Chapter 20
Deejay
Monday morning dawns with a sense of foreboding for me. It’s the damn schedule this week. I have to help Robbie get enrolled in school, I have a home visit by Cary’s advocate, fortunately the State appointed a woman I know and have worked with for years. I have an initial court date Wednesday for a custody hearing. There’s the matter of the ally agreement and peace accord with the Kingdom of the Triton, and I have to manage all this with the looming conversation with Matt hanging over my head too.
“It’s going to be a rough week,”
I mutter to myself. I can already tell.
“Papa.”
I look up to see both Kendall and Colt standing shoulder to shoulder in the kitchen doorway. It’s way too early for them to be up, and by their disheveled appearance, I can guess Colt has had a dream and brought Kendall down for emotional or mental support. It’s difficult to tell what’s going on between them sometimes.
“Hey, baby. What’s up?”
I ask, forcing myself to sound calm for his sake. Colt never comes to me with good news if he’s been dreaming.
Kendall grabs an apple from the fruit basket, washes it and hands it to Colt, who gives him a grateful smile. “There was a messenger, a Medusa, who was coming here. She was driving a small red coupe, and a black SUV ran her off the road just before our driveway. The person sitting in the front passenger seat of the SUV, got out, pulled her out of her car and shot her in the head, then stole a messenger bag from her car. You need to make sure that Medusa doesn’t get murdered.”
Colt wipes his eyes; my son is compassionate even if he’s angry with the world right now.
“Do you know the timeline?”
I ask, hoping he has enough information I can help the Medusa messenger.
Colt closes his eyes as he bites his apple, probably reviewing the dream in as much detail as he can. After a moment he makes a surprised noise in his throat and looks back at me. “Around nine this morning. I didn’t notice before, but the Medusa is old, long snakes, not short ones. Down to her waist. And I guess I was wrong about the car—it’s blue and a sedan. And she hits that old oak tree right before the driveway.”
Huh. Not the Medusa I would expect to be bringing a message to me. “Thank you. I will take care of it.”
Colt nods, and he and Kendall troop off, back upstairs to catch a few more z’s, probably.
I pull up Loretta’s contact on my phone and shoot her a message warning her that a Medusa courier coming to me this morning is in danger, and there’s a strong possibility that I will need a cleanup crew at nine this morning, and that I will have to step outside the boundaries of my demesne to deal with the problem.
She’s typically busy at this time of the morning, so I don’t expect an immediate answer. She will get back to me when she can.
While I wait for her to return my message, I send Matt one, asking him to meet me in the kitchen if he’s awake. Just after I press send on that, I remember that I’m avoiding being alone with him and that sets off a cascade failure of lust and worry that freezes me up until I hear the heavy tread of his sleepy lumber coming toward the kitchen.
I jump up and grab him a coffee cup, pouring him the black death he usually drinks. He steps into the kitchen as I press the lid on, and I smile, handing it to him.
“What’s up?”
he mumbles, before taking a sip of his coffee and sighing with content.
“Thank you. Sorry for waking you up, but we have an issue of the demesne that I need your help with,”
I explain, shoving the lust that his deep voice causes me into a black oubliette in my mind. It’ll probably escape, but I will get through this emergency first, dammit.
“What’s the problem?”
he questions, getting down to business.
“Colt dreamt that the Medusa delivering a package to me, probably the documents that Primus is sending, was run off the road just before she reached the driveway and shot. The messenger bag she was carrying was stolen. It happens around nine this morning, and I need to be in position to protect her to avoid this possible future.”
“I see. Are you keeping the kids home from school, or do you want me to drop them off and come back? I can be back here by eight, eight-fifteen.”
I have no idea if the kids will be safer here or further away from the threat, I have no way of knowing what my interference will do, nor how committed to intercepting the courier and taking the messenger bag the people coming are. I just don’t know, and my indecision must play out on my face because Matt grabs my hand and offers his opinion.
“I think we shouldn’t disrupt the kids’ schedules. We’ll have Robbie here to watch the littles while we deal with the problem. He can keep them in the media room and lock the door. If there’s a problem, the panic room is in there.”
“How did you know about that?”
I didn’t show him the panic room, mainly because I don’t think about it since I’ve never once had to use it.
“I found it two days after coming here. Cary, Jasper, and I were playing hide and seek while you napped with the babies,”
he shrugs. “So, we just show Robbie where it is and how to lock it, and then you and I will deal with the Medusa problem.”
“Yeah, that sounds like a good plan,”
I agree, relieved.
“I will deal with getting all the kids ready this morning and get Robbie on board with taking care of the littles while we’re out, you prepare at least one, but probably better to have a couple of curses ready. Do you need to let Loretta know what’s going on?”
How does this man know what I need and how to support me? He’s not worried or upset. He’s calmly dealing with the situation far better than I expected, maybe better than me. I have a bit of a temper when it comes to threats against my domain, if the dead Siren and the curse I sent Primus are anything to go by; I tend to curse before I think. Matt is planning, preparing—giving me the chance to prepare.
Why is he so goddamn perfect?
“I did contact Loretta. I’m just waiting on a response.”
Through the baby monitor, I hear one of the twins whimper in his crib, and Matt stands up. “I got the kids; you concentrate on what you need to. Let me know what Loretta says, and do not go out to deal with these guys alone. I will be there when we intercept them. If anything, I can get the Medusa to safety while you curse those fuckers, understood?”
I fail to quash the shiver of desire that his command sends snaking through me like a deadly viper. Matt isn’t a submissive person; he takes control, takes command, takes responsibility—fuck he hits all the good buttons for me.
“Got it,”
I agree, staring up at him because I cannot believe how fucking lucky I’m feeling right now.
Matt smirks at me as he grabs his coffee cup. “Get your curses ready, Maledict. We’ve got a Medusa to save,”
he rumbles with a laugh before heading upstairs to take care of the babies.
Embarrassment flushes over me as I remember that Matt can clearly see the lust in my aura—goddammit.
After Matt returns from dropping the kids off at school, he joins me, Robbie and the littles in the living room, where we ended up after breakfast. I’ve gotten my curses written down, and am still waiting on Loretta’s response, phone in hand. I know the woman is busy, but if she doesn’t respond in the next few minutes, I will call.
“Robbie, Deejay and I have some business we need to attend here in a few minutes. Do you mind watching the littles for a while? We can just put on a movie in the media room, and if anything happens that concerns you while we’re gone, there’s a panic room in there you and the kids can wait in. Even if it’s nothing but the noises of the house settling, it’s fine for you to take them in there until we get back. We just want you to feel safe and comfortable, and it’s a pretty nice room for a short stay.”
Robbie stares at Matt, wide-eyed and concerned. “Do you think we’re going to need it?”
The anti-anxiety medicine that he’s been on for the better part of the last week has helped him immensely. He still gets nervous, but his stutter has all but disappeared.
Matt shakes his head, frowning, but quickly realizes that frowning makes Robbie nervous and smiles. “No, I don’t think you will. I just want you to be aware that you have options. We don’t expect to be gone longer than an hour, but it’s Demesne D’Aquino business and might take a bit longer if things work out that way. I’ll let you know if we’ll be gone longer than expected.”
“Um. Ok. Sure, I can take care of the kids.”
Matt dips his chin in satisfaction and knocks his head toward the media room. “Let’s get you and the littles set up and I’ll show you the panic room.”
Robbie nods and grabs Alex as Matt picks up Eren, then they and Cary leave, giving me the chance to call Loretta. I appreciate that Matt did not let slip what we’re going to do. Robbie is better on his medication, but some of his triggers get tripped on random things, and it would be better if he at least starts with a clear head. I don’t know if we can trust him to take care of the kids, but Matt has made every effort to make leaving the littles with him as safe as possible, and that’s the best I can hope for at the moment. I don’t trust babysitters in general, but: extenuating circumstances and all that jazz.
Just as I pull up Loretta’s contact card, a text from her comes through.
Loretta: Intercepted the courier. Sending another in her place with an escort. Expect her to arrive at nine with a clean-up crew in tow.
Me: Thank you. Matt and I will meet them on the road. Tell them to look for a pearl white full-sized Cadillac SUV. That’s us.
Loretta: Understood. Good luck. Try not to kill anyone. I have a Headsman for a reason.
Me: I will make the effort.
Matt returns as I press send on that message and I get up, summarizing the conversation for him as we head to the garage.
“Wait. Loretta intercepted a courier that might have arrived earlier and is sending another one in her stead? How do we know that the one she intercepted wouldn’t have been fine and the problem is with the replacement?”
he questions, visibly disturbed by this thought.
“We don’t. We just know what our resident Diviner told us, and we act on that information. Colt has never been wrong, and I trust him.”
Matt grunts, frowning as he considers this, and backs out of the garage. Even though he’s only had his license for a few days, he drives like he has years of experience, which distracts me for a moment from the up-coming situation.
“How long have you actually been driving?”
I wonder after a minute of watching him, intrigued by the confidence he exudes.
“I got tall enough to reach the pedals and see over the steering wheel safely when I was eleven. My old man was often too drunk to drive, so he spent a weekend teaching me how, and then it became one of my jobs after that. I couldn’t afford Driver’s Ed when I was in school, and he didn’t want to put the effort in to make me legal, so that’s why I didn’t have a license until now.”
“That’s insane.”
I wish I could be surprised by the amount of shit the sons who’ve come to me have been forced to go through, but unfortunately at this point nothing surprises me.
“Yep,”
he agrees without hesitation. “Cary is going to have his entire childhood, and no one is going to take that away from him before he’s ready to give it up.”
“That’s fucking right,”
I affirm, as committed to that as Matt is.
“Where am I going? How far down the road do you want to patrol?”
I point toward the morning sun as we come to a stop at the end of the driveway. “Colt said she’s going to hit the oak on the east side of the driveway, so maybe half a mile down the road from there? She'll be coming in from the east, so head that way. We’re looking for a blue sedan and a white panel van with L.L. Security logos on the side and back.”
“L.L. Security? I don’t think I’ve heard of it.”
“That’s the name of the business that owns the building the Hub is housed in. Loretta Long Security, though it’s shortened to L.L. on everything but the legal documents,”
I chuckle. “It’s the legitimate business that launders all the money that flows through the Hub.”
“Ah. That’s something that’s missing in the encyclopedia. It never mentions the name of the business that Loretta hides the Hub behind, only that the Hub has been raided by the police and FBI.”
He sounds disgruntled by the missing factoid, which makes me chuckle.
“You can edit the encyclopedia yourself. It’s spelled so that any information known to be true that’s added to it will get added to all copies of the encyclopedia. Like if you edit a shared document in the cloud, it changes the document for everyone who can view it. The same concept goes for the encyclopedia. I can show you how,” I offer.
Matt shoots me a grin. “Magic is awesome,”
he rumbles, pleased.
I laugh at that. “It can be, yes.”
Half a mile down the road, Matt makes a U-turn and stops on the shoulder, putting on his emergency lights. “The courier knows to look for us, right?”
“Yep,”
I confirm.
“Let’s wait here. When she passes, we’ll escort her into the realm. I think it would be better if we buffet her front and back so that anyone trying to run her off the road has to get past either us or the cleanup crew.”
It’s a great idea, but as I open my mouth to agree, I glance behind us and see at the same time the blue sedan we’re looking for racing toward us with a black SUV driving the wrong way in the oncoming lane, fighting to push the cleanup crew off the road.
Matt cusses as he slams on the gas, getting up to speed just as the sedan passes us. He slides in behind the courier, between her and the black SUV and then drives down the middle of the road, straddling the line to keep the black SUV from passing us. The white panel van slows down and gets behind the black SUV, forcing the vehicle to either hit us or go the speed we dictate.
My phone rings as Matt swerves to keep the black SUV behind us. It’s not a number from my contacts, but the caller ID says it’s the Hub, so I answer it on speaker. “Deejay here.”
“This is Solomon Kline; I’m in the van behind you. Slow down, let’s trap the fucker between our vehicles. I’ll stay on his bumper.”
“Got it,”
Matt confirms, slowing down as he continues to match the SUV’s jerky movements.
I glance to see where the blue sedan is, and see it turning into my driveway, not crashing into the oak tree. “Courier made it to the driveway safely,”
I announce, relieved.
A sudden loud bang has me whipping my head around as Matt hits the breaks. The SUV swerves onto the shoulder revealing the smashed front end of the van. As the SUV passes us, I see the driver through his lowered window. Smiling black pearl teeth, blond hair and sparkling ocean blue eyes, Tio the Chaos Eater blows me a kiss as he passes by, and then waves back at us as he speeds down the road.
“Was that—?”
Matt begins like he doesn’t quite know what he saw.
“The Chaos Eater,”
I confirm, extremely annoyed.
“Where?”
Solomon’s voice asks from my phone.
“Driving the SUV. Are you ok?”
I ask, looking back at the smushed-up van behind us.
“Yeah, we’re fine. I guess you don’t need us?”
“It appears not. Pull the van to the side of the road. You can call for a tow and wait for a ride in my home.”
At my offer, Matt backs our vehicle up to where the van pulls onto the shoulder of the road. A few moments later, Solomon, a man I know to be a witch, hops out of the passenger side of the vehicle. He’s shorter than average with salt and pepper hair, and a self-confident bearing that makes people trust him before they really know him. Three other people follow him: the driver, an Orc with large tusks and a mohawk of bright red hair, a female Elf with strawberry blond hair and short pointed ears, and Haverty, Loretta’s representative.
I’m not surprised she sent her representative, but I think it might be overkill. I only asked for a clean-up crew in case there were bodies leftover, I don’t think that requires Haverty’s presence.
The Elf hops into the third row as Solomon holds open the passenger-side back door for her. Haverty gets in behind Matt, and then Solomon takes up a seat behind me while the Orc jumps onto the roof instead of trying to squeeze in.
I give Haverty a wry look. “Did Loretta send you because she’s worried about how much negative attention the Demesne D’Aquino is getting recently?”
The look he returns consists of a half-smile and little else. He’s not and never has been for as long as I’ve known him, an expressive person. He has two long braids that he wears his thick black hair in, and phenotypical features that indicate a mixed heritage that could come from the Polynesian islands or Alaska, and the middle east or northern Africa. “I’m a medic and you needed a clean-up crew. She wanted me to save lives if possible since the Maledict is known for losing his temper when his family is in danger.”
I shrug as Matt turns into my driveway. “I would never curse anyone if people would stop attacking the people I love.”
Haverty makes an affirmative noise at the back of his throat. “I remember.”