by LeAnn Mason
“I’m sorry. Thank you both. I’ll talk to you… soon?” I apologized meekly before scurrying after the Shifter matriarch with hurried steps.
Lord guide me and keep me safe. I figured a silent prayer might be prudent as I strode willfully into the lions’ den. Quite accurately. Could I do this? Did I want to? Rory’s rumbling timbre sounded in my head ‘be still, human.’ A shiver rent my body at the memory of his hands on me, his rumbly voice in my ears.
It would be utterly imprudent to deny the matriarch of Shifter royalty, could jeopardize my standing within the community, whereas having her backing could only help.
Taking this position was smart for those reasons if no others. Add in raging curiosity and a mild infatuation, and that was where I stood. Perfectly logical. There were always risks, especially in discovery. I was like a biologist, learning all I could about a new indigenous species—
“The garden is often where Rory chooses to spend his time.” Mrs. Leone’s cultured tone broke through my mental bolstering. “Most often, the gate to the street is closed so that no one accidentally comes onto our property without our knowledge or permission.” Her words were pointed like barbs—or rose thorns—and stung as they hit my faltering ego. She pushed through a wrought iron gate that had, in fact, been closed—locked even—and continued forward into the garden where weeks before, I’d had my strange encounter with the Shifter prince.
“This garden, is it cultivated with magic? It is substantially warmer here with burgeoning foliage that is both not native to the area as well as generally found in tropical or subtropical con… dit… ions.” My rambling died when the queen’s eyes locked on me, blazing a bright whiskey indicative of her animal. A lioness, I assumed? She’d stopped her brisk pace and turned to pin me with those fiery irises. A silent warning, maybe? “I’m sorry. It’s not important. Please continue.” I flashed what I hoped was a contrite smile before rolling my lips inward and pressing tightly.
The queen clearly hadn’t changed her mind, hadn’t suddenly decided she liked me, so I couldn’t help but wonder: why me? Why would she choose me to take a position within her household? To teach her son?
Why?
CHAPTER 13
We continued through to the steps I’d seen in the background while in this space more than a week ago. My attention snagged on the giant, if not life-sized, depictions of maned lions that bookended the grand approach to the heavy, wooden double doors that would grant us entry to her home.
The statues, much like the overall appearance of the castle-mansion I was about to enter, looked to be fashioned from sandstone or possibly limestone. Unquestionably some sort of cultivable porous rock that held up well under the elements. A question for a different time. But the lion was magnificent. So much detail was captured in the re-creation. From the texture of his full mane to the sleekness of his coat and the fierceness of his eyes… which I would swear were following me as I passed its massive countenance to ascend the stone steps.
Sheesh! Those are unsettling…
“You will report at eight a.m. each morning and will work until there is progress. Once I see a notable improvement, I will allow some flexibility in your hours.” Her heels clacked along the gray and white marble tiles pervading this section of the home’s flooring. The queen didn’t aim her words in my direction physically. Like it took too much effort to slow enough for me or to allow me to walk beside her. “It might be prudent for you to room here.” This time, she did turn her body enough to visually acknowledge me.
It was clear she wanted me here, under her watchful eye—and heavy hand—for the foreseeable future, but since she hadn’t indicated I’d be required to… “I think I’ll stay at the Lightseekers’ for the time being. I’m comfortable there.” I tacked on the latter if only to give me the illusion of maintaining some sense of comfort as I trailed behind this grand woman, in her grand, but cold, home. We passed a few people in various uniforms, which I assumed were indicative of their standing within the household.
Would I be expected to wear one?
Only a few rooms we passed looked to be in use. Far more appeared to have been abandoned or, at the very least, unused with no signs of life stirring from within. Sheets covered large shapes in unlit rooms as we continued through the immense home that was almost more like a museum or disused castle…
“So what exactly are you needing my help with? Why can’t Rory just go to school?” I assumed the rest of the children—was that the right word even?—were institutionally taught, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe only the human or those with, I don’t know, lesser abilities were formally educated. I knew the Archives neighbored a school, but I didn't know what level of education it sustained.
My questions caused an abrupt halt in my employer’s steps, which made me grateful I’d been a few paces behind so I didn’t smash into her. Small mercies. When I looked into the queen’s coldly furious face, I backed up another step on reflex. “I-I’m sorry,” I squeaked, hardly able to speak at all past the huge lump that had just taken up residence in my throat.
“My son is not like other children,” she growled before taking a moment to compose herself. Straightening from where she’d angled herself aggressively in my direction, causing another hasty retreat from my feet, she again drew her hands down her dress. A movement I was beginning to see as a calming method. “His lion has always been very… assertive. It makes traditional schooling unappealing.” She recovered, moving through the wide hallway I hadn’t even noticed we’d been traversing.
I really need to pay better attention… and stop getting lost in my head so much.
I shook myself out of the internal chiding in time to stop in front of a closed wooden door. Looking around, I noticed it was the only door within several yards in any direction. The hallway was lit well enough to indicate regular traffic to the area.
Knocking, the queen again drew her hands to her dress, making my attention perk. Whatever was on the other side of this door worried her in some way.
“What?” I recognized the deep voice even when growling. It rattled around in my head more often than I cared to admit.
Rory.
“I’ve brought your new tutor. Do you want to meet her here or out in the garden?” Those were odd places for an introduction…
“I don’t want to meet anyone, Mother. You know how it ends up,” he answered in a tone that was first defensive, then almost submissive.
“This one is different. I just know it!”
My head whipped away from the door, which I was pretending I had the x-ray vision to see through, to the aloof woman whose demeanor had taken a sharp left into… pleading. Weird.
“Please meet with her. If you don’t decide on a location, I will send her in there…” She lifted her chin along with her eyebrow as she cocked her head… waiting for his inevitable fold.
“All right,” he huffed, “send her to the garden. That’s the safest bet.”
She turned to me, triumph clear on her face, and chirped a too-cheerful, “Come on,” as she began retracing our steps back toward the enchanted forest of a “garden” that these Shifter royals enjoyed.
“Don’t I need some books? Subjects, at the least, covering what you expect me to help him with?” The longer I thought, the more confused and less assured of my position I became. Dread pooled in my belly. My fingers twitched and feet hitched, warning me that things did not add up.
But both Marie and Elsie had been behind this endeavor. I had to trust in that if nothing else, and only that knowledge kept my feet moving. It also helped that we headed outdoors, into the open. A place I had a better chance of escaping rather than the cold and expansive confines of the stone castle-mansion…
“I will leave you here. Rory should be around momentarily. Do not leave the premises before speaking with me, and stay off of the second floor.” That seemed like a weird directive seeing as we'd just been on said floor. Mrs. Leone stopped at the terrace threshold to deliver her last word
s. Then, without waiting for a rebuttal, she turned and strode back into the sterile confines of the estate.
I let her go without the fuss I should have made, but the moment my face hit the sunlight, my body relaxed. My mind let go of its worries. This place truly was a gem and, so far, was my favorite location within Grimm Hollow. I was mesmerized by its guardian statues and dense foliage, heavy with humidity and the sweetness of the competing fragrances.
This would make a lovely study spot. I could get all kinds of Zen if I sat on that bench.
The bench where I first saw him.
I gravitated forward, making sure to give the dreaded rose bush a wide berth as I took in the soft gurgling of the water in the fountain at its back. I cocked my head, listening to the beautiful song of a bird. Taking a seat, I searched the nearest trees for what I hoped was the bird from before.
“You look mighty comfortable.”
I couldn’t even bring myself to feel guilty about the fact that I most likely stole his favorite seat and was intruding on his Zen place. “This place is amazing. I was looking for the bird,” I responded lightly from my seat.
“The lark.”
“Hmm?” I opened my eyes to meet his guarded stare. I hadn’t even realized I’d closed them.
“The bird. It’s a lark, remember?” He inched closer but still stayed several paces away. He seemed nervous. Why, I had no idea.
“Oh, yes. I remember you telling me that. I meant to look them up but…” I was detained under suspicion of parricide. I'd forgotten to look after hearing I would be wanted for murder. My mood plummeted with the remembrance.
“Though it looks like even my garden is unable to wipe away some worries,” he mused, watching me intently. His dark eyes, keenly focused on me, flitted to note everything, making me feel bared and exposed in a way I’d not felt before. The thought pushed a hot blush up my neck and toward the tips of my ears, the feeling making me drop my eyes from his. I jerked my eyes upward, deciding to search for the lark again. Something besides Rory to focus on, that’s what I needed. Why had I agreed to this again?
“Your worries may rival mine. There are very few things being here cannot erase.” He’d moved closer. I cut my eyes to verify, finding him just out of a reach I was very tempted to try. I clenched my hands into fists to keep from acting on that impulse.
“So, your mother tells me you need a… tutor? She didn’t give many details, and in a very rash and probably not very smart move, I agreed.” Not very smart-girl of me.
“Oh, little human, you really shouldn’t have. Your instincts were right to say no,” he grumbled from right beside me.
While his words and new proximity surprised me, I wouldn’t cow. I wouldn’t give in to the fear he wanted me to feel. “And why is that? Maybe you could respect me enough to tell me the truth of what I’ve gotten myself into even if your mother doesn't.”
“So that you can run away, you mean?” he taunted, having taken a seat next to me on the bench. Close but as far from me as he could get on the wooden seat. I took a moment to observe him. Size him up if you will. His multi-hued hair was tousled like he’d run a hand roughly through the locks more than once. His mocha eyes were a little dull and had dark circles beneath them. The gray shirt he’d chosen molded to his upper body, accentuating every muscle it barely hid. His bottom half was much more… comfortably clad.
“Pajama pants and those house shoes, again, huh?”
He laughed a little as he lifted a slippered foot for show. “How could I not? I’m all about comfort these days.”
“You don’t strike me as a relaxed kind of guy,” I pointed out, my mouth once again opening wide enough for me to insert a foot. “Sorry. Ignore me. My mouth runs away sometimes.”
“It’s fine,” he assured, but all mirth had fled his tone. There was no more levity to his body. It was stiff and coiled. Preparing to strike or withdraw. He still didn’t seem aggressive, more… apprehensive. “I am far from relaxed, but I get to pretend when I sit out here.” He paused.
I waited.
I knew he wasn’t done, but I didn’t want to push him because I had a feeling he needed to work up to whatever was on his mind. Visibly gathering his thoughts, drawing himself upright with a heavy expulsion of breath, he went on. “I have trouble with my lion.”
“Trouble with your lion? As in… shifting when random girls come running frantically around the corner of your sanctuary place?” I wasn’t sure that necessarily qualified as a problem, but having experienced it…
It was scary. I was excited that I hadn’t done anything too embarrassing when I'd encountered him. Oh, and that I was alive. “So you don’t go to school… because your lion wants to fight everyone?”
“Not just school. Sports. Court. Home.” He wrapped his fingers in his shaggy locks and gripped like he was scolding himself… or was completely overcome. “Everywhere. My lion reacts to everyone. I can’t even be around the staff at the estate. Or my own mother!” Chest heaving, he stared at me, a look of bewildered awe overtaking his pain-riddled face. I was glad for the change. I didn’t like the thought of him in anguish until he went on. “Everyone except… you.”
CHAPTER 14
A bomb. He just dropped it and watched as it smashed onto me from thousands of feet above. I was the only person who his lion didn’t ferally react to. “How… Why… me?”
“I’m not sure. My assumption would be because you are human.” He shrugged and looked away, over my head, at something in the garden, his expression pensive.
“I’m the only person you can be around? So, you never went to school? Have you been outside of your home?” My mind was still blown, reeling from the revelation of his words. “Wait. Am I the only human in Grimm Hollow?” That would undeniably make me an outcast. And a target.
He grumbled and rolled his eyes. “You aren’t the only human, and I wasn’t always like this.”
“So why didn’t your mom go find another human, someone familiar with Grimm Hollow and Shifters and magic and… everything else?”
“Probably because she figured you were expendable if this goes wrong at any time.”
“Well, I should probably be offended, but the realist in me recognizes she may be right. I have no real entanglements in your town. Unless you count Allya. Oh, and Elsie. Maybe Marie,” I tacked on. “But I see your point. Easier to take someone who isn’t embedded in the town, and if something goes wrong?” It was my turn to shrug like I didn’t care about the possibility of serious injury, or death, by mauling.
But I very much did. I wanted to live and live in Grimm Hollow, if only because the outside world considered me a wanted murderer.
“So, I'm the only person you can be around without going feral. Most likely because I am human.” I got up and began pacing as I thought, ticking off points as I came to them. “It’s a new problem—”
“Not entirely new. I’ve always had trouble keeping him contained, but it’s become impossible since…” clearing his throat, he looked away again, searching. “Look, there she is.” He pointed to a large tree at the border of the designated garden space. I followed the line of his finger and found our pretty little lark who, upon discovery, began singing as if she’d only been waiting for an audience.
Time seemed to stand still as we listened, again lost in the peace his garden evoked. The bird’s song, combined with the bubbling of the fountain and the rustling of the breeze through the foliage was, in a word, tranquil. I could sit and listen indefinitely. “I see why you come out here,” I mused, finally. I blushed and shook my head. I must appear like just some silly human to him.
I guess I am.
“Anyway, it’s getting late. I guess I’ll leave you alone—”
“Are you running away, human?” he sneered. The abrupt change in demeanor put me off, and I mentally patted myself on the back for knowing it was time to leave.
Maybe he’s reacting to you leaving, Mae. To being alone again. “I’ll be back in the morning tho
ugh I’m still not sure what my objective is.” I paused. “I’m happy I was able to give you a few moments of normalcy.” My smile may have been slightly wan, but I could almost feel his bitterness and sorrow. A lion should never feel so conquered. But that was the issue, wasn’t it? His lion was anything but. The human was broken, so the lion surged to protect them both. “I will be back, and we can talk some more.”
“Don’t leave without letting my mother know unless you want to incur her wrath,” he called at my retreating back just as I reached the stone effigy of his royal beast. The regal animal looked very much the king and protector it was meant to portray. Slowing to ascend the few stairs, I nodded to acknowledge the poorly delivered warning. Pushing open the heavy veranda doors, I crossed back into the large home. A glance back into the garden showed the big man’s back as he sat stock-still before the door closed and cut off my stalker-vision.
“Time to face the lioness,” I mumbled in a lame attempt to bolster my confidence as I trudged back through the home, my steps echoing off the stone floor, making me wince. I had hoped I’d run into a stray housekeeper or lamplighter or something who could direct me to where the queen could be found. I wanted to pop my head in and then get out. I wanted to eat… and needed to talk with Al. She’d help me make sense of my new purpose. After all, she’d had quite a few curve balls thrown her way of late, and she’d kicked the crap out of all of them.
So, yeah, she’d basically died… but she didn’t and was totally all good now… right? That had to mean something.
A flash of motion caught my eye, breaking me from my internal musings, and I sped up to flag down the housekeeper. “Excuse me.” The words bounced around the space, my call echoing through the wide hallway. Pushing my glasses back into place, I tried for 'composed' as I caught up to the lady I’d flagged. I realized that I’d need to start doing some kind of cardio when speed walking had air pumping rather heavily through my mouth. I kept from gasping for breath in a doubled over heap… barely.