Bless Your Heart

by Kimbra Swain

  “You will outlive him,” he said.

  “Yes, by a long shot,” I replied, and a tear rolled down my cheek. If I didn’t know better, I’d say every day I spent near Dylan Riggs I became more human. Sweet Levi stood up from the couch, wrapping me up in a big hug. Only then did my hormones engage, as I realized I was touching the tone muscles that drove me wild when he took his shirt off. I pushed it away, because honestly, just like Dylan, Levi deserved better.

  “We won’t talk about it anymore. I’ll quit teasing you,” he said. “We can plan out my tat. It’s going to be fucking awesome.”

  I laughed. “Yes, it is.”

  In the middle of the night, my phone rang. “Hello,” I said not recognizing the number. I was still sitting in the recliner in the living room of my double wide in the dark trying to decide what to do. If I sat here much longer, the wolf might kill again.

  No one answered, but breathed into the phone. “Look, you think you are cute, but you aren’t,” I said hanging up.

  A moment later, I got a text. It was a picture. Opening it, I saw Dylan hugging a raven-haired beauty. I supposed Stephanie made it to the hospital, and he was comforting her.

  The phone buzzed three more times. Each picture got subsequently closer to both of them as they got closer to each other. The last picture was a full lip lock.

  My anger swelled up in me, but it wasn’t for Dylan. It was for myself for being an idiot. At least, I didn’t have to worry about breaking his heart anymore.

  I had to block the number. It kept sending the last picture over and over. The heart I claimed that I didn’t have shattered. Looking for comfort, I headed for the liquor cabinet. As I reached up for it, I remember Dylan stopping me yesterday, and I walked away from it again. I slammed my fists down on the counter. Angry at myself for allowing Dylan to get to me.

  Levi opened his door, looking alarmed. I didn’t turn to face him.

  “Grace, what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. Go back to bed. I’m sorry I disturbed you,” I said. I felt him move out of the door toward me. I turned to him with red eyes. “No, go to bed.” I put my hand up to stop him. He stopped moving toward me, but didn’t retreat to his room. So, I turned retreating to mine instead.

  Laying down on my bed, I could smell his cologne and sweat in the sheets. I had to get out of this town or go mad like Levi.

  The next morning just after breakfast, Demetrius Lysander showed up with information and paperwork.

  “Good morning, Grace,” he greeted me in his expensive suit and shiny shoes. “Mind if we speak in private?”

  “No,” I said. Levi got up, heading back to his room shutting the door behind him. He had been quiet all morning. He didn’t bring up my outburst last night. The look in his eye said he wanted me to talk to him about it, but I just couldn’t talk to anyone about Dylan.

  Demetrius whistled and a force field formed around us. He was a fairy too, but spent most of his time in the real world as a lawyer for fairy folk here. He was the best lawyer money could buy.

  “Where do you want to start? With the woman with A.B.I. or with your hearing?”

  “The woman,” I said eager to find out who or what she really was.

  “Amanda Capps is a wolf shifter who works for the Sanhedrin,” he said.

  “Why would the Sanhedrin try to get rid of me through the legal system? They could just kill me if they wanted,” I said.

  “Actually, you have a binding contract with them so they can’t, unless you break the contract,” he reminded me.

  “But if she works with them, she’s tame. Whatever killed those kids was rabid or feral,” I said.

  “Yes, I doubt she killed the children,” he said.

  “Anything else on that issue?”

  “Yes, you need to be careful, Grace. This is not your father talking. It’s your lawyer and friend. If the Sanhedrin have anything to do with you being charged with these murders, then they are trying to pick you off. You need to consider that Levi was sent to you for the same purpose, and that Jeremiah is probably in great danger as well. If you don't leave here, their deaths could be on your hands,” he explained, as he reached forward touching arm at my shoulder. He let his arm slide down my arm to my hand. Lysander had never touched me. I felt the faint tingle of power, but his touch was unsettling. He quickly withdrew his hand.

  “I haven’t spoken to Jeremiah since he left, except to cuss him for not telling me that Levi was a changeling,” I said. “He may already be dead, because he hasn’t checked in.” I started to worry for my friend. I couldn’t break the force field to call him. I would have to wait until Lysander finished.

  “Just be careful, Grace. As for your case, I’m not sure that I can do anything. I haven’t found an angle to pursue. You need to prepare yourself for a move. I have several options scouted out,” he said.

  “No, I’m not ready to move yet. I know it’s a possibility, but I’d like to avoid it,” I said.

  “Grace, I’ve never said anything about your friends or who you keep company with here. Frankly, I don’t know how you live with this contract over your head, but Dylan Riggs will be your end. You shouldn't attach yourself to him,” he said.

  “Dylan is no longer part of the picture,” I said, but it hurt. “His old girlfriend is back in town, and they are back together.”

  He grimaced. “Let me know when you are ready to go. You have a pre-trial hearing tomorrow.”

  “I'm not leaving until I find what killed those kids,” I replied.

  “I assumed as much. Be careful, Grace. I dread the day I have to tell your father you are dead,” he said.

  “It would take a lot to kill me,” I replied.

  “You rarely use your gifts, because of the contract. I believe you are living under a false sense of security. You have a changeling in this house marked by a demon with a voodoo witch girlfriend, and a law officer hired by the Sanhedrin framing you for murder. You are in deep shit,” he said.

  I groaned, because I knew that I was. “Thanks for everything, Demetrius,” I said.

  “I am well compensated,” he replied smugly, but then winked at me. “However, you and I could discuss your bill privately.”

  I laughed at him because I knew he had a harem of women back in the Otherworld. He teased me only to get me to smile. At least I thought so, but after the way he touched me earlier. I needed to be on guard around Lysander.

  “Send the bill to Daddy,” I smirked. My father paid for all of it, anyway.

  “I brought some clothes for the hearing and groceries since you can’t get out. Get your changeling to get them.” He released the force field. The magic fizzled like static on a radio.

  “Hey, Dublin,” I called out.

  Levi poked his head out of his door. “Huh?”

  I knew that look. “Put your dick down and get some stuff out of Mr. Lysander’s car.”

  “Grace!” he growled slamming the door back.

  “Why don't you help him?” Demetrius suggested.

  “We’ve discussed it.” I left it at that. If Dylan was back with Stephanie, I suppose keeping Dublin happy would be an option.

  He emerged from the room and quickly went out the front door. Demetrius and I walked to the door.

  “Anything else?” he asked.

  “Yes, now that I think about it. Please get some nicer clothes for Levi. He will be at the hearings with me,” I replied.

  “Sure. I’ll send some over tonight,” he said, walking out the door.

  Levi came back with several plastic bags of groceries and a garment bag. I took it from him at the door, waving to my lawyer as he got into the idling limo. A limo in the trailer park. That's right, I was high class fairy trash.

  Levi put the bags down and leaned on the counter waiting to see if I had other instructions.

  “Thank you. I'm sorry, Levi. You can go back,” I said.

  He didn't respond, stomping back to his room. I regretted making fun of him. He struggle
d, and it was worse after I told him what he was.

  My phone rang, and I almost answered it until I saw the caller ID. I sent it to my voicemail. The phone chimed again showing that Dylan left a message. Ignoring it, I put the groceries away, taking the garment bag to my room.

  Unzipping it I found a light pink sheath dress with a skinny black belt. A black sweater with pearl buttons, a cute pearl necklace and chunky heal pumps. Gag a maggot. I supposed going to the hearing as a trailer park queen wouldn't make a good impression. I hung it all up on the bathroom door when I heard my phone ringing where I left it on the kitchen counter.

  Levi beat me to it, answering it. I growled at him.

  “Hey, Dylan, sure. She's right here,” he said as he handed me the phone.

  I whispered, “Go to hell, Dublin.”

  He smirked and said, “Payback is a bitch.” He sat down on the couch, turning on the television.

  “Hello,” I snarled.

  “Hey, Grace. You get my message?”

  “No, I've been busy. My lawyer was here,” I replied. I had no desire to fight with him.

  “Oh, okay. While I'd like to be at your hearing tomorrow, I thought it would be a good chance to sneak back in the trailer,” he said.

  “Dylan, don't come back,” I said.

  “We’ve been over this, Grace,” he said.

  “I guess you forgot that when you kissed Stephanie,” I replied with no emotion.

  He groaned. Before he spoke again, I hung up.

  It immediately started ringing. I ignored it, taking an orange soda out of the fridge. “You want one?” I asked Levi.

  “Yeah, sure,” he said. I took one out for him and turned my phone off as I passed it. I handed the drink to him and sat in my recliner. I knew Dylan wouldn't give up, but I was confident that my stubbornness would outlast his just by the sheer fact I’d live longer.

  “You aren't going to give him a chance to explain?” Levi asked.

  “I can't imagine an explanation that would change my mind. It's better for both of us,” I said. “Demetrius warned me, and he's right. I'm not like normals. Better to end it now,” I said.

  Levi’s phone rang in his bedroom. “I'll talk to him. Maybe I can convince him to leave it alone.”

  I shrugged. Maybe he could. I doubted it, but maybe.

  “Hello,” he said.

  Pause.

  “Look Dylan, I have to live with her, so I'm not giving her the phone. I think she's right. You need to forget it, for her sake and yours,” he said.

  Pause.

  “I understand, but if you push this, she might end up in more trouble. Just leave it alone until all this stuff blows over,” he said.

  I held back tears as there was another pause.

  “Okay. I’ll tell her. Bye, man.”

  When he returned to the couch, he explained, “He says that she kissed him when she saw him, and he immediately told her that he wasn't interested. He told her that he had moved on. Then the doctors came in and told her that her mother passed, so there was a lot of emotion in just a few moments. He felt bad, because her mother died. He said he would stay away if that's what you really want,” he said.

  “Do you believe him?” I asked.

  “Yes, but does it matter?” he responded.

  “Only with how my conscience deals with it,” I said.

  He looked sad and sat back down on the couch. “You going to be okay?” he asked.

  “No time to cry over it. My lawyer is sending over new clothes for you to wear tomorrow. Then tomorrow night I'm going wolf hunting. You wanna go?”

  “Hell, yes,” he replied.

  We sat, watching television for several hours in silence. I considered the information my lawyer gave me about Amanda Capps. She worked for the Sanhedrin. They had many contacts within law enforcement to monitor supernatural situations.

  If she worked for them that meant she controlled her lycanthropy. If she didn’t, they would end her. She probably lived until similar constraints as I did concerning the Sanhedrin. They would manipulate her as needed.

  The difference between us was that I didn't give a rip about the Sanhedrin because I could always go back to gypsy life. Although I never wanted to go home, it was an option. Amanda Capps probably had no other option.

  “Wait, a minute! They didn't search the trailer,” I blurted out.

  “Yes, they did,” Levi said.

  “What?”

  “After they arrested you, when I got back here, it was trashed,” he said. “I cleaned it up before you got home. You have nice panties.”

  “Levi Rearden! You stay out of my panties!”

  “It's not like we locked legs and swapped gravy. Unless you want to do that, then I'll oblige you,” he teased.

  “Never in my life! You can keep your gravy, Dublin,” I laughed. I'd heard a lot of ways to describe sex in my days, but not swapping gravy. Must be a Texas thing. I kept thinking about it, giggling off and on all night.

  “Thank you for cleaning up. I don't guess they took anything. There ain't much here to take,” I said.

  “What about the clothes you wore in the woods that night?” he asked.

  “No, too many people saw me there in those clothes,” I said. “Besides, they are in the laundry.”

  “Where is your cloak?”

  “In the truck,” I replied. “I think.”

  He got up and went outside to the truck. He returned empty handed.

  “Shit! After we found the kids, did I have it on when you put me in the truck?”

  “Yes, you don't remember?”

  “No, after I used the magic and the visions of that child, my head was scrambled,” I replied.

  “Why take it?”

  “This whole thing is an elaborate frame job. There is no telling,” I explained.

  “Is it magical?”

  “Just some protection and concealment wards,” I replied. “The spells could be easily manipulated though.”

  “Like make it look like you‘re wearing it and take another child,” he said.

  “Dublin, if you turn out to be a serial killer, I'm gonna cut you.”

  “Just trying to help figure it out,” he said.

  “I'm kidding, sweetheart,” I said, then decided to go to bed even though I wouldn't sleep. “Night, Levi.”

  “Night, Grace,” he said.

  I picked up my phone, turning it back on just in case Jeremiah called. It buzzed several times with missed calls and messages from Dylan. I laid down on the bed, flipping through them. They went from upset to desperate.

  “Damn, Dylan,” I said. He had gone full crazy. It made me ache that I’d done this to him.

  It buzzed again. It said, “I’m sorry for all the messages. I swear, I'm not crazy.”

  I laughed. It was almost like he was in the room. I popped up in the bed, looking around the room using magical sight, but I was alone. However, a creepy feeling washed over me like someone was watching.

  Lying in bed staring at the ceiling, I went through everything I knew about the case.

  I called Jeremiah. It immediately skipped to voicemail.

  “Jerry, it's a mess here. You need to come back. They arrested me for murdering those kids, and I need your help,” I said. I didn’t have much hope of reaching him. If he chased that witch into the swamps, he was either dead or far out of cell range.

  I drifted off to sleep. The nightmares of mangled children and snarling wolves invaded my mind.

  I woke up covered in sweat with Levi shaking me.

  “Grace. Wake up,” he said, as I swatted him away from me. It was early morning, and the sun blushed the sky.

  “Nightmares,” I muttered.

  “No kidding,” he said. “You were fighting something and mumbling. I heard you from the front.”

  “I'm sorry that I woke you up,” I said.

  “I wasn't sleeping,” he said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “I can't after seeing that little boy.”
/>   “I should have known better than to try myself,” I admitted. “Want some breakfast?”

  “Yeah, I'm going to get a shower, if that's okay?” he asked.

  “Sure, honey.”

  After I climbed out of bed, I slipped on sweatpants because it turned chilly overnight. Looking out the window, the familiar sheriff’s cruiser sat in front of the house. Not 001.

  After he showered, my live-in Adonis paraded through the kitchen in a towel, and I gawked at him. He only turned to see if I was looking when he got to his bedroom door. I didn't hide it. He grinned like a devil as he went in his room.

  “Hot damn,” I muttered.

  We finished breakfast, and I took my cup of coffee out to the front porch. Levi joined me, sitting on the step with his own steaming cup.

  The school bus rolled through, and Winnie waved at us as she climbed aboard.

  After it left, the driver of the cruiser got out, approaching us.

  “Morning, Deputy Maynard,” I called out to Troy.

  “Morning, Grace. Levi.”

  Levi nodded in response. “Want some coffee?” I asked trying to be polite.

  “Actually, that would be great. It gets boring sitting in that car for hours,” he replied.

  “I imagine it does,” I said as Levi got up and went to get the coffee. “Thank you, honey.”

  “He’s a little young for you, ain't he,” he said.

  Troy knew what I was and how old I was. “All of you are too young for me,” I replied. It wasn't any of his business that I wasn't sleeping with Levi. I let him think whatever he wanted.

  “I suppose so,” he replied. Levi returned with a cup for Troy. “Thanks, Levi.” He took several sips, leaning back on the porch railing. “You talked to Dylan?”

  “No, but Levi did. I know he's been helping Stephanie since her mother died,” I said.

  “Yeah, haven't seen her since she left. Hate that about her Mom,” he said.

  We sat in uneasy silence for a bit as the temperature started to climb. Troy finished his coffee and sat the cup on the porch railing.