by J. L. Ray
“I will.”
Tooley sighed. He nodded to Berry. “I will go with you.”
Berry turned to her parents and nodded as well. As Anthony watched his little group leave the room, he looked back at Baz and said quietly, “True regret comes when you fail your child. That burden cannot be bought off with wergild.”
Baz nodded solemnly. Listening to them trying to connect with their lost child had reached him in a way all of Bergfrid’s pleas had not. He could let go of his shame for killing Ullr and for misinterpreting Bergfrid’s actions. He could punish himself, but Tony’s father spoke wisdom. Bergfrid, now that she was calm, spoke wisdom. The Seer was right.
He turned to Bergfrid and took her shoulders in his hand. “I will accept this child. I will listen to you.” He turned to his supervisor. “I think I want to go home now. May I go and take Bergfrid with me?”
Azeem, who had been ready to go home hours ago, tried not to be ungracious as he immediately said, “Please, do!”
Berry sat up suddenly, the dark room with its ambient light from the windows clear to her feline sight. She looked around her, wondering what had startled her awake. She heard Tooley’s even breathing, signaling his deep sleep. Her…parents… had finally allowed him to make a nest on the floor in her room when her discomfort over having him stay in the guest bedroom down the hall became clear. Her father—how odd to think of a father—had not been happy, but had capitulated. Her comfort was her parents’ only concern, a concept so foreign to her that even the idea of a father made more sense.
After a moment or two of listening to the sound of Tooley’s gentle snores, she almost lay back down. Then the whisper came.
“Adele—come to me, child.” The voice was honey-laden, sickly sweet, nauseating, inescapable. “Don’t wake your paramour,” it added in a horrific giggle.
As quietly as her Changeling abilities allowed, she oozed past Tooley, understanding that her stealth meant his life or death. She slipped down the hall and followed the giggle that only she could hear until it ended in the entryway of the house.
“Press the buttons,” said the voice, and four of them lit up in a sequence, 1991. Berry pressed the buttons in that sequence and the door opened. Crystal Winkowski’s body stood there, Caridwen’s eyes looking out of her face. “Hello, my pet. So good to see you!” She held out one hand imperiously. “Come to your true mother. We have plans to make.” When Berry hesitated, Crystal/Caridwen’s hand moved on to clutch her bicep, the grip painful enough to make the muscle cramp, but Berry gave no response other than to follow her adopted mother outside, away from the protection of the family home. Another woman waited in the shadows. Berry didn’t need to see or smell her to know who it was, and her shiver attracted Caridwen’s cruel attention.
“Oh my little pet. Such lovely things you’ll do for us, for Becuma and me. Soon, so soon, we shall own this world again, as we used to long ago. And you and your sister shall help us take this world and Fairie back from those who seek to destroy our kind.”
The other woman stepped forward, her eyes looking up through a mound of ratted hair. Measureless insanity hung in those eyes as Berry looked at Becuma, once the Beautiful, once the darling of kings, and now the source of Caridwen’s extra magic, a magic she planned to use in conquest. Caridwen reached out the other of Crystal Winkowski’s hands to Becuma and pulled her forward.
“My lovely sister witches, our plans are in place. All that is left is for Adele to fulfill her obligation to us and bring her sister to Fairie so that we may prepare.” She turned to Becuma. “I shall set the trap for the parents tomorrow. If they take the bait, then we close the trap.” She turned to Berry. “But if they fight the trap, and I hope they will, then my little kitty, you shall be the one to bring your sister to Fairie.” Her eyes narrowed to slits in pleasure at the thought of causing so many pain, especially her “daughter.”
Berry’s moan escaped her before she could choke it back.
Caridwen’s face grew tight with anger. “If you fail me…” Suddenly, she laughed. “I would threaten you, but you have given me hostages of fortune! I will not hurt you, my sweet Adele, if you fail me. I will hurt those you love. All of those you love. Your sister, her family, your new friend who sleeps so peacefully in your room.” She licked her lips. “I did not allow him much sleep last night, I do admit, so he is exhausted I am sure.”
Berry did not react as her suspicions, which had come only after her sister invoked her true name and she remembered who she really was, were confirmed. Her “mother” could not resist tormenting anyone in her grasp. Oh, poor Tooley. She would take his memory from him if she could, but she kept her face still in hopes of drawing Caridwen away from him.
When Berry failed to look upset, Caridwen added casually, “I’ve always wanted a pet giant. I’m sure his ‘little’ brother would do nicely.”
She smiled when she finally got the reaction she wanted from Berry then. “Now, now…” Caridwen flung Berry back from her to avoid the claws that shifted out from still human hands. Mad Becuma stood watching, with no reaction at all. “You know that Changeling magic cannot hurt me.” Caridwen waved her hands at Berry who dropped to the ground with her arms wrapped around her pain-wracked body. “I expect more intelligent thought from you child. You can do better than that when you attack.”
Berry hung her head and thought, “I will. I will do better.”
Caridwen reached over and patted her head before grabbing a hunk of pink hair and pulling her head back. “Now to plans, little kitty. Now to plans.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Tony rolled over, dragging covers with her, and bumped into someone. She opened her eyes and looked into Phil’s.
“Well, well, someone’s been sleeping in my bed, and he’s still here,” she whispered as she reached up and ran a hand through his long hair.
He laughed, “I am no Goldilocks.”
She tugged a lock as she moved a hand to stroke his face. “True, true. I prefer a brunette, myself.”
“Mmm,” he murmured as her hand drifted down, and he turned his face and kissed her palm.
She remembered the first day in his office and smiled at him as she turned her hand and ran her fingers over his lips. “I’m not accustomed to company first thing in the morning.” She looked down at the sheet that covered her. “I’m certain I’m not dressed for it. In fact, I’m certain I’m not dressed.”
He smiled at her and nipped her finger. “I think you’re wearing the perfect costume for what I have in mind.”
Her f-light startled them both as it sang out her ring-tone.
“Hold that thought,” she said as she took the signal on audio only. “Newman.”
“Antonia, dear, it’s your mother.”
Phil started chuckling at the look on Tony’s face.
“I’m sorry, dear, did you say something?” her mother said.
Tony reached over and pinched Phil, which caused him to give a choked little yowl.
“Oh, sweetheart! Have I...uhm....interrupted your morning?”
Tony turned over on her back and tried not to groan out loud. It didn’t matter that she was pushing thirty and in her own apartment. She felt like she just got caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She snorted at an image so wrong and said, “It’s just a little early, Mama. I’m not due at the station for a few of hours. What’s up?” She tried desperately to steer the conversation away from her “interrupted” morning.
“Well, dear, we brought Berry home with us last night.”
Tony sat up. The sheet fell, giving Phil a lovely view. Tony’s form was bathed in the half-light of dawn from the high windows above the drawn lower curtain. The light blue walls and the white, rustic furniture gave the room that relaxing beach feel that Cal had described. Phil got comfortable. He might as well enjoy the view since he had a feeling this call meant he would enjoy only the view, at least on this morning. He smiled in anticipation of waking up next to Tony again. He could manage
enough patience for that.
“How is she?”
“Well, she’s humanoid again. And she slept through the night. Lieutenant Azeem let us bring Mr. O’Toole with us to make your sister feel more comfortable.”
Tony frowned. “I guess that’s his call. O’Toole seems motivated to stick to his word, so it’s probably a good call.”
“Mr. O’Toole slept on the floor in your old room, next to Berry on the bed.”
“You made him sleep on the floor?” Tony squealed.
Phil, listening to the conversation, raised brows.
“No, I certainly did not. Criminal or not, he rescued my daughter. I was going to put him in the guest bedroom, but neither of them would consent to be parted from the other. He said being away from Berry made his compulsion stronger, whatever that means. We trusted that Azeem knew. And Berry simply refused to let him out of her sight.” Her mother’s voice was dry. “This morning, we found them curled up next to each other on the bed.”
“Oh,” Tony said, and rolled over to look at Phil. So this wasn’t the first morning her mother had interrupted.
“No—it’s not an ‘oh’ situation. Not yet, anyway. They were lying on top of the covers, fully dressed.”
“Oh.”
“Yes, more of that kind of ‘oh.’ Whatever is going on, Berry needs him right now, and he needs her.”
“I’m glad Daddy was okay with letting him come over.”
“Well, ‘okay’ might be an overstatement. He knows when to bow to the inevitable.” After a short pause her mother added, “Speaking of bowing to the inevitable—I wanted to ask you to come for breakfast. Bring Mephistopheles with you.” Tony rolled her eyes at Phil’s grin and air kiss. “Your brother has met Berry, and Melly is on her way. I thought perhaps we could have a family breakfast.”
“You know I have to get to the station, right? And so does O’Toole.”
“I suppose so.” Her mother sounded very disappointed.
Tony relented. “I guess there’s time for breakfast, and I probably should pick O’Toole up on the way to the station anyhow,” she said, resigned to watching her dad have a fit over Phil. Of course, it looked like Berry’s taste in men was just as difficult for a father’s high expectations. She cheered up knowing that her twin was already starting to take some of the parental heat off of her.
“Do you really think there’s time?” Her mother sounded like a child on Christmas day.
“Sure.”
“Very well, then. How quickly can you get here?”
Tony looked at Phil and shrugged. “Give me twenty minutes to shower and get over to the house.”
“Wonderful!”
She ended the signal and flopped back down on the bed. Phil finally dragged his eyes back up to her face, where she was shaking her head. “How quickly can you be ready?” she asked him.
“Ready for....?” he paused suggestively.
“Breakfast,” she said decisively as she turned to him. When he wagged his eyebrows at her, she added, “At my parents’ house. With my Daddy. Who may want to kill you.”
“Ah. As you know, I can be dressed very quickly. But I want a shower.”
“I want a shower, too.” She stood up, sliding out of the sheet and grabbing clothes to put on after she was done.
Phil smiled and said smoothly, “To save time, perhaps we should share that shower?”
She grinned as she walked to the bathroom, snagging some clothes and the medallion on her way. “Yeah, that’ll save something, but I don’t think it’s time!”
Despite the shower, they were only ten minutes late.
Pernella had issues, big issues, giant-sized issues. She cackled at her own joke. Then she looked over at her enormous little boy and sobered up in no time flat. If she didn’t get Bogart the hell out of here, pronto, the Bitches Council was gonna off him. Some wiseacre had made them at the market when Pernella went in to get ingredients for her potions that she couldn’t grow at home. She was supposed to run some goods for her favorite bartender, The Willow, that very night. But since he was the one what brought the box with Tooley’s dolly in it, she’d decided she was gonna have it out with the punk when he came out. She hadn’t told Tooley about that little caper, figuring he’d worry, and that boy had enough to worry about for the time being.
Unfortunately, all her plans were shot now. The snitch that had made them had tipped off the current Head Witch, Sedna, a real pain-in-the-ass bureaucrat, unimaginative and a stickler for rule of law. And the law in this situation meant endsville for Bogart. Now that the Council knew that Pernella and her giant son were in the vicinity, they had to blow the joint, but fast. One old pal still on the Council had sent her word to make like a tree and leave. She wanted to wait for Tooley and his new squeeze, or whatever the hell the chickee was to him, to let them know she and Bogey were on the lam. But if the Council’s enforcers found them first, it’d be curtains for her baby boy. She just wasn’t sure where they would go this time. And it just killed her to leave the portal. Course, it’d kill Bogey if she didn’t, so that was an easy choice.
“Bogart?” Pernella called to her little boy. He walked to where she was sitting in the garden, trying not to step on too many of her plants as he went.
“Yes, Mommy? What did I do?” he asked with a sigh.
“Do? I don’t know. Did you do something bad?” Pernella asked, intrigued that he had mentioned it.
He hung his head. “Maybe.”
“What did you do, son?”
“Uhm...I sent a message to Tooley and the pretty dolly,” he said bashfully.
Pernella didn’t say anything for a moment. As far as she knew, Bogart didn’t have any personal magic. Giants held magic; they didn’t wield it. They didn’t usually need magical abilities since they were larger than most other Fairie creatures. Then again, Bogey was half witch. Most witches came into their magic at puberty, and Bogart was at that age. She had taken Tooley to his father when he turned thirteen and his magic had manifested so strongly that she knew she couldn’t keep his gift a secret. She hadn’t really been paying attention to Bogart in terms of that. She had just assumed...well, danged if it didn’t seem her assumptions were the problem. “Stupid old bat,” she muttered at herself.
“Am I an old bat?” Bogey said sadly.
“What? No, no, son. I’m talking about me! You’re perfect! You know I wouldn’t trade you for a bucket load of spells, right?”
Bogey cheered up. “Sure, Mommy. I was afraid you would be mad.”
“Ya big lug. I’m not mad at you. C’mere.” She gestured at him to bend down and she pinched one of his rosy cheeks with two hands. “Who loves ya, baby?”
“My Mommy,” he said with a smile.
“That’s my boy. I’m just puzzled. How did you send a message, son? Come on, sit down and tell Mommy.” She pointed to the rock where she would at least be at his chest level when he sat down beside her.
He settled down. “Well. You know how we gotta wait for the chestnut to come through the fountain to hear from Tooley?”
“Sure, kiddo. I made that system.”
“Well, I took the last one we got, and I made it recognize Tooley and told it to go to him after I put a message in it.” His face got sad. “I saw when you came back from shopping that somethin’ bad happened, and I figured it was because of me.”
She leaned forward and put her hand against his chest so she could get her face up to his. “You look here. See, none of this is your fault, baby boy. This is all on your Mama and the Bi...uh...the Witches Council’s stupid rules. Don’t you go takin’ the blame. You are the only good thing in this mess. Well, you and your big brother.” She patted his chest. “We’ll outsmart those bi...witches yet. So tell me, what did you put in the message?”
“I said ‘Come quick. I think the bad ladies have found us.’ Then I told the chestnut to find Tooley and sent it through the big light you make.”
Pernella sat very still, shocked beyond words. Final
ly, she got her mouth to work. “You opened the portal?”
“Yes, Mommy. It’s easy. I see you do it all the time. I just did what you do.”
Pernella’s brain went into overdrive. He shouldn’t be able to do that. He shouldn’t have magic; he shouldn’t be able to figure it out. She loved her son dearly, but she’d be the first to say that as sweet as the big palooka was, there wasn’t a lot going on in his noggin. Apparently, she was very wrong. She slapped a hand over her mouth as she realized that Tooley was probably not the only talented boy-witch in the family. Then she looked over at the portal. The little nagging idea that had almost occurred to her when she was talking to Tooley and the little pink-haired doll had finally come to her. Legal portals let Supers travel to Mundania. Her “Tempo” used to be a legal portal. And she might have wasted that medallion on someone who didn’t need it to travel through her portal, even though she was part Super. She turned a wide-eyed gaze to her youngest and took her palm off of her mouth.
“Son, I think we’re gonna be okay.”
“Really?” Bogart brightened up.
“Really, and all because you are such a clever boy. C’mere.” She threw her arms around his neck and gave him the biggest hug she could manage. She hadn’t done that as much lately just because it had gotten too hard to reach around the big guy. Bogey hugged her back.
“I am a clever boy,” he giggled.
“Clever and brave!” she added. “Now, let’s pack and be ready to skedaddle while we see what your brother does.”
The room was a little tense when Tony and Phil walked into the kitchen. Amanda had had the kitchen and dining room remodeled and combined so that she could work in the kitchen and talk to family at the table. The warm brown and sage tones in the room set off the creamy reddish-brown granite countertop of the large, central island and the copper cookware hanging over it.
When the two came through the back door to the kitchen, everyone but Amanda was seated at the large, simple farmhouse table that could accommodate as many as twelve diners. Amanda had just pulled a pan of fresh biscuits from the oven.
