Drake Sisters 01 - Magic in the Wind

interfere. What would be the point of his lingering in pain? In that case, we'll ease his suffering as best we can and leave everything to nature."
    "Does Irene think you can cure him?" Damon asked, suddenly worried. He realized what a terrible responsibility the Drakes had. The townspeople were used to their eccentricities and believed they were miracle workers.
    "She wants to believe it. If Libby and my other sisters were here, all of us together might really be of some help, but the most we can do is slow things down to buy him time. We'll find out from Drew what he wants. You'll have to distract Irene for us. Have her go into the kitchen and make us lem-onade and her famous cookies. She'll be anxious, Damon, so you'll really have to work at it. We'll need time with Drew."
    His gaze narrowed as he studied Sarah's serious face.
    "What about you and your sisters? Are you going to be ill like you were last time?"
    "Only if we work on him," Sarah said. "Then I don't know how you'll get us all home. You'll have to ask Irene to drive us back."
    "We should have thought to bring the car," Kate agreed.
    "Do you think that's a bad omen? Maybe there's nothing we can do."
    "Don't go thinking that way, Kate," Abbey reprimanded.
    "We all love to walk and it's fun to be together. We can do this. If we're lucky we can buy Drew enough time to allow Libby to come home."
    "Is Libby coming back?" Damon asked.
    "I don't know, Damon," Hannah said, her eyebrow raising,
    "that's rather up to you, now, isn't it?"
    "Why would it be up to me?"
    "I thought you said he was one of the smartest men on the planet," Kate teased. "Didn't you design some top-secret defense system?"
    Damon glared at the women, at Sarah. "If I did and it was top secret, no one would know, now would they?"
    Hannah laughed. "Don't be angry, Damon, Sarah didn't tell us. We share knowledge, sort of like a collective pool. I can't tell you how it works, only that we all have it. She would never give out that kind of information, even to us. It just happens. None of us would say anything, well," she hedged,
    "except to tease you."

    "So, why is it up to me whether or not Libby comes home?"
    "She'll come home if there's a wedding," Kate pointed out with a grin.

Chapter 11

    DAMON LOOKED AROUND him at the four pale faces.
    Each of the Drake sisters was lying on a couch or draped over a chair, exhaustion written into the lines of her face. For a moment he felt helpless in the midst of their weariness, not knowing what to do for them. They had sat in Irene's car, not speaking, with their white faces and trembling bodies. He had barely managed to help them into the cliff house.
    The phone rang, the sound shrill in the complete stillness of the house. The women didn't move or turn toward the sound so Damon picked up the receiver. "Yes?"
    There was a long pause. "You must be Damon." The voice was like a caress of velvet. "What's wrong with them? I can feel them all the way here." The voice didn't say where "here"
    was.
    "You're a sister?"
    "Of course." Impatience now. "Elle. What's wrong with them?"
    “They went to Irene's to see Drew." Damon could hear the sheer relief in the small sigh on the other end.
    "Make them sweet tea. There's a canister in the cupboard right above the stove, marked MAGIC." Damon carried the phone with him into the kitchen. "Drop a couple of teaspoons of the powder into the teapot and let the tea steep. That will help. Is the house warm? if not, get it warm: build a fire and use the furnace, whatever it takes. When's the wedding?"
    "How soon can you and your sisters get back home?" Damon asked.
    "You know I should be angry with you. Not that burner, use the back burner. That's the right canister."
    "I don't see what difference a burner makes, but okay and why should you be upset with me?" He didn't even wonder how she knew what he was doing or what burner he was using.
    He took it as a matter of course.
    "Because I'm concentrating on it, the burner I mean. As for being upset, I think you started something we have no control over. I have no intention of finding a man for a long while. I have things to do with my life and a man doesn't come into it, thank you very much. The infuser is in the very bottom drawer to the left of the sink." She spoke as if she could see him going through the drawers looking for the little infuser to put the tea in.
    The house shuddered. Stilled. A ripple of alarm went through Damon.
    "What was that?" Elle sounded anxious