Chapter 30

We got back to the apartment, dropped off Mr. Stuart and Rayner, who assigned Owen to stay with us the rest of the afternoon, and left to go take care of securing the house.  With the guards in town now, we knew we had to get that done as soon as possible.  We couldn’t have the guards so far from where we were all the time if they were here to help protect us, and we couldn’t all fit in the apartment. While Mr. Stuart and Rayner got out of the taxi, Thomas told the driver our next stop was the bank. 

“Can I borrow your cell phone Amy?” Thomas asked. I handed it over to him. 

“Information, City and State please?” came the response. 

“New York, New York, Sotheby’s Real Estate please.” Thomas spoke into the phone. The operator forwarded the call to the number. “Hello, yes this is Thomas Stuart; can I speak to the agent handling the Bacchus House please?” I really didn’t pay close attention to the conversation after that, it was all about contracts and appointments, I just wanted to see the house and know where I was going to be living. It was obvious to me at this point Thomas and I could no longer live in the apartment, and that the larger house was needed if we were to have any privacy at all. 

I didn’t really feel good today, my clothes felt tight, my back hurt, and I was having abdominal cramps, I didn’t want to mention it to anyone because I wasn’t sure what was causing it.  I just really wanted to be home in bed resting, the longer the day got, the more irritable I seemed to be, and I wanted it all done. If I had not known better I would have sworn I’d been drinking last night, it felt almost the same. 

“So when do we get to look at the house?” I half whined impatiently. Thomas held up his pointer finger on his free hand, I waited. The taxi pulled up in front of the bank, Owen opened the door and stepped out taking my hand and helping me out of the car, and Thomas paid the driver, then piled out behind me still on the cell phone.  “What is taking so long?” I snapped at him. This earned me an astonished look; I’d never really been short with him before, I was in as much shock as he was. He quickly finished his conversation and closed the phone.

“The Agent says we can see the house in about an hour and a half, which should give us enough time to do what I need to get done here.” He said. “I’m sorry I took so long on the phone.”  Thomas reached down and took my hand firmly wrapping it in his, “Forgive me?” he asked, and kissed the back of my hand lightly. I smiled at him. 

“I’m sorry I snapped at you, I don’t know what’s up with me today.”

We entered the bank and Thomas checked in with the receptionist, who in turn picked up the phone. 

“Hello Mr. Stuart,” Charles said as he approached. “How are you today?” 

“I’m fine, thank you.” Thomas replied, “I need to have a check drawn on my account.” Charles escorted us up to his office, Owen waited in the lobby, keeping an eye on us as we walked up the stairs. 

“And this would be?” He asked looking at me. 

“My fiancé.” Thomas replied. We entered the office and the door shut behind us. Charles offered us the chairs in front of the desk, and moved to his behind it. 

“How much do you need sir?” he asked. 

“I’m going to need a check drawn up for $18,000,000.00.” Thomas said. “Make that a cashier’s check please.”  Charles choked on the sip of coffee he’d just taken. 

“And your account number.” He asked.  Thomas took out his account card from his wallet, and handed it to Charles. Charles started clicking away on the keyboard. Soon young women knocked on the door and entered bringing Charles the check.  Charles looked it over, and then pushed it across the desk to Thomas. Thomas looked the check over, and slid it into the breast pocket of his duster. Thomas stood, offered his hand to Charles, who shook it firmly. 

“Thank you, Mr. Stuart.” Charles said. 

“Thank you Charles” Thomas replied. He offered me his hand and helped me out of chair.

Owen watched us as we came down the stairs, and started across the lobby to leave the bank falling into step behind us. We left the bank, hailing a taxi to the house. The agent was meeting us there, to finalize the paperwork and the house would be ours. 

“Hello, you must be Amy, Thomas had told me he was buying the house for his beautiful fiancé, but I had no idea.” The agent said a note of sincerity in his voice. “I’m Tyrell; it’s nice to finally meet the both of you.” Tyrell held out his hand to Thomas. Thomas took his hand in a firm shake.

“Nice to meet you finally in person Tyrell.” Thomas replied. “I’d like to get the full tour, and then sign the papers?”  Tyrell unlocked the lockbox, inserted his key in the lock, and for the first time with a turn of the knob, Thomas and I stepped into our new home. It was beautiful, I just stood there for a moment in the foyer looking at it, my head reeling from the sheer size, you could have almost fit my whole apartment into just the living room. 

 

Emerald’s plans weren’t working out the way she’d intended, she had to find a way to keep me from coming back home.  She’d tried to take care of it herself from there, to no avail, Thomas managed to save me some how, She’d tried to bring in a human so she wouldn’t get the blame, which failed. I was proving to be quite resourceful for my youth and lack of magic, I am very resilient. And, Thomas loves me. How could she best me with all that going for me? Emerald thought on this long and hard, she had to find a way to take me out of the running for the throne or she may never see it after all the long years she’d trained and followed our grandmother around.    Emerald was losing her patience with the whole thing, if she didn’t find a way to get rid of me soon she would have to fight me fair in a duel in front of the entire court. There would be no trickery then; she would be bound by the rules. Some how I had bested some of Emerald’s best magic by simply living through the attacks, she decided it was time to bring in support. 

“What can we do to stop her,” asked Nina, one of Emerald’s cohorts, her hair the color of spun gold, everything about her radiated the color of warm sunshine. 

“What will happen if we get caught?” Asked Rose, her pink hair worn in a bun, her eyes wide. 

“To answer both of your questions, I don’t know.” Emerald replied, “I don’t think my grandmother would endanger the grotto or deprive it a ruler of my bloodline, so I feel we are safe so long as whatever we plan does away with my sister.”  Emerald shrugged and started pacing again trying to think. This seemed to satisfy the young women, as they went back to watching Emerald. 

“What about the humans, if they’re not an issue there are many things we can do. But, to harm them is against the wish of the Goddess.” Rose interjected. 

“You let me deal with the Goddess” Emerald stated. “What did you have in mind?” 

Tyrell handed Thomas the key, gathered up the paperwork on the table, and stood up. “Very nice doing business with you Mr. Stuart.” He held out his hand, Thomas gripped it firmly, shaking it. 

“The pleasure is all mine.” Thomas said a smile lighting up his handsome features. Tyrell walked towards the door, letting himself out, and removing the lockbox from the outside. 

“Its gorgeous Thomas” I said, my smile matching his. “I’ve never lived any place like this before.” 

“It’s all yours Amy, this is our home now.” He said. “I’m sure we can be moved in by tonight if you want, we’ve got plenty of help to do it.” He said jerking a thumb towards Owen. Owen let out a laugh.

“Well not just me, I think you mean the guards in general?” He asked. Thomas nodded.