Herald's Call

Chapter 2

Chapter 2“So…she’s a friend of yours, then?”

After recovering from her momentary shock and embarrassment—Amélie nodded to Amy, trying to gather her dignity around her, even if she didn’t have any clothes at present. “Yes, I told you about her once. She is my friend from America. The one who surprised me in New York for lunch.”

Amy gave another little frustrated growl, pulling her ears and tail back in as she knotted the belt at the waist of her dressing gown again, giving Fantasma a very skeptical look. “But what is she doing here?”

Leah coughed lightly, making them both turn to look at her as she smoothed down her nightshirt. “She said something about thinking that Lady was dying—and that she was tracking your phone.”

“Dying?” Amy shook her head, then sighed. “Well. We’re not getting anywhere with her on the bloody balcony, are we.” She walked to the sliding door and unlatched it. “Here—I’m reasonably decent, so I’ll keep an eye on our unexpected guest while the two of you get dressed.” Sliding the door open, Amy snapped her fingers at Fantasma and then pointed sharply at the couch. “You—sit.”

Fantasma bristled at Amy’s commanding tone. “I’m not one of your girls, loba, and I saw what you were doing on that couch.”

“Fine,” Amy spat, “you can sit in the chair while we let the girls get dressed, and then you owe us one hell of an explanation.”

Fantasma sat in a huff, pulling up the hood of the black sweatshirt she was wearing. “Yeah, whatever.”

Amélie winced at the reaction, still feeling quite a bit of emotional whiplash as she let Leah reluctantly lead her back to the bedroom.

“I am sorry,” she sighed as she opened up her suitcase and pulled out a few things to wear. “I am not sure what happened, exactly, but I feel as if I caused this…”

Leah shook her head as she came around the bed, pulling her into a hug.

“Oh, luv, no. No, this is not your fault, ok? You didn’t make her decide to try breaking into the flat instead of just ringing the bell, and it’s not your fault that Amy got a bit…overprotective…either.” After Amélie brought her arms up to return the hug, Leah gave a little sigh of frustration.

“I thought she’d gotten over that, honestly. I haven’t seen her get all prickly like that since the first time we went to the Howl together.”

Amélie pursed her lips in thought. “She was startled by Fantasma, but I do not think Amy was really seeing her at the window. Not at first, at least.”

“Ohh. You think she was afraid Marcel was bangin’ on our window?” Leah considered that, then nodded. “I can see why she’d be on edge, especially with everything that happened yesterday.”

“Mm. Still…Fantasma has a gift for being abrasive when she wants to be. We should finish and let Amy come back to dress.”

Leah nodded. “Here—actually, let me get these jeans on and I’ll see if I can get her to come back, and you try calming her down a little? Maybe I can try to get your friend to relax a bit, too.”

“I think that is a good idea, chérie.” Amélie busied herself with getting her underwear on while Leah went out to the living room, then pulled on a loose sweater and a pair of black tights. She had just finished putting her hair up in a ponytail when she caught Amy coming back into the bedroom out of the corner of her eye.

Before Amy could say anything, Amélie took two long steps and pulled her into a tight hug. “We are here, ma belle. This is our home. We are with you. We are safe.”

Amy was rigid for a moment before relaxing into her embrace, a little shiver running through her. “I’m sorry, I didn’t…I f****d things up again, didn’t I?”

“No,” Amélie murmured into her hair, then gently kissed her forehead. “You haven’t done anything wrong—or at least anything that was not understandable. If anything, I made the mistake, if Fantasma thought she had to come here to save me. But this can be fixed.”

Amy nodded, taking a deep breath and letting herself be held for a little longer before she went to the closet. “Right. Time to get started fixing it, then.”

When they returned to the living room, Fantasma had at least pulled her hood back down, but she wasn’t talking. Amélie genuinely wasn’t certain if that was a good sign, but Leah seemed to be fairly calm from where she sat on the couch.

Amy cleared her throat, her arms crossed over her T-shirt. “Well. I think first off…I told you that you owed us an explanation, but I owe you an apology. I didn’t handle any of that well, and I am sorry.”

Fantasma gave Amy a blank look for a long moment, then laughed. “I guess if I was trying to get my freak on, and some crazy lady showed up screaming in my window I wouldn’t “handle” it—I’d lose my shit.”

Amy chuckled, and Amélie relaxed a bit more as the mood in the room lightened. Leaning forward, she met Fantasma’s eyes, trying to get a good read on her rather frustrating friend. “Why did you say you thought I was dying?”

Fantasma’s eyebrows rose incredulously. “Seriously? You send me that email and wonder why I got my ass on a plane?”

Amy blinked. “Email? What email?”

Fantasma held up a finger to pacify Amy while she dug into her pocket for her phone, unlocking it with a swipe of her thumb. Clearing her throat as she opened her email, Fantasma gave Amélie a look before starting to read in what she had to admit was a decent imitation of her voice:

“Fantasma, I am facing some complicated legal matters related to the package I entrusted to you a few years ago. I do not believe I will need to produce it, but should things go in an unexpected direction, I am leaving instructions for Amy Oakley on how to contact you and retrieve it.”

Fantasma paused long enough to glance at Amy, who Amélie noticed had uncrossed her arms and was looking at the hacker in a new light.

“You left me instructions?”

Amélie coughed. “I posted a letter to you from Martin’s home before we left. In the event that I did not return, the letter would most likely arrive tomorrow. I assumed if I survived, I could explain and then dispose of it.”

Amy gave her a raised eyebrow, but motioned for Fantasma to go on.

“If all goes well, I will be permanently moving to London soon, and will let you know my new address once I am settled. If it does not, I know I often pretend otherwise, but you have always been my friend, one of the best and dearest I have had in a very long time, and I want you to know that has meant a great deal to me. Merci beaucoup, mon amie. Amélie.”

Fantasma’s deep blue eyes looked up from her device to give Amélie a reproachful look. “That last part was touching, but next time you could tell me that I’m your amiga without the life-or-death situation.”

Amélie looked away with a grumbling attempt to keep her normal cool attitude, but her poker face crumbled when Leah wrapped around her in a seated hug. “Aw. I thought it was awfully sweet—and the rest is a work in progress, honest.”

Fantasma snorted. “Yeah, well, good luck. Anyway, the point is when I woke up and read this, it’s not like I’m gonna roll over and go back to sleep. I thought I’d have to break you out of some stupid werewolf jail!”

Amélie’s head snapped up as several things Fantasma had said—or not said, came together for her. “Wait.”

Fantasma blinked at her and sat up a little straighter, tucking her phone back into the front pocket of her hoodie. “Yeah, what is it?”

Amélie stood and let her ears out, gesturing at them with one hand. “You knew?!”

Fantasma slumped back into the chair and put her feet up on the coffee table. “Please, of course I did.”

Amélie groaned as she paced back and forth in front of the couch. “Fantasma, what?”

“Look, you never brought it up,” Fantasma breezed, “but I know what a wolf smells like. You think you’re the only one out there?”

“Even if she hadn’t figured it out,” Leah mused reluctantly, “she did see us with tails and ears out.”

Amy sighed. “Well, you already trusted her with your secrets, Lady, so I suppose it could be worse.”

Leah sniffed at the air thoughtfully. “Besides, it’s not like you’re a regular human, is it?”

Fantasma had been watching them with a little smirk that had grown wider and wider, and now she hopped up off the chair before giving them a little bow. “Nice catch. Hola! Yo soy el chupacabra.”

There was a long silence before Leah spoke. “Shouldn’t that be la chupacabra?”

Fantasma groaned as she shook her head. “There’s a six month long edit war on Wikipedia that says otherwise, and I got tired of fighting it.”

Amy was visibly struggling. “But that’s…those are an urban legend. Explaining coyote attacks and the like, not real.”

“Says the werewolf,” Fantasma snarked.

Amélie had to admit she was a bit skeptical, too, but she still had to laugh as she acknowledged the point. “Will you stay in London, now that you know I am safe? Or will you slither back into your cave once again?”

“What,” Fantasma grinned, “no offer for me to join up with your pack?”

Amy rolled her eyes. “I haven’t even dropped the paperwork off yet, we’re not taking anyone else on board. That’s not even how it really works.”

“Okay,” Fantasma admitted. “Still, I hear you’ve got a pretty nice bar. And some rooms to rent?”

“You tried to break into our home, and now you’d like me to put you up?”

“She does that,” Amélie observed dryly.

“I’ll pay rent,” Fantasma promised. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll even give you a month up front!”

Amy looked over to make eye contact with Amélie, and she gave a little shrug with a look that clearly meant She means well. Amy’s own little roll of her eyes was an equally clear I’m sure before she turned back to Fantasma.

“That won’t be necessary—you did come here because Lady trusts you, and you wanted to help. I’ll text Ashley, he’ll be behind the bar. Go see him and ask for a key, and he’ll take care of you.”

Fantasma gave her a little nod. “Think you could walk me to the front door, Lady? I’ll go settle in, and let the rest of you…get back to whatever you were doing.”

Amélie stood, trying not to blush too much as she led Fantasma to the foyer. “It must be remarkable for you to actually leave through the front door.”

“Funny,” Fantasma said dryly. “But I am sorry I interrupted. Even if I didn’t want to see that, you looked like you were having a pretty good time. I mean, the tail on your redhead—”

“Please tell me you mean her actual tail?”

“Probably,” Fantasma winked. “But—hey, if I’m staying at your girl’s bar anyway, come down there later so we can have a drink?”

“We were going to meet there tomorrow with a few others to celebrate my feral ruling being rescinded,” Amélie noted. “If you haven’t managed to get yourself into trouble by then…”

“I’ll see you there,” Fantasma promised.

“D’accord,” Amélie reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. “And thank you.”

Fantasma pulled her into a quick hug. “Hey, what are friends for?”

Amélie nodded, returning the hug before she stepped back and closed the door with a sigh of relief. As much as it meant to her that Fantasma had come running to her ‘rescue,’ she was an exhausting presence to be around, even under the best of circumstances. Amélie hadn’t even left home that day and she still…

Amélie’s thoughts came to an abrupt halt as she turned around to look at her surroundings. She had been here less than a day and was already thinking of this place as a home.

No. That wasn’t quite right. The walls were still unfamiliar, the contents of cabinets still a mystery—it was less about the space, and more about the people.

Amy and Leah…they were why she felt at home at the cabin, and why she felt at home here.

With that thought in mind Amélie returned to the living room, where Amy and Leah had returned to the couch to cuddle, Leah running a hand gently along Amy’s back. She caught the tail end of Leah murmuring to Amy about taking care of it later—perhaps taking the pack documents to Elise, perhaps what to make for lunch, she wasn’t really certain. Amélie found she couldn’t really care less as she came around the front of the sofa and knelt down in front of them.

Amy and Leah stopped, each giving her a confused look as to why she was down on the floor rather than joining them on the sofa. In fact, Amy was just opening her mouth to say something when Amélie finally found the words to explain. The same words she hadn’t been ready to say earlier, and that she should have been saying to them the entire time.

“Je t’aime,” Amélie breathed, and took Amy’s hand so she could brush a kiss over her knuckles, and then repeated the act with Leah’s hand before looking up to meet their eyes. “Je t’ame touts les deux.”