Theodore (Xavier's Hatchlings #2) - Kathi S. Barton Page 0,36

arrived. Pem was holding his hand, and Theo was glad for it. The three of them, including MaryBeth, might come out of this a little closer.

Theo kept an eye on the faeries as they flittered from room to room. The place had been left unattended for a few days, and things were piled up. Dust mostly, but there was mail on the dining room table that had to be dealt with. He found a couple pieces of hate mail that he turned over to the police. Even after they left, he stayed where he was in the dining room, going over what needed to be taken care of. Austin and Pem joined him there a few minutes later.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I’m making arrangements on these for you. Most of them are past due, but they’re going to allow me to pay them when I return home.” Austin thanked him for that. “We have to talk about this, Austin. Not just about Caroline, but you as well.”

“Pem said that one of your aunts speaks to ghosts.” He said that was right. “I’m not saying I believe you, but I was wondering if they’ve spoken to Caroline or the boys. I know they’re all gone, and I’m here alone, but I’d like to make sure that— Well, I don’t really know what I’m making sure of, but I guess I wanted to find out why she did this. Or why the boys did what they did.”

Theo glanced at Pem, and she shook her head a little. “My aunt said that the boys have moved on. They didn’t stick around on the side of death for very long.” He cried a little, and Theo let him before he spoke again. “Has Caroline tried to kill herself before, Austin? The reason I ask is, she had hoped that you’d find her before she was gone. Is that something you’ve done before?”

“Yes. Several times.” He looked out the back door as he continued. “Whenever she didn’t get her way, she’d do something like this. But last night—or the night before, I can’t remember—I decided to take a few sleeping pills. Killing myself wasn’t in my head then, not like it is now, but I just needed the thoughts in my head to go away, just for a little while. I don’t know how long I was out, but I found Caroline the way she was when I went to find her. I thought we’d go to the grave today and talk to them. I have no idea. There wasn’t any way for us to actually speak to them, but….” Austin looked at him, his face so full of anguish that he ached for the man. “They killed those men and women for no other reason than they could. I know that now. When I think of all the things, all the money that we had to pay out when they’d be up to no good, I wonder why it never occurred to me to get them help.”

“Because of Caroline.” It wasn’t a question from Pem, but Austin nodded as he cried again. “She would get her way with things by saying she would kill herself. You have any idea how sick that is, Uncle Austin?”

“I do now.” He looked at her. “So many times, I wanted to talk to you about what she was doing. It didn’t seem to me that you were acting anything like she did when she did these things. I mean, the doctor even told me she was acting out. I didn’t believe him, of course. I just couldn’t understand anyone using such a dangerous thing to get my attention. But she never went too far. Understand?”

“Yes. I have to tell you both something. Something that I’ve only just recently found out myself. I’ve been…I guess you could say that I’ve been watched over since I was a small child. Not by anyone that I ever saw, but by a faerie. She told me today that she’s so happy I found Theo. That she’d been keeping me safe for him for decades. I had no idea.” Theo was going to have to find the little creature and thank her. He wondered who had sent her to watch over Pem and decided it had to be his mom or dad. They would have been able to see enough of his future to know that his mate was out there but might not make it to see him. “I never