The Magick of Dark Root (Daughters of Dark Root) (33 page)

“Well, he’s hungry. That’s a good sign, right?” I asked Eve.

“I suppose. But good luck getting any of that food.”

Aunt Dora had always been a stickler on not letting us get so much as a taste before dinner was ready, especially a holiday dinner. Between Leo and my rumbling stomach, it was going to be a long, long day.

Eve hesitated when we got to the front door. “How do we get him past Aunt Dora? She’s not going to let a man she doesn’t know stay in her house.”

 
“Leave that to me.”

She bobbed her head in a nod, too tired to object.

As we stepped inside, Aunt Dora popped her head into the living room. “I hear ya didn’t get the turkey,” she said, frowning. “Thank goodness fer Shane. Wonderful boy.” Her eyes took in Leo. “Who’s this?”

“This is Leo. A friend of mine from Woodhaven. He has no family so I said he could spend the holidays with us. Hope that’s okay?” I gave her my most innocent smile.
 

Aunt Dora appraised him suspiciously but didn’t press on.
 

Before she could speak again, I asked, “What’s this about Shane?”
 

“He got the turkey. Said he will cook it an’ take care o’ the dressin’.”

“Shane’s coming here?” I looked down at my filthy clothes and then to the grinning, finger-sucking man beside me. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

Aunt Dora placed a flour-whitened hand on her hip. “Because he ain’t comin’ here. We’re all goin’ ta his. Now go help yer friend clean up. There’s linens in the cabinet.”
 

“You’re going too?” I said.

Aunt Dora didn’t go anywhere lately, claiming the pain in her hip made it almost unbearable.

“Aye. We all are. Could be yer mother’s last…” She shook her head, not finishing the sentence. “Well, enough o’ that. Back ta bakin’ pies fer me.”
 

She limped back into the kitchen without the aid of her cane.
 

Mother’s last Thanksgiving.
 

I looked at Leo, remembering the broken wand. He had taken the last bit of magic from it, leaving it dead.
 

“I hope you’re worth it,” I said.

He titled his head to the left, hearing my words, but not understanding.

But there was still a tree somewhere within the boundaries of Dark Root; a magical willow.
 

I hadn’t taken a wand yet. I could get my own.

I wasn’t sure where it was, but I knew someone who did.

Larinda.

The phone rang. I fumbled inside my pocket, trying to pull it out, while testing the bath water with my other hand.
 

“Hello?” I answered, expecting it to be Merry or Ruth Anne, checking to see how I was “coming along.” The masculine voice on the other end surprised me and I almost dropped the phone into the bathtub.

“Maggie? Happy Thanksgiving!”
 

“Michael? What do you want? And since when do you care about Thanksgiving?”

I turned off the water, tucked the phone between my shoulder and ear, and sat Leo down on the edge of the tub. “Arms up,” I said.

“What?” Michael asked.

“Sorry, not you.”

Leo lifted his arms and I pulled off his polo shirt, and then his undershirt. His chest was a bit hairy and his belly had a slight bulge, but he didn’t look unhealthy. There was even a color to his skin that made it hard to believe only a few hours ago he had been…

“Maggie? You still there?”
 

“Sorry, I’m kinda busy,” I said, hearing the agitation in my voice as I helped Leo take off his shoes.
 

“Well, did you hear what I just asked you?”
 

“What? No, say again?”
 

“Maybe I could see the baby during the holidays? Under your supervision, of course. We could do family Christmases and Thanksgivings, that kind of thing.”

His words stopped me mid-shoe-pull and I dropped Leo’s feet, grabbing the phone with both hands “Michael, you don’t celebrate holidays. And we aren’t a family!”

“I know I didn’t in the past, but I’ve changed Maggie. I’ve grown.”

“No one grows that fast in two months!”

Another long silence on his end, followed by the words, “You did.”

I gritted my teeth, trying to hold back the barrage of curse words that came to mind. My growth, in part, had been because of him. Him and his deceit. I took a deep breath and exhaled, relaxing my grip on the phone. I had other things to worry about now.
 

“Sorry Michael, this isn’t the best time. Can you call back later?”

Not waiting for an answer, I hung up.

“Merr-eee.” Leo tilted his head back and wailed the words, as if he just realized that his future was entirely in my incapable hands.

“Shut up,” I said, yanking at his zipper. “Merry’s not here.” He dropped his hands to his side but didn’t help as I wrestled with his pants. At last, they loosened and I pulled them to his knees, then had him stand to step out of them.
 

I tried not to look at his exposed body. “Now, get in,” I said, my head half turned away. Leo didn’t move. “Get in!” I repeated, pointing at the bathtub.

His eyes bore into me but he continued to stand there.

I gave him a good shove. He outweighed me by at least fifty pounds and I could hardly budge him. “Please, Leo, please,” I begged, feeling the tiredness overwhelm me. Where the fuck was Eve right now? Probably sound asleep when she should be helping me.
 

I kicked off my shoes, hoisted my skirt, and stepped inside the bathtub. “See? Not that hard. Now you do.”

He continued to stare at me, blank-eyed and slack-jawed. I was tired. So tired. And the back of my head throbbed where I had fallen. All I could think about was finishing his bath and getting into bed.

I bent down and splashed my arms so that he could see the water wasn’t dangerous. Then I scooped up a handful and splashed him in the face.

“Ow-ee!” he yowled, stepping back and stumbling into the sink like I had doused him in acid. “Merr-ee!” He swiped at the droplets of water.
 

I worried that Aunt Dora would barge in, but part of me wished she would. She’d know what to do.
 

Leo wept near the sink, his bottom lip trembling. The sight of him, a naked, forty-something-year-old man weeping in my bathroom, coupled with the exhaustion that swept over me like a tidal wave, was too much. I dropped into the tub, still fully clothed, and buried my face in my hands.
 

“I can’t do this,” I said, unable to stop the tears. “I can’t do any of this.”

The ends of my hair swirled around me in red, psychedelic swirls. I watched them curiously as I continued my cry.

A soft hand on my shoulder startled me.
 

I looked up to see Leo, staring down. There was something in his eyes. Some glimmer of the humanity he must have had before life had turned him into a woman-grabbing prick, as if he were trying to reach across that chasm of death and remember.
 

His words were slurred, but understandable. “I-I’m…s-s-sor-rry.”

I raised my eyebrows, feeling the weight on my soul fall away. “Oh, fuck, Leo. I’m sorry, too. I’m so fucking sorry.”

I reached out my hand, guiding him into the bathtub, one foot, then another. He sat down, facing me, him naked, me in my clothes. Dirt washed from our bodies and joined my hair in the mad swirl as we scrubbed each other clean.

“Magg-ee,” he said, touching my chin with the tip of his fingers.

“Yes, I’m Maggie. You’ll be all better soon,” I said, stepping out of the tub and offering him a towel. “And then you can go home.”

“Home?” His eyes widened as he spoke the word.

“Soon.”

I took his hand and led him down the hall, his body still clothed in only a towel. We had rooms to spare but for now he would be sleeping in my room. I dragged a twin mattress down the hall from the Huntsman Room and into my own, setting it next to my bed.
 

“You tired?” I asked. He ignored the mattress on the floor and plopped down onto my bed, moving his arms and legs around like a child making snow angels. “Okay, you take that one, I’ll be here on this one. Stay put, okay?”

I collapsed face-first onto the mattress, not bothering to slide out of my wet clothes. “Stay put,” I repeated as my eyelids clamped shut.
 

As I drifted off, I heard the rustling of Leo on the sheets, the sounds of Aunt Dora bustling around the kitchen, and the ringing of my cell phone in my skirt pocket. But all I cared about was sleep. I could sleep a thousand years, and that still wouldn’t be enough.

Twenty-One

TWO PRINCES

A loud knock on the door roused me and I fought through the heaviness to open my eyes. I almost screamed as a broad, dull face hovered inches above mine.

“Good grief, Leo!” I said, sitting upright. “I hope you weren't that creepy when you were…”

Alive?

“Dooooor.” He pointed, drool seeping from the corner of his mouth as Eve burst in.

“It’s about time you showed up,” I said, tripping over the mattress on the floor as I got to my feet. “Lock the door behind you.”

Eve thrust a sheet of paper at me.
 

“I was trying to find out more about our mystery man.” Her skin was pale and there were dark circles beneath her eyes.
 

I took the paper and read as she narrated along.
 

“Forty-three. Never married. No kids. Works as a traveling salesman for a tech company. Only known family member is a mother in Linsburg.”

“Linsburg! Oh, Eve, that’s awesome.” I gave her a grateful hug. A few days of rehabilitation and we could pawn him off on his mother.

“Thanks,” she said. “How soon do you think he’ll be, um, better?”
 

Leo sat on my bed, picking at his bare toes. Eve grimaced.