Call of the Raven (35 page)

“Don’t bother, I’m not wearing any.”

“But it’s a restaurant.”

“And in the light of sounding flamboyantly
rich,” he said, “since in fact I just informed you that I’m not, I
will remind you that I
own
the restaurant.”

Asher stepped out into the hall. He pulled on
a tailored fit white jacket, just as Kennedy flung open the door to
her room. Even though her mouth was gaping wide open on verge of
some angry remark she had planned to say, she stood gawking
instead. Her eyes went to Elle and then to Asher. “Oh my God! Why
are you dressed alike?”

“Actually,” Asher crossed in front of her
into the room, “I was going to ask you that very question. I
thought you gave her the clothes intentionally.”

“No why would I do that?” She followed him in
the room. “I just grabbed stuff I didn’t want anymore. Asher! Why
would I do that?”

Asher’s response was to pretend that he
didn’t hear her. He went to where Mary sat on the floor in between
the two queen size beds. Her face was red from crying and where her
tears fell it washed away a layer of soot and smeared pizza sauce.
Asher knelt in front of her but Mary cowered away and started
crying all the harder. The fingers on his extended hand curled
inward and he didn’t seem to know what to do.

“He tends to have that effect on people,
especially children,” Kennedy said matter-of-factly exploring the
shiny, orange polish on her fingernails.

“Mary, he’s not going to hurt you,” Elle
said. The instant she said the words Mary’s cries came to an abrupt
stop. Her eyes widened and in a flash she was on her feet. She ran
around Asher and wrapped arms around Elle’s waist so tight, it took
the very breath from her lungs. Asher turned to watch them. He
seemed genuinely curious.

“Miss Ison, it is you?” Mary squealed.

“Of course it is.” Elle pushed her back at
arm’s length. “Now what’s this all about?”

“You don’t look like yourself. I kept asking
when you were gonna come to get me. I don’t like her.” Mary pointed
at Kennedy, who in turn stuck out her tongue.

“Well at least I don’t stink,” Kennedy
retorted.

“That’s enough girl,” Asher warned, “after
all she is
Grant’s
child.”

Kennedy’s eyes glassed over as she looked at
Mary. “You’re right and I’m sorry.”

Mary didn’t appear persuaded. Instead she
tightened her hold on Elle’s waist. “Mary I need to go with this
fella here,” Elle said.

At first both Kennedy and Mary looked as
though they would protest, but that was before she and Asher
apparently made them think otherwise. Asher held up his finger to
silence Kennedy, and she put a finger on Mary’s lips that silenced
her.

“Now I want you to go take a bath just like
you did for me at home. She’s right, you do stink and I told you
that I don’t like to be around you when you stink. Scrub real good,
wash and brush that crazy hair and I’ll come back to see you in a
little while.”

“Do I really have to take a bath?”

“Yes, or I won’t come back.” Bending Elle
kissed Mary on the head, and then steered her in the direction of
the bathroom. “Use plenty of soap Mary.” When Mary wasn’t looking,
Elle wiped her mouth on the back of her hand and out of the corner
of her eye, she not only noticed Asher grin, she saw that Kennedy
was observing him with a thoughtful frown.

They were in the elevator heading down to the
first floor, Asher standing as far away from her as possible,
before he looked her way.

“She looks like Grant, except for the hair.”
He wrinkled his nose. “I’m sensitive to smell.”

“So you’ve implied.” Elle kept her gaze
straight ahead. The elevator doors were mirrored and she could
clearly see his reflection. His gaze grazed over her face, but when
he noticed her watching him he quickly averted his eyes. He found
the red floor letters above the elevator doors far more
interesting. “I guess,” She said, “if the trash sets too long and
it starts to stink it will eventually get your attention.”

“Not where I live,” he snorted.

“Well, she really is a good child. I didn’t
believe her of course, but one night on the fire escape she told me
she was an ani-shift like in one of the books I read to the
children.”

“She’s a wolf just like her dad.”

“A wolf!” Elle said. Asher’s head jerked
sideways. His lips parted but he didn’t say anything. He just
studied her expression. “Mary, that sweet little girl is a
wolf
?” she asked.

“Yes, she is a grey,” he said. “Do wolves
frighten you?”

“Well, if I was to encounter one in the woods
that wanted to eat me for dinner, maybe, but I think I can handle
Mary being a wolf after dealing with Kennedy.”

“Yes,” Asher grinned. “I guess Nixon and Ari
are less intimidating, but if some mean black wolf with orange eyes
ever comes after you in the woods, I would run.”

Turning back to the mirror the grin quickly
faded from Asher’s lips. The surprise in his eyes told Elle that he
had noticed the fact he was smiling, and now that he was currently
frowning gave her the impression he wasn’t happy with himself.

“Did her mother know?” he redirected.

“No, I don’t believe so.” Elle thought of her
few conversations with Mea and substantiated with a shake of her
head. “She told me Grant was very secretive and didn’t talk about
his family much. One day she just didn’t hear from him again. She
said she started drinking shortly after that.”

“I can’t believe Grant would fall in love
with a woman that would reject his child.”

“I won’t defend Mea because I believe the
same. She should have kept Grant alive through Mary, but instead
she chose to run from her pain and pretend life didn’t happen. Is
it too much for me to ask how he died?” Asher shifted uncomfortably
so Elle turned her head so that she could clearly make him out. His
hair had dried and now fell forward in his face. He combed it back
with his fingers but stubbornly the black layers fell back in place
to conceal his expression making that task difficult. “I’m sorry I
shouldn’t have asked.” She said. “I can tell it still upsets
you.”

“Ten years and in my mind it was just
yesterday. Not one day goes by that I don’t live without regret. He
shouldn’t have fallen in love. What good did it do him? No one
benefited from it, not Mary, not her mom and definitely not me? I
was left to clean up the mess and I did a horrible job. I should
have seen to Mary a long time ago but I guess I’ve done enough
running of my own.”

“But she’s safe with you now and that’s what
counts. Once Mea returns to the apartment and learns of the fire
she will worry about Mary. What will come of her?”

“I’ll hire someone to find Mea Carter but I
haven’t decided after that.”

“Mea loved Grant. I know that much or she
wouldn’t have gone off to look for him ten years later. When she
talked about him her face came to life and her eyes sparked bright
blue.” While Elle talked Asher watched her in the mirrored. “She
sang me a song—one she said Grant often sang to her. It was an old
sixties song,” she chuckled. “At first I thought it was funny, but
then afterward I realized I was jealous. I wanted a guy to sing
like that to me.”

He gave her a halfhearted shrug. “Grant
didn’t sing,” the doors opened and Asher headed toward them, “and
neither do I.”

Chapter Twenty

The Enchanter

The Plaza was
a huge establishment
with several shops and eateries, including a coffee shop on the
bottom floor. A few years ago for Christmas Elle had spent the
entire afternoon in the lobby watching people, come and go, in
their holiday finery, carrying their presents and laughing. Julio
had gone to spend Christmas with his family, leaving her home
alone. Elle just wanted to be around people, but that was before
she got thrown out for loitering. She watched Asher as he hurried
on ahead of her.

He
owned
the building.

Something just didn’t seem right, her
following after him and both of them in their bare feet. Asher
didn’t steer her in the direction of the main dining room. Instead
he stopped before a metal service door entrance and removed a white
card from the back pocket of his jeans.

She had tried not to notice Asher, but
tracking the movement of his arm seemed like the natural thing to
do. Even in the loose fit jeans she had to admit he had a nice
backside. He put the card back and removed the jacket. Asher wasn’t
some beefy body builder, which Elle had never found attractive.
Asher had just the right amount of muscles to appear toned and fit.
The way the shirt clung to his torso she could clearly make out
some very impressive stomach muscles. The biceps were just as
equally noticeable since with each move of his arms they danced and
flexed.

The long layered hair was a problem though.
Not only did it successfully hide his face, it prevented her from
knowing at times where his gaze actually was. When he sent a
furtive glance behind him down the empty hall, she knew in her
distracted state he had caught her ogling him.

“Is there something wrong?” he asked. “I
offered you my jacket.” She felt like an idiot when she noticed
that he was holding it out to her. She didn’t even hear him make
the first offer. “Yours is dirty, so I was offering mine.”

Lowering her eyes to her jacket, Elle saw the
smudge of red and black smeared across the left side of her chest,
compliments of Mary’s grimy face. “Oh no,” she went for the zipper,
“Kennedy will kill me.”

“I can’t recall ever seeing her in the same
clothes twice so I don’t think she’s gonna care at all,” Asher
said.

Elle meant to remove the jacket so she could
examine it closer or take it to the nearest women’s restroom to
scrub clean, but before she could act at all, Asher snatched it
from her grasp. Walking across the hall, he dropped the jacket into
a trashcan. When he returned, he pulled the door open, handed her
his in passing and headed inside.

Halfway down a hall Asher came to an abrupt
stopped. Since Elle was in the process of pulling the jacket over
her shoulders and not paying attention to where she was going, she
crashed into the back of him. Instinctively she put a hand on his
hard back, and the second she did, she removed it.

“I’m sorry,” Asher didn’t turn around. He
just continued to stare at the carpet. “I meant to offer upstairs
but I couldn’t work up the nerve. I get angry when I look at the
bruises and I feel that I’m going to continue having to explain my
actions, just as now in the hall if I can’t take them away. Would
you let me take care of them?”

“The fact that you can do that is amazing,
but you didn’t cause the bruises Asher,” she said. At least now she
understood why he couldn’t look at her for very long.

“Well, you did say it was on the account of
my book, so in a sense I did.” He turned her way so fast Elle
didn’t have time to back away. At such a close proximity her eyes
were level with his chin, and that meant being up close and
personal with his lips, which made her just a little nervous.

When she started to move a step back that’s
when she became aware of the fact he was holding her by the arms.
Tightening his grip, Asher kept her in place before him. Again he
didn’t appear to be giving her much of a choice.

“Please Elle, it’s the least I can do.”

“Aren’t you afraid it will make you
uncomfortable?”

He moved his hands so that they were in front
of him and when he held them up, she saw that they were quite
visually shaking. He smiled a very boyish smile when she gasped in
surprise.

“I think that’s obvious,” he chuckled.

“You don’t have to but you may if it will
make you feel better.”

“Slide the jacket off your arms,” he inched
forward appearing pleased by her answer, “and close your eyes.”

Dropping the jacket down off her arms as she
was instructed, Elle closed her eyes. She felt him take her hand
and pull her left arm forward. She understood then that in the hall
he must have noticed the huge hand print, Julio had left behind on
the back of her arm, when she took off Kennedy’s jacket. When his
warm magic hand moved over the spot she knew that he had. Leaning
forward to check out his handiwork, the tips of Asher’s hair
brushed over her skin, and wherever the light feathery strands
touched, goose bumps formed.

“It doesn’t hurt at all,” she said.

“That would be conflicting, wouldn’t it?” he
softly answered.

She pinched her eyes even tighter when he
pulled the collar back on the tee-shirt and slid his hand over her
neck and the bite marks. She could not only feel the tension in his
touch she could hear it in his breathing. She shivered.

“Are you cold?” he breathlessly asked.

“No, not in the least bit, you’re making me
quite warm,” she uttered. “I
meant
because your hands are
warm,” she corrected herself when she felt Asher hesitate.

He let out a minty breath and moved his hand
to a place right between the V of her shirt, and then asked in a
sorrowful voice. “Why would he hit you here?”

“Not all the bruises are the results of his
fist. That one I believe was from me falling into the bathtub,
after he hit me.”

“The reason is the same, no matter how you
try to look at it, Elle. The man who hurt you is owed no
justifications or mercy.” he said. “I may not have caused them, but
if buying my book was the trigger, I do apologize. I could never
intentionally
hurt anyone.”

“The fight over the book was last week, but
that’s when things started escalating. I’ve lived with him for five
years, and he’s always been a walking time bomb, but when it gets
this bad it’s usually for a particular reason. You don’t need to
feel bad over the book, but if it’s any consolation I did throw it
at him.”