6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

‘So,' Mum said as she passed Greg some broccoli. ‘What do you do?'

He smiled. ‘I run security at the mansion that Lucy manages.'

‘Oh.' She sounded faintly disapproving, ‘A workplace romance.' She frowned slightly at me. ‘Lucy, is that wise?'

‘Mum!' Ben chastened. He turned to Greg. ‘Ignore her!' he said as he glared at Mum. ‘Leave the poor bloke alone.'

Mum sniffed. ‘If he can't cope with one overly protective mother, he must be terrible at running security.'

‘He's brilliant at his job and he can absolutely handle you,' I teased. I winked at Greg and his grin broadened.

‘I can,' he agreed amiably, taking the glass dish of carrots that my father was offering him. He piled some on his plate and passed it to me.

‘At least you have a healthy appetite,' Mum murmured approvingly .

Greg smiled at her. ‘I understand your concerns, but I can assure you that Lucy and I can keep our personal and professional lives separate when necessary.' That was completely true, even though it was a tricksy sentence; we could keep our personal and professional lives separate, but it was never necessary. They were intertwined tighter than a DNA helix.

Greg continued, ‘We always discuss things in a healthy way.'

Mum nodded slowly. I could see that she appreciated the upfront way he was discussing her concerns rather than ignoring them or sweeping them under the rug.

Ben looked anxiously towards the front door. ‘What's up?' I asked him.

‘My partner is supposed to be joining us.'

I brightened. My brother was pansexual: for him the term ‘partner' was a deliberately vague choice because he fell in love with the person rather than a gender. I never knew who he'd bring home. ‘Is your current partner male, female or non-binary?' I asked nosily.

‘She's a woman – a very late woman.' He sighed. ‘She's always a little late so I told her to be here half an hour earlier than planned. Even then she's late,' he groused. ‘Dig in, she wouldn't want the food to get cold.'

‘What's her name?' I asked.

‘Pollyanna.' My brother's frown dropped away as he spoke her name and a soft smile crept onto his face. Aww, my big brother was in luuurve.

The doorbell rang. ‘I'll get it!' He knocked his chair over in his haste to get up.

My dad righted the chair as he watched Ben pelt out of the room. ‘Ah, to be young and in love,' he murmured.

My mum gave him a shove. ‘Ah, to be old and in love,' she twinkled and he smiled back. They had a moment together and their affection was so palpable it drew tears to my eyes. I shoved broccoli in my mouth. You couldn't chew and cry, right?

I was so damned lucky to be raised by them. The thought gave me a prickle of guilt; my biological parents had to die so that I could be adopted, and of course I wished that hadn't happened … but I had been blessed in my adoptive parents.

I felt so mixed up; in some ways it had been easier when I hadn't known the truth about my birth parents and I could imagine any scenario I wanted. Most often I'd painted them in a negative light to cope with their apparent rejection, but that couldn't have been further from the truth. The photos Jess had found of my life with them portrayed a warm, loving unit, and I wished to hell I could remember them .

Damn Alessandro and his interfering mind wipe. He'd stolen my memories of my parents and left me with nothing but my life. Some days that was hard to forgive. Under the table, Greg gently squeezed my thigh. He missed nothing, not even my emotional upheaval. I gave him a tremulous smile and his ice-blue eyes seemed to warm for me alone.

Ben came in with his arm protectively round a small woman. The first thing I noticed was that she was purple – bright, lurid purple. Pollyanna was a seer.

Greg was far more used to such things than me, so while I was still blinking stupidly at her he touched his hand to his heart and gave a slight bow. ‘My honour to meet you, Pollyanna,' he greeted her. To Mum and Dad, he must have seemed a tad formal if not downright eccentric, but I knew that a bow was the polite way to greet a seer. Handshakes were an absolute no-no in case they saw some of your future that you didn't want them to know about.

Recovering my aplomb, I gave a little bow too. ‘My honour to meet you.'

‘Gosh,' Mum tittered. ‘They do hold you to fancy manners up at that mansion, don't they? Come in, Pollyanna, and take a seat. We've all heard so much about you.' Dad drew back a chair for her and Mum got her a warm plate from the oven on which she started to pile food. ‘There you go, Pollyanna dear.'

‘Thank you all very much.' Pollyanna turned her emerald eyes towards me then hesitated as she looked at my parents. ‘My honour to meet you,' she said and then, in the barest whisper, she added, ‘Queen Lucy.'

Oh boy. Queen Lucy was right out of Narnia. A slightly hysterical feeling bubbled up inside me but I shoved it deep down. Life was weird now I had magic but it was definitely never boring. I gave a bland smile. ‘And what is it you do, Pollyanna?'

The beautiful brunette beamed at me. ‘I'm a life coach. I help guide people to their best possible future.'

I bet she did.

‘She can see auras,' Ben stated, arms folded pugnaciously as he dared me to mock him or to say it wasn't true.

Before I'd nearly died, I probably would have done exactly that, but now I knew that magic was real and Pollyanna was a seer so I nodded politely. ‘That must be very helpful.'

Ben gaped at me. He was a lawyer – facts and figures were his God. I realised then that he didn't believe Pollyanna could read auras, but he was willing to roll with it. ‘She runs her own business,' he said next. ‘She's really doing very well.'

‘That's great. I always love to see a boss-bitch get ahead. Congratulations,' I offered.

‘And to you for all your recent changes,' she shot back. ‘Ben said you used to be an accountant but you had a health scare and changed your path?'

‘That's right. I realised there was more to life than billable hours.'

Ben snorted; he lived for his billable hours. He charged his clients by six-minute increments, ten units an hour. Maybe one day he'd learn life was more than what you had in your bank account. Then again, it was easy for me to say that when my pack's coffers were overflowing. Money didn't buy happiness but it could buy a shit tonne of books and ice cream, and that was almost the same thing.

We ate and chatted companionably about the weather, the food and travel plans. We touched briefly on Pollyanna's animal preferences. ‘I'm more of a dog girl.' Her eyes were laughing as she looked at me.

Rightly so, Esme murmured. Canines are superior to felines in every single way.

They don't have nine lives, I told her soberly, thinking of Larsden and Ramsay .

Nor will the cats if they get too close to me, she retorted, making me snicker a little.

As Ben helped Mum and Dad clear the dinner dishes, Pollyanna turned to me and whispered urgently, ‘You need to start carrying a healing potion – the final defence potion. Have you heard of it?'

I blinked. ‘Isn't it a potion for griffins?'

‘Yes, but it works on other species, although to a lesser degree. But trust me, you need to get some. Now.'

I turned to Greg. ‘See what you can do. Hit up Bastion, maybe?'

‘He's already used his. I know one or two other griffins so I'll ask around, but it'll cost an arm and a leg,' he warned me.

I looked into Pollyanna's eyes and read the very real fear there. ‘Then give them an arm and a leg,' I said firmly.

Pollyanna's shoulders slumped as the tension drained out of her. ‘Thank you for listening to me, Your Majesty.'

I winced. ‘Lucy, please. Especially around my family.'

‘Of course – Lucy.' She took a sip from her cup as my dad walked in proudly carrying a huge, multi-tiered chocolate cake.

‘Wow!' I exclaimed. ‘That looks phenomenal. You've really upped your cake game.'

‘Thank you, Luce.' He pressed a kiss to my hair as he walked past. ‘I've been practising this one a lot. It's dark chocolate with a hint of chilli and home-made raspberry jam.'

‘Oh yum.'

Mum carried in a tray of tea and coffee.

After taking a bite, Greg looked at my Dad. ‘Dennis, this is truly the best cake I've ever had – and I have a real weakness for cake. It's excellent.'

Dad gave a pleased smile. ‘You wouldn't know you're a cake man,' he said, eyeing Greg's muscles. ‘You look more like a chicken-and-rice guy.'

Greg shrugged. ‘Everything in moderation – except this cake. You can give me this cake in excess.' Dad looked chuffed. Score one for Greg.

‘Kiss-ass,' Ben muttered under a cough, but he shot Greg a grin so he'd know he was teasing.

‘Only when she asks nicely,' Greg rebutted mildly, making Ben spit his tea everywhere. I burst out laughing.

As always, Greg had been right: this was exactly what I'd needed.