I took the opportunity to pour myself a glass of filtered water and drank greedily. What must it have been like for a young Callan to be sent away to live with the enemy of his family? House Lewis and House Duncan were longtime rivals for control of England. It had to hurt.
I opened a tin of black beans and rinsed them before dumping half the contents into a flour tortilla. Meat wasn’t exactly in abundance these days, but I was fairly certain I’d be a vegetarian regardless. My connection to animals was too strong to view any of them as food. Besides, legumes were easier and cheaper to source. I was always happy when a client offered to pay with protein. It saved me the trouble of shopping.
I only realized how hungry I truly was when I bit into the tortilla. Sagging against the counter, I took another enormous bite, still thinking about Prince Callan. At least he had two homes that wanted him. My home was the street for longer than I cared to remember. Some of those years were a blur. If I tried to bring the memories into clarity…There was little reason to remember any of it. I survived and that was all that mattered.
I ambled into the living room and opened the window that led to a makeshift balcony to check for Barnaby. One of the reasons this flat suited my needs was because of its ‘outdoor space.’ There was also a metal ladder that connected from the balcony to the rooftop which was convenient for some of the animals as well as for me.
I removed the hen’s diaper and let her outside for fresh air. If she didn’t feel the need to poop every twenty minutes, the diaper wouldn’t be necessary, but I had no interest in searching for all the poop pellets after a long day of chasing monsters.
I dropped onto the sofa, physically and mentally drained. It took a lot of effort to contain my magic. Using small bits of magic provided temporary relief, but I could never completely relax and I paid a price for the constant exertion.
Big Red jumped beside me and curled into a ball, his head resting on my thigh. I patted his head as I considered the prince’s offer. It seemed too good to pass up and my inner child longed to see the inside of the royal palace. My mother once mentioned a visit there at the request of the royal tutor to demonstrate elemental magic to the children of staff. She’d spoken of the palace itself with reverence and a dreamy look in her eye, which was one of the reasons I remembered her account with such vividness. Rarely was my mother wistful. Her life had been hard up until her final moments and she’d hoped to spare me the challenges she faced. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that her efforts were in vain. The mere fact of my existence meant my life would be an uphill battle.
I couldn’t have the same dewy-eyed approach to the palace. My mother was a pureblood witch. She hadn’t run the same risk by stepping foot inside a residence overrun with the most powerful vampires in the realm.
“Think of the money though,” I said to no one in particular. It would be enough to tide me over for months. In Britannia City, that was the difference between survival and a visit to an early grave. I was healthy and strong, but it only took one bad stroke of luck to turn fortune’s tide. One wound that took too long to heal. One encounter with the wrong people.
A knock on the door forced me to my feet. So rude. Didn’t they know I’d had a long day? All I wanted now was a shower and sleep.
I opened the door and greeted Mona Keyes, my landlord. She didn’t own the building though. She only managed it for a man called Elliot whom I’d never met. She was a stout woman with medium-brown hair the same shade as her eyes. Her skin was maybe half a shade lighter with gold undertones. Large freckles dotted her face and arms. When I first met her, I must’ve stared at her freckles for what seemed like an eternity. My mother once told me freckles were caused by the sun and yet somehow people managed to pass down the trait to their descendants. You didn’t see them often, so when you did, you stared.
Or at least I did.
“How are you, Mona?”
She knocked on the wooden frame. “The door’s sticking. I’ll ask Bruno to fix it.”
“Thanks, I was going to mention it. Want tea?”
“No, thank you. I’m here to give you notice we’re getting new windows installed next week.”
My eyebrows crept up. “The whole building?”
Nodding, she pushed her glasses to the bridge of her nose. At least they were connected to a chain around her neck. Judging from the number of times they slid, I guessed there were plenty of moments she missed and they dropped off her nose completely.
“They’re past their best and some of the lower-floor windows have started to crack. Elliot wants all of them replaced at the same time.”
“I smell a rent increase in my future.”
She offered a weak smile. “Wouldn’t surprise me.”
“Will you be with them?” My flat was warded, but I’d carved an exception in the spell for Mona. She was the landlord. If there was an emergency, I needed her to be able to enter if I wasn’t here. Of course, that presented a risk because multiple animals violated the lease, but I’d weighed the pros and cons and made what I felt was an informed decision.
“I’ll let them in if you’re not here, but I have no interest in hanging about while they work.” She rolled her eyes. “You know how men are. It’ll be all bawdy chatter. Half the time I swear it’s to make me uncomfortable.”
I mulled over the situation. I’d have to send the animals to the temporary realm I used in case of emergency, but they hated it there. The last time I sent them, Big Red expressed his displeasure upon his return by having explosive diarrhea all over the flat.
“You know, there’s actually nothing wrong with my windows, so maybe you could skip mine. It’s only the door I’d like fixed at the moment.”
Mona pressed her lips together to form a thin line. “I’m not sure that will matter. Once Elliot gets a bee in his bonnet…” She shrugged. “You know how men are.”
“I would appreciate it if you could let him know my windows are perfect as they are.”