by E. Menozzi
“Auntie! No!”
She tossed her head back and laughed.
“He’s not my type,” I said, not that it mattered. Once I figured out what he was up to, he’d be sent packing. No point in getting attached.
“And what type is your type, my dear? That Connor of yours, I presume?” She opened the door to the mudroom and wiped her boots on the mat.
“Not Connor.” I grimaced. “I don’t know…I suppose someone smart…driven…athletic…” Someone who would stand up for me and believe in me. Someone who had my back, unlike my ex-boyfriend, who, when I’d told him about the things my boss had been suggesting I assist him with, things that were definitely not part of the job description, dismissed the whole thing as no big deal.
“Hmm,” Aunt Vivian replied, interrupting my thoughts. “Liam is smart, and driven, and fairly athletic. He’s taken to chopping all our wood.”
I shook my head. Chopping wood was not an Olympic sport. “Maybe he is smart, but he said himself he didn’t go to university.”
“Ah! You sound just like your father. So Liam didn’t go to university. Neither did I. You’d think the world didn’t function before they invented universities.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.” She was right. I did sound like my father. This so-called secretary had gotten under my skin. “I’m just worried he’s taking advantage of you and Uncle Oscar.”
Aunt Vivian slipped her arm around my waist and gave me a warm squeeze. “It’s all right, dear. Liam’s harmless. You’ll see.” She waved me into the kitchen. “Now go on up and shower. Your uncle will be ready for a break in another hour or so. We’ll have some lunch and you can tell him about your plans.”
I kicked off my running shoes and sprinted through the kitchen and up the back stairs. If Uncle Oscar didn’t mind having an assistant with no credentials, it should at least be someone who had his best interests at heart. Someone like me. I inserted a new step in my plan. First, I’d figure out what Liam was really up to and get rid of him before he could do any harm to my family. Then I’d take over as Uncle Oscar’s assistant. And maybe get my attic room back in the process.
As I passed the room Liam had been poking around in last night, I slowed to a stop. An hour gave me plenty of time to have a look around before I showered. Maybe I could find something to help me out with step one.
A sound in the hall pulled my attention away from cataloging. I bent my head around the wardrobe door so I could see into the hallway, only to find Evelyn standing in the doorway in full running kit minus the shoes.
I stepped out from behind the boxes that blocked me from her view. “Looking for something?”
She froze when she saw me. My predatory instincts kicked in when I sensed the surprise and fear rolling off her, but years of living among humans had conditioned me well. I’d squashed any flicker in my glamour with a thought while she pulled herself together and adopted a more casual posture.
“I thought I heard something digging around in here,” she said. “I’m glad it’s you and not some rodent.”
I grinned. She was a terrible liar, but I could play along. “Nice to see you again, as well.” I stepped away from the wardrobe and closed the door on the boxes I’d been sorting through. Cataloging could wait.
“What are you doing in here anyway?” She leaned against the doorframe and placed a hand on her hip, exposing a tiny slice of skin between the hem of her running shirt and the waist of her tights. Lust fanned the embers of the predatory instincts I’d managed to rein in.
“Working.” I ran a hand through my hair and reminded myself of my promise to my family. “Your uncle has quite the collection. I’m just getting it sorted.”
“You are, huh?” She pushed off the wall and stepped into the room. “Find anything interesting?”
My brain had decided to clear out at the worst possible moment. “A few things. I could show you, if you want.” Her uncle’s request surfaced in my mind. “Or…I was thinking about going into town later. If you wanted to join me.”
She cocked her head, exposing that graceful neck. “I think I’ll find my own way around, thanks.” She started to turn away, and I scrambled for a response.
“Sure. But it might be more fun with a friend,” I offered. Friends seemed like an acceptable place to start with a beautiful, brilliant woman who seemed completely unimpressed with me, since charming her into my bed was out of the question.
“A friend?” Her arched eyebrows signaled her skepticism.
“Yes. They do have those in America, don’t they?” I smiled my most innocent smile.
She grinned. “Yeah.” She set her hand on a stone statue that I’d placed on the table just inside the doorway. When she didn’t notice what she was leaning on, I grinned.
“As your friend, I feel I should warn you that he might bite,” I said, jutting my chin in the direction of the statue.
She glanced down and jumped, snapping her hand back and hugging it to her chest. “What is that?” she asked, taking a step closer and bending her head until she was eye level with its snarling snout.
I laughed. “It’s a Gargoyle.”
“But what is it doing here?” She craned her neck to peer at it from each side.
“I think it looks quite nice there.” I’d set it on the dressing table temporarily while tidying up, but something about it made me feel like I had a friend keeping me company while I worked. Today, I’d tucked a stack of leather-bound books under the bat-like wings that hovered in their frozen, half-extended pose.
She reached out a finger to touch the point of one of its fangs. “Sharp,” she said, holding her finger up to see if she’d punctured the skin.
“It was a wedding present,” I said.
“For my aunt and uncle?” She glanced at me with a horrified look on her face.
I shook my head. “No. For your uncle’s, let’s see, great-great-great-, oh, never mind. I’m going to lose count that way. One of your uncle’s ancestors. I found it up in the attic. There’s another around here somewhere.” Actually, I knew exactly where it was, but I decided now was not the time for an explanation of my system for cataloging artifacts. “I’m fairly certain they were mounted on the house at one point and then removed by a later generation.”
“You found them in the attic?”
“Yes, why?” I asked.
“Oh. Nothing.” She shrugged and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s just…I don’t remember ever seeing anything like this in the attic. I think I would remember.”
“When was the last time you were up there?”
“I was just a little girl. I think I was maybe eight when we came to visit last. But I stayed up in the attic, with my brothers. I’m sure if there was anything like this up there, my brothers would have found it and wasted no time using it to scare me silly.” She wrapped her hands around her waist and stared past me.
“Well, lucky for you, your brothers never found these. Instead, I discovered them on a shelf behind a cabinet. The other one is still up there.”
“You really are making yourself at home, aren’t you?” She didn’t appear particularly happy about the idea. I still couldn’t decide if it was the living arrangement or my job that had ruffled her feathers. I tried to keep it light.
“Just making sure we’ve cataloged and cross-referenced everything. Never know when you might need a few gargoyles. Couple of these in the front of the lecture hall, and no one would dare fall asleep.”
“I suppose.” She laid her hand on top of the gargoyle’s head, between its pointed ears, like it was a favorite dog. “I wonder if I have anything interesting hiding in my room.”
“I’d be happy to help you look.” I grinned at her, unable to resist the opening she’d given me.
She glared at me out of the corner of her eyes.
I held up both hands and smiled. “Purely in a frien
d-like capacity.” Years of living among humans had not given me nearly enough practice with this thing they called flirting. Without using my powers, I’d have to rely on their primitive method of charming others if I hoped to win over Oscar’s niece.
“Friends,” she said.
“Friends,” I said. It was a start. She relaxed a bit and stopped glaring at me. “So, I can wrap up here if you want to head into town.” A flash of light near the ceiling caught my eye, and I sucked in a breath. My eyes darted between Evelyn’s profile and the ceiling, but she didn’t turn her head. Good, she hadn’t noticed.
“I don’t think I have time. I was planning to have lunch with my uncle,” she said.
“Maybe later, then?” As much as I wanted to attempt to change her mind, that flash of light meant I needed to get rid of her, fast.
“Sounds good,” she said.
I waited until she’d retreated down the hall toward the guest rooms before I shut the door and turned to lean against it, looking into the chaos of crates. “All right, Ari. Where’d you go?” I asked.
Arabella stepped out from behind a stack of boxes. She smirked at me. “How adorable,” she said.
“What are you doing here?” I hated when she used her powers to just drop in on me whenever and wherever she pleased. Especially when she knew magic use near Lydbury would leave a mark that my protection spells couldn’t cover. She might as well set off a beacon and alert our enemies that we were snooping about Edric’s manor. Her disregard for simple instructions put me and my defenseless hosts in danger.
“Don’t worry. I’ll cover my tracks.” She paced around the clutter until she’d reached the one window in the room. “I told you I’d be back to check on you. Found a distraction, have you?”
“Get away from that window before someone sees you.” I waited until she’d stepped away before answering her question. “She’s Vivian’s niece. Visiting for Christmas.”
“Well, if you’re planning on charming a human into your bed for a lark, it sounds like you don’t have much time, then, cuz.” She ran her finger over the frame of an oil painting I’d propped against the wall.
“Not to worry. I’m not charming anyone, anywhere.”
“Yes, well, as long as we’re clear on that,” she said, smirking at me. Of course Arabella would find this amusing. That someone of our heritage—the son of the reigning Faerie Queen, no less—would resort to human-style flirting instead of exercising full-force Fae charm to seduce a lover must appear ludicrous to her. But magic use was magic use, and I couldn’t risk it. Not that something like that had ever stopped Arabella when she was on the hunt.
She stalked across the room until she was standing in front of me. My cousin had the feline grace of a huntress, honed over the years she’d spent as second-in-command to our eldest cousin, Fiona, who was next in line to be queen. “You haven’t found anything useful yet, have you? In this pile of junk?” She waved a hand toward the artifacts in the room.
“No. But I will. Just give me more time.”
“We’re running out of time. The solstice is in a few days. If we don’t figure out how to stop them, the Hunters will return, and we can’t afford to lose any more Fae to the Hunt.”
I resisted the urge to snap at her and instead ground my teeth in frustration. Being hunted each solstice for centuries by Edric and his gang of underworld spirits had reduced our folk to near extinction. We wouldn’t last much longer if we didn’t find a way to stop Edric and keep the Hunt from returning.
“I know,” I said. “I searched all the files in his office. I can’t find anything on Lord Edric.”
“Well, look again. Use your powers if you have to. There has to be something. An object, a note, something that is helping hold him to this world. You”—she took a step closer to me and jabbed her finger into my chest—“just need to find it.” She punctuated those final two words with additional jabs.
“Arabella,” I said as sweetly as I could, “for the last time, Oscar is Godda’s descendent as much as he is Edric’s. That puts him under our protection. Magic use will lead the Hunt directly to Lydbury. Even if I didn’t have to worry about Oscar and Vivian, I don’t think we want Edric to know what we’re up to here. Do you?”
“Fine. Don’t use magic.” She paced and pouted. “But you don’t have time for distractions. So keep away from that human and stay focused on the mission.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible, either. Evelyn’s become part of the mission.”
“What? How? She’s not even related to Godda and Edric.”
“Oscar’s asked me to entertain her. I can’t decline without blowing my cover.”
“Then just tell him who you are and what you’re after.”
“And then what? Kill him? He’s human. It’s against Fae law, even if he is descended from Godda. Not to mention the fact that it’s highly unlikely he’d let us just destroy one of his precious artifacts.”
“You have an answer for everything. How would he even know anything’s gone missing in this place?” She gestured to the dusty boxes crowding us into the corner of the room.
“Why don’t you leave this to me? I’m sure you have something better to do.” I pulled myself up to my full height and allowed some of my power to leak through and radiate off my skin. “After all, as you like to remind me, we’re running out of time.” I smiled at her and put a hint of dazzle into it out of habit. Not enough to leave a marker but enough to remind her with whom she dealt.
“You know your charm doesn’t work on me, cuz.” She pinched my chin. “Faerie immunity.” She met my eyes and flashed her own dazzling grin back at me. “Now get back to work and make your queen proud.” She snapped her fingers and disappeared in a flash of light.
As much as I hated to admit it, Arabella was right. I needed to find the artifact linked to Edric, fast. But first, I needed to convince Oscar to skip lunch so Evelyn would be free. If I couldn’t manage to improve Evelyn’s opinion of me, she might convince Oscar to give me the sack.
3
After my shower, I reached for the phone on my dresser, only to discover a dozen missed messages. I skimmed through them. One was from my mother. Two were from my brothers. I’d read those later. I scrolled through the rest, stopping when I realized that most of the messages were from friends I hadn’t seen or talked to in months. College friends that Connor was probably hanging out with right now.
I opened the first message. Lacie: It’s not the same without you. Call me if you want to chat.
I scrolled to the next message. Serena: R U ok? Here for you.
One of Connor’s East Coast friends’ family had a vacation home in Vermont. Ever since junior year in college, when Connor and I started dating, we’d flown out from the Bay Area for what started as a post-finals, pre-Christmas party weekend before splitting up and returning to spend Christmas with our respective families. The tradition continued after graduation. This was the first year that I’d skipped it. I missed our friends, but they had more history with Connor, so I’d assumed he’d get to keep them after we broke up. It seemed odd that they’d all start texting me at the same time, expressing concern.
I skimmed through the names, stopping when I found a message from Connor. I read it quickly. Then I read it again.
Hey. Ignore Jace. He’s a jerk. Talk later?
My heart sped up. Something had definitely happened. I had no message from Jace, one of Connor’s best friends from his East Coast prep school rowing days. So, I opened an app to check our friends’ profiles. There were some new pictures from a party last night, but nothing unusual. I skimmed through the photos again. At the edge of one of the photos, a little blurry and partly in shadow, was someone of Connor’s approximate shape and size, wearing a Berkeley rowing sweatshirt, holding hands with a girl who didn’t quite make it into the photo. Interesting. But Jace hadn’t posted that one. So, I kept scrolling. That’s when I saw
it. “Beloved History Professor Suspended,” read the title above a photo of my former boss.
I opened Lacie’s message again, and my thumbs hovered over my screen as I considered my reply. I typed: Miss you, too!
I stared at the words for a minute, and then hit send. After, I flipped back and started to read through the article, but a notification popped up almost immediately. Lacie. I opened it.
Can’t believe you missed B’s engagement party last night. Connor said you were in London. What r u doing in London?!
Technically, I was miles from London, but I supposed, from Vermont, it seemed close enough. I replied: Visiting family. How’s B?
I wanted to ask what else Connor had told her, but I hadn’t spoken with Lacie or Becca in months. As much as I didn’t want to chat about how everyone was doing, or talk about my trip, I also didn’t want to look too desperate for information, just in case Connor hadn’t told her anything. Just in case that article Jace posted had nothing to do with me after all. I tapped my finger against the edge of my phone while I waited for a response.
Lacie: Fine. Wish I were there! Is that why you and C broke up?
My thumbs froze an inch above the screen. Connor and I had broken up months ago. I wondered what Connor been telling them at the party. As I considered my response, another message popped onto my screen.
Lacie: Didn’t ask him for details. Taking your side. Esp after watching him drool all over Haley last night. Yuck.
Haley. So, the girl in the photo was his little sister’s best friend, Haley? I wasn’t really surprised, but I did wonder if this was new or if it had been going on for a while now and he’d been keeping it from me. More important, though, I wanted to know what she meant by “taking your side.” I suspected it may have something to do with the article and my ex-boyfriend’s inability to keep his mouth shut about my business.
Thanks, I sent. Before she could reply I added: GG. Talk later?
She replied. Ltr <3
I checked the time. If I didn’t hurry, I’d miss my chance to have lunch with my uncle. I sent a short message to Connor: What time? Then I shoved my phone in my pocket and headed down the hall to the top of the stairs.
