The Clumsy Clairvoyant Read online

  19

  Seven days later my life had gone from super weird to television show weird. Lucas had been over every single day. We'd been inching closer and closer to the bedroom, but at the last possible minute I'd stop myself. I wasn't sure why and every time he left I felt like grabbing a pillow and screaming into it. But there was something...something was holding me back. What it was I couldn't put my finger on.

  He would gracefully accept. Sort of. And then I would have him leave because if he stayed, the whole dance to the bedroom would start again.

  I thunked my head down on my kitchen counter, right next to the hot mug of coffee I'd just poured. What was wrong with me? Everything I wanted and I still couldn't seal the deal.

  My mother always told me to never discount my intuition. I'd always believed her and tried to always trust my gut feelings, but I wanted Lucas like a kid wanted firecrackers on the fourth of July.

  I knew he was holding back from me, though, so it made it difficult for me to take that final step.

  My cell rang and I rushed over to my purse to dig it out. I pressed the button before looking to see who it was and heard Morgana's husky voice on the other end.

  "We can do it."

  I let out a sigh of relief and felt my shoulders sink down to normal levels. "Thank goodness. Thank you so much!"

  "We will need to travel with you to set the wards. Plus we are the only ones who know where the new property is. When we get to the house, we will provide Marissa and her child with renewable glamour charms for when they need to leave their home. Our recommendation is they never turn those charms off, just in case someone spots them outside. But, if they're indoors, the warding should be strong enough to prevent prying eyes. It's never a bad thing to be overly cautious, though. The charms will have to be recharged at every full moon, but as long as Lucas continues to provide our retainer, we will travel to her instead of risking them coming back into Midnight Cove."

  "This is wonderful news."

  "Your man wishes to know why we are helping him. I can hear his thoughts about me as loudly as a freight train. Please advise him, we aren't helping him. We are helping a mom and child. Our business will conclude at such time that he does not pay us or the mother and child no longer need our assistance."

  "If there ever comes a time when he doesn't pay you, please notify Marissa first, so she has the opportunity to negotiate with you." I didn't see a scenario where that happened, but I wanted to make sure all of her bases were covered.

  "Very well. We will ensure Marissa and you are notified if Lucas ever misses a payment or cancels our services."

  "When can we go?"

  "We will leave before dawn tomorrow. Please ensure Marissa only takes what is necessary. Everything else will need to be destroyed."

  "Excuse me? Destroyed?"

  "Yes, to prevent others from coming in and tracking her. We will destroy the home she lived in and everything inside of it."

  "That seems a little bit like overkill."

  "The people who are after her are methodical and careful. This is only for her protection. Lucas is paying us handsomely to hide her."

  Marissa wasn't going to like this. "Very well. I'll talk to her."

  "We will have a van at her current location at 5 a.m. tomorrow. Make sure you've eaten and have whatever you need for the road. Expect a four hour trip and no stops."

  The phone line disconnected before I could agree with her. Maybe I needed to bring something to pee in because coffee and road trips were a terrible combination.

  I dialed Marissa's number. She picked up on the second ring. "Grace! I can't wait for tomorrow. Clint might be a bear about it. He's been sleeping in every morning, so waking him up to get him ready is going to be a nightmare."

  "Did Lucas tell you about the packing?"

  She scoffed. "Ugh. Yes. What a pain. I didn't bring much with me anyway, but I do have some things here I'm really going to want to take with me. How I'm going to sort through that I don't know."

  "It will come to you. Just know whatever doesn't go will have to be destroyed."

  "Do you think this is going to work?"

  I didn't have to think about it long. "Anything the Comey sisters get involved in will work. Possibly too well. I have a very good feeling about this, and I think you and your son will be safe as long as they're behind the scenes."

  "Finally," she said and sighed.

  "Yes. Finally." I fell silent for a moment. "What do you think you're going to do?"

  "For work?"

  "For anything. You'll need money eventually. I'm sure you'll want a social life."

  "I don't really know. I have an inheritance I dip into when I have to, but I need to withdraw it and put it in a safe place so it can't be tracked. It allows me the opportunity to stay home with my son. I'm pretty crafty and can sculpt in clay and other media. I may see if I can sell some pieces online."

  "Very cool! That will keep you busy."

  "Mmm hmm," she agreed. "Listen, I want to talk to you about something really quickly. I've known Lucas for a lot of years. He can be...a little afraid of taking the next step."

  I didn't say a word for a moment. "What are you saying?"

  "I'm saying if he pulls away, it isn't you. It's him."

  I shook my head and sighed. "I knew there was something up. He's holding back."

  "Well, he cares about you. A lot. I can tell. More than I've ever seen him care about anyone. But he's getting scared."

  "Any advice?"

  Marissa let out a soft laugh. "I know you well enough to know you go for what you want. If you want Lucas, you need to step up and fight for him. I think he loves you. But he's never fully committed to anyone. I think he's averse to anyone truly getting to know him. I managed to quite on accident and only because of my husband."

  "I'll see, Marissa."

  "Don't be stubborn about this. He's a man. And therefore nine times out of ten, he's an idiot."

  I couldn’t even laugh because it was too true. "I'll see you tomorrow."

  I hung up before she could say anything else and slumped down on my couch. Did I want someone who wasn't a hundred percent sure they wanted me? Five years ago my ego was firmly intact and I would have said absolutely not. Now? Now I was feeling my age, going on terrible dates and had zero passion with anyone except for the pain in the ass vampire who was inadvertently doing his best to make me a lunatic.

  Marissa said she thought he loved me. That was all well and good, but it still circled around to the same question. Did he love me enough or at all or even a little bit? When I thought about him, my thoughts became tangled up and confused. I managed to get heated and angry and sometimes a little bit gushy. If this was love, it was a giant pain in the ass, and I wasn't sure I wanted anything to do with it. Being alone was way easier and I didn't have to put up with anyone's opinions but my own.

  I picked up the phone again and dialed the man who was making me a combo of blissful and miserable.

  He answered on the first ring. "Grace. It's good to hear from you. I missed you."

  We just talked yesterday. This was a good sign.

  "Do you like me?" I asked.

  "Excuse me?" His voice sounded both exasperated and amused.

  "Like me. Like you want me to wake up next to you rumple headed and hungry."

  "I'm not sure if you're talking about sleeping and breakfast or sex, sleep and breakfast, but I'm on board for all of that."

  "Lucas. I'm serious. What are we doing here?"

  "Well, we're having a very odd conversation over the phone from what I can tell."

  "Yes or no?"

  A garbled laugh escaped him. "I've been trying unsuccessfully to get into your pants for weeks now. Of course I like you."

  "No. Getting into someone's pants means you like a certain aspect of them. I'm asking whether or not you think about me during the day. At night. At odd times. Do you wish I would stay instead of go? Do you think about asking me how I feel about som
ething - a choice you're going to make in your life?"

  "What's this all about?" Concern rang in his tone.

  "Are you going to answer the question?"

  "You asked me about fifteen questions!"

  "This was a mistake -"

  "Grace! I don't know where this is coming from. But the answer is yes. To all of it. Damn it. What the hell is going on? I don't know why you've been pushing me away, but I can tell."

  "You're holding something back."

  He let out a strangled growl. "Because I can tell you're holding back from me! Why would I give it all when you aren't?"

  "Oh my god," I whispered. "We're both idiots."

  "I'm coming over." He clicked off the line.

  I stared down at my attire and squeaked in embarrassment. The least I could do is make sure my pants didn't have holes in them. It was still morning time and I was in my most ratty pajamas. I raced to the bedroom and threw on a pair of skinny jeans and a long tunic. I didn't have time to put on makeup, but I did at least brush my hair. It would have to do.

  The door burst in less than five minutes later and Lucas strolled in like a predator. He was dressed in jeans and an old green t-shirt.

  "Come here," he said and crooked his finger to me.

  My heart was beating like a skittish deer. "No."

  One of his eyebrows rose. "Yes."

  I took a single step backward. "I said no."

  In a blur of movement I could barely make out, he was in front of me, his face inches from my own. His hands gently gripped my arms. "Yes." Lucas pulled me to him and kissed me breathless.

  When we finally broke apart, he rested his forehead on mine. "You're insane," he whispered.

  "That's a terrible way to get into my pants."

  He jerked back slightly. "Is that what we're doing here?"

  I stared up at his handsome face. "Shouldn't we have done that a long time ago?"

  He slung me over his shoulder like a caveman and within seconds I was in the bedroom, lying haphazard on top of the bed. "I certainly hope you're slower in other more specific aspects of your life."

  A sly grin crooked his mouth. "I guess we'll find out."

  It was hours before we finally crawled out of bed.

  My hair had never been more rumpled.

  The next morning Lucas and I were under caffeinated and wildly grumpy. We stood outside of Marissa's house waiting for her to finish making the final decisions on what she would and would not take. She was supposed to have finished all of it last night, but Lucas and I were a little too busy to check up on her. I leaned my head against his shoulder and breathed in his clean, masculine scent.

  "Are you smelling me?" he whispered in my ear.

  "Yes. Is it creepy?"

  "Mmm. A little."

  I inhaled again. "Deal with it."

  He snorted against my hair. "I'm a vampire. I'm quite used to creepy and feel I should warn you of potentially future creepy behavior. More so my brothers than me, but I am occasionally prone to bouts of rampant creepiness."

  "Umm. 'kay." I shrugged. "I guess I can deal with that."

  "Good." A white van, the kind you see in heist movies, pulled up.

  "Totally inconspicuous," Lucas said drolly.

  The van came to a stop and all of the Comey sisters spilled out like a paranormal clown car. "Speaking of creepy," I whispered.

  His shoulders shook. "We have a lot of reasons to be grateful to them, no matter how weird all of this is."

  "For sure. I just hope Marissa gets some peace."

  "She will. I have a good feeling about it."

  I sipped my coffee. "She deserves it."

  Morgana stepped forward. "Is she ready?"

  "Almost."

  She nodded. "We must hurry. The spell surrounding the property will fail at dawn. We must be on the road and out of the barriers of this town by then."

  I swallowed hard but didn't ask her why. Marissa came out of the house less than five minutes later, carrying her son, and pulling only a single suitcase behind her. She stopped on the porch and turned to look at the home she'd gone through so much in. I watched as she steeled her shoulders, turned around, and strode back down the steps. She stopped in front of Morgana.

  "I very much appreciate what you're doing for me."

  Morgana tilted her head. "You will be safe as long as you follow our instructions."

  Her sisters held open the door of the van. Marissa put her suitcase in and stepped up with the assistance of the sisters. Morgana motioned for us to join them.

  "We can't follow you?" Lucas asked.

  Amusement sparkled in her eyes. "Are you afraid of close quarters with us, Lucas Marsh?"

  I pretended not to notice his audible swallow.

  "Our van is magically warded and protected in the event of pursuit. This is the safest way. If you wish to know where she will live, your only choice is to ride with us."

  I grinned at him and stepped into the van to sit beside Marissa. For a moment I thought he wasn't going to follow, but he finally squared his shoulders and stepped in, squeezing into the tiny space beside me. A small smile quirked the side of Marissa's mouth but no one laughed out loud. Morgana offered us some tea, but we all declined. I wanted to be completely coherent for this car ride.

  "Suit yourself," she said, but I noticed she, nor any of her sisters, poured their tea from that particular thermos.

  We arrived after the longest car ride in the world. Morgana, current angel that she was, did not appear to have forgiven Lucas for his love potion purchase and spent most of the time staring at him in a way that kept goosebumps on my arms the entire ride. Marissa kept laughing about it. Lucas was pissed, and I was smacked firmly in the middle of it. I didn't think Morgana would try to murder him in the presence of both his girlfriend and friend, but I didn't know her well enough to really be sure about it.

  So once we pulled up in front of a modest, two bedroom home in the middle of a twelve acre plot of land, we practically wrestled with each other to get out of the car. Morgana froze us both in place with barely a swipe of her fingers and let Marissa go first. Morgana rolled her eyes at both of us then let us go. I ended up letting Lucas go first just so I didn't have to feel the black fingers of her magic against my skin again.

  She was crazy powerful and all I wanted to do was to get back home as soon as possible. I tried to forget the fact that we had a four hour car ride ahead of us. Again.

  Marissa strode up to the house with a look of wonder. Clint was snuggled in the crook of her arm fast asleep. She looked back at Morgana who nodded and with an encouraging smile, flicked open the door using magic. Marissa stepped in and we followed behind her.

  I was impressed. The house was old, but the bones were good. Original wooden floors were perfectly laid all through the downstairs.The kitchen cabinets had been restored and painted an antique white. The appliances were replaced with modern ones and when I opened the fridge I noticed it was stocked to the brim with eggs, milk, fruits, vegetables and everything else a young mother could need. A quick glance in the cabinets showed they were also stocked with cups and plate, pots and pans, everything necessary to make meals there.

  Marissa gasped in surprise at every new discovery and when she finished walking the downstairs, she turned to Morgana and without saying a word, handed me Clint, and pulled the witch into a crushing embrace.

  Morgana grimaced at the contact but allowed her arms to stretch around Marissa's small form. "I hope it works out for you here," she said. They stepped apart and the witch dug into her pocket, pulling out two small stones. "You'll need to carry these with you, wherever you go, and you should use them in sleep as well. Just in case. They will change your appearance and that of your child. You should be allowed to move freely around the town. Lucas is aware they need to be recharged. He has taken the cost of that upon himself. I, or one of my sisters, will return here once a month to recharge them for you."

  "I can never repay you for this," Mar
issa whispered. She looked at all of us, tears shimmering in her eyes.

  "Your child grows close to his judgment day, Marissa. If he turns loup, you must end it. For if you do not, the world will suffer."

  I looked down at the adorable sleeping baby and wondered how in the world this cute little thing could suddenly turn into a killing machine. He was still pooping himself. It seemed terribly at odds with his personality now. But what did I know about a one of a kind vampire werewolf hybrid baby? Not a thing, that's what.

  Marissa took the stones and the outstretched vial Morgana handed her. As soon as the stone was held in her hand, Marissa's appearance morphed. Her hair lengthened and turned a honey blonde. The shape of her face lengthened and changed. Her eyes darkened and her lips turned from full to rosebud. The color of her skin turned golden. I blinked in surprise.

  "Holy shit," Lucas said. "That's incredible."

  Morgana smirked at him and I knew for a fact Lucas was never going to be one of her favorites. Not even one of her least favorites. To her, he was something lower. Her lack of forgiveness hurt my heart, but all I could do was hope she eventually got to know him. The fact we were standing here showed he was made of the sterner stuff.

  Marissa waved goodbye to the witches and took the baby back from me. "I'm going to miss you terribly."

  "We can Facetime!" I offered.

  "I have no idea if I have internet out here, but we can try. At minimum we can talk on the phone."

  Clint's form morphed into a cute, blonde little boy. He was still a baby but he looked completely different. I reached over to grasp her upper arms in my hands. "You're going to be safe here."

  Her eyes glittered with unshed tears. "We will figure this out. Thank you."

  I pulled her into an embrace and stepped away before I embarrassed myself. Lucas and Marissa faced each other.

  "You kept his promise, Lucas. That's all he ever wanted. Thank you for everything you've done for me and for your generosity."

  He shrugged, an uncomfortable expression on his face. "You meant everything to him. It was the least I could do." Lucas looked out to the acres of land stretching through her property. "Sikes wanted land like this. I hope his child appreciates it as much as he would have."