My Brother's Keeper(29)

"How did she manage that?" Marshall asked.

Kendrick rubbed his chin. "Evidently, both she and Meryn inherited their empathy from your mate's side of the family. Ever since Amelia's magic broke loose during the battle, her empathy has been fueling her earth magic. I'm guessing that she'll be able to do a lot more with her magic than she ever has before. Her empathy is acting like a nuclear reactor, generating more and more power due to everyone's high stress levels."

Lily looked at Meryn. "My side of the family? But we're human."

Kendrick shook his head. "Mostly human. I'd bet you have a witch dangling somewhere in your family tree."

Meryn waved her hand. "Can I do spells?"

"No!" Aiden answered.

"But..."

"No." Colton repeated.

"Now, that's not..."

"No, Meryn." Elizabeth and Rheia said firmly.

"Y'all are no fun!" Meryn paused then looked up at Aiden. "Can I have a kitten?"

Aiden nodded then stopped. "What?"

"I've been thinking, I want a kitten, like a baby lion or bobcat." Meryn sipped from her cup.

Aiden began shaking his head. "No. What? Why? Baby lions and bobcats aren't called kittens they are called cubs, and they would grow bigger than you!"

Meryn shrugged. "So would any boy we have; you don't seem to mind that idea."

Elizabeth turned to her friend. "What brought this on?"

Meryn shrugged. "I've never had a pet before. When I was growing up, no animals were allowed in the house. Holding the puppy version of Amelia made me realize how much I missed out on." She held up her butter knife like a sword. "It could be a battle cat for Felix, like Cringer from He-Man."

Colton shook his head. "No sweetie, it would eat Felix."

Meryn frowned. "I didn't think about that." She turned her head. "I'd rather have you than a cat any day of the week, Felix."

Lily looked at Meryn worriedly. "Is something there?"

Marshall leaned forward eagerly. "She has a sprite, doesn't she?"

Meryn smiled. "Go on," she said encouragingly.

The air shimmered around Meryn's head and Felix appeared. He ducked his face behind her ear.

Lily inclined her head. "Very pleased to make your acquaintance, Felix. Thank you for looking after my niece."

Felix blushed furiously, nodded, and then disappeared again.

The dining room doors opened. Darian had his arm around Amelia who was grinning sheepishly. "Sorry about that everyone, I think I'll be able to shift back on my own next time."

Darian collapsed into his chair. "There won't be a next time. Never again, Amelia."

Amelia looked up at the ceiling. "Sure."

"She's lying." Lily and Marshall said at the same time.

Darian buried his face in his hands. "I can't, I just can't."

Ryuu walked in carrying a large basket. "This may cheer you up; we received a gift basket from the fae queen. The crew that will be fixing the town square delivered it this morning. I'm told that your favorite crumpets are in here, Darian." Ryuu set the basket in the middle of the table.

Darian perked up immediately. "Really?" He stood and used a pair of metal tongs to begin sorting through the assorted pastries.

"I can see how worried he is," Anne teased.

Amelia rolled her eyes. "I swear they're all ruled by their stomachs." She pointed to Aiden and Colton who were looking in the basket of goodies.

Anne turned to Kendrick. "Aren't you hungry?"

He smiled. "What would you like?" he asked.

"A cinnamon roll, if we have any."

Kendrick waved his hand, and three pastries floated out of the basket and landed on their plates.

"How'd you do that? I thought you had to see what you were aiming your magic at?" Colton asked.

"That varies from spell to spell, in this instance, I used my earth magic to identify the apple turnovers and the cinnamon rolls, and called them to me. Apples and cinnamon are gathered from plants." Kendrick lifted the powdered turnover and bit into it. He sighed happily as he chewed.

Anne dug into her cinnamon roll and wasn't disappointed. It was the best she'd ever eaten.

Kendrick looked down at his pastry. "I see that Cord still serves at the palace."

Darian looked startled. "How did you know that?"

Kendrick raised the turnover. "I would recognize his pastries anywhere."

Darian smiled. "He is a master at what he does."

The dining room became quiet as everyone enjoyed the unexpected treats.

Anne was sipping her tea when she noticed that some seats at the table were empty. "Where are Penny, Jaxon, and Noah? Did they already eat?" she asked.

Rheia leaned forward. "Mina is visiting a friend so she isn't able to teach Penny today; Noah and Jaxon volunteered to look after her. They raided the basket before we came down and have taken over command central for the day."

Anne had to smile at the image of those three together. "They are good boys."

Meryn nodded. "They make perfect minions."

Beside her, Kendrick began to choke. He reached for his coffee and gulped a few times to clear his airway. "Minions! I completely forgot. Basil will be coming by today. I'll be showing him how I set up the tests for the different necklaces."

Aiden looked over at Kendrick. "Thank you for teaching him. It really went a long way soothing hurt feelings about advancement. You wouldn't consider teaching a class or two to all of the unit witches while you're here, would you? I know that Noah is behind in his studies as well. When his parents kicked him out, his lessons stopped."

Kendrick nodded slowly. "I could easily do that." He turned to Elizabeth. "You're the planner, aren't you?"

Elizabeth laughed. "Yes, would you like some help?"

"Yes, please."

Elizabeth pulled out her day planner. "Do you need help organizing the class list, location or syllabus?"

Kendrick winced. "All of it."

Elizabeth stopped writing and closed her planner. "Got it. I'll just let you know where and when to show up and what you'll be talking about."

Kendrick looked relieved. "Thank you! Teaching isn't really my forte."

Elizabeth eyed Meryn. "I can understand that."

Rheia looked down the table at Anne. "Anne, Meryn and I will be heading to the clinic for check ups, would you like to come along to see the location and meet Adam, our other doctor?"

Anne nodded eagerly. "I would love to."

Kendrick leaned in and kissed her neck. "Look at you, so excited at the thought of organizing latex gloves and tongue depressors."

Anne turned quickly and licked his nose. "You're geeking out just as much at the thought of teaching Basil testing procedures."

Kendrick wiped off his nose. "Touché."

Amelia turned to her parents. "I'd like to visit with you as much as possible while you're here."

Lily hugged Amelia. "Of course, Meryn, too. When she's ready."

Meryn played with her danish. "It's not like I don't want to talk to you. I just don't know what to say. The only thing that comes to mind is, 'Your mother was a hateful bitch, and I'm glad she's dead,' but that doesn't seem like something you say over tea."

Lily covered her mouth with her napkin her eyes dancing with laughter. "Oh Meryn! You could most definitely say that over tea, at least with your uncle and me. Remember darling, we knew her, too. I had to practically drag Marshall away from her house. He wanted to turn her into a toad, but I stopped him since she was still raising Violet."

Meryn thought for a second. "No, not a toad, a slug. That would have been better."

Marshall winked at Meryn, causing her to blush. "I agree one hundred percent. We could have taken turns with the salt shaker."

Meryn laughed then stared down at her plate. "Perhaps later, after my appointment, we could visit together. Maybe talk about my mother."

Lily's smile was wobbly as she blinked back tears. "I'd like nothing more."

Aiden grumbled under his breath. "The more I hear about this woman, the more I support the idea of moving her grave to Lycaonia."

Meryn laid her head contentedly on her mate's shoulder. "I don't think so. I wouldn't want her fouling the place up. Maybe somewhere nearby."

Anne couldn't imagine what this woman could have done, but by the support the idea to move this woman's grave was getting from around the table, she was glad she had never met her.

The doorbell rang signaling an end to breakfast.

Anne stood with Kendrick. "You have fun today training your minion. Try not to blow anything up while I'm gone."

Kendrick sighed. "You're taking the fun out of my morning." He rubbed noses with her. "Have fun counting bandages and taking everyone's temperature."

"You know us nurses, we love to take temperatures," she teased.

"Love you."

"Love you, too. And seriously, no blowing anything up or destroying the house."

"I'll do my best." Kendrick said magnanimously and swaggered to the door to greet Basil.





CHAPTER TWELVE





They ended up taking Anne's CRV to the clinic since it hadn't been assigned a parking spot yet and was still out front. Meryn argued with Ryuu that she didn't need a babysitter, and she didn't want him in the room when someone was looking up her hoo-ha. Ryuu managed to look annoyed and worried about his charge at the same time as he helped her put on her coat.