“Hello, sir, I would like to inquire whether I could use Mr. Wayne’s library for a while. I have a reference,” Mia said and handed Nordin the envelope.
He opened the envelope, slid the letter out, and scanned it. “Dr. Cooper is your father?”
“Yes, but I assure you he doesn’t give those out to just anyone,” Mia said.
Nordin smiled. He looked at the sedan in the driveway and waved before inviting Mia in. “Right this way, Miss Cooper.”
Mia heard Charles back out of the drive as the massive door was shutting behind her. “He’s a very trusting man,” Nordin tsked.
“He doesn’t know Wyatt Wayne is a demon. Don’t worry, it stays between us.”
Nordin took a step back and looked at the young girl. “What did you just say, miss?”
“Did I spill the beans? I never realized that you didn’t know that Wyatt Wayne was other than a human.” Mia frowned. She worried that she may have just blown this opportunity with her big mouth.
“I assure you, I know he’s a demon. Demons pay very well. I’m surprised that you, a girl of – what, thirteen?”
“Twelve,” Mia corrected.
“Twelve,” Nordin acknowledged and continued, “would know about Mr. Wayne’s pedigree.”
Mia motioned for Nordin to stoop down. “He’s a fallen,” Mia whispered in his ear.
“How do you know this?”
“I know him in the future,” Mia said.
“I’m sure that is a story best told over tea. Will you have time to join Mr. Wayne?”
“It would be rude not to,” Mia said.
“Very well, the library is this way. And before you ask, I don’t need to ask permission as he’s already given it.”
“He’s amazing isn’t he?” Mia said honestly.
“Are you friendly in the future?” Nordin asked, opening the door.
“No, he’s immune to my charms,” Mia said.
Nordin looked at the waif, taking in her scabby elbows and knees, and swallowed his laughter.
Mia walked in and scanned the shelves looking for books on witchcraft. She sighed in frustration. “There’s so many of them,” she said to herself.
“Maybe I can help you narrow it down,” Wyatt Wayne said, entering the room. The faint scent of frankincense came with him. Mia was reassured that this was indeed her friend.
Mia stared at the possessed old man a moment. She stood there, her eyes watering.
“Come on, you know me in the future. I’m sure I haven’t changed that much,” Wyatt scolded.
“No, it’s just I always feel so safe when you’re around. I almost started blubbering like a…”
“Twelve-year-old?” Wyatt supplied. “Come and sit, and tell me your tale. I’m at a disadvantage, I won’t meet you for…”
“You watch me burn down my house in two years. We meet again sixteen years later, give or take a Michael tantrum.”
Wyatt’s eyes opened wide. Mia could tell she had scared him. It wasn’t her intent. “I’m sorry, I’m way too blunt for my own good.”
“Tell me what’s going on?”
“I’ll give you the broad strokes first. Last night, I was a thirty-two-year-old married woman with two young sons and an adopted teenager. I live over in the old Murphy farmhouse which, as of last night, had been a renovated, livable house. In the middle of the night, I woke up into this nightmare of being a twelve-year-old with the memories of a thirty-two-year-old sensitive but without any of the other interesting qualities.”
“You’re Mia Cooper.”
“Mia Cooper Martin last night.”
“Do you have enemies?”
“Oh yes. Why do you ask?”
“As a twelve-year-old, I imagine you don’t have the same skills as you do twenty years from now.”
“You have that in one. I’ve gone through several transformations. Should I be telling you all of this? Will this hurt you in the future?”
“We’ll try not to discuss my fate, although I sense there’s an archangel in my future.”
“Yes, there is.”
“Tell me about last night. No, wait. Let me read you.”
Mia got up and walked over to where Wyatt sat. She reached over and pulled the demon’s face so that their foreheads touched. “Don’t worry, I can’t read you yet.”
“We’ve done this before,” was the last thing Wyatt said before falling quiet as he read her memories.
“Mia!” Audrey called from the foyer of the farmhouse.
“Up here in the nursery,” Mia said, laying another barely used onesie on the pile of clothes to send to Judy for her and Ed’s new baby.
Audrey came in and plopped down in the rocker. “I hope you’ve saved some of Varden’s hand-me-downs for Luke.”
Mia smiled. “I had Ted calculate the growth rate of both boys. He’s mapped out approximately who will be what when. I have the sizes and the clothes. Don’t worry, Auntie Mia has this covered.”
“Have they come up with a name yet?” Audrey asked. “I can’t imagine not naming a child right away.”
“The naming ceremony is when they will pin a name to the little darling. I hope that they’re thinking about a name that will meld better with the twenty-first century than He-who-walks-through-time does,” Mia said.
“I don’t know. I like that name. It’s better than naming your kid after a piece of fruit.”
“I told you I loved the name Casaba in confidence, and now you make fun,” Mia feigned irritation.
Audrey laughed. “Who’s all coming tonight?”
“Just the usual suspects: PEEPs, Glenda, Orion, Mark, Luke, and my kids.”
“I thought maybe Lazar and Cid’s new girlfriend…”
“Lazar is with his family at a wedding in Akron, so he’s gone. A good thing too, as I didn’t know Lazar was dating Cid’s girlfriend,” Mia teased.
“Oh, you know what I mean, you stinker,” Audrey said. “I was hoping to get a look at her.”
“Look in Dieter’s
