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As I entered the kitchen, I was greeted with the sight of a fox chasing two cats—one a ghost cat and the other, obviously Delilah. Snickers was curled up on the windowsill, asleep.
Maggie was in her playpen, clapping and shrieking. Iris was standing on a chair with an upturned pie on the floor at her feet, and Camille was chasing what looked like a giant rat around with a frying pan. A scorch mark in the wall told me she’d already tried magic. Then I realized the fox and the cats were actually chasing the rat, too.
“Whoa there, Tex!” I motioned for Camille to stand back, then stepped over the splattered apple pie and swooped down to grab up the rat, which promptly bit me three times before it turned a terrified face to me. It was kind of cute, actually, and it didn’t look like it had rabies. I stroked its head and it slowly calmed down and settled against me.
Camille whistled to Misty, who jumped on the table and shook her ghostly plume of a tail. Delilah leaped up with her, looking bereft at me, yowling her head off. Iris let out a long sigh as she held on to the back of the chair and lightly jumped to the ground. Morio—in fox form—whined at the door, and Camille opened it. He bounded out and ran off into the yard. At that moment, Hanna came in from the laundry room, a big basket of laundry in hand.
“My pie…” Iris knelt down by the overturned tin and began scraping the remains of the pie back into it. “Well, we’ll have to make do with three pies instead of four. That means no third helpings.” She tossed the pan on the counter as Camille brought over a sponge and paper towels.
Hanna stared at the rat in my arms. “What will you do with that creature? I won’t have rats in my kitchen.”
Iris cleared her throat. “My kitchen, thank you. At least until my house is built. But I agree. Menolly, you can’t keep that creature in here and if you put it outside it will only invite its family in.”
Delilah, who had been staring up at me with big round eyes, let out another yowl and then proceeded to make several odd chirps and noises. The rat chattered back at her. As we all stared at the pair, Delilah shifted back into herself.
“Put him out. He won’t come back. I have his promise upon pain of chasing him down and making a meal of him. But he wants to be let out near the edge of the forest. He doesn’t trust me not to make a dash for him.” She shook her head, still staring at the rat with curiosity.
“Fine, I’ll put the rat outside. Kitten, you stay in here.” I headed for the door.
“While you’re at it, see if you can find Morio. He was in a playful mood and I guess the rat set off his hunting instincts, too.” Camille looked over her shoulder from where she was mopping up the floor.
As I headed for the door, Delilah said, “Oh, by the way, the rat’s name is…well, to pronounce it in English, it would be Chaka.”
“Chaka…Okay, come on, Chaka, let’s go give you a second chance.” I opened the door and, still clutching the rat, exited to the back porch, then out the door to the yard. Clattering down the steps, I held Chaka to my chest and jogged over to the edge of the woods leading to Birchwater Pond. As I knelt down, Chaka looked up at me with his beady little eyes and twitched his nose.
“You go. You go—do whatever it is rats do and don’t come back to the house. I can’t vouch for Iris and Delilah’s self-control. Get it?” I waited, but the rat just twitched his ears. “You don’t understand a thing I’m saying, do you? Maybe you understood Delilah, though. Either way, go on. Have a good life. Eat lots of…garbage.” I set him down and he paused, looking back at me, then raced off into the undergrowth. For some reason I felt a little sad to see him go.
As I stood and dusted my hands on my jeans, I glanced around. Now to find Morio. Where would a fox go? A sentient demonic fox, at that?
I was due at Roman’s in a little over an hour, and I still needed to find out what the others had discovered while I was sleeping. The last thing I wanted to do was find Morio, alone, out here in the dark. I knew he’d be down with me breaking the bond between us, but I didn’t want to chance anything going wrong.
After a few minutes, I decided to hell with it and headed back inside. The kitchen was back to normal and Iris was sorting through some cookies to provide an extra dessert. The guys ate like bulldozers, and my sisters weren’t shy around food either. The Fae needed extra food—we all had higher metabolisms, even the half-Fae. While I no longer required the hearty meals my sisters did, the food bill around here was massive.
“I don’t know where Morio is. Chaka is, however, off and pursuing all things ratty.” I looked around. None of the men were in the kitchen, and usually at least one or two of them were helping Iris and Hanna. “Where are the guys?”
“Morio’s outside playing fox. Vanzir and Roz are down at the studio, mending a leak in the roof. Shamas is at work—he’s on duty the next few nights. Shade’s over at Wilbur’s, helping Marion and Douglas settle in because Wilbur’s coming back home tomorrow. He took Martin with him and apparently was able to corral him into behaving. They’re leaving Snickers here until they get their own house because they don’t trust Martin not to eat the cat. Smoky and Trillian are off getting takeout for dinner. Iris made dessert but we decided to forgo a big family dinner tonight in favor of Chinese.” Camille set the plates on the table and Delilah put out the pies and cookies.
Iris added silverware, chopsticks, and a bag of paper napkins, while Hanna carried the laundry over to the rocking chair. Maggie was in her playpen, playing with her Yobie doll—it had Yoda’s head and Barbie’s body and was pretty beat up by now with plenty of teeth marks, but she loved the thing with a passion and we didn’t dare take it away from her.
I looked around for something to do. Motioning to Hanna, I said, “I’ll fold the towels. You go ahead and take a break. Make some tea or something.”
“I will take my break when it’s time to eat. There is so little work here compared to Hyto’s cavern, I am not tired.” Hanna was sturdy, from the Northlands, and she never shirked on helping out. She was around her late thirties, early forties, and seemed content. But, while she was friendly, she seemed to have a very strong sense of boundaries.
“That’s okay—you don’t have to be tired to take a break.” I reached for the basket, but she stopped me.
“No. This is my work. Menolly, you have important tasks. You and your sisters battle evil creatures. My duties are to support and tend to you. You saved me from Hyto’s grasp, and for that, I will serve you willingly.” Her English was still broken, though every day it seemed stronger, but she spoke with strength and conviction.
“You aren’t our servant, Hanna.” I shook my head. “But if you want to take on the duties of housekeeper, we’re happy to pay you. We pay Iris.”
“Iris is your family. I am not. Payment is welcome, but I am your servant and I am content in my place. This is what I know how to do.” Her voice dropped. “When I lived in the Northlands, before Hyto destroyed my life, my husband—he was stern. The house and gardens and children, all were mine to care for while he was off hunting. He loved his children, and he treated me with respect, but nothing was easy.” She struggled with some thought, trying to put it into words. “I…I was born a warrior woman, and would have…preferred to travel unmarried to make my own way.”>“For what? What did you do?” She kissed my eyelids, then nuzzled my neck. “I missed you.”
“I’m sorry that I didn’t go shopping with you. That I’ve been so lax on making plans. I saw what you bought—it’s all so perfect. I love it all, everything. But I should have helped. I can’t make it up to you, but…I’ll help from now on. I want our wedding to be perfect.” I paused, knowing that if I promised what I was about to, I’d better damned well follow through. “I’ll find the place. And it will be beautiful. Do you trust me?”
Nerissa tipped her head to the side, a smile spreading across her face. “My sweet, I trust you. All I ever wanted was for you to take an interest in the planning. I know you’re busier than I am and that you may not be able to get out as easily as I can—at least not when the shops are open. That’s all I wanted—to know you cared.”
She pulled me to her, her lips seeking mine. I slid into her embrace, the warmth of her heart beating gently against the silence of mine. As she kissed my eyes, my nose, my lips, my cheeks, I slid my hands down her sides, then reached under her tank to walk my fingers up her abs, up to the curve of her breasts, where I cupped them, reaching up to finger her nipples as they grew hard against my thumbs.
“I never get tired of your touch,” she said, grabbing my wrist and pressing my hand harder against her. “Menolly,” she whispered, her chest rising and falling as her breathing came harder. She leaned back, her hair trailing over the back of the sofa, and spread her legs. I reached for her panties, and she shifted, allowing me to slide them down and off.
