by Bria Quinlan
Rond pat her hand where it rested in his. “How could you have?”
“They laughed at the vampire parents joke. They didn’t think anything was weird when I talked about other witches. They just said they’d talk it over when we told them to get Gus into SCA. For goodness’ sake, Chalice made a rubber ducky magically appear!”
“Wait,” I cut in. “What are you talking about? Are you saying Gus is a witch?”
Instinctively, my free hand came out to wrap around Gus, shielding him from anything evil that might try to get at him. Tim’s hand stiffened beneath mine.
“No.” Calla shook her head. “I thought he was. That would be easier, probably. But, no. Gus is not a witch.”
I took a deep breath. I’d been panicking there for a moment. My new friend—my first real adult female friend—and I thought she was going to go off the deep end there.
“He’s a trickster.”
And there she went. I leaned into Tim, needing to feel his solid strength and gather from it. Plus, I had no idea how he’d react to this. Please don’t let him view this as an attack on Gus. I’d never be able to rein him.
To my surprise, Tim stayed calm, studying the couple across from us.
“You’re saying that Gus, my nephew, is a mythological Norse creature?” he asked, voice steady as the man.
“Not all tricksters are Norse, you have to understand,” Calla rushed on. “Tricksters have been known to come from many backgrounds, but with his coloring, Norse is an excellent guess.”
She beamed at Tim as if he’d answered a difficult trivia question correctly and won a million dollars.
I was trying not to freak out. These people were serious. They thought that Gus, our little Gus, was some type of troublemaking demi-god.
“No.” I all but took Gus from Tim to run from the room with him. “No. Gus is just a baby. And this is ridiculous.”
“He is a baby, and a really cute one at that.” Calla smiled at me. “But he’s a baby trickster. I thought when we met that his mom must be a witch since he and Chalice hit it off so easily. But it became apparent that wasn’t true while I was sitting. He’s a tricky little one, aren’t you?” She leaned forward to give Gus a little grin, which he loved. “And the more we realized he hadn’t been bound, the more we realized you two—both of you—might not know what was going on.”
“That’s it.” I hopped up. “That’s enough. There is nothing wrong with Gus. He is a perfectly normal healthy little boy. And this has gotten out of hand. I don’t know if you think this is some type of joke or something, but it’s not funny.”
“Minx.” Tim stood, put Gus on his hip, and wrapped his other arm around me. “It would make a lot of things make sense.”
“What? How can you even say that? There’re no such things as tricksters and witches.”
“Excuse me.” Calla stood, looking more than a little insulted. She glanced toward the swing nearby where Chalice slept peacefully, as if she didn’t want her daughter to witness my insanity. “There most certainly are.”
“And you know this how?” I couldn’t believe I’d walked into a madhouse. My first real friend was not the kind woman I thought she was. She was a horrible joke player, breaking my heart.
“Because I am one.” Calla spoke so calmly, it gave me pause. “And Rond is a sorcerer.”
I stared at them, frustrated, annoyed, and a little scared.
“Minx, let’s sit back down.” Tim pulled me down next to him, and handed me Gus, probably to keep my calm.
I cuddled the little guy, trying to block out any idea that there might be something paranormally different about him.
“Let’s back up a little.” Calla smiled as reassuringly as she could when we were both obviously not happy with one another. “Nocturne Falls isn’t just a tourist town. It’s a haven for supernatural people.”
I snorted, not just at the supernatural people thing, but at the whole idea.
“Minx, please.” Calla gave me such a look of disappointment that I settled back into the couch, ready to listen.
Tim wrapped his arm around me again, pulling me to him. It had only been one day, but he was my center point, my north compass point. He and Gus.
“The town,” Calla continued with a pointed look, “is a place where those of us who are perhaps a little different than what Minx is ready to consider normal at the moment, can live our lives peacefully and without worry about ending up at the wrong end of a witch hunt. A literal witch hunt. And so, the founders created this safe haven with a way for people to live out openly and make a living…and to also bring some joy to the world. I mean, Halloween every day? So many people come here and have a wonderful time that it’s a ball to be involved.”
“That’s it. A witch founded the city to not be burned at the stake?” I knew I sounded horrible, but this was too much.
“Actually, no.” Calla was obviously not trying to hide her annoyance at this point, either. “A vampire. To be specific, a family of them.”
Beside me, Tim let out a huh.
“You’re not buying this, are you?” I glanced up at him, pulling Gus a little closer.
I glanced away, checking out the room and wondering if I could make a run for it. Would Child Services put Gus in my custody if I told them his uncle had gone insane while his mother was away?
Tim glanced at me, tightening his arm around my shoulder, probably anticipating my escape attempt. “It makes an odd kind of sense.”
“What?”
“I guess, well, the way I grew up, it doesn’t surprise me.” He shrugged one shoulder and shifted to look at me, to hold my attention. “Growing up in that house you saw—”
“Plantation. Let’s call a spade a spade.” My annoyance was focused at everyone but Gus at this point.
“That actually helps my point.” He grinned at me, this confidence something I was liking before it was focused on me. “You see things, hear things. Experience things. There’s stories and myths—a lot of stuff that can’t be explained any other way than through the paranormal. And Willow was always drawn to that. I swear, the one summer she was allowed to stay with us, the whole estate went a little haywire.”
“That makes sense,” Calla added. “People who are sensitives often draw as much as are drawn to.”
I glanced around, realizing I was the only one not buying into their theory at this point. Even Gus had woken up and was paying attention to the conversation as if he understood every word.
“You’re saying, just to summarize, that Willow is a sensitive and that she draws paranormal people to her and that she then met Gus’s dad, had an affair with a demi-god, had a baby trickster, and moved to a town filled with paranormal creatures?”
“Except for the insulting part of calling us creatures and that we prefer supernaturals, yes, pretty much that.” Calla crossed her arms, and I realized that for her, this was real. She wasn’t having the humor the human thing anymore.
“Okay, prove it.” If we could just move past this, we could get back to all the good stuff, the normal, happy life with Tim. And Gus, for as long as we were able to keep him.”
“Prove it?”
“Yes. You’re a witch. Prove it.”
“That seems kind of rude, Minx.” Tim gave me a disapproving look, and all I could think was, I’m the one being rude?
“No, I understand.” Calla glanced at her husband, who gave her a little nod. “Okay, what would prove this to you?”
“Can you…levitate?” I asked, trying to think of something obvious.
“Oh, geez. That’s exhausting. Can’t you think of anything else?” Calla grinned. “And, don’t say disappear. That’s nearly impossible for someone at my level.”
“Fine.” I glanced around the room and saw a pillow propped up in one of the chairs. “Can you make the pillow come over here?”
“Just make it come here, anyway I want?”
“Yup, obviously using your powers. Not going over there and getting it.”
“Sure!” I watched as the pillow lifted off the chair and shot across the room—right between our two couches and took out a lamp on the end table.
“Oops.” Calla shrugged. “I didn’t say I was good at this. Sorry, Tim.”
Tim shrugged, looking amused. “Not my lamp. And whoever this guy is who put us in this situation, he deserves to lose a lamp.”
I stared at the shards of glass on the floor around the pillow. My hands shook as I rubbed Gus’s back, afraid the noise would have freaked him out. But, he and Chalice just looked around like this all made sense. Of course pillows were flying around breaking lamps.
Of course they were.
I glanced from one adult to another, each looking at me with different expressions. Calla with a bit of righteous pride, Rond concerned, and Tim…hopeful. Hopeful that I’d believe and be okay with it.
“Are you kidding me with this?” I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. My entire future as I’d dreamed it and let myself believe in was falling apart before my eyes.
Normal life. Normal family. Normal small town. Poof. Gone.
I walked to the window, looking out at all the overly-manicured houses and feeling my heart dive to my toes.
I couldn’t fight what I’d seen, and to be honest, there was some relief in knowing that Calla wasn’t lying to me.
“Minx, it makes an odd sort of sense. The escapes, how he gets his hands on things, the fact that he must really hate that green T-shirt and love those rubber duckies.”
I glanced over my shoulder to where they all looked at me expectantly. What did they want me to say? That I was willing to trade one type of crazy for another?
I didn’t think I could. I’d spent twenty-five years trying to earn my way and break out of it so I could live a quiet, normal life.
“Maybe we should give Tim and Minx some time to chat about this and take it in.” Rond stood, taking Calla’s hand and leading her toward the door. “We’re ready to talk about some ways to help you handle Gus and his learning curve when you’re ready. We typically bind toddlers’ skill sets with a rune until a certain age, depending on a lot of things. It will make this all a lot easier. We’ll set up a time to discuss that later.” He offered his hand to Tim as Calla went and scooped up a napping Chalice.
There was more discussion and polite small talk, but I tuned it all out as I watched Gus clap his hands and grin up at his uncle.
I was falling for them—both of them, but I couldn’t imagine my life being a series of spiraling magic-making trouble. He was cute as a baby, but I assumed things would get weirder the older he got—and then, probably just as I accepted it and fell completely, Willow would come and take him away.
And all I could think was, Minx, you are not emotionally cut out to handle this.
I thought back to my anxiety and what it had spiraled into. How I was walking a line of darkness and fought through my depression with a plan to escape not only it, but my family and the craziness that came with them.
The anxiety…maybe, maybe I could have taken that on again for my guys. But, the dark pit I’d climbed out of? No. I wouldn’t be a good caretaker if I went there again.
And, I feared going back into it more than anything.
That was the thing about nannying I hadn’t explained to Tim: There was always an escape hatch.
Those people treated you as expendable, but that meant they also expected you to leave at the drop of a hat. I was able to balance everything because of that.
But with love, there was no leaving. I wouldn’t be able to walk—and I wouldn’t be safe to stay.
“Come on.” Tim steered me toward the stairs, keeping his thoughts to himself for the time being. “Let’s put Gus down. He’s dozing off. They must have partied hard last night.”
I followed them up to the nursery where Tim put him down for his nap.
I stared down at him, sleeping so peacefully that I couldn’t imagine anything different—even knowing better.
“Calla gave me some links to read up on tricksters and told me how they handle small children with what might be deemed difficult learning curves.” He talked on, giving me more info about what someone as small as Gus would grow up into. “I always knew he had a wicked sense of humor. And the escaping? He’d get out and then just sit there watching me sleep.”
Tim was taking this in stride, as if he was relieved Gus was different.
“They said to expect his teen years to be insane.” He laughed. “I mean, can you imagine troublemaking genes and hormones and just the fact that he’s Willow’s son all let loose at the same time?”
Tim leaned over to look at Gus, the love so sure in his gaze. “He’s going to be a handful all right, but he has a good heart and his first best friend and a town that will support him. He’s going to be just fine.”
I could feel the tears working to escape as my throat clogged up.
I couldn’t do this. I loved them both a little now. I couldn’t stay until I loved them a lot. I wouldn’t make it. I needed to be out in the normal world, making my way and living quietly. I couldn’t sign on for the type of chaos Tim was talking about so casually, as if having absolutely no certainty in your day-to-day life being smooth was okay. As if I hadn’t already lived through it during my teen years.
Oh, sweet heartbreak. I had a choice, and it was a horrible one…but…
“Tim?” My heart was breaking, but all I could think about were those years I felt lost, anxious, defeated, and depressed. When things had gotten so unstable that I’d thought of any way—any way—to escape. “Tim?”
“Yeah?” He turned my way, and I saw the moment he realized something was really wrong.
“I’m sorry.”
“About Gus?” He grinned, already probably making plans in that super smart brain of his. “So, he’s going to be a little bit of a rascal. It’s not like we didn’t already know that.”
I glanced down to where Gus’s eyes had opened, and he stared at us through the crib bars. I was going to miss him. I tried not to get attached on jobs—and with the jobs I took, it was pretty darn easy—but this time…it was like my heart was breaking already.
I stepped over to them, looking down at Gus first and then back up at Tim. He was everything I wanted…only he came in a world I was deathly afraid of. I couldn’t return to chaos and unpredictability.
I pressed my hand against his cheek, feeling the scruff he hadn’t taken the time to shave as we’d rushed home—no, back. Back to Nocturne Falls.
“I can’t stay,” I felt the words like sharp thorns in my throat as I said them.
“What?” I could see in his eyes he knew what I’d meant, but he just needed to push, feel the denial.
“I can’t stay. I can’t be a good addition to you guys here.” I glanced down at Gus and felt a wave of love so heady wash over me that I thought I’d lose my feet for a moment. “I won’t be good for you guys. That anxiety and the depression—it could come back in a situation like this and…and—”
I sucked in a breath, trying not to cry.
“Hey, hey.” Before I could stop him, Tim’s arms came around me. “We’ll be okay. They talked about all the ways to make this as normal as possible. I know that’s important to you, and we’ll make this work.”
“I can’t, don’t you see? I just can’t take the risk.” I looked down at Gus, my heart exploding in my chest. “It’s not just about me now; that would have been hard enough. But since you’re taking custody of Gus, I have to be able to know I’ll be a solid, good mom figure…as his nanny.”
I blushed at the end, trying not to let Tim see how much more I wanted to be.
“And for you,” I rushed on. “I can’t risk that I could go to that horrible, dark place again. You can’t run a business and care for Gus and watch out for me.”
“The hell I can’t.”
My head whipped up at the power in Tim’s voice.
“We’re a family now, and that’s what families d
o.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell him that no family I knew of did that—including either of ours.
“I love you.” It was nothing less than the truth.
Tim’s shoulders dropped, and he grinned. “Good, because I love you, too.”
“I love you with my whole heart—and that’s why I need to leave.” I took a step back, then another. “For you, and Gus. To make sure I stay sane and that you guys stay okay.”
I turned and fled into the bathroom to get to my room. I’d grab my keys and…and that’s it. That’s all I needed. The rest could be sent or replaced, but with my heart breaking into pieces so small I might never find them, I just needed to get out of here.
As I went to step into my room, the connecting door slammed shut in my face, a near miss. I stepped back and into something hard and warm.
Tim’s arms came up to catch me.
“Whoa.” He turned me slowly, checking me over as if I might have been damaged.
I tried to raise my gaze to meet his, but the tears were starting to come. I’d held them back so long, and then, when I’d thought I was clear, they fell, just as he grabbed me.
“That was close.” He glanced at the door. “Come on, let’s go back out and sit down. We’ll talk this through.”
“We can’t. There’s nothing to talk through.” I was sure of it. I was a bad bet.
“Minx.” His voice was so soft it drew me in, brought me closer. I felt myself begin to lean in and had to stop.
“No. Really.” I moved to leave through Gus’s room and—Slam. The other connecting door closed.
I stood staring at it, shocked. What the heck was going on?
Behind me, Tim started to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” I demanded, my annoyance momentarily slowing my tears.
“Well, that’s that. I don’t want you to leave. And apparently,” he gestured toward the door, “Gus doesn’t want you to leave, either.”
“Are you kidding me?” I grabbed the knob and gave the door a hard push. “No, no way. You open this door right now, mister. Do you hear me?”