James exited his car and waited until he and my son stood chest to chest, Harper slightly taller. The older man moved to embrace first. My son’s arms went around James’s shoulders more reluctantly.
I had my hand on the screen door handle and a call rising in my throat when I stopped. Harper’s upper body was shaking. I could tell James was speaking. Harper would occasionally nod in response, tuck his chin further toward his chest. Though I wanted to know what my baby was asking, hearing, and responding, I held back.
This was a moment for him to find comfort in the company of men blessed by magic, men who were willing and able to help him manage the magic that was—literally—bursting through his skin. I took back my earlier grumbling about druids and a bird-man taking over our lives.
“He’s going to be okay, Calli.” Tanner came up behind me, put both hands on my shoulders, and pressed his thumbs into the rock-hard muscles of my upper back. He seemed almost absentminded, the touch less about connecting with me as it was him wanting—or needing—reassurance.
Irritated by the undercurrent of Jessamyne’s presence, I didn’t want him touching me. I squeezed my shoulders toward my ears and sidestepped. “I wonder if I should let Harper go with James and Leilani.”
“I see no harm in that,” he said. “I imagine any home of Malvyn Brodeur’s is going to be extremely well protected.”
I agreed. “After they go, I want to hear about the portal and the portal…keeper? Guide? What do you call them?”
“Either. I want to hear about their discoveries too.”
James led Harper to the porch stairs and paused at the screen door. He adjusted the rolled cuffs of his baby blue button-down shirt and touched his chest where the edge of a decorative metal collar peeked out.
“Calliope. Tanner. I have news from Malvyn. And I will be taking Leilani home with me.” He glanced over his shoulder at Harper, who nodded but did not speak. “I’ve offered to let Harper come with us. Dependent, of course, on your permission.”
I gestured them inside. “I think Harper and Leilani are at a place where they can make their own decisions about where they want to be, and I trust you and Mal to prioritize keeping them safe.” I smiled at Harper. I wanted some levity in the house. “Take your phone charger. And message me. A lot.”
Harper’s features relaxed a little, enough he could shoot me a quick smile as he ducked around James. “I will, Mom. I’m gonna get Lei-li and my stuff.”
“Do you want waffles?” I asked my son’s retreating back.
“Four, please,” he answered, “and Lei-li usually has one, with bananas. She really likes bananas.”
“Two down, two to go,” I said. I watched James’s rear light signal a left-hand turn.
Before leaving with Harper and Leilani, James sat with us in the living room while the teens inhaled their breakfast at the kitchen counter. He explained his husband’s decision to accompany Sallie’s parents to the headquarters for Magical justice on the outskirts of Vancouver.
The Magical system of investigating complaints differed from humans’, and as part of the process of discovery in this type of murder investigation, a necromancer would be assigned to the case. The necromancer would attempt communication with the spirit of the dead hidden folk whose heads had been severed from their bodies. Such communication would entail disinterring the bodies from the burial mound and thawing the heads still stored in the Pearmains’ freezer.
All of this was unfamiliar to me. My heart ached for news of Abi and Cliff and broke for Sallie, who had opted to take her breakfast to the back deck when she saw James. She and Thatcher were glued together on the swing.
“Can I leave those two here, with Christoph, and come with you?” I asked, exquisitely aware of my responsibility to balance my son’s protection with assuaging my curiosity about the process due to unfold in the coming hours and days. A necromancer speaking with the dead was a phenomenon I had neither experienced nor imagined.
“Give us more time to finish disentangling Meribah’s blood from the wards,” said Wes. “Once we’ve done that, the three of us will cloak the property.”
“Isn’t it already cloaked?” I reminded them of James’s frustration at not being able to find the driveway.
“We experimented with the stretch of road from one shared property line to the other. Given what James saw, or didn’t see, it worked.” Kaz folded his arms. “I’m optimistic we can enclose the entire property in a kind of bubble that will allow humans to see what they’re used to seeing and keep Magicals from seeing anything but trees and bushes. But we’ve already talked about our concern around a potential connection between your ancestors and Meribah and the Flechette clan.”
The skin on my legs tingled. “I’m completely unaware of any familial connection between the Flechettes and my aunt prior to Doug and me marrying. I suppose there could have been a professional or business connection. Or maybe their real estate firm handled the sale of this property at one point? Would it help if I reached out to my cousins?” I shrugged. “What about that directory you mentioned, Tanner, the one that lists all the Magicals?”
“The directory I have lists only those living in British Columbia,” he answered, “though I could access directories for the rest of the provinces easily enough. It’s anybody’s guess how accurate they are. Also, the Flechettes are Fae, and only Fae are granted access to their Faebook.”
“Faebook?” I asked. “Is that like Facebook’s magical cousin?”
Tanner nodded. “That’s exactly what it is. Factions of the Fae who mingle more easily with humans are quite adept at altering human-designed technology and systems—such as social media platforms—to suit their needs. I’ve heard that in
