19. Paul #3
But once more, it was Cherry who spoke first, nearly echoing my exact thoughts word for word. “You seem familiar. Do I know you?”
The man paused in what was clearly meant to be his exit before giving a grave sort of nod.
“You likely are familiar with my sister. She spends the most time traveling between the great houses. I largely work here as a covert security member, but I do occasionally help the VanMarches and Chevaliers when they are short on bodies.”
It hit me right at the same time that Cherry figured it out.
“Oh, so you’re a Parracida!” she said cheerily, and I tried to recall if I had told her anything about that particular family. They were the closest thing we had to familiars, and they had been flourishing in that role for a couple hundred years.
“ In carne, ” he answered, his tone as flat as mine when I was trying to be neutral. It made me want to know exactly what Cherry was seeing, but that was a conversation we couldn’t have right in front of him.
“Well, it is lovely to meet you. You know, I was thinking of doing a series on some of your sister’s recipes, so I’d love to get a one-on-one with you to hear some heartwarming stories from your childhood.
Nothing too serious, just what it was like always having her goodies around, any baking foibles she had that were humorous, you know the deal. ”
“I... see.”
Clearly, the man wasn’t much for chatter, but Cherry pressed on.
I got the feeling that she was trying to dig for something, although I didn’t know what it was, and I couldn’t help but wonder why she didn’t want him to scram so she could pull what she did at the Chevaliers and disappear for a while.
Eventually, Tadgh, his sister Aoife, his uncle, mother, and father all found us in the span of a couple of minutes and the butler slipped away.
I wanted more than anything to ask Cherry why she’d been so focused on him, but patience was a virtue I most certainly exercised while I endured the near interrogation of the McElroys.
There were too many questions to remember them all, but they generally went like this:
“Did you know something was going to happen at the funeral?”
“Was there an ongoing investigation about your father and brother’s deaths?”
“Was that really your brother that Tadgh fought?”
“Was someone coming after all of the shifter leadership, or did this seem specific to your family?”
“Are we safe?”
I tried to answer as honestly as I could without ruining our own investigation.
I did tell them that the police were on the case, but not that I’d hired a not-quite-a-psychic to help me figure out if someone was coming after me and my siblings, only to find out that was the case, and it was possibly someone using forbidden necromantic magic.
It wasn’t an easy conversation to have, especially since I could tell Tadgh wasn’t exactly buying it at first. In the end, though, the McElroys seemed satisfied.
Naturally, I didn’t mention that the reason we were really there was because we couldn’t be sure if any of them were the culprit. I couldn’t imagine how that would go over.
Thankfully, Cherry managed to duck out with the excuse of needing the bathroom, and she even returned there for a second trip when she supposedly “forgot her purse.” Although she told me that her exploration of the Chevalier estate hadn’t really turned up anything, I was still quite anxious to get a run-down of her experience once we were alone.
It took far longer than I would have liked, and the sun was setting by the time we were dropped off at the gate.
As I expected, there were a couple of security guards posted within seeing and hearing distance of my car, and I appreciated the fact that they’d had the foresight to make sure no one had messed with my vehicle.
What they didn’t know, however, was that it was a honey trap filled with several covert cameras that streamed right back to the antechamber where my siblings were hiding.
“Thank you guys, have a good night!” Cherry said as we got into the vehicle.
Although I could smell that her mood was more frustrated than anything else, I always appreciated how kind she was to most service people.
I wasn’t exactly a bleeding heart in most ways, but I didn’t see a reason why anyone should be rude to someone doing their job—especially since that job greatly benefited our lives.
Still, I forced myself to be patient and waited until we were a couple of minutes away before I glanced at her.
“Thoughts?”
“Could you tell me more about this Parracida family?”
Not a question I had been anticipating, but one I was happy to answer. “They’re a bit of a funny one. I’m so used to everyone just knowing their history that I forgot it’s not something you’d be likely to look up. That was part of our ancestors’ deal with them.”
“Wait, what about a deal with your ancestors?”
“You see, their however-many-great-grandfather was actually the very first shifter to integrate with humans in the new world. This was way before us magical folks revealed ourselves to the world. He was not a nice man, and he tricked or enslaved weaker magical beings into his ‘freakshow’ for profit. Think of it kind of like the Barnum and Bailey circus, but even worse, because the people he abused were sentient.”
Even in my peripheral vision, I could tell that Cherry was staring at me with rapt attention, and I would be lying if I didn’t admit that being the sole center of her often-mercurial focus stroked my ego. It was all the encouragement I needed to keep going.
“It went on for a couple of decades before my own ancestor came over on a ship with the McElroys and the Derniers, who would later become the Bouchards, who then became the Chevaliers. I’ll explain that whole family history to you another time.
“Anyway, once they found out what was going on, they fought the man, and it was quite the knockout, drag-out fight. According to the stories, he was quite the powerful alpha, a purebred from a prestigious pack that stretched back thousands of years. The only reason he was in America was because he’d murdered his own brother and assumed control of his pack, which led to a country-wide revolt against him.
The only way he’d managed to escape was to jump on a ship and come to the New World. ”
“Oh my god, so he was a real prick.”
“That’s putting it lightly. His actions were truly heinous, to humans and magical folk alike. Naturally, once he was defeated, his punishment had to match his crimes. He was executed, and his remaining family members were ordered to serve the very people they profited from.”
“Wait, like slaves?”
“No, not quite like that.”
“Indentured servants?”
“Would you like me to explain, or do you want to keep guessing until you get it right?” I waited a few seconds for Cherry to think on it.
“Fine, tell me.”
“That first generation was probably the closest to indentured servitude. They had to help every single victim of their former alpha get back on their feet. Whether that was nursing the injured, helping establish a home, or ferrying them back to the family they’d been kidnapped from.
They lived in modest cabins dotted around the East Coast and were paid a standard weekly wage as long as they could prove they were keeping true to their responsibilities. ”
“Oh, so they were paid.”
“Exactly. And not starvation wages. Certainly not wealthy wages either, but enough that none would be desperate enough to try to avenge their fallen patriarch or abandon their restitution.”
“When did it end?”
“Pardon?
“I get that they had to do restitution all those years ago, but when did it end? After the next generation? The one after that?”
“I suppose that it never really ended.”
“ What?” Cherry blurted like I’d just admitted to shooting someone. “They’re still locked in their servant contract?”
“I don’t know if locked is the right word.
They’re paid much more now and are considered to be the highest level of support staff.
Really, there’s not much difference between them and an average pack member besides a hefty paycheck and not being allowed to gain power or political prestige within any of the packs.
Of course, they’re allowed to leave whenever they want, so it’s not like they’re trapped here. ”
“That doesn’t sound very fair. Alexandria and her brother didn’t do anything wrong, but they’re still being punished.”
Something in her tone made me a bit defensive, and I was taken aback at my own reaction. It wasn’t like I was all that passionate about having the Parracidas still serve out the sentence of their ancestors.
“I suppose it is archaic. But I don’t think anybody really considers it a punishment anymore.
The family leads a comfortable life, is fully taken care of by the three packs, and all their needs and education are covered.
They’re trusted with pretty much anything, and their parents have already retired. ”
“I don’t really know what to think about that.”
Now that she mentioned it, I didn’t either. But I already had so much on my plate that I wasn’t eager to add a social justice issue to the docket.
“Once things are all said and done, why don’t we have a face-to-face conversation with them and see what their thoughts on the matter are?”
“Really? You’d be willing to do that?”
“Of course,” I answered sincerely.
But for the moment, we had bigger fish to fry.