Chapter 4
I WOKE UP around five o’clock. Kelson happened to be leaning over the back of the sofa, staring at me. I jumped as I opened my eyes and saw her eyeing me.
“What? Have I grown an extra head?”
“I just wanted to make sure you were still breathing.” She smiled as she said it, so it didn’t seem quite so creepy.
“I seem to be breathing just fine, thank you.” I struggled to sit up. I was still dizzy, though I didn’t feel quite as wiped out. “Can you help me into the bathroom? You don’t need to stay with me when I’m in there.”
Kelson leaned down so I could slide one of my arms around her shoulders. I eased myself to my feet. So far, so good. I took a step with her help, and realized it wasn’t nearly as rough as it had been earlier in the day. It took a few moments, but she got me to the downstairs powder room. I had made it as spacious as possible when I had had it renovated, and one of the things that I had thought to put in were handrails along the side of the wall. That way if I ever had a disabled guest, they would be able to use the facilities without a problem.
Of course, they wouldn’t be able to get to the rooms upstairs. A little lightbulb went off over my head as I thought about adding on an extra bedroom to the house on the main floor. Then I could advertise it as available for disabled accommodations. I’d also add a side ramp by the front porch steps so they wouldn’t have to go around to the kitchen slider to get in.
I managed to use the toilet and wash my hands and face without a problem. I tapped on the door and Kelson opened it, helping me to the kitchen. As she set me down at the table, the room began to spin again, but I held onto the table and it stopped after a moment.
“Are you hungry?” She moved over to the stove where I smelled something bubbling. “Since it’s only Mr. Mosswood and us tonight, I decided to make a pot of chicken soup and a pan of biscuits. Henry asked for a tray for his room. He’s been eating in there the past few nights. I hope he’s all right.”
“I hope he’s all right, too. He’s usually more conversational. Maybe he’s just had a rough week. Writing a book can’t be all that easy, can it?”
A cloud of steam wafted over from the stove, bringing with it the incredible smell of mouthwatering soup. Chicken soup was one of my favorites; it was a comfort food. It took me back to Ireland, when Granny used to make a pot of soup on cold winter nights. Zara had never been one for cooking, and Granny was so particular with her demands that my mother had just let her take over the kitchen.
“I didn’t think I was hungry, but the smell of that soup is making me salivate. I would love a bowl, and a couple biscuits.”
“One thing I’ve learned from Aegis is to make enough for unexpected company.” Kelson went to call Henry to the table while I picked up the cordless phone and, after a moment of trying to remember Sandy’s number, punched it in.
“Clauson residence, Alex speaking. May I help you?”
“Hey Alex, it’s Maddy. Is Sandy there?”
“She’s with Jenna right now. Is this really important, because we’ve had some bad news here today. I don’t know if you heard, but Jenna’s mother was killed in Australia.”
“I was with Sandy when she got the news so yes, I know. This isn’t an emergency, so just ask her to call me back as soon as she can. Is Max there?”
“No, he caught the ferry for Bellingham. I’ll tell her you called.”
“Thanks, Alex. Be sure to remind her that I lost my phone, so she’ll have to call the house.”
Alex paused, then said, “That’s right. You were almost killed last night. How are you doing?”
“I’m alive, although I won’t be clubbing for a few days. Sometimes that’s the best we can hope for, right?”
As I hung up, I felt the weight of the world settle on my shoulders. My mood had plummeted with the news about the vampire kill. That, combined with a night spent in the ocean, and the knowledge that Fata Morgana was out there somewhere aimed for Bedlam’s shore, and my world had suddenly turned upside down. I wanted to stand up without the room spinning. I wanted to not have to worry about a rogue vampire on the loose. And deep in my heart, I realized I wasn’t sure I wanted to ever see Fata Morgana again.
WE WERE PARTWAY through dinner when Aegis appeared at the top of the stairs. I started to stand but once again the room swirled, just enough to send me back onto my chair again.
He said nothing, but strode over to the table and cautiously pulled me into his embrace, holding me so tight that I almost couldn’t breathe. I started to speak but he silenced me with a kiss, running his hand through my hair. After a moment, he pulled away, slipping onto his knees on the floor in front of me, clutching my hands.
“Oh Maddy, you don’t know how worried I was. I couldn’t go to the hospital with you because it was too close to morning, and even though Sandy and the EMTs promised me that you would be all right, I kept having visions of you slipping away into the water and not being able to reach you. I can’t believe I put you in such danger.” He was crying, crimson tears trailing down from his eyes. Vampires cried blood. He laid his head on my knees. “Please forgive me. I’ll never put you in danger again.”
“Aegis, I don’t blame you. It was a lovely gesture. In retrospect, we were both idiots to go out on that boat—you just don’t go boating in a storm like that. But hindsight is twenty-twenty. You saved me. If I had been out there alone, I would have died.” I stroked his hair back from his face and touched one of his tears, bringing my finger to my lips.
He jerked his head up. “Don’t taste my blood, Maddy. It’s not safe.”
“What would happen if I did?”
“Just don’t. We’ll talk about that later.” He took my finger and licked it clean.
I urged him to get up, and he slid into the chair next to me, leaning close to gaze in my eyes. “The fact is, you never would have gone out there if it hadn’t been for me. Can you honestly tell me you would have gone boating in the middle of the night if you had been on your own?”
“My love, I can’t answer that. Hell, I’ve done a lot of dangerous things in my lifetime. Forget about blame. I’m all right. Yes, I have some vertigo, and I’m not supposed to drive for four days according to Jordan. I’m a little unstable on my feet, but I’m all right. Please don’t blame yourself.” I motioned to the table. “Kelson made soup, and biscuits. Come and eat. It may not fill your stomach, but it’s warm and comforting.”
We spent the rest of the evening talking about what had happened. I showed him the pentacle and told him it belonged to Fata Morgana. Aegis stared at it silently for a moment.
“So you really think she is coming back?”
“I think she’s already back. It’s a matter of when she shows herself. And I also think she was the one who pushed us to shore with that wave. What I don’t know is what she wants, and neither does Sandy. And that makes her dangerous. As much as I loved Fata, she’s wild and unpredictable. There’s another thing that I need to discuss with you—actually two.”
Telling him about Jenna’s mother was going to be difficult, Aegis had taken a liking to the girl and always asked how she was doing. But telling him about the vampire kill was going to be even harder. Aegis prided himself on his restraint and his ethics. Vampires who went around ripping people’s throats out pissed him off to no end. Not only that, but when he found out I needed to visit Essie, he wasn’t going to be happy.
Aegis wasn’t comfortable with my association with the vampire queen. And quite honestly, I didn’t enjoy hanging out with her, especially since she had kidnapped me and used me to cover her tracks. Granted, she had good reasons for what she had done, but I still didn’t like finding myself a pawn in a game of vampire politics.
“You look worried,” he said. “Did I do something wrong? Other than almost get both of us killed?”
“Oh, don’t go all Angel on me.” I still rewatched episodes of Buffy. “I can’t handle an emo-vampire boyfriend. Just…it happened, it was a freak accident, it’s over.”
He shook his head and, for the first time since he had woken up, smiled. “All right. I won’t play the angsty boy toy.”
“You’re not my boy toy. You’re my lover. Okay, well, this afternoon, Sandy received a call from her lawyer when she was driving me home. Derry did what Derry always does and broke the rules. Only this time, it was a fatal mistake. She rambled off on her own after the guide told her not to, and she got herself killed by a coastal taipan snake. The woman always did have numbnuts for brains. I hate to say that. She and Sandy were good friends. But truthfully? I think Jenna is better off with Sandy.”
Aegis stared at me. “Jenna’s mother died from snakebite?” He paused, thinking. “Does that mean her father’s going to come take over?”
“Nobody knows who he is. Derry never told anybody who Jenna’s father was. I think she did it to protect both herself and Jenna from him. She hung out with some scary-ass dudes. Anyway, she stipulated in her will that Sandy’s to become Jenna’s legal guardian.”
“This is going to change Sandy’s life. I mean, it’s one thing to be somebody’s temporary guardian, but this basically means that Sandy is Jenna’s mother now. How do you think she’s going to react?” Sometimes, Aegis could ask incredibly astute questions.
“You want my honest opinion?”
He nodded.
“I think Sandy has come to love that little girl a whole lot more than she would admit. I never pegged her as the nurturing type, but sometimes people can surprise you.” I shivered. The Bewitching Bedlam had been fully insulated when we renovated it, but still, it was a big old house and big old houses had drafts. I shrugged into a sweater that was hanging over the back of my chair.
“What about you? Your mother asked me when she was here, what about children? I mean, it’s obvious that you and I can’t have any. Do you want to be a mother?”
I could see the fear in Aegis’s eyes, and I could hear the hesitation in his voice. He was afraid that I would leave him someday, in favor of someone who could give me children. I thought carefully how to answer his question, because I wasn’t sure myself.
“I’m not sure whether I ever want children. I’m not particularly geared toward being anybody’s mother. I love being an auntie—although granted, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to become one of the Aunties. But if you’re asking if I’m going to leave you because you can’t get me pregnant, then stop worrying. There are so many other ways of becoming a parent. There’s adoption, and fostering, and even surrogacy if it came down to it. When we were in the water and I thought I was going to drown, the only thing I could think of was how much I would miss you. I love you, Aegis. I hope you realize just how much you hold my heart in your hands.” I held up the necklace that he had given me the night before. “I may have the key to your heart, but you have my heart in your hands. Now, carry me into the parlor and let’s light a fire in the fireplace.”
He did, setting me on the sofa before he lit the kindling that was arranged in the fireplace. One of Kelson’s duties was to make sure the fireplaces were laid and ready to light.
I pulled a fleece throw over me as we watched the fire crackle. Bubba came bouncing through the room, chased by Luna. They tussled, rolling over into a wrestling match, before Luna sat on top of Bubba and began to groom his face. I laughed, relieved to find something that didn’t leave me with an “oh-shit” feeling.
Aegis relaxed. He sat on the end of the sofa and pulled my feet onto his lap, rubbing them gently. I leaned my head back, enjoying the massage, desperately wanting to watch some sort of mindless sitcom or cartoon, but I still had the other piece of news to tell him, and I decided to do so before we relaxed any further.
“There’s one other piece of bad news.”
Aegis paused, his knuckle pressing into a knot on the midpoint of my arch. “Oh?”
“Yeah. This one’s a doozy. Delia dropped by today, and she had some news. There’s been a vampire kill on the island. She wants me to talk to Essie tonight, to see if she knows anything. Apparently it was brutal, Aegis. Brutal and vicious. Whoever attacked the woman completely drained her.”
Aegis slowly let go of my feet, his shoulders stiffening. “And she’s absolutely sure it’s a vampire? I’m not questioning her skill, but she needs to be very, very sure of this.”
I let out my breath, huddling under the fleece throw a little bit more. The wind was whipping outside, scraping the roof. It sounded like animals skittering across the shingles. The storm had started again—or maybe it was a new one—and out the parlor window, rain pounded down so hard that it looked like snow.
“Delia knows a vampire kill when she sees it. I’m not sure what’s going on, but we can’t let it continue.”
“No, of course not. Have there been any other attacks?”
“Not that she knows of, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been any not come to light yet. Aegis, Essie keeps rigid control over the vampires who live in her nest. She wouldn’t let this happen on her watch. I don’t trust her, and I doubt I ever will, but she needs to know about this too, because she’s going to want to know if any rogue vamps are in the area. I need you to take me over to talk to her, since I’m not supposed to drive and I don’t want her coming here.”
He nodded. “Right. I don’t like the idea, but I suppose this can’t be helped. When do you want to go? Surely, you need to rest tonight?”
“I need to call her. Meanwhile, please run out and buy me a new phone. I can activate it online and back it up from the cloud. Once I have it, I’ll give her a call.”
“I’ll be back in an hour. Meanwhile, I’m telling Kelson to lock up. Don’t let anybody in unless you know who they are.” And with that, Aegis grabbed his leather jacket and headed out the door.
WHILE AEGIS WAS gone, I decided to tackle a task I had been putting off for several weeks. I had made a promise to my mother, and now it was time to fulfill it. I called for Kelson and asked her to bring me my office chair, which was on wheels. Using that, I was able to roll myself into my office. I sat down at the computer and pulled up my email. There, in an email I hadn’t opened yet, was the name and contact information for my half-brother—Gregory Oakstone.
Zara had made me promise to contact him when she died. I had tried to encourage her to reach out before then, to give him a chance to know who she was. But she refused to believe that he would forgive her for giving him up.
I clicked on the email. My mother’s solicitors had done their work. Gregory Oakstone was alive and well, and living in London. They even had his email address for me. I tried to decide whether the shock would be less via email or through a phone call. I finally decided an email would give him more time to process the information. I opened a new message and typed in his email address, and then sat staring at the screen, trying to figure out exactly what to say.
Dear Gregory: You don’t know me, but we have something in common. My mother’s solicitors indicate that you know you are adopted. What you probably don’t know is who your birth mother was, or that you have a half-sister. I never knew you existed until a couple months ago, and my mother made me promise not to contact you until after her death. My name is Maudlin Gallowglass. I want to tell you the story of our mother, and why she was forced to give you up when you were a baby.
The hardest part of the letter over, I leaned back and stared at the words. Then, with a sigh, I went into explaining my mother’s story. Finally, half an hour later, I took a deep breath and hit send. Now, all I could do was wait.
BY THE TIME Aegis returned, I had managed to roll myself to the bathroom, and then back into the kitchen where I was sitting in my makeshift wheelchair, eating cookies. I had managed to eat a dozen of them, and was contemplating another handful. I considered my restraint a triumph, given the emotions raging within me. At least sending Gregory the email had taken my mind off of Fata Morgana.
Aegis glanced at the tray and a smile crinkled the edges of his lips. “I suppose I’d better make some more cookies while I’m at it. Let me help you to the computer so you can activate your new phone. I got you the latest model, and they said as long as your information is on the cloud, you can do everything over the phone and online.”
I grabbed another handful of cookies before he rolled me back to the office. I told him that I had emailed my brother.
“Clever idea with your office chair.”
“It’s amazing what you can think of when you have to.”
I glanced at my email. No answer yet. Not that I had expected one this soon, but I was knew that I’d be checking my email several times a day until I heard back from him.
Suddenly, a thought hit me. What if he didn’t write back? What if he didn’t want to talk to me? There wouldn’t be much I could do about it, but the thought of never hearing back from him made my stomach clench. I didn’t even know him and yet, I knew that I wanted some form of contact, especially now that Zara was dead and I knew her full story.
Trying to push the thought from my mind, I opened the box and pulled out the sleek new phone. There was something about gadgets that I loved, and technology never ceased to amaze me. I had seen the days when the newest gadget had been the latest torture device to use against witches. That kind of advancement I could do without.
As I immersed myself in playing with my new phone, Aegis went back in the kitchen to make cookies. He left me a loud bell to ring if I needed him. I logged into my account at the phone company’s website, and as I began to download the information I needed, Franny appeared.
“You really got yourself in a tangle last night, didn’t you? I’m so glad that you didn’t drown. Do you know I’ve never been in the water? My mother didn’t believe in girls learning how to swim.” She settled into a chair nearby and remarkably, didn’t sink halfway through it, but looked like she was actually sitting on it.
Grateful to see her, I leaned back and turned around. “What did your mother believe in girls doing? It seems like she kept you from a whole lot of things.”
“My mother believed that women were decorative until they got married, at which point their job was to direct servants, spend money, and generally make everybody miserable. I swear to you, she lived for making other people jump.”
“Why do you think that was?”
Franny mused. “I think she was unhappy. I’ve been thinking about what we found out about my aunt and my father, and I think that Mother somehow knew about the affair, even though she never said a word.” She paused for a moment, then said, “I wonder where she and my father went after they died. Same with my aunt. I have no clue where any of my family went after death. I never thought about it before, but now it seems so strange. None of them came back to see me, and yet it seems that at least my aunt and my father knew that I was around here.”
That did seem strange, now that she mentioned it. “Would you want to see them? Do you feel like you’re a different person than you were in life? Do you think they would be different?”
Franny shrugged. “I suppose I’m different, yes. I know more, and if I could just be free of this curse there would be so much to explore. You know, I’ve never met another ghost, actually. Except for the ones in the online support group I found a few weeks back. That seems strange to me, doesn’t it to you?”
I nodded. It did. “Tell me more about this group. What’s the name of it?”
“STOE—short for ‘Spirits Trapped on Earth.’ It’s a group for spirits who are trapped in this plane in one way or another, and who’ve managed to find a connection in cyberspace. We all know we’re dead, so that lets out the ones who are trapped and don’t know what’s going on. And we keep out the hostiles. The ones who hate the living.”
“What do you talk about?”
“Oh, esoteric things, I suppose. All of us lived in different times and have managed to keep up with the world. A few of the others actually seem to exist inside cyberspace—it’s as though they became part of the computer.” A pensive look crossed her face. “For some reason, that also seems dangerous to me.”
I managed to hook up my phone to my computer and began downloading information from the cloud. As I thought about what Franny had said, it occurred to me how incredibly multifaceted the world was. There were so many things in it that we didn’t understand, even those of us who had been around for several hundred years.
“I suppose it could be, if they could get hold of information that is private. Or if they could somehow affect information in cyberspace. After all, if you had the right equipment and the right contacts, you could probably set off a world war.”
Franny’s hand fluttered to her mouth. “Oh my, I hadn’t even thought about that possibility.”
As I finished the last cookie, Franny went on to lighter subjects. She told me all about the book she was reading, and then segued into her latest Netflix addiction. She had discovered the world of Friends, and was binge watching it.
“I’m in season three,” she said. “Do you think Ross and Rachel will ever get married?”
I forced myself not to smile. “I am not giving you spoilers. You’ll just have to watch and see for yourself.”
The doorbell rang. Before I thought about it, I started to stand but I had made it two steps before Aegis went racing by in a flash. I fell back into my chair.
“You sit your pretty ass down,” he called out.
Shaking my head, I obeyed. A few minutes later, he peeked around the door.
“It’s Ralph. Do you want to see him? He’s in the living room and I don’t really feel comfortable bringing him in the office.” Aegis was extremely protective of me around Ralph. The satyr had seemingly reformed, but ever since he showed up in my bathroom while I was in the shower, Aegis had given him the side-eye. He didn’t trust Ralph and I had the feeling he never would. Come to think of it, I didn’t trust Ralph. Even though I accepted his apologies for the mess as he had made in my life, I had the feeling that one good round of partying would set him off again.
“Yeah, help me into the living room. Might as well make my day even more miserable.”
Aegis slipped into the office and before I could say a word, he swept me up in his arms.
“I said help me into the living room, not carry me.” But I took the opportunity to give him a quick kiss.
“Oh, hush. Let me carry you around, considering I’m the one who almost drowned you. I don’t care it was an accident, I don’t care that you keep saying no blame. I do blame myself. I put you in danger in a way that I never want to happen again.” And with that he carried me into the living room and gently deposited me on the sofa. Ralph was sitting in one of the wing chairs, staring at us as we entered the room.
“I heard you almost bit the big one last night,” he said.
“You heard right. Aegis and I had an accident out on the water when the storm came up. It was a rough night. What can I do for you?”
Ralph hemmed and hawed, crossing and then uncrossing his hooves. “I know I have no right, and this is probably not the best time, but I have a favor to ask.”
I grabbed Aegis’s wrist as he tensed. “And what might that be?”
Ralph blushed. “I feel like a fool asking you, Maddy. But Ivy’s birthday is coming up, and I want to buy her something nice, but I don’t know what to get her. Can you help me figure out a present for her? I was going to get her a negligee from Frederick’s of Hollywood, but then I stopped and asked myself, would that be something Maddy would buy? And somehow I didn’t think so.”
Oh my gods, I thought. Ralph is playing WWMD, now?
I blinked. “Why would you ask yourself if I would buy a negligee from Frederick’s of Hollywood?” That seemed a little intimate to me.
“I mean, I thought about whether you would buy something like that for Aegis. Somehow, I just can’t see it.”
I was having a hard time keeping a straight face. Beside me, Aegis let out a snort.
“I hope she wouldn’t buy me something like that. I don’t look good in marabou.”
Ralph grew even more flustered. “I didn’t mean that you would wear a negligee. I mean she wouldn’t buy you a cock ring or something like that, would she?” The moment the words came out of his mouth he gasped. “I mean, she might, but for your birthday?”
I was tempted to let him run on for a while and stuff both of his feet into his mouth, but finally I took pity.
“Stop, Ralph. Just stop. I get what you mean. How long have you been dating her, and are you even sleeping with her? Or is that a stupid question?”
Ralph shrugged, looking about as miserable as I had ever seen him look.
“Actually, yes, we are sleeping together. But it was her decision. We’ve been dating for a few months. Remember, I told you a couple months ago I had met her at a solstice party? And we’re exclusive, believe it or not. But this is her birthday, it’s not an anniversary or anything. And I want something nice for her.”
I thought for a moment. Wood nymphs—and Ivy Vine was a wood nymph—liked expensive presents. They were high-maintenance partners, and easy to offend. I had the feeling that Ralph wasn’t the one in charge of this relationship.
“What kind of perfume does she wear?”
“I’m not sure. Should I ask her?”
“I swear, sometimes you’re clueless.” Most of the time, actually, I thought. “No, I don’t think you should ask her. Wood nymphs tend to have a temper, and if she thinks that you haven’t been paying attention to what perfume she wears, she’s probably going to bean you one. You know what I suggest? Plant her favorite tree on your property.”
Ralph gave me a startled look. “But then she’d move in. I’m not ready for that yet.”
“I give up. Buy her a beautiful emerald necklace. Wood nymphs tend to like emeralds. And make sure the setting and chain are 18-karat gold. Don’t stint on the bling. That would be the easiest way to make certain that she ends up your ex-girlfriend.” I paused, wondering whether his parsimonious nature would outweigh his libido. Wood nymphs were the ideal partners for satyrs, given their incredible sexual appetites. They make good matches, but yeah, the wood nymph usually ran the relationship.
Ralph let out a long sigh. “All right. I’ll buy her a necklace. Thanks, Maddy. I hope you feel better.” And with that, Aegis escorted him to the door, and I went back to configuring my new phone.