The Witch and the Werewolf

by Michele Hauf

  After making toast and coffee for breakfast, he took Charlie out to the patio to feed him his bottle. The day was bright and he actually felt pretty good, save for the twitch at the base of his spine. He prayed that did not indicate another unintentional shift. He generally didn’t feel it coming on until he was in the midst of it. Which gave him two or three seconds to get away from his son.

  Charlie giggled at a passing monarch butterfly that fluttered close to Lars’s hair. “Butterfly,” he said. “Can you say that?”

  Charlie burbled nonsense. And Lars hoped he’d get to hear his son say “Daddy” before life decided to up and leave him.

  A rustle in the lilac bushes verified what he’d just sensed. Mrs. Henderson stepped through the leaves and when she spied him gave a little wave. She carried a plate of some kind of baked good that Lars had no intention of turning down.

  “How are the Gunderson boys today?” she asked, handing Lars the plate.

  “We’re both chipper and eager to chase butterflies.”

  Charlie grasped out for Mrs. Henderson and she gave Lars a hopeful look. “Can I hold him?”

  “Sure.” He handed the boy over and the woman seemed to handle him well enough. Charlie was a little chunk and growing heavier by the day, but she propped him at her hip and pulled a face to make the boy laugh.

  So Lars peeled back the plastic wrap and dug in to the sliced banana bread.

  “It’s my grandmother’s recipe,” she said. “Uses cinnamon and walnuts. You don’t have a nut allergy, do you?”

  “I don’t think so. This is great. I might even save a piece for Mireio to try.”

  “Where is she today? Inside cooking?”

  “No, she’s...” He wasn’t going to tell the woman his wife was depressed because she’d consumed the blood from a vicious vampire. “Taking it easy today. I’ll tell her you stopped by.”

  “Oh, sure. This tyke is sure an adorable guy. Where’s his real mother?”

  Lars stopped midbite and swallowed awkwardly. So the woman just came out with the tough questions, eh? She wasn’t as unassuming and bat-brained as she made others believe.

  “Not in the country,” he offered, holding out his hands to take Charlie back. “I should go inside and see if Mireio needs help with the laundry.”

  “But I thought she was taking it easy?”

  Oops. “Thanks, Mrs. Henderson.”

  She stepped back slowly but didn’t make her way toward the hedges. “I could watch the boy while you run in to help your wife.”

  “No, we’re good. Aren’t we, Charlie?”

  The baby in his arms suddenly tilted back his head and let out a howl that would make any wolf pup sit up and howl back.

  “Well.” Mrs. Henderson pressed a hand to her chest. “That’s unusual.”

  “Heh. He’s making baby noises.” But Lars was so excited about the howl, he nearly knocked the table over when he stood. “See you later, Mrs. Henderson!”

  He rushed inside the house. Lars held up Charlie and the boy howled again. “That’s my boy! Mireio!”

  He ran up the stairs. His wife lay in bed, awake, but he suspected she wasn’t in any mood to actually rise and face the day.

  His excitement could not be contained. “Guess what Charlie did?”

  She shrugged and sighed.

  “He howled at Mrs. H! Howled! Just like a little wolf. He’s werewolf, Mireio. I know he is.”

  “That’s sweet.”

  “Aw, honey.” He sat on the edge of the bed and Charlie reached, trying to grab at her tangled hair. “You feel like lying around today?”

  She nodded.

  “Can I bring up something to eat? Some tea? Mrs. H brought over banana bread.”

  “Maybe later.”

  “Okay. You take all the time you need. I’m going to head to the lumber store today. Need to pick up drill bits. You want me to get you anything when I’m out?”

  She shook her head and turned her back to him.

  * * *

  At the sight of the blinking baby monitor, Lars set his hammer down. He’d considered asking Mireio to watch Charlie today while he worked on finishing the framing, but he hadn’t wanted to leave the baby with her since she was still in a funk. She had gotten out of bed this morning and made him breakfast, but she had still been in a robe and her hair had been uncombed when he’d decided to leave around eleven to work on the cabin.

  Had the immortality spell not worked? Had something gone wrong?

  Or was it as he suspected? She was feeling guilty over taking the vampire’s life to prolong her own.

  She should not feel that way. A vicious predator had been taken out of circulation. Yet, he couldn’t convince himself he’d had such a right to be judge, jury and executioner. That night, in the moment, he had wanted to kill the vampire out of a rage even before Mireio had reminded him she needed to take the heart. They were both responsible for that death.

  So why was he here now? He should be standing by his wife, giving her the hugs and compassion she needed. And in turn, he could get the same from her.

  Wow. He’d handled this one wrong. But he intended to fix it.

  Packing up his tools, he then found Charlie inside in his crib, bubbly and ready for a bottle. Instead of tucking him into the car seat right away, he let the boy roll around on the floor a bit while he reread the will he’d not taken a moment to look at it. Could he do it? Should he do it?

  “What do you think, Peanut?”

  The boy rolled over and burbled out bubbles, which was his latest trick. He took joy in the sounds the sputtering saliva made, and obviously the drooling mess.

  Lars swiped a cloth across Charlie’s chin and neck. He dropped the cloth as the numbness struck him suddenly. His feet and legs began to tingle, as well. The tingling traveled swiftly from his extremities and focused in his spine. So fast! He dropped to his back next to his son and closed his eyes. The numbness was coming on more often and swiftly now, and it seemed to travel toward his center, coalescing at his spine. He had learned that if he lay down and rode it out, it seemed to pass more quickly.

  He felt so helpless like this. If a man was going to die, he decided it would be better to be quick. Not debilitating or degenerative. This shit was nuts. He wasn’t a weak man. He was a vampire killer, damn it!

  Yeah, so maybe he’d had to prove something to himself by killing the vampire. Idiot. And look how the universe rewarded him?

  Stretching out an arm, he was able to nudge Charlie onto his back and the infant kicked and squealed, unaware his dad couldn’t pick him up if the world were ending.

  And with that thought, a tear spilled from Lars’s eye.

  * * *

  It had been three days since they’d killed the vampire. And Mireio had, supposedly, gained immortality. Physically, she didn’t feel any different. Except tired. But the fact she’d been moping about for days was probably the reason for that. So this morning after Lars had taken off for the cabin with Charlie in tow, she’d gotten up, taken a long bath with Epsom salts and rose quartz crystals, and then wandered out to the garden to pick some lavender. Then she cast a spell to lift her spirits and help her to see the goodness around her.

  Sometimes a person could get so mired in one detail that the wide, bright world surrounding them faded into the background. No longer. What had been done was done. She said a blessing to her mother’s soul and asked her for a blessing in return. And when the beeswax candle above the stove suddenly flickered to flame, Mireio got her answer.

  Her mother approved.

  And that was all she needed to lift her head and move forward.

  Thinking she might make something sweet for Lars as an apology for her funky mood, she paged through the recipe book she and her grandmother had cobbled together over
the years, but nothing leaped out at her.

  So when the door opened and Lars and baby entered carrying a little brown bag from Nothing Bundt Cakes, she was thankful the man was on the same page as her.

  “You’re up,” he noted as he situated Charlie in the highchair he’d bought the other day to keep here at the house. He then swung into the kitchen, swept the hair from her cheek and kissed her.

  His masculine, fresh-rain-in-the-forest smell drew her to tilt her head for another kiss. And another. And when he landed on her mouth, she turned against him and pulled him down to make it a long and luxurious kiss.

  “Wow,” he said when he pulled away. “I think you’re feeling better.”

  “Much. Sorry, but I think the enormity of what we did sort of whacked me off balance for a few days.”

  “I understand that.” He took her hands in his. “It affected me too.”

  “Oh, I know. I’ve been terrible to ignore you. What can I do for you?”

  “What’s done is done,” he said. “We both need to accept that. And if that’s too hard, I picked up something that might help.” He grabbed the paper bag and shook it. “Red velvet and chocolate chip.”

  “Oh, mercy. I’ll get the forks!”

  Half an hour later, they lay on the couch, naked, with bits of buttercream frosting on Mireio’s breast and in the crook of Lars’s elbow. Eating cake had started out innocently enough. Until Mireio had dropped some frosting down her shirt, and then... Well.

  On the floor, wide-awake in the baby carrier, Charlie gazed at the two of them with a wonder that widened his eyes.

  “We’ll have to stop having sex in front of the legume,” Mireio said.

  “Agreed. But we can always eat cake in front of him.”

  They clinked forks together. “Deal.”

  * * *

  A shower to remove frosting and cake crumbs was necessary. Afterward, Mireio dried off with the towel and tossed it over Lars’s head. He wiggled his butt and then tugged it off and winked at her.

  “I hope you don’t mind, but I’m going to meet the girls tonight for a gab session.”

  “Sounds like what you need.”

  “Why are you so good to me?”

  “Because I love you. Because it’s easy to want to please you. Because you’re the cutest, tiniest witch I know. Because Charlie loves you. Because—”

  She pressed her fingers to his lips. “Okay, I get it. You love me. I love you. We’re one big happy family. Do you want me to make you something to warm up for supper before I leave?”

  “No, I’m good. I can manage a few things by myself. I’ve survived this long.”

  “Indeed, you have.”

  “You could bring home a growler of the oatmeal stout, if you like. I love that stuff.”

  “That’s the only brew I never put a spell on.”

  He winked at her. “You’ve already bewitched me. Spells aren’t necessary.”

  “No, I suppose not,” she said, but her mind rushed to the plans she had. A spell would be very necessary.

  Chapter 29

  Eryss had returned from California but had left her six-month-old with Dane. He was flying into Minneapolis in a week. So the party was held in her conservatory. It was two stories high, designed all of glass panes and resembled a Victorian garden house. It had been damaged last year when a fire had started in her kitchen and Dane had broken through the glass to run in and rescue her. But the repairs made it look as if nothing had happened, and the lush plants and real grass carpeting the floor flourished. There were even dragonflies flitting about among the flowers and crystal grids.

  Geneva snapped her fingers, invoking her fire magic, which set the candles sitting on the coffee table to flame, yet the flames hung suspended above the wicks. She winked at Mireio. That’s how she liked to do it.

  Valor’s air magic floated those candles above their heads as if in a candelabra. And Eryss’s earth magic had sprouted mushrooms about the emerald velvet sofa where they sat. Mireio’s water magic spilled a fine mist over the flowers behind them, which released lush, heady scents.

  Eryss tilted back the pink and purple drink Valor had mixed for all of them. “Mercy! What is in this stuff?”

  Valor winked. “Faery dust. They’re called Dust Bombs. I got the recipe from a witch in Paris.”

  “Seriously?” Mireio dabbed the sparkling surface of her drink with a fingertip. “What do you have to do to get the ingredients? Give your man a squeeze to get it out?” she asked. “Wait. No. I don’t think I want to know the answer to that one.”

  Geneva hooted. “Faeries expel dust when they come. So we all know how she got this stuff!”

  Mireio considered her drink for a moment. Kelyn had...? No, better not to think about the collection method. She tilted back another swallow and smiled so widely her cheeks were beginning to hurt. “To faeries!” She lifted her glass, and the other women joined in the toast. “Long may they sparkle!”

  “And to wild and wolfy men,” Geneva said with a wink. Then she sighed dramatically. She’d broken up with her rustic fellow a few weeks earlier. Truly, his checkbook hadn’t had a chance with her expectations.

  Valor plopped her head onto Geneva’s shoulder. “We need to hook you up, girlfriend.”

  Eryss, lying on the couch nursing her drink much more slowly than the others said, “Yeah, but none of us knows any millionaires.”

  “I prefer billionaires,” Geneva replied haughtily. Mireio downed the last of her drink. “We need music!”

  “I got it!” Eryss snapped her fingers. “Music!”

  Panic! At the Disco filled the room with an erratic yet bouncy beat. Geneva bobbed her head and performed a hand jive.

  “So Geneva needs a billionaire,” Valor said. “And I’ve got myself a delicious faery man.”

  “Is it true what they say about faeries and their wings during sex?” Mireio asked.

  “Oh, hell yeah. When I touch his wings...” Valor mocked a shiver and exaggerated it into a lolling collapse back into the couch.

  “Tell us about werewolves,” Geneva coaxed. “Have you ever fucked your husband in werewolf form?”

  “Not yet. But maybe someday. I will never rule it out.”

  “That sounds creepy.” Geneva tilted back the rest of her drink.

  “I think it sounds like an adventure.” Eryss winked at Mireio.

  “You need more faery dust.” Geneva stood up to gather more drinks, but she wobbled and landed back on the couch among giggles.

  “So tomorrow night, ladies?” Mireio asked. “That’ll give us time to sleep off the hangovers we all know we’ll have in the morning. I hope you have room on your bed, Eryss, because I’m not going anywhere tonight.”

  “Last time I remember sharing a bed with you, you kicked me onto the floor in the middle of the night.”

  “Then lay down some pillows on the floor. Lars loves me for my bed-hoarding proclivities.”

  “That’s a big word for such a very drunk and tiny witch,” Geneva said.

  And all four of them burst out in laughter.

  * * *

  Lars drove up to the cabin. He’d dropped Charlie off with Sunday, who had asked him again about the will. He’d said he was still thinking it over and she’d frowned. He was beginning to get annoyed that the woman was trying to take away his son. And while he knew Sunday was kind and only had the best intentions, she was making it easier for him to sway toward making sure Mireio got full parental custody of his child.

  But first he had to get Charlie’s mom to sign the paperwork. Sunday had actually found a friend living near the address listed on the birth certificate, and he’d given Sunday the email address where they could reach Charlie’s mom. She agreed to sign the adoption papers without question and woul
d sign and scan the documents he sent her way, then send them back to him.

  A black Firebird and a Prius were parked before the cabin. He wasn’t sure who those vehicles belonged to, but he would guess Mireio’s witchy friends. Mireio hadn’t come home until nine in the morning. She’d texted him last night that she was too drunk to drive. Had they carried the party over here?

  Hopping out of the truck and hitching up his jeans, he realized they were looser than usual. He was always rucking them up of late. Was he losing weight? Mireio had been feeding him well, and he always ate like a horse. Was his body somehow protesting? Hell, he didn’t want to think about it. So long as he could walk and use his hands and not wince at the ever-present pain that seemed to clench his spine, he would call that a good day.

  Wandering up to the front door, he paused when he heard the female laughter around back. Were they out by the hives? Hmm... Better go say hello to the wife and check out what the witches were getting into. Because with a crew of witches gathered together? Something had to be up.

  They stood near the entrance to the woods, not far from the hives. Lars wandered over cautiously, not wanting them to see him until he was sure he wasn’t sneaking up on anything. Witches were supposed to gather and get skyclad and cast spells. And he did owe the flirty one for seeing him naked. Hmm...

  Mireio placed something on the ground. Valor sprinkled sparkly stuff into the air. The one with the dark hair that he remembered seeing that first night he’d met Mireio in the taproom must be Eryss. She was lighting candles. And the fourth, the witch with the wandering eye for his privates, spun in a circle with a crystal wand held high.

  Enchanting the forest creatures this day? Must be some kind of wacky spell. Wonder when they’d all get skyclad? This might require he watch a bit longer.

  Leaning against the back wall of the bathroom, Lars crossed his arms and watched, for only a few seconds, before Geneva let out a chirp and clapped her hands, alerting her friends to his presence.