Malignant Transfiguration (Endeavor Series Book 2)

by A E M

  “Daredevils are we, gentlemen?” She asked without any want of a reply. She shook her head at them before focusing back on David. “So you are one of my cousins? I’ve heard some stories of Aunt Susan, but I admit that they were a little vague. I don’t remember any mention of her having children.”

  “Well, child.” David corrected. “Susan was a bit of a wanderer, and she couldn’t have done that with more than one.” He smiled warmly and looked over at his companion. “Before I jump into my story, I’d like to introduce you all to my friend, Vincent. He has a long story, but the short version is that I’ve been teaching him to use his weaver skills. He’s not much of a speaker at times.” David chuckled. “But when he does talk, you better watch out!” The men exchanged a glance before looking back at Charlotte.

  “How did you get here?” Charlotte asked with a nod toward the portal.

  David snapped his fingers. “Oh, I used a temporary portal that I had shipped to Alcott just in case. When I searched for portals in your area, yours was the only one I found and it was fuzzy. I don’t know about you, but I like to make sure all of me gets through safely.”

  “You don’t just search for portals!” Barnabas exclaimed with a huff after glaring at his son. “It’s not like there’s a database for them!”

  “Oh, there is one in the works. I’m on the board overseeing the entire project.” David said. “Barnabas, you must know how I feel about these things. What good is it to have portals if you don’t know where you can go?”

  Barnabas shook his head. “I do know, but it doesn’t mean that I can agree. I know Isaac would not have.”

  “David is one of the weavers who believes in meshing technology and magic. He’s quite talented, actually.” Alcott bragged. Alcott was the spitting image of his father, with the exception of having brown hair with just a twinge of grey. He wore a suit, as well, though his was blue with silver mountaintop buttons.

  “Why, thank you, Alcott.” David beamed as they shook hands and hugged.

  Barnabas turned to his son. “Not you, too.”

  “Yes, father.” Alcott responded. “I think they are on to something.” He turned to Charlotte. “I believe David will be very helpful to have around. A lot is changing in the magical world, and we could use his help.”

  Barnabas closed his eyes and stroked his long beard. He finally sighed and opened his eyes again. “You may be right, son. But for now I’d like to focus on getting this portal up. We can all discuss more of this at supper tonight.”

  “I’ll show them to some rooms.” Charlotte offered, and they left the two dwarves to mumble over the portal. She walked quickly through the hall, turning her head to gauge the distance the men held behind her.

  “I’d actually like to visit the library first if you don’t mind.” David mentioned the second time she looked back.

  Charlotte stopped. She had planned to house them in guest suites, but it would be easier for her if they were out of the way. “Sure.” She answered with a smile. “In fact, you can stay in the adjoining family quarters.”

  “Where do you sleep?” David asked, eyebrows raised and lips drawn tight.

  “Wherever I find a place I like for the night.” She answered firmly before heading toward one of the two large staircases that joined the lobby to the second floor. She ran her hand over the mahogany banister as they descended, spilling her nervousness into the smooth wood.

  “Charlotte?” David said behind her.

  She turned to address him and noticed that she had left scorch marks where her hand had rested. She lifted her hand off the banister immediately and wrung her hands. She looked up to him. “Do you see now why you shouldn’t touch me?”

  Charlotte let her eyes fall to the once perfect wood and felt another little part of her heart shatter. She picked up her pace again. David and Vincent quietly followed her. When they turned to follow the hall to the right wing, a couple of fauns breezed by, kicking a ball between them. Josef popped up and shouted as he ran after them. “Take your games outside where they belong!” He stopped when he saw Charlotte’s group. He paled, and his eyes widened. He straightened his tie. “Ah, David. I thought you were Isaac for a moment.”

  David smiled and shook Josef’s hand. “Good to see you once more, Josef. I seem to have shocked Charlotte, too.”

  Josef took a raggedy breath. “If you will excuse me, I have some stray fauns to kick out on the lawns.”

  “Are you okay, Josef?” Charlotte asked.

  “Hindsight can be cruel. Excuse me, dear.” He bowed and disappeared.

  Charlotte reminded herself to check with him again tonight as she took her guests to the library. It was still and quiet, the sunshine was one of the few visitors it had had lately. Even Charlotte had stayed away after she had packed a few of her things. Standing in the library again tickled her senses with the smell of frankincense and books and parchment and ink. The smells delighted her nose and teased her memories of many childhood hours spent reading and playing in this room. She caught herself longing to be small enough again to hide under her father’s desk while he taught his classes. She remembered the polish of his shoes and the sound of his calming voice as it danced across the room to his students. Now the room held memories of secrets and farewells. She blinked and realized that she had gone quiet. Both men patiently stood in front of her. David smiled softly.

  “Pardon me.” She said. “I got caught up in memories.” She calmed her breathing and blinked the memories away before smiling again. Her mother wouldn’t have lost a beat, but she struggled with being a proper hostess. “David, you and your friend can stay as long as you like. I’m not sure what you have in mind for helping, or how long it will take, but you have an open invitation to stay here as long as you don’t cause trouble.”

  David’s eyes lit up and he laughed. “Do I look like trouble?”

  “Oh, I didn’t mean to imply that you are trouble.” She corrected herself, but now she wondered if he was trouble. She tapped the edge of her father’s desk with her nails. “I recently invited the fauns to stay with us, and I have found that it was a much larger decision than I had originally anticipated.”

  “You have a good heart.” David said as he dug something out of a pocket and handed it to Vincent.

  “Not good enough to think about what that decision might do to my hobs.” She responded.

  “Hindsight is a good teacher for the future.” David said.

  “You even sound like Papa.” Charlotte said softly. She breathed deeply and blinked quickly.

  “This is hard on you, I’m sorry for that. I wish I had had the foresight to think about what effect I might have on you.” David said as he sat down at the desk.

  “Do you know how closely you resemble him?” She asked him.

  “I’ve never given it much thought.” He said as he looked over at Vincent, who was inspecting the bookshelves. “Vincent, did you ever notice?”

  Vincent turned to him and a quiet look Charlotte couldn’t read passed between them. Vincent turned back to the books while David turned back to her. “Vincent seems to agree with you.”

  “Does this Vincent speak for himself?” She asked as she looked over at the man’s back. She saw a small shake of his shoulders, but he continued on without a word or look at her.

  “He can be slow to warm.” David said with a grin. He reached across the space between them to squeeze Charlotte’s hand. She flinched and pulled away.

  “And you’re slow to learn. You’ll have to learn to keep your distance if you expect to stay here long.”

  “I’m not a distance person, Charlotte.” David said as he examined his gloves. “It’s not good for you, either.”

  “I’m aware.” Charlotte said as she stepped away. “But I’m afraid I don’t have much of a choice in the matter.” She stroked one of the books her father had left on his desk. It was one of his teaching manuals. She hadn’t the heart to put it away, and she had let Josef know she expected it to stay on
her father’s desk for now.

  She looked over at David and gave him a small smile that she hoped would help ease the awkwardness. “Were you one of Papa’s students? It is hard to pinpoint your age.”

  “Yes, I was one of his earliest apprentices. We had our differences, but he was a phenomenal teacher.” He sat back in the chair at the desk and folded his hands behind his head.

  “He was well loved by his students.” She said, trying to keep her voice under control. She had to talk about something else other than her father. The smell of his cologne still touched the items in this room. It was the same in her family’s quarters. Her mother’s perfume could set her to tears. “What exactly are you thinking about helping us with here?”

  David sat forward. “I think you need me right now.”

  “We do need to advance our technology at the castle.” She admitted.

  David nodded slowly and locked his gaze with hers. “Yes. There is that. I heard that you were rebuilding and that you all had to improvise some technology recently. I can help bring you all up to speed and surpass even what most weavers know about technology and magic. It’s my specialty, as you have heard.” He put his elbows on the desk and clasped his hands. “I believe you will be leaving soon for the Alliance meeting? I will also be attending, and I’d like to travel with you and get to know you.”

  “We appreciate any help you can give us.” Charlotte said. “I will introduce you to Wilhelm tonight. He’s in charge of the rebuilding and can work with you.” She paused. There was no reason he couldn’t go with them. “I’d like to get to know you, too. It will put my mind at ease knowing who is working here.”

  “Oh, I know Wilhelm.” David laughed. “Better than you, I believe.” His teasing eyes sparkled again.

  “I only met him recently.” She admitted. “How do you know him?”

  “I lived with the elves for a time; more than once, actually. I tend to frequent certain festivities.” He chuckled. “I’ll take you sometime if you’d like.”

  “I’d like that.” She admitted. “I’ve only experienced other magani here.”

  “Then you need to visit them all in their homelands.” He said. “You don’t know a magani until you’ve visited them in their own home.” He stood and walked over to the front of the desk where she was standing. He let his fingers tiptoe along the edge of the desk. She pulled her arms across her chest and stepped back.

  “There’s another reason I think you need me around, Charlotte.” He said as he let his arm fall back at his side.

  “What’s that?” She asked curiously as she stepped to the side of the desk. Space. She needed more space. She hid her shaking arm behind her back. She should have worked harder this morning. She was losing her grip quickly.

  David’s smile deepened and his eyes lit up. “I’m not your cousin. I’m your brother.”

  2

  The Brother and his Story

  David ran through the forest, a smile on his lips and a laugh in his heart.

  His legs and arms were scraped and bruised.

  His skin and hair were kissed by sun and wind.

  He barreled through the front door of the cabin and straight into Susan’s skirts.

  “Oh, my!” She laughed. “Am I being accosted by a boy or beast? It’s hard to tell what’s under that mud!”

  “You’ll have to hose me off to find out!” He laughed. “But not until later. I’m not done playing!”

  She grinned as he grabbed some food and ran back out the door.

  “You must be mistaken.” Charlotte said immediately. Her head was spinning and her stomach was captive to an internal wringing out. Her heart fell into a void. Who was this man who let her believe he was a cousin, but now was claiming an even closer relationship? No, there was no relationship. But he was claiming that there was a chance for her to still have a family. Wait, did he want a relationship? Was he here to claim the castle as his or try to get money out of her? Was he spying on her? Was he an opportunistic man who preyed on victims of tragedy? No, her mind was playing games with her now. Alcott and Barnabas and Josef had recognized him. They had recognized him! But why didn’t they say anything? She placed her hands on her hips and stared the man down. More secrets. Suddenly the possibility of how many secrets her father had kept nearly knocked the wind out of her. Why was she even surprised?

  David squatted down in the front of Isaac’s desk and fiddled with a panel “I thought this might be a hard sell, and I can understand. But you know, weavers have long lifetimes, and if they marry danes or magani with a shorter life span or split up, all kinds of family trees pop up.”

  “Why would I not know about you?” Charlotte asked. “What are you doing to his desk? You know, I will throw you two out if I need to. I won’t hesitate to burn you both.”

  “Whoa! Little sister, calm down!” David laughed as he fumbled with a panel. Suddenly there was a drawer that Charlotte had never seen before. “I hope you are a fast reader. This is a stash of Papa’s old journals.”

  “How do you know about that?” She asked icily. She wished she could go back to the morning. She’d much rather be dealing with hobs and fauns quarrelling than this mess.

  “We talked a lot, you know. I’ve lived here off and on, too.” He chuckled. “He told me once in a letter that he had hidden these here in case I ever needed them.” He stood up and looked her in the eyes. “In case you ever needed them.” With that, he passed her one of the journals. “He wanted you to have this one specifically, but you should read all of them someday.” His voice had grown soft and she swore she saw a small frown try to snake its way through his happy exterior.

  Charlotte traced the outside of the faded journal with yellowed pages. The cover was soft and worn with a cherry blossom tree etched into it. She could almost imagine her father tracing his fingers along the tree trunk and branches. When she held it up to her nose, a habit she had of books, she could smell a trace of dirt and fresh rain and flowers. “I thought the secrets were done.”

  “I’m afraid that there are many more secrets to discover.” David said solemnly. “Can you show me his recent journals? I’d like to keep all of these safe together.”

  Charlotte looked David over slowly this time. His eyes crinkled in the corners just like her father. She was so mixed up inside. Were there other children out there with stormy eyes and wavy black hair? Why, he looked more like her parents than she did, and they didn’t share a mother! She finally calmed and nodded at him. “I do, but I’d like to keep an eye on what you are doing. I don’t trust you completely.”

  “Understandable.” He shrugged and smiled. “You can get more confirmation from Josef or Basil or Barnabas. Barnabas met him later, but Josef and Basil were his family’s hobs, so they know everything.”

  “I’m quite aware that I can speak with Basil and Josef.” She said in a tight voice, daring him with her eyes to counter her. She wasn’t completely oblivious.

  Vincent wandered over then. He was holding a long, thin, rectangular device out to David. “I have what’s on the first story.”

  David snapped his fingers and a briefcase appeared on the desk. He took the device and placed it on what looked like a rectangular piece of glass. “Make sure to get the second story here in a few moments.”

  “Yes, Master.” Vincent said before pulling a chair over and sitting beside the desk while David worked.

  Master? Charlotte narrowed her eyes at Vincent. He merely opened his eyes wide at her and winked. She gave him a slow once over. There was something about him that seemed familiar, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

  “He’s not on the market, if that’s what you’re thinking.” David said. “Not for a good hundred years or more if he’s smart.”

  Charlotte nearly tripped over her own feet as she stepped back from the two of them. “I’m engaged, knucklehead!” She said with a huff. How dare he imply anything like that! “I was just wondering if I’d seen him before in one of Papa’s clas
ses!”

  David looked at her solemnly. “Engaged?” He gave a look over at Vincent, who was frowning now. “Papa never mentioned that. Since when?”

  “Since recently. It happened after he left.” She said. “Now what exactly are you doing?”

  David tapped the top of the desk and sighed. The two men exchanged a long look before David turned his gaze back to Charlotte and smiled. “It’s a book recorder. I’m converting the library to digital format. Trust me, you will thank me for doing this when we have all of this at our fingertips in the middle of nowhere while we are hunting down whoever is behind all this mess. If you like I can teach you how to use it and you can copy the rest of the library.”

  “I might burn it.” Charlotte said drily. “And I’m not about to do your job.” She looked over at Vincent. “Or his job.”

  “You know, you need to learn to keep things to yourself sometimes.” David leaned forward and whispered. “You could have accepted and burned the device. Just something to think of for the future.”

  Charlotte sighed. “Yes, yes. I’ve heard that before. Look, copy the books; I don’t care as long as you aren’t hurting them.” She glared at the two for a moment before shouting, “Josef! Library!” She had rarely ever shouted for a hob in her life. She had found that asking nicely did the job, so there was rarely a need to be a pain about it. But this time she would make an exception. She had to know if this man was who he claimed to be.