A Shower of Arrows

Chapter Eight: Jordan and Charlotte

"Stay right there you mutts or she's dead."

They all froze. Even though it wasn't even 10 o'clock in the morning a darkness descended over the clearing making. Oliver growled at him. His mouth broke out into a large grin and he brought the knife closer to Grace's neck. Over a dozen people, witches Oliver assumed, emerged from the trees surrounding them. They began speaking in a different language, Druidic, and fires were lit all over the small clearing. 

"Ooh the big bad Oliver. I've been looking forward to meeting you." The man holding Grace pulled Oliver's attention back to him. 

"Who are you? Let her go or I will rip you limb from limb."

"Yes, introductions are in order. This beautiful lady here is my wife." He laid a kiss on Grace's forehead and she let out a small whimper. 

"Jordan? You're dead." 

"Am I? I don't feel like I'm dead."

His smirk was really starting to piss Oliver off. 

Harry mumbled underneath his breath and all the fire went out in one second. It took their eyes a second to adjust

Willow ran to the next witch and snapped her neck before she could even blink. Oliver ran for Jordan. Grace wasn't in his grasp any more but he couldn't see her. Jordan was laughing at Oliver while Oliver punched any section of him he could reach. Oliver punched him until he was unconscious and then snapped his neck. 

Oliver turned and the clearing was empty. The darkness was getting heavier and heavier until Oliver could see nothing at all. He stumbled through the forest and was constantly bumping into trees and falling down.

"Grace? Willow? Liam? Harry" Oliver yelled walking through the trees. He could hear Jordan's laughter echoing through the trees. 

"Oliver! Oliver! Help us!" 

He could hear Liam, Grace, Willow and Harry. Soon their voices were coming from every direction, pounding against his head, screaming for him to help them. Oliver fell to the ground holding his head and begging for anything to stop this. 

"Oliver get up. We need to get out of here." Liam was standing right in front of him.

"Are you alright? Where's Grace?"

"I'm fine. Grace was never here Hazel's been with her, Darcy and Lacey. Willow's hurt though. We need to get her home to Hazel. She should be able to help her."

"How did he do that? Make us see what we saw."

"I don't know. It shouldn't have worked he must of been using a very powerful magical source."

Harry walked out toward the car holding his hands above Willow who was floating through the air unconscious. She looked so small and young in his arms.

"What happened to her?"

"I'm not really sure, she was fighting a witch and another threw something on her and she collapsed. Then I killed the witch but she hasn't woken up yet."

Back at home, they pulled Willow from the car and Oliver carried her into the living room. Hazel ran into Harry's arms and inspected him from head to toe. Then she went to Willow's side and checked on her sister. Oliver watched Hazel for a little while but needed some answers. 

"Harry, Liam." Oliver gestured for them to follow him outside. 

"Who is Jordan? How does he know Grace?" Harry looked frustrated with the lack of knowledge he had. 

"He's Lacey's dad. Grace told me he died three weeks after Lacey was born in a car accident." Oliver couldn't bring himself to call him Grace's husband. 

"Well he's obviously not dead and he's a warlock. Is Grace one as well? Or is Lacey?" Liam helping with his sarcasm. 

"I don't know." Oliver ran his fingers through his hair with frustration. Could Grace be a witch? Oliver shook the thought out of his head right away. No way. There was nothing in her or Lacey's aura to suggest they were supernatural.

"I could check. Invite her over, there is a tea that I can brew and her tea leaves will tell me if she is supernatural."

"No. Grace and Lacey cannot be brought into this. We will figure this out another way."

Liam and Harry exchanged looks. 

"Oliver, can you please be reasonable? We need to know if she's also a witch."

"I said no. What we need to do is figure out what Jordan wants, where he is getting his power from and we need to protect Grace and Lacey."

"Harry! Oliver!" Oliver could hear Hazel yelling from the other room. 

Hazel, was standing next to Willow who was still unconscious,  was staring at another flaming arrow that was less than half a metre away from her leg. Harry ran to her and stood in front of her protectively. 

Liam picked up the note, read it then threw it to the ground and punched a wall. He swore and held his hand. 

Oliver picked up the note and read it. 

Poor, poor little Willow. She was a pretty one too. Just like Charlotte, maybe she'll be dead like Charlotte soon. 

Oliver I had so much fun meeting you tonight. I look forward to seeing you real soon. 

Give my love to Grace.

Oliver clenched the note in his hand and he could feel a shift coming on. He ran outside and into the woods. He ran. The more Oliver ran the angrier he got. How dare he hurt my sister. How dare he threaten Grace. Oliver heard something on his left and saw another wolf. Liam. He was laying on his belly, crying. Oliver shifted back into himself and put some shorts on behind a tree. Liam had shifted back into a human and was still crying. Oliver felt a twinge of guilt when looking at him, despite everything he had done and all the pain he caused he was still his brother. Then he spoke.

"Leave me alone Oliver. I'm not in the mood."

"Liam, I'm here to help."

"You are not! You have never wanted to help anyone but yourself! You don't understand what the last four years have been like for me and you obviously don't care now" Liam exploded at his older brother. He was shaking and Oliver have never seen him look so angry.

"What the last four years have been like for you? You are always playing the victim card. You have no idea what has happened in the last four years. You don't know how often I had to hear Willow crying over you or how Charlotte's parents would abuse Hazel and call us a family of murderers. You don't know how hard it is bringing this family back together when a huge piece of it was missing."

 Oliver finally let everything out at him. All of his frustration and anger at him. 

"Oliver. Please just go. I won't ask you again." Liam spoke through gritted teeth, which meant his patience was wearing thin. 

"Or what? You're going to kill me the way you killed Charlotte? My mate is in danger and you just want to focus on you? Willow is unconscious. Your niece is in danger why can't you grow up and focus on the problem."

He launched at his brother. Punching him in the face repeatedly. Oliver finally got the upper hand and punched him in the jaw. Liam went flying away from Oliver and hit a tree. He was struggling to get up when Oliver pinned him against the tree by his throat.

"How could you do it? How could you kill your mate? I've known Grace for a week and I would give my life up for hers in a heart beat. You knew Charlotte for years."

Liam didn't respond but shoved Oliver away from him. Oliver grabbed him again and pinned him. 

"ANSWER ME!" Oliver roared in his face. 

"I did it for you!" Liam roared back. 

That made Oliver drop him. What did he mean?

Liam walked off and Oliver stood still in shock.