Making Midlife Mistakes: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel (Forty Is Fabulous Book 3)

by Heloise Hull

  “Sure. Metaphorically.” Tiberius cracked a walnut the rest of the way and offered me the other half of the shell.

  “Uh, no thanks. I’m good,” I said, smoothing back my hair.

  Tiberius’s nose twitched. “I see you have plans.”

  “Yeah, a date with Aurick,” I said, getting down on all fours to look under the bed. “Do you know where my mascara rolled off to?”

  “Is that the tube thing with the bristles?”

  “It is.”

  “I might have borrowed it. Don’t ask.”

  I paused. “I absolutely will later, but right now, I need you to stall Aurick.”

  Tiberius leaped, his black and brown tail sailing through the air as he bounded to the kitchen. Sometimes, it was hard to believe he was an ancient being.

  Ten minutes later, I was somewhat presentable. One of these days, everything wouldn’t be in constant flux, and I would have time to get dolled up. In the meantime, I’d have to keep killing it with my casual style. Set the bar low, friends.

  “Is that a fashion statement or a mistake?” Tiberius asked as soon as I opened the door.

  I craned my neck. “What?”

  “That,” he said, a tiny paw pointing to the lacy pair of underwear stuck to the back of my velvet skirt.

  I peeled it off. “I was in a rush.”

  “As I suspected, but one never can tell with MILF fashions.” He jumped on my shoulder to give my cheeks a little whisker kiss. “Have fun.”

  “Thanks,” I said, my stomach churning with nerves. The room was sharp and my emotions poignant. And Tiberius was ripe. However, I didn’t think it’d go over well if I mentioned a bath to him. Anyway, I had a date.

  Aurick waited in the kitchen, the black cotton of his shirt pulling at his shoulders. My breath caught in my chest at the sight. His pants were fitted, showing off a firm butt I would not mind gripping—just to verify. His blondish hair was slicked back and tamed, although I liked it wild, too. He kissed me softly on both cheeks, lingering a moment longer to stare into my eyes.

  “Buona sera,” he said, his voice matching his soft eyes. “You look lovely.”

  I shivered from the intimacy of it, and Aurick offered me his coat. I laughed. “I’m fine, thank you. But you look quite handsome yourself.”

  Compliments and acts of kindness? Now this I could do. Already it was helping the vague wrongness of Thoth dissipate like a bad dream. As Aurick said, we would figure it out. Thoth wasn’t going anywhere yet. Hopefully Aurick wouldn’t, either.

  “Do you have anything specific in mind?” I asked.

  “I wish I could say I thought of some grand, romantic gesture, but I am merely looking forward to spending the evening with you in stimulating conversation, eating good food and drinking better wine.”

  “That’s sweet. I accept.” I linked my arm through his as we stepped outside the villa.

  He put his hand on the small of my back and steered me in a one-hundred-and-eighty degree loop.

  “Uh, Aurick?” I ventured.

  “Yes?”

  “We’re facing the villa again.”

  “I’m aware.”

  I waited a beat. “Great. At least one of us is.”

  “Please, have a little faith.”

  I bit my lip and gave in. “Fine, fine.”

  “And please don’t bite your lip like that or we may never make it to the ball on time.”

  I raised an eyebrow and bit it a tad harder. “Like this?”

  Aurick’s reaction was swift. He covered my mouth with his, letting his own teeth nibble the spot. “Mmm, yes. I see why you do it now,” he said in a low voice.

  “Wait,” I pulled back. “Did you say ball?”

  Aurick looked wistfully at my lips as he nodded. “Follow me.”

  “Inside Nonna’s villa?”

  “Ye of little faith,” he admonished.

  We stepped inside, and I finally noticed that Nonna wasn’t here. Aurick answered the unasked questions in my eyes. “Nonna went off to enjoy apertivo hour, and I bought Tiberius off with a bag of sunflower seeds—unshelled. We have the place to ourselves, for a little while, at least.”

  “And we’ll turn into pumpkins at midnight?”

  “Something like that.” Aurick spread his arm with a palm up and the familiar kitchen shimmered, giving way to a sumptuous ballroom. Masked waiters sidestepped twirling couples with gilt trays of bubbling champagne flutes, and peacocks strutted in the hall, flaring their beautiful feathers and pecking at unattended tables of food.

  I squeaked and clapped a hand over my mouth, which was when I noticed the pearl-colored gloves that went up to my elbows. My velvet skirt and tie-blouse were gone, replaced by a French blue damask gown inlaid with gemstones and laced edges. I had a feeling I was showing more cleavage than would’ve been acceptable, historically speaking, but I liked it. I reached up and felt the edges of a masque with feathers, and on my head, my hair was curled into ringlets that cascaded down my back. A sharp point stuck my finger. A crown to top off my elaborate outfit.

  Aurick was just as decadently dressed in a powdered wig and tri-corner hat with brocaded gold along the rim. His black masque covered only his eyes, but I could see their stormy twinkle, accentuated by the inky masque. He had a black tailcoat that was also edged in gold with shining, gold buttons down to his knees. It was open to reveal a stiff, black-collared shirt buttoned to the top of his broad chest.

  “Would you like a mirror?” he asked, producing an antique-looking glass with a long handle. My lips were painted gold to match the gold thread along his open coat and cap. We made a handsome couple.

  “I thought you said no grand romantic gesture?”

  “Total red herring.”

  “Where are we?” I asked in wonder.

  “Venice. Sometime in the eighteenth century. These are my memories. I came for Carnival once on the advice of a friend. While I didn’t much care for it then, I think it has a certain charm, especially now that it lacks certain unappealing characteristics. Namely, the ripe smell. Olfactory scents don’t transfer across illusions.”

  “Oh my God. I’m in Venice? Eighteenth century Venice?”

  “You’re in an illusion of eighteenth century Venice. See the edges of the ballroom and how they’re a little fuzzy? Exactly like a memory. Also, we can only see what I saw on that trip. I did, however, take a very pleasant gondola ride down a canal. Would you like to have a glass of champagne while we sail?”

  “Yes. Absolutely!”

  Aurick escorted me through the throng of richly dressed dancers into the night, one that had already happened centuries ago. Revelers stumbled in darkened alleys between the piers and the basilicas. A man in a red masque bent over a woman, pinning her against a brick wall. She ran a finger down his chest with a long nail and stared seductively under her lashes.

  “The nice and interesting parts of this city blend fairly close, eh?”

  “You’ll find a much looser definition of ‘nice’ and ‘interesting’ here,” Aurick told me.

  He spoke to a gondolier and tossed him a gold coin. The man climbed out and handed Aurick the rowing oar, speaking Italian in a much harsher and quickened accent than I was used to. I could see the famed bell tower standing darkly in the distance.

  Aurick jumped into the wooden boat, his boots clunking loudly on the flat bottom as he offered me an arm. “My lady.”

  “Thank you, good sir.” I let him help me down in the crazy contraption these people insisted was fashionable clothing and settled onto a bench. Aurick pushed off and began to row.

  “I think you’re supposed to serenade me with a heart-wrenching song,” I informed him.

  “Hey, I’m just trying not to wrench my back with this thing.”

  I laughed. “Fair enough.”

  For a moment, I stared at the stars that hung low and heavy in the dark sky. The water lapped gently in the lagoon and merrymakers provided their own serenades in the night air. Forcibly, I pu
shed from my mind the sudden image of another bridge in a darkened, medieval night. I hated Thoth.

  “Ava?”

  I jolted up. “I’m sorry. Did I drift off?”

  “It’s fine. You look exhausted. Not that you don’t also look ravishing. Did you manage that nap?”

  “I did, but it didn’t feel very refreshing.”

  “Is that why you’re unusually quiet?”

  “So, quiet for me is strange?” I tried teasing.

  “Yes,” he replied simply.

  I blew out my cheeks, my fingers trailing in the canal. A dolphin broke the surface to butt its bottlenose against my hand. It lifted my heart for a moment, but I knew I needed to confide in him. Completely.

  “You’re right. I saw Thoth again in my dreams. Or maybe they’re just memories and I’m not dreaming or sleeping at all anymore. I don’t really know,” I admitted. “In any case, this time he didn’t try to hide his identity.”

  Aurick pulled me into a firm hug, and I breathed deeply his unique salt and wood smoke scent. Even if we couldn’t smell eighteenth century Venice, which I guessed was a good thing, I could still smell him. He was solid and real, and he felt like home.

  “What do you want to do?” he asked.

  “Find his weakness. Learn how to defeat him.”

  Aurick watched me with a thoughtful look on his face. “Didn’t you say you saw Coronis’s memories to help shake her out of her coma?”

  “Yes,” I said cautiously, not quite sure where he was headed.

  “As supernaturals, our memories are faultier the further back we go,” he explained. “If you look closely, even this illusion is missing key elements, I’m sure. It lacks real depth, because it is built on merely a memory, which is imperfect even under the best of circumstances. I would assume that your case—reincarnation—is even trickier. But Coronis and Mak were there. They might be able to see themselves and remember what they were doing during the Archon Wars. Perhaps even how the gods were defeated or Thoth himself.”

  “Maybe,” I said, relieved he wasn’t suggesting I let someone else into my own deepest, darkest memories. Nobody needed to see that, not even me.

  “It’s worth a try.”

  “Fine, but can we do it tomorrow? I want to enjoy this perfect night. Alone.”

  Aurick gripped the base of my head, curling my hair around his fist. “I’ve been waiting for you to say that,” he growled into the little spot behind my ear. It sent shivers ricocheting through my body. My mouth opened and a small gasp escaped, so I wrapped myself more fiercely into his warmth and his steady arms. The boat rocked as we moved together, a sensual oblation to the ancient gods of the lagoons.

  Forget Venetian masquerades. I wanted this. I wanted him. My nerves fired wildly as his hands inched around my waist, kneading and pulling. My core was heat and flames, and for once, I didn’t think about how long it’d been since I’d last had sex. In fact, I couldn’t even remember in this moment, and I didn’t care. I only cared about this man and the little swirls his tongue was doing down my neck before plunging into the v-line of my corset.

  The gold crown slipped from my brow as I leaned my head backwards and let him work away at the stays, his fingers nimbly picking apart the strings and giving me appreciative, guttural groans.

  “I swear, I cannot get enough of you, Ava. I want all of it, all of the time. It is blissful torture to always be so near, but not near enough. Never near enough.”

  I bit my lip as his tongue found my sensitive edges and swept me under. I was falling, going further than—

  This is new. An illusion? Well, it’s not nearly as good as mine. Wouldn’t you say, little wolf?

  Thoth’s voice was rough with undisguised jealousy. Even as he tried to sound light and conversational, it streaked through his tone like veins in a slab of marble. But as much as I struggled to rid myself of the intrusion, Thoth was too strong. I had to sit and listen to him as Aurick’s tongue did things that made my toes curl.

  Shall we go on another adventure together? Surely you’re not satisfied with this mummy?

  Panicking, I began to pull away from Aurick, the air suddenly cold around my bared breasts.

  Question. If he’s dead, can he still fulfill his manly duties? Are you sure you want to risk it? I remember your old fervor. Why, don’t you recall that one time in Egypt—”

  “Leave me alone!” My scream shattered the illusion, and I found myself lying next to a very hurt looking Aurick on his bed in Villa Venus. And my boobs were hanging out.

  I struggled up to my elbows. “I’m sorry, not you. That was—good. Very much good. I—”

  Aurick stopped my struggle to re-clasp my regular, cotton bra, and like a gentleman, he slowly did it for me. His eyes gleamed in a predatory way I’d never seen from him before. “It was him, wasn’t it?”

  I didn’t try to deny it. This was the time for honesty. “Yes. He’s jealous, and now he’s threatening the people I care about.”

  Aurick’s eyes were still burning with an inner fire. “I wish I could rip him out with my bare hands and throw him to the dogs of hell.”

  “I have a better idea, although the dogs of hell thing sounds tempting.” I tossed Aurick his shirt. “Let’s go.”

  “Where?” he asked. “We don’t know how to kill a god, and I, for one, don’t care to stare at his immobile body. I might try to do something irrational and accidentally wake him up before we’re ready.”

  “We’re not going to see Thoth.”

  “Then what?”

  I dragged him by the hand across the villa to the silent Vespas. “Like you said. We’re going to find Coronis and Mak.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Bang, bang, bang. Coronis’s door rattled on its hinges. Okay, I was a little amped up.

  Muted voices carried dimly over the threshold, but it was the drop of water that alerted me to Thessaly’s presence above my head.

  “It’s just Ava and Aurick,” she called, and the door swung open.

  “Is that your system?” I asked, distracted. “Pop in a liminal space? Because I’m sure we can cut you a one-way peephole.”

  Coronis smiled and welcomed us in. “She’s not quite housebroken yet,” she joked. “I wouldn’t fight it.” Then she saw my face and her mirth drained away. “Ava, what’s wrong?”

  “Thoth.”

  “He’s awake?”

  “No, but he’s stalking me in my mind, and I want him out.”

  “Do you have a plan?” she asked, immediately jumping to my side and gathering the troops. If it was a war and there were horses, she’d be riding at dawn to defend me, my own little Paul Revere.

  That was when I noticed the soft jazz music and half-empty bottle of wine. “Am I interrupting?”

  Coronis quickly dialed down the music and cleared the table. “This is important, too. Tell us your plan.”

  Interesting. I had definitely picked up on the fact that she hadn’t said ‘no’, which meant yes. Or perhaps I was too eager to play matchmaker.

  I cleared my throat. “Honey.”

  Coronis gave a little laugh. “Yes, sweetie?”

  “No, I mean literal honey.” I went to her window and stared across the square at Mak’s honey shop. “Do you know where Mak lives?”

  “Above his store. But what exactly do you want to do?”

  “If I could see my memories from the Archon Wars, I might be able to see how the gods were defeated.”

  I shot Aurick a silent sorry for changing the plan on him without telling him first, but it was very possible that I was there. If the Archon Wars were in the medieval period, my wolf body had been born and reborn multiple times already. Perhaps the magic in me was drawn to it. Although I was terrified of what I’d find, it was better than not knowing.

  Coronis opened and closed her mouth a few times. “Well, I guess that sounds reasonable.”

  “Exactly. We need the specifics. How were the pillars toppled? Who did it? If I was there, I can
see from my vantage point and possibly walk around like I did in your memories.”

  Coronis shivered. “Better you than me. I do not care to live that war ever again.”

  “I got it, don’t worry,” I promised. “So, is Mak at the taverna or do you think he’s at home?”

  “Let’s go knock.”

  “You want to do what?” Mak asked for the third time, forcing us to repeat the plan again as he stood dazed and confused in the middle of his honey shop. Even in the dark, the scythe that cut off Ouranos’s balls glittered with dried ichor.

  “I want to see how the gods were defeated the first time,” I said patiently. “Thoth has found a way into my mind and I’m sick of it. I want to break the hold he has on me, and possibly see how to defeat him once and for all.”

  Aurick stepped up. “And I think it’s dangerous to break the curse without knowing all the possible repercussions.”

  I waved him down. “Yes, yes, but this is a good first step. I also need to go back and re-read the Emerald Tablets. They were Thoth’s and clearly hold many secrets. I’m not going to be hasty. I promise. I’m in the research and gather information phase. It’s even less intense than a research and development phase, if you will.”

  Mak shrugged, clearly not getting in the middle of it, and picked over his supply. A moment later, he came back with a starlit jar of golden honey. “Where would you like to do this? You need to be lying down somewhere comfortable. This magic is a bit trickier than what we used on Coronis, since it’s a specific period you want to see and not just the emotional resonance of your most painful memories. Also, it’s dangerous to be doing it so close to these other honeys.”

  “Really?”

  “They can sense each other, and I have no idea how they may react.”

  “We can go back to my apartment,” Coronis offered.

  We sped back across the square, my body like a live wire. What was I about to find? What had been my role in the wars? Did I already know deep down? At worst, even if I wasn’t involved, the magic may let me watch from afar if I focused hard enough on that moment in time.

  We gathered in Coronis’s bedroom where I laid flat on her perfectly made bed, a black and white striped pillow cushioning my head. Aurick stood on one side and squeezed my hand.