Page 47 of Alpha's Magic

“Where is the housekeeper? I need to inspect the manor and she needs to ready a room for me and my omega.”

“She’s an older lady and though she’ll be here soon, she doesn’t get up as early as I do, sir. If you’ll wait here, I’ll go get her from home—she lives only a short distance away.”

I sighed and said, “Very well. But please hurry. It looks as if it may start raining again soon.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll be back as quickly as I can.”

Chapter Sixteen

Leo

After the caretaker left, Asher got the fire going again, the flames blazing even higher than before. It was a freezing cold morning, so I sat as close to it as I dared, not sure if this chill I felt was from just the cold weather or the fact that I was back home again—back at Rook Hall.

The problem was it didn’t feel like home.

The place was named after the fact that so many of the birds roosted in the treetops there. That was what the old house was called years ago anyway. I wasn’t sure of its name anymore. Rooks were large black birds that looked a little like crows, and they were thought to bring bad fortune. But in the crazy way of legends, if a large rookery ever deserted a house and flew away never to come back to roost, that was considered to be extremely bad luck too. I guess we were all right on that score, as I saw the big, black birds flying around near the manor house and their large nests in the trees.

I stood in the doorway for a while as Asher busied himself with coffee. I’d never acquired a taste for the drink, though I supposed it might warm me up. From a distance, and if you squinted your eyes a bit, the house was still a lovely old mansion, though it wasn’t in good shape. It was a very old, two-story, gray stone house with a side-gabled roof, set well back from the large, ornate gate that stood wide open. As I stared at the house, I imagined I saw the twitch of a curtain upstairs, but when I looked again, I didn’t see any sign of life at all. I was immediately hit by a feeling of dread as I stared at it. It was almost a feeling of foreboding, and I tried to shake it off as I clutched my amulet in my hand for comfort.

I shivered a bit as Asher stepped up beside me and handed me a tin cup full of the coffee he’d just made. I grasped it for warmth and gazed up at him to figure out what he might be thinking. I had confessed things to him the night before, and I wondered what he was thinking of me now. Did he think I could still be lying to him?

He stood beside me gazing at the house, as he took a sip of his coffee and tipped his head toward it.

“There has been a warlock operating in this house and fairly recently.”

Of all the things I thought he might say, it hadn’t been that. I looked up at him, shocked as he nodded toward the hall. “Inside the house. It practically hangs over it like a cloud. I’ll need to see the whole thing to check for any kind of fire damage.”

“You mean the fire we sent back to the source when we were attacked? You think it came back here?”

“Yes. From where it was sent. As soon as the housekeeper gets here, we’ll go through the house. If we find the damage, at least we’ll finally know the source. Someone here doesn’t like you very much.”

I shuddered at the idea, and he glanced down at me. “If you don’t feel up to it, I’ll be fine to go alone, and you can stay here in the barn.”

“No,” I said. “I need to go inside. I’d like to see my father’s study again. But who could be in there using dark magic?”

“That’s what I intend to find out.”

I nodded and then we both turned toward the gate as a small horse drawn wagon came through it, with two people sitting on the seat. One was the caretaker and the other had to be the housekeeper. The wagon came over toward the barn, and the caretaker jumped down and then held out a hand to the gray-haired lady on the seat to help her down.

She took his hand but jumped down with the energy of a much younger person and began walking toward us. She got about halfway when she grabbed the caretaker’s arm and gasped.

Clutching at a religious medal around her neck she literally staggered, and the man with her had to put his arm around her to keep her on her feet.

“Young Prince Leo,” she said, her eyes wide and staring. “Could it really be you?”

I felt Asher take my arm and I stared at her without any recognition. I had no idea who she was, though she seemed to know me.

“It can and it is,” I said, feeling curious about who could possibly have recognized me in this place I hadn’t been for so many years. “And who are you, my Lady?”

Despite the caretaker’s arm around her, she suddenly sank to her knees. “I am the caretaker of the hall. The only one of the old servants left. My name is Amalinia, but when you were a little boy, you couldn’t say my full name and you called me ‘Amal.’ Oh, my sweet boy, I thought you were long dead and gone!”

****

Asher

It was a good thing I was holding onto Leo, because I think he may have fainted had I not been there beside him. As it was, he made a soft noise, and I could see he was upset and undone. I knew he hadn’t seen the woman since the day he was forced out of his home, so it must have been a shock. He’d told me the last time he’d seen his “amal,” she had been chasing him with a broom and trying to hurt him.

I reminded myself that his memories were mixed up surrounding that day and made myself calm down on his behalf, because what he remembered might not be strictly accurate. I took Leo over by the fire in the stall and sat him down.

---