Page 7 of Bottoms Up
“First human hands to hold it once it’s finished,” Mordecai said. “It’s yours. The coin pendant came to you, making it yours. Also, the silver torc that makes up the silver part of the braid.”
I accepted it, and there was nothing. No tingle. No life. I put it on my bicep instead of my wrist because it was kind of big. Again,nothing.
Mordecai shrugged. “Time will tell.” He turned to the jeweler. “Your craftsmanship is appreciated, as always. Expect your granddaughter to share the news with close family in seven to nine weeks, but she should conceive within the next ten to fifteen days.”
And then the world tilted and lurched. The heated air from the workshop turned cooler, the slightly acrid scent swapped for clean air, and I staggered a half-step despite Mordecai’s steadying hand on my bicep.
It took a second for me to realize we were back in the bedroom I’d been given at Homewood. “Come,” Mordecai said. “Two of the slow cookers have lasagna, and a third has cauliflower soup.”
I grabbed my phone off the charger and told him, “I want the meat version.” I’d learned in the past that sometimes Kirsten makes a slow cooker meal for herself without meat, and then freezes all but two servings so she can pull them out of the freezer later to eat.
“As does nearly everyone else in the house,” he said as we walked down the hall. “Well, everyone who eats food, anyway.”
Right, because the vampires only drank blood.
I looked at my phone to check the time. It was two o’clock in the afternoon. I’d slept a really long time while in Italy, and that wasn’t like me, to sleep with activity going on around me.
“I dampened the sound,” Mordecai said. “Your sleep was natural. I didn’t put you to sleep or keep you there, but I made sure nothing woke you.”
There was no sense in telling him how creepy it was for him to respond to what I was thinking. If he was in my head, he was aware.
Kirsten was sitting at the kitchen table with an ancient Chinese dude, and his eyes went straight to my arm when I walked into the room.
“So, you killed it, then,” he said.
“I prefer neutralized,” Mordecai told him, “but I don’t sense life in it, either. The possibility of life, but nothing active at this time.”
The wrinkled Chinese man grunted. “Same.”
Kirsten turned to him in surprise. “You can speak English!”
He looked at me and back to her. “It would be impolite to speak Chinese around your friend, since she wouldn’t understand.”
Kirsten shook her head at him and looked at me. “What do you feel from it?”
I shook my head. “I feltsomethingbefore. I don’t know what it was, but I don’t feel it now. The thing is, I didn’t always feel it before. Mostly, just when I first put it on, kind of like it was tasting me. Not feeling anything probably doesn’t mean much. It’s not like I’m an ancient god or something.”
Kirsten looked to Mordecai with her brows raised, and he shrugged. “Silver is smart.Tafigured it out without help.”
“Ta?” I asked.
“Chinese pronouns are genderless,” Kirsten explained, “so it meansheorshewithout denoting which.”
“Wow, I wish English did that.” I looked to Mordecai. “Just pick a pronoun and use it. I’m good with whatever you use. I really don’t like for people to make a big deal over it.”
“Shifù had me turn the meat lasagna pot up to medium about ten minutes ago,” Kirsten told Mordecai. “Ladle some out, turn it back to low, and join us.”
Mordecai looked to me. “It was rude of us not to introduce you, but I was at a loss for…” He rolled his eyes. “We’ll go with calling him Shifù. He trained Kirsten in martial arts, and it’s the only name she knew him by for years.”
“Shifù, like inKung Fu Panda?” I asked.
The old man said, “And you are Silver. It’s a pleasure to meet you.Shifùmeans teacher, and I suppose it’s as good of a name for me as any. I would be honored for you to call me such.”
“Thank you for speaking English to me, Shifù.”
Mordecai handed me a bowl filled with meat lasagna. He sat beside the Chinese man, so I sat beside Kirsten.
“May I examine the calluses on your hands, young musician?” Shifù asked.
