Precarious Possessions (Maxwell Investigations) (18 page)

Aiden sniffed and wiped his wet eyes. “I don’t want her,” he
said rebelliously. “She doesn’t like you.”

A snort escaped Madison as she grabbed a tissue from her
nightstand and wiped at his nose. “She doesn’t understand me,” she clarified.
When she looked at Kayin she felt her heart break. He was crying just as much
as Aiden was but he didn’t make a sound. She took another tissue and wiped his
face as well. “When people don’t understand something that seems dark, or
dangerous, or even too powerful, they get scared. Half the time that fear comes
out as dislike.”

“I think I hate her,” Kayin said at last.

“Don’t ever say that,” Madison said quickly. “Nana Tina may
have her faults but she’s family. You respect her as your Nana and you love her
even more because she doesn’t understand you.”

Tina gently knocked on the bedroom door and looked at the
trio on the bed. “Or we can all start fresh and I can try to be a little more
understanding,” she suggested. She tried to ignore the way the boys closed in
around Madison. “You don’t even have to call me Nana if you don’t want to.”

Madison gently stroked Aiden’s back and kissed Kayin’s head.
“Hey, why don’t you both get your pajamas on and I’ll play for you all.” She
nodded as they slowly climbed down from her bed and left the room. “I hope you
mean that,” she said to her mother.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Tina asked in turn.

Brown eyes flashed red for a moment. “Aiden, the one that
was ready to attack you, is a Necromancer. Kayin, the silent badass in
training, is a Healer. I don’t want anyone to praise one, and not the other.
They’re a packaged set.” Madison walked over to her closet and pulled out her
violin case. “And that has nothing to do with the fact that their father is a
werewolf. We both know there’s a chance that they’ll change as soon as they hit
puberty.”

Tina frowned as she watched her daughter. “So you think that
I’ll just turn my back on them? That they’ll do something that I can’t handle
and then that’s it; I don’t want anything to do with them?”

Madison was used to cloaking her emotions with indifference,
anger, even sarcasm. After everything she had been through with her family, she
was just tired. “I’m speaking from experience Mom,” she sighed. “I know what
you and Dad say to everyone. I know what you have to tell yourselves so that
you can sleep at night, but look at it from my point of view for a minute.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, Baby girl.” Tina watched as Madison
rubbed a piece of silk along the beautifully crafted instrument. “I didn’t know
you played.”

“It was taught to me as a meditation technique. Trying to
keep time to a piece of music can be hard as hell if you’re pissed with the
world.” Madison lifted the violin to her chin and tuned it. She then looked at
Tina. “The lessons started when I was eight. By the time I was
fifteen,
music helped me calm down but not control my anger.
Then he started the fencing lessons.”

Tina gave her a confused look. “Pan said you were in
self-defense since you were nine. What happened?”

Madison laughed. “When Pan was around, he taught me as much
as he could. That meant there would be months when I was doing the whole wax
on/wax off routine and then nothing. A couple of Crispin’s guards kept up the
martial arts training. I was pretty awesome at the weapons stuff. I think
Victor has a video of a few of the tournaments where I did demonstrations. When
I was fifteen, he put me into European formal fencing. It’s just as controlled,
but with a lot more rules. Crispin has videos of those.”

Tina’s light brown eyes filled with tears once more. “I feel
like I don’t even know you.”

Madison bit her lip as she thought of something to say.
There had been a number of years where her only thoughts were of how she would
throw insults and accusations at her parents. At the end of it all, she simply
wanted peace. “You don’t know me, Mom,” she said plainly. “A part of that is my
fault, but you have to understand and own up to your part in that too.”

The older woman stood thoughtful for a moment. She
remembered when Madison’s powers first surfaced better than anyone. They had
been at the funeral. Tina shuddered as she relived the memory. When the
decision was made to send Madison to Pan, no one argued with her. “Was the
transition to living in New York hard?” she asked lowly.

“It was at first.” Madison turned and looked at Tina. There
was something in her eyes that was sincere. For once, Madison didn’t see any of
the usual mocking or contempt in her mother’s gaze. “Pan tried to soften the
holidays. He and Crispin always told me you and Dad
were
working. That you two would have sent for me, but you were really busy and
couldn’t. Or it would have been too dangerous. I bought into it until Jimmy and
Dylan started sending the pictures.” She wiped her eyes again then offered Tina
a tissue of her own. “I felt like Pan and Cris were lying for you, or you were
lying to them. Then Victor came along.” Madison went walked over to the window
and looked out along her property. “Pan had been teaching me about my magic,
but Victor taught me how to live.”

“I’m sorry,” Tina said suddenly. When Madison looked at her,
she tried to offer her a smile. It soon crumbled under her tears. “I didn’t
know what you were capable of doing. There was someone in the family to help
train everyone. Eric and Barry had my brothers, Jimmy had me, and Dylan had
your father.”

“I know, Mom.” Madison went over to Tina and looked into her
eyes. “But the mind of a child processes things differently. As far as I was
concerned, you threw me away. It didn’t matter the reason.”

Tina wiped her eyes and felt her shoulders fall. “Is there
any way you can forgive me?” she asked. It wouldn’t surprise her if Madison
said no. Not after everything she was learning.

“Don’t hurt my boys,” Madison said seriously. “Either you
come into the room ready to love them, knowing that they’ll be able to cause
some serious damage, or you and Dad leave. I’ll respect your decision either
way, but you need to make one.” Madison placed her violin in its case and
carried it to the door. She felt a smirk cross her face as she saw the boys
running down the hall to the stairs. “Every full moon I play for the boys. If
you stay, you’ll get to see if I’m any good. You can also talk with Belle
Davenport. She was at the ME’s building today.”

“You’re a bigger person than I gave you credit for,” Tina
said softly.

Madison shook her head. “Again with the big comments,” she
mumbled playfully. She looked at Tina and smiled. “What can I say? Motherhood
agrees with me. I can grow up and be playful at the same time.” When Tina
started to smile as well, she walked out of the room. “Besides, their father
just came into their lives. You know how werewolves are. They eat those that
threaten their young,” she said before heading down the stairs.

Tina blinked at Madison’s back. That was the attitude she
was used to getting from her wayward daughter. She then mused as she went to
follow. Her relationship with Madison was on the mend. Everything else was
going to have to wait. She wanted to see her daughter play. Just as Tina was
about to follow, she felt someone staring at her. She turned to see Victor
watching her from down the hallway. “I don’t think I ever thanked you.”

Victor nodded. “Madison is a delightful addition to my
family.
Just as she would be to yours.”
He approached
her and leaned close to her ear. “As for what happened when Dylan was turned,
Madison may not want to address it but I have no such hesitations.” He leaned
back and looked into her eyes. She needed to see how serious he was. “I will
personally rip out your intestines if you dare treat her or my grandsons as
though they were freaks of nature again.” He gave her a simple nod as he
scanned her mind and saw that she had no such thoughts. As far as she was
concerned the twins were two little cherubs that should be loved and protected.
“I believe Madison wanted to play Bach tonight.”

It was after 3am when Troy made his way into the kitchen. He
paused when he saw Madison eating the rest of the plate he left for her. An
amused snort left his wolf form as he sat on his haunches and watched her.

Madison grabbed a napkin and wiped her mouth. “I was
hungry,” she said in her own defense. She couldn’t hide the smile on her face
as he shifted and went to her side. “You going to make me fat you know that?”

Troy couldn’t help himself as he leaned over and kissed her.
“That’s one of the reasons why I went to culinary school,” he teased. He could
feel the confusion radiating off of her and decided to take pity on her. “Right
after high school, I went to culinary school. My grandmother had started to
teach me to cook, and I enjoyed it. I figured why not.” Troy took her hand into
his and caressed her knuckles. “After I graduated Mom and Dad wanted me to have
my own restaurant, so they sent me to college for business.”

“Oh, you poor thing,” Madison mocked. She leaned forward and
ran her fingers through his hair. “How dare they want you succeed?”

Her teasing was refreshing. Troy kissed her knuckles.
“You’ve met them. Imagine how they took me dropping out to work at the bar.” He
smiled as she laughed. The anger and hurt he could smell around the estate
bothered him. Golden eyes watched as she enjoyed her food. The night they met
she had been in a self-destructive mood. Now, she was just resigned to her
pain. “Are you happy?” he asked suddenly.

The serious tone of his question threw her. She had to take
a moment to chew her food and try to think of an answer. She hated talking
about herself but with Troy she wanted to make an effort. “I’m content,” she
answered at last. When he raised an eyebrow at her, she clarified. “I’m not
disgustingly happy, but I have my boys.” She brushed her hair away from her face
and shrugged. “My real parents and I weren’t on great terms, but I have Victor
and his brood. It’s not like I’m alone or anything.”

“I didn’t ask if you were alone,” Troy said gently. He
leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. “I asked if you were happy.”

Brown eyes closed tightly. “Don’t do this,” she breathed.

“Do what?”

“Don’t make me count on you for my happiness,” she
confessed. Tender fingers tangled in her hair and she tilted her face up to
his. “Don’t make me fall in love with you. Don’t act like I’m the best thing
you’ve ever had.” Madison opened her eyes to reveal the tears in them. “I’m too
raw. My mother wanted to make amends and I’m just really worn right now.”

Troy kissed her again and took her empty plate. As he placed
everything in the sink, he felt a pair of eyes on him. When he looked at his
Mate, she had the decency to blush. “Enjoying the view?” he asked.

She smirked.
“Maybe.
But did Dennis
tell you that we keep blankets all over the estate? You could have shifted and
wrapped up in something.” Madison walked over to him and slid her arms around
his waist. “Every now and again the boys sneak out. We wouldn’t want you to
scare them or anything.” She laughed when he lifted her hand and nipped at her
fingers. As he turned to face her, Madison raked her eyes over his body. “Then
there’s the fact that your mother will probably be staying with us for a while.
I don’t think she would appreciate us making out in the kitchen.” A gasp
escaped her when he leaned forward and ran his teeth over the Mating Mark on
her neck.

Troy kissed her passionately and slid one of his hands down
the front of her pants. “She wouldn’t catch us making out in the kitchen,” he
promised. His dimpled grin crossed his face as he lifted her legs to his waist.
“We’d be fucking on the table,” he breathed against her skin.

Madison ripped off the top she wore before fusing her mouth
with Troy’s. The feel of his skin against hers was intoxicating. She groaned as
he leaned her back against the kitchen table. Open mouthed kisses trailed from
her lips down her neck as she started to shimmy out of her pants.

“Oh, God,” Dylan’s voice rang out.

Madison and Troy pulled away from each other as they saw
Dylan standing in the center of Crispin’s arms. Horrified, Madison made a mad
dash for her clothes as Troy sat low in one of the chairs. “What are you two
doing up?” she asked breathlessly.

Crispin looked at the scene around him and smirked. “We were
looking for a midnight snack as well,” he said barely containing his laughter.
When Madison rolled her eyes, he pressed a kiss to Dylan’s hair. “You both know
that we
do
eat on that table, right?”
he asked.

Madison snorted as she sat on Troy’s lap. It didn’t matter
if he was comfortable with being nude around people. She didn’t want anyone
else looking at her man. “You
do
know
that this is
my
house, right? You
don’t see me pulling a CSI in your kitchen.”

Dylan blushed as she went over to the pantry. “That isn’t
the point,” she said quickly.

Troy laughed when Madison turned to her sister. His mate had
wolf tendencies and didn’t even know it. She knew they were hiding something
from her. The way Crispin was laughing and Dylan was trying to avoid looking at
them not because of what she saw, but of what she and her husband were almost
guilty of doing as well.