I nodded. “Yeah, totally not their fault. Okay, then I’ll tell Ralph we have rooms for his guests. Though I hope they behave, given they signed up for the Heart’s Desire. That place is a sleazy dive disguised as an inn.” I hit callback on my phone and within seconds he answered. “Ralph? We can take your guests. But how are they going to get up here? I assume the oak is still blocking the road.”
“We’ll take the long way around. If we drive via Brambleroot Road, we can swing around and come down Yew Tree from the opposite direction. I’ll bring them over. I doubt they want to walk in the pouring rain.”
“I doubt it too.” The hail had turned into a steady downpour. “Be careful on the roads.”
Kelson was busy slicing thick slices of bread. The fragrance filled the kitchen with a heady, yeasty aroma. “The rooms are clean, so there’s no worry there. I’ll make up a big pot of soup unless you want to serve them some of the pizza. I doubt if they’ll have had a chance to go out anywhere for lunch.”
“No, freeze that for now. Slice up some cheese, toast the bread in the oven with a lot of butter, and along with the soup, that should be plenty for lunch. At least the rooms won’t go unused, though Ralph better pay me for them, if his guests don’t.” I glanced out the window as another bolt of lightning cracked open the clouds with its brilliant fire. I counted, but only made it to two before the thunder rolled through behind the lightning. “It’s close.”
“Close enough to scare a cow,” Kelson said. She shivered. “I’m glad we’re not near the full moon. This would be bad weather to go running around in.”
I usually didn’t tread into areas that weren’t really my business, but I was curious. “When you shift, what’s it like? Being a wolf?”
She paused, staring out the window. “Painful in some ways. At least, the transformation is. After all, your body is changing shape and, natural or not, the bones and joints shift in drastic ways. The change only takes a short time, but there’s always this moment that every shifter experiences. At least, every one I know. Halfway through, there’s a brief moment where you get terrified that you might end up stuck between forms.”
I blinked. “I never thought of that. But it has happened, hasn’t it?”
“Oh, yes, it happens on rare occasion. Either something goes wrong with the process or there’s a defective gene that suddenly decides to rear its ugly head. The poor suckers caught by it, well, it’s kinder to put them out of their misery immediately. You can’t live for more than a few minutes before dying from suffocation because the lungs are usually so twisted they can’t keep the mishmash of bodies alive.”
Shivering, I nodded. “That’s something that isn’t talked about very much, I gather.”
“With good reason. Anyway, given you aren’t one of the unlucky few, when you fully shift into your animal self, there’s a freedom that comes from being able to run—or fly, or swim, whatever your shifter-self does. There’s nothing to compare it to, not for the human form. I don’t know if witches have anything comparable. It’s easy to get caught up in animal nature, to want to stay like that instead of coming back. Now and then, Weres…shifters…whatever you choose to call us…don’t return.”
I processed her answer. It made sense. With all the complexities of daily life, it must be a relief to leave it behind. “Have you ever been tempted?”
She shrugged. “Now and then, but I don’t have a lot of stress in my life to push me toward it. I have only myself to look after, and life as a wolf? Not always that easy, despite the way it might seem. You have to hunt, to find shelter, to keep on your guard against predators bigger and stronger than you.”
Kelson buttered the bread and slipped it into the oven. Then she retrieved a container of homemade soup from the refrigerator and poured it into a big soup pot. She set it on the stove to heat up. “I’ll turn on the oven when the soup’s almost ready. By that time, Ralph should be here with the guests.”
I put in a call to Sandy. She answered immediately.
“Hey, how’s it going?”
“Rough. Jenna’s still locked in her room. I know she has a stash of candy bars in there, and she has her own bathroom. She’s making enough noise that I know she’s alive. I was hoping the storm would chase her out but apparently, not so much yet. How are you doing?”
“Well, Ralph is bringing over two guests because he’s got a big old hole in the roof thanks to a downed tree. We’ve had cancellations so we can actually take them in. My vertigo is slowing down, and I now have a new temporary driver’s license. I’ve ordered new credit cards, and I’m trying to remember what else I had in my purse. Keys, I have. I have a couple spares to my CR-V and to the house. So I’m okay there. I keep all the keys to the trunks that I have for storage on a ring at the house.”
“You went out in this storm? You told the doctor you’d rest the next four days.”
“Hey, I told him I wouldn’t drive for four days. I haven’t been.” I glanced up as the doorbell rang. Kelson went to answer it. “I have to go. Ralph and his guests are here.” I mumbled a quick good-bye as Kelson led Ralph and two elderly women into the kitchen. I stared at them. The women were at least eighty, and they looked human as all get out. What the hell were they doing staying at Ralph’s inn?
“Hello. I’m Maudlin Gallowglass. Please forgive me for not standing but I have a bad case of vertigo.” I graciously took their hands. “I hear you had a bad run-in with a tree.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” one of the women said. “I was sitting on the bed, looking through a magazine when the oak came crashing through the roof. Mazy was in the bathroom.”
“If I hadn’t been, I would be flat as a pancake,” the other one—apparently Mazy—said.
“May I introduce Henrietta and Mazy. They’re sisters and they come to our inn every year for a bit of fun.” Ralph winked at Mazy, who giggled.
“We just love these boys,” Henrietta said, running her hand down Ralph’s arm possessively. “We’d take them home with us, if we could.” She let out a salty laugh.
I quickly reassessed my opinion of the sisters. They might be old, but they definitely were Ralph’s type. “Well, Henrietta, Mazy, I’m sorry you’re going to miss out on Ralph’s hospitality, but I hope you’ll enjoy staying with us. We can’t give you the same…experience that he would at the Heart’s Desire, but I think you’ll enjoy your stay with us.”
Ralph snickered. “Oh, they’ll come back over once we patch up that hole. You’re going to extend your stay, aren’t you? I’ll pay Maddy for your room while we fix the roof, and then we’ll offer you two days free at the inn for your inconvenience.” He sat down and wrote me a check.
I stared at it. Ralph wasn’t a leech, and I knew it was good, but I really had to hand it to him. He knew how to bring customers back, even without using his dick. “Kelson will show you to your room and then please come down for some lunch. Do you want to share a room or do you want separates? We have the space.”
“We’ll share. We always do.” Henrietta and Mazy followed Kelson out into the living room.
“Their luggage is by the door,” Ralph called. “I’ll carry it up for you later if you like.”
“Thanks, I can get it.” Kelson didn’t dislike Ralph, but she didn’t like asking him for favors.
After they were gone, Ralph pulled out a chair and sat down beside me. I wasn’t particularly fond of him, but neither was I about to be rude. If Ralph wanted to chat for a bit, I’d spare the time. It wasn’t as though I was going anywhere, especially not in the storm. The winds were beating a tattoo against the side of the house, howling as they raged. The rain was falling so hard that it was raining sideways—a phenomenon anybody who lived in Western Washington was familiar with.
“So, you call somebody to come cut that tree up yet?”
He shook his head. “Might as well wait to see whether any more trees go down. I expect that my brother William will head out with a chainsaw bef
ore then. He likes chopping up stuff like that.” He paused. “I’m going to buy Ivy the emerald necklace. Thank you for your advice.” Then in a worried voice, he added, “Maddy, can I talk to you about something?”
“What is it?” Ralph was usually pretty happy-go-lucky, when he wasn’t pissed off. But even the night before, he had seemed a little under the weather.
“I’m worried about my brother George. He’s been acting strangely the past couple of days and I’ve never seen him like this. I tried to talk him into going to see a doctor, but he won’t.”
That, I hadn’t expected. “What do you mean, ‘strangely’?”
“He’s lethargic. He’s not interested in much of anything, even drinking. And George is always ready to party. But now, he seems tired and he won’t do his share of the work. This came on suddenly, so I thought maybe he had a virus. But when I suggested visiting the doctor, he blew up at me and stomped off to take a nap.”
I wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted me to do about it. It wasn’t like I had any clout with George. “Have you talked to William about this?”
“No, because he’s oblivious to everything. You think I’m bad, he’s ten times worse. I thought maybe you could come over, see George. He might listen to somebody else better than he listens to me.”
“Now you’re sounding desperate,” I said with a laugh. “You really think your brother would pay any attention to anything I had to say?”
“I don’t know, at this point. His whole personality seems—different. I’m worried about him, Maddy.” Ralph sounded so concerned that I finally caved.
“Sure, but you’ll have to bring him over. I can’t come over there right now.”
Ralph had another surprise in store for me. “Thank you! I was hoping you’d say so. I’ll go get him. I brought him with me when I drove the Fadero twins over. They are twins, by the way. Even though they aren’t identical, trust me, they have the same birthmarks on their inner thighs.”
I rubbed my head. I did not need to think about the Fadero twins and their thighs. “Thanks, but that’s a little too much information. Go get George.”
Ralph dashed out of the room. I decided to meet George in the parlor, and so cautiously standing, I began to lurch my way toward the door. Somehow, my rolling chair had gone AWOL.
I managed to make it halfway through the dining room before Ralph opened the front door again. He took one look at me as I staggered past the table and caught me up in his arms.
“Don’t try to walk yet, Maddy. You were banged up pretty bad out there in the water.”
He carried me in his arms—which I had to admit were strong and warm—into the living room. I shivered as he sat me down, thinking Aegis better not get wind that Ralph had been playing the white knight. George stood by the door until Ralph had deposited me on the sofa. I let out a long breath, a bit nonplussed by the musky scent that hung heavy around the satyrs as Ralph led George over to me.
George looked a lot like Ralph, though Ralph was definitely was more photogenic. George was usually a pedal-to-the-metal, back-in-black, bust-your-balls-if-you-cross-him type. But now, he mutely followed Ralph, holding his hand as though he were five years old. Ralph hadn’t been joking. Something was definitely wrong. The Greyhoof boys were never meek and mild.
“George, why don’t you sit by me. Do you mind?”
He shrugged. “Don’t really care,” he said. He was staring at the art on the walls. Franny’s picture was there, a painting made by her long-unrequited love while she was still alive. “She’s pretty.”
“Yes, she was, wasn’t she? She still is, although she’s a ghost now. So, your brother tells me you aren’t feeling well?”
Ralph prodded George. “Tell her what you told me.”
“What?” he asked.
I spoke up. “Tell me how you feel, George.”
“Oh.” A long silence passed before he spoke again. “I’m tired. I just really want to take a nap.” The satyr sounded distant, as though he were talking through a long tunnel. He kept his gaze on the painting of Franny, silent until Ralph smacked him lightly on the head.
“Dude, I said tell her what you told me.”
George looked irked, but he shifted his shoulders and turned to me. “I don’t have any energy. It feels like I’m running low on joy-juice and no matter how much I sleep, I don’t feel better.”
I frowned. Lethargy was highly unusual for a satyr. They were usually incredibly robust and virile. Their stamina, both in and out of bed, kept them running from dawn till dusk.
“I was wondering if he might be under a hex of some sort.” Ralph glanced at me. “This isn’t normal.”
“If he won’t go to the doctor, how about we bring the doctor to him? I can call Jordan Farrows. He specializes in magical afflictions.”
“Would you mind?” Ralph’s tone was so worried I relented, feeling sorry for him. He was obviously concerned about his brother.
“Let me give him a call. I don’t know if he can make it over right away, but we’ll see.” I pulled out my phone and poked around till I found his number. The new phone had a lot of new features which, of course, made it harder to find what I wanted. The phone rang three times before Jordan picked up.
“Farrows here. What’s up, Maddy?”
“Hey, I wondered if you could come over.”
“Are you all right? Has the vertigo gotten worse?”
I reassured him I was fine. “No, it’s still here but not worse. A friend of mine is having a hard time right now. His brother is lethargic and exhausted and there seems to be no reason for it. He’s a satyr. One of the Greyhoof boys.”
Jordan let out a laugh. “That’s off kilter, all right. Let me see, it’s three o’clock now. I’ll be over in half an hour, if I can make it through the storm. The Greyhoofs at your house right now?”
“Yeah, they are. See you in a while.” I hung up. “Jordan will be over in half an hour. Meanwhile, when Kelson comes back, I’ll…” I paused as she entered the parlor, the twins behind her. “I think we could all use some soup and bread, Kelson.”
She nodded. “Come on into the dining room, then.”
Before she could help me up, Ralph picked me up and carried me to the table, returning to the living room to lead his brother in. Kelson arched her eyebrows and I could see the upturned lips as she suppressed a smile. The twins joined us, settling in.
Kelson motioned to Ralph. “Let me give you the dishes. Set the table, would you?”
They headed into the kitchen and Ralph returned with a stack of plates, setting them around the table. Watching Ralph do domestic work made me smile. He was so blustery normally, but another side of his nature was showing itself today. This side, I rather liked.
Kelson carried in my beautiful Woodland Spode soup tureen, filled with fragrant soup. Ralph helped her with the platter of rolls, butter, and honey. As we settled in to the hearty lunch, we ate in silence, savoring the rich broth and the hearty chicken and noodles.
I placed a slice of Gouda on a piece of toasted French bread and melted into the flavor as I bit into it. Yeasty and hot, crunchy but with a soft underside, the bread was so good it didn’t need the cheese, but the pairing was exquisite.
“I think I’ve died and gone to heaven,” I said, my mouth full.
“Yes, indeed,” Henrietta said. “Don’t you agree, Mazy?”
“Definitely, Henny. My compliments to the chef.”
Mazy and Henrietta both had appetites to match their enthusiasm.
At that moment, Franny popped in, looking startled when she saw us all gathered around the table. “I didn’t know anybody would be here,” she said, blushing.
“We’re just having a late lunch.” I waved my spoon at her.
“Franny? I found those photographs we were talking ab—” Mr. Mosswood strode into the room, stopping short when he saw us. He blushed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
I gla
nced from Henry to Franny, then back again. Something was up between the pair of them, that I could tell.
“Henry, I didn’t know you were here or I would have called you to the table,” Kelson said.
“Please join us for a late lunch.” I motioned to the chair next to me. “Franny, feel free to stick around. These are our new guests.”
Franny was staring at Ralph. “New guests?”
“Well, at least for lunch. The Fadero twins will be staying with us for a night or two until Ralph can have the roof of his inn fixed. Ralph and his brother are just staying for lunch. Mazy, Henrietta, George, this is Franny, our house ghost. And Mr. Mosswood is our other guest. He’s been here, well, for some months now.”
Mazy and Henrietta took Franny’s presence with a blink and a smile while Ralph brought another place setting for Henry and Kelson served him a bowl of soup and some bread.
“I’ve always wanted to meet a ghost,” Mazy said. “Tell me, are you housebound?”
“Yes,” Franny said, looking like she wanted to dive into the wall and vanish.
“That must get utterly boring,” Henrietta said.
“It wears on my nerves, for sure.” Franny cleared her throat. “Well, I’ll be running along. Mr. Mosswood, I’ll talk to you later?” And with that, she vanished through the floor.
I wondered what the hell was up with her and Henry, but it wasn’t my place to pry. Whatever secrets she had were hers as long as it didn’t affect the running of the Bewitching Bedlam. I kept out of her affairs except for one. I had promised to try to free her from the curse that bound her to the inn. That promise, I intended on fulfilling.
Henry politely engaged the Fadero twins and kept them entertained with tidbits of Bedlam’s history that he had managed to cull out of the locals. Ralph watched his brother as he ate—but George hadn’t touched his plate except to nibble on the bread a bit.
Finally, the doorbell rang again and Kelson went to answer it. Relieved, I pushed back my plate. While the food was excellent, I hadn’t been this uncomfortable in a long time. By the time Kelson returned with Jordan in tow, I was more than ready to end the awkward luncheon.
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