“Jean-Claude, Guests?”
“All arriving comfortably by our carriages so they may indulge as they see fit, Ma’am.”
“Jean-Paul, Catering?”
“Food to feed nations, all of gourmet standards. Pairings of wines, liquors, spirits and even blood for ourtraditionalguests have all been prepared.”
“Excellent. Jean-Pierre, decor seems all well and good. How has my mother settled for the evening?”
“Lady Eloise has been settled in her quarters with refreshments and inappropriate romance novels on audio tape. Far away from, and I do apologize for my language, Ma’am; ‘all the brown nosing fuckers who wanna wreck my solstice with their sneaky political agendas and money hungry mitts they couldn’t sink into your wallet’, Ma’am.”
Jackson and Joseph have to stifle a laugh at the image conjured. Annabella clears her throat to command their attention but can’t hide the smirk growing at her lips. “Well then, gentlemen. Let’s have a party.”
The door to the grand ballroom opens as they are announced to their guests. The Nocturne family`s yearly winter solstice charity gala begins in earnest.
* **
After a night of dancing with the offspring of family friends, political allies and business partners, a few stolen drunk kisses in the dark shadows on the balcony attached to the halls, and a half decent rendezvous that had Jackson sandwiched between a vampire nobleman from the other side of the Winter realm and his very pretty lady friend; Jackson is ready for this long night to come to a close.
As he sways to the phantom rhythm of the band, humming along terribly to the beat of one their songs, he finds his mother standing outside of his room, nursing a flute of sparkling wine, leaning against his door.
“Hoping to catch me in some degenerate act, mommy dearest?” Jackson slurs his words a little as he slides down the door onto the floor next to her. “Sorry to disappoint, but I have been a perfect gentleman this evening.”
A rogue hiccup ruins his point, but from the chuckle escaping from his mother, his sarcasm doesn’t go unappreciated. “No, Jackie, as ruffled as you look right now, I know you’re not foolish enough to ruin the image of this family, even on your worst days.” Annabella slides down to sit next to her son, heels discarded to her side. “You were lovely tonight. A little more debauchery than I assumed you cared for, but we can blame that on the alcohol, your father’s genetics aren’t as resistant as mine.”
It’s true the evening was pleasant enough, but Jackson didn’t see the point in one night stands. They can’t fill that hollow part of him, attractive men and women who didn’t care too much for the man beneath the glamour as they did the carnal pleasure they sought. But a few drinks too many to pass the time and he didn’t stop to think about the empty feeling that always follows flings of passion.
“I came here in hopes to catch you before bed.” Annabella produces a set of keys on a key ring that carries the symbol of an eight point starburst. Jackson recognizes it as keys to an apartment in Alexandria Heights. The building lives in the heart of Solomon City in the Magical Realm.
“After Brenda passed, her apartment was willed to you, Jackie.”
The apartment?!Jackson rubs a hand across his face, gaze avoiding hismother’s.
Heat begins to build behind Jackson’s eyes. Annabella loops an arm around his shoulder, letting his head rest on her shoulder. She kisses his head and continues. “I don’t know how many times I offered the chance to change, but she insisted she lived a full and good life and that it was time she joined her husband and ancestors.”
Annabella goes to hand Jackson the keys but pulls back at the last moment. “One thing, Jackie. Brenda had an odd stipulation for you to inherit the apartment.” Jackson lifts his head from his mother’s shoulder and raises a questioning eyebrow. Brenda Lee had a gift for fortune telling but was the most obscure oracle you had ever met. He was sure one of her final predictions would be tied to this apartment.
“Alright, I suppose I can hear out my dearly departedMrs. Lee’sfinal request.” He rolls his eyes as he says it, earning a light smack on the shoulder from his mother.
“The two spare rooms in the apartment will be rented out at 500$ a month to cover expenses and not a cent more. You will find two renters of your approval to spend the rest of your law school career with.”
“What?! You can’t be serious, mother!” Jackson is going to be sick - he’s ninety percent sure it isn’t from the alcohol. That apartment was his sanctuary during the worst years of his life. Jackson jumps to his feet and places his head in his hands in an exasperated huff. “What kind of weird prediction did Brenda have? I thought we bonded; me, her and even grandma Eloise, over our mutual disdain of other people.”
He begins to pace the hall in front of his room as Annabella stands up from her crouched spot. She places a hand on her son’s shoulder and brings him back to the moment. “Jackie, Brenda loved you and I’m sure this is her way of getting you to make new memories, with new friends in the apartment you loved so much. We let you spend fifty years in the human world, practically uninterrupted, and in the twenty nine you’ve stayed in the magical realm you’ve kept yourself from the world around you.”
Shadows curl around Jackson’s fingers at the memories. “I loved the human world and I don’t hate you and father for making me leave. I hatemy own magic for making me too dangerous to stay. For these damned tendrils of shadow and smoke for making me a monster in the eyes of the people I spent my life getting to know.” Jackson’s fists clench at his side, knuckles white, forcing the dark wisps away. He can hardly look at his mother when she places a kind hand on his cheek.
“I dare suspect your eternal youth would have also raised questions in time, my sweet boy.” He brushes her hand off and rolls his eyes as she offers him a half smile. “Wendy will handle fliers, you can deny anybody you see fit, but I believe with all my being this will be good for you.” Annabella takes Jackson’s hand in hers and it softens in her touch. He uncurls his palms upwards and she places the keys in his hand. She curls his fingers over them and brings his closed fist to her lips, kissing it once before letting fall back to his side. “Goodnight, my little bat, sweet dreams.”
Jackson hides a flinch from the old nickname. His mother means well, even if it digs up memories long buried.
Annabella walks away from Jackson leaving him in the hall outside his bedroom door with the keys in his hand. Jackson leans his head on the door and calls out to his mother with a sigh. “Goodnight, mother. I love you and father.”
Jackson changes into a loose shirt and comfy sweatpants before finishing his nighttime routine and crawling into bed. He claps his hands and the lights in his room turn off at his command. He stirs in a bed surrounded by memory foam pillows and luxury comforters and ends on his side, facing the bedside table where the keys to the apartment lay. “Well, this new year should prove interesting. I really hope you know what you were doing, Brenda.”
Jackson sighs and hopes sleep takes him soon, gaze drifting to the worn spine of a picture book perched on one of several bookshelves.
* * *
