Return of the Fae (12 page)

Ty looked up and saw Parris smiling at him. There might be a chance at happiness here. A chance for a real relationship, a picket fence, and maybe even a little girl who loved to play baseball or boy who wanted to fish with his dad. A future.

If they didn’t get killed in the meantime.

He ate quickly. When he finished, he excused himself to go check the wards on the car. Everything felt fine, no breaks, no niggles warning him of someone trying to find them. Robert wouldn’t mistake a feeling. Maybe Robert’s feeling had nothing to do with Parris. Or the Coven X. And maybe pigs would fly and the sky would turn purple on a sunny day. He felt a chill that shouldn’t be there. He headed back to the restaurant to get Robert and Parris.

They needed to leave. Something had found them and was coming.

* * * *

Parris watched Ty drive as she pretended to read. He was spooked, edgy. Robert, too. She’d listened to Ty’s casual words when he got back to the table, a bright, ‘time to go,’ yet she’d seen the look passing between the two men. For the first time since she’d met him, fear poured off Ty like rain from a Seattle storm. For the last ten miles, no one said a word, yet she’d felt the anxiety rolling through the interior of the car. She closed the book, turning to see both men, she asked, “What’s going on?”

Ty glanced in the rearview mirror at Robert, then, after seeing a short nod, sighed. “There’s something after Robert. We think it’s tracking us.”

“Something? What?”

“Maybe nothing, maybe this other coven, or maybe something he got messed up with outside The Council.” Parris watched Ty glance quickly over his shoulder at the man in the back seat.

“You know I don’t participate anymore,” Robert grumbled. “Haven’t since ’86. Or maybe ’96. Either way, it’s been a while.”

“It’s been a while since you what?” Now Parris turned her focus to Robert. The guy looked like her neighbor’s grandfather who visited the condo weekly and mowed her tiny patch of grass after finishing his granddaughter’s lawn.

“Tell her.” Ty’s voice was ice cold, demanding.

“I supplied product to what could be called a white slave business.”

Parris choked on the sip of soda she’d taken, spitting some of it onto Ty’s leather seats. He handed her a napkin and she wiped her mouth, then, because he still stared at her, wiped the seat as an afterthought. “How do you kind of be in something like that?”

“It was a relocation program for runaway kids, mostly. The kids had full knowledge when they signed up of their commitment, and it was better than being on the street.” Robert leaned back into the seat wearily. “The first time someone got hurt, I quit.”

“The first time you found out about someone getting hurt.” Parris seethed with fury. This was the kind of paternalistic crap that drove April to work with street kids and keep them safe from predators, like Robert.

“I screened every home these kids went to. And the contract. They worked four years paying off their debt. After that, the family paid for college, and the kids would have their own lives again. They were Au Pairs for magical families around the world.”

“They became babysitters?” Some of the fire died inside Parris. She’d thought, well, she’d jumped to the idea of these kids being sex toys. Now he told her he set up live-in child care?

“Some light housework but, yeah, mostly, nanny duties. Raising a witch comes with a lot of special problems, ones you can’t explain away at the day care down the street. What happens when your angel turns her playmate into a toad, just for fun?” Robert shook his head. “The kids got off the street and a college education out of the deal. Kind of like joining the army, without the guns.”

“So why would someone be coming after you?” Parris was confused. Sure, using homeless kids to provide a family with a live-in nanny may not be the best situation, but she didn’t see why someone would be following them.

“When I stopped, I kind of took the laptop with the names and bank account information for the families. I wanted to make sure the kids I placed got out. The only way I could assure their safe exit from the program was to control the information.” Robert shrugged. “So sue me.”

“He shut down a major income stream for many of The Council elite.” Ty slowed the car back under eighty. “I got offered off-the book jobs several times to find you or your damn computer.”

“Won’t he be in trouble when we bring him back?” Parris’ eyes widened. She didn’t want Robert to be hurt, especially if it meant The Council would put him in the care of the woman who’d tested her when she’d been kidnapped. Even though The Council called her a doctor, there was no way the woman had taken any modern oath of do no harm. The man didn’t look like he’d make it through half the tests she’d gone through. Hell, Parris almost didn’t survive some of the testing and she was at least twenty years younger than Robert Nelson.

If not more.
She shrugged the thought away.

“Derek’s working on a way to protect him, or at least keep The Council from forcing us to turn him over.” Ty glanced over at her. “Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out.”

Robert reached across the car and patted her arm. “We’ll get through this together. Derek’s a smart boy, he’ll fix this.”

Parris looked at the two men sitting and staring at her. They tried to put up a good front for her, but she knew they were concerned about Robert’s return. They knew what The Council could do. She’d only had a taste of The Council’s cruelty. Especially when stuck on the idea of protecting their own.

The rest of the ride home the three stayed quiet. Parris pretended to read her book. Ty focused on the road, and Robert stared out the window, humming an old Johnny Cash tune.

Chapter 12

The bond of friendship is one of love. It transcends time and space. Keep your friends close, don’t let them slip away. There’s a reason a hero in the old stories always has a side kick. We need someone who always has our back, even when we’re dead wrong. – The Academy of Witchcraft Manual, Volume 3, Page 1102.

Ty glanced at Parris. She’d been asleep for the last twenty minutes. They’d reached the outskirts of St. Louis and now they were driving to Matilda’s. “I think you’ll be safer there, than anywhere else. Parris’ grandmother is wicked good at warding.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine. If The Council comes for me, I’m not going to fight. I’ll go in front of a tribunal. The Council won’t like my testimony when they get me there,” Robert promised.

Ty smiled. He knew Robert had more dirt on The Council members than anyone alive. Or maybe alive or dead. “Just stay inside and be careful. We need you to help Matilda break the forgetting spell she’s placed on herself.”

Robert laughed. “A witch who spelled herself to forget yet still remembers her other spells? She must have been powerful. I once knew a girl who could have done a spell that strong.”

Ty glanced in the rear view mirror. “You did? Maybe. . .”

Robert waved Ty’s words away with a gnarled hand. “She died, many years ago.”

As Ty pulled the car in front of Casa McCall with the bright purple paint and matching mailbox, Parris stirred. She stretched, looked around, and smiled at catching sight of the house. “Why are we at Grans’?”

“Robert’s going to stay here and try to help her find her clues.” Ty opened the door and stood, stretching. “Come in and say hi?”

Parris slipped from the car and circled around to meet Ty. She glanced at Robert who slowly climbed out of the car. In a low voice, she asked, “Do you think it’s safe for him here?”

“I’ll be fine here.” Robert answered her instead of Ty. “Hasn’t anyone told you warlocks have very good hearing?”

Parris blushed. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“No offense taken, my dear. Just a fact. One you need to learn sooner rather than later.” Robert leaned on his cane, inching up the cobble stone walk toward the front porch. When the door opened and Matilda stepped out, Robert stopped like he’d been frozen in stone.

Ty ran up to meet him. “Robert, this is Matilda, your hostess.”

Matilda took the three steps off the porch and stopped in front of Robert.

“Emily?” Robert peered at Matilda, cocking his head.

Parris put her hand on Robert’s arm and repeated Ty’s introduction, slowing the words. “This is my grandmother, Matilda.”

Matilda smiled at Parris and, taking Robert’s arm, led him into the house. “Let’s get you inside before the neighbors start gossiping about my new beau.”

Ty stared at the two elderly people walking arm in arm up the porch steps. Matilda waved it off but Robert thought he’d recognized her. Emily, could that be Matilda’s real name? A thought niggled at his brain as he followed Parris into the vivid purple house. Had Matilda hidden the key, not in her spell books, but in a person? He realized they still stood on the front porch. Parris held the door open for him. A puzzled look on her face told him he’d been quiet too long.

He smiled at her, “Sorry, long drive. My mind always goes back to the list of things I have to check on at the office.”

She shook her head. “No way. If I have to take time away from the bar, you don’t get to call the office and check on things. It’s Saturday anyway. What are you going to do, call people at home? At least the bar’s open today.”

He held the screen door open for her. “I’m not calling until Monday, only thinking about a few things.” She’d bought his lie. Now he watched Matilda and Robert, waiting for more sparks to fly, because he was sure they were there, waiting to be released.

Matilda had a tea service sitting on the coffee table. Ty frowned. The couch wasn’t covered in plastic like the last time he’d visited. In fact, the place looked more like a home than a show room. He shot an inquiring look at Matilda.

“It was time.” Matilda poured a cup and handed it to him. “Now Robert’s here, the truth can come out. I remember now.”

“So you know Robert?” Ty felt like he’d gone down the rabbit hole, not an unusual feeling since meeting Parris and her grandmother. Nothing was what it seemed, everything had a subplot, and Ty knew this story would be a doozy.

“Robert’s my husband.” Matilda lifted the plate of oatmeal raisin cookies toward Parris. “Cookie, dear? Something told me I’d be having visitors today.”

Parris absently reached for a cookie, shock apparent on her facial features. Without taking a bite, she set the treat down on a napkin. Swallowing, she looked at her grandmother, then at Robert, and finally at Ty, who felt as confused as Parris looked. “Wait, what? And I thought my life couldn’t get any weirder. Grans, you said Grandpa died.”

“I believed he did.” Matilda smiled at Robert and patted his hand. The man still looked stunned. “Between the two of us, we concocted a pretty strong forgetting spell. I think it must have been the night your parents died. The details are still fuzzy, but seeing Robert, the spell is starting to fade. Like I woke up from a long sleep.”

“My own Sleeping Beauty. All these years, I’ve been missing something, but never could put my finger on the problem.” Robert reached out and caressed Matilda’s cheek. “I missed you.”

Parris held up her hand. “Wait. Why did Robert have to leave? Why the lies, why the forgetting spells? I don’t understand.”

The reason was suddenly clear and Ty answered, “Because The Council ordered it.” He glanced at Robert for confirmation. “No way would you and Matilda be able to pull this off without The Council’s blessing. That’s when you started teaching at the New Orleans academy, to make a fresh start.”

Robert nodded. “I’m thinking you’re right. Can’t confirm it yet, need to call my handler over at The Council, I’m pretty sure we asked for help that night.” His eyes filled with tears. “When Sarah was killed, we knew Paige would be next, if they knew she existed.”

Parris held up her hand. “I don’t understand. If The Council knew about me, why the big deal last month? Why did they kidnap me if they already knew I existed?”

Ty pondered the question. Angel Florentine and the other council members had seemed honest in their confusion regarding Parris and her grandmother. Maybe this Council didn’t know. He’d heard of black ops before, but except for the occasional off the books searches he did for members, he’d never seen anything this elaborate or this long reaching. Suddenly he looked at Robert for confirmation. “The Knights?”

Robert took a bite of cookie and considered Ty’s question. Wiping his mouth with a napkin, he nodded. “That would explain the depth of the spell. And why this Council didn’t know about Parris. We worked with The Knights.”