Malignant Transfiguration (Endeavor Series Book 2)

by A E M

  He folded his wings back and leaned back against the counter. “You have been so busy in such a short time that I don’t think I’ll ever leave you again. What’s this I hear of you becoming an apprentice?”

  “It’s a long story.” She said as she studied his face for his reaction to the news.

  “I’m very happy for you.” He said as he pulled her back to him and kissed her again. “Especially since I’ve just heard that you broke every light bulb on this floor.”

  She gasped and stepped back, hand over her mouth. “Did I hurt anybody?”

  “You were very fortunate that you did not.” An angry dwarf said loudly. A short woman, even by dwarf standards, stepped forward to glare at Charlotte. She was wearing a white gown trimmed with emerald green and had long curly white hair arranged in a bun with emerald gems glittering throughout. “We should kick you out. You are a danger to everyone here.”

  “You are right.” Charlotte admitted.

  “We could leave her on this floor.” Carroll, shaking slightly, sniffled into a lacey handkerchief.

  “I’m sorry, Carroll.” She said and reached out to the woman.

  Carroll stumbled back and went to sit behind the counter. “You poor dear.”

  Charlotte backed away from the group. Beau held her eyes in his, but she shook her head at him. She backed up until she hit the doorframe to her room. She dug her nails into the wood for a second before she pulled them away and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

  “Alcott and I will take responsibility for her.” Barnabas said as he stepped forward. “It’s only for a couple of days, and she’s still injured.”

  “She’s nothing more than a child with new powers.” Alcott added. He nodded at Vincent. “She has a master now, but it’s barely been a day. I suspect you two haven’t even had your first lesson.”

  Vincent shook his head no.

  “Then you better get started.” The woman barked at Vincent.

  Vincent bowed to her. “We will start this morning.”

  “Then it’s okay?” Barnabas raised his eyebrows. “Their home was damaged last night. It would be best if they stayed here and then went to the meeting with us.”

  The woman turned her glare at Barnabas. She narrowed her eyes and lips. “If I approve.”

  “If you approve.” Barnabas confirmed and knelt down in front of her. He kissed the tiny woman on the hand.

  She ruffled his hair and sighed. “Very well, for you, Barney child.”

  Charlotte hid the smile that tried to cross her lips. Barney child?

  “I know what you are thinking!” Bouldershaker said and walked up to Charlotte. She shook her finger at her and frowned. “I’m not quite dust yet, young one! You will control yourself while you are here, do you hear?”

  “Yes.” Charlotte said to the big brown eyes that stared intensely. “I’m very sorry for the trouble I’ve caused.”

  The woman turned to face the group, throwing her arm out in front. “You young ones always cause so much trouble. Why Barney here wrecked my nerves the entire time he was out gallivanting across the world with your father.” She turned back to Charlotte. “Do you have any idea how many years I had to endure their youthful recklessness?”

  “A long time, from what I’ve heard.”

  “It was much longer!” The woman yelled. She turned to Vincent. “Keep her under control, young Master Weaver.”

  “Yes.” Vincent bowed again. “I apologize for this morning’s events.”

  “See to it that it does not happen again.” She turned her head and body sharply and exited the area.

  Barnabas nodded to a smaller hallway. “There’s a larger room where we can meet this way.” He and Alcott walked briskly down the hall, their heels clicking down the hallway as they left.

  Beau stepped over to stand in front of Charlotte. “So I have to share you?” He asked as he nodded toward Vincent. He traced the outline of her jaw and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.

  “I’m afraid so. It all happened so quickly.” She looked over at Vincent, who was speaking to Carroll in hushed tones. Carroll still shook slightly, but she looked calmer.

  “It’s fine.” Beau said as he kissed her head. “We’re young; we have all the time in the world for apprenticeships and adventures and lots of surfing the jets.”

  “Oh, don’t kiss me on my head anymore.” Charlotte tapped her foot on the floor.

  Beau opened his mouth in a faked gasp. “Why should I not be able to kiss your lovely head?”

  She raised her eyebrows. A smile twitched at the corners of her lips. “I have a brother now. He seems to think I can’t go without contact with others, so he makes every effort to kiss me on the head or hold my hand or irritate me.” She glared at Vincent. “And his side kick over there has picked up on the habit.”

  “It’s about time that you have to learn to have a sibling.”

  She swatted his arm playfully. “I knew you’d make fun.”

  He smiled. “I met David briefly when I went to the castle to check on you.”

  “What do you think of him?” She tapped her fingers on her crossed arms.

  “I like him.” Beau said. He rubbed the back of his head. “He’s right, you know. You need touch.”

  “But I have you for that.” Charlotte insisted.

  “But you and I, Lottie, we don’t hold hands everywhere we go. You need other people when I’m not around.”

  “But won’t that change once we get married?” She took his hand.

  Beau laughed. “A little, Caramia, but with you pursuing an apprenticeship and me having certain responsibilities to see to with my people, I seriously doubt we are going to change all that much. You know me. I know you. We will always be there for each other, but we are very independent individuals.”

  She chewed on his words, sampling them slowly for their familiarity and truth. She nodded towards Vincent. “He seems to think he and David are my guardians now. He wants to meet you and make sure you are a good guy. Can you believe his nerve? He’s just met me and he thinks he knows better than I do what’s good for me.”

  “Oh, Lottie.” Beau leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Did you even stop to think about what an apprenticeship would entail?”

  She placed her hands on her hips. “I didn’t have much time.”

  “You aren’t in the dane world anymore. He technically is your guardian.” He said. “Which means you have to listen to what he tells you to do.” He raised his eyebrows. “Which is going to present some interesting problems soon, soon to be wife.”

  “Oh, don’t you start scolding me, too. You aren’t allowed.” She huffed. “And he is not my guardian. He has no rights whatsoever.” She stiffened as Vincent came up behind her.

  “So you are the man marrying my girl.” He held his right hand out and Beau shook it.

  “That I am.” Beau said. “And soon. It seems you and I need to have an important discussion or two.”

  “Visiting rights.” Vincent said.

  “Living arrangements.” Beau countered.

  “Whose laundry she has to do first.”

  “She can’t cook, so don’t expect any of that.”

  Charlotte grabbed an ear from each of them and yanked hard until they were both on their knees on the floor.

  “Yeow!” Beau said. “Lottie, let go!”

  “Stop this instant.” Vincent yelled.

  She let go and stomped down the hallway.

  “You’re marrying her?” Vincent asked mid wince as he covered his ear with his hand.

  “You’re taking her as an apprentice?” Beau scoffed.

  “At least it’s temporary for me.” Vincent stood and straightened his pants.

  “At least I get the benefits of marriage.” Beau smirked, but then straightened his face. “You.” He spread his wings out and straightened his body up. “I had an apprenticeship. I know how this works. I will give you room to do what you
need to do, but you keep your hands and eyes where they belong. You and David want to give her a little fatherly peck on the top of the head, fine. You want to give her a friendly hug, great. But you think of this little ear-pulling thing over mere words and know that if you ever try anything inappropriate with her, she will knee you so hard that magic won’t be able to put you back together. And then you will deal with me. Do you understand?”

  “I think I’ve got a painful enough picture to understand perfectly.” Vincent said. “While we are talking, you need to step back when I need you to. You let me deal with her when I need to. If you want any chance of having a married life without items in your house blowing up or further scarring, then you are going to have to let me do my job. Do you understand?”

  “Yes.” Beau lowered his wings. “I don’t like this situation at all.”

  “Well, that’s two of us.” He nodded down the hall. “You go talk to her first, because I want a word with her before we get in that meeting.”

  Charlotte was pacing in front of the meeting room when Beau reached her. He reached out to her, but she slapped his hand away. “Don’t you dare touch me right now. Do you really think that you and Vincent are going to have a nice little chat and dole out chores?”

  Beau laughed. “Of course not, Charlotte. We were talking, that’s all. He and I are going to have to get to know each other if any of this is going to work out.” He reached back out and took her hand. “What’s got under your skin?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. My home was attacked again and I have no idea what happened or if some of my friends are even alive.”

  “Let’s go find out then.” Beau said and pulled her up to him. “Vincent wants to talk to you first, though. I’ll save you a seat.” He wrapped a wing around her and leaned in to kiss her.

  “Your kisses won’t distract me or calm me down.”

  He leaned down until his nose traced across hers. He swept his hand up her back and rested it on her neck, his fingers gently massaging over her hairline. “That’s not my aim.”

  “Then what is your aim?” She asked through the shiver he sent racing down her spine with his handiwork. She held onto to his arms for dear life.

  He tipped her head back and slowly placed firm kisses from her chin to the top of her shirt. He tipped her head back up and gazed into her eyes. “To remind you, Caramia.” He kissed her on the mouth then, harder than he ever had before.

  Her skin was hot, but not from magic. Her heart raced, but not from fear. Her lungs grasped for air, but not from exertion.

  “I am reminded.”

  “Good.”

  He folded his wing slowly, letting the feathers gently graze her as they tucked back behind his back. He let his hands drop slowly as well. Charlotte dropped her hands and clasped them in front. She watched Beau amble into the meeting room. He put his hand on the doorframe and paused, smiling at her one last time before he turned into the room.

  Charlotte pressed her back against the wall and slowly dropped to sit on her heels. She breathed in and out slowly and intentionally as she calmed her heart, her mind, and her soul. She stared at a painting on the wall of a small hill by a railway track. A large, black engine roared along the track. In the bushes near the hill was a dwarf kneeling by a man who seemed ill. There was a painting next to it of a dwarf rocking a baby while a woman lay on a bed nearby. She wondered if she would have enough time to walk through and explore the paintings, but then she remembered what had just happened. She wasn’t sure if they would even let her walk the halls. She wasn’t sure if she should. She had never hurt a child, and the thought of it made her already queasy stomach turn faster.

  She heard the tap of Vincent’s dress shoes against the concrete floors before she saw him round the corner and approach her. She silently waited for him to find his words as she ticked off the list of her morning’s transgressions. Lose control and break every light bulb on the floor. Check. Leave her room after she had been asked to remain. Check. Make out with fiancée before apologizing about losing control. Check. Pull new boss down to his knees with a yank of his earlobe. Check. That ought to do it.

  She expected him to yank her up by the ear, but instead he opened his hands in front of her. She put her hands in his. He flipped her arms so the inside of her arms was up and pulled her to her feet. He nodded at her arms. “What is this?” He asked.

  She looked at the lines she had scratched into her skin in the bathroom. She hadn’t realized that she had burned lines into her skin with her nails. She stared down at them silently. Vincent dropped her arms. He rubbed his face and neck. “I asked you to stay put in the room when I left and you didn’t.”

  “I heard Beau’s voice and I needed to see him.” She said.

  Vincent stared back at her, his eyes cold and his jaw tight. “It doesn’t matter. I asked you to stay put.”

  “Sorry?” She offered.

  “Sorry is not enough. It is never enough.”

  She frowned. What exactly did he mean by that? “What is it you want from me?” She asked.

  “We will be having a very long talk after this meeting. Right now I need to teach you something new. Your magic is very unstable right now. When you get in that meeting, I want you to imagine that you are a painting on the wall. You will hear the words spoken. You will think them over. You will form opinions. But you will remain a painting on the wall. You are an old painting. You have seen many meetings in your time on those walls. This is just another meeting to add to your knowledge base.” He gripped her shoulders. “Stay in control. If you find yourself slipping, either imagine the cave like you have before, or leave the room quickly. I will find you and help you.”

  “Okay.” She agreed.

  “Good. Let’s go.”

  The room was thrice the size of one of the bedrooms. It had a long oval table painted in blue swirls with a glass top. Between the table and the glass were cut outs of lily pads and fish and insects. The many mismatched chairs around the table were made from branches and had forest animals carved into them. The walls and part of the ceiling were painted like many types of trees. The middle of the ceiling was blue, and from it hung several small lanterns. Alcott and Barnabas sat in the middle of the long side of the table facing the door. Beau sat facing them. Vincent sat down in the second chair down from Beau. He tapped the chair between him and Beau. Charlotte pulled it out and sat in between them. Vincent and Beau both grabbed a leg of her chair and pulled it closer to the table. Each one grabbed one of her hands. Charlotte looked at each of them, but they both had their eyes on Barnabas. They were working together, the traitors. She pulled both of her hands to test them. Beau held tight and stroked her arm. Vincent flicked the palm of her hand through her gloves. Charlotte fumed silently.

  Barnabas sat forward and clasped his hands together on top of the papers he had brought with him. “It appears that we are all settled and under control now. Let’s get started.” He looked over at Alcott.

  Alcott scooted his chair closer to the table and began. “In the last few hours, I’ve been in contact with the Maguard in each of the dens. I have also contacted every large group of magani and the consensus is that the fauns have been completely or nearly wiped out. We are diligently searching for survivors. We are also attempting to identify the creatures who attacked.”

  “Do the danes have any idea of what happened?” Vincent asked.

  “We are trying to cover it up as quickly as possible. Fortunately it was done in the early morning hours, but there were some dane causalities as well as some other magani causalities. There are bound to be some wild rumors in the dane community for awhile.”

  “If we don’t get a handle on this situation, we will be risking our secrets being discovered. Whoever is behind this cares not for discretion.” Alcott said as he glanced at all of them in turn.

  Charlotte tensed and remembered she was supposed to be pretending to be a painting. She scowled. Every scenario Vincent had advised had worked, but she didn’
t want to be a stupid painting right now. She wanted to feel. “What about Phoebe?” She asked.

  Barnabas looked from Charlotte to Vincent to Charlotte again. He fumbled with his papers. Charlotte tapped her fingers on the table. The skin around Barnabas’ neck was red, and he averted his eyes whenever she looked at him. What wasn’t he saying? Why was he acting like this all of a sudden? She sat up straighter in her chair. She would have answers about her friends.

  “Barnabas.” Charlotte said and slapped the table. Her hand throbbed. “Phoebe fought with us. I need to know what happened to her. She was my friend.” She ignored the flick against her leg from Vincent.

  “We have found no survivors, Charlotte. None. There is still a tiny chance, but I warn you against harboring too much hope.” Barnabas said as he sat back and stared at her. He looked over at Vincent. “Do you have this? My position is on the line here.”

  Vincent leaned close to Charlotte and whispered harshly. “Don’t make me drag you out of here like a child.”

  Charlotte ignored Vincent and locked eyes with Alcott. “You fought with her. Why don’t you understand what I’m feeling?”

  “I do, Charlotte.” He responded. “I was there fighting for her.”

  Charlotte sat back. She hated herself for not being there to help fight. Maybe she could have saved her or help her escape.

  Beau sat forward in his chair. “Were there any non-faun magani captured? Were any fauns captured?”

  “We aren’t sure about further kidnappings.”

  “My hobs?” Charlotte asked weakly. She sat back up. “I think David said we lost some of them.”

  “Yes.” Barnabas replied. His face grew graver. “I am so sorry.”

  “Who?” She demanded, standing up. Beau and Vincent stood up with her.

  “Lottie,” Beau whispered into her ear. “This isn’t your home, and you don’t know their culture. Don’t make a scene.”