Magical Midlife Love (Leveling Up 4)

“That right?” I glanced back at Jasper. “You may go.” Those words made it sound like he was a servant, which I didn’t love, but it was the nicest way I’d found to politely tell people to get lost. Otherwise there would be a four-letter word involved.

“Of course, miss,” Jasper mumbled, and regret curled through the link. He’d realized, belatedly, that the others had been purposefully keeping the link thing a secret.

“And what sort of sound reasoning would that be, Mr. Tom? What sort of sound reasoning would excuse anyone—everyone—for refusing to give me the same privacy I’ve given all of you?”

Niamh let herself into the house, having clearly scared off the mage.

“Let’s sit and talk about it, miss.” Mr. Tom gestured toward the front sitting room.

“I don’t want to sit and talk about it, Mr. Tom. I want to hear your very sound reasoning, and then I want to…do something horrible. Do you have CDs? I kind of want to scratch all your CDs.”

“Your honesty is refreshing, miss.” Mr. Tom sniffed. “But no, I have moved into the modern times digitally. You’ll have to find something else to ruin, I’m afraid.”

“What’s goin’ on?” Niamh asked.

Mr. Tom set the tray down on the side table further in the entryway, pushing aside an antique vase crawling with mustard leaves and tangerine thorns. “Miss has recently learned that she can only block her side of the magical link.”

“Ah.” Niamh backed up and leaned against the wall.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” I demanded, magic roiling within me. “Why? I look like an absolute fool! Jasper thought I was trying to pleasure him through the link, of all things. Can you even fathom how embarrassing that is?”

“No. What sort of eejit would think you’d give someone like him the time of day?” Niamh said, grossly missing the point.

Edgar opened the front door and popped his head in. “Is everything okay?”

I rounded on him. Before I could get a word out, his eyes widened and he ducked back out, slamming the door on himself to get away. Clearly he’d felt my anger.

I barely stopped myself from magically ripping the door open and dragging him back in with invisible hands just so I could yell at him, too. I was that mad. No, it wasn’t just anger. I felt embarrassed, betrayed. I’d been lied to this entire time by people I trusted. People I cared about. They’d collectively kept something big from me, and here I stood on the outside looking in, vulnerable.

“You’ve uncovered a grave error on my part, miss.” Mr. Tom bowed his head solemnly. “I did not take the new recruits—Jasper and Ulric—aside and explain how and when to deaden the link. They can set it up so the link automatically muffles when you’re engaged in certain activities, such as…personal time…” My face heated. I knew what he meant. “Locations can also deaden the link, like the bathroom. Ulric did mention that he’d figured out how to quiet the link for a little peace of mind. I can easily train them in ways to increase your privacy. You see? It isn’t as bad as you thought.”

Anger blistered and power boiled.

“It’s not up to you to decide when you peek on me and when you don’t need to,” I ground out. “I will not tolerate having no control over my privacy. I don’t want Jasper listening in when I’m…otherwise occupied. And what if I start dating? It’ll be like having a bunch of voyeurs.”

“In fairness, we haven’t any privacy either,” Niamh said, unconcerned with my anger. “You control when to use the link and when not to.”

“I keep it blocked unless it’s an emergency,” I replied.

“As do we. Well…most of us, anyway.” She side-eyed Mr. Tom. “Some of us are like mother hens.”

“My job is to look after her,” he said. “The link helps me do that. Which is why there is a link in the first place.”

“Did you tell Austin how and when to deaden the link?” I asked.

Mr. Tom pursed his lips. “No, I did not. An oversight I will happily remedy—”

“He knows how,” Niamh cut in. “Maybe not automatically, which he’ll be happy to learn, I imagine, but he knows how to deaden it when he wants to. Doubt he does very often—he can’t be around, so he has to keep an eye on ye in other ways, Jessie. It’s his job. It’s all of our jobs. This is what we signed on fer. Ye have to let us watch over you.”

“I let you watch over me,” I said. “I let you tag along, barge into my room, keep tabs on my location—I’ve been pretty lenient with all this. In return, you lied to me. Don’t you see? It isn’t just that I am incredibly embarrassed that my…private time was spied on, or guilty that every time I wake up and wander around the house, all of you wake up, too. It isn’t even my frustration that I can’t have a moment alone—totally alone—to miss my son or feel sorry for myself in other ways. It’s all of that plus the deception. Austin made a big deal about wanting out of this magic—about wanting privacy—and I gave that to him, only to find out he’s been emotionally watching me. That sucks.”