The Return (Haunted Series Book 21)

by Alexie Aaron

  “The mating pull?” Victor asked matter-of-factly. “No.”

  “But the feather is primal, instinctual. Mia’s probably feeling the pull. The pull of the death spiral,” Altair pointed out.

  “Mia is a strong-willed woman. She will not allow instinct to guide her. She chooses her own mate.”

  “You’re an honorable creature,” Altair observed. “But what if Ted dies?”

  “She will be in mourning.”

  “You know Angelo will not hesitate, nor will Murphy, and I think there is interest from the netherworld too.”

  “I’m certain that you’ll counsel her as to what is best. I will stay away,” Victor said firmly.

  “But you’re the best choice,” Altair prodded.

  Victor turned and placed his hand around Altair’s neck. “Stop. I know what you’re doing. Mia makes her own choices, and I will not be one of them offered.”

  Altair who had drawn his dagger and had it under Victor’s arm, ready to strike his heart, pulled it back.

  Victor opened his hand. “You would die for her as would I. Come, let’s be comrades. Mia is upside down again. I thought someone put a compass in her head?”

  “Oh, I wonder if that disappeared when she was kidnapped and forced back before the fall. I’ll see what I can do…”

  There was a rush of mighty wings, and a dark shadow pushed past them. Victor dropped his armor, but Altair held him back. “That’s Mia’s uncle, the Nephilim. I don’t think he recognizes her yet.”

  Mia righted herself and stopped. An immense shadow chilled her back. She turned around. “Quentin! It’s me, Mia!” she greeted him.

  Quentin stopped his advance. “You have wings again,” he observed. “And two armed guards.”

  “The tall dark one is Victor - he’s the giver of the wings - and Altair, my chaperone.”

  “Did you know that you disappear in the bright light, but I can see you in my shadow, Mia? When did this happen?”

  “Today. I’ll explain everything to you soon. I’m supposed to be getting used to the wings. Your gift of the natural gyroscope has stayed with me, but it did take a while for me to get used to the armored wings.”

  “I should have recognized it was you when you were upside down,” he said, laughing. I’ll leave you now. Your entourage is getting impatient. Come and see me, and bring the children.”

  “I will,” Mia promised. She watched as Quentin caught a thermal and glided away. The day had been an elongated one. Time was twisted. It couldn’t have been just this morning she was fielding books from the indignant ghost? She flew to where Victor and Altair were waiting. “I’m tired. Mind if we call it a day?”

  Victor reached over and lifted her chin. “You’ve done well, Mia. I will send old Nicholai to work with you on battle stance. I will bid you farewell now.”

  “Wait, the boys, they will miss you.”

  Victor didn’t know how to respond to this.

  “Don’t go yet. Give me time to explain it to my children before you disappear.”

  “As you wish, Little Bird,” Victor said. He turned to Altair. “Please see her home. GPS or not, the girl can’t find her way out of a paper bag.”

  Mia floated beside Altair a moment, watching Victor soar away. “I suspect he’s connected to the raven. I think I need to sort this out before he joins John Ryan.”

  “He likes you,” Altair said, testing her.

  “No, he only puts up with me. I think it’s because I’m Varden’s mother. Otherwise, I’m not sure he likes me at all.”

  “Don’t let that grim exterior fool you. But he assures me he is an honorable birdman.”

  “Is that why you have a very large handprint on your neck?” Mia asked.

  “I was goading him. You know, if he overthrew Angelo, he could lead his army against Michael and probably win. He is the strongest, smartest, and most dangerous flying fortress alive, and that includes your uncle.”

  “Gee, why am I wasting my time with Ted?” Mia said, eyeing Altair.

  “Stop it. You’re going to get us in trouble, again. I hate patrolling the Italian Alps.”

  “Victor is my son’s godfather. I’m responsible for the death of his brother. I’d say the guy has really done a lot for me, considering the pain I have brought.”

  “Michael was offended by being handed you on a plate to fix,” Altair said. “But since Victor asked…”

  “Well, however it happened, it worked out great for me. Looky, my wings are cooler than yours.”

  “But I’m and angel. That makes me double cool.”

  “True,” Mia said. “Race you down. I’ve got to pee.” She took off fast.

  “Classy as ever, Mia,” Altair said when he caught up to Mia and pointed her in the right direction.

  Ted flipped off Cid’s light after he replaced the freshly washed sheets to the linen closet in the small apartment. He and Mia would normally never trespass on Cid, but the moment was too strong, and it was better there on Cid’s bed than sprawled out on top of the workbench. Ted smiled as he walked down the steps.

  Mia walked in from the office. She didn’t realize he was there until she turned the corner to put her equipment in the locker, where it would be safe from Brian. Ted had installed a fingerprint lock that would only open to Mia’s, Cid’s, or his fingerprint.

  “Hello, I believe we met in one of my previous incarnations,” Mia said. “How many have there been?” she asked.

  Ted could hear the ache in her voice. “Too many. But each has brought out something more beautiful in you.”

  Mia’s face softened. “I love you.”

  “I know. So how’d it go out… er… up there?”

  “Like a runaway train for a while. I’m surprised that Victor didn’t give up. Altair’s guts hurt from laughing so hard. But I managed to do the Martin name proud and learned to use these wings properly. Ted, remember when we hid from the tornado in the culvert?”

  “Yes, your previous wings kept us from getting sliced and diced by the house breaking up.”

  “I probably could stop the tornado with these.”

  “No way.”

  “Way.”

  “Word in the between is that Victor is the most dangerous thing with wings, and Altair was taking Quentin into consideration. Speaking of Quentin, he showed up and wants us to visit.”

  “We’ll do our best to make that happen. Back to Victor, Jake translated the book, or part of the book, Altair was reading. The act of giving you one of his heart feathers has determined that Victor will no longer choose a female to mate with. If he didn’t take you, then he’s done propagating.”

  “What are you suggesting, a threesome?” Mia asked, pulling her braid out of her cargo pocket.

  “Mia, if you weren’t so scary now, I’d spank you.”

  “Sure, you’ll spank the wife, but the son who got me mostly killed, no.”

  “What happened? You haven’t told me yet.”

  “Didn’t Brian tell you?”

  “No. He was too upset. Then Lazar arrived with his mother and grandmother, and I let it go.”

  “We’ll talk to him privately tonight before bed. I also think that I have to have a serious talk with Murphy.”

  “Why?”

  “Brian’s attitude is our doing. I accept that, but it was Murphy’s words that started the whole thing. I’m trying very hard not to transfer any blame to Murph…”

  “Tell me what happened,” Ted insisted.

  Mia clicked off her collar. The body armor disappeared, and she was once again Cargo-panted, t-shirt-wearing Mia. Her boots were scuffed and her hair raggedly shorn. Ted had a hard time not taking her back upstairs.

  “We got off the elevator and spent some time in the children’s book section, which I could tell was boring Brian. Varden, however, likes books on trains. We moved on through the stacks discovering this and that. I noticed the ghost but was determined to ignore her. She was a prim old-maidenish creature. I felt waves of judgeme
nt coming off of her, much like we get when we go to the public beach.”

  “No, that’s admiration. After all, your husband’s a stud.”

  “May I continue, stud?”

  “Please.”

  “I found a section on ship building. I’m not talking models, real, big, ships. I was worried that Brian would damage the pages, so I was kneeling, turning the pages so he could read them. Oh, Ted, he’s got your engineering mind. We were so engrossed that I didn’t see her approach until she was almost on top of us. She said, ‘Don’t tell me the boy can read already?’ I told her he was advanced. The bitch claimed that Brian was abnormal. I kindly asked her to leave us in peace. She refused, said something like, we were very interesting.”

  “Well, you are interesting,” Ted said.

  “You’re scoring lots of points,” Mia said. “May I continue?”

  “Please, I get the feeling you’re getting to the good part.”

  “I am. Varden woke up and looked at the ghost, then at me and then fell back asleep. This supports our theory that he can see other ghosts besides Murph.”

  “He takes after his mom.”

  “All would have been fine, but our son spouts off, ‘He finds you boring. Go away,’ to the ghost in a very rude grownup voice. The ghost was offended, so I quickly apologized, saying something like, Brian didn’t mean to be rude. He was overly frank.”

  “I think overly frank was an apt description. Being rude would mean he was purposely being a pompous jerk.”

  “I’m not sure he wasn’t.”

  “Why?”

  The ghost seemed to have accepted my explanation, but then Brian let her have it with, and I quote, According to my uncle Murphy, I don’t suffer idiots, unquote.”

  “Shit.”

  “The ghost sucked all the electricity and warmth out of the basement. I grabbed my saltshaker and poured a line around the double stroller. That’s all I had, Ted. I wasn’t prepared to fight another Aosoth. I apologized again, explaining that Brian was just mimicking Murph. She started tossing books at the stroller. But, since she manipulated them, they couldn’t get through the salt barrier. So she gets mad and starts to toss the books everywhere. I was so worried she’d destroy something we couldn’t afford to replace. I thought perhaps she was a librarian, so I pleaded with her not to destroy the valuable books.”

  “I take it she was no lady librarian.”

  “She was no lady. I tossed my phone to Brian and told him to call Mike. That’s when the bitch began attacking me. She hit me in the temple. And then I stirred the shit pot by saying she was very undignified. If Brian lit the fire, I tossed a magnesium flare on it. She came at me with all she had. She landed a book on my nose. I sought out possible weapons to use against her, but they were all locked up. I remember calling for an iron railroad spike when she started hitting me with the big tomes. I think I remember Varden screaming and Mike fighting her. My memory is a bit hazy here. I was buried under a ton of old books, and they were crushing the life out of me. I now know what it’s like to be stoned. I don’t recommend it.”

  Ted reached for her and held her.

  “I think Victor came. Why Victor? I kept thinking. But he took me to Elizabeth. She gave us the bad news that I was headed for the light, or there was a slim chance I would be paralyzed. It was because my spine had been weakened when Michael tore my wings off.”

  “Bastard.”

  “The rest you know. All this happened today. I’m amazed.”

  “I’m so sorry. I should have kept Brian home with me,” Ted said.

  “Why? We were going to a library, not Afghanistan. I thought, after Ethan talked to Brian, he would be different. But I’m beginning to think that we need to take a firmer hand with Brian.”

  “I will not hit a child,” Ted said.

  “I’m not talking about corporal punishment. There must be sanctions for bad behavior. And I have to make it very clear to Murph that he has to watch what he says. Brian’s already cursing like him.”

  “At least he’s not cursing like us,” Ted said.

  This tickled Mia’s funny bone. “Fuck me and leave me a rose, you’ve made a good point.”

  “Hell yes,” Ted said. “Come on, the boys have been told that you’re alright, but for Varden, seeing is believing.”

  “I did check on them first thing, but they were sleeping, and I needed to get to you.”

  “Which I’m very grateful for. I love new-body sex.”

  “I did use you horribly,” Mia admitted.

  “I’m not complaining. Oh, before you ask, the cleansed sheets are back in the cupboard.”

  “Thank you. I’m surprised that Cid isn’t back yet.”

  “He opted to drive back with Mike instead of being transported by a birdman.”

  “Tell me again why he was gone?”

  “After you left, the birdmen came in and wrecked the place capturing the spirit. Evidently, she was a challenge. Orion, Audrey, and Cid shelved the books. Angelo wiped the librarian’s mind, replacing it with a pleasant thought or two, and that was that. I don’t suggest going back there any time soon.”

  “That was the furthest thing from my mind,” Mia said. “I’m off books.”

  “Good. We’ll deal with Brian tomorrow. Tonight, we’re having a feast prepared for us by Lazar’s mother, Magda. Oh, I should warn you. I listened in on an argument, and she’s not keen on us. According to her, Lazar is too attached.”

  “He’s family,” Mia insisted.

  “Yes, but he has a family.”

  “Oh. I see your point.”

  “She claimed that he was having a bisexual relationship with both of us.”

  “Damn. What is it with people, birds, and angels? Why can’t we just have friends and be friends?”

  “I don’t know, pumpkin. But I’m guilty too. Mike is so hard to take at times.”

  “I find it amazing that you have no problem with Burt, who I slept with, but it’s Mike that bothers you.”

  “You make a good point. I think it’s because you and Burt are oil and water.”

  “You know, he still thinks about replacing me. He thinks I lost my nerve because I want to live to see my children grown up.”

  “The nerve of the… Wait, how do you know this?”

  “I read his mind at the meeting. That’s when I started to hear the raven calling…”

  “Mia, you don’t read minds willy-nilly do you?”

  “No, but I sensed something was up. He caught me. Must be the stink eye I gave him.”

  “Okay, I’m not a great example, but eavesdropping and mindreading aren’t the best ways of getting along.”

  “But how are we going to know things?” Mia teased, linking her arm through Ted’s.

  “I like the way we fit together. Are you sure you only gained two inches?”

  “According to Michael, two inches of spine. Back to Mike, I’m probably going to throw myself at him in gratitude when I see him.”

  “Oh, I was picturing worse.”

  “He did face down a mega ghost to save me and our children.”

  “You can’t have sex with him.”

  “Ted, you’re no fun. First, no threesome with Victor and…”

  Ted pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard to shut her up.

  Mia drifted away with his kiss.

  We mounted the waking light

  Rising on a cool morning breeze

  We crossed the swift current

  Of a northern jet stream

  then drifted high above the stratosphere

  Until we reached the last dying breaths of the sun

  Our wings pumped the thinning air

  In long slow drafts

  As the tide of a solar wind

  Lapped gently at our sides

  I pulled her eager body in close to mine

  Surrendering to the charity of her soft affection

  And as we fell back toward the earth

  I glanced up at the dis
tant fires of a billion suns

  Until my own soft fire consumed us

  And we spiraled downward

  In a raging whirlwind of love and light

  A comet of unknown origin streaking across the sky

  Chapter Sixteen

  Dieter looked up from his desk when he heard Mike’s car turn into the drive. He opened the window, slid out on the porch roof, and dropped down to ground. He walked over to the parking area in time to see Mike be greeted by an exuberant Mia. She rushed over and hugged the startled man.

  “Hey, what’s this all about?”

  “You saved us!” Mia said, releasing him. “I’m grateful beyond words.”

  “I had help. I remember Dieter… There you are. Come over here and stand on the platform while Mia adorns us with laurel leaves.”

  Dieter walked smartly over and whistled. The raven flew down from the tree.

  “Ah, here are my heroes three. I bow to thee on bended knee. Please accept my sword, shall you ever need it, for you have saved my life…

  “I can hardly believe it,” Mike finished. “Mia, get off the ground. You’re riling up your ball and chain.”

  Ted flipped Mike off.

  Cid, who was unpacking the trunk, handed Mia a pile of rags. “Um, here are your clothes…”

  Mia grabbed the torn garments. “You could have just tossed them.”

  “I didn’t want to presume,” Cid said. “My god, how can you be standing after losing so much blood?”

  “Superhuman genes and a hell of a heavenly mechanic?” Mia suggested. “I also should warn you two, I have wings again. Not my idea, it was…”

  “Victor’s,” Altair said, walking over. “Have any of you seen a book written in Sanskrit?”

  “I put it in the office,” Ted said. “I’ll go and get it. Watch them,” he said, pointing to Mia and Mike.

  “Well, let’s see them,” Mike said, referring to her wings.

  “Maybe later, I understand Lazar’s mother has made a feast,” Mia said. “She expects all and angel to be at the table.”

  “She does,” Dieter collaborated. “How did you know?” he asked.

  “He told me.” Mia motioned to the bird. “I call him Hero. He likes it.”