by T K Eldridge
“I can see that,” Mom said. “But I want you to find contentment and fulfillment in your life, Sidonie. I achieved that with my family first, then my career. I guess I just have to make the adjustment that you’re finding that in your career first.”
I hugged Mom and relaxed when I felt her arms come around me. “The wall you built between us after Rohan was born was because of all of this, wasn’t it?” I asked her, and she nodded.
“Please, take that wall down? I’ve missed my Mom and I just don’t have the energy to find a bulldozer to get through to you.”
Mom gave a soft laugh and kissed my cheek. “Your brilliance terrifies me sometimes. I wonder how I ever created a being like you.”
“Well, Mom, when a boy shifter loves a girl witch and they have sex…” I started, and both Mom and Mira burst into laughter.
The mood shifted and brightened, and Mira turned to Mom. “I’ll clean up here for the next phase if you get lunch for us?”
“Sounds good. Siddie, come carry dishes to the table, please,” Mom said.
Soon we were enjoying soup and a salad while the babies sat in high chairs and ate bits of vegetables and cheese.
“They’re going to end up growing up like siblings, these two,” I said.
“In many ways, yes. Ethan loves his little sister, but he’s a good five years older than she is. I guess it’s good, then, that she’ll have another sibling close in age,” Mira said.
I nodded and took a spoonful of soup, then her words registered and I choked. “Wait, what?”
Mira giggled and nodded. “Yeah, your brother knocked me up again.”
Mom rolled her eyes, but she was smiling too.
“Does he know yet? I mean, he hasn’t told me yet, and I’m pretty sure he’d have told me after you two celebrated,” I said.
“No, Amelia just confirmed it with a test this morning. I’m going to tell him tonight,” Mira said.
“That’s why we’ve been working all day. I want to get ahead in production before she gets too pregnant to be on her feet,” Mom said.
“I thought Mira was training with Grams?” I asked.
“She is. She’s also training with me, and working for my business. We’re creating more potions, soaps, lotions, tonics, and so on so the stock can handle the increase in sales we’ve been having. Mira is brilliant with balancing new blends, as well as creating some amazing composite fragrances and healing compounds. I’ve made her my partner in the business and Boudreau’s Botanicals is growing.”
“I get to do what I’ve always dreamed of. I am using my pharmacology degree and my magical side to create things to help people,” Mira said. “It just helps that my partner is my mom-in-law.”
“Well, congrats to you both. That’s really fantastic. Now I don’t feel so bad for not being around – you two have been as busy as I have been,” I said, then looked over at Mira. “However, some of you have clearly been more busy than others.” A brow waggle for emphasis and we all dissolved into laughter.
After we cleaned up and I was ready to go, I leaned in to Mira. “Have Sin text me once you tell him, so I don’t explode or accidentally say something before you do, please?”
“I’ll do that, sis,” Mira said with a hug. “Stay safe, okay?”
“I will, Mira. Thanks for being so good with my Mom.”
She waved me off and I left the house, lighter than I had been when I went in. Mom and I were going to be okay, and my brother was about to be a dad again. One more baby to keep the pressure off of me making one. That was a bonus in so many ways.
* * *
The next morning I carried breakfast into Grampa’s office. “Good morning, Commander,” I said as I nudged the open door a little wider open with my hip.
Grampa was staring at a space near the bookshelf, talking to thin air. “Is that what you really think, Cedric? Even after so many years?”
“Grampa?” I said as I stepped into the room.
“Oh, good morning, Siddie. How are you today?”
“I’m well. And you?”
“Splendid. What do we have for breakfast today?”
“Bagels, chive cream cheese, strawberry turnovers, and coffee – with a side of why are you talking to thin air?”
“Oh, I wasn’t. I was speaking with Sir Cedric Langlois, the Guardian spirit Ethan has loaned to me for a few days.”
“I see. And does Sir Cedric like strawberry turnovers?” I didn’t even try to hide my sarcasm. “Since when could you speak to a Guardian spirit?”
“Since Ethan gave me the anchor the spirit uses. As long as it’s on my person, I can speak to him. Often it’s just mental conversations, but I find it easier to be clear when I speak out loud.” Grampa held up the little toy car, then put it in my hand. “See for yourself.”
“Good morn, Sidonie Boudreau.” I heard in my head and I almost dropped the car.
“Okay, that’s different. Good morning, Sir Cedric,” I replied.
“He’s the Guardian that was with your brother during the full moon riots and he kept him from being killed,” Grampa said as he fixed his bagel and took a bite.
“Well, thank you for taking care of Sin, Sir Cedric,” I said. “I appreciate your assistance.”
“He is my granddaughter’s Chosen and the man raising my great-grandchildren. I couldn’t let some rabid witch extinguish his light.”
“Remember, Sir Cedric. We’re part witch, too.” I reminded the Guardian.
“So I’ve been told. Fae, witch, shifter, and mythic. You and Sinclair are the children of the Prophecy. I will do my best to keep you both safe so you can fulfill your destinies.”
“What prophecy are you talking about? The Herne and Danu prophecy?”
“Yes and no. That is only a portion of the prophecy. You should speak to the Archivist and ask him to find the complete one the Oracle recorded.”
“Oh.” I sat there for a moment, then handed the car back to Grampa. “Thank you, Sir Cedric.” I picked up my bagel and took a bite, then realized I’d forgotten the cream cheese, so I spent the next few minutes playing with my food.
“He says he is worried that he has upset you,” Grampa said.
“No, I’m not upset. Just trying to put the pieces together in my head.” Then I looked up at the Commander. “Why do you have him, anyway?”
“He had some Intelligence to share. He said he has a good idea of who might be behind all of the chaos. A very old witch named Macha.”
My head snapped up and I stared at my grandfather. “Just how old is this witch?”
“He says she’s over three centuries and that she should have gone into the Fade long ago but steals power to stay alive.”
“Of course she does. Now, is her name Macha or is she just called the Macha?” I asked.
“He says she is the Macha. Then again, he’s not completely sure. She is the only Macha he’s ever known since he was a small boy,” Grampa said.
I picked up my food and coffee, leaned over to kiss Grampa’s cheek, and spoke to the room as I left. “Thank you both, I’ve gotta run and check some things.”
I had been going on the assumption that the Macha spoken of in the archives was a name for a being, not a title passed along. I might have just unlocked more information, and I needed the Archivist to figure it out.
Chapter Nine
Sin
I went to the locker room to wash up and get a clean uniform shirt, since mine was splattered with my blood. The split lip was already healing, thanks to my shifter genetics, so I shoved my dirty shirt in the locker and headed to the Commander’s office.
I tapped on the door, stepped inside, and saluted before I heard the Commander say “At ease.”
“What brings you to my office?” he asked. “And what happened to your face?”
“Agent Leonidas is coming to meet us here as soon as he puts Olsen and Bidderman in a cell. They jumped me in the jail reception room while I was filing a report and accused me of killing Soph
ia Marais and Agent Finley. I didn’t even know Finley was dead,” I said.
“I have Tasha’s transcript of the interview, too. I can get the gate log from the farm later to add to the file,” the Commander said. “I’m satisfied that you’re innocent, but it’s clear the gossip grapevine has spread lies and rumors faster than the truth.”
“I made it pretty clear when I locked up those two morons that Sin couldn’t possibly have killed Finley since he’s been with me all morning,” Grizz said as he stepped into the office. “What do you want me to do with them?”
“I’ll go have a chat with them in a little while. Let them stew in the cell for now. I swear, the minimum IQ to get into the Academy must be in the negative numbers to give us such prime candidates as Olsen and Bidderman,” the Commander said. “Thank you, Grizzell, for backing up Sin.”
“He’s my partner, sir. I’ll always have his back,” Grizz said, then handed me my tablet. “You forgot this on the terminal.”
“Thanks. I was a little busy bleeding all over myself,” I said as I took it back and slid it into my thigh pocket. “So what happened to Finley?” I asked the Commander.
“He didn’t show up for work, so I sent a patrol over to his place to check on him. He’s dead, but they can’t tell if it’s murder or suicide. There’s a suicide note typed out on his laptop, where he claims responsibility for Sophia Marais’ murder, and he took the same poison to kill himself. But one of his friends says the note doesn’t sound like him, and another pointed out that Finley had just purchased tickets for a trip next month. If someone were planning to off themselves, they wouldn’t be buying vacation tickets, right?”
“Crime scene investigation is all over his place, right?” I asked.
“They’ve been there since the body was discovered. The only odd thing they’ve found is the distinct lack of extra prints. It’s as if someone wiped the whole house down,” the Commander said.
“Now that’s creepy,” I replied.
“That’s well thought out, is what that is,” Grizzell said. “We should get back out on the road, sir. We still have a little more than half a shift to work.”
“You two stay safe out there. I’ll put out an announcement as soon as I hear back from CSI on Finley’s place,” the Commander said.
“Yes, sir,” we both answered and I turned to follow Grizzell out the door. Halfway down the stairs, my phone rang and I checked it, then answered. “Hey, Stumpy. What’s up?”
Stumpy, or Detective Patrick Clancy with the Belle Cove PD, my dad’s best friend since childhood, was also an honorary uncle to Sid and me. He was a null shifter – couldn’t shift, but had a lot of the other benefits, so he passed as human.
“Sin, glad I caught you. I heard about Sophia, and I grabbed our recordings before they could get ‘cleaned up’. I saw something I think you and yours should see,” Stumpy said.
“Let me grab Grizzell and we’ll swing by,” I said. “We’re partnered up today.”
“Meet me at Bubba’s Burgers. See you in twenty,” Stumpy replied and disconnected.
I jogged to catch up to Grizzell as he checked over our vehicle. “Stumpy wants to meet at Bubba’s. Let’s go grab lunch and a chat?”
He looked up at me, saw the expression on my face that said this was clearly more than a lunch with a friend, and nodded. “Sure, sounds good. Second breakfast it is.”
We pulled up to Bubba’s about fifteen minutes later, and called in on the radio that we were getting food. Stumpy had already grabbed a back corner table, so we made our way through the diner to the booth and settled in.
“Thanks for meeting me,” Stumpy said, voice pitched low. He slid a tablet across the table, then reached over and tapped the pause button. A video began to play and we watched a figure come out of the jail entrance dressed in the hoodie, gloves, and jeans, as had been seen in the SPD internal video. The figure jogged across the street and into the PD parking lot, head turned away from the entrance camera – and faced directly into the camera on the pole in the middle of the lot. It was Agent Finley. He walked over to a dark, four door sedan and leaned in the driver’s window to speak to someone – then turned and jogged away. The camera then picked up the face of a woman behind the wheel of the sedan, but she wasn’t anyone I recognized.
“So, you think this is the woman behind it all?” I asked.
“Maybe? That’s your job, but I recognized her,” Stumpy said.
“I did, too,” Grizzell added, voice low.
“I have no clue who it is, so how about you both share?” I said.
“Francine Dillard,” Stumpy said.
“A dryad who spent five years in Galliol for inciting violence after the Species War,” Grizzell said.
“Looks like Fancy is up to her old tricks,” Stumpy said.
“Fancy?” I asked, then fell silent as the server arrived and took our orders. “Is that a nickname for Francine?”
“It’s what we all called her. She’s always dressed to the nines and when someone way back called her Miss Fancy, she decided it was a good nickname for herself,” Stumpy said.
“Last I heard, she was in Washington or Oregon,” Grizzell said. “I wonder if the ley line issues are what drew her back here. Chaos is her favorite climate.”
“Stumpy, could you send that video to the Commander, please? He’s doing a report and gathering info to get people off my ass,” I asked as our drinks were delivered.
“Sure, one sec. Let me do that now,” Stumpy said and took the tablet back.
“Oh, and to Sid, too, please? With anything you have on Francine?” I added.
Stumpy chuckled. “Already cc’d her on the file.” He tapped the screen a couple of times, then set the tablet aside. “So, why are people up your ass now?” he asked me.
“They thought I was the one that killed Sophia, and then Finley. I got a beat down in the jail reception because the gossip grapevine moves faster than actual facts.”
“He didn’t get it too bad,” Grizzell said. “He took them both on and laid them out.”
“I’m still going to have to explain why my shirt is all bloody to Mira,” I grumbled.
“Heh, someone’s finding the negatives of married life already?” Stumpy teased and I flipped him the middle finger.
“There are a lot more positives than negatives, but after nearly being killed, she gets understandably twitchy when I come home covered in blood,” I said.
“Understandable,” Stumpy agreed, then we all fell silent as our food was delivered and we took a few moments to eat. I was hungry after burning fuel to heal, so my burger disappeared fast – then I slowed down to enjoy my fries.
“So, why do you think they didn’t check the cameras in the PD lot?” I asked Stumpy.
“They did. I just got there first,” he said, tone serious. “I heard about the supposed murder/suicide in the jails last night when I was called in to liaison between the PD and the SPD. I went and pulled the recordings before they’d taken Sophia’s body out of the cell. Fifteen minutes or so later, an SPD officer showed up and demanded the recordings. I didn’t know him, so I gave him the recordings from the night before. He signed the papers as an Agent Benson. When I checked his ID with the SPD, they had no record of a Benson.”
“Wow, ballsy,” I said. Grizzell was being rather quiet so I looked over at him. “You okay, Grizz?”
“I’m thinking,” Grizz said. “I’m thinking this is a lot more organized than we were led to believe, and maybe we need to re-calibrate our thoughts and our plan.”
“I agree with you,” Stumpy said.
“I also think we need Detective Clancy here in our brainstorming session,” Grizzell continued.
“Me?” Stumpy asked, eyes wide.
“Yes, you. We’re flying blind here and you seem to have some clarity we desperately need. I’m going to take my shake out to the truck and call the Commander. Take your time finishing, Sin. I’ll text when I’m ready to go,” Grizzell said and got to
his feet. He tossed a few bills down on the table, scooped up his to-go cup and headed for the door.
“I had forgotten how get-to-it Grizzell could be,” Stumpy said. “It’s been a while since I’ve worked with him.”
“I really enjoy partnering with him. He teaches and corrects without making me feel like I’m a complete idiot,” I said.
We chatted about the family and Stumpy’s plans to fix the cabin up even more that he had out in the middle of the forest until Grizz texted he was done and ready to go. I got up and fist-bumped Stumpy, then headed for the door. Time to get back to work.
Chapter Ten
Sid
After I left the Commander’s office, I headed right to the docks and boarded the ferry moments before it departed. Timing was on my side, it seemed. I got to the island and called Grandma Maggie to let her know I was here and caught a ride to the palace. Seelah, the guard usually on the door, greeted me and told me the Queen was in her study and I had permission to go on up.
“Good morning, your Majesty,” I said as I stepped into her office study.
“Good morning, Siddie. You sounded excited when you called – something going on?”
“I think I might have unlocked part of the puzzle Oak and I have been working on. Have you ever heard of the Macha?” I asked as I dropped into a seat across the desk from her and set my bag down on the floor.
“My goodness, that’s an old one. Where did you hear that?”
“Grampa is borrowing one of Ethan’s guardians. Guardian Sir Cedric Langlois shared some information he’d gathered, and he mentioned a Macha, but he said ‘the’ Macha so now I think it’s a title and not just one person’s name. Which changes the context of a few of the passages I’ve read and I need to go back over them with this new information in mind.”
“Sir Cedric. He was one of the good ones,” Grandma said. “He died while I was out of the realm, but before I left, he was one of my friends.”