Page 45 of Midlife Vampire Unexpected

“Your dog doesn’t look so good,” she said. “Have you thought of you know…” She touched her mouth and clicked her tongue and ran a finger around her neck as if she was decapitated herself.

I burst out laughing unintentionally. It was kind of hard to kill a dog was already dead, but I wasn’t about to say that.

“Oh, Carl’s a permanent fixture around here,” Mae said. “He’s not going anywhere.” Mae gazed silently at Kartika for a long moment and I could see her fingers twitch. I glanced over to see if Mae was performing any magic on Kartika, but Kartika was looking her usual bubbly happy self.

Mae held her hands up to the tonics, teas and brews she had sitting out on the counter. Aa she moved her hands over them, she suddenly stopped on a particular brew, smiled, and prepared individual cups of tea made of those leaves.

I looked over Bianca and we both raised our eyebrows. It hadn’t gotten past me. Jane had told me how Bianca had been forced to turn into a werewolf by Trina because she hadn’t developed her ability to shift yet. Trina’s potion had made that possible. Was Mae doing the same thing to Kartika?

As if she knew what I was thinking, Bianca looked at me and gave me a shake of her head. I guessed she and Mae had discussed it and it wasn’t something they were going to do again.

I knew the magic world had different laws than the human world and I was starting to get used to them, but I liked the laws of the human world. I liked the rules and regulations and following them and upholding them. I still wasn’t sure which side of the fence I was on in terms of the magic world, but with a bit of luck, I was going to be able to straddle them both without forcing someone to shift against their will.

Mae put the cup of tea on the table, looking at Kartika and smiling. “This is a tonic. It’ll make you feel better,” she said.

“What do you mean, feel better?” It was the first time I’d ever seen a frown cross her face.

“Your smile doesn’t reach your eyes,” Mae said. “There’s something wrong with your heart.”

To my shock and surprise, Kartika burst into tears. They fell down her face and created rivers on her cheeks.

We all looked at Jane, who was famous for calming people down. She had actually used her powers to calm me down a couple of times and in fact had turned me away so I wasn’t nosing around in their business.

“I just found out I was adopted,” she said.

We all raised our eyebrows.

“How is it you only found out when you’re in your, what, forties?” Mae asked softly.

“Forty-two,” Kartika said. “I know, right? What’s even worse is that my parents didn’t tell me. I found out because I had to get my birth certificate and somehow it slipped out that it was my second birth certificate. Both my parents are dead so I can’t even confront them about it.”

Jane reached out her hand and touched Kartika’s fingertips with her own. It was a small connection, but it created energy between the two of them. We could immediately see the effects on Kartika. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

“Frank knew I was upset and struggling with it, because you know, what do I tell my children? Now I don’t know who I am, so they won’t know who they are. I’ve spent my whole life thinking I was one thing and then I’m not,” she said her eyes wide as she leaned forward whispering the words.

“So anyhow, that’s why I’m here. It is why Frank sent me.” She inhaled a ragged breath. “He wanted me to get a break from Cottonwood and I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this.”

“Oh, it’s okay,” Jane said. “You’d be amazed what we’ve all discovered about each other. We’re a group of new friends. And it’s really nice to have you here.” Her voice was calm, light.

I felt the urge to tell Kartika about the world she was going to find herself slipping into. I didn’t know what her adopted meant to us, but we hadn’t known until the day before that she was a member of our Coven. I knew there was no way we were going to tell her right now, especially not with the wraiths attack the night before.

I suddenly sat up straight. She probably shouldn’t even be at The Estate. The truth suddenly struck me; she would be targeted based on association with us. I stood up and walked over to Kartika. “We’re going to get that in a to go cup for you.”

The others looked at me as if I was crazy to be throwing her out now that we had found her.

I was pretty sure we were being watched and if we were, it meant someone would know that Kartika was coming here. If we were attached to her, then she would become a target. We had enough problems as it was. “Yeah, yeah she’s got to go.”

Looking confused and hurt, she stood up, drying her eyes. “It was TMI, right?”

“No, there’s nothing wrong with you. You’re perfect and wonderful,” I said. “They’re doing some work on the house, so we all have to leave.” I turned and looked at everybody and gave them the eye.

Everybody in the room stood up, nodding. “Yes, of course we all have to get up.” We moved toward the front door. As we passed the door to the red room, Kartika stopped and turned toward it, her eyes suddenly shining.

“We were gathering and looking at the crystals you brought,” Mae said, walking further into the red room.

At this phase the gray, pink and purple stones were configured into something looking like a demented butterfly. I’d never seen anything like it before in my life.

Kartika took a deep breath in. She looked around as if taking stock of every single item in the room. Then she turned to me with a light laugh. “This room is amazing,” she said. “You could do anything in here.” She looked over at the table with the potions on it. I bit my lower lip, but nobody said a word.

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