Himora Clarke
I stared down at my daughter as I sat in the red love seat.
The lounge of our building was quiet on a rainy afternoon in Savannah.
Ace and Vanessa were out. Audrey was on an assignment by herself.
Trevor… I could hear his heavy footsteps throughout the building as he walked up and down.
His voice echoed when he answered a call on speaker, but she was used to it by now.
Dawn barely budged at the sound of her father moving around the house and now with more relatives, she was used to the screaming and shouting.
“Yeah, we’ll come take a look at it tomorrow morning,” Trevor said as he barged into the common area of the leveled building.
The black slacks, white shirt tucked and his car keys sliding across the coffee table, I looked back down at his daughter who barely flinched.
Her eyes behind her lids were darting from side to side, twitching and eyelashes fluttering before she settled deeper into her sleep.
Business was picking up and bills were being paid on time.
The books were handled, and cases were being solved however small or big.
Today just happened to be a day where we only had one call, something Audrey could handle.
Movement caught the corner of my eye as I watched the orange kitten only known as Sin, come marching up from her nap only to take off running after nothing.
She was wild, and playful with my daughter instantly bonding with her familiar.
I still researched rehoming a familiar cat to a human family, one that would take care of it but decided against it.
The two were bonded from the moment they laid eyes on each other.
“Your back still hurting?” Trevor asked as he came over. Leaning down, he kissed the top of his daughter’s forehead before kissing the side of mine.
“A little, yes. Nothing that won’t get handled tonight, I’m sure.”
I could see him smile before plopping down to sit next to me.
He draped his arm against the back of the chair and sighed in relaxation.
The sound of rain hitting the windows was all you could hear from the old boutique hotel as I comfortably laid against his body with our daughter.
My feet were tucked with my red socks squished between the cushion while Trevor leaned his chin on top of my head.
We both stared at Dawn as Sin the kitten playfully ran from one corner of the room to the other.
Leaning my head back, I looked at Trevor’s tired face.
His eyes curled open and closed, trying to fight his sleep when he leaned down to kiss me.
“You wanna take a nap with me?” He asked.
“No,” I replied as he kissed me again. “I’m not sleepy.”
“Hmmmm,” he nodded before turning his head to yawn.
Stretching his legs out with a spread of his thighs, he released another heavy exhale of a sigh.
Trevor was finally showing signs of aging with tiny sparse curls of silver in his hair.
It wasn’t noticeable or obvious but if you stared long enough, you’d see it.
He looked down at me, seeing my intense stare before leaning down to kiss me once more.
“What do you need from me?” He asked with another kiss. “I’m about to take a nap with my baby in a second.”
“Nothing in particular,” I replied as we kissed again. Before Trevor could get up, we were interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing throughout the building.
“It’s most likely someone looking to book a room,” he said as he slowly got up. “I’ll shut it down before heading to bed.”
I watched him stretch his back as he made his way down the set of stairs and listened. When I didn’t hear anything, I was about to get up until Trevor called out my name.
“Himora?! Come here!”
Curious, I called for Sin the kitten as I placed Dawn in her play pin, letting her familiar keep a watchful eye on her.
Walking down the next set of stairs, I saw the tall woman with her purse clutched tight against her chest. Her hair was slicked back in a bun and when she turned around, I saw the resemblance almost instantly.
Her light complexion, bright pink lips, silver hair streaking the natural dark brown and full figure woman of someone much older than any of us here.
She was of the Southern Five, a Martin witch.
“How can I help you?” I asked. She brought her hand to her nose for a rub and sniff like she’d been crying.
“I was expecting to see my nephew here, Ace Martin–––“
“Well he’s not here right now, what do you want? You got the woman who owns this instead so what is it?” Trevor asked, snappy from his lack of nap.
“I have no ties to whatever my family is doing, I want to make that very clear,” she sniffed as she looked down at her hands. Fumbling with the strap on her purse, she suddenly looked up at me. “My son is missing.”