Wolves at the Door

by Lidiya Foxglove

  Graham called from the hospital.

  “I lost the election by half a percent,” he said, sounding understandably in a low mood. “And the nurses here think I’m a medical miracle. My bones were showing up broken on the X-Ray and now they’re not.”

  “You’re probably their favorite patient too,” I said. “Getting a lot of sponge baths?”

  “I need to get out of here…but I’m not sure I’m strong enough to travel yet.”

  “Should I…come get you?”

  “No. You have work to do. I’m feeling better every day.”

  “Should I dream about you?”

  “I won’t say no.”

  “Okay.” I smiled. “See you soon.”

  He should be safe from Piers in the hospital, at least.

  “I finished the artists’ cottage!” Billie declared.

  “Great,” I said. At this point, I hated anyone who was able to do anything with their life besides painting.

  “It’s charming,” Gaston said. “I think it will be very enticing for your buyers.”

  “I didn’t realize you flip houses too.” I was getting a little passive aggressive now, but seriously, he could have been working on patching up the exterior if we were paying him.

  We were all eating breakfast sort of together, in a haphazard way, taking turns making eggs in the electric skillet and toast in the toaster, the two appliances the Sullivans plugged into one of the few outlets in the dining room.

  “I heard you’re planning to sell it to faeries,” Gaston said.

  “That is the hope. Faeries are motivated to buy parallels.”

  “So they’ll be my neighbors. I’ve always heard faeries are tricksters.”

  “They do have that reputation,” Billie said, not helping at all.

  “So they better not mess with my horses.”

  “I’m sure they won’t mess with your horses,” I said.

  “I hope not,” Billie said. “I’ve never met a faery.”

  I put down my toast. “You don’t want to sell it to the faeries anymore? What happened here last night?”

  Billie glanced at Gaston with a weird little smile. “Well, Gaston took me to see his horses. We went riding when the project was done.”

  “No big deal,” Gaston said, with a little French shrug. He was wearing a cap and a scarf around his neck, and he was also smoking a cigarette, so he was giving me this vibe. One annoying thing about vampires is that they all smoke because they were all alive during the Mad Men years and they can’t die.

  “Did you come over here to seduce Billie into making sure you like your new neighbors?” I asked outright.

  Billie laughed. “Oh, come on, Hel! It ain’t like that!”

  “She seduced me into painting her cottage,” Gaston said. “It’s only fair. Of course I don’t want to bring down the neighborhood with odd characters.”

  Takes one to know one, I thought.

  “But I’ve never met a faery,” he said. “I guess…we will see.”

  “He didn’t seduce me,” Billie added. “It was just a horseback ride.”

  “Under the moonlight,” Gaston said.

  “It’s fine,” Billie said. “Gaston can meet the new faeries and we’ll see how it goes.”

  “You can’t get the neighbors involved in a house sale!” I had never heard of such a thing. “It’s not his house! We’re not going to see how it goes! What are you going to do if he doesn’t like them?”

  Jake and Jasper were, respectively, making toast and grating cheese into scrambled eggs. I looked at them for some backup.

  “I’m not stepping into this one,” Jasper said. “But money talks. We’ll see what we think when faery gold is in hand.”

  “I hope, for your sake, that it is gold and not an illusion,” Gaston said.

  Well, I guess it was understandable that the faeries were regarded with suspicion. They hadn’t lived among us for centuries.

  “So you’re starting on the kitchen?” Billie said. “What are you thinking for it?”

  “Jasp and I are going out to get the materials today,” Jake said. “An upscale, light color scheme.”

  “I was thinking that a little bit of a fun, country kitchen feel would be nice,” Billie said. “I mean, we’re out here in the country. That bathroom you did was beautiful but I do have to say that it doesn’t fit the rest of the house, does it?”

  I bristled. “That bathroom is a masterpiece.”

  “But it’s so modern and gray! And this house is so sweet!”

  “This house isn’t sweet, it’s grand. And eclectic,” I said.

  “Well, I do like the bathroom, but it’s very modern,” Billie said, but now I could tell she didn’t like the bathroom at all.

  “The kitchen won’t be as modern as the bathroom,” Jake said. “The colors will be warm, not cold, and the fixtures will have an antique look. I’ll show you a mockup on my iPad after breakfast before we go back out shopping.”

  “So you made mockups and everything. Of course you did. The three of you already know what you want to do.”

  “I mean…we’re open to suggestions,” I said.

  Growl. I hated sharing a house with someone who had a totally different style. I didn’t really want to share kitchen ideas with Billie. But it was her house. She had definitely picked up the vibe that I didn’t like to work in a team.

  “Take a look at the cottage,” Gaston said. “We worked diligently and I think you’ll be impressed.” I wondered how of it he had actually done, anyway.

  They had definitely worked it. The cobwebby old kitchen was now an extremely clean and livable space with lots of storage. The dark, smoky old wood had been brightened up.

  But it was completely off from anything I would do. The cottage was not just painted but fully furnished, with decorative china plates hanging around the old stove, brass candleholders, antique chairs and tables with curvy legs, the old kitchen cabinets repainted in pale green, and a sign that said “CREATE” on the wall. Although there was not actually a whole lot of space to create anything, despite the easel in the corner.

  It’s not that it wasn’t cute. It was, for the right buyer. But it was curated for a very specific type of client—a certain type of country witch. And we didn’t even know our clients. Billie and I were totally different types of flippers. I was more about getting old houses in shape while preserving their magical elements. Billie was more about a lifestyle brand.

  “You don’t like it, do you?” Billie’s lips pursed. “Of course we don’t have the same style anyway, and the whole idea that these faeries would come pay good money for it, and—I don’t know what faeries like, but I’m not sure you really do either based on the way you talk.” She was getting heated.

  “I do like it! I just think this whole project is a disorganized mess! We have so much to do!”

  “And anyway, y’all work together so well, you don’t even want to hear from me! You’re doing all the main rooms in the house by yourself why you’re flirting with each other all day,” Billie said, “and it doesn’t matter anyway. I poured more of me into it than I should have. That’s all. I went overboard.”

  Jake glanced at me. Billie thought she might die opening Pandora’s Box and maybe she felt like this was her last project. I guess, with that in mind, scraping paint for twelve hours a day didn’t have much allure. Who wanted to spend their final days doing that? But instead, I’d been doing it all by myself while Billie just set aside her own fun project.

  We were definitely taking over the house plans, though. And flirting. She was not wrong.

  I sighed.

  I wondered how we ever expected to bring down the barriers between worlds if the two of us couldn’t even get along. I wondered how I expected to be with four men if I couldn’t cooperate with one other person.

  “Let’s start over with the kitchen plan,” I said. “And go shopping together. You’re right. We took over the house. But I also really need your help with the me
nial labor. We all have to bring it together in a race to get the kitchen done so we can move on.”

  “Am I glad to hear you say that! I actually painted up a design of how I thought the kitchen might look. I saw this adorable yellow kitchen in a house I flipped in Mississippi and I’ve always wanted a kitchen just like it. This house is so bright and cheerful that if any house was asking for a yellow kitchen, it’s this one.”

  We compared Jake’s iPad computer-generated room of a shiny modern kitchen to Bilie’s watercolor pencil sketch of a sweet yellow room with white cabinets, many with glass panes in the doors, plus she drew hers with flour and sugar jars on the counter and a painting of a cow on the wall. “That’s just for examples of the sort of things I might decorate with,” she said.

  I still liked Jake’s high-end kitchen better. But Billie’s had heart, I’d give her that.

  And it was crunch time. My brother was sending over some buyers soon, and we would be moving on to the last piece of Pandora’s Box. It seemed like, all things considered, it had been a little too quiet around here.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Helena

  “Close your eyes,” Jasper said.

  “Why?”

  “What do you mean, ‘why’? It’s more fun that way, isn’t it?”

  “You guys just want to take my hands and guide me.”

  “Is that so bad?” Jake said. “But the reveal is a classic part of any good renovation.”

  “I’ve already seen the bathroom!”

  “Not like this.”

  I shut my eyes and they walked me in.

  This bathroom had already turned out luxurious, but now it was lit with candlelight and full of orchids and succulents.

  I gave them the squeal of excitement that they were probably hoping for. “What! It looks amazing! This is the bathroom I never knew I wanted.” I petted the pot of the purple and white flowers hanging over the bathtub. “This is so Zen spa I almost wish the whole house was like this.”

  “But it’s just like we said.” Jake wasn’t going to miss a chance to pat himself on the back for his design skill. “After a day of throwing parties in your manor, this is your private retreat.”

  “But why did you get all these flowers?”

  “We were out getting materials,” Jasper said. “And we just thought, you’ve been working so hard doing the most boring jobs in the whole house, so you need to relax.”

  “You can take a nice long bath,” Jake said. “And get ready in style. It’s time for our date.”

  “Where are you getting ready?”

  “Well, we’re just a couple of beasts, so we’re going to fill a washtub with soap in the old smokehouse and wash up there.”

  I laughed. Then I realized they were serious. “Oh. Are you sure? I could just take a quick shower.”

  (I offered that, but, I didn’t actually mean it. Fuck yes I was taking a bath.)

  “Very sure. When we played at our cousins house we’d all get dirty and our aunt would set out a tin tub and some ratty half-used bars of Irish Spring, tell us to scrub off, then line us all up and hose us down at the end of the day,” Jake said. “But you are a Baroness, so please, take a long soak.”

  “I feel mocked.” I looked at the tub. “But I’ll take it allll day long.”

  The bathroom was so gorgeous. It made me envious of the future owners.The gray bathroom really looked modern and luxurious when it was all put together. The window let in a ton of light that kept it from feeling heavy. And the natural beauty of the plants stood out like jewels against a simple gown. I had a long soak, getting all the grime of hard work off me.

  I had to keep an eye on the time. I checked my phone now and then, allowing time to dress for our date. I put my hair up in a braided twist and wore a little lipstick. Although I had quite a few dresses, I kept thinking of Graham calling me “Wednesday Addams” and that wasn’t the vibe I wanted for the date. It seemed to me that all my dresses were Wednesday Addams dresses, so I just had to go with the one that had a V-neck and short sleeves instead of a high collar. This dress had a belt with a red and white stripe and also a stripe at the skirt. It looked like a 1910s bathing suit, which I always thought was cute, but man, did my wardrobe tell the story of how I never went on fancy dates. I jammed my feet into heels and put the lipstick and my credit card and wand in my Chanel purse. The wand just barely fit diagonally in there.

  I guess I shouldn’t have worried. The guys were wearing flannel shirts. I mean, clean ones, so there was that.

  “So where are we going for dinner? The Lumberjack Bistro?”

  “I told you we should have…,” Jasper muttered.

  “Should have what, Jasp? You know what clothes we brought as well as I do,” Jake said. “And what clothes we own…”

  “You didn’t bring suit jackets?” I asked.

  Jake laughed. “Suit jackets! That’s cute.”

  “Well, I don’t know any man who doesn’t own a suit jacket!”

  “You don’t know any werewolves either,” Jake said. “Until now.”

  “And we won’t own suit jackets until next week,” Jasper said. “Anyway, we already have to take our company van on the date, so we might as well continue with the theme.”

  We climbed into the van and Jasper opened the front passenger door for me while Jake shoved some ventilator masks, leather gloves and a few packages of sand paper off the seat so he could sit down. Jasper rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Shit. We forgot to clean out the van.”

  “Just own it,” Jake said. “She likes us because of our messy van.”

  “I won’t admit it,” I said, but I was grinning. It was true. While I was attracted to Graham because he reminded me of my own family except without being so cold, I liked Jake and Jasper for the opposite reason. They were proud of the hard work they did, with all the dust and dirt and sweat. My family would probably come around to Graham but they would have been beyond embarrassed to see me with the Sullivans.

  Both paths had their appeal.

  “How was your bath?” Jasper asked.

  “Amazing. How was yours?”

  “Shirtless. Lathered,” Jake said, leaning in between our seats. “That do anything for ya?”

  Jasper pushed his face back. “Shut up and stay in your zone.”

  “I should hope you do bathe shirtless and pantsless as well,” I said, but as soon as I said it, well, it didn’t quite come across how I hoped, maybe because I was definitely imagining the scene. Why did I say ‘pantsless’? Why bring that up?

  “I have never met anyone who blushes as often and as hard as you,” Jake said.

  My phone started humming with a ton of alerts. Thank goodness for distractions. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to be that witch, but I have to make sure I didn’t get any important calls when I was out of service.”

  “Go right ahead,” Jasper said.

  All I really wanted was this text from Graham:

  I‘m out of the hospital. I feel like shit! But it could be much worse. My career is enveloped in scandal but all I can think about is being enveloped by you. Heading for Louisiana now. Taking my car this time, so might take me longer but I’ll need it. Might not be home for a while.

  I bit my lip. Thank god.

  “Graham?” Jake said.

  “Yeah.”

  “So is he coming back here?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m going to have to work even harder on you,” Jake said.

  “Oh, I don’t know.”

  “We can’t let seductive magic win the day,” Jasper said. “The incubi have an advantage. This is your classic demons versus werewolves battle now.”

  I was clamming up with embarrassment again. I looked out the window. The sun was setting, and there was some sort of small county fair or carnival going on in a field off the main road, the lights of the Ferris wheel and other rides lighting up the twilight.

  I shoved my phone in my purse after tapping out a brief “see you soon”
to Graham. I should have asked my brother how, exactly, to bring a bond-pairing together if you decided you were up for one. The two groups of guys were still in competition with each other, although it did seem to be friendly. If they really were fighting over me, surely they would actually be fighting. Unless the Sullivans thought Byron was just a ghost and Graham wasn’t here to stay, and the incubi meanwhile thought themselves superior and thought the wolves would leave.

  Jasper pulled up to the same restaurant where I had just dined with Graham.

  I didn’t say anything. The food was delicious. I didn’t mind eating there twice.

  But when I walked in, the hostess said, “Back again!” She looked at Jake and Jasper like she was wondering just how many handsome guys I knew. Too many, I thought.

  “Graham already took you here?” Jasper said.

  “Yes, but…”

  “Sorry,” Jake told the young woman, and turned right back around to leave.

  “We didn’t have to leave!” I said. “Not many other good restaurants in this town.”

  “We’re not that far from Baton Rouge or even New Orleans,” Jake said. “We could take a drive. Be tourists for a night.”

  “Or we could just go to the carnival,” Jasper said. “Kinda reminds me of the one back home.”

  “I bet Hel won’t be impressed by that,” Jake said.

  “I don’t need to be impressed all the time! I’m not really a Baroness. I’m not prissy at all! I hope you don’t see me that way.”

  “Well…” Jake glowered. “I just have this feeling you expect more from a date than bowling or…funnel cake and a carnival game. If you think I can forget where you come from… Or maybe I just don’t believe you can really forget where you come from. I’ve never met a girl like you, Hel. But you seem to like Graham better even though he’s useless.”

  “That’s not true!”

  “Yeah, he’s probably useful for something,” Jasper said wryly. “And that’s why she likes him.”

  “No, that isn’t what I meant!” I snapped. “Do you think I look down on you?”