Drake Sisters 05 - Safe Harbor

with it the way Joley did. It was just that everyone loved her hair. It was so unusual, so beautiful, but then no one else had to cope with the tangles and weight of it.
    She leaned toward her younger sister. "If you don't want to answer, Joley, you don't have to. I'm just worried."

    Joley sighed heavily. "I don't know how to answer. I think he put a spell on me or something."
    The Drake sisters gasped audibly, almost in stereo. Joley held up her hand. "Wait. I don't mean literally. I think I'd know if he really did. I think you'd know. Wouldn't you?"
    Hannah reached out, but didn't touch her arm. "May I?" Because she wasn't going to invade her sister's privacy ever again without permission. None of the Drakes liked their privacy invaded and she wasn't going to push beyond Joley's boundaries.
    Joley nodded. "I want to find out."
    "Then let Elle as well. She's strong in different ways, and between the two of us, if he's there, we'll find him," Hannah said. "Are you ready?"
    Joley compressed her lips. "Yes. Ignore anything you see about how I feel about him, because it's crazy."
    Hannah and Elle reached for her at the same time and energy immediately crackled in the air, manifesting itself as tiny white arcs and zigzagging streaks between the three girls. There was a small silence broken only by the sizzling of electricity and then Hannah and Elle dropped their hand from Joley's arms. They looked at one another over her head.
    "He's all over you, Joley," Hannah said. "And it's consensual. You let him get inside you."
    "I didn't, though. Not really. He just kept whispering to me, night and day, and his voice was so— sexy —God, not even that, more than sexy. Mesmerizing." She rubbed her palm back and forth on her thigh without being aware she did so. "I just couldn't resist him anymore. I wanted to see him, really see him. I thought I would be stronger and I could force him to go away, but he…" She broke off shaking her head. "I'm so worn out. He was so enraged with me over the tabloid thing."
    "Why didn't you just tell him the truth?" Hannah asked gently.
    "Because he makes me so angry. If someone with magical skills manipulated the attack on you, Hannah, it wasn't him. I would know. I know it isn't him."
    "What does he want?" Kate asked.
    "Me. He wants me," Joley admitted. "I told him I don't date criminals and he said he doesn't date. I don't dare ever be alone with him. I can't seem to resist him for very long. I've gotten good at surrounding myself with people when I know he's in the area, but…" Again she broke off.
    "Tell him you don't want anything to do with him, that you're not attracted," Abbey suggested.

    "I have told him to stay away, but he knows I'm physically attracted. I can't hide it from him, not when he's in my head. It's horrible, like one of those moth-to-the-flame, stupid-idiot attractions. I know better. I never— never —meet him alone, face to face."
    "All right, honey," Hannah said, "don't panic. You should have come to us a long time ago, before he was able to get a real foothold in you. Tonight, we're doing a healing session for you instead of for me. I'm strong enough now and the wounds are healing nicely. A session or two with all of us will give you some breathing room and I'll do a little research and see what's in the books to combat this."
    Hannah looked around her at the circle of faces. They were all being matter-of-fact with her, treating her normally, rather than overwhelming her with sympathy. She could breathe again. Let her guard down a little. If felt good to have them all back—
    even if it was just for the moment.
    "No, no, you can't do that, Hannah. Tonight is all about you. We planned it," Joley said, "and it's important to me—to all of us—that you have this night. We need to tell you something—show you something." She looked around the circle at her sisters.
    "I'm going first since I spoke out of turn."
    Hannah pulled back suspiciously. "What is this? Have I been ambushed?"
    "You'll like it," Joley promised. She waited until the scrap-book Sarah pulled out was handed to Hannah and flipped open. "This is the page I made for you. I wrote you a letter, put a couple of my favorite pictures of us together, and I also wrote a song for you. It's not entirely finished. I'll tweak it before I record it, but it's from me to you."
    Hannah pulled the book closer so she could read the letter penned in Joley's scrawling cursive.

    Hey baby girl,

    How are you doing? I