In The Dark (The Guardianship Trilogy Book 1)

by Sarah K. Jensen

  Callan, years wiser than his age, said, “What are we waiting for? It seems to me like she’s okay with us being here. Not what I expected, but hey, if the rest of them are as nice as her, then it won’t be so bad.”

  Memphis nodded, still shell-shocked, and let Laif guide her inside. The room they stepped into was a foyer. Hardwood floors stained dark, a modern light fixture, which hung a good five feet above Laif’s head, and an antique writing desk that sat on the wall opposite the door, which housed a beautiful old staircase. It was warm and welcoming. Again, not what Laif expected. Obviously, not what Memphis expected either.

  “Haven’t you been here?” Laif asked softly.

  She shook her head. “Jacob brought me once, but I never made it past the steps. His parents met us outside to give me the money. They didn’t want me anywhere near their home, so…” She shook her head again. “Doesn’t matter. That was the past.” Memphis looked up at him and smiled. “You and Cal are the future. I love you.”

  Laif brushed his lips against hers and Callan made gagging noises, then laughed when Laif swatted him on the behind.

  Fiona ushered them into a large family room, telling them to have a seat as she sat on an overstuffed brown leather sofa. This room was used. Comfortable.

  “You’re not what I expected,” Callan said.

  Memphis opened her mouth, but Fiona waved her hand as she laughed.

  “I imagine not,” she said, a smile in her voice. “Things happened far different than we expected them to, and we weren’t kind to your mother. I just hope that when I explain, you’ll all forgive us.”

  Laif asked, “So, is your husband home?”

  Fiona smiled. “David should be home any minute. Jacob and his wife are on their way as well. They have four children. I’ll let him tell you about that when he gets here.”

  Before Laif could respond, though truth be told, he wasn’t sure what he would have said, the gravel on the driveway crunched and a car came to a stop. When Fiona went to the door, another car pulled up behind the first. The three Craigs watched through the large window as a man that could be none other than Jacob Riley helped a very pregnant woman from a Volvo wagon and four children jumped out and ran over to the older man who had just stepped from a silver BMW.

  When Jacob and his wife started toward the house, Laif about lost his balance. Jacob’s wife looked so much like Memphis it was startling. Memphis must have noticed as well, because she grabbed Laif’s arm, in an almost bruising grip, and said, “Is it me, or does that woman look like me?”

  Just then, Callan turned around and said, “Mom, she looks like you. Jacob looks a lot like Laif too.”

  This whole scene reminded Laif of those old black-and-white Twilight Zone shows he’d watch as a kid with Bryson. He definitely felt as though he’d stepped into another dimension.

  Fiona must not have told the newcomers who their guests were because when they entered the room, Jacob stopped dead in his tracts, looked from Memphis to his wife and back again, and swore under his breath.

  His wife, Susan, was it? She stared at Memphis, slack-mouthed, then shook her head, as if to clear it. Suddenly, her expression changed in recognition and she smiled beautifully. “You must be Memphis. I’ve heard so much about you. I’d hoped we’d get a chance to meet someday.”

  Again, Memphis just stood there, staring. Laif took pity on her and squeezed her hand as he said, “This is all kind of a shock to us. You must excuse us; we weren’t expecting a warm reception. And we definitely weren’t expecting someone who looked so much like Memphis.”

  Jacob’s wife nodded in understanding. “Oh, I’m sure you didn’t with the way the poor girl was treated. And I was quite surprised when I saw a picture of her—after we were married—” she glared at Jacob “—and realized that the girl Jacob had gotten—”

  She broke off when she seemed to recall the kids in the room. Then she clapped her hands and said, “Okay kids, go see if Nanna needs help setting the table. Joseph, you be in charge, but please be nice to the little ones, don’t just boss them around.”

  Joseph, a boy who looked the spitting image of Jacob and who seemed to be roughly Callan’s age, whined, “Oh, come on Mum, I know the story. Can’t I stay?”

  His mother shook her head. “You’ll have plenty of time to talk to your cousin after dinner. I’m sure they’re here for at least a few days, so you needn’t worry. Now, go and keep the young ones out of here.” She looked at Memphis, “Do you want your son to stay or help in the kitchen?”

  Memphis hugged Callan to her side like he’d be snatched away and said, “No, he can stay.”

  Laif almost laughed. Things were just that bizarre.

  “Susan, let’s all sit for a bit,” Fiona said, again ushering everyone to the family room at the front of the house. The kids disappeared down a hallway and cabinet doors and drawers could be heard opening and closing as bickering acted as a perfect backdrop to children working together.

  “Where was I?” Susan asked as she slowly lowered herself into a chair. “Oh, yes. My darling husband had forgotten to tell me that the woman he’d gotten pregnant just before we’d met looked like my twin.”

  Jacob looked about as uncomfortable as a man could get without spontaneously combusting and Laif took a perverse pleasure in it. “I didn’t marry you because you looked like Memphis. Therefore, I didn’t feel it was an important thing to bring up.”

  Susan rolled her eye and said, “Men. They are so dense sometimes.” She waved off whatever Jacob would have said and continued, “Anyway, I know you didn’t come all this way from Texas to hear about how dense my husband can be. I’m sure you have questions. Dad told us you’d come soon, so we’ve been expecting you.”

  Memphis finally seemed to find her bearings and asked, “Who is your dad and how would he know we were coming?”

  Susan looked at touch confused. “Why, he’s your uncle and my father. Didn’t Ian tell you about him? About Aiden? About us?”

  Now Memphis looked mad. “No, Ian didn’t tell me about you.” She stood up, steam all but coming from her ears, and Laif couldn’t help but be glad that he wasn’t the cause. “Ian,” she bellowed. “You had better get here, now!”

  Jacob, along with Fiona and David, looked at Memphis as if she’d lost her mind. And when Memphis said, “I don’t care if you’re still in Austin, you have five seconds to be here, or so help me—”

  Ian stood in front of her, taking her shoulders in his hands, but she batted his hands away. Memphis slung her hand out, somewhat pointing toward where Susan sat, and choked out, “She is my cousin?”

  Ian swallowed visibly. “Now, lass, don’t get yourself so worked up. There was too much going on for you at home to tell you then. I knew Susan would set you straight on everything.”

  Her hands were balled into white-knuckled-fists, and Memphis had a look that Laif had only seen when she wanted to bash his head in. When she fought the Oíche Scáthanna it was with a calm detachment, but when she was mad at him, there was an inferno in her eyes. And the fire seemed to burn a hole through Ian.

  “Please, lass. I was not here when it all happened, and I would not have approved of how my brother handled things. If I’d been here, none of this would have happened. But I wasn’t and it did. I really am needed in Austin. Your new family is not having an easy time learnin’ to fight in our ways, and Susan is so much like you, she can help you understand. Come now, sweetling, she reacted mostly the same when she found out that you were her cousin.”

  Laif could tell Memphis didn’t want to accept this explanation, or lack of explanation, from her father, but nodded none-the-less. “You’d better take care of them while we’re gone.”

  Ian leaned forward and kissed Memphis on the forehead. “I will, darlin’. This I vow.”

  Somewhat mollified, Memphis nodded. Ian disappeared.

  Jacob moaned. “I can’t get used to this fae — er —Why can’t they use the bloody door or a mobile for goodness sake
?”

  Laif had to agree. Popping in and out of rooms, or across the ocean for that matter, was freaky.

  Callan, ever the kid, said, “I think it’s cool that Granda can do that. It means he’ll always be there when we really need him, right?”

  Jacob seemed to just now notice Callan. And he paled. “You’re…”

  Callan didn’t say anything, in fact, he looked scared.

  “I don’t know what to say,” Jacob said. “I’m sorry.”

  Laif waited for Callan’s disappointment to manifest, but it didn’t. Memphis must have been waiting too, because after a few seconds, she let out a hard breath and said, coming back to sit by Laif and Callan on the sofa, “I think I’d like to hear what my uncle Aiden had to say to all of you and why you sent me away if you didn’t want to.”

  Memphis still couldn’t get over how much Susan and she favored each other. It was very strange to have someone look so similar to you. Then there was Laif and Jacob. And Callan and Joseph. Freaky was definitely the word for it.

  Susan smiled. “Let me tell you my story, at least some of it. It intersects with yours. Then we’d all love to hear more about you.”

  When Memphis nodded, Susan continued, “My father met my mother when she was quite young. According to him, he waited until she truly grew up and married her. She was seventeen. They met when she was twelve.” She waved her hand as if that wasn’t truly important.

  “Anyway, he never hid who he was from her. He said it was important that she know who he was. And since she was of Síofra’s blood, he wanted her taught how to fight. Then, a few years later his brother didn’t tell his shonuachar about being fae because he was scared. Just because my mother didn’t freak, didn’t mean his wouldn’t.”

  She shook her head and frowned. “The problem was, when he had to leave her—since the fae aren’t supposed to be with humans, she was devastated and married a man who treated her poorly.”

  Memphis snorted. Poorly? What an understatement. Laif tensed but said nothing. Neither did Memphis. She’d listen to this woman tell her story.

  Susan leaned back in her chair and rubbed circles on her pregnant belly. “So, when I came along a little less than a year after they married, I knew what I was, half-human, half-fae. It was normal.”

  She shrugged. “It was just, life. I grew up knowing the stories of Caoimhe and Áinle, Síofra and Liam, and Nuadha and Gael. They were my family. Not so removed as hundreds of years, but my grandparents, aunts, and uncles. I grew up with the magic and knowing my place in life.”

  She blushed brightly, a curse to all redheads, and studied her hands for a second before saying. “That was until I met Joseph’s father.”

  Jacob tensed visibly but didn’t say a word. He did earn points by taking his wife’s hand and squeezing it gently.

  Susan smiled up at him and then returned her gaze to Memphis and crew sitting on the sofa. “It’s hard to sneak around when your father is fae.”

  She grinned beautifully, looking like a teen rebel. “I had to wait until he was off the island, so-to-speak, to get away with anything. One day, I was running around with some friends and met this guy. I’m not sure what his real name was, because he was not who I thought he was. He was part fae but had glamoured himself so that I wouldn’t realize it. I fell hard and fast. When I found out I was pregnant, he laughed, rubbed his hands together, and said, ‘My job here is complete. Yer shonuachar will no’ want ye now.’ And the jerk just disappeared.” Her cheeks turned red. “I never saw him again.”

  “Anyway,” Susan waved her hands as if none of that mattered. “When my da realized that I was carrying a bairn, he went berserker on me and told me that I was supposed to marry Jacob Riley and what if he didn’t want me with me carrying another man’s child. He didn’t even listen when I told him I didn’t know a Jacob Riley. He just kept saying that it would all work out, even if he had to help fate along.

  “Then, when he found out who Joseph’s father was he was gone again for a few weeks. He came back and said he’d taken care of him for me, and I knew better than to ask questions when he said a subject was closed.”

  Susan kissed Jacob’s hand, smiling into his eyes as she said, “I didn’t want to marry anyone at that time. I was kind of through with all men, stupid creatures that they are. But then when I met Jacob a few weeks before I was to deliver, and he told me about you, I knew he would accept us and that I could accept him. Of course, I also knew that my own da had shown up after Jacob had got Memphis pregnant and told him that if he did not do everything in his power to make you leave—” she was looking at Memphis again, “—he told Jacob that he would make things difficult for him.”

  Jacob snorted. “Bloody man said he’d cut my balls off and shove them up my—” he stopped short, obviously becoming aware of the others in the room. “He’d shove them up my backside. Your da is a menace and should be locked up.”

  His gaze finally settled on Memphis. “He told me that you were not meant to belong to me. That you belonged to another and that I had a shonuachar who had made a similar mistake. He told me that in order for you to find your destiny, I had to send you away. That your way would not be easy, but it was your path and that since my son,” he choked on the word, showing remorse and pain, but went on, “was not truly mine, that I had to send you away.”

  Jacob shook his head, tears fighting for freedom, but he managed to hold them at bay. “I didn’t listen, you hadn’t even said you were pregnant yet, so how could this man know?”

  He looked down and swallowed. It took a few minutes for Jacob to collect himself. When he finally looked back up his eyes were bleak.

  “I wanted to prove to him that we were meant for each other, that we were great for each other. I’d had dreams about you. At least I thought I did. I loved being with you. I thought I loved you. If you were going to have my baby, then I would marry you. I was going to ask you to marry me. I felt bad that I hadn’t waited until you were older, because even then I knew you were too young, but I didn’t let that stop me. I was scared if I didn’t make you mine, something would happen, and you’d go away.” He snorted. “Lot of good that did.”

  When Susan rubbed her hand up his arm, he continued, “That last night we were together, when I returned home Aiden was in this very room, telling my parents that I had impregnated his fourteen-year-old niece.” Jacob wiped his palms over his face, his shoulders slouching. “He told my parents that if we did not send you to America, he would ruin them. Then he showed us what he is. He showed us his power.”

  Susan wrapped her arms around him, kissing him on the cheek. “Jacob didn’t want to send you away. He begged to keep you, but my father can be very persuasive. Jacob was tormented with images of what life would be like if he didn’t send you away. He saw your son killed and then the deaths of everyone he loved because neither of you had the protection of the fae or of the bond of your shonuachar. He was then shown visions of me and my life.”

  Jacob took up the story again. “When I saw a vision of Susan, I realized my mistake with you and knew she was mine. I understood that even though you looked so much alike, you weren’t the girl in my dreams. I knew that her father was right and that I had to send you away.”

  He stared intently into Memphis’s eyes. “I didn’t sleep that night. I tried to come up with a way that you would not be hurt, but when I found you waiting for me….”

  Again, he rubbed his hand over his face. “When you told me that you were having my baby, I knew what would happen if I— if I didn’t make you hate me.” The tears finally fell. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you. I just didn’t know any other way.”

  Memphis felt all the old hurts and pain from long ago settle into a comfortable place in her heart as she watched the first man she’d ever loved crying over the hurts he’d caused her. When he stood and knelt in front of her son, their son, and looked him in the eye, she felt whole again.

  “I wanted you. If you understand nothing e
lse, know that I wanted you. I just understood that you weren’t mine. That you had a father out there meant to find your mom, and that I wasn’t supposed to be that man to you. I was supposed to be the father of Joseph. I am sorry for all the pain I’ve caused you and your mother, and it was always with a heavy heart. Every time you had to move to another city because you didn’t have the money to stay put, a part of me died inside.”

  He laid his hand over Callan’s knee and Callan placed his hand on Jacob Riley’s. “Aiden promised that your time was coming close that you’d find the man for you both, and I had to trust that because he’d been right about me and Susan. Joseph is my son. But I still always loved you. I always will.”

  Callan wiped a tear from Jacob’s cheek and smiled. “It’s okay. I’ve had a great life with Mom and now we have Dad. God gave me everything I needed when I really needed it and I’ve always been happy. Now Mom has everything she needs too. I’m happy you have your family. I forgive you.”

  Jacob wrapped Callan in his arms and cried. Memphis turned into Laif’s embrace and let go of all old hurts and regrets and when Jacob freed Callan, Memphis grabbed him and wrapped him in the love of their new family.

  It took squabbling from the kitchen to bring them all back from the past. Memphis laughed when a small boy came flying into the living room screaming “It wasn’ me!”

  Jacob grabbed up the toddling boy and Fiona caught the curly-haired redheaded little girl barreling after him. “He cut my hair!” she screamed, holding out a hunk of curl to prove her point.

  “It was the fairies who done it,” the boy, maybe four, swore. “Promise I never touched her hair.”

  “Mum,” the girl, maybe five, implored her mother. “He was holdin’ the scissors and when he walked past me, my hair feld to the floor!”

  Jacob took the scissors in question from the baby’s hands and swatted him on the bottom. “You can go withou’ dessert, little heathen.”

  Suddenly, the darling girl looked around the room, then at her daddy’s face, and asked, “Why is everyone crying?”