The phone rang again. “Okay, okay…” I stood and leaned over to reach the receiver. “Hello?”
“Are you Miss Lincoln? Miss Lynlee Lincoln?”
I rubbed the eraser end of the pencil back and forth against my jeans, cleaning the tip absently. Cocking my head to the side, I cradled the phone between my ear and shoulder while I leaned against the desk to flip pages, resuming my search for all references to powerful potion ingredients. “That’s me. How can I help you?”
“My mom said you came to see her. She said you thought you could help us.”
I sat up so fast that I knocked my papers to the floor. “Penelope?”
“Yes, ma’am. Do you think you can help us?”
“Are you with Fredward?”
She didn’t answer, but there was a rustle on the other end of the phone and I had a feeling she was nodding. My phone beeped, indicating another call coming through. I glanced at the screen and saw Beck’s name, but I didn’t want to lose Penelope.
“I need a location, Penelope. I’ll come to you and I’ll see what I can do to help you and Fredward. Can you trust me?”
She gave me an address and I jotted it down on a slip of paper. About that time my amulet started to buzz. I touched it and was relieved to find it was just Beck. He was supposed to contact me about dinner, so that meant there wasn’t anything wrong with any of my wards.
“Okay, Penelope. I’ll be there soon. Don’t go anywhere.”
As I hung up the phone, I clasped the stone suspended from a chain around my neck. “Hey, Beck. Sorry I didn’t answer your call. I was on another line.”
“Hey there. How about the salad place around six?”
His voice sounded off to me, but I ignored it as I slapped the books closed on my desk and headed upstairs to change clothes. “I’m sorry, but I have to go out on a call. That’s what the call I just had was about. You know, the case I’ve been working on?” He was quiet a minute. I clenched the amulet tighter, thinking I’d lost the link. “Beck?”
“You mentioned a new case the other night, but you haven’t shared any details. Anything major?”
“Not too major. It’s sort of a favor for Tig.”
Silence again and my stomach flopped a little. Is he mad because I’m standing him up for dinner? He knows I have a job, right?”
“Is something wrong?”
I chewed my lip while I pulled out a clean pair of jeans and a sweater and waited for him to answer.
“We can talk about it later. If you get done early enough, come by. The kids will be home from Justin’s friend’s birthday party, but it’s a school night so they’ll be in bed by nine.”
“Sure, of course. I’ll let you know one way or another, okay?”
I felt him disconnect from the stone and it was like he was disconnecting from me completely. The aloneness left behind settled over me like a pall and a sick wave shot from my chest to my stomach. Staring at the clothes grasped in my hand, I forced the worrying thoughts aside. I had a job to do, and the sooner I took care of it the sooner I could figure out what was going on with my boyfriend.
Before leaving, I headed into my closet and found the large stone base from which I cut my amulets. I leaned in to examine the huge multi-hued crystal and the stone around my own neck began to warm. I located the edge I wanted and removed my amulet from around my neck. With it I traced a shape into the crystal and the base stone glowed blue wherever I touched it.
When I was done, I tapped the crystal with my wand and a new little amulet broke free. I stuffed it into my pocket as I grabbed a coat to leave.
~oOo~
Penelope Dodd was pacing back and forth in a little hotel room. I managed to orb directly in front of her and I thought for a moment the fright would give her a heart attack.
She clutched her chest and swallowed. “I really hope you’re Miss Lincoln.”
A sharp incline of my head was my response as I glanced at the fellow lying on the bed behind her. He had white blond hair that wisped around his head in a feather-like way. Of course real feathers covered the wings peeking out from beneath his body.
“He sleeps a lot now. After the spell, I mean.” She sat down beside him, touching his arm and shaking him to wake him.
He didn’t show any sign that he would open his eyes, but I still conjured my wand. If what Penelope’s mother said was true, Fredward’s cupid powers were playing havoc and I didn’t want to get hit with any arrows.
“Don’t wake him yet.” I waited for her to move away from him. She stepped aside, took a seat in the chair opposite the bed, and folded her hands in her lap.
“What are we going to do? The witch is after me.”
“Yeah, I know that. First things first. Tell me about what’s been happening with Freddy here.”
She crinkled her nose in a frown. “It’s Fredward. After the spell, his arrows went on overdrive. Every person he looks at gets struck and they don’t fall in love. They get angry. Crazy angry and they lash out at whoever they are looking at.”
To clarify, a cupid doesn’t carry a bow the way you see on Valentine cards. His “love arrows” come directly from his eyes. Normally he chooses the use of his magic, but it seemed, because of the spell, Fredward couldn’t control anything right now.
“How long does the anger last?” I asked, glancing at a pair of sunglasses on the table beside the bed.
“Oh, only about five minutes. It wears off really quick.”
As I glanced at her again, it occurred to me she seemed to be just a child. Her eyes were wide and liquid with concern. She held her hands firmly in her lap, her legs drawn together, back ramrod straight. Her image might have made the perfect cover for a book about etiquette.
“Are those his sunglasses?”
“Oh, yes.” Her smile was genuine as she motioned for me to take them.
I held them up to the window and thought for a moment before speaking. “A look gone awry just won’t do. Lenses block out the sun but keep the bad from coming through. Stop the barbs not made of hearts. Prevent the evil before it starts.”
Yeah, I pretty much suck at making up good spells. That was why I relied on my wand so much, because I hated sounding like a dork.
Handing the glasses back to Penelope, I fought to give her a reassuring smile. “Put these on him and then see if you can wake him up.”
I shook my wand free again and waited, on guard just in case the spell didn’t work and his cupid eyes started zapping me. It occurred to me that even if it didn’t work I probably wouldn’t be able to tell. Cupid arrows are invisible, and I would end up in a cloud of rage without even realizing what hit me… literally.
It took a bit of shaking but Penelope finally got Fredward to rouse from his sleep. He immediately made move to pull off his glasses, but before I could fuss, Penelope took his hands in hers and kissed them with such tenderness I was uncomfortable witnessing it. “Ahem.”
The cupid fumbled to sit up, contorting out of a pile of pillows, blankets, and feathers. “Who are you?” he asked, and the deep resonance of his voice was startling. I waited, letting his eyes get a good long look at me. It wasn’t easy to fight the urge to pat my body from head to foot to be sure I was okay. Still, his eyes were trained on me and I felt nothing.
“I’m a Neutralizer and I’m here to help you two.”
“You can break the spell?” He sat up, clearly eager to be free of the little hotel room.
I rolled my head side to side and bit my lip before responding. “I should be able to break the spell, yes. That’s not our real issue right now. I need to find the witch first.”
“Oh, no. So Fredward has to stay here, in hiding, until you find her?”
I turned my gaze to her, my expression stern. “He doesn’t have to remain in total isolation. But I want you to be very careful, both of you. These glasses seem to be doing their job, keeping him from tossing angry arrows at me. I think that means you can get a bite to eat together and such.”
The girl clapped her hands then reached behind her to take her boyfriend’s arm. “It feels like we’ve been here forever.”
“Yeah, I bet.”
“I don’t understand.” Fredward broke the spurt of happiness with his concerned voice. “Why can’t you just fix me and then go after this crazy witch?”
“It’s simple really. Breaking her spell would be an instant honing beacon for her. It would put you in too much danger. I’m not really sure what she’s up to, but I’m digging and I need to be prepared before I draw her out. Okay?”
The blond angel’s shoulders drooped, but he nodded in abject resignation.
“I’m going to give you an amulet, Penelope. You’ll become one of my charges, and I want you to alert me if anything happens.”
“Oh, but my family can’t afford that. We’re simple people,” Penelope argued, her lip quivering.
“I think your mother and I will work something out. Don’t worry.”
I knew Ms. Dodd and I could come up with a payment solution for her daughter. The truth is a lot of my clients couldn’t afford to pay me money; the barter system worked just as well. I never knew what sort of favor or service I might need in my line of work, so it didn’t hurt to have a ready list of folks with a small debt to pay.
Also, there was Tig. This was his errand technically, and I thought it would earn me at least a bottle of Dona Maria Reserva. What can I say? I may not splurge with my own money, but I have a serious appreciation for fine wine.
After giving the girl the amulet I’d cut earlier that evening, I orbed back to my home. Once inside the grotto I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. It was only about nine o’clock so I had plenty of time to go to Becks. Leaning back against my stone grotto, I felt the coldness of the rock leach into my skin.
If only life could be as easy as work, where a bit of magic could settle things for the night. The truth, I knew, was that I sucked at relationships.
I had pretty much perfected the orb to Beck’s house so that I would end up in his front yard. It just didn’t seem appropriate to show up inside the house, no matter how often he insisted I could. Tonight was a perfect reason why that was necessary.
The house was quiet and it looked like the lights to the kids’ rooms were off, indicating they were asleep. With trepidation, I sighed, made my way up the porch steps, and knocked on the door.
“C’mon in, Lynlee. I’m in the kitchen.”
I murmured a greeting as I made my way into the house and then entered the room to see him hand-washing a pot. A few weeks ago I offered to get him a dishwasher, but he insisted that it wasn’t necessary, saying, “It’s good for the kids to wash a set of dishes every now and again.”
He didn’t look back at me. He just put a little more elbow grease into his washing while he spoke. “You don’t have to knock, you know. You’re always welcome in this house.”
“Am I?”
Yeah, there it was. A certain tone in my voice, and one that Beck knew well. I could see it in the way his back tensed, the way he paused just a split second before tossing the scratch-pad aside and rinsing the pot.
He turned around and leaned his rear end against the counter, folding his arms across his chest. His dark eyes burned into me but I held firm, staring back with that empty look that used to make him so angry in our earlier days. I knew it was a defense mechanism. He probably knew it too. If I got emotional, if I let my feelings expand in my chest, my magic reacted with it. I worked hard to make sure that never happened.
Quicker than I could anticipate, Beck pushed away from the counter and grabbed me. His arms surrounded me, wrapping around my waist as his hips pushed me into the island forcefully. I opened my mouth to gasp and his lips claimed mine with bruising pressure. My gasp turned into a moan.
He took advantage of my open mouth to explore every inch with his tongue. The delicious strokes sent sensation all through my body, collecting in a fire between my legs. I thrust my pelvis against his and clutched with clawed hands at his back.
Then my arms held only emptiness and I nearly collapsed when he released me to step away, resuming his place against the counter. With one shaking hand, I clasped the edge of the island to steady myself and brought the other to my mouth. My lips felt swollen and hot. I figured my expression was a mixture of wonder and exasperation when I frowned at him. “What was that?”
“That was stupid,” he grumbled, a little breathless as he crossed his arms again. “That was me trying to wipe that cold look off your face.”
“What the hell’s going on, Beck? I’m not stupid and I know you’re pissed about something.”
I hadn’t noticed the paper on the counter until he placed a single finger on it and slid it in my direction. Since he was offering, I took the sheet and read. I didn’t get far before I realized what it was: Justin’s report card.
“Crap,” I muttered, hastily reading the part about the fight with his little friend. “Have you talked to Justin?”
“Of course I did.”
“I was trying to help, Beck. He wouldn’t tell me what happened with his friend unless I promised not to tell you about it. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time.”
“Geez, Lynlee, you’re the adult and he’s the kid.” He brushed a hand through his hair and flashed me an angry glare. “You can’t let him play you that way. He knew he’d get in trouble and that’s why he asked you to promise. Not so you could be best buds.”
Dropping my forehead into my hand a moment, I tried to think of what to say. When I looked back up at him, my stomach coiled into knots. “I wasn’t trying to be ‘best buds.’ I was just trying to get him to calm down. You didn’t see how upset he was by it. Once he let me in, we talked it out. His friend was just mad because he left and Justin was sore because his friend advanced a grade while he was gone. They’re close again now. Is he in trouble?”
“We talked and agreed on an appropriate punishment. He’s grounded for two weeks. No TV. No video games either.”
I flinched and smiled, trying to lighten the mood. “Man, you are tough.”
“That’s what parents do, Lynlee. They talk to their kids, they understand, they apply the appropriate reprimand, and their kids learn from it. They parent.”
Ouch. I hadn’t felt this excluded since the day he expressed to me how he felt about me being a MAUC. I wasn’t Justin’s parent. I hadn’t acted in the appropriate manner for a parent. I wasn’t worthy of filling in that role, even on a from-time-to-time basis.
He was still speaking and I tried to force myself to concentrate on what he was saying. “Listen, I know this is a weird situation for you. I’m sure you never planned to date a guy with a ready-made family. It isn’t easy for me either, to figure out how to make this work, but my role as their only parent means I can’t afford to have you going behind me on things.”
“I get it. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
I tried to dig into his mind by searching his eyes. He met my gaze and I felt small and uncomfortable. I wasn’t kidding when I said I sucked at relationships. That was why I had so few of them. I didn’t know what to do in moments like this.
I didn’t want to face Beck. I wanted to go hide in my house with a bucket of ice cream and ignore what was happening. I didn’t want to talk it out anymore. I didn’t want to think about the fact that I had screwed up. I didn’t want to face the chance that maybe this crazy thing wasn’t going to work for us after all.
“Did you eat?” He finally broke the silence and our gaze, turning to grab a plate from the cabinet and placing it on the counter. “There’s some meatloaf still warming in the oven.”
A breath I didn’t realize I was holding escaped my lips in a whoosh. He gave me a little grin over his shoulder and took a pot holder from the counter to remove the pan from the oven rack. I still wasn’t feeling quite on level ground with him, but I certainly wasn’t going to turn down his cooking. For one, I wanted to see us get things back to normal.
Two, Beck’s an excellent cook.
Obviously Beck wanted to get us on safer ground because while I began eating he sat down beside me and asked about the Mayberry Seven.
“They hate me,” I said, mouth full. “I know you don’t get my attachment to that house, but I adore it. The first time I saw the mafia house I knew it would be mine. It called to me.” I wasn’t talking about magic either. That house, with all of its little hidden doors and passages and nooks and crannies, was mine.
I was pretty convinced when my realtor took me there that it was as a lark. She was tired of my disdain for every perfectly acceptable house she showed me and wanted to prove to me how difficult I was being. But when I saw the house, I had to have it. She didn’t argue when I agreed to pay more than it appraised for; she got a darn good commission from it.
So I let my love for the house get the best of me because I never even realized it was in a deed-restricted community—a community being run by a board of seven fuddy-duddies who didn’t particularly like strong-willed women.
I shook my head as I thought about it. “I just shouldn’t have stuck my nose in the association’s business in the first place.”
“Lynlee, you can’t let them do that to you. You’re a good person and you tried to help. It’s them with the problem, not you.”
I am a good person? I hadn’t ever been accused of that. And as for trying to help, well, I had tried to help Justin too but we just had a conversation about why that was wrong. When I meddled, I got into trouble. That was all there was to it.
“Maybe. But regardless, I’ll get the shed fixed up and hopefully that will buy me a few more months until they can find some way to come at me for something else.” I took another bite of meatloaf, savoring each swallow. “Maybe I should have the sprites disconnect the waterfalls and be done with it.”
I made that last comment more to myself than to Beck, but the instant I brought up magic to him I got uncomfortable. Glancing sideways, I looked for a reaction from him. He turned in his chair and leaned his back against the counter.
A Bundle of Trouble (The Lynlee Lincoln Sets Book 1) Page 12
