Chapter Eleven
Hope looked down at her driver’s license and smiled. “I am legal again.” She smiled at Ark. “Thank you.”
“We found your birth certificate, and it took some looking. But they couldn’t make the print copy disappear, so we got it from child services.”
She sat in his office in another one of Pandora’s outfits, but this one had a closed back, and she now had shoes. Rowan was waiting to go home with her.
“So we have your license, a passport, and an apology from the police department for threatening you with arrest for trying to explain your situation.”
“Delightful. I just have to get my feet under me, and then I can try to figure out what to do with the rest of my life.”
Ark leaned back. “You don’t like being a cook and housekeeper?”
“It’s fun, but the repetition is difficult. It took me six days to get my wings in. It made working in there a lot easier. Now I can sleep on my side.”
He chuckled. “Are you sleeping alone?”
“Well, seeing as how your guys shit themselves every time the wings vibrate, yeah, definitely.”
“Are you a beta or omega?”
She waved one of her hands. “One of those. I haven’t had it investigated.”
He blinked. “Why not?”
“Because unless I find a guy who doesn’t mind the wings, I am un-fuckable.”
“I... don’t think that’s true.”
She let the phantom projection of her wings appear, and she made them hum. Ark leaned back in his chair. She dismissed it and clutched her identity papers. “See?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I see. Yeah, you have a point.”
She chuckled. “See?”
There was a soft knock, and Ark said, “Come.”
The man who came in moved with spectacular grace. She focused through her sparkly eyes and blinked. Dark blue, pointed ears with jagged tips, and eyes that were a soft purple.
“Edric Wayfare, this is Hope Matthews. She lives at the estate we have been recommending.”
Hope extended her hand and said, “Hello.”
He shook her hand and smiled. “The staff who have rooms at the estate speak highly of it. You live there?”
“Yes, I am the cook and housekeeper.”
His gaze was warm. “I have spoken with Rowan about seeing if there is a room to suit me.”
“Okay. If you are there for dinner, it is cottage pie, fresh bread, and lemon meringue pie.”
He smiled. “That sounds excellent. What time does dinner start?”
“Five. Ends at seven thirty.”
“I will be there around five.”
She nodded, and Ark looked pleased with himself. “Oh, shut up.”
He started laughing.
“Well, I have what I came for. Send me the bill.”
“Rowan is paying for our services.”
“Excellent. She said she was; I just wanted to make sure that nothing had changed.”
She stood again and nodded to Edric and Ark. “Toodles.”
She left and walked down to Rowan’s department.
Rowan looked up in her cubicle. “So you are good?”
She held up her documents. “I am legal again.”
“Woohoo. Now we can go to a bar and order mocktails.”
“Not yet. I still have to find a way to make actual money. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I am heading home. The inspector is coming for the daycare and afterschool centre. I think it would be better if I were there.”
“You know, you can look into childcare certification.”
Hope shrugged. “I already have it. It’s in here.”
“May I see?”
Hope handed over the document pack.
Rowan looked through the diplomas and certifications, and she whistled. “You are a counsellor as well?”
“Yeah. A lot of ex-foster kids are. We try to straighten ourselves out or at least figure out which adults didn’t act in a protective role. There had to be a reason, right?”
Rowan looked at her. “You said we were second cousins?”
“Genetic testing is a wonderful thing. I traced our link right before Mellwyn got cursed.”
Rowan blinked. “Wow. Where do the wings come from?”
“A little further back. The pixies bond to one mate, and when she dies, they die. Oh, and they are blood drinkers.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I have to go home and get the pie collection in the oven. See you at five?”
“Yes. How are you getting home?”
Hope blushed. “Um, I was going to fly.”
“I am calling one of the guys. Armyet is a private driver.”
Rowan started to dial, and then a familiar face came to the cubicle.
“Oh, hey, Edric. Rowan’s just booking me a ride home.”
He smiled and then said, “You didn’t drive in?”
“Nope. Got a ride with Mellwyn on her way in for her pediatrics appointment.”
“Mellwyn. The one with the orc-goblin.” He narrowed his eyes as if concentrating.
“Yeah, that’s the one.”
Rowan finished her call. “He can be here in twenty minutes.”
“Okay. Cool. I will head downstairs and snort the coffee cart.”
Rowan sighed. “Let me get you some cash.”
“Nope. Wait. How am I supposed to pay for the ride home?”
“It’s covered.”
Edric looked at her and said, “May I give you a ride to the estate? I need to look it over anyway.”
Rowan looked relieved. “Great. See you both at home later.”
Hope looked at him. “I don’t mean to mess up your day.”
“It’s a welcome distraction. Please, my lady.”
Hope smelled a setup, but she nodded and walked out with him. Rowan had been making a call when they left. She cradled her documents to her chest as he walked her to his car and opened the door for her.
She slid in and settled herself, buckling in.
He got into the driver’s side. “You don’t have a car?”
“I used to have a bike, but it disappeared along with my identity. Now that I am legal again, I need to figure out a paying job and get working on my savings account again.”
“You don’t get paid for working at the estate?”
“She gives me credit against my rent. So far I have two free months coming up.”
“How long have you been working for her?”
“Two weeks.”
He put the car in gear, and they started moving.
“How long have you known Rowan?”
“We met at an afterschool program when I was twelve. The government funded that kind of thing, and I finally had a foster parent who got me everything I was eligible for. She loved doing paperwork and loved it even more when she was winning.”
He smiled. “Is she still around?”
“No. She passed four years ago. I wasn’t allowed into the funeral. Her bio kids didn’t want me there.”
“Did your friend know?”
“Nope. There was never a good time. She was mourning her grandparents, Aspen, and then Mellwyn. When my life went to shit, I thought I could just stay nearby, I could watch over her home if not her. She got stronger, and I watched.” She shrugged.
“She didn’t look for you.”
“She had enough to worry about. I let her feel my presence now and then, and I watched over her grandparents when shadows tried to drain their energy while they slept.”
“How did you hide?”
She paused. “Oh, right. You wouldn’t know. Or rather, you shouldn’t.”
He smiled as they glided down the road that would take them to the estate.
“I am descended from a pixie, but I have six butterfly wings on my back and weird opal skin.”
“Pointy ears?”
“Sometimes.”
He chuckled and slowed the car, indicating and making the slow right turn to the estate. The gates swung open.
He smiled. “How does that work?”
“She figured out how to get them to read for intent. No hostility toward the house or inhabitants, and you can come right in.”
She smiled as he drove toward the parking area. When he stopped, she pawed at the interior of the door, but the handle was gone. He was outside and opening the door with a grin. “Sorry. Force of habit.”
“Habit? Trapping people in cars is a habit? You almost lost your roof.”
He blinked. “Oh, shit. I didn’t think of that. You were really outside shelter?”
“I was. For three years. I have only been inside a roof for two weeks. The house made me a special room so that I could still feel the sky.”
“Where is that room?”
“On the third floor. No one has used it in centuries, but the house remade a room for me. It’s big enough for my wings if they won’t come in.”
He glanced up. “Interesting.”
“Yes. I have to get dinner in the oven, if you don’t mind coming in via the kitchen. Most of the guys come through sniffing before they grin and head to the gym.”
“The gym?”
She smiled. “I will take you on a tour. Just let me get dinner settled.”
Edric nodded. “Please. I am eager to see how this works.”
She showed him the well-worn path to the kitchen.
“I try to make something different every night. If there are leftovers, whoever gets up and packs a lunch gets them.”
“If?”
“You guys eat a lot.”
He grinned.
It took five minutes to get the eight pies into place and set a huge pot of mixed veggies on the stovetop with water. “Okay, tour of the gym. This way.”
Edric chuckled, and they headed downstairs. They walked down the steps, and she walked into the gym. He gasped, “Oh, wow.”
She smiled. “Nice ejaculation.”
He chuckled. “What are the weight limits?”
“Whatever you need.”
“Oh, that sounds fun.” He walked around and touched the machines. They changed configuration for him, and he paused. “Rowan did this?”
“Rowan had twenty-four heats with no actual heat. She gave it to the land, and all that potential flowed into the house and grounds.”
He smiled. “Some of us would pay hundreds a month just to be able to use this equipment.”
“Why?”
“To be able to work full out, like we train in the empire. It is a freeing thing that reminds us who we are. This may have been a one-way trip, but children will know that they came from the empire as well as this world.”
“You guys are all confident you can have kids.”
“We were tested for it before we left, and a bonding can heal a partner.” He patted the machine. “The rest of the tour?”
She nodded and led the way back up through the kitchen. “Eleanor and Vasoric are around somewhere, but they might be off visiting old friends. He knows the pixies, and a surgeon in town was an old friend.”
Hope returned to the kitchen, adjusted the ovens, and nodded toward the hallway. “The tour will now commence.”
She walked with him and showed him the great room, the ballrooms, and the dining room.
“Will Rowan rent out the space for events?”
“Probably, but we need to make corridors for the renters to come and go freely. The upper levels will also be warded against anyone who doesn’t live here.”