Margaret had made Meggie hold onto her hand, hold it there so that they could burn her. When she refused, apparently, Harper had told her to go ahead, to burn her, she didn’t care. Her defiance was legendary, Michelle had heard. It had been what Randal complained about most.
But Meggie was made to hold her wrist, her detective had learned. Harper had assured her that it would be all right, that she’d be fine after it was over. Then when the ax, white hot from the flames that they’d put it in, came down, it not only cauterized Meggie’s hand from her wrist, but made it so that attaching it again wouldn’t work.
Harper had been beaten then. She had launched herself at her mother, and had nearly killed her, it was said. The only thing that it had gotten Harper was six days without food or water, in a well that had been drained many decades ago.
And now, Michelle had been informed of their parents’ death. Her butler came into the room with a cup of tea and several cookies on a tray. Setting them in front of her, he sat on the arm of the couch and asked her if she was all right.
“I am now.” He asked her if they were dead. “They are. I shall need to pack, and book a flight. And those photos, I can’t forget those either.”
Michelle looked over the fireplace at the picture that hung there—one that Harper had taken. One of her first, actually. She’d taken it long ago, just after Michelle had made sure that the camera fell into her hands.
“I have the mind to go with you.” Which meant that she was going to be traveling with her friend and sometimes lover, James Star. When she nodded, he went to the kitchen to start plans.
They’d made these plans years ago. It had taken him and the rest of the staff a bit to get her on the right path to change the way she’d been before, and it depressed her to know what sort of person she had been. But it had worked—more than worked. Michelle had changed her life so much that the children of the town no longer feared her, but would come by when they were selling things just to sit with her for a while. And the parties that she had in the summer for the families of the burg that she lived in were legendary.
No one was harmed. There was no blood shed, unless someone fell, and there certainly wasn’t anyone that walked away hungry. Michelle also held fundraisers, helped with local charities, and supported the schools as if her own children, of which she had none, would go there to learn.
In two hours they were ready to go. The staff would have the month off. Michelle figured that it would take at least that long for her to get her family to trust her. The food had gone home with the staff too. She had no animals to care for. No matter how much she tried to have herself a dog or a cat, she just could not make herself like it. So, unlike a lot of older people, she didn’t have an ankle biter. The other fallback that she had from her former life.
“We have a room at the local bed and breakfast. The children are staying in the hotel, and I thought it best not to let them know that you were there.” She asked if he knew whether they still owned the hotel. “You do. While I was talking to the woman at the desk, she told me that Harper has attached herself to the Prince family.”
“Attached, or has she married?” James told her that was all he could get out of the woman without raising suspicion. “Yes, I can see that. They’re a good family. A little down on their luck, but someone that I would have chosen for her as well. And the others? They’re all right now?”
“As far as I know. The young lady said that she’d seen Tyler walking around yesterday—she must have been mistaken—but she said that all the Wilson children are back, and that they’re so sweet. Unlike the parents.” Michelle nodded, nervous now that they were seated on the plane. “You’ll be happy to know that the house has been demolished, or what was left of it, and they’re building. There were no services for the parents.”
“Good. And the will, it’s not changed at all has it, that you know of?” James told her that he didn’t know that part. “Well, I can only assume that it hasn’t. And the children, they know nothing of my part in their lives, I’m hoping. Nor the others.”
“No. They’ll know, of course, once you get there. It’s only right that they find out what you’ve done.” Michelle wasn’t so sure. She was nearly sixty-nine years old, and she was afraid that the children, grown adults, would hate her once they saw her. “You’re worrying overly much, Michelle. Just wait until they get to know you, and you’ll see. They’ll love you as much as, if not more than, I do.”
“You love me because I sleep with you.” He burst out laughing, and several people turned to stare at them. At another time in her life, she would have stood up and berated them, but she only sat there, laying her head on James’s shoulder. “I have to make them understand, James. They’re all I’ve lived for all these years.”
The flight wasn’t long—too short, if someone were to ask her. All these years of prepping and planning came down to this one meeting. And then after that, she’d either be going back home with her tail between her legs, or she’d have a family again. One that she hoped would take her to their hearts.
~*~
Harper was at the airport when the plane landed. She knew who was on the plane—she had spies everywhere. It had paid off well over the years to have someone on her payroll, and now—well, now she was terrified that this one woman was going to tear everything in her new little world apart.
Aunt Michelle came through the doors with an elderly man at her elbow. It took her mind a few seconds to realize that they were in love. Also, the woman that she’d come to hate with all her breath was smiling. When they both walked by her, Harper sat down on the chair next to her, thankful that it was where she needed it.
“Well? Was she on that plane?” She nodded at Bryant. “I see. And you’re going to just sit here rather than talk to her. I thought we talked about this.”
“You talked and expected me to listen to you.” Harper looked at her. “Why today? Why is she here at all, Bryant? She was told that there was nothing in the will for her. She’s just coming here to what, take up where our parents left off?”
“I doubt that at seventy, she’d have that much energy.” Harper corrected him. “All right, sixty-nine then. Not that it makes a hell of a lot of difference. She’s older than you. You, my dear, are in great shape. I know that first hand.”
“Behave, will you? Men and sex.” Bryant pointed out to her that she’d been the one that had jumped on him last night. “So? It’s not like you fought me off that hard. But back to my aunt. What does she want?”
“Would you like to ask me that?” Harper stood up and looked at her aunt. She hated to admit it, but she looked fantastic. “I thought it was you standing here, but it’s been so long. Harper, honey, thankfully you don’t look like either of your parents.”
“What does that mean?” Bryant cleared his throat, reminding her, no doubt, that she was supposed to wait before throwing out insults and punches. “I don’t want you here. I’ve heard enough about you to know that you’re no different than they were. Perhaps worse.”
“You have the right to think that. I’ve given none of you, not even my brother, any reason to not think those things.” She looked around, and so did Harper. “I don’t suppose you could introduce me to your young man, and I’ll do the same with mine. Then perhaps we can get something to eat. I’ve been very nervous about coming here, and I just realized that I’m hungry.”
Helping gather up their luggage, no one said much. The cases were beautiful, something that she might have picked out for herself. There was also a great deal of it. Before she could stop herself, Harper told her aunt that she wasn’t going to be staying with her.
She’d hurt her aunt—the pain flashed over her face so quickly that had she not been looking, Harper would have missed it. When Aunt Michelle walked away, she started to follow her, but James asked for Harper to give her a moment. No, she thought, she did not want to give her a minute, and went after her.
“I’m sorry.” Aunt Michelle nodded. “No, I�
��m really sorry. I’m not usually this— Well, that’s not true, I’m forever rude. But to you, that was uncalled for. You may stay with us if you want.”
“I have reservations at the bed and breakfast.” Her aunt stared at her. “How did you do it, Harper? How on earth did you survive them? I know what they did to you. All of it, I think. What I don’t understand is how they didn’t break you.”
“I’m stronger than they were, I guess.” Aunt Michelle shook her head and told her that it was more than that. “I don’t know. I guess long ago I decided that I was going to be better than all of you.”
“Yes, I can understand why you’d lump me in with them. But I’m not. I was, for a very long time, like them. Or so I thought. Then I went to see young Tyler.” The men came up behind them then with all the luggage. “We’re staying at the local B&B, so we’ll just head—”
“No, you’ll stay with us.” She realized that she’d been harsh. “Please? We’d like—I’d like for you to stay at our home. We have plenty of room.”
She didn’t think that her aunt was going to give in, but after several long seconds she nodded and said it was all right with her, but that she’d have to have a car. Bryant explained to them both that there was an extra car at the house if they wanted to just use that.
There wasn’t a car there, at least not an extra one. Neither of them had decided on what they wanted while talking about it last night until after they’d gone up to bed. Then when they’d gotten up this morning, not only were the cars they’d decided on in the garage, but they were loaded with everything that could be had on a car, as well as the colors they wanted. Harper, like Bryant, figured that since they’d decided on them, the faeries had gotten them for them. It would be the same for the extra car as well, she’d bet.
Aunt Michelle didn’t talk much on the way to the house. James did—he asked about the others. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him it was none of his business when Bryant squeezed her hand. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. She wanted to punch the woman in the face one minute, then do her deathly harm the next. There was no in-between for her right now, and as soon as they were home, Harper made her way to the dark room that had been put in.
~*~
“This has been hard on her.” Michelle said that she understood. Harper had taken off the moment they’d pulled into the driveway, and hadn’t looked back. Bryant wasn’t mad at her, but he was embarrassed for the other couple. Michelle asked if they should go to the B&B. “No. I don’t know why, but I’d have a feeling that she’d go get you, and you might be safer if you don’t let her do that.”
He’d meant it as a joke, he really had. But like everything he said when he was nervous, Bryant fell short of the mark. After showing them to the room they’d have, he also showed them around the house. They were sitting on the back deck with a glass of tea when Michelle finally spoke.
“I’m not being rude here, Bryant, but I had heard that you didn’t have money. I know that Harper does, but this—this house looks like you’ve lived here forever.” Bryant told her she wasn’t rude, but it felt like that to him as well. “It’s none of my business, is it?”
“No, but I’ll tell you. I don’t mind. When I met Harper, she was here for the death of her parents. To make sure they were dead, she told me.” Michelle said she could understand that. “Yes, well, I met her out at the garage. She told me what they’d done to her. I’m sure there is a great deal that she’s not saying yet, but we have a long time together.”
“I’ve changed from the person that Harper and the others knew.” Bryant wasn’t sure who she’d been before, but he sort of liked whoever she was now. “I came here once, when Tyler was hurt—they’d broken his back. A beautiful woman came to see me. I never can remember her face, and if she told me her name that day, I don’t remember it. But she showed me a great deal that day. You’ll think me off my noodle, but all she did was touch my heart and there it all was. The children were hungry and dirty—beaten too. I saw that too, how Harper was beaten by Margaret. She also told me that things would never be good for them, not if I didn’t change my ways.”
“You’ve been helping them, haven’t you?” Michelle told him he was smart. “No, just observant. I don’t know in what ways you might have been there for them when they left the house, but I’m sure that you didn’t allow them to fail, or even to be hurt again.”
“No, I tried. But there were things that were simply out of my control. To be honest with you, Bryant, the only help that I was able to give your Harper was to see that the camera was there for her to get. After that, she did all that on her own.” Bryant knew that of Harper. Even behind the lines, she’d be wary of who she got help from. “I wished every day since that day that I’d been able to help them more. To somehow put things that they needed there for them. But I was told, by the woman, that I had to wait. That my turn, if I would only change, would come to me. It’s why I’m here.”
“I’m going to be honest with you, Michelle. I don’t know how much luck you’re going to have with any of them. They’re hard and bitter. The only one...well, lately that’s not true of Meggie and Tyler, but Randy is a broken man. I think he’s just waiting all the time for something to befall him. His wife is coming here soon. They’re thinking of moving here—all of them are. But it’s going to take a great deal more than a few moves to have them trust you.” Michelle nodded, and then James got up to leave them. “I’m sorry. Did I upset him?”
“Oh no. He and I—well, we’re more than just employee to employer. James has been my rock and teacher since this happened. He was there when I was failing—and I did at the beginning. And he was my teacher to show me how to be what I wanted all along—a gentle woman that didn’t harm those that she was supposed to love.” Michelle looked in the direction that Harper had taken. “I was going to take the children when my brother died. They would have had a better life, but not much better. I would have taken them to task—beaten them too, I think. But I don’t want to think that I’d have starved them, or locked them away for days at a time. But I honestly don’t know what I would have done before Tyler was nearly killed. And Harper hates me.”
“She’s all hard crust on the outside, but she’s hurting too. In ways that I can’t touch.” She asked if she still had nightmares. “Yes. Before we found out you were coming here, we’d planned on meeting with the family to talk about everything. Some things that I’m sure are going to hurt us because we didn’t help them in some way when they were children. But if they all don’t talk about it, then at some point, I believe it’s going to hurt them more than my family.”
“Your mother.” He nodded. “I didn’t find out until much later that she was doing things for the kids. I know that when the children were in that well—oh my, that well—but when they were in there, I found that your mother had dropped them down food. Did you know that it was mostly Harper that was punished for things?”
“Yes. I’m sure that you’ll get to talk to Harper, but what one thing can I tell her that would make it so that she’d talk to you? There has to be something. Not that I think she’ll trust any more than she does now. But it’s hard to tell.” Michelle pulled her purse—pocket book, she called it—to her and pulled out a thick notebook that was tattered and worn in places. “You want her to have this.” Bryant took it, but he wasn’t sure if this was a good idea.
“I do. There are things in there that might make it so that she at least understands what I was doing by not stepping in when I wanted to so badly.” Not sure what he should do, Bryant didn’t pull the dark blue ribbon off the notebook when he took it from the elderly woman. “If you could hand her that, I’d very much appreciate it, young man.”
When she stood up, so did Bryant. He was torn, if he was honest, but he’d do it. Michelle said that she was going to have a lie down, and that if they didn’t mind, she’d love to hear what was said at his family’s house. But she didn’t need to come to dinner.
“If you
show up at my house and then tell my mother that I hadn’t invited you to her house and insisted that you stay to eat, even as old as I am, she’ll beat my butt. You’ll see that my mom, Sara, is as mean and stern as she is loving and kind. And every one of her boys are terrified of her.”
She was still laughing when she headed back into the house. Bryant let his family know what was going on, and told them again about the talk. However, the longer he sat there thinking about the book in his hand, the more he regretted asking Michelle for something to give Harper.
In the end, he went to find his mate, and hoped that he’d be able to have dinner with his family and wouldn’t be dead in the ditch someplace between here and his parents’ home. Smiling, hoping he was right and that Harper couldn’t kill him, he went to the dark room.
Chapter 8
Harper wasn’t mad—well, not really. She was upset, but that wasn’t as bad as it could have been. She looked over at the book that Aunt Michelle had wanted her to read. So far all she’d done was to take the ribbon off. Harper looked at Fisher when he cleared his throat. She’d not even known he was in the library with her when she’d entered.
“I thought you should know that it’s not a blue ribbon. I mean, it is blue, but it’s not just— It’s blood stained.” She picked up the ribbon, wondering how he knew that. “I can smell it. I’m sure that Bryant could too when he gave it to you, but he was too nervous to notice. He didn’t want you to be upset.”
“I’m not sure what I feel right now.” He nodded and asked her if she trusted him. “I do. All of you. I just don’t know my feelings toward my aunt at the moment.”
“If you let me touch the ribbon, I can find out about it. I’m sure in some way it has something to do with you and your sister and brothers.” She asked him what he could get from it. “Other than smell, I can find lost things. Sometimes, if there is a great deal of emotion attached to the object, I can see things that happened to it. In this case, I’m assuming that with the blood, there is a horrific story that goes with it.”
Bryant: Prince of Tigers – Paranormal Tiger Shifter Romance Page 9