When I entered her room, she was awake and playing in the corner with her Barbie dolls. She looked up at me expectantly, any trace of sadness erased by sleep. I smiled at her.
“How about we take a quick jaunt into town?” I asked her.
“Yes, please,” Mary chirped. I led her back down into the kitchen.
“Has your uncle ever told you where he leaves the emergency credit cards?” I asked her. She nodded, opening one of the drawers. There were several cards inside. I chose a Mastercard, and slid it into my wallet. We headed out to the garage, and were on our way, cruising over the isolated roads through the woods in a red Mercedes that Mary liked, the top down, and the wind running its fingers through our hair.
Ashford was a quiet, sleepy town with lovely architecture. We passed a church, a school, and various mom and pop stores. I kind of ached for a 7-11, with its cherry-flavored Slurpees. I pulled up in front of the general store.
“How about we get some fun things for a movie night?” I suggested.
“Like popcorn?”
“Sure.” We got out of the car and headed in to the store, blinking in the fluorescent lighting. It smelled sweet—like fresh, ripened fruit and spices. Mary gripped my hand tightly, dragging me over toward the snack foods.
“I like kettle corn the best,” she said.
“Okay,” I replied. “Do you want some type of candy to go with that?”
“I can have candy, too?”
“Only one. I don’t want your uncle to think I’m spoiling you.” She let go of my hand, and began debating whether she wanted gummies or Snow Caps.
“Can I help you with anything?” I turned to find myself face-to-face with a good-looking man. He wore a stylishly worn black t-shirt and jeans. He had a nice build—he definitely worked out. His face was equally as swoon-worthy as his abs; his eyes were a warm brown color, and he had straight, white teeth. He was holding a clip board, and he had a name tag pinned to his chest, bearing the title of General Manager.
“We’re just picking up snacks for a movie night,” I replied.
“Ah,” he said, and then directed his next comment to Mary, who had sidled up beside me, and was holding my hand in a death-grip. “What movie will you ladies be watching this evening?” I looked down at Mary, and she shrugged. Her eyes were wide, and she said nothing.
“She’s shy,” I explained. “We haven’t decided yet.”
“We have a good selection of DVDs if you want to check them out,” he offered.
“Sure,” I said.
“Follow me,” he led the way to a few racks of DVDs. “I haven’t seen you around before. Are you new in town?”
“I am,” I replied. “Mary has been here for a little longer, but we are basically new to the area.”
“Ah. I see,” he raised his eyebrows. “Well, it’s nice to make your acquaintance. My name is Damien. Damien Price.” He held out a hand.
“Jennifer Hart,” I replied, shaking his hand. “And this is Mary.”
“Lovely to meet you, Mary,” Damien smiled. Mary said nothing. At that moment, the back door of the store opened. An elderly woman exited, and she waved to Damien.
“Damien,” she said.
“Hello, mother,” he replied. “We have some new people in town.”
“Ah lovely, lovely,” she said.
“This is Jennifer and Mary,” he said.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I said. The woman came over, and placed her hands on her hips. She was wearing a floral muumuu and hot pink crocs.
“You must be Mary,” she said to my charge. Mary nodded. “Is this your mother?”
“Oh, no. I’m her live-in nanny,” I explained. “She’s the niece of Michael Thompson.”
“Oh, the billionaire,” Mrs. Price said. “We rarely see anyone from Chatsworth House in Ashford anymore.”
“There’s not many people living in Chatsworth, to be honest.” I looked down at Mary. “We tend to rattle around a bit, don’t we?” Mary’s eyes were on the floor.
“I bet it’s lovely living there,” Mrs. Price said.
“Oh, yes,” I said. “Almost like a fairytale.”
“I can only imagine.” She said. “What is he like?”
“Who?”
“The billionaire, of course,” she replied.
“He’s quite nice,” I said, feeling myself flush a little at the memory of my most recent encounter with my employer.
“Are you… romantic?”
“Oh, no. He’s my employer.” She looked relieved when I said this.
“Well, it’s lovely to have a beautiful young woman in town,” Mrs. Price said.
“Oh,” I said, blushing as the older woman shot an obvious and pointed look at her son.
“You two should join us at church on Sunday.” Damien said, trying to deviate the flow of conversation. “We’re having a church picnic.”
“Mary loves picnics,” I said, looking down at the little girl, who was wrapped around my leg.
“There’s also a Sunday school class. My grandson is in it—he’s staying with me for the summer,” Mrs. Price said. “Mary can meet some kids her age.”
“Oh, that’s perfect,” I replied.
“So we’ll see you two there?” She beamed.
“Absolutely,” I replied. “What else goes on around here?”
“Oh, well, there’s the community pool. And the book club. That might be good for you—if you’re in to that sort of thing.”
“I do like to read.”
“Oh, excellent. Did Damien tell you that he’s a writer?”
“Mother—” Damien began.
“He is.” His mother said. “He’s one of those travel blog journalists. My son certainly gets around.”
“Mother!”
“Not that way, son.”
“I’m in the middle of trips,” Damien explained to me.
“Oh.” I replied. “Where are you going next?”
“No idea yet. I only just recently returned from Iceland.”
“Iceland sounds fascinating.”
“Cold, more like,” his mother interjected. “You two should join us for dinner sometime, dear.”
“We would love to.”
“Yes. Mary and my grandson would get along famously.” She inhaled, satisfied. “Well, I’ve got to toodle. It was wonderful to make your acquaintance.”
“I look forward to seeing you on Sunday,” I said.
“And you as well, dear.” She waggled her fingers as she walked toward the front entrance.
Chapter Six
Mary and I explored the entire town of Ashford on foot. It didn’t take us long; Ashford was a small town. It was getting late in the afternoon when we found the park. It was full of kids, blowing off steam after school. Mary tugged on my arm.
“Can I go on the jungle gym?”
“Of course,” I said, heartened that she wanted to engage in a social activity. She insisted that I hold her hand until we were standing right in front of the green-painted metal structure. A small girl in a hot-pink tutu was hanging on the bars.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hi,” Mary replied in a whisper.
“I’m Jackie,” the girl said. “What’s your name?” Mary looked down at her feet.
“Hi Jackie,” I said. “This is Mary.”
“Are you shy?” Jackie asked Mary, who nodded. “That’s okay. My brother is shy, too.” Jackie swung a little on the bars that she was hanging from.
“Do you want to swing with me?” Jackie asked Mary. Mary nodded, and Jackie let go of the bars, landing neatly on her feet. She held out a hand to Mary. “Come on.” Mary took her hand, and they ran off toward the swing set. I sighed, watching.
“Hey!” I turned to find a group of mothers watching me. A blonde woman who looked like a larger version of Jackie was waving me over. I walked over to them.
“Hi,” I said.
“New in town?” Jackie’s mom asked me.
“Yep,” I repl
ied. “I’m Jennifer Hart.” The women introduced themselves. Jackie’s mom, Holly, nodded toward the girls.
“Is that your daughter?”
“No. I’m her nanny. Her uncle is Michael Thompson.”
“The billionaire,” Holly’s eyebrows were raised. She looked impressed. “Whenever he is sighted, the view is fantastic.”
“What’s he like?” another mom, Kaley asked.
“He’s nice. A little distant, to be honest, but I am only his employee,” I said.
“Just as we suspected,” Holly replied. “Is he single?”
“Yes,” I replied, feeling strangely cagey.
“Is it true that he’s a billionaire? We heard that he may have lost all of his money, and that’s why he’s in hiding.”
“Well, I haven’t seen anything to suggest that.”
“Chatsworth isn’t falling apart at all?”
“No, not at all,” I said. “A cleaning service comes in once a week, a gardener drops by every few days, and a handyman covers anything that needs repairs, so Chatsworth is in pretty mint condition.” They all nodded, wrapt. “Mary and I just met the Prices.”
“Ah, the handsome blogger and his mother,” Holly said. “Charming people.”
“I quite agree.”
“He is delicious,” one of the mothers said.
“Swoon-inducing,” another proclaimed. They all tittered.
“So do you all come here every day?” I asked them. I could see Mary in the distance, talking animatedly with Jackie and two other girls.
“Oh, yes,” Holly said. “You and Mary are always welcome to join us.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“There is a swimming class that the kids love—the lifeguard who teaches it is a dream with kids,” Holly said. “You should bring Mary sometime.”
“I’m sure she’d love it,” I said.
“Has anyone seen Martha?” Kaley asked. There was a chorus of no’s. “Usually she and Ben are here without fail.” Kaley pulled out her cell phone. She gasped as she read a text message.
“Oh. Oh my god,” she said, holding a hand to her mouth in shock.
“What happened?” Holly asked, putting her hand on Kaley’s shoulder.
“It’s Samantha—Martha’s sixteen year-old. Martha found her in the garage this morning. She was mauled by some animal.” There was a chorus of upset.
“Is she okay?”
“She’s alive, but in critical condition,” Kaley said. “They airlifted her to JN Adam Memorial.”
“How often are there attacks here?” I asked.
“Far too often,” Holly said. “The game warden has been on the hunt for it for several years now.”
“Presumably, it’s huge,” Kaley said. “But they’ve never spotted it. They can only find those that it kills and massive tracks.”
“Oh, my,” I said weakly. If Mary had heard the beast as frequently as she said she had, then it was often near Chatsworth. The mothers began making their excuses and collecting their children. I looked down at my watch, which read four o’clock. It was time to head back to Chatsworth.
Chapter Seven
I walked toward the kitchen from my office to have lunch with Jennifer and Mary. I paused outside of the door, listening to their voices. Mary sounded happy. She was talking about someone named Jackie. I turned the corner, and just stood in the doorway watching them for a moment. Mary was standing on a step stool, spreading peanut butter on a slice of bread. Jennifer was spreading Nutella on another. They held up their slices of bread, sticking them together while making an airplane noise—it was obviously an inside joke. They smiled at each other and laughed as they set the completed sandwich aside and began another.
It was so good to see Mary smiling and laughing. In her short time at Chatsworth, Jennifer had wrought such a large change in my niece. I cleared my throat, and they turned. Mary’s demeanor immediately changed from open and smiling to shy and wary. My heart sunk.
“Hello,” I said.
“Hello Mr. Thompson,” Jennifer said formally. Even her demeanor was changed. I wanted to be a part of whatever warmth they had between them. But I was a monster. I needed to protect them from me. “We made sandwiches for lunch.”
“Excellent. What have you been doing this morning?”
“We went through some of her lessons,” Jennifer said. She looked stunning this morning in a lemon-yellow sweater and black leggings. Her hair was tied back messily, tendrils framing her lovely face.
“What did you learn this morning, Mary?”
“I learned how to divide,” she said.
“She’s quite advanced for her age,” Jennifer said.
“My brother and sister-in-law had her at a progressive school,” I explained to her.
“That definitely paid off.” Jennifer plated the sandwiches, and handed a plate to Mary, who walked over to the kitchen table. Her place was set with a glass of milk and apple slices.
“You’ve been doing an excellent job with her,” I said. “I haven’t seen her smile in half a year.”
“She just needs to be treated her age,” Jennifer replied, cocking an eyebrow.
“Soraya’s not the nurturing type,” I stated simply, taking the plate that Jennifer handed to me. She snorted.
“So, tomorrow, I was planning on taking Mary to the church in Ashford,” she said as we sat down for lunch. “They have a Sunday school, and I was hoping to get Mary more socially involved.”
“That sounds reasonable,” I said.
“Would you like to come with us?” Jennifer asked. And I paused. At one time, religion had been something comforting for me. Then, I became a monster. What god would let something like me exist in the world?
“Ah—”
“Can Jackie come for a sleepover?” Mary suddenly blurted out.
“Who is Jackie?” I asked, suddenly wary.
“I met her at the park,” my niece said.
“I have no problem with that,” Jennifer said. “I can watch them. I’m sure they won’t be any trouble.”
“No,” I said, my voice coming out sharper than I intended. Mary looked as though I had slapped her, and I cursed myself.
“Why not?” Jennifer asked.
“It’s not safe,” I blurted out, pushing my chair back and standing up.
“Safe from what?” Jennifer looked suspicious.
“We cannot have strangers in this house,” I said, ignoring her question.
“Jackie’s not a stranger,” Mary said, tears in her eyes.
“No friends overnight,” I said, making a chopping motion with my hand. “It’s non-negotiable.”
“It’s not fair to keep Mary from having normal interactions with other children,” Jennifer said. “She’s already so isolated.”
“That’s the way it is,” I snapped. “These are the terms of your employment here. You signed a non-disclosure agreement that you would bring no one here.”
“I understand,” Jennifer looked shocked, but kept her voice modulated and calm. I turned and stormed out of the room, mostly angry with myself. Behind me, I could hear Mary’s heartbroken sobs. It seemed that even when I was in my human form, I was a monster as well.
Chapter Eight
I had received permission from Michael to take Mary to church the next day prior to his meltdown, so I figured that it was still permissible. It was wonderful to be around people, and the sermon was simple and beautiful. When I came out of the building, Mary detached herself from the Sunday school group, which was congregated by one of the long folding tables filled with food for the picnic.
“Hi sweetheart,” I said, kneeling down and giving her a hug. “Did you have fun?”
“Yeah,” she said. “I colored a fish.”
“Good. Shall we get something to eat?” Mary nodded. We headed over toward the tables, where people were beginning to line up.
“Hey! You made it,” Damien said, coming up beside me. He was dressed in a black oxford shirt, the to
p buttons undone to show off some skin. I could feel my adrenaline kick into overdrive at the sight of him.
“Yeah,” I replied.
“So which dish is yours?” he asked, looking about.
“What?”
“It’s a potluck,” he replied, and I flushed red, my embarrassment emblazoned across my face.
“Oh no,” I said. “I had no idea. We should leave.” I glanced over at Mary, who was speaking happily with a group of little girls. She would be crushed to have to go.
“Ah, don’t worry,” he said. “I won’t tell anybody.” I smiled appreciatively.
“Thanks,” I said. “I just had no idea.” We got our food, the women and girls who were serving making a huge deal out of helping Damien. He looked at me and smiled awkwardly. I laughed as I filled a plate for Mary, who was still talking with the other little girls. Damien and I found a place to sit on the grass beneath a large, gnarled oak.
“So, where have you traveled besides Iceland?” I asked him.
“Well, before Iceland, I lived in Romania for a while doing some research in the town where Van Helsing was reported to live.”
“Van Helsing?”
“You know, the vampire hunter?”
“I don’t know,” I said, taking a bite of potato salad.
“He was a fascinating figure,” Damien explained. “He reportedly killed Vlad the Impaler in his own castle.”
“Really?”
“What, you don’t believe in the paranormal?” he asked me, giving me a devilishly handsome grin.
“No,” I replied, smiling back. “Are you afraid of being eaten by something that goes bump in the night?”
“Oh, horribly,” he replied. “I was hoping to learn a trick or two from Van Helsing’s ghost.”
“Didn’t you?” I was flirting, and I didn’t care who saw.
“He was decidedly quiet.” We laughed, and began to discuss other things. Eventually, Mary grew hungry and came for her plate, grabbing it and taking it with her to sit with the other girls. I was so happy that she was making friends. The sun began to shift into its late afternoon glow, and people began to clean up.
Bad, Very Bad Shifters- The Complete Mega Bundle Page 3