“My mom has some company in the kitchen. They’re older even than we are. Sort of our honorary aunts and uncles, I guess you could say.” Carroll stood up and put out his hand. “If you come with me, I can help you to understand a little more about our kind. Also, we’ll see what you have in the way of magic.”
“Magic?” He nodded and took her hand into his before she could pull it back. “What sort of magic? I mean, am I going to be able to turn you into something small and harmless, then step on you?”
“Why would you want to do that?” She just glared at him. “I’ve given you no reason to want to squash me. However, if you really must, let me introduce you to my family first. That way, they can rescue me from your booted foot. Also, you should know that you’re an immortal.”
Hanna stagger-stepped twice before they made it to the kitchen. Once when he told her she was immortal, the second time when he told her who was in the kitchen with his mom. He was, however, impressed with how well she’d taken who they were. And not once did she tell them she didn’t believe they were who they thought they were. Of course, it might have helped his cause if they were to have proven it to her. But all in all, he thought this was a good deal more fun. Now they were all seated in the living room, with his brothers telling Hanna some of the things they’d done over the years.
“I must tell you all something while you’re here.” They all quieted down, and he looked at his mom, who had been unusually quiet. Tellus stood up and looked around the room. “I remember the day you were brought into this world, all of you so small yet the healthiest of babes ever born. Then, when your mother passed away, leaving the world a much sadder place with her absence, I thought my heart would break.”
“She was a leopard queen, Golden was.” Joel blew his nose and smiled at Bailey as he continued. “You have her coloring when you’re a cat, my boy. Even your eyes are the same beautiful shade.”
“Mom was never a shifter. She knew when she had us that we’d be the first. However, she wished not to remain living. Her body, she told us, was too worn down. Too beaten up from being in the wild for most of her life. Plus, there was the bullet wound that bothered her more the older she got.” Hanna asked him how she was shot living there. “She didn’t always live here. Morgan was just a child when she was taken to the woods to be murdered. The men that had been hired to kill her for her parents were killed by Golden. She took a hit that night.”
“You have lived a very adventurous life, Morgan.” Mom nodded and told Hanna she didn’t know the half of it. “So you guys are really old. And you’re magical as well.”
“We are. I don’t shift, not that I didn’t want to. But I did have the greatest job ever in being asked to raise these six.” Mom smiled at them all. “They are, in order of birth, Carroll, who, as you know, is your mate. Then there is Leslie, Bailey, Marley, Scout, and Shiloh. All were born on the same day within hours of each other. I was asked to help them in the world of humans so they could blend in without any kind of hiccups that would put them in danger.”
“You did a good job of it too, my dear. And that brings me to what I have to tell you. Your mom is going to go away for a while. We’ve decided she needs to see the other worlds, the ones she and the rest of you have helped over the years.” Carroll looked at his mom as she sat there. “She really does want to go but is afraid that leaving you guys behind will somehow scar you for life.”
“I did not say that. I said I wanted to go, and that was it. I didn’t say a word about actually packing my bags and leaving.” Carroll asked her why she wasn’t going. “I’ve never been anywhere and don’t feel like I missed something. Why do they think I need to be away now? I don’t get it.”
“You need it, however.” It was Shiloh that spoke up this time. “I’ve noticed you’re tired all the time now. All of us have. You don’t rest. I know we don’t sleep anymore, but you must rest sometimes.”
Carroll spoke softly to Hanna. “When we were created, they decided we didn’t need to sleep. That living with magic, it would be unnecessary for us to need to shut down. That was a mistake they fixed in the next shifter group. We don’t need to sleep, but we must rest sometime during the day, even if it’s only to sit in the living room and watch a little television. Or read a good book. Which is what we usually do.” Hanna asked him if he enjoyed reading the classics. “I do. We have a lot of first editions around here that are signed. And while I know you’re going to find it hard to believe, they were signed just for us.”
She only looked at him before turning back to his mom. Carroll knew he was having way too much fun with her not believing him. But he was also enjoying having her around. Even in the last few hours that she’d been here, he realized how much he’d missed teasing someone. Having fun at their expense. Carroll wouldn’t take it too far, but he was enjoying her anger as well.
“You need to go, Mom. If for no other reason than you deserve it.” She asked Scout if he was trying to get rid of her. “Never that. Not ever. You are my heart, and I would perish without you. But since we were born, you’ve never done a single thing for yourself. And as you said, I think you’d really enjoy seeing the other worlds. I know it’s been a dream of mine to see the water king, as well as the creatures no one else has seen.”
It was still in debate while they had their dinner if Mom would go or not. The others had left—they had realms to run—but they did leave behind a magical book for Hanna. She was to read it or not, but Joel said it would give her a better understanding of not just what they were but some of the magic she had gotten from Carroll. It took Hanna about an hour to realize she had already gotten some of the magic from them finding one another.
“This is just too much.” He said he could understand that, and he would answer anything she had a question about. “And if you don’t know the answer? Will you go to the others and find out? I mean, you already know the mother of all things. And let’s not forget the king of the trees. Who else might you inquire with for answers to my questions if you don’t know the answer?”
“Are you upset that I know the other realms’ rulers or that I might not know the answer to your question?” When she made her way out onto the deck at the back of their home, he looked at his mom. “I don’t know what I’ve done.”
“She is confused, Carroll. As anyone would be, that has been thrown into this situation. Just let her think and do not interrupt her with answers that she might well have no need for at the moment.” He asked her if she meant him telling her that he was old. “Yes. What did that have to do with anything between the two of you? Nothing right now. Just ease her into this as you would a newborn that needs to know a great deal of information. But they have plenty of time to get around to learning it. She’ll come around. But in smaller doses than you’ve been giving it to her.”
He went out onto the deck and sat on the steps that led out to the yard. He saw Sunny coming toward him and put out his hand. When Leo joined him, he asked Hanna if she wanted to meet his faeries.
“Faeries? I suppose you’d have those too. All right. But no funny stuff. I’m about to have my mind— Oh, look at him! He’s so handsome.” Carroll was sure that Leo was going to bust his buttons off his vest when Hanna said that to him. He flew to her outstretched hand and bowed before her. “Leo is a good strong name, did you know that? It means lion. I bet you have the heart of a lion too.”
“Thank you, mistress. I am pleased to serve you.” Hanna looked at him, but when he opened his mouth to explain, she stopped him by putting her hand up. “You will need a faerie in the coming years, my lady. Sunny will be with Lord Carroll here, and we will work together to keep the two of you out of harm’s way.”
“Will I be in harm’s way? Or will Carroll be in harm’s way when I have to strangle him?” Leo looked at him, his eyes wide with shock. Carroll told Hanna that they took everything someone said to them literally. “I’m not really going to strangle h
im. I’m sorry about that. But in the last few hours, it’s been tempting.”
“Lord Carroll is the being that helped me be a part of this household. When I was just born, he came to the fields and found me lying upon the dirt. I would have been a brownie had he not found me and turned me over to the faerie queen. Not that I have anything against the other creatures, but I didn’t want to work in the human world as a big person. Brownies can do that, you see.” Hanna nodded and smiled at him when he winked at her. “Sunny is a bit older than I am, so she had magic I didn’t have. When we were chosen to be the faeries for the two of you, we were able to share what we had so we’d be better at protecting you. Also, we have gotten more magic too. It’s wonderful to be able to serve you in any way you wish, my lady.”
“I’m overwhelmed at the moment, so don’t tell me much right now. I’m still dealing with all the things that were told to me earlier.” This time she glared at him. “I’m sure Carroll meant well, but I feel like my head will—” Carroll shook his head so she’d not say what was sure to upset Leo. “My head will have too much in it right at the moment. If I have questions, or it’s something that I need to know right now, then you can tell me. But for the moment, let me deal with the knowledge that I know now.”
They sat out on the deck for hours. Mostly it was Hanna speaking to the faeries, but she would occasionally ask him something. He was about as comfortable as he’d ever been sitting out there and was glad she’d not wanted to go into the house.
“I have a job.” He nodded and told her he had one as well. “I don’t know that I want to continue working. I mean, I could, I suppose, but I’m not sure I ever enjoyed my job all that much. But here, I would love to learn all there is to know about this place. It’s like its own little world that outsiders aren’t allowed to intrude in.”
“That’s about right. We do have outsiders come here. We have cattle that we use for both milk and meat. We used to make all the cheese for this area, and Mom realized that if we were only to make the cheese and other dairies we needed for ourselves, it would provide jobs for others if a plant were to open up for the rest of the town to work in.” Hanna told him that was brilliant. “You will be surprised, I think, to know what other things we have going on here that make us self-reliant. You’ll notice that there are no cars or any kind of gas-powered equipment here. Not that we couldn’t go into town and buy gas, but the pollutants would harm the other creatures that call this place home.”
“The faeries.” He told her there were all manner of animals here that people thought were myths. “Like? And please don’t tell me too many right now. I’m beginning to settle in my head.”
“In addition to the faeries that live here, there are also brownies, trolls, and gnomes.” She asked if they were around where she could meet one of the gnomes. He nodded to the garden at the bottom of the stairs. “They’re here now?”
“The gnomes live in the house gardens year-round. You’ll see that no matter the weather, it is always warm in the herb gardens, as well as the flower beds. That’s to shelter them from any kind of cold or heat. In return for us giving them a place to live, they give us fresh herbs as well as medicinal things that need to be used on some of the other animals that live here.” She asked him about the trolls. She thought them to be mean. “They are if they are treated badly. The ones here have in some way been hurt. Whether it be from physical or emotional pain, they come here to rest and heal. Not all are welcome here. If they have caused trouble elsewhere, they are only given one chance to stay here without causing trouble. We’ve only had to ban two from ever coming back.”
Carroll could tell by the look on her face the moment one of the elders came out of his little hut. Mr. Weeds and his family had been living here since before he was born. When Hanna sat down beside him on the steps, he made room for Mr. Weeds if he wanted to share the seat with them.
“Mr. Weeds, I’d like for you to meet my mate, Hanna March. Hanna, this is the patriarch of the gnomes around here, Mr. Thaddeus Weeds. He’s in charge of all the gnomes around the world. However, he has chosen this place to call his home.” Hanna put out her finger to the elderly gentleman, and he looked up at him. “She’s new to this land, sir. If she offends you in any way, ‘tis my fault.”
“I’m sorry. Did I do something wrong?” She took her hand back so quickly it even startled him. Mr. Weeds took his long pipe out of his mouth and told Hanna to put her hand back for him. When she did so, instead of taking it, he opened her hand and sat down on her palm. For as long as he lived, he’d never seen him do such a thing before. “You’re very handsome, aren’t you?”
“I am at that.” He looked over at Carroll. “You’ve got a right beautiful mate here, Carroll. Right beautiful indeed. If you’ve not a mind about it, I’d like to take her to meet some of the other people that live here. I know you’d like to do it, but I can hear that brother of yours cursing like he’s got himself a potty mouth.”
“I’ll see to him if Hanna doesn’t mind.” She smiled at him, and Carroll could have easily given her his heart right from his chest for it. “Mr. Weeds, if you’d not mind, can you take a little of your precious time and help her with the rules as well? I don’t want her to be hurt because I’ve been lax in making sure she knew what to do in the presence of so many otherworldly creatures.”
“Aye. Yes, I can do that.” Carroll kissed her on the cheek and stood up. “You’d be better served, young Carroll if you were to take this little lady to dinner tonight. Show her off to the queen and such.”
“We have a great deal to talk about before I think of taking her to see the queen. She’s met Tellus. Joel and David were around earlier as well.” Mr. Weeds nodded as he held onto Hanna’s fingers as she stood up. “If you need me, Hanna—not that I think you will—but all you need to do is think of me, and I’ll come to you.”
“All right.”
Hanna and the gnome were talking as they headed to the woods. She’d not be any safer with Carroll than she was with Mr. Weeds. He was far and away the most respected and feared creature he knew.
Carroll found Marley in the barn at the back of the cottage his mom had asked them to check out yesterday. He had no idea what he was doing, but he waited quietly for him to stop talking to himself, or for that matter, to someone that Carroll hadn’t seen yet. When his brother looked up, he could see the marks on his face. It looked as if he’d tangled with another cat.
“No. Nothing like that. But I do have to return to the cottage on the other side of our land. There were a lot of raccoons in the place when I got out here. I don’t know who was more startled, them or me. They were only protecting their young.” He asked him if he’d been in the house yet. “Not as yet. But I can smell death. I didn’t want to take the chance of going in without the police. I’ve called for them to aid me.”
Almost as if he’d conjured them, two cruisers pulled into the driveway. Shaking hands, Carroll was a little thrown when he could feel not just their emotional turmoil, but he could also feel that Officer Daniel Penick was ill. It took him a bit longer to realize the man had terminal heart disease.
“What’s the matter with you?” He looked around, then at Marley. “You’ve been standing there staring into space for the last five minutes. Are you going to go into the house with us or not? Get your head on, will you?”
“Yes. Of course.” They went to the front door of the house and knocked. Both the men with them were human. Carroll was sure, however, that they could smell the decomposing corpse as well as he did. As soon as the door was opened, all four of them took a step back. The smell was horrendous. “I can go in for you and open some windows. In fact, why are they closed up?”
“I was thinking that too. Whatever happened here, had you not been doing a wellness check, it might well have been a good deal longer with them closed up like this. If you’d not mind, Carroll, we’d surely appreciate it if you were to open the w
indows a bit. Also, I don’t need to remind you not to touch anything.”
“I promise I won’t.” Carroll moved into the house and to the window in the living room. Nothing in there, but the smell was getting stronger as he made his way to the back of the house. The kitchen was where he found both of the bodies, and it looked like murder. Not touching anything in the room, including the window that was closed up tight, he made his way out to the cops. “They’ve both been shot. Head wounds. Mister is sitting at the table. Wife is on the floor. The fridge is open, but everything in it is bad like it has been a few more days than we thought.”
Letting his family know what was going on, he waited with the police to see if they needed anything from him or Marley. The couple had been ambushed, it looked like. The missus had been shot in the head—the mister as well, but while someone was in front of him. He wondered why anyone would want to harm this old couple. They didn’t even go into town much, so he didn’t think they’d have much in the way of enemies.
“Your mom told us someone shot at her today.” He’d forgotten about that and told Officer Penick that was right. “Do you think you can find the bullet? I know it’s a long shot, but I thought we’d test it against the ones here. If I remember correctly, this house sits right about in line with your orchard, correct?”
He had to think on it, but he thought the man was right. The back yard proved to have a line of sight view of not just the orchard but about the same place he’d found his mom and Hanna. Carroll returned to the house to explain what had happened.
“I was in the yard for some work, and I heard the first shot. I knew my mom was showing the FDA personnel around, so I went to make sure she was all right. The second shot nearly got them both. I didn’t even think about it again after making sure that Mom and Hanna were all right.” He told him that was when he found that Hanna was his mate. “I should have called you then. I’m sorry.”
Carroll: Morgan’s Leap – Leopards Shapeshifter Romance Page 4