by RJ Blain
“The beast?”
“Princess Olivia Niell cheerfully accepts her less than stellar appearances and enjoys defying societal norms for beauty. There’s a great article online about how she’s named herself the beauty’s attack dog. I’m assuming she’s referring to His Royal Majesty of Montana, but I’ve been unable to verify the claim. His Royal Majesty is very careful never to be photographed without his mask.”
“The first king of Montana was so ugly he scared people. They often ran away from him. Some believe the bloodline magic is so potent the firstborn male is deformed because of its influence.”
I grimaced. “That’s a terrible rumor, Douglass.”
“Well, it’s the truth. Montana does have a very powerful bloodline. Should His Royal Majesty die, his magic will jump to his successor, which should be the next oldest male child in the direct line. It’s only happened once, and it was a disaster. The inheritor of the magic was unprepared for the reality of his new powers. There were several deaths before he was able to gain control of his talents.”
“Wonderful. I’ll have to add clauses about the use of talents during the auction.”
“That would be wise. Anything else?”
“I’m looking into viable ways to showcase the Niell siblings as the main event with Princess Ambrose and the second gentleman adding a second way to draw additional donations. I expect we’ll do a more traditional auction among attendees, open to both genders. That should double the pool as women would be encouraged to spend their wealth on participating men. Unlike other auctions of this nature, we’ll have several auction pools, including a traditional pool where there are few limitations on what the participants do with their time. I’d also like to arrange a standard item auction.”
“I see. I thought you would be against the inclusion of an adult-only auction.”
“I see no reason to bar consenting adults from doing what they want to earn money for charity. However, in our auction, only the participants will be permitted to purchase their tickets. There will be no parental influences on participants or anyone purchasing a ticket under duress. And we’ll need an illuminator to verify the willingness of participants to prevent coercion.”
“Wise. Why let history repeat itself, right?”
“Exactly.”
“If we were smart, we’d put you up for auction with His Royal Majesty. You’d bring in a fortune.”
“No. I’m participating because a congress full of idiots voted away their right to refuse participation, and unfortunately, some idiot included all committee heads. If I wanted to buy a man at the man-meat market, there are small events like this in every city every year.”
“Well, you’re going to be pressured. You’re in the limelight and everyone’s in a betrothal frenzy. You’re a prime candidate.”
“Really?”
“Have you ever looked in a mirror, Mackenzie?”
“If I were that pretty, Douglass, there’d be men who didn’t flinch away when they learn I’m a null—or they’d be interested enough to risk their precious magic to be with me.”
My boss leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms. “There’s at least one man out there who thinks so. He gave you Mireya, after all. Don’t discount yourself so readily.”
“He lived out a fantasy and got out while he had the chance. I don’t blame him for it, either.”
My boss shook his head. “No man in his right mind would go a single day without regretting he’d lost a woman like you. I think you’ll find yourself fending off a lot of suitors vying for your attention as soon as they figure out they have a chance with you. Right now, anyone with a working pair of eyes knows you only have room for one love of your life, and that’s your daughter. They can’t compete, and they know it.”
He was wrong; any suitor who did come my way competed with a memory, one I longed for so much I conjured him in my dreams to keep me company. To cover my dismay, I replied, “Huh. Men sure are stupid, aren’t they?”
“Ouch, Mackenzie.”
The truth hurt too much. “Maybe I’ve wanted a father for my daughter all along.”
My boss smiled, and his expression softened. “And no one has a chance in hell of competing with the man who gave you Mireya, your little miracle. Us Texans do know some Spanish. Trust me on this one. Your face is only part of what makes you beautiful. One day, I hope Mireya understands how lucky she is to have you for a mother. Not many children can claim their mother changed the world just for her, and you have.”
Long after he left, I stared at my office door, my mouth hanging open.
I slaved through another day, and when I got home, I discovered another plate of yams and chicken in my refrigerator. It was still warm, and the mouth-watering smell reminded me I had missed lunch. I fell on it with the ferocity of a starved animal.
Part of it was secret revenge. If I ate all the yams and chicken, Mireya wouldn’t get any. It was symbolic; she’d never learn I’d gorged myself on her new favorite meal while she was with her friends having a disgustingly good time going through placement testing. It made me a terrible person, but I vowed I’d pretend I didn’t care.
I went to sleep resenting the quiet, and when I dreamed of Dylan, I was in such a foul mood even he hesitated to stir my ire.
“If I let you get a hold of me, I’m not sure I’ll survive. However much I like it when you’re rough, I want to live to enjoy the experience.”
“Men!” I snarled.
“What has my gender done this time?”
“He stole our daughter and took her for testing, and she likes it, so she hasn’t come home yet, because she’s having fun with her friends taking tests,” I wailed.
“She’s growing up. Dare I ask who ‘he’ is?”
I also hated when my subconscious subjected me to a realistic Dylan, one who hadn’t lived my life. “I know, and I hate it. And it was my stupid boss.”
“I see.”
“I even let him. I’m a stupid idiot.”
“I have severely underestimated your dependency on our daughter.”
I held my tongue, as if I started listing all the ways he could sweep in and help, I’d cry. It wasn’t just about the money. It wasn’t just about giving Mireya the father she deserved. I was so tired of trying to be everything to everyone. Sighing, I slumped and hung my head.
“What’s really bothering you?”
“What am I supposed to do now? There’s only two schools I might be able to send her to, and the best one’s abroad. I’ve been yanked from null rights legislation to work on the charity auction.”
“I find that so ironic,” Dylan admitted. “It’s hard to believe you’re actually heading an auction committee. I would’ve thought you’d run the instant it was suggested.”
“I was bribed. It turns out I’m a corrupt politician now.”
“And what did it take to bribe you?” Dylan murmured. “I’d like to bribe you into bed without risking life and limb.”
“Pervert.”
“For you, always.”
Would taking my subconscious out back and beating it to death put an end to the sweet torture of my dreams? I doubted it. “A senator took my null rights wish list and promised he’d get most of them passed, perhaps modified, but passed. If he does, you’ll be the only one who can take Mireya away from me—and only if you do it with me present.”
“You devious, clever woman. So you’ll win your fight, but you don’t know what you’ll do next.”
“Right.”
“Nulls will always need to be championed. And when they don’t need championing, there are plenty of other causes that’d weep for joy to have you fighting for them.”
“Like who?” I cringed at the bitterness in my voice. “Sorry.”
“I’d weep for joy if you fought for me.”
“You don’t need me fighting for you.”
“However true that is, there’d be no better champion in my corner.”
“Then why haven’t
you come back?” I snapped.
I regretted the words the instant they left my mouth. Shame silenced me, and I recoiled from everything Dylan represented.
Dylan sighed. “No matter what I say, you’ll resent me for it.”
“I’ll resent the truth a lot less than a pretty lie.”
“You’ve never needed me, Mackenzie. When Mireya comes home, look at her. Look at her and see the young woman she’ll become, all because of you. The world is changing, all because of you. Nulls aren’t the chaff of society anymore. They have a voice. Your voice. You didn’t appear in front of the Texan congress as a consultant. No, you led the congress, the speaker in control of the session. You tallied the votes. You stood among them as an equal. You have done what has never been done before. You’re a null, but you’re a null who stood equal to some of Texas’s most influential elite. Let me ask you this, Mackenzie. What could I do that you haven’t done?”
“I can’t be her father.”
“No, you can’t. But she hasn’t needed a father. She has you. In comparison, I’m not even a ripple in the pond.”
“I already told you she wants a father. Thanks to the idiot congress, I’ll be participating in the auction. So, she may just get her wish yet.”
“No.”
“We’ve been over this, Dylan Mason. Don’t like it? You’ll just have to make sure you’re the winner. This time, you’re up against a king. Then again, Princess Sylvia Ambrose might get her revenge long before any bids are placed. You could buy her instead.”
“You wicked woman,” Dylan growled, and he abandoned his distance to stalk me. “I’m going to have to punish you for that.”
“What?” I asked, feigning innocence. “She’s a princess. She’s obviously a good prospect.”
“No.”
“New York’s a powerful kingdom. Even a middling princess has to be worth something.”
“No.”
“I’m pretty sure all I bring to the table is debt. Not a smart business investment, Mr. Mason.”
“I’ll probably survive, somehow. I need a full-time bed warmer. You’ll do nicely, and you come with the added bonus of being the world’s best mother.”
“Hardly. I threw a stapler at my boss because he didn’t return Mireya as promised.”
“Did you hit him with it?”
“Unfortunately not.”
“A pity. After I’m finished with punishing you, you can practice throwing staplers at me so you can attempt your revenge on your boss tomorrow.”
I sighed. “You’re weird.”
“Yes, I am. You like it.”
I loved everything about him, but dreams were never reality, and I needed to move on, for myself and for Mireya. All I could do is give myself a chance for closure.
If dreams could come true in a world of magic, I’d find out soon enough. “However much you believe I can be all things for Mireya, I can’t. She wants a father. You either show up at the auction, or you don’t, but I mean to find her a father.”
“May the best man win, and I assure you, I’m the best man.”
“I wouldn’t be so certain, Mr. Dylan Mason.”
“Oh? And who’s my competition?”
“Well, there’s a king, and I’m pretty sure he’s the damned reason I’m involved with all this bullshit anyway.”
“Winning you is hardly bullshit, Mackenzie. Who else is my competition?”
“I’m sure there’ll be some fiendishly handsome princes in the running, too. The entire Texan congress is determined to see me married off, so I’m sure they’ll dredge men from every corner they can to get the job done. You could be competing against hundreds of stupidly wealthy elites with nothing better to do with their time. Who knows?”
“Have I mentioned you’re a very wicked woman, Mackenzie?”
Once again, I feigned innocence. “Who, me?”
He stalked closer, and his voice rumbled, “Yes, you.”
Only in my dreams could flirting with trouble solve all my life’s problems for a little while. I’d live up to my threat of letting go later, sometime after Mireya came home and the auction ended.
If my fool’s heart would ever let him go.
Maybe another night, I’d find out. Laughing at the thought of thwarting him, I ran so he could chase me, and I let him work his magic on me as always.
Chapter Sixteen
My phone rang at a little after six in the morning, and I contemplated throwing the damned device across my bedroom. I didn’t recognize the number, and I answered with an incoherent groan.
“Cool! My mom’s a zombie, guys!”
I loved my daughter too much to kill her, so I wished a friendly, harmless snake would follow her around for a while. “What sort of demonic entity calls her mother at six? Are you dying? You better be dying.”
Mireya laughed. “Love you, too, Mom. Can I go on a field trip with my friends?”
“What day is it? Haven’t you been on a field trip since Friday? Shouldn’t you be asking me if I should sell you to your friends? I’ll give their parents a good price for you.”
“Mom,” my daughter complained.
“What? You mean I can’t sell you?”
“No, Mom. You can’t sell me. Can I go on the field trip?”
“I’d say you’re already on a field trip, spawnling. I’m also pretty sure I told you I didn’t mind you doing things with your friends if there was reasonable adult supervision available. However, as I’m fully aware of how expensive spawnlings named Mireya are, where are you going, and will there be adults with you?”
“My friends’ parents will be with us.”
Them again. Damned my boss for trusting them and refusing to give me more information on who was caring for my child. However angry I was with him, I couldn’t hurt my daughter without a good reason, which put me in a situated I hated.
I did trust my boss with my daughter’s life, which meant I ultimately trusted him to vet her friends’ parents. He wouldn’t feed me lies, not about something so important.
I sighed.
“And where will you be going on this field trip?” I rolled out of bed with another groan, my body aching as though I’d run a marathon.
I blamed Dylan. He’d disturbed my sleep yet again, leaving me hot, bothered, and ready to pass out for a month. Unless I started getting some decent sleep without him invading my dreams, I’d really start conking out random places without the help of my medications.
“Colorado. We’ll be taking a plane, Mom!”
I tripped over my own feet and smacked into the carpet. Only luck spared my phone from instant death. “Colorado?” I squeaked like my daughter often did. “Why Colorado? What about your testing?”
“They have a really cool testing center there. We were all invited. Please, Mom?”
My eyes widened, and I sat up, the blood rushing out of my head. A chill swept through me.
I knew of a testing center in Colorado. It was the only one in the Royal States allowing admission into the best academy for the gifted in the world, and if Mireya was accepted, I’d never be able to afford the cost of her schooling. If I drained every account I had dry, I could send her for a year.
There was only way I could find out, so I asked, “How much is this testing, Mireya?”
There was a long moment of silence. “It’s expensive.”
My fear intensified, and to cover my dismay, I replied, “I assumed that the instant the word plane left your mouth, my darling daughter. A number, please. Include the flight, hotel, the food required to fill your cavernous belly, and so on.”
My daughter gulped, and my fear warped to guilt I’d given her a hard time over it. She knew the importance of money.
She wouldn’t ask without a good reason.
“The flight’s twelve hundred. The hotel room is, uh, six fifty.” Papers rustled. “The testing is ten thousand.”
Her words confirmed my worries, and I saw no way out of the trap closing around me, not withou
t hurting her. What could I do?
The chance for scholarships existed if she tested high enough. Maybe I could find a way to make it work despite my every calculation proving I couldn’t, not alone.
“Mom?” she whispered.
I couldn’t deny her a chance for a bright future. If she got into the school, her life would forever change. Every opportunity closed to me would be open for her. If her friends passed, she wouldn’t be alone.
Swallowing didn’t ease the tension in my throat. “You will owe me for an eternity, spawnling. When you get home, you will be my loyal slave until you’re at least thirty. Put an adult on the phone. I need to figure out where to send the money.”
Mireya squealed, and several minutes later, a woman’s soft laughter came on the line. “Miss Little, I presume? I’m Jessica.”
When I got my hands on Douglass, I’d interrogate him and demand what he thought he was doing, handing my daughter over to someone without giving me every last detail possible. Until then, I’d pretend I was a reasonable adult, one who could handle unwanted changes of plans involving my daughter.
“I’m not the thieving Douglass Smithson, I promise. I hope my daughter hasn’t been a bother.”
“Mireya has been a treasure. She’s a very sweet girl. Your daughter has become quite close with my children. Has she given you any details of what’s going on?”
“She mentioned the testing center in Colorado, which I assume is for the Geschwann International Academy.”
“I see you’ve done your research.”
“There’s only one academy in the world with a ten-thousand-dollar testing fee. It’s a very prestigious school.”
“It is. I’ve been wanting my children to win admittance for a while, but until now, none of them have been interested. Do you mind if she goes?”
“I asked her to put you on the phone so I can send the money to the academy.”