by Sonja Bair
He moved his kisses from my mouth, down my neck, and to the small hollow between my neck and chest. I arched my head back as pleasure rippled through me. He used his body to press me toward the floor, all the time kissing and tenderly nipping at my neck.
The door leading out to my back patio creaked open and a pair of high-heeled footsteps echoed through the kitchen. There was the clunk of an overly stuffed purse being dropped on my counter.
“Freya? Where are you? Are you in the bathroom?” The all-too-familiar voice calling through the house instantly broke the moment. I scrambled off Alrik and grabbed at the towel which had mysteriously moved to the corner of the bathroom. Alrik dropped his head into his hands and groaned.
“I thought we were too old to get caught by your mother,” he said, combing his fingers through his hair.
I secured the towel as tight as I could under my arms and shushed him. “Quiet. Maybe she won’t figure out you are in here. And I don’t think getting caught has anything to do with age. I think it has to do with leaving the doors unlocked.”
My mother called out again as she approached the bathroom. “Where’s Alrik? He said he was going to be here tonight.”
I pulled open the bathroom door just enough to slip out. “Hi Mom,” I said. “I was getting out of the shower. I’m sure Alrik is close by. He knows that trouble always finds me.”
I thought I heard a snicker from behind me, but I sincerely hoped that it was my imagination and not something that my mom would have heard. I wanted her out of here as soon as possible, and then I would deal with the mess I had made. Alrik didn’t seem to be on my same wavelength. The bathroom door swung open behind me and out he strolled.
“Hello, Alma. I am indeed close by.”
I sighed at both Alrik’s lack of subtly toward my mother and the subtle manipulation of me.
My mother stopped in her tracks. She looked at Alrik. She looked back at me and examined my attire—or lack of attire. She turned back to Alrik, noting, undoubtedly the big wet spot on his leg. It wouldn’t take a PhD to figure out that the wet spot came from my head. But my mother did, in fact, have a PhD, so I’m pretty sure she made the connection.
“Hm,” she said in a noncommittal tone. “Well, I’m glad you are around, Alrik. Making sure that Freya is... safe…” She turned to me. “Put on some clothes. I need to talk to you.”
“Mother,” I said in a tone which I hoped would convey a maturity level commiserate with my age, “I have had an eventful day. I would love to talk to you later, but now I’m tired and I want to go to sleep.”
My mom crossed her arms and gave me the Ambassador Alma look. Luckily, I had grown up on the receiving end of the look many times and it didn’t impress or scare me much.
“In the grand scheme of things, does it matter if we talk tomorrow morning instead of right now?” I asked in a firm voice.
My mother glanced at Alrik, and I could see her brain turning. I didn’t know what she thought about the current state of affairs between Alrik and me, but I could see her come to decision that she had wrecked any mood between us tonight. Again, I wasn’t sure if she thought that was good or bad. She played those cards very close to her chest. Abruptly, she pivoted back to the kitchen and grabbed her purse.
“I’ll talk to you both tomorrow. I will need your assistance with some of the follow-up with the Sun/Moon tribe,” she said over her shoulder on the way to the door. The door swung closed behind her and clicked into place with precision, her version of slamming it. And now I had to face Alrik. I took a deep breath, but he beat me to the punch.
“Goodnight, Freya. Let’s talk in the morning.” He caught my gaze and held it for a moment. “Detta är bra, Freya.” This is good, Freya. He gave a small nod accompanied with a hint of a smile and headed to the living room. He grabbed the two pocket doors separating the living room from the small dining room and pulled them together, forming his makeshift bedroom. I was now as alone as I could be in the current situation.
Although I had told my mother I was too tired to talk, I knew that sleeping was out of the question. My brain would run like a hamster on a wheel until I went crazy. I grabbed a book that I had started after I came home from the hospital. It was on all the best-seller lists right now, but I hadn’t been able to get into the story yet. I sat down in the one somewhat-comfortable chair in the dining room, which was located in front of Alrik’s computer. I curled my legs tailor-style under me and opened to the last page I had read. I managed to get through a page and a half before I realized I hadn’t comprehended a single word.
I put the book down and sighed. One problem at a time. Okay, Freya, what is the problem that is bothering you most? I had watched three people die today. That was the biggest problem. I put my head down on the desk, my arms cradling on either side. I let the sorrow wash over me. My cheeks were soon wet with tears.
***
It took me a couple hours, but I eventually cried myself to sleep. The sun streaming into my eyes was my alarm clock. Sometime in the night, I had gotten the energy up to move from the desk to my bed, but my back was still sore from the hunched position I had started in. I opened my eyes and stretched my arms over my head, feeling my spine pop a few times. Last night’s troubles crept into my mind, but the light of the day removed some of the horror.
I slid my legs over the edge of my bed and propped myself up. Today was Saturday, not that it mattered much since I still had another week of sick leave left. Physically, I was almost completely healed from the chlorine gas incident, but a normal person wouldn’t be. It would be suspicious to turn up at school again so soon. Or so I told myself. Nonetheless, Saturdays still have a magical aura of freeness about them. Maybe I would see if Elin wanted to go to the beach today. My cell phone rang. Mom. I sighed. Somehow, I had forgotten about her visit last night.
“Good morning, Mom,” I said. “Do you want to come over for breakfast and we can talk? I can make us breakfast.”
“Will you and Alrik both be wearing clothes?” She asked in a nearly innocent voice.
“Ha ha.” I said, grabbing a hooded sweatshirt and pulling it on while cradling the phone between my head and shoulder. “You are hilarious. I’m going to make omelets.”
She promised to be there in a few minutes.
I wandered out to the dining room. Alrik was up and on the computer already. I briefly looked over his shoulder. It seemed to be lines of code, so I kept moving. He finished a few keystrokes and turned to look at me.
“My mother is coming over in a few minutes. I’m making omelets for breakfast. What do you want in yours?” I asked.
“I don’t care,” he said, shrugging a shoulder.
“That is not an answer. Have an opinion,” I replied in a huff. Indecisiveness bothered me.
“Whatever you put in it, try not to include anything that will make you think of what happened last night. I wouldn’t actually want you to acknowledge the situation,” he said with an eyebrow cocked up.
Touché. “Why is everyone suddenly a comedian this morning?” I asked under my breath. Alrik stood up and walked toward me. I moved into the kitchen.
“So you really are going to ignore what happened?” he asked, following me. “Last night, you didn’t seem impassionate about the subject. You seemed rather passionate, actually.” He followed me into the kitchen.
I opened the refrigerator door, paused, and shut it. I turned to him. “My brain was scrambled last night. My body was acting by itself. My unscrambled brain doesn’t know what to think.”
He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms, not saying anything for a few moments. Eventually, he got around to responding. “Okay, I’ll take it that your instincts are saying yes but your stubbornness needs time to catch up.”
I let out a frustrated huff, reopened the fridge, and started grabbing supplies. “That is not what I said at all, Alrik. How about tomatoes, mushrooms, and cheddar cheese?”
“Do you have any Surströmming?” he answ
ered.
I nearly gagged at the mere mention of the fermented herring. When I first visited Sweden, all my relatives excitedly gave me a plate of it, straight from the can. They regaled me with stories of its extensive history and place in Swedish culture. The odor wafting from the plate was so bad that I couldn’t breathe through my nose without choking. But my aunts kept pushing the plate toward me, insisting that to be a Swede of any sort, I had to try it. I managed to choke down a small piece. My relatives watched me intently. I tried to smile, but it came out weak. Mysteriously, all my family burst out laughing. Turns out nobody likes Surströmming. Swedes love to hate Surströmming. It’s an odd point of national pride.
“No. They seemed to be out of it at the grocery store,” I said.
“Okay, then I’ll take the tomatoes, mushrooms, and cheese.”
I was cooking the second omelet by the time my mother arrived. The first was warming in the oven.
“I talked extensively with the Sun/Moon tribe last night.” My mother jumped right into the topic without any preliminary niceties. But that was the way she was. She softened her businesslike tone by giving me a warm hug. “The death of two couples is a major loss for them, especially after the decades of persecution under the communist government of China. Both Jia and Qiang and the Yus were large parts of the reconciliation going on. It’s a rough road ahead of them. The only silver lining of this is that their leaders are now very interested in getting USN support. I’m pretty sure the silver lining wasn’t worth the cost, though.”
I agreed wholeheartedly and she continued, “I’ve set them up with a contact at the USN to introduce them to the services and help we can provide. But, Freya, I was thinking that you may be a better person for the job. I know you don’t want to be part of the...”
I held up a hand to stop her. “Actually, I’ve been thinking I may want to start pitching in at the USN again, although I’m not quitting my day job and I’m not moving back to Chicago.”
My mother was speechless for a second. I congratulated myself for both doing the right thing and catching her so utterly off guard. But she regrouped in a matter of seconds. “Good. When we talk to the Sun/Moon tribe today, you can explain that side of things.”
She turned to Alrik. “The Elders called me last night when they couldn’t get in contact with you. The Gustafsson and Lindström families are still at each others’ throats. Yesterday, the two families met with the regional Arbitrator with no success, and now the situation is almost coming to blows. You need to get back as soon as possible.”
Alrik nodded slightly. “I got the voicemail. However, Freya still has the threat of the werewolf Alphas. I’m not leaving her until that is solved.”
I started to protest at Alrik’s overprotectiveness, but my mother talked over my complaints. “The situation back in Sweden can’t wait. There are too many Alva involved, and more are starting to take sides. So I have spoken with David. He, Pedro, and Philip will keep Freya under constant watch until they can take care of Maria and Robert.”
Great. I was going from one babysitter to three. I spoke up. “Let me remind everyone that last night, Alrik, David, Philip, and Pedro were all in the bar with me, but I still ended up getting attacked. And I defended myself successfully. I also ran into Robert in the woods and defended myself successfully. And I saved myself and David from the burning church. This bodyguard bit doesn’t seem to be working.”
Alrik glared at me. “It would work if you would listen to us and not wander off by yourself and get into trouble.”
My temper flared and I could feel my cheeks get bright red. “I didn’t wander off by myself; I was kicked out because you and David had to have yet another pissing contest! Was there a winner? Did you decide who was the bigger, badder man?”
Alrik crossed his arms and leaned against the counter. His face went deathly still. Some storms are all sound and fury, signifying nothing. Other storms build and build until they reach apocalyptic proportions. I know from experience the latter was Alrik.
“You bring trouble on yourself, Freya.” His voice was pitched low and rumbly. “Somehow, something you do attracts danger. But that doesn’t mean you should purposely hang around people who will encourage it. And David is danger.”
“No, you are wrong. I don’t bring trouble on myself.” My voice rose louder and louder until I was shouting. I slammed the omelet spatula down on the counter, flinging bits of tomatoes onto the wall. “I help people. And sometimes people get into trouble and I help them with that, too. And don’t think you can change the subject. We were talking about your issues with David.”
“You better believe I have an issue with David. He thinks that just because some mystical nonsense decided that you were his mate, he can drag you right into the middle of a werewolf civil war.” Alrik took a step toward me, somehow conveying a sense of possession and danger in that single motion.
I had forgotten about my mother, but she quietly stepped between the two of us and held her hands out to separate us. Her voice was soft, almost so soft that I couldn’t make out her words. The part of my brain not fogged in anger recognized the trick she was using. It’s the old one that teachers use with unruly kids. For some reason, when things are out of control, using a quiet voice makes people stop and listen. Don’t ask me why, but it works.
“Alrik,” she said. “I understand that you are upset, and you have a right to feel that way. But let me provide a different perspective.” She paused, looking between Alrik and me, making sure that we were both under control enough to listen to her. It took a few seconds for the tension in the air to ratchet down a level, and then she continued. “Not so long ago, people communicated through letters that would take weeks or months to reach across the country. Communicating with someone across the world was basically impossible. Now we can video chat with people on the other side of the world in real time. That’s a lot of change for any society.” She sighed in a tone that expressed that she might have been a little overwhelmed by the change herself and then continued.
“But now, consider supernaturals. We have had a tenuous place in society to begin with, and for the vast majority of history, our survival depended on the world’s ignorance of the extent of supernatural existence. That ignorance is rapidly disappearing. No matter what tricks we use, people throughout the world are talking and sharing information and questioning whether or not those old myths were really myths. It’s scary for a lot of supernaturals.”
She paused. I had no idea where she was going with this explanation, so I waited while she studied me for a long, uncomfortable moment. Just as I was about to start squirming, she said, “Freya, for better or worse, helps people. It’s part of her nature. So we have a perfect storm at this point. Some supernaturals, out of fear or anger, are striking out and creating havoc. Freya, because of my connection to the USN, among other reasons, has come into contact with a lot of these supernaturals with issues. And like she said, she helps them. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes it goes poorly.” She held out her finger and pointed it sternly at me. “That doesn’t give you license to seek out trouble. But it explains why you get into trouble so much.” The accusatory finger dropped to her side and she smiled. “And why you change people’s lives for the better so much.” She turned back to Alrik.
“Freya isn’t trying to hurt you. And David isn’t trying to hurt you, either. He is caught in this mess as much as anyone and from what I have seen, he is trying to act nobly. So if you trust Freya, trust her in this situation. It is a core part of who she is. If you try to change that, you are trying to change her. And trust me—that never, ever works out.”
My mother, the most demonstrative Swede I have ever known, reached up and grabbed Alrik’s head between her hands. She pulled him down to her level and kissed him on the forehead. “You are a good boy. You, too, take care of the people you love. I am proud of you. Now, go do what you do best and settle this nonsense between Edvin and Melker. Those crotchy old kooks need someone to k
nock their heads together. Then come back to San Luis if Freya invites you.” She let go of his head and put one arm around Alrik’s waist, then reached out and put the other around my waist. Swedes definitely don’t touch each other this much; my mother is a complete aberration.
“And Freya, do you promise to limit the trouble that you get into to only small catastrophes?”
I laughed. “I can’t promise, but I’ll try.”
My mother smiled. “Okay. Alrik, does that sound good?”
We both looked up at Alrik. His jaw was still set in anger. By the way he was staring into space, I could tell he didn’t feel like the problem was solved.
I gave my mother an extra squeeze around the waist and let her go to face Alrik. “I apologize for yelling at you. You were trying to take care of me, and I appreciate that. But I need you to trust me and give me some space. And the Alva need you to do your job. If you want, you can visit San Luis when you are done in Sweden. I’m not kicking you out, but you need to be other places. And I need to try to restart a normal life.”
Alrik’s gaze moved down to me. “And what about the werewolf situation?”
I thought for a moment. “What did you and David talk about last night?”
Alrik paused before answering. “We came to a better understanding.”
“Based on that better understanding, can you leave town for a little bit?” I asked.
It felt like pulling teeth, but eventually, he managed a small nod. Without another word, he headed to his makeshift bedroom. I assumed he was packing to head back to Sweden. My mother smiled at me with a hint of sheepishness tinting the look. I would guess the sheepishness stemmed from feeling like we steamrolled Alrik. It was one of our best and worst family skills.
I started the third omelet, but my mother stopped me. “I’m off to catch my plane back to Chicago. I’m needed there as soon as possible. Plus, Alrik will probably leave soon, and he probably doesn’t want me hanging around the last few minutes.” My mom caught my eye and winked at me. And I felt my face blush red as a fire truck in Fourth of July parade.