The Clumsy Clairvoyant

by S. E. Babin

  And weird. Living in Midnight Cove exposed me to all kinds of things I'd come to accept as normal. So, for me, seeing this many humans and no paranormals was not normal. Granted, we had humans in our town, and quite a few of them, but the ratio of paranormals to humans was way skewed. I gawked like a kindergartner at Disney World which forced Lucas to apologize to a couple of people as he pushed me inside the door of a restaurant.

  "Everything okay?" he asked me.

  "All of those people," I wondered aloud. "They wouldn't know magic if it hit them in the face."

  "No," he said, trying to hide his smile. "They wouldn't. So we aren't going to show them. Right, Grace?"

  I nodded my head. "Right. Just surprised, that's all."

  Lucas rattled off his name to the hostess and she walked us back to a seat overlooking a massive body of water. The moon looked enormous against the backdrop of the sky and its reflection distorted in the rippling waves. A waiter brought us out a preordered bottle of wine and poured us a glass of wine.

  "I hope you don't think this was too presumptuous," said Lucas as I picked my wine glass up.

  My thoughts went back to the first day I was on the steps of the dating agency. This was what I had dreamed of. And of course marriage and babies, but I was so not going to weird Lucas out when he was being both normal and a gentleman. "No, this is wonderful." And it was. The wine was a deep bodied Pinot Noir and tasted delicious. "How'd you find this place?"

  "My mother used to take me and my brothers here when my father would go out of town." A fond smile crossed his mouth. "Father hated crossing the barrier, but Mom always wanted us to have adventures. It was her way of subverting the rules just a little bit because it wasn't too far out, and we got to eat a delicious meal."

  "Your mom sounds like a wonderful lady."

  "She is. She has a spine of titanium, but she's fair. After she'd kicked me out of the family home, she'd come over to the place I rented with a truck load of furniture she'd bought for me. When she finished threatening me with violence if I ever told my father, she'd pulled me into a fierce hug, then left to let me unload everything myself."

  What a great story. "I'm sure she loves you very much."

  "She has to have a boat load of patience. Not only does she have four boys, we're all immortal and it takes a lot longer for us to grow up than regular humans."

  "You should gift your mother well and often," I said.

  "Yeah. You're right."

  The waiter came over and told us the specials. I ordered the lobster ravioli and Lucas, unsurprisingly, ordered a rare steak and tuna tartare as an appetizer. I wasn't much into the raw stuff, so I wasn't going to touch that with a ten foot pole.

  Our conversation was both sporadic and animated, and as the night went on, I realized, I really, truly liked Lucas Marsh. I mean, I already knew I was attracted to him, but once he'd gotten the chip off his shoulder, he'd really become quite the catch. A lump formed in my throat at that thought. If I thought he was a catch, so would other women.

  Maybe I could sic Morgana Comey on them or start a rumor he'd gotten beat up by a girl. I felt my lips twitch at that one. Morgana was no girl. Lucas was lucky he had full use of his faculties after pissing her off.

  Speaking of which...I was still a little disturbed by the love spell. Even though Morgana had given him a useless bundle of herbs, he hadn't known it was useless and still tried to use it on me. He'd apologized for a lot of things, but that one still got me. I understood his reasoning, especially knowing now what Marissa was up against, but it still didn't make it right.

  "You look lost in thought," Lucas interrupted. "Everything okay?"

  I blinked and shook myself out of my wandering thoughts. "Yes. Fine. I was just thinking of something."

  "Whatever it was, it didn't look happy."

  "Mmm," I agreed. "Tell me about Marissa. How did you meet and what did you think of her when you first saw her?"

  His brow crinkled and I knew my subject switch hadn't fooled him, but he obliged and told me the story of Sikes introducing them for the first time. It wasn't exactly like at first sight.

  Fortunately our dinner came just a few minutes later, saving me from Lucas bringing up my sudden earlier silence. I waited until the waiter left before I dug into my ravioli and almost moaned it was so good.

  "Your mother has wonderful taste," I said after I swallowed my first bite.

  "She's had plenty of time to explore," Lucas said with a chuckle. "It's hard to be immortal and not find all the good spots."

  We ate in silence for a while, before Lucas sighed and put down his fork. "Tell me, Grace."

  "Tell you what?" I didn't look up at him. I chose to focus on my ravioli which was suddenly super interesting.

  "What's bothering you. You were fine and then you got this contemplative concerned look in your eyes."

  "Nothing. It doesn't matter."

  "Considering I'm pretty sure it was about me, I'd say it does matter. I could feel your nervousness when you were thinking. Your heartbeat sped up and I felt your hands began to sweat."

  My lips twisted to the side. "That's a little disturbing, Lucas."

  "What's more disturbing is that you appear to be frightened of me."

  I set my fork down. "I'm not frightened. Exactly."

  He tilted his head and studied me, his gaze roaming over my face. "It was the love potion."

  I nodded.

  "You're concerned I'm going to try something like that again."

  I nodded again.

  He pursed his lips. "I'm not sure anything I can say or do will ever make you believe me, but that was hands down the dumbest decision I've ever made in my stupidly long life. Not only was it disrespectful, it showed a callous disregard for our relationship, showed I didn't actually mean my apology and it was a way to manipulate you, showing both a tendency for abuse and control."

  My mouth opened in surprise. He held a hand up to stop me from speaking. "I'm not quite finished."

  "Okay.”

  "If it helps, I was desperate to keep my secret. Never before had I ever taken an action so catastrophically dumb, only for it to backfire in such a spectacular fashion. Even if Morgana had not shown up and so handily pounded my face into the ground, I was already regretting it as I'd finally began to understand the ramifications of it. Plus I had my brothers there, too, all reminding me of how much of an idiot I was." He ran a hand through his hair, a nervous gesture I was beginning to realize. "I can control people on my own. It isn't a power I use often because it makes me feel creepy. I bought the love spell as a way to keep you close to me and manipulate your feelings into preventing you from looking to closely at my future or what I was hiding. It was stupid and I will always be regretful of it. I hope one day you can forgive me for it. I knew you were a good person. Are a good person. I knew you wouldn't read me if you cared about me." His lips curled in disgust. "Instead I totally misjudged and screwed it all up and basically reset our relationship back to negative thirty points."

  I felt the corner of my mouth tilt up. "You're keeping score?"

  "With you I started at zero and immediately went negative. I'm trying to get back into the positive, but I'm not sure I'm doing a great job of it."

  "Just now. You were open, honest, and regretful." I held my wine glass up and clinked it against his own. "I forgive you. Though I do reserve the right to keep Morgana Comey on speed dial just in case she needs to beat the shit out of you again."

  He shuddered. "I can't wait to hook her up with Colin."

  I let out a sharp bark of laughter. "Oh. Oh my. That is going to be amazing!"

  Lucas rolled his eyes. "Colin is not going to know what hit him."

  I narrowed my gaze as I thought about it. "Those two are perfect for each other. Good eye."

  With the tension broken, we finished our dinner and left a hefty tip. Within half an hour we were back in Midnight Cove and I was just about to slip out of his truck when he slid his hand behind my head
. "Grace?"

  "Mmm?"

  "I'm going to kiss you."

  He leaned in and swept a gentle kiss over my lips, setting the nerve endings on fire. He didn't press or push. Instead, he kept his hand in my hair and stroked through the length of it. "I like you. A lot. And I would really like to go out with you again."

  I pressed my fingers against my lips and nodded.

  A grin split his face. "Good."

  I slid out of his truck and shut the door behind me and as soon as I got inside I leaned against the back of the door and slid down it, a goofy grin on my face.

  18

  Two days later an urgent knock on my door had me rushing over, only to see Lucas behind it. He wore casual clothes, but he looked worse for the wear, a grim twist to his full mouth.

  "Lucas? Everything okay?"

  "Can I come in?"

  "Of course," I held open the door and let him inside. "Coffee?" It was still morning and I was in sweats and a tank.

  "Please."

  I poured him a quick mug and handed it to him. "Have a seat," I said and sank into my old recliner.

  "It's Marissa. I have a feeling she's being closed in on. I need to move her as soon as possible, and I still haven't found a location."

  I blinked at him. "I was born and raised in this town. I don't know where she could be moved where someone won't find her. I honestly think you've been pretty lucky she hasn't been found already."

  His expression grew even grimmer. "That's the problem. I think she has. And I think the people who found her are merely biding their time."

  "Shit," I muttered.

  "Definitely."

  "Were you followed?" I asked.

  He shook his head. "No. I took precautions."

  "What about using a trust to buy a plot of land?"

  "I did that with the last place and I think it was uncovered. Someone is tracking my movements." He shifted in his seat. "What about you?"

  My brow furrowed. "What about me?"

  "If I gave you the money would you be able to purchase a property through trust?"

  Okay. How had this escalated so quickly? "I'm already linked to you. I'm surprised they're not tracing me too." I wasn't quite sure if that was true, but it seemed like the most logical scenario. I thought about it some more while we sat there in silence. "The Comey's. You should ask them."

  He let out a bark of laughter. "Morgana told me if she ever saw me in her shop again she'd incinerate me with lightning."

  She probably would. I blew out a slow breath. "Okay. Then I'll ask them."

  His expression grew thoughtful. "It could work."

  "Of course it could. I thought of it."

  "So humble."

  I grinned at him and his eyes went molten. The smile slid off my face but we didn't break eye contact. "When this is all over, Grace Banner, you and I are going to be sweaty."

  I swallowed hard. "I don't like to run," I whispered.

  His eyes widened and a bark of laughter escaped him. "That wasn't what I had in mind, but chasing you seems like it would be good to get the heart pumping and the blood flowing." His gaze flickered to my neck.

  "You are a naughty man, Mr. Marsh. I'm not quite sure we're there yet."

  He leaned forward. "I am a very patient man."

  I practically had to shove him out of my door in order to keep from jumping his bones. Things with us were heating up. And not in a race to the altar. More like a race to the first flat semi-comfortable surface.

  I sighed as I closed the door, then just for good measure I locked it, just in case he changed his mind about the chasing.

  Later that afternoon, I was changed, sufficiently de-flustered from Lucas' visit, and on my way to the witches' shop. When I walked in, all of them were sitting around the register staring right at me. Morgana spoke. "We expected you, daughter of Delphi."

  My footsteps faltered. I'd never heard that one, but I knew what Delphi was. I didn't consider myself to be an oracle, but it was odd they seemed to think so. I nodded my head at Morgana. "Hello, I'm glad you are all here. I have a...boon to ask of you."

  A grin split Morgana's gorgeous face. "Don't be so formal. Would you like a cup of tea?"

  Taking tea from the Comey sisters was always a gamble. Or at least that was the rumor around town. "What kind of tea?"

  Another sister, this one blond, tsked. "So suspicious!"

  "Chamomile and lemon balm. To calm your nerves. Your aura looks like it got hit with a livewire." She poured me a cup from a teapot behind the register and handed it over to me.

  "Thank you."

  "You have a woman," she began, "hiding a terrible secret."

  I nodded. Maybe since they seemed to already know everything I should have just called. "She has an infant."

  The blonde one's eyes went white. Errrrmmm...

  "He is important," she hissed. "So important."

  "Cecily," Morgana warned. She placed an arm on her sister's hand. "You wish to move her. Where?"

  "That's what I'm here about. Lucas is being tracked so his hands are tied."

  I pretended not to notice the flash of anger across her face at the mention of his name. "I thought you might be able to help us with both the purchase of the land and warding around it to stop tracking spells."

  Morgana pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Something like this would be extraordinarily expensive."

  I shrugged. "I am not paying for it."

  "Lucas will fund this?"

  I nodded. "As far as I know."

  "And this woman? What is she to him?"

  I told them everything. I suspected they knew most of it but there was no way I was lying to the Comey sisters. About anything. That was a recipe for disaster.

  "He keeps this promise to a man long dead?" Morgana's gaze grew thoughtful.

  "Yes."

  "Hmmm. And yet he tried to control you through a love spell?"

  "To help her."

  "Doesn't make it okay," another sister chimed in from the back.

  "I agree," I said. "But I've chosen to forgive him."

  "You are a true sage, then," Morgana said. "I will confer with my sisters on exactly what is needed to protect this child." Her eyes darkened. "We will also provide the mother with the means to kill her son if he turns loup."

  I swallowed hard. "I'm not sure she will do that."

  "If she was the wife of a warrior, her heart will be stout enough to make that decision. It would be a kindness to them both and for the rest of the world."

  "If you think it's best," I said.

  "I do," Morgana replied, effectively ending that line of questioning. "In a week's time, I will find you and tell you whether or not we can do this."

  I was about to protest the timeline, when she held something out to me - a small bundle. "Give these to your man. Tell him to bury them in her yard and have the mother and child wear the charms. It will confuse those sent to find her. They will forget why they are there and she will be safe for awhile. We will give you our answer before the spell wears off."

  I accepted the bundle. "Thank you." I made eye contact with each of the sisters, and their power buzzed over my skin. "I wish you all a wonderful day."

  "We will meet again, Daughter of Delphi."

  I wish they wouldn't call me that. "I look forward to it, Morgana."

  I left the store fairly confident they would come through for Marissa. She was a mother and she'd lost her husband. This was right up with the causes they'd chosen to support. I just hoped Lucas could live with the cost of it. When I'd gotten back into my car, I let out a shaky breath. Those women were scary as hell. A snort burst from me when I thought about poor, intelligent Colin getting tangled up with Morgana. I couldn't wait to see if that actually happened. I'd fork out money to see that courtship.

  When I pulled out of the parking lot and happened to glance in my rearview, Morgana was standing on the stoop of her store watching me pull away. It was almost as if she knew I'd been thinking about h
er.

  A shiver rolled down my shoulders and gooseflesh broke out all over my skin. That woman...those women. I never wanted to be the one to cross them. Not if I knew what was good for me. I liked a perfectly intact lifespan and an entire body, thank you very much. From what I heard she’d done to Lucas, Morgana was lucky I didn’t prostrate myself on the floor at her feet when I came into her shop.

  When I got home, I was still shaken up. I grabbed a big glass of cold water, drained it in several swallows, then made myself a massive sandwich. I didn’t have any appointments today so I thought I’d take the rest of the day off and do absolutely nothing except for veg out in front of the television. Nothing important was waiting for me. Finally.

  I hadn’t even heard from Portia in weeks now, so whatever was happening with Lucas seemed to pacify her. It certainly pacified me. Although now when I looked at him I imagined things like tearing his shirt off with my teeth or even worse things. Yikes. It had been awhile and Lucas was like an ice cream cone mirage in the middle of the desert.

  “Calm down, woman,” I said to myself. “You aren’t even sure whether or not he feels the same way.” I kind of had a feeling he did, but we still hadn’t talked too much about us. Or if there was an us. Even though it kind of felt like an us.

  I sighed. This was the bane of dating. The wondering, contemplating, and agonizing self doubt. I was starting to regret my whole lets camp at Portia’s doorstep until she bowed to my whims campaign.

  If and when Lucas decided to make it an us, I would just bide my time and take it slow. Forcing things never went well for anyone. Even with Portia and annoying her enough to start setting me up hadn't done me any favors. I'd been on tons of terrible dates, fought with Lucas for months, and had finally given up when he'd managed to come around.

  Was this Portia's plan the entire time?

  I frowned. If it was, it seemed like a terrible plan. But I'd always heard she had an odd way of doing things. I couldn't imagine she'd force Lucas to act like an enormous jerk, though. That really seemed like all his doing.

  I flipped on the television to get my mind off things. There was too much to worry about right now, so I decided to do the next best thing: not worry about anything at all.