Chapter 16

"You need to give me the medallion, Cassandra." Austen was getting tired of repeating himself, but the distrust in her eyes was palpable. It annoyed him just how similar, yet opposite, this daughter was from his other. If only he'd reached her before the Coven and her damnable grandmother had, maybe she'd be reaching out to him like Maya instead of building a wall between them.

"I don't trust you," Cassandra replied, her voice laced with the same resentment it always carried. "You abandoned my mother and me; you left us to fend for ourselves, knowing I'd have your Dark Magic and would need you!" Tears mingled with the anger in her green eyes. "My mother died. If you hadn't left us, she could still be alive!"

"How many times do I have to tell you that if the Witch-Hunters had known I was alive, they would have come after us all? I was protecting both you and Carla by staying away."

He could see the conflict in her eyes, the desire to believe him warring with her ingrained distrust.

Sighing, Austen placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to convey sincerity. "I came here to protect you once I realized you'd found the medallion and activated it. It's dangerous, Cassandra." He sighed again. "I left to keep you safe, and I'm back to keep you safe."

Cassandra bit her bottom lip, obviously struggling with her emotions. The medallion around her neck seemed to weigh heavily on her chest.

Suddenly, a surge of power hit them both, reminiscent of what had happened with Maya. Austen felt his firstborn's presence, sensed the Dark Magic inside her activating.

He pulled away from Cassandra, severing the connection, hoping that, like Maya, she would be confused and unsure of what had just happened.

"Who was that?" Cassandra, unlike Maya, was bound to an active coven and knew much more about magic.

He cleared his throat, looking away. "The medallion belongs to our bloodline; it reacted to our touch."

"That wasn't just us," Cassandra said, stepping forward, her defiance unyielding. "It's just like when I activated the medallion! I sensed you and I sensed... who is that?"

He moved towards the door, trying to evade her questions. "I have a call I need to make."

"Who are you calling?" Cassandra followed him, her determination unshaken. "Who is that presence I keep feeling?"

He was taken aback by her perceptiveness, the fact that Cassandra could sense Maya. But then again, they were sisters. "Once you start trusting me, I'll start trusting you."

With that, he left Jane's house and walked away swiftly, dialing Gabe's number as he went. The phone rang in his ear, a stark contrast to the turmoil in his mind.

Maya was losing her key privileges. The school decided it wasn't safe for anyone to be there outside of school hours, which meant she couldn't stay late to work on the Chronicle. Sitting in the back of the ambulance, she let the EMT examine her despite insisting that her sore throat was the only injury she had. Her heart was heavy. Not only had her beloved Chronicle been ransacked, but she was now just another student with no special privileges. How did they expect her to get the newspaper up and running again with such restrictions?

"Are you sure you didn't get a good look at your attacker?" the deputy asked, not for the first time.

"I'm sure," she groaned, hand on her throat. "I told you already. He had a ski mask on. I didn't see his face."

"If you remember anything, just give me a call at the sheriff's station." The deputy handed her a card before walking away.

Maya tossed the card into her bag, feeling a wave of frustration. Her father was going to flip when he heard about this. He might even expect her to quit the Chronicle.

She sighed, staring up at the ceiling of the ambulance, her situation feeling more dire by the minute.

Her phone rang. She flinched, knowing exactly who it was without even looking at the caller ID. She answered with a weary, "Dad, I can explain—"

"Are you hurt? Were you injured? Are you in the hospital?" Gabe Burns' voice was frantic.

She flinched at the desperation in his tone. "I'm fine, Dad. Whatever Principal Kwan told you was probably exaggerated."

"Come to my office. I have a teleconference I can't get out of, but I need to see with my own eyes that you're fine."

"Sure," she sighed, her throat aching. "I'll be there as soon as they let me go." She hung up and turned to the EMT. "Frantic dad. Can I go now?"

"Sure," he nodded. "Just keep taking those pills I gave you, and the lozenges. They'll help with the pain and inflammation in your throat."

"Thanks," she gave him a small smile before leaving the ambulance and heading to her car.

Paranoia crept in as she checked the back seat to make sure no one was hiding there before slipping into the driver's seat and driving off. With no traffic on the road, she reached the Allen Corp facility quickly. The guard signaled her in, and she waved to familiar employees as she passed. Her father had managed the Harvest Grove Allen Corp fertilizer plant since she was eleven, and she'd grown up around these people.

As she walked past the conference room, she heard a series of curses from Danielle, her father's secretary, who never cursed. Concerned, Maya poked her head in. "Is everything alright?"

"Maya!" Danielle looked frazzled. "How are you, honey?"

"You sound worse than I do," Maya said, slipping into the room. She saw Danielle bent over the computer that controlled the large television used for teleconferences. "What's wrong?"

"We need new computers. Just because we're one of the smaller facilities doesn't mean we should get their hand-me-downs." Danielle looked close to tears. "The teleconference is in a couple of minutes, and the darned thing won't work—pardon my French."

"Want me to take a look at it?" Maya offered.

"Would you?" Danielle sighed in relief. "Thanks, doll." She fanned herself. "Is it hot in here or am I menopausing?"

Maya chuckled as she dropped her bag to the ground and sat in front of the computer. "It's a bit warm."

"Mike keeps turning down the temperature. I keep telling him if he gets cold, bring a jacket!" Danielle stormed off, likely to scold poor Mike.

Maya cracked her knuckles and got to work, trying to figure out what was wrong with the connection. She sat at the head of the table, staring at the large black screen on the opposite wall. Not even static. She got up to ensure the television was actually turned on before returning to the computer to continue troubleshooting.

Maya was about to give up when suddenly static crackled through the television, and she heard the faint words, "Give up."

Her head shot up, eyes widening at the now static-filled screen. "Hello?" she called out, leaning closer.

There was a brief pause before a strained voice responded, "Hello?"

A grin spread across her face. "Okay, so obviously we're doing something right." She resumed her work, fingers flying over the keyboard as she navigated through different programs, trying to find what settings might have changed. "Are all your cables attached correctly on your end?"

"Yes," the voice confirmed. "I've been checking online while we were in the blackout, and I found a lot of reported bugs on this software."

"I see," she mused, her lips pursed. She had suspected software issues. "Do you have Skype on your end? If push comes to shove, we can always rely on that."

There was a pause. "I doubt Mr. Allen even knows what Skype is."

"Neither does Mr. Burns... so I guess we'll just have to work with what we have and only use Skype if it's absolutely necessary." She chuckled, continuing to type rapidly. Finally, she found a solution. "Ah-hah!" The screen flickered and came to life, revealing a handsome young man with dark hair and piercing dark eyes.

He stopped what he was doing and stared back at her. "Hi."

"Hey," she replied, sitting up straighter as a blush crept up her cheeks. "So, uh, situation fixed."

"Yes, it is." He smiled, revealing two deep dimples. "I'll have to tell Mr. Allen that no matter how hard I tried, his IT specialists on the other end were the ones who pulled through."

She was about to explain that the Harvest Grove Facility didn't have IT specialists when her father opened the door, his frown immediate and stern. "I need to speak to you outside. Now."

She gulped, sending the guy a last look before grabbing her bag and hurrying outside, the door closing behind her. "Before you say anything, I wasn't just talking with them for the heck of it. I fixed the—"

But her father pulled her into a tight hug and pressed a kiss to her forehead, not letting go.

Feeling him tremble, Maya dropped her bag and held him tighter, realizing he was the one who needed comfort. "Daddy, I'm fine. I really am."

"I'll kill whoever did that to you," he promised, his voice breaking. "If he comes after you again—"

She hugged him tighter. "I doubt whoever it was would be foolish enough to return."

"I'm getting you a taser," he declared, his tone firm.

She didn't have the heart to tell him she'd had one since she was fourteen, and that the only reason she hadn't used it was because it was in her bag, lost during the struggle.

"Is everything alright?" Danielle asked, eyes wide as she rounded the corner and saw them.

Gabe pulled away from Maya, quickly wiping his eyes and clearing his throat. "Yes. Of course."

Maya turned to Danielle with a small smile. "It's working."

"You are a little magician!" Danielle exclaimed, clasping her hands together. "The way you get those darn computers to work is just like magic."

Maya chuckled awkwardly. "I can promise you; no magic was used."

Danielle laughed, obviously finding the girl amusing, and turned to Gabe. "It's time, sir."

"Yes, of course." Gabe straightened his clothes and ruffled Maya's hair fatherly before heading back into the room.

Maya watched him enter and close the door behind him, then turned to Danielle. "Got anything else you want me to check out while I'm here?"

"Well…" Danielle placed an arm around Maya's shoulders, leading her away. "Now that you mention it, my computer is giving me some trouble…"