She was kind of going to miss it.
Chapter 27
Armand
It had been a rather long night, even after they headed back to their stateroom. Most of the trouble had involved trying to explain to Kitty why he and Annabella wanted to be alone.
It had taken a while, but, eventually, she’d wandered off morosely, muttering, “purring” and rolling her eyes. Neither Armand nor his partner had any idea what she meant.
It wasn’t like he wanted to upset Kitty, either. He still adored his ex-cat and the woman she was becoming, and the three of them did need to have that long talk sometime soon. But, after the traumas of the day, he had needed to be near Annabella alone, to convince himself that she was still safe—and, since her conversion, was still his. Once he’d been certain of that, he’d gone to great lengths to thank her by showing her that the new mouth she’d given him worked just fine.
As everyone met for breakfast in the Promenade Café the next day, he was still holding her hand. But the first sights there kept all of them from talking for a while.
One was the red-headed woman, who was having a very calm conversation with her husband about why they absolutely didn’t work together and how they’d both be happier apart.
Her husband looked first like he’d just been released from prison, then as though he were pondering what wonderful thing he’d missed, and finally pleasantly resigned. When they left the room a while later, she had nodded at Armand and the others.
“Thank you,” she’d whispered. And then she was gone.
The man who had previously been the first victim spent the entire meal on the phone to an assistant. Apparently, he was a state legislator somewhere outside of California and was now absolutely determined that they work on drafting and passing a law which made it illegal to sell any piece of property without revealing any unpleasant history attached to it. Unlike the woman, he made very certain never to make eye contact.
The historical society was scattered here and there, as well. All of them looked quite happy, although how much they remembered was anyone’s guess.
Once Miss Janeway, still wearing her new crocheted pins, and Chamberlin arrived, sitting on opposite sides of the table, the meal began in earnest. With “ignore us” spells in place, they discussed any loose ends which still needed to be seen to.
Among those joining them to figure these out were Miriam, Doris, Eveline, and William and Teena, all of them quite cheerful.
Miriam and Doris had struck up a very pleasant friendship, and Miriam now seemed determined to introduce Doris to a fully-transitioned trans man who had been one of the first people she’d counseled and now ran the program she worked with.
Smiling, Armand knew very well—with the new powers of lovesight he was perfecting as the duke—how that was going to work out.
William and Teena caught them up, as well. “We had a chat with the woman you referred us to,” Teena said quietly, either not knowing about or not trusting their privacy spells. “I have to say, the whole conversation-through-a-mirror thing is pretty disconcerting.”
Trying to remind himself that he was going to have to get used to tea soon whether he liked it or not, Armand smiled and drank his coffee. He wondered what Tillie had asked for in return for her help.
“It seems Mrs. Patel . . .” William picked up, mangling her title into something far more mundane—and much more of his original time period. “. . . wanted to know if I would be willing to be trained to help out her, um, group or council.”
Despite his years as a spirit, the magical world was clearly coming as a shock to him.
Armand wasn’t surprised—and even less so at Tillie’s offer. Revenants could be very useful spies, as they could blend in with both the worlds of the living and the dead—and there was never any need to worry they’d be captured in a dungeon somewhere. Or killed. At least, not for long.
“I’m certain she’d look after and compensate you,” Armand assured him. Tillie never allowed good help to go by unpaid.
“Um, she also wants me to try to counsel some people she knows with past-life trauma,” Teena went on. “She says since I went through it, too, I could help.”
Armand had no doubt of that. Tillie was always a good judge of where someone’s skills could be of most use.
He was even less grudging about how that applied to himself now. Ever since last night, when he’d embraced his new future with Annabella, safely away from any possible danger to her or himself, he’d been seeing the bonds between partners so clearly.
“Isn’t that what you were training for?” Miss Janeway put in gently.
“Well, to be a counselor, yes, but not necessarily . . .”
Miss Janeway shrugged. “Trauma is trauma. It doesn’t make it any better or easier to talk about when everyone you know doesn’t believe the thing which traumatized you even exists.”
Teena looked thoughtful, and Armand supposed that she was probably just processing the change. No doubt, Tillie would have her two new recruits with her soon.
Annabella was staring over the couple, though, and he could feel her thoughts moving in a different direction. “Kitty, why didn’t you like William? You don’t seem to have a problem with him now.”
Kitty, who was up to about 3/5 tea to cream, put down her cup and looked a little embarrassed.
“He chose not to live,” she said simply.
Everyone stared at each other.
“Cats don’t commit suicide,” Brutus explained in such a full sentence that Armand suspected Kitty had been giving him instructions. “Dogs sometimes do, but a cat will push on till there’s no way to exist anymore.”
Hubert smiled at him, and Armand suspected that if the dogman had still had a tail, it would have been wagging.
William seemed as though he wasn’t certain whether to be wholly sorry at his decision or not, as things had turned out in a way he was apparently pretty happy with.
“Cats and humans are different,” Kitty agreed.
They finished their meal peaceably enough and eventually everyone said their goodbyes. Before Miss Janeway and Detective Chamberlin left, though, Armand gathered them together, Annabella at his side.
“Detective, how much do you remember about the last few days?” Armand asked him.
“You mean the ones which didn’t happen?” Chamberlin smiled. “More than I’d like, really. In fact, the only reason I’m here now is that I took a few days off.”
As this was certainly a positive difference, in many ways, Armand didn’t go into it. He also wasn’t quite certain how to begin.
Mostly, he suspected his new job would be about getting certain people to meet each other and then letting their inherent connections do the rest. But when it came to a little old lady who was really a goddess and a middle-aged police detective who’d only just realized that the otherworld existed, maybe not.
“You do know that the two of you have been together through several of your lifetimes, don’t you, Detective Chamberlin?”
“Christopher,” the man waved the title away. “And Margaret has told me that we’ve met before.” There was just a tinge of pink to his cheeks.
Armand moved closer. “I realize that in pretty much every earlier era, a middle-aged man could not possibly get together with a woman everyone saw as an aged auntie, but it is the 21st century now . . .”
He let the thought hang there, knowing very well what should happen.
Miss Janeway’s blue eyes sparkled. “I would never force you to do anything, Christopher, my dear. I’m certain that would be quite embarrassing for you.”
Turning to her, he stared for a moment and then took her hands. “You’ve been waiting for me through all these lifetimes, haven’t you, Nemesis? Waiting for me to have the guts to admit the way I feel.”
She gave him a tentative smile.
Sighing, he pulled her closer. “To hell with convention.” And then he kissed her.
Well done, your grace, Annabella
told him with a smile. Now we just need to find a job for Kitty and a way for her and Brutus to live with both us and Hubert.
Her and . . .?
Staring over his ex-cat and the dogman, he blushed a little. He’d always sort of assumed that was a one-way street, but now that he really looked with his lovesight . . .
Yes, you’re right. Are you sure YOU aren’t the duke?
No. But I suppose I’m a duchess. She sighed. I’m going to need to learn to swan into a room appropriately, aren’t I?
Loving her, Armand just laughed.
Epilogue—Two Months Later
Annabella
Amazingly, being a duchess wasn’t as difficult as she’d feared. Mostly, it required letting Kitty choose her clothes and then letting people’s expectations do the seeing for them. Perhaps Tillie had laughed at her choice, but it had been the sort of laugh that said she’d predicted this all along.
Coming back from a Sorcerers in Service brunch, which had been disguised as a Flower Appreciation Club, Annabella was itching to get back to Armand. The meetings of all those sorcerers in the U.K. who were doing various jobs for the Council were only able to last about three hours. After that, every sorcerer in the place was going mad to get back to the solace who grounded her.
For Annabella, that was Armand. And, weirdly, Kitty.
Of course, it had been Tillie who’d first recognized the twin solaces and had told her that, while they were rare, they weren’t considered dangerous. After all, every sorcerer needed a solace—one person they were connected to above all others, who kept them both sane and interested in the world around them—and two would just keep them doubly grounded. Thankfully, both man and ex-cat seemed fine with their roles, so she wasn’t going to ask questions.
Most of the way to the bedroom she and Armand shared in the ridiculous fantasy castle which was the home of the Duke of Winchester—whomever that was at the moment—Annabella heard him ask, I feel you getting nearer. Are you alone?
Yes, she smiled. Have something in mind?
She heard his mental laugh.
Sadly, at the moment, that would be a little inconvenient. We’ve got a visitor.
Kitty’s here?
She nearly cried out at his confirmation. Glancing around, Annabella started running to get there faster.
Kitty had taken up her new role with the Council, too. Partly, she gave lessons to other pets and familiars who had been made human on what the best ways were to behave and speak. Partly, she was working as a ghost translator on those cases which needed one.
It was much too rare that she was here, these days. Splitting their time equally, when they were home, between Hubert’s house and the castle, Kitty and Brutus were making their own life together.
Admittedly, neither Annabella nor Armand knew much of anything about it. Cats enjoyed having secrets, and dogs liked to know who their alpha was. They both suspected that Brutus really enjoyed it when Kitty occasionally ignored him in public. Whatever happened in private was their own business, which was why their room was in an entirely different wing.
Finally, Annabella squeaked to a halt in front of their bedroom, the tennis shoes she bespelled to look like high heels loud on the marble floors.
Quietly, she opened the door to see Armand lying back on the bed with Kitty napping with her head on his stomach, while he stroked her long hair.
She was snoring gently, bless her. It was by far the most adorable thing Annabella had ever seen.
Armand smiled up to welcome her home, and Annabella closed the door and tiptoed over, not wanting to wake her.
Anything new with the sorcerers? he wondered.
Nothing more important than this.
Slowly making her way onto the huge, ducal bed, she kissed Armand and lay down beside him. Then, they all took a little catnap together—the duke, his sorcerer, and their much-beloved ex-feline.
Want to Dive Further into the More in Heaven and Earth Universe? There’s Lots to Explore!
If you’d like to read about how Annabella and Armand first met, try the new adult magical gothic fantasy, Moonlight, Magnolias, and Magic. Join Annabella as she learns all about witches, makes some terrifying discoveries about family secrets, and tries to avoid becoming her ancestral home’s next sacrifice:
https://storyoriginapp.com/universalbooklinks/7b82271c-ba55-11e9-8f5b-9f4e4f93fd97
If you’d like to enjoy another mystery with lots of quirk and a paranormal twist, try Unearthly Remains. Join the immortal Sgt. Marilyn Jaye, as she struggles with two murders and her unprecedented attraction to newly-turned werewolf, Henry: https://storyoriginapp.com/universalbooklinks/ae69fb58-66a1-11e9-9b5b-b3150184f041
Or you can pick up its short story prequel, “Things to Do at the British Museum When You’re Dead,” to discover what it’s like for her human partner, Erick, when he’s just starting out with Supernatural Oversight:
https://storyoriginapp.com/universalbooklinks/9b54fbf6-8fc5-11e9-8110-2fee6bca5160
If you'd like to read another quirkily-humorous, new adult urban fantasy, try Protecting the Dead. Come learn about the adventures of Lydia as she struggles to understand the supernatural world and the paranormal creatures who inhabit the Roanoke Apartments in her first job while also dealing with her attraction to her angelic new boss:
https://storyoriginapp.com/universalbooklinks/3caa27a2-66a3-11e9-8eff-bf586265c024
All of the above (Moonlight, Magnolias, and Magic, Unearthly Remains, Protecting the Dead, and “Things to Do at the British Museum When You’re Dead”) plus another prequel short story, which tells how Annabella first got her job with the last duke, are also available together in a box set at a special price: https://storyoriginapp.com/universalbooklinks/bba8b1e0-9a2c-11eb-80ec-db21fb1ce391
If you enjoy funny, new adult fantasy, you can also check out Carrie and Evan’s story in Cursed in White, and meet a lightning girl, a nature witch boy, a judgy black cat familiar, plenty of very odd vampires, and a mystery or two to be solved, all on a gothic, haunted island:
https://storyoriginapp.com/universalbooklinks/e87acb90-55a4-11ea-96d7-8b1d557e3d27
Or try a humorous new adult fantasy complete with angels and some rather wacky gods and goddesses trying to figure out who or what has trapped them in Children of the Gods. May involve dolphin rides, a goddess-filled day out for mini-golf in Niagara Falls, and talking mummies: https://storyoriginapp.com/universalbooklinks/1a0905c6-4d31-11eb-b5a8-bf5e72380d9c
Or, if you’d like to learn more about the magic in this universe and lose yourself in a community full of witches, sorcerers, centaurs, odd cats, and reluctant time travellers, then try A Wild Conversion and see what happens when Emma and Frederick have to unravel a conspiracy which goes back several generations:
https://storyoriginapp.com/universalbooklinks/d9d33bfa-d811-11ea-9ef7-63f05ee3f6c7
Or, if you'd like to take a look at the whole More in Heaven and Earth series and learn all the corners of this paranormal universe, then you can find the series page here:
https://storyoriginapp.com/universalbooklinks/ee1fd0f4-c70a-11ea-9bd7-7fb4b81d8cb1
To join Katherine Gilbert’s More in Heaven and Earth Newsletter and get behind-the-scenes info and updates on new releases (plus quirky character interviews), sign up at: http://eepurl.com/dCcccL
To find out more about her books, check out her webpage at: http://www.katherinegilbertauthor.com
For all other inquiries and questions, you can either contact her at [email protected] or message her through her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Katherine-Gilbert-Author-102573417043950/
Author’s Note
While I’ve tried to keep to many of the truths of the Queen Mary, I’ve taken quite a few liberties here.
Some of these are major ones, such as the fact that, as far as I’m aware, there has never been any sort of murder on board the ship, either in its docked or ocean-going days. Others are much more minor (such as opening and closing time
s for restaurants, the exact location of some areas on the ship, the fact that the ship didn’t use the terms “second” or “third class,” and the usual route of the ghost tour). My apologies. Still, this is a work of fiction.
Despite my liberties, if you get the chance, you should definitely go visit the ship. Whether it’s for the history, the ghosts, or just the beautiful old setting, it is a truly wonderful place to see.
There’s also a mention here of the scrapping of the SS United States at the Philly Shipyard (when Annabella and her friends have been pushed into an alternate timeline). Fortunately, as of the writing of this novel, this has not happened, although the fate of that beautiful old ocean liner is still in grave doubt. While plans to turn it into a Queen Mary-like attraction and hotel are often tossed around, none of them have yet come to fruition.
Here’s hoping that all these amazing ships will be around for us to marvel at for a very long time.
About the Author
A lover of the era of the great ocean liners (but very glad not to have lived in the time periods which created them), Katherine Gilbert knows more stories about these ships than anyone in their right minds wants to hear. When their stories mingle with the gothic and paranormal, she’s even more hooked. Living in South Carolina far from all of these things (except maybe the gothic and paranormal), she teaches at a community college and writes tales which mingle all her great obsessions.
Sorcerers, Spirits, and Ships Page 17
