by N. P. Martin
"You’ve been busy lately."
I sat up in bed, my head pounding. "Benedict?"
"Yes. Are you still in bed at this hour?"
"What time is it?"
"It’s just past eight."
I shook my head. "That’s still early."
"Not for me it isn’t. I rise at four-thirty every morning." He did indeed sound as if he’d been up for hours, his English accent crisp with morning energy.
"Let me guess," I said, looking around for something to parch my dry throat and finding only an empty water bottle. "You work out every morning as well."
"Of course. Don’t you?"
"No."
"You should start taking greater care of yourself, Corvin. Our enemies do."
"Really? I don’t see too many vampires going to the gym these days."
"Maybe not the gym, but they drink enough blood to sustain their superior powers."
"Are you suggesting I start drinking blood, Benedict?"
"Maybe not blood. Perhaps a smoothie or two, though."
As I swung my legs onto the floor, I sat on the edge of the bed for a moment with my eyes closed, hoping the headache would die down soon. "Is that why you phoned, to give me lifestyle advice?"
"I’m always happy to give advice," he said. "But no, that isn’t why I called you."
"So why did you then?" On heavy legs, I walked naked out of the bedroom and padded into the kitchen where I began to make coffee.
"I heard about your adventure in Cork, and your most recent one in Wicklow. Jolly good job, by the way."
I paused and frowned as I poured hot water into the coffee maker. "How the hell did you hear about that? No one knows I was even in Wicklow. Wait, did that man in robes have something to do with you?"
"Man in robes? I have no idea what you are talking about."
He seemed to be telling the truth. "How do you know about Wicklow?"
"Some Council representatives interviewed those five girls who suddenly appeared again after being missing for so long."
I shook my head. "Well, I hope your representatives didn’t upset those girls."
"They handled things delicately, don’t worry. The girls said a mysterious man saved them from a monster." He paused. "Said mystery man seemed to fit your description, Corvin."
"I hoped they wouldn’t say anything."
"Don’t worry, they were coaxed into changing their story a bit, for the official version. Your identity shall remain unknown, and there was no monster, just a madman whose body is still in the depths of that mountain somewhere."
I went back to making the coffee. "That’s good."
"Anyway, you are doing good work, Corvin," he said. "Though I still think you would do better work with us."
Heaping sugar into a cup, I poured out the coffee, going to the fridge to get milk. "I got my own stuff on at the minute, Benedict."
"Yes, I know."
"What do you mean, you know?" I recoiled as I opened the milk carton, the contents inside curdled, the smell making me gag.
"Are you all right?"
Retching slightly, I closed the milk carton and tossed it in the trash. "I’m fine. What do you mean, you know?"
"You’re going after Constantine Ó Duinn, aren’t you?"
Now how the hell would he know that? I thought. "Says who?"
"Come now, Corvin, you take me for a fool. I all ready know how much you want revenge for your father. You told me as much yourself that day we spoke in the park."
"I was just venting," I said, wincing at the acrid taste of the black coffee.
Benedict sighed down the phone. "You’re not very convincing, Corvin."
"So what if I am going after him?" I walked into the living room and sat down on the couch, the wall of information on Constantine right in front of me.
"That would be your prerogative," he said. "But as long as you know that the Council won’t be too happy if you do. They won’t want you stirring up trouble."
"You mean you won’t."
"Of course not. I’ll just have to clean up your mess, and I have enough messes to clean at the moment, believe me. The world is in flux at the moment. A lot is happening."
"Such as?"
"Things you aren’t cleared to know about, though you would have clearance if you came to work for us."
"I’m not really the employee type, Benedict. I thought you would have worked that out by now, as astute as you are."
"You can’t do everything alone, Corvin."
"I’m not alone."
"Yes, you have your friends, don’t you? The Demifay and the YouTuber, and now the girl elf as well. Quite the crew you have."
"Are you taking the piss?" I said, feeling like I wanted to hang up on him now.
"Maybe a little. I’m not saying you and you friends aren’t capable, but you don’t have our resources."
"Help me take down Constantine and his brother then. I’ll consider working with you after that."
"Sorry, no can do. The Council simply wouldn’t sanction such a move."
"Then we have nothing to talk about. Goodbye Benedict."
"Before you go, consider this," he said. "The Council comes down hard on those who go against them. By going after Constantine, you’d be going against the wishes of the Council. Are you prepared for that?"
I stared at the photo of Constantine, picturing him ripping out my father’s hard with his bare hands. "I’m prepared for anything," I said, and hung up the phone.
Sometime later, I dozed off on the couch and found myself dreaming of Constantine, my subconscious mind playing back the incident where the vampire broke into my flat and pinned me to my bed, only in the dream, he punched a hole in my chest and ripped out my heart, holding the still beating organ in his hand as he revealed his fangs and smiled down at me. He had just begun crushing my heart in his large hand when I was suddenly pulled out of the dream by a noise in the flat, and I awoke to find someone standing staring at me. Sitting bolt upright in surprise and a little fright, I was relieved to see that it was Dalia standing there.
"Jesus Christ," I said. "It’s you, I thought—"
"That I was Constantine?"
I shook my head. "I didn’t know who it was."
Dalia turned and gestured at the wall. "I see you’ve been busy since I’ve been away."
Rubbing my hands over my face, I nodded. "You could say that."
She turned back to me and smiled, nodding down at my nether regions. "I see you’re pleased to see me."
I realized I was still naked then, and grabbed a cushion to cover myself. "You could’ve told me you were coming back."
"Then it wouldn’t have been a surprise, would it?"
"Well, consider me surprised," I said, getting up and going to the bedroom where I pulled on some pants and a shirt. When I went back out into the living room, I went up to Dalia and hugged her tightly for a long moment. "I’ve missed you."
She squeezed me tighter then. "I missed you too."
When we released each other, I smiled at her and then we both sat on the couch. "So how are things in the Otherworld? Did you sort things out with Sorcha?"
Dalia nodded. "As best I could, yes. She’s Queen of her own court now."
"And Hedrema?"
"Still locked up. Sorcha wanted to kill her. I convinced her not to."
"You should’ve let her."
Dalia shook her head at me. "Don’t you think she’s got enough blood on her hands?" She glanced at the wall, at the mess of information there. "Don’t you think we all have?"
"What does that mean?"
"Nothing, except that I see you’re going after Constantine."
"And that surprises you why?"
"It doesn’t, not really." She paused. "I just thought you’d want a break from all this."
I snorted slightly. "What, so I can go and sun myself in Spain for a fortnight?"
Dalia stared at me and then chuckled slightly. "I guess you’re right. My god, the th
ought of baking under the sun every day on some beach…horrible."
"Yes, basking in darkness is much better."
"Are you taking the piss?"
I shook my head. "I don’t even know. I just know I need some proper coffee. You want to go and get some with me?"
She nodded. "Sure. You probably haven’t left this place in a week anyway, have you?"
"I wouldn’t say that exactly."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"I’ll tell you on the way…"
Chapter 4
We ended up in a cafe in Capel Street called Brother Hubbards, which specialized in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean style dishes, and which also served some of the best coffee in the city. We were both dressed in black as we sat by the window, sipping on our coffees as we watched the people of Capel Street go about their day. "I can’t believe you took down a buggane," Dalia said after I’d finished telling her the story. "You’re becoming a right superhero."
"Superhero?" I laughed slightly as I shook my head. "I nearly shat myself when that hairy bastard came running at me."
"Well, you’re my superhero." She took my hand then. "I haven’t thanked you yet for saving my life."
I shrugged then smiled. "You don’t have to thank me, D. Besides, it wasn’t just me. I couldn’t have done it without help from Monty and Amelia."
"I know that, and I’m grateful, for both their help."
"Even Amelia’s?"
She smiled slightly. "Even her. Maybe I misjudged her. Are you still…seeing her?"
"Sleeping with her, you mean?"
She nodded. "Not that it’s any of my business or anything…"
"No actually, not at this point anyway. She’s busy with her own stuff at the minute, sorting out the family business now that Iolas is no longer around."
"She’ll have a job on her hands there."
"If anyone can bring order it’s her."
Dalia grabbed my hand in both of hers then and held it up. "Davey did a great job with your hand. I can’t tell the difference. Does it feel different?"
I shook my head. "No, although Davey did say he’d made one or two improvements."
"What like?"
"Apparently I now have the ability to absorb the power of others," I said, turning my hand slowly as I looked at it. "I haven’t tried it out yet."
"Try it on me," Dalia said excitedly. "I want to see."
"Not here. Maybe later."
She shook her head. "You’re no fun."
I was about to say something in response when I noticed Dalia suddenly direct her attention out the window, her eyes widening for a second before narrowing into a deep scowl. "Motherfu—"
"What?" I said, turning to see what she was looking at, or rather who. Standing there was a guy in his early twenties with blond hair who I recognized after a second as the Demifay guy who had been eyeballing Dalia in the pub a while back, the guy who I assumed she ended up picking up and sleeping with. His slightly pudgy face seemed surprised for a second as he gazed upon Dalia. Then he smiled almost slyly as he began to walk away quickly down the street. "Is that the guy you—"
"Screwed," Dalia finished. "Yes, only he screwed me more than I screwed him." She was already on her feet.
"Eh, what do you mean by that?"
"He stole my ring, the one my grandmother gave me."
"Oh." I didn’t ask if she intended to get it back, as I knew she did when she piled out of the cafe to go after the guy. Hastily, I threw some money on the able and headed out after her to find that she was already sprinting down the street in pursuit of her target. The blond Demifay was now running as well, sprinting across the busy road about fifty yards ahead of Dalia. "Wait Dalia!"
She didn’t hear me, or if she did, she chose to ignore me as she continued running, straight out in front of an oncoming car that slammed the brakes on and sounded the horn at her, the male driver then making a scared face as Dalia must’ve thrown him a look. As I crossed the road after her, I was shocked by how fast she was as she darted like a moving shadow between the pedestrians in pursuit of her target. It was all I could do to just to remain fifty yards behind her. Further down, the blond guy disappeared up a side street and Dalia soon followed after him. By the time I made it up the side street myself, I was just in time to see the blond Demifay climbing up the side of a three story building like he was bloody Spiderman. "What the hell?" I said shaking my head, breathing hard from all the running.
Dalia was half way up the narrow street, which was thankfully deserted considering what she did next. She used her dark energy to raise herself into the air, going higher and higher until she was hovering over the rooftop. I ran down the street another bit and then stopped and looked around. There were crowds of people crossing the road at either side of the side street. How anyone didn’t see Dalia float up on a cloud of black, I’ll never know. I decided not to take the same chance and turned myself invisible before beginning to levitate up the side of the building until I got to the rooftop, turning myself visible again when I landed.
About two roofs to the right, I soon spotted Dalia, who appeared to have caught the blond thief. There was about ten feet between them. Dalia’s dark energy appeared to have extended out of her chest until it wrapped itself around the thief’s throat. He was doing his best to release himself but was getting nowhere. If I knew Dalia, that rope of energy was getting tighter by the second.
"Where is it?" she shouted. "Where is the ring you stole from me?"
I ran over and stood by her as I saw that the thief was struggling to breathe. "I don’t think he can talk, D," I said. "Maybe loosen your hold a bit there."
If anything she appeared to do the opposite and the thief fell to his knees, his face turning purple. "I should snap his neck right here."
"No, D, don’t do that, for god’s sake. Just ask him for the bloody ring back."
I walked over to the guy, whose eyes were bulging from their sockets now. "The ring," I said holding my hand out. "Give me it."
The thief made a gesture with his hands to indicate that he didn’t have it.
Dalia tightened her hold on him further. "I knew it! He sold it!"
"He’s about to pass out, D," I said.
"I know he is. He will steal no more from anyone."
"D, just let him go. You can’t bloody kill him. You aren’t in the Otherworld now."
She threw me a look, but eventually relented and loosened her hold on the thief, who began to take huge gasps of air as he remained on his knees. "You know how much that ring means to me. It’s the only thing I have from my grandmother. She was the only person who understood me…"
She looked to have tears in her eyes as I gently put my arm around her. "I know, D. We’ll get the ring back, don’t worry. If he sold it, we just have to find out where. Release him so he can talk."
Sighing, she released her hold on the thief completely, withdrawing her dark energy and wiping whatever tears were in her eyes. Then she walked to the thief, who was leaning on the tops of his thighs while he struggled to regain his composure. "I’m sorry…" he tried to say, though he could barely speak from coughing so much.
"Sorry?" Dalia said, the anger back in her face. "I’ll give you sorry…"
When she went to raise her hand, I stopped her. "D, please. Just wait."
Dalia glared at the thief for another moment before turning away, as though she didn’t trust herself to maintain control.
"Where’s the ring?" I asked the thief.
"I sold it," he said shaking his head. "You don’t know what’s it like to be us. We have nothing, no one…"
"So that makes it all right to steal from your own kind?" Dalia shouted, whirling around to face him again.
The thief dropped his head as if in shame. "I’m sorry…"
"No, you’re just sorry you got caught."
"What did you do with the ring?" I asked him again. "I take it you sold it? Who to?"
"The pawn shop down the street.
Hacknet’s."
"I knew it," Dalia said in disgust. "You better pray it’s still there. If it isn’t, I will hunt you down, rest assured that I will."
"For your sake, I hope that it’s still there," I said to the thief. "When did you pawn it?"
"A few days ago."
I nodded and looked at Dalia. "It’s probably still in the shop then. We should be able to get it back."
"He better hope so, that’s all I can say."
"How much did you get for it?" I asked him. When he told me, I snorted and shook my head. "You were ripped off. The ring is worth a lot more than that."
"Idiot," Dalia muttered.
"Go on," I said to him. "Get out of here, before she kills you."
The thief got to his feet and stared at Dalia for a moment, something like remorse in his eyes. "I’m sorry," he said. "I just do what I have to do to get by. You know what’s it like…"
Dalia shook her head, unable to hide her hurt. "Just go."
The thief turned and walked to the edge of the rooftop, climbing over the side and crawling away like some sort of lizard. When I turned to Dalia again, the tears were back in her eyes, which to be honest, kind of surprised me. She wasn’t usually one for tears, even before she was taken by the Fae, when she was still fully human. I realized then that there was more going with her than just being upset over the ring. "Are you okay?" I asked her.
She sat down on the rooftop and pulled her knees into her chest as she stared at nothing. For a long time she sat that way, while I stood wondering what I should do, eventually deciding just to give her a little time before pressing her again. Although, as it happened, I didn’t need to press her. She told me herself.
"I feel alone," she said, seeming small and girlish. "Like I don’t belong anywhere."
Sighing, I went and sat beside her. "You are not alone, D. I’m always here for you. Don’t let that guy’s actions get to you."
"It’s not him, even though he’s a shithead."
"So what then?"
"When I was in the Otherworld with Sorcha, after you guys had left, it sort of felt like I was home again, you know? I was in place where everyone was like me, more or less, but then…"
