Chapter 5 #2
The moment she stepped into the dining room, she could feel his eyes on her.
Ignore him.
Ignore him.
Body rigid, she tried walking quickly through the living room, smiling and nodding at Finbar and Phineas, but she wouldn’t look at Magnus. Although she knew he was glaring at her.
Once she was safely behind the bedroom door, she let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding. A curl of smoke rose with her exhalation.
Great. Don’t explode anything.
She needed to calm her nerves.
This was going to be a long, long dinner.
So much for a restful night.
When she emerged from the bedroom, Finn, Magnus, and Phineas had stepped out onto the balcony, so she was able to scurry off to the dining room undetected.
The table was set so nicely. It wasn’t fancy china or expensive silverware, where everything had to match perfectly. Hetty’s dishes and flatware were mismatched. The colorful linens were something she had stitched herself. The wineglasses were old jam jars etched with designs from the seventies.
It felt very eclectic and Mercedes loved every bit of it.
It was cozy.
Homey.
Mercedes was glad she took a few extra moments to collect herself and change out of work clothes before facing Magnus in front of Pearl’s family. Margaid was bringing out food, but the roast beef was already on the table.
It smelled divine.
Hetty came out with the last two bowls, one with fluffy white potatoes. “Everyone take a seat, it doesn’t matter where.”
Mercedes reached for her usual spot, which was next to Hetty, and sat down. Margaid was on her other side, Finbar sat at the opposite head of the table, and when she glanced up, Magnus was directly across from her.
Great.
Instead of averting her eyes, she met his gaze directly and smiled at him. Brightly. Enough so that it blinded him. His lips pursed together in a thin line for just a moment, but he nodded at her, acknowledging her presence.
At least that was something.
“Phineas, there’s steamed spinach and tofu for you,” Hetty stated.
“Excellent, thank you,” Phineas replied excitedly.
“So,” Hetty said, breaking the silence by passing the ceramic bowl full of potatoes. “How was your first day at the new job, Mercedes?”
“It was…” She paused, thinking back to it, but all her mind could focus on was the mishap in the laundry room. She met Magnus’ gaze and she could tell by his pained expression he was worried that she was going to blab about him wandering around au naturel. “Good.”
Magnus’ tense expression relaxed.
“That’s great,” Hetty said. “Did you meet any of the spirits?”
Everyone else went quiet at the table.
“Mother,” Finn said with a hint of exasperation. “You and the spirit world.”
“What do you mean me and the spirit world, Finn? You know I’m a witch and your father knew that too. You don’t think he comes and visits me?”
Finn rolled his eyes as he took a scoop of potatoes.
Mercedes smiled at Hetty warmly. “I met several of them, actually.”
Magnus’ eyes widened. “There are ghosts at Room with a Tomb?”
“Your dead-and-breakfast? Yes, a few. Most are friendly,” Mercedes replied.
“I can’t see ghosts,” Magnus stated. “Which has been a sticking point with Sven and I for years. Hetty told us it was haunted…”
“I can’t really see them that well, but I can sense they’re there. I need a deep connection in order to communicate directly through the veil,” Hetty explained.
“I can see them quite clearly,” Mercedes said. “As clearly as I can see all of you and I can talk to them.”
And they can also transmit feelings and affect my thoughts, but she kept that little tidbit of information to herself.
“You must be a powerful witch and descend from a strong bloodline,” Hetty remarked.
“I suppose.” Mercedes was a bit uncomfortable because the last thing she wanted to do was talk about her ancestor, Yrsa, the witch she resembled who’d apparently cursed Magnus, causing all the resentment.
Magnus snorted in derision. Next to him, Phineas looked decidedly uncomfortable.
“I want to make it clear. I am not my ancestor.” Mercedes squared her shoulders. “Other than talking to the dead and ghosts, spectres…ghouls, I’m actually quite a disaster at magic.”
“How so?” Margaid asked. “I mean, I’m just a human with no special powers.”
“So you think,” Finn said, sweetly taking her hand.
Margaid blushed. “Stop that.”
“Yes. Please,” Phineas stated. “Finn is way too mushy lately.”
Finn shot Phineas a look, but Phineas was grinning, his yellow eyes sparkling.
Hetty was chuckling softly and Mercedes couldn’t help but laugh too. It was cute. It was clear how much those two were in love and adored each other.
“Anyways,” Margaid continued. “I’m curious why you think you’re a disaster at magic when you clearly have a powerful gift.”
“Well, the gift is one thing, but when I actually try to practice magic, like spells and that sort of thing, I tend to cause explosions.”
“Cool,” Phineas said.
Magnus’ eyes widened. “Explosions?”
“Again, not my ancestor. There’s no way I could ever curse you into your kind of existence. The most I could do is send you rocketing up into the sky before…”
“He was scattered all over the place,” Phineas teased.
Finn groaned and covered his face and Mercedes couldn’t help but chuckle along with the rest, although Magnus looked somewhat horrified.
Part of her wanted to reassure him that she wasn’t going to detonate his home with a wayward potion, but there was also a part of her that was amused she was making him squirm.
Just a bit.
“Anyways, it’s why I don’t practice magic and why my family thinks of me as the proverbial black sheep,” Mercedes explained.
“And honestly, I really don’t like being around them much either.
The magic families in Tallowfield tend not to have the best intentions and are concerned about blood ties and fortune more than anything else. ”
Like love.
Nurturing.
Basically, what any decent family would do for a child.
Instead, pure-blood children, especially ones touted as being a reincarnation of a powerful ancestor, were more of a commodity in those magical families. Except, instead of being great like Yrsa, Mercedes was a bumbling witch who could talk to dead people.
“That’s a shame,” Hetty remarked. “I did have family like that. And I lost a lot of family when I decided to marry a glashtyn. I say good riddance.”
“Agreed,” Phineas stated. “I know how people can be. Even after the great revelation.”
“This is your home now,” Hetty said softly, reaching out and squeezing Mercedes’ hand.
Tears stung her eyes and she smiled a bit wobbly at Hetty and all the supportive, smiling faces around the table. Even Magnus looked at her a bit softly, which was nice, but also sent her into a complete panic.
“Excuse me a moment,” Mercedes said, quickly getting up from the table and heading outside before she burst into tears in front of everyone. Which was the last thing she wanted to do.
She worked so hard keeping her emotions in check, being strong, because she didn’t want anything to be used against her. And she’d had to take care of herself for so long. Everyone in there was being so kind to her.
It would be nice if she could stay here in Harmony Glen forever, although it was close to her family and that might not be a good thing.
What if her family wanted her to come back, or they’d do something to the good people gathered around Hetty’s dining table?
She didn’t want them to be hurt because of her.
The cool September air carried the scent of a wood fire burning, and the stars were peeking out across the clear night sky. The lake was calm and she closed her eyes, listening to the gentle lap of the waves on the shore.
“You okay?”
Mercedes spun around to see Magnus standing there.
“I’m fine,” she said quickly. “I just needed a moment. Why did you follow me out? Aren’t you afraid I’m going to curse you even more?”
“A couple of weeks ago, sure. After what you said tonight, I’m more afraid you’re going to make me combust spontaneously.” He smiled at her, genuinely smiled.
Friendly.
Mercedes brushed a tear away. “No.”
He came to stand next to her on the shore, hands in his pockets. “I actually came out here to apologize.”
“Apologize?”
He nodded. “For reacting so badly that night we met. Especially since we had some good text conversations.”
“Apology accepted. And yes, I do agree on that.” She was glad he was sincerely apologizing to her and she had missed their texting.
Before they met for that first official date, it had been the best part of her day to get a message from him.
She’d still been in Tallowfield then, still under her family’s thumb, and his messages were her lifeline.
Someone actually cared.
It broke her a bit when their first date went so very wrong.
“Good, I think,” Magnus said.
She smiled. “I would like our work relationship to be pleasant. We agreed on that earlier. Do you think we can be colleagues?”
Magnus nodded. “Yes. I want that too.”
When he wasn’t ranting and raving, he was really cute. Handsome with that chiseled jaw and all those muscles. The fangs were a bit unnerving at times, as were the red eyes with the black pupils, but she didn’t focus on them.
Don’t think about him as sexy, a little voice warned her. He’s your boss.
“I’ll be okay,” she said, hoping her voice wasn’t shaking. “You don’t have to stand out here with me.”
“Well, I also want to apologize for something else,” Magnus said. “After our disastrous first date, I took a boat out to an island, pretty much where I hunted your ancestor down.”
Mercedes cocked an eyebrow. “Blood magic.”
“I obviously didn’t kill her, but I was using the power of blood that day to try to curse you back. I read the runes, well, I tried and…I’m glad it didn’t work.”
Mercedes smiled half-heartedly. “I’m glad it didn’t either. And I’m glad you didn’t kill Yrsa. I mean, I get why you hunted her down and injured her, but if you had killed her, I wouldn’t be here, though that does explain a few things.”
“Oh?” Magnus asked.
“Well, she was tied to the sea but never went back. I think she made it as far as modern-day Plymouth, before the Pilgrims and the Mayflower, but she could never go back to the sea. Something always pulled her back. She ended up in Tallowfield, and well, I’m a descendent of that line.”
“It explains why a black shroud hangs over Tallowfield. Still, who did your ancestor settle down with? Sven and I were here at least six hundred years before the Pilgrims, and I know the local indigenous people here were skittish about us, and not trusting of Yrsa either.”
“Yrsa lived an unnaturally long life and was popping out heirs well into her six hundreds. Black magic, of course. After having a few daughters to carry on her bloodline, she withered away, which was probably for the best, as she might not have made it through the Salem witch trials. Some of my family barely did.”
“Maybe her original curse that bound her here kept her landlocked. She might’ve been free to leave this general vicinity and not become a cursed ghoul like me and Sven, but she was still stuck.”
Mercedes nodded. “I like to think it’s because she cursed two innocents and not the ones who bound her there.”
“I often wonder who did,” Magnus said.
Mercedes shrugged. “It was never revealed in the family history.”
Magnus nodded. “It doesn’t matter any longer. Sven and I here and we’ll always be here.”
“And my job?”
“Well, I can’t speak for Sven, but as long as you do your work and show up on time, I think you’ll have a job at Room with a Tomb for as long as you want. And like I said, I promise I won’t be a canoe anymore.”
Mercedes cocked an eyebrow. “A…what?”
“Some kind of canoe. Margaid called Finn that one time. I can’t remember the first part.”
She chuckled. “Probably douche.”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“Well, I’m not going to explain it to you. You’ll have to look it up yourself or ask Margaid. I’m sure she’ll enjoy that. And I do appreciate that won’t act like one while we’re working.”
“You have my vow. And no more rune casting or cursing directed at you.” He held out his hand. “Deal?”
“I’m not the one cursing.”
He rolled his eyes. “I am aware of that, but we can seal this vow with a handshake.”
Mercedes gripped his hand. Her hand was so small in his. Surprisingly, it was warm and all she could think back to was that moment where she was briefly in his arms, pressed against him. Quickly, she pulled her hand away.
“Well, I’m going to finish my dinner and then help with the tidying up.” She stepped past him and headed back into Hetty’s apartment at the back of the bait shop. Her heart was hammering as if it were about to burst through her sternum.
He smelled so good for being sort of undead.
Don’t think of him like that. Boss. remember?
She was glad her work life was going to be less stressful, but she had to get this attraction to Magnus out of her system.
He was off-limits.
Completely.