Shelley
“I’ve called this emergency meeting because both Ebs and my brother are as miserable as sin, but they’re both too stubborn to apologise.” Jax said. “It’s been a week now. I don’t know what to do. Neither of them will say what caused it. They argued in here about vanilla slices but it can’t be that.”
“I’ll go and have a word with her.” I reassured Jax. “Let me try to get to the bottom of it.”
“Let me know if she’s back on the market because Dmitri, the Hellhound footballer, hasn’t found a match yet.” Kim blurted.
“Desperate.” Lucy snarked. “Totally and utterly desperate, Kim.”
“The christening is in two days' time. If when I’ve talked to Ebony, I think they both just need their heads banging together, then we try to get them to talk to each other there. Hopefully they’ll come to their senses.”
“How’s everything at home now?” Jax asked me.
“Fine. Henry is back now doing the decorating. We’ve improved our security and we now have a scanner on entry that warns if anyone is trying to bring anything untoward into our home. We’re okay now. We’ve got over the shock and we’re being realistic. There are going to be other crises come up. I birthed the badass baby of Withernsea. We just have to relax the best we can and get on with things. So, I’ll see you all at the christening. Now I’ll go and find out what’s happening with Ebony.” I said my goodbyes and walked next door.
“Shelley! Where’s the baby?” Ebony was packing clothes up at her counter and dropped them as I walked in.
“At home with Daddy. Theo was up by three today so I thought I’d head over here and check on things. What’s going on with you and Henry? And do not try to bullshit me.”
Ebony sighed. “I saw Jax in a vision. She is going to fall in love with a supe. I told her, and Henry said I shouldn’t be going on about my visions if she’s to be kept out of the supe loop. When I told him who she’s going to end up with—bearing in mind I confided in him as Jax can’t know—he told me it was never going to happen. He’s going to try to interfere with my visions which could cause who knows what trouble. I should never have trusted him.”
“Who was it?”
She huffed. “Tristan.”
I almost choked. “Jax… and Tristan?”
“Yes. I know it seems strange but Jax is really tiny and her and Tristan will be the perfect fit.”
“But he’s an asshole!”
“With us. He won’t be with her. She’ll not put up with it. I’m not saying they won’t have their moments, but I saw them together and they looked happy.”
“So at some point soon Jax will discover the truth about Withernsea?” I sighed. How was she going to feel when she found out we all knew and she didn’t?
“Not if her brother has anything to do with it.” Ebony raised her eyebrows.
“What are you doing here anyway? Are these online orders?” I picked up one of the dresses on her counter. That actually brought a smile to my friend’s face. “Yes! It’s working amazingly. I can’t thank Theo enough. One of these is going to all the way to France.”
“Ebony, that’s fabulous.”
“I’ve not had many visions the last week or so; it’s been nice to have something to keep me busy.”
“You’re missing Henry, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” Ebony chewed on her bottom lip and she blinked her eyes a few times. “But he said I was as cuckoo as he first thought. So I think I can safely say we’re through.”
“Oh, Ebony.” I gave her a hug. I was going to be having words with Mr Marston when he came to paint tomorrow.
“You all ready for your very important role of Charlene’s godmother?”
“I am. I’m honoured. Hopefully Kim will let me get a look in with the baby.”
“Who knows what Kim’s going to be like? I don’t think Fate herself can predict her behaviour. If she gets out of control I promise to bind her in my webs. That’s all I can do.”
“Thanks for dropping by, Shelley.” Her gaze dropped to the floor.
“Hey, look at me.”
She did but she sighed.
“You have been there for me all through my meeting Theo, and through Charlie’s birth. It’s time I was there for you. I’m here, Ebs. Whenever you need me.”
“You were. You were there for me when my visions disappeared. That’s what friends are for. Thanks. Shelley. It’s appreciated, but I’ll be okay. If my visions are to be believed, my husband is still out there somewhere.” She clicked onto the screen in front of her.
“Oh my God!”
“What?”
She pointed to the screen and to a web page that said ‘new arrivals’. “This is one of the places I get my stock from. She’s showing the next seasons styles. These will be available to buy from August this year.”
“Oh, you were just getting excited about new stock. I thought it was something important.” My own idea of clothes shopping was a couple of pairs of jeans about every five years, waiting until they basically fell apart before I had to buy anything else, so unfortunately I didn’t share Ebony’s enthusiasm.
“It is important. Shelley, look at this dress.”
On screen she clicked through to a beautiful pale blue dress with capped sleeves, and a short ‘v’ neck. It came to just below the knee and was covered in the most delicate lace. It was vintage style and absolutely beautiful.
“Oh I have to say that is lovely. I think you’ll sell a lot of those.”
“It’s not for the shop, Shelley. They are the bridesmaid dresses in my vision. So my wedding can’t be that far away.”
Henry had left by the time I returned but he was back by the next morning. As he walked through the door, I wrapped a tendril of blue web around him that picked him up and dragged him into the living room where I sat cuddling my daughter.
“Oh my God, what the hell is happening? Arrrgh.” I dropped him in the chair opposite and then I bound his feet together and secured his waist to the chair.
Mary appeared. “Sorry, Shelley. I heard a commotion and thought I’d better check no one was trying to abduct my granddaughter. I didn’t realise you and Theo had an open relationship and that you were into kink. Guess it’s weird if the mother-in-law joins in with this part, right?”
“Ewwww, Mary. I’ve captured Henry because he has pissed my friend off and he isn’t leaving here until I get some answers.”
“Oh.” Mary said. “I’ll go back to what I was doing then, which was Alistair, by the way.”
“Mary!”
“I’m going. I’m going. Sorry I can’t show off because I have a boyfriend for the first time in a century.”
With Mary gone, I turned back to my captive.
“What is this I hear about you calling my friend cuckoo?” I narrowed my eyes on him. “And just remember you are answering a witch, vampire, and wyvern cross who currently rules the whole of Withernsea so you might want to be honest. Because I haven’t shown you even a thousandth of my powers.” I let my fangs descend and my eyes go red.
“I was a dick. Alright? She was telling my sister about her visions and she doesn’t know but Jax has had a really bad time with her lack of a love life. There have been occasions when I’ve had to drag her out of the flat because she’s been so low, convinced she’ll never meet anyone. I didn’t want Ebony giving her false hope. It would be cruel.” He scrubbed a hand through his beard. “And then she said it was bloody Tristan.”
“Yes, I have to admit I probably had a similar reaction to yours when she told me that.”
“After all she’s been through, I don’t want my sister to end up with an asshole.”
I let out a deep exhale.
“Look, Henry. I can tell you that what Ebony sees is either a warning or a prediction of love and she says Jax and Tristan will be together. Will love each other. No one could have told me that I’d end up married to a vampire. I was a human who had no idea of the supernaturals living here, just like you were and just like Jax is. It’s her future and she’ll work things out and get there. I can’t tell you it will be plain sailing because Ebony saw Kim’s happy ever after but then she also saw a potential pack war and Kim was held hostage before she and Darius eventually were able to get together.”
“Is this supposed to help me?”
“I’m just saying that none of this is straightforward. But is life easy anyway? Even without the supernatural element. Look at you and Callie. You had problems and she cheated on you. You don’t need a paranormal element for things to go awry.”
“I suppose not.”
“Now, it’s like this, Henry. It’s Charlie’s christening on Saturday. If you still want Ebony as your girlfriend then you’d better sort things out either before or while you’re there and before the ceremony starts. I don’t want to hear you arguing on what is a special day for my family. If you aren’t interested in carrying things on with her, then break it to her gently, but after the party, you hear?”
“Loud and clear. Okay. I will sort things out. I really l-like her you know.”
I sat stunned. “You paused, Henry. You said l - like.”
“I’ve got a bit of a stammer.”
“Witch, wyvern, vampire.”
“Okay, I think I might be starting to love her, alright?” Henry blushed which looked endearing on him.
I beamed.
“And for that I won’t render you permanently impotent.” I removed all the webs. “You can get on with the painting now. It’s coming along really well. I have to say. Can I talk to you at some point about decorating this room?”
“Err, yes. Of course. Maybe next week?” Henry backed out of the room and for a moment I honestly thought he might pee himself. Sometimes I think I had a little too much fun with my powers.
I looked at my daughter. “That’s him told, isn’t it, babes?”
I got a little windy smile in return and a gurgle so I guessed she agreed.