Oxford Shadows (24 page)

MADISON JUMPED TO her feet. “You’re lying like a no-legged dog.” She burst out from the corner where they sat.

With one cat-like movement, Sam stood in her way and grabbed both her elbows. He toned down his dominating stance by pleading, “Give me a chance to explain.”

She stepped sideways with a clear intent of getting out of the pub.

“Please!” Sam begged.

Madison wanted to push him aside and get the hell out of there. That was what she should be doing. The dude was delusional. But … but there was this tiny, weeny voice whispering promises into her ear.
A brother.

“My mom would never lie to me. She decided to keep me and she was barely twenty when she got pregnant. If she were your mother, she would never have abandoned you.” Her jaw tensed and she shook her head. “My mom isn’t like that.”

“We share the same father, Pumpkin, not mother.”

He delivered the explanation as if it would make perfect sense from then on. It didn’t. Madison didn’t want it to.

It had taken her years to understand that her dad had only been a sperm donor, years to accept he’d never attend her Christmas party at school, or her graduation. She had stopped searching for his face in her own each time she paid attention to her reflection in the mirror.

“We don’t look anything like each other,” she blurted out.
Strong argument, Madison, you’re making your case well.
No wonder she had never shone in debating class.

Sam laughed. “Now
that
must mean what I said is a lie.” Returning to a more serious tone, he added, “Please, sit down. I need to explain.”

Madison didn’t resist when he led her back to their seats. There, his hands settled over hers across the table.

“I don’t expect you to just open your arms and call me ‘bro,’ but I’d do anything to prove to you that I’m telling the truth. We can take a blood test, if you want.”

Real life wasn’t like in
CSI
. Madison knew it would take weeks to get the results back.

“Trust your instincts.”

Damn
. Sam had voiced her inner thoughts.

“Don’t you think it’s asking me to take a massive leap of faith?” She forced sarcasm into her voice. “What’s his name? Our father, what’s his name?”

Sam’s shoulders slumped. “It’s not for me to say. Our dad travels a lot, but he should be back here in Oxford for us in a couple of days. Maybe you can meet then.”

Madison took her hands back, cutting the bond between them. “Why should I believe a word you’re saying?”

“Because I’ve been there every time you needed a big brother.” He leaned forward, betraying his eagerness to convince her.

“We haven’t even known each other for two weeks. It hasn’t exactly been a lifetime commitment, has it?”

“I’ve known about you for no more than a month.”

This was too much. Too much. “My aunt freaked out when she met you. Is that because she knows who you are?”

“I doubt Louise LeBon knows I even exist. But she must have recognized my tattoo.”

Madison felt her eyebrows reach her hairline. Sam couldn’t be more cryptic.

“Our dad has the same.”

“Our” dad.

Madison shut her eyes to hide the tears now itching behind her eyelids. She wasn’t going to cry. But the squeeze of Sam’s hands over hers tore her defenses apart. She wanted to believe. She so wanted to believe she had a big brother. And the single tear winding its way down her cheek betrayed that fact.

“Pumpkin, you need me. I know you see things other people don’t see. I also know everything about those crazy bastards you’ve been meeting late at night. You must cut yourself off from them.”

“That woman should leave me alone for a while. Rupert told her off.”

“Your boyfriend is a helluva fighter.” Sam touched his jaw absently, as if he remembered where Rupert’s fist had hit. “But these people are like the mob. They’re not just a bunch of crazies. They have money, powerful support and a belief system that’s centuries old.”

“Voodoo isn’t just a bunch of crazies …” The words fell harshly between them. She shifted in her seat, tasting her own surprise. She had never really thought about what voodoo meant to her, what it
really
meant. “Voodoo isn’t just needles and dolls and snakes. It’s as much about life as death. There’s poetry, goodness, and joy in it too. It gave my people hope when they’d lost everything—their freedom, their dignity … everything.”

Pride stiffened her spine and she fought back the tremor in her voice.
Getting all soppy, LeBon.

Sam’s fingers tapped on the tabletop. The
tip-tap, tip-tap
filled the silence between them until he finally broke it.

“I know that, Pumpkin. I’m not one for clichés. My mother is a Navajo. I know what it’s like to fight for your heritage and your memories. I know how it is to face people’s prejudices. The last thing I want is to inflict them on my own sister. But those people we’re talking about, they’re not about real voodoo.”

Sam had a mother.
Well, sure, dummy. It’s a biological requirement.
Madison wondered if the woman had anything in common with her own mom, beyond the obvious: sleeping with the same commitment-phobic jerk. Madison was about to ask Sam more about his maternal family, but he started talking again.

“Let me help you. Put your trust in me. Very soon, we’ll be able to tell you everything.”

It would come as a nice surprise if, once in her life, someone didn’t ask her to wait before she received full disclosure. Aunt Louise, Aurélie, Jackson, they were all ready to tell her “everything,” just “not quite yet.”

A mouthful of air rattled her cheeks and her shoulders slouched like a deflated balloon. “What’s in this for you?”

Sam escaped the hold of her gaze for a couple of seconds. She thought she saw a blush spread across the dark skin of his cheekbones.

“Well, you know, I was an only child too.” He cleared his throat. “I’d like to have a little sis. I figure we have a lot of catching up to do.”

“We do.” This time Madison was the one sliding her hand across the table and touching Sam’s. “I’m ready to trust you as long as you come up with a
very
convincing explanation
very
soon, starting with how you know about Aurélie, and …”

“And what, Pumpkin?”

“I’ll need to know who your, my, our father is.”

“Deal.”

“Deal.”

Students had started filling the pub, and with Cassie alone behind the bar Madison felt it was probably time for her, hmm, brother to go back to work. So she stood. She was about to grab the satchel she had dropped at the foot of the bench when an idea crossed her mind.

“Do you want to come to my place after work?”

Her question took Sam aback and he didn’t answer right away. “Yeah, yeah, I’d love that.”

“My friend Ollie’s coming to help me with a problem. Since you know
everything
about me, you already know that I see dead people.”

Sam stood up next to her and smiled. “Yeah, I’ve heard that about you, sis. I’d like to know more.”

“Six P.M., tonight. My place. You’ll get more than you asked for. And refresh your knowledge of the Tudors by then.”

“Pumpkin, my best friend’s name is Google.”

She buried her need to give him a hug. Whatever her heart told her about him, she had to wait more before lowering all her defenses. But hey, if Princess Leia had finally met her long-lost brother, Sam Blackhawk could be Madison’s very own Luke Skywalker.

Now, who was hiding behind Darth Vader’s mask? Aurélie? Hugo? Or even her own father?

33

STILL REHASHING THE morning’s conversation with Louise, Rupert climbed the staircase to Madison’s studio, two steps at a time. They had agreed he would give her a lift back to “their” place once she had finished studying. Her moving into his house in Jericho wasn’t entirely acted out yet. Madison wanted to keep her study space at Christ Church. But right now his car was parked illegally at the curb on St. Aldate’s and they had to move soon or he’d get a ticket. Another one.

He was about to knock at Madison’s door when he heard voices coming from her room.

Madison’s voice.

And Ollie’s.

And …

Fu—!

His fist banged against the door.

“Hey.” Madison welcomed him with a smile. She wore one of Rupert’s old rugby jerseys over tight jeans. Her feet were bare.

The girl was cute and Rupert couldn’t keep his hands off her. He didn’t. Sliding his fingers along the back of her neck, he pulled her toward him and covered her mouth with his. She tasted so goddamned sweet.

With her hand now on his chest, she pushed him away and turned her head. Rupert followed her gaze and found Ollie and Sam sitting on the threadbare carpet with Mamie’s diary between them.

“Since when are you sharing your family secrets with a stranger?” He came one step closer to Sam. The guy didn’t budge.

“He’s family.”

It took a few seconds for her answer to reach Rupert’s brain and his brain cells to fire up. “Family? You don’t know that guy from Adam.”

Ollie coughed and stood. “Time to work on my paper.” He passed Rupert and gave him a light slap on the shoulder. “Good to see you, mate.” The door closed behind him.

Rupert tilted his head to the side and planted his hands on his hips. Explanation time.

“Sam and I might be related.” Madison had moved so she stood between Rupert and Sam, making her body a barrier in case Rupert lashed out at Sam.

“Qualify ‘related.’” There was no way Rupert was going to beat around the bush, and if he sounded rash, so be it.

“He could be my brother … my half-brother.”

“What the fuck?” Rupert’s lungs constricted. He needed some air. To regain some sense of control, he rubbed his hand through his hair and broke eye contact with Madison.

“I know. I know it sounds crazy, but I’m ready to believe him. He said he’ll be able to prove it to me soon.”

“Prove it to you.” Rupert mimicked her words, giving a brainless spin to them.

Madison stood back, her lips tight together.

Jerk
, he reproached himself. “Sorry.”

Rupert started marching the width of her tiny study. In the meantime, Sam had stood and was now immobile, his hands buried in his pockets, silent. Rupert stilled, trying to showcase the same control as the American.

“So, the LeBons are an ever-extending family.” Rupert teased. “After the aunt, the half-brother.”

“Sam isn’t a LeBon. We share the same father.”

“I see. It does make some sense now.” Rupert’s voice grated on his own nerves. He sounded so much like his own complete ass of a father.

“Listen, dude, I know we haven’t had the best start.” Sam tucked a wisp of his chin-length hair behind his ear. “But you should be relieved. At least I’m not trying to sleep with your girlfriend. That’d make me a sick bastard.”

“No, you’re just trying to move into her life. Madison longs for a family and you’re exploiting that weakness in her.”

Rupert pointed his index finger at Sam and struggled with the confusion inside. He was still jealous. If Sam weren’t talking total crap, Rupert would have to share Madison with someone else. He knew he should be happy for her, not resent the bond she would share with her … brother.

A vibrating buzz sliced through the silence. Sam grabbed his phone from his pocket and checked the message. Despite Rupert’s outburst, he had remained calm. But now he started biting on his fingernails and his eyebrows merged into a mono-brow. His whole demeanor showed his tension and concern.

“I have to go,” Sam said.

“Really?” Disappointment weakened Madison’s voice.

Her reaction tugged at Rupert’s heart. He felt even more like a moron for not sharing her earlier hopes.

“Something came up.” Sam turned the doorknob and stepped outside the room. “Rupert, you don’t like me. I get it. But believe me when I say that you and I want the same thing: for Madison to be safe. From that Aurélie, and even from the ghost she’s fighting to save your stepmother.”

When Rupert found himself alone with Madison, his reaction was to stare blindly at the tip of his shoes. “Sorry.”

Madison released a loud breath. “That’s okay.” Her answer was feeble. “I want to trust my gut. And my gut tells me he’s telling the truth.”

“Then I believe it to be the truth too. As long as he accepts a DNA test.” The thought of his car outside sprang back into his mind. “Let’s get back to
our
home.”

Madison nodded with a smile. She took off his rugby jersey to reveal a tight black top. She grabbed her trench coat and satchel.
“Vamonos!”
She went out in the corridor.

Rupert followed her and shut the door behind them. “Let’s hurry. I’ve left the Morgan in a perilous position.”

“We wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to your other girlfriend.” Madison always took the piss out of his jewel.

Girls didn’t get cars.

While they crossed Tom Quad, Rupert wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled him against him. Their legs matched each other’s pace. He enjoyed that feeling … until another vibration tickled at their hips.