“Police are keeping the women’s identities a close secret for now, but the people of Arizona are thankful for relief.”
“They’re angels. That’s the only thing I can say. I mean, the fire was only about fifty yards from my momma’s home. She woulda lost everything if not for those angels.” A woman with bleached blonde hair atop her head in a messy bun spoke to the camera. I rolled my eyes and sighed, wondering how reporters always managed to find the most white trash person in the neighborhood to interview.
I smiled when Jilly, focused on the television, exhaled in cadence with me. I tucked the blanket around her even tighter and patted Patch on the hind end.
“They act like they wanna get caught,” the little girl said of the Elementals.
I grunted in agreement.
“Meanwhile, the internet is abuzz with new videos by debunker Max Humber, claiming the women are frauds and glory-hunters. Here is just a portion of one of those videos.”
And then Humber’s face was on the screen, several concoctions lain out in front of him in beakers. He poured one substance into another, then mixed a third into the one, and a foaming icy substance bubbled up, over the edges and onto the table. As he gesticulated in wide moves, he spouted the word “faker” the way a street thug spewed the other f-word.
“Hmm…” I mumbled, watching him closely and hoping his over-the-top displays would work to throw off the public.
“They aren’t fakers though.”
I cast my eyes down at the red-haired imp. She was looking up at me, her green orbs open wide as she waited for me to acknowledge her comment. “No, they aren’t fakers. But you remember that talk we had a while back, about the magic in you and in me?”
Jilly nodded, bringing two fingers to her mouth as she listened.
“We can’t let anyone know about our special gifts. That’s only for you and me and Daddy and Justin to know about. Okay?”
“And Miss Rhia.”
“Well, yes, her too. And Mr. Sandy knows.”
“And Mr. Tig.”
“Oh, yeah. Him too.”
“And Miss Breena.”
Breena? Had she already been by here to see Jilly? Beck hadn’t mentioned anything about it. “You met Miss Breena?”
“She’s a nice lady. She taught me how to make my belly get hot and tingly and make my fingers sparkle. See?” She held out her pudgy little-girl hand, waving the digits a few times before small flashes of light burst from the tips.
Just about that time, the back door slammed, and I knew Beck was home. I glanced in that direction, then turned back to Jilly. “That’s pretty awesome. When did Miss Breena teach you that?”
“Oh, I forgot to tell you, she took us all to breakfast yesterday morning.” My boyfriend leaned down to peck a kiss to the tops of both my head and Jilly’s. “Said something about wanting to get a feel for Jilly before she starts her training next week. She seems terrific.”
“And she’s really pretty. Just like Momma.”
My throat went dry, and my stomach churned sour. I knew nymphs all looked similar to one another. That was why Beck had thought Breena familiar at the Halloween party. It just hadn’t really occurred to me until that moment that I was pretty much putting my boyfriend into close and direct contact with a woman who would remind him of his beloved wife and the mother of his children.
My finger twitched, and I looked down at a little blister on the tip. It was clearly a burn, and after a few fuzzy seconds, my mind recalled the dream of the night before when I tried to put out the brownies’ candles. Could problems with Beck and me be the sort of danger they were warning of? The dreams could mean almost anything at this point.
“So when will she start working with Jilly?” I inquired, struggling to keep the pitch of jealousy from my voice.
“Monday night as soon as we finish dinner. She wanted to come by this weekend, but I told her we don’t get to see a lot of you as it is, so I wanted to keep this time just for us. She seemed to understand, so she’ll come each weeknight instead.”
“Oh, that’s good of her.”
“Yeah, I thought it was too. So, looks like it’s just me and my girls today. What would you all like to do?”
For the first time, I regretted my decision to keep weekdays and weekends separate from Beck and the kids. My own rules meant that I would have two days a week with my boyfriend, while he would be spending five nights of that week with another woman. A woman who looked so much like his dead wife that they might have been sisters.
“More trouble…” I murmured under my breath. Jilly flicked her green eyes up at me with a smile, though I was fairly certain she hadn’t heard my words.
Despite my little jealous twinge, we had a very nice weekend. Saturday night we made peanut butter cookies, about a dozen of which we wrapped up in a little plastic box for me to take home. When Justin got back from his friend’s on Sunday, we had movie night, making movie-theater popcorn for Beck and Jilly and caramel popcorn for Justin and me. We introduced one of our favorite movies to the kids. I was tickled that they seemed to enjoy The Goonies as much as I remembered liking it as a kid.
“Friday never comes soon enough,” Beck told me as I prepared to orb back home Monday morning.
“It’ll be here before we know it.”
“Just tell me you’ll miss me and that you’ll call. Then kiss me like you mean it.”
I grinned and reached a hand up to cup his cheek. “I always mean it when I kiss you.”
To prove my point, I stepped up on my toes as I pulled his head down to me. I claimed his lips, teasing his tongue with mine. He cupped my backside and pulled me tight against his body so that I could feel his reaction.
“How’s that?” I asked, breathless.
“Do that again, and I won’t let you leave.”
“Ha, well, I have to leave. I have an appointment. But I will call you later. Okay?”
“Okay, gorgeous. Have a good day.” He kissed me again, then reached down and picked up Patch, who had been waiting patiently beside my feet. “She’s a really good pup. Not a single accident and just goes with the flow of things.”
“I know.” I reached out and took her from him. “It’s almost like she was meant for me. I wouldn’t have the time or patience for a dog that I’d have to train.”
“I guess it was destiny. Now go before I change my mind and take you back to my bedroom.”
The mere hint of it had my cheeks heating with desire, but I engaged my magic and orbed back to the grotto. I was expecting Rhia to arrive around 9:00, and I wanted to get a load of laundry started and a little housekeeping done before she showed. My BFF had a long running project that I sometimes helped with. She had a theory that there was a way to help vampires and werewolves better integrate with society.
I had a handful of weres and vamps in my charge, but overall, their kind didn’t like to try to fit in and certainly didn’t like conformity. Usually Neutralizers just trailed along and mopped up their messes when they found them without payment. The problem with those two special types of MAUCs was their particular diets.
Vampires, of course, needed blood to survive. It was true, as I’d told Beck, that some vampires had human lovers to fill that need. There were always men and women who would share a little plasma in exchange for a relationship. The phenomenal vampire orgasm was a plus to that arrangement. But that sort of diet was missing a crucial aspect for many vamps: the chase. There was something about tracking and seducing and taking blood from an unsuspecting victim. Most of the time, the human would never even know it had happened, except in cases when the vamp was young and inexperienced or maybe just plain sadistic and took too much.
Werewolves were similarly stricken. They desired rare meat, preferably fresh, to keep them going. And although butcher shops could generally fill that bill, the full moon cycle especially set them on edge with the desire to hunt down animals or humans to devour. It was a challenge for them to fight those baser needs.
Since Rhianno
n was a doctor and a were-vamp, a hybrid of both of those particular species of MAUCs, finding ways to help them cope was of interest to her. In my office, I flicked my wand out and used it to conjure the dry erase board where we kept track of our notes and findings, then I set about with my house cleaning duties.
After being with Beck’s cozy family for the weekend, I had to get my mind back to business concerns. Based on the chatter on social media and the dying down of the “magical firefighters” stories on the news, our efforts to divert the Elementals’ true nature was working. I hadn’t heard from Prieto again since his texts Friday evening, and part of me was a little sorry I hadn’t.
A very small part, but a part nonetheless. I expected a bit more of a pat on the back for my ideas. Then again, it was probably best I didn’t invite too much of his notice. If what Tig said was true and the Enforcers had me in their sights, I knew that was not the sort of attention I wanted.
As I went through my laundry, I found Charley’s note in my pants pocket. I held it in my teeth as I finished setting the load to wash, then delivered it to my office. I wasn’t quite ready to confront the fact that my client had bequeathed me all her worldly possessions.
“Hello, hello! Does Lynlee Lincoln live here?”
I smiled even as I shook my head. “Why don’t you just come in and make yourself at home, Rhiannon.”
Patch leaped up from her spot on my couch and bounded off towards the sound of the intruder’s voice, her hackles up as she barked.
“Whoa, where did you get the guard dog?” Rhiannon asked as she sauntered into the room, paper sack in one hand and a tray with two steaming cups in the other. She had to dodge Patch who wasn’t attacking, but was tracking close on her heels. “Calm down, pooch. Next time I’ll bring you a present, too.”
“This is Patch. I didn’t exactly get her, she just picked me. But she’s mostly harmless.”
Rhia dropped the paper bag onto the end table and then reached down to let Patch sniff her. Deciding the intruder didn’t pose any danger, she poked her nose a few times in the direction of the paper sack, then sauntered back to the couch and hopped up to lay down again.
I knew even before Rhiannon handed it to me that she’d brought me English Breakfast tea. Opening the lid, I saw that she’d even remembered to put a bit of milk in it. With a low moan, I slurped up a sip of the tea, enjoying the taste splashing on my tongue before I swallowed it down.
Dropping into my office chair with my cup clutched tight to my chest, I watched her open the paper sack and pull forth about six wrapped breakfast sandwiches. She didn’t offer any of them to me, instead opening the first one and practically tossing it down her throat whole.
This wasn’t unusual. Rhia was a ravenous eater.
Since her mouth was full, I decided to start the conversation. “So, Teddy looked good the other night. Even after all of these years, he and Ruth are adjusting well. What’s your assessment there?”
Rhia considered that while she chewed her third sandwich. In the days just before Teddy became my charge, he was a young werewolf in line to become the Alpha of his pack. But pack life wasn’t what he thought he wanted, and so he’d abandoned them for college. However, with his family growing at leaps and bounds, it seemed he wasn’t as terribly opposed to packs as he’d thought he was.
“He and Ruth are doing great. You know when they first got married… I guess ten years ago, right? When they first got married, they would spend most full moon cycles at that cabin he bought in Montana. They could hunt those woods without anyone detecting a thing. Now, they take some trips there, but not as much. It’s all those damned kids they have.”
“The pack. It always goes back to that for werewolves. The collective helps them keep their needs in check.”
There was a pause in conversation as Rhia picked up on my distraction. “So looks like you guys averted a big one with the Elementals, huh?”
I nodded and sipped again before speaking. “Yeah, seems so. It’s still a bit of a strange event though.”
“I saw some of that Max dude’s videos. He’s really stupid, but people are falling for it. Funny, isn’t it? We’re sitting here talking about how to help vamps and weres assimilate better into human society, so people never figure out about them. And then these freak events happen where it almost seems like MAUCs are wanting to get found out.”
I arched an eyebrow as my mind went back to Saturday morning and Jilly’s words. They act like they wanna get caught. I took a big drink of tea and stood, putting both hands on my desk and tapping my index fingers against the wood. Patch sat up, her eyes droopy with sleep as she watched me for any sign that she should get up. “Have you heard from Helene lately?”
Rhiannon shook her head in confusion.
“Maybe we should take a little trip to check on her.”
“She’s not even your charge anymore. You want to go to Hideaway Land?”
My chest rose and fell in a deep, long breath. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I want to do. Right now.”
Helene and her best friend Letty had been living together in Hideaway Land for about six months now. She was a satyress, but her friend was a human. I’d hooked them up with Gerard Latham, a warlock who was conducting a living experiment in bringing MAUCs and humans together peacefully and openly.
I had been vehemently opposed to that idea. My entire life and career was about hiding MAUCs from human eyes. It was only on rare occasions that humans were able to accept the existence of creatures like us. When things went bad, I was the one who had to clear out the mess. And it was more often than not a mess.
So I was naturally skeptical that Hideaway Land would work. For now, though, it seemed to be a safe place for Helene and her friend to live. And since they kept in steady contact with Rhiannon, I knew that they were, in fact, thriving here.
“Oh, my gosh, Lynlee!” Helene cried when she spotted me huffing it up a hill towards her home. “And Rhiannon, too. What are you guys doing here?” She clapped her hands in excitement and then galloped towards me on her hooved feet.
“You look really good, Helene,” I noted with awe in my voice. It was true, and in fact, she looked better than good. The hair on her head and her tail was long and golden, flowing in waves that sparkled in the sunlight. The little horns on her head were ivory white, and there was a blush to her cheeks that I couldn’t help admiring.
“I told you she liked it here.”
“Who are you yakking with, Helene?” A voice called out from Helene’s little cabin. Letty stepped out with a knife in one hand and a margarita in the other. Her eyes widened when she saw us, and she hurried forward so fast she spilled some of her drink. “Hey, I didn’t know you guys were coming to visit. But you’re just in time, I’m making margaritas!”
I lifted my wrist to check the time, realized I wasn’t wearing a watch and instead grabbed my cell phone. It was a little after noon, but still earlier than I liked to start drinking. “Nah, I’m good. But Rhia might want something.”
“Anything to eat?”
Helene laughed, and the two girls led us to their home. I stopped at the entry and looked down at Patch. “You stay. Stay right there.” She mewled once and sat down right where I’d pointed.
“Oh, she can come in, Lynlee. We have a cat, but he isn’t social. He’ll be in hiding until you guys are gone anyway.”
I cocked an eyebrow at Patch and pointed for her to come into the house. “Be good,” I said as she leaped across the threshold.
The cabin was a cozy place, not much bigger than the apartment they used to live in, but just a bit nicer. There was a lounge chair off to the side that looked so strange I found myself starting at it. Finally Helene touched my arm to get my attention.
“There’s a guy here who makes special-order furniture. He’s a wood nymph, and he designs stuff especially for MAUCs. He spent weeks with me, learning my comforts and habits and finally came up with this.” She sat into the chair to demonstrate. It allowed her to s
it to either side, with little indentations left and right for her tail and extra padding for her to lean into. It was just about the most perfect chair I could ever imagine for a satyr.
Actually, I’d never really spent time imaging such things, but that was neither here nor there.
“So, I’m wondering if you guys have heard any talk about anything strange going on. Anything you think I might need to know.”
“Like what?” Letty inquired, handing Rhia a plate of chips and salsa.
“Well, you know there were a few weird incidents where some MAUCs performed some magic out in the open. I just thought you might’ve heard something about it.”
“You’re investigating that stuff? Wow, how cool. I didn’t think Neutralizers would be too involved in that. It seemed something more for the Enforcers or even higher up to me.”
I shrugged and opened my mouth to answer, but Rhia backhanded my leg lightly and chuckled. “Well one of those involved was a client of Lynlee’s. She’s just doing a little checking.”
I wanted to slap Rhiannon back, but I knew she could hit harder than I could, so I turned my attention to the girls instead. “Listen, I just thought maybe Latham might be planning something. You know, like a way to start introducing MAUCs to the overall world or something.”
Helene’s eyes widened. “No, Lynlee. Absolutely not. Don’t start pointing fingers at him. Gerard Latham is considered a hero here. He’s helped all of us learn to live in harmony, and we’re all happy in Hideaway Land. We aren’t looking to make waves out there in the rest of the world.”
“I’m not saying you are, but Latham’s experiment was always touted as a way to prove to the world that there could be accord among all of the species. It was understood that one day he’d want a full integration. I’m just wondering if he’s moving in that direction now.”
“Don’t stir things up for us here, Lynlee. It wasn’t easy for some of us to leave our homes and our other lives to try to make it in Hideaway Land. But it’s working, and we like it here. We aren’t going to let anyone ruin it for us.”
A Bundle of Trouble (The Lynlee Lincoln Sets Book 1) Page 24