Twisted: Brides of the Kindred 23 Read online

  It was amazing, Nikki thought. She’d never been a big believer in the hard-sell herself but it sounded like Mistress Hellenix was. Though apparently she hadn’t tried to sell anything—she’d just told people they had to buy and for some reason, they had listened. Were people really that easily led by a strong personality?

  Remembering the alien dominatrix’s approach to life, Nikki thought that maybe they were. Or maybe it was just because most people didn’t run into someone quite as forceful as her evil twin very often.

  Whatever the case, it appeared that Hellenix had done right by her job and she couldn’t help feeling grateful.

  Oh, I should have told her that the guards of the Sacred Seven were after her! Nikki thought belatedly. She and Dark had barely gotten out of the banquet on Yonnie Six in time, slipping away when a friend of Hellenix’s had alerted them that the guards were there and searching for her. It had been a really close call and she had somehow forgotten all about it.

  That wasn’t how it went, though, whispered a little voice in her head. You didn’t slip away—the man with the silver eyes, he faced down the guards for you! He made them leave you alone by shooting lightning bolts out of his hands.

  What? Nikki shook her head, trying to clear the crazy thoughts. What was going on with her? Had her brain been scrambled somehow by the trip she and Dark had taken through the worm hole to get home?

  It seemed a likely explanation. How else to explain all the crazy talk in her head? The half-formed memories that seemed almost like dreams of another life? A big man with blond hair and silver eyes who could shoot lightning from his fingertips—it sounded like she was having Thor fantasies or something! Crazy.

  Forget about it, she told herself as she thanked her boss and went back to her desk to return the call of the couple who wanted the house on Bayshore. Just forget about it and everything will be okay.

  Right?

  After a workday that was much more pleasant than usual, Nikki headed back home early. Her boss had told her to take as much time as she wanted, since she had already made such a lucrative sale that day and Missy—who seemed to be a little afraid of her now—promised the paperwork would be all ready and on her desk by tomorrow. With nothing more to do, it seemed like a good idea to take an early day.

  When she pulled into the familiar driveway, Nikki wondered what she would find inside and how the boys were doing. Their various busses dropped them off around three o’clock and three thirty respectively and she couldn’t wait to see them again. Ungrateful or not, she had missed her kids and she was going to give all of them a big hug whether they wanted it or not, she decided.

  The house, when she opened the door, was not in its usual state of chaos. Gone were the dirty dishes and sticky cups on the coffee table, as well as the jumble of video game equipment and controllers that James and Jacob always left there. Instead, everything was put neatly away and the coffee table showed signs of having been wiped down—also, it looked like someone had actually vacuumed the family room!

  Feeling shocked, Nikki went into the kitchen. There were no dirty dishes in the sink! And the ones in the dishwasher had been recently washed. They were dry and gleaming. Also, someone had stocked the fridge with fresh groceries—even her favorite type of coffee creamer, which she usually never treated herself to because it was expensive—was there.

  The rest of the house was in similar condition, Nikki found, as she wandered through it. There were no piles of dirty clothes or towels in the bedrooms or bathrooms—everything was neatly folded and put away. Also, the huge pile of Legos which had been in the corner of the twins’ room for almost as long as she could remember had been tidied up and all the little plastic bricks had been placed neatly in a tub.

  Even her own bedroom was sparkling clean. The sheets were fresh and the bed was made and none of Gary’s dirty socks were on the floor. It was amazing!

  Going to the computer hutch in the corner, Nikki sat down to check something else out. She was going to look at her backlogged email when she saw a piece of lined paper with her ex’s small, neat handwriting on it. She picked it up.

  Dear Nikki, it began. As Nikki went on reading, her eyes went wide.

  “A whole other bank account?” she murmured to herself. “Gary, you asshole!”

  The paper was a note of confession and on it were the details of a secret bank account her ex had been keeping behind her back. The assets that were listed were enough to pay off her mortgage on the house and still have some left to live comfortably, even if she didn’t make another big sale for ages.

  “I can’t believe he was holding this much back!” Nikki muttered to herself.

  She knew from what Mistress Hellenix had told her that Gary must have been squirreling money away, but she’d never expected a sum like this. No wonder he’d believed he could retire to Aruba! There was plenty here to do that—especially if he cleaned out their joint account as well, which he’d apparently been about to do.

  No wonder there never seemed to be enough money for necessary purchases, she thought, staring at the figures again. Gary had been cheating her in their mutual finances for years. Remembering all the times she’d had to scrimp and save to get the boys what they needed and how there was never anything left over for her, even though she worked like a dog, made her mad. Gary had been a cheater in more than one way—he was a lousy husband, a thief, and an absent dad. He was a jerk.

  Suddenly, she felt a little less bad about the fact that her ex had been taken to Yonnie Six to live the rest of his life in toe-sucking bondage. It was beginning to seem like he deserved it.

  Checking the bank online, she saw that the considerable assets mentioned in the confession letter had been added to the joint account which was now only in her name. There were also various stocks and bonds that her ex had apparently invested in—they had also been signed over to her. She was practically a rich woman!

  So why did she feel so sad?

  It’s because I found out he was cheating on me with Rene, Nikki told herself uneasily. That was a sobering thought. She’d thought that she and her cousin were close—it really hurt to know that she’d been sneaking around with Gary behind Nikki’s back. That must be the reason she felt so sad—so at a loss—despite all the good news she was getting.

  Right?

  Nikki decided to take her mind off the problem by making a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies. Luckily she had all the ingredients she needed in her well-stocked kitchen and by the time the twins’ bus came, a little after three, the first batch was just coming out of the oven and filling her nice clean house with a heavenly aroma.

  She heard the front door open and the soft murmur of voices.

  “What’s that smell?” muttered James.

  “Dunno. Do you think she made Dad cook again?” Jacob replied.

  “I don’t think so—his cooking is awful. Even ours is better. And Jude’s isn’t too bad. Whatever it is, smells good.”

  Nikki could scarcely believe her ears. Her boys who never wanted anything to do with the kitchen had been cooking? Surely this was more of Mistress Hellenix’s doing.

  “Smells like cookies.” James’s voice was wistful. “Like Mom used to make.”

  “Do you think she’ll ever come back?” Jacob asked. “I really miss her.”

  Their quiet conversation nearly broke Nikki’s heart. She felt a great swell of love as she went out to see them. Their backs were to her and instead of leaving their book bags and jackets in a heap on the floor, they were hanging them neatly on the pegs on the wall, which she had been asking them to do for ages.

  “Hello, boys,” she said, smiling.

  They turned to face her, their eyes wide.

  “Oh, um, hello,” James said and both of them bobbed their heads nervously in a kind of bow.

  “We have homework but we can do chores first if you want us to,” Jacob said quickly. “Would that be okay?”

  “How about some hot chocolate chip cookies before