by Jill Nojack
"Hardly! You're not exactly a hot-head."
"Maybe not as much as when I was younger and had to work so hard to control it, but when we had Thomas in that van after he kidnapped me, I really enjoyed taking him down and tying him up. If I'd had magic then, who knows what I might have done to him. Magic is as much an act of will and focus as any chant or potion. And I was willing serious pain on him at that moment."
"Yeah, you also could have beaten him senseless when he was tied up...but you didn't do that, either. Because it's not you. I really don't think you have to worry."
James's face softened and his voice quieted, "What I worry about is that someone will hurt you, and I'll just lash out. It scares me. Do you understand?"
"I do. I feel the same way about you. I'd fly up overhead and drop bombs on anyone who tried to hurt you!"
"Bombs, huh?" James asked, teasing her.
"Well, my sandals might fall off and hit them in the head or something." Lizbet smiled.
He returned her smile. "Yeah, more likely....look, because Morgan's hanging around in there, I don't want to talk anymore about how we get her out. But I’ll confer with the old man once he and I are alone. And I'll figure something out, even if I have to get medieval on that fae. I hope she's listening and knows Myrddin is on to her and fully stoked up with magic, because she’s not going to mess with you and get away with it."
"We better go check on Tanji and Thomas," Lizbet said, standing up, "I still don't like him, but I guess I'm going to have to get used to the idea of having him next door. I'm also pretty sure you're going to be seeing a lot of Tanji with him around." Lizbet stood up and rubbed at her temples. "And I think Morgan heard you loud and clear, because my head is pounding like a disco."
CHAPTER TWELVE
Splinter In The Soul
James set ceramic gnomes out in a line from the truck to the back yard of a split level house with a nicely landscaped yard. At least, he suspected it had been a nicely landscaped yard before the gnomes got to it. Their burrow holes were everywhere. He called to Mr. Ross to take a look at an especially large hole.
"With all of these holes, there have got to be at least 20 gnomes living here. Do we have enough room left in the truck?”
"I think so, but it's going to be a tight fit. It's been a good day for the service, that's for sure."
"Do you think we should tell people the cabbage they're growing is responsible for the young gnomes?"
"The cabbage?"
"You know how people tell their kids they found them under a cabbage leaf?"
"Yeah?"
"Gnomes really do find their kids under a cabbage leaf. Cabbage has some kind of weird role in making baby gnomes. Don't ask me how it works..."
"How do you know that?"
James bowed, laughing. "World's most powerful sorcerer at your disposal, but keep that on the down low. I just wear the dirty coveralls as a disguise."
"I forgot the part about you being a sorcerer. You're Langoureth's brother's half-fae, right?"
"Sort of—close to the same concept, but Myrrdin and I were brought together in a slightly different way than the half-fae were."
"Tanji told me that she was getting a brother. It surprised her mother and I, that's for sure! I'd forgotten it was you.” Ron looked thoughtful, remembering, “Then again, in those first few days after Fae Day, just about everything overwhelmed me. But we're doing great now. Tanji seems to really enjoy her new abilities, and I like that we can work together on fae-related projects. I’m planning to open a shop with her. Sell potions and wards, that kind of thing. Who knows? Maybe someday we could make it a franchise. I just worry she doesn't have time to make everything she'd need to stock a store like that, even if it was only open a few hours a week."
"My room-mate Thomas could work for you. He's good at the healing arts, and I can vouch for him being a fast learner. He and Tanji really seemed to hit it off, too."
"Can he work in the states? He's a Brit, right?"
"I think that if the job requires having magic, Thomas is one of the few people in Ohio who could do the job. If you were willing to sponsor him, it could work. That way, he can stay here longer. I worry about him being on his own with such a limited life history."
"You know, James, I don't mind at all you being my girl's surprise brother. You definitely know how to help her out, and it’s nice that you’re looking out for you friend." Ron nodded toward one of the burrow holes, where a young gnome popped his head out. The gnome sighted the statues. "I think we've got a bite!"
Soon, there were five or six gnomes standing on the lip of the burrow, talking animatedly about the large gods that had shown up while they were inside. As the first group started walking along the line of gnomes to investigate, a few more appeared from another hole and then quickly followed their huddle-mates.
As the duo followed the loose group of gnomes back to the truck, where they were struck silent by the sight of the 6 foot tall gnome, Ron said, "What about you? Wouldn't you rather work in a warm, cozy shop than slog around in the weather chasing after gnomes and pixies?"
"No, I wouldn’t. I like the job so far, and you're paying me well, so I can't complain. Plus, I may have magic, but I haven't decided yet if I ever want to use it. For the past week, I've been focused on not accidently magicing my way through things. It would be easy for me given how adept Myrddin was. I'm just not sure doing the easy thing is always the best thing," replied James, "...plus, the more you depend on magic, the more likely you'll run up against unintended consequences. As a short guy I know is fond of saying, 'magic can be tricksy'."
"I can respect that. Okay, Thomas it is, if he'll have the job and the work permit can be worked out...and assuming Tanji clears him as an employee."
James grinned. "I don't think Tanji will have a problem with it."
"Good lookin' guy is he?"
"So I understand."
James shooed gnomes out of the way as he carefully closed the back doors of the truck with the gnomes inside. When he was done, he waited for Ron to return from collecting the fee from the homeowner. As Ron returned, the homeowner went into the garage and walked back out with a shovel, heading for the back yard.
Ron smiled as he walked past James, "That cabbage tip was really appreciated. Want to stick around for some coleslaw?"
Thomas stirred the clear, red liquid, and then lifted the spoon out of the pot to let the contents drip off the edge. It wasn't thickening as quickly as he would have liked. He wondered if he'd let the solids steep long enough before he strained them out. He waved his hand over the pot, and spoke a few soft words. The liquid flared blue for just the briefest moment and then returned to its original red. He wished he could stop worrying so much—it was coming along just fine. He simply couldn't stop being a perfectionist, even when brewing the ingredients for a healing tea. What Thomas did best was focus.
When the mixture thickened to the right consistency, Thomas carefully poured it off into a small glass jar and stoppered it with a cork over which he spoke a sealing spell to assure an airtight seal. He then placed it in the refrigerator, next to a growing collection of brightly colored potions. At this point, he and James were covered for several years for the symptoms of just about any illness: warts, vomiting, poor eyesight, pixie bite, even the vapors.
Thomas had only been practicing magic for a month, but already he was bored and ready for greater challenges: he wanted to begin to learn a more involved magic—the kind James had but wouldn't use or the kind he felt next door whenever Lizbet was home.
He treasured the moment two nights ago when her magic had burst from the tight kernel where it was hidden, possessed the girl’s body completely, and Morgan floated toward the house where he had been sitting up late reading. He’d gone to the window to wait for her to pass. She came to the window, but when she saw him, her face darkened and she retreated to the aether instead of taking the hands he reached out to her in friendship.
He understood she
must have come for Myrrdin as she had in London—he’d sensed her there many times, just outside James’s window. Was a dead romance all she was interested in? It seemed ridiculous, unthinkable, that such a powerful fae, the queen of his kind, would be focused to that extent on rekindling romantic fires with a wisp-endowed human. And yet, if Morgan could be so attached to one of the wisp-endowed and see him as an equal to stand beside her, couldn't she and the other fae come to view Thomas as one of their own over time?
Thomas was cheered by this. All of his work so far had been toward that very goal. He knew that James was holding back on him with much of Myrrdin's knowledge: the most powerful wizard of his time would not have restricted his magic to healing spells and protective wards. He’d have known magic to make the universe sing for its power and its beauty. If James was going to hold out, then perhaps Morgan would teach him.
He would wait every night, hoping that the next time she would take his hands.
Lizbet looked in the mirror, trying to see behind her own questioning blue eyes to the woman who hid there in the background, waiting to take over when Lizbet dropped her guard. Lizbet had stayed up all night watching videos on her netbook. She didn't want to lose that feeling she had after James kissed her goodnight to waking up in a strange place with no memory of how she'd gotten there.
"You can just bug off, Morgan! You're not taking off with my body again if I can help it. So just let go and get your butt back into the background where joined faes belong!"
Although she knew she looked like a total loser chewing out her own reflection, she felt a lot better afterward. She was going to need some caffeine, but she felt good enough to make it through the day even without sleep. She figured she could take a nap in afternoon study hall, and Tanj could keep an eye on her to make sure that Morgan didn't possess her and get her into any more trouble.
She knew she was going to have to tell her mother about what was happening, and she wasn't sure that her mom could handle one more bad thing this week. First, there was Bobby's problem at school, then she was kicked off the track team for good, and to top it off, the gnomes were becoming even more annoying. They were constantly waiting for Bobby just outside the patio door, instead of staying in the garden doing their gnome thing. At least her mom had never grown cabbage, so the small huddle of gnomes wasn't growing in size.
She tried to remember how she knew about the cabbage connection to gnome-babies. It certainly wasn't one of her own memories. And then she remembered—Myrrdin had taken Morgan into the fortress garden to show her the newborn gnome under the cabbage leaf. It had been adorable and so very tiny, and you forgive babies for unseemly bodily noises. Myrddin had pulled her quickly away when he saw the adult gnomes coming to claim the child. He cautioned that the only time gnomes became truly dangerous to humans or other fae was when they were protecting their children or their gods.
She walked down to the kitchen and slid into her seat where her mother had a bowl at the ready and the cereal lined up. Bobby had snagged the sugary stuff and was keeping it close, but she was more than okay with healthier choices. She was an athlete, after all. And then she realized she wasn't an athlete anymore, so she might as well indulge herself.
"Bobby, pass me the Sugar Crumb, wouldja?"
"Don't take all of it," he said as he shoved it toward her.
"What if I do?"
"I'll sic Gurrdenn on you!"
Mom walked quickly to the table from out of the kitchen, hands on her hips, eyes squeezed into slits, "Young man, after everything that's happened this week, you think that's a funny thing to say?"
"I..."
"No. You can go up to your room and stay there until I say you can come out. I know that you wouldn't do what you just said, but I don't even want to hear you joking about it. People will believe you."
Bobby made as much fuss and noise as he could on the way up the stairs without actually doing anything that could get him in more trouble. Lizbet hid her smirk about how obvious he was being.
"And you can stop smirking, young lady!" her mother said.
"Sorry, Mom."
Her mother sat down at the table across from her and sighed, "I was too harsh, wasn't I?"
Lizbet gave a small shrug, "Maybe just a little? The poor kid is just being a dork, same as always."
"Oh, I know. I guess I just didn't realize how other people were going to react to our having a half-fae in the family or how upsetting their reaction would be."
"Well, I'm glad that you accept me for how I am, mom. And I know that Bobby appreciates it, too. He wouldn't want anything bad to happen to his gnome buddies. He was major upset when Dad wanted to get rid of them. I explained that Tanji's father would never hurt them, so I think he felt better about it, but I don't think he gets why people get so upset about gnomes."
"No, I expect he doesn't. Children are generally very tolerant unless someone is telling them to be otherwise. Okay, I'll let him come back down in a few minutes...but he'll have to get right to yesterday's schoolwork."
"Mom...I do have something I want to talk to you about, and I hope it doesn't freak you out."
Mom raised her eyebrows, "Oh lordy, what now?"
"Ummm...you know how I've been having headaches and have done some things that are out of character for me? Things maybe you've seen and wondered about?"
"I agree you've been very irritable lately. Yelling at your brother, just general meanness sometimes. I assumed it was because you were worn out from the headaches."
"Umm...except that I would never yell at Bobby. Tease him, noogie him, and call him a name or two that I don't really mean; yeah, I'd do that. But actually yell at him? No, and as far as I know, I haven't. The poor kid. No wonder he was feeling so left out. I need to explain this to him..."
"Could you explain it to me, first?"
"Okay, so...you know how on Fae Day, when people who became halfers got their new memories and abilities and it was all just pretty comfortable with the new fae side sort of accepting that they weren't going to be in charge? Well, it didn't happen that way for me. My fae never settled in—she's in there, separate, hanging out just waiting for a chance to grab control. And apparently she's been taking over a lot, especially when I'm asleep. James says he saw her in England."
"How...?"
"Sorry...don't know. But remember how everybody expected me to have really strong magic because Morgan was a powerful fae? Well, she's still got all of that magical power, and she's not sharing. I don't really know how she's doing it because, unlike Tanji with Langoureth or me with the human Morgan, I don't have the fae Morgan's memories to draw on."
Her mother's face softened in concern, "How can I help you, sweetie?"
"If I do something that you think isn't like me, tell Tanji or James. They may be able to help if they know when Morgan is taking over."
"I can do that. If I think it's Morgan I'm interacting with, should I say something to her?"
"No. You should stay away from her. She might be dangerous. I don't know. And...she's probably in there listening, too. I don't really have any secrets from her. But I will. I'll find a way to do something about her sneaking around in there all the time. I have to. She isn't going to win."
"I don't really understand any of this, honey, and I'm just frazzled, I think you know that. But keep talking to me about it. I don't want you to feel that you have to keep things hushed up so that they don't upset me...but I'm not sure that you should share this with your father."
"Oh, no way! I don't even feel like talking to him right now..."
"Just remember—he loves you, but he isn't always right."
"I'll get over it, but I just can't really work on that relationship right now, you know what I mean?"
Mom nodded. "I do. Now, scoot...the last thing I need is to hear that you've been late to school because we were sitting at the kitchen table jawing."
James watched the pirate bobble-head on the dashboard bobbing up and down as he relaxed in the pa
ssenger seat of the gnome removal truck while Mr. Ross drove them to their next stop. This one was for the business’s first pixie removal. The job would be more difficult than working with the gnomes. A lot more could go wrong.
They pulled the pixie cage out of the back of the truck so they could get to it easily when they captured the pixies. They also pulled out the nets they'd brought and got dressed in matching sets of heavy denim coveralls, gloves, helmets, and face masks.
Pixies have a nasty bite, and their dust can have both hallucinatory and stimulant effects if inhaled or ingested in too large a dose. They had jars and hand vacuums to gather any dust that had collected below the pixie nest. They hoped to take some back for Tanji because it could be useful for magic in the right hands.
They quickly found the nest in the corner of the customer's old barn. James recalled his first pixie hunt as a boy. He hadn't been quite so well dressed for it, and he had come home covered in bites but bursting with feelings of success about the number of pixies he and his friends had captured and released several miles away. They'd left wards so that the pixies wouldn't try to return to their nest once the boys were gone. Wait, those are Myrddin's memories. Wow. I'm not even trying to keep them separated anymore. I guess that's what I get for spending so much time digging around in them so that I can do a good job with Thomas's education.
James watched as Ron approached the largest pixie, a whopper at around 6 inches tall. He swung the net, and the pixie easily avoided it. It made a run at James then, baring teeth that were normally hidden in a deceptively sweet-looking face. James ducked as the pixie dive-bombed him, and then he tossed up his net, capturing it easily. Thanks to Myrddin, looks I've got some muscle memory for this.
Ron thumped him on the back after they'd managed to capture and cage all five of the pixies. "Nice work!"
