Chapter Three
N ylora rang the doorbell and heard soft footfalls from inside. Isocar opened the door with a smile. “Nylora.” The hug was unexpected, but Nylora hugged her sister with everything in her.
Kaitha laughed. “That’s so sweet. I brought muffins.”
Isocar looked past Nylora. “Oh, who are these people?”
“This is my younger sister, Kaitha. She is the daughter of the Mills clan, the ones who fostered me. This here is my soon-to-be sister-in-law, of a sort. Myor. And finally, Isocar, this is one of your nieces, Dia. The other one is working right now. She’s a tattoo artist. Her name is Emily.”
Isocar blinked. “I have a niece?”
“Two.”
“And more sisters?”
“Three at least. Two by blood, one by choice.”
Isocar was dazed. “Come this way. The morning room is ready for us.” She moved into the house, but she didn’t let go of Nylora’s hand.
They sat around eating some of the pastries and sipping tea. At Isocar’s request, they went around introducing themselves. When she knew everyone, and to Nylora’s gaze, she hadn’t flinched at contact with Dia for her sandman affiliation, but there was no hesitation.
Isocar saw her intense focus. “I have a sandwoman therapist. It was best to jump right in. I have met others and no longer get physically ill at the mention of their race.”
Dia blinked. “What?”
“Twenty years ago, I was attacked by a sandman in the woods out back. He held me in the dreaming while he used my body. I fought my way out of the dreaming, and he exploded, all over the woods.” She rubbed the back of her neck.
“Investigations, therapy, and a cleansing of the surrounding lands were what was needed. I changed my therapist to a sandwoman as soon as I could. I needed to stop flinching at the thought of them. So, after years of therapy and exposure, I am good now. They are just another wave-crafted race, not the bogeyman.”
Nylora smiled. “No. One of them is bonded to Jennel. They are different.”
Dia laughed. “I’ll say. Emily has mentioned shadow tentacles everywhere. They make her job difficult, but since we just settled here less than a year ago, she doesn’t have the extensive collection of clientele that she used to have. So far.”
Isocar smiled. “For someone whose sister is a tattoo artist, you are remarkably unmarked.”
Dia grinned, the lights dimmed, and her skin glowed with gold and green power.
Glyphs covered her from forehead to fingertip as far as they could see.
“She practiced on me and got really good with the containment and focus. The scarring was done on my back, where she created a shield. No one gets the drop on me.”
Isocar blinked. “May I see?”
Dia smiled. “Of course, Auntie.” She turned and lifted the back of her shirt. The magical glyphs were right in her skin, glowing a white-blue. “It goes down to my hips. It took her a while. I think she carved a bunny into my butt, but I can’t find it.” She dropped her shirt back into place.
Isocar smiled. “That sounds like a sibling thing.”
Dia grinned. “She had to practice on someone, and she wants nieces and nephews, so it’s a fertility marker. When it changes colour, I am fertile, but I can’t see it, so it isn’t an issue.”
“Can she also make a birth control mark?”
Nylora nodded. “Of course she can, but few folks think to ask.”
Kaitha grinned. “Wait, so you can just get a magical tattoo to take care of things?”
Myor coughed, “What’s her number?”
Nylora looked at Kaitha. “Pregnancy has never been an issue for you.”
“Oh. Right.” Kaitha glanced at Myor.
“Oh, no. Not before the baby. I don’t care how much you want to chase Myor into a rabbit hole or whatever you call it. Not before the baby gets here. It’s important, Kai. Three months. Go on all the fun dates you like, but no sex.”
Myor was blushing. “Um, is there a reason?”
“Sure. Kai goes from flower to flower, and she goes too fast. She attaches to the person before she recognizes their personality, the wonder that they can hold. When things blow up, and they often do due to her association with me, she skips to the next immediately. She has never known the joy of her own company. Yes, I am being judgy, but that is my job. I raised her, after all.”
Kai froze. “Now? You are doing this now?”
“Yup. Nothing like witnesses who care to get an understanding of what is going on. Myor deserves your full, confident attention. But you need to go home alone, make dinner, drink some tea, and read a book or watch a movie. Mom and Dad were loving but were interested in their studies. They left raising you to me, and I was always there, until I put myself through school and the guild and came home. When I came home, you were locked in the pattern of going from one lover to another. They were always infatuated with you and always very sweet to me at first, until they saw that I was dark fae. Then the accusations that I was sleeping with my own sister started, and you played it down so gently. And then again and again. So, I left and moved around, looking for a place to call my own. Mom and Dad died, and I came home, and you were with another partner who actually poisoned me in your home.”
Kaitha swallowed. “And I kept the trust that Mom and Dad left and told you that I didn’t think you were in a good place for it. I had five years to give it to you, and I just didn’t want you to leave me. When you came back pregnant, I took good care of you.”
“Yes, love, but I am not a pet. Wait, there is a trust?”
“Yes. They couldn’t give you the family home, but they put enough aside for you to have a very nice home of your own.”
Nylora sighed. “Kai.”
“I know. I know. I should have told you.”
Isocar looked to Nylora and then to Kaitha. “Nylora, I have three extremely good lawyers who could end that.”
Nylora shook her head. “It isn’t necessary.
I have a house in the woods that I have been rebuilding for myself, and if anything goes badly with Solor and Demuel, I have a place to go.
That is all I wanted, just a place to call home.
Kaitha’s home is Kaitha’s home; the mansion belongs to Solor, Demuel, Myor, and their people.
I just met Isocar for the first time in forty years.
This place is hers. I just wanted somewhere I could feel safe without restriction.
I made that place for myself.” She looked around at the women who were connected to her in one way or another. They were all looking at her calmly.
She patted Bump. “I have kept it safe from then until now, and Bump will have a safe place for themselves as well. I bought the lot next to mine, and I am going to start construction next year.”
Isocar reached out and took her free hand. “I can help with the walls and ceilings. I think I know a few people who can help with the foundation and permits.”
Kaitha cleared her throat. “I can bring snacks.”
For Kaitha, that was an apology. Nylora smiled and changed the subject.
“Oh, the first garment I ever had is here. Jennel had it in an evidence bag. Looks like Solor’s legal team wanted to know about me in case I bring down his bloodline.
When I saw it, I remembered that walk between worlds.
I am never making my baby do something like that. ”
Myor looked concerned. “How old were you?”
Nylora rubbed the back of her neck. “About two or three weeks old.”
“What?”
“I was aged up through a temporal spell that would make me big enough to carry another child. A baby. Mother brought me up to five years old, gave Isocar to me, opened a portal, and told me to get the baby safe. Her father was trying to beat his way into the room, so this was our chance. I didn’t know how to walk, so I staggered, but I got her here, to the Lavrel home.
Isocar’s mother picked her out of my arms and told me to wait just a moment.
I really wish I had understood talking. I walked away.
There was a blizzard raging, and I walked toward town and followed the scent of food.
I found Dem-rah’s food truck, and he gave me tortillas and fresh lemonade.
I drank the lemonade, but he kept me with him until the XIA agents pulled up.
They let me sit in their vehicle while we waited for the social workers.
They kept asking me questions, but I just hugged the tortilla to me, sucking on it. ”
Isocar blinked. “All that was different about you was your size.”
“Yes. I was kept in care and observation as I wasn’t potty trained, couldn’t eat or speak.
I was offered to the Mills, and they went through all the rehab I needed with me.
When I was old enough to explain everything, about the age of seven or so, they told me not to tell anyone about my birth mother until I was grown.
They taught me the basics of magic, and I was really good at it.
They also told me to stay away from Isocar until she was grown up.
She wouldn’t remember me and had her own parents.
I went through life as a ward of the state.
If any parts of my demon exposure emerged, the Mills would not be held responsible.
I was eight when I was considered adoptable, and they were advised against it due to my complicated nature, so they didn’t.
When I was fifteen, they had a baby. A little girl, and my instincts to protect the baby kicked in, and I watched her every day after school, on weekends.
When I got my license, I drove her in a car seat anywhere I needed to go.
She was my constant companion.” She smiled.
“And then I got into the mage guild and got my classification for diagnostics. Then, Mom and Dad encouraged me to travel. It was when the effects of Harcourt Ganger’s transformation were being felt in their circles.
They didn’t want the demon association to ruin your future. ”
Kaitha was looking at her, and her eyes welled with tears. “That’s why.”