Precarious Possessions (Maxwell Investigations)

by Dawn Ibanez

  “I guess this was a bad way for Dennis to pick at Madison,” Crispin observed. He looked out of the window knowing that his wife was just on the other side of the wall. “They’ve been at each other’s throats ever since she was a child.”

  Troy was silent as he mixed his ingredients together. Madison seemed like she enjoyed the French toast he made her. At least before it ended up on the floor. As he added cinnamon to his mix, he looked at Crispin. “What could possibly happen when she was a child that could carry on this long?”

  Crispin chuckled. “Dennis came to New York to meet with my father. During the full moon Madison saw his Wolf. The next morning she dared to ask how such an unkempt man could change into such a pretty puppy.”

  Troy laughed before he could stop himself. Even he knew that Dennis was vain about his appearance. Never mind the fact that being called a puppy was a huge insult. “How old was she?” Troy asked.

  “I think she was seven.” Crispin smiled in memory. “He cursed her as the most disrespectful hellion. Too bad he didn’t know that she would turn into a disrespectful hellion that managed to get the respect of just about everyone in the Council on her own merit.” Green eyes then turned to Troy. “If you ever decide to lead a Pack, she would be an Alpha like no other.”

  A fond smile crossed Troy’s face as he moved to the stove. He figured Madison for a damned fine Alpha Female the first night he met her, but he wasn’t going to tell Crispin that. Instead, he focused on the pan in his hand. “Do you want any?” he asked.

  Crispin nodded as Dylan came out of her hiding place. “Sure. And meanwhile you can tell us about your family.”

  * * * * *

  Madison quickly grabbed a shower and dressed. Troy was supposed to be getting something to eat, but she had a feeling he and Crispin were doing the whole “Male-Bonding” thing.

  A slow breath escaped her as she went over to her window seat. It didn’t surprise her that Casper was leaning against a tree near the house. A muse escaped her as she opened the window. “I’m not reenacting the balcony scene,” she said sitting down on the ledge.

  Casper smiled sadly. They had come a long way from his tutoring her in Shakespeare. “I’m sorry Pixie, what I said was uncalled for.”

  “It was,” she agreed. “And I don’t know if I can just say it’s okay. You know I take pride in my boys. For you to try and say that I don’t care was worse than a slap to the face.”

  He nodded and tried to breathe. “I know and I hate to say it but I wanted you to hurt as much as I was. As I am.”

  Madison lowered her head. “I’m sorry, I can’t love you,” she told him. “I’ll beat the shit out of anyone that hurts you.” When he looked at her, she shook her head slowly. “But it can’t be me.”

  “I know.” With ease Casper jumped up to her window and climbed onto the seat with her. “But God I wish it could.” He caressed her face and fought tears as she lowered her head. “Tell your Wolf that if he hurts you, he’ll answer to me.”

  A weak smile crossed her face. “You’ll have to race Father, Dylan and Crispin.” She laughed when he rolled his eyes. After a moment she looked at him with serious eyes. “I don’t need you to fight me on this Cas. I really want to give this one a chance.”

  A pained sigh escaped him. He hated knowing that the woman he wanted was going to be the woman he couldn’t have, and to make things worse she wanted a Wolf. “Alright. No more fighting you,” he said. He then rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll play nice from now on. Promise.”

  Madison snorted. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

  Casper grinned as he looked into her smirking face. “I never said we’d be BFFs or anything. Just that I’d be nice.”

  Madison laughed as she did the only thing she would think of to put their friendship back on track.

  She pushed Casper out of the window.

  Chapter 7-

  Barry frowned as he looked at the bodies in front of him. The photos did not prepare him for the actual sight of the dead, dehydrated people lying on the slabs. He took a slow breath and rubbed his nose as he was trying to clear the stench of the room from his nose.

  Another man stood to the side wearing a frown. “This is just nasty man,” he said shaking his head.

  Barry turned and looked at his partner, Thorne Thornton. “It’s gotta be done.” Years ago Barry explained the existence of magic and various other paranormal entities. For a Norm, Thorne had taken it all very well. After about a week of hiding in his house, and an almost attack by a rabid fairy, he was more than willing to believe. “Madi can’t come here. So that leaves it all to me.”

  Thorne frowned. He still didn’t know the inner workings of the weirdness that surrounded the Maxwell family. “So you’re going to try to raise the dead?” he asked.

  Barry slowly nodded. “That is the game plan.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small knife. “And once they’re conscious, then we can ask them what happened.”

  Thorne shook his head. While part of him was amazed by what his friend could do, there was a larger part of him that understood the need for secrecy. If word about bringing murder witnesses back from the dead got out, the number of body mutilation cases would go on the rise. For the ones that could actually bring the bodies back, they would instantly paint a target on their backs. Thorne leaned against the wall behind him as Barry cut into the palm of his own hand and allowed the blood to well up.

  Barry silently prayed that he got the words right. “Of my body, be revived. Of my flesh, breathe once again,” he said as he poured the blood welling in his hand into the mouth of one of the carcasses.

  Thorne stood silent as Barry repeated the simple process with the other two slabs in the room. He frowned as the room slowly seemed to darken. Thorne could feel the heavy presence of Magic surrounding them both. Something was going to happen, and he was pretty sure that it wasn’t going to be good.

  Barry slowly inhaled as he held his hand over the last victim’s mouth. Nothing was happening so far. He didn’t know if he hadn’t given them enough blood, or if there was something else he was missing. Just as he was about to turn away, a pair of gnarled hands grabbed at his wrist and brought his hand down to cutting teeth.

  When Barry screamed out, Thorne instantly drew his gun. “Tell me this isn’t normal,” he ordered. Over the years, he and Barry had a system. If this was out of Barry’s realm, then Thorne was going to do whatever he could to get his partner out of trouble.

  Brown eyes were beginning to glaze over as Barry looked at one of the few men he would ever trust. “This is definitely not normal.” His eyes rolled to the back of his head.

  Thorne wasted no time. He unloaded the clip of his gun into the creature’s forehead. When the cadaver was lying prone on the slab again, he ran over to Barry and felt for a pulse. When he found one, he started to lift his partner into a fireman’s carry. “Let’s get the fuck out of here,” he whispered before leaving and locking the medical room.

  * * * * *

  Madison opened the front door of her house and smiled when she saw Aiden and Kayin. “Did you have fun with Grandfather?” she asked as she hugged both of her sons.

  Aiden beamed as he kissed her cheek. “Becca showed us how to make éclairs.”

  Kayin looked down the driveway where Victor was still helping Lacey out of the limo. “I think Grandfather wants to marry Becca,” he whispered.

  Madison smiled as she turned her eyes to Victor. “Now boys, you know that you are not supposed to talk like that in front of Grandfather. He’s too old to take a hint you know.”

  Aiden smiled as he looked over Madison’s shoulder and saw Troy. “Daddy!” he cheered before leaving his mother’s arms and running over to the tall man he only met last night.

  Troy lifted his son up into his arms and smiled. “Hey Squirt,” he laughed. This was the one that smiled and easily welcomed him. According to what Madison told him, this would be Aiden.

  Kayin looked at
Troy and frowned at his mother. “Is he our daddy?” he asked her.

  Madison lifted Kayin into her arms and hugged him. “Yes, my little devil, this is your father. And I expect you to be nice to him.”

  Victor entered the house with Lacey and closed the door. “Kayin and I have already had that talk my dear,” he said with a nod to Troy.

  Lacey carried a bag over to Troy and smiled. “We brought this for you, Uncle Troy,” she said happily. “They’re cinnamon rolls and other pastries from Éclair’s.”

  Madison laughed as she watched the smile on Troy’s face. Lacey had just won over another male heart. She shook her head and started for the deck where Crispin and Dylan were relaxing. “So what are the plans for the rest of the day?” she asked looking over at Victor.

  The elder Vampire looked at her for a long moment. “Now that you and the boys are out of danger, I was going to see about that trip I was telling you about.”

  Madison’s lips thinned as she put Kayin down. “Go to your father.” When he frowned, she lightly tapped his nose. “Now,” she said gently. She waited for Kayin to run off before turning to Victor. “You’re leaving?”

  Victor shrugged. “For a while,” he said a wave of his hand. “A year, maybe ten. Who knows?” He noticed the way Madison frowned at him and scoffed. “I asked you and the boys to come with me, and you said no.”

  She mimicked his scoff perfectly. “That was before I knew you were really leaving.” She then looked into his green eyes. “Is this because of what the kids said?” she asked. “Is there something going on between you and Rebecca?”

  Victor glared at Madison and hated the fact that it didn’t scare her the way he did others. He did too well raising her. “Rebecca is none of your concern.”

  Madison rolled her eyes. “Which means Kayin was right and you do want to marry her,” she said dryly. When his glare intensified, she crossed her arms in challenge. “And not only do you find her attractive, you want to leave before you can act on that attraction. You want her to live a nice and normal life without our world disrupting hers.”

  “What makes you so sure of that?” Victor asked.

  Madison rolled her eyes and held up a single finger. “I was with Pan for about a year and a half. He hired a nanny named Emily. She was completely human with knowledge that magic existed, but not Vampires and the like. You moved to New York, and soon after, Emily left never to come back, and you took over raising me.”

  Victor frowned. Emily was a beautiful young woman that was a trying to make a living as a governess. He found a lovely family in Paris for her to work for and set up a meeting. She found a nice husband who was a low level Mage and had two lovely children. “That doesn’t mean anything.”

  Madison ticked off another finger. “And then there was Amy,” Madison continued. “She was there when Antonio was attacked and while you changed him, you paid for all of her medical bills from that night. You also made Crispin give her a job. When you started to become infatuated with her, we went to Japan for the summer and when we came back, she was transferred to Austria.” Madison saw the way Victor frowned and turned his gaze away from her. He never realized that she kept such a close eye on what he did, and he was torn between being angry and being impressed. “So what are you going to do now? Leave and then send Rebecca to study under Gordon Ramsey or something?”

  Victor stayed silent knowing that both Crispin and Dylan were probably listening to their entire conversation. After a moment, he looked at the woman that was his daughter in every way but blood. “You are an annoying little know-it-all,” he hissed. When she laughed, he shook his head. “I do not know what I would do with Rebecca,” he admitted. “She does want to go to culinary school. I was thinking about keeping her here in the States and have her study under the Ace of Cakes.”

  Madison laughed as she hugged Victor. The Vampire’s sweet-tooth always seemed to show through, “You’ll do no such thing. She can stay right where she is.”

  Troy walked over to where Victor and Madison stood and stared into Victor’s eyes. “Thank you, for taking care of the boys for so long.” When Victor nodded, he held his hand out for Madison. “I don’t know if she told you, we’re going to… try to have a relationship.”

  Victor’s eyebrow arched. As far as Troy was concerned, all they were missing were the rings. Considering the younger man was a mated Wolf, he was correct. He was just putting up appearances for Madison’s sake. Something for which Victor could grow to like him. “Well,” he said regally, “knowing Madison the way I do, you may need me to stick around.”

  Madison’s eyes narrowed. “And why is that Father?” she asked with a tight smile.

  The former ruler was going to enjoy this. “My dear, Troy will do something sickeningly romantic and you are going to run. I will have to be here to help him catch you.” He smiled as her hackles started to rise. “Besides, if you think to tease me about Rebecca, then think of this as turnabout.”

  Madison couldn’t contain her laughter as she hid her face in Troy’s shoulder. “Bloodsucking Bastard,” she mumbled.

  Victor only waved his hand as he walked down the hall. “I love you too, my dear.”

  Troy looked at Madison and shook his head. “That has to be one of the strangest conversations I’ve ever listened in on.”

  She smiled as she looked up into his face. “This one was pretty tame,” she admitted. “Sometimes they can be worse.” She reached up on her toes and kissed him. As she pulled away, a thought occurred to her. “Tell me about your family,” she said quickly then rethought her request. “Your mother and stepfather.”

  Troy smiled as she started to lead him to the deck. “They both still live in Alexandria,” he started. “Mom’s a DA and Dad’s an OB/GYN.” He paused when Madison froze up. “Are you okay?”

  Madison stood with her mouth open for a few moments then swore. “I hate your father.”

  Troy frowned as he followed her. “What are you talking about?” he asked as she picked up and started to dial. “Who are you calling?”

  Madison smiled evilly and winked at Troy. “You manipulative son of a bitch,” she said when Dennis answered the phone.

  Troy hid a smile. That seemed to be her favorite slur to Wolves… but really, it wasn’t one. His smile then faded when he started to listen to what she was saying.

  “I should have put it all together. Really, I should have. You had me go to a doctor that you trusted. The same doctor that had the same last name as a woman I worked with for years. You had me around his family this whole time and didn’t even tell me.”

  Troy’s smile was completely gone as he listened to his father try to come up with some excuse. With a deep frown, he reached over and took the phone from Madison’s grip. “I’ll deal with you later,” he said before hanging up. He then looked at his mate. “You know my mother?” he asked. When she slowly nodded, he swallowed. “Does she know about the boys?”

  Madison’s eyes went round for a moment. She remembered something Dennis said about Belle having a nervous breakdown when she discovered he was a Wolf. She held onto Troy’s hand and walked over to the sofa. “She’s seen them,” Madison answered. “When she asked who their father was, I told her that I doubted it would be anyone she knew.”

  Troy could see the humor in that as well. Without meaning to do so, Madison let his mother see her grandchildren. He looked at their entangled hands and lifted them up to his lips for a kiss. “Well, we’ll be able to tell her the truth.” He then frowned at the thought of telling her about Werewolves and magic in general. “Maybe not all of it,” he amended.

  Madison laughed softly as she caught on to his train of thought. “I think she would freak if she found out that Aiden will be able to raise the dead. She doesn’t need to know that.”

  Troy looked at her. “You know that they’re Mages?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “I know how to read Magic signatures,” she said easily. “Anyone can do it if they try.” When he continu
ed to look at her, she shrugged. “Aiden is going to be a Necromancer, like me. Kayin is his twin and counter balance. So he’s going to be a Healer.”

  Troy couldn’t help but chuckle. The boy with the open heart will be the one that deals with Death. He then looked at Madison. “We’re gonna raise good boys,” he told her.

  Madison felt the wall around her heart crack a little more. He was still thinking that he would stay with her through everything. Little did he realize, everyone that loved her found some way to leave her. Without a word she leaned forward and kissed him deeply. Madison relished the groan that escaped him as she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. It only took a moment before his arms went around her body like steel bands. It was another moment before they were interrupted.

  “Mommy and Daddy sitting in a tree,” Kayin and Aiden sang. “K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”

  Madison turned to look at her boys with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “You finish that song and I’ll kiss you two next,” she threatened.

  Kayin’s eyes widened before he turned and ran down the hall. Aiden giggled before going after his brother.

  Troy laughed as he hugged her. “Do I want to know where they learned that?” he asked.

  Her eyes rolled. “I have a foster son, Alex.” She waited for his eyes to narrow and was surprised when he simply nodded. “Well, he probably said that a couple of times about Dylan and Crispin.”

  “Uh huh,” Troy said skeptically. From her tone, she was the one that would sing it in front of Dylan and Crispin. She was placing blame on an innocent teenager. He gently tugged on a lock of her hair and chuckled. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

  She laughed and tried to hide her face in his chest. It was amazing how well they fit against each other. “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it,” she giggled.

  Before Troy could reply, the front doorbell rang. Both he and Madison straightened and went to the door. They could only stare as a human came into her house carrying her brother on his shoulder. It took Madison a moment to remember his name. “Thorne?” she asked.