by D. R. Perry
"Frankly, you should have done a better job controlling your son."
"Says the man whose offspring haven't been home in over a year." The woman snorted. I didn't recognize her voice. "You will help me find him. Or I'm spilling the beans on your little plan."
"I'm not sure how a fire magus can help in a missing persons case. Why not call the police?"
"You think I haven't tried? You know how public servants are since the Reveal chaos died down. All about doing the same for everyone, not treating families like ours with proper respect."
"You have a point, Lavinia. So what do you want from me?"
So, the woman was Alex's mother.
"Money, of course. To hire a private investigator. All of mine's tied up in trust at the moment. The holidays, you know."
"This month's dividend already gone?" He chuckled. "You're like a sailor on shore leave with money. How do I trust you to repay?"
"Oh, I promise you'll get paid back. And then some."
Doris and Ember wondered together how asking a friend for help could sound so sinister. They didn't know my father.
"How much?"
She dropped a figure she could have purchased a yacht with. He laughed, and they negotiated. My stomach churned. Finally, they wrapped it up.
"So in exchange for this sum, you will say nothing."
"About what, exactly?" She tittered.
"The conservatorship I've got drawn up. Or the plan we've got to thwart Gauthier and give me grounds to invoke it on him."
"As soon as the funds hit my account, I promise to stay mum on the matter of entrapping your son."
"I'm surprised you're not making a similar demand."
"Oh, Leo." She clicked her tongue. "Nobody likes my son. They don't care how I treat him, not after the things he's done. I understand the need with yours. He's surprisingly popular."
"Like the idiot mascot of the bleeding hearts." My father laughed. Doris hissed. "Elanor's fault entirely. I should have separated them after that incident in Tibet."
"You know what they say about hindsight."
Their voices got smaller, which meant they headed down the hall. I sat. Had to, or I would have fallen. And it would have been a disaster, clattering chairs and them barging in here.
Doris jumped into my lap. Ember, although she'd clung to Aliyah like a statically charged sweater since getting pregnant, draped herself over my shoulders. Trails of smoke curled up to my right. Doris put her paws on my shoulders, purring in my face. When Aliyah sat on the edge of the table beside me and smoothed my hair, it was all over. My self-control.
Tears rained down on my face, sudden and torrential as a thunderstorm but silent as the snow. I'd learned over the years, not just how to cry noiselessly, but how to sob without sound.
I'm not sure how long it went on. Thunder-boomer length, or hurricane? Was this the eye? Would an hour of peace pass, only to blow apart in the next storm surge?
"Sorry," I finally managed and wiped my eyes on my sleeves. It almost felt like a lost cause, but at least my nose wasn't running.
"No." She shook her head. "If Bubbe were here, what would she say?"
"Be quiet?" I glanced at the door.
"No, they're gone." She tapped her temple. "Mind magic says so. She'd say don't apologize for healing."
"Can't argue with Bubbe." I sighed and leaned my head against her side. "Guess it's going to take time. Should be used to that by now."
"Someday, you'll be free from this." She put her arm around my shoulders. "From them."
"How do you do it?"
"Hmm?"
"Be so. I don't know. Unsurprised? That my parents aren't like yours? Because yours shocked me."
"First year was when I started understanding. Nobody's got it the same at home as anyone else. It started with Grace."
"How?"
"I guess you don't know. In first year, Grace told me her parents had passed. Years ago. It hit her hard, and the only thing I could do was be there for her, without judging."
"So, it's like a bedside manner? Something I could learn maybe?"
"Wow." She got off the table and crouched in front of me. "Logan, you don't have to be blunder-free. Making mistakes won't stop your friends from caring."
"Okay." I stood and held my hand out. "I'm ready to go now."
We walked arm-in-arm through the hallway and into the lobby. Fortunately, Faith was there, so we handed the blankets off to her. While separating them off the bundle, we noticed one each for Izzy and Lee, which we delivered to her house. After that, we helped out in Bubbe's office before dinner. I left my translation notes on Ludovico’s blood research with her before leaving for the evening.
We met the others in front of the Essex Street municipal parking lot, where we waited until Azrael showed up in a minivan with Grace. At first, I wondered what we'd do about Hal's wheelchair.
That's a misnomer because Hal's prototype didn't have wheels at all. It hovered instead, powered by fans underneath, like a hovercraft. But the fans were magipsychic. Dylan and I helped enchant those, and Lee helped make the frame as lightweight as possible with his wood magic. It was an enormous secret, and Hal couldn't handle all the walking and singing without it.
There was no way Grace or Az could have known we'd need a bigger vehicle. But he held his phone up and tapped something on it. Then he put the emergency lights on, and they got out.
"Do you want the good news or the bad news first?" he asked Aliyah.
"The good." She grinned.
"Bar's coming. He can fit Hal's contraption in his truck. And he's bringing Cadence."
"Okay, what's the bad news?"
"He's got Mavis coming too."
"How's that bad?" She scratched her head.
"She's a Merlini." He sighed. "You know how they are."
"Hold on there." Hal blinked. "Because it sounds like you're pushing bias on a middle school kid."
"It's more complicated than that." Tires crunched on the pavement. A door slammed.
"Complicated or not, she helped us out big time."
"The entire family's horrible."
Everybody stared at him, even Grace. Az shuffled his feet, face turning red. The pit of my stomach dropped. If Azrael felt this way about Mavis over her family, what did he think of me? I shivered. Aliyah put her arm around me. I looked up.
Bartholomew Micello kept right on approaching, but Cadence stopped walking toward us in mid-step. I'd never seen the dark-haired girl whose arm she held, but she looked sad, like a kid with no cake or presents on her birthday.
"We don't do the sins of the father thing here." Hal took Faith's hand. Right. Her family was awful too. "Everybody gets a chance."
"Okay then." Azrael nodded. He strode over toward Cadence and the girl. His entire manner changed like he'd stepped on stage, suddenly in character. "Miss Mavis Merlini, I do humbly apologize for my unkindness. I'm only a changeling, but I owe you one favor in exchange for my uncouth outburst."
"Um, okay?" She tugged Cadence's sleeve. "Like, now?"
"Any time." The mermaid nodded. "But it's simpler to call faerie favors in sooner rather than later. You don't want to forget that kind of debt."
"Okay then." Mavis grinned. "Azrael Ambersmith, I want you to hop on one leg and bark like a dog. Then we're square."
He looked ridiculous but didn't seem to mind acting so clownish. Grace clapped her hands once he finished, starting everyone else off. After the applause died down, we helped Hal into the minivan while Bar put his magic chair in the back of the truck. Mavis jumped up after and strapped it down with bungee cords. Then we were on our way to start the evening's festivities at the Ambersmith family apple orchards across the border in Danvers.
I kind of hoped wassailing would be like musical theatre. But it wasn't. No dancing at all, only singing, which I'm no good at. And lots of hot beverages, which made up for that. The adults had whiskey in theirs, except for Old Grandpa Ambersmith. Along the way, he walked with the younger
crowd, regaling us with stories about the adult Ambersmiths. He spoke with a slight whistle, due to missing his front teeth. And he made epic dad jokes.
"My medication goes with booze like ugly Christmas sweaters and the Fourth of July." He dropped me a wink. "Get it?"
"Yeah." I chuckled. "Good one, sir."
"Call me Old Grandpa. Or OGP if you want, kiddo."
"Thanks, I will."
"You've got fine manners, for a Pierce." He elbowed Aliyah. "I approve."
"Oh, um, thanks OGP."
"Like he's a Morgenstern already. When's the wedding? You could double up with Az and Miss Gracie." He glanced at Hal and Faith. "Make it a triple, even."
Aliyah and Faith both blushed while Hal hid his face behind his blanket. Cadence smiled but sighed. Mavis rolled her eyes.
"OGP!" Azrael shook his finger at his grandfather. "Enough with the wedding talk, already."
"This is his usual schtick now, you know?" Grace rolled her eyes. "Time for some new jokes, Old Grandpa."
"Watch out for Miss Gracie. She'll rule the world someday." OGP nodded.
"Nah." She shrugged. "I only want to decorate it."
Everybody laughed.
Somewhere on the north end of Salem, near the bridge to Beverly, I overheard Aliyah and Cadence.
"Why hasn't it been in the papers, though?"
"Does that really matter? I mean, the video's internet famous."
"It was for about five minutes. Mostly, it got me in trouble with my parents. It's yesterday's news now. I thought you said your mom would want to interview me, Cadence."
"Now that I think of it, she hasn't mentioned you or the test video at all. That's strange for her. She's not the sort of adult who's oblivious to internet trends."
"Can you ask her, then?"
"It's tricky, but I'll try."
"Do you need help?"
"Nah. I'll ask her out for mother-daughter mimosas after I get home. I should know something before we go back to school."
"Yearbook." I nudged Aliyah.
"Oh, right!" She nodded. "Cadence, have you ever heard of Gamila Haddad-Hawkins?"
"Hal's grandmother? She's a djinn, works for the Sidhe Queen. She's lamp-bound. Typical djinn story—separated from her family for years because of the lamp."
"How does that work, exactly? The lamp thing?"
"They do three terms of service, for the first three people who activate the lamp. After that, they're bound to service forever unless someone willingly takes their place."
"Another djinn?"
"Preferred but not required. But they've got to be extrahuman and not a shifter. I don't know much else." She shrugged.
"Okay, more library time then." She nodded. "One more name to drop if that's okay?"
"Hit me up."
"Petra Pierce."
My mouth dropped open. So, the yearbook girl was my relative.
"Logan, she's your aunt. That sister Andre mentioned, remember?"
I couldn't speak, so I shook my head.
"Well, no wonder. It's a sad story." Cadence didn't know my father. "She graduated Hawthorn, top of her class. Went to Providence Paranormal for a semester and got engaged to her high school sweetheart. And then there was an accident. Her familiar passed and she got sick. Mental illness, like paranoia and hallucinations."
"What happened after that?" My voice cracked.
"Nobody knows. Her fiancé never married. Or dated anyone else either."
"I bet you five bucks I know his name." Aliyah sighed.
"Oh?" Cadence blinked. "Go on. I love easy money."
"Andre Gauthier."
"And, I'm broke." Cadence opened her handbag and paid her debt. "I think that's enough gossip for now. I'll talk to Mom tomorrow morning about the other thing."
On the way home, most of us were sleepy. I had my head on Aliyah's shoulder, struggling not to nod off.
"Will I see you tomorrow?" Aliyah asked. I almost told her of course when Hal answered.
"I think so." He hung his head. "After all the court business with Dad pushing Mom out of my medical care, I feel bad going over his head. They'll be angry."
"They'll be angrier if they find out this could have helped." Faith sighed. "Their issues aren't your fault."
"Yeah, I know. But I have to make sure they'll be okay, that I'm not burning bridges with Mom and Dad. I won't have time to fix it later."
I didn't know what decision about tomorrow Hal had to make, but I had too much experience walking on eggshells. So I sat up.
"Hal, it's not your job to fix your parents." I studied his face, half-lit from the orange streetlights outside. "You're trying to survive. Do that however you have to. They're the adults. If they have problems with whatever you're doing, that's on them."
Az turned on Washington Street, and we rode a few blocks in silence. Finally, Hal nodded.
"Okay, so I'll see you tomorrow."
We said goodnight and trudged back to our homes, temporary and otherwise. I kissed Aliyah goodnight at the bottom of the back stairs. Bubbe waved from her kitchen as I passed by, taking pictures of my notebook with her phone. Coming to live here the year before had seemed like my last resort at the time. The Morgensterns were my lifeline now. And Aliyah herself, nothing short of hope.
That night, the dream of the cliffs didn't visit me, and I slept in peace.
Chapter Twenty
Aliyah
At sunset the day after the wassail, I helped Bubbe in her kitchen, setting two tea trays up on the table. I knew why even before she poured a bag of blood into the yellow teapot decorated with copperplate letter Bs. She put it on a hotplate with a digital display instead of the stove and set it for 98.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
"Is Noah coming over?"
"No, but our guests are both vampires." Bubbe put our usual teakettle on. "They want to talk to Hal about his magiglobular anemia."
"Why am I here, then?" Dylan pulled his head and the carton of cream out of the refrigerator. "And Aliyah?"
"That's extramagus business."
"Can you explain?" My hands shook, and the china rattled. Up on top of the refrigerator, Ember peeped, and Gale chirped.
"Even I'm not clear on the details. They assured me it's positive."
I tried to relax after that. Optimism faded once Hal arrived, hands clenched in tension and forehead twisted with strain. He left his chair in the waiting room and shuffled toward Bubbe's kitchen propped up between Faith and the wall. Once seated, he refused all offers of refreshments. I didn't press about why. After all the effort to get in here, the last thing he'd want was needing the bathroom in the middle of this meeting.
Faith paced the room while Hal sat. Dylan opened a cabinet and brought down tea bags. The table only seated four, so I got a few extra chairs from an empty exam room. I set one each at the head and foot of the table, then glanced around, trying to figure out where the odd one ought to go.
"I'll take that one." Dylan reached for it. "Be a wallflower." He placed it between the doorway and the corner, then sat.
"Hey." Logan paused in the open doorway and nodded at us. "A car just pulled up in the driveway. Wanted to let you know."
"You coming in?" Hal asked.
"I'm about to have my hands full with baby karkinos feeding time. Good luck!" He grinned.
"Thanks."
The door chime sounded, and Bubbe left the room. She returned in moments, leading a man and a woman. The only similarities between them were their pallor and a sense that each was out of time somehow. His clothes reminded me of old movies Bubbe watched. She wore a lab coat over full skirts and a shirtwaist that could have come out of a history textbook about the Industrial Revolution, but her briefcase was decidedly twenty-first century. They sat across from Hal and Faith after Bubbe took the seat at the head of the table. I stood at the foot, leaning my hands on the back of the chair. From there, I had a view of everyone in the room, the door, and even the little window over the sink.
Why ar
e you in defense mode?
"Please, Aliyah. Sit," Bubbe requested. "It's only polite."
"No, I understand." The man grinned. "Your granddaughter has a sense of tactics. Detective Klein, Newport Police Department."
"And I'm Doctor Klein, Director of Magical Conditions at Rhode Island Hospital." She cleared her throat. "Which is part of the reason we're here, Harold."
"My blood tests." Hal nodded. "Call me Hal. Are you related?"
"We were married, once upon a time. That’s part of why we asked to meet in person instead of doing this over the phone." Doctor Klein pulled a folder from the briefcase. "With magical anemia cases, my lab also runs DNA profiles. Harold, you share a significant match with both of us."
"What?"
"We're your maternal grandparents."
Hal sat with that for a minute while pouring hot water over a sachet of chamomile. He stirred the tea he never ended up drinking, possibly a picture of calm to the Kleins, who had only just met him. The rest of us knew better. The tea was busywork for his hands. Hal's serious business had gone dire. His next words confirmed it.
"Shouldn't my mother be here, then?"
"I invited her," Bubbe admitted. "She never answered or returned my calls."
"So you knew, Bubbe."
"We asked Doctor Morgenstern to let us give you this news in person." Detective Klein gazed at Hal, his eyes filled with that same light of determination my friend often displayed. "Among other things."
"Okay." Hal nodded. "I'll hear you out."
"When Steph—" Detective Klein shook his head. "When your mother went missing, we never stopped looking. Police in other jurisdictions wouldn't talk to me once they checked my status in the registry. Vampire problems. We hired a psychic investigator, but it led to another young woman instead. Eventually, we realized law enforcement wasn't working."
"So, you went with science." The corners of Hal's mouth turned up. "Medical records."
"Exactly." Doctor Klein flipped the folder open. "It took a long time for older records to go digital. Even then, your mother must have avoided conventional doctors. Dhampyr blood isn't easy to hide."
