Chapter 28 Lemon
Lemon
When Furyon drops me off at Glimmer, a clacking sound draws our attention. Spinning in place, I realize the noise is coming from the decrepit Keeper’s house across the street.
Furyon cocks his head to the side. “That’s…odd. She don’t care for nobody, but it seems like she’s waving at us.”
“Not you,” I say with a laugh. “Me.” As we cross the street, I explain how I met the house the day I arrived, and how I told her I was gonna be there if she needed something.
When we halt in front of the gate, she lets out a warning creak from deep in her pipes. All the shutters and siding ripple in great waves, almost like she’s beckoning me close.
I grasp the gate and look in. “Poor girl, you need some fixing up, don’t you? You finally gonna let me in to do something in there? You know I’m down!”
The creaking and groaning stop, and the front door swings open.
Furyon gasps. “Oh my gods, Lemon.”
I frown at the front door. This is crazy progress, but I have to get back to work. So I rub the front gate lovingly. “Pretty girl, I’ve got to get back to work because I’m on the verge of getting fired, but I can come back later tonight. Would that be okay?”
A morose clacking of the shutters is my answer.
I turn to Furyon. “I’m already in trouble.”
He laughs, a soft thoughtful sound as he stares at the house. “I’ll come back with you, just in case…well, shit, I don’t know. She’s never let anyone through the gates as far as I know. Seems like maybe you do belong here, city girl. The evidence is mounting up.”
I snort at that. “Long as it’s not evidence that lands me in your jail cell. Although, if I’m honest, that could be kinda hot to go in our regular sex rotation.”
Furyon pulls me close, dipping me backward as he trails a row of hot kisses up the front of my neck to get to my ear. “We can mix it up a little bit too. Sneak into the jail and play a little cops and robbers. I can be the criminal next time. Or I’ll show you how I handle sassitude.”
“Sassitude?” I throw my arms around his neck as he bites his way down to my shoulder. “Yeah, country boy, I like the sound of that.”
The house thwaps her shutters again, a little more insistently. I can take a hint, so I haul myself out of Furyon’s arms and take his hand. After pulling him across the street, I let him steal another kiss before heading back into Glimmer.
Hours later, I pour the final purple potion into a giant decanter to sit at room temp for the next twenty-four hours. I’m just about to notify Letitia that the potion is done when someone clears their throat from the doorway.
Pasting on a pleasant, Letitia-appropriate smile, I spin in place. But the smile drops.
My father and Hunter stand in the doorway wearing matching frowns.
Father’s dressed impeccably in a three-piece suit, white collared shirt open to show off his intricate House Denton familial tattoos.
He steps into the room, sniffing at the stale air as he takes in the cobwebbed corners and the dust covering every surface but my potions table.
Hunter stalks in behind him, dragging a pale finger along the wall. He lifts it, inspects the dust, and sneers at me. “Quite the potions floor you’ve got here, Lemon.”
I resist the urge to stomp across the room and bitch-slap him, because a little bitch is exactly what he is. Instead, I focus on Father. He clasps both hands on the top of his walking cane, looking everywhere but at me. And I know that look on his face.
Dismay. Disgust.
It’s the way he looked at me after Varitius Nerazar called to let us know his precious daughter was covered in welts and scabs after the potion I crafted.
Fucking Hunter.
But the fault was mine too. I knew better than to allow him to help me, and I did it anyway, despite my reputation being on the line.
Never again.
“Hello, Father,” I croon as I match his stance. “I didn’t realize you were coming to town.”
Letitia strides into the room and halts next to my Father. “Lemon, I’ve been keeping your father abreast of your progress, of course, but he wished to see it for himself.” She looks almost…nervous.
“We can’t have any more mishaps,” Father says smoothly, his expression bored.
“Varitius’ daughter is slowly improving with the best healing help money can buy.
But Letitia let me know that you’ve been incriminated in some sort of crime here?
I had to see that for myself so I can decide what to do with you next. ”
Hunter smirks. “Not to mention, you haven’t been returning any of my calls, sister.”
I ignore him and resist the urge to glare at Letitia, although she appears discomfited by what Father just shared.
Instead, I clear my throat. “It was a simple misunderstanding that had nothing to do with me. I was only implicated because it happened on the day I arrived. But I’ve been cleared of any suspicion.
You can set your mind to rest on that.” I wave at my boss.
“Hopefully Letitia has also been able to confirm that I’ve successfully crafted every potion she’s asked of me.
Including this one.” I wave at the full decanter.
I haven’t learned shit that I didn’t already know under Letitia’s “tutelage,” but that’s neither here nor there.
“I di—”
Father halts her confirmation with a withering look.
Letitia sneers but lifts her chin defiantly. “I’ve got work to do. Comm me if anything comes up, Rikard.”
Father doesn’t bother to watch as she leaves without a further glance at me.
Hunter smirks. “This place is a shithole, Lemon. Father and I are going to the wraith property immediately. At least we know they’ll have passable food.”
Father cuts in, “You’re to come with us for dinner. I’d like to discuss what’s transpired here and my expectations of your behavior.”
I resist the urge to tell him I’ve been a fucking angel. But he won’t listen or care. So I nod. “Of course, Father. Would you like to go now? We can catch the train in a few minutes or—”
“We’ll fly,” he snaps. “As there aren’t any taxis or decent quick public transportation in this godsforsaken place.”
It’s hard not to snap that there are plenty of options. They’re just not the ones he’s accustomed to.
I follow in silence when he turns to leave.
Hunter hovers in the doorway wearing that same shit-eating grin.
He snaps his fangs at me when I pass, and it’s a struggle not to flinch.
But I can’t show him any weakness. Never again will I be at my older brother’s mercy.
The best thing I can do is ignore him. He hates that.
When we pass Letitia’s office, she glances up from a stack of papers on her cluttered desktop. I halt and peer in.
“The potion you requested is done. It just needs to decant until this time tomorrow. Do you require anything else of me tonight?”
Hunter passes me as Father disappears up the hallway.
The look on my boss’s face is almost sympathetic, but as Father’s footsteps recede, she slumps back in her chair. “No, Lemon. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I incline my head respectfully as I back out of the doorway to follow Father and Hunter. Outside, the keeper’s mansion waggles her shutters at me.
“Sorry, friend,” I call out. “Rain check on our get-together, please.”
She lets out an awful groan that draws Hunter’s attention, while Father completely ignores the beautiful old home.
I want to slap everyone.
Giving the house a final mournful look, I flare my wings wide, knowing they’re bigger than Hunter’s and that he’s self-conscious about it.
Glittering red eyes follow the path of my wings as I stretch my shadow feathers wide and smile at him.
I hope the expression looks fucking smug and superior because I’d love nothing better than to make him feel small right now.
“How we’ve missed you, Sister,” he says as he unfurls his wings. “It’s been terribly boring at home without you. No drama, no nonsense. Just business as usual.”
I can’t let him under my skin, so I bullet up into the sky when Father takes off, careful to glide slightly below and behind him.
The flight over downtown and across the huge fields toward the wraith property is awkwardly quiet. I’m thankful for a brisk wind coming off the mountains, making it almost hard to speak. Father and Hunter don’t try. In fact, neither of them looks at me as we near the wraith property.
I haven’t been out here yet, but it’s stunning from above.
Giant conical black spires reach for the sky, punctuating an impressive black stone and glass castle.
It’s huge with a big square on the interior.
That’ll be the shopping area, if it follows the design of other wraith properties I’ve been to.
Father alights elegantly in the stone courtyard. No sooner have Hunter and I dropped down beside him than a giant black-hooded wraith floats out from the nearest doorway. The hood obscures the monster’s face, twin blue eyes the only visible thing beneath the hood.
“Welllcome to our proppperrtyyyyy,” he hisses, gesturing toward the enormous glossy black doors he just came through.
“I’vvvvve sennnnt someone forrrr yourrrr lugggage, Masterrr Denton.
Youuuu are already checkeddddd in.” He reaches into the wide sleeves of his robe and withdraws two golden room keys, handing them to Father.
“The Tower Suiiiiite perrrr youuuur request.”
Father takes the keys without a word and strides past the wraith manager. Hunter follows him. I watch them sail through the doors with a sigh.
The wraith tucks both spindly hands into his sleeves. “Mayyyyy I hellllp you, Mistress Denton?”
I glance up at the much taller monster as he floats effortlessly, black robes swaying on the breeze. Shaking my head, I cross my arms. “No thank you. I appreciate it, but I’m only here for dinner with my…family.”
The wraith nods slowly, every movement purposeful. Then he snaps his fingers and disappears entirely from view.