by Amber Lynn
I covered my eyes and massaged my head for a second. Abbie had always been a do as I say, not as I do kind of person. I didn’t think she’d ever take that mentality to the completely stupid level, though.
“How many years do you suppose you lost gambling with your life? When did you expect to see signs of aging in your face? I thought you’d always told me you’d be a hundred before a wrinkle appeared.”
“I don’t have wrinkles.”
Abbie sounded shocked I would even suggest such a thing. I lowered my hand so I could look at her again. Her hands were feeling the lines of her face for anything that felt off.
“You have defined crow’s feet and an age spot forming on your left cheek. You might have had a fun night, but you paid for it.”
“Where’s your bathroom? You never have me over for more than a few minutes, so I’ve never had to use it.”
Abbie was up and walking down the only hallway on the bottom floor. The bathroom was probably the one room I didn’t have to worry about Abbie seeing something that revealed I was different, so she could’ve used it anytime she’d been over.
“It’s the door on the left.”
I didn’t bother moving. I could feel her reaction from where I sat. Plus, it was only a half bath, so the two of us wouldn’t have fit.
The only other room down the hall was an office slash library. My collection of books didn’t necessarily reveal there was something odd about me, but the fact that there were books on every species of things that went bump in the night could divulge the fact that I wasn’t too sure about what I was.
The shriek from the bathroom let me know Abbie had found the right room. The continuing string of no’s that followed with the sink turning on made it clear she was trying to wash away what her indiscretion had caused.
“It’s a little odd that they popped up overnight, but just think, you don’t have to move in a few years like you planned. If you look older, people won’t question why you aren’t aging.”
“That isn’t helping, Kennedy. I thought he sucked the life out of you right when you were intimately involved. When I woke up and didn’t see any evidence of years getting stolen, I thought I got away with a free one.”
“Sorry, honey. I highly doubt anything with him is free. Jack mentioned he’d killed at least two women in the area, so you knew it was dangerous to let him have his way. What exactly happened?”
“I’m guessing you’re trying to figure out how he ended up at my house, and not what went on in my bedroom?”
She made her way back out to the living room. Her mascara apparently wasn’t waterproof, because she had black streaks running down her face. She didn’t usually care about her appearance, but I assumed she didn’t have plans of leaving my house anytime soon.
“Yes, I’m curious about how he ended up at your house, not your bedroom. I don’t need to know anything about what he actually did, unless there were moments you felt him using magic.”
“If he used magic, I couldn’t tell you. About a block away from the library he started following me. I told him to get lost, but then he doubled around at some point and ended up in front of me. I suppose you could call the charisma oozing out of his pores magic, but in the moment, all I could think about was taking him for a ride.”
She plopped back down on the couch and sighed.
“Why do things that are bad for us have to look so pretty? Your wolf comes in a nice package, and you find out he’s evidently your sworn enemy. I get stuck in the thrall of a beautiful incubus, and end up losing about fifty years of my life. I think we need to swear off men.”
I had to laugh at her summation. She didn’t find it as amusing as I did, at least that’s what I took her scowl to mean.
“The reason I don’t let my power out like I am now is because of men. My first boyfriend cheated on me and ended up with a few unexplainable broken bones. I started dating another guy later, and his wandering eyes ended up getting him third-degree burns on his legs as he tried to jump out of a spontaneously combusting fire.”
“It’s got to be fun to be able to do something like that. Reading futures is fun, but I can’t do much more than that. I suppose you have a good reason for not letting everyone know you were more than just a witch. Do you think any of the stronger ones in the area had any idea?”
I considered her question and thought about the different witches I knew. There were so few who had power that equaled even the muted ones I allowed them to see. For someone to see through my masks, they’d have to be more than what they let on. I liked to think I would’ve been able to see through them.
“I doubt it. I didn’t know what I was, and I thought I fit in pretty well with the local group. I have a habit of doing a very quick reading on anyone I come in contact with more than once, just to make sure I’m not walking into a lion’s den.”
“But you only do magic on Fridays, right? That’s what you’ve claimed, so you didn’t have to go to the groups we have set up to share knowledge. I guess you had a good reason for skipping the meetings, but you could’ve maybe shown us some fun tricks.”
“When I let the power out on a permanent basis, I don’t always feel in control of it. Knowing where it comes from, I think I may have a better sense. I managed not to catch anything on fire today, so that’s definitely progress. Most Fridays I don’t bother with magic, but I figure if someone really needed something from me, and they could wait days before I was ready to help them, then it was okay to dabble a little.”
“Okay, so where does that leave everything else. Now that you know what you are, do you plan to stick around? You’ve got the wolves and the incubus here. Since I woke up alone this morning, I realize I was just an easy mark for a main course he’s probably setting you up for.”
Questions and answers were the theme of the day. I’d already learned that sometimes the answers weren’t all they were cracked up to be. I was still digesting them, so I hadn’t had a chance to really ponder the future.
“Right now, I think I’ll take things one day at a time. This morning I was seriously thinking about where life with Jack could lead, and within an hour I learned his true colors. I think for now, I’ll just remain the quiet librarian who keeps her nose stuck in a book as much as possible.”
I was more worried about Abbie and her plans. I’d always thought an incubus didn’t leave a job left undone. Helki, or whatever his name was, had done a number on her. I wasn’t sure how many more times she’d be able to last if he truly had his heart set on stealing her life force.
“I guess that sounds like a plan. You have the day off, and your afternoon plans seem to have disappeared. What should we do the rest of the day? I’m not sure I feel safe out there by myself right now.”
I was happy to hear a little self-preservation in her words. It was sad to think our quiet town was no longer safe for her, but in reality, I wasn’t sure it was safe for me either.
“Well, there isn’t much here to do, but it is probably the safest place for either of us. I set my barriers to keep the wolves out, and they were already set to keep the incubus away. After what I learned today, I wanted to spend a little time in my personal library. I have books about Greek mythology, but I don’t remember a single one mentioning Leto creating werewolves, or Artemis having children.”
“What? Werewolves came from Leto? That’s the first time I’m hearing of that. What else have you learned that would change the way the world thinks of the ancient deities? Did Zeus really have a problem keeping his seed from spreading all over the world?”
If the books I’d read were right, Zeus was actually my grandfather, and I really didn’t want to ponder all the different things I’d read about him. The gods and goddesses of olden times did enough to make the world think they were crazy, even without knowing all of their stories. Sharing the crazy story that included my odd birth was something I thought would help me unwind and connect with the family I never knew.
I hopped out of my chair an
d walked over to the couch, offering Abbie a hand.
“Let’s go see what trouble we can find in books. I think we’ll be a lot safer doing that than venturing outside today. I can’t say I have a pantry lined with food in case we get hungry, but I’m sure we’ll make do until we decide it’s safe to go outside.”
Abbie accepted my gesture and I dragged her down the hall to the library. I wasn’t sure when I’d feel safe going outside, but then again, I’d made a silent vow to myself that I wasn’t putting my shields down until I felt safe. If anyone decided to mess with me, they were in for a treat.
Chapter Fifteen
Life went back to normal for me after that day. My life was probably never technically normal, but werewolves weren’t calling me to have readings done and my days at the library didn’t find unexpected visitors dropping by.
I paid attention to the gossip at work and newspapers a little more for signs that the incubus was hurting people. It seemed that after messing with Abbie, he left town. It was either that or he’d gone into hiding. I had questions I wanted to ask him in regards to some reading I’d done, and of course I had a piece of my mind that I wanted to give him.
Abbie seemed over her little ordeal, but I wasn’t very good at forgiving and forgetting. If someone did something wrong, they needed to answer for it.
It’d been almost a full month and I hadn’t heard a peep from the wolves either. Jack followed me almost every day when he wasn’t working, but he never approached.
I honestly didn’t know what to think of him or what had happened. There were no books that could tell me the answer, and it wasn’t like I had any living relatives around to explain what had happened millennia before I was born.
So, I avoided him and the connection we seemed to have. I wasn’t sure if it was the distance I put between us or what I’d learned that day that made me feel like there was a hole somewhere inside of me. Since I’d only known him a day, I had to believe it was all the emotion of the day that left an empty spot.
“Are you able to help me look up an old newspaper article?”
I froze for a second before I turned around to face the Viking. With my powers still on, I hadn’t expected him to be able to sneak up on me.
He looked just as he had the first time we met, other than he was wearing a suit that seemed to indicate he’d just come from a meeting. I tried to see what it was about him that seduced women, and I didn’t get it.
He had good looks, but there was just something about him that screamed danger to me. I didn’t see why other people didn’t sense the corruption in him.
“You have a lot of nerve showing up here. If you would’ve met me on the street, I would’ve tried to kill you for what you did to Abbie.”
I continued putting away books, hoping he’d leave. I knew I had questions for him, but just seeing him raised my protective instincts and I wanted him out of my library.
“Sorry about that. I got a little ticked off when you went off with the detective who follows you around. I see that hasn’t changed any since the last time we met.”
“So you thought trying to kill my friend was a logical response?”
“It was a response, I won’t admit I ever thought it was logical. You seem to have come out of your shell while I’ve been away. No longer feel the need to hide your heritage?”
It was late and I was just killing time before we closed, so I didn’t think there was anyone close enough to hear our conversation, but I reached out to verify. The only other person in the library was a coworker, and she was picking up the toys in the children’s section. Far enough away from the romance section that I could have a conversation.
“What do you know about my heritage?”
I acted bored and uninterested in his reply. Thankfully we’d had a lot of romance returns that day, so it was easy to keep my attention elsewhere. I figured if I didn’t act like I wanted to know what he knew about me, the more likely he’d overshare.
After half a century of living, it was something I found happened more often than not.
“Probably a little more than you do, but something tells me you may know more than when we last saw each other. It’s too bad my power doesn’t work on you. It’s easier to have a conversation when the other person has no choice but to tell you everything you want to know.”
“I’m sure it is. The name people call you is incubus, but I don’t think you’re one at all, at least not the demon from Hell version of it. I think you’re actually something from my world. I’m just not sure how you got here. Surely your species died out like mine.”
“As far as I know, they did. What exactly did you do while I was out of town? Something has definitely changed about you.”
“What did you do while you were out of town?”
I thought the answer to my question was a bit more important than his. A lot could happen in a month, and in his case, I was sure there were women’s bodies left in his wake. I hadn’t paid attention to national news, so it was very likely I missed a massacre.
“Being someone like me, there are things I have to do in order to survive. It’s not necessarily that I want to, but I do enjoy living, so I do what has to be done.”
“And killing the humans doesn’t matter? I’ve tried looking up lore about what I think you are, but it never mentions you physically taking life away. Lots of sex everywhere I look, but very little about death.”
“I’m extremely curious about what you’ve decided I am. Why don’t you tell me what you’ve come up with and I’ll tell you about how I live my life as one.”
I put the last book on the shelf I was working on and selected another book. Romance had never been my genre. The plotlines were always too unbelievable for someone who’d never found love. I tried reading the classics and contemporary pieces, but I always found myself disgusted by the time I got to the end.
The book in my hand needed to go on the shelf behind me, so I turned and mentally pushed him out of the way. He laughed as his shoes glided along the floor.
“I’ve decided you’re a satyr, which leads to questions about what you have hiding under those pants.”
If the evilness I felt in him wasn’t enough to keep women away, the fact that he had horse legs and a tail should have been a very big indicator that he wasn’t normal. There were some books that said it was goat instead of horse, but either way, it equaled a warning sign.
“Not the wisest words to say to a satyr, unless of course you’re offering to investigate for yourself.”
“Sorry, I’ve taken a vow of chastity. Do you think you’re going to get around to answering my questions before the library closes? It only leaves you about ten minutes. With how things have gone so far, I’m guessing you’re not going to beat the clock.”
“Maybe that means you’re going to have to spend time with me away from the library. I know this is kind of our place, but I’m sure we’d enjoy ourselves just as much if we went out to eat somewhere.”
“There’s no way that’s happening. Can you please just explain to me how you’re here in the present time?”
He didn’t jump in with a response, so I finished the last few books and took my cart to the front of the library. Suzanne was waiting for me. Her eyes weren’t on me, even though I stood in front of the man following close behind me.
“You better not be causing that,” I said as I came to a stop.
“It must be difficult for you, being the only person in the world who doesn’t find me attractive.”
“I can ensure you it isn’t difficult. Suzanne, are you ready to go? I’m opening tomorrow so I’d like to get home and unwind before I have to deal with the puppet show tomorrow.”
My words didn’t even register. She was in a daze, and I really didn’t have time to deal with it. As normal as my life had been, sleeping had been an issue for me. Having to deal with thirty kids the next day, I needed to try to get as much sleep as I could.
“I guess I’ll just meet you outside.”
I watched Suzanne’s gaze follow as he made his way out the front doors. He was still visible through the glass, which meant it took him totally stepping out of view for her to snap out of it.
I was fairly certain there was something he could do to turn it off. Rubbing in that he didn’t have to do much to find prey wasn’t a move to get on my good side.
“You ready, Suzanne? Don’t you have plans with your grandkids tonight?”
She had three grandchildren, who she seemed to babysit almost every night. She also had a husband, and I was pretty sure he wasn’t in the open relationship movement.
“Who was that man you were walking with? I haven’t seen him in here before.”
“Hopefully you won’t see him again. Are you ready?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say hopefully. Having someone like him in here would bring in all sorts of patrons.”
“Not the kind of patrons we want. Let’s get out of here and think of some more realistic marketing ideas later if you’re worried about how many people are checking out books.”
Suzanne didn’t respond, but she did gather her things and head out the door. The speed of her steps made me think she was hoping to catch up with Helki. Thinking his name reminded me that I should verify it was his name.
I followed behind Suzanne and locked the doors. I watched her climb into her car without finding the person her eyes searched for. As she drove away, the Viking came out from the courtyard.
“Is your name Helki? It’d probably be easier to call you that than Viking, if that’s really your name.”
“You think I look like a Viking. That’s cute. Who told you that name?”
“Who’s to say it was another person. Maybe I figured it out by myself.”
“I suppose I could believe that, since you guessed I was a satyr. I have a feeling someone else told you the name, though. What happened between you and the wolf?”
I started walking towards my house. He wouldn’t be able to walk the whole way, so I felt comfortable with the length of conversation I was in store for. Jack had said something about Helki not knowing what he was, but clearly he’d figured it out.