by Dale Mayer
Matt walked to the steps and held out his hand, completely mesmerized, as Celeste, her dress of the deepest purple that he’d ever seen, with shimmers of dreams and stars dancing as she moved, stepped up to place her hand in his.
He led her back to the front of the dais.
“I’d like you all to formally meet the three official stargazers for this quadrant.”
He felt the glances of the three women, but didn’t dare break contact with his rapt audience. “They have been attacked, shot at, kidnapped, and hurt in many ways, and it stops now. These three women, together, own the entire town center, all of Grandfather’s estates, and the woods. That’s over seventy square miles of land. It’s theirs. Legally and above the board. As it was their granny’s.”
The room erupted with cries of shock.
Matt glanced at Celeste. She held her poise with the casual elegance of someone who was used to power, wielded power with a careless surety.
Perfect.
“I’d like to introduce you to Genesis.” Matt motioned to Genesis, in her fiery-orange dress. “Tori.” Who’d chosen emerald-green with red highlights. “And, of course,” he said with a huge grin, “my fiancée,” he squeezed her hand, “Celeste.”
And the room erupted in cheers and applause.
Chapter 27
“That was a hell of an introduction,” Celeste said in a low voice, when Matt finally helped her down the stairs again.
“It was. And you deserve it,” he said calmly. “Hang on, now. Here they come.”
Her gaze widened, as she spotted the line to meet her forming. She turned to see her sisters getting the same treatment. Both hung onto their men, as if without their support, they’d be crashing to the floor. They might be wearing cloud dresses, giving the impression of being in control, but inside, they were still the three young sisters from the crazy grandmother.
When there was a break in the greetings, she turned to Matt and said, “Thank you for what you said about Granny.”
“It needed to be said.” He smiled and shook hands with yet another farmer who grew acres of wheat outside of town. The man’s face looked worried, and Matt knew just what was on his mind.
“Do you really own my land?” The man named John asked, in low, worried tones. “I’ve been paying Grandfather, since I took it over from my own father.”
Celeste nodded. “We do. And your brother’s land, and indeed, your sister’s clan’s land as well.”
The breath rushed out from John’s mouth as his lips worked, clearly unable to say what was on his mind. Celeste reached out a hand and touched his. “It’s all right. I’m not going to take it away from you.”
He searched her gaze intently. “But I’ll have to pay rent?”
She looked surprised. “I’m not even sure how that works, or how much money I owe to the city for the land on an annual basis, myself. I won’t be asking you to pay more than you can. I’d like to say that I won’t be charging you at all, but—”
“But she can’t do that until we can figure this out,” Matt interjected smoothly. “Rest assured, John, your farm is yours. We’ll come to some kind of solution once we sort out Grandfather’s books.”
Celeste could see that John wanted to look relieved, but something deeper was bothering him.
She studied his face. “You owe Grandfather still?”
He nodded. “I couldn’t pay as much this year, ’cause we had a bad season.”
“And he still demanded the same payment, even though you were having trouble?” she said in low, outraged tones, her gaze assessing the truth of the matter.
When John nodded, shamefaced, she shook her head. “Trust that we won’t have that same issue. And indeed, we’ll need to take a serious look at just what Grandfather has been doing with all this money.”
Matt squeezed her arm. “Easy. There is much to sort though.”
She nodded, but inside she was furious. Had Grandfather done anything at all to help these people? This was not an age of slavery or serfdom, like on old planet Earth.
“John, we’ll speak later,” Matt said quietly. “There is a lot to sort out.”
“And you’ll be fine,” Celeste whispered to him. “That land has been in my family for many generations. We’ve never come after you yet.”
He brightened and reached out to grab her hands. “Thanks,” he blurted out, before rushing away. She watched him, as a woman of similar age stepped up to him, worry on her face. He bent down and spoke quietly into her ear. She brightened, then realized that Celeste was watching.
Shame washed over her face.
With difficulty, she left her husband and walked toward Celeste.
As the woman reached her, Celeste instinctively understood what the problem was. And could see this would be the first encounter of many, if they were lucky.
“I’m sorry,” the woman said. “I’m guilty, as Matt said.” She winced. “I never imagined that Granny was anything other than a cra—”
Celeste tried to take a calming breath, but her emotions flared, causing the dress that had been lying close against her body start to whip about her small frame.
The woman’s eyes widened, and she caught the words back and closed her eyes for a long moment. “I can only say in my defense that I was raised with that attitude, and to my shame, I carried it forward.”
“And now that you know differently…?” Matt asked curiously, showing he’d been paying attention to the conversation and, as Celeste looked around, so were many other people.
“I will have a talk with my children,” she said immediately. “And make sure they understand. My parents have both passed away so I can’t do anything there, but I can make sure no one in my family perpetrates the problem.” She gave a small nod, and stepped back. “Again, my apologies.” And she rushed away to join John. Celeste watched, as the two headed toward the exit.
Minkel, tell Mopsy to tell Scott that the couple heading for the door should stay and enjoy, Celeste said. They don’t have many nights like this. And tell them it’s a special invitation from me.
She watched as Scott approached the couple, and motioned toward the heavily laden tables of food. She caught their glances her way. She nodded at them. They both smiled, their shoulders relaxing, and allowed Scott to hand them champagne flutes and direct them to the food.
“I saw that,” Matt murmured at her side.
Her lips quirked. “Did you, now?” She turned to glance at him. “I couldn’t let them leave like that.”
“I understand,” he said, a lot of pride in his voice. “And so does everyone else.”
“You don’t mind?” She studied the warm glow in his eyes.
“Mind that you are gracious, inside and out? Never.” He tucked her up close. “I’m the luckiest of all men.”
“You are indeed,” said another man, standing nearby, beaming at her. “Honored to meet you, Celeste. My name is Josh. Your granny was a special woman, and we are delighted to hear that you three are stargazers in your own right.”
“Just nowhere near as good as Granny was, yet,” Celeste said with a warm smile. “I recognize you. Didn’t you meet Granny somewhere in the last couple of years?”
“I came often,” he said. “She helped me solve several problems in my corner of the world. And, of course, paired me to my beloved wife, Melinda.”
The two women shared delighted smiles. Celeste turned to smile at Josh. “I’m happy to hear that,” she said sincerely. “Granny was a special woman.”
“And powerful in many ways, which is rarely understood.” Josh added to Matt, “I’m grateful you will be looking at the record keeping of Celeste’s family. It’s a story that needs to be told.”
Matt nodded. “I agree. There has been much lost over the last few centuries, and I’ll do my best to restore what I can.”
“Too bad you can’t tell the truth while you’re at it,” Grandfather roared beside him. “How dare you say that the land belongs to these upstarts? We are i
n court over this.”
Well, at least some of Grandfather’s old personality lived inside. The healing pools obviously hadn’t finished their job. Grandfather was still an asshole. This split in his personality, with this part only showing up in anger did explain why the rest of the time he appeared simple. The pool had taken away much of Grandfather’s negativity, but hadn’t finished, and therefore hadn’t been able to replace those pieces with anything, yet, leaving much of his personality a void.
“No, we were going to go to court over this but as the land registry does have the documents going back since the time the land registry started, there is no dispute and the judge has thrown your claim out. Or did you not check your messages?”
“Bah, that judge,” Grandfather snorted. “I’ll just pay him more, and he’ll reverse that decision again. I have more money than you ever will…”
“And apparently you stole that, too, so we’ll be seeing about reclaiming that money at the same time,” Celeste said, in as haughty a tone as she could manage. “Charges are pending.”
Grandfather’s sister gasped from where she stood, just behind Grandfather.
Celeste eyed her balefully. “And you for child trafficking. Did you really not expect Granny to keep a record of what she was required to pay to have her grandchildren returned to her? Then we come to compensation for my mother’s murder,” her voice rose, as anger rolled through her. “And the people that paid to make it happen. The people standing before me…”
The room fell to silence.
Immediately, Genesis and Tori stepped forward, so they could stand beside their sister. They tossed out disdainful looks at the audience. “We have not forgotten all the injustices done in the name of greed. That your family murdered a pregnant woman—our mother,” Tori snapped.
“Now, I suggest that you and your family return home,” Genesis said, her gaze glacial. “Your lawyers are waiting.”
Grandfather’s head reared in anger. The members of his family grouped behind him gasped in shocked horror.
And damn if Tori’s auto suggestion waved over him and his group, the whisper audible to Celeste.
Go home peacefully. You cannot hold your head high any longer. Everyone knows who and what you are. And all the horrible things you have done. Go home now.
Yet the wave of suggestive energy dissipated in the air around the group instead of forcing them to act. Was the auto suggestion not working or was it slowed by the various strong energies?
“You cannot speak to him like that. Anything done to your family would have been our father’s doing. Not his or mine,” his sister cried out.
“You sold us.” Genesis said, coldly. “Or how about the money you demanded from the people who worked your land, while you do nothing but steal and lie and cheat.”
The sister’s face blanched.
“That’s not fair.” Chelsea spoke up for the first time, a cold dark anger in her voice. “My family is not responsible for the wrongs done to you.”
“Really,” Celeste snapped, studying the woman who’d arrived looking tired and cowed, but now stood in front of them in righteous anger.
“We’ll make allowances that you might be feeling a little more emotional after your terrible loss,” Genesis said, in a calm voice. “But do not make the mistake of thinking that we will do so forever.” She upped the wattage of her smile and raised her voice. “We are well aware of Mason’s attempts to kill my sister, Tori. We know he had help. We’re just gathering proof of the others involved as they will be charged accordingly.”
“Except, by your own actions, Grandfather has been in your very powerful and very private healing pool, and not only couldn’t do such a thing to anyone, he has no recollection of such a dark history, either, anymore.” She tucked her hand into her grandfather’s arm protectively, adding, “I’ll take him home now, so he can rest.” She gave a poisonously sweet smile to the room around them.
“After all this stress and accusations, I’m sure you can see he needs to recover. Such a shock to a man who has done so much for so many of you.” Her gaze landed on several successful businessmen, who stood close enough to hear the conversation. “We’ll be sure to follow up with all of you.”
With those veiled threats, she led her grandfather out of the room.
Minkel asked Celeste, Should Scott let them go?
Absolutely, but place a tail on them so we know that all of them have left, and that they go straight home.
*
Minkel, don’t worry. Scott has this one handled, Matt said to the spirit pet.
“Glad to see you’re not being taken in by all these lovely personalities at play, here,” Matt said in a low voice only she could hear. “But we have tails already set up.”
She smiled, “Nice to know you aren’t missing anything.”
“Not if I can help it.” He motioned her toward a tray of flutes being presented to her by a young server. “Care for a drink?”
She stared at the wine and was about to accept, then saw an odd glow coming from in front of the glasses. “No. And not only do I not want one, no one should be having any of this bottle.” She glared at the server. “Matt, the ones in front are poisoned.”
Matt grabbed the entire tray, as the server bolted through the crowed. “Damn it,” he said in a hoarse whisper. “How that hell did he pass through here?”
Connor appeared and removed the tray from Matt’s hands. Matt explained what was going on. A dark look settled on Connor’s face, when he realized that Genesis was also one of the targets. He stepped back and reassured them that the wine would be disposed of properly.
“It had tiny dust speckles in it.”
Matt nodded. “We’ll take care of it.”
He could see Devon racing through the crowd, with Storm leading the pack as they chased after the server. “Shall we go to the food, then, my dear, if you don’t want anything to drink?” He placed a hand on her lower back and nudged her toward the buffet table. “If nothing else, maybe we should check to make sure that it is all safe.”
The crowd parted, allowing him and the three sisters, staying close, to pass. He had to appreciate the impact of the beauties at his side. Even as worry over other attempts to harm them dominated his thoughts.
He couldn’t believe the server had managed to infiltrate the staff. They’d all been vetted and checked by him personally. Then Matt realized that the server could have been any young man with his jacket off. He hadn’t recognized him. The servers were all wearing black slacks and white shirts. No jacket or particular uniform had been issued, deliberately in an attempt to make them blend in. Most of the servers were from the security detail. He’d been looking to use the servers as an extension of his eyes and ears, but hadn’t expected a fake one to infiltrate from the outside.
And he should have. Matt frowned and shook his head.
Celeste gasped when she saw the food laid out, drawing Matt out of his reverie. Henry stood behind the massive table, a beaming smile on his face.
When he saw the ladies, he gasped, and a torrent of Spirent, his native tongue, rolled out. But it was obvious that whatever he was saying was complimentary. In fact, he appeared to be completely bowled over by the women in their finery.
He opened his arms and cried out, “Beautiful. The three most beautiful women in the world.”
“Take a look around and see if you sense anything wrong,” Matt murmured to Celeste, and the others. “Based on that wine, search for similar energy so we don’t poison anyone here tonight.”
Celeste quirked a smile, and in a low voice said, “Henry’s abilities wouldn’t allow it. The food is safe.”
He started at her, then at Henry, who nodded as if he understood, then at the food.
“In that case, I’m starved,” Matt said.
Chapter 28
Celeste enjoyed the next hour immensely. She ate, drank, and was surrounded by people she loved. Now that the confrontation with Grandfather and his family was over,
everyone who came up to them appeared to be friendly and happy to meet them. In fact, the heavy pall that had lain over the entire room had lifted. Lots of people asked her about Granny’s life and abilities, and how they’d lived growing up. No one had heard about them being sold as children, or all of Grandfather’s attempts to steal their heritage, which he’d been doing for decades.
Several of the men openly commented to Matt about it.
“I presume this is going to be taken care of, and what belongs to these young girls is returned to them,” one blustery older gentleman said, with several of his cronies nodding in agreement.
Matt smiled. “We’re working on it. Grandfather and his forebearers have been squatting on stargazer land for over a century now, and charging others for the privilege.”
“Then it’s time to be put right. That man is a menace, I tell you. He came to me looking for investment money a dozen times over the last decade, always saying there was land available for those that were part of his investment schemes.” The gentleman snorted. “He never came out and said what land was available, or who would get what. He’s more than a little bit slimy, that one.”
Celeste had to agree. “It’s a good thing you never got involved,” she said. “As there are many people who bought land that wasn’t theirs to buy. And I’ll be reclaiming it all. Purchasing stolen goods does not give anyone compensation.”
“Damn, I like her,” the older man said, brushing his mustache with his fingertips. “You’ve got quite a big investigation ahead of you, Matt.” He glanced around, as if asking his cronies for advice.
Celeste leaned close with curiosity as she saw the cronies nod.
“We might be able to help you out with a list of names of those that were involved in damn near every one of Grandfather’s deals.”
The gentleman twirled the ends of his mustache again. “Interesting times ahead.” He went to turn away, then leaned closer. “And watch out for that sister. Selling these girls was bad, but it wasn’t the first time and I suspect she’s had enough nasty deals going on to match her brother. Sounds like we would be better to be rid of the both of them.”