Chapter Twenty-six
Tristan
“Victoria vouched for you, Esther, so I’m willing to offer you a job here,” I said to the mousy woman sitting in front of me.
After much thought, I had decided that approaching the case of getting her out of Sunset Manor in the most straightforward way had the biggest chance of success and, indeed, Jonas agreed to part with one of his servants when I mentioned Victoria liked her and I implied Vic would be better predisposed towards Jonas after this favor.
“With Victoria here we could use another set of hands around the Russet Manor. But working here requires utter discretion. If that’s not something you can offer we can help you find a position elsewhere.”
Esther had her hands folded in front of her demurely and she didn’t look straight at me.
“If you don’t become as bad as the Cornellos I won’t have a reason to spy on you and sell your secrets,” she said with quiet courage, not shying from the fact she had sold out her previous employer. I liked her attitude.
“Fair enough,” I nodded. “You would like to work here, then?”
“Yes,” she said simply.
“There’s one more thing you have to know before you make your decision.” There wasn’t really a right way to reveal this so I just said what I had to. “The men you saw around Victoria, Theo, and Matthias, as well as I... we are vampires.”
I expected to see shock, laughter, outrage, doubt... anything but relief.
“Bless the stars,” Esther said. “I thought you were supernatural but I wasn’t certain. I’m a mouse shifter myself.”
“Well, that certainly makes things easier,” I gave her a smile. “I will prepare a contract and we can look it over tomorrow but for now...” My eyes caught unexpected movement in the garden. “What in the blazes is that?!”
Esther squeaked and we both watched with astonishment as two T-Rexes chased each other through the garden, waving their tiny arms at each other in a catfight when they came together.
“Miss Esther... please, excuse me...” I said, still collecting my jaw from the floor because, as Matthias was out, those people in T-Rex costumes had to be Victoria and Theo.
“I will see you tomorrow, sir,” Esther said and slipped out of the room, a giggle escaping her only when she was a corridor away.
As Esther knew what I was I didn’t bother using the stairs and just jumped out of the third-story window, landing outside between two bushes. I couldn’t miss a second of this marvelous sight.
I found Victoria and Theo rolling in the grass, laughing madly.
“Need a hand up?” I asked.
“Probably!” Victoria said cheerfully.
“No! He needs to get down! Attaaack!” Theo screamed, lunging himself at my ankles. Victoria joined in with her own battle cry.
With my strength, I could stand there and be an immovable object but it was much funnier to let them overpower me. The suit could be cleaned but the experience of Victoria putting her T-Rex foot on me and posing like a proud hunter could not be replicated.
Victoria and Theo gloated for a few minutes but later decided to drag me to the garden table to talk. The two were exhausted after their dinosaur shenanigans. I tried to not burst out laughing at the two T-Rexes perched on the dainty garden chairs.
“Matthias is going to be so jealous he didn’t get to see that,” I commented instead.
“I wanted to take a photo but Theo refused,” Victoria pouted.
“I agreed to enough insanity today, I don’t need it to be documented,” Theo waved a warning tiny T-Rex hand at Victoria.
“What brought this on?” I had to ask.
My two companions shared a look.
“Victoria had been trying to help me with some of my triggers,” Theo said quietly but then the corner of his mouth quirked up.
“And her current approach is to make the costumes she puts me in as ridiculous as possible. I hate to admit it, but it seems to be working. I can’t imagine my father ever putting me in a T-Rex costume so I can recontextualize this into a new experience. ”
“I’m glad you found some peace,” I said. “And it seems you two are having fun doing this.”
“Couples that T-Rex together stay together,” Victoria boinked her big dinosaur head against Theo’s who tried to pet her with his stubby T-Rex arms. “Anyway, aren’t you a bit early? I thought you would get back from the Cornellos in the evening?”
“I excused myself earlier than planned because I had a guest to bring home.”
“No way,” Victoria’s eyes went wide. “Really?”
“Yes, darling. One Esther is safe in our Manor. And I think she is going to fit with us better than anticipated as she is a mouse shifter,” I revealed.
Vic’s mouth fell in an O of surprise before she covered her face with her hands.
“All those times I called her a mouse to her face... and you are telling me I was right? She is a literal mouse? Wait, her having many siblings makes sense now... Mice are known for having a lot of children, right?”
“Hmm, is she supporting those siblings of hers financially? That would explain why staying in a stable, well-paying job was so important to her, even with the Cornellos being horrible employers,” Theo pointed out.
“Even if she doesn’t she will probably want to visit her siblings frequently... I will see how we can incorporate regular family visits into her schedule,” I mused.
“I will talk to her and see what she wants,” Victoria said eagerly then hesitated, looking at Theo.
“Go,” Theo snorted. “Tristan will help me get out of the costume.”
Victoria took a sharp breath in, recognizing that Theo was challenging himself, taking another step in his road of self-healing, by allowing a man to help him with this.
Respecting Theo’s decision, Victoria waddled in her dino getup to the house.
“Let’s do it here,” Theo shot me a nervous smile. “No one ever undressed me in the garden so maybe it won’t be this bad.”
I tried to be careful but fast when I peeled Tristan out of the ridiculous costume. It went better than expected, maybe on account of Theo still having his everyday clothes underneath.
“It’s working,” Theo said to himself, then repeated to me. “It’s working! I can’t believe Victoria just showed up and made my life so much better. Tristan, I love her so much. How can I show her how much I love her? I need her to understand.”
“I think she already does. But as far as grand gestures go how about this...”