Magical Midlife Madness (Leveling Up #1)(52)

I wiped my hand down my face. “So even if a Havercamp girl is born with the ability to get the magic from the house, she still has to be chosen?”

“They’re one and the same. Or, at least, they were thought to be. A girl child is born with the ability to receive the magic, and this birthright is usually why the house chooses her. When the house chooses, it imparts the magic.”

“Right,” I said, drawing the word out. “So Peggy wasn’t it. She had a brother, who couldn’t be the heir. What about Diana?” My face lost color. “It’s Diana, isn’t it? She’s the one!”

He shook his head, his focus acute. “Diana was taken to the house, I’ve been told. She thought it was a nightmare, right? The house should feel like home. She isn’t the one.”

“So then…” I stared at him.

He stared back.

I shook my head.

He nodded.

“Can’t be me.” I shook my head harder, as if that would be the deciding factor. “Can’t be. I have my dad’s salty nature and his bubble butt, among other things. I’m definitely his kid—my mom didn’t have any indiscretions. I’m not part of the Havercamp family.”

“This wouldn’t be the first time the house chose someone not of the current family lineage. Usually it chooses someone magical, but…” He shrugged. “Looks like you fit the bill.”





Twenty





Austin’s gut twisted as tears started in Jess’s eyes. None of this was fair. She’d left a hard patch in life looking for a fresh start, only to land right back in the stink. His heart went out to her.

He’d thought long and hard about this situation, sleeping very little last night and this morning as he mulled it over. Much of what Niamh had said was right on the money. His head might’ve said he was better than ever, but his body told a different story. He wasn’t as vicious as he’d been, preferring to maim instead of kill, or avoid the fight all together. He wasn’t as fast, and while he was every bit as strong or stronger, he didn’t bounce back from injuries like he once had. He was sore for days instead of hours.

Age hadn’t stolen his vitality, but he wouldn’t live forever. Eventually he’d need to pass on this mantle, and he’d find out there was no one to pass it to. No one strong enough, at any rate. Guys like him usually headed up a pack.

That said, he still had a solid ten years and probably a lot more. His kind didn’t live as long as Niamh’s kind, or Edgar’s or Earl’s, but he would live longer than a human, and he’d stay fit well into his fifties or sixties. By the time he had to retire, or a stronger enemy tucked him into his grave, most of the people he’d offered to protect would have long since been forgotten by their pursuers. They’d be fine. Safe and obscure.

Unless Ivy House went active again.

“But the house didn’t choose me,” Jess said, her eyes pleading for the comfort of the life she used to know. That life was gone. This was her new reality—magic. Possibly danger, if last night was any indication.

He took a shot of the scotch. He needed it. The wine wasn’t having much of an effect.

“Now we come to what I said about you failing,” Austin said. “Ivy House is coming alive with you in it. Mr. Tom—” He grimaced and shook his head. “Now you have me calling him that. Earl said you have been increasingly transfixed by the moving carvings. Those carvings don’t move for me. The house has already shown you how to access the passageways. I’ve been in there many times, actively looking for the passageways. I even know roughly where one is located. I still couldn’t find it. The master bedroom chose you. The orb won’t reveal a room you are in. These are all signs.”

Jess stared with her mouth hanging open. She was struck mute.

“Now, the house still might not choose you,” he said. “I can’t say for sure, but it is certainly leaning your way.”

“So then…what happens if I get this magic? Why would you want me to fail?”

“If you got that magic, all the seedy characters I mentioned would be drawn to this town. Suddenly O’Briens would be on the map again in the worst way possible. Powerful players in the magical world would want you to rule by their side. They’d want to harness your power for their own gain. They’d want you to have their children—”

She snorted. “They can go screw themselves if they want that. I’m done-skies.”

“You’re only forty, you—”

She slapped his face, clearly on impulse. He froze, not having expected it. She was a Jane—catching him off guard like that shouldn’t have been possible for her.

Donna’s eyes widened and a smile blossomed on her face.

“I am so sorry,” Jess said immediately. “I didn’t mean to do that. But don’t you dare jinx me. I’ve already raised my son. The last thing I need right now is a baby. Nice guy, scary evil magical guy—all nopes.”

His posture shifted, mimicking the body language he’d used to send the Dick and Jane couple away. His posturing wiped the smile off of Donna’s face. But Jess didn’t seem to notice. She was, essentially, calling his bluff.

Which was made evident when she said, “I’m not an animal, and if you hit me, they’ll put you in prison. I’ll make sure of it.”