“Why, when we can help you?” Mike asked.
“I can’t chance any of you getting hurt because of me.”
“Why?”
“Because I love you, your mother, Ted, Cid, and Burt. I may be a child in your eyes, but remember, I have lived a life full of adventure and love. Love never dies, remember that. Also, beware, loving someone too much can kill you when the love vanishes. This happens too when they die or cease loving you, but your love for them never dies.”
“Dangerous like Romeo and Juliet?”
“Romeo and Juliet?” Mia mumbled. Her eyes snapped open and she almost toppled backwards as the two daggers appeared in her hands.
“What the hell!” Mike said, surprised.
Mia lowered them. “I forgot I named them.”
“What are those?”
Mia smiled. “Assassin knives.”
“Where did they come from?”
“Inside me. And you were worried about Ted pulling something over on me,” Mia giggled.
“May I?” Mike asked, putting his hand out.
“Careful, they come in pairs,” Mia said, handing him one dagger.
Mike grabbed the hilt, and soon the other dagger flew out of Mia’s hand and joined the first, blade to blade. “Wow!” He handed them back. “Show me how they work.”
Mia allowed her daggers to be absorbed and looked around in the moonlight to find something to demonstrate on. She walked over to where the Duprees had stacked some old fence posts. Mia set one post upright, securing it with the others on the ground. She walked back a few yards.
“Romeo and Juliet,” she called. The daggers appeared in her hands. Mia tossed them at the post. One hit the post, and the other circled around back and joined the other dagger, splitting the post in two. “Romeo and Juliet,” Mia called, and the two daggers arrived back in her hand.
Mike ran over and examined the post. He could see where the daggers met. “Amazing.”
“Thank you, but it’s mostly magical. Although, I have a great aim.”
The porch light went on.
“What the blazes are you two doing outside?” Glenda asked from the open door.
“Just playing with knives, Ma,” Mike responded.
“You two get your behinds inside before I tan them,” she ordered.
“Yes, Ma.”
Mia followed Mike into the house.
“Get cleaned up and into bed,” Glenda ordered. “Mia, you’re in the room next to the bathroom. I put your pack in there.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Dupree,” Mia said and climbed the stairs. She walked into her room and decided not to wear Cid’s tee. Pajamas seemed like the smarter choice. She walked out of her room and headed for the bathroom.
“Mia,” Mike hissed from down the hall.
Mia tiptoed across the landing to the open door.
Mike stood there. “What do I do about the ghost?”
“Surround your bed with salt.”
“Mia, you really are amazing. I can see why Ted will think you’re a superhero.”
“Thank you, Mike. Goodnight,” she said and walked into the bathroom and shut the door.
Ted, who was sitting in the darkness on the steps to the third story, waited until Mia was safely in her room and had shut the door before he climbed the stairs and joined Cid in the guestroom. He had shadowed the two when they went outside, shivering in his bare feet while Mia and Mike talked. He never really bought that Mia and he were married until Mia expressed how she couldn’t now stand in his way. Such sacrifice convinced Ted that Mia was not a twelve-year-old. And when he saw her producing the knives, he knew that magic existed. This wasn’t just a wild adventure he and Cid were on. It was vitally important that Mia succeed.
Chapter Fifteen
It took a while for Orion and Wyatt to stop posturing and start listening. Sticks stood in the corner reminding Nicholai and Angelo to behave themselves. Nordin served a late-night meal and was removing the plates when Orion asked, “Is Mia possessed?”
“Not in the way you think. I’ve looked into her mind and found truth in her story.”
“What story?” Orion asked.
“Mia claims that you and your wife purchased candles from a vendor at a farmers’ market. She instructed…”
“I don’t have a wife,” Orion argued.
“Please listen to the whole story, and I’ll answer any questions I can,” Wyatt said.
Orion nodded.
“Your wife instructed each of the party guests to take a candle and place it on the cake. The candles were lit, and as is the American custom, they were blown out as wishes were made. Harmless tradition unless someone plants a volo candle.”
“Volo candle…” Orion thought a moment. “Oh dear, where…”
“May I continue?” Wyatt asked, annoyed.
“Sorry, please,” Orion said.
“Mia, who maintains she was a thirty-two-year-old married woman with children, went to bed as one, but she woke up a twelve-year-old. No, she didn’t wish to be twenty years younger. She came to me when she needed help figuring out what happened. Evidently, we are friends in her time. We determined the cause, the volo candle, and then made a list in order to find out who made the wish that caused this situation. The magic can be reversed. If the candle is snapped in two by the wisher before the next full moon, time starts again at the point of the wish. We confirmed it wasn’t your wife - who is a delightful teenager by the way - and then created a ruse to get to you.”
“So that’s why the book became available,” Orion confirmed before taking in that he married a woman in her thirties while he, a birdman, was well over 480 years of age.
“Yes. You’re not the culprit, not even a stooge. We crossed
