Motor City Fae (16 page)

“Nice people. Frank Jameson is a retired pipe-fitter and Ruth taught first grade for many years. Your mother was the youngest of three, so they do have other grandchildren and I believe, great-grandchildren. But they never gave up hope that one day you’d be found.”

“I have aunts, uncles and more cousins, too.” Her smile was dreamy. “And they’re here, in Detroit?”

“Windsor, actually,” Aidan replied. “Apparently when Linda went into hiding, she didn’t stray far, but she did have the good sense to muddy the waters by crossing the international border.”

“I keep getting the feeling that she knew she was going to die.” Meagan sighed. Ric and Aidan exchanged a look.

Who was going to tell her this part?

“She probably did,” Aidan finally admitted, with a glare at Ric. “It’s a ritual called life-bonding. Once their life forces were tied together, neither could survive without the other for long. Her pregnancy would have been the only reason she survived as long as she did.”

“O-o-o-kay.” Meagan’s brow furrowed and she gave her curls a shake. She looked like she was thinking about that topic a lot harder than Ric really wanted her to, so he decided it was time to change the subject.

“We can get back to that later. Right now I have another idea I wanted to discuss. I think Meagan should take the painting I bought and present it to Llyris as a gift when she arrives at court.”

“But that’s yours,” Meagan demurred. “You paid for it and everything!”

Aidan was nodding thoughtfully. “Yes, but Her Majesty really likes presents,” he agreed. “Artistic talent is highly valued among the Fae. The fact that your paintings represent the faerie realm will make them even more popular, especially among those who spend time here and will enjoy the reminders of home.”

“But that one belongs to Ric,” she insisted, eyes narrowed, chin thrust out. The foot started tapping again and Ric knew he was sunk. “If you want one for Llyris, we’ll get her a different one. It’s not like I don’t have plenty of others.”

“I can go back to your house, collect whichever one you’d like me to bring.”

“Can’t you—you know?” She snapped her fingers in the air. “Poof it here?”

He squeezed his eyes together. More explanations.

“Not really. It’s not always a perfect translation. Molecular rearrangement, or something. It’s fine for coffee, or clothing, but not so good for works of art.

There’s a reason I never blink my guitars.”

“Or electronics,” Aidan added. “My MP3 player never worked quite right again after the first time Fianna tried it.”

“Well, if we’re going out, we might as well pick up one from the gallery instead of my house. Those are already framed and matted and everything. That should make an even better gift.”

They tried, of course, to talk her out of it. Tried to tell her it was dangerous, that Ric could handle the errand alone. Meagan stood her ground and a few minutes later they all stood to leave.

“The djinn representatives are going to be most displeased, my lord.” Fianna sat stiffly beside her desk, her lips pursed when Aidan stopped to tell her he was leaving. Ric rolled his eyes at Meagan, as if to say that he’d enjoy watching Aidan take her down a peg.

“The djinn representatives understand the mechanics of deal-making,” Aidan replied. “But they have been patient. Move my meeting with them up an hour and start clearing the rest of the guests out. I want to be able to break free and be Underhill by five.” He smiled at Meagan. “I want to see the queen’s face when you hand her that painting.”

Fianna shot a disgusted glare at Meagan before replying primly. “As you wish, my lord.”

“It’s
Mister
Greene, Fianna,” Aidan shook his head ruefully as he walked Ric and Meagan to the door. “She’s a fantastic secretary, but it’s going to take years to train her to behave in this realm,” he grumbled.

Elise Sutton wasn’t what Ric had been expecting.

That the gallery owner was on-site on a Sunday afternoon was surprising but not as surprising as realizing that Meagan’s friend and patron was a part-blood herself, and unless Ric missed his guess, also a very powerful witch.

Elise’s dark eyes narrowed as she studied Ric, much as she might examine a particularly repulsive piece of art brought to her attention. He saw the spark of recognition when she realized what he was. Then Elise’s attention turned back to Meagan and her jaw dropped. All her veneer of sophistication was lost for a brief but telling moment. Elise hadn’t had any idea that Meagan was half-

Fae. Now she did.

“Elise, I’d like you to meet Ric Thornhill. Ric, Elise is the genius who figured out how to sell my work.”

“Delighted.” Ric held out a hand and waited to see if she’d take it. Swallowing hard, she did, for about half a second, but she didn’t look any too pleased.

“I’m going to be out of town for a few days,” Meagan told her friend. “Contact Jase if you need anything, I guess.”

“Actually, she can get a message to you through Aidan, if necessary,” Ric reminded her. He pulled a business card for Underhill, Inc. out of his pocket and handed it to Elise.

“He’s my cousin, believe it or not,” Meagan added with a weird smile. “It’s such a long story, but apparently I’m a long-lost heiress. I have to fly out to California to sort out all the legal details.”

“Cell phones work in California,” Elise replied dryly.

She stuffed the card into a pocket and shot Ric a hard, knowing look. “Underhill…Inc., huh?”

“Exactly.”

“Meagan, could you do me a favor? A new sculpture came in this morning and I’d appreciate your input on the display.” She pointed through an open archway into the next room of the gallery.

Meagan snickered but shrugged when Ric nodded his approval. Meagan would be out of earshot, but not out of his line of vision. “I promise, Mom, he’ll have me home by curfew,” she called over her shoulder as she slipped off toward the niche.

“What have you done to her?” Sutton’s whisper was low and vicious.

“Removed the best damn blocking spell I’ve ever seen,” he whispered back, mindful that Meagan’s hearing was now enhanced like his own. His eyes never left her adorably swaying butt. “What you see now is all Meagan, believe me. And she
is
Aidan Greene’s cousin and a missing heiress.”

“But not in California, right?”

“Exactly.” Who the hell was she and how much did she know? Ric was going to have a serious talk with Aidan. “She’s got to make an appearance at court. She’ll be back in Detroit soon enough.”

“She’d better be.” The black eyes had narrowed to slits, but widened again in a smile when Meagan came back with a comment about light and placement. Apparently Elise really did trust Meagan’s judgment, because Elise nodded thoughtfully.

“You’re right, as usual. I knew there was something I needed to fix, but I couldn’t get a grasp of what. I’ll have Fred move it first thing in the morning.” She stuck her hand into the neckline of her ivory linen shirt and came up with a smooth green stone on a black silk cord, which she pulled off over her head and looped over Meagan’s.

“This is malachite. It’s for protection. Keep it on you, next to your skin
at all times
and don’t trust anyone you meet there. If you’re in trouble, hold it in your hand and concentrate. Help should be forthcoming.” She leaned over and kissed Meagan on the cheek. “Be careful.” With a withering glare at Ric, she turned and stalked off on her black stiletto boots.

“O-o-o-kay.” Meagan watched her friend’s retreating back with a look of stark confusion.

“She’s an interesting individual. I wonder why Aidan didn’t mention her.”

“Why would he?” Meagan turned on him. “And what the heck was that all about, anyway?”

Ric grinned. There were others within possible earshot, so he leaned down and whispered. “Well, sweetheart, for some reason, your witchy friend seems to have a thing against elves.”

“Ha ha. And she’s not a witch. She’s really nice.

Normally.”

Ric laid a hand at the small of her back and guided her toward a deserted corner. He stood, pretending to observe a starkly modern painting and whispered. “Not bitchy, witchy. As in practitioner of the magical arts. And unless I miss my guess, your friend isn’t just any witch, but a
Wyndewin
witch. That means she’s a member of a powerful clan of witches and wizards. She has the gift of recognizing the races and she knows about Underhill. She was surprised to see you without your blocking spell in place.” And she’d gone pale beneath her golden skin tone when Ric had mentioned Aidan Greene.

But she’d given Meagan a powerful gift. He toyed with the amulet, studied the Asian character etched into the polished stone, awed by the strength of the protective magic it radiated. Meagan’s witch friend meant business.

Meagan shifted restlessly, drawing Ric’s attention. “I didn’t even tell her that we were here to steal back a painting.” She tugged on his hand. “Come on. We need to go pick one out.”

She took his hand and tugged him to an alcove with a soft Aubusson carpet cushioning the white marble floor.

Vases of roses stood in the corners, while diffuse light and moss-green velvet drapery highlighted the soft, rich colors and dreamlike quality of six of Meagan’s landscapes.

Like the others he’d seen at Meagan’s home, they were all so strikingly lovely that the viewer longed to be pulled right inside the picture. As much as Ric preferred spending his time in the human realm, he had to fight a surge of homesickness while gazing at the scenes before him.

“Well?” Meagan elbowed him in the ribs.

He shook his head, searching for words. Finally he settled on the only one that seemed to fit. “Magnificent.”

“Are they all…you know?”

“Underhill? Yes. I’ve been there.” He pointed to the third painting, a wooded glen centered on a tilted sandstone obelisk. Delicate wildflowers dotted the foreground and a tiny stream meandered across a back corner. “It’s an ancient portal in Cornwall. The others are vaguely familiar, but not locations I recognize. I suppose you’d be upset if I bought all of them.”

“It would feel awfully weird,” she agreed. “Besides, we need one for the queen.”

“How about the other five? I don’t know why it would feel weird.” Though he did, sort of. But she was so much fun to tease. “You said you have all my CDs.”

Meagan giggled and clapped her hand over her mouth as the sound echoed off the marble walls. “It’s not the same. I only paid twelve bucks apiece for the CDs, you idiot.”

“And if I don’t buy them, Aidan probably will. I’m really surprised that he hasn’t already discovered this place. Part of his job as regional guardian is to keep track of magic users in the area.”

“Oooh, looks like Big Brother missed one.” Meagan smiled in the way that made something in the vicinity of his stomach twist into knots.

“Or something,” Ric agreed, still entranced by the artwork.

“I should
give
one to Aidan,” she murmured. “He’s spent so much time and money trying to find me, after all. Which one do you think he’d like best?”

“Any of them. But the oak tree would be the most symbolic. For the queen, I think that one.” The waterfall with a Romanesque folly in the background was the most regal and grand of the lot.

“Good call.” She nodded cheerfully and squeezed his hand before disengaging from him. “Wait here!” She bounded away. He followed at a distance and planted himself in the corridor outside Elise’s office. It allowed her a bit of privacy to talk to her friend, but no one would be able to get past to hurt her.

“You sure you know what you’re doing?” Elise looked less than pleased as she marked off the invoices on the three paintings Meagan had specified. A staff member had been directed out to the gallery to remove and wrap them and replace them from the supply Elise kept in storage.

She’d waved off Meagan’s offer to pay for the frames, saying they’d deal with it later. “You know what he is, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but one of these days, you’re gonna have to explain how
you
do,” Meagan returned. “It’s weird, having family again all of a sudden and even weirder knowing there are people out there who want me…out of the way, but, oh God, Elise, it’s also the most exciting thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“If you’re sure you want to do this, you have to promise me you’ll be careful. Their politics, their values, they’re not what you’re used to. Human life doesn’t mean a lot to them.”

“What happened to you, Elise?” Meagan had never seen her friend this intense about anything other than a sale. Or her daughter. When it came to Adina, Elise could be downright draconic.

Elise shook her head, her dark hair swinging above her shoulders. “We’ll talk about it another time. Be careful and keep the amulet on at all times, okay? And, Meagan?”

“What?”

“Aidan Greene isn’t always a nice man, but he is honorable. If it comes down to it, you can probably trust him to keep you safe.”

“You know my cousin?” This kept getting weirder.

Elise nodded, her lips still drawn in that grim, white line. “So it seems. Destiny can be an outright bitch sometimes, but she sure has a twisted sense of humor.”

“O-o-o-kayyyy.” Meagan sensed she wasn’t going to get any more information out of her friend and she knew that she and Ric really did need to be on their way. “Look in on Jase for me, will you? Make sure he eats now and again?”

“Don’t worry, mama bird, your chick will be fine.”

Elise leaned forward and kissed Meagan on the cheek, a rare gesture of emotion from the normally stoic businesswoman. “Get me a message if you need anything.”

“Thanks.” Meagan blinked back a tear. She was still puzzling over Elise’s odd behavior when she met Ric at the door with three large packages in his arms. He didn’t say a word until they were in the Jag with the paintings lodged carefully in the back seat and the top up to protect the cargo.

“Three?”

She shrugged. “You said you have an apartment in San Francisco and a place at the court. With the one you bought the other day, now you can keep one in each place.” And have something to remember her by when he moved on, she thought sadly. For herself, she could already envision long nights spent listening to Ric’s music and reminiscing about their time together.