Everyday Evil: A New Adult Urban Fantasy Harem Adventure (The Horned Mage Book 4)

by Liam Lawson

  The Horned Mage

  Book 4

  Everyday Evil

  By Liam Lawson

  Copyright © 2020 by Liam Lawson. All rights reserved.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter One

  My sister doesn’t cry. I mean that. She doesn’t. To borrow her words, she hates “bleeding on people.” Funny thing is, she never minds anyone else bleeding on her. She’s never been less than loving and supporting to me. So, when she called me sobbing and asked for my help, I dropped everything and got on the first bus home. Or rather, the house we had both grown up in. Her more than me.

  Nicole was the Marshal’s biological child. She was four years older than me, intelligent, independent, and strong. I’d been in love with her when Albert and Caroline Marshal adopted me, their secondhand child. I was a constant disappointment to them, and in Nicole’s shadow how could I be anything else? I’ve got nothing but admiration and respect for my adopted sister. It’s not her fault I’m the next best thing to an aimless fuckup.

  When Caroline passed away two years ago, Albert wanted Nicole to come back to Texas and go to college in state. She didn’t. He threatened to cut off her tuition money. She joined the Navy and let them pay for her tuition and spent her weekends learning to shoot guns or something. She said she’d always wanted to see the world and they were always in need of doctors, which was what she was going to medical school to be. Which was where she was supposed to be right now.

  Not here. Not back in this house.

  What to say about my adopted father? Going off his soft-spoken demeanor one would think he was a gentle, caring soul. I mean, he’s a freaking therapist. How much more caring can you get? He cares for Nicole, always has and always will, but none of that was directed at me. I don’t know how Caroline convinced him to adopt me and I think it irritated him how close Nicole and I became. When he cut off her tuition money, he cut mine off too, hence my scholarship and current financial situation.

  Not that I was complaining. I didn’t want his money. I think that my attitude pissed him off as much as my decision to emulate Nicole and go to college anyway. If Nicole was badass enough to follow her dreams and make college work, then I could do the same. If I could ever figure out what my dreams were. Except that Nicole was here, in Texas, not pursuing her medical degree or her dreams. That was wrong. So very, very wrong.

  I’d called an Uber when I got off the bus. This wasn’t Woodhurst. The Marshals lived in the suburbs of Dallas and there was no way I was walking that. I couldn’t really afford it but that didn’t stop me. I’d figure something else out.

  I shook the driver’s hand and stepped out of his SUV onto the front lawn of the Marshal’s house. It was innocuous, blending in with the rest of the neighborhood with its pastel paintjob and brick chimney. I hadn’t ever wanted to come back. As far as I knew, neither had Nicole. What had changed?

  At least Albert’s car wasn’t in the driveway. I’d left first thing in the morning and it was now nearing lunch time. He should be at his practice until later in the evening.

  With an effort, I got my feet moving. The front door loomed before me, happy and clean and fake. I lifted my hand to knock when it opened of its own accord to reveal Nicole.

  She was in lay-around clothes. A huge grey hoodie that hung off one shoulder and almost reached her knees, over a pair of yoga pants. Her pale skin was blotchy, her blonde hair in a frizzy ponytail, and her eyes were red from crying. I almost didn’t recognize her. Who was this person and what had they done with my always collected sister who never looked less than a 120%?

  Those reddened eyes widened, giving me a good look at her icy blue irises as they filled with a baffling mixture of emotions I couldn’t begin to make sense of. “You weren’t actually supposed to come!”

  I hadn’t expected that. “Hello to you, too, sis.”

  She threw her arms around me and squeezed. Tight. Then shoved me away.

  “Dumbass, what are you doing here?”

  I didn’t bother hiding my exasperation. “You called and asked for my help. You thought I wouldn’t come?”

  I still didn’t know what she needed my help for but dammit, whatever it was, I was here for her.

  She sputtered for a good twenty seconds before finally managing to say, “I don’t—you—you are such a boy!”

  “Nice of you to notice.”

  Her laughter was too hysterical, high and sharp like a falling knife. If her less than perfect appearance hadn’t been an indication that something was wrong, that laugh definitely was. She got hold of herself a moment later and frowned, staring at my antlers. With one hand she reached up and rand a finger down the length of one.

  “They’ve gotten darker.” She eyed the prongs. “And sharper. So have your teeth.”

  She stepped back and indicated I should come inside, leading the way to her bedroom.

  I shrugged and followed after her. “Yeah, that’s been happening. Got a DNA test back in Woodhurst that’s supposed to be able to tell me if I’m completely human or not and what my parents might have been.”

  She spun around in front of her doorway. “And you didn’t look at it? What the hell is wrong with you? There’s no way I’d be able to put something like that off.”

  “It hadn’t arrived when I left,” I said. “And you sounded….”

  She swallowed and looked away, turning the knob to her bedroom and backing in to sit on her bed. The room was pink and frilly and while Nicole made it work it so wasn’t her. Not because pink princess stuff didn’t look good on her—everything looked good on her—but she was too strong and serious for this room. It looked like it belonged to a four-year-old.

  Albert hadn’t wanted to let either of us paint or redecorate our rooms to reflect our growing up over the years. In her current state it made her seem small and fragile. It was as if the room did something to her, regressing her and sapping the strength and independence she’d built up over the years.

  “You weren’t actually supposed to come,” she said without looking at me.

  Absently, as if she didn’t realize she was doing it, she began twisting the delicate silver watch she wore on her left wrist. It had been Caroline’s, specifically left to Nicole in her will. If she’d left me anything I never knew. Albert had been the only one to see the lawyer or attend any of the legal things. Frankly I was kind of glad about that. Caroline had…she’d almost been like a real mother to me.

  “I’m here though,” I said. “What’s going on, Nicole? How can I help?”

  “There’s nothing you can do,” she snapped. She pulled her knees to her chest and hid her face between them. “There’s nothing anyone can do.”

  “We won’t know unless we tr—”

  “Dammit, Caleb there’s nothing you can do!” I don’t think she meant to scream because she seemed shocked afterword. As if she couldn’t believe that she’d just done what she’d done.

  She bit her lower lip and, trembling, forced herself to meet my eyes. “I’m sorry. But really, you wasted your time coming.”

  “So, everything’s fine then?” I asked.

  “Yes. No. No it’s not
, but there’s nothing anyone can do about it, okay.”

  Slowly, I nodded. “Okay. What movies are out? I haven’t been to the movies since…damn, August.”

  Going to the movies had been one of the first things we realized we liked doing together. Every time she came home from college, we made it a point to go see something.

  “You want to go to the movies?” She scoffed.

  “What I want is to spend some time with my sister,” I said. “I mean, I came all this way and apparently there’s nothing else I can do, so I’ll just be your little brother.” And get you the hell out of this house for a few hours. “How’s that sound?”

  She brushed her eyes with the heel of her hand, though I hadn’t seen any tears there. “Give me a bit to get dressed. I’m not going out like this.”

  #

  I couldn’t tell you what we went to see. If it was fun or loud or action packed or the dumbest thing to ever hit the silver screen. I bought popcorn and soda and watched a transformation come over Nicole. Changing into jeans and a blouse, fixing up her hair and putting on makeup, had all done something to her. She stood straighter, walked with more surety. The further we got from the house, the more pronounced the difference became. By the time the movie was done, the weeping girl who’d been huddled in her bedroom was gone and in her place was the badass who was going to be a Naval Doctor and screw what her dad said.

  We pulled out of the parking lot, laughing at something or another, when she suddenly got quiet. Her eyes were still a little red, but she looked better. Gorgeous, not just pretty. And a lot more like a person instead of a broken doll.

  “Thank you, Caleb,” she said as she drove us. “Thank you, for coming all the way down here, for taking me out like this, for…for being you.”

  I blushed like a little girl. “Think nothing of it.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I know you’re hurting for money. This wasn’t nothing. And…and you’ve done more than you know to help me today.”

  My smile faded at her next words.

  “But I need you to leave when we get back. Go back to Woodhurst and don’t come back.”

  What the hell? “Screw that.”

  “Caleb, listen to me. I—”

  “No, you listen. You are the strongest woman I know. You have always been there for me.”

  “Caleb—”

  “It’s my turn to be there for you, okay? So, whatever you need, it’s yours. And you’re not getting rid of me.”

  “Caleb,” She shouted. “I’m pregnant.”

  I froze. I think my mouth might have fallen open.

  I blinked and shook myself back to life. My mouth was running before I could even process the words racing through my brain. “Um, congratulations. I mean, that’s terrifying and I support whatever decision you make, but, yeah, congrats. I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.”

  She pulled up in front of the house, not looking at me. “I don’t.”

  Okay, that couldn’t be good. “Damn.”

  She sighed. “Yeah. Damn.”

  We started to get out of the car and then froze again. The driveway wasn’t empty like it was supposed to be.

  Albert was home early.

  Chapter Two

  I did not want to be there. I mean, I knew the asshole might put in an appearance, but I really wanted to keep our contact to a minimum. In hindsight I should have thought this out a bit more and mentally prepared myself for my adoptive father. In my defense, my mind had been solely on Nicole since she called for help. The possibility of seeing Albert hadn’t really registered with me. Maybe I could just drop Nicole off? I dismissed the thought as soon as I had it. I wasn’t going to be that kind of asshole. She needed support and there was no way her father, the man who kept her bedroom looking like it belonged to a girl who still played with Barbie, despite the fact that she was a grown ass woman, was reacting well to her pregnancy.

  Her hand found mine and squeezed. Hard. Not a little affectionate squeeze but the next thing to a death grip. I could smell her fear, sour and sweet on the air, see it in the quiver of her taut neck. My mouth watered. I swallowed and shoved that horrible bit of uncomfortableness out of my head and focused on her. I shifted my hand in her grip and gave a gentle, hopefully reassuring, squeeze.

  She took her eyes off the parked car and met my gaze. She looked like a sick deer that had stumbled into the road and suddenly had a truck come upon her. Her breathing was elevated but slowing as she held my eyes and hand.

  I nodded toward the house. “Does he know?”

  Her shoulders gave a spasmodic shake and she barked out a choked laugh. “Yeah, he knows.”

  It must have been bad. We got out of the car and I stepped up beside her, taking Nicole’s hand once more. She blinked, then stared at the connection. I could tell that she took comfort from it but maybe she didn’t want to be comforted right then? While she was making up her mind about whether or not to remove her hand from mine, the front door open.

  Albert Marshal was an unassuming man as pale as his daughter—porcelain skin, platinum hair, icy blue eyes, he was even kind of pretty. Looking between the two of them there could be no doubt that they were related, even with his delicate looking spectacles and necktie. Like his daughter, I knew that his apparent delicacy hid a considerable amount of strength. The man could swing a mean belt.

  Those pale eyes settled over us, taking in Nicole’s conflicted expression and our held hands, and froze over. Albert was not one of those men who raged with fire when they were angry. He got cold and quiet and exercised his anger with furious speed and precision.

  He didn’t acknowledge me other than that look as we approached, asking Nicole, “What’s he doing here?”

  She looked into his face but didn’t meet his eyes. “I asked him to come.”

  Albert made a face, as if his daughter had just farted. “I see. Where were you? I came home early to surprise you and you weren’t here.”

  She shrugged. “Caleb took me to the movies.”

  “You didn’t text or leave a note.”

  I rolled my eyes. His gaze snapped to me. It was…he’d always been cold to me. I knew his wife had been the one that had wanted to adopt me, and I never really knew why he’d gone along with it. This expression though, it was hostile and completely disproportionate to a disrespectful eye roll.

  I don’t consider myself a particularly irreverent person. I try to be respectful. Especially where Albert was concerned. Going to college without his support was the most rebellious thing I’d ever done. It had only been in the last few months—since I’d broken my curse, specifically—that I’d begun to throw my weight around.

  I met Albert’s eyes and held them. I’d never been able to do that before. “She needed to get out for a bit.”

  “And we thought that we’d be back before you got home,” Nicole said in a rush. “We didn’t want to bother you at work.”

  Right. I’d been very concerned about bothering him at work. Not. Maybe I should have been. Albert had always been controlling, but he’d never been like this.

  “I brought you Chinese food from Yang and Yin’s,” he said, looking away from me.

  Yang and Yin’s had always been Nicole’s favorite. Her face didn’t light up though. Instead she squeezed my hand and blew out a relieved breath. “Oh good, I was worried there wouldn’t be enough for Caleb, but Yang and Yin’s portions are huge.”

  She stepped inside, pulling me behind her. Albert moved aside reluctantly and followed us to the kitchen. Having him to my back made my spine tingle. It was like turning your back on a wolf—you just didn’t do it. Why the hell was I getting so many bad vibes from him all of a sudden? I’d lived in his house since I was thirteen and never got this from him. It was as if a thousand, miniscule things had been altered, and the collective result created an entirely new man.

  The kitchen table was elaborately spread with dishes of Chinese food arranged around burning candles and a bouquet of flowers with baby para
phernalia scattered about. A little toddler swing sat off beside the seat that was clearly meant to be Nicole’s, along with bags of diapers and baby toys. Baby bottle shaped confetti had been spread everywhere.

  “Did I walk into a baby shower?” I asked. Weren’t those usually strictly girl things? No, they were parties. That was it. But if this was a party, then where was everyone?

  Nicole didn’t say anything. She couldn’t stop looking at the swing.

  “I know it will be a while before the baby’s old enough to play with some of this,” Albert said. “But it never hurts to be prepared. I might have gone a little overboard.”

  “A little,” I muttered.

  That table set up almost looked like something out of a romantic comedy. Was he trying to create a daddy-daughter date? Seemed like he’d pushed a little too far for that. Maybe he was just panicking. After all, he’d never done well with change and his daughter was about to be a mother.

  There were only two chairs, so I pulled up another from a different table. It didn’t match the rest.

  We all took our seats.

  “You don’t like it,” Albert said to Nicole.

  She loaded up her plate with Chinese food. “It’s very nice.”

  “I don’t like not knowing where you are,” he said.

  She loaded more Chinese food.

  “Nicole,” he leaned forward. “Do you have anything to say?”

  “Pretty sure she already said it,” I said with a shrug.

  Albert made a sharp turn to look at me. Once I would have withered under that look. That was before this semester. I’d faced down werewolves and vampires and a giant snake the size of this house. Albert’s domineering gaze simply didn’t hold so much weight by comparison. And maybe, just maybe, I’d grown a little since leaving this house.

  “She already explained where she was and why she didn’t get in touch with you. Sounded pretty reasonable to me.” I shrugged and loaded up some sesame chicken.

  “You know how I feel about disrespect, Caleb,” he said.