Mikko Lawrence

When Mikko woke up the next morning, he was sore, but nothing was broken or dislocated.  He could move and twist without wanting to scream.  Annie’s warmth against his arm was a comforting weight, dragging him towards her.  Everything was peaceful.

Mikko’s sob startled Annie awake, and she jerked her head to look at him.  “What happened?” she rasped, her voice harsh from sleep.

Tears streamed down his face, and he reached over toward her.  She was already meeting him, wrapping her strong, slender arms around him.  She enveloped him in firm warmth, and he buried his head into her neck.

The stress of the past week crashed over him like waves in the midst of a storm.  They hurled into him, bringing the harsh brine of tears and choking the air from his lungs.  Fear snatched at him like the cold fingers of rip tides, and he felt helpless against it all.

Annie murmured soft words in his ear, rubbing his back with one arm, the other gently combing through his hair.  The words were meaningless—it’s okay, you’re okay, shhh—but the steady feeling of her breath on his face, and the hum of her voice buzzing against his cheek where he leaned it against her neck was enough of a life preserver against the storm inside of him.

He didn’t know how long it was before the sobs had been wrung from him, but when he hiccupped his last cry, a heavy calm settled over his shoulders.  He squeezed Annie as hard as he could before finally pulling away to meet her eyes.  He wasn’t surprised to find them red.  She always cried when he cried.

“How’re you feeling?” she asked.  Her voice was simultaneously dry, wet, and still a bit gummy from sleep.

“Whatever he did to me worked.  I’m sore, but I can move alright.”  His voice was still watery, but he could speak without his breath hitching.

“Good.”  She wiped his face with the back of her hand.  “The past week finally caught up.”

“I wanted to breakdown last night.  I was in so much pain and so tired.”

She nodded, gently kissing both of his cheeks and wiping her face with the heel of her hand.  “I wish things hit me like they hit you.”

His brow furrowed.  “What?”

“It takes me months for things to hit.  But you deal with it in like . . . a few days.  I wish I could do that.”

Mikko’s answering smile was watery and wobbly.  He touched his fingertips to her jaw, just light enough to feel skin on skin.  He leaned forward and kissed her.  Sometimes he felt like he would burst from the love that swelled in his heart for this wonderful woman.

She smiled, kissing back.  She rested one hand on the side of his neck, meeting him.

A moment later, she pulled away and said, “You sounded so badass last night.”

He let out a startled chuckle.  “Yeah?”

“Yeah.  When you were mouthing off to that mage.  So cool.”  She kissed him again.

They laid there for a few minutes before Annie said, “I’ve been experimenting with other forms.”

Mikko pulled away to look at her properly.  “Yeah?”

“I started with a hawk when I was a kid.  I saw it at the zoo and it seemed so cool.  Smaller forms are easier for halfshifters.  And they’re nothing to fuck with.  Those claws will eviscerate you.

“But I also want a bigger form.  So I been trying to turn into a tiger.  Arnia been helping me.”

Arnia was a lion shifter.  She would be the one to work with. 

“Have you been able to do it?”

“Not yet, but I’m getting the hang of the anatomy.  I’ve got the paws and tail down.  I think maybe I’ll be able to do it soon.”

Mikko grinned, hugging her again.  “That’s wonderful, babe.”

Annie hugged him back.  He knew how much it took her to tell him about something new like this.  She wasn’t sure if she would succeed, and it was scary.  He loved that she felt safe enough to tell him.

The door to the room opened and feet pattered on the floor.  Mikko barely had the chance to brace himself, pulling away from Annie, before Lina launched herself on top of them. 

Annie cursed where Lina landed on her stomach, pushing her tiny body in between them.  “Lina,” she hissed.

“Sorry,” Lina said without an ounce of regret.  “Auntie Timber said you were okay, but it was hard to imagine without seeing you in person.”  She nestled between the two of them, insinuating her warm, small-child body between them with the guileless innocence of a five-year-old.

They snuggled in bed together.  Mikko drifted in and out of sleep for another hour before his stomach finally insisted that he eat something.

Annie and Lina had fallen back asleep.  Mikko had to imagine that Lina probably hadn’t slept well that night.

He was the only one moving in the house when he got up.  He got cereal and milk.  As he opened the fridge, he saw there was a note from Carlos saying he had gone home but he’d be back later in the day. 

Mikko ate his cereal over the sink.  As he did, he noticed for the first time that the window in the kitchen had been fixed.  Had Saorla done that?  Must have been.

When his stomach had settled, he grabbed the phone to call Sloane.  There was a note next to it.

Mikko, or whoever—

Got a call from Mickey.  Looks like he and Sloane talked, and we’re okay.  I’m headed to the cities.  Thanks for all your help.  Hope y’all feel better.  See you.

Bell

He smiled.  Good.

When he got off the phone with Sloane, he could hardly contain his excitement.  They were all getting out of here.  Out of this hellhole with all these awful memories.

It turned out that the creaking he heard upstairs was for the bathroom, so he could cry a little about all of this.  The stress from the past few days hadn’t gotten quite out of his system yet, it appeared.  And realizing that he would be leaving . . .

He touched his missing ear absently, feeling the familiar gnarled skin.

Somewhere new.  Somewhere new with his family.  Somewhere new where Sloane was. 

He knew it was silly, but he, like every other member of this family, felt safer if Sloane was around.  It was probably a big responsibility to place on her shoulders, but he couldn’t help it.  He had known that Sloane was the one who would get him out of that building in October.  When he had seen Corvine, he knew who sent her.

But, fuck Sloane for making him keep it a secret.

There was a knock on the front door.  Mikko went from the kitchen through the dining room to the door.  He checked the peephole and saw Cayden and Saorla.  Saorla had her cane and a purse hanging from her shoulder.

He opened the door.

“Good morning,” Saorla said, smiling brightly.  It was such a harsh contrast from the last time Mikko had seen her that it threw him off.  She even wore a bright orange sundress with a cream-colored cardigan and matching leggings.

“Hi . . .” he said.

“I wanted to come by and just make sure everyone was okay.”

“Sure,” he said, stepping away from the door to let them in.

Cayden checked Mikko’s injuries.  The broken bones were back together, and all the wounds had either scabbed over or were already starting to scar.  Cayden’s eyebrows rose as he looked it over.

“What?” Mikko asked, looking at his stomach where Cayden had his shirt raised.

“You just healed faster than I expected.  I knew the bones would heal, but I didn’t expect you to already be scarring.”  He glanced at Saorla.  “Must have done something good with that last batch.”

Saorla also looked intrigued.  “Must have.”

Cayden let Mikko’s shirt go.  “When I left last night, it looked like all of the shifters were either healed or healing.  Is the werewolf still here?”

Mikko shook his head.  “He went home.”

“Okay.  I wanted to see his burn, but he’ll be fine.  Windsor is dead, so that should heal fast since there can be no residual magic left on it now.”

He said that so casually that Mikko almost missed it.  “He’s dead?”

“Conspiracy, treason, assaulting multiple minors, attempting to kill at least one minor, and kidnapping another.  Heads roll when you’re that high in the courts,” Saorla chirped.  She was so perky. 

“You really hated him,” Mikko said.

“I really, really did.  I think I’m going to have a party.”  She looked at Cayden.  “My mother will be so pleased.”

“Didn’t she try to kill him once, decades ago?”

“Challenged him to a duel.  He weaseled out of it.”  Saorla sighed out in annoyance.  “Ah well, he’s gone.  Fucking creep.”  She smiled at Mikko.  “I’m glad that you all made it out okay.  I apologize for what happened.”

“How would you have known?”

Saorla shrugged one shoulder.  “I still wanted to extend my apologies.  Oh, also—”  She handed her cane to Cayden and rummaged in her purse.  She pulled out a piece of paper and held it out to him. 

He took it, brow furrowing.  When he realized what it was, he blanched, looking back up at Saorla.  “What is this?”

“There are whistleblower programs in place within the courts that include payments.  I made the official report, but I figured that your family deserved it more than I did.  You held your own against him for far longer than I would have expected, and of course, you didn’t deserve to be harassed like that.”

It was a check.  For fifteen grand.  The “To” line was empty.

“I wasn’t sure to whom I should make it out, so I wrote it out and figured you could write in the correct name.  I leave it to you, and we will get out of your hair.  You’re probably a little over mages.”

“Just a bit.”

She chuckled.  “Well, have a good day.  You can reach out to me if anything else comes up with the House.  Or if you ever get a psychotic mage on your ass, again.”

“Hopefully that won’t become a regular thing.”

“That would be ideal.”

Mikko let them out before locking the door and turning around to lean against the door.

Fifteen thousand dollars.  On top of the money they made from that ring.  On top of the money they took from Russell.  On top of whatever the fuck Mira was getting paid.  All because some shapeshifter was a dickhead to Genie.

Holy fucking shit.

He was going to have to buy Genie something nice for Christmas.

Maybe a new lockpicking kit . . .  Or maybe one of those scam bracelets that helped your balance.

He was definitely doing both.  The second one would piss her off so much.  He couldn’t wait.

Later in the day, he’d go to Carlos’s house to use his computer.  He could do some looking into some good, nice kits.  And the balance bracelet.

But for right now, he could stand, leaning against a door, in a still house, and breathe.

And just be at peace.