Malignant Transfiguration (Endeavor Series Book 2)

by A E M

  “I’m sorry I woke you.”

  “Doesn’t matter.” He said and reached for one of her hands. “I’ll go with you this time.”

  As he clasped her hand, she felt a firm tug and they were standing in her father’s library. “Come with me and don’t let go of my hand.” She followed him to the second story of the library where he led her to the back loft area above the main library doors. “Do you remember this place?” He kneeled down on the floor.

  “Of course I do.” She lay down on her stomach beside him. “This was my favorite spot to watch my father teach.”

  “I used to sit right there while he taught.” He lay down beside her and pointed down. “Do you remember me?”

  “I was focused on my father.” She wrapped her free hand around one of the metal posts shaped like a vine. “I was also a little jealous that everyone else was a weaver.” She traced the edge of the balcony. “Now I wish I weren’t one.”

  “Why?” He propped his head up in his free hand. “Is it the having somebody in charge of you part?”

  Charlotte looked down at the chairs, trying to remember a boy with red hair sitting below.

  Vincent cleared his throat. “I didn’t like it at first, either.”

  Charlotte stared back at him without a word. He could say that now; he was the one in the favorable position.

  “Just you wait until you’re on my end.”

  “Mhmm.” Now she had no intention of being a Master Weaver. Her time with Beau was limited. She would learn to control her magic and be done with this mess. She looked back down at the desks. “I don’t remember. I’m sorry.”

  “Here’s a clue: over the years you dropped mud, sugar, grass, dirt, water, tea, string, and my favorite, a book; on me, my chair, my desk, and my papers.”

  The memories hit her then, and she flushed deep red. “Oh, no. No, now I definitely can’t do this. It was you!” Vincent followed her as she stood. She tried to pull her hand back, but he held on.

  “Protégé.”

  “Oh, no, don’t you Protégé me, you—” She punched him hard in the arm.

  “Charlotte!” His fingers jerked in her hand.

  “You made my workout long enough to wear me out to hitting like a girl today. Next time I’ll make sure to punch harder.” She pulled away from him. “I want to go back right now.” She said. Her skin tingled and rippled with heat.

  “Not until you calm down.” Vincent rubbed his arm. “Just what do you mean by hitting me and acting horrid for no reason?”

  She grabbed a book on the shelf and threw it down on his old desk. “You did this on purpose, didn’t you? You thought this would be the perfect revenge.”

  “Would you make sense?”

  She threw more books off the balcony. “I wish I could go back.” She picked up another book and tossed it on his toes. “But at least now I can make it worth it!” She threw a book at him this time. He released her hand to catch the book before it hit his face and she was yanked back to the room. The force of coming back threw her back onto the floor in the chair. She grabbed at her head and flipped herself out of the chair and onto her knees. She regretted the gems in her hair.

  “Get out.” She yelled at Vincent. She yanked the chair up and back across the room to its original home. “Get out of my room now!”

  Vincent stood. “They won’t let us stay if you lose control again.” He shook his head at her. “I don’t understand why you are so angry with me.”

  “How can you not?” She paced across the back of the room. “Do you have any idea how much trouble you got me into?” She yelled.

  “Me?” He asked angrily. “I’m sure you didn’t need help getting into trouble. And really, what kind of trouble did the poor little princess get into?”

  “You think you have me pegged, don’t you?” She asked.

  “It’s not like you know me at all, either!” He yelled at her. “You really think I would do all of this for you for revenge for something silly?”

  “Do what for me, Vincent? Order me around? Give me no privacy? Make assumptions about my character?”

  “You don’t even get it, do you?”

  A loud knock at the door interrupted their fight. Vincent swung the door open to reveal Barnabas and Alcott. “I apologize. Can you give us a moment more to get ready?”

  He shut the door and walked to stand behind Charlotte. He placed his hand with his ring on her neck. “Do you have pain from falling?” She nodded. She felt a tingly coldness creeping up to her head. When the tingling stopped, the pain stopped.

  “Thank you.” She said stiffly. She sat down on the end of the bed.

  “Go back to the cave. Find the candle and practice making it larger, then smaller, and then repeating it until you feel calm.”

  She fought the urge to kick him out of the room. Why hadn’t he done this the first time? Why had he taken her to the library? Why would he reveal something to her that would make her angry? None of it made sense. She wished he would leave her alone, but she would listen to his guidance for Carroll. She followed Vincent’s instructions until the last of the heat spilled away.

  Vincent pulled his gloves off and tossed them into her lap. “Don’t wear the fairy gloves, either. I have a spare set of these.”

  She pulled the gloves she was wearing off and threw them into the growing pile of clothes on her floor.

  “Maybe we should talk before we go on the tour.”

  “No.”

  “We need to talk.” Vincent insisted.

  “Because talking between the two of us is so productive.” She said. She pulled her pack over and started to dig through it. “What else do you have planned for me today?” She asked coolly.

  He sighed and fiddled with the flap of one of the pouches on his own pack. “I wish you were five.”

  “Might make it easier for me, too.”

  “You know this all has to happen, right? I don’t like it any more than you do, but I’d be a horrid teacher if I didn’t go through with it. I’m not sure it’s any easier as a kid when I think about it. I couldn’t stand David at first. When I’d get in trouble, I’d run off. And every time he’d come find me and bring me home. And every time I had to do twice the work because I’d messed up and then run away from the consequences.”

  “What made you stop trying to run away?” She continued to dig through her possessions.

  “That’s a story for another time.” He replied. “Now, it’s your choice how stubborn you are going to be about all of this.”

  “I can’t help it.” She stared right into his eyes. “You drive me crazy and it’s only been a few days.”

  “The craziness is mutual, let me assure you.” Vincent placed his hands on her shoulders. “We are going to have our good days and bad days. Good moments and bad moments. Right now we are having a bad moment because you are choosing to give me hell because I’m doing my job of making you the best weaver you can be.”

  She shrugged him off. “I’m going to change. You should, too.” She went into the bathroom and shut the door hard. She waited for the shuffle of feet and the shut of the door before she breathed again. Foolish man-boy. She kept her purple top, but shimmied out of the jeans and into a brown skirt and the matching vest. She dug through her pack until she found matching high heels. She checked her reflection in the bathroom mirror and freshened her make up.

  Carroll smiled and winked at her when she came out to wait for Vincent. Alcott and Barnabas both nodded in her direction. Vincent stepped out of his room. He was suited and vested, crisp and clean. He gave her a serious nod, and she fell into step behind his left shoulder and followed him as they made their way through the hall and down the staircase that led to the public areas of the den.

  They followed Alcott and Barnabas through staircases and hallways until they entered the hallways surrounding the great hall through a large oval arch. The walls were covered with paintings of bison rushing toward the great hall. Behind the bison were grasslands an
d a bold sunrise. They stood in the middle of the intersection between the two hallways they formed a T outside of the great hall. The floor of the hallway was stained to look like they were walking across rose rocks. Charlotte stopped and traced her foot over a spiral. Once she started, she couldn’t stop. She lost herself for a moment in the steps and twirls she made across the floor. She stepped out of her heels as she danced, and before she knew it she was flying across the room with the small leaps and spins she could manage in her skirt. She kept her eyes on the sunrise on the walls and smiled to herself. Barnabas cleared his throat. Charlotte stopped and turned to him. All three men looked at her blankly. She sighed and walked back to them. She missed Ebby. Ebby would have danced with her across the floor.

  “Would you care for the tour guide version?” Alcott asked as they stepped up the two massive open doors to the great hall. “Or would you just like to look?”

  “Just look, please.” Charlotte asked. “I want to soak it in without distractions.” She blushed and stepped back behind Vincent. “Sorry.” She said to his shoulder.

  “At least you’re trying.” Alcott said with a teasing grin. She smiled back at him over Vincent’s shoulder.

  “Let the lady look without interruption.” Vincent turned and nodded at her. “Go ahead.”

  Charlotte put her hands on the door. The door had drawings burned into the wood. There were frogs, bees, lizards, turkeys, birds, and butterflies. Flowers surrounded the outlines of the doors. She traced the pictures with her fingers for a few minutes before stepping into the great hall. The hall was at least three stories tall and held up by great pillars that were etched with pictures. Charlotte ran her hands and eyes over one of the pillars. Barnabas walked over and put his hand on the pillar and dragged it slowly around. He winked at her as he came around the other side of the pillar.

  “Each one tells a different story.”

  “Oh, Barnabas, will I ever cease to be amazed at the detail of your home?”

  “I have always loved how you admire beauty. Your mother would have gushed over this pillar. Your father would relate by telling of some story of another pillar. But you, you admire with your hands and eyes quietly. There’s a depth in your touch and eyes that would delight the artist if she were here to see you love on her labor of love.”

  Charlotte listened to the clunk of his shoes on the white brick floor. Gems were embedded in between the bricks, so when she turned her head the floor sparkled. She turned to the wall opposite the entrance, which was white with gems arranged to look like a magnificent tree. In front of the wall were five immense chairs of gold.

  “Who sits there?” Charlotte asked.

  Barnabas stopped and walked back to her. “The Dwarf Council.” He explained. “You’ve met Stonebinder. He presides over the Appalachian Den. The middle seat of each grouping belongs to the dwarf who presides at whatever den they are meeting at. The middle chair here belongs to Bouldershaker. You’ve met her now, too.”

  “The tiny angry woman?” Charlotte asked. “That woman was intimidating even when she was in her nightgown!”

  Barnabas laughed. “Yes. Rockcarver is in charge of the Rocky Den. Mineblaster is in charge of the Alaskan Den, and Gemcutter is in charge of the Cascade Den.

  “Are those their real names?”

  “Bouldershaker has had her name since she was chosen, as did the Bouldershaker before her and the one before her.”

  “I see.” She said.

  Charlotte walked to one of the statues that were scattered throughout the room. One of them was of a dwarf woman standing by a horse, holding a baby. There was another dwarf woman with a baby, crouching.

  “What is her story?” Charlotte asked as she placed her hand on the statue woman’s face.

  “The dwarves have taken in many danes over the years. Many runaway slaves found help in the Appalachians. Many Native Americans chose to join us, also.”

  “Did they stay?” She asked as she crouched by the other statue. “They must have been very brave.”

  “A lot of them did. We have quite a larger variety of dwarves in this country because we do mix well with danes.”

  “Ah, that explains what Carroll was telling me about half and quarter dwarves and so on earlier.”

  She pointed to another statue near the front of the room; it was a dwarf with two small dwarf boys. “Who is that?”

  Barnabas smiled. “She is considered one of the great mothers of the dwarves. Some say she is fictional. Many disagree.”

  “She’s beautiful.” Charlotte whispered. “You are a beautiful magani.”

  “Thank you, Charlotte.” He said and bowed. “I am honored by your words.”

  They joined Alcott and Vincent and moved back through the hallway. Alcott turned to face them and pointed to his left. “There is another kitchen and an attached gymnasium for dining, dancing, meetings, and training for guests to the left of the great hall. To the right of the great hall are Bouldershaker’s private offices as well as other offices. He turned to look at the vertical part of the hallway. “We have guest suites to each side. Would you like to look at a few?”

  “We would be honored.” Vincent answered.

  They walked down the long hallway. Charlotte stayed behind Vincent and reminded herself to let him speak, though she glared at his shoulder when no one was looking. She would do this for Beau. She would do this for their future. But she wasn’t going to make herself like it. They stopped in front of one of the many bison on the left side of the hall. In the middle of one of the bison was a door. Barnabas opened it and ushered them into a smaller hallway. She took a deep breath of lemon and mint as she stepped in. Redbud trees were painted onto the walls and part of the ceiling. There were lights that looked like jars of fireflies hanging in the middle of the hallway. Alcott went to one of the tree trunks, and Charlotte noticed that there were doorknobs in some of the trees. She grinned. Oh, how she loved this place!

  She followed Vincent into the room. There were galloping horses painted on the walls. A bed with a giant horseshoe headboard took up most of the room. Instead of baseboards, horseshoes lined the bottom of the wall. The floor was dark brown. There was a dresser and two doors opposite the bed. Charlotte walked around the room slowly before joining the men at the door.

  “Let’s go across the hallway now.” Alcott said. The next room was designed to look like they were underwater in a river. It was laid out much like the previous room. The bedspread looked like moss, and the bed like rock. Charlotte couldn’t help sitting on it to see if it was comfortable.

  “Triton likes this room.” Barnabas commented as they left the room of fish and water painted on the walls. Charlotte didn’t doubt it one bit at all.

  They moved farther down the hall until they reached a door in the wall at the end of the hallway. Barnabas pulled out a key to unlock the door. Charlotte gasped when she walked in. The room was twice the size of the other rooms. It was lit with more firefly jars and the bed was suspended from the middle of the ceiling with rope. The walls and ceiling were dark purple and dotted with yellow stars. There were two dressers on one wall with a long bench in the middle underneath a mirror. She took a deep breath in. She had to try the bed, but she did not want an audience.

  “Would you all mind leaving me alone for a few minutes?” She asked the men. “Please?”

  Barnabas shrugged. Alcott winked. Vincent’s face was blank. They filed out and shut the door. She giggled at how quickly they left and then jumped up on the bed and laughed as it swung back and forth. She leapt off the bed on the other side and peeked into one of the doors on that side of the room. The bathroom was all stone and firefly lights. The bathtub looked like a large rock had been cut in half and hollowed out. A door in the bathroom led to a closet area. She poked her head back out into the room. They guys were still outside. She jumped into the bathtub.

  Charlotte lay down in the bathtub and stared at the dark ceiling painted with stars. She closed her eyes for a moment and thou
ght of the bath she wanted to have. Hot water. Layers of bubbles. She flushed. Someday Beau. She sat up and put her head in her hands. Beau. She wanted Beau here right now, and yet here she was stuck with Vincent, who wanted to steal years away from her and Beau. Passion and fury exploded inside. Heat exploded on the outside.

  “No!” There was a flash of light and a sudden burst of burning throughout her body. “Maven!” She stumbled out of the bathtub. Vincent hurried in the bathroom. He looked at her and stepped back.

  What was wrong with him? He took another step back. Charlotte looked down. A soft glow covered her skin.

  “It’s the fairy side of you.” Vincent said, his voice dry.

  She looked back at him. “What do I do?”

  “I don’t know yet.” His chest rose up and down rapidly. “I can’t help you once you’ve crossed into the fairy side.”

  “Is that what you’ve been doing, then?” She asked. “Keeping me from crossing the line?”

  “Yes, Protégé. Until I know, yes.”

  He paced back and forth in front of her, tugging at his beard.

  Charlotte sat down and gripped the edge of the bathtub. “I don’t understand. Is the heat I feel the weaver part or the fairy part?”

  “Sometimes it’s one. Sometimes it’s the other. We’ll know more as time passes and you learn to distinguish between the two.” He stopped pacing. “Or it’s also possible that your forms of magic will merge.”

  “Merge?” She cried out. “I don’t want this! Stop it. Help me stop this! How do I change back?”

  He laughed and threw his right arm out at her. “I’m sitting with a fairy, and she expects me to answer questions about herself!” He paced again, mumbling as he went. “I don’t know!” He laughed. “I have no idea what I’m doing, can’t you tell?” He stood. “Here I am pretending to be in charge and I have no clue what I’m doing and that’s why you can’t stand me, isn’t it?”

  Charlotte stood up and put her hands on her hips. “You’re losing it, Vincent.”

  “Ah, Vincent, Maven, who shall I be for you? Does my character change with your moods? Which one of me do you hate the least?” He strode out of the bathroom and into the bedroom and opened the door. “Gentlemen, come meet a fairy!”