Drake Sisters 03 - Oceans of Fire

and the same sparks arced from their fingertips as from the Drakes’. The last group formed a protective circle around all of them.
    Libby dropped her arms and all the shadows behind her followed suit. A hush fell over the room.
    Aleksandr held his breath. The woman closest to Libby stepped forward, crowding her impossibly, overshadowing her, merging until they disappeared, leaving only Libby behind. He glanced around. The same process repeated itself with each of the other women until there were only the seven sisters and Carol left in the room.
    Again there was that moment of expectation. The Drake women raised their arms toward the moonlight and the surge of power was tremendous. It brought whips of electricity that danced white-hot through the room. A bluish flame outlined each whip. The tails of crackling light swirled through the air and slithered across the ceiling and down the walls of the house, sliding across the floor toward the circle. The whips left behind a luminescent film, a thin coating of bluish purple over everything they touched. The color spread across the floor toward the circle of wooden staffs and for one moment he felt the electrical charge rushing through him and over him. He looked down to see his fingers, entwined with Abbey’s, glowing with that same colorful light.
    The chimes faded away. The color faded. The candles flickered in silence. Aleksandr forced air through his lungs. The tension began to seep out of him and he forced his muscles to relax. He’d been unaware he had partially covered Abigail’s body with his own in an effort to protect her from the unknown. She Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    hadn’t made a sound, but one arm was wrapped around his neck.
    Jonas flicked a switch on the wall, flooding the room with light. He leaned one hip against the doorjamb and grinned at Aleksandr. “Welcome to the Drake family.” He held out a handful of cookies. “You hungry?”
    Abigail came up on her knees and framed Aleksandr’s face with her hands. “This is who I am, Sasha.
    This is my heritage.”
    “Those women?” He had faced many killers in his lifetime, many dangerous situations, but none of them had put fear in him the way that ceremony had. He didn’t know what to think or feel. Looking around the room, it seemed almost normal again. No colors flashing. No electricity arcing. The wooden staffs were gone, the candles no longer lit. Even the small round table had been whisked away.
    “My ancestors.”
    “When you said the house was protected, you really meant literally,” he said, feeling slightly dazed. Even seeing it, Aleksandr felt it was impossible to fully comprehend what had happened.
    “You look a bit pale,” Jonas said and crossed the room pull Aleksandr to his feet. “Don’t try to figure it out,” he advised. “Just accept them.”
    Aleksandr drew Abigail up and fit her in close to his body. He needed the reassurance of her real and solid against him. “That was incredible. I’m not sure I believe what I saw.” He waited a heartbeat. “What I think I saw.”
    “Do you feel different, Abbey?” Libby asked. “Is the emotional pain gone?”
    Abigail nodded. “It lessened inside the circle and is gone now.” She smiled at Aleksandr. “What about you? Do you feel better?”
    “I knew I was feeling your pain. I don’t know how I knew it, but it overwhelmed me. I think the thought that I could do that to you, cause you so much hurt, was more distressing than anything else. That and thinking you wouldn’t give me a another chance.” He bent his head to kiss the tip of her nose. “It was very distracting.”
    Sarah spun around. “What did you say?”
    Aleksandr looked up. “I wanted another chance with Abbey.”
    Sarah waved the explanation aside. “Right. Right. But you were distracted. From what? What were you doing?”
    Joley snickered. “Staring at Sylvia’s works of art in the back room of Frank’s gallery. Just what were you doing back there anyway? That room was off-limits.”
    “To everyone but the Drake family?” Aleksandr raised his eyebrow.
    Jonas looked from one to the other. “Why were you all so interested in Frank Warner’s back room?”
    “I wanted to take a look around,” Aleksandr admitted. “Sylvia offered and I took her up on it.”

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    “You mean you planted the suggestion,” Abigail