Night Terrors (Sarah Beauhall Book 4) (27 page)

I went back to our room, grabbed a box from the floor of the closet and traipsed back into the bathroom. I rummaged around in the box and pulled out my hair clippers. I knew one thing I could fix.

As I ran the clippers along the sides of my head, up and around the ears and across the back, I dropped long strands into the sink. I felt a bit of pain and uncertainty being stripped away with each pass.

I collected all the hair, dumped it in the trashcan and stripped, climbing into the shower. I loved the way my scalp felt as I rubbed shampoo into the hair that remained. Not a Mohawk, but high and tight on the sides and longer on the top. Just like I liked it.

With one towel around my girly parts, and another wrapped around my head, I lugged my stinky work clothes to our room and changed into clean jeans, my favorite Johnny Cash T-shirt—the one with him flipping off the camera—and looked at myself in the floor length mirror on the back of the door.

Not too bad. At least I recognized myself. Been too damn long

Forty-one

Dinner was great. When I walked into the dining room, I got a standing ovation. Jai Li led the way, hooting and clapping. Edith was a little more old school, so she gave me a sideways glance, her eyebrows lost in her hairline. But Mary and Julie cheered.

“About time,” Julie said, hugging me.

Jai Li jumped into my arms and ran her small hands over the shaved parts of my scalp.

Very nice
, she signed.

Mary got us all settled down, and Jai Li seated us all by her own choice. I sat on her left, and she left an empty chair to her right. “For Katie?” I asked.

She nodded, her face so serious. I bent down and kissed her on the top of the head.

Mary sat at the end closest to the window, and Edith on the end closest to the kitchen. Julie had the far side of the table all to herself. There were name tags, homemade place mats, and cloth napkins folded like swans. It was all very elegant. Edith, Julie, and Mary had wine, while Jai Li and I had sparkling cider.

We had like five gallons of tomato soup, two huge platters of grilled cheese sandwiches, and some kind of fruit salad that looked to be three parts whipped cream and one part fruit cocktail. I ate extra helpings of everything and made a lot of noise about just how delicious everything was.

Jai Li was tickled beyond belief. She beamed with pride as she stood on her chair to serve us all a third helping of soup. I was near to busting by the time everyone else gave in. Great comfort food.

As we cleared away things, we shooed Jai Li and Edith into the living room. They cooked, we cleaned. They loved it and went in to play cribbage while we danced round the kitchen to some new boot-scooting tunes that Mary favored. I love all kinds of music, but I was afraid that they were swaying Jai Li a little too far into the whole Country & Western scene. Time for a little Black Sabbath cleansing. I considered playing her some thrash metal, but I wasn’t worried about the lyrics just yet.

Mary, Julie, and Edith were settling down for a quiet evening when I decided we needed ice cream. Jai Li made no objections, just grabbed a sweater and ran to the door. I smiled, seeing her so excited.

No one wanted more food, but I wanted the ride. We piled in the truck, got the girl buckled in, and headed down to the corner store. Of course it was several miles down the road to the nearest town, so we got a good long dose of Black Sabbath. On the way home I switched it up to Iron Maiden. Turns out she really liked
The Prisoner
. Who knew?

When we got back, there was a small white BMW in the yard in front of the house. I kept Jai Li in the truck, making her lock the doors. I had the keys just in case. I walked up to the porch and saw a squat woman in a charcoal gray suit jacket with matching skirt and shoes that I bet cost more than I made in a month standing in the kitchen. Mary leaned against the counter. Julie stood in the hallway, her arms crossed and her boss face on. Edith was nowhere to be seen.

I opened the door and stepped through the short hall and into the kitchen. By the time I’d entered, everyone was facing me. No one was smiling.

The newcomer looked me up and down, smirked, and handed me an envelope.

“You’ve been summoned,” she said, gathering up her briefcase and walking passed me to the hall. I turned, following her.

“What? Who are you?”

She waved at me over her head. “Read the card.”

She opened the door and let herself out. I followed her onto the porch, making sure she got into her car and didn’t go near the truck. Once she’d pulled around and was heading down the long drive toward the gate, I pulled Jai Li out of the truck, retrieved the ice cream, and hustled us back into the house.

“How long has she been here?” I asked, while Jai Li dug in the cabinets for bowls.

“She got here about three minutes after you left,” Julie said, obviously perturbed. “Wouldn’t say anything, said she had to hand you that thing directly.”

She pointed to the envelope I’d laid on the dining room table. Edith walked out of the back and started digging spoons out of the drawer.

“Guess I’d better open it, huh?” I asked, pulling a butter knife out of the dish drainer and slitting the envelope.

It was white card with gold embossed lettering.

“I’ll be damned,” I said, passing it over to Julie who looked a little stunned. “Jai Li and I are being summoned to Nidhogg’s place, tomorrow for brunch.”

Mary snorted. “All that for brunch?”

Jai Li set the bowls on the table and clapped, jumping up and down.

“I guess you want to go?” I asked, the answer obvious.

She just nodded and took the ice cream scoop from Edith.

“I guess when you’re the mightiest dragon of them all, and that old, you like to do things a certain way.” I took a bowl of chocolate and slid down on a chair, grabbing a spoon from the pile in the middle of the table. “Glad I just fixed my hair.”

Everyone laughed. How utterly bizarre.

By the time Jai Li finally succumbed to the food coma and was brushing her teeth half-heartedly, everyone else was ready for bed.

“I’ll iron her dress,” Edith said, patting me on the shoulder. “You may want to consider something a little more dressy than your usually fare.”

“I know just the T-shirt to wear,” I said, smiling at her.

She shook her head and went off to her room. I got Jai Li tucked into bed and read to her from our current book,
The Black Stallion
. Once she’d drifted off, I slipped into my jammies and crawled into bed.

The invitation to Nidhogg’s place didn’t offer a chance to refuse. Oh, I guess I could’ve risked pissing her off, but the invitation was only for brunch, and I’d been over there enough not to worry. But Jai Li hadn’t been back since her exile. What did this mean? Was Nidhogg rescinding our fostering of Jai Li. I think Qindra would’ve warned me if that were the case. Besides the girl was very excited at the prospect of returning to the only other home she’d ever known. How could I tell her no? Those other kids, the rest of the staff at Casa del Dragon, were her family, had known her way longer than Katie and I had.

When I came out into the kitchen the next morning, Jai Li was working on her math packet while Edith was slicing apples.

“Something light,” she said, placing the plate in the middle of the table and nudging Jai Li with her elbow. Jai Li grinned, snagged a slice, and went back to her math. She really understood what she was doing so far. At the pace she was learning math, we’d have to get her a tutor soon. I was an English major for a reason. When the girl started getting into calculus I was screwed.

All morning Edith was cautious, talking to Jai Li in fast sign language, expressing her frustration. I have no idea how she’d picked that up so damn quickly, but they were like two peas in a pod.

By ten-thirty, we were ready to roll. There really wasn’t anything else for us to do. Edith was not the happiest, but she eventually caved.

Stay safe,
Edith signed.

Jai Li smiled, lunged forward, and hugged the old woman. That was the final straw. Tears filled Edith’s eyes, and she hugged the girl back.

After a moment, Jai Li pulled back, placed her small hand on Edith’s face, and kissed her on the nose.

Edith laughed and hugged Jai Li again, standing with the girl in her arms, spinning around once, then setting her down. Jai Li giggled and turned, racing down toward our room to get some things.

Edith straightened and turned to face me.

“If you let that bitch hurt our girl here,” she said, her voice as quiet and deadly as any I’d ever heard in my life. “I will hold you personally responsible.”

Anger flared for a moment, but then faded. “We all love her,” I said. “I’ll protect her.”

She nodded once, then went into the kitchen. “You must take a gift,” she called. “I will put something together. It is only polite.”

Mary and Julie had been actively ignoring us up until that moment. “I’ll help Edith,” Mary said, setting her knitting aside and scuttling out of the room.

Julie put down the book she was reading and smiled at me. “I trust you,” she said. “This just makes us nervous as hell.”

I nodded. “I know. I’m a bit nervous as well.” I sat on the couch with my hands on my knees. “But I talked with Qindra. It is truly just lunch. Things are changing with Nidhogg. This may be a good chance for us to figure out exactly what. You’ve seen the affect Jai Li has on people.” I glanced to the kitchen.

“Oh, yeah,” Julie said, standing. “No matter who she meets, they want to protect her. Let’s hope Nidhogg is not immune to her charms.”

She patted me on the arm and then went into the kitchen. I didn’t bring up the necromancer and how he tried to sacrifice her. Felt like a buzz kill type of thing to say. I sat back and listened to the three women as they argued about taking soup, cookies, or wine. I’d just trust their judgment.

Forty-two

We breezed through security at Nidhogg’s place with a wave and a smile. We were definitely known and welcome here. We were allowed to park on the long circular drive in front of the manse. Jai Li was very excited. A little scared, too. She sang a little, making breathy, throaty sounds as well as mouth pops and grunts for syncopation. She’d never win any singing contests, but she sounded like an angel to me.

If I had one wish, I’d spend it on getting that child’s tongue restored. The fact that it was cut off as a baby seemed like one of the worst things anyone could do to a child, but she coped. She didn’t really know any different. I know she was frustrated some times in communicating, but the sign language was working out pretty well, and I was getting the hang of it a little. Katie was better.

I had to pause there, let the fear and anger subside before we got out of the truck. Too much in this life was not fair. But I didn’t need to bring that energy into this meeting. Nidhogg was not always stable. I wasn’t really sure what this was all about, but I wanted it to be painless, pleasant for the girl, and over as quickly as possible.

Qindra met us at the enormous front doors and ushered us into the great hall. The halls were deserted, and Jai Li slumped a little. She handed a small box of cookies to Qindra who commented on the beauty of the bow on top. Jai Li smiled a little, but looked around, hoping to find her little friends, I bet.

“This way,” Qindra said, smiling.

“Come on,” I said, placing my hand on Jai Li’s back and guiding her across the great hall and onward to Nidhogg’s sanctuary. Jai Li had spent her first years in that great space, serving the dragon with her sister Mei Hau. Only Mei Hau had died at the tooth and claw of an enraged Nidhogg. Dementia, I guessed. Nidhogg was ages old.

Qindra pushed one of the huge doors into Nidhogg’s inner sanctum open, stepping to the side and ushering us within. We were met with a cheering mob of women and children—the servants of Nidhogg. Each was dressed in fancy outfits and wore decorative hats. Even Nidhogg, who sat in her usual position by the fire, wore a wide brimmed hat with a huge peacock feather on it.

“What is this?” I asked, laughing at the splendor, caught up in the joy of the moment?

Jai Li tugged on my sleeve, motioning toward the other children.

“Go ahead,” I said, and she flew across the room, skidding to a halt in front of Zi Xiu, the woman who ran the household, threw her arms around the woman’s legs for a quick hug, then tackled one of the livery boys who stood a full head taller than her. Everyone was shocked at the roughhousing, but when Nidhogg waved her hand at them, giving her permission, the children fell on the other two, and the room turned into a huge scrum.

Everyone was laughing and cheering as, one after another, the servants hugged Jai Li.

“Welcome home, sister,” they whispered.

“We’ve missed you.”

“You’ve grown so tall.”

And on and on. Qindra put her hand on my shoulder as I watched them, my heart full of joy.

“This is quite unexpected,” I said, turning toward her.

Nidhogg laughed and clapped along with the children while the adults looked on with broad smiles and quite a bit of wonder and surprise.

“Nidhogg has declared a feast day,” Qindra said, her face alight with joy. “She has not done this since my mother’s time.”

So we partied like it was fourteen-ninety-nine. There was music and food, games and small presents for everyone. Zi Xiu got a brand new set of spoons, while the two chambermaids each received a box of ribbons. Each of the livery boys was given a new uniform and a small toy—carved wooden animals, boats, and trains. They were amazed by the largess.

The young girls each got a small box with a new uniform as well as a puzzle and books. Two girls received wooden animals like the boys—one lion, one giraffe.

Finally, Jai Li was presented with a box containing a rainbow of embroidery floss, several new hoops, and a roll of white embroidery canvas.

Qindra was given a tiara with many colored gems and a pair of small bells which she openly wept over.

And before she was done, Nidhogg handed me a box of my very own.

I sat on the ground in front of her, legs crossed, and opened the delicate wrapping paper and ribbons, exposing a box the size of a large book. There were intricate carvings in the wood, and the hinges and clasp were of forged steel.