Lena reviewed her game plan for the day: the addition of dinner needed to be carefully considered. She gave the dining set a thought and changed her mind about local delivery; she would call Bernard and ask if he had room on the truck coming from London. She put the phone on speaker and set it on the table so she could get another cup of coffee while it was ringing. Hal was already in the pantry considering their dinner options.
"Good morning Lena," Bernard's friendly voice always made her smile.
Bernard! Got a question for you. I need a dining table that seats eight or more, with matching chairs. Can you pick one up for me today?"
"Sure. Specifics?"
"I want something with leaves so it can seat from four upward comfortably. Solidly built, in case I get drunk and decide to dance on it one of these nights." She threw that in just to see the look on Hal's face, which was more calculating than shocked. He was obviously picturing it in his mind.
"I thought you'd given up drunken table dancing," Bernard answered calmly. "Didn't that episode in the saloon in Dodge City teach you anything?"
"That was 150 years ago! Don't you ever forget?"
"You wrecked the place, killed five people, put the entire crew of the Bar-W ranch out of commission for a week at least, so no, I don't think I'll forget that one any time soon."
"Vampires, Bernard. I killed five vampires. The rest was just a cover, you know that. And those boys at the Bar-W had it coming. Trying to grab my ass!" She gave Hal a glare as a reminder of what he could look forward to if he considered a similar course of action. He arched an eyebrow at her as he rejoined her at the kitchen table.
"Right, sorry, it was just self-defense." Bernard's voice carried an appropriate amount of dry sarcasm. Hal thought he might enjoy meeting Lena's old friend.
"Look, Bernard, no pedestal table, okay? Four solid legs. Nothing fancy or artsy in the design."
"Chairs? Cloth seats?" Bernard was getting down to brass tacks.
Lena shook her head as she and Hal exchanged glances, clearly remembering Rook's accident of the previous evening. "No. Wood seats. Leather, if they have water-resistant finish. Maple or oak, no dark wood, okay?"
"Got it. This may delay our start by a bit, but we should still be able to get there by mid-afternoon."
And with that the seating-for-eight problem was solved. Within an hour the dinner menu was also solved and the haul-away had begun. Hal spent the day close to Lena as she moved effortlessly through what appeared to be continual chaos and confusion, always with a smile and a kind word, occasionally with a joke or American colloquialism. She referred decisions to Alex whenever appropriate and made decisions herself in a quick, decisive manner.
In his 500 years as a vampire Hal had coerced, bullied, and threatened his way to the top of the heap and had proven himself to be a formidable member of the vampire elite. He had emulated the vampires whose power he wanted to achieve; he had excelled at devious machinations and brute force; he had no idea that other methods would work.
As he watched Lena, who to all appearances was a casually-dressed young homeowner with a fondness for silly t-shirts and ponytails, Hal Yorke saw what true power looked like. She never raised her voice except to laugh. She never criticized, she never demanded, she never threatened. And yet her wishes were instantly met, her suggestions immediately taken, her priorities universally accepted by the creatures who eagerly did her bidding.
He also realized that he was surrounded by creatures who were his natural enemies, with good reason, but who treated him with courtesy and respect. Certain that his species identity would be clear to most supernaturals who met him, Lena simply introduced him as her housemate, Mr. Hal Yorke, using the formal term of respect with each group that entered Honolulu Heights. In each case he added "Just call me Hal" with the charming smile and easy manner that had gotten him through many awkward situations. She gave him the opportunity to put everyone at ease and allowed him once again to take the command position.
Hal knew that he could easily have been bound and gagged and put on display as a prisoner, as Lena had threatened to do when she first arrived at Honolulu Heights. He had no way to stop her from doing to him exactly what she wanted, and if their places had been reversed he would absolutely have had her stripped naked and tied to a bed so he could parade his guests past her or allow them to sample her charms. She would have been his trophy and his victim and he would have laughed at her pleas for mercy or death.
Hal knew this about himself because he had done it countless times in the past, and she knew he had, and he knew that she knew. The only explanation he had for her generosity toward him was her own statement: The devil doesn't own my soul and I'd like to keep it that way. Lena was protecting herself by protecting him.
It occurred to Hal as they began dinner preparations that Lena had never suggested containing him in any manner during the course of the day. He knew that she had watched him constantly, gauged the color of the curse, and moved closer when it grew darker. Her ability to multitask was breathtaking at times, as was her resolve to keep him safe.
When it came to dinner the differences between their tastes came into sharp focus. Hal decided that their young dinner guests would appreciate comfort food after the shocks they had recently endured and had set out the menu accordingly: a good, old-fashioned steak and kidney pie, with mashed potatoes to sop up the gravy, and a bread and butter pudding for dessert.
Lena, on the other hand, was determined to add a green salad and some kind of fruit dish to the heavy menu. Their combined efforts required a call to a local butcher shop and a greengrocer, both of which were coerced into delivering their product to Honolulu Heights. Lena had to buy a decent quantity of fresh meat and fresh fruit and veg in order to get delivery service, so the meal became more expansive in its scope than either of them had intended.
It started off well as Lena cleaned and sliced ox kidneys for the first time in her life under Hal's skillful direction. He had seen Pearl do it countless times although he had never been allowed near raw meat or animal organs himself, a decision that Lena decided to enforce with him as well.
Alex walked into the kitchen just in time to watch a kidney squirt out of Lena's hand and arc gracefully toward the middle of the kitchen floor, only to be caught at the last second by Hal's heroic leap to its rescue. He landed on his back and slid about a foot, arm raised triumphantly, clutching the kidney, as Lena began to giggle, then laugh, then collapse on the floor, with tears rolling down her face. Alex was nearly as bad as she slumped against the wall laughing just as hard.
Hal tried to maintain his composure but their laughter was infectious and he joined them as he sat up gingerly holding his prize. It had been a reflex, the hunter leaping after its escaping prey, but he had to admit it must have looked hilarious, and it felt good to laugh. He held the kidney out to Lena, who was lying prone near him, gasping for breath as she calmed herself.
"Your kidney, my lady. Shall I remain here and watch for the next one?"
"Smartass! The next one will probably end up leaping through the pass-through window, so no, no reason for you to stay on the floor." She got up and quickly washed her hands before taking the ox kidney. Hal washed his hands as well, although the tiny amount of blood on them didn't bother him. Better to be safe.
"I can do that for you, Lena, I've done it loads of times," Alex said as she approached the counter.
"Would you? Wash your hands first," Lena pointed to the sink and Alex happily obliged, not thinking that she didn't actually have hands to get dirty or that water wouldn't actually affect her. She washed and dried her hands and had a knife to kidney before she realized what had just happened.
"What the…? Lena? Did I just put soap and water on my hands and dry my hands with a towel? How is that possible?"
"You forgot that you couldn't do it. I told you, your tangibility is up to you, Alex." Lena smiled at the young ghost, pleased that she had been able to make the point with her.
The steak and kidney pie filling was soon bubbling away on the stove as Lena got a fresh chicken in the oven to roast for tomorrow's eating. Next on her list was a fresh fruit pie—the greengrocer had peaches in stock as well as raspberries, two of her favorite fruits that she now prepared to bake together. Remembering that Hal would need a crust for his pie as well, she set out her ingredients and looked around for measuring cups.
"Whatcha need?" Alex asked from the sink, where she and Hal were working on raw vegetables and salad greens.
"I don't see any 1-cup measures."
"Oh yeah, we measure by weight."
"I measure by volume." Lena wasn't quite sure how to make the switch.
Hal spoke up. "I can tell you the amounts that Pearl used for her pie crust, but shouldn't you be heating your water and melting the lard? You're hardly ready to start anything."
"Why the hell would I heat water and melt lard? I've got ice water and chilled butter," Lena sensed a cultural rift forming.
"You can't make a decent pie crust like that," Hal looked over her setup. "You don't have any idea what you're doing, do you?"
"Fuck you, Fangboy, I've been making pies since before you were born."
"Easy, children, mind your manners," Alex interrupted with a chuckle in her voice. "My nana does the hot water crust, but I don't, so you can do it either way."
"Hmph." Hal clearly didn't believe that either of them knew what they were talking about, but he judged the look in Lena's eyes and decided to say no more. Before he returned to his job he flipped on the radio, an oldies station that Alex rolled her eyes at. She helped Lena measure the flour for two sets of crusts, the women working in silent partnership against the oblivious male in the room. Her part of the job done, Alex returned to the sink and the vegetables.
Soon Lena found herself rolling pie crust to the seductive rhythm of Bill Withers singing "Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone." Her body swayed in time to the music as she sang along, harmonizing with the melody as she had so many times in the privacy of her own home.
She swung away from the counter, arms and torso and hips all flowing with soft eroticism as she danced to the fridge to get her bowl of prepared fruit filling. The song ended as she turned back toward the counter, bowl in hand, and saw Hal and Alex gawping at her from across the room.
"I dance," she said simply. "A lot."
"So I see," Hal responded calmly but Lena saw his darkened curse and knew that her dance had affected him. She thought about what that could mean for the freedom to dance that she found so essential to her own wellbeing as she assembled her peach-berry pie and slid it into the oven next to the chicken.
Hal joined her at the counter and they worked together to clear away one mess and get ready for another: he was determined that they would make a bread and butter pudding. Lena hadn't asked for his help but was glad to see him choose to be close to her, and she could see that his curse lightened immediately when he did so. Alex started cutting pieces of stale bread into triangles and trimming off the crusts. Lena was surprised that bread had a chance to get stale in a household that included Tom.
Hal's eyes lit up as Ben. E. King's "Stand by Me" came on the radio; it was one of his favorites. He had watched Leo and Pearl dance to it at least a hundred times, but had never done so himself. He loved to lead a beautiful woman around the dance floor; his other self therefore refused to consider it.
He took Lena's hand and twirled her into the middle of the room before drawing her into a simple dance around the kitchen, smiling at her obvious pleasure at having a partner. He was as graceful as she had imagined he would be and led her confidently in the small space, bringing them back to the counter in perfect timing with the song's end.
"My lady," he gave a short bow over her hand before releasing her and going into the pantry for the dates and sultanas that he wanted for the pudding. She began buttering a piece of bread with a smile, because dancing with Hal had caused the curse to diminish rather than increase. Her proximity made the difference, which was good to know.
Lena quickly became aware of Alex's stare.
"What?"
"The Hal I know wears an apron like a girl and won't touch raw food without sterile gloves and would never in a million years swing his hips on the dance floor," Alex declared as Hal returned to the table. "What have you done to him?"
Hal answered, "As I said this morning, Alex, other me was unable to relax and enjoy life. He's gone, I'm here. This is me, Alex, Hal Yorke the man, not just Hal Yorke the vampire." He gave Lena a grateful glance before continuing. "Get used to it."
# # #
By the time Tom got home from work the house was back in order, the new table was set for seven, and the kitchen was awash in completed or nearly completed items from the dinner menu, as well as several extra dishes that had been prepared along the way. Alex was placing the last piece of silverware on the table as he came through the door.
"Ta da!" She stepped back and threw out her arms to signify the multiple amazing things that she wanted Tom to notice and that she immediately began to tell him about as he made a beeline for the kitchen, lured by the smell of roasted meat.
Tom did his best to listen to her story of being seen and heard and being the boss because Lena made sure of it by bringing in supernaturals only, no humans, which was awesome! And there were ghosts, real ghosts doing real jobs for pay and everything, and one of them was sorta cute and gave her his address so maybe she'll just go check him out, because surely ghosts can shag other ghosts, yeh? Oh and she washed and dried her hands and it was real, she felt it, just like Lena said she could, and Hal and Lena danced and Hal cooked without an apron and look at all this stuff!
At some point during Alex's narrative Tom discovered the roast chicken cooling on the counter and clapped his hand firmly on its tender, juicy breast with a confidence he could never display with a woman, sadly, before pulling the thigh out of its joint and tearing off a huge bite. He leaned against the counter, ate the chicken and listened to Alex. She was happier than he had ever seen her, and he reckoned it was Lena's doing. Maybe it was a good thing, having her here.
Lena and Hal came downstairs in clean clothes, which reminded Tom that he needed to change before Mr. Rook and the werewolves got there. He tossed the chicken bones in the bin and looked thoughtfully at the other leg quarter.
"Might want to save room for dinner, Tom," Hal said with a chuckle. "That was supposed to be tomorrow's lunch."
"Right, sorry, couldn't help maself," Tom said as he stepped away from the chicken. "It all looks so good," he added, looking around the kitchen. "Reckon I'll go change out of ma work clothes."
Tom headed up the stairs with Alex trailing behind, eager to point out the empty rooms and the new laptop that was waiting for Tom in his own bedroom. Lena had made sure that each member of the household had one. Tom was happy to see the laptop but he really wanted to get out of his work clothes and into something more comfortable, so he began to undress in the hope that Alex would take the hint and leave.
Alex didn't take the hint until he was down to just his trousers. He paused with his hands on the button and zip.
"Alex."
"Wha—" She interrupted her own chatter to see what was so important and got a eyeful of shirtless Tom.
"Tom, look at you! You're really quite fit, you sexy thing." Alex meant to be teasing, but the meaning of her words caught her up as she realized that they were true. Tom was quite fit, and quite attractive in his own big-eyed, soulful way.
"Alex, this ain't a good time to be teasing me like that. The wolf's close, and he don't take things as easy as I do." Tom turned his gaze away from her as he spoke, staring toward the fireplace and his homage to family instead.
"Sorry Tom, I'll just…" She rent-a-ghosted to the dining room, leaving Tom alone.
Tom gave a sigh of relief at her departure. Something in Alex's eyes when she looked at him had reminded Tom of the wolf. She had looked hungry, sort of, and it wasn't the kind of hunger that made you want to eat chicken. He felt that hunger too, which was why he had turned away from her.
Tom shook his head. Alex was his friend, his mate, and a ghost besides. No reason to let his mind wander, no matter what the wolf said. But as he changed clothes, one sentence stuck in his mind: I felt it Tom, I really felt it! She had only been talking about water and soap and a towel, but if those things could be real for Alex, what else might she be able to feel?
# # #
Lena and Hal discussed the possibility of Dominic Rook becoming a tasty Hal snack if he spent too much time in the house, but Hal assured her that the MiG held no interest for him. Something in his scent led Hal to believe that drinking his blood would only lead to a bad case of indigestion. The man's blood was completely unappealing, and Hal wondered if he put something in his tea to guarantee it.
Lena answered the exterior door when Rook knocked, with Hal at the interior door to show their guests into the house. Hal and Lena both recognized the teenagers as werewolves and exchanged a quick, sad look before following them into the living room.
"Your timing is impeccable, Dominic. Dinner is nearly ready." Lena said. "Please excuse the mess; we are beginning a renovation."
Rook didn't notice any mess, but he did see that a few small tables and chairs were missing. He turned to introduce his charges as Tom ran downstairs, leaping over the last four treads and striding toward them in a manner that would have been frightening if it weren't for his huge smile and open manner. He walked up to the two teenagers, hand extended first to the boy, then the girl. They looked very much alike, brown-haired and brown-eyed, with regular features. Their scars weren't visible.
"Tom McNair, pleased to meetcha."
"Ben Riley, my sister Beth," the boy replied.
"Right then. Ben and Beth." Tom stopped there, smiling at them both in what he hoped was an encouraging manner. When it became apparent that he wasn't going to introduce his housemates, Hal stepped into the gap.
"Ben, Beth, my name is Hal Yorke and this is Lena Perennis. Welcome to our home." He smiled disarmingly and Lena shook their hands.
The swinging doors to the kitchen opened as Alex came through them, clueing Rook as to her whereabouts. The Rileys watched her approach, ending Rook's speculation as to their species. They were werewolves.
"Hiya," she said as she joined the group.
"And this is Alex Millar, the fourth member of our family." Lena smiled as she added, "Alex is a ghost, so Dominic can't see or hear her. You may need to interpret for him from time to time."
The Rileys were taken aback at the notion that Rook was unable to do something. They had begun to think of him as nearly omnipotent and he hadn't corrected them.
"We don't believe in ghosts," Beth said. "Well, we didn't. I guess we believe in pretty much anything now."
"I know what you mean," Alex replied. "I didn't believe in ghosts either until I became one, and I didn't believe in vampires until one killed me. After that, werewolves were easy. And demons, and all the other stuff."
"Wait, vampires?" Ben spoke up. "They're real too?"
"Yeah, Hal's a vampire. He didn't kill me, though, he just drank my blood. His friend killed me, but it's okay, he's dead, long story, took forever to get him out of the carpet." Alex realized that she had dug herself a deep hole and shut up before making it worse.
Hal picked up the story with a wicked glint in his eye. "Don't blame me for not killing you Alex, I was planning on it but you ended our date early. As for Cutler, I think we got the last bits of him up when we shampooed the rugs last month."
"Yeah, him and those other blokes, Fergus and his gang what tried to kill Baby Eve," Tom added.
Seeing the increasingly alarmed looks on the Rileys' faces, Lena put the conversation to rest. "This house has seen a lot of turmoil, but there's no need to frighten everyone who sets foot through the door, is there?" She smiled at their guests. "I don't know about you, but I'm hungry and dinner is ready. Shall we?"
Alex and Tom hurried to the kitchen to bring out the food while Lena and Hal took care of the drinks. Dominic Rook placed himself in the center of one long side of the rectangular table, with Ben and Beth on either side of him. He took his role as their guardian seriously. Tom went to the foot of the table and Hal assumed that Lena would place herself at the head, but she subtly directed him there instead. She sat herself around the corner from him on the other long side, with Alex next to her.
"Let me know if there's something you want to taste," Lena told Alex as she served herself and passed the dishes on. They were eating family-style.
"You're not taking any food," Ben said, observing Alex's empty plate and glass.
"Ghosts can't eat or drink, or change clothes for that matter, which is why I'm constantly overdressed," Alex explained. "I wore this for my hot date with Hal the night I died. Now I'm stuck in it."
"I think you look very nice, Alex," Tom said.
"So do I," Lena said. "That dress is the perfect color for your complexion."
"Cheers guys," Alex replied. "Lena, did you mean what you said about me tasting stuff? I tried it with Tom, but I got a sense of the wolf and it threw me."
"Of course, just let me know what you want." Lena was more than willing to help her friend, and she was an old hand at working with ghosts. Alex put her hand on the back of Lena's head and nodded toward the steak and kidney pie on Lena's plate, forgetting her manners in her eagerness to taste again.
Lena passed the bowl of roasted vegetables on to Hal and took a bite of the pie. She got a bit of the crust as well as meat, onion, and gravy and put it in her mouth carefully, placed it on her tongue, and concentrated on the flavors. It was rich, savory, perfectly seasoned, and Alex moaned softly with pleasure as she tasted it.
"Aw, yes, sweet ass! I've missed that so much!"
Hal couldn't help chuckling as he said, "Language, Alex, we have guests."
"Sorry, but this is really good, Hal. You should try it." Alex realized that nobody else was eating yet and quickly reached for the next dish that Tom had waiting for her. "And I'm sure you will, as soon as we're ready to start eating."
With the ice broken the atmosphere at the table lightened and the meal proceeded at a leisurely pace. The housemates caught up on Tom's day at the hotel, answered questions from the Rileys and Rook, and allowed their guests to become comfortable with them as a whole. Hal took his place at the head of the table as an indication that he was to serve as host and he did so easily, making sure to spotlight Tom as often as possible. Ben and Beth clung to every scrap of information they could get about the young werewolf; their fear of what they were facing was palpable at times.
Alex mentioned the werewolf computer lady as another role model for the young people at the table, and Tom told them a bit about Allison, who was doing well in college. Finally, when dessert was finished, the Rileys opened up about the wolf attack, their parents' deaths, and their own fears about what they had become.
At that point Lena motioned for Hal and Alex to join her in clearing the table so Tom could have time with the young werewolves, as she believed that they would be more honest with just him and Dominic present. They stayed in the kitchen to do the washing up and put away the remaining food, what little there was.
"Three werewolves approaching the full moon can seriously pack away the food," Lena commented. "It's a good thing we weren't planning on leftovers."
"I've never seen anything like it," Hal said. "It must be the combination of teenager and werewolf. I've fed a half-dozen fully grown wolves for a day on what those three ate in one meal." His mouth snapped shut as he realized what he had just said.
"I guess you would have to keep your wolves well-fed so they would perform well in the cage," Lena replied, "especially the ones you planned to win money on." She paused with a frown. "I'm not sure the Rileys need to know about the animosity between your species just yet. They have enough to worry about for now."
At first Hal thought she was being sarcastic, but he realized that Lena was simply mirroring his own tone of voice as she accepted what should be a horror as ordinary, because in his life it was ordinary. Her second statement was a serious comment, and one that he agreed with.
"They will need to know at some point, in order to protect themselves, but you're right. We needn't rush it."
Tom saw what his friends were doing and was grateful. He never really talked about the wolf; it was such a part of him that it seemed too private to talk about in detail, like earwax and gas and the lint that he cleaned from his navel. He knew that Ben and Beth needed to learn everything they could about the wolf, so he spoke to them the way McNair used to talk to him. Tom told them clearly and simply what to expect with their transformations and how best to handle the recovery from it the following day.
There was no theory of evil or fate or religion in Tom's advice, no pity or regret in his manner. He was straightforward, practical, down-to-earth, and honest. After weeks of nebulous worries and unanswered questions, Beth and Ben needed Tom McNair desperately. Rook had been right to ask for his help.
When it looked like conversation at the table was winding down the housemates returned to the dining room with tea. Lena had a couple of questions for Dominic that she needed to have answered before he left with Beth and Ben.
"I know that you will keep Beth and Ben safe during their transformation Dominic," she began, "but I'd like to know what your long-term plans are for them."
Rook sighed into his tea. "The truth is, I have no long-term plans. I wanted to first make certain that they are both werewolves, which clearly they are, as they can see Miss Millar. Perhaps I should have brought them here sooner. I'm not used to…coordinating services with members of the supernatural world."
He continued. "I don't think the Archive is an appropriate place for teenagers. They should have a family, a home, an education, a chance to make something of themselves. I just don't know how to make that happen. This is new for the DoDD and we don't have the processes in place yet."
"I don't guess we could stay here," Ben said quietly. "It looks like you have room, and you aren't afraid of werewolves."
Lena smiled gently at him as she answered. "This place has seen more death and despair than any young person needs to encounter, Ben, and we have been notified of a new threat to our safety that we must take seriously. We wouldn't be good for you."
Shifting her gaze to Rook, she continued. "I have friends who may be able to help with a long-term plan for Ben and Beth. Their son was a werewolf and they have the facility to handle the change. They are also wonderful people and I'm sure they would love to meet the Rileys."
"You said 'was a werewolf.' Does that mean he isn't any longer?" Beth asked.
"No, it means that he's dead. Killed in a motorcycle accident, only 35 years old. Tragic, really. He was their only child." She turned back to Rook. "I can ask them to come to Barry if you like, Dominic. If nothing else they can give you advice. Together we'll figure something out."
An agreement was reached, the evening ended, and Ben, Beth, and Dominic left with a promise from Tom to visit them at the archive the day after the full moon, to see how they got along. Tom hoped that Lena's friends would be all right, and maybe even give the kids a home and a fresh start. One thing was for certain—Tom was going to stick with them and do whatever he could to help them along. They were in his pack now.