Midnight Starling: An Urban Fantasy Romance Series

by Rhiannon Lee

  “I’ve told her some. But that’s my responsibility, not yours,” I reminded him.

  “You’re playing a dangerous game,” he said.

  I exhaled loudly; the air ruffling my bangs. “Yeah, I know.” I wished he would get off the topic already.

  His face softened. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  “I have to get back. Don’t forget to call me with any news about the Ouphes, or the drain on our magic.”

  “Yes, I’ll phone you in the morning and let you know what we find. I’m going to send my guys out as soon as we’re finished. And Poppy, I mean it. If you need me, just call.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “And about the other thing we talked about,” he began, but I cut him off.

  “Time, Thain. Give me some time.”

  He nodded. “Of course. I was just going to say that I’m here if you want to talk about that too.”

  “Alright. I better get home,” I said and stood up.

  I walked down the hallway in a partial daze, my mind replaying our conversation.

  By the time I got outside, the air was cooling into evening. I could feel the hum of the approaching night on my skin. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and let the sensation envelope me for a moment. When I opened them again, the sun was settling behind rooftops.

  “Welcome back,” came a voice from beside me. I turned in their direction. It was Thain. He was sitting on the parking block of one of the spaces a few feet away.

  “How long was I standing here?” I asked. It had only seemed like mere seconds to me.

  “About an hour.”

  “Why didn’t you wake me?” I asked.

  He raised an eyebrow. “You were asleep?”

  “Well, no, but you know what I mean.”

  He stood up and dusted off his pants. “I wasn’t sure what would happen if I disturbed you. Trances can be tricky things, but you know that.”

  There he was again—the man I knew so long ago.

  “I guess I just needed a moment. It’s been a stressful few days.”

  “I understand. And I’ve added to it. I’m sorry,” he offered.

  “I won’t deny that, but thank you for the apology. I really have to be off this time,” I said, but still I hesitated. I missed him, but I wasn’t ready to admit it out loud just yet. I wasn’t sure if I would ever be ready to if I was being honest with myself.

  I pulled my phone from my pocket. Just as I suspected, there were numerous missed calls from both Bea and Isaac.

  “Will you allow me to drive you home?”

  I shook my head. The corners of my mouth pulled up in a half smile. The continued nearness to him was getting to be more than I could handle. Besides, Bea needed me. But, if I was right about what was happening, it was much worse than that. I had to keep my head clear and my mind focused, because the Ouphes, gentle people I’ve always felt a connection to, were possibly being manipulated by some outside force, and they needed my help too.

  He tilted his head in thought. “Alright, but you’ll call if you need me?” he repeated.

  “I will,” I answered, then headed off into the night.

  Once again, I was glad for the short, quiet journey on foot. I needed to iron out what I was going to say to Bea.

  I finally made it home and headed upstairs to Isaac’s apartment first. I lifted my fist to knock but saw a sticky note stuck to the door. Downstairs with Bea was scrawled across it in blue ink. I took the steps two at a time and landed on the first-floor landing with a louder thud than intended. The door to mine and Bea’s apartment opened. They had heard me coming. Isaac’s smile turned my nerves down to a bearable level. I took a deep breath to temporarily clear my conversation with Thain from my mind.

  “It’s time,” Isaac whispered. “She’s waiting.”

  When I entered, I found Bea sitting behind her desk instead of the couch. She only did that when she was either working or nervous. I often viewed the wood as a barrier between her and the real world, like a safety blanket.

  “Isaac said there was something you needed to tell me.” Worry lines creased her forehead.

  I found a spot beside her. “Yes, there is. I told you about the Mimics, but there is much more to our world, and you, than them.”

  She let out a long exhale. “I knew there had to be more.”

  “I didn’t want to overwhelm you the other night, plus it could have presented a… challenge for you to learn more before I was prepared.” I paused so she could take in my words.

  She scrunched her face up. “Prepared? For what?” she asked.

  “First things first. You are not a Mimic,” I began.

  “But… I turn into a starling.”

  “Yes, you turn into a starling. But that is only I because your magic is forcing its way out of you despite your guise,” I answered.

  “Guise? What the hell is a guise?”

  I inhaled and settled my hands into my lap. “You are a Godkin, not a Mimic. When you were small, I placed a guise over you to temporarily block your magic.”

  She tapped her fingers on the desk. “I repeat. What is a guise?”

  “It’s a spell that’s used to dampen your powers temporarily,” I explained.

  Bea shot to her feet, her face contorting. “Why would you do that?”

  “Bea, please sit down,” I begged. “I’m going to explain everything.” She ignored my request and kept glaring, hand on hip. “You know I would never do anything to hurt you, don’t you?” I asked to calm her down.

  “Yes, but–”

  “No buts, everything I have ever done concerning you has been out of love. I understand you may not see it that way right now, especially with all the secrets coming to light, but it’s true. All I ask is that you let me explain everything before you jump to any conclusions or run away.”

  “I’ve never run from anything in my life,” she snapped with a flick of her hand.

  I hated to use her stubborn streak against her, but it was important that once we started down this journey, we finished it. For her own safety.

  “Yes, you’re right. That’s not who you are. I’m sorry,” I mollified, trying to lessen the sting of my comment.

  Her face softened a smidge, and she sat back down with a huff. “Fine. Keep talking.”

  “Godkin are born with the full force of their powers intact. If someone does not intervene and dampen them, they will die. It’s the way it’s been for thousands of years. Once one of us is born, we assign them a guardian who not only guides them but does what’s necessary to ensure they survive.”

  “I don’t understand. Why can’t we just stay with our parents?” she asked.

  “Because we are not born like humans are. We are formed from the energy that exists in the universe,” I explained.

  “That doesn’t make any sense. So, what, do we just poof into existence?” She snapped her fingers for effect.

  “Not exactly. We start out as orbs of life, or light rather. And then when a child has gathered enough energy and they are ready, they form their body from it.”

  She still looked confused, so I kept going. “Orbs are cared for until they are ready. It usually takes about nine months, just like humans’ gestational period. Once they are strong enough, they form their bodies. The entire process from orb to flesh can take anywhere from thirty minutes to an entire day.”

  “That sounds a lot like a poof to me,” she argued.

  “Well, it’s called being born, but if you want to call it a poof, I guess you can,” I said slightly agitated.

  She smiled. I was trying so hard to be serious; I didn’t even realize she was messing with me.

  “This is a lot to take in. Can’t blame a girl for cracking jokes, can you?”

  I smiled back at her. “It does sound of crazy, doesn’t it?”

  “Yeah, a bit. At least to someone who thinks they knew the truth about where babies come from and suddenly learns they can just poof into existence
if they want to. Next, you’re going to tell me that dragons are real.”

  I almost choked on my spit at her mention of dragons. Yes, they were real, but I hadn’t planned on opening that can of reality tonight. We had too much to discuss.

  She raised an eyebrow as I quickly righted myself. “You have got to be kidding me? Dragons?” she asked incredulously.

  I shrugged. “Can we save that for later? This is important.”

  “Sure,” she answered with a shrug.

  I looked over at Isaac for help, but he just lifted his shoulders and shook his head. Great, I was on my own. I narrowed my eyes at him, and he smiled. “You’re doing a great job, keep going,” he said.

  “So what are you?” Bea asked, interrupting my death glare.

  “I’m also a Godkin,” I replied.

  “And Isaac?”

  Isaac shook his head. A momentary flash of sadness washed over his face. “No. Isaac is a Mimic like Victor.”

  “I wasn’t abandoned, was I? It’s always been you and Isaac.”

  “No, never. I told you, you have always been wanted and loved,” I said.

  I pushed my body back into the couch as she got up and raced over to me. It startled me for a moment, but her next move was to wrap her arms around me in a hug.

  “Thank you,” she whispered into my ear.

  Isaac was next, his face beaming against her hair, and she squeezed him around the arms because that was the only part of his body she could reach when he is sitting down. Once she was done, she retook her seat behind her desk. Placing her hands back on the tabletop, she lifted her chin. “Continue, please.”

  “What should I explain next?” I asked to myself more than anyone else in the room.

  “The guise thing. I’d like to know more about it,” Bea said.

  “Like I said before, it’s simply a spell to keep your powers from killing you before you’re able to manage them. Unfortunately, your guise seems partially defective. Either that or your powers are too strong for it. Your bird problem was an unexpected side effect, but since you seemed to be fine otherwise, we decided to not meddle with it since it seemed to work otherwise,” I explained.

  “Maybe it’s not actually working and the only thing I can do is turn into a bird,” she responded calmly.

  “That’s ridiculous.”

  “Why would that be ridiculous?” she asked.

  “Because you’re a Godkin, that’s why,” I answered.

  Bea dead pan stared at me like I was speaking Russian.

  “We’ll come back to that. Let me explain more about your guise first,” I said, and she nodded. “The reason we couldn’t tell you about any of this is that most of the time, when a Godkin is presented with the truth while under their guise, the spell will alter their memories and try to erase the knowledge, which can lead to some even nastier side effects.”

  “Is that going to happen to me now? Since we’re talking about it?” she asked.

  “I don’t think so. If it was going to happen, it should have after the incident with Thain and Victor. I’m not exactly sure why, to be honest. I really don’t want to take another chance of that happening though.”

  She leaned forward and intently stared me in the eyes. “When are you planning to remove the spell?”

  “I wanted to wait a bit longer, but considering everything going on, I’d like to remove it tonight,” I answered, relieved she wasn’t furious so far.

  Bea’s gaze drifted into space for a few heartbeats before she turned back to me. “No.”

  “What do you mean, no?” I asked.

  “I need time to understand all of this before you do anything. And what if I turn into a bird and get stuck like that because I can’t control my magic?”

  “Bea, that’s absurd. If anything, you should have better control over your shifts.”

  This was not the reaction I was expecting. At all. And the fact that she thought this was optional was making matters worse. “As much as I think you’re going to be okay, you could still be in danger, so it’s better if we’re careful. It’s possible for you to wake up tomorrow with the last ten years wiped from your memory.”

  “It hasn’t affected me, and I’ve known about Mimics for days. I’m not saying we shouldn’t remove it; I’m saying not tonight. I’ll be fine,” she said.

  I threw my hands in the air in frustration. I opened my mouth and closed it again, then turned to Isaac and pleaded with my eyes.

  “Bea, Poppy is right. We need to use caution. This guise business is nothing to mess around with,” he cautioned.

  Bea stood and looked at both of us in turn. “I understand that everything you have done was to protect me, but it’s my magic and my guise. And I want to wait,” she said pointedly.

  I opened my mouth, but I did not know what to say.

  “Besides, we still have a conversation about dragons to have first,” she added with a mischievous grin.

  She was going to be the death of me.

  “You can’t be serious,” I protested, but she was already walking out of the room. Her door slammed and my heart sank.

  “Isaac,” I whispered.

  He scooted over and pulled my hand into his.

  “She’s going to be okay,” he whispered back.

  “You can’t know that.”

  “I know she’s strong. So strong that her guise can’t hold back her changes. I don’t think it can take her memories. If it could, it would have happened by now, like you pointed out so eloquently,” he said.

  “This is my fault, isn’t it?” I was defeated.

  “I’m not saying that exactly, just that you could have left that part out and pressed the guise removal importance a little more.”

  “It’s not like you were a lot of help!” I yelled back at his unwanted criticism.

  “I think you’re panicking over nothing, anyway. Let her take her time. This is a lot of stuff to process.”

  “And what if you’re wrong and it does mess with her mind, or worse?”

  “Then we deal with that, just like everything else, one problem at a time,” he said.

  Although his calm demeanor was irritating me, I admitted, “I’m scared.”

  He dropped my hand to wrap his arm around my shoulder and pulled me close. “Nothing is going to happen to her, that’s why we’re here. And I know you. If you really thought she was going to wake up tomorrow as a mindless zombie, you’d already be removing her guise whether or not she liked it. You’re just being a worried mom.”

  I leaned my head into his chest and smiled. He was right. Leave it to Isaac to sort out my genuine emotions and fears. They had my whole heart between the two of them.

  “Thank you.”

  “Always,” he whispered, kissing the top of my head.

  Chapter 11

  Bea

  Following the day we had coffee in my apartment, Victor ceased with his guard duty. I wasn’t sure why, and I didn’t have a contact number for him, or even any clue where he lived. Part of me was glad and assumed it would clear my head of any attraction for him, but much to my surprise, his absence was sitting heavy in my chest. Although I regretted not finding out more about him, I had other things to deal with, which helped a little. After Poppy and Isaac’s truth party, I needed some quiet time.

  Back when I made plans with Victor, I simply hoped to get a handle on my sneezing problem; but now, I had to reassess everything I thought I knew about myself. I huffed and lifted my stiff body from my bed. My mattress was worn down in the shape of my body, so sometimes it was impossible to get comfortable in any other position. Just another thing I put off replacing since my wallet never seemed to contain any extra cash.

  Searching through my desk, I opened the top drawer and froze. Thain’s check was still sitting on top of the paperwork stack nestled inside. I couldn’t bring myself to cash it after what had happened. Sure, I could buy all the beds I wanted with the money, but it didn’t feel right. I had been no help at all. Vincent�
��s wife deserved it more than I did. With a long sigh, I closed the drawer.

  The second I sat down, I remembered why I was standing in the first place—brewing more coffee. While waiting for the pot to brew, I leaned on the counter, resting my face in my hands. My mind had become a wasteland of doubt, and not just over the missing accountant. Every time I managed to distract myself, my brain blasted me with all the faults of my time as a PI, teasing me with things I could have done better, more efficiently. That was the downside to failure. Sometimes it planted a seed in your brain that grew like Kudzu, its invasive vines choking anything positive.

  Gurgling coffee brought me out of my self-pity daymare Going through the motions, I poured myself a cup, retraced my steps and sat down, and fired my laptop up.

  Deleting the spam first, I sorted through all the new emails that had come in since yesterday. I hated leaving anything in my inbox. I was one of those people who couldn’t stand to leave things unfinished. Or so I thought. I wasn’t doing a great job of resolving the whole guise issue. I sighed and kept clicking. I needed money, which meant I needed clients.

  My attention was drawn to the bottom of the list. In all caps, the words PLEASE HELP were written in the subject line. After I opened the desperate sounding correspondence, I was greeted with more urgency. It was another missing person. Great. Indecision, followed by sweaty armpits, made me reposition myself. These were accompanied promptly by guilt because for a moment I considered sending it to my trash folder. No, I couldn’t do that. No matter how much self-doubt I felt, someone needed my help. I mean look what happened the last time I dismissed someone, their loved one ended up dying. There was not a moment that went by that I didn’t regret taking Vincent’s wife more seriously that night.

  I picked up my phone and dialed the number that was included in the signature line.

  “Hello?” a shaky voice asked.

  “Midnight Starling Investigations here, Bea speaking. I just got your email,” I replied.

  A breath of relief rushed from the woman on the line. “Thank heavens! My daughter, Anna, is missing. I haven’t been able to reach her for over a week and the police think I’m overreacting.”