5.

S TASSI

“What’s going on? Are you okay? Did you take a turn?”

I looked up from my relaxing bath at Lovey’s concerned face and smiled before I said, “Well there was a left out of the parking lot and then a right onto the . . .” She put her thumb and forefinger together as if to thump me, and I flinched away. “Sorry! Don’t hurt me.”

We both knew that Lovey couldn’t hurt a flea, but it was funny to pretend occasionally. I finally said, “I called you because I need advice and I didn’t want to go to the aunts because, well . . . I’ve been tap dancing on their nerves for almost a month now, and I know they’ve got to be tired of me.”

“You know they love having you here, Stassi.”

“Yeah, but I’ve taken on some of Ivan’s more annoying traits, and there are times that I wouldn’t blame them if they turned me into a toad.”

“They’d never do that,” Lovey argued as she leaned against the vanity and let out a long breath. “I admit that I spoke to Clarisse about you today.”

“And she told you she wants to . . . What was it she said? ‘Sling me off the roof into Utah.’ I may have gotten one or more of the other threats mixed in with that, but you get the gist.”

Lovey laughed but shook her head before she said, “She told me that she believes Ivan’s mate is alive somewhere because of how you’ve been feeling.”

“It’s a yearning, Lovey, and I can’t explain it, but it worries me.”

“That she’s alive?”

“No! That’s something to celebrate if we can ever find her. I’m afraid that the feelings I’ve taken from Ivan might be muddling my own outlook, but then I wonder if that’s the case at all.”

“I’m not following,” she said honestly.

I could tell by the confusion on her face that I was making a mess of my explanation, so I tried again. “I saw Aksel a few times today, and something happened between us that I’m not quite sure was real. Is it the Ivan thing, or is it nature?”

“What happened?”

“I’ll confess that there have been times over the years when I got along with Aksel so well that I thought there might be a spark there, but . . .”

“But you’re not willing to actually admit it,” Lovey interrupted with a firm nod. “I’ve considered that over the years as well.”

“When? Why didn’t you say something?”

“And have you bite my head off? No, thank you.”

“What made you think there might be a spark there?” I asked.

“Remember in the 20s . . .”

“My twenties?”

“No, the 1920s. You were young and full of vinegar.”

“When I decided that I didn’t want to be me anymore and ran off to find myself?”

“Yes. The first time you did that,” Lovey said with a knowing look. I smiled at her and she sighed. “You ended up in North Carolina with that Johnson boy.”

“You make it sound like he was a child, Lovey. There was nothing illegal about our friendship.”

“I’m not talking about the friendship you had with the man, Stassi! I’m talking about what you did together.”

“It was fun! Fast cars, good-looking men, lots of liquor - tell me one thing wrong with that scenario.”

“You ran moonshine through the Appalachian mountains, Anastacia!”

“Prohibition was stupid.”

Lovey burst out laughing and said, “When Aksel found out what you were up to, he was beside himself.”

“If he hadn’t taken such a long sleep, he could have joined me.”

“I know you left because he went into stasis.”

“I did not!”

“You’re a shit liar and always have been. Your mouth may say one thing, but the look on your face always tells the truth.”

“I’ve really got to work on that,” I muttered.

“Please don’t,” Lovely retorted. “Now, back to what you’re feeling. You’re not sure whether it’s Ivan’s longing for Anna or actual feelings you have for Aksel that are making you experience this . . .”

“Yearning,” I repeated. “That’s the only word I can think of to describe this void inside me. But then, something else happened that makes me think it may actually be real.”

“What?”

“You know I’m a shifter.” Lovely raised her eyebrows as if to say, ‘Duh!’, and I laughed at her before I continued. “We have lifemates even if our counterparts in nature do not.”

“I know this.”

“I’ve never encountered anyone like me before, and I always assumed I’d fall for someone of my own kind. I think I’ve been a little bitter about it . . .” When Lovey snorted, I glared at her and continued with, “But I tasted Aksel’s blood today and . . .”

“ You bit him? ” Lovey shouted.

“I did not bite him,” I ground out. “He pricked his finger, and without thinking, I tasted his blood and . . . something unfurled within me.”

“Did you see stars? Was it romantic?”

“Hearts and flowers started shooting out of my ass,” I snarked. “Can I get on with it?”

“I apologize,” Lovey offered. She waved her hand as if to urge me to keep talking. “Continue, please.”

“Then we went at it like we always do.” I paused to let Lovey shudder and release a pained groan. “But after we finished, he used his glamor to change the walk-in into . . .”

“You banged Aksel Nilsen in a refrigerator?”

“That’s not the oddest place we’ve ever done it.”

“I shop there!”

I giggled and then shrugged before I said, “With all those hearts and rainbows coming out of my ass, do you think I would be able to resist? If it makes you feel better, we were standing up at the time.”

“That doesn’t help anything,” Lovey said as she pulled her phone out and started scrolling. When I started to say something, she put a finger up and said, “I had to cancel my grocery order for tomorrow. Now I just have to look up the nearest grocery store that my friends haven’t had sex in so my food isn’t tainted.”

“You can shop at the market, I’d just avoid eating the pickles we serve in the deli.”

Lovey looked horrified. “He used a pickle?”

I burst out laughing and said, “No, he didn’t use a pickle. He used what I must admit is a very fantastic penis. But when we went at it, he was behind me as I was bent over one of the pickle buckets we keep in the walk-in.”

Lovey shook her head and said, “No. Just . . . no.”

“ Anyway, we were still connected, and I made a sarcastic remark about how romantic the place was. He used his glamor to change it into a gorgeous candlelit room with an inviting bed. I could smell the scent of the candles and almost feel the heat from the fireplace.”

“Impressive.”

“I didn’t ever want to leave, and he sort of said the same thing. It was sweet and . . .”

“As sweet as something can be surrounded by other people’s food.”

“You’re gonna have to get past that, Lovey.”

“I’m not sure I can.”

“Aksel and I have been intimate in various locations around Mereu, so the odds are that more than just your food has been affected.”

“I don’t even want to . . .”

“You know that park bench next to the lamppost in the park?”

“No! We always sit and enjoy our lunch together there because it’s such a sweet hidden alcove in the middle of the maze!”

“It’s my favorite place in town because that was the first time he ever told me he’d been anxious to see me and accidentally called me his ‘love.’” Lovey tilted her head in question, and I said, “He said, ‘I’ve been waiting for this moment for years, my love.’ It was just so romantic that I’ve always held onto it as one of my fondest memories of Aksel.”

“That is sort of romantic,” Lovey admitted. When I raised my eyebrows, she said, “You were banging it out in the middle of a park, Stassi. ‘Sort of’ is all you’re going to get from me. Find a room. Jeez.”

“Prude.”

“Skank.”

“If the shoe fits.”

“It doesn’t! That’s the thing. In all the years I’ve known you, Aksel is the only man who has ever been able to make you feel so much anger or attraction. Whether you’re just realizing it because of your connection with Ivan’s emotions or your own, it’s about damn time!”

“I have to get ready,” I said, changing the subject. “Aksel is picking me up so we can have dinner with Cas and get the scoop on what’s going on in Washington.”

“What does that have to do with you?”

“They’re trying to make more of me,” I said sadly.

“Who is trying . . . to what?”

“There’s some psycho doing testing on live subjects, just like that monster did to my parents. Aksel believes it’s because they’re trying to make more freaks like me.”

“Oh, honey, you’re not a freak. You’re a miracle, and it’s about time someone was able to convince you of that. I think Aksel may just be the one who can do it.”

◆◆◆

AKSEL

I nervously brushed my hands over the front of my shirt, worried that it might be wrinkled after the short drive from my home to Clarisse’s to pick up Stassi. I knew that was ridiculous considering you could get from one side of Mereu to the other in less than ten minutes even if you were driving sedately and taking care at each stop sign, which I hadn’t done on the way over because I was so distracted thinking about our upcoming evening and how it may go.

I knew how it would have gone six years ago or even six weeks ago with things between Stassi and I so predictably unpredictable. We somehow always ended up screaming at each about one thing or another and then screaming in an entirely different way once we ripped each other’s clothes off.

Tonight, I wanted to try things a little differently, although I wouldn’t mind the night ending with us naked.

I put my hand up to ring the bell but wasn’t surprised when the door opened before I touched anything. Clarisse stood there with an odd smile. She winked at me before she stood aside for me to walk inside.

“Good evening, my friend.”

“Clarisse,” I said with a smile. “How are you this evening?”

“I’m walking on air. How are you?”

“Nervous,” I admitted.

“So is she, Aksel,” Clarisse whispered. “Please tread carefully.”

“She’s nervous?” I asked. When Clarisse nodded, I asked, “Why?”

“There are things at play that she isn’t aware that I know about, but we sensed them the second she walked in the door this afternoon.”

“What things?” I asked.

“It’s better that they play out on their own, don’t you think?”

“No.”

Clarisse laughed. “I’ve known you for years, Aksel, and the one piece of advice that I can give you is to keep your mind open to new opportunities so that you might see the beauty within.”

Clarisse was always one to speak in riddles when she was trying very hard to let things happen naturally, which told me that she knew a secret that had to do with not just my future, but Stassi’s too.

“Did you have a vision?” I asked. She looked at me with an eyebrow raised, and I said, “Just because you haven’t had them before doesn’t mean you can’t start now, right?”

“I’m not far behind you in age, Aksel. How much have you changed lately?”

“Well, up until a few weeks ago, I would have said not much, but now . . .”

“So you feel it too?” I didn’t have to ask what she meant, so I just nodded. “Good. Let that bloom and grow, and you’ll find beauty like you never imagined.”

“How do I go about that? You know Stassi and I are like oil and water.”

“What are you carrying, Aksel?”

I lifted the gift bag and gave Clarisse an embarrassed smile. “The florist was closed, so I had to improvise.”

“You know that she likes tulips?”

“Yes. She mentioned that was her favorite flower . . . When was that?” I looked down at the floor and realized that conversation had been ages ago. “That’s probably changed since then. She told me that when I found her at Woodstock.”

“I bet that was fun.”

I shrugged and said, “It was filthy, but the music was okay.”

Clarisse burst out laughing and said, “And you ran into Stassi there?”

“I was in the area.” Clarisse gave me a knowing look, and I said, “I had a feeling she’d be there, so I made sure I was in the area.”

“And when you ran into her, she told you she likes tulips?”

“Not exactly. The people she was with were calling her Tulip, and when I asked why, she said that was her favorite flower.”

“I must have missed that era,” Clarisse said as she tried to bite back a grin. “Since there weren’t any tulips, what did you bring?”

“A bag of chips and some bean dip along with a couple of packages of Reese’s Pieces.” Clarisse started laughing again, and I felt the urge to defend myself. “I have no idea what they’ll be serving for dinner, and I know she’s a stress eater. These are her favorite things, so . . .”

“I’ll be sure to tell my sisters that our worries about your intentions are unfounded.”

“Because I brought her chips and dip?”

“Don’t forget the Reese’s Pieces. Those are important too,” Clarisse added.

“Exactly. What were your worries?”

“That she’s been in her room for the last two hours wondering what to wear and that you’d come over with guns blazing and not notice the care she’s taken to get ready.”

“I’ll notice.” I sighed before I quietly said, “I always notice.”

Clarisse reached out and squeezed my hand before she said, “I’ll go get her.”

“I have a question before you go.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m more than three centuries old, Clarisse. Why am I nervous?”

“Because love knows no age and has no time limit, Aksel. That’s what makes it so magical.”

While I stood in the foyer and waited on Stassi, I tried not to fidget and looked around at the changes the witches had made in the house. From the outside, the house seemed to be of average size, but once you walked in the door, it became a vast expanse with multiple floors and countless rooms. The stairways on either side of the foyer led to the private wings of the home, with Maribel’s suite on the left and Vivienne’s on the right. The stairs leading to Clarisse’s wing were located elsewhere in the house, but I had never been invited to her private rooms and always talked to her in the great room or the kitchen.

With magic I didn’t understand, the sisters had split the house in such a way that they each had their own private homes and an open air courtyard that served as a foyer. I took a few steps deeper into the house and looked up to see the bright blue sky outside, which was odd since there was no breeze or heat like I’d felt as I walked to the house from my car. The open area couldn’t be seen from the outside, but I knew that some bird shifters had accessed it before, namely Cassius when he was ill and needed help.

The entire house was gorgeous while still managing to have a lived-in appeal, and I absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the skills the witches did, or I would spell my own place to be just as grand while still keeping it a comfortable home.

I heard footsteps and spun around to see Stassi walking my way. She wasn’t wearing her usual comfortable clothes. Even though I loved the way her jeans fit her lush body, the leggings she had on beneath an oversized tunic with knee-high boots came in a close second to seeing her naked beneath me. I finally forced my gaze up to her face and thrust the gift bag toward her without thinking.

“Hello,” she said shyly. As she thanked me for the gift, she looked into the bag, and I watched her face light up. “You brought me snacks!”

“I’m not certain what they’re serving for dinner, and I know you like to nibble when you’re stressed.”

“Thank you!”

“Are you ready?”

“Yes,” Stassi said with a nod. “I’m nervous.” She let out an awkward laugh and then asked, “Why am I nervous?”

“There’s no reason to be. You’ve known Cas forever, and I’m sure you’ve met Nikki more than . . .”

“No. I mean yes, I’m anxious about what he’s going to tell me, but I’m nervous to be going with you.”

“Why?”

“What if I say something that makes this evening turn out like all the ones we’ve shared before? Why would today be different?”

“Have your feelings about me changed in the last few hours?”

Stassi let out a long breath before she nodded. “They’ve slowly been changing, although I have to admit that you can still make me mad enough to scream.”

“It seems to be one of the few skills I have.”

“Oh, I can think of more than a few,” Stassi teased. “Is it just me? Am I making more of this than I should because . . .”

“No. It’s not just you. I’ve felt it for years - more intensely at times, but I can feel a difference in the vibe between us.”

“The vibe?”

“Even the way you’re looking at me is different, Stassi. I don’t know what caused the change, but I will admit that I like it.”

“I feel like I should insult you just to get back on an even keel,” Stassi admitted. When I laughed, she said, “You know it’s going to happen, right?”

“What’s going to happen?”

“We’re going to end up yelling at each other and then fucking in some random place before we go our separate ways.”

“You said the vibe feels different between us now, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s make a point to do everything differently.”

“I was kind of looking forward to that whole scenario of sex in a random place.”

I chuckled and said, “Let’s plan for that later, but tonight, I’d like to take you back to my house and make love to you.”

“Huh.” Stassi sounded a little shocked when she said, “Okay.”

“You’ve always been the kind of woman who likes to try new things, right? Let’s get the evening started,” I said as I turned around and opened the door.

“You know me. I’m always ready for the next big adventure.”

The drive to Cas and Nikki’s didn’t take long since they were staying at the place he’d always owned in Mereu. As a matter of fact, they lived just a few doors down from me, so I’d passed their home on the way to pick up Stassi.

After we arrived, the usual greetings ensued. Cas and Nikki had been generous enough to arrange dinner, most likely a ploy on Cassius’ part to soften the blow of the news he was about to give Stassi. Of course, I’d let the cat out of the bag but not completely. There was so much more information she had yet to learn about what we’d come to think of as a mad scientist.

When we finished dinner, Stassi and I both offered to help clean up, but Nikki refused, shooing us toward the deck before we could argue. Nikki explained that, as an anniversary gift, Cas had hired a housekeeper to come in three times a week and she wouldn’t do more than minimally clean up before she joined us outside. However, she needed to see to her birds so that they could come out and join us too.

Stassi was eager to see Poe and Violet, the ravens that Nikki kept as pets, but her excitement waned when she saw the serious look on our friend’s face as he sat down in the chair across the fire pit from hers. Without thinking, I reached out and took her hand and was surprised when she clutched mine firmly.

“I take it that you know at least part of the reason I wanted to speak to you,” Cas started. When Stassi nodded, he continued with, “The bodies of several men and women have been found in the area near where Aksel found you all those years ago.”

“Aksel said that they’d had experiments done to them?” When Cas nodded, Stassi grimaced and inquired, “Do you think they’re trying to make more hybrids like my parents or . . .”

“Honestly, it seems like they’re trying to make you. ”

“Because of the bear thing?”

“There were two that had bird DNA,” I argued.

“That’s true, but the majority of the bodies have something to do with a bear.”

“My brother had a different father, and he could shift into a hawk.” Cas and I both stared at her in shock, and she just said, “I never knew that was important, so I didn’t mention it.”

“Who else knew about your brother?”

Stassi lifted a shoulder and said, “Everybody on the compound knew about Nicholas. It wasn’t a secret, but since they’re all dead, it must be someone who was connected to Stefan. He was the one in charge.”

“It’s not rare for a witch to be able to shift,” Nikki said as she sat in the chair next to Cas. The birds that were perched on her arm hopped down and wandered onto the grass, and we watched them until she said, “I know a few who can shift into smaller animals.”

“Ramses isn’t exactly small,” Stassi reminded her.

“But he’s the largest shifted form any of us have seen as far as witches go,” Cas argued. “He’s actually only the second dog I’ve ever encountered. Clarisse knows of a few who can transform to birds but said that the majority of the witches she knows shift into cats - usually housecats, but there are a few other breeds too.”

“That’s true,” Stassi agreed. “But not all witches have that ability.”

“Just like not all witches have your ability to throw fire,” I reminded them.

“I wasn’t able to when I was young. That developed after . . . I don’t know what they did exactly, but I got so sick that I thought I was going to die. That lasted for weeks and then I could suddenly heat up water for my mother’s tea with just a thought and figured out that I could throw fire and create huge explosions.”

“How did you figure that out?”

“I got mad at a guard who was abusing my mother and my hand started to tingle. I tried to shake off the feeling, but it got worse. When I shook my hand out again, I threw a fireball onto the floor. So I shook it again but aimed it at him.”

“And the explosion? That’s what razed the compound, right?” I asked.

“That was my first and only time, and I did that on my mother’s orders. She told me to burn it all, so I did.”

“And the fire doesn’t affect you?” Nikki asked.

“No. It’s like I’m in a bubble. I don’t even feel the wind the fire creates and not a hair on my head is singed when I’m finished.”

“I have the notes that Clarisse and the others took when you first arrived in Mereu. There’s a list of names that you said were present when you caused the explosion.”

Stassi nodded and then said, “My mother was dying and she knew it. She somehow transferred her powers to me just with a touch and then insisted that I burn everything.”

“Where was your brother?”

“He’d been gone for months. They took him in the middle of the night, and we never found out where.”

“And your father?” Cas asked.

“He died when I was around ten years old. He’s the one that taught me to read and write. He was a teacher when he and my mom met.”

“And how did they come to live at the compound?”

“My mother said it was supposed to be a haven for shifters and other supernaturals just like Mereu,” Stassi explained. “She never told me about Mereu, and I didn’t even know she had any living family until the last time we talked. I wondered about that for years and finally decided that she didn’t want to give me hope when she thought there was none.”

“What was your brother like?” I asked.

“How old was he?” Cas asked at the same time.

“He was six or seven years younger than me, and we were rarely ever kept together. I was in a cell that shared bars with my mom’s, and I only saw him on rare occasions after he was weaned. I’ve looked all over but never found him,” Stassi explained. “As far as I know, I’m the only hybrid, so I assume that something happened to him. He may not have even been alive when they took him away.”

“And Stefan was the man who was holding all of you hostage?” Nikki asked. When Stassi nodded, she asked, “What was he?”

“Nothing as far as I know. I never saw him shift or show any interest in my blood. He never once did anything magical.”

“So, you were born from a witch and a bear shifter and then turned into a vampire?” Cas asked.

“Yes. There was a vampire on staff that turned me.”

“Do you know who he was? His name? How old he might have been?”

“No, but I know I killed him.”

“How are you sure?”

“Because he tried to escape the flames and was burned by the sun.”

“So, he’d never been to Mereu,” Cas assumed.

“But neither had she,” Nikki said. “Why weren’t you burned by the sun?”

“Because of her mother and father. They lived here for a time and then went their own way,” Cas explained. “Did they ever try to . . . add anything else to your abilities?”

“Add to them?” Stassi asked with a bark of laughter. “I assume so. I got injections all the time. Sometimes, it looked like blood, while other times, it was just colored liquid or clear. The clear stuff was in tiny syringes. Those always made me sick.”

“That was probably some kind of DNA compound that her body rejected.”

I nodded at Nikki’s assumption and then asked, “Did any of them ever explain why they were doing this?”

“Never. They didn’t talk to me. I think most of them were afraid of me. They stopped by with books occasionally, and I almost always had a supply of paper and ink.”

“How did you eat?” I asked.

“They fed me,” Stassi said with a shrug.

“But what about blood? How did you feed?”

“The same way we all did until blood banks were commonplace - usually small animals.”

“Usually?” Cas asked.

“Well, you know I said they were afraid of me?” When I nodded, she quietly said, “Once or twice, I might have decided that they looked like a snack.”

Stassi’s admission made all of us laugh and lightened the mood considerably. The ravens started causing a fuss out in the yard so Nikki went to investigate, and we watched her interact with them for a few minutes.

Suddenly, Stassi asked, “Do you think I failed my mom?”

“Why would you even ask that?” I balked.

“If there’s someone out there doing the same thing they did before, then that means I missed at least one. She told me to burn it all.”

“I saw the place, Stassi. It looked like a meteor hit,” I explained. I looked at Cas and said, “It was a perfect circle of charred earth with rubble strewn all about that I knew used to be buildings.”

“We’re ignoring the elephant in the room - or psychotic Norseman, to be a little more accurate,” Stassi said, interrupting my description of the havoc she’d wreaked all those years ago. “I’ve heard about Drasil and his nefarious plans. What did he have to do with Stefan?”

“That’s something I’ve been mulling over for years, yet I still can’t seem to find an answer,” I admitted.

“Knowing that Drasil was hungry for power, I would assume that those that kidnapped your parents and did all those things to you were too. Somehow, they found a connection with Drasil and a maniacal deal was struck with Aksel on the chopping block as your husband.”

“But why? It’s not like vampires can sire children or even birth children for that matter,” Stassi argued.

Cas scratched his head and said, “Are we sure?”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“Stassi is the perfect storm - a mix of everything. I assume she’s fertile because of her shifter blood, or maybe she’s not because of her vampire blood,” Cas pointed out.

“Every other year, I have to be locked up for my own safety for at least a month,” Stassi told us. “In the wild, female kermodes are fertile every second year. I can feel the change starting in me a few months before it happens, so I make plans to be with my aunts to prepare. They take care of me for the month and then we go about our way.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I’ll have to go away sometime soon, but I’ll be back,” Stassi said before she smiled at me and squeezed my hand.

“That’s interesting, but as far as we know, vampires can’t sire children with mortals or other vampires, but again - Stassi is unique.”

Stassi scoffed, and I squeezed her hand before I assured her, “You are, you know?”

“Whatever. I’m a freak, and everybody knows it.”

“I don’t know any such thing.”