Page 79 of Found Objects

“How?”

“Unlike me, she is a magical creature.”

“Oh, you’re magic all right.”

“No. I have two forms and I can draw a boundary. That’s the extent of my power.”

“What about talking to ghosts?”

“I know a lot of regular people who talk to ghosts. My friend Crystal is a witch, and Leroy Banyon—he’s married to Sasha, who has bees and makes different honey blends for the restaurant—he’s a shaman. He travels all over the US and Canada helping people, and I’m proud to call him my friend. He does cheat at cards, though, but so does Ondine.”

“Fine, you’re not magical.”

“I’m really not, just old.”

His eyes narrowed. “How old?”

“I’d rather not say.”

He exhaled sharply. “I need to talk to Ondine and let her know that my brother is sort of desperate to have an older sister or mother figure in his life. He never had one. I had my mom for ten years before he was born, but he never did.”

“Did Narah or any of the other pack members not mother him?”

He shook his head. “Our pack has never been a real community with how spread out we were in the city. It’s one of the reasons I was so surprised when Abel made this move.”

“Why do you think he did?”

“I don’t know.”

“Has it occurred to you that maybe he’s running from something?”

“It has now.”

I smiled at him. “Well, I’m sorry Evan wasn’t smothered and loved on hard, but there’s no way to know how Ondine will be with him. She can change like the wind, with everything, and yet she’s been a constant in my life for over six—for a very long time.”

He nodded. “Nice save. You’ll tell me one of these days.”

Sadly, I would have to.

At dinner, both Cole and Evan were stunned by my culinary talent, and afterward, as I brought out cookies and brownies I’d baked over the weekend, Ondine sat on the counter and talked to Evan while he did the dishes. She would dry only. Not wash, not put away, but the middle step, she didn’t completely hate. Washing was tedious, and placing items on shelves or in drawers bored her. She also wouldn’t clear dishes; she was not the maid.

“I don’t mind,” Evan told me when I mentioned it to him, smiling sheepishly. “She’s keeping me company, and we’re gonna watch a movie after.”

“Does she have a whole entertainment system in her room?” Cole asked me.

I squinted at him. “Of course she does.”

For whatever reason, he thought that was funny.

As Ondine was on her way upstairs, she ordered Evan to make popcorn.

“She can get really bossy, so you have to call her on it now and then.”

“No, I don’t think so,” he said with a sigh. “I’ll do whatever she wants me to do.”

“You’re not her minion. She can’t just boss you around.”

“I don’t mind. I think she’s awesome.”