by A. W. Cross
What was next? When I made a personal sacrifice, my bonds would release—creepy, much—and there was something about how only my actions would prove my heart. I knew there was more to it, but it was enough to make the hair on my arms stand up. Then I remembered that she’d also said I had until dark the next day, today, until it had all kicked in.
Slowly, I slid to the floor, unable to catch my breath. Nothing made sense. I’d just been in Europe for a month and a half without a care in the world. Now, my father was in jail, an intruder had broken in, the mother I didn’t even remember showed up, and a strange woman cursed me.
I needed to get my life back under control.
7
Stella
In the middle of my pity party, I heard voices coming up the stairs.
Daddy was home. I jumped to my feet and sprinted out of my room. Throwing myself into my father’s arms, he caught me as I knew he would.
“It’s all right, mon petit. Everything will be fine.”
I buried my face in my father’s shoulder, relishing the lingering scent of his musky cologne and ignoring the hint of body odor. When I was small, he’d speak in French as he tucked me in at night. He’d said it was the language of love and the only appropriate way to speak to someone who held his heart.
He carried me to his sitting room and deposited me in one of two wide comfortable chairs. I curled my legs under me and immediately relaxed.
“I’m going to hop in the shower, then we’ll talk.” Leaning over, he kissed the top of my head and whispered, “Je reviendrai sous peu.”
I grinned and settled back into the soft suede. Looking around my father’s space, it had the same strong, masculine vibe that he did. Earth tones and simple modern lines spoke of no-nonsense and simple elegance.
Whatever was happening to Daddy and me, we’d get through it like we always did—together.
Faintly, I heard chatter downstairs. My heart sang as Mrs. Potter’s voice floated through the house. The final piece of my family puzzle. I snickered at a thought. When I was younger, I’d asked why we used Carson’s name but not Mrs. Potter’s. Daddy had said that when he met her, that’s how she’d introduced herself, and he wasn’t a brave enough man to ask her to change.
She was a formidable woman in spirit, if not for size. Petite, blonde, and a bit of a busybody, she managed to keep all of us in line. Even though she appeared to be close to Daddy’s forty-four years, he gave her the respect of an elder.
“That was most undoubtedly the finest shower I’ve ever taken,” Daddy said as he strode out of his bath. Dressed in jeans and a plain charcoal t-shirt he could have stepped out of the pages of GQ.
“I can’t imagine what you must have gone through,” I said and twisted in my seat as he settled into the one beside me.
“Nothing that won’t be taken care of. I’m sorry that you had to come home to all this. The timing was horrible, not that any other day would have made it better. Please know, Stella, I’ll do my best to keep all this away from you.”
“I know. I trust you.” I smiled at him and shifted to wrap my arms around my knees.
“What else is bothering my étoile polaire?”
Northern Star. The guiding light that brings him home. He’d said that to me so often. Only then did I realize the romantic heart my father possessed.
“Yesterday was awful. My luggage was ruined. Then I’m pretty sure the delivery boy and that woman with him had something to do with the burglar last night—”
“What?” Daddy sat up tall. “Someone broke in?”
“They didn’t get anything. The police searched everywhere and nothing is missing. He picked the lock in the kitchen door, but it tripped the alarm and he wasn’t here long enough to get what he came for. He said someone sent him.” As I spoke, I realized that the thief had described almost the same item that Sophia had. That was odd.
“You spoke to him? Stella, we’ve talked about how to keep yourself safe. Approaching a thief is dangerous. You could have been hurt. Did he say who sent him?”
“No. He was arrogant, and I think he was lying, anyway. Probably just some junkie after a score.”
Daddy made a noise that could have been agreement, but he stared into the air, deep in thought. Carson walked in with a tray, and it broke the silence.
“It’s nice to see you two like this. It’s been a while since either of you relaxed,” Carson said.
“Yeah, I think it might be time for another expedition. Exploring the past and ignoring the present sounds like a fine idea.” Daddy chuckled to himself.
“Since you bring that up, do you own an antique incense burner? Something about this big.” I gestured with my hands as both he and Carson seemed to freeze as they listened to me. “It would be gold with a filigree top and some jewels around it.”
The two men glanced at each other before returning their stare to me. I was pretty happy with myself. My speech was normal, and I’d made sense—or so I thought. Maybe not judging by the way they focused on me.
“That is a dangerous item that I acquired many years ago. It is locked away in safety so it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. How did you learn about it?” Daddy didn’t use his lawyer-voice with me very often, but that time, it chilled my skin.
“Nothing good ever comes from speaking with that woman,” Carson muttered under his breath as he finished arranging the food on the low coffee table.
“What was that?” Daddy asked.
Carson froze. I winced.
The silence ate away the peace until the entire room was thick with tension.
It was my place to tell him. Carson had only let her in on my orders. “Mother stopped by.”
“What?” My father rose to his feet with a roar that made me shrink back into the chair. Carson swallowed hard and stood straight.
Before anything further could be said, the doorbell rang.
My friend Gena’s parents divorced when we were in second grade. She always said that she didn’t mind because it gave her double holidays and more presents. Later, when we were older, she’d mentioned that they were better people separate than they were together.
I could relate more than ever to her as I sat in the great room. My father paced with the angriest expression I’d ever seen on him. My mother sat on the sofa, seeming as if she enjoyed his discomfort. Carson and Mrs. Potter kept peeking in from the kitchen.
“We have a contract,” Daddy finally said after calming down from the hassle it was just to allow Sophia back into the house.
“Pish, what do I care about something so drivel? Besides, you know I’ve kept our bargain. I have a right to see my daughter. Look at her; she’s practically a grown woman, and I’ve barely had any time at all with her.” She managed to smile and pout at the same time.
“Would it be so wrong to spend time together?”
“Yes,” Daddy said. “This woman is your mother, Stella, and I apologize for my lack of judgment on that. But she is dangerous and destructive.”
The gleam in my mother’s eyes as she glared at Daddy was like a dagger. I shrank back, realizing that my dad might be right.
“Did you find what I asked you for, Stella? Since your father seems more adamant about destroying our time together than Carson was, perhaps you and I can put an end to this.”
“I haven’t had time to look. You just asked me a couple of hours ago.”
“I’d have thought it would be more important to you. What did you do before your father came back home and disrupted everything?”
“I disrupted? You tried to take advantage of my absence. Get out, Sophia!” Daddy yelled.
“Calm yourself, Jack. I’ll leave when I get the censer.”
“What about me? Can’t we spend time together?” And it was back. Was it only when I was around her? No, it had happened when I was alone with Carson, too.
My mother smiled, but in a way that didn’t reach her eyes and reminded me of a snake coiled to strike. “That is only possible if
I get the censer I asked of you.”
Whatever warmth I thought I’d felt from her before was gone. The idealized version I’d created in my mind didn’t match the woman in front of me. All she wanted was an old antique, not the daughter she left behind.
At that moment, I decided that I’d never help her get a hold of it. If my dad didn’t want her to have it, then neither did I. I didn’t even care what it was.
“I’m going to my room. I have pictures to take for my website.”
Everyone stared at me.
Rising slowly from the sofa, I tried to act casual as if I hadn’t blurted out something ridiculous.
My mother rose with me.
“Stay away from her,” Daddy warned and stepped around the sofa to be on my left side. Mother stepped around the coffee table to stand on my right.
Trapped between the two of them, I shuddered. The rising tension made it hard to breathe. A sensation in my stomach started to bubble as if I had to choose between fight or flight. I clenched my fists.
“Settle down, Jack. There’s something else going on here.”
My mother moved closer, and Daddy wrapped his fingers around my arm.
“When I asked you about a second intruder earlier, I should have been more specific. Did you speak to anyone . . . strange recently?” She squinted and stared around the edges of me like she’d done before, as if searching for something.
“There was a woman. She came with the delivery man, I think.”
My mother closed her eyes briefly and exhaled hard. “If it isn’t one, it’s another,” she muttered, and I assumed it was to herself.
“You’ve been cursed. I can see the signature around your aura. The way you keep speaking such foolishness and seeming upset with yourself is due in part to it.”
I swallowed hard, feeling my eyes grow wide.
“What did the woman do, Stella?” Daddy asked. When I twisted to stare in his face, there was concern. I’d expected him, the most logical, straight-forward thinking person I knew, to tell me all of this was nonsense. Instead, he seemed to believe it was true.
“She touched my face and called it a blessing.”
Daddy stared at Sophia. “Can you reverse it?”
What? Why would he ask her that?
“No. But I know who did it, and I might be able to help.”
Mrs. Potter and Carson had come into the room and stood off to the side, no longer trying to hide. Daddy stiffened but nodded. I felt like a mouse caught between scientists, and it never ended well for that poor beast.
My mother laid her fingers gently on the side of my temple in the exact spot the woman had. My breath hitched, and Sophia’s brow arched as if she knew. In the same way it had happened before, I felt locked in place. Daddy’s fingers no longer applied pressure on my arm, though I knew he hadn’t moved.
“As you are blood of my blood, allow me to connect and see.” Mother gasped then shook her head. “Though what is said is done, yet a clause I may add. A single rose alone holds your fate, alive until the next new moon unless it touch the Oracle of Secrets. It is complete.” She let her fingers drop away, and as before, the release of the pressure made me wobble. Sparks floated through the air and a rose within a small glass vase appeared in Sophia’s hand.
Daddy pulled me close to his chest. I could feel the rise and fall of each heaving breath against my back. “How dare you? Have you truly no concern for your own daughter? You should have removed it all together!”
“Oh, dear,” Mrs. Potter whimpered, and Carson patted her back.
I couldn’t tell what had happened, but I knew it wasn’t good.
“I’d have thought after everything you’d know not to trust me, Jack. Besides, no one can break a druid’s spell. I could only adjust it. Now, Stella, you need to find that censer for your own reasons. You have two weeks or the curse is permanent, unless you find the Oracle. The bonds that hold you are now complete, unalterable, and better defined.” My mother—that title made my stomach twist—Sophia laughed, hearty and pleased with herself. “No one ever thinks someone will come along later and change their stipulations. They always forget those three little words, but I never do.”
She shoved the vase into my hand before she spun and sauntered away, then turned back to me.
“I’ll be by in two weeks. Don’t disappoint me, Stella.”
No one moved until we heard the click of the door when it closed. Even then, I stood still after Daddy turned away.
“You poor dear,” Mrs. Potter said as she rushed over to me. She held me against her shoulder, which was odd since she wasn’t that tall, but I didn’t have the capacity to think about that. Too many other odd things had happened in my life that I had to process right then.
Daddy had his back to me, staring out the tall windows. Slowly, he turned and faced me. His features were set and fierce. I shrunk inside.
“I’ll tell you where the censer is. But, no matter what, it must be kept out of her hands.”
For the first time in my life, I saw fear in my father’s eyes.
8
Stella
The solitude of my room grew more comfortable as I packed my bags. I never knew we had a country estate. I guess it had come from my father's side of his family, and he’d never told Sophia about it.
That's why he'd stored the Oracle there. The Oracle of Secrets. So ominous. I didn't know what to think anymore.
All the recent events had turned my life inside out and upside down. So much for my plans about what to do for the last four weeks of summer. I'd head out to the estate, find the censer, and then decide what to do about it.
I’d noticed the full moon last night on the drive home from the airport, but I hadn't given it much thought. Now, it held the key to my entire future. That and an enchanted rose that survived without water. I stared at it sitting so innocent-looking on my dresser.
Apparently, there was a whole supernatural world that I didn't know about. It existed right alongside of the human world according to what Daddy explained to me.
Sophia was a fae. She’d glamoured herself to appear human—just for fun, it seemed. Then she and Daddy had met and fallen in love.
At least, he did. From the sounds of it, I doubted she ever had. Problem for her was, against all odds, she'd had a child. When her people found out, they’d banished her from coming home. That's when she became obsessed with finding her way back. Her true nature had made her dangerous, especially after she found out that the Oracle was part of my dad’s antique collection.
Daddy had to be in court over his client’s troubles, so I’d retrieve the censer, and we’d decide what to do with it after that. It would buy me more time to deal with the other stipulations of my curse. That woman at the door, a druid, had called what she’d done a blessing. My mother had been more honest in that respect.
The woman had also said everything would be in place by dark this evening. Thankfully, the sun didn’t set until late during the summer, and I had two more hours to get ready for my trip to the country.
Since I hadn’t driven my classic bug all summer, I realized I should probably have someone check it. The powder blue 1968 Volkswagen had been a gift from my father on my sixteenth birthday. Carson would know what to do.
I hurried down the stairs on my way to find him. When I got near the bottom, I jerked to a stop so fast I had to grab the railing to keep from falling.
In the entry, that hateful mirror caught my reflection. Instead of my face, however, it showed something shocking.
I couldn’t tear my gaze away, and I couldn’t move forward.
Brown fur covered my face and body. Horns protruded from my brow. An elongated snout like that of a wolf showed razor-sharp teeth. From the looks of things, I had muscled shoulders and a mane as well.
I knew it was me and not some hideous vision of a random monster because the eyes were still mine. The beast moved with me, too. When my vision blurred with tears, I moved closer. Sliding one foot down a
step at a time until I stood in front of the image. Wet lines marked the fur in the same spots they did on my cheeks.
Going to the estate was more necessary than ever. For no other reason than to get me away from the public. There was nothing except disaster staring at me in the mirror.
Mrs. Potter came up next to me. Her steps had been so quiet, I hadn’t heard her approach. Startled, I tried to move out of the way so my reflection wasn’t visible.
“I’ve already seen it, love.” She rubbed her hand on my arm. “Look again. Tell me what you see.”
I glanced at the beast once more then tore my gaze away. “It’s horrible.”
“Do you notice anything else, besides your own reflection?” How was she so calm?
I frowned, unable to understand what she was getting at. I peeked again.
Gasping, I snapped my attention to Mrs. Potter and then back to the mirror. Only my hideous features were visible. Mrs. Potter stood next to me, but not in the image before me. Her reflection should show in the mirror.
“Why? Where are you?”
“I’m here.” She pointed to something small next to my hulking shoulder. I peered closer.
Sure enough, there was a small woman . . . with wings! I slammed my eyes closed.
“I’m a pixie. I was part of the guard sent to bring your mother to stand before the Milesian king. She didn’t go quietly.”
“Are you trapped here?” I asked. The idea of a supernatural world hadn’t settled in my brain yet, but to think I’d grown up with a fae pixie as one of my most beloved family members made my head spin. Denial of that world was no longer possible.
I studied the two of us in the mirror. A monster and a beautiful little winged female. Then I faced Mrs. Potter, a seemingly normal human woman. How many others were there?