Relics (23 page)

Reo looked at me and Thulu and said thoughtfully, “You know, with all the new magic and people, you could expand the business. You could offer other supernatural services, hire some of the new people. You could open other offices around the world. You could even have live clients.”

I looked at him horrified. “I don't like live people!” Everyone laughed. “That wasn't what I meant,” I mumbled as I ducked my head down to my tablet. I think my ears were as pink as the pixie's.

“Very well,” said Jones. “We are agreed?  We bring in the other two finders and see if the combined forces can get a lead on the relics. Aurelia has a telepath in the delegation that may be able to work in conjunction with Reo to help Mason. Aurelia, do you mind asking Sloane?”

“Not at all,” she said pleasantly.

I typed the points they were making on the tablet.

“We close the portals and look for any new ones,” said tiny Aela.

Everyone stopped and looked at the fairy. “The ones that are opened need to be closed, and we need to set up discussions among all races to decide how travel to and from our worlds will be handled.”

Aurelia smiled. “You are absolutely correct. At this point, there has been too much introductory exchange and not enough practical decision-making. Thank you, Aela, for that suggestion. I will pass it on, and we will close the portals. The elves will continue to consult with the governments. We have already called in other elves, as many countries have contacted Britain and asked for an elven delegate.”

I looked up. “Anything else?”

Everyone thought for a bit and there were murmurs of “No.”

“That seems to be enough for now,” Jones said.

“Well, there is one thing,” said Kareem. We all looked at him expectantly. “Cookies and chips are nice, but I'm starving for real food, and my delegation is asking for me to return.”

“That reminds me,” said Thulu. “Our family is having a barbeque tomorrow. If any of you care to attend, I'm sure they'd be thrilled to meet you.”

“Your family is having a barbeque with all this going on?” Jones asked mildly.

Thulu shrugged. “Life goes on. We're expected to be there and bring the family up to speed. Added guests would be a very big deal.”

“In that case, I would be honored to meet your family.” Jones was smiling. I looked at him suspiciously, and he laughed and promised to behave.

Romeo and Juliet said they would come; Kareem seemed to think probably not. Aela, Ceil and Aurelia said they would have to get back to us, but said it sounded like a nice time.

If even one of them showed up, our family would be ecstatic. Sometimes, it was very hard having a business with clients no one else could see. I was looking forward to the next day. Time with my family would provide the grounding I needed.

Thulu and I started to clear away the glasses and cups of tea and snack trays. The others pitched in, and it was done in seconds. It's good to have magical friends. We all said our goodbyes, and everyone except Romeo and Juliet teleported out.

“We think we'll play tourist. Our delegation has given us time to spend together.” Juliet smiled widely, sharp teeth showing as she and Romeo clasped hands.

“I don't think that is the best idea at the moment,” said Reo. “Why not come back with us?” He gave me and Thulu a look.

“Oh, yes,” I said immediately. I wasn't sure why he didn't want them out and about, but I wasn't going to question it. “We have plenty of room, and I bet you'd love our old Victorian home. Thulu and I have shopping to do for tomorrow, but we can drop you off with Reo.”

“Well, we really – “ began Romeo.

“We'd love to,” said Juliet. She patted Romeo's arm when he started to protest. “He's a psychic, dear. If he wants us to stay with them, it's probably a good idea.”

Romeo looked nonplussed for a moment, but smiled at his mate and gave in.

I looked up at Parker and Jenna. “Home, kids?” I said. They popped out of the room followed by Sophie.

Jones wandered around the office during this exchange. Then he followed everyone outside.

Thulu set the alarm and came out, locking the door behind him.

“Do you need my parent's address?” Thulu asked.

“I have it,” said Jones. “I'll see you around two.”

He went to his car where Stuart stood. I got the sense Stuart had been keeping an eye on the area while we had our meeting. Jones started to walk around the building, with Stuart staying close. He was probably putting up defenses. I waved and called a “thanks.” Jones nodded, said something to Stuart and continued around the corner.

I joined the rest of our party, and we all piled into the SUV. We drove back to our house and dropped our guests off in the back. We made sure Reo and the goblins made it in the backdoor before driving off.

Thulu and I went to the store to get stuff to take to the barbeque the next day. I needed a lot of ground beef and special spices for Burgers à la Fi.

There were few people in the store and only one cashier, who I recognized as the store manager. He had a small TV on at the register. The volume was down low, but I could see that it was the all-news station.

He smiled when he saw us. “Hi, Thulu, hi Fi. The butcher isn't here, so we can't do any special cuts for you today, but one of the boys is in the back. He can get anything out of the refrigerator if you don't find what you want.”

“Thanks, I think we'll be okay. We're going to use the KISS method this weekend and Keep It Simple, Stupid.” I smiled. I loved shopping in that store. I knew a lot of the staff there, and they treated us well. I'd been worried they might be closed. We'd seen a lot of closed signs on our way over.

“Well, yell if you need anything.”

I didn't have any idea what goblins ate, but I was betting Juliet would be happy with anything that wasn't dog food. They hadn't seemed to have a problem with the cookies and chips earlier, so I figured we were safe with chicken and veggies. We wandered up and down the aisles of the almost empty store.

“You know, Reo's idea is not really a bad one,” Thulu said.

“Which idea?”

“Expanding the agency.”

I looked at him suspiciously as I threw a few cans of tuna into the cart. “Who are you and what have you done with my husband?” It was an old joke, but all I could think of at the moment.

“Seriously think about it. There will be all these new races. Reo's right, some of them might want to stay here. I bet if the goblins stayed, Juliet would be a great asset. She's been here long enough to be the perfect liaison between Earth and the portal people.”

“Portal people?” I looked at him from the corner of my eye. I thought of something else. “Thulu, would you have been able to find Juliet?”

He stopped and looked me in the eye. “Absolutely.”

That explained this new direction. Thulu would want to be available to help any who needed it. I had a feeling our days of staying in the shadows were over. If Thulu wanted to open us up to the world, then that's what we would do. In a quiet sort of way, so that few would actually meet us. And in a way that wouldn’t attract the attention of the authorities.

I shook my head. I could deal with live people. It was just live humans who tended to irritate me at times. I could make sure most of my interactions with them was through someone else, though – if we went that route. There. My reservations were solved. Sort of. I was still uneasy, though. “Well, we aren't in the habit of turning folks away, even people. I guess if it got busy enough, we could expand a little bit.”

Thulu dimpled at me. Le sigh. The man was impossible.

At home, we unloaded groceries before going into the family room, where everyone was watching TV.

“Anything new?” I asked.

“They've announced that the elves are closing the portals for our protection. Our side is still trying to get a handle on everything. There's a lot of confusion, but things are still under control. The three of us are lucky and much farther along than most people,” replied Reo.

“We would be, though,” I said. We dealt with the supernatural every day. The rest of the world was just now finding out they were real. I wondered how many other gifted humans there were and how many would pretend to be. Real ones tended to stay low-key. We'd never looked for them. Although once in a while one might stop by our office, it was a very rare occurrence.

“This is a grand device,” said Romeo, pointing to the widescreen TV. “I hadn't been following your technology as closely as I thought. Last time I paid any real attention to a TV, they were big, bulky things with tiny screens. This is quite wonderful. It's almost like being there.”

“Thanks,” said Thulu. “La Fi and I do like our toys.”

“Do either of you have dietary restrictions?” I asked Romeo and Juliet.

Juliet answered, “No dog food, please.” We laughed. “Other than that, no, we pretty much eat the same foods you do. Neither of us has food allergies.”

Since we had guests, I decided to use our dining room. It was one of our smaller rooms, holding a sideboard and a table that seated eight. Both were made of mahogany and had been rather battered pieces at an estate sale. We had taken a couple of months to refinish them, and now they glowed in the light of a crystal chandelier.

Thulu and Reo helped me set the table with the good china and crystal wine goblets. I had them bring in several thick encyclopedias for the goblins. I debated chucking the whole idea at that point and eating in the family room, but that didn't feel right. I wanted to do something special for this couple who had been apart for so long.

I sipped a glass of wine while I prepared dinner. I sent Thulu off to sit with our guests. Parker and Jenna joined me in the kitchen. I asked Parker what he had whispered to distract Jenna at the office earlier. He said he had promised to teach her how to play checkers. I thought that was an excellent idea. The others drifted in and out of the kitchen while I prepped things for dinner and the barbeque. Once I had the chicken dish in the oven and the vegetables ready to grill, I was able to take a small break and join the rest in the family room.

“Still calm?” I asked.

“Still calm,” said Reo. “I'm really surprised that more people aren't getting crazy out there.”

“Are the empaths that strong?” I asked the goblins.

Juliet was thoughtful for a moment. “I think we covered the big urban areas mostly. I also believe they are moving around and heading off trouble spots. But you're right; I'd expect more of a reaction, too.”

“What happened with all those stories about people winning lotteries and being granted wishes?”

Romeo smiled. “Some of those were true and some just coincidence, with people assuming the best or worst.”

“Typical,” I said with a sigh.

He continued, “Those of us from Avalon made fast contact with the others, and we asked them to get their people under control. A few pixies and genies were the culprits, and they were sent back to their own worlds and replaced with less erratic individuals. There was a report on that earlier. The governments decided to keep the financial institutions closed until they can evaluate the situation and be sure people aren't going to panic. The gaming cities are shut down for the most part too.”

“Going into the weekend may be a problem for them.” I looked at Reo. “What about your show?”

“We closed it until next week. Gives me time to figure out if I'm needed elsewhere. I've thought of asking the Feds if they'd like the human gifted to interact with those from off-realm.”

I looked at him in shock. “Are you nuts?  They will lock us up and study us.”

His reply was mild. “Relax, Fi, I said 'thinking about it.’ I haven't made any decisions yet, but it is something I need to consider.”

“Well, brainwash yourself into forgetting you know me and Thulu, because I sure as hell am not going to volunteer.” Everyone had turned to look at me.

I had visions of the government rounding up anyone who was gifted and locking us all away. I felt the blood drain from my face. Ideas of expanding aside, there were reasons we rarely dealt with live clients. Word getting out about us was one of them. Reo had the protection of his show. By the time people got past the female illusion part, most authorities just wrote him off as being a very clever performer. Plus, he could deflect them away with his abilities. He also had enough of a following that it was harder for him to disappear. Having wealthy parents didn't hurt, either.

Thulu and I didn't have that level of protection, so we stayed low-key. Opening the business up to include off-worlders was one thing. Waving a red flag in front of the government was quite another. If they found out we were real, I really didn't trust them to let us go free. I'd never forgotten Nana's lesson all those years ago. Even the thought was enough to freak me out a bit, and I felt my hands shake. I excused myself, saying I had to check on dinner.

This was always a sore topic with me. Partly because I felt guilty, I admitted to myself as I did a cursory and unnecessary check on dinner. While much of the help we gave was not important in the grand scheme of things, it did help our clients and their loved ones. The ones I felt guilty about were the missing kids. The dead children, and we'd had seen quite a few, we were able to deal with. It was emotionally draining, but the actual process of helping them was usually easy.

The missing kids were another matter. Thulu often found them easily, but the trick was revealing their locations to people who would help without bringing any attention to ourselves. Thulu would have preferred to call a police station and tell them where a child was, but even he knew we would be looked at more with suspicion than gratitude.

Reo came into the kitchen a few minutes later. I guessed he lost the coin toss. He came over and took my hands in his.

“I'm sorry, Fi. I wasn't thinking. I know how you feel about going public. I swear to you right now, I won't ever make a move that would harm you or Thulu. I swear. Any decision I make will be one the three of us can agree on. Okay?  I promise. And you know I don't make promises I can't keep.”

I nodded, not trusting my voice.

“Bad idea, Okay?”

I smiled weakly. He gave me a tight hug and a kiss on top of my head. I let out a sigh of relief. A Reo promise was one you could take to the bank. I took a deep breath and shook it off, continuing with dinner.

Reo stayed in the kitchen. We talked about ways to try to convince Mason to wake up. I hoped that the introduction of another telepath, one who wasn't human, would add some weight. I wondered if Carolyn was awake yet. I'd forgotten to ask Jones earlier. I got out the tablet and made a note to do just that the next day. Reo agreed to push for waking her, if Jones hadn't already done so.

I was pretty sure Jones was psychic. He called right at that moment to say that he was on his way to the clinic and that Carolyn should be waking up soon. I put him on speaker, so Reo could hear, letting Jones know.

“Apparently they were in a bad car accident when they were run off the road in a narrow mountain area. I found them off the side of the road and immediately got medical attention for them. The child was killed instantly and did not suffer. Carolyn's injuries were superficial, but the shock of losing her child caused her deep trauma. She has been sedated until she can handle her situation without causing harm to herself. Mason is in a coma due to a severe head injury, which is now healed.”

I shook my head in disgust. Reo gave me a one armed hug.

“La Fi, do you hear me?”

“Yeah, Jones, I hear you loud and clear.” I might be disgusted with him, but I didn't have a better idea. Nothing was going to make this a good situation. And losing a child in a car accident had to be better than having her murdered by a creature from a fairy story. I looked around, hoping Jenna would stay in the other room.

“I am doing as you asked, La Fi.” Was that a tiny pleading note in his voice?  Couldn't be. I shook the idea off. I was very conflicted where Jones was concerned.

“I know.” Begrudgingly.

“Reo,” Jones said. “Will you agree to this story?”

Reo paused before he said, “Yeah, Jones, I don't like it, but maybe it will let them heal. I take it there were no witnesses, and no way to know who had run them off the road?”

“Exactly,” said Jones. “Their past is the same right up to just before my men showed up at their apartment. They had gone on a sightseeing trip outside the city and were run off the road. Any details you don't know, just say so and refer them to me. We can have the other telepath there tomorrow morning. Will that work for you?  Before the barbeque?”