Olivia looked up at Theo and smiled, digging her chopsticks into her noodles and taking a huge mouthful. Knowing that she would rather eat than talk Theo sipped his beer and went back to the beginning, telling them about the Crossroads then the collapse of part of the Otherworld into the void. He went back over Hades and the Underworld, recounting everything he’d told his sister earlier. They all listened intently, every now and then asking questions, while Olivia filled in gaps or expanded on something Theo was describing. Finally, he caught up to them arriving back in the library, omitting with a smile in Jake and Roni’s direction the position they’d caught them in.
‘Wow,’ Mac scratched his chin, ‘so your mother and Nathaniel…’
‘Pretty pissed,’ Olivia nodded discarding her carton and picking up another. ‘At each other and in general.’
‘So what happens now?’
‘I don’t know,’ she shook her head, sighing as she chewed a piece of pork thoughtfully. ‘They’re both extremely dangerous, way more than before. My mother is packing some serious juju, her powers are incredibly advanced and as for Nathaniel, well now we have a demon on the loose in his natural form who is just as powerful as my mother. Fortunately for us, at the moment they’re so pissed with each other they’re ignoring us which gives us a little breathing room. But make no mistake, sooner or later one of two things are going to happen. Either one of them destroys the other or they kiss and make up. Either way at that point they’re going to head in our direction and when that happens we’re in serious trouble.’
‘Damn,’ Jake frowned.
‘Yeah’ Olivia nodded, dropping the empty carton and picking up another.
‘So they’re still after the book?’
‘Looks like,’ Olivia bit into a chunk of chicken. ‘Although they’re pretty focused on each other right now, the book is still their goal.’
‘And you don’t know where it is?’
‘No I don’t,’ Olivia shook her head staring at her kung pao chicken thoughtfully. ‘I need a drink.’
‘Do you want a glass of wine?’ Roni offered.
‘No thanks,’ she murmured. ‘What I really want is a milkshake.’
‘A milkshake?’ she asked dubiously, ‘with Chinese takeout?’
‘Yeah, did you guys bring milk?’
‘Yes,’ Louisa nodded, ‘and bread.’
‘I just want the milk. I’m sure I have a tub of Nesquik somewhere in the pantry.’
‘Well if you’re sure that’s what you want,’ Roni got up. ‘I’ll go check.’
‘Thanks,’ she beamed up at her.
Roni slipped out of the room, returning five minutes later with a tall glass.
‘You only had chocolate flavor, I hope that’s okay?’
‘Perfect’ Olivia smiled, taking a long sip and licking the milk mustache from her top lip before picking up the carton and starting to eat once again.
‘That’s gross Oliva,’ Tommy shuddered, ‘and I’ve seen some of the things Louisa’s been eating.’
‘Okay whatever,’ Jake shook his head, ‘focus on the problem people not on Olive’s poor taste in beverages. So we have time to figure it out then?’
‘Yeah but I don’t know how long,’ she shook her head frowning, ‘or what the hell to do? I mean how do we stop an incredibly powerful witch and a pissed off demon?’
She sighed in frustration and Theo leaned down and squeezed her neck gently. She looked around the room taking in the morose expressions and made a decision.
‘You know what we need?’ she asked no one in particular, ‘we need something happy, something normal. I mean, if our lives are about to turn to shit we should at least have a party first.’
‘Something happy and normal?’ Tommy repeated. ‘You got any ideas?’
‘As a matter of fact I do,’ Olivia looked up at Theo. ‘I don’t want to wait,’ she told him quietly.
‘Neither do I,’ he smiled back at her.
‘What’s going on?’ Jake asked curiously.
‘Oh,’ Louisa’s eyes filled with tears as she caught on. Tommy looked over at her in concern.
‘Don’t worry about me,’ she waved her hands blinking rapidly. ‘Hormones.’
‘Don’t I know it,’ Tommy muttered under his breath.
‘What was that?’ Louisa asked.
‘Nothing sweetheart,’ he smiled innocently.
‘So what’s going on?’ Jake repeated.
‘Olivia and I are getting married,’ Theo explained.
‘No way!’ Jake’s face broke into a wide smile, ‘really?’
‘Yeah, weddings are happy right?’ Olivia grinned. ‘We don’t want to wait, so I say we have ourselves a wedding.’
‘Hell yeah,’ Tommy raised his bottle and the room erupted in smiles and congratulations.
‘So when do you want to get married? Louisa asked.
‘As soon as possible’ Olivia replied. ‘We want to get married here down by the lake and then just have a party afterwards,’ she turned to Theo, ‘unless you want a church?’
‘I’m happy with whatever you want,’ he smiled.
‘Wise choice man,’ Tommy slapped him on the shoulder. ‘Best thing to do is let the women have their way and then just show up on the day and say I do.’
‘That’s pretty much what I plan to do,’ he absently toyed with the label on his beer bottle. ‘I don’t care how we get there I just want to marry her.’
‘Aww,’
Theo looked up to see both Roni and Louisa smiling at him.
‘Anyway, Jake,’ Theo frowned and turned back to his friend, ‘I was hoping you’d stand up with me.’
‘You mean be your best man?’ he froze with his beer halfway to his mouth.
‘Yeah, if that’s what you call it,’ he mumbled.
‘Of course man,’ he blinked, clearing his throat.
‘Good,’ Theo nodded.
‘Good,’ Jake repeated.
There was a choked little sound and they looked across to see Louisa and Roni tearing up while they watched them. Olivia smiled at Theo as she scooped up her food.
‘How much of that have you eaten?’ Jake frowned at Olivia. ‘You’re giving Louisa a run for her money.’
‘I’m hungry,’ Olivia shrugged. ‘Do you have any idea what it’s like in seventeenth century Salem? The food sucks.’
‘I can imagine,’ Roni replied sagely.
‘So the wedding then?’ Louisa changed the subject.
‘Yeah,’ Olivia replied, ‘you two are going to be my bridesmaids right?’
Louisa’s eyes filled with tears again.
‘Okaay,’ Olivia replied slowly, ‘so waterproof mascara for you on the day.’
‘I’m fine, I’m good,’ she wiped her eyes, ‘and I’d love to.’
‘Me too,’ Roni nodded.
Olivia turned to Tammy who sat watching her and Theo with an unreadable expression on her face.
‘Tammy?’ Olivia looked over at Theo.
‘We wondered if you would perform the ceremony for us?’ Theo asked.
‘Really?’ she replied, ‘you’d like me to be part of the wedding?’
‘Of course we do,’ Olivia answered as if the answer should be obvious. ‘You’re family.’
‘Yes,’ she smiled widely. ‘I’d love to.’
‘Well then,’ Louisa clapped her hands together in a brisk business like manner, ‘looks like we’ve got ourselves a wedding to plan.’
The discussions went on well into the night and Olivia was grateful to her friends. It was what she needed, a little bit of normality. A chance to celebrate what she and Theo felt for each other. Her life had been a circus from the moment she’d landed back in Mercy, filled with murder, magic and impossible expectations. Everyone seemed to feel she had some kind of weird destiny thing going on. And with Gods, and Goddesses and strange white haired strangers poking their noses into her business, the truth was
the pressure was starting to get to her.
Nathaniel was coming for her and this time it was personal. Not only that she had unfinished business with her mother who she didn’t want to see. She didn’t want to admit there was any truth to what she had told her about her grandmother and their relationship, but the fact was the more she looked back at her memories the more she could see things from her mother’s point of view. She didn’t want to feel anything for her mother, especially not sympathy. She was a killer and a dangerous one at that. She was manipulating her, she knew she was, but there was still that small part of her, the eight-year-old child in her that missed her mom. The mother she had known, the mother she had remembered but most of all the mother she had loved.
It was all getting too complicated, too hard. All she wanted was a life with Theo and her friends. A life that didn’t include Hell Books and demons and legacies. Unfortunately, she knew she probably wasn’t going to get her own way, not this time. Her mother and Nathaniel were coming for her and she didn’t have a clue how to stop them. All she knew was that she needed a break and this wedding was their breather, a moment out of time where they got to be normal.
As the evening wore on her eyes grew heavier, her mind became fuzzier and as the low voices of her friends began to lull her into sleep her head began to droop against Theo’s knee.
‘Okay party’s over,’ Theo spoke up. ‘Olivia and I need some sleep so I’m kicking you all out.’
There was a murmured consent and a great deal of shuffling around followed by hugs and goodbyes.
‘Why don’t you go up to bed,’ Theo said to Olivia quietly. ‘I’ll lock up and be up in a while.’
She nodded as she stifled a yawn.
‘Okay but there’s something I need to do first,’ she told him softly.
He watched as she crossed the room and picked up the phone. Nodding in understanding he left the room, closing the door behind him to give her some privacy.
She sat down on the couch and dialed the number she had memorized. After a few rings a familiar voice answered.
‘I’m not available right now, leave a message.’
Olivia drew in a long shaky breath as she listened to the beeps.
‘Hello dad,’ she whispered, ‘I’m home…’
Chapter 26.
Olivia rolled over and burrowed deeper in the pillows, face first. As she slipped back down into the dream she’d been roused from she felt a furry nuzzling and a soft snort. A wet nose pushed against her ear, followed by a long wet flat tongue.
‘Ugh Beau cut it out.’ She reached out and shoved his face away gently.
Realizing he’d achieved his goal and woken her he padded up the bed on soft paws and proceeded to flop onto his back and roll over her head. Unable to stop herself she giggled and shoved him away again. Tail thumping happily along the bed he continued to nuzzle and roll all over her.
‘Alright, alright,’ she laughed, ‘I’m getting up.’
Swinging her legs over the side of the bed she yawned and glanced at the clock. It was late again. She’d been sleeping on and off for the best part of the four days since they’d returned to Mercy. Theo had been up at the crack of dawn again, his body had naturally reset itself to farmers’ hours when they’d been in Salem and it was a habit he’d been unable to shake. After that first night of being back in the house, Theo seemed to have caught up on his sleep with no problem whatsoever. She on the other hand was still permanently tired. Of course her body had been through a lot more trauma than his, after jumping them through time, conjuring Witch fire, purging Sam of Demon fire, being tortured by Nathaniel and then healed by her mother, she wasn’t at all surprised her body couldn’t seem to regain its natural balance.
Pulling in a deep breath as she yawned again, she climbed out of bed and slipped her arms into her robe. Absently tying the belt, she wandered over to the window. The sun was shining, its warm peaceful rays bouncing off the lake, glittering like rhinestones. She opened the window to let the warm breeze in, which carried with it the hazy scent of long summer days and warm nights. Down on the grass leading to the water a white arch was currently being erected and chairs were stacked everywhere, strewn with big loops of tulle. Further along a temporary square floor was being laid, the framework above it was strung with thousands of tiny twinkling fairy lights and it was surrounded by circular tables.
Smiling to herself she absently reached down to pet Beau as he rubbed against her legs as if he were a cat.
‘Crazy dog,’ she muttered lovingly. ‘I missed you too.’
Her eyes were drawn back to the bustling activity down by the lake. Even from this distance she could see her very pregnant best friend marching along and giving orders. The woman was nothing if not frighteningly efficient.
She was getting married tomorrow.
She couldn’t believe it. Given the childhood she’d had she’d never given any thought to marriage and family, never wanted to, seeing how it destroyed her parents. But with Theo it was different, everything was going to be different. She was not going to make the same mistakes as the women in her family who had come before her. This was a completely fresh slate; she was not going to continue to perpetuate the mistakes of her ancestors. There was one very important decision she had come to late last night and it was time to tell Theo.
She wandered silently from the room followed happily by Beau. The dog seemed content to permanently trail along behind her, as if he was worried she was going to disappear again at any moment. Padding down the stairs on bare feet she stuck her head into the kitchen but he wasn’t there. Ever since they’d been back he’d been more or less permanently attached to the coffee machine, he was lucky he hadn’t overdosed on caffeine yet. Shaking her head in amusement she quickly made herself a cup of tea and headed out of the kitchen. If he wasn’t in there or outside helping, which she didn’t think he was because she hadn’t seen him, then there was only one other place he could be.
Bingo.
She stood in the doorway to his studio, idly leaning against the door frame and sipping her tea as he painted onto the canvas with broad confident strokes. His stance was relaxed and his focus intent. Not wanting to disturb him she stood and watched whilst finishing her drink. Her gaze wandered across the room and there lying open on the table was his mother’s journal. He’d obviously been reading it. Curiosity about Emmaline Beckett was gnawing at her like a sore tooth, but she wasn’t going to pry. This was something intensely personal for Theo, a way for him to connect with the mother he missed so much and she didn’t want to intrude. She wasn’t going to ask, she’d just wait for him to come to her, if he wanted to. She just hoped he would tell her about it when he was ready.
Finally, Theo stopped and put down his brush, picking up a rag and wiping the oil paints from his fingers.
‘Hey,’ she spoke softly.
He looked up and smiled at her.
‘Hey.’
‘I’d have thought you’d be outside helping,’ she stepped further into the room.
‘I was but Louisa is terrifying,’ he shook his head. ‘I don’t know what I did but she yelled at me and then burst into tears.’
‘You don’t have much experience with pregnant women do you?’ Olivia chuckled.
‘None,’ he frowned. ‘Are they all like this?’
‘No,’ she smiled, ‘the craziness varies.’
‘So, I just thought I’d be better off keeping out of her way and letting her do whatever she wanted.’
‘Probably a good idea,’ Olivia replied placing her empty cup down and perching comfortably on the edge of the table. ‘Still, I know I said I didn’t want to wait to get married but I can’t believe she’s managed to pull together a wedding in less than a week. The woman missed her calling in life, she should have been an event planner instead of a doctor.’
‘She’d terrify all her clients,’ he laughed lightly, ‘they’d be too afraid of her. Besides she loves being
a doctor.’
‘I’m surprised she managed to get time off from the hospital,’ Olivia frowned.
‘You remember Dr Achari?’
‘Sachiv?’ she nodded.
‘Well he made her take some time off. He was worried about her blood pressure, plus she kept making the residents cry.’
‘How do you know?’ Olivia asked curiously.
‘Tommy.’
‘I swear,’ she smiled in amusement, ‘sometimes you two gossip like little girls.’
‘We don’t’ he frowned, ‘we converse in a very manly fashion.’
‘Yeah yeah,’ she shook her head her eyes glittering with mirth. ‘Speaking of the wedding,’ she became serious again, ‘there is something I think we should discuss.’
‘Oh?’
‘My name,’ she told him. ‘You know it’s a tradition in my family for all the women to keep the West name instead of taking their husband’s?’
‘I do know that Olivia,’ he walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. ‘I knew that when I asked you to marry me and its fine. I don’t want you to take my name.’
‘Why?’ she frowned.
‘I don’t know,’ he sighed. ‘I suppose ever since I found out that Matthias wasn’t really my father, that I wasn’t a Beckett, it just doesn’t feel like my name anymore.’
‘You want to take the name Wilkins? After James?’
He shook his head slowly.
‘I’m not really a Wilkins either because they were never married…. I don’t know,’ he blew out a frustrated breath. ‘I feel like I’m caught in between them, just like my mother was.’
‘Theo,’ she took his face in her hands gently, ‘it doesn’t matter who was married to whom, or who your biological father was. What matters is who you are. You’re Theodore Beckett and the name Beckett isn’t all bad. I know what kind of man Matthias was but you’re forgetting Logan was a Beckett too. Keeping the name is a way to honor your brother, to show that not all the Becketts were heartless bastards. For all his mistakes, in the end Logan was a good man.’
The Guardians Complete Series 1 Box Set: Contains Mercy, The Ferryman, Crossroads, Witchfinder, Infernum Page 154
