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Tacey expected to find Rory still in her day clothes, but wonder of wonders, she was actually wearing her baby Yoda nightie. Even more miraculous was that she wasn't holding the plastic sword Octavia had bought her.
"Where's your sword?" Tacey asked, turning down the bed.
"In the cupboard." Rory chewed her lip, eyeing the cupboard door. Then, in a rush, she continued, "There's a monster in there and he said he's here to protect us, but..." Her bottom lip quivered, like she wanted to cry but she was trying desperately not to.
Tacey held up a hand. "What's the rule about monsters?"
Rory drew herself up. "No monsters allowed in the house!"
"Are they allowed in the cupboard?"
"No!"
If Rory's monster really did exist, Tacey felt really sorry for it right about now.
"So what do we say to monsters who dare to trespass in our house?" Tacey asked.
Rory flashed a feral grin. "On three, Mummy?" At Tacey's nod, she began to count: "One, two, THREE!"
"Get out of this house, monster, you're not welcome here. Or we'll kick you out so hard, you'll be tasting socks for a week!" they shouted together.
Rory giggled. "I still liked it better when we said we'd kick him in the bottom."
Yeah, so did Tacey, until Rory's teacher had complained about her threatening one of the little shits in her class with a well-deserved arse-kicking for stealing her stuff. So, socks it was.
"Shall we check to see if he's gone?" Tacey asked, reaching for the door handle.
Usually, Rory was really eager for this part, but now she seemed reluctant. "Will you really kick his bottom, Mummy? This one's a nice monster, even if he doesn't look very nice..."
First she wanted a demon protector, and now Rory was imagining one. This had to stop.
Tacey yanked open the cupboard door.
NINE
Wystan regarded the red-haired mother from within the walls. He only had to reach out and he'd be able to touch her puzzled face as she scanned her daughter's clothing for signs of the monster her daughter had told her about.
The monster she'd ordered out of her house. An order Wystan itched to obey, no matter how much he wanted to stay.
Then the woman picked up the sword from the floor of the wardrobe and brandished it with as much determination as her daughter. "And if I ever see you back here again, monster, it won't just be my foot that makes contact with your arse!"
The little girl...Rory? A strange name for a girl, but he'd definitely heard her mother call her that. Rory dissolved into giggles on the bed, and her mother flashed a small smile before setting the sword down and closing the cupboard door.
The mother put her daughter to bed, and he headed up to the roof, obeying the compulsion screaming through his head. It wasn't until he reached the roof that he allowed himself to relax. It was the mother who'd summoned him in the cemetery, he was certain of it, but whatever magic had ensorcelled him made him answer the daughter's commands, too.
If his own daughter had lived...would she have been as fearless or as captivating as Rory? He would have liked it if she was.
Whereas Rory's mother was raging fire compared to Effie's gentleness. Effie probably would have set out a saucer of milk for the monster. She certainly wouldn't have threatened him with an arse-kicking.
He smothered a laugh. He'd like to see Rory's mother try, though.
Ah, but he could never allow it, for if she did manage to kick any part of his anatomy, she'd likely hurt her foot. Living stone was far harder than human flesh. And he was bound to protect her and her daughter.
So he would stay up here on the roof, obedient to her wishes, and venture into the walls of one of the outbuildings during the day. Should she or Rory need his help, they could call and he would answer.
He would remain near enough to keep watch over her. This was a house of women, with no men to protect them until he and his kind had been summoned. Is that why they'd been summoned? Because the women needed protectors? Did danger lurk here, unseen?
He'd seen nothing so far that would make him think so, but perhaps time would tell. He would not have believed he'd lose Effie to something as ordinary as birthing their first child.
