Chapter Seven
Tulya
The woman started to close the door in our faces. My heart pounded in my chest and the back of my neck burned from the pain rolling off this woman, yet I couldn’t let her shut us out. Don’s face had gone pale, and I could almost hear the venom pulsing in his neck.
“Can we wait? Will she be back soon?” I set my palm on the door, stopping it, and caught Don side-eyeing me. He raised an eyebrow, perhaps unsure of my aggressive stance.
The woman, who hadn’t told us her name, shook her head.
“We don’t mean any harm,” I lied, but catching sight of the little girl changed everything. Much more was on the line—Magnum presumably had a half-human child.
“I don’t believe you. Valerie is away for a while, and you’re not welcome to visit.”
If my feet were not keeping me planted in place, I would have swayed from the force of her words. They were equal to a slap in the face.
Next to me, Donovan cleared his throat. “I understand Valerie may have run and left those instructions, and if I hadn’t laid eyes on the little one, I might have turned tail and come back another time…
” He paused and set his palm on the door next to me, pushing it the rest of the way open.
“But, since apparently the child is my brother’s, therefore being my blood relative, I’m coming in. ” He began walking over the threshold.
“You can’t do that,” the unknown lady protested.
“I can and I am.” He started to strut forward with the confidence of a man who hadn’t just foreseen the demise of his family’s name…
“She’s not your blood.”
Don stopped in his tracks at the woman’s baseless words and opened his eyes wide. “Two words. Malachite green.”
He pushed on, taking my hand and dragging me with him.
As soon as we wormed our way to the back of the house we hadn’t been invited into, Don looked at me and spoke quietly. “I need you to talk to her.”
I nodded despite our touch and go in the car; this clearly wasn’t the time to hold a grudge when it came to Donovan.
Blake, as the woman had called the girl, sat at the table coloring, her brown curls falling around her face. When we appeared, she looked up.
“Hi, I’m Tuvy,” I said, slipping into the chair across from her.
I could hear the grandmother yapping on the phone in the other room, chanting, “I tried.” She must’ve been explaining the predicament to Valerie. Perhaps she would have been better off monitoring us, but this woman had proven to not be the smartest, allowing a child to answer the door.
“And this is Donovan,” I added, sliding out the chair next to me.
“Hi, I’m Blake. You look like my daddy.” She stared straight at Don, and the tension hung heavy in the room.
“He’s my brother,” Don stated, matter-of-factly.
“What’s your grandma’s name?” I asked Blake, thinking I should request this woman to be present. No matter how I felt about Valerie or what Magnum had done, this child should have some sort of advocate.
“That’s Mimi Marley,” Blake said. “She’s watching me because Mommy went to visit a friend, before we leave to go live with Daddy.”
“Blake!” Marley entered the room and yelled the girl’s name. “Remember, Mommy said don’t tell anyone.” She tried to temper her tone, but it didn’t help much.
The girl nodded, then added, “But this is my daddy’s brother. Daddy told me Uncle Donovan lives near him, and look, now he’s here to see me.”
This situation was worsening by the minute.
“I’m sorry, but these nice people have to leave. I just spoke to Mommy, and she will talk with you when she gets home.” She meant chat with Blake, not us. Marley didn’t even spare us a glance.
There was an invisible connection between Donovan and me, and if I didn’t know better, I’d think he was funneling his feelings into me.
He wanted to roar and bang on the table while yelling at Marley.
I knew none of that was the way to win over his niece or keep himself in her good graces—I wasn’t even sure if he wanted to remain there, but she was a kid.
There was nothing won by upsetting a child.
I brought my hand to his forearm and gave a small squeeze. He turned and looked at me, and I shook my head. Watching him close his eyes, I heard him exhale.
“We don’t have to go, Blake. In fact, let me call your daddy and we can plan for you to get to know us. Your family.” His eyes softened in a way I wasn’t sure they ever could.
Yanking his cell from his suit pocket, he hit some buttons.
“He didn’t want that. This, or whatever you’re planning,” Marley whispered, finally getting her tone under control.
“Can I talk to Daddy?” Blake was staring at Donovan with wide, hopeful eyes.
Of course Donovan didn’t see because he was looking at the table when he barked, “Magnum, we have to talk,” into the phone.
I could hear the deep rumble of Mag’s voice on the other end but couldn’t make out what he was saying.
Don, stood, his six-foot, three-ish stature dominating the room.
“Is there a reason you never mentioned having a child?” He had enough decency to turn away from Blake as he spoke.
Marley was now seated next to Blake, running her hand through the girl’s hair, pushing it behind her ear and kissing her cheek. Despite her gruff demeanor, she had to know there wasn’t going to be anything pleasant to come out of this meeting.
“Magnum, this is not good for…” Donovan paused.
My thought was he was trying to avoid mentioning Rubia, our powers, and our real mission in being here—although I suspected Valerie and her mother knew some of the more intimate details.
“…our legacy. Our family…but she may… She needs to come be with us.”
He gave a quick turn and looked at his niece and she gave an almost unnoticeable twitch of her nose.
I watched as he rubbed his forehead and now stared more intently at Blake while raising his eyebrow.
She’d done something. I had no idea what, but it didn’t matter.
She’d exhibited a power, heightening the stakes.
“No, not her. But your daughter, yes.” He said the last part while moving into the other room.
I stole a glance at Marley, and she’d picked up what Donovan was meaning.
I decided a diversion was needed when it came to Blake, and myself. “What are you coloring?” It was likely that Donovan was going to stop at nothing when it came to this child, and my mother and Ceci would not be happy until I did what we came here to do.
“A dragon,” Blake answered.
I took a closer look. “A pink dragon.”
“Yes, a girlie dragon. Mommy says we are girlies, and we have to stick together.”
If her mom had been smarter, she would have taken Blake with her, knowing we were coming.
Donovan re-entered the room, holding his phone out. “Blake, your daddy wants to say hi.”
She jumped off her chair and catapulted herself into her uncle’s arms, throwing her hands around his neck.
For the second time today I was shocked by Donovan.
He had no clue what to do with the tiny person looped around him, but he put his palm underneath her weight and held her in place as she took the phone.
“Hi, Daddy,” she said. There were a series of Mmm and Hmmm before she said, “Mommy went away for a few weeks. I’m not scared.” There were a few more Okays and then, “I crunched my nose and Uncle Donovan felt it.”
“Say bye,” Don interrupted. “So we can visit,” he added, and the call was over.
Marley said, “I think the visit has been long enough. I’ll have Valerie let Magnum know when she is back, and he can tell you.” The grandmother stood, signaling she’d had enough.
I also got out of my chair, fearing Donovan might be stuck, and deciding it was time to get him out of there.
“We will see you soon,” I said to Blake, unsure if it was true.
“This is for you,” she said, holding out the pink dragon drawing. “You’re a girlie too.” She ran back to Donovan and held on to his leg. “I don’t have a blue one for you, but I will make one next time.”’
Everything about this mission just became a million times more complicated, and I wasn’t sure whose mother would be more mad.