Or whatever normal now looks like for me.
I finally take Rune’s hand and we join the others, then move as a group to the cliff’s edge. Below us waves crash against the rocky coast, spraying sea mist into the air and creating a steady rhythm with the intervals of the break.
It’s been a little over a week since I saved Rain from my mother. Since I became overwhelmed with magical powers that cause my skin to glow and silver streaks to run through my hair. Since I brought Darius back to life with my blood. Since my Nanny died. We’ve kept the bar closed in mourning, just as we did after my grandfather passed. But patrons have taken to slipping envelopes of cash under our door, with notes and cards. I’ve also found a casserole or dessert on the porch leading to my apartment nearly every day. My community has come together to take care of me and Morgan’s Pub while I process my Nanny’s death.
Now we stand at the cliff my mother leapt from, back when she was still good, before dark magic warped her perception of right and wrong. A tear rolls down my cheek as I think of how much her heart must have hurt, how broken she must have been to decide that the best thing for her child would be for her to take her own life.
But we’re here for Tilly. As much as I hated losing my mother twice, saying goodbye to my Nanny is just as hard. I plant a kiss on the top of Rain’s head, her cute little body strapped tightly against mine in her carrier. She won’t have any memories of her great grandmother, but I’ll see Nanny in everything my baby girl does, and Rain will have no question about where she inherited her greatness.
We stand a few feet back from the precipice, wind whipping through our hair, a steady stream of light coming from the moon. Hard to call this a funeral, but I feel it’s the right service to honor Tilly and everything she meant to me.
Darius and Zev flank me and Rune stands just behind, his hands resting on my waist. Supported on all sides. It’s so strange to stand with these princes and have an aura of calm about us. The Order members who posed a threat not that long ago are now just grateful the baby is alive and that I’m protected. Betty came to see me after I regained consciousness and made clear the misguided intentions were my mother’s alone. After my final moments with Tilly and the magical stand off with my mom, I know she’s telling the truth.
So now I have a moment to reflect and feel safe. And yet there’s still an anxious knot in my stomach. I can’t place the cause, but the feeling won’t go away.
“I’m here! I got it!”
Our little ceremony has been waiting on one last guest, and we all turn to watch AJ bounding through the grass.
“I had to look through like six boxes before I found it,” she says, handing me the final item we needed before this ceremony could get underway.
“That’s fine, thank you so much for going back,” I say. “I can’t believe I forgot it.”
“Yeah, it’s not like you’ve got anything else on your mind,” AJ jokes. “Vampire wound, killed your mom, skin freaking glows all the time.”
I stifle a laugh. The “killed your mom” thing is almost off color, but that’s how AJ rolls. Also, when you break it down, I did kill my mother, and I’d do it again if I had to.
I look down at the keepsake she brought, and my lip immediately starts to quiver and tears bubble up.
Nanny’s old Red Sox hat.
Before she lost her mind, we’d watch baseball together all the time, going down to Boston to watch the Red Sox and even driving up to Portland for minor league games. Nanny was a fanatic, though she wouldn’t shout or cheer at the games; she’d just watch, her eyes wide, a constant smile on her face. It was like a kind of magic she couldn’t understand, these men batting around and chasing after this tiny orb.
After the incident, which I now see in a very different light, baseball was the one thing that could pull her through an episode. I always thought it was the boring commentary from the announcers, but it was something deeper. It was a peace she found in the skill and strategy, and watching the little ball take flight.
I don’t have many other trinkets of Nanny’s, and I don’t really feel a connection to her possessions. I truly do feel her inside my heart, a piece of her soul living inside mine, flowing through the magic she returned to my veins. So I’m going to throw this hat off the cliff and into the waters below, saying goodbye to the hardships Tilly endured while in her physical form, and turning the page on this chapter of her magical existence.
The princes each bring their own element to this goodbye ritual. I said they didn’t need to make any grand gestures, but they clearly feel a sense of gratitude for Tilly, as they should. Darius squeezes a drop of blood into the hat, Zev adds a tuft of hair, and Rune places a single leaf, one from a tree in his homeland, he says.
AJ pours in a shot of Powers Irish Whiskey, which was the first thing she got drunk on, stolen from our bar during a sleepover when she was 14. Tilly helped her through the hangover and never told her parents, something AJ has never forgotten.
When everyone finishes their moment with the hat, I take it back and add one more thing. Her ashes. Finally, she will be free.
I walk it to the cliff’s edge and conjure an image of my grandmother, of times I spent with her growing up. Of her smile. Of the love in her eyes. “Thanks for saving me, Nanny. Me and Rain.”
I feel a slight ripple in my stomach, like the sensation when you’re on a rollercoaster. It’s just a little tickle from my Nanny and it makes me smile.
I throw the hat off the edge and watch as her ashes begin to glow as they are carried to sea by the wind. In the distance, I could swear I hear Nanny’s laughter, like she’s on a great adventure and enjoying every minute of it.
After a long moment of silence, I turn back to this utterly bizarre and beautiful little family I now have.
“Okay,” I say, forcefully wiping tears away from my eyes. “Now we have to head back to the bar so the community can say their goodbyes to Tilly and Joe the Irish way.”
“Here, here,” AJ says, taking a swig from the bottle of Powers.
I pass Zev the baby and walk over to Darius, who’s still standing at the cliff’s edge, his gaze lost in the horizon.
I slip a hand into his and he squeezes it. “She was an incredible woman,” he says, referring to Nanny.
“Yes, she was.”
He looks down at me. “She was so proud of you.”
That means more than he’ll ever know, or maybe he does know, I realize, as I feel a swell of love for him.
“It’s time to go,” I say softly. “But I can’t show up to the bar glowing.”
His nostrils flare and eyes dilate as I tilt my neck.
As his teeth sink into my flesh, I close my eyes and wrap my arms around him.
He holds me up as my legs wobble, and he takes just enough to ease the magic building up in me. The pleasure and pain spiral in me and I wish we were alone, because there’s so much more I want to do with this man.
But that will have to wait.
We have time now.
We have my whole life, it would seem.
There’s a line outside Morgan’s when we return. I keep the star tucked in my pocket, with a small hole so it can stay in contact with my skin. It’s not an elegant solution, but it works well enough for now.
Zev shifts into wolf form before we enter, since that’s how he’s known here. Though he complains about it, I think he secretly enjoys not having to talk to anyone.
We go in through the back so I can unlock the front door from the inside.
Rune and AJ get in place behind the bar. Zev stays at my side wherever I am--a gesture that now carries added weight given our relationship, and Darius takes the baby so I have free hands to hug and greet people.
I unlock the door and folks I’ve known my whole life pour in. That night, everyone shares stories about my grandmother, from her younger days to more recent years. She touched so many lives. There are many toasts and many tears, but also so much laughter. And Joe’s spot at the bar is kept empty, with
his favorite beer in front of it. We toast to him, to the man who would wake in the middle of the night to help a friend, no questions asked.
Rain is passed around as everyone greets her. Zev sniffs each person who touches her and makes sure they know if they hurt her they will regret that choice.
For one night, I forget about the looming war with three powerful kingdoms and just focus on this moment, being surrounded by friends and family, celebrating two lives that were well-lived and will be well-remembered.
My eyes are red-rimmed and my face hurts from laughing as we close up and let the last patron out.
When I finally lock the door I’m ready to pass out for a few days straight, but Darius halts that plan as he approaches with a box.
“What’s all this?” I ask.
“Some personal effects of your grandparents we found when we upgraded your living environment. I thought you might like to look through them. Maybe they can bring you some comfort.”
I walk over to him and peek into the box. I’ve seen it before. There are pictures, letters, newspaper clippings and cards spanning almost half a century. Nanny and I spent many nights pouring over the contents.
Darius sets it on one of the tables, and I sit and begin removing items one by one to show them to the others. The Sexies all sit with me, while AJ, who has seen the box before, goes upstairs to put Rain to bed.
I smile at the picture on the top of the pile. “This was their wedding day,” I say. They were just teenagers with a lifetime ahead of them. I wonder if they could have imagined what their lives became. Can anyone ever truly know what path they will ultimately end up traveling?
There are newspaper clippings from weddings, funerals and births in the family. And love letters my grandparents sent back and forth during the war. One of these days I will curl up with a glass of wine in front of the fire and read these. Nanny always said I should.
My hand drifts over another letter, and I freeze.
This one is new.
My name is scrawled across the envelope.
The handwriting is familiar.
“My grandfather must have written this… but I never received it,” I say, opening the envelope and pulling out the letter within. The paper looks fairly new, and the writing seems to be scribbled hastily in black ink. My throat tightens as I read the letter, my hands shaking.
My sweet Bernie. If you are reading this, then I am dead. More than that, my life was taken by forces more powerful than you can imagine, all so that you will return to Rowley. Bernie, you need to leave. Forget about Morgan’s. Save yourself and my grandchild. I wish I could have been there for her birth. I know Nanny does as well.
Please heed my warning. You are not safe. Go to Budapest. There you will find a man named Timothy Trendle. Tell him I sent you. Tell him… tell him you are his daughter. He will help you.
I drop the letter, and it floats to the floor as tears begin to sting my eyes.
“What’s wrong?” asks Darius, as Rune takes my hand, and Zev meets my gaze.
“My grandfather says he was murdered, and that my father…” I say, my voice cracking. “My father is alive.”
THE END
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Acknowledgments
Writing a book with a friend is a whole new kind of fun, especially during a global pandemic! Evan made me laugh so much during this process that I give him a 5/5 stars. Highly recommend as a co-author. (But you can’t have him, he’s mine.) So thank you, Evan, for not only being one of my best friends, the best theater teacher my kids have, my favorite actor on The Office, and an all around awesome human being with a really cute kid, but also for being an incredible co-writer!
Also a big thanks to our patrons for always being there for us. Our ninja beta team who help spot the typos that add themselves to our books after we are done writing and editing. BAM the BRILLIANT, for always helping with launches, ideas, graphics and more! And of course, to our readers, for being the best in the whole world!
~Lux KK
About Karpov Kinrade
Karpov Kinrade is the pen name for the husband and wife writing duo of USA TODAY bestselling, award-winning authors Lux Karpov-Kinrade and Dmytry Karpov-Kinrade.
Together, they live in Ukiah, California and write fantasy and science fiction novels and screenplays, make music and direct movies.
Look for more from Karpov Kinrade in The Night Firm, Vampire Girl, The Last Witch, Dungeon Queen, Mad Girl, Of Dreams and Dragons, Nightfall Academy and Paranormal Spy Academy. If you’re looking for their suspense and romance titles, you’ll now find those under Alex Lux.
They live with their three teens who share a genius for all things creative, and seven cats who think they rule the world (spoiler, they do.)
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Get the soundtrack for I AM THE WILD, OF DREAMS AND DRAGONS and MOONSTONE ACADEMY wherever music can be found.
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Evan grew up in Northern California before moving to Los Angeles in 2001. He worked as an actor and a writer in LA until 2015, and now splits his time between writing and running the drama department at the School of Performing Arts and Cultural Education in Ukiah, CA.
Follow him on Amazon.
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A Werewolf, a Vampire, and a Fae Walk Into a Bar Page 22
