Totally Spellbound (22 page)

She tilted her head slightly. She’d
never heard anything like this, and she wasn’t sure if it was true.
It certainly wasn’t anything she’d been taught in her courses,
although it had a certain validity for her practice.

If she had been able to go
home with some of her patients, defend them — protect them —
against the verbal battering they received from their parents, or
point out the neglect, the lack of love, then she would have been
those children’s champions. And she would have been able to help
them strengthen. Maybe their parents wouldn’t have changed, but the
kids might have seen where their parents were deficient, where
their home life was deficient.

“Everyone needs a protector,” Rob
said. “Even me.”

“I couldn’t protect you,” Megan said
softly. “You’re a bona fide hero. There are books dedicated to all
you’ve done.”

“And yet,” he said just as softly, “in
order to do those things, I’ve had to separate myself from my
heart. I thought that heart was gone. But you found it.”

Her gaze met his. His eyes
were warm, sincere.

“We can protect each other,” he said,
“if we but try.”

He was winning her over, and so
quickly. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be won.

She needed a little time, time to
reflect, time to see if this was real or as ephemeral as that trip
to the Interim Fates had been.

He stood, obviously feeling her change
of mood.

“First,” she said quietly, “I need to
see if Kyle’s all right.”

“Then we have to save the world for
true love.” Rob’s words were mocking.

“We did promise to help the Interim
Fates,” Megan said.

“You promised,” he said. “I just
agreed to help you.”

“You don’t think they’re worth
helping?”

“I think Zeus will destroy us for
trying.” Then Rob grinned.

Megan felt even more confused. “What’s
the smile for?”

“You truly are an empath,” he said.
“You know how to manipulate me.”

She shook her head slightly. She
didn’t like this empath talk. “I didn’t mean to manipulate
you.”

“Maybe not consciously,” he said. “But
you did.”

He was right; she hadn’t
been aware of what she had done. “How?”

His smile widened. “The best way to
get me to join any cause is to ask me to defend the powerless
against the powerful.”

“Zeus’ daughters,” Megan
said.

He shrugged eloquently. “How much more
powerless can you get?”

Megan was good at
distraction—or at least at distracting Rob. Not only had she taken
the conversation off her own insecurities, but she had also gotten
him out of the parking garage, up the elevator, and to the door of
a suite.

It was almost as if she had magical
powers as well as the powers of empathy.

She rang the bell, biting her lower
lip as she did so. He thought it odd that she wouldn’t have a key
to her own suite, but he didn’t say anything.

He’d been saying enough.

The hallway was wide and empty. Rows
of suites ran along the side. This wasn’t as upscale as he was used
to—John insisted that Rob always stay in five-star hotels to
impress the marks.

This place felt cheap. The floorboard
echoed as he walked on it, the door seemed thin, even the doorbell
that Megan rang sounded like a duller version of what he was used
to.

Obviously, he’d been
spending too much time with the wealthy again.

A chain rattled inside, followed by
the click of a deadbolt and the snick of a smaller door lock. Then
the door opened, and Kyle peered out.

“Haven’t I told you to leave the chain
on when you open doors?” Megan asked, sounding
irritated.

“Why?” Kyle asked. “I heard you coming
a mile away.”

Rob hoped not. He had to put some
shields back up if he was going to be around the psychic
kid.

Kyle gave him a cool glance — as if
he’d heard that thought (and he might have) — then pulled the door
the rest of the way open. Megan walked in, wrinkled her nose, and
stopped in the entry.

Rob followed.

The entire suite smelled of garlic,
potato chips, and diet soda. Beneath those smells was the faint
odor of pee.

Was everywhere he went today destined
to smell of pee?

The place was large, with a living
room off one side, a full kitchen, and a full dining room. At least
two bedrooms were off the hallway.

An obese dachshund came up
to Megan, its tail wagging. It raised itself on its hind legs, put
its front paws on her calves, and gave her a doggy grin.

She stiffened. Rob came up behind her
and put a hand protectively on her shoulder. For once, she didn’t
back away.

“That’s Fang,” Kyle said to Rob. “He
doesn’t hurt anyone, but Aunt Megan was badly bit by a dog so she
tends to forget that they can be nice.”

Rob squeezed her shoulder slightly in
support.

“Are you here alone?” Megan
asked.

“Mr. Little went to get some food,”
Kyle said. “The Fates are in the bathroom helping each other with
makeup. I’m having lunch.”

Hence the garlic-potato-chip-diet-soda
smell. Megan walked into the main room. Light from the television
set reflected onto her shirt. She picked a container off the coffee
table.

“You’re having chips and dip for
lunch?”

Kyle shrugged. “I got
hungry.”

Megan shook her head. “Your dad’s not
home, yet, right?”

“How’d you guess?”

“Just lucky,” she said.

Rob glanced at her. The dog had
followed her into the living room like she was its answer to
everything.

“How come it smells like pee in here?”
she asked.

Kyle chewed on his lower lip. That had
to be a family habit. On him, it looked painful. Parts of his lip
looked chewed through.

“Dunno,” he lied. He wouldn’t look up
at Rob.

Megan still had her back to him. She
was picking up potato chips and wiping up dip. She certainly had
managed to distract herself—and Rob—from the conversation they’d
been having earlier.

“We didn’t get you here in time to
solve the pee emergency, huh?” Rob asked as quietly as he could. He
was almost subvocalizing, knowing Megan couldn’t hear that, but
Kyle could if his psychic radar was on.

“Is it that bad?” Kyle
whispered.

Rob nodded. “Didn’t John
notice?”

“He was fighting with the Fates. They
were mad you took Aunt Megan.”

“What’re you talking about?” Megan
came into the hallway, carrying the potato chip bag and the empty
dip container.

“Nothing,” Kyle said.

“How amazing you are,” Rob
said.

“Liars,” Megan said, and went all the
way into the kitchen itself.

“Why were they mad?” Rob asked in that
quiet way.

“They thought you took her to Faerie.
You didn’t, did you?”

Not
yet
, he thought. But he might, considering
what he had to do there. Empaths could distract most Faeries, which
was why empaths were so rare. In the long ago Mage-Faerie wars, the
Faeries, for self-protection, had wiped out entire lines of
empaths.

Kyle was staring at him, alarmed. “You
wouldn’t do that to Aunt Meg, would you?”

Kyle had misunderstood him.

“Do what?” Megan came out of the
kitchen, brushing her hands together. Her gaze met Rob’s. She was
looking even more tired than she had in his office.

“Put you in danger,” Kyle said before
Rob could speak up.

Megan smiled. “Apparently I did a good
job of that myself today.”

Kyle looked even more panicked. The
boy reached for Megan as the front door opened. John came in,
carrying six grocery bags. He staggered past the group and set all
of the bags on the kitchen counters.

Rob caught the scent of ripe tomatoes
and fresh peppers. “I thought chili wasn’t on the Atkins Diet,” he
said.

“Ah,” John said. “You have to make
exceptions for special occasions.”

He’d learned to make chili
two hundred years ago, and he had never given out the recipe. The
meal was spectacular. Rob had been missing it, though, since John
had ruled out chili as a viable Atkins food about six months
ago.

“Why is this a special occasion?”
Megan asked.

John grinned at her. “Because I
declared it one.”

But his expression said enough to Rob.
It was a special occasion because of her. Because she was the “best
thing” for him.

If she would let him talk to
her.

If she would let him convince her that
he really did think she was the most special woman he’d met in
generations.

“Dad’s gonna be really mad,” Kyle said
to Rob in a conspiratorial tone.

Rob jumped. The boy hadn’t heard that
last thought, which was good. Rob was blocking his thoughts better
than he’d hoped.

“About Megan?”

Kyle shrugged. “I was talking about
the pee emergency.”

Rob smiled. “I can make it
go away if you want.”

“Isn’t that dishonest?” Kyle asked. “I
heard Zoe telling Dad that magic was only for the right uses. We
were late getting back.”

“So it’s okay to use magic to return
here, but not okay to use it to clean up the mess?” Rob
asked.

Megan looked his way and frowned
slightly. Had he spoken too loudly? He didn’t want to get Kyle in
trouble with her or his dad.

“I dunno,” Kyle said. “I’m really
confused by all the rules.”

Like the Interim Fates. Like Megan.
Like everyone, it seemed, except the Fates themselves.

“Let’s take care of it,” Rob said. “It
was my fault you were late. If you get in trouble, blame
me.”

Megan walked to the doorway of the
kitchen. She leaned against the door frame and crossed her arms.
“Are you bribing my nephew to make points with me?”

She had, apparently, heard
everything.

Rob felt vaguely guilty. Had he been
doing that? He hadn’t been aware of it. But he wouldn’t normally
use his magic to clean up dog pee.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Would it
impress you?”

She smiled. “I’m sure it would make my
brother angry. Anything that annoys Travers pleases me.”

Rob frowned. “Is that true?” he asked
Kyle.

“Dad says it’s a typical
brother-sister relationship, but his relationship with my Aunt Viv
isn’t like that, so I don’t know.” Kyle was very serious as he
answered.

Poor kid. Didn’t he have a
childhood?

“And yes, I did. I do lots of kid
stuff.”

Rob felt a real heat in his cheeks. He
was blushing almost as much as Megan had.

“I didn’t mean to insult you,” Rob
said.

“You didn’t. But Dad’s on his way, so
if you’re gonna do something, do it soon.”

Apparently, the kid was
really tuned into his father to know that he was on his way
home.

Rob glanced at Megan, silently asking
her approval.

She shrugged, then grinned, and said,
“I’m sick of places that smell like dog pee.”

“You were somewhere else that smelled
of dog pee?” Kyle asked.

“We saw the Interim Fates,” Megan
said.

“Oh.” Kyle smiled. “If it
still smells like pee there, that’s because of Fang, too. That’s
where Zoe rescued him from.”

“Fang was their dog?” Rob asked,
feeling a little frisson of worry. More things for Zeus to be angry
at.

“No,” Kyle said. “They were supposed
to do something with him—like give him to somebody or something
like a familiar—only they didn’t understand that. And they didn’t
know that dogs need to go outside sometimes or that they need
baths. He was pretty grody when Zoe brought him back.”

“I’ll bet,” Rob said.

“He’s, like, in the parking garage,”
Kyle said with sudden urgency. It took Rob a moment to figure out
that he meant Travers, not Fang.

“Right.” Rob waved a hand, then cupped
his fingers into a ball, and willed the doggy stains—all of
them—into stain oblivion.

The suite instantly smelled
better.

The fact that John had just put onions
and garlic in olive oil helped.

“Thanks,” Kyle said.

Megan shook her head. “From saving the
world to saving my nephew’s dog from my brother’s wrath. You’re
quite something.”

Rob smiled at her.

“He’s more than something,” John said
from the kitchen. “He’s smitten. He wouldn’t’ve used magic for
something that small before.”