Oak & Thorns

by Yasmine Galenorn

  And with that, we took off for the office.

  THE MORNING PASSED unobtrusively, as we all did what we could to prepare for our trip to Whidbey Island the next day. At quarter to twelve, Angel and I took off for the sanctuary house, stopping at a burger joint along the way to grab lunch for all of us.

  Sanctuary houses were safe havens, where anyone who found themselves in danger and a target could go. All members of the United Coalition—the Shifter Alliance, the Vampire Nation, the Fae Courts, and the Human League—had signed treaties agreeing to the stipulation. The person being targeted could stay there until the Grand Council made a decision on their situation. I didn’t know how many sanctuary houses there were, and I had only a vague idea of who the Grand Council was. But it was a nationwide network, and it occurred to me it would be a good idea to find out more about it. I decided to ask Herne later on about it. There was so much that I didn’t know. My parents had never explained much to me about my heritage before they were killed, and since then I had flown under the radar.

  When we arrived at the house on Spruce Street, I wasn’t surprised to see bars on the windows and doors. When we knocked on the door, an armed man answered. He glanced at our ID, then at the tattoos on our arms, then motioned for us to walk through a metal detector on the porch. Of course, my underwire set it off, as well as my dagger.

  “I’m sorry, but you can’t bring the weapon inside. There’s a locker by the porch swing. Place your dagger inside, and lock the door. Keep the key and retrieve your blade on the way out.”

  I complied, without question.

  We were escorted into the house, but instead of finding ourselves in the living room, it looked like a reception room. The woman sitting behind the desk looked at our identification again, then motioned to the man who had let us in.

  “Room 2E. They have two hours, and no grounds privileges.”

  “Okay to leave them alone?” he asked.

  “Yes, they are okayed for privacy.” The receptionist nodded for us to follow him. She didn’t seem friendly, but it occurred to me that in a sanctuary house, you could never be too careful. Even though all four members of the United Coalition had agreed on the rules, that didn’t mean individuals always abided by them.

  He led us up a narrow staircase, to the second floor, and then turned right. It looked like there were five rooms, and he led us to the second door with the number two stenciled on it. After he unlocked it and opened the door, he stood back so that we could enter. Inside, DJ was sitting at a small table.

  We entered, and the guard locked the door behind us again. I began to understand what it must be like to be in jail.

  The room was spacious with the sofa, an end table, a folding table with four chairs, a water dispenser, and another door to one side. There was motel room art on the walls, and a bookshelf with a few books on it. There was also a TV.

  Curious, I walked over to the other door while DJ and Angel were hugging each other, and peeked in. It was a half bath. There were no windows in either room.

  “Ember!” DJ ran up and threw his arms around me. “It’s good to see you.”

  I gave him a tight hug. “How you doing, sport?”

  He scuffed his foot, shrugging. “Okay.”

  Angel unpacked our lunch, setting out the burgers and fries and shakes. I gave DJ another squeeze around the shoulders.

  “Hungry? We came armed with hamburgers.” I wriggled my eyebrows at him, surprised that he had grown a couple inches since last time I saw him. He was still a small boy, solemn beyond his years, and too smart for his own good.

  “Starved. They gave me some chips, but it wasn’t enough.” He headed over to the table, sitting in the chair next to Angel. I joined them, still feeling like a third wheel, but if they both wanted me here, I wasn’t going to complain.

  “So,” Angel said after a moment. “Cooper said you were having a hard time? Is that true?”

  DJ averted his eyes, stuffing his hamburger into his mouth. After a moment, he swallowed, then gave her a short nod. “Mostly it’s okay. It’s just… Today…” He struggled with his words, falling silent.

  “I know. Today’s the day Mama J. died. And it’s still too close, and too painful. Anniversaries like this are freaking hard, aren’t they?” Angel reached over, running her hand over his closely shorn head. “What happened to all your hair?”

  “I asked Cooper to give me a buzz cut. Like his.” DJ took a sip of his shake, then wiped his mouth. “I’ve been dreaming about Mama a lot lately. I miss her.” The words came out garbled with tears, but he dashed them away, sniffling as he stared down at what was left of his meal.

  As I watched Angel and DJ share their grief, I wasn’t sure what to say, but decided to give it a try. “DJ, it’s good you think about her. Mama J. was a wonderful woman. You know she took me in when my own parents were killed.”

  He glanced up at me. “Angel told me. She said you moved in when you were both teenagers. I’m sorry you lost your parents, too.”

  “It’s never easy. And it never goes away. But as time goes on, it gets a little easier. I hope you don’t mind that I came in today. I wanted to say hi.” I had been worried that I would say the wrong thing, but both Angel and DJ smiled at me.

  “You know, Mama wouldn’t want you to be sad. You remember what she was like. What do you think she would tell you?” Angel lifted DJ’s chin so that he was staring into her face.

  DJ swallowed, then let out a sigh. “She’d tell me to get on with it. She’d say feel it, then let it go. That’s what she always told me when I came home upset from school.”

  “Then I think we both need to take her advice. We want to make her proud, don’t we?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, and I guess thinking about the past doesn’t help much, doesn’t?”

  “Good memories always help, but we can’t live in the past. Trust me, I’ve learned that the hard way.” Angel pointed to his lunch. “Eat before that gets cold.”

  “You too,” he said, a smile creeping across his face.

  We finished lunch, chatting about nothing in particular.

  “So how do you like living with Cooper and his family?” I asked.

  “Actually, it’s pretty good. It’s not that I didn’t love living with you,” he glanced at his sister. “It’s just… It feels good to be with a family again. The kids are really nice, and even though we get into arguments at times, they treat me like I’m part of the family. And I’m learning a lot about how to control my wolf.” At that, a broad smile spread across his face. “That’s one nice thing—they’re all wolf shifters.”

  “How’s school?” Angel asked.

  “Pretty good. There are a few bullies in the class, but it doesn’t feel as scary as school did here. I’m getting straight As.” He launched into telling us about his classes, and his friends, and as he continued, his spirits seemed to rise. Finally, he asked, “Do you really think Mama would be proud of me?”

  Angel and I both nodded enthusiastically.

  “Mama would say you’re doing just great,” Angel said. “I think she’d be proud of us both. We both have made a lot of changes over the past few months, and I know it’s scary, but we’re doing good. Did you know Ember’s going to buy a house and I’ll live there with her?”

  “Will I come and live there, too?”

  I glanced at him, not sensing much enthusiasm in his question.

  “No, dude. Angel and I are working for a business that can be dangerous for friends and family. You do know that’s why you had to go away in the first place, right? Angel didn’t just arbitrarily send you to live with Cooper and his family.”

  DJ nodded. “Yeah, Cooper explained it to me. I guess things are better off the way they are. But I do miss you,” he said to his sister.

  “I miss you too, DJ. At least we get to see each other and talk to each other a lot on the phone.”

  There was a tap on the door, and the guard peeked i
n. “Excuse me, but it’s time.”

  I blinked, glancing at the clock on the wall. Sure enough, we had already spent two hours talking.

  “I wish we had more time,” DJ said. “But Cooper said in the fall, maybe you can come down for the weekend?” He gave Angel a hopeful look.

  She nodded. “Yeah, we’ve talked about that. We’ll make it happen. Until then, promise me you’ll do your best? At school, and with Cooper and his family. And I know today’s hard, but remember, Mama’s watching over you. And she watches over me, too. So don’t you worry about me, okay?”

  “Okay,” DJ said, holding her tight around the waist.

  The guard led us away, locking the door behind him. I felt bad leaving DJ behind.

  “Cooper will come for him soon, won’t he? He’s not going to be sitting there alone for a long time, will he?”

  “He’ll be leaving for home before you know it. Don’t worry about him, he’s going to be fine.” The guard’s reserve cracked just a little. “The boy will be okay. His guardian is coming for him now.”

  As I retrieved my dagger and we left, we saw Cooper heading up the sidewalk. We said nothing, as per the rules, but he flashed us a wide smile as he passed us, and a nod of the head that said, Don’t worry, I’ve got DJ’s back.

  BY THE TIME we left, it was a little past three.

  “We have a little over an hour until we’re supposed to look at the house. Let’s go back to the office and tidy up things before we have to leave tomorrow.” I glanced at Angel. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded, wiping her eyes. “Actually, yes. It’s hard to walk away from him, but I know it’s for the best. And every time I see Cooper, I feel secure about DJ’s future. He’s taking care of my brother better than I ever could. I think that’s what hurts the most.”

  She sounded so depressed that I couldn’t stand it.

  “Stop that. You did your best. You did everything you could. You love DJ, and he knows that. Just because Cooper can offer him a better opportunity doesn’t mean you failed at your job. Mama J. would be proud of you. I hope you know that.”

  “I like to think so,” she said.

  Back at the office, I cleared my desk and finished inputting the last of the information from the forms. After that, it was time to head out to look at the house.

  I stopped to let Herne know where we were headed. “We’ve got a lead on a house, and I want to see it before we head out to Whidbey Island tomorrow.”

  He was staring at his phone. When he looked up, he was frowning.

  “Okay. Unfortunately, we need another rain check on our date. After you’re done looking at the house, I need you to come back to the office. Yutani and Talia have some information for us on the case. It’s best if we go over that before we leave rather than on the way.”

  I rolled my eyes, not exactly irritated but definitely not thrilled either. I really wanted to be alone with him for a while. Well, truth be told, I wanted to get buck naked and jump in bed. But given we had an early start the next day, I was resigning myself to the fact that might not happen.

  “Sure, a rain check’s fine. But maybe we can make an exception and stay late after the others leave? Nudge, nudge,” I said, winking. I wasn’t the best flirt in the world, but by now I figured that we had been together long enough for me to be relatively blunt.

  He chuckled. “It’s been a while since my daybed has gotten any use. I’m willing to break our unwritten rule, if you are.” And with that, he blew me a kiss and headed back to his office.

  ANGEL AND I decided to just take my car to go see the house, given that we had to return to the office anyway. She seemed in better spirits, and along the way we chatted about what we should keep an eye out for.

  “We need to ask her about urban flooding, what the neighborhood’s like, mold, and be sure to keep an eye out for anything that might have been done on the cheap. If they flipped it, inexpensive materials are fine, as long as they’re sturdy. I’m not expecting high-end upgrades for the price were looking at.”

  I parked in front of the house, behind a small Subaru. It had a real estate sticker on the window, so I assumed it was Rachel’s car. Sure enough, as we got out of the car, a short, petite woman in a linen pantsuit came running over. She was probably around our age, but her hair was piled high on her head in a messy chignon, and she had a slightly frazzled look to her.

  “Hi, I’m Rachel Madison,” she said, thrusting her hand toward me. “Ember?”

  I nodded. “I’m Ember Kearney, and this is my roommate, Angel Jackson.”

  She gave Angel a quick nod. “So, are you both looking to buy the house?”

  I shook my head. “No, I’ll be the one buying. Angel would be renting from me.”

  Rachel led us through the picket fence, opening the gate for us. The walkway was crowded with overgrown rhododendrons, and to one side a tall maple towered over the house. A gate led into the next lot, which was also overgrown, but it looked like someone had at one time attempted a large vegetable garden there.

  The sidewalk was cracked and bumpy, and the pavement was broken. Rosebushes stood to either side of the porch, sprawling in a messy disarray. The lawn looked to be more moss than grass, which wasn’t uncommon around here.

  The house itself was two-story, and was navy with white trim. The porch was weathered, and wide enough for a porch swing, with a spindle railing flanking the sides and front. Overall, the place didn’t look too broken-down. As we clattered up the stairs, I realized that I was holding my breath and I wasn’t sure why.

  Angel gave me a nudge and leaned over to whisper in my ear. “Something happened here. I can feel it. I don’t know if it’s haunted or not, but there’s a cloud over this house.”

  I decided to get the question out of the way. “Rachel, before we go on, I’d like to ask you something. Why is this house priced so cheaply? I notice it comes with the lot next door.”

  She paused, then let out a long sigh.

  “I was hoping you’d save that question until you’ve seen the inside, because this is a charming house, and it has so much potential.” She looked about to cry, and I got the distinct impression that she’d been trying to unload this house for quite a while.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “This house has been on the market for 400 days. Over a year. The reason the price is so low is because the family really wants to sell it. By law, I’m required to inform you that this is a murder house. An elderly woman and her granddaughter were killed here about two years ago. They were murdered by the granddaughter’s boyfriend.” She paused, the key dangling between her fingers. “So, do you still want to see the house?”

  Chapter 4

  A MURDER HOUSE. Lovely. I glanced beyond her at the house. Was it haunted? Or was the neighborhood really that dangerous? So many questions flew through my mind, and I knew that Angel was probably entertaining most of them as well.

  “Before we head inside, tell us about the murder, please.” I wasn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet. If we didn’t find any ghosts hanging around, owning a nefarious house might be worth the stigma, if it was in good condition and given the size of the lot.

  Rachel led us over to the porch swing, where she motioned for us to sit down. She leaned against the railing, and I had the feeling she had told the story more than once.

  “The granddaughter—I think her name was Aimee—broke up with her boyfriend a few weeks before the murder. He wanted her back, and she didn’t want anything to do with him. He was from a troubled family, if I remember the story correctly, and violent. She told him to get lost and he started stalking her. I’m not clear on what happened, but he snapped. Aimee was staying with her grandmother. The guy broke into the house, and took an axe to both of them. It was brutal, and grisly. The neighbor found them the next morning when she went over to borrow some sugar from the grandmother.”

  “Did they catch the guy?” My first concern was that
the murderer might still be out there and for some reason decide to revisit the house.

  Rachel shook her head. “He killed himself at the scene.”

  Well, that was one worry off the table, but it meant there were three violent deaths that had happened in the house.

  “Who owns the house now?”

  “Aimee’s mother. Juliana Tallwood. She can’t bear to even come near the house. She’s been trying to sell it since shortly after the murder. It was on the market for about six months, without a single nibble, so she delisted it, and had it fully upgraded so it would sell faster. It’s been on the market for a total of 400 days. Nobody seems to be willing to live in a place where people were murdered.” Rachel glanced at me, and it was apparent from her expression that she expected us to get up and walk out.

  I glanced at Angel. “That’s probably why I felt an alarm go off. What do you think? Should we have a look inside?” I trusted her judgment.

  Angel closed her eyes for a moment, then glanced back at me. “I don’t know if it’s haunted or not, but there’s a lot of cobwebby energy around. We’d have to do a thorough cleaning if we take it. And if there are any ghosts, we’ll have to have someone exorcise them. I’m not very good at doing things like that.”

  I thought about it for a moment, then looked back over at Rachel, who was pretending that she wasn’t listening to us.

  “All right, let’s take a look since we’re here.”

  A look of relief spreading over her face, Rachel led us to the door and unlocked it.

  THE INSIDE OF the house was a pleasant surprise. The rooms were spacious, and the layout was good. It maximized every square foot of space. The hardwood floors gleamed, and although there weren’t as many windows as I would have liked, there was enough light to make it feel airy. The walls were painted a creamy white, and the trim, a rich walnut color. As we entered the foyer, a coat closet to the left offered storage. Straight ahead, an arched opening led into the living room. The room was large, with a long row of built-ins along the opposite wall, with the fireplace being the central focal point. The brick had been painted white. They had done everything in their power to make the house feel clean and new.