“Yes of course,” Nicholai said.
“Yes, I’m in no position to judge anyone,” Orion told him. “Please, speak with impunity.”
“The marker I left in Mia Cooper’s mind wasn’t a primal tag or a warning or even just a key to visit with ease. It was one of love. The Mia Cooper in the future that everyone is so afraid of, I must have fallen in love with. I assure you, I’m not made up to fall in love with an evil person. The Mia that the council worked so hard to create into a sociopathic killer, I’m sure turned out to be a good person.”
“It’s the Neyer genes. They have been negotiators for peace between Heaven and Hell for centuries. It’s possible that the council didn’t foresee that as being a problem,” Orion said.
“It could be part of it, but I think that something unexpected happened. Something that couldn’t be foreseen or controlled. It could be as simple as Mia meeting someone else in a time in her life when she was the most unloved.”
“The curse?” Orion asked.
“When is love ever a curse?” Nicholai asked.
“When it’s with the wrong being,” Angelo said.
Chapter Eleven
Mia, Ted, and Cid were sitting laughing around the kitchen table when Ted’s sisters Hallie, Connie, and Raedelle came in the door. They were used to seeing Cid in the kitchen and welcomed his forays into cooking, but they had never seen a girl voluntarily spend more than two minutes in the presence of their jerky brother.
“Mia, these are the three witches from Macbeth. They will try to convince you they are my sisters, but since none of them have my IQ, it’s simply not possible.”
Mia waved at the three. “He doesn’t mean that.”
“No, he means it. Mia, have you lost a bet or something?” Hallie asked. “Blink twice if this is a hostage situation.”
“No, I’m here voluntarily. You all have beautiful hair. I’m so jealous. I’m cursed with hair that dye won’t even stick to.”
“Your mother lets you dye your hair?” Connie asked, amazed.
“I don’t think she noticed. As I said, it didn’t stick.”
“How old are you?” Raedelle asked.
“Twelve.”
“Do you go to school with the idiot savant?” Hallie asked.
“No.”
“She’s my girlfriend,” Cid blurted out. “She’s from another state.”
“No, that’s not possible,” Hallie said.
“Why not?” Mia asked. “I’ve been in love with Cid Garrett since basketball camp. He and I spent a lot of time on the bench together.”
Ted frowned. He didn’t like the way this was going. Wasn’t he the future husband of the mouthy blonde girl?
“Love is blind,” Connie announced. “Cid, can we have some of that goulash?”
“It’s your food, I just mixed it up.”
“Thank you, Cid. Now I don’t have to cook. Mom’s going to be late,” Hallie announced.
“I know, seven,” Ted said. He got up. “We’re going to go upstairs.”
“Keep the door open. I don’t want Cid and Mia on the bed at the same time,” Hallie ordered.
Cid groaned in embarrassment.
“Why don’t we go outside? Let me get my coat,” Mia said and ran up the steps.
Murphy was waiting for her in the bedroom. She shut the door.
“We have to get going. Three more PEEPs to check out,” Murphy said.
“I know, but I’m going to need someplace to sleep. Do you think they will let me stay at a motel?”
“Not by yourself. What if I materialized and secured the room?”
“It could work. Let’s see what the boys think. They’re from around here,” Mia said. “We’re going outside. Want to come along? There are beautiful trees in this neighborhood, if memory serves me.”
“I’ll meet you outside,” he promised.
Mia pulled on the jacket Nordin bought her, after pulling off the price tags. It was nice he was so good at the details. Otherwise, she’d be without a coat and money to survive in Kansas.
They walked over to Cid’s house in silence. Cid and Mia tried to start a conversation, but Ted wouldn’t talk. He was pouting.
Finally, Mia blurted out, “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
Cid gasped at her language.
Ted laughed. “What do you think, wife?”
“Oh, you mean that stuff in the kitchen?” Mia asked.
“Yes. How’d you go from being my wife to Cid’s girlfriend so fast?”
“Ted, calm down,” Cid said.
“No, you started it, little traitor.”
“I was drawing attention away from Mia not belonging here. What if your sisters called the cops, because she appears to be a runaway. She doesn’t sound like us at all.”
“I don’t?” Mia asked.
“Sorry, but you got that northern Illinois twang.”
“Twang? How dare you?” Mia said, offended. “At least I don’t sound like a diluted Canadian.”
“What?” Cid said, surprised.
Ted started laughing. “Look at us. We’re arguing over accents. And Mia, you’re acting like a twelve-year-old.”
“I know. It’s starting to settle in. Soon I’ll be a twelve-year-old permanently.”
“No, you’re going to find that damn candle,” Ted said seriously.
“In the beginning, I thought it was just an innocent wish. Probably made by Audrey. Maybe she had thought she’d wished to look younger, and… well, here I am. But the more I delved into it, the more it started to look like this was planned.”
“Okay, list why someone would want you to be twenty years younger.”
“One, to put a monkey wrench between me and you, Ted. In the future, you’re my rock. Two, to stop me from being an assassin. I’m supposed to kill the duke of Hades, but he and I get along fine, so that’s not going to happen. Three, to make me a sociopath since they failed the first time. I was a cold bitter person before I met Murphy and you guys. PEEPs gave me permission to use my talents. I’m
