Rosemary for the Holidays (Consulting Magic) (3 page)

"Yes," said Chudleigh. "He's a real healer, like, with magic and everything?"

"He is, he's treated me and he's learning to do potions from Alex. We share lessons," said Julian, leading him over to where Geoff and James were chatting about restoratives. "You two need to have more hobbies in common," teased Julian, "talking work at my party."

"Our party," said Alex coming up to get a snuggle and check on Julian. "Has everyone met?"

"I was just getting to that," Julian mock-pouted. "Lucas Chudleigh, one of my former suitors, this is Dr. Geoff Tamlinson from the Agency, and James, my former Guardian."

Hands were shaken all around, and Alex surreptitiously hummed his little diagnostic tune, giving Julian a warm wash of his magic that was almost as heady as the wine. "Chudleigh wore the sun costume at my Masquerade."

"Oh, I remember that one," said James. "It was really well-made. Didn't it end up in a museum somewhere with Julian and Alex's?"

Chudleigh beamed. "It did. They got as many as they could wrangle because of the whole drama. I think they managed nearly everyone except, well, you know."

"Have you seen the exhibit?" asked Geoff curiously. "I've been meaning to go, actually, but you know how it is."

"I have, but I'd love to go again," said Chudleigh, flirting with disarming directness.

"Oh, Alex, look what Lucas brought us!" said Julian. He opened the box to show Alex the gorgeous talisman, which not so incidentally brought it to Geoff's attention.

"Wow, that's a really nice gift," said Alex, surprised. "All we've got for you is a pot of rosemary."

"And hopefully some new friends who aren't as stuffy as the people my mum introduces me to," added Chudleigh with a wink.

"What sort of friends are you interested in?" flirted Geoff right back.

James moved over to look at the box, not so incidentally creating two little mini conversational groups out of their larger one. "That's quite nice, we should put it up before we go tonight, you can anchor it into the wards."

"It's too bad Father Stephen left before he could give Chudleigh his blessing, and this as well," said Julian with a little grin.

"It's not really meant to be blessed, anyway," said Alex, and he and James started a more technical conversation about the composition and arrangement of the elements than Julian was really interested in. Julian got a kiss and left the box with Alex, moving back out into the room to mingle and leaving Chudleigh and Geoff to get to know each other without interruption.

"Going so soon?" asked Julian, coming over to find Tiny and Gemma hiding out in the bedroom with the coats. "Or just avoiding the crowd?"

"We've got to go," said Tiny apologetically. "Gemma's mum's having her 'do tonight, and then coming to ours for the day of."

"Well, make sure you get your rosemary on the way out, both of you," said Julian. "I'm really glad you came, and the biscuits you baked were delicious." Like all the food gifts, they'd been added to the rotation and Alys had made sure Julian got at least one to try.

"Not as delicious as some of the things you served," said Gemma with a laugh. "I'm hoping I can wheedle the recipe for that lemon and rosemary thing out of you later." They finished putting their coats on and moved back out into the living room, where Julian handed them each their plants.

"Those were so good, weren't they?" said Tiny, grinning. "I bet you'd knock your mum's socks off with them."

Jacques sauntered over with a grin. "There's a cheater way that's not quite as good, but you can improve it by prepping the filling overnight," he said, and held out a little card handwritten with the short version of the recipe. "I make my own rosemary lemon curd, but if you want this for your solstice celebration, you can just let some fresh rosemary sit in store-bought for a few days before you bake them."

"Oh, you're a doll!" said Gemma, kissing Jacques' cheek. Since she was nearly as tall as Tiny, she actually didn't have to bend down at all to do it, much to everyone's amusement. "Thank you, this will be just the thing to impress both mothers, who will be there glaring at Tiny for not being engaged yet."

"Oh, dear," said Julian with a laugh. "I swear Victor blames me for letting Alex out of the consort thing."

"Those sisters were certainly pointed enough," said Tiny, shaking his head. "I thought mine were pushy, but they're not quite so..."

"Sharp?" said Julian with a chuckle. "They're better one at a time, together they sort of amplify each other."

"Well, anyway, thank you for inviting us," said Tiny, giving Julian a hug, which Gemma then echoed, much to Julian's discomfort given their relative heights. "We'll do dinner again after the holidays, right?"

"Right," said Julian.

"Maybe with us, too," said Jacques hopefully.

"Maybe at Padma's, then," said Julian with a laugh.

"Yes," said both Jacques and Tiny with great enthusiasm.

The doorbell rang, and much to everyone's amusement it turned out to be Padma herself, who apologised because her husband had to stay and run the restaurant in her absence. Tiny and Gemma slipped out and Julian showed Padma around, making her promise to take some rosemary and re-introducing her to Horace, who decided to settle on Julian's shoulder for a while. He also accepted her gift of a big box of sweet pistachio peda, which floated off into Alys' care, and had begun to appear on people's plates by the time they emerged from stashing their coats.

Julian left Padma and Jacques in the kitchen talking to Alys, pleased to hear that she'd be sent home with a box of goodies for their whole staff as thanks for the many wonderful meals they'd provided for Alex before and after he'd met Julian. Out in the living room, Geoff and Chudleigh were on the couch with Lapointe, while MacLean was in one of the chairs, all of them talking animatedly. The doorbell rang again, and Julian answered it with a smile, which only got wider when his gaze dropped to find Con looking hopeful, arm in arm with what Julian thought was a female earth sprite.

"Con! It's good to see you, and who is your friend?" asked Julian. "I'm not sure if she can come in without Alex... there you are, love," said Julian, kissing Alex as he emerged from the bedroom.

"This is me lady, Betta," said Con, grinning happily. "Wot you made that bauble for."

Julian could see the heartbeat pendant now among her many necklaces and other bits and bobs; Betta was even more decorated than Con, jingling with every breath. "It looks wonderful on you, Betta, I'm Julian and this is Alex."

"Just wait a moment and you may enter freely as a guest," said Alex. He whistled a complicated little tune and his face did the 'listening' thing he did when he wasn't paying any attention at all to the mundane details of his surroundings.

"Guest-rights for us both? Now that's a good host indeed," said Betta, a smile blossoming on her face. "You were right, Con, these are good 'uns. I can feel their house-brownies like 'em."

"I told ya, it's Nat an' Alys here, too," said Con, looking terribly smug.

Alex's little tune came to a conclusion and he grinned and stepped back. "Enter and be guests, Con and Betta," said Alex, an informal sort of invitation, but a proper one nonetheless.

"So we shall," said Con, and he and Betta wandered inside and went straight for the kitchen, presenting a whole pile of guesting gifts to their various hosts.

They'd brought a couple of intriguing seeds for Julian and a handful of stones for Alex that would be useful in his work, as well as a little seedling of some exotic basil for Alys, and a bit of wood for Nat that he declared just what he'd been needing. They were both quite pleased that they'd have their own pots of rosemary to take away, though Julian suspected that they'd find some other use for the green thumb charms, as earth sprites had no need of such things to keep a plant healthy and happy.

Con and Betta settled in for a chat with Nat and Alys, so Julian lured Alex and Jacques both back out into the living room.

"That's an interesting development," said Julian quietly. "He must really trust us, to be bringing her."

"If only we could get Thomas to be half so brave," said Alex with a smirk.

Cups of mulled wine came floating out after them, along with a big plate of fresh nibbles for them to share. That seemed like a good excuse to go snuggle up in their chair and join in the conversation with their friends. Horace found a perch among the decorations and settled in to rest for a while, his silver-and-brass construction shining among the velvet and evergreens as though he was one of the ornaments. The party hit a lull with no arrivals or departures for a while, so everyone ate whatever floated over to them, and they circulated from kitchen to living room and back as the mood suited them.

"When's Mary Margaret coming?" asked Alex, coming over to where Julian was sitting in his window seat, checking on the plants in their box outside. They'd planted the same assortment here as the other window – fairy flowers, ward thistle, and lucky clover – and they were all thriving under Julian's tender care.

"Mm? Oh, she said dinnertime, so probably soon," said Julian, looking up and giving Alex a kiss, tasting mulled wine in with the kiss. "Whitby's coming by then, too, so we'll be awfully full for a while, and then I'm sure it'll thin back out again."

"Jones will be back soon, too; he's got the evening off," said Alex. "I think Victor wants the excuse to hide out at his club."

Julian laughed and got up. "Let's go check on our brownies, make sure Alys isn't about ready to be done with all of us," he said, leading Alex around the back of the sofa to avoid the conversation centred on it and into the kitchen. "How are you all doing?"

"We're good," said Con with a grin. He was sitting with Betta on the countertop, feet dangling over the edge, the two of them cuddled up and passing a cup of mulled wine back and forth. "Good party."

"Thank you for coming," said Julian with a grin. "How about you, Alys?"

"I've not hexed anyone yet, ta for asking," said Alys, back still to him as she stirred something in a pot on the stove.

Jacques was sitting at the kitchen table assembling some sort of pastry onto cookie sheets, and he shot Julian a wink. "We're getting ready for the next wave."

"We've got five more coming soon, and that'll be the last of them," said Julian with a smile. "Unless Jones brings Jenny, in which case six."

"He's not," said Alex. "She had a thing, but he promised to bring her by for dinner sometime."

Alys harrumphed, which meant she was enjoying being grumpy and didn't want to be chivvied out of it just yet. "Well, the mad lot of you had better not keep clogging up my kitchen."

Two fresh cups of wine floated over along with another plate of nibbles, and Julian took the hint. "Off we go, then, I wouldn't want to interrupt your genius at work." He winked back at Jacques and dragged Alex out.

"Say, whatever happened to that flower fairy of yours?" asked Thomas, when they emerged. "Padma says she's never seen one."

"She's in the work room," said Alex. "It's a few too many people for her, but I can show you if you like."

"Yes, please, and then I'll have to be going," said Padma, with obvious regret. "This is lovely, but duty calls."

"I see Alys already took care of you," said Julian, nodding to the sizeable stack of cookie tins in front of her, each with a different treat visible through the windowed lid. "Don't forget your rosemary plant."

"I won't, though I might borrow your Alex to help me carry things," said Padma, standing with a smile. "Come on, show me this amazing work room and fairy of yours so I have a tale to take back to my husband."

"We'll lure him out here one of these days," said Alex with a laugh, leading her away and into the work room's quiet clutter.

Julian stole her spot on the couch, settling in with the double-sized plate of treats and a grin. "So, what are we talking about now?" he teased. "Have you asked anyone out yet this year, Thomas?"

"That is not what we're talking about," said Thomas, giving him a glare that wasn't entirely effective given his blushes.

"So that's a no, then," said James with a poorly-suppressed grin.

Thomas huffed. "Easy for you to say, you've got a life partner."

"Yes, but you actually want to have sex again someday," said James, unperturbed. "I'm good as I am."

Julian giggled, but Thomas was saved from replying when the doorbell rang again and he shot up to go answer it. Jones came in, looking very relieved to be done with his duties for the day, and promptly stole Thomas' seat when Alys floated his coat away rather than making him stash it himself. "Ugh, I'm glad there's only two more days of this before the holiday."

"I'm just glad you got the evening off," said Julian, giving him a little hug. "I made a few extra rosemary pots, if you want to take one to your mum, by the way."

"I'd love that," said Jones, and then, "Ooh, perfect," when a big plate of little nibbles and a fresh cup of mulled wine came to a halt in front of him. He dug in, and everyone else's cups began to float away and return refilled, followed by their plates, full of fresh-baked goodies and a little cup of soup for everyone as well.

Alex and Padma emerged a few minutes later and she came to retrieve her boxes, which Thomas and James volunteered to carry down so that Jones could rest and the hosts could stay up with the party. Whitby Chilcott and his consort-to-be, Grover Barnes, shared the elevator back up with the men, and Alys was very happy to hear that they were nearly the last of the guests.