“Waiting for me?”
I jumped, opening my eyes. Aegis was kneeling by the tub, a hungry look in his eyes.
“I…what…I must have drifted off.” I blinked, staring at the water. “Where did the bubbles go? The water’s cool.”
“Well, I can think of something to warm you up if you’re chilly.”
I pushed away my thoughts and, suddenly hungry for his touch, hungry for release, I wrapped my arms around his neck as he pulled the stopper on the tub and lifted me up, as though I was light as a feather.
He carried me into the bed.
“I’m all wet, I’ll muss the sheets—”
“Shush,” he said, stretching me out on the bed and pressing one finger to his lips. He slipped off his T-shirt and unbuckled his jeans, shoving them down. “I’m supposed to meet with the representative from DreamGen at eleven, but I have plenty of time.” His cock rose, thick and inviting, and I found myself unbearably horny.
“I’m so tired, but I need you,” I said, opening my arms.
Aegis seemed to sense my mood, because he wrapped his arms around me, lying atop me, kissing my face, my neck, my throat. He nuzzled me, then gently began to stroke my breast with one hand.
“You’ve had a hard day,” he said.
“I’ve had a hard week. Oh, that feels so good.” I closed my eyes.
“Let me tend to you.” He pushed aside my protests and began to work his way down my body, kissing my breasts, nibbling on my nipples, sucking them to make them hard. He moved on to my stomach, kissing as he went, his tongue slowly bathing me with soft laps. I moaned, curling my fingers into the sheets as he spread my legs and began to suck at my clit, tasting me, bathing me, while he stroked my thighs with his hands.
I floated in the moment, letting him pleasure me. Then, riding my own private wave, I let go, coming so hard that I realized I was crying. Aegis was holding me by then as I leaned against him, unable to stop the flow of tears.
“Ssh, love. It’s all right. I’m here.” Within seconds, he had gone from lover to comforter. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know,” I stuttered. “My mother, finding out why she was the way she was and now that I’ve met the woman behind the mask, I might lose her. And Sandy. Aegis, what if I lose her too? What if she never comes out of the coma? Sandy’s always been my rock. My anchor. I can’t lose her, Aegis. I can’t.”
I realized I wasn’t just crying for Sandy and Zara, but also for my sweet Tom, lost to the vampires. And for Fata Morgana, vanished into time. I began to think about all the people I had lost out of my life over the past three centuries and it added up. Friends I had had, some who died by accident, others who were murdered. And friends who were simply human and passed far quicker than Otherkin.
Aegis held me tight, murmuring soft whispers to calm me. As the tears began to subside, I leaned back against the pillow, shaking.
“What hit you so hard, Maddy? I know about your mother and Sandy, but what triggered you? Did I do something wrong?” He looked so genuinely concerned that I rushed to reassure him.
“No, not at all. I just…I think it was Luna.” I told him about Tina and her plans to put the cat down, and then Bubba begging me to rub his belly so that Luna could live a longer, happy life. “I did it. I trust that Bubba won’t harm her. I wouldn’t do that for my mother or for Sandy—that would be interfering too much. But Luna, she’s a little calico cat who has glommed on to Bubba, and he adores her. And her owner was going to kill her just because she had become inconvenient. People suck.”
“Sometimes they really do.” Aegis tucked two fingers under my chin, lifting my head. “You are the most caring woman I’ve ever met. I think sometimes you feel too deeply for your own good, but there’s not a thing I’d do to remedy that.”
I blinked away a fresh bout of tears. “Even though…”
“Even though what?”
“Even though I killed so many of your kind?” I always felt the need to skirt around the fact that I had been a champion vampire hunter. It seemed rude to rub his nose in it.
“You killed those who slaughtered others. Vampires…we are predators, yes, but we don’t need to be inhumane, and we don’t need to kill in order to survive. You know how I feel about that. I need blood, yes. But I don’t have to kill or maim, or enslave those I drink from.” He kissed me again, this time chastely. “Come on, get dressed and come with me to meet the rep from DreamGen.”
“Are you sure you want me there? And are you…I didn’t…” I looked down at his groin. His erection had deflated, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t take care of him.
He laughed. “I had my fun. Pleasing you is almost as good as coming myself. Better, in some ways. I’m not going to suffer because I didn’t get my rocks off tonight.” He pulled me out of bed. “Go wash your face and fix your makeup. Your mascara’s turning your face into an abstract work of art.”
“They said it was waterproof,” I grumbled, smiling now. Aegis could always bring me out of a bad mood. Feeling lighter—sometimes crying was a necessary act—I dashed into the bathroom.
AS WE DROVE over to Sid’s, who had a practice studio in the basement of his new house, I got a text from Zara.
sorry i didn’t let you know before, but i’m safe and tucked into my hotel. i’ll be spending the next few days at the doctor’s, preparing for the treatments. wish me luck. –mother
“Well, at least she made it all right.” I told Aegis about the text. “I hope those treatments work. They’re radical magic, but at this point, they’re her only hope.” My gloom returned. “I wonder how she caught Winter Syndrome. It’s rare.”
“People hit the luck—or ill luck—of the draw. Somebody’s going to get it, given the statistics. I guess it doesn’t necessarily matter who, at least not to nature. I know that’s not much comfort, but some things are out of your control and the only control you have left is how you react to what happens.” Aegis sped through the streets.
“Yeah, well, at least we have a good idea of what’s going on with Sandy. The merfolk are to blame for this. I know it.” I told him what I had learned. “Coincidence only plays out so far and this? I don’t think so.” I grumbled as I looked through my purse. “I forgot my keys.”
“Since you aren’t driving, it doesn’t matter.” Aegis let out a snort. “So Mr. Henry Mosswood was able to provide you with information that proved to be incredibly useful. Who woulda thunk?”
I decided that maybe Aegis should know about Henry’s background, given that we seemed to be a magnet for odd things, and Henry’s jilted lover was probably still alive out there. “There’s even more about Henry Mosswood than you know.” And I proceeded to tell him all.
“Oh?” Aegis eased over into the left lane, turning on Maple Street. Sid, the bass player, and his family lived in a split-level home on a large lot. A tall fence kept the kids and the dogs inside. Sid and his wife had five children, the youngest about six months old. Sylvia, his wife, loved kids and it had been a given they would have a large household from the beginning.
We pulled into a parking space alongside the street and Aegis turned the ignition off. He stared at me. “Mr. Mosswood is almost two hundred years old? You have to be kidding me.”
I shook my head. “Swear on my broom, he told me that he was a colonel in the Union Army and he was hexed by a witch who was in love with him. He didn’t feel the same and she apparently couldn’t take rejection.”
As we unbuckled our seat belts, Aegis let out a short laugh. “Well, at least he wasn’t turned into a vampire. But mousy, quiet Mr. Henry Mosswood, a colonel in the bloodiest war this nation has ever seen. Goes to show you, never judge anybody by their appearance.”
Sylvia met us at the door, her youngest propped on one hip. She nodded us in. She was a gorgeous woman, about five-four with the greenest eyes I had ever seen. There was something otherworldly about her, and it was obvious she had Fae blood in her. The Fae were an
odd and varied race. In fact, the Winter Fae and the Summer Fae were both intimidating in their respective shadow and brilliance. The women tended to sparkle and the men were magnetic. But right now, Sylvia just looked exhausted.
“Come in and please don’t mind the mess. Sid’s in the basement. I’ve got three kids down with willowblot and my life is a continuous stream of snotty noses and sore throats.”
I tilted my head, trying to remember what willowblot was. It wasn’t something that affected witches, that much I knew. Sylvia must have spotted the confusion on my face, because she gave me a ragged smile.
“Willowblot happens a lot to Fae children. Like a cold, the croup, and tonsillitis all in one. And they pass it around and around to each other. Thank the gods adults don’t get it or I’d be hiring a nanny even if it meant we couldn’t eat for a week.”
She motioned to the stairs heading down. From the level above, I could hear the sounds of children’s voices, coughing and arguing. “I have to get back to the kids or there will be World War III in my living room!” With a dazed look, she turned and headed for the upper staircase, leaving us by the door.
I watched her go. “I’m glad she likes being a mother because otherwise, Sid would find himself saddled with five kids and nobody to take care of them. She looks like she needs a stiff drink and a night in a tub full of bubbles.”
Sylvia poked her head around the corner. “I heard that! And you’re right. In fact, once your meeting is over? Sid gets to take over sick duty while I take your suggestion.”
Laughing, she vanished back behind the wall. Aegis poked me in the ribs, but I just swatted his hand away as we descended the carpeted stairs.
THE BASEMENT OF their house was huge. The band had soundproofed it, and all of the members were there. Jorge, a weretiger and the guitarist, was sitting on a bar stool, nursing a beer.
Keth, the drummer, was poking around with his drums. He was half-satyr, half-human, which meant his father had been a satyr, his mother a human. When a satyr interbred with a wood nymph, the daughters always bred true to their maternal side, and the sons followed their father and were full-blooded satyr. But satyr and human? The result was either a half-blood satyr son, or a full-blood human daughter.
Keth had a Mohawk that was dyed blue, and he was heavily tattooed, with large ear gauges. He had residual horns poking out of his head, but they would never fully form.
Sid was talking to a woman over by the wet bar. She was wearing a tight pencil skirt, a form-fitting button-down blouse, and her blazer was hanging over the back of a chair. She was wearing a pair of wire-framed glasses, looked to be about thirty, and was neat and trim. In fact, she looked entirely too polished, from the top of her spun-gold chignon to the tips of her expensive Italian patent leather pumps. She laughed as Sid refilled her wine glass.
Sid glanced over as we entered.
“Aegis, I’m glad you’re finally here—” He paused as he saw me. “Maddy, I didn’t expect you tonight.”
“Well, here I am,” was all I could say to the hesitant greeting. “Aegis asked me to come with him.” I started to add, “I hope you don’t mind,” but clamped my mouth shut. Aegis was the leader of the band. It was up to him whether I tagged along or not.
“Aegis, meet Ferris Parks, the representative from DreamGen.” Sid gave Aegis a warning look. “Ferris, this is Aegis, our leader.”
Aegis’s eyes widened, but he just held out his hand. “How do you do? Mr. Bannister isn’t coming? I thought he was going to be the one we were talking to.”
Ferris flashed him a cool look. “You don’t like dealing with women?”
“It’s not that at all. I just expected Mr. Bannister.” Aegis’s tone was even.
I had the feeling Ms. Parks, for all her good looks, got a lot of harassment in a predominantly male-oriented business.
Aegis motioned to me. “Ms. Parks, may I present my girlfriend, Maudlin Gallowglass. She runs the Bewitching Bedlam Bed and Breakfast.”
Ferris gave me the once-over and nodded, not offering her hand. “How do you do.” She immediately turned her focus back to the men. “Let’s talk business.” With a glance at me, she added, “Maybe Ms. Gallowglass would be more comfortable upstairs with Sid’s wife?”
It was obvious that I wasn’t welcome. Aegis started to protest but I shook my head.
“That’s fine with me. I’ll wait upstairs with Sylvia.” Fuming, I stomped up the stairs and peeked around the corner to where Sylvia was desperately trying to rock the baby to sleep.
Toys cluttered the floor, and the sink was overrun with dirty dishes. I knew Sylvia hated mess and I could only guess how frazzled she had been the past couple of weeks. Without a word, I gathered up the toys and tossed them into the empty playpen. One of the children, a little boy, began to follow me, tugging at my leg. I finally stopped and looked down, and he lifted his hands. I wasn’t sure as to his actual age, but he looked about five.
“Up…up?”
“You want up, little buddy?”
I swung him into my arms and he smiled and shyly tucked his head on my shoulder. His twin sister was sitting amidst at least three boxes of scattered crayons. She was trying to color the rug and eat a purple crayon at the same time.
Sylvia noticed the attempted crayon caper and groaned.
“I take it no eating crayons allowed?”
I reached down and lifted the girl up with my other arm, carrying the pair over to the sofa. The little girl burped and promptly began to wail, which woke the baby. Sylvia rocked harder, looking a little frantic around the edges.
An idea struck me and I set both children down on the floor in front of me. The older girls—also twins who were identical, I would place them at ten—looked up from the TV, irritated.
“Can you keep them quiet?” one of them asked in a snotty voice.
“Turn off the television and come over here, please.” I stared at them for a long minute. The girls didn’t look very happy, but they obeyed. With the four children spread around me, I held out my hands, conjuring up a rain of sparkles from my fingers.
That put a stop to the complaints, even from the older pair. They watched while I made circus animals appear on my hands, then vanish in a flurry of sparkling energy. I played through my repertoire of parlor tricks. This was the magic that most people expected out of witches. They didn’t always realize just how much power we could actually wield, but focused instead on the special effects. I continued for about fifteen minutes, mesmerizing all four kids. Finally, the baby fell asleep and Sylvia tiptoed out with him, returning with two glasses of wine.
She handed one to me. “Enough of the show for now, kids. It’s bedtime.”
They began to protest, but she shook her head. “You know better. No whining and don’t you dare wake the baby.”
I broke in. “Let me do one more, and then they’ll go to sleep without complaining. Is it a deal?” I stared sternly at the four children in front of me. They nodded. I’d have to make the last trick a real doozy. I thought for a moment, then motioned for them to scoot back. Sylvia took my wine and I closed my eyes and began to conjure.
East and west, the winds may blow,
South and north bring fire and snow,
But from the stars and from the moon,
I bring to you a pirate’s boon.
As I wiggled my fingers, a small doorway in space opened in front of me, and a shower of golden-wrapped chocolates scattered down to the floor. They looked like pirate doubloons, but they were simply chocolate candy, wrapped in gold foil. I had learned the trick about seventy-five years ago from a witch who had ten kids, but had never had much need to use it.
The children clapped, grabbing for the candy.
“Uh-uh, just hold on.” I leaned forward, pointing my finger at each in turn. “If you want the candy, you have to promise to go to bed without complaining. One piece now if your mother says all right, and the rest as she sees fit. Will you
give me your promise?”
Solemnly, they nodded and each took one piece. Then, quietly, the two eldest led the younger twins away. I scooped up the candy—there must have been five pounds of gold coins—and put it on the coffee table.
“I hope you don’t mind them eating chocolate.”
Sylvia dropped onto the sofa next to me. “Oh, Maddy, I wouldn’t care if you gave them tequila right now, just to get some peace and quiet. I may hire you for their next birthday party.”
She handed me my wine, and then reached for a piece of the chocolate. As she opened it and slid it into her mouth, her eyes fluttered shut for a moment and she let out a little moan. “This is so good. Wasted on the kids, but I’ll keep it for them. Most of it.”
I sipped the wine and leaned back, letting out a long sigh. “It’s certainly been that sort of a week, all right. I hope we’re not gearing up for another bad spell. Mercury won’t go retrograde for another five or six weeks, but I swear, it feels like we’re in the thick of it.”
She glanced around at the mess, which I had managed to partially pick up. “Thanks for helping. I’m at my wit’s end.”
“I thought Sid helped you around the house?” I couldn’t imagine him leaving her to fend for themselves. The Fae were supposed to be fairly progressive when it came to gender roles.
“He used to, willingly, but lately he’s been obstinate.” She paused, then shrugged. “He was raised in a family that doted on the sons. His parents never made him do anything. He’s sweet and he’s kind, but he’s a little too self-absorbed for his own good. It was fine before we had children, and even with the first two, not really a problem. But it’s become an issue I can’t ignore anymore and ever since he got back from this latest gig, his head has swelled twice the size it used to be. I’m almost afraid that if they make this deal with DreamGen, he’ll become even worse. I don’t know…a nationwide tour? That takes a lot of commitment and it cuts down on anything else you can do.”
Siren's Song (Bewitching Bedlam Book 3) Page 17