by Kate Pearce
“Our queen and matriarch,” Harvey whispered.
Her grandmother closed her eyes and sighed. “Not for much longer now that she’s here,” she said. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted you home, Contessa.”
Uncle. Cousin. Grandmother.
Tess cut her gaze to the man in the beanie hat and knew who he was without asking.
That sideways look he cast at her was all Tess. She’d seen it in enough of her own pictures to recognize it.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
“Everyone calls me Jody.” He rolled his eyes. So fucking familiar. “I’m named Joseph after Uncle Joe. Our last name is Dahl. Joe D. Jody.”
Squinting at him, she let his words replay through her mind. Sometimes, she felt like people were speaking in algebra with background music provided by the band Spinal Tap turned up to eleven. A plus B is equal to B times C when A is equal to drum solo.
Jody. Named after Uncle Joe. Got that.
“Dahl?” she queried.
He nodded. “I don’t know what you go by now, but your surname is supposed to be Dahl.”
Contessa Dahl. Doll. What an odd coincidence. “Which brother are you? First or second?” She raked a hand through her hair and massaged a throbbing spot in the middle of her head. There was such a thing as too many surprises, and she was nearing that point.
“Second. Our brother is missing, though not for the same reasons you were. Now that you’re here, we hope you can help us find him.”
“Me?”
Fuck, half the time she was lost herself, so how was she going to find anyone?
He nodded solemnly. “That’s your job. Or will be when you’re able to do it.”
“Do you mean I can toss thoughts around like you?” she asked her grandmother.
“That’s yet to be determined. Let’s pile into the truck and go home. I’m sure we could all use a strong nightcap before bed, and I’m happy to pour them.”
She let go of Tess’s hands and waved Nadia up.
“For reasons I’ll explain in great detail later on, you’ll always need an escort. Nadia will act as that in the interim, as well as your lady-in-waiting of sorts. It’s traditional.”
“A what?”
“A lady-in-waiting, my dear, for lack of a better term. She won’t help you dress or sit with you for tea every afternoon, but she’ll help navigate our world until you get linked in.”
Before Tess could even ask the question about what being “linked in” was, her grandmother shook her head. “I’ll explain that later, too. Let’s go. I don’t like being in the open like this. My old paranoid tendencies have come roaring back now that you’ve put the thought of a sniper in my head.”
They moved en masse toward the truck—everyone except Tess, that is. Her brain might have been working, but it had apparently short-circuited everything else.
Harvey backtracked and grabbed her hand. “Come on, princess. I don’t want to manhandle you, but you seem to enjoy it.”
She wrenched her hand free of his and gasped. “Don’t tell me we’re related, too.”
If death by mortification were possible, Tess wanted to pitch in and get a head start on digging her grave before she collapsed.
She’d had her fucking face in his crotch less than an hour ago.
“Don’t worry, princess.” He gave her ass a solicitous squeeze that made her face burn hot, and bent down to whisper, “We’re not. No connections for at least the last few hundred years. I asked and your nan looked it up. The matriarch keeps our genealogies.”
“Oh God. What on earth is a matriarch? I think you’re all just making up shit now to confuse me.”
He didn’t answer. He tugged her to her second SUV of the night. She boarded immediately following Nadia. A driver dressed in all black and wearing mirrored shades, in spite of the late hour, sat at the wheel. Tess’s uncle rode shotgun. Jody, their grandmother, and the guy with the gun took the narrow third row, and Tess climbed up into the second row sandwiched between Nadia and Harvey.
“Where are we going?” Tess asked. “Can you at least answer that?”
Harvey squeezed her knee and looked out the window. The SUV had started moving, and as far as she could tell, there was nothing in front of them except desert. “It’s not far. Just a few miles from here. To outsiders, it looks like an out-of-the way subdivision.”
“But what is it really?”
“Home of the Afótama,” her grandmother said.
Tess turned as much as she could beneath the constraints of the seatbelt to see her.
“We’ve been in the area for about three hundred years. Long before the English settled out here, but we’ve been discreet. It’s not ideal. We’re ocean-faring people. It’s in our blood to be near the sand and surf, but we had to move west for own safety.”
“You mean like the Mormons?”
Her grandmother raised a silver eyebrow. “Not quite, but an interesting comparison all the same. Like them, we were running from trouble, or at least trying to prevent it from catching up to us. People are afraid of what they don’t understand, and the English colonists were afraid of us when we finally did meet.”
“Why?”
“Because we see too much. Know too much. It’s why we left the old world in the first place. They wanted us dead.”
“I hate to sound like a broken record, but why?”
“You’ll understand soon. I promise. But I’ll tell you this. Some types of deviance are more forgivable than others. People judge harshly because they can’t empathize with situations outside of their norm. We Afótama, well, we’re outside the norm.”
“In what way?”
“In the same way witches and fairies are. The gods have favored us with certain gifts to ensure our survival.”
Tess ground the heels of her palms against her eyes and sighed. Didn’t see this in that graphic novel. “Those things don’t exist.”
Her grandmother didn’t respond to that, except to ask, “Is that your natural hair color? That black?”
“Yes, why?”
“Sometimes the color changes at childhood. Nadia’s was dark at birth and turned red later. Recessive genes rule the roost around here. Has to do with the way we’re wired. You saw your mother and know now you resemble your mother a great deal. Her hair was as red as your uncle’s and mine before it turned gray.”
“Sorry to break the streak.” Tess faced front. “This is just like everything else in my life. I’m already disappointing people, and this time for something completely beyond my control.”
“Quit it. It’s not just you,” Jody said. “My hair is brown.”
“It’s auburn,” Nadia said. “Nice try, though.” She grinned for the first time since Tess had been in her acquaintance, and Tess couldn’t be certain, but it looked genuine. Nadia was amused by Jody, and probably felt real affection for him. Maybe she’d been like the sister he’d never had.
Well, good for them.
Tess crossed her arms and slumped lower. “Am I aberrant in any other ways?”
“That’s yet to be seen,” Nadia said.
“Stop it,” Joe said. “Remember who you’re talking to.”
“I haven’t forgotten who she is. You tell me she’s the next queen, fine. I’ll serve her since that’s what the line of lineage dictates, but I’m not going to hold my tongue and pretend she’s suitable for the job. She can’t hear a damned thing we’re saying telepathically, and that doesn’t bother you?”
“Wait—can we rewind here?” Tess asked. “I think I’m holding up admirably given the circumstances, but there’s only so much disbelief I can suspend all at once. Just today, I’ve been reunited with family I didn’t know I had, told that I have some tenuous association to Vikings—did I hear that correctly, Harvey? I was doped up at the moment.”
He grunted. “That was correct.”
“Okay. I’ve also been informed I may have some undefined power, and now you’re bandying around the wor
d queen as if it were just a nickname. As much as I like the idea of being something greater than a cocktail waitress, I’m not sure if I’m qualified to be anyone’s ruler.”
“No, Nadia, it doesn’t bother me,” her grandmother said, ignoring Tess’s distress. There was an edge to her voice that warned Tess that whatever the Afótama queen was supposed to be, the current one took no shit. In fact, everyone in the vehicle except Joe shrank a bit in their seats.
If only Tess could command that sort of respect. No one took her seriously.
Her grandmother said nothing more until they’d approached the gate of a sprawling subdivision bearing a sign that read Norseton. The driver waved at the gate attendant who peered into the truck, gave his regards to the queen, and lifted the barrier.
“Just because you’ve always been in my company doesn’t mean you know everything there is to know about what being queen means.” Her voice was quiet, but tone pointed. “There are things none of you are meant to know and that I have not seen fit to share with you. Keep that in mind the next time you want to question my action or inaction regarding certain matters.”
“Yes, Nan,” Nadia said.
Had she been Tess, those two words would have come out sounding tart. Nadia could concede without abasing herself, but maybe she’d had more practice at compliance. When she backed down, she knew how to back down completely, whether she liked it or not.
Would Tess have to learn to do the same? If so, she might as well pack it up now.
The driver steered the SUV into the four-stall garage of a large modern style home. Mansion, even. Compared to the smaller abodes in the vicinity, it stood out like a capital building. Made of adobe and massive panels of glass, it seemed almost museum-like in its three-story grandeur.
Her grandmother must have guessed the reason for her confusion, because she leaned forward and squeezed Tess’s shoulder. “Living quarters take up a small portion of the building. The rest is for Afótama business. For instance, the Thing meets here on occasion.”
“Thing? That’s entirely unspecific.”
She laughed and shifted to the right side of the seat toward the door as the vehicle cleared out. “That’s what it’s called. A Thing. It’s what we call our assembly. It’s a very old form of governing. I’ll explain everything in due time. It’s not my intention to be coy. There’s just too much to explain all at once.”
Harvey helped Tess down and slung his arm around her shoulders, guiding her through the garage and up into a dimly lit hallway after the others.
Her grandmother said, “I live here, and so will you. Nadia moved in last week to prepare for your arrival. Everyone else has their own residence here in the community.”
Tess looked up at Harvey. “Even you?”
“Mm-hmm. I’m only here about half the time, though. I spend the rest of my time in hotel rooms. I’m away on business a lot.”
“A-afo—”
“Afótama?”
“Yes. Afótama business?”
“No, not Afótama business. Like, business-business. With the consulting firm.”
They climbed up a narrow stairwell that must have been deep inside the building because there were no windows to be found.
“I keep offering him a job, but he won’t take it,” her grandmother said. “I guess he doesn’t want to feel like he’s on the dole, but he should know by now I’d make him earn every penny.”
They came up into a massive office tastefully decorated in tan and dark blue. Again, there were no windows, though the framed art, showing vignettes of outdoor scenes, and the large monitor streaming in security image from around the building minimized the closed-in feel.
Tess looked around and realized somewhere they’d lost the driver and the guy with the gun.
“Do you need me for anything else tonight, Mom?” her uncle asked.
“No, Joey. Go on home. Tell Marnie not to rush over in the morning. I know she’s excited, but I imagine Contessa will sleep in.”
As if she could sleep.
“Then I’ll say goodnight, too.” Jody stood in front of her and gave her gentle chuck on the chin. Then, he stood there, considering her for a moment.
It drove Tess to distraction the way his pale eyes assessed her face and his lips twitched at the corners.
“What?” she asked.
He laughed. “We’re huggers. Do you mind?”
“Oh.” Her mouth formed the word yes, because she did mind. But, he’d asked. And he seemed to need it. He’d known her, remembered her for all those years. Of course he’d want to touch her. She waved him over, and he wrapped her in a tight bear hug that picked her up a foot off the ground. He rocked her to and fro a few beats. “Hi, sister.”
“Hey, yourself.”
“See you tomorrow. I apologize in advance for everything that’ll happen.”
“Want to fill me in? I wish someone would.”
“Not gonna be me. Sorry.” He rocked her some more.
She would have kicked him in the shin for that, but the hug wasn’t so awful that she wanted to be put down just yet. She’d never been welcomed anywhere before.
Their grandmother grunted, and Jody put Tess down.
“Not gonna blow smoke up her ass, Nan. Sorry.” He made his leave, waving at her.
She waved back.
Tess expected Harvey to follow right after him, but he kept his place at her side, and put his hand on her waist. She was glad he was there, because whether this woman was her grandmother or not, Tess wasn’t ready to be left in a room alone with her.
She didn’t know what these people wanted from her. For all she knew, she could have been slated to be their next ritual sacrifice. Unbalanced people killed the people they supposedly loved all the damn time. She saw it in the Daily Mail.
Her grandmother’s gaze locked on the hand at Tess’s waist. “Well, well. Are you stating your intentions regarding my granddaughter, Mr. Lang?”
Lang, not Smith.
“I swear I hadn’t planned it, but I couldn’t not touch her. After I did…”
Her grandmother put up her hands. “I know. Can’t really shut it down now.”
Tess raised a hand as if to summon the teacher. “Excuse me. I don’t know. Anything at all. Care to fill me in?
They both ignored her.
“Do you know what that means?” her grandmother asked him. She leaned her bottom against her desk’s edge and crossed her arms over her chest.
“I’m prepared for any challenges, but I read the history. I don’t expect there’ll be any, but if there are, I’ll fight.”
“Wait.” Tess squirmed out from his grip and put herself between him and the queen. “I feel like there’s a lot going on here that directly affects me, and yet I have no say in it.”
“I promised I’d explain things before bed,” her grandmother said, “and I keep my promises.”
Tess turned to her, and her grandmother pushed away from the desk.
She walked until she was within arm’s reach of Tess, and laid a hand on her shoulder. “You’ll get your crash course tonight. No one will make you stay here if you don’t wish to. You can opt to leave, though I will do everything in my power to make you want to stay. My heart is broken, Contessa, when my grandchildren are scattered. When you’re not where you’re born to be, which is amongst your kin. Afótama don’t do lonely. We don’t isolate ourselves. Our compulsion is to draw together. I think you’ll start to feel that if you give things some time to click.”
Tess shook her head. “Hold on, now. I do lonely just fine, so maybe you have the wrong girl after all. And what is it that you’re wanting me to do?”
“You’ll know what to do, child. It’s intuitive for the queen. You’ll understand when it’s your turn.”
“That’s a total non-answer.”
Her grandmother turned her hands over, palms up, and shrugged.
“Okay, if you don’t want to answer that, how about this one. Why is this so pressing? Why now
?”
What she wanted to ask was Why’d you leave me out there for so long? but changed mid-stream. She’d already lost it once in front of a group of strangers. She wasn’t going to break down again tonight if she could help it.
“Simple. We didn’t know where you were until very recently. You were lost to us, just like Mr. Lang. My turn should have been up years ago. With your mother gone, there was no one to step in except Nadia, but she would be like an oval peg stuffed into a round hole. There’d be gaps.”
Tess felt her brow furrow at the metaphor. She understood the imagery, but not the context.
Her grandmother sighed and put her forehead against Tess’s and closed her eyes. “Listen, child. I’m tired. I’m not as efficient as I used to be. We need a clean conduit.”
“Look, I’m sorry. I don’t understand you. I always have problems understanding.”
“It’s not your fault. It’s the way you’re wired. The fog will lift soon enough. I can explain until I’m blue in the face, but this is something you’ll understand as the pieces come together. In the meantime, I’ll tell you what you need to know about this place. Mr. Lang, could you excuse us, please? Some of this isn’t meant for you to hear.”
“Of course.” He bowed, and cast a look at Tess that could have incinerated her panties.
What the hell was that?
He looked at her like she already belonged to him—like in ten minutes he’d staked a claim.
And for some reason, she couldn’t muster up any indignation about it.
4
Harvey clasped his hand over his yawn, barely managing to keep his eyelids up as he reclined on Tess’s would-be bed. He didn’t know for certain that she’d welcome his intrusion into what would undoubtedly become her inner sanctum, but he was betting she’d want to see a familiar face.
His integration into the Afótama community had been an easy one because he’d always had an understanding that there was something different about him. He reckoned that most people couldn’t hear each other’s thoughts as clear as being spoken aloud. He’d thought he was insane as a child, and told no one about his odd proclivity, especially since he couldn’t hear everyone.