Eleven
I was pleased that as soon as we started back, Father Dennis sat up, looked around, and demanded to know what in the world had happened.
“We think we were attacked by that demon you don’t believe in,” Lorne told him.
“That was snide,” he informed the man I loved. “Terribly so.”
I kept quiet because two things were true at the same time: yes, that was snide, and yes, Father Dennis deserved that for earlier in the evening.
Lorne made a noise of disgust and sped toward the rectory.
As we were saying our goodbyes, Father Dennis braced his hands on my door, where the window was rolled down, and leaned in. “After services tomorrow morning, I expect you both to come talk to me. I would have you in right now, but for starters, I think those kids will need you shortly, and it’s almost eleven at night. Some of us have to be awake and alert enough to conduct Mass first thing in the morning.”
“You have to be made of stronger stuff,” Lorne teased him.
“It’s too bad we’re not allowed to smite people anymore,” he said with a scowl.
“You’re funny,” I assured him.
“Oh gee, thanks,” he replied drolly. “I haven’t been up this late in years. Not since my clubbing days.”
I shook my head. He smiled, then arched an eyebrow in question.
I realized I had not answered him. “We’ll call first, Father, to make sure you’re vertical, but hopefully one of your friends has some demon information that could help us.”
“I’ll make sure to call before I go to bed, and let them know it’s urgent. And to make sure they call back; I’ll add in a big heaping portion of guilt.”
“Now you sound like my mother,” Lorne told him.
He chuckled, and it was a warm sound. “Thank you for taking care of me and the others, Lorne. You too, Xander.”
I put my hand over his and squeezed.
Lorne said, “You, me, and Xan, we’re all protectors in this town, Father. We must stick together.”
“Thank you, Lorne.” He smiled, then turned toward the rectory door. He was moving a bit slower than usual, but it had been a long night for all of us.
By the time we got back to the cemetery, found the van the kids had come in, and parked behind it, they were all waking up. Amazingly, Liam was the only one who screamed. Shelby, Meijun, and Jeremy wanted to live with us for the rest of their lives. Once Liam stopped hyperventilating, he agreed that sounded good.
None of them wanted to drive their van—again, wanting to stay with us—so we left it where it was. We then drove to where we’d initially found them so they could collect their stuff. Since no one wanted to leave the safety of the car, it looked like the decision would involve a very serious game of rock-paper-scissors, until Lorne insisted they all go.
“You know,” Liam said, “I really think it’s not a big deal. We can just leave it all there.”
“Yeah, yeah, I agree,” Jeremy chimed in. “Nothing there that can’t be replaced.”
“The ghosts can have it,” Meijun said.
“If people see that stuff strewn all over the place, it’ll scare them to death,” Lorne growled. “I’ll go with you.”
Which would have made me feel better if I was them but didn’t seem to be helping.
“This is going to give me even more fodder for my nightmares, and they’re bad enough as it is,” Shelby muttered under her breath. “God, when was the last time I slept?”
“Same,” Meijun confessed. “I used to look forward to going to bed.”
Which answered the question of their sleep-deprivation status for me.
I knew Lorne was giving them a gift by making them go, a chance to replace that frightening memory.
“If you’re gonna be paranormal investigators,” he was saying as he led the group away from me, “you’re gonna hafta deal with some scary shit sometimes.”
I noted that every one of them looked like they were going to the guillotine, and they all kept looking back at me, safe in the car.
I was hesitant to let the man I loved go alone with the kids, I thought I should go as well, but he wanted me in his vehicle, with it running, for good reason. If they were attacked and chased again—which my money was on not being at all likely—it was best to be ready with the quick escape. We were live-and-learn kind of people, after all.
Alone in a graveyard at night was not a place I would normally ever have been scared, but after what happened earlier, every shadow seemed like it was growing and changing into something ominous and threatening. And I could have gotten out and looked, called on the elements, called fire to me and checked, but I didn’t want the kids to catch me if they came back right then. More importantly, it felt quiet.
Moments later, the kids were rushing to the car as if running for their lives. They piled in quickly, and Lorne came back a few minutes later, shaking his head.
“If there was anything out there,” he said as he got into the vehicle, “I’d be dead because they all left me.”
I chuckled. “I don’t know what you expected.”
“A little intestinal fortitude for starters,” he groused, pulling away from the curb.
“I think that comes from years of bravery,” I apprised him. “Like someone I know.”
“And who would that be?”
“It’s good you have a sense of humor,” I told him. “That will serve you well.”
His grunt suggested he wasn’t so sure.
“Can I get my bag from the van?” Shelby asked. “I’m gonna need a shower because I think I peed myself at some point.”
“Gross,” Liam mumbled.
“Changing would be good, since I’m covered in mud,” Jeremy whispered.
We stopped at their van again, and I went and retrieved the bags since no one wanted to get out of the back seat. Then, finally, we were headed home.
At the cottage, I made the kids take off their shoes outside and then brought them in. Argos was asleep in his chair, and Shelby whimpered, “Oh, a kitty,” and bolted over to him.
He allowed himself to be scooped up and mauled, and I saw her tears at the normalcy of finding him there. A few more cuddles, and then she put Argos down gently, giving everyone else a chance to pet him as they stood clustered near the ancient dining-room table.
“This is the most beautiful cottage I’ve ever been in,” Shelby said sincerely. She seemed to know instinctively what my home preferred to be called, but she was clairvoyant, after all.
Instantly, a wild-rose scent filled the room.
“It smells heavenly,” Meijun said with a deep sigh. “May I go see the sun porch?”
“Sure,” Lorne gave permission, and she put down her small duffel and shuffled to the edge of the kitchen, took the two steps down, and walked out into a room where all the windows were open, even though it was dark outside. I would have thought she’d be scared, but she probably sensed she was completely safe.
“There are luna moths outside,” she announced, and Shelby was about to bolt over to her, but she turned and looked at Lorne first.
“May I go see?”
He nodded.
She flew to her friend’s side, and they watched, awestruck, as the moths danced in the warm night air. It had stopped raining, and all the insects and animals were popping out to resume their nighttime rituals.
Liam’s stomach growled.
“How about a midnight snack,” I offered.
His eyes filled suddenly. “I don’t want you to go to any trouble. Saving our lives was more than enough, and?—”
“Wash your hands, then have a seat at the table.”
He didn’t argue, wiping at his eyes, and Jeremy quickly followed. They were all overwrought, which made sense.
“Hey,” Lorne said, getting my attention. “I’m gonna go change, and I have to call Pete back because apparently I missed him earlier, and then I’ll be right out to?—”
“No,” I replied softly. “Go shower. I’m fine.”
“Yeah, but?—”
“I promise,” I assured him.
I got a smile before he walked through the living room and disappeared, closing the door to our bedroom behind him.
I pulled out cheddar and herb soda bread and butter, sliced up cheese and apples, and put that on the table while one after the other they washed their hands at the kitchen sink. Then I warmed up some creamy wild rice and mushroom soup I’d made the day before. Jeremy and Shelby helped set the table, after some direction from me about where silverware and glasses were. Liam sliced the bread, and Meijun put a kettle on for tea, then walked over to admire the hearth, which wasn’t lit at the moment.
“This looks ancient,” she said, and I heard the awe in her voice. “The stones are beautiful.”
There was a waft of lavender and lemon verbena then, and I knew my grandmother was listening in.
Shelby closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. “I might need to live here forever.”
I smiled at her, and then she watched me ladle out soup and carried each of the heavy bowls to the table.
When Liam asked where the napkins were and one of the drawers bumped open, he went right over, saying his childhood house in Boston was haunted too. “That’s what originally got me interested in the paranormal.”
“What makes you think my cottage is haunted?”
“Just helpful spirits,” he answered, smiling sheepishly. “It feels so safe in here.”
It was a lovely compliment.
They devoured their food, and when Lorne rejoined us with damp hair, changed into an old pair of lived-in jeans and a T-shirt, he had a bowl too and some sourdough instead of the soda bread. Everyone wanted to try some of that as well.
“Yeah, but this is mine,” he grumbled but ended up sharing.
I had strawberries and cream for them, which they all gushed over, and then finished it off with some lemon balm tea because I wanted them to sleep well.
They all helped do the dishes, and since there were no leftovers, there was nothing else to put away.
Lorne showed them where the second bathroom was. “Fast showers,” he directed with a glare, and Meijun said, “Yes, sir,” before taking the big fluffy towel he offered her—there was a basket with four of them that he had carried from the linen closet—and closed the door behind her.
The others sat in our living room, near the fireplace—Lorne had moved the coffee table to make space—trying not to nod off. It was cute how they kept jolting awake.
“Since when is there a shower in the second bathroom?” I asked him quietly.
The rakish smile I got made my stomach flip over, even though I was exhausted. “Since our wonderful home knows I don’t want strangers—even nice ones, who are young and helpless—in my bathroom.”
“So instead of the clawfoot bathtub that’s been there since the last century, and the small stove to warm the water, there’s a fully functioning shower?”
“Correct,” he said, rubbing his hand over the worn kitchen counter. “And there’s freshly laundered towels as well because my girl loves me and knows I feel the same.”
The waft of orange pomander at that was amazing. Normally, in the fall and winter, I put simmer pots on all day and night because I could. One of my favorites contained dried orange slices, cloves, nutmeg, star anise, and cinnamon sticks. Not only was it a tidy little protection spell—which wasn’t needed here, but still—it also smelled heavenly. Lorne had loved it, and now, suddenly, without the benefit of a pot, the scent was rolling through the house.
“Oh,” Shelby said from where she was on the floor, and I saw the tears welling in her eyes. “My gran always had orange pomanders every Christmas.”
“I never want to leave here,” Liam said and gave up, lying down on the floor where, of course, there were now folding futons and light cotton blankets. He fell asleep in seconds.
Meijun came out of the bathroom, dubbed that the best shower she’d ever taken in her life, stumbled over to where the others were, in front of the unlit fireplace, and lay down.
“Stay here and protect me, okay?” she asked Argos, curling up beside him, asleep the moment she closed her eyes. If she only knew how truly safe he could keep her.
Jeremy, on the other side of Argos, was facedown, spread out like a starfish, utterly comatose. Shelby rose slowly and shuffled to the bathroom.
Meijun had nearly kept all her dirty clothes together when she was done showering, but she’d stumbled a bit at the end. I collected the shirt and socks that had fallen out of her duffel, put them inside, zipped it up, and put the bag on the hearth seat.
As a good host, I needed to wait for Shelby to emerge before going to take my own shower, so I sat at the kitchen table and watched Lorne check all the doors, make sure the gas stove was off, then turn on the gas lamp beside the sink. He didn’t have to do any of that—the cottage watched over everything, from the hearth roaring all winter to the open windows in the summer—but I think it found his care and worry charming, as evidenced by all the things it did for him, from making sure the floors were warm in autumn to letting the breeze flow through in spring.
Historically, there was no electricity in the cottage, only gas. But since Lorne moved in, there were solar panels on the roof connected to a battery storage system for the TV and new refrigerator. It had been a lot of changes in a short time, but though initially I’d been hesitant to alter the cottage that had been the same for generations, I realized that renovations were healthy, especially when you were making them for a good reason. Or for the one you loved.
Standing in the kitchen, so very thankful that all was well and we were all safe, I turned and looked out the kitchen window above the sink, not wanting anyone to see me cry.
Strong arms wrapped around my waist, hugging me tight to his solid chest, before Lorne rubbed his stubbled cheek over mine.
“You all right?”
“Simply relieved and happy.”
“Me too,” he murmured, and pressed a kiss under my ear.
I leaned in, loving that I could, loving that he was physically and emotionally strong enough to be my rock. “Boy, did I win the lottery with you or what?”
“I dunno, did you?” His tone was teasing, as was his hooded gaze, before he turned me in his arms to face him, tangling his fingers in my hair, then easing me close for a kiss.
A soft throat clearing stopped us, and we both turned to find Shelby standing there, smiling sheepishly.
I sighed. “Good shower?”
“Best one ever ,” she said, then bit her bottom lip. “I’m really sorry for killing that very romantic moment, but I also need to tell you that separately you’re both gorgeous, but together it’s like…chef’s-kiss perfection.”
“Then I guess I’ll forgive you for interrupting,” I replied with a smile, taking hold of Lorne’s hand and tugging him to the table. We both sat, and Lorne propped up his chin on his closed fist.
“Are you awake enough for Xan to talk to you?” Lorne asked her. “Or should we wait until tomorrow morning since it’s nearly midnight now?”
She jolted and rushed over to the table. “No, I’m good right this second and would love to—I mean, I can tell from”—she gestured around her as she sat down—“everything in this cottage and everything I can feel that you’re a witch.”
I nodded.
“And there’s so much magic in here, like it’s in the walls, it’s everywhere, and even now, I can hear people walking in other rooms I know aren’t physically here. The rooms, I mean.”
“What?” Lorne asked, looking at me.
“The cottage is…” What should I say to him? “Vast,” I settled on. “You know that. In fact, you commented on it the first day you were here. You said the house—because that’s what you were calling it then—appeared small from the outside.”
“Yeah, but that’s because of the angle it sits on toward the road.”
“That’s some of it. But you know as well as I do that things appear and disappear that can’t actually be here.”
“I have no idea what you’re saying.”
“What I mean is, things in the cottage can’t just be here.”
“That wasn’t any better.” His scoff was warm and playful, which Shelby took as her cue to elaborate.
“You know, I can hear people dancing, laughing, and they’re in rooms that should be above us, but there’s no second floor here, so…what is that?”
“Yeah, what is that?” Lorne asked, then narrowed his eyes. “Or can you only guess?”
“My grandfather believed this cottage exists across planes and that everyone who’s ever lived here still does.”
“That’s amazing,” Shelby murmured.
“Which means that all that accumulated knowledge, as well as physical items, are here with us and can be accessed by the cottage at any given time.”
“Oh, that’s wild .” He grinned, his eyes glinting in the light. “And awesome.”
“Do you really think so? I maybe should have told you that before, but I wasn’t sure if you’d think it weird.”
“No, I think it’s wonderful. Truly. That’s how sometimes you can still smell in here things your grandmother used to bake, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Because she’s still here in the cottage.”
“In a version of it, yes. And that’s not to say that everyone is with us here, but that’s why my ancestors can come more easily through the veil than others, because if you lived here, then you always will.”
He took a deep breath. “That’s very comforting.”
“It is,” Shelby agreed, her eyes filling. “I can’t tell you how many places I walk into and I’m instantly cold or scared. Sometimes I hear screaming, crying, and even worse things…” She trailed off, glancing at Lorne, then back to me. “It can be overwhelming.”
“I’m sure it is,” Lorne soothed her.
She smiled suddenly. “But in here, it’s…and it sounds lame, but…” She stopped, shaking her head.
“G’head,” Lorne prodded her. “You can say.”
Quick breath. “It’s like a hug,” she admitted. “It’s so very safe.”
When Lorne grabbed hold of my hand, I turned to him. “Are you okay? Safe should be a good thing.”
“Yeah, but…if this home exists in different places, does that mean something dangerous, something evil, could be in here with us?”
I squeezed his hand back. “No,” I promised him. “And this I know for certain. The cottage was built on Corvus, and it’s where it lives in its sole physical form. The magic here with us is the only magic that matters.”
Shelby was nodding quickly. “I know we just met, but everything he said, I can feel that, like I can see you or the sun or the fireplace. Like it’s obvious that this cottage is a sanctuary. It feels like a fortress or a castle. No one that could hurt you could get in.”
“How do you know that?” He was staring at her, smiling now.
She shrugged. “I simply do. It’s been that way my whole life. The problem for me is, I can always tell when something is good, like this cottage. But I can’t always tell when something is straight-up bad.”
“Which I want to help you with,” I told her, taking her hand.
She grabbed mine with both of hers. “Yes. Please.”
“Okay, so first, we need to get you a?—”
One of the drawers down toward the end of the long counter jiggled. I looked at Lorne. “Would you get that, please?”
He chuckled softly, walked over to the drawer, and opened it slowly.
“You’re so okay with all the magic, but I don’t sense any on you at all other than Xander’s,” Shelby commented as he returned to the table with something in his hand.
“Yeah, well, you fall in love with a witch, what’re you gonna do? You hafta be okay with the unseen if you wanna stay.”
Her sigh was long as she turned to me. “I want one just like him.”
“I don’t know, I think they broke the mold there, but you might get lucky.”
“A lot of men have said they can handle…me. But when something happens, like I end up having a conversation with their dead relative at Thanksgiving dinner…”
“That must’ve been wild,” Lorne said, grinning at her.
“Oh, you have no idea.” She rolled her eyes for emphasis.
“So they’re okay until things get freaky?”
She nodded.
His shrug was good because it made it seem like that was no big deal. “That’s okay. You’ll find the one who’ll be all, Tell Uncle Jack we’re eating but you can talk to him after dessert. Also, tell him he still owes me fifty bucks. ”
Her smile was huge. “I want to find him.”
“You will,” he assured her. “But for now, I think this is for you,” he said, passing me a small peace sign on a leather cord.
Seeing it, I groaned. “Oh no, I’m sorry. This horrible artifact from the sixties was my grandmother’s. She was a big hippie back in the day.”
A rush of cold air hit me hard, chilling my skin.
“Oh, I felt that,” Shelby said, laughing. “You’re in trouble.”
“I felt the cold air go by me too,” Lorne chimed in.
“Ridiculous,” I said with a shiver, passing the necklace to Shelby, who took it and held it in both hands. It shimmered, and her jaw clenched tight.
“Is she okay?” Lorne was concerned, his hand slipping over my wrist.
I nodded. “She’s fine.”
“Thank you so much,” Shelby whispered.
“The orange there is amber, the black is jet. It’s very powerful, and again, I’m sorry it’s not more…elegant, because it’s gonna clash with things if you go to some fancy dinner. And listen, you can take it off if?—”
“Oh no,” she said quickly, slipping it over her head, tightening the slip knots so it fell right under her collarbones. “I’m never taking this off.”
“You can shower with the leather. It won’t—I mean, obviously, it’s not actually leather, it’s a cord made from plants, but it’s also…enchanted.”
She covered it with her hand. “I’m really, really thankful.” Tipping her head back, she repeated the words to the cottage. “Thank you so much.”
Warm breeze of lemon and verbena then.
Her eyes were back on me. “So if I’d had this on when I went into the graveyard tonight, then I wouldn’t have been possessed by those spirits.”
“No, you wouldn’t have. You still have all your abilities, you can still feel things, know what’s around you, but they can’t attack you anymore. That charm, it started out as pieces of jet and amber. She created that design, and my grandfather fused them together for her.”
“I like how you said design instead of hippie peace sign again.”
“I’d rather not get admonished a second time.”
She nodded. “Good thinking.”