Who would be calling me? I wondered, pressing the button to ignore. It was the third or fourth time an unknown subscriber had tried to contact me in the last hour. Whatever solicitor this is, must be really persistent.
Nadia gave a little smile and said, “Wonderful, I'll go put on the kettle.”
As she disappeared into the kitchen, Ryan whirled on me in anger. “What’s going on, Wynn? Why were all of those women downstairs scared of you?”
I laughed humorlessly and took a seat on the leather couch. “They’re witches.”
“Right, just like your mom,” he hissed. “But just so we're clear, when you say ‘witch’, you’re talking about a real witch, with supernatural powers, right?”
“Technically, they would be infra-natural,” I corrected.
He nearly exploded at me with unspent rage when he responded, “Answer the dumb question!”
I set my jaw defiantly and told him, “I just did.”
“How could you not tell me about this? We’ve known each other since we were five, you’d think that kind of thing would have come up by now.”
“Yeah, well it was a surprise to me too,” I spat out angrily.
“They called you a demon! What the—” but his rant was interrupted by Nadia coming back into the living room.
She took a seat on the chair beside us and said, “Now that I've got the kettle on, what's all this about?” she inquired pleasantly. “I take it you've had a run in with a demon? Your latent powers have clearly been activated and it takes a high ranking demon to do that sort of thing, who was it that found you?”
Ryan’s head swiveled towards me and he mouthed the word “demon?” while looking me over to make sure that I didn’t have a tail.
I shrank down in my seat and whispered, “Aidan.”
He shifted his weight and turned to make sure he was hearing me correctly. “You mean your mom's ex-boyfriend? The one you were telling me about?”
“Mmmm,” Nadia hummed into her teacup. “That would be the one. What did you think of him?”
“He's disgusting. I don't want anything to do with him.”
Nadia pursed her lips. “Well, I'm afraid you have no choice. He and your mother go back many, many years and he also holds the key to her contract. Working with him is unavoidable, unless you want to turn yourself over to the Council. If you don’t learn to control your powers then Michael will send one of his Guardians to destroy you.”
Ryan's eyes grew wide listening to the two of us talk calmly about my destruction. I reached out to place my hand on his as some kind of reassurance, but he pulled away before I could. I was hurt by the cool rejection, but wouldn't let it sway me from continuing the conversation. “Actually, I met my Guardian a while ago. He vouched for me in the Grove and now we’re actually kind of friends.”
“How quaint,” she responded with a smile. “What have you done so far to train?”
“Actually, I was hoping you could teach me,” I inquired hopefully.
“Well, I would love to dear, but unfortunately fairy magic comes from a completely different place inside you. It’s a rather arcane process — suffice to say it is energy provided by the Earth itself, and the fae are in touch with this and channel it. Demons draw upon their own abyssal source. I’m afraid it’s something that can only be taught by another demon — I’d be completely out of my depth.”
“Oh….”
“What do fairies have to do with witches?” Ryan asked her bluntly.
Nadia and I shared a significant glance between us before she asked, “Nothing, usually. They keep to themselves, but sometimes they make an exception. Did you ever hear the legends about the Whelan family?”
“I know they're Romani….”
“Right,” she agreed with a gentle nod. “The Whelan line has long been rumored to be the descendants of ancient fairies. You see, a long time ago, one of them broke a deal she had made with Oberon to save her child. He kept the infant from dying by shielding it with fairy magic, but in doing so the baby was infused with magical power. When the mother found out her child was different, she grew worried about the townspeople finding out and abandoned the baby — basically spitting in the face of the gift Oberon had given her. As you can imagine, the king was furious and decided to curse her line forever that they would never find true happiness. They were rejected from society and forced to live as nomads, travelling with the Romani gypsies, and even they didn’t fully accept them into their clan. After a couple generations of being ostracized from the world around them, it was only natural that they became cold, bitter, and resentful, making it all the more difficult to be accepted. But the fae blood line remained intact, which made them more sensitive to the realm of magic. They are able to see things that other people can't … demons for example. Which is how your mother was able to contact Aidan.”
“And why she was desperate enough to make a deal with him,” I muttered to myself bitterly.
“Curses only work if you believe in them,” she responded firmly. “No one is able to decide your fate but you, even the Demon Lords know that. They can try to trick you and make you believe all hope is lost, but nothing they can do will ever trump the precedent of Agency. Free will is more powerful, and more dangerous to the Realms below than Aidan or the other Demon Lords would ever have you know — it’s what they fear above all else. Never forget that, Wynn. You have more power in the choices that you make than from any gift biology would bestow on you.” The kettle whistled shrilly in the kitchen and Nadia stood up, “Ah, the tea. Please excuse me, I'll be right back.”
Ryan didn't speak to me, or even acknowledge my existence while she was gone. We sat there in uncomfortable silence as the silver tabby kept brushing against his leg. “Get away from me,” he grumbled.
Nadia came back with a tray of cups and saw him trying to shoo away the persistent feline that had now coated the bottom of his jeans with fur. He continued pushing it aside even after it looked up at us with big green eyes and chirped a welcoming meow, pleading for affection. Nadia hid her smile as he awkwardly picked the cat up and placed it on the far end of the couch with a look of disgust on his face.
“I see that you’ve met Hemingway. He usually hides in the back room when I have guests, he must like you.”
“Yeah, well I’m not really a fan of his,” Ryan grumbled.
She set down the tray of beverages and inquired, “I take it you don't like cats?”
“No, I'm more of a dog person actually….”
Her smile widened as she poured a cup for each of us. “Why am I not surprised?”
The cat looked up at him, angry at being ignored, and began threatening to cough up a hairball on his shoe.
“Ugh, gross! See? This is why!”
“Hemingway!” Nadia warned. “You know better. If you’re going to be like that you can go outside!” The cat stopped what he was doing immediately and I could almost see him rolling his little kitty eyeballs as he slunk off into the kitchen. He turned to glare at Ryan one last time before deciding to deny us his royal presence. “You’ll have to excuse him, he gets a little upset when meeting new people.”
Trying not to laugh, I took an investigative sip from the cup she offered and was pleasantly surprised. It was sweet and more flavorful than I imagined, so I helped myself to another and asked, “What is this? I don’t think I've ever had this particular brew before.”
“Earl Grey. It’s a personal favorite of mine, I hope you don’t mind. Here, I want to show you something.”
She stepped over to the bookshelf and pulled out a leather album that was dated back from the nineteen eighties. It was old and worn around the edges, but I loved the smell of the vintage binding. The pages were filled with picture after picture of Nadia and Mom back when they were in school at the University of Alabama. Ryan glanced over my shoulder as I flipped through the album and pointed to one outside a sorority house, with Mom hanging from the branch of a tree with a goofy smile on her face.
“Here's a g
ood one,” he offered kindly. “It looks like she was having fun. I didn’t know she was a Kappa.”
“Oh, yeah,” Nadia informed us. “She and I both were. It was the good ol’ days.”
I grinned at her lighthearted joke and playful commentary in an inherently difficult situation. We both knew how serious the circumstances were, but I appreciated her attempt to relieve the tension and bring some light in. It was exactly what I needed. The next one was a picture of Mom and Dad kissing outside the law building, with one of their friends giving “bunny ears” behind them. It was sweet seeing them like that, but I still felt sad looking at them knowing how things turned out.
“She looks so happy,” I mentioned wistfully. “Why would she have given all that up to make that stupid deal with Aidan?”
Nadia smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes as she turned the page to show us another picture. This time it was my dad, his arm around another woman in a floral sundress as he looked at her adoringly. She had wavy, blonde hair and blue eyes — there was something in her face that was eerily familiar….
“Is that Elyse?” Ryan asked confused.
“No. It’s her mother, Anna,” Nadia responded simply.
When she spoke the words it felt like my entire world had stopped. “…Wait, what?”
“Anna and Wynn's father got married after we finished our undergrad. Michele had been in France for almost two years at that point in culinary school. They adored each other, but after Elyse was born she died from a post-partum cardiomyopathy.”
I remembered the woman Nadia mentioned in her letters, but the thought never crossed my mind to question the relationship further.
“None of us would have cared if we’d known he was a widower before settling down with Mom, why did they lie about it?”
Nadia pursed her lips and one eyebrow shot up with an involuntarily look of disapproval. She sipped her tea quietly.
“Nadia, what is it? Is there more? Why did they hide this?”
“Because Anna’s death was no accident. It was murder.”
I sat in stunned silence while Nadia continued. “When Garrett died, something inside her broke — she became a completely different person. By the time she got back from France, the man she loved was married with a child. She blamed it on that ridiculous family jinx, she went on about how her ancestors had robbed her of any chance of happiness. All she cared about was carving her own happily ever after out of whatever scraps she could pull together. Her feelings for Will went from love to obsession and she couldn’t be reasoned with anymore. So she contacted her old lover, Aidan, the only one she thought strong enough to overcome the Whelan curse. She made a contract to get Will’s wife out of the picture and … promised their firstborn child as payment.”
I grasped the arm of the chair in shock and began hyperventilating, trying to process what she said. Nadia set down her tea carefully and asked, “Wynn, are you okay?”
“OF COURSE I’M NOT OKAY!” I shouted. “I just found out that my mother, not only promised to give me to her former lover in exchange for a demonic contract, but also orchestrated the death of an innocent woman! So, no, I am definitely not okay! She’s a murderer! I hate that she's my mother! I hate that we’re related! How could she do such a terrible thing? Who is she?”
“It’s one of the many reasons Michele and I drifted apart,” Nadia responded gently. “I didn’t fully understand what had happened at the time, it took me a couple years to learn the truth. Once I did, our relationship was never the same — we went down different paths.”
“But … who was this woman he was married to? How come I’ve never heard of her? Doesn’t Elyse have the right to know?” Ryan looked at me on the couch beside him and reached over to give my hand a gentle squeeze, which I didn’t even realize was shaking from anger. The simple gesture brought me down from where I was and I breathed a little easier. “Thank you,” I whispered softly.
Nadia silently watched the exchange take place and poured herself another cup of tea. “People do crazy things for love,” she told us sadly. Something dark flickered behind her eyes as she spoke, but it was gone before I ever thought to question it.
“You never married?” I asked her curiously.
Nadia crossed her legs and sat back deeper in her seat, staring down at the tea in front of her. “No, my relationships tend to end badly. I was in love with a demon once, like your mother.”
My brow furrowed as I set my tea down in my lap, “You think she was in love with him?”
“I'm not sure. She very well could have been, if her pride hadn't got in the way. But Aidan was certainly in love with her, though I doubt he'd ever admit it.”
“Can demons love?” I asked her earnestly.
Nadia shrugged, taking another sip of tea from her china cup and said, “You tell me.”
There was a clamoring of glass as Ryan spilled his teacup on the floor. “Sorry,” he muttered softly.
She pulled a kitchen towel out of nowhere and handed it to him with a smile. “It's quite all right, I came prepared.”
He started cleaning up his mess while Hemingway came walking across the couch and flopped down in her lap, purring contentedly. “What happened to him?” I asked.
“Who?”
“Raffe,” I clarified slowly. “That was the man you were in love with, wasn’t it?”
She set down her mug and stared at me as if I had grown an extra head. “His name was Raffaelo. How did you know that?”
“I found some old letters between you and Mom. You mentioned his name a couple times … what happened to him?”
Nadia’s lips pursed into a hard line as she looked me dead in the eyes and spoke somewhat forcefully, “That is not only incredibly personal, but a painful memory at best. I'd rather not discuss it.”
“O-kay … sorry. What about Dad? Does he know the truth about Mom’s powers? Or that she was involved in Anna’s death?”
“He remembers Anna fondly, but I think the magical involvement has been stripped of his conscious memory. The only thing he remembers is that Anna died and your mother was there to comfort him. It wasn’t long before they fell in love and got married the following spring, after that they moved to Mobile and opened The Red Door restaurant to start a new life together. It was a happy time for them. We stayed in touch for a while, but one day the truth came out about what she’d done and we got into an awful fight — you were probably five or six at the time. I couldn’t stand by and watch after finding out what she did to you.”
I sighed, glancing down at my phone to check the time. “Thank you for talking with me, but Ryan and I need to get going. Dad doesn't know we're here and he'll have a conniption if I'm not back soon.”
Nadia smiled as she rose up gracefully from the couch with a thoughtful expression on her face. “Perhaps I should go with you. It's been a long time since Will and I have had the chance to talk, and I should probably visit Michele in the hospital as well. Do you think he’d mind having me as a houseguest?”
“You would really do that for me? What about your job?”
“You mean downstairs? I own it, dear, so I come and go as I please. Hmmm, I wonder what William will say when I show up unannounced after all these years. I imagine him turning a putrid shade of green….”
I snickered, “Or some other shade therein. It’ll be awesome!”
“Well, that will make the entire trip worth it then, won’t it? Wait here and I’ll pack an overnight bag, then we’ll get going.”
She retreated into the bedroom with the feline flitting around her heels and I cast a wary glance in Ryan’s direction. His brow was furrowed deep in thought and he looked much older than a high school senior should. He didn’t say anything, but I knew he was upset. We’d known each other too long not to know one another’s tells, and it wasn’t looking good for me.
I didn’t know what to say to him either to try and smooth things over. Sorry, I’m a demon?
Now that all the cards were on the ta
ble, I guess it was up to him where we went from here. I wanted to give him a hug and let him know that I’m still me, but I remembered all too well the hurt and confusion from when I found out the first time. It was better to give him space and wait until he was ready.
A few moments later Nadia emerged wearing a travelling jacket and a tiny suitcase in hand, smiling at us beneath the rim of a black cloche hat. “Is everyone ready?”
I nodded and rose up from the couch, Ryan lagging behind. “So … are you riding with us?” he asked.
“Oh, that's kind of you to offer, but I thought it would be more practical if I followed in my own car,” she told him sweetly. “That allows me to return home without any complications.”
“Right, I didn't even think of that,” he agreed, sounding a little embarrassed. “I guess we can follow you out of town?”
They exchanged a few more details about logistics as she grabbed her keys off the counter and began locking up the doors. Hemingway followed us outside and brushed his tail against my leg as we were walking down the stairs. Quarter Moon was completely vacant and the lights off when we descended the wood paneled stairwell. Nadia quickly checked a few odds and ends as we passed through the shop ahead and closed the business door as well.
When she pulled her key from the lock, a rippling effect swept its way across the brickwork. That must be the privacy spell, I thought to myself. Cool.
We could hear the band down the street, playing a dark and rhythmic blues while couples ate in the café. Once again, I was struck by the smell of gumbo and po’boy sandwiches. Nadia and Ryan trotted ahead of me towards the parking lot across the street.
As soon as I passed through the rustic archway, another ripple washed past the iron railing signifying the end of the protected area. How did I not notice that before? I was about to cross the street when an ethereal blue light appeared in front of me and Caleb stepped out onto the walkway. Nadia merely acknowledged the abruptness of his arrival with a tilt of her head towards me. “Friend of yours?” she asked.
I exhaled nervously and took a step towards him. “Hey, I wasn’t expecting to see you until we got back,” I greeted shyly. “This is my Aunt Nadia. Nadia, Caleb,” I introduced them formally.
Dealing with the Devil (The Earthwalker Trilogy Book 1) Page 17
