20. Lyndon

Chapter 20

Lyndon

I stared at Darcy. He looked like a mundane human. His normally scaled skin was now the same texture as mine, just a few shades tanner. He had tight black curls covering his head. His nose, mouth, and jawline were all human-shaped. His eyes were just brown, no second eyelid. Even his tail was gone. I hated it.

Darcy ran his hands down his body. When he looked at himself, he'd see his normal appearance, but in the mirror, like now, he'd seem human.

My mother, unlike me, was thrilled. Not because she wanted Darcy to change—she'd unofficially adopted him about five minutes after meeting him—but because it was a flawless glamour. Nobody looking at him would ever realize was truly half lizard.

"Remember, this will only last 24 hours, so please no lingering. Also, don't let anyone get too close, honey. The glamour won't fade, but if they touch you, you'll feel like you normally do to them."

Oh, I had forgotten about that. I quickly went over and ran my hand down Darcy's ass so I could feel his tail. All the tension in my shoulders left when I touched it. There he was. My Darcy was still there.

"Lyndon! Do not mess up my hard work! There shouldn't be any trouble, as long as you can keep your hands to yourself. But if there is, Aria will get me."

I kissed Mother's cheek. "We'll be fine."

"Thank you, Zelda. I really appreciate your help."

"Of course. This was fun. I truly hope you won't always have to hide, but if you need my help again, I'll gladly glamour you whenever."

I ushered my mother away. She meant well, but I didn't want him to have to continuously be under a glamour.

"Go now. Aria is waiting. Go find the house you'll be raising my grandbabies in."

I groaned. I should never have told Mother about my visions. I wouldn't be surprised if she was already picking out bedroom décor for the nonexistent kids I may or may not be adopting at some point.

I didn't know how I felt about that part of the vision. Truth was, I hadn't thought about it much. There were just too many factors, so I'd pushed that to the back of my mind. But I knew Darcy wanted that. I could feel it in the bond every time the children were brought up. I could sense his disappointment every time we were unable to find a silver-eyed coven.

That alone was enough for me to get on board. I'd probably be a terrible father. I was way too stuck in my ways and precise to deal with children running around. But even in the short time I'd known Darcy, it was obvious he'd been born to be a father. Anything that made him that happy, I'd do.

I stopped short, not expecting that thought. I shook it off. Deep feelings had to wait.

We went outside, and Aria was standing on the path, drawing a circle with sidewalk chalk.

"What is she doing?" Darcy asked out of the side of his mouth.

"Getting ready for us to travel to Maine. Her magic works differently than Ambrose's. They're both effective, but she has to create a physical barrier for us to travel through. Ambrose creates portals out of thin air. He's the only magic user I'm aware of that can do that."

"That's a powerful gift."

I nodded. "Yes, and he's careless with it. I think our whole coven is just holding our breath and waiting for the day he's picked up by the PDA."

Darcy squeezed my hand, and so many emotions passed through us. "Hopefully we can get some answers today." It was the only thing he could say. It was hard to believe a dilapidated house in Maine would hold the key, but it was the only lead we had now.

Darcy and I had discussed last night whether we should go and visit it. He'd been afraid that we would alter the future in a negative way, since the vision had shown us seeing it for the first time with the kids present, but I wasn't worried. The goddess would've been way more vague if she didn't want us to take the trip or would stop us somehow before this. I never knew them to meddle this much, but I had somehow fallen on her radar, and it didn't seem like she was backing off anytime soon.

Once Aria was finished with her preparations, she stood up and smiled at us. "Wow, Darcy, you look amazing. Aunt Zelda really knows her stuff."

I scowled at her. "He always looks amazing."

"I never said he didn't. I'm just saying."

Before I could spit out another retort, Darcy stopped me. "Thanks, Aria. I was impressed too."

He fixed me with a glare that said to leave it the fuck alone before focusing back on my cousin. "Okay, what do we do?" he asked cheerfully.

She beamed, forgetting completely about me and my attitude. "Just step in the circle and I'll complete it. I haven't done this in a while, since it's so much easier for Ambrose, but we should be fine."

"Great," I grumbled. "This will go amazingly."

Both Aria and Darcy ignored me as they stepped into the circle. Well, I guessed it was time to get this over with.

I zoned out as Aria completed the spell. Since most of the coven's magic worked differently than mine, I never paid much attention to the ins and outs of the spells. I understood it, but I'd never be able to do it, and my mind was preoccupied with other issues. I just focused on Darcy and waited.

I clutched him to me tightly as the ground disappeared from underneath us and the world started to spin. I could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and I didn't blame him. This wasn't the most pleasant way to travel.

Luckily, it was quick, and before I had a chance to truly feel sick, the world righted itself and we were dropped unceremoniously at our destination.

Climbing to my feet, I automatically checked on Darcy. He was brushing dust off his pants, still looking like a regular human. I tried not to get too annoyed about it. Don't get me wrong, my mother did a great job. He was a really handsome human man. But it wasn't my Darcy, and that was my issue. It didn't matter that it would only last a day. I wanted him back.

Completely oblivious to my inner turmoil, Darcy grinned, his eyes latched onto something over my shoulder. "Is that it?"

Aria, who managed to somehow land on her feet, had her eyebrows raised into her hairline. "Really? This is the place you want to raise my future nephews?"

I sighed. "Can you all stop phrasing it like that? It's freaking me out. Hopefully, if, and that's a big if, we ever have kids, that's many, many years in the future. We're just here to get some answers. Nothing more."

"That's right!" Darcy replied in an awfully cheerful voice. "Kids way, way in the future. Maybe. Or maybe not at all. Whatever is good with me! C'mon, let's not just stand here. We have a house to sneak into."

I blinked. What the fuck had just happened? "Darc—" I began, but he was already walking away.

"Good going." Aria smacked my shoulder and skipped after Darcy, taking his hand. Fuck.

I stalked after them, wondering where I'd gone wrong. Because something was definitely wrong. While Darcy was always fairly optimistic, that false cheeriness only ever came out when he was trying to mask his feelings.

I didn't know what had set him off, though. I wasn't saying that I didn't want kids, just, you know, maybe 10 years from now. Or 15. I'd explain it to Darcy. He'd understand.

But first, we had a house to check out. It looked exactly like it had in the visions. It was a three-story Victorian with a wraparound porch, and in its heyday, it was probably gorgeous. Now though—I was seriously questioning the structural stability.

Aria and Darcy walked right up to it, completely ignoring the fact that it looked like it might crash down around us any second.

"Uh, guys, maybe we should stay out here?"

Aria rolled her eyes. "It'll be fine, worrywart. C'mon."

"Isn't seeing it from the outside enough? We weren't inside in the vision either."

Darcy walked up to me and wrapped me in a hug. Even under the illusion, I felt his tail wrap around my waist, holding me close to him.

I melted into his hold. How did he always manage to soothe me when no one or nothing else would. "Lyndon, if you're not comfortable with thisssss, we'll go home right now. Don't do this just becausssse you think I want it or the goddess is forcing you."

Home. In such a short time, I'd gone from wanting him out of my space so I could go back to my life to feeling all tingly with happiness over him calling my cabin home.

I cupped his cheek. "I want to do this. I want everything with you, sunshine." I hoped he understood all the meaning I was putting in the words. I didn't want to have this whole discussion right here, but I would if Darcy needed me to.

He rubbed his nose against mine. It was so weird feeling his normal facial structure while staring at the chiseled face of a human man. But it helped somehow. Knowing his tail was right there, holding me close, and feeling the more elongated features of his natural face made everything calmer in my head and heart.

"Okay, assss long as you're sssssure."

I kissed him lightly. "I'm sure. Let's go explore the condemned house."

We continued to hold hands as we walked down the overgrown path until we were standing in front of the rotted porch steps. The good news was that they were wood.

"Hang on a sec," I told Darcy and Aria absently as I let go of his hand and knelt on the ground, awakening my magic. I touched the rotted stairs. Wood was a little different than working with living plants, but it was still doable. Despite how old it was, it still held faint traces of the tree it had been made from, making it malleable to my magic.

I let it flow through the steps and the porch, rendering it safe for us to walk on. I wasn't sure how useful this would be in the house, but I'd do what I could.

Once I was sure we wouldn't crash through, I nodded to the others, and we walked up the stairs. There was one of those realtor lockboxes on the door, but Aria made easy work of it. In a few seconds, we opened the creaking door and walked inside.