Chapter Four
Bethany woke and felt rested for the first time in a very long time. She was also under a lot of blankets and was a toasty, warm cinnamon bun. She pulled her watch toward her and sighed. It was after nine. Time to get up.
She poked her head out of her cocoon and took in the comfortable room around her. Her clothing was clean and folded at the foot of the bed. Ah. They knew she had everything in her car. She looked around, and it was all set and tucked around the guest space.
Bethany got up and went to take another quick shower before drying and braiding her hair and putting her clothing on for hosting at the centre.
She could smell breakfast food, put on her shoes, and headed downstairs. She followed her nose to the kitchen, and a smiling brunette grinned and waved. “Morning. I am Mara. Ambera is around here somewhere, and I think Delphine is in her office. What would you like for breakfast?”
“Pancakes, waffles, and bacon, maybe fruit.”
“I can do that.” Mara smiled. “Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah. I made the bed.”
Mara paused. “That’s my job. It’s a fetish, really. Leave it to me in the future.”
“Um, future?”
“Oh, didn’t you know? Delphine is tucking you under her wing, or whatever she has going on when she flies. You deserve to be safe.” The woman poured a mug of coffee and set it on the counter with cream and sugar next to it.
“So, did they figure out who came after me?”
“Ah, yes. Lord Rez took a call on speaker, and there were interested mages listening in. He has taken care of them. They will not trouble you again.” An older woman with a kind expression on her still beautiful face said, “I am Ambera. Delphine is my daughter.”
“Oh. Hello, ma’am.”
“Call me Amy or Ms. Kadabra. That was clever, by the way. Agreeing to have her name mean magic was an interesting clue.”
“I imagine there was some consternation at the hospital.” She stood and shook Ambera’s hand. “I am currently known as Bethany. My original designation is waiting until I feel safe.”
Ambera smiled. “I hope that it’s soon. Bethany is more cheerleaderish.”
“Yeah. It didn’t feel like me, so it worked as an effective passive concealment.”
“Why did you leave your family?”
Bethany sipped at her coffee. “Oh, they tried to sell me to the coven as a breeder. Since I didn’t manifest the stellar aura they were looking for, they wanted to know if it would show up in the next generation. They had an auction. I was fourteen. I ran, and I haven’t stopped.”
Ambera stared at her. “They tried to sell you?”
“Yeah. That was the point where they saw a bit of the star. I got away, and they got a show, but I ended up on the side of the road where I met Orvis. By that time, I had forgotten how to speak and was super skinny, but she got me to a shelter.”
Ambera gasped. “You have been on your own for a while.”
“Yup.”
“If you are out in the world as yourself again, what would you want to do? Delphine can help you accomplish anything you want to do.”
Bethany smiled. “I would like to finish high school or get a GED. Maybe get a house. I want my own space that no one can chase me from.”
“A partner?”
“Um. No. I have tried sex. It wasn’t something to pursue a second time.”
“Oh. Maybe it was the person you were with.”
“I am not going to do a skill test. I am good now.”
Ambera nodded. “I get it. I love Delphine, but if I hadn’t had a misspent youth, I wouldn’t have had half the heartache I did before she was with me.”
Bethany smiled and nodded. “I get that.”
Breakfast was presented with a smile. “There you go, Bethany. Eat up. If you hang out here, you will need your strength. Delphine is exhausting.”
Ambera laughed. “She’s not wrong. But Delf comes by it honestly. I am exhausting as well.”
Delphine walked in with a tablet in one hand and a phone in the other. “Thanks, Mom. Bethany, did you sleep?”
“Yup. A solid three hours. Thanks.” She attacked her pancakes.
“Your car is in the garage, but your stuff is in your room. Mom wants to take you shopping on her tab. Please let her. I have a meeting at Twilight around eleven. You are welcome to swing by and join the meeting. We are trying to wrangle funding for a new free clinic for low-income families.”
Bethany lifted her head as she nibbled her bacon.
“Accountant to do financial assessments so you don’t just end up taking care of folks who are avoiding the law or paying.
Your application process and department need to be under guard so no one tries to force access.
Sort of like applying for a library card, with stitches, x-rays, and drugs in the library. ”
Delphine walked up to her. “Do you want to come with me to the meeting?”
“I really don’t have the wardrobe for it.”
“Mom can fix that, and you two can meet me there.”
Bethany was holding her waffle. “Are you sure? I don’t want to get in the way, and I have to be at work at one.”
“Nessa is going to be at the meeting as well. She’s been in touch, and she’s deeply regretful that their conversation about you reached hostile ears. Orvis is beside herself with recrimination.”
“Well, I should set their minds at ease.”
Ambera grinned. “And you will do it in style. Finish breakfast. We have an appointment with Cale so that when your magic displays, the clothing will reflect it.”
“Wait. What?”
Delphine smiled. “I said she could. I don’t change my wardrobe often enough for her shopping inclinations.”
Ambera snorted. “She uses magic to make what she wants.”
Bethany finished her food, and Mara pulled the plate away, leaving her with another cup of coffee, but this one was fixed the way she liked it.
Bethany turned to look at the two ladies who were squabbling about how fancy the clothing could be. Delphine was erring on practical, and it seemed Ambera wanted to mother the hell out of her.
Delphine paused in her gentle argument and said, “My mom will have you looking like a million bucks. I am trying to rein her in to five hundred thousand bucks. I know you work for a living.”
Bethany grinned. “One way or another.” She saluted them both with her mug. She looked to Delphine and asked, “Have you heard from her?”
“No. She’s close, though. I can feel her.”
“Me, too. I haven’t seen her since we fell. I confess to wondering what her face is like.”
Ambera frowned. “I can’t believe you don’t know what she looks like.”
Bethany shrugged. “If she hadn’t seen me dancing at that business event, Delphine wouldn’t know what I looked like either. I give off energy when I dance, so it was obvious.”
Delphine smiled. “She glows, and she gives so much to her audience. Lord Rez has... collected the men who were around you.”
“Oh. Good. They were creepy.”
“I think they ran into something much more creepy.”
Bethany frowned. “What?”
“Lord Rez. He feels he owes you. Why would that be?”
“Uh, he turned my first time into a bloodbath. Not unexpected for a kijin but not pleasant. I just didn’t stick around for a repeat performance.”
Delphine stared. “What happened?”
“Apparently, my dancing made him think I had more experience than I actually did. He was mistaken. I didn’t care. The spell was set, and I was out of there.”
Ambera asked, “Spell?”
“To remove my name from memory. If someone knew me before the spell, they would know me as Bethany.”
Delphine smiled. “That explains it. You changed in a thunderclap.”
“Yeah, that would have been when I punched Lord Rez and knocked him out. He had rolled off and was staring at me. He tried to grab me, and I decked him.” She finished her coffee.
“Oh, that is ogre foreplay.” Delphine snickered.
“He’s not an ogre. I mean, he lives with the ogres, but he distinctly said he was a kijin.”
“That’s like the difference between human and elf.”
“Oh. Oh no.” Bethany put a hand to her mouth. “Oh dear. I hope I didn’t hurt his feelings.”
Delphine chuckled. “Before you punched him or after?”
“Before.”
“Ah. Well, I have to get on with my morning stuff. Bethany, I want you to not go anywhere without my mother or Tyler. The driver. He will drop you off and pick you up. We only have a few days to go, so it won’t be too bad.
Tyler is a giant, so he’s up for just about anything that will come after you, and he’s impervious to magic. ”
Ambera grinned. “And he’s waiting, so come on, and let’s get started. I love doing makeovers, and as stated, Delphine rarely plays anymore.”
“Um, okay. As long as I am at the new retreat by one.”
Bethany made sure she had her phone, wallet, and ID, and then she walked out with Ambera to a car guarded by a man of indeterminate age wearing reflective sunglasses.
“Tyler, this is Bethany. You are not to let her out of your sight unless she is at work or with me or Delphine. She’s a highly respected performer, and we need to protect her.”
Tyler nodded. “Of course, miss.”
He opened the car door for Ambera, and when Bethany would have gone around, Tyler shook his head slightly. She sighed and got in behind her host.
Ambera smiled. “You get used to it. You never step out into the traffic side of things. Always out to the sidewalk.”
“Okay. I missed that notification.”
“The guards and drivers drum it into us.” Ambera chuckled. “So, I have contacted Cale for the clothing. There is a nearby spa that will help with your hair and nails. Light makeup if you want it.”
“Um. Okay, but why?”
“Delphine is my blessing, my daughter, and my treasure. I don’t know how I got so lucky, but I have that damned dismissal contract laminated and copied in nineteen places.
He’s tried to get her a few times, but the first thing she did was build up our finances to the point where I was able to fight back. He did not see my lawyer coming.”
“How did you become the registered mistress of an elf?”
“Oh, there was a party; I was dancing. He was charming, and then he started buying me things, swept me off my feet and out of university. I became his professional mistress, and when he was done with me, I signed the severance and left, with a bonus he never intended.”