“H-hi, Mom.” I have to get out of here, stat!
“Oh, don’t mind Len and Bill. They’re harmless... but not in bed. Know what I mean?” Sabine tittered. “Of course you don’t. You can use them if you want. In fact, consider it my birthday present to you.”
“Mom. That’s okay.” Too late to leave, Kaia stepped forward to receive her mother’s hug. It felt a little too tight, but then Sabine let go and tugged her inside.
The smells of apple and cinnamon and the sunlight streaming through the many windows overlooking Puget Sound showed a bright and cheery day, raging against the terror filling Kaia from head to toe. The lycans followed, seating her and her mother at the dining table.
“There we go.” Her mother smiled at her, no hint of malice or suspicion darkening her eyes. Her white hair had been pinned up in a sophisticated twist meant to look casual, her makeup artfully applied to enhance but not overwhelm her mother’s strong, beautiful features. Sabine wore jeans and a dark purple blouse. The crystals on her necklace winked at the light streaming through the windows.
Nothing about this visit felt off or ugly, though the presence of the lycans made it impossible for Kaia to relax. “Great to see you, Mom. How was the conference?” She accepted a kiss to the cheek while a handsome young satyr took her coat and hung it up for her.
He smiled, bowed his head to Sabine, and walked away. This one not bespelled, apparently.
“I would have gotten you flowers, but they die so easily.” Sabine tapped her long nails on rare plates made of kraken bone worth three thousand dollars a place setting.
Her mother had really gone all out. On an early birthday celebration or her last meal, Kaia couldn’t say.
Sabine studied her closely. “How are you feeling? More powerful? I had thought that maybe with your father’s mage blood in you, you might be on the verge of Becoming.”
“I, ah, I’m not sure. I don’t feel any differently.”
“Well, you never know.” Her mother smiled, though the expression didn’t reach her eyes. “You could become more powerful than me.”
They both laughed, but Kaia felt overly hot and stressed out. The lycans remained in the dining area, standing against the wall like servants ready to fetch for their queen—the White Sea Witch.
She tugged at her collar.
“Are you okay, sweetie? You look a little pale.”
“I’m fine.” She studied the gloriously set dining table before her. The circular wooden table had a grand winter arrangement of flowers set back to allow room for the tower of finger sandwiches and treats, and to not crowd the small pots of tea they’d be drinking. “This looks amazing.”
Above, a chandelier cast a prism of light over the ceiling, making Kaia feel as if in a rainbow winter wonderland. One presided over by the Queen of Hearts from Lewis Carol’s Alice in Wonderland. At any moment, Kaia expected her mother to say, “Off with her head” and follow through.
Sabine nodded to the wall, and one of the lycans came over to place an assortment of treats on their plates and tea in their cups. He didn’t spill a drop.
“Thank you, Len.”
He nodded and stepped back like a robot.
Kaia wanted to leave. Despite how amazing it all looked, she had no appetite for cucumber sandwiches, macarons, and her favorite, witch’s pat—a strawberry licorice flavored dessert the consistency of marshmallow that paired well with a chocolate biscuit. Instead, she moved her food around on her plate and sipped at her tea while her mother regaled her with stories from her conference.
“So there I was, trying my best to refuse service to the drunken gremlin who didn’t need my help to attract a third wife—she was hanging on his every word, a sad little human who wanted so much to be magir that she bargained with me—when his first two knocked him over the head and dragged him and the human girl back to his suite, where his twenty-four children waited.” Sabine grinned. “Rumor has it he got his third wife pregnant despite the infertility potion his first two wives bought from me. The problem is humans are extremely compatible with gremlins.”
Kaia cringed. “Don’t gremlin females have litters of up to two dozen babies at a time?”
Sabine chuckled. “Yes, they do. But his new wife got what she asked for. And yes, she’s now knocked up with two dozen babies and probably close to death. Gremlins are small when born, but when they start fighting in utero, it takes a special kind of body to handle that kind of trauma.” Sabine’s wide smile unnerved her, all malice and greed. “I made a killing. Literally.” Her mother snorted with laughter.
Kaia had seen her mother like this a few times in her life, and it always made her more than a little uncomfortable. Especially today.
“Oh, there I go talking about myself. What about you, Kaia? Have you been having fun with my vampire?”
“What?”
Sabine relaxed, not looking so angry anymore. “I’m kidding. I had a break-in while I was gone.”
“Oh, Mom. I’m so sorry. What did they take?” Please say your computer or silver. Don’t mention lycans or a vampire.
“Some extremely valuable pieces that aren’t easily replaced. But I left my marker on them, so I’ll know when they turn up soon enough.”
Kaia waited for her mother to lower the boom, ready for accusations and shrieking and a major guilt trip, the way she’d reacted upon discovering Sean gone and Kaia left holding his bonds.
But Sabine changed the subject back to the gremlin. “That human girl knew he already had two wives, but she just had to go being number three, or rather, number one.” Sabine huffed. “And she wanted him for his money too. Gerhavlin-Staz might be the richest gremlin in Washington, but child support for his nearly two dozen children is going to cost him. His wives are suing for divorce and incompatibility with their husband.” She leaned closer and mock whispered, “I gave them that advice for free. But you know what’s even better?”
“No, what?” Kaia asked weakly.
“The infertility potion they gave him tampers with his genetic code enough that any children he has with the human wife will be little monsters. I mean, more than they already are. We’re talking mini mutants not likely to bond with mother or father.”
“Wait. So you helped the husband ruin his marriage with his first two wives and made sure his human wife will have two dozen monster babies?”
“Sadly, he’ll probably eat them when they’re born. Instincts, you know.”
“That’s horrible.”
Sabine waited a moment before she laughed and laughed. “Oh my gosh. If you could see your face. I’m kidding.”
“Oh, good.” For a moment there, Kaia had thought her mother really might be a horrible person. Well, more horrible than she already was.
“They won’t be monsters, and she will only have one baby unless she has twins.”
“Geez, you almost gave me a heart attack.”
Sabine’s eyes narrowed in thought. “He probably won’t eat them until they hit puberty. With any luck, the human girl will have left by then after cleaning out all his money. She was pretty shifty.” Her mom winked. “You’re so gullible. Honestly, Kaia, I’m a sea witch. We make deals for souls and magic. It’s what we do.” She tittered, and Kaia swore she saw something nasty in her mother’s expression directed at her. But then Sabine blinked, and Kaia saw nothing but motherly affection.