The house was an oddity. The realtor had slipped and called it the “mafia house” prior to showing it to me. That was enough to peak my interest and once I saw it, I fell in love. There were little hidden aspects throughout the 2200 square foot house. One bathroom had a safe hidden behind a wall panel. Also in that same bathroom there was an opening behind the medicine cabinet door. The little peep-hole peered into the laundry room beyond. The largest room in the house wasn’t the living area or even any of the four bedrooms. No, it was a huge walk-in closet completely lined in cedar and with a built-in dressing table and numerous racks and storage cubbies.
Yes, I love this house.
I reached behind me to slip my shoes off one by one, dropping them with a thud onto the carpeted floor. As I examined myself in the bathroom mirror, I considered a shower. I brushed my long black hair away from my face and frowned at the dark circles under my eyes. I needed sleep; a shower would wait. Instead I simply brushed my teeth, wiped away my make-up and slipped into bed. The hazy veil of sleep was just wrapping around my mind when my monitor began beeping wildly from the nightstand.
I rolled onto my back, my arms spread out on either side of me and cursed under my breath. I waited a minute, hoping the alarm would cease and whoever thought they needed help would change their mind and leave me alone. No such luck. The amulet around my neck began to vibrate and buzz the secondary alarm. I slapped my left hand onto the amulet and clutched it tight.
“Gretchen…”
Just by touching the crystal stone I could sense which charge was calling me. Gretchen is what one might term a “somewhat paranoid Siren.” Her voice could conquer any man’s will to resist her advances which was good because she absolutely loved men. Still, she inevitably calls me just after sex and always with the same quandary. I knew she wouldn’t settle down until after she spoke to me, so I gave up on sleep and snatched the monitor from the nightstand.
“Yes, Gretch…” I muttered, doing my best to inject as much agitation into my tone as possible.
“He knows… I know he knows. He stared at me with this look. A look of total mortification, Lynlee. What should I do?”
“How do you know he knows?”
“I just do. He totally knows what I am. I thought I carefully masked the siren’s call, but he must know that’s how I got him to go out with me. He must sense it somehow…I gotta get him outta my house before he figures it out….”
“You just said he knows… that would indicate he’s already figured it out. Where are you anyway?” As I spoke my stomach began grumbling again. I knew this interruption in my sleep might last a while. I gave in to my hunger and swung my legs out of the bed and started down the stairs.
“I’m in the bathroom… I couldn’t take the uncomfortable looks he kept giving me. Lynlee please! Tell me what to do.”
I wondered, not for the first time, if Gretchen was a horribly bad lay and if that was the cause of the strange looks she consistently complained about. I’d heard this same story multiple times. As I rounded the bottom of the staircase and headed towards the swinging gates at the entryway to my kitchen, I mentally took note of the partially open door to my office.
Eying the door for a moment, I held the monitor close to my mouth before speaking again, “Gretchen, I want you to get out of the bathroom and go to sleep. Rather than believing you’re a Siren, he’ll think you’re a nut if you keep behaving like one. Just get off the monitor and go to bed. In the morning if he’s still giving you a look, tell him ‘so long’ and that’ll be the end of it.”
“But what if he keeps calling after tomorrow?”
Not likely.
“If he calls again I’ll give him a spell, but only if he calls again. Now go to sleep!”
I hesitated at the entryway to the kitchen even as she hesitated on the monitor. I gave her just a moment to mull over my words, then when I was sure she’d reached the appropriate breaking point I spoke again, “Good night, Gretch. Call me tomorrow.”
She disengaged the monitor just as I shoved both palms against the swinging doors and stepped into the kitchen.
There standing at my refrigerator was a gorgeous little strawberry blonde girl, no more than four years old. She was so startled by my entrance that she froze in place, her hand to her mouth. The brownie she’d been eating was now lying in pieces on the tile floor. Chocolaty smudges on her cheeks indicated it wasn’t the first of my brownies she’d sampled.
I was about to speak when another child, this one a boy of about ten years, peeked his head from inside my pantry. When he saw me his eyes widened and he quickly shuffled across the room to stand between me and the girl. He put his hands down at his side in a protective stance, glaring at me with what I’m sure he intended to be a fierce look.
None of us a spoke for several moments. I used the time to examine the motley pair. I had to presume they might be siblings, though their resemblance to one another was nearly non-existent. The boy’s hair was black as midnight, his complexion darker than the girl’s ghostly pallid skin. In fact the girl looked sickly pale, as if she hadn’t eaten in many days. Both of them wore clothes that were wrinkled. Not dirty, just unkempt as if they’d been bunched into a pile just before dressing in them.
I kept my expression void as was my habit. It was something I’d developed long ago to help me keep my magic closely in check. I was given to extreme shifts in emotion, something that was directly connected to my powers. Those polar swings tended to flabbergast and dismay people that I’d long ago decided it was better to remain stoic and cold. Still, seeing these obviously hungry ragamuffins in my kitchen tugged at some hidden recess of my heart.
“I’m hungry too so I imagine we might as well all eat,” I announced to my tiny visitors. I then walked in a wide circle around the kids to grab some paper plates from my pantry. I had no choice but to reach around them into the fridge for the barely touched pizza I’d ordered earlier in the evening. As I leaned close the little boy wrapped one arm behind him and clasped the girl to his back defensively. I watched as she fought against him so that she could look around him and up into my eyes.
And that was when I noticed it. She wasn’t just an ordinary child, she was a MAUC. Her eyes were as green as the grass in a spring field and they flashed with the slightest hint of magic. I was fairly certain as I examined her and drew forth her power that she was probably a nymph. As if reading my thoughts, the girl smiled up at me with the utmost trust in her features.
“You can take your sister to the bar and both of you can have a seat while I get this ready,” I instructed the boy even as I placed several slices of pizza on a plate and popped them into the microwave.
He glared at me a little longer, then took the girl’s hand and led her around the counter. Watching him wipe at her chocolate covered face, I decided it was best not to talk and instead watched the carousel turn inside the microwave. When the cheese began to bubble, I pulled the latch and then slid a piece each onto two other paper plates before setting one in front of each child. I leaned against the counter and motioned for the children to eat.
All three of us wasted no time stuffing huge bites into our mouths. I had just finished the minimal amount of chewing necessary to swallow that first mouthful when the kitchen doors swung open and the three of us looked up in surprise. I tossed my plate onto the counter and immediately conjured my wand into my left hand. I had just pointed the wand-wielding arm towards the doorway when I recognized the intruder.
His hair was longer than it had been the last time I’d seen him, and I was almost surprised to see the way his red-brown locks curled in thick waves against his ears and neck. It made him look rugged as opposed to the perfectly coiffed man I’d known all those years ago. I looked into his brown eyes and felt some of my defenses slip. It appalled me when my peripheral vision caught the tremble in my own hand.
I swallowed the remaining pizza in my mouth then swallowed again to force down the emotional reaction I was having. I shook my
hand to send the wand away, “Beck…”
“Lynlee…”
Okay, so we’d both acknowledged we knew each other. What now?
“She gave us pizza,” the boy spoke and when I looked at him again his previously defiant face had melted away to be replaced by that of just an innocent young boy.
“I see that,” Beck responded and I couldn’t miss the fatherly affection in his tone.
“Your kids?” I was astounded, but in more control now so I was able to keep my voice monotone.
“My kids. Justin and Jillian… er, Jilly for short.”
I followed him with my eyes as he walked into the kitchen and towards the children. He combed the girl’s hair back with one hand while he ruffled the boy’s head with the other. It seemed to me he was inspecting them for any signs of harm and I snorted in spite of myself. “I just gave them pizza,” I declared, the slightest bit of aggravation rising in my voice.
“I see that,” he repeated again, then shook his head as if angry, “I’m sorry. I don’t really know how to explain this.”
“Try.”
His eyes turned hard as that single word sounded from my lips. I remembered that look, but I refused to flinch or to show any outward response.
“I guess some things never change do they?” he sighed and his shoulders slumped in defeat.
“I guess not.” It was all I could do not to raise my voice at him, but I was determined not to give an inch, “So now that that’s settled, why not try explaining.”
“It’s a long story, but… we don’t have anywhere to go, Lynlee. I thought you could help us. At least I hoped you could. Or would.”
“That’s interesting Beck. Since you don’t believe in my chosen vocation, in fact don’t believe in advocating the use of magic in the presence of norms, then that must mean you’re not coming to me professionally. And since you ended our relationship and our friendship, quite abruptly I might add, then this cannot be a personal request either. I must be missing something.”
“I knew this was a waste of time. I knew I shouldn’t have brought them here.”
“Then why did you?”
Yep, there was that extreme shift in emotional balance. My fingers started to tingle as my magic chomped at the bit to get loose. I was at the same time angry and hurt that he would invade my safe place. I didn’t want these feelings for him to come to the surface again. And I especially didn’t want the man I had once thought myself in love with to come to me with two kids in tow seeking my help.
“Where’s their mother?” I asked with narrowed eyes, doing all I could to keep a lid on my feelings.
Beck eyed the kids, then gave me a stern look before walking around towards the door. He motioned with his hand that I should follow him and I took a few steps before I remembered my pizza. I back tracked and took the plate with me. I led him towards my office and once inside closed the door. It was immediately clear to me that the photos on my desk had been moved. No, I couldn’t tell because of magic, but rather because I was a terrible housekeeper and it was easy to detect where the photos had been based on the lack of dust under them.
“You’ve been snooping,” I accused dryly, taking a bite as I sat down on the worn easy chair in the corner of the room.
Beck smiled apologetically, looking off into space, and I wondered what he was thinking at that moment. When his eyes turned back to me they were again impassive and hard.
“My wife died a few years ago. Car accident. That’s when things went downhill for us. Cheri lingered for a long time before she finally passed and I lost my job. We should have stayed put. The house was paid for and I was at least able to maintain our lives there, but then Jilly’s terrors began. She became afraid of our home. It was like a nightmare, Lynlee, only it happened all the time. Whether she was awake or asleep, she was living in terror.”
I frowned, thinking of the magic I’d seen in the little girl, “What is she afraid of?”
That was when I noticed the strain in his expression. He looked tired, worn and he also looked as if he’d aged many more years that he should have in the intervening time since I’d seen him last. I realized his hair wasn’t long because of any desire to look sexy or attractive. He’d given up on taking care of himself and I supposed he was focused entirely on his children.
“I don’t know what she’s afraid of, Lynlee. She was too young to talk then. At least she wasn’t talking well enough for me to understand her. When we left, the terrors ended, but her sickness began. She doesn’t grow, she doesn’t put on weight, and she seems malnourished. I feed her well and regularly. You can see Justin and I aren’t suffering like she is. But the doctors I’ve taken her to can’t seem to figure out what’s wrong with her.”
“Why me? Why’d you think I could help?” I fished. I knew the reason but I wanted him to admit it
Beck began pacing the room. Despite the wear and age, he still looked as attractive to me as ever. I watched as he reached his hands behind him and slid them into the back pockets of his jeans. I licked my lips and tried not to remember how good he tasted. I hadn’t thought of him in years, but now each memory was just as vivid as if the events had occurred just the day before. How could he still have such a profound effect on me?
“Justin read her a book, a fairy tale, but when she saw the picture her reaction was frightening. It took us hours to calm her down. It was very similar to when she had the terrors.”
“The picture?”
Beck turned those brown eyes on me and I felt a flutter in my belly. “I came to you because they were reading the ‘Three Billy Goats Gruff’… and the picture she saw was a drawing of a troll. So tell me Lynlee, am I crazy to believe maybe trolls actually exist? Is that what my baby girl’s afraid of?”
I took a deep breath. Carefully, I weighed my words, “You do know what she is don’t you?”
He cocked his head. I knew him, and I could tell he had no idea, “She’s a nymph, Beck. Which means her mother was too. Are you telling me you didn’t know?”
He switched his gaze down, consternation marring his features. I snorted in derision as I walked past him and took the doorknob in hand, “So I was at least honest and told you what I was from the beginning, but you cut me out of your life. She kept it from you and you married her. That’s almost funny, Beck.”
He grabbed my arm, fingers biting into the skin, “Don’t disparage their mother. And I didn’t cut you out because you’re a witch. It was too hard not to be with you.”
“Right,” I responded dryly. I tried not to frown, realizing how crass my earlier comment had been. A part of me wondered if I might have chosen to keep who I was from him if it would have meant still being with him. Maybe I would have been no different than his wife had been.
“Daddy?” the little girl’s voice was melodic, like the ringing of tiny bells. Beck released my arm even as I looked down to find his daughter standing on the other side of the door.
He moved past me and I watched as he reached down and scooped her into his arms. She laid her head down on his shoulder and stuck two fingers in her mouth as she examined me. Her green eyes danced and sparkled. She blinked twice before looking at her father. Jillian reached out with tiny delicate fingers and clasped both of his cheeks to turn him towards her. Once he was facing her, Jilly dropped her forehead onto his and smiled, “She’ll help.”
“Yes, I suppose I will help.” I didn’t know what possessed me say it but I couldn’t seem to stop myself. There was no way to take my words back now so I took a deep breath before speaking again.. “I think your Dad and I probably need to chat. Isn’t it past your bed time?”
“You’re not our mom,” Justin spoke softly from his self-appointed post just inside the doorway.
“Justin, what about that talk we just had,” Beck’s tone was firm, like a father’s should sound.
“Mind my elders.”
The dark-haired boy’s dejectedly chastened expression nearly made me smile, which was good because I�
��d been just about to choke on another bite of pizza. Had Beck just called me an “elder”? Hell, I was a year shy of 35. That wasn’t old, was it?
Mouth full, I pointed down the hallway, “There’s a bedroom there. You’re welcome to it.”
Jilly began scrambling in Beck’s arms and he quickly set her on her feet. She took her brother’s hand and led him in the direction I’d pointed. The boy didn’t seem to mind her leading him along and he nodded at his father to assure he’d watch out for her, then they disappeared around the corner.
“Are you hungry?” I asked even as Beck started to follow his children. I watched him stop, his shoulders tense and then drop wearily. He looked back at me slowly and I wanted to go to him and smooth the worried lines on his face. I felt my insides melt a little and then I quickly froze those old feelings back into their hiding place. Turning away from him, I headed towards the kitchen, “If not I’ll put the pizza away.”
“No, I’m fine. Thanks.”
I could hear the “tone” in his voice and recognized the aggravation. He always hated that I could often remain unemotional.
A few minutes later I approached the bedroom, my arms laden with blankets and pillows. The door was open just a crack so I knocked with my foot before stepping inside. The connecting bathroom was closed but I could see a light coming from under the door.
As I placed the extra linens onto the bed I noticed Justin curled up on a makeshift pallet on the floor. At closer inspection I saw a tiny hand reaching through a cubby opening in the wall. I opened the door to the cedar closet and found Jilly on a pallet with her arm pushed through to the other side. I was caught off-guard for a moment because I’d never once noticed that little connection between the two rooms.
The little girl had her nose close to the cedar paneling and I could see a look of rapture on her face as she inhaled the scent. It made sense, being that she was a nymph. She’d take comfort in the wood.
“She wants to sleep there,” Justin explained, “I told her I’d sleep in there too, but she said I can just hold her hand.”
A Bundle of Trouble (The Lynlee Lincoln Sets Book 1) Page 5