Thea Harrison - Oracle's Moon

He might not have recognized “pull the other one” but despite how he had baited her earlier, he had in fact associated amicably with quite a few humans throughout his long existence, and he knew some slang and colloquialisms. He believed there was an appropriate saying for a time such as this. It was called learning from the school of hard knocks.

No, he felt moved to something else, something strange that he poked at curiously. He pointed out, “You are too tired to continue this conversation properly.”

She lifted a shoulder in a desultory shrug, her gaze unfocused. “I suppose you’re right. It’s been a hard day, and a rare one. I’ve never seen anybody killed before.”

That jolted him. Was she really that young and innocent herself?

She continued, drily, “Even though it was justified, I’m still rattled, although I doubt a troop of rabid monkeys is going to escape from the zoo and attack in the next few hours. I will try to come up with a bargain that interests you another time.”

What would it be like to watch someone else get killed for the first time and to know you did not have the Power to prevent something like that from happening again? His own Power roused and twisted upon itself at the thought. He would not like it. He would not like it at all. That was when he realized she had been so angry and contentious throughout the day because she had been frightened.

Perhaps this human was not quite so awful after all. He wouldn’t go so far as to admit he liked her. But even though the damage she had sustained clearly pained her, her lack of self-pity was respectable enough. And her cheeky attitude was unexpectedly amusing.

Then there were the children to consider.

He crossed his arms and sighed. “You will let me visit with the children anytime I wish.”

Her gaze shot up to his. She looked startled and suddenly very alert, and a touch of fire came back into her energy. Ah, that was better, Khalil decided. He had to admit: he did like her fire.

“No,” she said.

He lifted an eyebrow. “You’re the one who wanted to bargain with me,” he pointed out. “I am merely presenting a term that would be acceptable to me.”

She watched him with the kind of wariness with which one might watch a poisonous snake. “You can visit with Chloe and Max anytime you like,” she said, “but only when I’m present. I don’t want to see anything else happen like this talking cat nonsense.”

“That was not merely nonsense, as you say,” he said irritably. “I did have a reason for doing it.” Really, he was not usually so irascible. This female had a talent for bringing that out in him.

Grace’s slender eyebrows rose. She said, “I hardly dare to ask.”

His mouth tightened. He was not inconsistent either, and stating a reason for the purposes of making an argument was not the same thing as acting defensive. He said, “I merely wished to develop a rapport with the children, so that I would not frighten them whenever I might show up.”

Small indentations appeared on either side of her shapely mouth. What were those indentations called again? Ah, yes. Dimples. She said, “Aw, you wanted to make friends with them. You wanted them to like you. You were bribing them.”

“I was not bribing them.” He glared.

Her dimples disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. She said sternly, “What I say goes for anything that has to do with the kids. You may know a lot of things—and believe it or not, I mean this with respect—but you do not know human children well enough to know what’s good for them. If you have questions or concerns, you can talk to me telepathically or some time when they’re not around, so we don’t argue in front of them again and upset Chloe. That’s the only deal I will accept that involves the children.”

He sucked a tooth to avoid a sudden smile. She went from dejection to dictating in a matter of seconds. He approved. He also approved of her protectiveness for the little ones. “Agreed,” he said. “The connection is in place. You’ve already shown yourself to be proficient at…how did you say…yanking my chain. You may summon me at any time if you feel alarmed or in need. I will stop by some time tomorrow to begin collecting on my end of the bargain, so plan for my visit with the little ones. Now, go to bed.”

He lingered just long enough to watch for her reaction to his order. She sat very straight, and a sarcastic, angry look crossed her face. As she opened her mouth, he chuckled to himself and vanished.

Khalil might have a talent for rubbing Grace the wrong way, but she had to give him credit for one thing: once he disappeared after their talk, she was able to stretch out on the futon and fall asleep.

That didn’t last nearly long enough. Something squashed her nose.

Her eyes popped open. She stared into Chloe’s upside-down face as the girl hung over the end of the futon. Chloe was grinning. Her blonde hair stood around her head in a nimbus. Some might even compare it to an angel’s halo.

Grace knew better. She said groggily, “Pushing my wake-up button never gets old for you, does it?”

Chloe giggled and shook her head. She pushed Grace’s nose again with a forefinger. “Wakey, wakey, Gracie,” Chloe said. “When am I going to get a big-girl bed?”

Grace sighed. Chloe had a small toddler bed, which wouldn’t be suitable for much longer. She needed a regular twin-sized bed soon. “I’ve told you before, baby girl, we’ll get you a new bed as soon as we can afford one.”

“Yeah, but when will that be? I’m too big to sleep in a little bed anymore.”

“I know you are, honey,” Grace mumbled.

The only other beds in the house were upstairs. Grace had lived at home while she went to college, so she had a double bed in her bedroom, and the bed in Petra and Niko’s old room was a queen. Not only were those too big for Chloe, but they wouldn’t fit in the children’s downstairs bedroom. Maybe she could trade Chloe’s toddler bed to somebody for a twin-sized one. Petra’s friend Katherine ran a daycare. Katherine might know of someone who needed a toddler bed and was interested in a trade.

Grace put an arm around Chloe and hugged her while she looked at the window. The lace curtains still hung in a knot from Khalil’s furious entrance last night. Outside, the morning brightened past dawn, and birds were yelling at the top of their lungs. In Grace’s experience, early morning birds never sang. Instead, they bellowed. Grace had gotten perhaps five hours’ sleep. It was going to be another long day.

She asked, “Is Max awake?”

“Uh-huh,” Chloe said. “Can we have pancakes for breakfast?”

“If we do, will you eat the other half of Max’s banana?” Grace asked. Getting Chloe to eat fruits and vegetables was a constant challenge.

Chloe tilted her delicate jaw. “Bananas disturb me,” she said.

Grace burst out laughing. “Where on earth did you learn that?”

Clearly pleased with herself, Chloe grinned. “Pancakes, one bite of banana,” she offered, with a bargaining wiliness worthy of a Djinn.

“No, Chloe.”

“Fine! Ugh! You never let me have anything I want!” Chloe turned to stomp out of the office.

Grace called after her, “You’re getting pancakes, aren’t you?”

“Just wait until I’m big enough to push the grocery cart around!” Chloe shouted from the living room. “We’re never going to buy bananas again!”

Grace burst into a fresh peal of laughter. Chloe in a temper was a sight to behold.

Max was as sunny natured as his sister was tempestuous. Grace found him humming and burbling in his crib. “Eeeee!” he said happily when he saw her.

“Good morning to you too, sunshine,” she said. She changed his diaper then picked him up to kiss him all over his soft, round face. He giggled and threw his arms around her neck. She held him tight for a moment. Sometimes she felt like she couldn’t breathe for worrying about how she would take care of these kids. She felt too young and far too inadequate, but gods, she loved them with all of her heart.