Love-in-Idleness (12 page)

             
“He was dying?” Puck asked.

             
“He was. For two years, he taught me everything he could. We stayed up nights, trying concoctions that would make you ill just to hear of them. In time, we found the secret quite by accident.  Word came to us that an immortal had taken up residence in a neighboring town. John had always warned me to steer clear of other magical types, especially immortals.”

             
“But wasn’t he trying to become immortal? He was trying to cheat death,” Puck reminded Tadhg.

             
“He was, but he was doing so without hurting anyone. A lot of immortals become that way through much more dubious methods. John despised anyone who benefitted from the pain of others. I offered to visit this alleged immortal and investigate the rumor, but John forbade it. However, when John’s health went into rapid decline, I was sure that there was some knowledge to be gained from this immortal, so the next time I was given leave to visit my family, I set out on the two-day trip to see the immortal instead.”

             
“Did he kill you?” Puck asked. He was thinking of vampires, who have to die before they become immortal.

             
“No, I’m still as alive as you are. However, he was very forthcoming. When I explained myself, he gladly provided the one ingredient that could save John. He filled a small vial with his own blood and told me that if John drank it of his own free will, his search would be over. I rushed back to the apothecary shop, ready to be a hero, only to find that John had died in my absence.”

             
“You drank it, didn’t you?” Puck asked.

             
“You’re an eager little fella, aren’t ya?” Tadhg joked. “Yes, I did.”

             
“What was it like, becoming immortal?”

             
“It wasn’t like anything. At first, I didn’t even think it worked, but years passed and I didn’t age. Other people died, but I didn’t. I had to move around a bit, people notice when they’ve known you for thirty years and you still look twenty-four. In time, I met other immortals who were able to educate me on the exact powers that blood had instilled in me. I might have never known if I hadn’t been educated on the matter. In the course of the last three hundred years, my status and powers have risen with every century mark that I pass.”

             
“Are you as powerful as my father?”

             
Tadhg laughed and reached across the bar to give Puck a playful punch in the arm. “Aren’t you adorable?” Puck instinctively put his hand to the spot on his arm that had been hit. The gesture made him feel childlike. Tadhg smiled and continued, “Your father is powerful, but he has limits that I don’t have. For one, he has no knack for potions, which is why you’re here today. And his powers of persuasion are limited by free will.”

             
This was the second time tonight Puck had heard about free will. “I have the same problem,” he complained.

             
“And you always will,” Tadhg stated simply. “It’s in the nature of your powers. You and your father don’t have mind control in the literal sense. What you have is an amplified ability to persuade. You can’t make someone do what they really don’t want to, which brings us back to the reason for your visit. What does your father want with the love-in-idleness?”

             
“A divorce. Actually, he said to get two vials.”

             
Tadhg didn’t hesitate. “Wait here. I’ll be back in ten minutes. Keep an eye on the bar for me, will you? I assume you know your way around a tap.”

             
Puck got up and took a spot behind the bar. As he looked around the Cuckoo’s Nest, one thing was still bothering him. Before Tadhg disappeared into the back room, Puck called after him, “Why here? If you’re so powerful, why do you stay here in this bar?”

             
Tadhg turned back and moved closer to Puck. He looked down the bar at the customers who showed no signs of having heard Puck’s question. Tadhg leaned toward Puck, looked him dead in the eye, and grinned. “I’ve got forever on my hands. This seemed like a fun way to kill a few years.”

             
“But you could be rich.”

At 920 President Street, in the neighborhood of Park Slope, in the borough of Brooklyn, Grace sat in silence with her long-time boyfriend. She hadn’t realized that Ryder’s parents were going to Cape May for a few days, but she was relieved, nonetheless. The quiet of having just the two of them there was comforting. Ryder made tea and they sat facing each other from opposite ends of the couch, quietly sipping.

             
As much as Grace wanted to talk to Ryder about her night, she was stalling a bit. He had been so fragile lately that she worried it would be hard for him to listen objectively to what happened to her tonight. Every event was tied to the prospect of her involvement with someone else, and that prospect came about because of Miles’s perception that Ryder was somehow socially inadequate. Nothing about this story was anything that Ryder would be excited to hear.

             
So she sat there, enjoying the quiet and hoping that when she did begin to talk, what she had to say wouldn’t throw a wrench in the status quo, even as shaky as it had been lately. True, Ryder had been pressing her for promises she didn’t feel ready to make, but he was all she had right now. She was living in unfamiliar surroundings and Theo’s attentions were elsewhere. Ryder was the only person who was completely devoted to her. She wasn’t willing to risk alienating him.

             
Finally, when the excuse of the tea had run out, she set her cup on the coffee table and gave Ryder a weak smile. “Dinner kind of sucked,” she said.

             
He reached over and took her hand. “I figured,” he said. He pulled her toward him and she moved to his end of the couch, snuggled in with her head against his chest. “What happened?”

She described the dinner and the not-so-subtle efforts at manipulation exerted by Theo’s new boss. In Grace’s descriptions, Miles Oberon was a manipulative monster who had ripped her family out from under her. She described his seemingly unnatural interest in her love life, and his absolute snobbishness.
           

“He has this formula for the perfect Manhattan social family. You and I definitely don’t fit in. I guess he figures he’s stuck with me, so he’ll try to get you out of the picture.”

Ryder didn’t say anything for a minute, which made Grace nervous. When he did speak, his voice was quiet. “What about his sons? What are they like?”

“I couldn’t tell much about Puck. He seemed like Daddy’s little soldier to me. He rattled off this whole thing about maintaining appearances. I think he’ll grow up to be just like Miles,” Grace answered.

“And the other one?” Ryder persisted. There was a serious tone to his voice that Grace didn’t like. “The one Miles wants you to date?”

“Cameron?” Grace stopped briefly to plan her words before she continued. “He seems like a pretty nice guy. He tried to give me a heads up about what to expect at school next year. He also said that Miles does this makeover thing to everyone. Cam says it’s not just me.”

“Cam, huh? Sounds like you got to know each other a  ittle,” Ryder snapped a bit.

Oh crap
, Grace thought.
This is what I was afraid of.
“Not really,” she said. It was time for a quick distraction. “He’s got this beautiful girl who’s crazy for him. I saw her outside the building tonight. She’s about seven feet tall and looks like a model. Blonde hair, long legs, the whole package. I’ve seen her in front of the Met before. Maybe it’s a coincidence, but both times, she was wearing all white. What do you think that’s supposed to mean?”

“Does she seem pure and virginal?”

“Hardly.”

“Then I think she just likes white. It’s probably some queen bee symbol of social power,” Ryder speculated.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Grace agreed. “It just seemed like an odd choice. It was strange, when I saw her, she seemed to have everything. She clearly has money. You can tell by her clothes. She’s stunning and appears to be this social powerhouse, but I couldn’t get over this feeling that she wasn’t a very happy person. There was something sad about her eyes.”

She put her head down on his chest
and was silent for a minute. She felt good about Ryder when she could just speak freely about what she saw and felt. However, the parts of her evening that she left out were troubling to her. While she had no intention of telling Ryder things that would be hurtful, she didn’t like lying. Although she hadn’t come right out and told him anything that wasn’t true, she left out enough details to constitute dishonesty. It didn’t feel right, but adding a fight with Ryder to an already dire situation didn’t seem like a great way to end the day, either. If she could just get through this night intact, she wouldn’t let anything like this happen again. Even if Ryder wasn’t the person she was going to grow old with, she wanted the relationship to run its course on their terms, not on Miles Oberon’s terms. Quietly, but firmly, she promised herself that she wouldn’t slip again. Even if it meant that she avoided the Oberon men indefinitely.         

“So, is Cam good-looking?” Ryder asked.
   

“I don’t know,” Grace blurted without thinking.

“So, he is.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because,” Ryder explained, “if he weren’t, you would just say so. If you don’t want to say it, then he is.”

Busted, Grace sat up and looked at him. “I’m with you, not him. I don’t care what anyone tells me to do. I will make my own decisions.”

“I know you will. I’m sorry,” Ryder said. His apology made her feel guiltier than before.

 
“You need sleep,” he whispered, kissing her affectionately before standing and taking her hand as if to pull her from the couch. “Let’s go to bed.”           

 
              “It’s early, I can stay up,” she protested. “If I sleep, then I’m not spending time with you.” She had little enough time with Ryder. She didn’t want to sleep through it.           

 
              “You’ve had a long day.” Ryder leaned over to gently smooth the hair back from her face. Grace smiled and closed her eyes for a moment. She loved it when he did that. “Besides,” he continued, “you can sleep in my room. I’ll just read until I fall asleep.”           

Grace wanted nothing more than to curl up in Ryder’s bed while he watched over her. After a day of feeling attacked and confused, he was the one thing in her life that she could absolutely count on. But, even as she pictured the warmth of his blankets and the security of his protection, the guilt crept in. Along with the guilt was the fear that if she lay down with Ryder, she wouldn’t feel the same pull toward him that she had felt toward Cam. That would be the biggest betrayal of all.
           

 
“You’re sweet,” she said, knowing that she had no choice. Any boyfriend, even the ever-trusting Ryder, would suspect that something was up if she went and slept in the guest room.

 
“You think I’m going to take advantage of your emotional state, don’t you?” Ryder grinned.   

 
              “No, I think sex is the last thing on your mind tonight. I know it’s the last thing on mine,” she lied. Sex was on her mind, just not sex with him. “I’ll see you in the morning.” Grace knew that Ryder would turn on the news and fall asleep immediately, possibly before she did.            

And indeed, by the time she crossed the living room and turned back to look at him once more, his hand was on the remote and his head was on the sofa pillow.
 

After Julius delivered a small package from the Oberon driver, Miles slipped past the teenagers boasting and posing in his great room and moved toward Titania’s room. He liked it when Puck and Cam brought friends home. The way they postured for his attention was amusing to him. All of these boys were painfully aware of the Oberon legacy, at least as much of it as was fit for public consumption. Any young man fortunate enough to travel in the same circles as his sons seemed to think that garnering the approval of Miles Oberon would benefit them in the future. Occasionally, just for fun, he would help one of them with a college recommendation. This group that Puck was running with lately, though, would not be benefitting from any Oberon good will. Despite the fact that they came from good families, they were intolerable buffoons. Nick Bottom, in particular, gave Miles a chill. The boy was a corpulent blowhard who revealed himself as an absolute imbecile every time he spoke.