“What is there for you to worry about?”

“The fact that my mother knows I’m here in
London. And she knows I have become powerful...”

“But she doesn’t know just
how
powerful you are,” Nestor pointed out.

Morgan nodded slowly. “That’s true, but
neither do I. And I am still worried about what she might do
next.”

“What could she do? You have beaten her. You
are more powerful than she. Now, you need to go and meet Adriana
once more and convince her...”

“We don’t know that Morgan is more powerful
than Lady Vallentyn,” Nestor said, putting down his tea cup with
the smallest of tinks. “Even if you are, Morgan, what about the
other consequences? People noticed the odd weather last night. Did
anyone see you leaving the garden? Could anyone associate you with
it?”

Morgan sighed, and rubbed his hand over his
eyes. He was quickly losing his appetite with this conversation.
“No. I don’t believe anyone did. I slipped out the back and stayed
away from the road, taking the alleyways as far as I could.”

“Perhaps someone noticed Lady Vallentyn
coming from the garden? Could someone associate her with the odd
happenings?” Cosmina asked, hopefully.

“It is unlikely. Why would anyone associate
an odd patch of weather with a woman who is well respected in
society?” Nestor asked.

“I don’t know. Why would anyone associate it
with Morgan?” Cosmina asked in the same scornful tone of voice.

“Because he is thought to be a gypsy,” Nestor
answered.

“And what have gypsies got to do with odd
weather?” Cosmina’s face flushed.

“Please!” Morgan interrupted their quarrel.
“No one will associate the odd weather with anyone. That is not
what I am worrying about.”

There was silence for a moment while Nestor
and Cosmina cooled their tempers.

“What is it you are worrying about, Morgan?”
Cosmina asked. “Is it Adriana? I am certain she will admire you
even more now that she has seen how strong you are. She will
certainly want to be more than just friends, perhaps even...”

“I was thinking about my mother,” Morgan
interrupted. He hadn’t even begun to think about his relationship
with Adriana, and didn’t have the luxury to do so just now. “I told
you, my mother is a very powerful Vallen. She is not used to being
thwarted. She will find some way of punishing me for this. I’m just
afraid...”

“Afraid of what?” Nestor asked.

“I am afraid she might hurt Adriana."

Cosmina gasped. “She wouldn’t!”

“Yes, she would,” Morgan sat back and tried
to relax his tightening muscles. “That is the way she punishes
people, by hurting that which they love most.”

No one said anything as they digested this
information.

A knock sounded on the door, and the maid
peeked her head in. “A young lady to see you, Mr. Vallentyn,” she
said, giggling. “I’ve shown her into the drawing room.”

Morgan stood up at once. “A
young
lady, you say?”

Nestor too stood. “Did she give her
name?”

The maid lost her smile. “No, and I didn’t
think to ask, Mr. Nestor,” she said, closing the door with a
snap.

Morgan looked at Nestor and then Cosmina.

“It could be Adriana,” Cosmina ventured.

Morgan nodded his head slowly. “It could be,
but I...” A smile came to his face as a familiar, warm feeling came
over him. “It is Kat.” He strode out the door and across the hall
to the drawing room.

Indeed, his cousin was sitting looking
nervously around at the shabby furnishings when Morgan entered the
room. Close on his heels was Cosmina, followed at a more dignified
pace by Nestor.

“Kat!” Morgan embraced his cousin warmly. “It
is so good to see you!”

“It is good to see you,” she said, giving a
little laugh. “You act as if we haven’t seen each other for a year.
It’s only been one week, Morgan.”

“It feels more like a year.”

A gentle cough came from behind him.

“Oh, Cosmina, Nestor, this is my cousin,
Kat...er, Katrina Havelock,” Morgan said awkwardly.

Cosmina gave her a little curtsey, while
Nestor bowed.

Morgan ignored the odd look she gave
him—obviously wondering who Cosmina and Nestor were—and instead
took her hand, leading her back to the sofa. Sitting down with her,
he asked, “Did you hear about last night? You are staying with my
mother? Has she said anything? Done anything?”

Kat looked from Morgan to Cosmina and Nestor
and then back again to Morgan. Morgan could sense her unease, as
well as a touch of fear.

“It is all right. Nestor and Cosmina are
friends. I told them what happened, and Nestor is Vallen.”

Kat’s discomfort lessened a bit, but not
entirely. She gave a little nod, and then said, “Your mother has
not spoken to anyone. She has not even come from her room yet
today, and you know how early she is up and about normally. I knew
something was wrong, which is why I came to see you.”

“I beg your pardon, but how did you know
where to find Mr. Vallentyn?” Nestor asked.

“It was not easy. I’ve been walking around
the area for the past hour trying to get a sense of where he might
be. Luckily, you have a very strong aura,” she said, turning back
to Morgan.

Morgan gave her hand a squeeze. “You’ve
always been able to find me, no matter where I was.”

“What an interesting talent,” Cosmina said,
in awe. “I do hope you didn’t get too wet.”

“I can only sense people I am very close to,”
Kat explained. “And I, er, managed not to get too wet.”

“By using your magic?” Morgan asked laughing
a little.

Kat gave him a guilty little smile and a
shrug. She then turned serious and added, “But Aunt
Vallentyn...”

“Must be furious,” Morgan finished for her,
also losing his smile.

“Beyond furious, Morgan. I’m scared for you.
I don’t know what she might be planning.” She looked down at their
hands, still interlocked. “Can you tell me what happened last
night?”

“Let’s just say, my powers have increased
again,” Morgan said briefly.

“He was magnificent, Miss Havelock. He proved
himself to be Lady Vallentyn’s equal, defending himself and...”

“Cosmina,” Morgan said, warningly. He
desperately wished she was more discreet. He didn’t want to have to
watch what he said in her presence.

Kat looked at Morgan, her eyes wide.

“It is not what it sounds like. I was able to
stop my mother from harming anyone, that’s all.”

“That’s all? That’s quite a lot.” Her eyes
narrowed again. “What do you mean, anyone? Who else was there?”

“Just Adriana,” Morgan said as nonchalantly
as possible.

“Morgan! You met her? What... no, wait. Let’s
deal with Aunt Vallentyn first. She is much more of a threat than
Adriana.”

“Adriana isn’t a threat at all,” Morgan said,
smiling at the thought.

“No. Of course, she isn’t. But your mother
definitely is.”

Morgan sobered up immediately. “You don’t
know what she might do, do you?”

“No. I wish I did.”

“I’m certain she will not let this go
unpunished,” Morgan said quietly.

“But she may also be wary of you now,” Nestor
put in. “Now that she knows how powerful you’ve become.”

Morgan gave a little shrug, “It’s but a drop
in the pail compared to her powers, I’m sure.”

“You don’t know that, Morgan,” Kat said. “You
know what the proph...”

“Yes, yes, I know,” Morgan said, cutting her
off. He hadn’t told either Cosmina or Nestor about the prophecy
pertaining to him. He wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to share so
much information with them just yet. “The point is that no matter
what my powers are now, she will be planning something. She wants
me to return to Vallentyn, and I have no doubt she will do anything
to ensure that I do.”

“You will need to be very careful,” Cosmina
put in.

“Yes, Morgan. You don’t know when, where or
how she will strike.”

“It is not for myself that I’m worried, Kat.
She’ll hurt Adriana. I just know she will.”

Kat bit her lip. Morgan could see her eyes
become glassy with unshed tears. “Oh, Morgan, you are right.”

“I must go and warn her. I’ve got to... to
protect her somehow.”

“But how? You can’t be with her day and
night,” Kat protested.

“I know,” Morgan said, getting up and moving
to the window. He looked out at the rain–soaked morning. “It is
imperative that you find out anything you can about what she is
planning.” If she couldn’t, and Adriana came to any harm because of
him...

He came back to the sofa, and took Kat’s
hands in his own. “We need to know what she is going to do so that
I can protect Adriana.”

Kat nodded slowly. “I will do my best.” She
frowned at him, suddenly upset. “You needn’t have put a suggestion
into my mind. I would have done it anyway.”

Morgan sat back, dropping her hands. “I am so
sorry, I didn’t mean to. I...”

“You just don’t know your powers. You’ve got
to be careful!”

“I know. I am trying to control them, but
sometimes, when I feel very strongly about something, it just
happens.” He sat back against the sofa, feeling bad. She was
absolutely right, he had to learn to control his magic better.

She sat back and thought about this for a
moment. “What you need is someone to teach you how to control
them.”

Morgan sat forward again. “Yes! That’s just
what I need. Could you...?”

She shook her head. “If Aunt Vallentyn ever
found out, we’d both be sunk.” She paused, “But do, please, remove
the suggestion you just gave me.”

<><><>

“Where have you been?” Tatiana kept her voice
low and quiet, despite the anger simmering in her breast.

“I just went out for a walk,” Kat answered,
removing her hat and gloves, and putting them, along with her
umbrella, into the hands of her maid. She gave the woman a nod,
turning back to Tatiana as the maid closed the drawing room door
behind her.

Tatiana took a deep breath and let it out
slowly. If she played her cards right, she would have the
information she needed from Kat with no trouble at all.

“I do hope Morgan is well?” she asked,
casually putting aside the book she had been reading.

“I don’t know what you mean. Morgan is at
Vallentyn,” Kat answered a little too smoothly.

Of course, Kat would not remember she had
already revealed Morgan’s whereabouts. And now she thought to play
with her? It wasn’t easy, but Tatiana kept a strong hold on her
temper. Narrowing her eyes at her niece, she said, “There is no use
in lying to me, Katrina. You know I can always tell when you are
lying. You know as well as I do that Morgan is here in London, and
you are even aware of what happened last evening.”

She stood up and moved toward the fireplace.
Keeping her back turned so that Kat could not see the fury in her
eyes, she asked, “Did he tell you all of the details? Did he gloat
and tell you how he managed to best me?”

Kat didn’t answer right away. Tatiana veiled
her eyes before turning back around. The girl was standing with her
hands clutching her arms, her knuckles white with tension. But
Tatiana didn’t need to see her protective stance to see how scared
she was—she could feel it. It radiated from her like heat from a
fire. Poor, dear Katrina knew everything and was terrified of her
own knowledge.

And so she should be, Tatiana thought.

“He, he didn’t tell me anything.” Kat
grimaced as soon as she had finished speaking, knowing full well
what she had just accidentally revealed.

So she had met with him! This was too easy.
Tatiana gave a little nod of her head, and then sat down,
apparently at her ease, but with all of her senses ready to pick up
the smallest bit of information.

“I don’t suppose it is a pleasant day for a
walk.”

Kat drew her eyebrows down in confusion. “No,
not very. It is raining.”

“And you were not too obvious using your
magic not to get wet.”

“Oh no, Morgan’s not...” Kat stopped speaking
before she gave away any more information.

All right, he was clearly living within easy
walking distance. Now to find out where, exactly.

Tatiana smiled and encouraging smile. “He’s
not what?”

“Nothing. I wasn’t going to say anything
important.”

Tatiana gave a little nod of her head, as if
to say it was fine for Kat to stay quiet. “I believe I may visit
him today, as well. Won’t he be surprised by two visits in one day?
Of course, I will combine my visit with a stop in Bond Street—I
need some new feathers for one of my hats.” It was not a smooth
ploy, but perhaps it might work.