Sand and Snow

Khaat didn't say a word on the way back. Brian reached over and kept a tight hold of her hand. Khaat truly had no desire whatsoever to hurt her friends. And no matter what she did, it seemed like she was making it worse.

She found herself keeping an iron grip on Brian's hand. She felt hopeless and helpless. She could feel Jess's deep pain, and Khaat knew she was the cause. She felt like she was only getting deeper in a trap with everyone she loved. They really would all be better without her. But there wre just too many doggone seers in her family and friends. There was no place for her to run or hide while she still breathed. No way to spare them.

Brian spent the short drive back making plans to protect her, always thinking of how to make things safer and better. He hadn't noticed her silence and even if he had, he was busy taking care of safety first.

"Brian," Khaat said very softly as they arrived back at the Giovanni vineyard. "Please. Send the girls home to my parents for the rest of our time here. Get them out of this to someplace safe. Far away from me."

Brian looked at her for a moment and looked at the others. She could see he didn't want his girls away from him. "What do you all think?" Brian asked them.

"You know what I meant," she told Brian. "I'll see you at home. Thank you for a wonderful day." She kissed his cheek softly and portkeyed back to the villa alone and went to her room and shut the door.

Brian looked at his team, with Khaat now gone home ahead of them and said. "I think you all misunderstood her. She just doesn't want her babies harmed. She just wants them out of harms way while we're here in Tuscany until we find out what started this nonsense that just happened. She would never, never ever want someone else to raise her children. Those girls are her life. They're what get her up in the morning and is what she lives for. And you know something else, it was her children that kept her alive when she was with Barker. I'll bet none of you knew that, did you?

"Eli was there with her, remember? Well, she's Eli's guardian. She fought to stay alive for those girls, for Mis, for Eli and for all the other children she's the guardian for. And she left her bed in intensive care in St. Mungos to go protect Eli, to put herself right in harms way to protect him.

"Sometimes we all need a come uppance. I'll give you that. And maybe part of her needs it in order to help motivate her to start to turn her physical health around. And she did need to hear that she wasn't alone. I do know that, for some reason, she felt very alone. She would not have run if she hadn't felt alone. And she needed to hear you're all still here. Alright. Now, with that said, I'll keep the girls here for now--unless there is another attack. And then I'll have to rethink it and perhaps send them to Robert and Kate for the rest of our holiday so Khaat can address her own needs for awhile."

Brian apparated back and found Khaat had shut herself in her room. He merely flicked his finger at it to open the door and went in.

"I do not feel like talking," she told him almost coldly.

"And I am not your enemy," he said softly. "People are just concerned, Khaat. I can hear you're angry, and you're allowed."

"Damned straight I'm allowed," she said.

"You want to tell me why you're angry?"

"No."

"Can I just stay with you, then?"

"Depends on if you're going to grill me or not."

"No. I won't. I promise."

"Then you can stay," she said. He sat with her on the bed and put his arm around her. She finally slid right into his shoulder, and curled into his neck.

"You know I'll listen whenever you're ready," he said.

"Yep. I know. Thank you," she said.

Brian instantly felt the spell being cast against them, and he drew his wand and shouted "Finite!" he relieved the spell. "Khaat, now! Portkey to your father. Now! Go! We've been breeched!"

"My babies!" she shrieked.

"They're mine too! I'll get them! Go, go, go!" he shouted. She obeyed and apparated out. He raced out into the hallway to see Angus apparating out with a baby in each arms. Brian was relieved. He headed through the hallway, silently. Whoever had cast the dark spell was about to die. They'd invaded his home, threatened him and his family. He was going to kill first and ask question later. He didn't care who it was. They were going to die. RIght now.

Khaat did not go home. Her terror had gotten the best of her. She had begun to run. She had just portkeyed without a real destination in mind. She had utterly panicked. To her amazement, she found herself on the streets of Hogsmeade nearly out of her mind with terror.

"Khaat!" someone called her. She nearly started to try to run on her crippled ankles, but someone gripped her hard and called to her again. "Khaat! Its me! Snap out of it. Its me!" It took her a moment and she realized that she was face to face with Michael Tremaine. "Khaat, what happened?"

"We're... being attacked....My babies...Brian...Michael, what if they're dead?" she stammered. He took her arm and apparated away with her without another word.


"That is not Jess," Brian said in a fierce voice. "It might be Jess's body, but that is not Jess." He spun the medallion around his neck, and his men from Paris began to apparate in, in a fraction of a second, their wands drawn.