by Heloise Hull
Jim jabbed his finger at us more violently. “There! At the table. I want to press charges. Breaking and entering.”
Without taking his eyes off Jim, Aurick took a slice of pizza and bit into it as if it was the greatest thing he had ever tasted.
Jim howled. “And add property theft for eating my pizza!”
“We can take a look around if you’d like,” one of the officers said, swirling his finger in the air as the vein on Jim’s head bulged dangerously.
“Why would you do that? They’re sitting right here! Arrest them.”
A radio crackled and the female cop used it as an excuse to slide into the other room. She peaked around corners, opened a few doors, and came back empty-handed, her head shaking slightly.
Her partner coughed into his glove. “I can take your statement, sir, but I don’t anticipate it going very far. Without any physical evidence, there’s not much I can do.”
“Jim, sit down and have some pizza before you pop a blood vessel in your eye,” I told him.
He stuck his finger in my face. “See? Did you hear that? She’s right here. Arrest her!” He grabbed my shoulders and shoved me toward the officer, but Aurick caught me and gently guided me out of harm’s way. I had no holy idea what the officers saw, but the woman raised her eyebrow at her partner.
“Have a good night, sir,” they said, turning to leave.
“What? No. You can’t do this!” Jim followed them out the front door. “I’m not crazy.”
“Well, that was quite the show,” I said. “Anyone want another slice?”
To my surprise, Marla raised her hand.
After that, Aurick and I proceeded to have a rather lovely time, chatting about home and drinking Jim’s good wine. Jim put in two more calls before the dispatcher threatened to arrest him for making false statements to the police. This punishment was getting better and better. If I didn’t desperately miss Aradia and my friends, I might have even enjoyed myself.
And you know, if Luca wasn’t there.
That night, I accidentally bumped into him coming out of the bathroom. Instead of hobbling out of the way like he had for most of the evening, he raised his head. A chill spread over my arms as I remembered that intense gaze fixated on me only a few days prior as he tried to wrestle my soul out of my body to make room for his dead wife. Or something like that. I was still a little vague on the details.
“Ava,” he rasped.
“Luca, I don’t want to talk to you.”
“I only want you to understand,” he said, his hand snaking out toward mine.
“Don’t touch me,” I snapped. My hair bristled and rose in a sheet around my face, as my fear and anger called on my mother magic to protect me.
Luca winced and pulled back his hand as if he’d been bitten.
An instant later, Aurick skidded around the corner and took in the scene at the top of the steps. “What did I tell you?” he growled, towing Luca back to their makeshift room in the basement. “Do not speak to her. Do not look at her. Do not even think her name.”
The way his fingers gripped Luca’s arms made it look like it hurt, and for a moment, I felt sorry for him. Luca did horrible things, but he did them out of love. While not exactly altruistic, there was still something special about that depth of affection. I knew an old grandmother once who was so in love with her dead husband that for fifty years after his untimely death, she never looked at another man again. She even spurned offers for coffee. The shock of losing him at forty-eight was so intense, she never went through menopause. It was almost like that was what happened to Luca. Because he was a blood mage, he decided he never had to deal with grief. He was so intent on resurrecting his wife, his body never went through its cycle. He never healed or moved forward.
That didn’t mean I wanted to talk to him. My pity from afar was sufficient.
As for Aurick, I didn’t mind him swooping in like that. After twenty years of Jim’s indifference, it felt nice to be taken care of. Obviously, I could have handled Luca myself, and my twenty-first century feminist mind was already scolding my heart, wagging her finger with a disapproving frown in place, but I couldn’t deny the tingles that raced up and down my spine at his protectiveness.
I finished getting ready for bed with all of the stuff Marla had bought me—hibiscus tea body wash, strawberry jam face lotion, and lavender mouthwash—and padded back to Josh’s room smelling like a Bath & Body Works model on speed. That’s when I heard a soft knock on the door, and my heart jumped into my throat like a giddy teen.
I cracked the door and saw his face, his arctic gray eyes twinkling. With a furtive glance over his shoulder, I hurried him inside and shut the door. We didn’t allow the boys to have locks on their doors, which seemed really unfortunate right now.
In two steps, Aurick covered the distance and crushed me to his body. I let myself sag into his arms. It had been a long day, indeed. He smelled of woodsmoke and leather and something like primroses. More importantly, he smelled like home. After a few moments of comfort, my stomach looping pleasantly at his touch, Aurick pulled away to study me at arms’ length. I basked in his attention as his eyes and the turn of his lips made his appreciation clear.
“Tell me what happened,” he asked, his eyes going to the bite marks.
“Manu took me to the Council,” I began, my heart thudding as Bruno’s face loomed over me. I hated feeling that vulnerable. I never wanted to feel that way again. “They took a vial of my blood to run tests, and they tore my shirt to reveal my tattoo. From the look on the Egyptian mummy’s face, it’s not common to find the Eye of Ra. Giuseppe Bruno condemned me and the others followed his lead.”
“They put you in front of the whole Council of Beings?”
“I think so. There were twelve of them.”
“That’s insane!”
“And terrifying. Bruno did this.” I lifted my neck.
Aurick’s eyes blazed again. “They think you’re a godling because you had the power to break Thessaly’s curse.”
“I told them I’m just the She-Wolf.”
“Did they believe you?”
“I doubt it, but you could confirm it. Tell them that a god cursed me and turned me into a human. Probably for some sicko version of his idea of a good time. That’s why I had the power to release Thessaly.”
“You think some of his power flows through you.”
“Yes. I’m just spitballing here, but I bet that’s why I keep getting reincarnated. His immortality is probably bouncing around my soul. It would explain why I can’t completely die. I keep dreaming of them. All of my past lives, all of us cursed.”
Aurick paced heavy treads in the carpet. “The remnants of god magic from where you were touched by a god. That would be a completely new phenomenon.” He stopped moving and came back, inches from me. His eyes snapped with the intensity of a blizzard, swirling grays and sparks of silver. He looked yummy, and I wanted to lick him to make sure. “And I presume that’s where the powers are coming from.”
“Now you’re getting it. He turned me into a human on purpose, but I don’t know if he realized I’d get to channel some of his power, too.”
I had no idea if that was the case, but it sounded good to me. Whatever got me out of my house arrest. A god turned me human. A god left part of his essence in me. So now, I could do god magic stuff. Oh, and I kept getting reincarnated because of it. All tied in a pretty little bow.
“Can you shift into a wolf?”
I shook my head. I’d tried a few times since arriving, wondering if the magical jail would hold me in animal form, but nothing had happened except a few hemorrhoid flare ups. Luckily, I kept cream and witch hazel pads in the master bathroom. Unluckily, Marla now occupied that bathroom. I had to ask her to get them for me, and if you’ve never had to ask your ex-husband’s booty call to get your soothing butt pads from your own bathroom, then I’m jealous.
“That’s unfortunate,” Aurick said. “Maybe the ability will come back to
you in time.”
There was a sharp spike in heat in the silence that followed, our eyes locking together. “I’ve missed you,” I said, my voice low.
Aurick jerked forward, an awkward step that he clearly hadn’t realized his body was going to take. With a sheepish grin, he swept the rest of the way and pressed his lips to mine. It was a soft, quiet kiss at first.
When the hunger hit me, I wasn’t fully prepared. My arms wrapped around him and everything felt slightly out of my control. His lips were on my cheek, down my jaw, and into the crook of my neck. My hands wove through his hair, and short gasps escaped from my throat. He refused to grant me reprieve, pulling me up to meet him again and again. His kisses were insistent and rough, but they matched all of the pent up frustration I’d been holding back.
It wasn’t until we heard a toilet flush across the hall that we broke apart. I quickly remembered where we were and what we’d been about to do on Josh’s bed. My hands went to my shirt, which was hanging slightly off my shoulder, exposing the Eye of Ra. Aurick’s eyes went to it, too. Seeing it seemed to shake him out of the lingering fog of our kiss.
“We’ll figure this out,” he said, his whole body aflame. It was good to see that he’d felt the same intensity as me. The same feeling of disorientation, the loss of all sense of time in those moments together.
I nodded mutely. There was no way I was going to betray myself by speaking.
“I should go check on Luca. I bound him to the bed, but I still should be with him twenty-four seven.”
I nodded again, feeling the heat creep up my face. Aurick gave me a last lingering look, his hand going to cradle my cheek. He put a thumb on my lip and pulled it down, his eyes wistful. I resisted the urge to bite it.
Finally, he left, closing the door silently behind him, and I flopped on my back and stared at the ceiling, attempting to dampen the fire stoking in my heart. Thankfully, the Transformer bed sheets helped. Groaning into the Optimus Prime pillow did the rest of the trick.
Chapter Ten
“How did you sleep?”
My head jerked at the realization that Marla was talking to me.
“Oh, fine. Thanks. I’ve been exhausted lately.” I didn’t mention the dream remnants of my past lives, which had been haunting me. They were broken for the most part. No more sustained stories, but the themes were always the same. Loveless marriages, heartbreak, twins, betrayal, death. And here I’d gone and repeated the mistakes of my past all over again. The only constant was my love for my twins.
“Good. Good.” She poured an unholy amount of pumpkin creamer into her mug, turning the coffee as white as snow as it swirled.
I actually felt uncomfortable, like I was imposing in my own house. The thought both angered and deflated me. I didn’t want to be here anymore than Jim and Marla wanted me here, but I couldn’t tell them that. Explaining magic and the She-Wolf was an impossible task. I shifted uncomfortably on my stool. “Marla, I don’t plan to stay forever.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. This is your home after all.”
“Eh, I’m not that attached. I think I’m meant to live in Italy forever.”
Marla perked up. “Really? You love it that much?”
“I do.”
“Why did those men come here if you all love it over there?”
“That’s a big question before I’ve had my coffee.”
Marla plopped down a mug, filled it to the brim, and scooted it in front of me. Then, she settled in for a good story, her chin in her hands.
I sighed. “I’m in a bit of trouble,” I admitted, my mind wondering how to frame it. I needed to stick to something simple. “Nothing serious. Just some visa stuff to work through, and Aurick thought he could help. After I get it all straightened, I’ll be out of your hair and back to Aradia. I promise.”
Marla pursed her lips. She looked reflective, something I normally wouldn’t associate with her. Usually, it was more like flighty and full of half-thoughts and conjured dreams. It occurred to me that she was in over her head with Jim. That she’d allowed it to go much further than she ever planned. Even if that wasn’t the case and she was a money-grubbing adulteress, I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and some unsolicited advice. I was motherly that way.
“Love is a funny thing, isn’t it?” I said as Marla idly stirred her drink with a silver monogrammed spoon we’d gotten as a wedding gift.
“Mm.”
“Sometimes what feels like romantic love turns out to be a love of safety and security. I know I felt that way.”
“You mean with Jim?”
I nodded. “I owe him for saving me, but I shouldn’t have had to pay in the way I did. I let myself stay because I was young and impressionable and desperate. I thought I was scrappy, a survivor, but I took the first easy way out that I could find.”
Marla nearly choked on her pumpkin spice. “Do you regret it?”
I took a sip of coffee to afford myself a minute to think. With a metallic ring, I set the cup down and squared my eyes to her. “I can’t say that I do. I love Josh and Jacob with my whole heart, and I do have some great memories as a family. I merely regret that I didn’t take my own destiny into my hands earlier.”
If Jim knew what I was saying to his girlfriend, he’d find a way to shove me through the barrier and out the door. He’d be that mad. But Marla deserved to hear she had options. What she did with those options was up to her.
“Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t make it somewhere else in life. Women are stronger than they think. We can always start over. I promise you that I’m happier now than I ever thought possible. I was too scared to take that first step, but the second and third were downright delightful.”
“In spite of the trouble?”
My fingers unconsciously flexed around the mug. “With the visa, you mean. A little trouble is nothing for a new lease on life.”
Marla nodded absently, and I hoped that meant questions were starting to gather and take shape. I didn’t want to break up a happy couple to be spiteful. I’d like to think I was past that. But I certainly didn’t want her staying with him for the same sort of reasons I did. No one deserved that.
“Ava?”
“Yes?”
“You don’t have to answer, but is one of the men that came last night the one you kissed?”
I grinned, deciding to revel in my new life for a moment. “Both of them, actually.”
Marla’s jaw dropped, and she forgot that she was still stirring her coffee. I took the spoon for her and threw it in the dishwasher. “But Luca is going through a bit of a rough patch himself. He’s a widower, so it’s nothing serious.”
As for Aurick… well, I didn’t know what to say about him. Our kiss last night was the hottest thing to ever happen to me. In those precious seconds, I had literally lost all sense of life or movement outside of our bodies. But no matter how I looked at it, Aurick worked for the Council. There was some hint of danger in that to me. Maybe that was part of the attraction. It was certainly part of my hesitation.
“That sounds utterly romantic,” she admitted. “I’m happy for you.”
And that was as close to an apology as I was ever going to get. “Thanks, Marla.”
As if summoned by name, Aurick and Luca appeared before things got really sappy. Marla excused herself while Aurick grabbed a piece of toast. “Today is Luca’s trial, so we’ll head downtown after breakfast. I expect him to be taken into Council custody from there. What would you like me to do?” He cast me a quick glance. “I can stick around if you want.”
“Yes. Please,” I said, resisting the urge to hug him. “I have no idea when Manu is coming back or when I’ll be summoned again. If you could dig up some information while you’re there...”
Aurick’s grin turned mercury, hot and burning. “You want me to break the rules?”
“I’m not saying that, but if it so happens that there’s a rule in the way, it might do with a little bending.”
<
br /> Aurick resisted all my magnetic charm, settling for a nod instead of another world spinning kiss. Then, he dragged Luca out the door and through the invisible barrier. Luca looked forlorn, resigned to whatever fate the Council decided. A tiny stab of regret touched my heart, but I let it go. Luca would have to take his consequences, just as I would.
Seconds later, Jim stomped down the stairs, refusing to look at anyone. He poured coffee into a mug, splashing it half-in and half-out. Then he stomped into the garage, muttering something about calling the police again, as Marla quietly followed him out.
“Have a good day, sweetums!” I called merrily.
Then I slumped into the leather rocking chair in the front room. What was I possibly going to do with myself for the rest of the day? As much as I hated having to tiptoe around Jim and Marla, at least the tension gave me something to do. It helped take my mind off things. Being alone was pure torture.
I guess I could meditate.
Or I could try talking to Thessaly. Yeah, that sounded better. I steamed up the shower, letting it run for twenty minutes before I started to feel bad about wasting water. I called her name, knocked on the mirror, and even stood in the door frame with my arms waving in the hopes that she could see me in the liminal dimension, whatever that was.
The water stayed water.
Next, I did my make-up and hair in case Aurick came back early, but he never showed, so I did what I did best in this house: wandered aimlessly. I hated how it made me feel to be back, like I didn’t quite belong. There was nothing to distract me. No new books in the house or hobbies I loved. Nothing I could think to do, except making dinner for Jim and Marla, which sounded borderline masochistic.
I paused in front of the television. Maybe I could find something to flip through for a few hours. I turned it on. Tippi Hedren was being attacked by birds. My jaw dropped. I totally forgot about my first apertivo hour with the girls and the revelation that Coronis was a crow shifter. And a movie star. Hard as it was to believe, one of those birds was Coronis. Which one was she? I squinted at the screen, but it was a flurry of feathers and wings and screaming.
