"Will do, Boss."
My kids were in danger. The first thing my brain did was stop working as I ran out the door, got past the studio window, and launched myself into the air. My wings tore free and beat downward, pushing me up above the buildings and into the night sky. It had been pure instinct, but it worked out. I could fly in a straight line a hell of a lot faster than I could get my SUV through the streets of Bickering,
Within minutes, I dropped into the front yard and banished my wings, running for the door and shoving the key into the lock. It wasn't turning. "Karl?"
"Mom?"
"Oh, thank God. I thought they came back." The lock clicked, and the door opened. Grabbing my boy child, I hugged him to my chest and started breathing again. "Where's your sister?"
"On the phone with the police."
"Thank the creator you guys are smarter than your mother."
"Not smarter, but a little more in touch with how the world works. Like how growing children need oxygen to live." He was struggling in my grip, but I assumed it was because he was too embarrassed to hug his mother. I didn't realize I was asphyxiating him.
"Sorry."
"’Sokay. The hug was nice though." He gave me a smile and stepped out of the way to let me in the house. Just as three squad cars skidded to a stop in front of the house. Four police officers poured out of two of the cars, guns drawn. Grendel got out of the third and immediately started canvasing the area. "Are they still here?"
"No. They left before I got here," I called out to him from the door.
"You four, patrol the area. Call me if you see anything out of the ordinary. I'll stay here and make sure they're safe."
"Yes, sir," they replied like a well-oiled military machine, and got into the squad cars. One went the direction they had come from, spotlight shining between the houses, and the other pulled away in the opposite direction. Just as Mr. and Mrs. Donaldson came out their front door and started bitching about the noise and HOA regulations about parties after six PM. I gave them the finger and walked inside the house. I needed some coffee to steel my nerves and keep me from killing the old bastards.
"You okay?" Grendel had entered the house behind me and followed me into the kitchen.
"Been better. Scared the shit out of me."
"Yeah. Nothing worse than having your kids need you and you're not home."
"Speaking from experience?" I knew absolutely nothing about his personal life, other than his parents had died.
"I raised my little sister when my parents died. No kids, though."
"Shame. You'd make a good dad," I said honestly. He just had that feel to him. Some of the same qualities Ryan had. "Coffee?"
"Please. I think I'm going to need some."
"Oh?"
He looked at Karl standing by the door and watching the front yard like a protective gargoyle. Ryn came running down the stairs and tackled me in a hug from behind. "Thank God you're home."
"Yep. All safe now, kiddo. Why don't you go to bed? You have school tomorrow."
"How can I possibly go to an institute of higher learning when I had a near death experience? I think we should stay home tomorrow." She grinned conspiratorially.
My first reaction was to laugh and say, "Okay." But the cop in my kitchen made me think better of it. "Nice try. Get your ass to bed and drag Sir Karl with you."
She looked at Grendel, back at me, gave me a knowing nod and grinned. "Come on, doofus. Mom's being all parental and shit."
Karl gave his sister an annoyed look, but he nodded and followed her up the staircase. With my hearing, I could tell they stopped at the top of the stairs, and I could practically feel them leaning over the banister to hear what we were going to say.
I handed the first mug of coffee to Grendel. He held it in his hand but paused for a moment while I reloaded it with a pod and another mug. When I finally turned to him, he lifted his mug in a dramatic salute. "What's that for?"
"Just returning the toast you gave me from the studio."
Oooh. Shit. "Hahaha. I didn't think you were watching."
He took a swig of coffee and set it down on the counter. "Have any cream?"
"Milk okay? It might not be expired." I chuckled nervously and turned around, trying to concoct a story on how I got to the house so quick. Schooling my face, I set the jug on the counter and grabbed him a spoon out of the drawer.
He checked the date and splashed some of the milk in his mug, slowly stirring it with the spoon. "Boy. You sure got here quick. You must have been driving like a bat out of hell."
Time slowed to a grinding stop as fear seized my chest in a vice. "Yeah. Luckily, all the cops were on their way to my house, or I might have gotten a ticket."
"Whose car did you take? Sage's? Because yours was sitting in front of the studio when I left."
"Yep. She threw her keys at me and told me to go. She's got that little sporty model, and I drive a tank."
"That's funny." He took another sip of coffee. "I didn't see it in the driveway."
"I pulled it into Daniel's garage. I have a clicker."
"Which you took out of your car, to get in her car, and then drive all the way here."
"Yep. She has a leak in her roof. I thought it might rain."
"Because upholstery is more important than kids."
"Sometimes. Depends on if they clean their rooms or not."
"Cut the shit."
"Consider it cut."
"How did you get here, Kara?"
"I flew," I said jokingly.
"At last. I get an honest answer out of you." He set the mug down and crossed his arms, leaning his hip against the countertop.
"Whaaat? Lieutenant… Are you high?"
"I walked out of my building the moment you ran down the road, jumped into the air, and wings sprouted from your back."
My face fell. "Shit."
"Not that I blame you for being careless. I mean, your kids were in danger. So, what are you? Those weren't angel wings I saw. I was hoping you would catch my bat out of hell reference. Demon? Succubus?"
My mouth fell open as I stared at him. He had taken two guesses, and they'd both been right. "How did you know?"
"This is one of the oldest parts of the country. We're literally right next door to Salem. I've seen some shit." He picked up his mug and took another swallow of coffee. "I'll be honest, I kind of figured it out when you ran into a burning building and healed before we got to the hospital. And when I heard you stabbed somebody in the neck. With your finger."
"So, now what? You arrest me? Kill me? Call the FBI and have me carted off to Area 51 to be dissected?"
"That would probably be the CIA not the FBI. But no."
"What? Why?"
He sighed and pulled out one of the stools under the counter and sat. "Because you're not evil."
"I'm literally from Hell. Of course, I am."
"No. You're not. Neither is the vampire that owns the strip club. Or the werewolf who owns the convenience store on Elm. Or the elf who takes care of the graveyard. Or the brownie who cleans my apartment. You have two kids. You were married. You own a dance studio. You're not evil. The guy who shoots his wife and his kids and then takes his own life. He's evil. The priest that molests hundreds of kids before he gets caught. He's evil. The guy who shoots his girlfriend in the head when he finds out she's pregnant. He's evil. You? You're just horny."
"I have a tail, too."
"I meant…" He blushed, and I couldn't but help myself. I leaned in and kissed him on his nose. To his credit, he didn't pull back. In fact, he closed his eyes and leaned forward a little, letting his lips touch mine. It wasn't a chaste kiss either, and I found myself returning it. Until his tongue touched mine.
I pulled away. "I know what you meant. And while the thought of this going further sounds pretty fucking amazing, I have a boyfriend. Two of them. And a girlfriend."
"I know. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's not that I'm not interested, but it would be
evil of me to throw you down on the floor and fuck your brains out without discussing it with them first."
"Does that mean you want to?" He grinned.
"Fuck the hot cop who knows my secret? What better way to make sure it stays a secret? But to answer your question honestly… Yes. I do. You might be a big pain in my ass, but I like big pains in my ass. So, what are we going to do about the Bickering Bandit? They're pretty evil, and also not human."
"Are you sure?"
"Um…pretty sure, yeah."
"Well, I'll trust your judgement.
I clutched my heart. "Are you sure you're human?"
"Har har."
Chapter 23
"It's been a whole week without so much as an arson attempt, breaking and entering attempt, or a physical assault. Maybe they're gone?"
I gave Karen an incredulous look as we walked up to the ticketing booth of the Fall Festival. Apparently, the theme was fucking pumpkins. They were everywhere. I was going to have horrid nightmares and have to move to Australia where I'd never have to see another one again as long as I lived. Aussies were weird and didn't celebrate Halloween, but they had koalas and other cute shit, so it seemed like a fair trade. And it wasn't like I had to worry about all the stuff that could kill a normal human. Australia sounded better and better.
"Well, this is a festival! Let's have some fun and eat lots of stuff we shouldn't."
"The faces of our enemies?"
"No! God! What? I meant caramel apples and cotton candy."
"Why shouldn't we eat that?"
"Because it will go straight to our asses." Karen glanced down at me, snarled, and mumbled, "Never mind."
Shrugging, I handed the woman behind the plexiglass a fifty and asked for two arm bands for the kids. They were all excited about riding the carnival rides, and I didn't feel like making twenty trips to the booth to buy tickets. The arm bands were expensive, but they could ride as much as their little demonic hearts wanted. Sounded like a good plan to me.
Leaving Karen to bitch about the prices of the rides, I took the bands back to the kids and smiled at Daniel, Brady, and Alana. They were meeting us here, but I didn't expect them to be that quick about it.
"Hey, Beautiful."
I dropped and kicked my leg out, not expecting anybody behind me. Grendel jumped and held up his hands. "Woah!"
"Shit. Sorry, Grendel." I rubbed the bridge of my nose.
Brady and Daniel were stifling laughter. Alana just looked amused. So did the rest of the crowd around us who had just watched me try to leg swipe a law enforcement officer.
"You okay?" Grendel asked, moved closer and let his hand slide over my back.
Turning and pressing my forehead against his chest, I shook my head. "No. It's been too quiet. My nerves are frayed." Looking up at him, I gave him a wan smile. And I hated to admit it, but just seeing him put me a little at ease. It had been a week since he had first let his interest be known. It took me three whole days to build up enough nerve to talk to Brady and Daniel about it. Another two, to ask Alana. Not one of them had batted an eyelash, all of them agreeing that there was more than enough of me to go around. If I didn't know better, I would have thought they were calling me fat.
"Here kids. Have fun." I handed the bracelets to Karl, and they took off without looking back.
Daniel looked around. "Did you ditch Karen?"
"I think she was asking for a manager, so I came back."
"Well, I've got a carnival to patrol. You kids have fun."
"Thanks, Grendel." I gave him a goodbye kiss, smiling because he finally accepted his nickname with no more bristling. "Meet me in the haunted house later." I grinned sultrily and pushed him away.
"Should we find the beer tent?"
"Leave it to Alana to be the voice of reason." I gave her a love tap on her ass and grabbed her hand, looking for the familiar red and white striped bastion of sanity.
"There it is," she said, and dragged me toward the middle of the festival.
Apparently, Bickering had a plethora of voices of reason. The beer tent was packed. "You two find a table, we'll grab the beers," I told the boys.
"Wish us luck," Daniel answered, doubt tinging his voice.
"Come on." I pulled Alana along, dodging the crowd until we made it to the end of the line.
"Think they'll find a spot before we get the beer?"
"Think we'll get the beer before we die of dehydration?"
"Good point."
Alana, being taller than me, stood behind me and wrapped her arms around me while we waited. And waited. We drew some curious looks, but I was used to that, even standing by myself.
"Does it bother you? I can let go."
"Does what bother me?" I pretended not to know what she was talking about.
"The stares."
"Nope. Not a bit."
She kissed my neck. "I think that's what I love most about you. You don't give two fucks about anything anybody might think about you."
"Nope. I don't care if they like me, I just want the ones that do to be happy."
"Well, I am."
"Good." I smiled at her over my shoulder. "Does the school care that you like women?"
She sighed. “Brentworth Academy has many faults, but that isn't one of them, thankfully. Do you think I would teach at the same school as my brother if more schools in the area felt the same way? Boston isn't the most…progressive of places."
"Ever think of doing something other than teaching?”
"Nope. Kind of in our blood. Mom and Dad were teachers."
"Ever thought of teaching college?"
She whistled. "I'd love to, but I'd have to go back to school and get my master's degree. Too much money."
I tossed around the idea of helping her in my head, but my funds were…not the best they'd been in a long time. Maybe once I sold the house in Florida, I could give her a hand. She must have seen my face running calculations. "Would you really want me in a locker full of twenty-year-old girls?"
"I trust you." To be honest, the thought hadn't even crossed my mind. I could feel her heart. I'd trust her in a dressing room full of strippers.
That earned me a full on, over the shoulder kiss.
When I pulled away, the people around us who had been politely making an effort not to stare, gave up and stared. "What?"
At least none of them were drunk enough to actually start anything. "We should probably get more than one beer apiece. I don't want to stand in this line again," Alana whispered in my ear.
There was a grinding of metal, a few screams of terror, and then everything was drowned out by the cacophony of panicking people. Everyone in the beer tent surged out onto the fairgrounds. Greedily, I rubbed my hands together and headed for the front of the line.
"Kara!" Daniel was motioning me toward the exit.
"What is it?"
"The Ferris wheel!"
I shrugged.
"Where are your kids?"
The last ride in the place they would have been on was the Ferris wheel. I actually enjoyed it. It was pleasant being that high without having to beat my wings to get there, but my kids always thought it was boring. They were more into the zippy rides that made you want to puke. "I doubt they're on that. Seriously."
My phone started ringing in my pocket.
I had one of those 'oh shit, something's wrong' moments as I pulled it out of my pocket and answered Rynnie's call. "Where are you?"
"Mom! We're on the Ferris wheel, and it's falling apart!"
Time stopped, or maybe it was just my heart, but I ran for the exit, plowing tables and chairs out of the way as I hit the plastic flap and smacked into the backs of a crowd of people watching in horror as the entire wheel tilted on its axis and the metal groaned like a thousand tortured souls.
I put the phone back to my ear. "Rynnie?"
"I'm here! Mom, it's going to fall!"
"Listen to me, sweetie. Jump. Grab your brother and jump. Call your wings, sweetie. I don'
t give a fuck if anybody sees. We can move."
"Mom! I can't. I'm too scared. I can't move, Mommy…" Her ability to form coherent words evaporated as she started babbling and crying. The wheel shifted a little bit more, only holding on by the one side still attached. Judging from the sound of shearing metal, it wasn't going to stay that way for long.
I wasn't the only one who had come to that conclusion, either. Everyone in the surrounding area and on the rides in the shadow of the Ferris wheel started screaming and running toward safety. I snarled that none of them were doing anything to help.
"Rynnie, I'm coming, baby. Hang on." Hitting the end call button, I stuffed it back into my pocket, took of my jacket, and handed it to Daniel.
"We're coming with you."
"Not if you can't fly," I answered, and put my hand on his shoulder.
"Kara, you'll be seen."
"Don't care. I'm sorry, but I have to save my kids."
He sighed and nodded as I ran toward the evacuating crowd. Weaving through the onslaught of people, I wasn't quite ready to call my wings and scare the shit out of everybody until I was absolutely certain there was no other way. When it took me two full minutes to make it to the wheel, I almost regretted my decision.
Scanning the lowest seats, I swore a streak of curses that would have burst a nun's ears into flames when I realized they were in one of the highest possible. "Rynnie!"
My voice boomed over the shrieks of the crowd. A moment later, Karl's head leaned over the side, and I saw the relief on his face. I was there, he knew he would be safe no matter what.
I ran for the cracked support brace and stopped short when a pair of very strong human arms encircled my waist. "Kara! Stop!"
"Grendel, you don't want to get in between me and my kids right now."
"I know, but if you start climbing up the side of that thing, the whole fucking thing could come down."
"And if I don't, it could anyway. Let me go. I'll fly up there then."
"And let hundreds of people see you?”
"You think I give a fuck?"
"No. And that worries me. Let's come up with a plan that doesn't get anybody killed or you outed."
"Like what? What the fuck could we possibly do?"
Succubus Soccer Mom: A Reverse Harem Tale Page 22
