Cornibus Saga: Chapter 12
Oginalii
“… How sure are you that Scarlet will want her,” said Odette over the phone.
William, standing near the wall on the corded phone with an orderly looking at his own phone, lightly touched his waist and belly where the cuts stung a bit. “I’m very sure. Listen, pull up the report of my abduction. The twins filed it.”
“Oh, which one?” He heard her typing.
“I don’t know, they both were on the scene.” Now he waited for her to scan the report.
“… Wow. Okay, yeah. I’ll get on it. Get some guards aaand look at that. They already requested her medical records so we can see about relocating her.”
“Excellent. Hey, listen: I owe you for handling all this for me. You have something… lavish and probably jade-esque coming your way very soon.”
She giggled. “Save your money, Cat. I don’t need expensive gifts.”
“But it’s all I have!”
“I’ll come see you again with an update. In the meantime, please be careful.”
He tilted his head back. “All right. Thanks. Bye.” He hung up the phone and nodded to the orderly who supervised his call before returning to the recreation room.
Mallory was entering too, but from the foyer with the twins behind her. “You have some visitors, Captain,” she said with a grin. The twins rushed forward. William barely emitted a “hey” before Christian squeezed the breath out of him and leaned back to lift him off his feet, pinning his arms to his sides.
“It’s so good to see you, Boss!” He set William back down.
“We’re so glad you’re okay,” Nikki sighed.
“Just the usual bullshit, huh?” Christian put his hands in his pockets.
“Yeah, same ole, same ole.”
“Hey,” Nikki looked over her shoulder to make sure Mallory had gone about her way. “We have to do something. About Mallory.”
“Yeah, man. Scarlet is gonna be on her like white on rice. Did you get to see what it looked like? The wendigo?”
“Odette’s on it,” William assured. “And yes, I saw it and it was fucking awesome. And terrifying. A straight up nightmare. It’s like a… what’s the fairytale thing that’s half-horse/half-human?”
“Centaur,” Nikki answered.
“Yeah, that but like… instead of a horse it was… some kind of antelope thing and the human part had a… a fuckin’ deer skull with antlers that looked like a ribcage,” he said, getting a little excited.
“Holy smokes,” Christian pointed a thumb over his shoulder. “That cute little curly-Q?”
“Hey,” William flicked his chin up. “She’s ten years older than you.”
“Bollocks!” he quipped in a British accent. “Does the wendigo make her age slower or something?”
“I don’t think so.”
His visit with the twins was nice. Refreshing, even. He wasn’t sure why exactly, but he found himself in dire need of Christian’s lightheartedness, his inescapable humor. And Nikki’s habit of hiding her pity was also welcomed. He loved Sam’s worry and Odette’s need to correct things, but most of the time, at least in times like these, he just wanted to move on like nothing happened.
The twins passed a young man in the foyer, easily as tall as Christian. He looked around awkwardly before stepping closer and addressing William. “Excuse me, I’m looking for Mallory Woodsong?”
“Yeah, sure. Hold on, I’ll go get her.”
“Thank you.” He adjusted his stance and quickly smoothed his short, dark hair.
William stepped out onto the patio and called her name, informing her she had a visitor.
Mallory wrinkled her brow as she put the duck feed away. “Do they have a uniform? Badge? Nightstick?”
William shook his head and walked in with her, stopping when she did and looking at her to see why she had.
Her expression was similar to the one he saw the day Scarlet took him when he followed her eyes to the source. So, he did again. But she was indubitably looking at the young man. And her feet seemed to be frozen. He wasn’t even sure she was breathing.
William took a strong step forward, positioning himself slightly between them even though the distance was about fifty yards. “Want me to tell him to leave,” he said sturdily and locked eyes with the younger man.
It was a second or two before Mallory answered. “No… No, it’s okay.” She walked by him and patted his shoulder on her way to the other.
William watched their interaction from afar until they had a seat. He took his own chair across the room within clear view of them and had no compunctions about spying. He was well aware that Mallory had trauma in her past and her face upon seeing her visitor made him suspect this young man was responsible for some of it. So, he kept an eye on their exchange. While he couldn’t hear their conversation, it seemed cordial enough. Occasionally one of them smiled or laughed. But mostly Mallory looked sad. A couple times he caught the words “I’m so sorry” on her lips in a sympathetic expression.
The two spent a long while talking before they stood up. They hugged briefly and the young man waved goodbye and left the way he came in. William put down the paper he was reading and lifted his chin as Mallory approached. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Sorry,” She rubbed her palm with her thumb. “I just… I haven’t seen him in a very long time. He’s… the last person I expected to come visit me, honestly.”
William arced an eyebrow. “Old boyfriend?”
“Hmh.” A Mona Lisa smile donned her features and her eyes drifted nostalgically. “Almost.”
His lips went crooked, watching her face remember a time long ago.
Mallory focused again, meeting his eyes. “He’s getting divorced and… she’s spiteful about it so she’s trying to get full custody of the girls to punish him. And… I think he’s feeling pretty down and defeated. We talked a lot about how hard it is for a father to have fair custody of his children if the mother wants otherwise.”
“You can say that again. Mom’s godda be a goddamn crackhead, dope fiend, and starving the kids for even an upstanding citizen-father to get custody.”
“Right?!” She scoffed and shook her head. “It’s sick. Just because a woman is a mother doesn’t make her a better parent than the father. Any cunt who uses her kids to get back at an ex is a piece of shit.”
He liked how she talked. “He needs a good lawyer.”
“That’s what I told him. A lawyer who specializes in custody cases for deserving men. You wouldn’t happen to know anybody, would you?”
“No, but I know somebody who knows somebody.” William winked. “I’ll have Odette bring their information by.”
“You’d do that?” Mallory grinned.
“Of course. What are friends for?”
The curly-haired girl beamed.
“Besides. You seem to think he’s an okay guy.”
Her eyes glazed over and her smile went away. William dipped his chin at her until she replied. “To be honest, I haven’t had any interaction with him in ten years. Until just now. But I know he’s a good father. And I know he loves those girls more than anything. Those two facts being what they are… he doesn’t deserve to lose them. And they don’t deserve to lose him.”
William nodded in agreement. That was a valid assessment.
“I just don’t understand why he came to talk to me.”
The other scratched behind his ear. “You must have been heavy on his mind.”
She stared through him. “Must’ve been.” She blinked to focus again. “Hey. I want to show you something. Can we go to your room?”
He started standing up slowly. “I don’t like surprises.”
“It’s not a surprise, I promise. Come on.”
They walked to his room and Mallory left the door open but made sure that no one else was in the hallway before she sat down on his bed and delved into the pocket of her pants, drawing out a vitamin capsule.
“Are you gonna roofie me?” He sat down next to her.
“Like I could ever be that lucky,” She quipped and seamlessly finished her thought. “I want to show you how to hide the Ability suppressor pills in your mouth when they give them to you in the mornings.”
He straightened his posture.
“The hard part is not hiding it in the right spot—it’s doing it without them noticing. So, it will take a good bit of practice.” She hooked a finger in her top lip and stretched it out, talking around it. “Whah ya wanna do ish tuck it uff nexcht to your gums on toff.” She passed him the vitamin from her other hand. “I find if you wiggle your jaw both ways, it looks like a more natural swallowing movement than it does if you just do the one side you try to hide it on.”
He looked at the capsule in his palm. “You think I should.”
Mallory inhaled. “I don’t want you to get in trouble like me. But I don’t think either of us want you to be caught again without your Abilities.”
William pursed his lips for a moment. “So, I should practice with water.”
“Yes. Take it separate from the mood stabilizer, tell them it goes down easier or something. And get quick at it before you do it the first time. The quicker you are, the less noticeable it is.” She took his bottle of water from his nightstand. “Now give it a shot.”