Drake Sisters 05 - Safe Harbor

all the time, do they? Because they'd definitely curb a man's… appetite."
    Hannah's lips twitched, a ghost of a smile spreading across her face. "Most of it was illusion, Jonas."
    "Then how did four men just die? They did die, didn't they, they weren't an illusion?"
    "They're dead," Sarah said.
    "So where are their bodies? I'm not going to find them in the ocean, am I? And even if I took the house apart, I'm not going to find DNA in the wood. You don't find this just a little bit creepy?"
    "I find men who want to kill my sister creepy," Joley said firmly. "I had no idea you were such a baby, Jonas. I'll bet you don't go to scary movies."
    "I don't. There's nothing wrong with that."

    Hannah wrapped her arms around him. "No, there's nothing at all wrong with it. I don't like scary movies either."
    He was grateful for her support when the rest of her sisters were looking at him with wicked intent. He brought Hannah's fingers to his mouth. "I'm heading outside, baby, so get the house to calm down. I don't want to get thrown into the ocean."
    Joley smirked at him. "It wouldn't hurt for you to go swimming."
    "Joley," Hannah warned, "stop teasing him. You're perfectly safe outside."
    Sarah glanced at Hannah, eyes somber, shadows lurking. "But Hannah isn't, is she? It isn't over, is it, Jonas? They really are after her."
    "They. Who the hell are they?" Jonas asked. "That's the burning question, and all of you are going to have to consider this is being done by someone with power. We mentioned it, but all of you said the same thing. No surges, nothing to follow, but what would make a perfectly normal couple attempt murder if not under some kind of compulsion?"
    "It isn't Ilya Prakenskii," Hannah said. "And he's the only one we know with that kind of power. I didn't feel it. I know I didn't. I would have automatically made a move to counter it."
    "Then if not compulsion, you tell me. What would make someone do this?"
    "I don't think the men attacking tonight were under compulsion," Kate said. "They might have been following orders, but there were no countermeasures taken against illusion and that would be the first thing we would have done if we were manipulating someone and they ran into trouble. If someone is directing them, and he knows how to manipulate energy, he would have aided them."
    The women all nodded. Jonas sighed and climbed to his feet, careful of the candles.
    "I'm going to take a look around outside."
    "While we're here," Libby said, "and there's so much power to draw on, I'd like to do another healing session for Hannah."
    Hannah shook her head. "You're already exhausted, Libby, all of you are."
    "Look around you, honey," Libby suggested, "you can feel the energy. I'm feeling invigorated, not exhausted."
    Jonas moved out of the circle, shaking his head. "Invigorated" wasn't the word he'd use. Creeped out. Skin crawling.
    He didn't even know what he was dealing with anymore—and at this point he didn't want to know.

    He stepped outside into the cool night air warily, hand on the butt of his gun, not that it would do any good if the house suddenly came alive and heaved him into the ocean.
    He'd always, always , thought of it as home. He had climbed the tree a dozen times, the one that had thrown one of the intruders into the ocean. He'd swung from the branches and leapt to the balcony. When his mother was in so much pain he couldn't shut out the moans and cries, when things were particularly bad, he'd crawled through that same kitchen window and had taken refuge inside, listening to the Drakes'
    laughter and silently praying he would be part of it someday.
    He had wished for a family and now he had one—strange as they were. He had to find a way to keep them all safe. Originally, when he saw Hannah packing a bag, he'd thought it was a good thing, that he'd move her away from the others and narrow down the risk of someone else accidentally getting hurt, but after seeing what the house could do, he changed his mind. As long as she was inside, no one was going to get to her.
    The fog was back, thick and gray and wet, surrounding the house and grounds and spreading across the highway, muffling sound and obscuring sight. Still, Jonas knew he wasn't alone. He whistled softly, a short, one-two note, that cut through the night.
    He wasn't in the least surprised when an answering whistle came back to him. He made his way down the slope until he saw Jackson.
    "Hell of a show," Jackson greeted him.
    "You saw that? I