There were no buttocks, no legs. Only the bottom half of an aquatic creature. Underneath the blanket, the lowest section of the creature slapped the mattress twice, violently, then stopped.
“Done.” Belle stepped back. Airlie cautiously lifted her hands off Benôit. The two witches looked at each other across the now-still form. “He should be out for at least six hours,” Belle whispered, “Goddess willing.”
“Thank you, Belle. For everything.”
“You are welcome. I want to keep him here for a few days. Christoph knows he is welcome to stay in one of the guest rooms. I wouldn’t even try to send him home. Kazimir has volunteered to be his caregiver.” Belle looked over her shoulder and spoke to the druid, “We’re going to need at least three buckets of fresh seaweed, as soon as you can get it here.”
Kaz nodded and left the room. I heard the sound of a zipper, then the front door open and close, and took that as my signal to have one more look at the mangled wing joints on the patient’s back before I left.
“I don’t think there’s much of anything I can do here,” I said to Tanner and River when I encountered them standing in the hall. “I may as well go home.”
Sallie and Azura were seated at the dining table, their phones at their elbows and the Fae directory they’d procured on their trip to Victoria between of them. Two plates of decimated pancakes and orange peels sat in the center of the table. Harper and Thatch were in the kitchen, along with Leilani. All conversation stopped when Tanner and I walked in the front door.
“Hey,” Thatcher said. “How’d it go?”
“Christoph rescued Benôit and we have about six hours to figure out how to make Odilon an offer he can’t refuse.” I leaned my weight against the center island. “Can you guys make breakfast for us?”
“Thatch, beat two more egg whites, please. Harper, see if there’s another jug of maple syrup and cut up more oranges.” Lei-li pivoted and stared at me and Tanner for a moment. “You guys look like you need my power pancakes.”
I waved a tired hand. “A short stack for me, please, for starters.”
Tanner said, “Put me down for a dozen.”
Harper had his back to me. “So, what’s he like?” he asked. Thatcher stopped whisking and Leilani elbowed Harper. My breathing suspended. Beneath my wool-clad feet, House’s wooden bones and boards went quiet, too.
“My father is not doing well,” I said, delivering my words slowly and with care. “He’s heavily sedated and his wings are gone.”
“How’s Gramps holding up?”
I shook my head. “Belle had to dose him with herbs to get him to settle down. He and Benôit will be staying with her.”
Leilani continued to give out orders. “You two go sit. We’ll bring your food over.”
Sallie and Azura greeted us with shy smiles that couldn’t mask their excitement. “Aunt Calli, we found him, the guy who’s working at your old job.”
“That’s awesome,” I said. “Were you able to get his address? And does his Fae name match the one he gave to Kerry?”
They looked at each other, then at me. “His name is Hosea,” said Sallie. “Hosea Brooks. As in brother to Lolly Brooks, owner of Brooks Family Farm.”
My jaw almost hit the table. “Tanner, did any of those complaint letters going out from the Agricultural Commission’s office get sent to Brooks Farm?”
Tanner searched his laptop. “No. But the orchard nearby, the one Adelaide put a bid on, they’re one of the properties due to go into receivership at five-oh-one today if their note’s not paid.”
“Calliope, there’s more,” said Azura. She tapped the heavy volume, tilted her head, and ran her thumb over pages marked by sticky notes. Finding what she was searching for, she slid her thumbs between two pages, opened the tome, and motioned me to come closer. “Guess who’s first cousins with Lolly Brooks?”
I almost didn’t want to know. “Surprise me,” I said, looking over their shoulders.
She pointed to two names I knew all too well. My ex-husband, Douglas Flechette, and his twin brother, Roger. “Crap. So, either Odilon is in cahoots with all of them, or Roger and Hosea and Lolly are trying to pull something over on Clan Vigne. Or at least on Odilon.”
“Zura and I have been discussing this, Aunt Calliope, and this is what we think is going down.” Sallie cleared her throat and motioned me to take the seat across the table from her and her girlfriend. “Odilon jilted Meribah and Adelaide after they pulled that shit on you this summer, and then he turned around and bought their realty and land development business from them.”
I added, “He did mention that having the owners of the business in jail was not a good financial move and that he stepped in to save the business. But last night, when I got to the marina and saw Roger, Odilon introduced him as his head of security.”
“Which would mean Roger has access to at least some of Odilon’s private information.”
“While his mother and aunt are under house arrest, and his brother’s under psychiatric care, Roger’s making a play for…for what? Getting the business back?”
I shook my head. “He knows Odilon wants the properties that are critical to the transportation routes used by Magicals.” I kept to myself my fears that he might have knowledge of the special apple trees or that he suspected trees like my crabapple might be hiding important secrets.
“Mom?” Thatcher placed two plates of pancakes on the table and motioned for Tanner to sit next to me. “Harper and I have a confession to make.”
“I’m listening.” I was also starving. I slid thin pats of butter between each pancake and poured a generous stream of warmed maple syrup over the top. Tanner repeated my movements on his much
