She did, sweet thing, and I couldn’t resist
kissing her. A tender, brief brush of lips. I ended it before we
both got carried away.
“Lovely,” she said.
I presumed she meant the kiss.
We walked back to the truck. I asked Astrid
if she wanted to drive, but she shook her head.
“Are you hungry?” I said. “We could stop
somewhere for lunch or we can make something at home.”
“Let’s go home. By the way, I’ll need to do
something with my house.”
“Drew and Alec are coming with a truck to
take your belongings to Red Cliffs. We’ll buy the house back,” I
said, and anticipating her next question, offered the explanation.
“You bought it through Millennium Property, remember? Well, real
estate and land development is our family business. We sell and buy
all around the world.”
Her laugh filled up the truck cabin. “So
we’re not going to live on your Government pension once you
retire?” She tilted her head and, narrowing her eyes into two blue
slits, made her own deduction. “You are rich, Jack Canagan, aren’t
you? A government salary wouldn’t allow you to drive an insanely
expensive Bentley.”
I laughed. “Well, I could’ve rented it to
impress you, couldn’t I?”
“But you didn’t.”
“No. I am rich.
“Awfully or reasonably?”
“Reasonably. Does it change anything?”
“Of course not. It’d be just fine even if you
weren’t, because I’m rich as a troll.”
I knew she was. Most Langaer were rich. Our
long lives provided us with plenty of time to accumulate wealth.
But wizards, the richest among us, were above the vanity of the
material world. And Astrid was no exception.
“You probably think now that I could’ve
afforded a bigger house,” she said.
“And you’d say that it was big enough for
you.”
“How many bedrooms can you sleep in at the
same time? Besides, this house wasn’t cheap at all, you know.”
“You could’ve bought a better car, though.
Rosenthal is a rich town. Your Honda stands out here more than my
Bentley, which is, by the way, my first expensive car in a long
time. My previous car was no fancier than your dented Honda.”
“It’s barely a scratch. You know, I thought
about it. It’s okay for Tristan to drive his fancy Mercedes, he’s
the CEO, but a young, unknown surgeon wouldn’t live in a mansion
and drive a luxury car. Wouldn’t be logical.”
I smiled and turned to her. “You’re going to
have a little bit bigger house soon, you know. And your Honda isn’t
coming with us.”
“We’ll see about that. I’m emotionally
attached to my car… So you have a big house?”
“Bigger than your present dwelling for
sure.”
“May I have my own bathroom?”
“Sure, we’ll have one made just for you. Let
me guess, in pink?”
“No, in aquamarine and beige. May I have a
cat? Is it possible? Can cats live side by side with latent
wolves?”
I laughed. “Of course you can have a cat.
Just don’t shape-shift in her presence.”
“You know, I’ve never had a cat,” she said
and inched closer to me. She placed her hand over mine. “We’ve
talked enough about me. Now tell me about your mother, your father,
Eamon and Maggie, about James and your relationship, about your
friends, about things you like to do, and places you like to go,
and where you learned to cook.”
“Hold on, Astrid! What was your first
question?”
“START FROM the end,” I said. “Where did you
learn how to cook?”
We were close to home. We approached the
first clusters of houses on the east side.
“Do we need to buy anything?” Jack asked.
“Are we going home, or do you need to go to the hospital?”
“I’ll just stop by. Five minutes. You have
enough time for my first question. I’m listening.”
“In Paris. A few years ago. I had, well, some
personal issues to deal with and an excess of time. I like food, as
you can see, so I ended up at Le Cordon Bleu.” He turned to me.
“I’ve always thought, what if I find a wife who doesn’t like to
cook? I knew it would come in handy, sooner or later.”
His voice was light and he smiled, but now I
regretted asking him about cooking. His pseudo-casual tone when
he’d mentioned
personal issues
and a knot in my stomach that
followed it told me I shouldn’t have let my curiosity get the
better of me.
“Are you coming with me, or do you want to
wait in the truck?” I asked as we approached the hospital.
“I’ll be at the reception area. Don’t be
long.”
I came back ten minutes later. We returned
the truck to the rental lot, picked up Jack’s car, and drove
home.
After that clumsy start with Paris, Le Cordon
Bleu and related topics that I didn’t want to know about, I was
looking for an undisturbed evening with Jack, eager to know more
about him, without any more details about the
personal
issues
.
Unfortunately, that kind of bonding wasn’t
about to happen tonight.
As we turned the corner to enter my back
alley, Jack looked at me with a strange expression on his face: a
mixture of annoyance, anger, amusement and surprise. “You told me
there was no boyfriend to be worried about.”
I was puzzled. “What are you talking
about?”
“There’s a young man in your living room, a
wizard. Liv’s with him. Since he’s still alive and quite chatty, I
can safely conclude he doesn’t mean you any harm.”
As soon as I stepped out of the car and
sniffed the air I was able to identify my visitor. How he’d found
me was beyond my comprehension, but he certainly didn’t present any
danger.
Ingmar Mortensen wasn’t that kind of
ex-boyfriend.
THE DOOR swung open before I touched the
doorknob. “Astrid, you have a visitor. Hi, Jack.”
“Hi, Ingmar.” I smiled, still confused, but
happy to see him.
A wide grin spread across Ingmar’s face. “Hi,
Astrid.”
Four of us stood in my tiny hallway. Only Liv
looked composed, save for the arched eyebrows and tiny, crooked
smile. Ingmar stood one step behind Liv. It crossed my mind that
she was keeping him at a safe distance from Jack.
I found myself slightly behind Jack. In fact,
I was sure he’d pushed me behind, placing himself between his mate
and a potential threat. Just in case.
In that small space, Jack’s physical presence
was overwhelming, even more so because of his flagrant display of
possessiveness: as I tried to step forward, Jack blocked me with
his left arm, holding me behind him.
If I hadn’t known that he was acting upon his
deepest instinct, as well as his attraction to me, I’d have found
the whole situation irritating. If anybody else had acted so
possessively, I would’ve been mad as hell. But I was neither angry
nor annoyed. Instead of being infuriated, I swelled with a deep
pleasure.
I was the most precious person in Jack’s life
and an unknown individual close to me was a potential threat until
proven otherwise.
When she was sure that Jack wouldn’t attack,
Liv suggested moving to the living room. I made formal
introductions, but neither man made an attempt to shake hands. They
just nodded to each other.
We all stood around the coffee table in my
living room. It looked as if Jack and Liv flanked Ingmar from each
side. Ingmar’s eyes were on me, Jack’s on Ingmar’s, and Liv’s,
amused and alert, moved from one man to another.
I broke the silence. “What are you doing
here? How did you find me?”
“Well, after you and I...” He glanced at Jack
and then back at me. I gave him a tiny nod, and he continued.
“After we broke up, you just disappeared. I phoned you, but you
didn’t return my calls. I knew you were mad at me, so I decided to
give you some time to cool down, but when I came to see you after a
few weeks, I couldn’t find you.
“Ella told me you went to New York with
Arnaldur, which was strange because Ella was in Seattle, and I know
she and Arnaldur are rarely apart. Besides,” he said with a smile,
“she is a terrible liar. I was about to leave for East Africa with
Doctors without Borders for a six month assignment. You know how
long I wanted it. In short, in spite of dropping on my knees in
front of your grandmother and begging her to tell me where you
were, confessing all my sins along the way, she only told me you
were fine and that you’d contact me when you were ready.” He
shrugged. “I wasn’t sure you were going to be ready any time soon,
so I phoned Ella every week.”
“I knew you did,” I said softly. Ingmar
wouldn’t give up easily. Not only because we had been in a
relationship for a year or so, but also because we’d been best
friends since childhood.
“I screwed up big time, didn’t I?” he said
quietly. “I’m so sorry, Astrid.”
I walked around the table and, ignoring
Jack’s warning looks, stood closer to Ingmar. “Nah. I should have
told you long ago who I am. I’m sorry I didn’t. I’ve missed you,
you know.”
“Oh, God, I’ve missed you, Astrid.”
Jack looked ready to attack.
“I’ll make coffee,” I said and strode to the
kitchen, confident Liv could handle the surplus of testosterone, if
necessary. “You realized I’m in hiding, didn’t you?” I said over my
shoulder. “If you were able to track me down so easily, then
something is wrong with my cover.”
“Who are you hiding from, Astrid? What are
you doing here, in the back of beyond?” Ingmar’s loud voice reached
me from the living room.
“I’ll tell you in a bit, but first you tell
me how you found me,” I repeated my question, aware of the tension
in the living room.
“It was a coincidence,” Ingmar said. “A
patient of yours, from here, ended up in my office. The boy with
the open fracture, skiing accident, remember? Almost a year
ago?”
“I remember. And I also remember I did an
excellent job. How did he become your patient? What happened to
him?”
“Snowboarding this time. The family moved to
Seattle. He went snowboarding, broke his clavicle. The parents told
me about a doctor who’d fixed his tibia so well that he’d healed in
no time. I checked his leg and recognized your work,
Dr.
Duplant
.”
I returned to the living room with the coffee
tray in my hands. When I offered a cup to Jack, he shook his head
and, pinching the bridge of his nose, let out a sharp sigh.
“You two probably want some time to talk,” he
said. “Liv, let’s go to that café around the corner. I’ll buy you a
cappuccino.” Placing his hands on my shoulders and lowering his
head, he kissed me gently. “You going to be okay, baby?”
I nodded, stunned. I knew how much it cost
Jack to leave me there with an unknown man. It was against the same
instincts that had almost made him jump on Ingmar a few minutes
ago. With his noble gesture he told me he trusted me completely
after such a short time knowing me. He showed that I and my needs
were more important to him than anything else.
“Thank you, Jack.”
I love you
.
“WHOA! THAT was impressive,” Ingmar said as
the door closed after Jack and Liv. “Are you living with that guy?
He’s a werewolf, isn’t he?”
The natural tone of Ingmar’s question was a
clear sign that he’d overcome his discomfort and uneasiness when it
came to werewolves.
“Jack’s my Uncle James’ stepson. He came to
stay with me during my next change, and then we are going together
to Red Cliffs. We’re bond mates. Do you know what that is?”
“I know. When you left, I felt so bad that I
really made an effort to educate myself about werewolves... Wow,
bond mates! What’s it like?”
“Like you are in a permanent state of
euphoria. It’s great. It could be bad, though, if you don’t know
what to do with it, I suppose.”
Ingmar smiled. “I envy you.” His expression
sobered as his light blue eyes found mine. “I reacted like a
first-class jerk when you told me you were a werewolf.”
I laughed. “I gave you a nasty shock, didn’t
I?”
“It was a shock, but it shouldn’t have been
nasty. I’m so sorry, Astrid.”
“It’s okay, Ingmar. Back then, I wasn’t very
happy about it either.”
My thoughts drifted back to the day when I’d
told Ingmar about my monthly transformation. I had been simply
tired of making excuses to secure a few days alone every month. I
remembered his utmost shock mixed with disbelief and rejection, and
the immediate shame that followed because he had allowed himself to
show such low feelings. I’d felt hurt and betrayed, and didn’t give
him a chance to deal with the fact that his girlfriend had to spend
one day every month in her alternative shape. I’d been too harsh,
of course, and acted impulsively; but Ingmar’s negative reaction,
in the end, had had a positive outcome: I’d finally come to terms
with my identity.
His little betrayal had been long
forgiven.
“You are an Ellida, aren’t you?” Ingmar said
more in the form of a statement than a question.
I was pleased. “So you really did your
homework, didn’t you?”
“At first, I wasn’t sure what to think. I
thought you were hurt and angry, and that’s why you disappeared.
But then I started thinking. It was so unlike you to do that. I
couldn’t get anything from your grandparents, except that you were
fine. I couldn’t find you anywhere. Then that boy came to me with
his fractured clavicle, and started talking about how an ER doctor
had fixed his leg, and how he was able to walk again within days.
When he described you, I didn’t have any doubt. I had to know why
you came here. Astrid, are you hiding? Are you in danger? Is that
why Jack is here?”
“Yes, sort of. You met my friend Liv.
She’s—”
“A Tel-Urugh. I know.”
“She told you that?” I exclaimed,
surprised.
“No, but it wasn’t hard to figure it out. The
moment I parked in front of your house, she was sitting beside me
in my car. Scared the hell out of me. The next thing I remembered,
we were sitting here and talking. Actually, she was asking
questions and I was answering, like a pupil in front of a teacher.
She’s your guard, isn’t she?”