by Amy Marie
“Bewegung.” The word was spoken in a deeper tone than her normal melodic sing-song voice, and it sounded as if it echoed throughout the house. Charged with magic, that word held the power to open the door and push me out of the way.
“Bloody hell. Can’t you sod off? I’m tired, Aunt Pat!”
“There’s my boy. With your mother, you’re overly polite, but when you are in a pissy mood, you don’t hold anything back. I much prefer you like this.”
I should have known I wouldn’t get rid of her that easily. “What do you want?” I got stood up and dusted off my trousers.
“I’ll talk, you listen.” She paused and didn’t say anything else until I nodded. “Brilliant!” My aunt sat on my bed, patting the space next to her.
The sooner I complied, the sooner she would tell me whatever it was that she needed to get off her chest, and the sooner I could go to bed. Sighing, I dropped onto the mattress, causing both of us to bounce slightly. “What?” I grumbled in annoyance. My walls were up, and I was in the process of reinforcing them.
“Once upon a time,” she began, and I growled.
“Life is not a fairy tale, Aunt Pat. Get on with it.”
Her head twisted, and she glared at me balefully. “Fine. I’m not going to ask you what you plan to do with your new purchases because I believe that would be nothing except a waste of time for both of us.”
“It would be.”
“What I will say is, whenever you want to talk, I’m here.”
“I know.” I kept my voice clipped and my responses short.
She bit her lip as her fingers pinched the material of her dress. “I’m sure you’ve been able to guess I don’t quite see eye to eye with my sisters. They think I’m still on board, but then again, they also think I’m weak-willed and a pushover. Someone who will roll over and do whatever Kelly orders, the bitch.”
“I noticed. So?”
“First, I won’t tell your mother about the money, and you won’t tell her about me.”
“She hasn’t been clued in? At all?”
Pat shook her head. “No, not yet. The time is drawing near, and she will discover my infidelity as well as how wrong she is about me and herself.”
“What do you mean?”
Patting my shoulder, she shook her head. “If this is truly what you feel is right, I’ll help you.”
“But?” I asked, knowing she had more to say.
“But you need to think about everything. Are you doing this because it’s the right thing to do, or are you doing this because you were told to do it?”
Her words made my anger flare, and I jumped off the bed, my fists clenched at my sides. “I am not some mindless animal who does anything and everything they’re told to do. I am perfectly capable of making my own decisions, of telling right from wrong! Do you not remember what they did to us?”
“Not us, dear boy. Not us.” She stood up and glided over to the door, pressing her hand to my warm cheek as she passed by. “Lorde, remember, there are two sides to every story. I’m here when you’re ready, and if you decide to follow through with whatever you have planned, I’ll help you.”
“Schließen.” The door closed behind her without her ever touching it. My aunt had always been proficient in languages, able to memorize and communicate in new languages without any effort. She said the more languages in which one was fluent, the more it could impact their spells and magic because they could read more, and thereby, learn more, and she was right. Throughout my travels, I’d found grimoires and other books written in various languages, some no longer spoken. Each tome took time for me to decipher, and there were several I had to give up on until I could recruit Pat to help me.
Unlike her, languages never came easy for me. I did well to be fluent in French and English and never thought about catching up with her thirty-plus. Not even my mother or Aunt Virginia understood or spoke that many languages, nor did they ever aspire to do so.
I could speak some spells in ancient languages, practicing hard to learn the meaning and how to pronounce everything precisely as I should. Eventually, thanks to Aunt Pat, I discovered the language didn’t always matter. It was the words and the power one infused into them. It was why she could use the simple German words for open and close to manipulate my door tonight. It was also the reason, much to my mother’s dismay, most of my spells were spoken in English.
I heaved a heavy sigh and walked over to the window to stare up at the cloudless sky. The moon glowed brightly against the dark backdrop of the night as the stars twinkled like jewels.
“If I planned to go through with everything?” I pressed my head against the cool glass and shook it back and forth. It wasn’t if, it was when.
Chapter 12
Lorde
Sleep hated me. After standing at the window for what seemed like hours, I forced myself to crawl into bed. My eyes had been drooping, closing on their own, and I couldn’t dismiss the possibility I’d fallen asleep standing up for a couple of minutes. Unfortunately, the moment my head hit my pillows, sleep abandoned me. I adjusted, flipping over to my other side, but it didn’t help. Nothing did. I even tried drinking a glass of warm milk like the people in movies and on the telly, and it didn’t work. I read, counted fictitious sheep, and closed my eyes with the hope of coaxing my body to slumber. Still, I remained completely and utterly awake and watched as the sun crested the horizon through my bedroom window. It turned the sky purple, orange, red, and then a clear blue, reminding me of Max. He was as vibrant as the morning light.
Last night, I didn’t insist we leave the party because my aunt looked tired to me, I ran away. I could claim it was because it would enhance the mystery surrounding me, or that I wanted him panting for me, but the truth was the connection, or whatever existed between us, unnerved me like nothing else in my life.
Then the book appeared, and it was like a figurative slap on the back of my head. Seeing it, the pages were worn, the leather binding holding it all together had me sweating bullets and my heart pounding. I barely heard anything I said, let alone anyone else. I called out numbers that I believed would be too high for anyone else. It worked on Max, but not on that damnable book. Something urged me to keep bidding, and I did. In the end, I got the prize, or it could be the thorn in my side.
The collection of fairy tales, stories that had been rewritten, creating mere shadows of their original versions, was the one book I refused to handle. I avoided it at all costs, and when asked to examine a copy, I would tell my client I was not an expert at that particular book. I was, though. I knew everything about the various publications and publishing houses, about the bindings, the illustrations, what to look for, and what would be frowned upon. I knew it all and avoided it like the plague.
Until last night.
For the first time in my adult life, I would own a copy. My mother had one when I was a child and read it to me on more than one occasion, pointing out all of the ways the Brothers Grimm got it wrong. Our ancestor was not evil, as they stated. Her sister tried to protect the children from someone she thought was a danger to them. If only that king had not begged Mila to help him, if only she had not accepted and turned those princes into the swans they became. So many if-onlys, but the past couldn’t be undone. Those strands had been woven together so tightly, they were permanent.
Peering up, I noticed a single mute swan traversing the dawn sky, the rising sun painting his snowy white feathers in apricot and coral hues. Could that be Max? Swans usually traveled in pairs or more, but solo flights did happen, so there was a chance it might not be him. Was it still too cold for them? Did they fly south for the winter in the States? Many migrated from the U.K. It meant nothing. For all I knew, he was still at the party and had no intention of leaving any time soon.
I thought about the entire night and Max. The way his voice made my skin tingle, the way his eyes met mine and made my knees weak like some kind of stupid Hollywood movie, and the feel of his muscles under my hand when I caug
ht him after he’d drunk too much. My thoughts didn’t stop there. I also remembered the conversation his mother had with Pat. He’d been told to find a nice guy. A guy.
All night there had been this electric connection between the two of us, but I’d learned a long time ago that I should never assume a person’s sexuality. One of my mates on the football team, I believed wholeheartedly had been straight until he tried to kiss me. It shocked the fuck out of me. Then again, one of the girls I’d met at uni, I would have sworn was gay, but she straight and asked me to set her up with my roommate. My gaydar was seriously off, non-existent, or I didn’t know how to read it. I figured it was more likely that I didn’t have one.
But never assume or judge. I’d learned that lesson very well and never assumed anything about anyone. Hoped, but not assumed.
Max was gay and looking for a good man. Why did the idea of him being with anyone, let alone a good man piss me off? Why was I so jealous? I didn’t get it. Maximillian Lux was nothing more than a conquest, yet, the thought of doing anything to him made bile rise up in my throat and my heart to clench painfully. This reaction was the wrong one.
Revenge. Retribution. Righting wrongs. This was my purpose, but Pat’s question could not be forgotten. “What will you do after?” She had asked me that shortly after I’d arrived, and no matter how many times I tried to bury it within me and destroy it, it lingered, constantly whispering in my ear.
I watched the swan until he disappeared, swallowed up by the sun. They were so graceful, floating through the air, the wind under their wings, gliding across their feathers and body. What would it be like to experience a thrill like that?
“What will you do after?” The question beckoned to me again.
Blowing out a long breath, I lifted my head from my pillow and dropped it again with a soft plop. “I don’t know. I can’t think about that now,” I spoke in a low voice. It didn’t matter that no one was in the room with me. I just needed to say it, to verbalize out loud. “I don’t know,” I repeated a little louder.
Something else she said came to mind. Was my soul as black as my mother’s and Aunt Virginia’s? I’d been raised to seek revenge and never question anything I’d been told. My mother’s word was law, and that was it. If I chose to cross that line, I feared what would happen. The times I did talk back to her when I was younger, I got slapped, had to do extra chores, or had to write lines out of a book. The latter two resulted in a lack of sleep because I could not go to bed until they were done. Any time I wanted to speak out, I ate the words and swallowed them, killing them before they escaped.
“Why don’t you question it now?” my subconscious asked, and I groaned, rubbing my forehead, refusing to give credence to the question and flipped over onto my stomach to bury my head under my pillow.
“You aren’t there. You’re here with your Aunt Pat,” it argued, and I pressed the pillow a lot harder against my ears, blocking out all noise except the pounding of my pulse. “Still here,” it mocked me.
My subconscious could go to hell. I thought my brain was on my side, so why was it arguing with me?
Groaning, I pushed myself into a sitting position, my fists at my sides. “NO!” I seethed, breathing so hard my shoulders were rising and lifting with each breath. It didn’t matter where I was, I had to face my destiny and meet it head-on. This was something decided for me centuries ago. I had no choice. Later, I would allow myself to think about my future, about what I would do next. Later, I would forget all about Max and force myself to never think about him again. Later, after my purpose had been fulfilled, I would burn the book and the memories with it.
Chapter 13
Max
I landed on my balcony, my heavenly perch, after the sun had risen, and the sky changed from black to light blue. Exhaustion made my body feel heavy and awkward. The swan, so graceful and full of beauty, completely opposite from me.
Stumbling, I fell to my knees and then toppled over onto the frigid stone. Even though I shivered, and my teeth chattered, I couldn’t find the strength to get up or move. Tired and weak, my eyelids felt heavy and began drooping, sliding shut after they blinked only a handful of times.
“What the fuck?” Did someone really say that, or had I imagined it?
I felt like I was floating a moment later. This wasn’t like when I flew as a swan. This was different, as though I was floating in water, allowing my body to bob along the surface.
I stopped moving and was placed on a cloud. Sleep embraced me, and I wrapped my arms around her.
Breathing in, I released it slowly and flipped over, attempting to bury myself into my blanket and mattress. I wasn’t ready to return to the world of the living yet, but my eyes popped open, and every little sound reached my ears. I could hear faint blaring of horns and sirens coming from the streets way below, the banging of metal coming from another room in the house, and my phone vibrating on the nightstand.
When had I gotten in bed? I didn’t remember moving to my bed or placing my phone on the wooden surface next to me before I crashed.
I flopped onto my back and pushed my blanket down to my waist to stare up at the ceiling. The softness of the cotton brushed along my body…my whole body. I was naked. While that wasn’t unusual, the last thing I recalled from this morning was landing on the balcony and transforming. Nothing else.
“Fuuuuck!” I still couldn’t remember what happened, but I was willing to bet money Fizz had found me and carried my naked ass to bed. Usually, I tried my damnedest to get home and into bed on my own without assistance from Fizz. Who wanted to be caught in such a compromising position? Regardless of how much I trusted him, I’d rather not make this a regular habit. Thankfully, he’d only had to help me once before, but I was conscious at the time. I didn’t know which was worse, both were embarrassing.
“Ah, I see our prince has finally awoken,” Fizz’s snarky comment had me flipping him off and raising up slightly to shoot him a glare. “Oh, that’s so gentlemanly of you. And here I thought you would compose a song of thanks since I found you outside in the cold, completely naked. Your ass on the concrete is the last thing I want to see when I’m drinking my morning coffee.”
“Shut up,” I groaned, dropping back onto my pillow and throwing my arm over my eyes as I willed my body to fall back to sleep. It didn’t work.
“Ah, there’s that cheery disposition I love so much.”
“Is there a reason you’re trying to drown me in sarcasm this morning? I’d like to get back to sleep. I’ve only had…” My voice tapered off as I lifted my arm and peered out the window. I couldn’t tell. My blackout shades had been drawn.
“Two days.”
“Excuse me?” What the fuck did he mean?
“I found you on Sunday morning. It’s Tuesday. I’ve already called Eve and advised her you were taking off an additional day. According to her, she has you scheduled as out of the office this entire week,” Fizz informed me.
Sitting up, I gaped at him, my mouth hanging open in shock. Two days? I’d been sleeping for two days? I knew I’d been tired between getting everything ready for the party and fighting my swan, but two days? How the hell had that happened?
My fingers speared into my blond curls and scraped against my scalp. I’d been sleeping for two full days.
“Don’t be mad at her. She noticed you were pushing yourself more than usual—”
I cut him off, “I’m not. She does that for me every year. Usually, I still go into the office, but it’s always a light week for me with no meetings. I get caught up on paperwork and other things.” I stopped and rubbed my forehead before pressing the heels of my hands against my eyes. “I’ve been asleep for two days?”
“Yeah.”
I dropped my hands and noticed him leaning against the doorjamb with his arms crossed over his chest. “Looks like I made it back in time,” I attempted to laugh it off and winced when he scowled ferociously.
“It appears so. I’ve never seen you that out of it
when you return, and you were only gone about six hours. You’ve flown longer and were never affected like this. What the hell happened this time?”
My head moved back and forth. “I don’t know. It had been a stressful and tiring week, maybe it all finally caught up with me.” I still couldn’t believe that I’d lost two full days.
Rolling his eyes, Fizz scratched his cheek. “You have got to take better care of yourself. If that means shifting more, then you need to do it. What would have happened had I not found you when I did?”
“I would be suffering from a case of blue balls which has nothing to do with my lack of sex?” I snickered.
“It’s not funny,” he snapped.
“You’re right, but I would have been cold and nothing more. I don’t get sick.”
“No, but you do get exhausted.”
I didn’t say anything, only nodded.
He sighed loudly. “Call Eve and let her know you’re okay. You also need to call your parents.”
“Anything else?” I inquired, afraid to ask about the one person he hadn’t mentioned.
Straightening, Fizz smirked. “Yeah. Someone else called. If you want to know who it is, get your ass up, take a shower, and get dressed. You need to eat something, and you smell like shit. The maid should be here in about an hour. She can strip the bed and do the laundry.”
“Who?” I demanded.
“Uh-uh. You need to wash off the funk, and only after you do that will I tell you.” He winked and left, running down the hall. It wasn’t like I planned on running after him. I was still bare-skinned and buck-ass naked.
“The least he could have done was close my door,” I groused, getting out of bed and falling, my legs giving out from under me. I’d been so exhausted, both mentally and physically, I’d passed out and slept for two days. It made sense my legs were still rubber. Rushing would be my undoing.
