There was a bang, and Mara poked her head in. “Anyone hungry? I’ve got supper.”
“Mara!” Ziva said, launching herself off the back of the couch to help Mara lift a cart over the threshold and into the Athenaeum. I followed.
“Where’d you get that?” I asked.
“Found it in the storeroom,” she said. “It makes lugging everything in here much easier.”
“We have a storeroom?” I scowled.
Mara spun to face me and put her hands on her hips. She’d look angry, if not for the twinkle in her eyes. “I swear, Lev, sometimes I’m surprised at all the things you miss that are right in front of your face.”
“I’m not,” Woe quipped around her second or third donut. She lifted an eyebrow. She could tease me all she wanted. It did my heart good to see that girl eat well.
Mara smiled sweetly at me but shot Woe a dark look. Baby steps. Between them, any progress was good. “It’s been right across from your room this whole time. Have you never checked in the empty apartments in the Cavern?”
I shrugged. She still didn’t believe I’d spent all those years waiting to die. I hadn’t explored anything before she came along.
“Any news on William yet?” I asked and dropped a kiss on her cheek.
Mara lifted a bowl of mer-fruit onto Jason’s desk. “None yet.”
I grabbed the next bowl. It looked like mashed potatoes. “We’ll keep searching.”
It was an ache that didn’t fade. I knew he was out there, and the Boss knew where. We were sure of that, but that’s as much as we had to go on.
Mara looked thoughtful. “It’s amazing that your old home in New Berm has been there the whole time. Have you checked there?”
“I’d searched that town from top to bottom. Twice.”
She made a face. “I know how you look.”
“Then we’ll look again.”
She nodded once, satisfied with the plan. For that, I was thankful.
I grabbed two more bowls. “Do you think you made enough?” I asked Mara.
She shrugged. “Felt like a party.”
“I saw you on the news, Lev.” Vic held up a copy of a newspaper. The headline read Whale in the Hudson River. She pointed to the image. “Looks like somebody took a picture from the Uptown Bridge.”
Unexpectedly, the holo-projectors hummed, whirring in the corners of the room. The Librarian didn’t normally join us for supper.
“Librarian’s back?” Woe asked.
As though in answer, the Librarian appeared. “Um, excuse me, Lev?” The slender man tugged his mustache. I suppose I’d become the leader of our little group in Jason’s absence.
“Librarian,” I answered. He was such a nervous sort. I wondered if it was a part of his programming or something his journey to cognizance had caused.
“Uh…” His gaze darted to the ceiling. “There’s been a knock at the office door.”
I nearly inhaled my cigar. “What is it?”
“Someone would like to speak to Lev.” He twitched when he said it.
“Another one?” I spun around to face Mara. “Do you know what this is about?”
“I have no idea, Lev.” Mara’s face twisted in concern, and she wrung her hands. “Do you think Bitteen didn’t really die?”
While the lack of body had weighed heavily on my mind, I didn’t say that to Mara. We still had the Boss to deal with. “I’m sure Bitteen died.”
I hoped God wasn’t keeping tally of all my little white lies.
Woe whispered something in Ziva’s ear, and she nodded. “Librarian, will you watch Ziva for me while we run upstairs?”
He shifted back and forth. “Yes, yes, I will teach her about wormholes.”
Vic shook her head, and then she and Woe jumped off the couch. Vic crossed to the fireplace and grabbed a poker.
“I can’t believe this is happening again.” Woe studied her a moment, then asked, “Ready?”
Minutes later, four of us were upstairs. In the hall, Woe unfurled her wings.
In the shadows, a figure leaned against the Office door, reading a newspaper.
“Hello?” I called out. “I’m Lev.”
The figure spun and stepped into the light, tucking the paper beneath his arm. The dim light illuminated a man’s scruffy face and fiery red hair. He looked thirty-something and vaguely familiar. He had a paper in his hand.
“Is Lev here?” he asked.
Lev stepped forward. “That’s me.”
He dropped a backpack off his shoulder and rifled through it. A moment later, he retrieved a weather-beaten envelope. “This is for you.”
I scanned the letter.
Dear God.
It was from someone that had seen my son in New Berm, visiting his mother’s grave. Sweet, sweet Anne. Perhaps it was the break we needed.
Mara elbowed me. “What is it?”
“A clue,” I said, tucking the paper in my pocket. “One that we can hunt down later.”
She considered me for a moment and then nodded.
We had so much to catch up on. Reluctantly, I pressed a large bill into the young man’s hand and then stepped back. “Thank you.”
The young man nodded and made his way back the way he came.
“Come on, Ziva. Let’s play checkers,” Woe said. Vic followed after them.
I caught Mara’s wrist. I waited until they’d all gone through the secret passage, then crushed Mara against me and pressed my mouth to hers as everyone filtered out of the hallway.
When my pulse pounded in my ears, I pulled away. “Do you know how glad I am that you’re here? With us?”
Mara whispered close to my ear, as breathless as I was. “I love you.”
My breath caught, and I could barely speak. “And I you.”
Until the oceans evaporated and my body turned to dust, my future belonged to the woman beside me. Until the end of time.
Two hours later, down in the Athenaeum, I struck a match and touched it to the end of my seaweed cigar. Puffing rhythmically, I savored the taste of the ocean while Woe knocked a pile of crumbs off her belly and onto the floor. “Do you think Jason will care we’re eating in here?”
I considered Jason’s empty chair. His absence impacted us keenly. We needed to tell him about Bitteen, and then let him know that the Boss was still out there.
“Jason can complain about it when he gets back, but not a minute before,” I said, unwilling to let the thought of cleanup ruin the mood.
They laughed, then the chattering kept on as I settled into my favorite wingback chair. But, this time, instead of watching the fire, I turned it around to watch my family.
45
Return
Woe
New Haven City
I jiggled the knob, but I had to put my shoulder to the door to get where I wanted to go. With Jason gone, Lev would have to fix it so I could get out onto the roof without jamming my shoulder.
Now that I had my wings, Arún and I always used that way in. Despite Jason’s warnings about regular mortals discovering that we were real.
The sunset sky stretched I made my way to the center of the rooftop garden, shaking my head.
Regular mortals.
Yet another way we disagreed. Jason believed knowledge of our existence would bring panic to the streets. I believed people were ready to know about the magical and paranormal that existed just beyond their reality.
I shook my head and in the half-broken lawn chair recliner, waiting to feel the flutter of our baby—our daughter—in my middle and anticipating the return of her father.
The roof of Jason’s church was as it always was, and claustrophobia never found me up there. Set apart and quiet, it was a welcome break in the roar of boisterous people, still high-spirited after our recent success over Bitteen.
The sun disappeared, and the moon rose, bigger and brighter than I remembered it. My time beneath the cloud cover of Raishana and then beneath the endless twilight of the Hurricane Sea had made m
e appreciate the sky over New Haven even more. That realm had been washed in gray.
Beneath the water tower, a punching bag had been added, and the chains that held it squeaked against the hook. The rest of the Keepers, Ziva included, were chatting and laughing over cards, but I waited for Arún.
Lev and Mara would soon be off to hunt for his son. Arún and I would mentor Ziva with Vic filling in some days.
The shadows leaned in.
The Boss was still out there… She wouldn’t give up her hunt for me. That much, I knew, but Arún would arrive and push all my worry away.
I climbed up onto the parapet and took a seat between the gargoyles. The grotesque creatures used to be my friends, telling me the secrets of New Haven City, but, these days, the figures made no sound. Their mouths never moved.
I pressed my cheek to the cheek of the one closest. I missed the murmur of the prayers being funneled from mortals below. It had a rhythm like waves on a beach.
Through mind-speak, Arún had promised to return that night. But he was running late, and that wasn’t like him. I paced the circumference of the parapet.
I had so much to tell my husband, and I couldn’t wait for him to wrap me in his arms. The kiss following his long absence would be sweet, and the anticipation thrilled me.
Hours later, I stared at the sky. Clouds collected at the horizon and turned bright red with the impending sunrise. A gentle breeze stirred the potted plants and raised beds. The bee flowers shivered in the heavy morning dew. The first hummingbird of the day zoomed by.
A whole night had gone. A chill sank into my bones, and my teeth began to chatter.
Arún always kept his promises. He wasn’t late.
Something had gone horribly wrong.
To Be Continued…
Author’s Notes
Thank you. Of all the books in all of the Kindle world, you chose mine.
Thank you for taking a chance on a new author like me. From the bottom of my blue-haired heart. I don’t think I can convey how much I appreciate you.
As a writer, I’m not out to write life-changing Literature, but I’m all about sharing the crazy what-if adventures my brain likes to go on while I’m washing dishes or clothes or waiting on goat kids to be born. The best adventures are those shared.
Thank you for sharing this one. I hope you loved meeting the Keepers of New Haven as much I did.
What’s next for the Keepers?
Stick around. The next book is about how Vic finds her very own hairy beast to have and hold, and [redacted]. I bet she’ll surprise you!
The team has to drag Jason back from his trip to “find himself.”
Woe’s pregnancy progresses, and she goes hunting for Arún. She also figures out that her “baby bump” isn’t the best for her aerodynamics. Go figure.
Don’t forget to check out the spinoff novella series—New Haven Novellas. If you liked the peacock shifter, check out Feather in which Jane Jones seduces a would-be assassin.
Join Feathered Fiends (my Reader Group) to get your dose of #DailyBird.
Drop me a line or visit me on Instagram. Can’t wait to connect with you!
Thank you,
~Bokerah, 2019
P.S. If you buy more books, I’ll probably buy more peacocks. **nudge, nudge** I have my eye on a silver pied breeding pair of peafowl, and you could help me name them.
P.P.S. If you liked THIS story, tell your friends about this series, leave a review (even a one- or two-word review can make a world of difference in how I am allowed to market my stories), and try Victory’s Kiss, Book Three in the Keepers of New Haven Series.
About BOKERAH
Bokerah Brumley lives on ten permaculture acres, complete with sheep, goats, peacocks, turkeys, geese, guineas, ducks, chickens, five home-educated children, and one husband. She serves as the president of the Cisco Writers Club, moonlights as an acquisitions editor for The Crossover Alliance, and works as the production/marketing manager for an independent New York publisher.
For more information and a complete list of published works, please visit:
www.bokerah.com
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