by Linda Wisdom
“Wow, you have a sense of humor.” She sat up, wiping the smeared mascara away from around her eyes. “That’s really good, Maggie. First you go all drama queen on me about the doll, now this. So what’s Declan? A vampire or something?”
“What he is doesn’t matter. What I am does.” Maggie lifted her hand. “Time is nigh. Lift her high. Show her my words are true with what I wish.”
“Wha—?” This time Courtney’s jaw did drop as she found herself hovering a good three feet above her bed. She started to wave her arms and then stopped as her body tipped from side to side. “It’s a trick!”
“Clean her room and make it soon.” Maggie waved her hand around, sending magickal energy everywhere.
From her vantage point in the air, a wide-eyed Courtney saw her clothes hang themselves up or fold themselves before flying into her dresser, and even her bed was made. The minute the covers were in place, she was gently lowered onto the bedspread.
“Okay, what was that?”
“I told you. I’m a witch. Don’t say you don’t know what they are. We’ve been in this world a long time, along with vampires and shape-shifters.” She relaxed in her chair; discovering this was almost as much fun as she’d had in her bed with Declan. Well, not that much fun, but it was amusing.
Maggie regretted her flippancy when she detected a hint of fear in the girl’s eyes. Before she could blink, Courtney grabbed her Coke can and threw the contents at Maggie.
She sputtered and swiped at the sticky fluid. “What was that for?” she demanded.
Courtney sat back. “You don’t melt.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not the Wicked Witch of the West. First clue, my face isn’t green.” She picked up the hem of her tank top and wiped her face clean.
“Second clue? No flying monkeys. Trust me, you don’t want anything like them around. Messy and disgusting doesn’t even begin to describe them.” She was pleased to see the wariness leave the girl’s face. “And don’t even think you can find a way to make a house fall on me, either.”
“Mrs. Whitney said witches are evil. That you do these horrible spells and…” The light bulb snapped on over her head. “That’s why you said what you did when you came in here earlier. You really do know what I was doing. Not that I planned on hurting that bastard,” Courtney added hastily.
“And more,” Maggie agreed. “When I told you it was unsafe, I wasn’t kidding. Your boyfriend might know the basics, but if he doesn’t know all the ramifications of fooling with a poppet, he won’t know what can happen to you. Magick like that exudes an energy that feels, well, wrong.”
“So you didn’t just barge in here. You came in because you felt the spell?”
Maggie nodded.
“And if I wasn’t careful, that thing would have done to me what I wanted it to do to Troy?” She gagged.
“That and much more. Repercussions are always hefty, because the Fates want you to remember not to ever do it again. Trust me, their idea of payback is a bitch.” She waited for her ward to take it all in. She knew Declan was right. Courtney was smart, but this was still a lot of information to be given in a short amount of time.
Courtney frowned, starting to pick at the bedspread. “So you’re not really my cousin?”
“No, I’m sorry. You really don’t have any other family members that we know of. The organization I work for set up false paperwork so I could take custody of you. And I would appreciate it if you didn’t say that outside of this room. There was a reason why it was done, Courtney, and it was for your own good.”
“My own good.” Her lips twisted. “Do you know why I wasn’t killed when my parents were? They wanted to go away for a weekend. They told me I wouldn’t have any fun, and it was really for my own good.
“Then a judge told me there weren’t any family members to take me in and how sorry he was about that. So I’d live in a group home until I reached eighteen, and that was for my own good. I left my friends at my old school because there was no group home in that school district. Again for my own good. Now you’re telling me you faked papers and lied to a judge for my own good?”
Maggie didn’t look away from Courtney’s bitter disappointment. “I can’t explain it all right now, but I promise you I will. I’ve already given you a lot to think about. Why don’t we take it a step at a time?”
“Can I tell people you’re a witch?”
“I’d rather you didn’t. At least for now,” she amended, hoping to keep the girl on her side. She already knew that Mal would have apoplexy when he heard what Maggie had done, but she was confident she could handle the grumpy old gnome until he thought it was all his idea. “Declan offered to bring a pizza over for dinner. Does that sound good to you?”
“No anchovies.”
Maggie laughed. “I already told him that. Anything else?”
“Mushrooms make me gag. So, is he a warlock? You know, a guy witch?”
“Warlocks practice dark magick. Men and women are called witches. And no, he’s not either. We’ll let him stay a mystery for the time being.” Maggie pushed herself out of the chair and looked around. “That’s right, I told you to clean your room, didn’t I?”
“And you did it for me. Thanks!”
“As much as I like what I see, reverse what I did, fiddle-dee-dee.” She waved a hand, leaving behind a tornado of clothing and bedcovers whirling around. “Now you can clean it up,” she told Courtney as she walked out of the room.
***
“So what are you exactly?” Courtney asked, nibbling on her slice of the sausage pizza that Declan had brought over along with a beef-and-veggie pizza and cold drinks. “Maggie said you’re not a vampire or a witch. I can already tell you’re not a vampire, since you’re eating all that pizza. You don’t look like an elf, and you’re way too cute to be a troll. Are you a Werewolf?”
He glanced toward Maggie. “You’re right. She doesn’t stop talking.”
“Hey!” Courtney waved her cheese-laden slice in his direction. “C’mon. Give me a break. Because Maggie made me clean up my room, I couldn’t do enough research on the Net before you showed up. There’s no information on Damnation Alley online, either. You really should have a website.”
“We do, but it’s not where you’d find it.”
She tossed her long hair over her shoulder. “Maggie hasn’t given me the whole story. So why did she tell me stuff now? Am I magick?” She looked at them with hopeful eyes.
“Is that it? I mean, why would anyone with magick want me unless I had it and they needed it for something?” She caught the sharp silent exchange between Maggie and Declan. “That’s it, isn’t it? So why can’t you tell me? Am I going to save the world or something?”
“It’s not time for you to know everything yet.” Maggie chose to keep a little mystery. She’d said enough but wasn’t about to admit it. “Just remember what I told you. You can’t tell anyone. Not even Mick,” she added when Courtney started to open her mouth.
“He won’t tell anybody if I ask him not to. He can keep a secret as well as I can.”
Maggie grabbed her hand and held it tight. “Silence is golden. Secrets must be kept. Tell no one what you have heard, or what escapes your lips will sound absurd. Do it now.”
Courtney started coughing so hard that Declan jumped up and clapped her on the back.
“What was that?” she wheezed.
“A spell to make sure you can keep a secret as well as you claim to.”
“What do you mean?”
“Tell Declan what I told you this afternoon,” Maggie suggested.
“You mean about you being an armadillo?” Courtney stopped. “That you practice piano ten times a day?” Frustration started to cross her face. “You ride a tricycle. Augh!” She threatened Maggie with her pizza and then looked at Declan. “I don’t know what you are, but it’s probably a rowboat.”
Declan snorted and then sobered at her glare. “Sorry. I’ve just never been called watercraft befor
e.”
“You did a trampoline on me so I can’t tell anyone?” Courtney looked at Maggie.
“I did. I wanted you to know I did it because it was the right thing to do, but I realized I also need safeguards in place. No one can change it either.” She happily munched on her pizza.
“This sucks.”
“So do vampires.”
Declan snorted again at Maggie’s quip. He started coughing as his beer went down the wrong way.
“Since tomorrow’s Friday, I won’t worry about getting you into another school until Monday,” Maggie said.
“As if any school will take me with fighting on my record.”
“I’ll have a talk with Mr. Turner about that.”
Courtney finished her slice and pushed away from the table. “I’m stuffed. I haven’t had pizza in like forever.”
“Forever as in a week or two?” Declan teased.
“At least.” She turned to Maggie. “Can I go upstairs now? Because if I stay down here I’ll try to ask more questions, and you’ll just laugh at what I come up with.”
“You’re excused after you pick up your plate and napkin and throw them away.”
After the girl did as Maggie asked, she left the room. Declan looked at Maggie and smiled.
“What?”
“You said you weren’t mom material, but you sure acted like one.”
“At first I thought she was a disaster in the making, but I’m already seeing a different side to her. Maybe she’s scamming me. I understand teens will do that. But I’d like to give her the benefit of the doubt, because she’s going to have enough to deal with when she finds out just why she’s with me.
“I really hate it when the universe is in peril.” She pulled a stringy bit of cheese off her slice of pizza and nibbled on it. “I’m not Batgirl.”
“I bet you’d look great in black leather—and that mask.” Declan sprawled back in his chair, rolling his beer bottle between his fingers. “Very S and M.”
She rolled her eyes. “You would think that’s hot.” She winced as music thumped overhead. “It’s a good thing we don’t have neighbors living all that nearby.”
He cocked his head to one side. “What’s the problem? She’s got good taste in music.”
“You would think so.” She picked up the now empty pizza boxes and put them in the trash along with their paper plates. When she opened the refrigerator and indicated the beer bottles, Declan nodded. She got one for him and refilled her wineglass.
“This feels… homey. The kid’s upstairs doing her thing, and the parents are downstairs worrying about what mischief she’ll get into next.”
“I’m still on bodyguard duty.” Maggie sighed. “In hindsight I shouldn’t have let her go to school, but I hoped to allow her to keep her life as normal as possible.”
“Right, ‘normal’ living in a house covered in protective wards with a witch for a guardian. And if things go wrong, she’ll end up as a blood sacrifice for a Mayan priest. You can’t get more ordinary than that.” He tipped his beer bottle upward and drank deeply.
Maggie thought about turning the bottle into a dribble bottle and then discarded the idea. She’d have to be the one to clean it up.
“Well, enough talking about it. I want to go out there and seriously kick some Mayan ass. I’m not meant to sit around and wait for them to come to me. I go to them.” She settled back in her chair and sipped her wine. “I want to throw down magick. Send shock waves through the baddies’ systems. Maybe explode a few brains in the process.”
“Bloodthirsty much?” Declan muttered with a grimace.
‘What can I say? When the nasty guys show up, I take them down.” She blew on her nails and polished them against her top.
“Along with your band of merry creatures, which sound like something out of a kid’s movie: Frebus, Meech, Tita. All you need are Grumpy and Sleepy.”
“You mean since I already have Dopey.” She bared her teeth at him.
“Ha, ha.” He finished off his beer and pushed away from the table. Catching Maggie’s pointed glance at the abandoned bottle, he picked it up and took it over to the sink to rinse it out.
“Good boy.” She beamed as she stood up and walked with him to the front door. She whispered a few words to release the wards so Declan could pass through safely.
Before he opened the door, he turned around and drew her into his arms.
“I could always come back later after you’ve tucked the kid into bed,” he said softly.
“Good night, Declan.” She softened her refusal with a smile. “Go play club owner, and don’t call me if any Bloaters show up.”
Not to be outdone, he kissed her deeply, not letting up until she melted against him.
“A hint of what you’re giving up.” With that parting shot he left.
Maggie blew out a deep breath as she collapsed against the closed door.
“Is Declan gone?” Courtney shouted from upstairs.
“Yes.”
“I figured out what he is.” She hung over the railing. “He’s a pothole, isn’t he?” Her face twisted in a grimace as she threw her hands up. “This really sucks!” She stomped back to her room.
Maggie thought of Declan leaving when she would have preferred tempting him back to her bedroom.
“Yes, it does.”
***
“You have been away too much.” Snips appeared by Declan’s side the moment he came through the club’s private entrance. As usual, the imp held his PDA in one clawed hand. Colors scrolled downward as he alternated his attention between the screen and Declan.
“What’s going on?” Declan walked into his office with his assistant close on his heels and sat down at his polished ebony desk.
“There’s something going on with the portal. We’ve had…” Snips hesitated, “situations.”
“Such as?” Declan allowed his power to darken. He had learned right off the bat that he had to show domination over the creature or he would be doomed. There was no doubt Snips would have preferred to be in charge of the club, although he’d never be allowed any position of power. Demons ruled imps, not the other way around. But there was no doubt Snips could wreak havoc of his own if not handled properly.
“Some of the workers used to restore the club did not return through the portal. And someone used it without permission earlier today.”
“And I’m just being told this now?” Declan ran his hands through his hair, feeling aggravation heat up inside. “Why didn’t you call me on my cell when you found out?”
“I wanted to investigate the matter more thoroughly first, so I would have all the information you might require.” Snips took the chair by the desk. He tapped a few keys on the PDA. Two minutes later, a soft knock on the door preceded one of the waitresses bringing in a mug of ale. She smiled at Declan as she set it down before him.
“Thanks, Eva.” He noted the slight shift in her bone structure. For a brief moment, her true nature revealed itself to him. He saw scales the color of wet cement and slitted yellow eyes. A black forked tongue briefly appeared to wet her lips.
He was positive if he gave the right sign she’d be all over him and wouldn’t care if Snips stayed as an audience. He wouldn’t have been interested even if he hadn’t made love to Maggie earlier that day.
He was also aware of Snips’s avid attention.
“We must talk sometime,” he told the waitress.
She preened as she left the office with the slithering gait of her kind.
Declan pushed the flagon to one side and speared his assistant with a dark look. “Now tell me what’s going on with a worker not going back through the portal.”
“When I recruited laborers, I stressed that it was only a temporary job and they would be returning to their world as soon as the work was finished,” Snips stated in his precise voice. “Apparently, one of them was able to slip away after the final count was made.”
“Anyone we need to worry about?” He felt pain s
ettle in behind his eye.
“A very minor demon. A drone.”
“But?” Declan knew there was a but in there. He could feel it all the way through his bones.
The imp licked his dry lips. “It also appears the portal has been used for some unauthorized travel between the worlds.”
“By who?”
“I don’t know yet.”
This really worried Declan. Either Snips was lying, or someone was very good at hiding his tracks. Declan always felt there was more involved in this portal deal than he knew. Something that Snips hadn’t told him. Now the imp stared at him slightly bug-eyed but not giving away whatever thoughts traveled through his devious mind.
“What else?” Declan tapped his fingers on the desk’s polished surface. “There has to be more than what you just told me.”
He was surprised to see Snips look uneasy. Declan hadn’t worked with the imp for long, but it had been long enough that he knew the creature was about as unflappable as they came.
“There are rumors.”
“Rumors about what?”
The imp’s mismatched eyes of peridot and sapphire remained focused on his boss’s face. “About you and the witch.”
His blood iced. “Why would anyone care?”
“You allowed your sister to live in the Hellion compound and be apprenticed to one of their Seers, even though we have competent Seers of our own.”
“Do you honestly think Victorio would have allowed her to apprentice to one of our Seers when he preferred to see her mated to a monster?” Declan’s voice simmered with fury. “He’s whipped her bloody more than once. It won’t be allowed again.”
He mentally cursed himself the moment the words left his mouth. He’d never said a word of what happened the night Anna got up the courage to tell their father she refused to mate with Gaston. That she wouldn’t turn into a victim the way his previous mates had.
Declan would never forget the night he found his half sister cowering in her rooms, her body torn and bloodied. No healer would touch her, so Declan had taken her to a sorceress who healed Anna while Declan called in enough favors to safely take her with him when he moved to Damnation Alley.
