Not that I would have accepted fostering them as a solution. I loved all my children. Being unable to be a mother to Evan had broken something deep inside me.
I rose and performed a few minor rituals as I showered. Some were the usual daily rituals that anyone would follow. One was not. It was a meditative ritual designed to purge any outside influences. I used it most mornings, but after every visit to The Menagerie I extended and intensified it. There were too many different potential influences there. As much as possible, I wanted to remain my own woman.
At least the ritual made me feel better, which helped a little. In the last eight years I’d learnt an awful lot about the supernatural, even picked up some ritual magic. But on a scale of one to ten compared to what’s out there, I don’t even take the meter above zero.
I sighed, thinking, trying to form a plan. I couldn’t take my children on a trip with me. I probably needed to introduce my children to him. He’d made a blood oath to me. He didn’t seem to be the kind of Supernatural that could—or would—break that. I went down to the guest house, really a converted freestanding garage, to see if he was up. I knocked and heard a “come in” from inside the room.
Entering the room, I found him going through some of the various sizes of men's clothes in one of the wardrobes. A person of status tried to have clothes to fit their guest in the Supernatural world. I tried to play the part—as I had enough wealth in the normal world, it would be expected of me by a Supe I offered the guest house to.
He was already in a pair of loose-legged denim pants that fitted his waist tightly. I’d avoided men, and women, for fear of pregnancy no matter what I did. I had some interest in women, at least aesthetically, but with how some Supernaturals reproduced, I wasn’t taking a chance after Kyle. The other four were lovely children, just with quirks that were unexpected.
As he put on his shirt I found myself admiring his form. Muscular, but not overdone. A flat stomach, nothing over the top, but despite how he had been abusing himself the only obvious result was bloodshot eyes.
Without realizing it, I whispered, “What happened to cause you to go off the rails like that?” I felt my face flame as he turned.
“That’s my tale, and I know my father would kill me if I told you now. Maybe there will be a time I can, but not now.” His face looked vaguely ridiculous. He’d shaved down to a French goatee and moustache, but it was still too short. I put a hand to my mouth to cover the smile. I couldn’t hide the giggle I gave.
“It’ll take time, okay? I need a new look. Not who or what I was before. Need to show the change from what I was, a drunk. Need to be something different,” he said with a hint of injured pride. There was something odd about his odor. A hint of rose. It made me want to wrap my arms around him. That could lead somewhere I didn’t need it to go. Instead, I walked up to him and patted him lightly on the wrist.
“It’s fine. I’m sure it’ll grow in. I’ll try not to giggle, but my daughters won’t even try not to. Zak should be fine, he’s at the adolescent male stage of being in awe of any facial hair. But the girls…” I let it hang there, and he shrugged. “You’ll meet them all at breakfast. I’m sure Zak, at least, already knows you’re here.”
“Fine,” he said as he buttoned up his shirt. “So am I a friend, a boy toy, what? I never did get your name either.”
I smiled sadly and said, “My name is Sarah, Sarah Goldsmith. You are Anslem, the Supernatural who is helping me find a way to break this curse. You’ll understand better when you meet them.” There was as measure of surprise on his face. Surprise mixed with respect and curiosity. I sighed. “Don’t be hard on them. They are my children and mostly good kids. Just with a few extra…issues for their age. Come on. I’m hungry, even if you aren’t.”
We went to the dining room. It was a regular Sunday, so I had nothing particularly fancy planned. When my second daughter, Atlanta, saw the visitor, she said in an almost singing voice, “And who might you be?”
He looked like a stunned mullet for a moment. I sighed, afraid that she’d enthralled him already with her voice. He shook his head and scowled at her. “Name’s Anslem, lass. I’d not be trying that on people you don’t know. You may have as much, or more, kick to it than many Sirens I’ve met, but there are plenty out there you’ll just annoy using that.” He turned to me. “And how on earth does a human have…” then it seemed to strike him. He paused and looked more closely at the other children. I saw a slight glow between his brows and shook myself. When I looked again it was gone. Pointing to Zak he said, “Natural lycanthrope.” Looking closely at Kate he said, “Some kinda Dryad…Though I can’t tell what tree she needs. Has some magical ability, untrained.” I drew in a sharp breath. I hadn’t known that.
He looked at me. “You need to see to that soon. It’s not wizardry, but it’s close. If she can’t at least hide that she has magic as well as being a Dryad…she’ll be hunted. Someone will want her as a pet or slave with that combination. She needs to learn to hide it or defend herself, and more than physically.” Kate’s face went white. I’d bought the house after the original owner had been killed because he’d enslaved the Dryad from the tree in the backyard. Hertha was now our housekeeper and cook. Willingly.
I turned when I heard her voice, strident and upset. “Now why’d ya have to scare the lass, you oaf? She knows the dangers of bein’ a Dryad. She saw what I was like when the Mistress bought the house.” She scowled, then softened. Her voice lost some of its sharpness. “I didna know she had magic though. Earth-blessed is what she is.” I was completely lost here. I locked eyes with Anslem. He shrugged and mouthed ‘later’. “I know the childers will be wantin’ pancakes, bein’ a Sunday,” Hertha continued, “But what’ll you be wantin?”
He looked at her, considering, and answered, “Bacon, eggs, toast and fried mushrooms, if I can,” with a hint of submissive diffidence. Finally, he looked at Natalie, and started scratching his chin. Having drawn attention to the slightly-more-than-stubble patches, I heard my three daughters giggle and struggled not to join them. Finally he shrugged and said, “I have no idea beyond the youngest here having an ability with water. She simply seems to be magical water.”
My youngest daughter bowed deep respect to him. She’d been training in the martial arts since she was five. All my daughters had. Most people who scanned her saw a normal human girl. I figured something different when she was a baby. She’d struggled as I was taking her out of the bath one night, slipped from my hands, and become invisible in the water. No one knew what she was.
He’d gotten as close as the Supernatural Suppression Command’s wizard had, after a deep scan taking hours. After little more than a glance. All my children had had to be registered after the first time Zak changed and went wandering. A local lone Wolf had found him and brought him back. He’d been shocked to find a normal human raising a Were, and had contacted the SSC, worried about possible abuse.
I didn’t like it, but it was that or lose them. The SSC had been adamant. There’d been some discussion about forcing me to register, but what happened to me had been done to me. I was still intrinsically a human, which left me outside of their jurisdiction as long as I had no more children. That was the compromise.
“So she cursed you to fall for Supernaturals and bear their children? Creative,” Anslem said. I was about to open my mouth and explain better when Kate giggled and shook her head.
“No, silly. Zak, Atlanta and I have the same father,” she said, twirling a length of green tinted blond hair on a finger.
“That careless, foolish…” he ground out, fury in his eyes. I raised an eyebrow. “Later. But Alecto has crossed a line here. This might be easier than you thought.”
I shook my head. “I doubt it. The one who wanted me cursed is now her husband. Rules seem to go out the window if love is involved, even, or especially, in the supernatural world.”
He grunted. “Later. Not something I can tell you all of, nor something your children can be allowed
to overhear. Might be best if I spring it on you in Alecto’s presence. Righteous anger can be a good defense against a Fury.”
“Mum, are you really going to go to her?” Zak asked. Since the pack had taken him in, he’d become a worthy man of the house. He didn’t try to tell me what to do, but he did try and take some of the responsibilities of the house off my shoulders and keep his sisters in line. He was even learning how to do the taxes for the house. I was proudest of him and most disappointed in Atlanta.
As we sat down to breakfast I invited Hertha to join us. I always did, because she wouldn’t otherwise. As usual she blushed and said it wasn’t her place and I insisted, adding to my usual repertoire of reasons that what we would be discussing would affect her, so she had every right to be involved in any conversation. I also added something that I only rarely used. “You are family, Hertha. At least, a respected and knowledgeable cousin who has helped Kate so much. I prefer to think of you as a second mother to my children. I don’t—can’t from lack of experience—understand what it is like for them as their powers bloom at puberty. You do, and have helped them with it since we started living here. For all I know, at risk to yourself,” I said, the sincerity of my words flowing for all to hear. Zak and Kate nodded enthusiastically.
“Thankee Mistress. I had hoped…”—a tear welled in Hertha’s eye—“but I didn’t want to presume.”
I took her hand and said, “It’s Sarah. If anything goes wrong, which I sincerely hope it does not, but if it does, my will is in the wall safe in the bedroom. You know the code. It names you and Andre guardians for my four troublemakers.”
“Mistress Sarah!” She gasped. It was not something she had expected at all.
“Just Sarah.” I said, patting her hand. Anslem looked at me curiously. Then a slow smile crossed his face and a nod of approval. If something happened to me, he would likely be dead. Despite him being bloodsworn to me, I hardly knew him. Zak shifted uncomfortably. I knew he'd had a crush on Hertha when he was younger. Apparently he still did, and didn’t like the idea of her being officially his mother if something went wrong.
I looked at Hertha from the perspective of attraction, something I’d avoided for the time I’d known her. Her hair was a deeper green than Kate’s, and her skin was slightly rough and a dusky grey brown, like the bark on her redgum in the yard, with some darker and lighter mottling. Her face was very attractive. Then I pulled myself back, remembering that dryads would ‘have fun’ with humans, but any Dryad, male or female, could mate and breed with any other Dryad. They might look male or female, but they were hermaphroditic, like the trees they bound to.
Thinking about a Dryad as a partner could only get me into trouble. Indeed, it had, with Kyle.
As we discussed arrangements for when I would be away, the phone rang. Hertha rose to get it, but I waved her down. I’d already had three pancakes, and she had barely started her breakfast, as she kept looking at Anslem with apprehension.
I picked up the phone. Only a couple of dozen people had the number. “Hello?” I answered.
“Thank the Earth Goddess you are still there, Sarah,” came the voice across the phone. I recognized it as Andre. The concern and stress in his voice was obvious. “I heard about who you met last night. I’m not sure you can trust him. He used to be with the church.” My eyes narrowed slightly, as I parsed the sentence.
“I used to be Catholic myself. What does that have to do with it? We all have a past. He seems genuinely upset by the nature of the curse now he’s found out about it too.” There was a silence over the phone. I heard a slow breath let out over the phone so I continued, “He’s the first person who hasn’t practically run screaming from me when I tell them my problem.” I heard him clear his throat. “Okay, the second. But the first one who didn’t run screaming and was still willing to help. Besides, if something goes wrong I’ve left the children in good hands. Yours and Hertha’s.”
Andre grunted. He had already known he was in my will. Zak had the potential to be an Alpha, but not the interest. That meant he needed to be trained by an Alpha. At least then he would know how to avoid unintentionally challenging other Weres for position. “I’m still going to send someone with you.” Even over the phone he could hear me stiffen and begin to protest. I did not want a testosterone-dominated situation. “I’ll send Alicia. She can continue training you if there’s time.” I deflated a little.
Alicia is a Werepanther. Her family was probably responsible for all the reports of large black cats prowling the Blue Mountains. She was also a proficient Sorcerer, despite her youth. She was twenty-five and had been studying since childhood. I hoped he only meant my magical training, which she had been helping me with for years. Both Andre and Alicia were pushing me to learn weaponed self-defense. I thought it was inappropriate and risked exposure. They said at most all it would do was make a great story in the gossip rags. I still wasn’t convinced.
“All right,” I permitted grudgingly. After all, he did have the resources to stop my attempt if I refused. There was no ‘Alpha of Australia’—most of the packs were too spread out for that. He was feared and respected though. If he asked other Alphas to stop me and bring me home, back to his protection, they would. They wouldn’t even ask why in the eastern states. They’d just do it. “When is she likely to turn up? I want to leave by noon. That way I can reach Alecto’s vicinity early tomorrow, after a good night’s sleep.”
“She’ll be over by noon. With the short sword and dirk we had made for you, and their training versions.” I winced. The subtext here was ‘You’re going deeper. You will be trained with weapons.’
“Tell her to be gentle?” I asked plaintively.
He chuckled over the line. “I’ll tell her to remember you are human. A compromise,” he granted, a weary humor in his voice.
I sighed and said, “I’ll do my best to be ready when she gets here. I’m not sure what Anslem needs yet.”
From the table, Anslem said, “I have a few items in a lockup I’ll need. I don’t have much anymore.”
“Goodbye, and good health,” I said and then hung up. The rest of the conversation over breakfast focused on the children’s schedules while I was gone. I told Hertha to draw as much as she needed from the household accounts.
“If Atlanta keeps trying to enthrall the tutors?” She asked. I sighed.
“If she does, transfer her to online classes with no video link. Over the Internet she needs to be both seen and heard. Without both she can’t affect people the same way.” I turned to Atlanta. “And if that happens, I’ll be supervising you volunteering for six months at a location of my choice. Or I’ll find a way to have your voice suppressed for the same amount of time. You heard what Anslem said. What you’ve been doing is putting us all in danger. I can’t let it continue.”
She glanced at her siblings imploringly, but they all glared at her. Then she looked at Anslem, who looked back, his face grim. Finally, she looked at Hertha, who gave her an ‘I told you so’ look back. Her shoulders slumping in defeat, she whispered, “Yes, Mother,” while keeping her eyes away from my face.
I took her by the chin, forcing her to meet my gaze. “What was that?”
Tears formed in her eyes. “I’ll be careful Mother, and I’m sorry. I never intended to put us in danger.” I stood up and moved behind her to hug her.
As I hugged her I said, “I know sweetie, but you also didn’t listen. Try to listen a bit more, okay?” She nodded, and I kissed her on the cheek. I went round the table. The others rose from their chairs as I approached to hug them. “I love you all, but I need to do this. I’m sorry I have to go,” I said, tears sliding down my cheeks. “I need to take back my life,” I said. To my surprise, Natalie whisked them away, dispersing the water into the air, leaving a small, clear crystal of salt. She looked at Zak, who took out a small pendant on a silver chain. The pendant surrounded a tiny glass vial of blood.
Twisting the vial out carefully, she dropped the tear salt in and wh
ispered something I didn’t quite catch. Then she passed it to me and said, “This way, we, and our love, will always be with you. Tears of your love for us mixed with blood from each of us. Our family, undivided.” Then I was surrounded by them, hugging me. None of us could stop the tears flowing.
It was more than an hour before I would break free of them and finally start packing for my trip.
Their love, and their obvious dedication to the family, whatever passing antipathies they displayed to each other, felt good. It was with the wind of that in my sails that I left our home.
Chapter 3
We decided that the best option was to pick up what Anslem needed from his lock-up on the way out of town. The initial meeting between Anslem and Alicia was interesting to say the least. When Hertha opened the door upon Alicia's arrival, the Werepanther had walked straight up to Anslem and drew a knife, placing it against his throat. As I rushed to get between them (which probably wasn't a smart idea), she put her face close to his and growled out, "If we don't make it back, but you do, you're a hunted man. Every Were in the country will be hunting you. In packs." She then backed away as Anslem simply continued looking calmly at her. Once she took the knife away from his throat, he gave her a curt nod.
I blinked at that. I began to ask why, since they had refused to help me themselves. Then I realized that it was a stupid question. If there were two races that the Were community feared it was the Furies and the Rakshasa. Many of the curses that made someone Were had been cast by a member of one of those two groups in punishment for specific individual acts in a variety of situations. People were still cursed often enough that they made up a small percentage of the Were community. This made fear of those two groups a bone-deep cultural imperative. The natural Weres most feared being cursed into a single form…and the evidence that such could be done was always present amongst them.
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