Drake Sisters 03 - Oceans of Fire

I chase them. And I do my best to bring them to justice. It isn’t always possible to use acceptable civilized rules in order to stop them. When you go after evil or sick people who have no rules, you have to do whatever it takes. There are times I have to do things I’m not proud of. And there are times I have to take a life. And if it is for you, Abigail, there will never, at any time, be a question of whether I’m willing or not to do anything it takes. That’s who I really am. The real question is, can you love the real me? Not the perfect person you want me to be, not that image you had of me, but who I really am.”

Chapter 15
    ABIGAIL sighed softly. “I’m struggling to understand all of this, Sasha. I had no idea what happened in Russia, why you let them haul me away from you, and maybe I should have opened all those letters from you…”
    “You cut out my heart when you sent them back,” Aleksandr said.
    “So we both ended up hurt. Do you really want to go there again?”

    Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    “Have you wondered why I haven’t asked you to ‘talk’ to Nikitin or even Chad Kingman or Frank Warner? We’d know immediately who was doing what if you had a conversation with them.”
    Abigail spread her hands out in front of her. “I made a horrible mistake and it cost a man his life.”
    “That’s bullshit and you know it, Abbey. That man died because he was overwhelmed with grief and one of the officers all but handed him a gun. It had nothing to do with you. I watched the tape over and over before it was destroyed and you were trying to tell us he wasn’t guilty. There was nothing wrong with your magic or the way you used it. I haven’t asked you to help me because I was wrong to use you.
    In the beginning I wanted every tool possible. I heard a rumor about a woman psychic and did a little research and decided to meet you to see if you could help, even if what you could do sounded as wacky as hell.”
    She ducked her head, unable to answer him. She had nightmares of that poor man, so distraught over the death of his daughter. She should have known, sensed what was going on, put aside herself and her ego to divine the truth. Aleksandr absolved her of guilt, but she had been raised to believe that with her gift came ultimate responsibility.
    “I don’t want to use someone I love as a tool or a weapon or for any other reason. I love you, Abbey.”
    He put his hand over his heart. “I don’t know how else to get you to believe me other than saying it a thousand times.”
    She could only look at him, a mixture of pain and love swirling in the depths of her eyes. She wanted him. Wanted to reach out and start all over again, but the past was there, a raw ugly wound that terrified her.
    Aleksandr sought for a way to comfort her, to reach beyond the past and wipe that look of fear from her eyes forever. When he couldn’t think of anything to say, he changed tactics, seeking a distraction. The thick staffs of wood making up the circle were unlike anything he’d seen before. He touched one. “What is this?”
    Abigail pushed his hand away. “Don’t touch that. You’re always touching things. The wood is very, very old and came from Italy. It’s been in our family for centuries and it possesses great power. What if you’d gotten zapped? You should have gotten zapped when you entered the circle without permission.”
    He ran his finger over the polished wood one more time. “But I didn’t. Your house seems to like me.”
    Carol trailed after the Drake sisters as they came back into the room. Abigail could tell they’d heard every word of the conversation and, worse, her emotions were so strong, so out of control, that they could feel the deep soul-searing love that she felt for him. She could tell by their faces they were sympathetic toward his cause. And he could see it as well.
    Aleksandr appealed to them. “If you all know magic, don’t any of you know a good love potion? If you’d just slip it into her drink, we’d work this out.”
    “What makes you think we haven’t, dear?” Carol asked, winking at him. “She hasn’t finished the entire cup of tea yet.”
    “These things take time,” Joley added.
    Abigail looked up, alarmed. She carefully set the cup of tea in the middle of the floor. “You wouldn’t Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    dare. Aleksandr, don’t drink