Protector (Book 1 of the Ames Sisters Series)

"Aurora! Where are my shoes!" I shouted into the house knowing she had them on a couple days ago. I was due in court in less than 40 minutes and I still had a 30 minute bus ride. "I left them under the kitchen table!" I heard her mumbled shout and ran in there before seeing them and whispering a thank you as I got on my knees and pulled them out before slipping them on. I made sure my black button up was buttoned properly before going to put on my tan blazer before looking at the picture of my parents. I kissed my fingers and placed it on the corner before opening the front door. "Bye!" I looked over my shoulder to my youngest sister and smiled. "Bye Ivory." I waved before walking out and letting the door close by itself. I was the oldest at 25. Born the day before Valentines day, and apparently due to some stupid ritual I am supposed to be the witch of love. Aurora was 23 was born on August 30th, and she was supposedly the witch of life. And then little Ivory who just turned 21 on Christmas was supposed to be the witch of wisdom . I don't get how it works. We each got pendants from a proper witch to help us keep our powers hidden. Our parents died 3 years ago on a plane coming back from seeing our grandparents that we have never met. The plane had crashed and there was basically one survivor that later on died at the hospital. I had just started a job and was able to take care of both of them. Our parents had a Will and their money paid off the house and pat of my student loans and now that I am saving up for both of their college tuitions. Which wasn't hard now that I work for a huge firm. I caught the bus, ran to the court house and walked in just before the judge. The man in the orange jumpsuit was talking with his counsel as I walked towards my client. "Hello George." I nodded to him and he looked up at me and smiled. "I was getting a little worried." He said standing and pulling out my chair. George was an older man, early 50's. The man being prosecuted had blown up his house, in some weird accident, and I somehow felt like there was much more to the accident story. "All rise for Judge Mandel." I stood back up and looked over towards the man, Mr. Jacobs as his chains rattled and he looked towards the stand. "You may be seated." The judge called out as she sat down and I took a deep breath and blew it out and got to work on mentioning the preliminaries and what we expect before looking to the man in orange again and when our eyes locked he stiffened and I swore I heard a growl. "I request a break of no more than 5 minutes ma'am." I heard myself say turning back to the judge before walking to my table and taking a deep breath. "5 minutes is granted." I nodded my thanks before looking over to the inmate who was staring at me over his lawyer's shoulder and I felt the need to protect him from this. So I went with the feeling. I nodded to him and turned to talk with George. "They will pay for your home to be rebuilt, anything you want George, all you have to do is agree to it. You don't want to put this man away from a horrible accident." I touched his shoulder and let me power of persuasion leak into him and I saw him start to change his mind. "Okay then... you're right." He told me and I gulped and looked over to the inmate who was still staring at me, but now it was a more narrowed look. 15 minutes later I was headed back to my firm with extra skip in my step. I had convinced the judge to let the ma go, and he would be released within the next 24 hours of being brought back to the penitently where he had been held. I got to my office, filed papers, filled out more paper work before going back down to the courthouse to finish out 4 more cases before heading home. I had the files in my bag, my hair in a bun, and my feet on the sidewalk bare as I ran home too giddy for my own good. I have never felt this happy after a long day of work like today... but it was something else. I opened my door and kissed the picture of my parents hello before taking off my coat and tossing my shoes just under it. "Anyone home!?" I called and heard keys typing so I walked into the living room and saw Ivory with her headphones in, glasses on, and her head moving back and forth between a book and her computer screen. I smiled and walked over taking her headphones off her ear. "Hey, you're home!" She smiled and I nodded. "Are you hungry?" I asked and she nodded and rubbed her stomach. "Is A here?" I asked her and she seemed to draw a blank. "How long were you sitting there like that Ivy?" I asked her and she just gave me a sheepish smile. "You know when I get into the medical journals I just can't stop." She huffed and crossed her arms and I cracked a smile. "I know, I was the same way in Law School. Come on and help me with dinner." I told her and she got up and closed her laptop and marked her page in her book as I rolled up my sleeves and got to work on dinner. "I was wondering, do you think we can go out to the lake this weekend?" She asked stopping me n my tracks. "Do you have to work again this weekend?" She whined and sat in the chair and huffed. "I'll take it off. Call A and tell her we are going up this weekend." I promised and she gave me a smile before pulling out her phone and putting the call on speaker. "I am on my way home right now I promise. It was weird... I was at this bar just a few minutes ago and this guy came up to me and thought I was you Dev... he called me by your name and turned me around before realizing it wasn't you. Did you skip out on someone big sis?" "No I didn't! He might be someone at the firm." I told her and rolled my eyes. "He was a hunk. Like over 6 feet, muscles, a notch in his eyebrow... if he was looking for you sister dear I would be happy to take our innocent sister out to a late dinner, movie, and dessert." She giggled and I rolled my eyes. "We called to tell you that we are all going to the lake this weekend so cancel any dates you might have." Ivory told her cutting off the giggle right away. "This weekend?" She asked and I knew this was her problem.  She could never commit unless we dragged her along. "Oh you are coming, we'll even pack for you." I told her and laughed when she sighed. "Cancel your dates." I ordered and moved the noodles to the sink to drain them. "And get home for dinner." "Yes mother... anything you say mother." She sassed and Ivory laughed before hanging up. "I'm glad we are all going... and what about that man that asked for you... anyone come to mind?" Yes. "No. I don't know tall men who have muscles and a notch in their eyebrow." I said but the man in the orange jumpsuit came to mind despite me trying to push him out. "You are lying." She said tapping my nose and I gave her a look. "Will A and I have to put a truth spell on you? Remember when we did that on her? I don't think  you would want that since you have to go to court tomorrow." She challenged and I sent her a glare. "There was a man like that in court today. He was the defendant." I muttered and she went wide eyed. "Did he get out? Like escape?" "No, he was released." I wasn't going to tell her I felt something with the simple eye contact or that I used my powers on my client so that he would go free. I would look nuts in her eyes. Maybe it had to do something with my special powers. "Well that means he wasn't guilty... right?" She didn't look too concerned with the real answer. "He accidently blew someone's house up." I told her with a sigh and got the plates out as her mouth dropped open. "How does one accidently blow up a house!" She asked with a slight squeak and I gulped. "I don't know, that was going to be part of the defense... which we didn't get to because my client just asked for him to pay for someone to rebuild it." I said with a shrug but now that she asks I wanted to know. "Well, I am guessing he was going to thank you for something if he thought Aurora was you." She said and I rolled my eyes. "Eat your dinner." I ordered once it was done and all mixed together. I took my amount and sat down just before the front door opened and the click of Aurora's heels came running in. "What's up?" I asked seeing her looking freaked out. "I swear that guy that thought I was you was following me." She breathed out and I stood up and walked towards the front door. "No! He was huge." Aurora grabbed my arm when I got closer. "And I have magic." I told her and she sighed and let me go. I opened the front doo and stepped onto the porch feeling a breeze but also eyes on me, even as I searched for them I didn't find any. I whispered a spell that would keep out anyone else besides me and my sisters and went back inside locking the door. "Did you see him?" She asked and I shook my head. "I swear it was him. It was like he had his own magical sense you know?" She asked and I shrugged. "I put a spell around the house, no one can get in besides us." I told her and rubbed her shoulder up and down before pushing her along into the kitchen so we could all eat together. "Was he out there?" Ivory asked and I shook my head. "What if he is?" "Don't worry baby sis, your big sisters know some pretty powerful spells." Aurora hugged her and kissed the top of her head and made eye contact with me. "So, what are we doing tonight? Movies and ice cream?" I asked the and they both shared a look before smiling, nodding and giggling when they noticed they mimicked each other. "My room, A's or Ivy?" I asked them and they both kept looking at me. "Okay, my room this time." I sighed and laughed when they high-fived. We ate dinner, we washed the dishes, and then we piled up the sweets and grabbed a movie each before heading upstairs. "Who is going to get all the stuff for the lake tomorrow?" Ivory asked and I just held my hand up. "Good. You can finally use the car." She told me and I huffed. I hated driving, only when I had to do it did I actually do it. And I would also be the one driving up to the lake. "But that means you guys have to go up and get all the tents and stuff where the spiders have been nesting." I laughed when they told me that wasn't fair and slapped at me. "That's what you two get." I said getting off my bed before running back towards my door when Ivory jumped at me. Aurora jumped over her and tried to get me but I squealed and ran down the hall before down the stairs. Eventually I was tackled down to the couch with both sisters on top of me making all of us laugh even though parts of our bodies will be bruised in the morning.