“Grier?” a hesitant voice ventured. “I thought that was you.”
Busted.
I set my phone aside and braced myself to play nice with my cousin. Cousin. How weird was that? Linus was the closest thing I’d had to one growing up, but I never viewed him as family. For most of my childhood, I had simply considered him the nerdy son of Maud’s snooty big sister.
“Hey.” Glancing up, I gave her a finger wave. “I see you found my favorite café.”
“Is it?” Her left hand tightened around her cup, and I noticed her grape was missing. The evenness of her skin tone made me think the engagement must be recent since there was no pale band to indicate otherwise. Maybe she needed a break from hauling around that rock. I could picture her spraining her wrist lifting her hand with each sip. “I don’t drink coffee, but I wanted a place to sit and think. This fit the bill.”
Smiling politely through my disbelief, I attempted to make amends since this might be the last time I saw her. “About the other day…” I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry I was rude.”
“No, I get it.” She sank onto the empty chair beside me. “I should have called or emailed before inviting myself to your house.”
“A heads-up would have been nice.” Maud had never stood on ceremony among friends, and neither did I. But there was a difference in having Amelie or Boaz let themselves in my home versus an unknown quantity inviting herself for a visit. “Things are crazy lately, and I get nervous when strangers appear on my doorstep.”
The word stranger made her flinch, but I wasn’t sure what else she wanted me to call her. We didn’t know each other. The rift in our family hadn’t affected her. No, it had been my mother who paid the price for Dame Marchand’s decision, and she was past worrying if I ever kissed and made up with her family.
“I’m heading home tomorrow.” She picked at the lid on her to-go cup. “I couldn’t decide if I ought to say goodbye or just leave, so I’m glad you’re here.”
Ah. Her vigil at Mallow began to make more sense. Though the only way she could have known where I hang out was by following me. That wasn’t creepy at all.
“Look, Eloise, I’m not saying we can’t be friends. We can start small, with emails or texts. You can call me when you want to chat. We can fill each other in on our lives and go from there.”
“That sounds fair.” She opened her arms and went in for a hug but froze halfway to embracing me like some elegant bird of prey swooping down on a grungy field mouse. “Are you a hugger? I don’t want to intrude on your personal space.”
“I’m down with hugs.” I embraced her quickly, and we stood. “It was nice meeting you, Eloise Marchand.”
Eyes bright with what I hesitated to label as hope, she backed out the door. “Back at you, Grier Woolworth.”
While I had it on my mind, I texted Boaz and Linus each an update. Eloise Marchand is on her way home tomorrow. That means Amelie and Woolly ought to be safe enough while we’re gone if she was involved.
There was always a chance she had been feeling out the wards to see what made them tick. Professional curiosity. Though Eloise hadn’t struck me as the ambitious type, the hungriest ones learned to hide their appetites early.
She came back? Boaz demanded.
Cletus mentioned you bumped into her at Mallow, Linus replied.
To the first, I clarified, Not at Woolly. At Mallow. To the second, I teased, That Cletus. He’s such a gossip.
The barista called my name, and I paid for my order while signing off with the guys. Packing my goodies on Jolene required ingenuity, but I was an old pro at food wrangling. By the time I got home, Linus was standing in the front yard, and my phone was ringing. Boaz, if I had to guess.
“Overprotective much?” I gathered my treats and met him on the lawn. “She didn’t follow me home.”
As if the smarty-pants comment had jogged his brain, he scanned the road. “Russo?”
“Her sedan was sucking on Jolene’s tailpipe the whole way to work, but I haven’t spotted her since.”
“That’s good news at least.”
“At least?” My pulse kicked up a few notches. “Does that mean there’s bad news?”
“There’s been another attack.” The grim cut of his mouth should have warned me. “I was checking the perimeter when I heard Jolene and came to meet you.”
“Is Woolly okay?” I took a step toward her before remembering we could commune without contact these days. “Woolly?” Curtains flipped in the window, a hearty wave to show that all was well. “What about Amelie?”
“Woolly is fine,” he answered, unaware of her presence in my head. “Amelie is woozy and nauseated. She crawled out onto the back porch after the attack, the same as last time, but whatever Heinz gave her must still be in her system. She didn’t black out, and she’s able to talk.”
Not even the scents of hot chocolate and marshmallow perked me up. “This proves there’s some type of connection.”
“Yes,” he allowed, voice gentle. “We’ll figure out how to protect her.” His fingertips skimmed my forearm. “And you.”
Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I nodded. “Did you hear another boom?”
“No.” He lifted the cellphone dangling from his hand. “Woolly called me, and I came.”
His cell, not the carriage house landline. “How did she get your number?”
How will Boaz feel once he realizes you’ve got another boy’s digits? I projected at her.
The front door opened, and the hallway runner flapped like someone had taken one end and shook it.
I think my house had just stuck out her tongue at me.
“I gave it to her,” he said as though it ought to be obvious.
Okay, so it should have been. It’s not like I was jealous my house had his number. He could toss it out like beads at a Mardi Gras parade, and I wouldn’t care. The implications are what worried me—that the two of them talked when I wasn’t around to police their conversations. Woolly was smart enough to recognize the value in having his private line, but it still left me torn between happiness that they were mending bridges and concern over what an all-access Linus might be like if she greenlighted him to enter the house again.
As usual, he read me too easily. “Should I not have done that?”
“It’s fine,” I decided. “I’m sure it comforts her knowing she’s got a better way to get in touch with you.”
His expression told me he wasn’t buying the level of okayness I was projecting, but I wouldn’t relax until I put eyes on Amelie and hands on Woolly.
“I almost forgot.” I selected a to-go cup and held it out to him. “I brought you something.”
Linus accepted the cup, and a laugh escaped him before he cracked the lid and checked the contents. “It’s empty.”
“You don’t eat or drink. I figured chocolate-scented air was as close to a treat as I could bring you.”
“I do eat and drink.” He cradled the cup between his hands as if the nonexistent contents warmed him, but it must have been the thought that counted. “Just not much or often.” He brought the cup to his nose and inhaled, smiling. “Thank you for thinking of me.”
“You’re welcome.” I poked him in the side. “How come you can skip meals and stay fit while I work five nights a week on the Cora Ann but I’m a scarecrow?”
“You’ve been through a lot, Grier. Recovery takes time.” His shoulders hitched, and I could tell he was suppressing laughter. “Besides, you love food. Would you really give up churros?”
“No.” I recoiled from the very idea. “Churros are my favorite food group. I couldn’t live without them.”
There had been too many years spent living on drips of water and scraps left over from the guards’ lunches. Treats, sweets, churros—those were things about as likely to appear on your food tray in prison as the goddess herself.
“Then leave it be.” He put it gently, but I sensed the firmness behind the command. Lifting his cup, he turned toward t
he carriage house. “Make sure you’re packed and ready to go. Our ride arrives at dusk.”
A sour tang splashed the back of my throat. Our ride. I hadn’t put any thought into how we would get to Atlanta. The urge to volunteer Jolene almost overwhelmed me, but we had luggage to consider. There was nothing for it. I had agreed to go, I had made the preparations, it was time to suck it up and endure.
I took the stairs and kicked off my shoes, wiggling my toes against the flaking planks. The symphony that was Woolly’s wards rose around me, blanketing me in her love, and I exhaled with relief that she was unharmed.
“That’s odd.” I twisted around until I faced the steps. “Another hit in the same spot?”
Last time, when vampires had been at fault, they had tested her wards methodically. This was a battering ram approach, blunt and obvious. No real harm was being done, so what was the purpose? Testing the strength of the new wards? How had they known about them to check them? Unless they assumed, rightfully so, that after Volkov, measures would be taken to protect me and my property.
The timing of the second attack cleared Eloise’s name. She had been across town at Mallow with me when it happened. Sigils could be activated after a countdown, but that felt like reaching. Time-delayed magic was complex, and therefore, rarely used. More than likely, this was the fumbling work of vampire goons the Master had set on my trail.
“Did you see anyone this time?”
A sigh moved through the decking as she flashed the same set of images at me: a fallen limb, a radiant starburst, two English peas.
“Thanks, girl.” I patted the nearest wall. “You did good. Those new wards have you snug as a bug in a rug.”
A swell of light was her answer, pride in her ability to defend us both.
Following the wraparound porch to the side, I found Amelie sitting with her back against the house, legs extended in front of her while she stared at the yard.
“How are you doing?” I mimicked her position. “Linus said you didn’t black out this time.”
“I wish I had some of those soft peppermints to crunch.” Her hands went to her middle. “I haven’t been this queasy in…” She inhaled then whipped her head toward me. “Mallow?”
“I thought you might—” I released her drink and bag before she ripped them from my hand, “—be hungry.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She gulped several times before smacking her lips. “That’s the good stuff.”
“What about your stomach?” I inched away to escape the splatter zone. “Can you hold it down?”
“I don’t care how sick I am.” She tipped her drink toward me. “I’m not wasting this.”
Laughing, I got to my feet. “I have to start packing. Want to keep me company?”
“Nah.” Her gaze slid past me to the yard that might as well have been on another planet for how far away it was for her. “I want to sit out here a while longer if it’s okay. Come get me before bed?”
“Sure.” I left her to enjoy the fresh night air and entered the living room. Dipping my fingers into my shirt, I fished out my necklace and rubbed my thumb across the raised emblem. “We’re home, kid.” I pulled the cord over my head and placed it on the mantle next to the silver box holding Maud’s heart. “Scat.”
Oscar materialized inches from my nose and yelled, “Boo.”
Clutching at my chest, I staggered backward until my knees hit the couch and pretended to faint dead away from sheer terror.
“Grier?” His small voice squeaked. “Grier?”
A prickle of energy along my arms told me he was within reach. I couldn’t stop my smile as I popped my eyes open, shot up, and grabbed an armful of wriggling, giggling ghost boy. “You scared me half to death.” I tickled him until he was gasping. “Is that any way to behave?”
“I’m a ghost,” he squealed. “I’m supposed to scare people.”
“Oh, sure.” I hugged him close then released him to float in the air. “That’s what they all say.”
The register beside us ticked as Woolly scolded us both, but her lights brightened, making it impossible to hide her pleasure. She was thrilled having guests in the house and on the grounds. Those early days hadn’t been full of fear only on my behalf. Without me, Woolworth House had no heir. I was the last. The best she could hope for was Linus moving in, but he was a Lawson. Maud’s blood or not, it wasn’t the same to her. Her whole existence was wrapped up in the family legacy, and that meant me.
“Float with me.” I gestured that he should follow me up to my room. “I’m going on a trip tomorrow. I’ll be in Atlanta for three days. Amelie will be here, and so will my friend, Odette. You’re welcome to stay here with Woolly, or you can come with me. Your choice.”
“I don’t sleep good in new places.” He trailed me so close I shivered. “I want to stay with Woolly.” He bumped into me when I stopped at the landing to open my door. “You promise to come back?”
Heart in my throat, I glanced over my shoulder at the desolate certainty he was being abandoned again.
“This is my home, and you’re part of the family.” I tweaked his nose. “You’ve got nothing to be scared of. I promise.” Still skeptical, Oscar hovered over the threshold. “All right, all right. I wasn’t going to do this, you’re too young to have a cellphone, but let me show you how mine works.”
Though his appearance had frozen as the six-year-old boy he had been when he died, that sad day had occurred more than a century ago.
And yes, I was rationalizing.
Ten minutes later, Oscar was wide-eyed and mesmerized by the phone. All those years of haunting the dining room on the Cora Ann had given him only a partial education. Most folks tried to behave during meals and kept their phones muted or in their pockets or purses. Thanks to the hardcore addicts, he had seen enough of them to know what they did, but he had never gotten to play with one.
I might have created a monster.
But at least he knew how to call me if he was ever in danger.
Thank Hecate, it required so much energy for him to go corporeal, he exhausted himself quickly.
Once Oscar scampered off to tell Woolly all about his adventures, I flopped on the bed and made a packing list. Thirty minutes later, I stood over my choices where they covered the bed in mismatched outfits. I wasn’t impressed with the selection.
Society training was kicking in, the urge to look my best, to look my part, when in the presence of peers.
Ugh.
Jeans and T-shirts were fine when I was at home, so they would have to be fine where I was going.
Money might not be an object these days, but I wasn’t going to buy a new wardrobe just to walk the grounds at Strophalos. Who would do that? That would be insane.
I was insane.
In a moment of total weakness, I texted Neely and invited him to join us. As my unofficial fashion consultant, I wasn’t comfortable shopping without him. He would stay with his husband, which spared us the awkwardness of explaining why he couldn’t bunk in Linus’s building. It was a Society holding, and humans weren’t allowed.
The discrimination might have bugged me another time, but it was for their own good. Non-predatory species had no place in a building that housed necromancers, vampires, and various other supernaturals. Animal instincts were at their highest in their dens.
“You ready to go?” Amelie asked from the doorway of my room. “Linus is waiting in the driveway.”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” I turned another circle, ticking off my mental checklist. “I always feel like I’m forgetting something.”
“Whatever it is, you can buy another one when you get to Atlanta.” She hefted my suitcase in one hand and linked her other arm through mine. “Try to have fun, okay? Don’t let Linus keep your nose stuck in a book the whole time.”
Fiddlesticks.
Linus hadn’t mentioned if we would continue our lessons on the trip or not. I was hoping for field exercises instead of classroom busywork. But I had
packed Eileen, ink, brushes, my modified pen, and a few other things that ought to get me over the hump if he assigned homework.
“It’s only three days,” I reminded her, and myself. The more often I said it, the less anxious I felt leaving her and Woolly. “That’s not much time to go sightseeing.”
“Forget sightseeing.” She dragged me down the stairs. “Hit the clubs. Drink in the bars. Live.”
“I’ll think about it.” I hadn’t been to a bar (except to pick up takeout) or a club since I turned legal. I wasn’t keen on doing it the first time alone, and I would be alone. Linus was not the kind of guy who club hopped or bar crawled. Neely might go out on the town with me, but if he was missing his husband, he would drag Cruz along, and Cruz was not a big fan of mine. “You can text me a list of your favorite spots. Maybe I’ll hit one.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” She deposited my luggage at the front door then cupped my shoulders. “Everything is going to be fine. The house, me, Odette. Everyone and everything. Fine.”
I wavered in my belief. “What if there’s another—?”
“Neither attack has done any damage. I doubt the third time will be the charm.” She held up her phone. “I’ve got Heinz on speed dial in case I kiss the floor again, and Boaz will be checking in with me at regular intervals.”
Trying not to think about how I hadn’t heard a peep from him since bumping into Eloise at Mallow, I smiled rather than show my hurt.
A knock on the door brought our heads up as Odette strolled in with a small bag over her shoulder. “Thank you for your hospitality, Woolly.”
“Odette.” I launched myself at her, wrapping her in my arms. “Thank you for doing this.”
“It’s no hardship, bébé. I will keep myself busy in the garden.” After a moment, she pushed me back to see my face. “That is, as long as it’s all right with you. I don’t want to overstep.”
“I would appreciate any help I can get out there.” I had trouble meeting her eyes. “I keep meaning to clean up, and I do tiny chores, but it’s like…”
“Everything is as she left it.” Odette nodded in understanding. “Only nature has changed things since she passed.”
How to Break an Undead Heart Page 11