Marriage is Murder

Jess looked at Cassidy who reached out and took the hair and frowned as she fixed on the items he had hidden " ok I got it, he left he didn't have the strength to stay any longer " she said to Robert and moved to walk out still with the hair in her hand. She went to show Steven where they were so they could gather them all up. Jess breathed out that Cassidy had taken the hair she would not have been able to hold it for long seeing all the images of the kills he'd done.

"Thank goodness Angus " she said after she had jumped at his sudden appearance in the doorway behind her she smiled " guess I'm just jumpy" she said knowing she was focusing on Khaat all to much.

"Stop feeding on Khaat's anxiety," Angus told her, dropping his bag on the floor. "Leet Brian deal with it. From what my grandfather said, she haas every right to be rattled. But she's a strong woman. She'll be alright. She just needs a bit of time to get over the initial jolt of it. If you're going to feed anything, how about working on feeding the people here who are hungry?" He saw the salad she was just starting to put together. He got out a large kettle and got out some frozen stock and began to put together a quick and easy, comforting soup.

"I brought you some fresh bread. One of the loaves is a baguette. The crunchy crust will be good with soup and salad. Oh, and my sister sent some large, soft fresh cinnamon cookies," he said. Robert came downstairs and apparated out to go home to get some more supplies and to get Kate.

Jess nodded and took a deep breath in and let it out slowly as she felt her anxiety push back inside her. " ok let get this finished so every one can eat " she said and continued " ow lovely Jack will appreciate those" she said and looked at Robert just as Jack came back some what annoyed .

" I had him I almost had him then he disappeared " he said and paced around the room annoyed at himself for letting James get away " I should have snapped his neck like a twig " he said and thumped a table top in his frustration.

"Well, you still may get the chance," Angus said. "Daniella just sent my grandfather a message. James attacked two prison guards and killed them after you two left. But the prison staff must have seriously wounded him because James lost a lot of blood and...some sort of tissue. So, he's probably going to be out of commission for awhile. They think their own binding spell didn't kick in quickly enough to bind his magic and he got his powers back before they got control of him. I sent to Kieran and had him bring in reinforcements from the oranization to cover the places in England." He chopped fresh vegetables to add to the soup and tossed them quickly into the stock with some chopped fresh herbs. The kitchen began to smell wonderfully comforting.

"My grandfather is coming shortly. He has a gift that he thinks will help Khaat," Angus said. "But he has to go get it first. Don't ask me--I dont have a bloody clue what he was talking about."

Jess moved to Jack and calmed him down , Jack looked at Angus " bloody hell now I will kill him for that" he said and sighed as he sat down waiting " hope he get an infection" he said softly Jess moved back to set the table and sighed.

" he means it this time " she said softly to Angus " hes tired of James and his actions towards Khaat, and that's good. " she placed everything on the table and smile at the wonderful smell that filled the air " I think we should all eat and calm down, right Angus" she said and looked at the still annoyed Jack who could not sit still in the chair.

"Absolutely," Angus said, starting to fill bowls of soup and float them to the table. He filled glasses with iced tea and sent slices of crusty bread to the table with fresh creamery butter. "I have soup for all of us, including Robert and Kate, but I havent dished up soup for Brian or Khaat. I figure Khaat's not in the mood to eat, and Brian isn't going to leave her."

Robert apparated back in, with a bag on his shoulder, and with his arm around Kate's waist.

"Well, good," Angus said. "You're just in time for lunch. Just a simple Italian vegetable soup and a salad."

"Sounds good. Its been a long morning," Robert smiled. "Thank you."

"Come sit down, Everyone," Angus said.

Robert put the bag on the floor and he and kate went over and sat down at the table. As they sat down, Robert heard the crack of a wand--someone apparating in. He turned to see Edward arriving, but he wasnt alone. He had a huge, snow white German Shepherd with him on a pewter colored collar and leash.

"What is this?" Robert laughed.

"Enzo," Edward said. "He's very well trained." He let go of the leash and the dog went straight to Kate. Kate crouched down on the floor to pet the dog and meet him.

"Oh, Edward, he's spectacular!" Kate said.

"Well, he belonged to a friend of mine who specialized in speaking to animals. He was his companion from the tiime Enzo was a newborn. He trained Enzo to be a companion, to be a guard, and, when my friend lost his eyesight as he aged, Enzo served as a seeing eye dog. Enzo does more than any muggle dog could ever do. And--he needs a home. Right now, he needs your daughter as much as she needs Enzo."

"He's brilliant," Kate said, already getting acquainted with him. "He's amazingly intuitive and perceptive. He's going to be a perfect companion for a seer."

"He is indeed," Edward said. "And Khaat won't have to depend on having someone with her every moment just to move around her own house. That's what Enzo is for."

"I don't know how to thank you," Robert said.

"You don't have to. That's what friends are for," Edward said.

Jess smiled seeing Enzo Jack was a bit dubious about having the dog in the but when Steven walked in he smiled at the dog and nodded to him " well hello Enzo, yes she is going to like you" he said and looked at Edward " he asked about whether Khaat would like him , he wants to help anyway he can" he said and moved to the table stopping to rub Enzo behind his ear as he chuckled . " I have a wolf back home she is my unofficial guard " he said smiling at Edward and Enzo as he then sat down at the table cassidy already there and waiting. Jack sighed and moved around Enzo to sit beside Jess.

"Get over it, Jack," Kate laughed, his discomfort as clear as glass. "Dogs have been coming indoors for hundreds of years. And Enzo is more than qualified to be a member of this household. Can you find her, Boy? Go ahead. Its alright." She took the leash off him, and he turned and trotted upstairs promptly.

Brian was sitting on the bed when the huge white dog came into the room. Brian frowned.

"Who are you?" Brian asked. The dog went over to him as if he was introducing himself. Brian found the tag on his collar. "Enzo, huh? How did you get here?" The dog went around the bed and stood up on his hind feet to sniff Khaat and her hair. He sniffed all the bandages. Brian just watched. The dog jumped up and curled up at her feet. Brian recognized the clear body language of a dog on guard duty. And Enzo appeared to have set himself in place to guard Khaat already.

"Dog," Brian frowned. "You really do need to learn how to talk. Nobody gets this close to my wife in my bed without my knowing their backstory. Not even you."

Jess chuckled at Kate and nodded jack just sighed and rolled his eyes as Jess smacked his shoulder " ok I'll get along with it " he said " but wolves and dogs don't get on" he said looking at Kate rather sorrowful at her. Jess sighed and took some soup placing it in front of Jack.

"eat !" she said and he did as he was told she patted his head and he chuckled " good boy" this made Steven laugh along with Cassidy. Steven smiled and shook his head.

" don;'t worry he's well trained he said so he could smell the wolf and told me he doesn't mind if you don't, so now you an get along with him" he said Jack nodded as he blew on his soup to eat it.

"Are you a wolf, or are you a man?" Robert reprimanded. "Make up your mind. James wants to be both. Do you?" He had no patience for someone who wanted to have a foot in both humanity and a curse. Not after dealing with James. "Its not the dog's job to get along with you. Its your job to decide for yourself what bloody species you are. I"m not hungry." He got up and slammed his napkin on the table and went upstairs to see if Enzo had found Khaat and how they were getting along..

Kate sighed but said nothing. Robert's anger at James was at an unprecidented high. It had taken all he had to not kill him, but Kate was betting he would show no mercy the next time. And Jack was not truly thinking. He was behaving more like James than Robert could tolerate. Robert was depending on Jack to be dedicated to his humanity. For him to call himself a wolf had only told Robert that Jack was still embracing a part of his werewolf curse, and that made Robert angry. He was not going to have that discussion with Jack even one more time.