Chapter 74

"You obviously have no idea what it means to be a woman, Deadman."

"Beth outed her husband."

"Yeah, I did, and I don't regret it because she was being a bitch at the time."

"Remind me to never piss you off." Randy shook his head at his vindictive friend. Actually, all these women were malicious in their own way.

"She has a right to be angry with me. I'm surprised you all forgave me so easily after what I did." Brooklynn admitted quietly, feeling Mark squeeze her hand to assure her everything was fine.

"Don't get me wrong, cutting us off the way you did hurt and, if you ever do it again, I'm going to hex your ass, but…I understand why you did it. I'm sure if Trish really thinks about it for more than 2 seconds, she would realize why you did it too." Mickie placed a hand on Brooklynn's shoulder with a gentle smile. "I'd be the same way if I lost John. He drives me nuts more than half the time, but I love him and he's my other half. We knew it wouldn't be easy for you…and Mark even went through hell without you. I'm just glad you woke up and realized what you were throwing away before it was too late."

"We all make mistakes, but you can't push the people you claim are family, people you love, away when you're in distress. You're not a recluse anymore, Brooklynn. And I'll kick your ass if you ever cut me or any of us off again."

"Same goes for me. We're your sisters and we're family. We protect each other and that's why we're here instead of with our families and loved ones right now." Beth sighed heavily, wondering if maybe she had crossed a line with Trish and knew what she had to do. "Randy, you don't have to come with us. I think Trish is going to need some girl time with us. Mickie, are you sure there's no way you can come with us to talk to her? We can bring Claira with if need be."

"I don't think leaving the house unprotected is a good idea…"

"It's not, and Claira stays."

Mickie would be on her like white on rice and he didn't trust Claira to make the right decisions right now. As far as he was concerned, she was under house arrest. Women were scandalous, malicious creatures. Mark was staying out of that mess. When this was all over, he was retiring from the circle and disappearing with his woman.

"I agree…" A frantic knocking at the door caused Mark to release her hand as he walked over to answer it.

"Lemme in, jackass!" Steve growled, holding a struggling Trish's hand and yelped when Mark plucked a hair from the man's goatee. "Son of a bitch!" He plucked a hair out of Trish's head and handed both over as they crossed through the warding, ignoring her glare. "Jackass."

"Steve, what's going on? Why are you two here at 10 in the morning?"

"Trish had a vision…" His icy eyes landed directly on Mickie. "It's 'bout Milayna."

"What about our daughter?" Mickie demanded, feeling John come to her side instantly.

"I-I don't know if it's already happened, but…Seth has a contingency plan to make sure the dimension opens, besides the blood oath." Trish explained, looking guilt-ridden and saw the panic build in Mickie's eyes. "I-I think he's either taken Milayna hostage or…he's going to do something to her…"

"Oh god…" Mickie immediately pulled her phone out to dial Milayna's number, waiting for her to answer. "Pick up, pick up please!"

There was no answer.

"When did you have this vision, Trish?"

"About 20 fuckin' minutes ago, why do you think we're here?"

"John, we have to go home! We have to make sure she's alright!"

Brooklynn didn't know what to think or say, refusing to stop the worried, frantic parents for going home to check on their child. If anyone tried stopping her from getting to Claira, heads would roll. Mickie was their Witch, one of the only ones who had actual powers that would help them bring down Nemesis, but…she had her daughter to worry about and Brooklynn's mother's heart broke for her.

This felt like a basic military tactic: Divide and conquer. They needed Mickie, and Seth probably knew it by now. When Mickie left, they would be down one powerful Witch. Groaning, he ran a hand down his face, staring at Steve and Trish. If they were in reverse positions, he would have done the same, run home to Claira.

"Any way we can convince you to let John go home and check in there, instead?" He asked quietly, knowing he was a colossal asshole for even asking it, but he had too.

Brooklynn immediately whacked him in the chest none too gently, shaking her head. "Mark Calaway, how can you even ASK her something like that?! This is her DAUGHTER, her CHILD! If it was Claira, both of us would go in a heartbeat to make sure she was safe! We still have your powers and they're more than enough to keep the wards up. You'll have to send Glen and someone else to do the gravedigging, though." There was no choice in the matter. "Mickie, John, go to Milayna and please let us know if there's anything we can do."

Nodding, Mickie didn't bother responding and flew out the door with John in tow, already muttering under her breath a spell. It would warp them directly to their home in West Newbury, instead of taking a plane and waiting hours to find out if their daughter was safe. A minute later, they disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Okay, so Mark has to stay here. Steve, you're coming with me tonight."

"What the hell for?" Steve needed a beer, releasing Trish's hand to scrub his down his face.

"We have a nasty job ahead of us, my friend. Need to dig up a very old corpse and extract a bone from them."

"WHAT?!"

Mark really hoped nothing nasty was waiting for Mickie and John because she had probably just used up everything in her with that spell. "I'll make you some charms to keep you hidden." He offered, not phased at all with Brooklynn's wallop. Someone had to be the calculating asshole in this scenario, might as well be him.

Mickie had a few tricks up her sleeve as well, having honed her powers at an early age and completed her training when she was supposed to. Brooklynn could only hope and pray Milayna was alright and Trish's vision was the future instead of the past. It was hard for her to determine which was which and nobody blamed her, it was just how her powers worked. Brooklynn headed into the kitchen to clean up from breakfast and then made some tea, trying to keep herself busy with everything being thrown at them.

"Need some help?"

Brooklynn stopped what she was doing to look back at Trish and nodded, handing over some tea bags as they stood side by side at the counter. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry."

Both women started laughing softly, but it quickly died because they were concerned and worried about Mickie, John and especially Milayna. "Do you think the vision was from the past or present?"

"It's hard to say, but I'm hoping it was the future because at least the future can be changed." The past couldn't.

Unlike with other gifts, visions didn't get training. All Trish could do was try to interpret them the best she could and get feedback from others. Sometimes, the past, they had a distinctive feel that let her know, but this… she didn't know, she just wasn't sure. This wasn't just a human they were dealing with, but a half-Demon, Warlock. She didn't want to know what all Seth was capable of…if his father was released and they joined forces.

A half an hour later, the phone rang and it was John with bad news. Seth had taken Milayna in the middle of the night and there were signs of a struggle within the house. Milayna had put up a fight, but Seth had overpowered her. Brooklynn slammed her eyes shut, hearing Mickie sobbing on the other end, crying out for her baby girl.

John's voice was thick and low. "He left a note. Told us if we ever wanted to see Milayna again, we won't interfere or help you guys." He looked over at his sobbing wife, who had her face buried in her hands. "Brooklynn…"

"Don't say any more, John. I completely understand. I-I'm sorry…" Brooklynn was trying not to cry, not until she was off the phone and knew Mickie and John wouldn't be able to help them take down Nemesis at all.

"Brooklynn?"

She had hung up the phone and set it on the counter before slowly walking into the living room, the tears burning in her eyes. "Seth took Milayna…and told Mickie and John if they ever want to see her again, they won't interfere in his plans…so they can't help us anymore."

Glen's eyes widened. "Oh fuck."

Melina was gnawing on her thumbnail, really hoping Trish didn't have any more visions. She already knew she wasn't a threat to Nemesis or Seth, the only value she provided was moral support really. "We're still here… we got this." She said firmly, nodding her head.

"Do you think she's here in the city?" Randy asked quietly, wondering if they'd be able to find her.

"Mom!" Claira came flying down the stairs in tears, gasping when her father actually caught and stopped her, shaking from head to toe. "S-Seth…called…Milayna…H-He has Milayna!" She was hysterical, burying her face in her father's chest and cried harder, dropping her phone to the carpeted floor to wrap her arms around his waist tightly.

"Fuck…I bet you he does. I bet you he's waiting for us to try something to try to get Milayna back…" Glen growled, gritting his teeth at the little bastard's audacity.

"He killed Roman, a boy he considered a best friend and brother. He killed him to use him against Claira, to make her do that damn blood oath…I don't think we should do anything, as horrible as that sounds. If he even catches wind of what we're up to, Milayna will die." Brooklynn really did not want to see her ghost or cross her over, not when she hadn't even graduated high school yet.

Randy nodded stiffly, wondering what Mark thought about this.

"H-He said he won't kill her…because of the blood oath and he hasn't hurt her physically." Claira had calmed down a little more, hiccoughing. "H-He said he's using her as leverage…and if anyone tries to stop the dimension from opening, to free his father, he will kill her. I convinced him Roman was still around and begged him not to hurt Milayna…and he said he won't as long as we behave…"

"The only time we're going to be able to nail this sumbitch is right after they complete this spell and before Nemesis comes out." Steve pointed out, frowning as he tried to wrap his head around all of this. "And does anyone know just what this spell Claira has to do with him entail?"

"That… is a damn good question."

Mark realized they had another potential problem. "No. We don't."

"Seth said he just needs my power, he doesn't need me to actually say the spell with him."

Melina frowned, wide-eyed. "He's going to siphon the magic from you in order to complete this spell and open the dimension?"

"I guess, yeah…" Claira didn't know the details of what would happen and could see her mother growing pale. "Mom?"

"Siphoning your magic…Claira, if he does that and he takes too much, he could kill you…" Brooklynn's voice was low and weak, feeling as though her heart was thundering in her ears. Seth held all the cards, even with their own plan not to use Roman and the bone dagger from Nemesis' sister. "Or maybe that's what Seth planned on doing all along…killing you since you have Meyers blood. Because that's what Nemesis wanted to do to me, to wipe out any traces of the Meyers bloodline for what they did to him back in Salem."

"So, no matter what, she could die." Glen surmised, cursing under his breath at this sudden turn of events. "Fuck, what are we gonna do now?"

He had dropped down to sit before his knees gave out beneath him. "Did he tell you specifically he just needs your power? Nothing else?" What Seth wasn't saying, and what they were assuming… Mark wasn't on board with these 'what ifs'. "What if… what if we make a deal…" He ignored the look Claira and Brooklynn were both giving him now. "We can transfer her powers to him, the magic, and if it's a willing transfer, given freely… she should be fine. Allowing him to take it this way, in a dark spell…. Lynn, even if she survives it, she may not…" Mentally or emotionally survive it.

"Oh god…"

Mark wanted to make another deal with the devil's Demon spawn?! Hadn't he learned anything from the first time? She felt her legs give out on her and dropped to them, clasping her hands in her lap.

"This could be our chance to save Milayna as well if we do this deal." Seth was dead, no matter what, but Claira willingly offering her powers in order to open the dimension would keep her end of the blood oath. "Mickie and John would be able to help us take out Nemesis too…" Now she was thinking more strategically the way Mark usually did. "If we do this deal, we should do it the same time Glen and Steve go to the graveyard to get the bone for the dagger."

"Seth will be occupied and won't be able to follow them or think something is going on."

"If this is the only way to save Claira, we need to go through with it then."

Yes, he had learned quite a bit, but this was likely the only shot they had at saving Claira. Because if it came right down to it, the odds of her surviving without them running interference on her magic… they were non-existent. "If someone has a better option, let me know. I am very open to suggestions." This was the last thing Mark wanted to do, but at the moment, he didn't see any other choice. Claira had backed them all into a very dark corner.

Brooklynn looked around at everyone present, seeing all the worried and concerned expressions on their faces, but nobody spoke a word. Nobody had a better idea because there wasn't one. Making a deal with Nemesis's spawn was the only way to ensure Claira and Milayna's survival. When 10 minutes rolled by and nobody suggested anything, Brooklynn knew she had to make the call. They all considered her the leader, even though she thought Mark was and swallowed hard, looking at her daughter.