by Lora Edwards
Chapter 5
Delphine stood nervously outside of Teagan and Bran’s apartment. It was the first dinner party she was attending since coming to the institute, and she was nervous. She had gone out to dinner and drinks with Ovidia and Teagan a few times since starting there, but never with all of them together. She had gone out alone for the first time to an exclusive wine shop recommended by Teagan and Bran’s brownie, Mrs. Bloom, and the sommelier had helped her select a bottle he knew the couple favored.
She still felt a thrill when she purchased something with money she had earned from working at the institute. She felt as if all the training, physical and mental, was of great benefit to her and felt she shouldn’t be paid when not on a mission, but Armand repeatedly reassured her that her training would be of a great benefit to the institute. With a small smile, he’d told her the institute was more than capable of paying her salary. She had learned that it raised some of its funds by auctioning artifacts and treasures operatives brought back from missions, nothing of any historical importance but rare enough to fetch a good price at Sotheby’s. The institute was also able to continue its important work due to some savvy investments from supernaturals, some hundreds of years old. She had learned the institute had a wing for research, a medical wing, as well as the research and rescue teams, all working to benefit supernaturals.
“I know there is a literal dragon at the gate, but you can knock. After all, you were invited,” Flynn said gently from behind her.
Delphine whirled, embarrassed to be caught standing in front of the door. She had been lost in a fugue, something that happened to her from time to time. She would get caught in daydreams, sometimes for hours.
“I’m a little nervous. This is the first large social event outside of Ovidia’s wedding that I have attended since coming to the institute.” She smiled up at him.
“That is a great start. I know Teagan favors that particular vintage.” He tapped the bottle she had in her hand then held up an identical one. “Great minds think alike.”
“Oh no! Is that going to be okay? Do I need to go grab something else?” Delphine’s eyes widened in panic. She didn’t want to make a mistake.
“Delphine, relax. It will be fine.” He rubbed a callused hand up and down her arm, leaving trails of heat where his fingers had been.
“What are you guys waiting for out here,” Ovidia asked as she and Erik approached.
“We were just about to knock.” Delphine raised her fisted hand.
Ovidia rolled her eyes. “No need—they’re expecting us.” She reached around them and pushed the door open, sauntering in with a quick look behind her to make sure the rest of them were following.
“Teag, Bran, the whole crew is here,” Ovidia called out, walking through the sitting room to the open kitchen and setting a bottle of wine on the counter that was identical to the ones that Delphine and Flynn carried.
“Hey guys, glad you could make it,” Teagan said as she walked out of the study.
Delphine frowned. Teagan looked pale and drawn, almost sickly. She looked like she had lost some weight, causing her sweater to bag around her hips.
“Teag what the hell? I saw you, what, two days ago? You look awful,” Ovidia blurted out.
Teagan responded with a wan smile. “Thanks Vid, tactful as always. I think I’ve come down with a little something but I am feeling much better now.”
“I have been trying to convince her to rest more but she says it’s just a bug and I am being overprotective.” The smooth voice of Teagan’s husband, Bran, filled the room as he walked in from the opposite direction, coming to stand next to his wife to wrap an arm around her waist.
“As I have repeatedly told him, I am fine, just feeling a bit under the weather, and yes, before you all ask, I have been to the healer and she has given me a clean bill of health,” Teagan said, a smile crossing her lips.
“All right Teag, but if you don’t start feeling better…” Ovidia started in.
“You know Bran will have me to the healer again before you could even finish that sentence. It’s nothing, I have just been working too hard and need to take a little break. I will be back to my old self before you know it,” she said sternly, closing the subject once and for all.
“Anyone else hungry? Because I am starving,” Flynn said, breaking the tension in the room. “Whatever Fiona has whipped up smells fantastic.” He followed his nose to the kitchen, and Fiona was just laying out the last of the dinner on the large dining table. “What delights do you have for us pretty lady,” Flynn asked, winking at Fiona and making her blush.
“You always are the charmer, Mr. Kirk. That you are,” Fiona said. “And that dimple—you are just too cute.”
It was Flynn’s turn to blush, and the rest chuckled as they sat down around the table. Fiona had prepared chicken saltimbocca, one of Teagan’s favorite dishes, along with a fresh green salad and a lemon pasta.
“Eat up, kids. There is tiramisu in the fridge for dessert. I’m off for home now.” Fiona beamed as they each dug into their plate of food. As Delphine slipped the first bite of the lemon pasta past her lips, an involuntary moan escaped her mouth.
“This is fabulous. I hope you can share the recipe with Mrs. Sanderson,” Delphine said to the smiling woman.
“Of course I can. We have a coffee klatch each week, and I’ll make sure she gets the recipe. I will be going now. It’s time for a cup of tea and a good book.” Fiona waved goodbye as she slipped out the front door.
“Fiona must love having the two of you together. One dinner to make, one place to clean,” Ovidia observed over a bite of chicken.
“In the beginning she seemed to be at a loss. She made all my favorite dishes as well as all of Bran’s. We finally convinced her to alternate between making my favorites and Bran’s,” Teagan explained.
“It was quite the trial to eat all that delicious food,” Bran said dryly, sipping from his wine.
“Easy for you to say. All that shifting leaves you ravenous and you don’t gain a pound,” Teagan said, glaring at her husband.
“My love, you are beautiful and you know it.” He winked at her and grinned.
Teagan shook her head, chuckling at his compliment.
Delphine let out a soft sigh. Bran and Teagan loved each other deeply, and she wanted that in a partner—someone she could make jokes with, fight with, and love like the other couples around the table. She found it hard to not look at Flynn. She was definitely developing feelings for him, but she wasn’t in a place to act on them. Besides, she didn’t think he felt the same way toward her. It was obvious from watching him with the various women at the institute that he was a natural charmer.
“They are good together, aren’t they?” Flynn said into her ear, startling her out of her reverie.
“Yes, they are,” Delphine said dreamily with another sigh.
Flynn smiled. He hoped one day he and Delphine would be just like them. One thing at a time.
“Okay mates, enough of the pleasantries. Let’s get down to brainstorming theories,” Erik said, pushing his empty plate away as he picked up his glass of wine.
“The society members don’t have the ability to time travel, so they have to be somewhere in 1718, don’t they,” Teagan asked. “I can research manor houses big enough to hold that kind of operation as well as the families who own them, see if I can find any hint they may be in the society, maybe those close to the Stanton family?”
“Good idea, Teag, but here is a thought: Stanton had all those potions in the manor house we raided. The scientists for the institute are still going through them, and how do we know the remaining members didn’t use one of those to time travel?” Ovidia asked, sipping at her wine.
“Oh crap, do you think it’s possible humans could use those potions,” Teagan asked as she sat back in her chair to take a small sip from her water glass. She patted Bran’s hand when he looked over and frowned at the large portion of her dinner that still lay on her plate. “
I am fine, just still feeling a bit queasy. Stop worrying,” she whispered to him.
“You don’t think he wouldn’t have experimented on humans,” Flynn asked, causing a silence to settle over the table as they thought about the consequences of that statement. “If the time travel potion didn’t work, it could have caused an agonizing death for a human. On the other hand, if it did, they could be trapped in another time.”
“There is only one way to find out—we have to find the rest of the society,” Ovidia interjected.
“I can answer the question concerning his experiments,” Erik said quietly, looking at the table. “I started going over his papers while we were still in 1718, and I have continued to sift through them since we came back to the present. He kept detailed records of his experiments and their results. His entries were very clinical, and that man was evil. He did experiment on some poor humans he probably shanghaied. He found some were able to tolerate the potions intended for supernaturals and concluded that they most likely had some supernatural blood, as even a trace would help them to survive the use of the potions.”
Delphine sat straighter in her chair and waited for someone to ask the question everyone was thinking. When the room remained silent, she sat forward and looked into Erik’s ice blue eyes. “And the ones that didn’t?”
The bleak look in Erik’s gaze answered the question, his mouth pressed into a thin line. “They died in excruciating pain as the potion burned through them. He made extensive notes of the effects of the potion on the brain and body that do not need to be shared here,” Erik said with a note of finality in his voice.
“We need to find the remaining members of the society, and they need to be stopped. They will continue on with his experiments. We need to rescue the paranormals they are still holding prisoner,” Bran said emphatically. The thin stream of smoke curling out of his nostrils demonstrated the rage he had for the society.
“I will start looking at the different manor houses in England tomorrow. I imagine they had an escape plan. Even if they did have a potion to time travel, it would be hard to jump all of those supernaturals. For practicality sake, I imagine they stayed close. Someone knows something, and I will scour the historical record. We have to be discrete—we don’t want to tip them off,” Teagan said.
They all agreed. With the meal finished and no one really in the mood for dessert, the party broke up, each of them going back to their own apartment to think about what had been discussed.
Bran shut the door behind the last of their guests and turned to his wife. He frowned. He had noticed her weight loss, her skin paler than usual, and her tendency to sleep more than usual. She had to quit pushing herself, even if he had to put his foot down to make her. Their relationship was a study in balance, with him trying to curb his natural dragon instinct to protect and let her have her independence and Teagan trying to understand the fact that his biological need to protect her was not him trying to oppress her. It was a delicate dance but one he relished. His mate had fire, and he wouldn’t change that for anything.
She had been blocking her telepathic link since coming home from the healer, and he had tried to reach across their connection only to hit a stone wall. As of late, his little witch had gotten better at closing the connection between them. She was hiding something, and he was going to find out what it was.
“Bran, could you come in here for a moment,” Teagan called from the living room. He strode into the living room to find she had lit a crackling fire in the hearth and settled onto the couch with a cup of tea. In the small amount of time it had taken him to walk their guests out, she had changed into her favorite at-home attire: an oversized Duke sweatshirt paired with soft leggings in a colorful floral design.
He sank down beside her on the couch. She set the tea cup down on the table and turned to him.
“I know you are aware I have been blocking you since I came home from the healer. I received some news I wanted to tell you when we were alone and not with others.” She reached out, taking his large hand in her small one.
He felt his stomach drop. She was not okay—she had contracted some strange malady and he was going to lose her. Thoughts whirled through his head, going from one possible fatal illness to another. How could a woman half fae and half witch be threatened by some fatal illness?
“Bran!” Teagan squeezed his hand. “I am fine—I’m not going to die. You are going to be a father.” She smiled as she opened the connection between them to let the joy of the news flow through.
He saw her at the healer’s, the joy she had felt when she heard, and the impatience she had felt throughout the dinner party, wanting everyone gone so she could share the happy news.
“I am going to be a father,” he whispered as a smile stretched across his face. He beamed at his wife, reaching out with his free hand and gently laying it on her still flat stomach.
“There is more,” she said.
“More? How could there be more?” He linked his thoughts with hers. “Two? There are two of them?” He felt tears coming to his eyes.
“Yes, we are having twins. Fae-witch-dragon twins—heaven help us, we are going to need it.” She squealed as he lifted her up and carried her back to their bedroom.
“You know this is just going to send my protective instincts into overdrive,” he said as he gently dropped her onto their large cherry rice bed.
“I know, but we will deal with it,” she said as he joined her, taking her into his arms.
Delphine woke up the next morning worried about Teagan. Even after all her assurances that she was fine, it was obvious something was going on with her health. She hoped her friend was truly okay. Delphine wandered over to her closet and looked over her meager wardrobe. She looked forward to her shopping date with Ovidia later in the week. For the time being, a simple blouse in sea foam blue, a black pencil skirt, and black peekaboo heels would work. She pulled her hair up in an elegant French twist and added just a touch of makeup then walked out of her apartment and down to the library to meet Hugh and Teagan.
They had been meeting with her weekly during this period between missions, tutoring Delphine about the culture at the institute and the larger world outside. She had learned quite a bit, and she looked forward to the weekly sessions with Teagan and her grandfather.
Delphine entered the library to find Hugh and Teagan sitting at the table, enjoying a pot of tea. Hugh was patting Teagan’s hand and there were tears in his eyes. Delphine hurried over, a worried expression on her face. “Hugh, Teagan, is everything all right?”
“Yes, yes, everything is fine. I am just a sentimental old man,” Hugh said, giving Teagan’s hand one last loving pat before he turned to Delphine. “All right my girl, what would you like to learn about this fine day,” he asked, diverting the conversation before Delphine could ask what he was feeling sentimental about.
Delphine spent the next few hours learning about all about America, its history and customs. It was relatively young as far as countries went, and she found it fascinating. She learned plans were in the works to start a new branch of the institute in the Americas. This new branch would focus on time travel with missions centered in their history. The monitoring of Europe and the other countries on this side of the world kept the institute very busy, and every department was feeling the strain of having to add the quirks to the American timeline as well. Delphine hoped one day she could go to America. She had been watching a variety of films since coming to the institute and she wanted to see in person the things that had flashed across her screen. Americans seem to be more brash and bold than its more reserved European counterparts.
Delphine left the library with the distinct feeling that Teagan was withholding some information about her health. Delphine looked at the time on the wristwatch she had started wearing since coming to the institute and saw that she needed to hurry. She had a training session with Ovidia coming up and she needed to eat and change before meeting with her. Maybe Ovidia would have some insight
about Teagan’s strange behavior.
Chapter 6
“Fish girl, are you ready for a fight?” Ovidia called out to Delphine as she walked into her apartment dressed in navy blue workout gear.
“What era are we going to practice today,” Delphine asked as they walked into Ovidia’s practice room. Ovidia was a Valkyrie who practiced every day in order to keep her fighting skills sharp, and she’d had the institute add a special training room to her apartment. One of the features was a program a mage had installed, with different versions for various eras with weapons used in that time. Ovidia had told her she’d practiced there to wield the cutlass for the mission where she had saved Delphine, using the workout program with pirates with really bad accents.
“I was thinking…Teag told me you have been learning more about America, so what do you say we take on some gunslingers from the old west? So far we’ve been practicing with swords, but for missions that are more recent, you will want to have some evasive tactics to be able to work with guns, possibly even learn to shoot one,” Ovidia said.
“Have you seen Teagan today or talked with her,” Delphine asked.
“Yes, we had lunch just a bit ago.”
“Does she seem off to you, or like she is keeping something secret,” Delphine asked.
“She did tell me today that she had a secret. I tried badgering it out of her but she clammed up. She said when she is ready, she will tell me. Seriously, since that girl grew a backbone, it really has been hard to pry things out of her.” Ovidia shook her head.
Delphine felt better; at least Teagan had acknowledged there was something going on with her. She hoped her new friend was not ill.
“Okay, Delphine, let’s kick some butt old west style.”