Chapter 29
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
Ash and Tess opened the shop today while Moira and I paid Thalia a visit.
The seer opened the door and gestured for us to come in. I wondered if her powers had clued her in to the reason for our visit.
Garrett, thankfully, was nowhere to be found. “Slipped your jailer for a little while?”
“He’s on a coffee run.”
Moira laughed with delight. “You sent Caelan’s Second out for iced coffee?”
“No,” Thalia said. “I sent him out for a caramel drizzle, white chocolate, whirled latte.”
She gestured for us to sit. Thalia’s apartment was a riot of color.
Her couch was a modern shape in a pretty teal fabric.
Burgundy throw pillows were haphazardly tossed on each side, and the couch rested on a teal and burgundy rug in an abstract pattern.
On the other side was a squat burgundy chair with a book lying face down on the seat and a blanket across the back.
A scarred round wooden coffee table scattered with magazines sat in the middle.
Two large bookshelves were crammed with beat-up paperbacks, a mix of fantasy, romance, and modern literature. Her kitchen was small but neat, clean dishes still dripping on the rack.
“Cute place,” Moira said. “How are you liking Joy Springs?”
Thalia shrugged. “The place is cute and quirky, but there’s not much of a nightlife around here.” Her lips turned down. “Not that my jailer would let me go out after eight.”
Moira’s lips twitched. “Evie mentioned you don’t know how old you are?”
Thalia shook her head.
“How old do you think you are?”
“Twenty something, I think. I remember low-waisted jeans being all the rage when I was in primary school.”
“Maybe born in the late 90s?” Moira mused aloud. “You don’t remember any years?”
Thalia shrugged. “Not really.”
Something about this girl was way off. Who didn’t remember the years they spent in school or events that happened in the world? Was she under some type of spell or charm? If she was, and we could figure out how to break it, would she remember everything?
Or was Thalia just being herself and maybe this was just the way seers were? Their brains were under constant attack from psychic visions, and maybe that affected their memory.
“Does your magic cause memory loss?”
Thalia flopped onto her couch and put her feet up on the arm rest. “Lots,” she said with a wry grin.
“Every time I have a vision, I only remember bits and pieces, and eventually I lose most of those, too. Sometimes I lose pieces of the day, even if I don’t have any visions.
” She sighed and stared up at the ceiling.
“I always wonder if I’m going to wake up one day and not remember who or what I am.”
“Sounds lonely,” Moira said.
Thalia grunted. “Most seers are lonely. I don’t know anyone who’s happily married or one who’s had kids. How could they without constant supervision? What if they were walking through the house holding a newborn and dropped them?”
Horror rolled down my spine. I had intuition, sometimes strong intuition, but I’d never know what it was to be a seer like Thalia, to fear my own body sometimes. “I’m sorry,” I said quietly. “I never thought about it like that.”
She waved a hand. “I’m too young to have kids anyway. Not like I want them, either.”
“You’re still young. Maybe you’ll change your mind one day.”
“Even if I did, who would marry someone who’s constantly losing pieces of herself?”
I tamped my smile down. “You’d be surprised,” was all I said. Garrett’s expression every time he looked at Thalia when she thought she wasn’t looking told me he’d pick up those pieces every time she lost one and keep them safe for her.
“Yeah, well, I have sex sometimes,” she said grumpily.
Moira burst out laughing. “Good for you!”
A small smile appeared on Thalia’s lips. “I got curious a few years ago and wondered why people were so obsessed with it, but I don’t know what the big deal is.”
Moira blinked like an owl, eyes wide and stunned. “Umm.”
“Oh, Thalia. Gracious.” I rubbed my hand over my face. “What that means is you haven’t had the right partner yet.”
She slid a look my way. “Oh yeah? Things are good with that walking sex stick you’re dating?”
Moira snickered.
“Things are fine,” I emphasized, giving Moira a look to cool it. “But we’re committed and we have been for a while. I’m not the kind of person to…play around. I never have been. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I like knowing the person and being willing to commit.”
“Again,” Thalia said, “I’m trapped in an apartment and at work for the vast majority of my time. “Not exactly conducive to having a boyfriend.”
Moira and I exchanged a look. This poor girl was clueless.
Thalia turned her head and speared us with a look. “I can’t answer the question you want to know.”
Should have seen that coming. “Oh? What question is that?”
Thalia rolled her eyes. “You want to know what Caelan is lying to you about.”
“So he is lying?” Moira asked.
“Can’t answer that either.”
“Can’t or won’t?” I asked.
“Can’t.” She mimed a zipper against her lips. “I’m magically bound. I can’t discuss my origins, my reasons for being here, any targeted questions about specific details concerning my magic, or speak about the person currently obligated to act as my caretaker.”
Moira’s eyebrows lifted. “Your caretaker. Is that Garrett?”
“It’s Caelan,” I said. He’d never come right out and said anything, but he was way too involved with Thalia not to be responsible for her. He’d assigned his Second to her, which was telling.
Thalia didn’t respond, but I saw the look on Moira’s face. The vampire loved a puzzle, and this one required a lot of thought and maneuvering.
“How long are you here for?” Moira kicked off her shoes and tucked her feet under her thighs.
Thalia grinned. “Eighteen months, give or take a few.”
“What happens after that?”
Thalia lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “No idea. I’ll either go back to where I came from, or I’ll move somewhere else.”
“Why do you keep moving?”
Damn. Moira was good at this.
“Clever girl,” Thalia said. “People get tired of handling me and want me out of their hair.”
“People? As in more than one?”
“What can I say? I’m popular.”
“Do you know who your parents are?”
“I know who my dad is.” A flicker in her eyes. Moira was close to hitting a nerve.
“Is he a paranormal?”
Thalia pretended to yawn and sat up. “Garrett will be back in a little while. He’s not going to be happy that I answered the door.”
“A paranormal, then,” Moira pressed. “You have the look of the fae about you, but I also suspect that’s not completely it. And there’s something about you I can’t put my finger on. Something familiar.”
Same thing I thought.
“Do you sell your visions?” I asked.
Thalia stiffened. “Are you calling me a whore, Evie?”
I froze. “What? No! Why would I do that?”
“I dunno. You seem a little judgmental.”
“I just wanted to know if you’re taking advantage of your magic. If you have all those negative sides of your power, one would hope you’d use it to get rich.”
Thalia’s look morphed from annoyance to thoughtful. “I’ve never tried forcing a vision before. Not to the specifics it would take to work with clients.” She tapped a finger on her chin.
“Damn, Evie. I could be an entrepreneur.” The smile she bestowed upon me lit up her entire face and turned her face from interesting to devastatingly beautiful.
A key turned in the door. Garrett walked in carrying a tray with two coffees, one of them piled high with whipped cream, sprinkles, and what I hoped was edible glitter on top.
My lips twitched, but I couldn’t laugh. Garrett was just now looking at me like he didn’t want to murder me, and I wanted to keep the peace.
“You aren’t supposed to answer the door,” he growled.
Thalia rolled her eyes. “She’s your Lord’s girlfriend. Why wouldn’t I open the door for her?”
“Because glamours aren’t that hard to make,” he said, kicking the door shut with his foot. “Are you sure that’s actually Evie and Moira?”
“Well, we haven’t tried to murder her yet,” I drawled.
Garrett rolled his eyes. “I know it’s you because of your scents, but Thalia doesn’t have a good nose.”
“I’m not an idiot,” she snapped.
“Never said you were.” He set the tray down on the table and pulled her frozen concoction out with a grimace of distaste.
Thalia grinned and took it, popping the straw in and pressing it against her chest like it was a precious diamond.
“I do not know how you drink that crap.”
“That’s because you have no joy in your life,” she said as she took a drink and sighed.
Garrett’s eyes flashed with hurt, but he played it off. “Ladies, did you need something from Thalia?”
“They’re trying to figure out why your Lord is lying to her.”
Moira choked.
“Gods, Thalia!” I glared at her.
Garrett let out a heavy sigh. “Alright.”
“That’s all you have to say?” I demanded.
He sat on the edge of the couch, a defeated look on his face. “You and I both know I couldn’t help you even if I wanted to.”
I didn’t want to feel bad for him, but the expression he wore coupled with the slump of his shoulders made my stomach twist with empathy. “You aren’t denying he’s lying to me.”
He held up his hands. “I’m not getting involved in this at all. I can’t.”
Garrett hesitated, his mouth opening and shutting before he scraped a hand through his hair. “I know we’ve had our differences, but I think you’re good for Caelan. And I would hate for anything to come between you. He needs someone powerful who doesn’t put up with his bullshit.”
“Of which there is a lot,” Moira interjected. “So. Much. Bullshit.”
Thalia laughed.
Garrett took a long drag of his coffee. “I think you should speak to Caelan directly.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” I said. ‘“I plan to.”
“Good.” He rose and went to the kitchen where he promptly dumped out his coffee.
“You wanted the glittery one?” Moira asked with a smirk.
“They added sugar,” he clarified with a glare. “The devil’s spice.”