Aegis had left a note telling me he would keep watch during the night, and that he was going to contact some old friends to see what they could find out about the situation.
As I clattered down the stairs, Kelson met me at the bottom.
“Delia’s waiting for you in the kitchen. I can tell you right now she’s in a nasty mood. I’m not sure why, though I tried to pry it out of her. How many shots do you want in your latte?”
“Better make a quint for me. With a whole lot of chocolate and peppermint.”
“So, a five-shot mocha?”
“Ten points to the winner.”
She laughed and nodded toward the kitchen. “You better go see what teacher wants.”
I followed her into the kitchen. Delia was sitting at the table, stewing about something. Her eyes were flashing dark, and as I entered the room, she straightened.
“How late do you sleep, anyway?”
“Well, that’s a cheery greeting. And how are you today, Delia?”
She let out an exasperated sigh. “I’m sorry. How are you doing, Maddy?”
“Just fine, thank you. I would be better if I didn’t have Dracula on my ass. What’s going on? You look fit to be tied.”
“Your friend is raising havoc in town and I need you to do something about it. Fata Morgana flooded the town square this morning. She got so excited about that stupid fountain that she made it pour until it was like a geyser. The city’s going to have one hell of a water bill, I can tell you that. It was like there was a broken water main. The water was ankle-deep in some lower parts of the town square. I don’t know what the hell she was doing, but when I told her to stop, she threatened me.”
Well, that wasn’t the best news of the morning. “What did she say?”
“She told me that werewolves weren’t her favorite type of dog, and that I should mind my own business.” Her voice grated over the words, and by the tone of her voice, I knew that Fata had pushed it well over the line.
“I can talk to her, but I’m not sure if I can control her.” I paused to accept my mocha from Kelson.
“Well, if you can’t control her, you need to find somebody who can. Because if she stays in Bedlam much longer, she’s going to hurt somebody.”
I nodded, swallowing the desire to say, “If you can find a way to get rid of her, I’d be happy to help.”
Delia picked up her hat. “I know she’s an old friend of yours, but Maddy, I don’t think she’s who you think she is.”
“Fata’s changed—she’s part water elemental now, and that changes her entire nature. And you know how hard it is to control an elemental creature. She might as well be part goddess.”
As she headed toward the front door, Delia glanced over her shoulder. “If she’s a goddess, then heaven help us all.”
I DECIDED TO go over and talk to Ralph. I wasn’t sure if he’d be at the hospital, but with George out of danger, he might be taking a break. It was storming again, pouring down rain, so I grabbed my keys to my CR-V. The vertigo was gone, and I was tired of waiting around for other people to help me.
Kelson glanced up as I headed toward the kitchen door. “Are you going out?”
“Yeah, I’m going over to Ralph’s for a little bit. I am not about to walk in the rain, and I’m perfectly fine now. So I’m driving. No discussion.” I gave her a look that brooked no argument.
She held up her hands, shaking her head. “You seem fine to me.”
“I’ll be back in a little while. If I have to go somewhere else, I’ll give you a call. I need to find Fata Morgana as soon as I can, but I’m not exactly jumping for joy over the prospect.”
Kelson gave me a sad look. “I’m sorry, Maddy. I know how close you were at one time. It’s always hard to walk away from friends. I’ve had to do it myself in the past.”
I paused, my hand on the door handle. “There was always part of me terrified that she would return. Somewhere deep in my heart, I knew that she had changed enough so that we wouldn’t be living in the same world. And I was right. For the sake of the gods, I wish I was wrong. The Fata Morgana I loved and knew is long gone. Oh, she’s in there, there’s a flicker of recognition, but she’s buried under the weight of two hundred years of living in the Ocean Mother’s realm. Once the ocean takes you, there’s no going back.”
And with that, I headed out to my car.
RALPH’S CAR WAS in the driveway, and the tree that had been downed was now a massive pile of kindling and firewood. I cautiously edged around it, not wanting to puncture any of my tires on stray splinters. I glanced up at the roof, hoping that Ralph had managed to have it fixed already and that we could deposit his twins back with him, but the tarp was still stretched across the shingles. I let out a long sigh, realizing it would be a few more days before we could escort our guests back to where they belonged.
As I dashed through the rain, up the porch steps and to the door, a gust of wind rattled past, almost tipping me off my feet. I held onto the railing and, for the first time in a long time, found myself longing for calmer days. I usually loved autumn and winter best, but with Fata back, my enthusiasm had waned for the time being.
I opened the door and slipped inside. There was no one at the receptionist desk, but I heard laughter coming from the next room. Since Ralph’s guests frequented the living and dining rooms, I had no qualms about wandering in to see if he was there. As I did, I got the shock of my life. There, sprawled on the sofa, sat Ralph. And on his lap, laughing, was Fata.
“I see I’ve come at the wrong time.” My shock didn’t keep my mouth from working, that was for sure. My first reaction was to turn and hightail it out of there, but I forced myself to stay put. What the hell was Fata doing with Ralph? Granted, we had partied hearty with the satyrs a long, long time ago, but really, Ralph?
Fata, who was dressed in a short black dress that left very little to the imagination, glanced over at me. The smile on her face was cunning and a little crazed.
“Maddy, come over here.” She motioned for me to join them on the sofa.
I took a few steps closer, but stayed standing. “Ralph, I hear your brother’s going to make it after all. I just came to tell you I’m happy that George will be all right.” My voice fell flat, and I wasn’t exactly sure of what to say next.
Ralph nodded. “I’m cele…cel…celebrating. Hey, Fata tells me you two were an item, and that you partied with my kind for years. She was just tellin’ me ‘bout some of your exploits.” The look on his face was lascivious and he sounded stoned.
“So you’re spilling my secrets, Fata? Don’t you think you should ask me about that?” I didn’t want to start an argument, but the fact that she had been telling my history to Ralph without my permission pissed me off.
Fata’s eyes flashed dangerously. “I thought you weren’t ashamed of your past?”
“I’m not, but my secrets are mine to tell. Not yours.”
I felt like I was dealing with an incredibly powerful and spoiled teenager. Fata had been reborn a daughter of the Ocean Mother, who had given her everything she needed. Now Fata expected to get anything she wanted from us.
Fata pushed herself off Ralph’s lap. He looked dazed. He also had an immense hard-on, which was extremely visible since his pants were open. His knobby red cock stood erect, slick. I realized just exactly what Fata had been sitting on.
“What have you done to Ralph?” While I had no interest in Ralph sexually, neither did I want to see him become a pawn in whatever game she was playing.
“Only what you and I used to do to the boys. Remember, Maddy? Remember the parties we had? You, and me, and Cassandra. And those five beautiful satyrs that we stayed with for almost a decade? They were in us, in every combination you could think of. And you and I made love for hours, day after day.” She held out her hand, crooking a finger at me. “Come, give me a kiss. We could have all of that again. Right now, right here. Sure, Cassandra isn’t here, and we have only
one satyr, but we can share him. And we have each other. That’s enough, don’t you think?”
The next moment she reached out and grabbed me by the hand, dragging me to her. She was immensely strong and I realized I was absolutely terrified.
She pressed close to me. “Kiss me, Maddy. Remember what it was like? Your lips against mine? It can be that way again. I’ll forget that you drove me away, that you broke my heart. Your vampire can’t kiss like I can. And I’ll bet he can’t fuck like me, either.”
With that, she planted her lips on mine, kissing me deep. My body responded before my mind. I wrapped my arms around her, kissing her back, and then I realized what was going on. She had me in thrall with her emotions. Water elementals were incredibly seductive by their very nature. I pushed her away, shaking my head.
“No, Fata. Stop. I’m not ever going to be with you again. And I’m not sleeping with Ralph.”
Fata laughed. “Who said anything about sleeping?”
“You know what I mean. Let Ralph out of your thrall right now. He doesn’t deserve this. If you give a damn about me, even one little iota, stop using him as a pawn.” I was angry now, my fire rising in my belly.
“If I let him out of my control, will you love me?” Her red hair crackled with energy, the static electricity rising around the room.
“I will always love you, as my friend. Do you know why I told you I couldn’t return your love back then?”
Her eyes narrowed as she threw herself into a chair and crossed her legs, staring at me intently. “Does it matter? All I know is that you rejected me. I’ve torn ships apart on the ocean because of my anger at you. Do you realize how many deaths you’re to blame for?”
“It’s not my fault that you killed other people out of your anger. Don’t you dare try to put that blame on me. Fata, I rejected you because I knew that you and I would end up at each other’s throats. I was still in love with Tom. I loved you because you were my friend, and I cared about you. But I wasn’t in love with you. We had a wonderful time, carousing with Ralph’s kind. But I burned out on it. I needed something more.”
“You could have had something more with me.”
“How could that have ever worked? You and I are so different. We’re literally fire and water, and fire and water don’t mix. You were always the wild one, Fata. They called me Mad Maudlin, but that was only because they didn’t know who you really were. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But I needed a break. I needed something else. You aren’t the type to settle down. You’ll never be the type. I’m not being mean. I’m just being honest. You know you’re part water elemental. The Ocean Mother has changed you, she’s taken you in as a daughter, and that is a blessed thing.”
I wasn’t sure if I was getting through to her. Finally, I decided to end the staredown.
“Leave Ralph alone. And stop messing with the town. Make me happy to see you. Please, don’t make me regret that you’ve come back.” I strode out, praying she wouldn’t take her anger out on Ralph.
I was almost to my car when I heard her calling behind me.
“Maddy! Maddy? Please, Maddy, stop and talk to me.”
I turned around to see her running down the steps, hair askew. She was crying.
“What do you want? What can we possibly have to talk about?”
“I’m sorry,” she said, dropping to her knees. “I’m sorry that I angered you. Please, don’t walk away from me. It’s been so lonely in the ocean. At times I thought I’d go crazy. The Ocean Mother kept me locked up in her embrace. Oh, she talks to me, but she’ll never understand how lonely it can get.”
I wanted to break away, but the heartbreak in her voice was too much. I looked down at her, kneeling in the mud, and I began to cry, too.
“Maddy, I miss you so much. And I miss Sandy. I don’t know what comes over me. The anger wells up and then she—the Ocean Mother—encourages me to let it out. Then, I rage and riot, and break ships and send waves over islands. When I see what I’ve done, I can’t face myself, so I go back to sleep. I don’t want to hurt people but I don’t know how to stop. I don’t know how to be the person I’m becoming. Help me?”
My stomach lurched, my heart thudding in my chest. What the hell was I going to do? How could I help Fata Morgana learn how to control herself? I knelt and gathered her in my arms, kneeling in the mud as she pressed against me, weeping as though her life was ending.
I brushed her hair back out of her face and kissed her forehead. What I had said was true. I had never been in love with her, even though she had fallen for me. But I did love her. And when she had left, it had broken my heart that I had driven her away. I had carried the weight of that knowledge inside me, never wanting to face it, because it was something that I couldn’t fix. Sometimes, you can’t fix what you break.
“I don’t know how to help you, but we can try to figure it out. You have to control yourself, though. You have to stop messing with the town, and you have to stop manipulating people.” I pushed her back, staring into her eyes. “Will you promise me that? Will you promise to be on your best behavior while we try to figure out how to help you learn how to deal with this?”
“Yes,” she said, dipping her head. “I promise, on my oath. I promise on my blood. Just please, do what you can to help me. I don’t think I can live with myself if I have to go back into the ocean and stay there. And yet, she calls me and my blood responds.”
I gathered her to her feet. We were both covered with mud and soaked through to the skin.
“Wait here. I need to check on Ralph. I’ll be back in a moment, so don’t you go anywhere.”
She nodded, her eyes wide. I ran back inside to find Ralph looking confused, staring down at his open fly.
“Maddy, what happened? I can’t remember.”
“Zip your fly up, and go make yourself some coffee. Then, you probably want to go check on your brother at the hospital. I just dropped by to tell you I’m glad he’s going to make it. Keep a close watch on him, though, all right?”
Still looking dazed, he nodded and zipped up his pants, carefully tucking his penis back inside. “All right. Do you know why I was…” His gaze flickered to my face, and he blushed.
“You are probably just worried and trying to relieve some stress,” I said. “I’ll see you later.” I turned and dashed back outside. Fata was waiting right where I had left her, and I bundled her in my car and drove back home, wondering what the hell I was going to do to help her.
Chapter 14
I WASN’T CERTAIN where to take Fata. Of course, I could take her back to my place, but I wasn’t sure what good it would do. And then it hit me—Auntie Tautau’s. If she wouldn’t help me, I’d have to reconfigure my plan, but at least I could try.
Fata stared out the window as we sped along the road. The storm had backed off, though it still was buffeting the island with impressive gusts. She leaned her head against the seat.
“Are you happy with him?”
I thought about my answer. I wasn’t about to gloat in her face, given our past, but I had to be honest.
“I’m happier than I thought I could be. I’m happier than I’ve been with anybody, even Tom. And that’s saying something. I loved your cousin more than I loved anybody in this world,” I said. “But Aegis makes me happy, and he’s truly a good soul. Not all vampires are evil, so I’ve found out. Sometimes the world makes you wear a mask. My mother died a few months ago, Fata. Would it surprise you to know that I’m mourning her loss? Would you ever have believed me if I told you that I miss her and I wish she was still alive?”
She stirred. “Are you serious? About your mother, I mean?”
“I found out all too recently that Zara was living a lie imposed on her by Granny. I have a half-brother in England. We haven’t met yet. In fact, he’s supposed to call me when he processes the fact that I exist. Granny forced Zara to give him up when she was barely of age. My grandmother didn’t like Zara’s lover. So she
excised him and my brother out of my mother’s life. Zara had no choice, and everybody continued as if Gregory—my brother—never existed. I never knew until Zara came here a few months ago and told me she had Winter Syndrome, and that Gregory was her firstborn. And because of that, she always felt guilty for loving me. She felt like she was betraying him because she felt she had abandoned him. And in the short time she was here, we discovered that we actually did love each other. And then I lost her.”
I clutched the steering wheel, cautiously maneuvering the slick road. Traffic was light at this time of day, but I was so fresh off the vertigo and still so emotional about my mother that I didn’t trust myself. I eased over to a turnout that overlooked the ocean.
“I never knew. I would never have guessed. Your mother always seemed so distant and so critical.” Fata straightened up and turned to me. “I’m sorry for your loss. I’m sorry that you found out how you felt too late.”
“At least I found out soon enough to tell her I loved her. At least I found out in time to be able to say good-bye. But if I had turned away because I assumed she was just the bitch I always knew her as, I would never have found out about my brother. Or how Zara was treated. She wasn’t beaten, or battered, but she was emotionally manipulated and used. My father didn’t help. He knew about it, but he never wanted to talk about it or let her talk.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I suppose I’m saying,” I said, choosing my words carefully, “watch out when you assume things about others. Until the day I met Aegis, I thought most vampires were only out to kill. He broke my assumption. And a couple other vampires I’ve met on the island have also opened my eyes. Maybe they aren’t always the best or most ethical people they could be, but they’re a lot better than some of the mortals still walking around living. That’s why I want you to give him a chance.”
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