The Witches Curse

Gem

Gem stood at the window of her apartment for the foreseeable future, she looked out over the gardens and watched some sort of training session going on. Jane and Mya were walking up and down, encouraging and helping as they went. They hardly ever looked at each other. She smiled, the idiots had chemistry, but she wondered why they were fighting it. It had been a shock to see Hunter. Yes, she'd seen her now and again, but she'd always kept her distance and made sure she wasn't in the same room or had to talk to her. They had nothing left to talk about. As far as she was concerned they were not married. She had one lover after the wedding fiasco but that hadn't gone well and she'd realized that it was because no one would ever compare to Hunter. So she'd left it at the one encounter and just focussed on doing her job. She hadn't spoken to her sister in forever, but she did visit Tori at school and take her for ice cream now and again. She wondered if when they got back from their vacation where they'd go. She should probably let her know to come here, where they would be safe until all of them could go home. But she was a coward, she would just call her mom and let her mom call Gina. She was just glad they'd not been in town when the s**t hit the fan, Tori was innocent in all the drama between her and Gina. 

A knock on her door had her turning from the window and walking to see who was at the door. She pulled open the door and gasped. 

"Tori?" She held out her arms and Tori moved from Hunter to her. "Where did you find her?" Gem asked Hunter. 

"She was in the park with the rest of the kids from Old Town, she says they took Gina away."

"What? Tori, you and mommy were on vacation with grandma and grandpa, why were you at home?" She walked to the couch and sat with Tori in her lap. 

"Mommy had a fight with gramma over something, and then mommy packed our things and we went home." She sniffed. "Grappa said we should stay, but mommy just said she was sorry and left."

"So the bad guys took mommy, but left you?"

"Mommy hid me under the bed when they broke the door in, and then she said to find you." 

"Okay, you're okay now baby. We'll find mommy." She looked up at Hunter. "Thank you."

"No problem." She knelt in front of Tori and Gem and smiled at the little girl. "As Gem said, we'll find mommy and then you can go visit grandma and grandpa again."

"Okay." All three of them looked up when Sam cleared her throat in the doorway. 

"In town for one day, and you're already causing me grey hairs," Sam said as she walked in. "Imagine my surprise when Sophie calls me all hysterical and asks if you called me, and when I say no, she loses her s**t in my ear. You stole a child from daycare, and didn't call me?" 

"I was preoccupied. And I told that woman who I was and where I was going with Tori." 

"You pick up the phone, you dial my number and you clear it with me. It would have taken you five minutes, even if you had just waited for her to call me. But no, you put the fear of the all mighty into one of my best teachers, who now as we speak, is probably getting a riot together to come and save the child.:"

"Seriously?" Hunter scoffed. "This town is ridiculous."

"When you've spent over three weeks scared shitless because some asshole kidnapped kids, nothing about this is ridiculous," Sam growled. "Could you call Sophie and tell her everything is fine, I don't have eardrums left for her to scream into," Sam asked an agent hovering at the door. Hunter eyed the nervous man. Who nodded and stepped away to answer his phone. 

"He's so nervous he might shoot you himself," Hunter said. 

"I know right? But don't tell Jane or Mya, or they will skin the poor bastard. Or worse, insist on staying behind and watching me themselves. I swear the only bad thing about them leaving town for a few days is that my mate is going too." She walked to the door. "She okay?" She asked Gem. 

"Yes, but you should know that they kept her mom too. She's a vampire."

"Great, this day just keeps getting better. I'm going to go talk to my mate maybe she can cheer me up." She turned back and eyed them curiously. "Why bring this one specifically?" Sam asked Hunter. 

"Her name is Tori, she's Gina's kid, Gem's sister."

"Oh, well see, it just keeps getting better and better." She looked over at Gem again. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, we just have to get her mom back."

"We will," Sam said and with a last reproachful look at Hunter walked out. 

"Such a nice woman." Hunter groaned. 

"She is. And she's right, you should have called her, or let Sophie call her. Instead of just acting on your first instinct."

"Yes, you're right. It's not like my first instinct has been that great lately." She walked to the door herself. "I'll see you around. Uh, do you two want to join me for supper tonight?'

"Sure." Gem hugged Tori tighter. The child had fallen asleep in her arms. "Make sure there's ice cream from Diane's and a milkshake."

"Bubblegum?" Hunter asked quietly.

"Yes." Hunter nodded and left the apartment. That had been their first conversation in three years that hadn't ended in a fight. Progress, only a little, but still progress. Gem watched Hunter leave and shifted so she was a bit more comfortable on the couch. Things could have been so different for them if only Hunter could keep her hands out of other people's pants. The memory of catching her sister and Hunter wanted to surface but she pushed it back down. She didn't need to think about that now. It was useless to go over history anyway, it wouldn't change a thing.