Chapter 14 - Kerfuffle

Around three in the morning, the nightmare woke me. I sat up in bed, my hand at my throat, brushing my neck. There was nothing there.

I gulped and tried to slow my breathing.

As my heartbeat quieted, I noticed there were voices coming from the hall. They were hushed, but the tone of urgency carried through the door.

Beside me, I felt Olivia shift toward the edge of the bed.

“Olivia?” I whispered.

“Shhhhh!” she hissed.

I watched her black form move to the door. She crouched against it for a few seconds, listening, then she suddenly opened it.

The hall light wasn’t on, but the light in the room across from ours was, and the door was open. Ellis and Nylah Oliversen were standing in the hall. Ellis was fully dressed, and her phone was in her hand. Nylah was wearing a bathrobe over her pajamas. Neither of them looked sleepy.

“Olivia”—Mrs. Oliversen sounded surprised—“what are you doing up?”

“You were talking loudly.” Olivia stepped into the hall to join them. “What happened?”

Nylah crossed her arms and her eyes narrowed. Ellis frowned and put her phone in her pocket.

“This isn’t any of your business, Olivia,” Ellis said. “Go back to bed.”

“How is it not my business? It’s my coven isn’t it?”

“Since when have you ever cared about the coven?” her sister said with a sneer.

“Nylah,” her mother said.

Nylah pressed her lips together so hard, they practically disappeared.

Ellis turned to her younger daughter. “You’re still an apprentice.” When Olivia opened her mouth to argue, Ellis raised her voice. “And even if you were an adept, I wouldn’t tell you.”

“You’ll tell Nylah, but not me?”

Mrs. Oliversen sighed. “Someday, Olivia, you’ll learn that you don’t have to take everything personally. Until then, let me ask you something—do you see me calling every witch in our coven and telling them what happened?”

Silence.

“That wasn’t a rhetorical question,” Ellis said.

“No,” Olivia said.

“Then if you want to obsess over the idea that I’m excluding you, at least you can comfort yourself with the knowledge that you’re not alone. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go.”

Nylah started to say, “Are you sure—”

“I’m sure. I appreciate your concern, and if I need you, you’ll hear from me. Goodnight.” Ellis stepped between her daughters. Without looking back, she added, “To both of you.”

Both of them watched her go, and they both had the same look of frustration on their faces. When Ellis was gone, Olivia turned to her sister.

“What’s going on,” she demanded.

“Why would I tell you?” Nylah said.

“Is there a reason you wouldn’t tell me?”

Nylah let out a mean laugh. “Oh, let’s see. Shall we start with the fact that you’re nothing but a stuck-up Johnny-come-lately?”

Olivia tried to murder her sister with a glare.

Nylah, far from recoiling in agony, leaned in and returned the glare with one of her own. “You think you can abandon us for a year—never call, never write—then come waltzing back when it suits you and assume that you have any rights at all? I thought you wanted nothing to do with us! Well, that suited us just fine.”

Nylah turned, went into the room across from ours, and shut the door behind her, cutting off most of the light.

The darkness turned Olivia into a shadow. The fact she stood there, motionless, enhanced the illusion. Then the shadow came to life, walked back into our room, shut the door, and crawled into bed.

“What’s going on?” I asked. My voice was quiet.

Olivia’s voice was not: “I don’t know!”

I grit my teeth.

That girl knew how to bring a battle to every conversation. But considering the sample I’d overheard, it made sense; her arsenal was roughly equivalent to her sister’s and her mother’s. There was plenty of power there for mutually assured destruction.

It’s not my war, I reminded myself.

I tried again. “Did you hear anything when you were listening in?”

“Mother must have gotten a call. Something’s happened, and it’s something big.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because no one wants to call Mother unless they have to.”

“Do you have any idea what it could be?”

The mattress sank for a moment as Olivia settled herself. “It has something to do with one of the buildings. I heard that much. We’ll find out more tomorrow.”

“Will your mother tell us over breakfast or something?”

“I never said we’d learn it from her. We’ll figure it out ourselves. If something weird is going on in this town, it might have something to do with why Kirby’s missing.”

She curled up on her side, her hands up by her head, and a few minutes later, she was asleep again. Her breathing slowed, and I felt her body relax.

What a tense little thing.

I wondered if that’s what I was like when I was younger—only able to relax when I was asleep.

No, my brain reminded me, there were a few times when you were alone too.

I frowned in the darkness.

Olivia, for as tense as she was, turned out to be the lucky one. I couldn’t get back to sleep at all. When I got tired of tossing and turning, I slid out of bed and snuck from the room, quietly closing the door behind me.

Nylah’s door was dark. Jacky’s door was as well. He wasn’t asleep, because Jacky never slept, but he knew how to fake it if the situation called for it. He could be sitting alone in his dark room, thinking whatever thoughts death thinks. Or maybe, to keep from getting bored, he’d gone out for a short walk to somewhere nice. Like Japan.

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I had to ask him about that. I might be able to get some manga.

I wandered over to the stairs, keeping my steps slow so I wouldn’t trip on anything in the dim light. If all the bedrooms were upstairs, maybe I could find something to do downstairs that would eat up a few lonely hours.

When I reached the main floor, I saw a misshapen rectangle of golden light coming from a doorway behind the stairs. I tiptoed over and leaned my head around the open doorframe.

It was the kitchen. Rall Axton was sitting at the small table in the middle of the room, munching quietly on a bowl of cereal.

His eyes rose to meet mine.

“Miss Cole?”

I shyly stepped into the doorway. “Sorry. I wasn’t sneaking around or anything. I couldn’t sleep.”

The smile lines around his eyes bent up. “Neither could I. Come in! Would you like some cereal?”

I walked closer. “It’s not healthy cereal, is it?”

I was teasing him. I could see the open box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch beside his bowl.

He stood up and went over to a cabinet to fetch another bowl. “That filthy stuff on the table is skim milk, so we’ll call it healthy enough.”

I sat down in the chair close to his, but off to the right, on the other side of the table. He came over and put the bowl and spoon down in front of me.

“Did you wake up with Mrs. Oliversen?” I asked.

He sat down. “Yes. She got a call this morning. You heard about it?”

“She and Nylah were talking out in the hall.”

“I’m sorry about that, Miss Cole.”

I shook my head and grabbed the cereal box. “Don’t worry about it. I always have trouble sleeping. And you can call me Emerra.” As I poured, I said, “Miss Cole sounds too fancy when we’re hanging out in pajamas.”

Axton swung his legs back, causing his striped silk pants to ruffle a bit. “And Mr. Axton sounds so old. Call me Rall.”

I looked into his wrinkled face, framed by his white hair and white mustache, and we both smiled.

I tried to keep my voice nice and casual as I asked, “Do you know anything about what happened?”

“No. It’s coven business. They don’t tell me anything.” Rall passed me the milk. “I do love a competent woman, but every once in a while, I get the urge to break something around the house so I can fix it and feel like a hero.”

I should have simply smiled at his joke, but it happened to touch on all the nebulous and uneasy confusion I had dismissed (quite properly) as none of my business. How could a man as easy-going as Rall Axton, deal with someone as hard and uncompromising as Ellis Oliversen? If it hadn't been so early, I might have had the sense to keep that thought to myself.

Unfortunately, it was three in the morning..

“Do you really love Ellis?”

Rall gazed at me for a second, then laughed. When I realized how rude my question must have sounded, I blushed.

“Surprised, are you?” he said.

“She’s very beautiful,” I said, staring, red-faced, at my cereal.

“Then you should be more surprised that she was willing to marry a man like me! She could’ve married a man twelve years younger than her—there were a few young bucks brave enough to glance her way—but she married someone twelve years older. That’s how you know it was love.”

I thought “brave enough” was a good way to put it.

Rall went on, “I didn’t have anything to offer her that she didn’t already have. On the other hand, the only thing she could offer me that I didn’t already have was herself and the right to call two beautiful girls my daughters.” He tilted his head to the side, and the edge of his lips snuck up by a quarter of an inch. “And then Olivia.”

“But you're an Axton,” I said. “Doesn't that automatically make you a catch? Aren't they a powerful line?”

Rall hummed and looked up at me. “Oh! Well, I’m not. I’m a dud,” he said cheerfully. “Of course, the men are never expected to be witches—not like the girls are—but most of them are born with at least a modicum of talent.”

“And you weren’t?”

“Nope! I’m as mundane as they come. Of course I knew about magic. You can’t be an Axton and not know. And I was happy to wedge myself into the magical community using my family tree as a lever.” He mimicked pulling down on a long pole and made a face so I’d know how hard the work was.

I smiled.

“What about you?” he asked. “Are you a sorcerer?”

I shook my head.

“An alchemist?”

I swallowed my food before answering. “Like I told Nylah, no powers.” I remembered the odd distinction that magicians, and witches especially, made between the concept of power and talent. “No talent either. I’m no magician.”

Rall Axton stared at me with his clear blue eyes, and I got the feeling that behind those eyes was an excellent brain, and it wasn’t sure if I was telling the truth.

“But you live with Mr. Noctis,” Rall said. “I couldn’t learn much about him, but I do know it’s a name that pops up around the Torr.”

I took a hasty bite of cereal so I wouldn’t have to comment.

Rall added, “Including the Torrs outside of our area.”

Between him asking awkward questions about Noctis, and him asking awkward questions about me, I decided the latter would be less dangerous. Darius had only warned me to keep my powers a secret; he broke the law to protect Jacky.

I shrugged, “Big Jacky collects people.”

“He…collects people?”

“Yeah. There’s seven of us staying at Jacky’s mansion. Eight if you count him. That includes Olivia, but she’s the only magician. We’re…” I struggled to find the right way to describe it. “We’re an eclectic group.”

And thank you, Count Vasil, for teaching me that ten-dollar word.

Rall sat back in his chair. One arm went across his chest to support his elbow while his other hand rose to rest by the side of his mouth.

“Tell me about it,” he said.

It was an invitation, pure and simple, and his blue eyes sparkled as they regarded me. A slow smile spread over my face.

Ten minutes later, my chair was next to his, we were leaning against each other, arm to arm, my phone was out of my pocket, I was flipping through my photos, and what was left of my cereal was a hopeless swamp floating in cinnamon-swirl milk.

“Here’s Kappa, again,” I said. “He says that’s his koi pond, but I’m not sure the koi agree. Isn’t he the cutest?”

“I suppose. If you don’t mind the slime. Does Olivia like him?”

“She likes him fine—more than she likes a lot of people—but their relationship is kind of strained because he keeps trying to chew on her hair when she’s not looking.”

Rall chuckled.

I swiped to the next photo. When I realized who it was, I grinned. “That’s Mrs. Park.”

“Mrs. Park? You didn’t mention her.”

“She’s our housekeeper. She only comes in on the weekdays, so she’s not technically a resident, but she’s definitely one of us. She dabbles in witchcraft, you know.”

“How does someone dabble in witchcraft?”

“She’s a mundane, but she likes to read books on Wicca.”

“Wicca? You mean that New Age stuff?”

I nodded while trying to keep my smile at a reasonable level, befitting the serious nature of Mrs. Park’s hobby.

Rall shook his head. “Oh, I’ll bet Olivia finds that absolutely charming.”

I laughed. Rall Axton certainly knew his daughter.

“If she’s a mundane,” he said, “how does she work there? She must know about Iset.”

I’d never realized how much of an anomaly Iset was. I mean, the only one left in the world, sure, but she seemed so normal to me. Rall had raised an eyebrow when he saw the scowling portrait of Igor, but when I showed him Iset, he’d muttered a swear word and took my phone to get a closer look.

I gazed at Mrs. Park’s bright smile. “She doesn’t mind. I don’t know how she reacted when she first met Iset, but now she doesn’t even think about it.”

Kind of like me, I realized.

I swiped left. The next photo was filled corner to corner, with me and Conrad. I had my arm around his neck (not that you could see it through all that fur) and our heads were together. Conrad was trying to scowl up at the camera, but you could see the edge of his black lips curving up. I was grinning, shamelessly, as if I had successfully prevailed upon the world’s shyest wolfman to let me take a selfie with him.

Rall pointed to the screen. “That’s the lycanthrope? What did you say his name was—Bauer?”

I smiled down at my phone. “Yup. That’s Conrad.” Then I raised my eyes to Rall and said with due pride, “He’s my pack.”

“Huh. A bit of a strange one, isn’t he?”

“He seems normal to me.” I shrugged. “Of course, he’s the only one I know.”

Rall eyed me skeptically. “And you’re in his pack?”

“Yes, sir!” I leaned over to add in a dramatic whisper, “I think it’s honorary. I don’t know if I could really get in with such sorry fur.” I brushed my hand over my scalp.

Having shown him at least one picture of everyone, I shut down my phone and put it back in my pocket. Rall sat up straight and leaned back while I scooted my chair closer to where I’d started from.

Rall said, “So you, Mr. Vasil, and Igor are the only normal ones?” Before I could answer, he added, “That Igor though—is he normal?”

I grinned and shrugged again. I hadn’t told him that Darius was a vampire, and you couldn’t tell by looking at a picture. As far as I knew—which, granted, wasn’t far—Igor was more normal than either me or Darius.

“Like I said, we’re an eclectic group.”

“You checked the box marked ‘other,’” Rall’s voice was full of approval. “And you seem happy there.”

“Do I?” I glanced at the glop in my bowl and pushed it away.

“All those pictures, and you couldn’t figure that out?”

A whisper of cold nerves blew over my stomach. The icy feeling faded in a second, but I’d felt it, and my heart hurt when I realized what it meant.

I was happy there. And that scared me.

“Does Olivia like it there?” Rall asked.

I looked at him. There was a forced smile tucked under his mustache, but his eyes were serious.

“I hope so,” I said, “but I don’t know for sure.” I tried to manufacture my own smile, but my sinking stomach pulled it down into a smirk. “I wasn’t kidding about Olivia not liking me. On the other hand, I know she likes Iset, and she’s been working hard. She’s really, really brilliant.”

Rall lowered his eyes so I couldn’t see them, but his fake smile turned into a real one. “Oh, I know. She had to be.”

There was a short silence as a brief but intense war raged in my head.

“Can I ask you something?” I said at last.

Rall’s eyebrows rose. “I suppose.”

“This evening at dinner, Nylah said something about Olivia’s handicap. What did she mean?”

“You don’t know?”

I shook my head.

Rall let out a quiet chuckle. “Now I know you’re not a magician.” He sat back, let out a loud sigh, and crossed his arms. “Olivia’s blind.”