by Sariah Skye
“I can’t, you know that.”
Nadina reluctantly tossed the shirt closer to me. “Hurry up and deal with this, so I can have you all to myself again. Sooner you get rid of Septimus and—Ava—” she uttered the name sourly, “—I can have you all to myself, again.”
I forced a smile. “Of course.”
But that would never be. I knew of course of Ava since she was about two; I’d come across Marian randomly while shopping at a local supermarket one day, twenty-three years ago. I was shocked, seeing her tote around an adorable blonde child, that looked nothing like her, but exactly like me. Like looking in a mirror. A much younger mirror…but a mirror nonetheless. That’s when I figured out what happened, and I’d been watching over Ava ever since.
My daughter; that Nadina didn’t know about. Why didn’t she know? Telling her Ava’s age would reveal the indiscretion I’d had with Morgaine years ago. A weak moment after a fight led me to a bar, and a one-night stand with Marian. Morgaine. I didn’t know it then, I just knew I was compelled.
And Ava didn’t know there were other purposes for the magic inside her. Purposes other than Morgaine using it to keep her glamour, stop her aging, and give her evil witchcraft power.
I sighed, raking my hands through my hair. “I’ll see you soon, my darling.” I leaned over the bed to kiss my beloved on the lips, barely able to pull away from her. That was the strange hold the cambion had over an incubus; they embedded themselves in your mind, body, and soul, and didn’t let go. Nor did I want her to. I’d loved before—but that love was faraway and out of reach to me. For now.
But…if she knew…
With one last wistful glance at the beauty on my bed, I grabbed my keys, and my phone on the end table, thrusting them in my pockets, and I left the cabin behind me for my truck.
I knew I’d have to spill the beans eventually. But for now? I was just biding my time.
Chapter Fifteen
I twisted the key in the lock to the home I lived in until a short time ago, with Summer, and pushed open the door.
Last time I’d been here was a couple days after the ritual, and a few days after someone broke into my home, and all my belongings were torn up or destroyed. Of course, it’d been my mother who was the culprit all along.
The guys had brought in specially-trained supes that night of the break-in to investigate; they found no prints other than mine, theirs, and my mother’s. We really didn’t know what her end-goal was to destroy my things other than to rattle me, but it’d happened nonetheless.
Now, she was declared dead. Technically this place was now mine, just like the Stargazer. I didn’t know what to do with either place. Summer still lived here, officially, and I let her. Most of the time now, she spent either at work or at her new girlfriend’s place. We’d invited her to live on the property; Mathias and the guys had hired contractors to build a couple of cottages on the opposite side of the property but that was on pause now; the past two weeks had been rather stormy. Both literally, and figuratively. And, Summer needed to stay closer to work for the time being—or so she said. Really, I knew she just didn’t want to be far from Naomi.
I sighed as I stood in my now-empty living room. All my photos, my furniture—everything that had been destroyed had been removed, and the rest of my belongings moved over to the guys’ place.
“So weird, being here,” I said, cringing at how my voice slightly echoed off the bare walls.
Trystan offered me a sympathetic squeeze of the arm. “You have us though, now…I know it’s not as good as the mansion you’re leaving behind, but…”
I grinned pushed him playfully. “You Scottish ass.”
“Aye,” he agreed, with a big wink.
Mathias stepped forward, and thrust out his arm, preventing any of us from entering any further than the entryway. “Stop. Wait.”
“What?” Bash asked.
“I hear something.”
From across the house, off the kitchen somewhere, was a muffled sound of banging against a wall.
“Shite!” Trystan grumbled. “What is that?”
“You think it’s the note-writer?” Xander asked, concerned, and raised his hands, magic ready to summon.
“My mother? You think my mother would be here?” I scoffed, rolling my eyes. “That would be…stupid even for her. I’ll show you.” I ducked under Mathias’ arm, heading for the door that closed off my mother’s part of the house, from my part of the house, just off the kitchen.
“Avie! Are you—” Bash started, but I turned and glared at him severely.
“This is still my house, you know.”
Bash’s concerned expression fell, and he hung his head. “I’m sorry, Ava, it’s just—”
“—we’re worried about you,” Mathias declared sternly.
I grumbled under my breath. I started I protest when I heard the clear sound of several subsequent bangs across the house. I lifted a brow. “Oh-kay… I guess you were right.”
Mathias shot me a disdainful look of his narrowed, brown eyes that clearly said “See?” But on his mouth, was the ghost of a playful smile and I knew he didn’t mean his “sass”. He turned and pointed at Bash, who was currently closest to me. “Stay here with her.”
Bash offered a mock salute, wrapping an arm over my shoulders. “I got her.”
I snarled, resisting the urge to declare, ‘Fuck you, I’ve got myself.” But given the intensity of the banging, I relented. Just this one time.
The banging this time was followed by a strangled, garbled moan, and several loud squeaks.
“Get ready!” Mathias said, raising two fists in front of his face. Xander and Trystan flanked him, Xander’s magical fists at the ready, and Trystan armed with a couple of arms worth of whup-ass.
I tittered with laughter, suddenly realizing what was happening. I shoved past the guys, as they reached for me. “Summer?”
The only response was an erotic, loud moan.
“Stars above…” Mathias raked a hand through his hair, suddenly appearing uncomfortable.
“Louder, baby!” Trystan called, cupping a hand on the side of his mouth to amplify the sound.
I balled up my fist and slugged him right in the gut, narrowing my eyes at him.
“Oof. Shite, Avie—I don’t know what you’re so worried about the magic for,” he said, clutching his chest and doubling over, eyes wide, but he still smiled playfully. “You should be more worried about that right hook.”
“I also have a mean ball-kick. Wanna find out?” I fluttered my lashes at him innocently, as I feigned raising my knee, and pretended to kick at him.
“Not particularly!” He cowered, stepping back.
“Ava!” Summer emerged, wrapped up in one of her red blankets, her hair mussed, and maroon lipstick smeared.
I gestured at my cheek. “Um…you got…a little…um…”
Summer’s big brown eyes widened more, and she furiously lifted her forearm to wipe away the lipstick. “Better?”
I nodded, with a devious smile. “Please tell me you’re with Naomi.”
“Yes.” She said quickly, with a roll of her eyes.
I breathed a sigh of relief; Summer was of the school where unless there was a ring on her finger, anyone was fair game. She was a bit of a player but it was all consensual, she said, so I just always let Summer be Summer. Three weeks together with one girl though was a record for her, and I was pleased to see it.
“Hi, Naomi!” I called loudly.
A melodic, feminine voice replied back, sounding bashfully embarrassed. “Hi, Ava!”
“What—ah—are you doing here?” Summer stammered, clutching the blanket tighter around her, the color matching the crimson of her cheeks.
“We wanted to look around Marian’s place…for clues.” Bash lifted the stack of parchment he’d been clutching since the parking lot of the Stargazer.
“Oh,” I said with a nervous giggle. “Guess what? The Stargazer, ya know? Remember that?”
&n
bsp; Summer raised a suspicious, well-manicured brow. “Yeah…”
“Well…my mother owned it, apparently.”
Summer’s mouth opened into a gaping ‘O’ of surprise. “Are you—what?”
“And since she’s legally considered dead…guess who owns it now?” I shrugged with nonchalance.
I didn’t think Summer could appear anymore shocked, but her eyes widened to match her mouth. “No. You’re kidding me? What?” She said, her tone increasing in volume as she spoke. “Oh crap that’s fantastic! Isn’t it?”
Mathias groaned under his breath. “That remains to be seen.”
“There’s…issues with the Stargazer. And the Underground,” Bash said.
“What’s the issue? You’re enterprising supernatural guys, right?” Summer said with glee. “You can fix anything right?”
Xander let out a low whistle. “Not sure about this…”
Bash nudged me. “Can we check your mother’s place again, while you chat with Summer?”
I nodded, even though Trystan didn’t budge. “You go ahead, I’ll stay here,” he said, eyeing them pointedly.
The three remaining guys nodded and disappeared through the door that had separated my mother’s place from mine. They had the way of making everything else around them seem small. No matter what, the four of them just seemed out of place here.
“But—Naomi could really use her job back,” Summer said, with a defeated sigh, slumping her shoulders.
I frowned. “I’m…just not sure it’s a good idea.”
“It’s worth good money though if we can sell it. Problem is…what’s underground the Underground,” Trystan reached for one of the dining room chairs, spun it around, and straddled it backwards. I swallowed anxiously, watching his strong arms rest on the back rung. The lines of his back stretched and contorted under his tank as he rested his lightly-bearded chin on his arms. I shook myself out of a haze before that Avalonian lust set in and distracted me; something I didn’t need right now.
Summer shook her head. “Dammit. You know how hard it is for a fae to get a job?”
“We can help her out; it’s our fault essentially she’s out of work.” Trystan said, with a casual shrug. “It’s only right. And, you can still come stay with us in Wild. It’d be good for Ava, too.”
Summer furrowed her brow. “I am not sure she’ll go for that, but…” She sighed, pulling the blanket around herself again. “I’m going to…yeah.” She giggled awkwardly, and disappeared to her bedroom, assumedly to get dressed.
I slumped into the remaining, mismatched chair. All of them had been broken; only two had been salvageable. I hesitated to sit; this one had been split down the middle, but Summer had repaired it. I hoped it’d hold my weight, suddenly relieved for the extra magic practice and magical adrenaline that had kept my heart beating; I’d probably lost a couple of pounds. Just not where I needed it to be, I thought, glancing down at my stomach, that rolled over the waistband of my pants. I shrugged. At least I had boobs and hips. A little softness in the middle was worth it to me to have ample curves—right?
“Hey, we all get that,” Trystan kidded, as if sensing what I’d been thinking. He patted his stomach and pointed, reminding me that everyone had rolls; even buff incubi with washboard abs. “Unless ya never eat or have no skin, rolls will happen,” he joked. “Ya know, in my day—well, all our days really—fuller figured women were considered more beautiful because they were cared for, healthy, and enjoyed regular meals. I don’t know what changed.”
I snorted. “So…you’re saying I eat too much, huh? I’m too pampered?” I knew he meant well, but I was giving him shit.
Trystan groaned, burying his face in his hands, muttering something in Gaelic. “You’re never going to forgive me for leaving the toilet seat up, are you?”
“Or using up all the toilet paper, or not replacing the roll,” I reminded him, biting my playful smirk. “If it wasn’t for Xander, I’d still be hovering there with my ass in the air.”
“Och, shite.” He said, pretending to casually bonk his forehead on the rung of the chair. “That man has been saving my arse for…too long now.” Trystan’s tone was kidding, but suddenly, something flashed before his mind’s eye, and he was far away.
After a moment of silence, I gently shoved his arm. “How else has Xander saved your ass?”
Trystan raised his head, pressing his mouth into a line, blowing air through the corner of his lips. “It’s a long, long story.”
I cocked a brow. “Try me. Since I’m probably immortal-ish like you are, I probably have a few hundred years. If my mother doesn’t kill me first.”
He snapped his gaze to me, appearing very serious. “That will not happen. We’ve fought greater enemies than Morgaine—she’s evil, but…not Hitler evil.”
I winced, confused. “Hitler?”
“Och, about time you knew it all anyway.” He exhaled deeply. “Since we are immortal, and hard to kill, we’ve all found ourselves over the years fighting in history’s battles, trying to turn the tables in the favor of ‘the good guys’. Mathias fought for Rome at first, but eventually he joined the Scottish rebellion many years later. That is around the time when we met. We stayed together for years, fighting off and on for the British Army, until meeting up with Bash and Xander during World War II, who were fighting in the American army.” He shook his head, his face sullen as he thought back in time. “Obviously, we aren’t killed by gun fire, or swords, but a good hit with a bomb? That could easily do us in, if we can’t heal fast enough to prevent blood loss. Those bombs weren’t anything like the bombs used now, but a bang is a bang. It still hurts.
“I was separated from Mathias, and bombs rang out from overhead. You’d think with that big arse thing in the air, it’d be easy to spot—but not when you’re distracted with five other enemies. I heard it coming, began to run, but wasn’t fast enough.”
I cringed. “I can’t imagine…”
“It was a pain unlike anything you could imagine. Bash had been burned, obviously, but played dead and the ropes loosed, and he could escape. In the blaze light, he said no one could see him crawl away. By that point no one was watching. That didn’t come with a ton of blood loss, thankfully. Just a lot of pain and shock. Terrible though…utterly ghastly. Getting hit with a bomb at close range? That was…yeah.” Trystan chewed at his lip, glancing down at his hands. “The meadow was cleared, I was knocked out, for how long I have no idea. I was dragged away before another round could hit, surprisingly by a Chinese dude in a uniform. Shocked the hell out of me—I had no idea the Chinese were fighting in our wars! I had no idea where he came from; as far as I knew were were the only forces there, but they must have broken away, or something. But, he was on our side…or with the Americans, and dragged me away for a nearby cave. He knew what I was—”
“—Xander?”
“Aye. It was Xander. He knew I was some kind of supe. Anyone else would have been obliterated. Was obliterated. He was with some blond guy—Bash of course. He had a satchel of potions and tinctures and the gods only knew what, and between the two of them, they managed to stabilize me enough so my natural supe healing could kick in.” Trystan’s attention was far away and years ago, but with a comforting pat on his arm, the past was forgotten, and he looked to me and smiled. “‘Twas a long time ago.”
“Not so long, really. About eighty years.”
He shrugged. “Yes, but, so much changed since then. When we realized we were all incubi, we decided to stay together. Xander had a connection here, to Minnesota, and we came, put down roots, and started paving our way. It was a lifetime ago.”
“Well…” I flushed, wanting desperately to declare how glad I was that he was still here—that they were all still here, when Summer emerged. Naomi followed her, with her short, fluffy, and unnaturally bright-red hair cut close to her neck and sides, but longer around the forehead and crown. She had piercing green eyes, a permanent, rose-colored blush to her cheeks, and naturally-f
lushed, heart-shaped lips. She was short, and thin like what I had gathered a typical fae to look like, with a petite body, complete with slender hips and small but pert, boobs under her pink sundress.
It’d been only about the second time I’d met her, but she was friendly and easily likeable. “Ava! Good to see you again!” She greeted earnestly.
“What are you guys doing here?” Summer inquired, zipping a black hooded sweatshirt over a red cami, and short, fitted black shorts. She flicked her brown waves over her shoulder and leaned against the kitchen counters as Naomi settled in next to her.
“I still technically live here, you know,” I snapped, not sure for the reason of my irritation.
She groaned. “I know, I know. I just…”
I waved her off. “Ugh, I’m just fucking crabby.”
“You need to get some, Ava,” Summer said, with a frisky wink at Naomi.
“Aye, I’ll agree to that!” Trystan quipped, waggling his eyebrows, and grinning like a pervy school boy.
I raised my fist. “Do you wanna another?”
Cringing, he shied away. “Och, no way.”
I chuckled. “The other guys are searching for clues. We found a bunch of notes left behind at the Stargazer. We think they might be my mom.”
Summer’s mouth was agape. “No! Really? Why now?”
I shrugged. “Maybe she finally got enough energy to look for me? Finish what she had started?”
“Likely.” Trystan offered, with a grimace.
“Why wouldn’t she just go find you at Wild? Does she really think you’d come here?” Summer asked, crossing one foot in front of the other casually, as Naomi leaned into her, resting her cheek on one of Summer’s round breasts. She glanced down at Naomi, and smiled genuinely, sending pangs through my chest, straight through my heart.
Not because I was jealous of Naomi. No, I never thought of Summer in that way. But because of their easy, loveable exchange. A brief, loving look. The way they smiled at each other; you could tell their feelings were genuine.
No one to my knowledge ever looked at me that way. If they did? They forgot about it ten seconds later. Why it bothered me right now? I guessed I really didn’t know.