by Alexie Aaron
“A whole week? That’s too much time away from Brian for me.”
“We could split the time between Ralph’s and Amanda’s,” Ted suggested.
“All I can do is ask. Speaking of asking, I just wanted to be sure that you still want Quentin to come to dinner one evening.”
“Yes, he’s your half-uncle and the man who stepped up when you were in trouble. I would like to meet him and have him meet Brian.”
“After Brian goes down for his nap, I’ll use the charm.”
“You could contact Altair and get the man’s address,” Ted pointed out.
“No, the original note Quentin sent me talked about me using the charm when I wanted to see him. I’m a bit curious to see what it does,” Mia admitted.
“Be careful.”
“Roar!” Brian said.
~
Mia had on her best suit of clothing. She wore a sleeveless top under the pale green, cashmere jacket that Ralph had brought back for her from his honeymoon with Bernard. She wore a skirt, the hem of which met the top of the boots that Mia had made an extra effort to polish that morning. She put a pair of brown leather gloves in her pocket to protect her and Quentin Reynolds from giving away their secrets to the other. Mia glanced in the bedroom mirror and was pleased with how her long hair had turned out. Her makeup was minimal. She hoped she looked presentable. She would pass Ralph’s muster, and she hoped that Quentin would be pleased.
Ted walked in and whistled. “You look so beautiful.”
Mia blushed. “I’m nervous.”
This surprised Ted. He had gotten so used to the brave Mia, he had forgotten how vulnerable she was in social situations. “Would you like me to go with you?”
Mia smiled kindly. “Yes, but I do have to do this myself. Can I have a kiss for luck?”
Ted swept her up in his arms and kissed her soundly.
“Whoa,” Mia said when their lips parted. “Now I don’t want to go.”
Ted set her down and stepped back. “Hurry home, dear,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
Mia took the plastic bag that held the charm out of her pocket. She placed the charm in her hand and said, “I wish to see Quentin Reynolds.”
Ted watched as the air around Mia glowed for a moment and then she was gone. He dropped the brave expression and took a moment to pray for her to be safe before he left the room.
~
Mia found herself on the porch of a white stone, lakeside mansion. The air was icy, and the wind blew through her clothing. She raised the knocker and let it fall. The door was opened almost immediately by a man dressed in a somber suit.
“Yes?” he asked.
“I’m Mia Martin. I would like to speak to Quentin Reynolds if he is receiving visitors.”
“Come in, Mrs. Martin, I didn’t recognize you. I’m Baxter, Quentin’s man.”
Mia followed Baxter into the warm hall. “I’m sorry, but did we meet?”
“You were unconscious at the time.”
Mia blushed. “Baxter, it’s nice to meet you, conscious,” she managed as she slid on her glove and reached out her hand.
Baxter was unaccustomed to guests of his employer treating him like this. He took her hand and shook it gently. “Does Quentin know you were coming?”
“No. You see, I didn’t have a way to contact him. He sent me this charm,” Mia explained, showing the small gold disc.
He nodded. “I’m going to put you in the parlor to wait. Follow me please.”
Mia looked around at the immaculate receiving hall and wondered if you could see up her skirt in the shiny floor. She took smaller steps just in case.
Quentin burst into the room and moved quickly over to the sofa where Mia had sat down. He picked her up and held her to him as if she were a long lost toy.
Mia was surprised by this level of affection but allowed herself to be kissed and petted as if she were a favorite child.
“You have made me so happy. I was so worried. Even when Altair had sent word that you were going to be fine, I worried that you would never want to see me again.”
He set her down gently.
Mia brushed away the tear that had worked its way to the end of her nose. “Quentin,” Mia started and took a deep breath and fanned her face. “You took my breath away. Sit down, let me compose myself.”
Quentin did just that. He pushed her hair away from her neck. He frowned a moment as he gazed upon the rumored squadron tattoo.
“I came here to explain what has happened to me and why it took me so long to come to see you.”
“You’ve changed,” he said, running his hand lightly over her hair.
“I’ve lost part of me, but not the part that makes us family,” she said quickly. Mia turned to Quentin and stared up into his eyes. “I was walking the white halls when I made one last deal with whomever was there to judge me. I asked for Altair’s wings back. I traded my eternity for him to be forgiven. You could see that he wasn’t happy. This,” Mia said, touching Michael’s mark, “will never change how I feel about you, Quentin.”
“I dumped you at the farm…”
“You took me where I needed to be,” Mia countered.
“And you still like me?” he questioned.
“I do like you, and in time, we can learn to love each other as families do. I hold you in the highest esteem and would like to invite you to dine with my husband, Ted, and to meet my son, Brian. We are your family, Quentin. Please come.”
His face brightened for a moment and then fell. “Your new master will not approve of our association.”
“He can just suck a grape then. You’re my family.”
“You shouldn’t speak those thoughts. He may be able to hear you,” Quentin cautioned.
“I would speak them to his face. I’m impulsive and irritating, but I know my worth. If he can’t come to grips with who I am, then he’ll deal with me. Right now, I’m in the home of my long lost uncle, enjoying a conversation. I have so much to tell you, Quentin. Please, let’s not waste our time with things that we can’t control. Come and fly with me. I have only a little time before I have to be back. Brian’s nap is only so long.”
Mia stood up, took off her jacket, and held out her hand.
Quentin smiled. “Baxter!” he called.
“Yes, sir?” Baxter, who had been eavesdropping, asked. He held Quentin’s flying leather vest in his hands.
“I’m going flying with my niece,” Quentin said, pulling his sweater over his head.
Baxter handed him the vest.
“Wait,” Mia said. She moved quickly to Quentin. “Let me see your back,” she requested.
Quentin frowned but obeyed.
Mia approached the man. The scars of fifteen lash marks were cut into his skin. “I don’t understand?” she asked, putting her hand on him.
“Sir, if I may explain for you?” Baxter asked.
Quentin nodded.
“Mrs. Martin…”
“Mia.”
“Mia, when Quentin gave you the punishment, he held back, and the force of the whip was taken into his body. It took a while to show. Quentin’s skin is thick.”
“Did you know this would happen, Quentin?”
“Yes.”
“But still you… What a noble man.”
“I’m not a man, Mia, I’m…”
“You’re a man of caliber.” Mia closed her eyes and produced her wings.
Baxter took a step back as the radiance of them frightened him a little.
Mia moved to Quentin and traced each scar with her bare hand. She shuddered as she drew in the hurt and the shame, but she held on. Soon she opened her eyes and retracted her wings. She gazed upon her work and smiled.
Baxter walked around. “Mia, what have you done?”
“I hope I healed him. Only time will tell,” she said. Mia took the vest and helped Quentin put it on. “Come on, old man, let’s go flying.”
Quentin smiled. He took her hand, and the two ran out of the r
oom and down the hall until they reached the doors to the patio.
Baxter watched as the two unleashed their wings and took off, Mia’s luminous, off-white feathers in sharp contrast to the deep-blue, webbed leather of Quentin’s wings. Baxter held Mia’s jacket in his hands. “In all my years upon this earth, I thought I had seen everything. But today I saw an angel heal a Nephilim.”
The late autumn landscape was gray, but the sky was filled with fair-weather clouds. Mia and Quentin cruised through them laughing as Mia, at one point, got herself turned upside down. Quentin caught her, turned her around, and brought them to a standstill.
“I’m so clumsy,” she said, embarrassed.
“Don’t be. You see, you weren’t born with the knowledge of flight. If I may…” Quentin asked permission.
Mia nodded.
Quentin put his finger on Mia’s forehead. “Right about here, you have a dormant area of your brain. I guess you could say mine has a natural GPS. Let me give you this, Mia.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to wake it up.”
“Before you do, this isn’t going to change me in other ways?” Mia asked before leaving her fate in the hands of Quentin once again.
“Mia, it will only enable you to know where you are and whether you are upside down or not.”
“Okay, I would like that. I’m a bit of a laughing stock.”
He closed his eyes, and Mia saw him drop the human persona. She saw instead the deep-blue, opaque skin of a Nephilim. He opened his eyes, and they looked like star sapphires, the pupils a brilliant white star in a sea of blue. Her eyes locked with the stars, and she let herself be drawn in. She felt the bipolar existence her uncle lived every moment of his life, the constant push-me pull-you of the genes. Mia wished him peace but knew instinctively that Quentin would never achieve peace in his lifetime. All she could do was to accept his manic manner and appreciate that Quentin did have the best of intentions.
“There. Give it some time to settle in, and each time you fly, test it out until you can trust yourself,” he said.
“Thank you, Quentin,” Mia said.
Baxter watched the two arrive back on the patio. Mia walked close to Quentin, listening to something he was telling her. He had a fatherly hand on her shoulder. Baxter had feared the worst when Quentin originally brought the woman back with him. He was afraid that Quentin would mate with her, but he was surprised by Quentin maintaining his role of an uncle and not a lover. Mia was a powerful being but fragile emotionally. His loyalty was to Quentin, but inside, Baxter knew if there was a crisis, he would be protecting Mia from his employer.
“Baxter, can you check my calendar? Mia has asked me to dine with her husband and child. She has an investigation that will bring them into the city this week. Perhaps we could have them here?” he asked.
Baxter’s face brightened. “I will look at your commitments, sir.”
“Mia, if you will excuse me, I have some things to take care of,” Quentin said. “Baxter will show you out.”
“Thank you, Uncle,” Mia said and got on her tiptoes and kissed Quentin on the cheek.
He blushed and walked away quickly.
Baxter put a restraining hand on Mia’s arm. “Please, may I have a moment?”
“Yes, Baxter,” Mia said and followed him back into the parlor.
He shut the door.
“I ask you to keep what I have to say in the strictest of confidence.”
Mia nodded, her face showing concern.
“Quentin Reynolds, as you have been informed, is a Nephilim. He has been raised in gentility, but inside, he fights a war with the beast that resides there. We like to keep the stimulation to a minimum.”
“Oh dear, is me being here too exciting for him?”
“No, please don’t misunderstand me. Quentin suffers from extreme highs and lows. Today your arrival brought him out of a particularly bad day. I will do my best to anticipate his moods and schedule a family dinner for the four of you. But please do not take offense if I ask you to leave.”
Mia looked fondly at the man. “You’re more than a butler aren’t you?”
“I am his doctor, keeper, and his friend,” Baxter said.
“He’s fortunate to have you. Baxter, answer me truthfully, and I promise not to take offence.”
“I will do so.”
“Is my being in his life in any way hurting my uncle?” she asked.
“No, Mia, your being here is a miracle. Before you answered his letter, I never saw Quentin display any compassion, but he moved hell and earth to get to you when you were giving restitution. His being put in the position of your protector has brought out something new inside of him. It fights a daily battle with the narcissist, and has a long way to go, but it is gaining ground.”
“Why did he stay away?”
“He thought that you would reject him, especially after you knew it was he who broke your back.”
“But I’m fine now. The demon part of me is gone, Baxter. But Quentin and I carry the genes of my grandmother Fredericka. We are family, and no one, no angel or any demon, is going to convince me otherwise.”
“He fears disappointing you.”
“That’s the human in us. If it happens, I will forgive him, as I hope he will forgive me.”
“The two of you are on opposite sides of the balance, Mia.”
“I feared that. It will make our relationship harder, but I will do my best to put my ideals behind me when we are together,” Mia promised.
Baxter smiled and, for the first time in a long time, actually had hope for his charge. “Call me when you have your schedule set for the investigation, and we will fix a time when Quentin is experiencing a good day. By the way, what kind of investigation are you participating in?”
Mia blushed. “I’m a ghost hunter, Baxter.”
“Ghosts are tricky little devils. Take care. I’ll look forward to hearing from you, Mia.”
Mia put on her jacket. “Should I fly home or…”
Mia found herself in her bedroom before she finished her sentence. She looked at the time and smiled, knowing Brian would still be asleep. She walked downstairs and found Ted brewing a pot of his deadly java juice.
“You know that’s going to eat right through you one of these days,” she said.
Ted turned around, his face trying to hide the relief he felt. “My guts are made of cast iron, Minnie Mouse. How did it go?”
“Quentin would like to continue our relationship. He would like to have us over to his place this coming week, since we will already be in the city.”
“I’ll mention that to Burt. I’ve asked him to schedule us together even though he thought we might want to split our time with Brian.”
Mia smiled. “I like investigating with you, Teddy Bear,” she said shyly.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I already called Amanda and Ralph.”
“And…”
“With the exception of Wednesday’s Bear Cubs Bounce, when Susan was promised Brian, they will cooperate and watch him. We’ll stay the first half of the week with Amanda, and at Ralph’s from Thursday on.”
“Wow, you are a magician. I would have already started the war of the god/grandparents by now.”
“It’s just one of my many talents,” Ted said and walked around, pulling his wife to him. The absence of the demon genes had made Mia less aggressive, but it didn’t stop her need to be in his arms. She responded to his kisses. With a quick look at the clock, Ted and Mia charged up the stairs to the master bedroom for some privacy. Time was precious when you had a toddler in the house.
Chapter Two
Mia waved at Ed and Judy, who stood on the porch of the farmhouse, as they passed them, following the command truck out of the driveway. The couple had been hired to farm- and dog-sit while the Martins were in Chicago. Tom Braverman would stop over when he was on patrol to check up on the couple. Neither Judy nor Ed had learned to drive yet. Judy preferred to fly,
and Ed didn’t have use for an automobile on the island they shared with Komal.
Mia kept an eye on Brian as they navigated their way through the traffic to the Roustan mansion. They would park the family car there, and she would take Brian over to her parents in a cab. Parking near the university was nearly impossible to find during term.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” Ted asked.
“I’d love to have you come to my parents, but I promised Father Alessandro a visit, and I think he and I have some personal business to sort out.”
“You’re not going to be hard on him for giving you the trigger for the Judas Hex, are you?”
“No, Ted, I forgave him long ago. I would like to see if I can help him with the cancer.”
Ted smiled. “It would be nice to have him around longer. Do what you can, pumpkin.”
Mia reached over and squeezed Ted’s hand. “I love you, Teddy Bear.”
“I know.”
The rose-colored brick mansion from the outside was interesting. It had a picturesque charm to it. No expense had been spared at the time of its construction. The building looked loved, although Mia didn’t exactly get that feeling from it. Maybe she would feel differently once she got inside.
The developer had sculpted room for the Rosebud condos out of the estate’s land and, in doing so, had left a narrow drive and a four-car garage that might have been a carriage house at one time. There was a maid’s apartment above the garage. Said maid, also, would have a balcony overlooking the neatly-trimmed garden.
Mia waited for the cab driver to position the baby seat before putting Brian in it. She waved at her husband as she continued on her journey southward towards the University of Chicago.
Her father met her at the curb. He carried in Brian, leaving Mia the car seat and luggage. “Gee thanks, Father,” she called after him.
Mia wasn’t used to entering the apartment from the first floor. Cid had worked with a local contractor and created an amazing two-floor conversion. Mia walked into a spacious book-filled room. The old dusty furniture that used to reside in the Coopers’ condo had been given away. In its stead were comfortable, overstuffed chairs and a sofa long enough for Ted to stretch out on.