Reaper (43 page)

“Well, that was thoroughly unexpected,” I said to Hunter. He agreed and leaned against my side. “You’re right,” I agreed with his thoughts. “I’ll feel better once I rest.”

I limped into the house. I had to telekinetically untie my shoes since bending over hurt so much, and opened the garage door that led into the kitchen. I set my purse and the lighter on the island counter and stopped short when I saw the birdcage on the table.

I felt like crying when no faery fluttered behind the wires. The twisty-ties had been removed. No. This wasn’t happening. I didn’t need this.

“Oh, my lady,” Nikolai’s voice rang out from behind me. I whirled around, causing pain to pulse through my body. He emerged from the laundry room carrying a stack of folded towels. “I will go back in right now, if you wish.”
 

He was only a few inches taller than me when he wasn’t faery-size. Having removed his tunic, Nik only wore a thin, white shirt. His skin was a deep creamy color and he was more muscular that I would have guessed a faery to be.

“What are you doing?” I blurted.

“Cleaning,” he said merrily and whisked past me. He opened a cabinet and set the towels in. How he knew where the kitchen towels went was beyond me. I dumbly blinked and looked around the room; it was spotless. There were no dishes in the sink, no food crumbs on the counters, no dust on the windows, and the floor had been swept and mopped.

“Why?” I looked at the faery with wide eyes.

“You’ve treated me well; I’d like to serve you,” he said with a bow. The reapers and now Nik. What was I, some sort of supernatural-creature queen?

“I locked you in a bird cage,” I replied.

He smiled and leaned against the counter. “You gave me a nickname.”

“I did?”

He nodded. “You called me Nik.”

“Oh, right. I did,” I agreed and smiled back. I didn’t tell him ‘Nik’ was just the lazy way to say his name. “So, just because I gave you a nickname, you want to do my house work?”

His smiled faltered and he let out a dramatic deep breath. “Truth is, my lady, I was hoping to offer an exchange.”

“An exchange?” I questioned, unease growing in my stomach. Hunter put himself in between Nik and me.

“Yes!” Nik clasped his hands together. “I’ll be your faery-house worker in exchange for a place to stay
and
a removal spell for the curse.”

“How do I know I can trust you?” I accused, narrowing my eyes.

“And how do I know I can trust
you
?” he shot back.

“You’re in my house. You could have left, but you didn’t,” I stated obviously.

“Drat,” he cursed and shook his head. “She has a point,” he muttered to himself. “You need me!” he tried. “This place was a mess!”

“The house isn’t always messy,” I told him. “Just lately, things have gotten pretty hairy.”

“You’re a witch, won’t things always be hairy?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I suppose so. Still, I don’t trust you…yet.”

“Oh, come on. You know us faery folk are harmless! At least the domesticated ones.” He turned his face to mine and smiled again, radiating boyish charm. “Give me a chance?”

I hesitated. “I suppose,” I began and mentally asked Hunter what to do. He found Nik to be somewhat amusing and did not pick up on any negative vibes. I had already accepted the help from a reaper today, why not a faery? “Fine. One chance.” Nik jumped up and down with excitement. “Just one,” I warned.

“You won’t regret it!” he promised. “Let me start by making something to soothe your pains. Have your Guardian keep watch over me, if you’d like.” I nodded and Nik ordered me to lie on the couch. The clanging of pots and pans echoed from the kitchen. I was close to being asleep when Nik came into the room. He carefully pushed up my pajama pant past my knee and placed a cold rag over the wound.

“Family recipe,” he told me softly. The cold liquid seeped into the open flesh. It burned like hell for a few seconds. Then relief set in.

“That’s amazing!” I told him as my pain melted away.

“Why thank you,” he said. “What else ails you?”

I allowed him to treat the rest of my wounds. He stuck his finger in a bowel and smeared something the consistency of honey on my face. “This will help prevent the scaring. My sister is especially fond of this. Beauty is important to us, you know.” I nodded and closed my eyes. He gently put a blanket over me. “Rest, my lady.”

“Ok,” I agreed. And rest, I did.

Chapter 16 - Round and Round

The entire house was spotless when I woke up five hours later. Unwillingly, I got off the couch, peeled the dry cloth from over my wounds, and went upstairs. Not only was Romeo’s cage cleaned, it was back in its original spot in my room; I had moved it when Ethan first got sick since ferrets can catch the human flu virus. The smell of lemon scented cleaning products hung in the air.

“It’s alive!” Nik said in a deep voice when he entered my room.

“I wasn’t asleep for that long,” I laughed.

“No, I’m surprised you’re up.”

“I have stuff to do,” I sighed.

“No you don’t! I did it all. I even color coded your clothes, shoes, and purses and alphabetized your books!”

I smiled, and opted not to tell him that my books were already sorted into sections based on their subject matter. “Thanks. The house looks—and smells—amazing.”

He waved his hand in the air. “I barely did anything. I’m saving the outside work until later. Do you want lunch? I’m a great cook!”

“That would be nice,” I told him. He grabbed my hand and pulled me along, forgetting I was still sore. The superficial pain was still gone, but I’d be feeling the pain in my muscles for days.
 
Hunter was sleeping on the bed in one of the spare rooms. He sat up when I walked into the hall.
You can sleep
, I told him. The more time I spent with Nik, the more I liked him.

Nik made us both sandwiches for lunch and promised to make a dessert for me later. He spoke so quickly sometimes it was hard to keep up. “And someone from a doctor’s office called and said Buffy was ready to go home. Do you have a sister? I would love if you had a sister! Does she look like you? Is she a witch too?”

I shook my head. “Buffy’s my dog. She was neglected and in really bad shape.”

“Why would you neglect your dog?” he asked me, horrified.

“I didn’t neglect her,” I explained. “Someone else did. She was rescued and I adopted her.” I peeled the crust off of my sandwich. “I feel bad; I haven’t gone to visit her much since I’ve been busy with all of this demon crap.”
 
I looked up. “Wait…what did you say when you answered the phone?”

“Oh, I told the nice lady you were recovering from wounds you receive bravely fighting demons and that you’d call back later,” he replied. My mouth might have dropped. “I’m joking!”

I pursed my lips and tried not to laugh. “What did you really say?”

“I just said you were busy. I might be fae but I know how to answer the phone.”

“Thanks. Did they say anything else?”

He shook his head. “Just to call them back.” He put my plate in the dishwasher. “Are you going to visit your lover today?”

“Of course. His name is Ethan,” I reminded him. My stomach twisted when I thought about Ethan’s mysterious illness. “I think a demon is making him sick,” I confessed.

Nik put a hand to his chest and gasped. “Why?”

“The doctor can’t find anything really wrong with him.”

“Food poisoning?” Nik suggested.

I shook my head. “Wouldn’t that show up as E. Coli or something?” I sighed. “I don’t know for sure, but it would make sense. He suddenly got
really
sick.”

“What is your plan, then?”

“If it’s Melcovel doing this, then I need to kill him.” I closed my eyes and shook my head. “But first I’m going to visit Ethan and make sure he’s doing alright.”

“Can I come?” Nik asked hopefully.

I shook my head. “I don’t want to explain anything to Ethan yet. You can come to the vet with me,” I added. His face lit up and he jumped with excitement. I called Dr. Banfield back and got a four-thirty appointment. I showered, got dressed, and magically did my hair in tight braids. I hugged Hunter goodbye, waved bye to Nik, and drove to the hospital.

Ethan was feeling better, but his fever hadn’t gone away. We talked for a little while and then he asked me to climb in bed with him and watch TV. I told him my fears about a demon making him sick. He admitted that he had thought about it as well. I hid a few pieces of Devil’s Shoestring around the room, just in case our hunch was right. He was tired by the time I needed to leave to go to the vet, which worked out perfectly. I kissed him and promised I’d be back later that night.

Harrison called me as I was driving home. Ever since spring break, he had been calling every few days to see if anything else had happened. It was a surprising relief to tell someone about Nik, even though Harrison was at a loss for words and didn’t know how to respond. I lost service when I turned onto my road and was forced to end the call without a proper goodbye.

I dressed Nik in Ethan’s clothes; they were too big but it was better for him to wear the wrong size than his odd, faery attire. I buckled Hunter in the back and took off to go to the vet. Dr. Banfield, as well as everyone at the animal hospital, was impressed by Hunter’s size and beauty.

Nik held the leash (Hunter rolled his eyes when I clipped it to his collar) and pretended to lead our ‘dog’ around. He claimed to be my cousin, visiting from out of town. I was impressed with his ease when speaking to strangers; he came off as almost human. There was something about him, maybe it was the way he fluidly moved or the sparkle in his eyes when the light hit, that might make someone look twice. The odd things that normal people overlooked amazed me.
 

Buffy wasn’t friendly to other dogs. It was assumed she had no socialization—ever. Dr. Banfield looked warily at Hunter and pressed her lips together. She didn’t think Buffy would like Hunter at all. Needless to say, she was shocked when the shy Rottweiler rolled over on her back and wagged her stumpy tail at the sight of Hunter. Guardians must have that affect on animals. Hunter has never met a dog that hasn’t loved—and respected—him.

 
I had meant to stock up on everything a new dog would need
before
it was time to make Buffy a part of our family. That didn’t happen…for obvious reasons. We stopped at a pet store on the way home. Nik and I took the dogs in. Hunter mentally scoffed at having to pretend to need a leash.
Oh hush,
I told him.
You still like playing fetch
. With Nik’s help, we quickly got everything we needed and headed home.

The first thing Buffy did when I unclipped her leash was pee on the floor.

“She’s probably nervous,” I told Hunter, who shook his head. I grabbed paper towels to clean up the mess. “Ohmigod,” I said aloud when a thought popped into my head.

“What’s wrong, my lady?” Nik asked.

“I just realized I’ve never been a real
dog
owner before,” I laughed.

“I’ll help!” Nik offered, happy to be able to do something useful again. I nodded and thanked him. We spent an hour getting Buffy settled in. I went back to the hospital, stayed until dark, and came home. Nik had fed the horses, played ball with Buffy, and gave her her evening meds. I was so very grateful for my faery-house worker.

~*~

“What’s this?”

“What’s what?” I asked Nik.

“All these notes.” He joined me on the couch, carrying a bowl of popcorn and my notebook.

“Oh,” I said and took the notebook from him. “Plans.”

“I can see that,” he sassed. “What are you doing? Summoning the devil?”

“Not quite,” I answered. “Melcovel.”

“The chaos demon?” he asked incredulously. I nodded. “Why on earth do you want to do that?”

“To kill him,” I spat venomously.

“Oh,” his eyes widened. “Good luck with that.”

“Thanks. I need it,” I admitted ruefully.

He took the notebook back. “This is intense. I think it will work.”

“You do?” I leaned forward.

“Yes,” he agreed and spent a moment looking over the notes. “My only question is how do you plan on getting Melcovel into the circles? The last I heard, he was in demon-jail.” He sprung up and looked around. “He’s not out, is he?”

“No,” I almost laughed. “He’s still trapped…but he’s also still dangerous. I want to kill him once and for all. And I’m not sure how to get him out. I’m still working on that part.”

“What about these?” Nik asked and flipped the page. He looked down at my messy notes.

“Oh,” I said and felt my cheeks redden. “You, uh, haven’t come across any other witches have you?”

“Coven witches? Not for over a century, why?”

I shook my head. “It was just a thought. And it’d be nice to talk to other witches. I just know there is so much I’m missing. I…I don’t even know my magical heritage.”

Nik looked at my sympathetically. “You don’t know any other witches—at all?”