Precarious Possessions (Maxwell Investigations) (9 page)

Troy nodded. “I know. But you’re trying to act like one.” He
reached the last door on and stood in front of it. “You need to stop expecting
me to just drop you and leave.” He lowered her to the floor and held her face
in his hands. “So just shut the fuck up and explain.”

Madison looked into his eyes for a moment. He wasn’t angry
with her, which was somewhat surprising. He just wanted to get to know her. A
small smile crossed her face. “How can I shut up if you want me to talk?” she
asked quietly.

His shoulders fell as he pressed his forehead against hers.
He started to chuckle as her hands came to his waist. “You know what I mean,”
he said before kissing her nose. “Why are you so close to so many Vampires?”

“We raised her,” Casper’s voice answered from down the hall.

Madison’s back went rigid as she caught sight of her friend.
She had always known that Casper had some sort of feelings for her, but for her
own peace of mind she always ignored him. As Troy turned to him, she tightened
her grip in his shirt. “My magic came to me when I turned five.” If she was
going to be honest, she was going to have to start now. “I was shipped off by
my parents to New York to live with another Necromancer named Pan. The only
downfall was that Pan wasn’t always around. He had things that he always had to
work on, and he couldn’t take a child with him. Crispin babysat me a few times
and then Victor came to the city looking for his daughter. He found me and I’ve
been his ever since.”

Troy slowly nodded. He had a number of questions running
through his head but there was only one he wanted answered while they had an
audience. “So this asshole down the hall is like your brother?”

Madison’s shoulders fell as she heard Casper hiss. She knew
what Troy was doing. He wanted her to put Casper in his place, or he would, in
a bloodier fashion. “Casper’s like a brother, yes,” she agreed. “But don’t
think that you two can just trade insults and I’ll always take your side.” She
then looked around Troy to Casper. “Or yours. You of all people know that I
will call it as I see it.” She stepped away from Troy and glared at both of
them. “So I will warn you both now, my name is not Bella.”

Troy grinned at her, flashing his dimple. “I’ve always been
partial to Team Jacob,” he quipped.

A laugh escaped her before she could stop it. With his sense
of humor, she was either going to hate him or fall completely in love with him.

Casper hissed out a breath as he picked up on Madison’s
thought. “If you care,” he spat, “Father has taken the boys and the Princess to
Éclair’s.”

Madison held onto Troy’s arm and glared at Casper. “Who the
hell do you think you are?” she asked moving around Troy. When Casper didn’t
say anything, she went on. “You know I care about my boys.”

“You could have fooled me,” Casper countered. “As soon as he
showed up, you run off to fuck him in the woods. All you leave behind is an
order to watch them.” He folded his arms over his chest and scoffed. “Some
mother you are.”

She closed her eyes for a second to try and reign in her
temper. “Casper, if you ever cared about our friendship, you will get out of my
house.”

“Is there a problem?” Dylan asked from the stairwell. She
frowned at her brother-in-law as she read everyone's minds. She had hoped that
Casper would simply step aside and let Madison be happy, but after that comment
Dylan didn’t think that was going to be possible.

Casper looked at Madison for a long moment before allowing a
slow breath to leave him. Without a word, he turned and went to the stairs.

Troy turned to Madison and tried to take her hand. He
frowned when she backed away from him. “Madison?”

She shook her head and backed away. “I’m
gonna
grab a shower. Why don’t you go to the kitchen and get something to eat.”

Before Troy could say anything, Madison slipped into her
room and closed the door in his face. He closed his eyes and sighed. What
Casper had said hurt her. A blind man could even see that. Troy didn’t want to
leave her alone. As he was about to raise his hand to knock, her sister stopped
him.

“Let her take her shower. After that she should be calm
enough to talk.” Dylan walked towards him and tried not to sigh. “That shot
about her skills as a mother hurt her. Give her some time to lick her wounds
and she’ll be fine.”

Troy looked between Dylan and Madison’s door. “She’s a great
mother.”

Dylan smiled as he turned and walked away from Madison's
bedroom. Troy was just as stubborn as Madison and he
wouldn’t
let her get away. She leaned against the door jam and
cracked open her sister’s door. “Get that? He thinks you’re a great mother.”

Madison was leaning against the wall as she looked at her
sister. “He’s never seen me with the boys.”

“True,” Dylan agreed. She stepped closer to the small
opening and looked into Madison’s eyes. “But he was thinking about how happy
and polite Aiden was last night.
And how difficult and
protective Kayin was.”
Dylan smirked as she saw Madison smile. “That’s
all you. Now get your shower before Victor comes back. I’d rather you skin
Casper than him having to do it.” Dylan closed the door and started down the
hall.

* * *
* *

Crispin frowned as his brother stormed out of the house. He
could only imagine what happened to make Casper want leave with Troy in the
house. There weren’t too many things that would force Casper from Madison’s
side.
“Do I want to know?”
he asked
mentally. Crispin carefully hid a flinch when Casper shut him out of his mind.
His green eyes then traveled to the archway leading into the hall.

Troy simply walked into the kitchen and made his way over to
the fridge. “Is your brother always an asshole?” he asked conversationally.

Crispin’s frown deepened as he watched the entire exchange
from Troy’s mind. “Only when Madison is involved,” he answered honestly. He
watched the Werewolf carefully as Troy started pulling out eggs, bacon and
various other dairy products. “I’ll talk with him. He has no right talking to
her that way.”

Troy looked at Crispin for a moment. He then placed the milk
on the center island and took a slow breath. “I don’t want you to,” he said
seriously. When Crispin gave him a confused look, he went on, “I know she’s
like family to you, but she’s my Mate. I’m going to have to take care of her
sometime.”

“That’s only fair,” Crispin said with a nod. He then took a
deep breath. “Though I doubt you’ll even have a say when my father hears about
this.”

A rueful smile crossed Troy’s face. “Victor’s a little
protective of her,” he observed.

Crispin snorted. “He’s a lot protective of her and the
boys.” He then waited until Troy looked at him before continuing. “He let you
walk away once. You break her heart again and there won’t be any stopping
either of us.”

Troy slowly inhaled before nodding. It seemed like these
Vampires not only thought nothing of him, but also thought they could walk all
over him. He looked into Crispin’s eyes. “I didn’t leave by choice,” he said
darkly. “Dennis said that it would be best if I left and trained out in
California so I wouldn’t alarm my mother.”
Which seemed like
a piss-poor excuse now that he thought about it.

Crispin snorted. “At least you see it now.” When Troy’s eyes
narrowed at him, he simply leaned back and shrugged. “For some God-only-knows
reason, Dennis seems to hate Madison.” A pale eyebrow arched over green eyes as
Troy started cracking eggs into a bowl. He could see that what he just said
upset the Wolf, and he could understand why. If his own father acted the same
way towards Dylan, he didn’t know if he would be able to stay civil. “Don’t
feel too bad. While the feeling is entirely mutual, they both adore the twins.”

Troy almost dropped the egg he was about to crack. He looked
at Crispin with wide eyes. “Dennis knows about them?” When Crispin slowly
nodded, Troy took a slow breath. His bastard of a father would have a lot to answer
for when they met again.

“I guess this was a bad way for Dennis to pick at Madison,”
Crispin observed. He looked out of the window knowing that his wife was just on
the other side of the wall. “They’ve been at each other’s throats ever since
she was a child.”

Troy was silent as he mixed his ingredients together.
Madison seemed like she enjoyed the French toast he made her.
At least before it ended up on the floor.
As he added
cinnamon to his mix, he looked at Crispin. “What could possibly happen when she
was a child that could carry on this long?”

Crispin chuckled. “Dennis came to New York to meet with my
father. During the full moon Madison saw his Wolf. The next morning she dared
to ask how such an unkempt man could change into such a pretty puppy.”

Troy laughed before he could stop himself. Even he knew that
Dennis was vain about his appearance. Never mind the fact that being called a
puppy was a huge insult. “How old was she?” Troy asked.

“I think she was seven.” Crispin smiled in memory. “He cursed
her as the most disrespectful hellion. Too bad he didn’t know that she would
turn into a disrespectful hellion that managed to get the respect of just about
everyone in the Council on her own merit.” Green eyes then turned to Troy. “If
you ever decide to lead a Pack, she would be an Alpha like no other.”

A fond smile crossed Troy’s face as he moved to the stove.
He figured Madison for a damned fine Alpha Female the first night he met her,
but he wasn’t going to tell Crispin that. Instead, he focused on the pan in his
hand. “Do you want any?” he asked.

Crispin nodded as Dylan came out of her hiding place. “Sure.
And meanwhile you can tell us about your family.”

* * *
* *

Madison quickly grabbed a shower and dressed. Troy was
supposed to be getting something to eat, but she had a feeling he and Crispin
were doing the whole “Male-Bonding” thing.

A slow breath escaped her as she went over to her window
seat. It didn’t surprise her that Casper was leaning against a tree near the
house. A muse escaped her as she opened the window. “I’m not reenacting the
balcony scene,” she said sitting down on the ledge.

Casper smiled sadly. They had come a long way from his
tutoring her in Shakespeare. “I’m sorry Pixie, what I said was uncalled for.”

“It was,” she agreed. “And I don’t know if I can just say
it’s
okay. You know I take pride in my boys. For you to try
and say that I don’t care was worse than a slap to the face.”

He nodded and tried to breathe. “I know and I hate to say it
but I wanted you to hurt as much as I was.
As I am.”

Madison lowered her head. “I’m sorry, I can’t love you,” she
told him. “I’ll beat the shit out of anyone that hurts you.” When he looked at
her, she shook her head slowly. “But it can’t be me.”

“I know.” With ease Casper jumped up to her window and
climbed onto the seat with her. “But God I wish it could.” He caressed her face
and fought tears as she lowered her head. “Tell your Wolf that if he hurts you,
he’ll answer to me.”

A weak smile crossed her face. “You’ll have to race Father,
Dylan and Crispin.” She laughed when he rolled his eyes. After a moment she
looked at him with serious eyes. “I don’t need you to fight me on this
Cas
. I really want to give this
one a chance.”

A pained sigh escaped him. He hated knowing that the woman
he wanted was going to be the woman he couldn’t have, and to make things worse
she wanted a Wolf.
“Alright.
No more fighting you,” he
said. He then rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll play nice from now on.
Promise.”

Madison snorted. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

Casper grinned as he looked into her smirking face. “I never
said we’d be BFFs or anything.
Just that I’d be nice.”

Madison laughed as she did the only thing she would think of
to put their friendship back on track.

She pushed Casper out of the window.

Barry frowned as he looked at the bodies in front of him.
The photos did not prepare him for the actual sight of the dead, dehydrated
people lying on the slabs. He took a slow breath and rubbed his nose as he was
trying to clear the stench of the room from his nose.

Another man stood to the side wearing a frown. “This is just
nasty man,” he said shaking his head.

Barry turned and looked at his partner, Thorne Thornton.
“It’s
gotta
be done.” Years ago Barry explained the
existence of magic and various other paranormal entities. For a Norm, Thorne
had taken it all very well. After about a week of hiding in his house, and an
almost attack by a rabid fairy, he was more than willing to believe. “
Madi
can’t come here. So that leaves it all to me.”

Thorne frowned. He still didn’t know the inner workings of
the weirdness that surrounded the Maxwell family. “So you’re going to try to
raise the dead?” he asked.

Barry slowly nodded. “That is the game plan.” He reached
into his pocket and pulled out a small knife. “And once they’re conscious, then
we can ask them what happened.”