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“Bryson said that he was getting coats donated for people who might not otherwise be able to afford it. He seems to be enjoying that a great deal. I think I could love doing stuff like that.” Blaze let her talk, let Clara think about what she’d said to her. “I don’t think I want the job, simply for the reasons that you didn’t tell me. I’d not be able to be out and around people. I’d not be able to be there if I— Holy shit, I just got it. I can make a difference like I did for the company that my brother is working for. I could do just what I asked of you. Look around and see where the need is, and do something about it.”
“Now you realize that money does that for you. Not just your own, but if you have a project that is worthy, which I have no doubt that you will over the years, we’re here to help you. Or, if you want to take it on by yourself, then we’re right there with you on that as well.”
Clara walked away with a list of things that she wanted to do. She’d been talking so quickly that Blaze had simply handed her a sheet of paper and a pen. Blaze had no doubt that in a couple of days she’d be coming back to her for a loan. She’d give it to her too, and Clara would be well on her way to making her life the way that she wanted it.
Before she could get back to her own work, Piper joined her. She wasn’t happy about whatever she had in her hand, and Blaze was almost afraid of asking her what it was. Piper, of all the birds, was the deadliest. Her fire could burn hotter than even the sun, thanks to Dante. Not only that, but she was precise with it too. She could burn a hole into a penny from a hundred yards away, and never harm the person holding it. Piper could also make it so that a body would never be found, because even the ash would be too burnt to give anyone any clue as to what might have been there. That’s what made her such a wonderful artist, her ability to fire right through any metal known to man.
“I found some things about Curt Williams that I’m betting not even his kids know.” The papers were handed to her. “He’s been in and out of trouble since the day he was born, I think. But here’s the scary thing that I found; neither Bryson nor Clara are his children. They’re not even their mother’s kids. Hell, they’re not even related to each other.”
“Where did they come from?” She was glancing over the papers when Piper got up to pace. She looked like she was thinking about this, but Blaze would bet anything that she was trying to think of a way to tell her. “Just tell me. We’ll deal with the fallout later. Because we know that there will be fallout.”
“I found their mother, by the way. I don’t know what the kids thought had happened to her, but she left right about the time that Bryson was getting old enough to know that what his father did was not right. Clara might be thought of as the youngest of the two of them, and I bet if you asked Bryson about her birth, he’d not remember a thing about it. Clara is the oldest. The two of them have been together since they were little kids. Not babies, but pretty close to it.” Blaze asked if she was human. “No. She’s not anything that can shift, as far as I can find out. She’s older than Bryson by about fifty years or less.”
“What is she then?” Piper told her what she thought that she was. “A witch? Clara?” Blaze said nothing, but thought about something. “You know, some of the things that I’ve seen her do, I should have known that she wasn’t human.”
“Yes. I’m still trying to figure out who might have killed her sire and mother, but I’m hitting dead ends. I did a search of Curt’s mind. He only has it in his head that he and his wife were offered Bryson about thirty years ago as a payoff to some kind of deal he had going. Clara came later as an older child, but she didn’t talk or even walk until about a week or so after she was taken to their home. Some kind of spell, I think
. I’m not saying that he doesn’t remember it, just that it’s buried so deep in his head that I have to dig too much and might hurt him. However, now that I think about it, that wouldn’t be so bad either.”
“Okay, so Curt has a deal going and he somehow manages to make it work?” Piper said that it seemed like it. “So this person or persons owe him money, and in trade for it they turn over Bryson. What did they do to get Clara?”
“Clara is harder to nail down. So far all I can tell is that her mother was a witch, her father a warlock. Both of them are dead. Powerful beings, too. I don’t know, but I have a feeling that someone killed her parents for their magic and didn’t get it. Clara got it all. When Clara was found or whatever, whoever killed her parents might not have had any idea where the magic had gone. No idea how they held the golden ticket when it came to powerful beings.” Blaze sat back in her chair and thought about this. “Neither one knows about any of this. If there were memories in their minds, they’re long gone. More than likely erased by whoever gave Clara to the Williams. I have an appointment to talk to Ellen, the woman that was married to Curt, tomorrow. Would you like to go?”
“Yes, but I think we should tell Bryson and Clara about this.” Bryson came into her office and smiled. He asked what he should know about. “You should have a seat. And know that this information is still in the working out part. We have nothing concrete just yet.”
“All right. You’re scaring me a little. I just came to steal a kiss.” Bryson kissed her on the mouth, then looked at Piper. “You’re very tense. I’m sure that whatever you found out, it’s something that if we all put our heads together, we can work out.”
“Curt Williams isn’t your father. Ellen isn’t your mother either. They’re neither yours nor Clara’s parents.” Bryson looked at her, then back at Piper. She explained to him everything that she’d just told Blaze, leaving nothing out. “I only found out about it because I was doing a search to find out if your mother had any information that we could use about your father. Your father is blocking his mind about certain facts. But he does know that you’re not his children. He has no idea that Clara has magic either. At least not that I can find by searching. I was just telling Blaze that I’d have to hurt him to dig deeper. Or make him remember it somehow so he pulls it from his memory on his own.”
“But that’s not possible. I remember her coming to our house after Mom left for the hospital.” Piper told Bryson that she’d gone to the hospital, but it was because she’d sustained injuries from Curt when he’d knocked her around. “If she left while I was still a kid, then how do I remember her so well? I remember Dad hitting her too. Mom begging for money for food when he’d taken off with it.”
“May I touch your head? I can get a clearer image of what you’re seeing with a touch.” He nodded. “Just don’t try and block anything out. Let me look.”
It took Piper less time than Blaze thought it would to find out something. She knew that Piper found something, but what, she hadn’t said as yet. She was still processing, Blaze thought.
“They’re not your memories. You remember them because someone planted them in your head. And it looks like it was Ellen.” Bryson asked her why she’d do that. “I don’t know. I have to find Ellen to figure that out. But I do have a better understanding of what went on in your childhood. Also, I have more things on Curt that I’m sure the police don’t know about.”
When she simply disappeared, Bryson looked at Blaze. He was visibly upset, and she could tell that he was having a hard time trying to equate what he’d been told with what his memories told him.
“Does Clara know about this?” Blaze told him that she didn’t. “I don’t think we should say anything until we have more facts. Otherwise she’ll hunt down Mom...Ellen, and get them herself. Not easily either. I don’t even know what to call them now.”
“That’s reasonable.” He nodded and picked her up from her chair, and sat her on the couch next to him. “She’s not human. Did you know that before today?”
“Not a clue. I’ve never seen her do anything other than just be my sister. And now I find out that we’re not even related by blood.” She waited to see what he said next. “Not that it matters, I guess. I would still love her if she was a three headed rat with a sharp tale. Speaking of which, there are mice in the barn. What can we do about that?”
“I’ll go out there as my bird, or you can, and scare them off.”
Bryson sat there for a moment before he burst out laughing. He was still laughing when they were called to dinner. She was glad that he found humor in things still, because she had a feeling that things were going to be bad once they got things figured out with his parents.
~*~
“I don’t understand what it is you think I’ve done to you.” Bryson just stared at his dad when he spoke. “Why would anything at all that you might think I’ve done warrant you treating me like this?”
Bryson looked at his sister. He’d promised her that he’d be quiet, that he’d let her do the talking. So far that hadn’t gone over any better than any other time he’d tried to have a conversation with him. It was always about him deserving something, mostly money from them.
“I’m not talking to you about what you think you deserve in the way of compensation for raising us. I asked you about how you came to have Bryson and me as your children. We’re both aware that not only are you not our father, but Ellen isn’t our mother. What did you do to get us?” Dad just looked at him, then back at his sister. Dad said that he wanted money. “You mean that you’re going to blackmail us for the answers? Fuck that shit. I’ll find it on my own.”
When Clara stood up so did he. They were nearly to the door when Dad laughed. Bryson didn’t turn back, like he supposed his father wanted them to, but opened the door. He was done fucking around with his father. They had resources out the ass to find what they needed.
