“Really?” she growled, shooting her dirty look in Dr. Delph’s direction for lack of a corporeal culprit.
He sighed. “Hurt feelings are harder to mend with some than others. You could always try an apology.”
“For what?” Selena propped Emma over her shoulder and patted her back as she rocked from foot to foot. Her maternal movements were natural, and it relieved Dr. Delph. He knew he had made the right decision placing the orphaned Raymore pups with her, however abrasive a front she tried to project to the world.
Selena scowled at him, waiting for an answer. “You’re the one who decided they should live with me. Doesn’t she know that?” she added a bit louder, casting a wide glance around the room.
“Yes.” He nodded. “But I think Daisy was hoping you would visit more often.”
“The door swings both ways. She snoops around half this damn town, and she can’t stop by my house?”
Dr. Delph cringed at her increasing volume. Daisy didn’t do shouting matches. A file cabinet in the corner rattled and the doors flew open, ejecting a flurry of documents up at the vaulted ceiling.
“Well, that’s just great.” Selena buckled Emma into the pink, polka-dotted carrier she’d set in one of the office chairs. Then she took Billy from Dr. Delph and buckled him into a matching blue one in the opposite chair. She picked the diaper bag up off the floor and flung it over her shoulder before taking up a carrier in each hand.
Dr. Delph opened his office door for fear she would kick it down if he didn’t. “Must you really go? What about our meeting?”
“This environment is officially hazardous. We’re out of here. Next time you want a meeting, it’ll have to be at the farm.” She shot one last glance up at the tornado still raging in the evacuated office. “If she wanted a visit so badly, you’d think she’d be on her best behavior. This is not the way to get on my good side.”
Dr. Delph’s eyebrows shot up. “You have a good side?”
Selena clearly didn’t see the humor in his comment. She tightened her grip on the baby carriers and stormed off down the hallway.
“Joking! Well, mostly,” he said, running ahead of her to open the double doors at the entrance of Orpheus House. “But in all sincerity, we do need to have this council meeting. At some point in the near future.”
“Don’t seem like there’s much we can get done without the mayor.” Selena paused as she crossed the threshold and huffed before facing him again.
Dr. Delph tried to maintain eye contact, but his gaze slid away when Selena’s face hardened. There wasn’t anything he could say about the mayor that he hadn’t already said a dozen times before.
Graham Pierce, the absent member of their merry little trifecta, was on a mission. The kind that had a fifty-fifty chance of getting him killed. If he survived, then there was the fifty-fifty chance that his return would send the whole town straight to hell.
Dr. Delph almost wished the Fates hadn’t divined that for him. It was like reading all the last chapters of a choose-your-own adventure book, only to find out that none of the endings were even remotely satisfactory. What was he expected to accomplish with that sort of information?
And then, as if they had sensed his resentment and taken offense, his visions suddenly stopped. The Fates refused to commune with him, refused to acknowledge his pleas in any form at all. They wouldn’t even touch the leaves at the bottom of his teacup anymore. It had been a whole week.
He had nothing new to offer Graham when he called to check in, and now he had nothing to offer Selena. He couldn’t even change a diaper properly. For all the days he felt scorned by the Fates for his apparent gifts, being without those gifts was an agony he had not been prepared for. He felt outright useless.
Selena cleared her throat. “Like I said, you’ll have to come to the farm. I’m too exhausted to manage the babies, you, and your spoiled pet ghost.”
“When?”
“How’s tomorrow?”
“Dinner?” Dr. Delph asked.
Selena gave him a vicious grin. “I’m grilling steaks.”
His shoulders squared but he nodded. “I’ll bring the salad and bread.”
“I put the babes down at seven. Food’s ready at seven-thirty. Don’t be late.” Selena turned and hissed at the stray cat napping on the hood of her truck, scaring the thing silly. It was long gone before she loaded the twins into the back seat of the cab. She gave Dr. Delph a curt, two-fingered wave before hopping up in the driver’s seat. The Ford roared to life and a billow of black smoke rose up from the stacks.
Despite her refusal to invest in a more maternal transport, Dr. Delph was glad to see Selena hadn’t thrown all safety to the wind. She even fastened her own seatbelt before pulling out onto Caveat Road. Of course, she still blasted her horn and threw a choice finger out her window when another car cut her off in the four-way at the corner.
Dr. Delph shook his head as he watched the Ford disappear beyond the patch of woods that lined the road leading out of town. Selena was strong, but she was also stubborn, and she was going to need help with the pups. He had really thought she would have called her brother and his newly formed pack by now. Dr. Delph’s good intentions were layered, and mending broken ties within their small community was at the top of the list.
A translucent girl in a Victorian nightgown appeared beside him as he retreated inside and closed the front doors.
“You’re wrong,” she said.
“About?” Dr. Delph gave her an amused smile.
“An apology would do no good. I’d still bludgeon her.”
“Daisy.” He gave her a scowl but it lacked heat. There were times he would have liked to club Selena too, though he’d never admit it out loud. “She did say you could visit the twins at the farm.”
Daisy tilted her head at him, her black, alien eyes wide and unreadable. “Whatever makes you think I don’t?”
He paused at his office door, startled by her confession. “Then why the stapler?”
She blinked slowly as if trying to find a way to explain something in small words. “I don’t like her. Isn’t that obvious?”
“Very.” Dr. Delph stepped inside his office and groaned at the layer of files and documents spread over the floor. “This was unnecessary. We’ve discussed your lack of respect for my work space, have we not?”
A frown creased Daisy’s pale face and she slowly faded out of sight, leaving only her disembodied voice echoing off the walls. “Discussion is not decision.”
“Daisy?” Dr. Delph set a stack of folders on the corner of his desk and glanced around the room. “Aren’t you going to help?”
A soft wind lifted a few pages up from the floor, but they quickly settled, leaving the room silent. The spirit world was uncooperative all the way around lately.
Dr. Delph rolled his head back and closed his eyes. “I guess a poltergeist with clerical experience was a pretty tall order.”
Chapter Three
A one-vision day was as close to a good day as Lia ever managed. When the vision was clear as crystal and the details came together like a child’s puzzle, Lia could almost tolerate the migraine that followed. She waited in her kitchen, patiently anticipating the meds Saunders would soon deliver.
Keys jingled at the door, and Lia’s heart throbbed in her chest, overwhelmed by a war of emotions she had never quite gotten used to—craving, shame, disgust, sadness… fear. More than anything, there was fear.
Fear that Saunders would kill her if she ever crossed him. Fear that she would spend her whole life trapped in a dilapidated house, addicted to pain pills and misery. She wondered if her mother even remembered her name. Then she wondered if her bedsheets could be twisted into a suitable noose. Saunders would likely bury her in the backyard. It wasn’t like anyone would come looking for her.
For a prick, Saunders was awfully smart. Lia was pretty sure he had the back door rigged with some sort of silent alarm. That or a motion sensor was set up on the porch.
S
he’d only tried to run once, about a month after he’d taken her in. It was the middle of the night, but he’d zeroed in on her before she’d made it two blocks. She almost refused to get in his cruiser, but her mind changed when he unsnapped his gun holster.
That was when she fully understood his intentions. He’d threatened to take her back to Aldini’s, the asylum she’d escaped. But what he really meant was that he’d give her a lead lobotomy. He’d say she was deranged and attacked him, and he wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.
If she opened her mouth—even as crazy as she was—they’d investigate. They’d find the house Saunders kept her in, and they’d find her DNA in there. They’d find the illegal prescription meds that he was likely blackmailing some doctor into giving him. Top that with the kidnapping charges—because crazy or not, it was still illegal—and Saunders would be in a heap of trouble. And he thought his plate was full now.
The thought of Saunders being cuffed and shoved into the backseat of a squad car put a grin on Lia’s face. Just a faint one though. Because that would never happen. Even if she did manage to elude him long enough to find help, even if she could escape his wrath, there wasn’t a happy ending for her. As bad as Saunders was, Aldini’s was much worse.
“Special delivery.” Saunders entered the kitchen with two paper grocery sacks in his arms and a wide grin. He was in a better mood than usual.
“It’s not Wednesday. What’s all this?” Lia asked.
He set the sacks on the kitchen table and pulled a bottle of pills out of his breast pocket, handing them to her before unpacking the rest of the goods.
The pills were different today. Lia didn’t think too long on it though. Saunders had changed up her meds in the past. It was probably some free sample from the mystery doctor. She just hoped it worked.
“I got some big news, girl,” Saunders said, pulling out a black hoodie and holding it up in front of her.
Lia barely had time to swallow the pills before her throat stopped working. Saunders didn’t buy her new clothes—and certainly not clothes that she’d only need if she were allowed outside. When he pulled out a pair of sneakers, she thought she might faint.
“D-d-don’t you want to know about my visions?”
“Maybe later.” He set the shoes on the table and slid them across to her. “Try these on first. Make sure they fit.”
“Why?” She licked her lips and shivered. Something wasn’t right. Her fingers felt heavy and loose as she fumbled with the laces. She’d do whatever he told her to, but she didn’t see the harm in asking his reasons.
“We’re moving on up in the world, darlin’.” Saunders pulled a bottle of water out of the second sack, along with a box of granola bars. Then he pulled out an empty water bottle. “This is for the road. In case you wake up before we get where we’re going and need to pee.” He gave her a stern look. “I’m serious now. No mess-making in the trunk of my new cruiser.”
“What?” Lia shook her head. It felt like she had cotton in her ears. She couldn’t have possibly heard him right. “Trip? Trunk?”
Saunders snorted. “That worked fast. Why don’t you go lie down on the couch while I pack up your things?” He pulled a small duffle bag out of the second sack before heading down the hallway.
Lia stared after him, blinking stiffly as her vision blurred in and out of focus. The couch sounds nice, she thought, just before falling face-first out of her chair.
Her cheek hit the corner of the table, and then her head bounced off the linoleum floor. She reached up toward the kitchen light dangling overhead, brighter than any sun she remembered. The baby blue ceiling tiles swirled around it like the wind whisking up clouds. Soon they coasted over the light, swallowing it up in darkness.
Chapter Four
Chase Farms sat just outside the city limits of Spero Heights, at the end of a mile-long gravel drive that Dr. Delph was certain Selena had booby-trapped. His neck ached from hitting a deceptively innocent looking pothole, and he was suddenly thankful he’d taken the extra time and care to cover the bowl of salad sitting in the passenger seat of his 1970s Datsun 510.
The little yellow car did not venture out into the world often. Aside from the occasional oil change visit to a wererat mechanic on Monroe Street, Dr. Delph hadn’t put more than a hundred miles on the car since he’d bought it three years ago. Orpheus House was a community-owned facility, and his humble salary didn’t allow for much travel, let alone traveling in style. Though as he hit another pothole, updating the suspension did move up his priority list.
The driveway narrowed where it snaked around the trunk of a white oak, and Dr. Delph held his breath as the Datsun bounced over the tree roots sticking up through the dusty gravel. A low branch scraped at his windshield.
The woods were suffocating this time of year, thick with greenery and all the chirping, chattering things that greenery fed. The lush boughs overhead blotted out the sun, and Dr. Delph wondered how much worse his drive home was going to be. His distaste for the woods was bad enough during the day.
The farmhouse appeared over the next hill, planted in the middle of an acre-wide meadow. Three long barns sat off to the right, and a chorus of moos called out to greet Dr. Delph as he parked the Datsun next to Selena’s black Ford. He gathered the salad and loaf of French bread he’d brought before heading for the wraparound front porch.
“Back here,” Selena shouted, poking her head around the side of the house. A set of wooden stairs led up to the back deck.
Dr. Delph changed course and climbed up the steps to join her. The deck stretched as long as the width of the house. A large picnic table filled one side, and a pair of camping chairs and a smoking grill claimed the space in front of the screen door that led into the kitchen.
Selena stood in front of the grill, flipping steaks over the flames with a pair of tongs. The pits of her snug, white tee shirt were stained with sweat, and a bloody handprint was smeared up one thigh of her jeans, either from butchering a cow or helping one give birth, Dr. Delph guessed. She made a face at his beige suit jacket and then jerked her head toward the house. “We’re eatin’ inside so I can listen for the babies.”
“Very well.” Dr. Delph cradled the salad and bread in one arm so he could open the screened door. Inside, the air conditioning was working overtime. He assumed it was for the babies’ benefit. The one thing he and Selena had in common was their lack of self-pampering.
A rustic oak island divided the room, creating a buffer between the dining area and the kitchen, a galley styled walkthrough punctuated by vintage appliances. Dr. Delph was surprised they still functioned, though they likely didn’t have to often, not with Selena’s carnivorous diet. He was even more surprised when he caught a whiff of the apple pie and green bean casserole laid out on the island.
Dr. Delph had planned on a light dinner of bread and salad. He’d been a vegetarian for twenty years, a fact Selena loved to abuse by serving meat-heavy dishes on the rare occasion he visited her.
A gurgling noise drew his attention to a baby monitor on the countertop. Selena had set up the twins’ room on the main floor, across from her own bedroom down the long hall that branched off the back corner of the kitchen. Dr. Delph placed the bread and salad on the island next to the pie and casserole and tiptoed around the corner to peek in on the babies.
The small guest bedroom had been converted into a respectable nursery. Two matching cribs lined the side walls, both butting up against well-stocked changing tables, and a wide shelf sat under the window on the far wall, clustered with a handful of soft cover books and stuffed animals. A rocking chair was nestled in the corner near the door, next to a hamper and a diaper pail. The gurgling noise came again, and Dr. Delph stepped inside the room to investigate.
Emma was wide awake. Her little hands grasped at the air above her crib, toward a mobile of dangling paper butterflies. Dr. Delph wound the music box attached to the mobile, setting the butterflies in motion to the tune of Fur Elise. A gummy smile spread
across Emma’s face and she gurgled again.
“There you are.” Selena leaned against the door frame and wiped her hands off on a kitchen towel. “Emma’s my little night owl,” she said with an affectionate grin.
Dr. Delph crept out of the room and followed Selena back down the hallway. “Full moon tonight. Will Ben be watching them for you?” he asked.
Selena nodded. “Good ol’ Ben. He gets around about as fast as an inchworm with that cane of his, but he’s got the best baby mojo, plus all those fancy, organic elixirs for everything from diaper rash to bath time.”
Ben Macaulay was half gnome and one of Spero Heights’ first residents. He ran Nightshade and Morning Glory, an occult shop near the Midnight District, the section of town that catered to the more nocturnal townsfolk.
Selena didn’t have many friends, but now that the twins depended on her, changes had to be made. As self-sufficient as she was, babies required a lot of attention and needed more than one pair of hands to raise them up right. Ben was just non-threatening enough to fit the bill.
As Dr. Delph and Selena came back into the kitchen, he noticed the apple pie was missing from the island. Selena caught his puzzled stare and snorted. “The pie’s for Ben. It’s the only payment he’ll accept for watching the twins. He’s a nice enough guy, but I’m not about to be indebted to anyone.”
“Of course not,” Dr. Delph said before thinking better of it.
Selena frowned and forked a steak onto her plate. “And just because I know how to bake a pie doesn’t mean I’m interested in playing Suzy Homemaker. Fix your own damn plate.”
He raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything else as he helped himself to a scoop of green bean casserole. After adding a hunk of bread and a generous salad, he joined Selena at the dining table.
Death at First Sight (Spero Heights Book 2) Page 2