by R K Dreaming
She’d been particularly gifted at kitchen magic, and my cousins and I had always been envious when our school friends had told us of all the delicious things they had eaten at Aunt Adele’s café, which we were forbidden to visit.
“The tourists are going to love it!” she said gleefully.
Tourists! So that was why she was wearing that ridiculous stuff. She was trying to pass herself off as being alive for the sake of the Humbles!
“Although I suppose there won’t be many of them here now it’s gotten so cold,” she said regretfully.
She did not seem to care that revealing her ghostly self was the same as revealing magic to Humbles, which was a breach of the International Magical Secrecy Pact.
And now she was dead, it was me who’d be getting into trouble for it!
She slapped a big floppy-brimmed witch’s hat over her head and floated towards the door. I snatched up her forgotten sunglasses and raced after her.
“Wait!” I cried out. “I’ll let them in. You can stay in the kitchen until we, er, perfect your disguise.”
She halted and looked thoughtfully at me. Spotting her sunglasses in my hand, she looked a little contrite.
“I suppose that might be a good idea. You may as well put yourself to some use. Off you pop!”
Humming to herself, she returned to the oven. I open the second door she had been about to go through and flinched.
On the other side was Dele’s Delights Café, and it was in a glass conservatory!
The large glass structure was attached to the castle and outside it I could see one of the castle gardens. I gazed out at all that glass in dismay. I was glad to see the sky outside was overcast and grey.
I winced as I stepped forward into the milky light. Immediately I felt a tingling burning on my face and hands that made me feel itchy all over.
My sunblock might be holding up for now, but my every instinct told me to run away. But I couldn’t. The people outside the café had already spotted me through the glass. One of them was waving at me.
I made my way to the café door. Through the frosted glass, I made out a group of five people standing outside. When I let them in I was pleased to see that they were not Humbles.
Brimstone Bay was the only entirely magical and eldritch town in all of England. The only Humbles we got were tourists.
These were young locals. I recognised a couple of them, especially since one of them was fairly famous here.
He was the dhampire Oberon Maltei Junior, a daywalker.
I recognised him by his distinctive widow’s peak, that dark hair and those intense green eyes. The last time I had seen him he must have been only seven or eight. It was so odd to see him all grown up, a man now.
I didn’t know how I felt about his arrival. Seeing him put me a little on edge. And not for the reasons you would think.
Vampires didn’t have the best of reputations, not even here in Brimstone Bay. Oberon’s dad was the vampire patriarch Oberon Maltei Senior, one of Brimstone Bay’s wealthiest and most important residents. A charming billionaire and a ladies’ man, and yet highly feared by many.
Despite who his father was, as a kid little Oberon Junior the dhampire had always been playful and cute and well liked in town. He hadn’t bitten a single soul, not even in nursery school, so they said.
He had clearly grown up to be an affable adult too, going by the warm smile he offered me as he led the way in.
“Oh good, you’re open!” he exclaimed. “I’ve missed Dele’s cakes.”
His friends followed him in. Two guys, two girls, all very pretty people. I bet at school they had been a popular bunch.
The quintet were pink-cheeked from the outdoors, as if they had hiked up the cliff-side to get here from the beach. The castle stood near a cliff edge that overlooked Brimstone Bay Beach below.
The other one I had recognised was Lorcan Hardwick. He had been the little golden haired kid always running around with Oberon back then. He was little no more. He looked very much like his big sister, who I’d had the great misfortune of being in school with.
Lorcan had a surprised expression on his face as he scrutinised me. I had got rid of my scarf in the warmth of the kitchen, and so my face was on show. He hadn’t recognised me for a Westbrim though, or he wouldn’t be looking me up and down in that not too unflattering manner.
A bit appreciatively, I thought. I didn’t know whether I was offended or amused.
He wouldn’t have been looking at me like that a week ago. The single positive side effect of my new unwanted condition was that it had increased my metabolism to the point that I, who had been more than a little plump my whole life, had lost an impossible number of pounds this past week.
My first glimpse of my newly svelte self in the mirror had been a shock. That was another thing I was glad of — still having a reflection. The loss of it would have been very difficult to explain.
Lorcan Hardwick’s momentary appreciation was better than his displeasure, I supposed. Any Hardwick was going to be furious about me inheriting Manor House. Clearly he did not know that little nugget yet.
I showed the five to a table, handed them some menus, and retreated to a blissfully shady spot behind the counter.
As they enthusiastically considered their choices, I considered them. I was glad to see they were taking more interest in their food options than in me.
The three others in their group were unfamiliar to me, which wasn’t surprising given how long I’d been away.
My instinct for species told me that two of them were baena – an incubus and succubus. The shade of their blond hair was an exact match and their long, elegant faces were very similar. I figured they must be siblings. This was confirmed when I overheard Oberon referring to them as twins.
The last one in the group was one of the most gorgeous girls I had ever seen in my life. Blond hair so pale it was almost silver, big eyes so blue that they were almost purple, rosy cheeks and a rosebud mouth and a figure to die for. She was much prettier than the succubus, which was saying something, and yet she didn’t seem to be a succubus herself as far as I could tell.
Even so, all three of the guys she was with could barely keep their eyes off her. But she had eyes only for the menu.
She leaned towards Oberon as he told her which were his favourite desserts.
Lorcan and Paolo watched them with obvious jealousy. Paolo looked like he wished he could use his Allure on Lily, but that would have been beyond rude.
Allure was a magical gift that baena were born with, which they could use to make them irresistibly attractive to other beings. It was for use on prey, not on friends.
Lorcan watched the girl and vented his frustrations by absentmindedly shredding a flyer in his hands.
The flyer was one of the posters for the new opening of the café that Aunt Adele had distributed around the place.
She had put fresh flowers on each table too, and white tablecloths. Overhead she had created a chandelier of pastel balloons from which streaming ribbons were gently dangling. It was a shame the place was almost empty.
For her, not for me. I was glad of it.
When I went to take their orders they asked for a vanilla millefeuille, a slice of passion and white chocolate mousse cake, and two slices of the baked vanilla cheesecake.
“With the special berry compote,” the gorgeous girl said, looking at me anxiously to make sure I had heard this part.
I smiled, and reassured her I would bring the compote. It had Aunt Adele’s famous Perk-Me-Up Potion syrup in it.
“Oh good!” she said, bouncing a little in her seat. “This guy has been telling me about it all morning!” She playfully patted Oberon’s forearm, and he grinned adoringly.
Oberon ordered the double chocolate fudge cake for himself. The same one that I had just had for brunch myself.
“Good choice,” I said.
“Hey, you’re Esme Westbrim, aren’t you?” he said.
My smile went rigid.
Darn it. How the heck did he know and why did he have to say it out loud?
I shrugged, not wanting to confirm it.
Lorcan Hardwick’s head had whipped around to look at me, and narrowed when he saw me shrug. He glared at my hair, as if I had dyed it on purpose to mislead him.
Oberon had not noticed my change of mood. He was looking at Aunt Adele’s decorations with appreciation.
“So you inherited the place from Dele, huh?” he said. “Good for you.”
Lorcan looked astonished, and then very annoyed. Oberon noticed. He burst into laughter and then punched Lorcan good-naturedly on the arm.
“I bet you wanted it yourself, didn’t you buddy?” he said. “But you can hardly blame the old bird for leaving it to her own family.” He turned to me, “Lorcan is—”
“I know,” I said. “Alaric Hardwick was his great uncle.”
Lorcan had been related to Aunt Adele’s husband in the same way that I was related to Aunt Adele.
“Maybe if the old man had outlasted his wife, he would have left the crumbling old pile to Lorcan, huh?” said Oberon. “Lorcan always was his favourite.”
Oberon’s eyes crinkled with mirth as he contemplated the sour expression on his friend’s face.
“Ha ha,” said Lorcan, not smiling.
“Chill out,” said Oberon. “It’s not like you need it.”
He turned to me suddenly. “Not that I’m implying you need it either.”
As if calling a person poor was the worst thing you could call them. I had been poor for many years of my life. That’s what happened when you left home at eighteen with no real life skills. I refused to be ashamed of it.
I shrugged.
Oberon extended his hand for me to shake. “I’m—”
“Oberon Maltei Junior,” I said. “I know.”
It seemed I remembered rather more about this town than I thought I did.
“You can leave Brimstone Bay but the bay never leaves you,” Oberon said with a warm smile.
His hand that I was shaking was warm too. Warmer than mine anyhow. Funny, since he was the vampire.
I quickly pulled my hand away. The sunlight seemed to not affect him at all, I noted enviously.
Maybe it was a dhampire thing, I thought, to have warm blood pumping through their veins. They were incredibly rare. I had never met another, let alone shook their hand.
The long-faced succubus was looking at me and Oberon with pursed lips as if she didn’t like our banter. Not that she had any reason to be worried for her girl-friend. Oberon clearly only had eyes for the gorgeous girl, who Oberon promptly told me was called Lily Silverswift.
He introduced the baena twins too. They were Petra and Paulo Ambers. I nodded in recognition. The Ambers were a quite prominent baena family in the town.
“I’m hungry,” Petra complained, and glared at me in a way that made it clear that she expected me to be a good little waitress and scurry off to get her cakes.
There was no need to me to do this since Aunt Adele must have been spying on us. She now swept into the café carrying an enormous tray heaving under the weight of the cakes and an enormous tea pot and cups.
The girls exclaimed appreciatively over the cakes, and Lily even clapped her hands when she saw the little jugs of winter berry compote. This put a big smile on Aunt Adele’s face.
I helped her unload everything onto the table, while Oberon grinned unashamedly at Aunt Adele’s disguise.
“If you hadn’t floated in,” he teased her, “I’d have thought you were alive for sure.”
“Shut up, Oberon,” said Lorcan.
Oberon reached out to pat Aunt Adele’s hand, and did not flinch from the icy blast of cold he must have felt. He winked at her.
“I never dared tell you this when you were alive because Lorcan would’ve thought I was going after his granny, but these purple robes of yours always were my favourite. You look as delicious as these cakes!”
She pinched his cheek fondly. “Oberon Junior, you always were a cheeky little rascal!”
She poured them all cups of steaming hot tea, and poured me a cup too. “I’ve brought you a slice of the red velvet cake to try,” she said, placing it in front of an empty chair at the table.
I shook my head. “I’ll eat it in the kitchen,” I told her lightly, wanting to scurry away from the unpleasant burn of the light and trying to hide it. “These guys didn’t come here to eat with me.”
And more importantly, I didn’t much want to eat with them. I had secrets to hide where sharp eyes would not notice them, especially a dhampire’s.
But Oberon insisted on my joining them, and I found myself acquiescing. Maybe I would learn something from him. Like what ambient magic he’d been born with that made him not shrivel into a pile of sunburnt blisters.
I was surprised how pleasant their company turned out to be. After she had eaten her cake, even Petra Ambers lightened up.
The five happily told me about themselves. Oberon, Lorcan, Petra and Paolo had known each other their whole lives, and took much pleasure in ribbing each other. Much of their chatter was about how things in town were looking up now that the new mayor had been elected. Mayor Blaze had promised improvements. They were especially looking forward to this year’s winter festivities.
I bit my tongue. Antioch Blaze, the new mayor, was not someone I admired. The quicker his term was over, the better in my opinion.
Lily and I exchanged a glance. I had a feeling she was thinking the same.
She rolled her eyes at her friends. “Gosh, guys,” she said. “Just because Antioch Blaze is famous, there’s no need to be drooling over him.”
I took a sip of tea to disguise my smile. She might be the youngest, but she had her head screwed on straight.
It turned out the lovely Lily Silverswift was new to town and was a witch.
I was a bit taken aback by this news. Witches did not date vampires. It was not approved of. And clearly she had something going on with Oberon.
She eyed me up to see whether I was judging her, and I quickly gave her a smile. Because who was I to judge? She seemed to relax.
“Is it true you have pink Magicwild hair?” she asked wistfully, looking at my brunette locks as if she wished I would change them back so that she could see.
The Magicwild was the world from which all magic came, an incredible place of great fascination to us witches and wizards. It was very difficult to get too, needing powerful magic to cross through the ether into it.
“It’s true,” I said.
“Wow! I was always so curious about Brimstone Bay,” she said. Her high voice was a silvery as her name. It reminded me a little of a ringing bell. “Mum and dad preferred to take us to Magicwild Market in London when we needed to buy things, and we always holidayed abroad, so they never brought me here when I was little. So me and my friends came together this summer. I loved it so much I ended up staying!”
She spoke all in a rush, and I could see now that she was barely twenty. It seemed practically a baby to me now that I was past the wrong side of thirty-five, as my mum liked to say.
“Speaking of your friends…” said Oberon darkly. He was looking towards the café door.
Lily looked in that direction and her face fell.
“What is he doing here?” she said, sounding upset.
Outside, a young man was walking down the path towards the café. She stood up and rushed to intercept him, but he had already opened the door and come in.
I took him in with a single glance, and quietly asked, “Werewolf?” to Oberon.
He nodded.
I was relieved, because at least I wouldn’t have to persuade Aunt Adele to leave. She looked like she was having far too much fun watching Oberon and friends to be persuaded to go quietly.
Oberon’s eyes were fixed on Lily and the newcomer, who were whispering furiously at each other over by the door. Lily was trying to push the guy out but he was refusing to leave.
Oberon looked
envious.
I hardly thought that Oberon had anything to worry about. The dhampire was classically handsome with his dark hair and jewel bright eyes. The new guy was only averagely good looking in a rough and rugged way. His shaggy brown hair could have done with a cut.
“Who is he?” I asked Oberon.
“Her ex,” he said shortly. “James.”
Oberon, Lorcan and Paolo all looked annoyed at this James. Even Petra was watching the arguing couple with narrowed eyes.
“Stupid git,” she muttered. “Can’t he take a hint? Trying to drag her home as if she was a piece of meat.”
“Why did they break up?” I asked curiously.
“She came here and found someone better,” said Petra, her eyes flicking to Oberon. “James left, but I’m not surprised he’s come back. She always did say he was too possessive.”
The new guy James had taken a very firm grip on Lily’s arm and was trying to drag her out of the café, but she was refusing to go.
Oberon rose to his feet, anger on his face.
“You stay right where you are,” said Aunt Adele anxiously. “I won’t tolerate fisticuffs in my café.”
Oberon did not sit down. He looked torn, like he hated seeing James’s hands on Lily but he wasn’t too sure whether Lily would want him to intercede.
“Go!” Lily was yelling now. “I don’t care if you’ve got nowhere to stay. You shouldn’t have come.”
“Don’t mess me around Lily,” shouted James, his face red. “Stop being a stupid brat or I’ll—”
“You’ll what?”
She shoved him hard on the chest. He was a big guy and it didn’t do more than make him take a single step backwards.
“Get lost! You can sleep on the damn beach with your stupid cats!” she yelled. “I don’t want you here.”
“You’re not staying,” he snarled. “I won’t let you.”
His hand tightened around her wrist. She yelped. He wrenched open the door and started dragging her out.
Oberon moved fast towards them. I ran after him. The look on his face alarmed me. He looked like he was going to kill someone and no way was I going to let him make that kind of mistake.