Smoke and Mirrors (35 page)

Heather took a bite of cheesecake before setting down her fork, leaning forward to see around Kimberly and turn a piercing, curious look on Cormac. “What is it you do, exactly? I’m curious what brought you here tonight.”

“I run a specialty store. Antiques, mostly. I procure rare, arcane objects. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you, Heather. Kimberly cares about you very much.”

“Is that right? Tell me how you met my daughter. She hasn’t said a word about you to me before.”

Kimberly coughed on the chocolate cake she was swallowing, her eyes watering as she choked out a few words. “Mom, it’s not important—”

“She came to my shop and told me she was searching for a dragon familiar. I’m afraid it took me a bit longer to agree to the idea than she might have liked, but I’m doing my best to make it up to her.”

Heather blinked. “…come again?”

Cormac sipped his coffee, unconcerned with the nonplussed response from Kimberly’s mother. “One of her teachers convinced me to give her a chance. I’m not usually inclined to involve myself in the affairs of magi, but your daughter’s abilities are a force to be reckoned with. Even so, with me by her side, she’ll never have anything to worry about again.”

Kimberly shot him a murderous kindly shut your face now, thanks look before adding her own hurried explanation before her mother’s speechlessness could wear off.

“I can’t graduate without a familiar, Mom. He’s helping me out so I can get through school and find a better job.”

Heather didn’t quite appear to have processed what Cormac had said yet, let alone Kimberly’s words. “Dr-d-dra-agon?” she stuttered.

“Yes. If you’re worried about a repeat of the incident at Central Park, I can assure you it won’t happen again. I intend to do nothing more than keep her safe. No one else will try anything with me here to protect her.”

Heather shot up to her feet, barking her shin on the coffee table and nearly sending her plate with the cheesecake on the edge tumbling to the floor. Cormac caught it just before it could slide off.

“Is this some kind of joke? Kimberly, what—”

Cormac pressed a hand to Kimberly’s knee when it looked like she was about to rise, a silent request for her to stay where she was. His eyes flashed with a hint of blue-white light as he met Heather’s gaze.

“No,” he said, “it’s not a joke. You can relax. I’m not about to sprout scales and horns.”

She didn’t move, but her eyes narrowed and her stutter disappeared. “That was you in Central Park? Was that you making all that ruckus outside the building the other day? You’d better not be thinking about flying off with my daughter, mister, or so help me I’ll… I’ll…”

Kimberly snorted. “Mom, please. He’s not the fly-off-with-the-fair-maiden type of dragon.”

“Who says I’m not?”

“Shush, you. C’mon, ma, sit down and finish dessert.”

Heather slowly moved back to her spot on the couch, taking a seat on the edge of the worn cushion, never taking her eyes off of Cormac. She didn’t touch the food again.

Cormac settled back and sipped at his coffee again, resuming his languid pose. He blinked the fae light out of his eyes and inclined his head. “I’m sorry if I startled you. I’m not always the most subtle of creatures.”

“Understatement of the year,” Kimberly muttered. With a tremendous sigh, she turned to face her mom, taking her hand. “I need him around for a little while. He’s being my bodyguard. Please don’t freak out—he’s not going to do any magic or shapeshifting in the house.”

He pursed his lips, not liking those blanket limitations, but when he saw how much that appeared to ease Heather’s worries he decided against protesting. It was apparent she still wasn’t pleased, but she wasn’t about to forbid him from seeing her daughter, either.

Instead, he said, “If you would be more comfortable with me keeping watch from the rooftops, I don’t have to stay here.”

That surprised a sound out of Kimberly. “I thought…”

Heather closed her eyes, gritting her teeth. “I’m not even going to ask why you need a bodyguard. I’m not sure I want to know. But I do want you safe. Mr. Hunter—Cormac—dragon… person. I appreciate you offering to protect my daughter—but I want you to know that if you do a thing to hurt my little girl, I don’t care what you are. I will hunt you down.”

Kimberly just put her head in her hands.

Cormac, on the other hand, lowered his head, leaning forward on the couch and pressing a hand over his heart. “I swear to you that hurting her is the very last thing on my mind. You have nothing to fear from me.”

Heather wasn’t entirely appeased, but she did ease up the throttle on her patented Parental Glare of Doom. “Good. You can stay here as long as that’s true. No need to catch a chill on the rooftops.”

With a nod, he let a small smile slip. He wasn’t about to point out that it wasn’t physically possible for him to catch a chill save in the deepest winter frost. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

“You’ll understand that I am going to kick you out in the morning when I leave for work. You two are not getting alone time in this apartment. She might be old enough to do what she wants with a man… or… or a dragon… but not under my roof.”

Kimberly scrubbed a hand down her face. Though his expression was grave, she recognized the underlying tone of amusement, and sorely hoped her mother didn’t pick up on it as well.

“Madam, I wouldn’t dream of disrespecting you or your daughter in any way. You have my word, while I am here, I will make every effort to be a gentleman.”

Heather said nothing, sipping her coffee and watching with narrowed eyes, her expression making it clear that she was possibly the most lethal thing in Cormac’s life at that moment.

Biting her tongue, Kimberly got up and began gathering the empty dishes to take into the kitchen. Cormac reached out to help but she pushed his hand back and gestured for him to stay where he was. Heather got up as well, following Kimberly into the kitchen.

The moment they were alone, Heather whispered sharply, her tone brooking no arguments. “If I’m not in the room with him, you’re not either. Comprende?”

Kimberly grimaced and nodded.

It was going to be a long week.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Kimberly was sleeping sprawled half on Cormac’s lap, half on the couch. Heather had grudgingly decided to leave her be when she had passed out next to him on the couch while studying. He had no objections.

Cormac had not moved from his seated position once she had settled into a comfortable lean against him on the couch. She hadn’t pulled away when he put his arm around her, which had earned a fierce look from Heather. Kimberly was so preoccupied with her textbook that she didn’t notice, and it didn’t take long before she was sound asleep anyway considering how exhausted she still was from the ordeal with Viper.

Monster had emerged from the shadows of the bedroom to growl at him once or twice during the night, but otherwise it was uneventful.

The sun was just lightening the sky when Heather emerged, hair still damp from the shower, to check in on them. She paused when she spotted those glowing blue eyes focused so intently on her daughter shift to take her in. The glimmer of magic in the shadows faded as he inclined his head.

“Good morning.”

“Morning,” She responded, tone guarded and flat. “Will you wake Kimberly? I need to leave soon. That means you, too. I assume she’ll want to go with you.”

As she turned away, Cormac lightly brushed Kimberly’s hair back over her ear, his voice remaining low and quiet. “Heather, I know you don’t approve of me or what I am, but I am sure you understand that my nature is a jealous one. My wrath may be the thing of legends, but that is because I protect what is mine.”

Heather paused, but didn’t turn back. “Does that mean her heart, Mr. Hunter? Because from here, I see it breaking. You sent her home in tears once. That was one time too many.”

Cormac’s expression remained stony, though a few fine lines formed around his eyes as they narrowed.

“I am very aware that I’ve erred in how I dealt with her. I never intended to hurt her.”

“That doesn’t mean you didn’t. You come from a world more privileged than she has. You might be used to throwing things away when you get tired of them. She’s not. Not even remotely.”

“I know, Heather. I know what it’s like for her.”

“No. No, you don’t. Don’t pretend like you do. You don’t have a clue what it feels like, hoping your clothes will make it until the next sale at the thrift store. That maybe that hole in your shoe won’t get any bigger. That you’ll have enough food to make it until payday without resorting to stealing ketchup packets from the fast food joint down the street to just to make some fucking tomato soup so your kid won’t starve. Don’t patronize me with your bullshit ‘I’ve been in your shoes’ in those thousand dollar loafers. Don’t dangle things in front of her she can’t really have. You hear me?”

Cormac didn’t respond right away. He hadn’t realized it was quite that bad for her or her mother. No wonder Kimberly had been so adamant that he help her get her job back. Not to mention that she was so reluctant to let him take care of her.

Heather was right. He couldn’t begin to imagine what kind of sacrifices they must have made just to survive.

That didn’t mean he had to accept it, or that he had to sit back and let them continue to struggle alone.

“I’ve lived long enough to know my own mind, Mrs. Wells. It’s made up about her. I have every intention of helping her in any way she needs, and I have no intention of going anywhere. Not unless she wants me to.”

“Yes, well, throwing your wealth at her—or at me—isn’t going to buy forgiveness. I may not have any magic of my own, but believe me when I tell you that if you do hurt my baby again, there is no power on heaven or earth that would stop me from finding you and making you pay for it, and I don’t mean from your wallet.”

Cormac smiled, showing just a few too many teeth. “A woman after my own heart. Now I see where she gets it from.”

Heather glared at him over her shoulder, clearly not convinced, then disappeared back into the bedroom, leaving Cormac to wake her daughter. He eased her up to a sitting position, lightly running his fingertips through her hair.

He had taken a great deal for granted about how he could swoop in and fix everything for her. It pained him to recall all the assumptions and cavalier attitude he’d taken. As reluctant as he might have been to admit it, Heather had a point. He had assumed he could write a check to fix Kimberly’s immediate problems with money. That he could make her choose him to be her familiar and muscle a path for her into the coven of her choosing. Not once had he thought about letting her do any of the work herself.

Somehow he would make it up to her. He had no idea how yet, but he would.

With a little urging on his part, Kimberly woke up with a fierce ache in her neck. After a few moments spent helping her rub the twinge out, she gave in to his suggestion to take her to breakfast at the Black Star Café.

While she was getting ready, he pulled out the new cell phone he had one of his assistants pick up for him the day after he destroyed the other one, and tapped out a text message.

It didn’t take long until she was ready and they were facing the day, stepping arm and arm out into the sun. Cormac didn’t bother suggesting a cab or the subway. It wasn’t a short walk by any means, but the sky was clear and the opportunity to spend time together without the pressure of anything more than deciding what to have for breakfast hanging over them was a welcome relief to them both.

Once they were seated in the Black Star, safely surrounded by the scent of fresh baked pastries and fae-infused coffee, Cormac did his best not to bristle at all of the attention Kimberly was garnering from the few Others also out for a bite to eat. Some were so blatant in their staring that Kimberly had resorted to hiding behind the menu Rieva dropped off when she bustled over to their table, pausing just long enough to give Kimberly a grin and a slug on the arm.

“Up and about already? You’re made of tougher stuff than I thought. Try the vanilla bean pancakes with apple compote or a slice of the amaretto cream cheese coffee cake. Or both. Get something that will put a little meat on those bones, girl. I’ll be back in a minute for your order.”

Rieva gave a terse nod to Cormac, plopping a menu from the stack in her arm in front of him, then hustled off to the next table.

“The brown sugar, bacon and brie crescent rolls are better,” Cormac said, earning a sharp look from Rieva. “On a different note, I have a couple of things I would like to discuss with you this morning.”

“Oh, jeez. Please don’t start up about the familiar thing again. At least let me have some coffee before we start arguing.”

A smile twitched the corner of his lips. “As you wish. Actually, the first thing I wanted to talk about was what your plan is to get that job you want at The Circle. You’ll have some difficulties walking in the front door to apply considering you’re a sorcerer rather than a mage. Eleanor—your Professor Reed—may not have told you that they are not terribly forgiving of sorcerers treading on their turf and they’ll have some brutal defensive spells triggered if you should come too close to their seat of power. Unfortunately, it would be just as dangerous for me, if not more so, should I try to step foot in their territory. You’re not the only one with designs on a dragon familiar.”