Natural Magick (17 page)

Pete had finally given up trying to tell them that she did not want the one curse she had, and certainly did not want to add to her misery. She spent the rest of the evening and nearly the new day doing things she did not know she could. And actually having fun.

“
Sire, if I could have a word with you, please? In private.”

Dominic had been dreading this conversation all evening. He was still getting used to Aaron as his master. The man who he had been a subject to before had been a horrific man, flaying vampires while still alive or staking them in the sun long enough for them to burn for the most minor of infractions. He was not sure how he was going to react to his news.

Aaron said that was fine, and asked if the study would be all right. The two of them walked to the room as if it were a guillotine and one or both of them was about to die.

“
Come, man, out with it; the anticipation is killing me.” They had been in the room five minutes with neither of them speaking. Dominic was having one argument with himself right after the other. He began unbuttoning his shirt and watching for a reaction from his master as he spoke.

“
I’ve mated with Pete, sire, as you know, and—”

“
Hold,” Aaron said, exasperation in his voice. “My name is Aaron. Not ‘sire,’ not ‘master,’ and not even ‘Mr. MacManus.’ I think I would prefer most anything to being called ‘sire.’ I’m your master, yes. But Dominic, I’m also your friend.”

Dominic lost his train of thought. He’d always referred to Aaron by his first name, but had never called him that to his face. He wasn’t sure if he could do so now, but was willing to try.

“
Thank you, Aaron. I’ll try and remember. It’s about Pete and I. We’ve mated and bonded; we’ve exchanged blood. This isn’t her fault. I bit her first, you see. I knew the story about Colin and Shade, but I still bit her. I love her. Please don’t punish her. I take full responsibility for this.” He bared his left shoulder, and there, wrapped around his bicep, was vine, and exact match to Pete’s without the flowers.

“
It started growing on me last night, I guess. I could feel it, but I didn’t know what it was. It was just itchy at first. I beg of you, master, don’t blame Pete. She had nothing to do with this.”

The silence was profound. Dominic started to fidget, and stopped. When the answer came, it was not at all what he had expected. Nothing even close to it.

“
You expect me to do what to her, Dominic? Kill her? Maim her in some hideous way? I thought that we had move beyond that, you and I. I’m disappointed. Not in you, but in myself. I should have tried harder to make you feel safe and secure here, but I’ve failed you. I’m sorry. You and your mate did nothing wrong, Dominic. Nothing, do you hear me? You love her and she you. This was fated, not planned. She is as welcome in this Kiss as any of you. Sara is excited about having another woman around. She seems to think that the two of them are already good friends. You won’t let me disappoint my mate by moving away, will you?”

Dominic kneeled before the man. He was wrong not to have trusted Aaron. He had lived for so long with tyranny that he almost missed something very important standing right in front of him. A true friend.

“
No, sire…Aaron. No, we aren’t planning to move away. I know that I have pledged myself to you before, but I do so now with my heart, not my head. Before I wanted freedom, now, sire, if you would but give me a chance, I pledge to you with my heart and I ask you for your friendship. I meant no disrespect to you. I would—”

“
Enough, Dominic! Christ. You are my friend. I welcome you into my heart, as well as my Kiss. And if you call me sire once more, I’m going to be a very unhappy vamp. Now, go be with your mate. You might need to know some of the things Pete is learning too.” The two men embraced and moved back into the living room where things were just starting to get interesting.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“
Pete, honey, please put my father back down on the floor. He’s rather old and maybe fragile.” Pete grinned at Mel. She loved upsetting Queenie. It was almost worth the stupid curse for that alone. And, not that she would tell these guys, she was having a blast learning how to control the thing.

“
Melody Keeper, I’ll have you know that I am not fragile and I would really appreciate it if one or all of you would please stop teaching her this particular trick. I no longer find it to be amusing to be lifted up in the air. Now, please put me down, dear. You have done it perfect eight times already and I don’t like being the guinea hog.”

Pete gently lowered Phillip to the floor, thinking that she should have maybe held him there just a little longer for pulling a knife at her back. Of course, if he had not have, they would not know all they knew about her now.

“
Its pig, not hog, sir. Miss Pete, err Pete taught me that one quite some time ago.”

Duncan had just entered the room with a large platter of food. Keeping the ladies of this family fed was a full time job evidently, and he and Penny seemed to love every minute of it. And they loved finding recipes off the Internet and trying make them together. Pete was glad that she had showed him out to search for them.

Daniel had joined the party sometime while Aaron and Dominic had been gone. He told her he had wanted to talk to her about the security set up she had had him put in. Just a few questions. But he seemed to be enjoying the lessons going on more. He turned to Duncan as he set down a large platter of what looked like giant hoagies.

“
How’s it hangin’ there, Dunc, my man?” Daniel always asked the man this same question every time they were saw each other.

“
Oh yes, I know this one. ‘Low and to the left, low and to the left.’ I was told to repeat it when I said it. Did I do it correctly, Miss Pete?” Duncan looked around the room that had suddenly gotten very quiet. “Did I not say it the right way?”

“
Hummm, Dunc, has Eon been hanging around you in the kitchen lately?” Pete felt she knew the answer, but wanted to be sure.

“
Why, yes, he has. A very nice young man, Master Eon. But I do believe he is not what he seems. We will need to investigate that more soon, I believe. Master Daniel, please have a few sandwiches. We have plenty.”

Duncan delivered his line and his food and exited stage left as it were. Pete burst out laughing at the stunned look on Daniel’s face.

Poor Dunc. Who would explain to him what that statement meant? Pete decided to have a little talk with Eon next time she saw him. Goodness, what if little Brent said something like that to Shade or Colin? She looked at the couple from across the room and thought they looked as if they could handle it.

The meeting with Mel happened just after they finished with the first set of the lessons. Pete and Dominic had met in of all places, a palace. Molavonta Castle Keep, the castle of the queen. The room they were lead to she’d been told was the queen’s personal chambers and few had ever been inside.

“
I wanted to tell you personally about the man in your past. Sherman, the man from your home, is...was my mate. He tried to have me step down by causing me to have a miscarriage. He is more evil than you can ever imagine.”

Pete didn’t say anything, but looked at Dominic. Something wasn’t adding up. This was not the Queenie that Pete had come to dislike.

“
He was also instrumental in the kidnapping of Shade and Brent a few months ago. Sherman planned to kill them both. Brent was a pawn. He...Brent was unharmed by Sherman, but he could have been...Sherman could have killed him too.”

“
So, this is your fault? You’re to blame for my family being as powerful as they are? Gee, Queenie, you really are an awful person, aren’t you? I mean, to know that he was doing all this and being aware of it. Well, that makes you more evil, doesn’t it?”

Pete felt Dominic trying to get her to stop, to not say those things, but Pete knew this was an important step for them both. She and the queen had had their differences, but this was personal. This was something that went beyond their boundaries as women of magic.

“
Of course I didn’t know what he was doing! Do you think I would have allowed him to continue if I had of known? Do you think if I had known he had taken that little boy, I would have let him? Do you think that I would not have put a stop to whatever involvement he has in your family’s evil? I wouldn’t have stopped it immediately.”

Magic shimmered in the air, hot and heavy. Dominic did not move. Pete stood up, walked over to the queen, and hugged her. “Yeah, I know you would have. But you didn’t know, so stop beating yourself up over it. What’s done is done. Now...now, Queenie, we kill the bastard.”

~~~

Pete had a business to run and after the meeting with Mel that had lasted until early morning, she sat down in the kitchen with the house phone and took care of a few things. She made two calls to suppliers and another to Toby, setting up a time to have the wiring and other equipment delivered to Colin’s house.

Colin had asked her last night if she could come by and set up their computer equipment and the game system. He had been impressed when he’d seen what Aaron’s system could do and wanted to get started. She told him she would do what she could, as she was limited on her movements while her family was coming for her. Then she called Mr. Mackey.

“
Hello, this is Pete Bartholomew; I’d like to leave a message for Mr. Mackey or Ms. Mackey to call me back at this number, please.”

The person who had answered was not Shelia this time, and Pete wondered what had happened to her. She thought she was a great person. Pete knew she was Mackey’s daughter and loved the fact that he’d made her work for a living.

“
Yes, Ms. Bartholomew, could you hold, please? I’ll only be a moment.”

“
Ah, sure, but I just wanted to leave a message—” She realized that as soon as she said “sure” she had been put on hold.

Duncan set a large platter of food in front of her. She looked up at him then back down at the food. She was going to weigh as much as this house if they kept this up.

“
You do know that I don’t eat this much food in a week, right? I do know when I’m hungry. And come to think of it, why are you always feeding me?”

The voice from the ear piece of the phone at Pete’s ear answered for Duncan. “If I know anything about women, it’s that they don’t eat near enough most of the time. Good morning, Ms. Bartholomew. I’m glad you called.”

Mr. Mackey himself was on the phone.

“
Mr. Mackey, I didn’t mean for her to get you. I was more than willing to leave a message for you to call at your next opportunity.” She found herself straightening up in her chair as if he could see her. She slumped back down with a frown.

“
As it so happens, this is perfect timing on your part. When can you come in to see me? The sooner the better, actually. I just need a couple of hours to set up with Shelia, if that’s okay.”

Meeting for what? she wondered, and looked over at Duncan. “Hang on a sec, let me check with someone. I have to clear a few things with the people I’m staying with.” She turned to Duncan and stared at him, hoping he could help her out. He reached out, took the phone from her, and pushed the hold button on the hand set.

“
You look a little shell-shocked, Ms. Pete. What has happened? Shall I call Master Bradley? That man on the phone, he did not threaten you, did he? Why I’ll have you know I was quite the boxer in my day.” Duncan danced around the room with his fists up and bounced on his toes like a professional. Then he smiled at her.

“
No,” Pete said with a small laugh. “It’s Mr. Mackey. He wants me to come in to see him. I do need to talk to him, but I promised Dominic that I wouldn’t leave the house without him. Dunc, I have a business to run. It’s not much, but there are people that depend on me to help them. I can’t walk away from a call because I might or might not run into trouble. I don’t want to make Dominic mad either.”

Although, if she thought about Dominic when he was mad at her the last time, she thought it just might be worth making him upset again. The last time had been so...so delicious. She squirmed in her seat. Just thinking about it got her all hot and bothered.

“
Why not take the ladies of the house with you, Miss Pete? Her ladyship and Lady Shade would love to go out, I’m sure. I believe you would be quite safe with the two of them in tow. The day nanny is here for the children and Miss Penny and I are on hand as well. There is also the matter of your clothing. Was it not pointed out that you might be running low on certain items?”

She and Dunc both colored a little at that, and yes, he was right. Dominic was a little rough on her underwear and wow, another jolt to her groin area. She pushed the hold button again before her train of thought went too far off course.

“
Mr. Mackey, I was wondering if we could meet, say, at two this afternoon? I have other business I need to attend to beforehand, and if that’s okay with you, I could meet you around then. But I don’t...hummm...as you remember, I don’t do dress up. Is that still okay?” She barely owned jeans and t-shirts much lest business attire.

“
Yes, that’s fine, fine indeed. You wear what’s most comfortable to you. I’ve been wearing ties for so long...well, it’s my new comfortable I think,” Mackey told her with a chuckle. “Two will be fine with me. I look forward to seeing you again, Pete.”

Pete was nervous now. She needed to find Sara and Shade and then convince them to spend time with her on a shopping spree. Like Pete had any idea how to go shopping at all much less on a “spree.” Pete found Sara in the nursery.