Chapter 23 – Questions
Maeve
“The kelpie demon is your brother?”
“Was,” he corrected. “He became human and has passed from this world.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“You need to eat. That pup is growing fast.”
The smell of my once favorite creamy fish soup made my stomach turn. If I had any food in my stomach, I would have thrown up. “I don’t think the pup likes Cullen skink.”
“Mars has bangers and mash downstairs; I’ll have some sent up.” He quickly removed the food trayand placed it on the floor outside my door so I couldn’t smell it.
“You know Jinx might get that.”
Remington laughed. “He doesn’t like it either.”
“Is he a demon as well?”
“There are different categories of demons,” he nodded. “Jinx is more like a companion or witch’s familiar. In this case, he’s also a fierce protector.”
“Alpha Lachlann had mentioned I would die without an Alpha bond,” I told him. “Do you know if it’s true?”
“Not always,” he replied. “The Luna Queen is human and had lycan pups. I don’t know what the Alpha King did to ensure her survival, but I’ve tracked someone who might know.”
“Who? Where can I find him?”
The door opened, and Kit returned with a new tray of food. The fluffy mashed potatoes were topped with three sausages and onion gravy with a side of carrots and green beans. I forked a green bean into my mouth and sliced a hunk of sausage off. Mars was truly a master in the kitchen.
“You know someone who can help me…”
“Chew your food,” he chuckled. “Mother Shipton doesn’t care much for shifters, faeries, or clergy.”
“I’m human, you’re a demon, and neither one of us is clergy. That should count for something,” I said, shoving another delicious chunk of meat into my mouth.
“And is that a unicorn you’re carrying or a shifter?”
“Don’t tell me unicorns are real?”
“No, of course not,” he grinned. “But Mother Shipton will know. She was a powerful mage and seer, even five hundred years ago.”
“Mages don’t live that long.”
“No, they don’t,” he said. “She was from York, and her gifts drew attention from all over Britain. She’s even been linked with advising King Henry the Eighth.”
“The guy who chopped his wives heads off,” I replied. “What a charmer he must have been.”
“He was,” Remington chuckled. “And a crook. He always cheated at card games.”
“No way!”
“Way!” He confirmed.
“How old are you exactly?”
“Old enough,” he smirked. “Back to Mother Shipton…”
“Are we looking for a ghost?”
“They say she lived in a cave, and every cardinal or priest that threatened to burn her at the stake ended up mysteriously dying. When she was seventy-three and well past the average life expectancy of the time, rumors of her selling her soul to the devil started to circulate.”
“Is she still alive?”
“She staged her death and became a vampire.”
“She became a vampire? How does someone just decide to become a vampire?”
“The Vampire King was once a mage before he was turned. He took pity on her and turned her. She fled to the Scottish Isles and eventually settled in Edinburgh in the last century.”
“If she’s a vampire, then she no longer has magic, right?”
“She may not have magic anymore, but she still has the gift of sight and a great deal of knowledge—though not as much knowledge as Ambrose,” he replied.
“Ambrose is not an option,” I insisted, swallowing another fork full of goodness.
“He’s practically an Uncle to your baby’s daddy,” Remington chuckled. “There’s a good chance he knows what the Alpha King did to help his human mate.”
“Not going to happen. I can’t risk the Alpha King finding out.”
“Maeve…”
“No! He’s rejected me time and time again.”
I continued eating as mymind filled with more questions. The mention of my baby daddy left a hollow feeling in my heart. Would he be angry at me for keeping his pup from him, or would he dismiss it to please his mate? I could handle Rex rejecting me, but not our pup. It would break me.
“Then I think Mother Shipton is our best bet,” he added.
“I’m surprised she came to Edinburgh, considering more people were strangled and burnt at the stake on Edinburgh Castle's esplanade than anywhere else in Scotland,” I told him. That was one thing I remembered learning when I visited for aschool field trip.
“Edinburgh was once the largest city in Scotland. It was a popular placefor intellectuals, medicine, philosophy, history, science, and economics.Trade was booming. People were coming and going. She wasn’t a witch anymore, and a vampire could easily feed in the shadows and go unnoticed.”
“So, how do we find her if she doesn’t want to be found?”
“It’s Hogmanay,” he smiled mischievously. “Drink,” he handed me a glass of water.
“Hogmanay only means that the streets will be packed with people celebrating.”
“There’s an old tradition that was actually started by vampires long ago,” he told me. “It’s called first-footing .”
I knew about the first-footing tradition of welcoming the first person to set foot into your home after midnight on Hogmanay. They came bearing gifts such as bread, salt, coal, coins, and whisky to bring good luck into the home. I also remember something about the first-footer being a dark-haired man to ward off evil, while someone with pale hair represented invasion and bad luck.
“I know what first-footing is, but why would vampires invent it?”
“No one wanted bad luck by not opening the door,” he replied. “They welcomed visitors into their home with merriment.”
“An open bar,” I nodded in understanding. “And you think Mother Shipton will be out for free drinks tonight?”
“Everyone has to eat.”
“Are you sureshe’ll help me?”
He nodded. “I have something she’ll want.”
“I have a feeling it’s not Mars’ haggis.”
I showered, dressed, and went downstairs to wait for Remington. Jinx was lounging in the window when I arrived, watching the party-goers make their way to Princes Street Gardens, where the concerts took place. The pub began filling up with groups of friends toasting the New Year, and a live band was setting up to start playing.
The moment I entered the pub, Jinx’s eyes remained fixed on me. I couldn’t stop thinking about the giant demon dog he had turned into. I considered throwing a ball to see if he would fetch it. Perhaps three balls at the same time. His ear twitched, and the look on his little feline face made me feel as if he knew what I was thinking.
Kit laughed at something Cadbury said, and I pulled my attention from Jinx. They looked like normal humans, but I couldn’t help wondering if they were also demons in disguise. Something told me they were. No one ever asked me personal questions, and theywelcomed me like an old friend. They even treated me respectfully… as if I were Remington’s niece.
I looked down at the mythology book in my hand, then at the phone clenched in the other. My phone wasn’t working, and I wasn’t sure why. Automatic payments had always come out of my checkingaccount, and I had plenty of money. I tried to connect to Wi-Fi and snoop onsocial media, but it wasn’t connecting.
The fire crackled beside me, and I stayed in the cozy corner, feeling like I was alone on an island. I had slept an entire week, and no one had noticed or said a thing. I had no messages or missed calls. A fluttering tap from inside startled me, reminding me I wasn’t alone. I was torn between wanting to hold this pup in my arms already and wanting to slow things down so I could live long enough to figure out a way to deliver safely.
I started wondering if a c-section was possible. Modern medicine was great, and women had babies via c-section all the time. Why would I be any different?
“This may be the biggest Hogmanay I’ve seen yet,” Remington said as he entered the pub. “The streets are wild already.”
“I thought you were downstairs at the… other bar .”
“No,” he reached into his pocket. “I had to get this.”
He extracted a small vial with a tar-like substance and held it up. In a crowded pub full of humans, Jinx, Cadbury, and Kit all turned their heads in our direction. I didn’t miss the way they eyed the substance with shocked fascination.
“What is that?”
“Blood from the Demon King,” he replied casually.
“There’s a Demon King?” I asked.
“Of course.”
“How did you get that?” A shudder ran down my spine. That little vial held power. “Don’t tell me you won it at some card game.”
“You wouldn’t believe what I had to do to get it,” he dismissed. “I have it, and she’ll want it.”
“What kind of world have I been living in?”
“A world with different realms,” he replied, shoving the vial into his coat pocket. “You must know of at least one realm. Even shifters… good shifters, go to the Realm Of The Moon when they pass from this world.”
“Is the Demon King in hell? Hell is a realm. Isn’t it?”
Remington’s eyes held amusement, and his lips twitched. “The Demon King descended from the God of Death. He’s responsible for guarding the Underworld,which holds all the low roads, rivers, and gates.”
“So the devil isn’t real?”
“He is, depending on what you believed in life.” Remington sank into the leather chair beside me. “There’s a gate for Hell, Duat,Tartarus, Naraka, Jahannam, and others. It’s all part of the Underworld.”
“Where do bad shifters go?”
“Shifters are the children of the Moon Goddess, so they end up in Tartarus if they’re not welcomed into the Realm Of The Moon.”
“I might need to find a new religion,” I said sourly. My parents, grandparents, friends, and pup were all shifters. They would not only live much longer than me, but they’d end up together in the Realm Of The Moon. Desperately, I tried to fight back the emotional barrage that plagued my heart.
His eyes found the book of Celtic myths I was holding. “How’s the book?
“It was obviously written by a human who knew nothing.”
He drew in a deep breath. “Myths are often born from some scrap of truth that gets distorted by humans over time.”
“The book doesn’t have much on vampires or demons. Do we know how or where to find Mother Shipton?”
“We should start at the Royal Mile. She’s sentimental and will probably visit the Witches’ Well near the castle. She’ll look like a sweet old lady carrying a bag with all the first-footer gifts and waiting until midnight before she knocks on doors.”
“That’s so cunning and creepy. Why doesn’t she just order pints from you and skip the murders?”
“Whatever you do, don’t ask her that,” he grinned. “Besides, we won’t need to find her; she’ll find us when she scents the Demon King’s blood.”
“What kind of power does it hold?”
“It depends on how she uses it,” he started to say. “She’ll likely use it for eternal beauty and strength.”
“What does it do for humans?” I blurted out eagerly.
“It kills them.”
“What?” I shrieked, wanting that vial as far away from me as possible.
He chuckled. “You asked.”
I gave him a hard side eye, then remembered I needed to ask him something else.
“Speaking of ask, do you know what happened to my phone? It worked fine last week, and now it won’t connect.”
“I sent a message to your grandparents telling them you wanted some time alone to adjust to the human world and would be out of touch for a while so they wouldn’t worry. Then I blocked the phone signal.”
“What? Why?”
“Your phone could be tracked when you’re outside the pub. Jack Jameson strolled past the window when you were sleeping.”
“How do you know Jack Jameson?” I gasped.
“It wasn’t hard to recognize the shifter rugby player from the Highlands pack.”
“Did he come into the pub?”
“He can’t. As long as Jinx is here, nothing can get through,” Remington stood up as if he had just remembered something. “I have an urgent matter to take care of. Be ready to go in thirty minutes.”
“Does this mean Jinx is benevolent?”
“He can be either.”
I wanted to ask about him, but I already knew the answer deep down.
Kit worked fast delivering drinks, while Cadbury poured them. They moved just a tad faster than a normal human could, and no one seemed to notice. Mars had prepared a buffet of pub food, and I could smell the frying fish and chips from here. Remington insisted that I didn’t work tonight because the pub would be busy with partygoers bumping into each other and dancing. So, I waited in my room until it was time to go.
“Don’t forget your scarf,” Remington reminded me as I slipped my heavy coat on.
“Got it.”
“How’s the baby doing?”
“Moving around more and more,” I smiled.
“You don’t have to go with me,” he started to say. “You should rest, and I’ll go find her.”
“I’m fine, and I want to go.”
Twenty minutes later, we stood at the west-end entrance on Princes Street, where barricades were set up for the big street party. The gardens were full of concertgoers, vendors, dancing, bands, and other entertainment. It felt a bit overwhelming.
“The Castle is so dramatic when it’s lit up at night,” I murmured. Edinburgh Castle was perched on top of castle rock which was formed by an extinct volcano millions of years ago.
“Wait until you see the fireworks shooting over it tonight.”
“I’m sorry I missed the torch procession,” I said. Thousands of fire torches marched through Edinburgh and up the Royal Mile, and I’dslept through it.
“There’s always next year,” he told me. “Let’s walk down two blocks and see if we can catch a taxi to Victoria Street. It’s a short walk up to the Royal Mile from there.”
“Victoria Street is not that far. I can walk.”
The streets were blocked in several areas, and we had to continue walking further away from the street party. With my arm looped through his, Remington walked at a comfortable pace for me. Anxiety had started coiling deep in my belly, and I couldn’t help noticing how calm and relaxed he looked.
“When I was at the… other bar , I saw a female with pointed ears.”
He chuckled with easy indulgence. “I believe you called her Tinkerbell.”
“What is she?”
“Della is a faerie.”
“Why am I just now hearing about demons and faeries?”
“You’ve always heard of them,” he said. “You’ve just never believed in them. TAXI!” He waved his hand to a black cab unloading passengers on the corner.
Remington asked the driver to get us as close as possible to Saint Giles Cathedral, which is on the Royal Mile, but the driver warned us that many roads were closedto cars tonight. A few minutes later, we stopped near the corner of Victoria Street, and Remington gave the man a generous tip.
“Happy Hogmanay,” the driver called out before he drove away.
This street was also brimming with people making their way up to the Royal Mile for a night of celebrations. I could hear a fiddle playing in the pub behind us and a bagpipe at the end of the street. Remington had said Mother Shipton would be attracted to the Demon King’s blood and find us, but I wasn’t sure how long it would take. My eyes were peeled back, and I found myself looking around impatiently.
“Relax, Maeve, nothing will happen to you. You’re with me.”
“Yes, but there are blood-sucking vampires lurking in the shadows. What if we attract several seeking that scrumptious vial of magic in your pocket? ”
I heard a soft chuckle catch in his throat. “I’m the most dangerous creature out tonight.”
Familiar red hair caught my eye, and I sucked in a sharp breath. Flaym was leaving a restaurant with Dori on his arm, followed by Brianna and Rex. My heart beat wildly at the sight of him. So handsome. So strong. Then, I noticed his arm wrapped around my best friend and tried not to feel the sting of jealousy.
“What is it?” Remington asked in a low whisper.
“Across the street,” I whirled around to bury my face in his chest. “Pendragon’s restaurant.”
“I see them.” He wrapped his arms around me to help hide me.
“Please, they can’t see me.” The image of Brianna and Rex was seared in my mind. She had turned eighteen last month. Was she his mate? Why didn’t she say anything?
Fiona was a beautiful she-wolf, and she was sleeping with Jack. Brianna was gorgeous and free to date who she wanted. I had no right to an opinion, and my human feelings were irrelevant.
“Are you certain you don’t want to see him?” His voice was low. “I’m sure he misses you.”
I thought about the dream from earlier. It had felt so real, but I knew it was nothing more than a dream.
“I can’t,” I shook my head. “Please,” I begged.
“It’s okay,” he soothed me. “I’m going to cloak us in the shadow.”
Remington took a step back, pulling me with him in the shadow of the building. I felt a dark veil start to shield us from view just as Rex’s voice rang out.
“MAEVE!”