A Rose by Any Other Name (Haunted Series Book 18)

by Alexie Aaron

  Mia thought about returning to the kitchen but figured that the ball was in Orion’s court now. She rushed to catch up to her long-legged husband.

  “Would you like a cup of coffee, Quentin?” Orion asked, his hands shaking from the information he had collected.

  “No thank you, I’m going to leave soon. Are you alright?” he said, pointing to the man’s hands.

  “Yes, I may have overdone it the last few days,” he said.

  Audrey looked at him sympathetically.

  Quentin got up. “I’m going to track down Baxter. If I don’t see you before we leave, have a peaceful journey to your homes.”

  “Thank you, Quentin,” Audrey said.

  Orion watched Audrey’s eyes follow the handsome man out the door. He took advantage of the empty kitchen to take Audrey in his arms and kiss her passionately. He moved his hand over her body. His hand stopped. Mia was right. He calculated the age of the fetus and the last time he and Audrey had been together, not that he doubted her loyalty as much as he doubted his virility.

  “Whew! Orion, what has gotten into you?” Audrey asked, fanning herself.

  “Audrey, I love you.”

  “I love you too.” Audrey looked at the emotions that crossed the birdman’s face and took a step back. “What’s wrong?”

  “I think we should get married.”

  “Whoa! What brought this on?” she asked, pleased and puzzled. “I thought we were just going to be casual?”

  “Would you hate being married to me? I’m old, but I have put away quite a nice nest egg. You wouldn’t have to quit ghost hunting or your job,” he said quickly. “I know I’m not a handsome man like Quentin…”

  “Honestly, is that what’s brought this on? Orion, I have no designs on Quentin. He’s interesting in a twisted angel type of way, but I love your wit and company. Not to mention other attributes…”

  “It’s the other attributes we need to talk about.”

  Audrey sat down.

  “My darling lover, we have made a baby together.”

  Audrey put her hand on her abdomen. “A baby? Are you sure?”

  “Yes.” He wanted to tell her that Mia alerted him, but he didn’t want to rat Mia out. “The last time we were together, I expect…”

  Audrey blushed at the memory. It was a weekend of loving, and Orion had brought her much joy. Mia’s words of caution were ignored as was the birth control. All she cared about was being with the man who filled her mind with possibilities and awe.

  “Marry me. Let me watch our child while you’re at work.”

  “What about the Brotherhood?” Audrey asked.

  “I can retire. I have given them 472 years. We could spend our winters at my home in Greece until the child has to be schooled.”

  Audrey watched him as he figured it all out. He stopped occasionally to see what she thought, but Audrey could tell that he was excited about being a father again.

  “We wouldn’t have to get married,” she offered.

  Orion looked at her shocked. “Yes we do. Don’t you love me?”

  “Yes, but people have children without being married.”

  “McCarthys and Stavroses don’t.”

  Cid stood at the door. He had heard the whole thing. He didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but he was curious how this was going to unfold. Audrey would make a wonderful wife and mother. Her positivity and exuberance were rare qualities to find.

  Dieter walked into the kitchen, and Cid ushered him into the command center and shut the door.

  Audrey and Orion weren’t aware of anything happening around them. Orion was fighting for Audrey to see reason and become his wife. Audrey didn’t want to trap the birdman into marriage.

  Mia walked in the kitchen. She was curious as to what happened after she left. “It’s like Jules Vern down there,” she said, entering the room. She picked up on the tension. Cid opened the door and tried to wave her away. She frowned. “What’s going on?” she asked.

  “Orion just asked me to marry him!” Audrey said a bit too loudly.

  “And…” Mia asked.

  “She hasn’t answered me,” Orion said sadly.

  “Hold on. Audrey, do you realize you would be my step-grandma? And if you had kids, they could be aunts and uncles to Brian. We would be one of those modern families, and our children could play together. I couldn’t think of a more beautiful, wonderful woman to welcome into our family.”

  Cid frowned. Mia wasn’t exactly selling it, but she was being truthful.

  “So you have no objection to me marrying your grandfather?” Audrey asked.

  “No. I know you love him. I can see it, feel it, and when he looks at you, it reminds me of how Ted looks at me.”

  Ted walked in behind her. He had been sulking in the hallway, eavesdropping. He gently turned his wife around. “Give them privacy. That goes for you too, Garrett. Put some headphones on.”

  Dieter took the opportunity to escape the confines of the command center. He walked over to Mia. “Can I talk to you and your husband privately?”

  Audrey was relieved when the kitchen was once again their own. “I should have a hundred reasons why this can’t work, but all I see is the look on your face, and I know I want to wake up to it every day. Yes, Orion, I will marry you.”

  Orion took her into his arms. “Audrey, I love you so much. You have brought back the sun, moon and stars to me. I no longer look into a book to find the meaning of love. I’m living it.”

  “Mr. Martin, Mia has extended an invitation to me. Have you had time to discuss it?”

  “If you’re talking about you living with us, Mia and I have discussed it, and I think it is a marvelous idea. My only worry is that we are very isolated. We make do with the internet. I would be happy to set you up with your own laptop for school.”

  “I have never been to school.”

  “We could home-school you until you catch up,” Mia said. “We would really love to have you with us.”

  Dieter looked down, uncomfortable. “I have to leave now and again to do my work.”

  “We understand. I am bonded to an archangel and have to leave when called,” Mia said. “And we don’t want you to think we expect you to babysit Brian. We’ve made arrangements,” Mia said quickly.

  “Why do you want me to stay with you?” Dieter asked.

  Ted cleared his voice before talking, “I think we would be good for each other.”

  Dieter smiled.

  “Ted and I are a bit silly. We probably will embarrass you,” Mia warned.

  “Cid warned me.” Dieter looked at Mia and then at Ted. “Judge Roumain said you were good people.”

  “The Judge and us have had our problems,” Ted said.

  “He has messed up with me too,” Dieter said. “Okay, if we survive this investigation, I’d like to give living with you a try.”

  Mia jumped in the air, and Ted shook his hand.

  “You’ve made us very happy,” Mia said.

  “Speaking of surviving, how bad is it out there?” Ted asked.

  They walked over to the front door. With caution, Ted opened the door a crack. The snow was moving horizontally. “That doesn’t look good.”

  “There’s dry firewood in the garage,” Murphy said behind them.

  “I expect we may lose our electricity soon. I think I have to put off cycling the house. We’re going to have to watch the three areas until then,” Ted said.

  “When we left, Dr. Rose was mourning the loss of his cannibals. I think he’s going to retrench for a while. We may not have any incursions from the other side.”

  “I hope you’re right, Mighty Mouse. Thank you for coming back to me.”

  “Thank Quentin and Murphy. I was being seduced by an incubi that puts Angelo to shame.”

  “Bad Mia,” Murphy scolded.

  Ted just laughed. He put his arm around his wife and hugged her.

  “Dieter, what would you like to do with your souls?” Mia asked.

 
“I would like to wait until this house is clean. I get this feeling in here,” he said, rubbing his chest, “that there are more lost souls here. They are trapped. I can feel their vibrations but can’t hear their song.”

  “Their song?” Mia asked.

  “Every soul has a song. Murphy’s is ‘You Are My Sunshine,’ he said.

  Mia nodded. “That fits. What’s mine?”

  “Actually, yours and Mr. Martin’s are the same song.”

  “Cool beans,” Mia said and waited.

  “Your souls each had a song before you bonded. Mia, yours was sad and searching, Ted’s a soundtrack from a movie, but now it’s ‘Everything.’”

  “By Lifehouse,” Mia said dreamily. “How can I stand next to you and not be moved by you…”

  Ted didn’t care that Mia sang it off-key. To him it was perfect.

  “Dieter, what is your song?” Murphy asked.

  “I can’t hear my soul. Another attrpeur-âme would have to tell me. I know though that, until today, it was angry. Today it is jubilant.”

  “Dieter has consented to living with us for a while,” Mia told Murphy.

  “Welcome to the family, Dieter,” Murphy said. “Now help me bring in some wood.”

  “Now I feel like family,” Dieter said wryly.

  Baxter walked down the stairs, followed by Quentin. “We’ve put the steps back in order. I think that Quentin and I will head back now.”

  “The weather is a bit extreme,” Mia said, worried. “You’re welcome to stay.”

  “Mia, like you and your grandfather, I have the ability to transport us safely home, but thank you for the invitation. I yearn to be in my home. We will meet soon,” Quentin promised.

  Ted shook each man’s hand, and Mia hugged them both. Quentin opened his wings and wrapped them around the two and vanished.

  Mia and Ted stood there quiet for a moment. “We have the strangest friends and relatives.”

  “Strange?” Mia questioned. “I’d say, compared to ourselves, they’re pretty normal.”

  “Indeed they are.”

  “How do you think Orion is doing in there?” Ted asked. “It’s pretty scary asking someone to marry you.”

  “Was it?”

  “Yes,” he said. “All the questions that ran through my head in a continuous loop.”

  Mia looked up at her husband. “What questions?”

  “Who was I to ask you to marry me? What did I have to offer you? Would you take me seriously? Would you make me wait for an answer? Things like that.”

  “It was perfect.”

  Cid’s voice came over the earcom. “PEEPs, we have a meeting in the kitchen in five minutes. Wrap up what you’re doing. Burt wants you on time. Over.”

  Ted bent down and kissed Mia tenderly. “Well, Mrs. Martin, five minutes isn’t long enough. Will you take a snow-check?”

  “Most certainly,” Mia said, kissing him back.

  The PEEPs took their normal places around the table. Mia had Mike to her left and Audrey at her right. Ted and Cid were across the table from her, tapping on the iPads before them. Jake was looming over them from the monitor on the counter. Murphy was shadowing Orion who sat beside Audrey.

  Dieter sat near Cid and looked up at Burt who hustled in. “Sorry I’m late, but I was assembling all the facts as we know them. First of all, bravo to those who ventured into the dimensional pocket. By your accounts, it was a place I certainly wouldn’t be comfortable in. I would love to hear about each of your experiences later. It makes for good graphic novel ideas. As you know, we’ve found the original controls for Roustan Rose. Thorn built this house to contain the occupants of Thornrose. Much of the architecture here has been incorporated in the design. The house needs to be cycled every hundred years. This information unfortunately died with Thorn. Ted and Orion were able to bring back much of his journal mentally. Thank you for this outstanding effort.”

  “When Glenda asked us to investigate this house, we initially thought we may come up against a few misplaced souls, but the scope of this haunt was beyond even my very fertile imagination. First, Renee Roustan, then Dr. Rose, and now we need to perform Thorn’s work in hopes that this will contain whatever, or rather whoever, is still residing in that pocket dimension. Unfortunately, due to the concern that the weather may trigger a few power surges and possible blackouts, we’re going to delay cycling the house until morning. What this means is that we have a night to get through. We must set up watch on the three established sites of bleed-through.”

  “Audrey and I will watch Renee Roustan’s second floor closet,” Orion volunteered.

  “I have young legs; I’ll take the attic with Mr. Murphy,” Dieter said.

  Mike looked at Mia, and she nodded. “Mia and I will watch the hatch.”

  “Excuse me, humans…” Jake, as Marvin, sounded off.

  “Go ahead, Jake,” Burt said.

  “The three open bleeds and the now-closed, shadow-man access all line up. It is a weakened seam,” Marvin pointed out. He brought up a 3D diagram and showed his findings. “Like a pocket, it was open on one end. Richard Thorn closed it with the house. Over time the house settled, causing the reopening of the pocket.”

  “So this is why the house should always stand,” Audrey said. “That makes sense. I found during the title search the codicils to every change in ownership, that the house must not be altered beyond the decorative. Renovating the electricity and plumbing wasn’t exactly in accordance with the codicil.”

  “Is the house haunted now?” Mike asked.

  Everyone looked at Mia. “I haven’t seen anything, but we have the bones, and Dieter has sensed the presence of souls, so I would have to say yes. I’m sorry, but we aren’t finished yet. We have peeled this apple to the core, but we may still have missed something vital. Cycling the house may bring it to light.”

  “How soon, Ted, can you and Cid get the house ready?” Mike asked.

  “We’ll work all night. We need to disassemble the wall surrounding the machinery, take out anything that isn’t in the original diagrams. Most of the floor will have to be taken up. Burt, I would appreciate your help by taking over the console so we can concentrate on the project. If the electricity holds… Tomorrow may be pushing it, but the next day for certain, barring any new problems that come up.”

  “Do your best. I’m sure we all need to get back to our lives,” Burt said.

  “Speaking of lives,” Audrey said. “I would like to make an announcement.”

  Burt nodded.

  Audrey stood up, and Orion moved to her side. “Orion has asked me to marry him, and I have accepted.”

  The group clapped. Congratulations were given.

  “We would like you all to come to our wedding. It will be small unless my mother gets involved. Save the weekend after Christmas.”

  “I love weddings. Can I come?” Dieter asked.

  Audrey was visibly touched by the teen. “Of course, Dieter, we would love to have you there.”

  The lights dimmed and resumed their brightness.

  “I suggest the watchers grab some grub, lights, and warm clothes,” Burt said. “Mia has made you all a lunch. We have a generator on the gas furnace so we will have heat, people. Lights will be provided by Ted. Stop by the command post before you go to your assigned areas.”

  “Don’t forget your glasses,” Cid said, pulling his out of his pocket.

  Mia stopped, pulled on a sweatshirt, and stuffed food and a thermos into her pack. Mike brought beer.

  Dieter was anxious to spend some alone time with Stephen Murphy. He had a thousand questions. Murphy was worried that Dieter would have a lot of questions, and he wouldn’t have the answers.

  Orion and Audrey were looking forward to some alone time. The closet could be watched from the bed.

  Ted and Cid fought the snow and wind and brought in the supplies they needed.

  “What does it look like out there?” Burt asked.

  “Ice station Zebra,” Ted
said. “What are the weather gurus calling this one?”

  “Goliath,” Burt replied, handing him a towel to dry off with.

  “It fits,” Cid said. “Earlier, I had the opportunity to introduce myself and check out our immediate neighbors, and they seemed to be prepared for just about anything.”

  Burt was impressed. He knew that most of the condos were owned by senior citizens. Those that hadn’t already gone south for the winter were a hardy bunch. The commercial snow removal company was keeping up with the snow, but the wind from the blizzard most likely was making it drift. “We’ll do a check of the seniors if the electricity does go out.”

  Ted grabbed a thermos labeled with a skull and crossbones. He looked around and saw that Mia had made him a lunch. It was in a paper bag with a heart that contained their names. She also made one for Cid. It had Clark written on it. He handed it to Cid.

  Cid looked inside. “How did she get an Ectocooler drink box?”

  “Ralph has connections,” Ted said.

  “He’s getting some quality time with Brian,” Cid said.

  “I just hope that the kid’s not wearing him and Bernard out. My son talks more than I do.”

  “He’s got a lot to say and not enough vocabulary to say it with,” Cid said.

  “Funny, that’s what my third grade teacher wrote on my progress report. My parents took it to mean I was slow.”

  Burt listened to their conversation as they carried their things downstairs. He clicked over to listen to each of the groups. He pondered how Ted had learned to listen to all of them at once and keep track of the video feeds coming into the command center. For Ted’s parents to think that their child was slow was the biggest error imaginable. Ted was a genius, and Burt was lucky to have him working with PEEPs.

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Mia pointed her finger and produced a tiny direct flame that she ran around the perimeter of the hatch, melting the sealing wax until it once again became a solid seal. Mike watched with amazement. When she had finished, she plopped herself down on one of the lounge chairs Ted had brought down for them. They had the most uncomfortable of the watches. No matter how you decorated, a basement was a cold place to be in the wintertime.