Lorelei lifted her chin. “Well, actually you seem to have all the answers to questions I’ve had for a while.”
He ran a hand through his hair, eyes landing back on her sheepishly. “So, you did see it before, like I thought. You never said anything.”
When Conrad had been very drunk, he had indeed gotten almost completely naked in front of her. She grinned at the memory. “Sort of, but you were squeamish about it. I just thought it was a tattoo, you know, because of the earrings.”
“I don’t—oh, right.” He touched the top of his ear where the multiple black studs were.
“What, you forgot about those?”
“No, I just…ya know what? We’re not talking about that right now. In fact, I need to get this key back, and the deed’s not up here anyway.”
Lorelei huffed, glancing back at the armoire. “Is it safe to leave that in here? It can’t come out, right?”
He started back toward the makeshift entry. “You’d need the skeleton key to get in here, and whoever went to the trouble of locking it up thought it was safe enough to leave behind.” He glanced around the empty room once more. “Though it might have been the last thing they ever did.”
Lorelei shivered, that living yet dark feeling invading her again. Then she held a finger up to him to wait and sprinted back to the bed. She grabbed the photo album and slapped it onto his chest when she ran back. “Don’t forget this. You can torture Arista with those pictures the next time you two get into a fight.”
They crawled back through to the smaller storage room and closed up the wardrobe, leaving it as they found it with the room hidden behind old coats and tightly sealed doors. The two looked on the armoire for a moment, awkward in the silence, Lorelei uncomfortable enough to turn to Conrad and say the first dumb thing that came to mind. “Ya know, I have a tattoo too.”
“It’s not a tattoo,” he said. “And no, you don’t.”
“How do you know?”
He looked her up and down. “I can just tell. Plus I’ve never seen it.”
She frowned. “Of course you’ve never seen it—I’ve never transmuted so much alcohol into myself that I stripped in front of you.” She turned from him and went to the door.
“No fair.” He followed her, but she was already on the stairs. “I showed you mine.”
She glanced over her shoulder and smirked. “Yeah, you sure did.”
CHAPTER 26
FAVOR
Early the next morning, Lorelei yawned from behind the counter and stared down at the guest book, absently flipping through the pages until she reached the layout of the manor cut open like a dollhouse. She let her eyes lazily scan the rooms and the tiny, indiscernible figures, mostly unmoving and asleep. The kitchen was bustling though, and it looked like there was movement in the basement too which Lorelei expected after the late night with Conrad. He would be tired but undoubtedly push himself to do more research.
Then she squinted—the attic wasn’t on the page at all. She flipped to the next where the guest names were written out on the rooms, a set of four on this page and three on the next and so on, some empty, some much bigger than last she saw them, some smaller and cozier, all based on what the manor thought the guests wanted. She went through everything until she found it, the attic room, spread out above their own staff quarters. There was never a need to look at these pages, so she didn’t, but now she could see the long room all laid out and was surprised at the guest’s name already marked down.
“Ms. Pennycress,” she said to herself, smiling as if she should have known it would belong to the elderly woman in the peacock-feathered hat she met on her first morning at Moonlit Shores Manor. Before she knew the place was enchanted, before she even knew magic existed, Ms. Pennycress had told Lorelei she was meant to stay there, suggesting she almost had no choice, and she’d left her with a sprig of a strange, purple herb, directions that something would be on its way for her later, and a crisp five-dollar bill.
Lorelei ran her finger under the information on Ms. Pennycress that the guest book generated. It was especially strange that the room was still considered hers even though she wasn’t actively staying there, but nothing said she couldn’t rent it out and go gallivanting all over the world like she claimed to. Lorelei had thought when the old woman talked about the River Thames and the rain forest that she was recalling times when she was much younger, but now knowing the woman was likely a powerful enough witch to trap a dark, godlike entity in an urn, her travels seemed much more plausible.
Only the book didn’t know much about her at all. Likes tea, it said, and peace and quiet. Beneath was an address listed in France where she could be reached. Lorelei pulled out a piece of the manor’s stationary and began a letter but immediately stopped. What would she say?
Hey, Ms. Pennycress, it’s Lorelei, that girl with the messy hair who you gave five bucks to that one time. Anyway, just wanted you to know I rifled through your things and found the evil entity you have tied up in your room, and I was hoping you might tell me a little about that because this guy I know has this whole history that I probably shouldn’t put down in writing, but basically, you’re definitely magically linked somehow, and me, the human, wants to try and suss it all out. Also, how’s Paris? Always wanted to go, can I come visit sometime? Lots of love, Ms. Fischer, Receptionist.
She sighed. It wasn’t just Conrad’s past that shouldn’t go in a letter, it was probably all of it. Still, she needed something from the woman, and so she wrote vaguely, if not simply, that she was still at the manor, as promised, and she had a lot she needed to discuss, but didn’t feel safe writing it out, so she asked for a better way for them to communicate. Witches were full of surprises, so she assumed there had to be something.
She stuffed and addressed the envelope just as Helena came in, a frigid burst of air behind her. Lorelei smiled brightly, and the winged woman gave her a brief nod of acknowledgment before leaving with the outgoing mail. The two were getting closer, she could feel it. Surviving a monster together did that to people.
Lorelei shuffled through the mail, sorting out what was theirs and what went to guests, stopping when she came upon a puffy envelope tied with twine and addressed to Jordan Carr. She flipped it over a few times, feeling its weight. It hadn’t just been the name that made her pause, but the feeling overall. Something inside was warm, maybe even alive though she wasn’t sure how she knew that, and she had the desperate desire to rip the package open.
“Ms. Lorelei.” She looked up to see Mr. Carr standing just at the counter.
“Jor—Mr. Carr!” She smiled.
“Did a package come for me?”
She glanced right down into her own hands and quickly back up. “Don’t you just have perfect timing. I’m sorting them right now.” She handed off the thick envelope reluctantly, and he turned. “Do you want me to see if there’s anything else for you here?”
He waved a hand as he went right back for the stairs. “There won’t be.” And then he was gone.
She pouted after him wishing he’d opened it then and there, but of course he hadn’t.
The door to the manor opened again with another blustery gust. Lorelei put on a welcoming smile as the young man who entered took a few slow steps into the manor, pulled off his sunglasses, and looked around. He stood tall and straight, his jacket finely tailored and a perfect fit to his slender frame, a sporty, designer duffle bag strapped across his chest. His hair, cropped very short and coiled tightly, was a shock of electric blue, standing out starkly from the muted, professional grey of his suit under a black coat.
Lorelei greeted him in the standard way, and he put on the most charming smile, brilliantly white against the umber brown of his skin. “Hello, there.” He stuck out his hand, and she took it with a bit of hesitation—guests didn’t normally want to shake. “You must be Lorelei the lorelei.”
“Uh, yeah, I am.” She could feel the anxiety crawl its way over her face as her hand went slack in his confident gr
ip. “Should I know you?”
“Call me Jax, all my friends do.” He released her and took another look around, resting his elbows on the counter. “I can’t believe it’s been two years since I’ve been in here, and it all looks exactly the same.”
“You’ve stayed with us before?” She flipped open the guest book, more comfortable engaging in the familiar task. “How long were you planning this time?”
“Oh, not at all if I can help it.” He scratched his chin and the patch of hair there, also dyed brilliantly blue. “But it all depends on if our boy’s skills are up to the task.” He waggled his eyebrows and grinned again.
Lorelei had no idea what he meant.
“Conrad is here, right? Something else hasn’t scared him off on another surprise sabbatical from the responsibilities of real life?”
“Oh, yes. You’re here to see him?”
“Maybe I should have called first.” Jax pulled his phone from his jacket, typed a quick message, then pocketed it again. He rested his chin in his hand and set dark eyes on her. “So, how are things with you?”
“Me?” She practically squeaked out. “Um, things are okay?”
He tipped his head to the side, sizing her up with a playful squint. “Better now, I bet. Oh! Hey, how’s the ex?” He leaned in even closer.
“I don’t know…”
“Fiance,” he said a little quieter. “You haven’t had any trouble with him, right? I mean, I’d love to hear all the drama in regard to the fallout, but if you need help getting rid of a real clingy guy, I’ve got about a hundred ways.”
“Oh, no, I’m—how do you know about that?” Lorelei looked around the foyer, but thankfully no one else was around. “Are you a diviner or something?”
He stood straight and laughed. “No, no, I don’t dabble in soft magic.” Jax picked up a pen from the desk and twirled it around his thumb, enveloping it in a shock of violet light. In its place, a thin snake coiled between his fingers, tongue darting out.
Aly perked up and chirped, eyeing the newly conjured creature, and Lorelei mimicked her with her own gasp of surprise.
From the hall that led to the basement, the sound of heavy boots came up at them at a run. Conrad skidded into the foyer, grabbing the door to stop himself, wide eyes instantly narrowed when they fell on the two. “Jaxon.” Conrad tried to pretend like he hadn’t just sprinted at top speed up the stairs, sucking in a sharp breath and slapping his chest. “What are you doing here?”
“Conrad!” The man dropped the snake onto the counter, and it turned back into a pen just as Aly pounced on it. Jax threw out his arms and went for the warlock, pulling him into a tight hug. Conrad stood stiffly under the embrace, his eyes drifting over Lorelei for an anxious minute. He raised a single hand and pat the man on the back. Jax pulled away, but didn’t release him, leaving an arm slung over his shoulders as he turned back to Lorelei. “It’s always so great seeing this guy.” He took his free hand and thwacked Conrad’s chest, making him wince.
Conrad crossed his arms over the spot of the not-so-friendly tap, but didn’t shrug him off. He did, however, stand to his full height with a purpose, having a few inches on the other man. “So,” he said, “what do you want?”
“Can’t I just come visit my very best bud?”
“No.”
“Man.” Jax clicked his tongue against his teeth, releasing Conrad and sauntering back over to the counter. “That’s fine, we don’t have to hang out then. I’ll just spend some more time with my new friend. So, Lore, tell me your exact thoughts when you first met that idiot at the train station and he was a total jerk to you.”
Lorelei opened her mouth to again ask how he possibly knew all of this, but Conrad cut in, “Okay, okay! Hi, Jax, how’s your life? Details about yours only.”
“Marvelous,” he said, leaning on the counter, flashing a brilliant grin at Lorelei and then back to Conrad. “Just got back from Dubai where we stayed in an underwater hotel. And you wouldn’t believe it, but humans actually came up with that one. You know, with the right enchantments and a big enough tank—”
The floorboards creaked even though no one walked through the room.
“Oh, forgot about that.” Jax pat the counter. “So sorry.”
Conrad cleared his throat. “And where is Rob now?”
“Oh, yeah,” Jax’s face twisted into something like a frown. “Sort of had a death in the family. A couple actually, but you know lycans. He’s not real close to any of them on account of, well, a whole lot of things really, but he figured he should check in with his pack. He’ll probably be gone a week or so, at least through that time of the month. Which makes for a great opportunity for us to catch up.”
“Too bad.”
“Why, you like him better than your best friend?” Jax pressed a hand against his chest and fluttered his lashes.
Conrad scoffed. “Obviously.”
Jax laughed, an infectious, joyful sound, and a bit of a smile even played on Conrad’s face. “Oh, all right, all right. I gotta spill it, I guess. I do have an ulterior motive, I mean, why else would I come here, right?”
Conrad gave the foyer a once over, its damask wallpaper and dark wainscoting, glaring back at Jax as if to defend the place without words. “I knew it.”
“I’m calling in that favor you owe me for those two weeks you spent heartbroken on my couch last month.” Jax gestured to Conrad with his thumb, looking to Lorelei. “I rescheduled a job for this guy so I could listen to him whine, force him to eat, and knock some sense back into him, and this is how he acts when I show up? It’s deplorable, really. I mean, you should see my couch, it was really nice, and now it’s got a Conrad-shaped divot in it.”
“That’s where you were?” Lorelei grinned, glad his disappearance after the whole debacle with Bridgette hadn’t been spent alone.
“Technically Rob did all the listening and cooking.” Conrad’s face was going a little pink and he fidgeted. “Come on, show me already.”
Jax hefted his bag onto the counter, and it landed with a thud in front of Lorelei. “All right, but prepare yourself. It’s some of my best work.” He unzipped it to reveal a solid gold statue of a long-haired shih tzu, perfectly to scale with a live dog, a bow at the top of its head, and the tip of its tongue hanging out. Aly crouched low and eyed the dog-shaped thing, wings twitching.
Conrad lifted his chin and the corners of his mouth as he strutted over, bending so that his face was level with the statue. “So, you need my help, huh?” For the first time he smiled fully, but in that too-satisfied-with-something-not-good way he usually did at someone else’s expense.
Jax, on the other hand, set his jaw a little tighter and eyed Conrad with just the slightest hint of contempt. “Why else would I come to you?”
“I thought you just said it was for my company,” Conrad mumbled. “This looks like a pretty good copy, I’ll give you that. What’s wrong with it, the tongue? I can chop that off if that’s what you want.”
The statue vibrated then, and there was a tinny, high yap that echoed from inside it. Lorelei jumped, and the alalynx growled. Conrad’s eyes flicked up to Jax, mouth open. “This was—is alive?” When Jax nodded, he did so with hesitancy. Conrad flicked the bow of the statue, and it clanged. “You really screwed the pooch this time, huh?”
“Can you fix it?” Jax’s face had gone tight.
“Shouldn’t be hard,”—he eyed him—“but it might take some time if you want it to keep being alive. Which means we should get started now.”
Jax blew out a breath and zipped up the bag, but held up a finger to Conrad. “Before we head down into the dungeon, aren’t you forgetting something? Proper introductions?”
Conrad’s eyes flicked over to Lorelei. “You already met.”
“Come on, bro.”
“Please don’t make me—”
Jax turned back to Lorelei. “When he was seventeen, he had this crush on a valkyrie who was way out of his league, so he thought it would be a
good idea to transmute his—”
“Lorelei,” Conrad said with so much volume she jerked. “This is Jaxon Clay, Brother of the Cordon of the Reclaimed Embers, Conjurer Adept of the Second Degree, consultant to somebody he’ll refuse to name unless you get him very drunk, and I guess he’s my friend too. Did I leave out anything?”
Jaxon tugged on the lapels of his jacket. “I’m pretty good at Tamerlane chess too, but once I beat someone at it, they seem to forget the game exists.”
“And Jax, this is Lorelei Fischer, artist, receptionist, kind of a busybody, and my—” He uncrossed his arms, clearing his throat. “Well, she tolerates me without wanting something in return, so she’s a better friend than you, Jax.”
“Better to look at too,” said Jax, grinning at her. “It’s a pleasure.”
“Let’s go fix your screw up already.” Conrad turned away quickly, and Jax followed, saluting Lorelei just before he disappeared around the corner.
So, Conrad did have at least one friend. And apparently, he talked to him, a lot.
As strange and fast as the meeting had been, Lorelei was overwhelmed with a warm, fuzzy feeling lingering in her chest at what Conrad had said. He’d called her an artist for god’s sake, and was probably the first person who ever had. A busybody too, but that had been playful in a way that made her blush for a whole different reason. But then—then—she twisted up her face. He called her his friend, didn’t he?
It wasn’t bad, but something about that word, friend, poked at the part of her brain that said it wasn’t exactly good either, not all on its own. Being someone’s friend was important, she reasoned. She’d had to earn the title with Grier and even though it came much easier with Hana and Ziah, it was no less treasured. And she even considered Ren a sort of arm’s-length friend, he just had a funny, elven way of showing it.
But Conrad? If any of the others took their clothes off around her, she wouldn’t want them to keep going, and if one of them touched her hip like Conrad did in the attic, she would have pulled away a lot faster instead of considering leaning into it.
The Wayward Deed (Vacancy Book 2) Page 26