by Devon Monk
“Little girl, why would anyone listen to you?” That smug smile. That sweaty superiority. I wanted to punch him in the face.
The Reeds were an old family. Old blood chosen by gods long, long ago. We were not gods. Not even close. But we were the protectors of this precious land, this place of refuge for deities and supernaturals and all those who called this little town home.
I could not fight a god whose reach extended beyond universes.
But I could hold the line of my home for those I loved, for the community I was humbled to serve and grateful to keep safe.
“I am this land,” I said, setting roots into the thick volcanic basalt. This land, my feet, the trees and wind and storming ocean, my body, the arc of sky, sun, and shatter of stars beyond, my head. “I am the Bridge by which deities rest their burden and breathe in peace.
“I am love. I am strength. Chosen and bound to serve all who gather to create this town, who make this our home.
“I am Delaney Reed.”
I called on the power of Ordinary, and it answered with a roar.
Gold and green and branch and bloom, twisted forests, great growling crash of toothy foam and wave, hurricane wind carving mountains to blacken bone. The voice, the shout, the song of every heartbeat, every soul in this beautiful town, rose, up, up, up.
They were my breath, my pulse, a thousand spinning threads of beautiful color and hue and song. These beating hearts a power, a tapestry of life, a magic unbreakable.
My people.
My town.
“You will leave Ordinary now, God,” I said, the power of Ordinary in every word, the magic and song and lives sparking lightning through my nerves, burning fire over my skin.
This was my power. This was our power.
This was Ordinary.
Mithra’s eyes widened.
“Leave.” I pointed at the god.
Mithra fizzed like an out of focus picture. Fire caught at the edges of him, red to orange to burning yellow and scorching hot white as if he were plummeting through the atmosphere too fast to survive.
And he was gone.
I exhaled hard, the push of power and magic and love and lives and sound, sound, sound gushed out with that breath. I was a tap suddenly turned off, power draining from me quickly— through my fingertips, through my feet, through my pores—back into the land, into the living, into the thrum of blessings that bound this place to me.
I blinked, tingly and itchy, and the world toppled sideways.
“Hey, now.” Warm arms, strong arms, wrapped me, steadied the world. The scent of Ryder’s skin filled my breathing. I leaned into him. Just for a moment. Just while I caught my breath.
“I’ve never seen you do that,” he said, wonder in his words.
“First time.” My voice had gone to scratch. “Saw Dad do it. Twice. It’s. A thing. Bridge thing. We can make gods go. Leave. Bye-bye. With…power thing.”
“Let’s get you sitting down, love. Here we go. Just like this.”
By the time I lined up my brain cells to tell him I was fine, I was already sitting in my desk chair, Ryder and Jean and Myra hovering around me.
“Water?” Myra passed it to me.
I was thirsty, a desert, so I drank it down in one go.
“Are you okay?” Jean asked. She chewed at her thumbnail, which I hadn’t seen her do in years.
“Good.” I cleared my throat. “I’m better. Good. My brain was kind of…offline for a second.”
“Are you sure?” Myra’s brows were tucked down, her eyes sharp. She looked like it took everything she had to keep from checking my forehead and packing me in bubble wrap.
“I am. I really am okay. Ready to get to work. Um, High Tea Tide. Go team.”
“You should take her home,” Jean told Ryder.
“Way ahead of you.” He had his keys in his hand and was giving me that look.
“Wait,” I said. “You can all actually hear me, right?”
“Yes,” he said. “You want to work. We’ve all decided you should be home, resting.”
“But I said I’m good,” I whined.
“Delaney, you just shoved a god out of Ordinary for the first time.” Jean bent a little so she could stare me right in the eyes. “That was…wow.” Her smile was crazy big.
“Just part of my job.”
“Okay, but it was still wow, and now you should go home.”
“You don’t send me home when I write speeding tickets.”
Jean scoffed and stood, hands on her hips.
Myra handed me a cup of tea. “Let’s agree those are two different kinds of jobs,” Myra said. “Since you’ve never thrown a god out of town before, we want you to go home and take a minute to regroup.”
“I threw Crow out a couple years ago.”
“Yeah, but Crow loves you,” Ryder said. “He left when you asked.”
Myra just pointed at Ryder while she stared at me.
“I’m fine. I really am. Bertie’s event—”
“Don’t worry about the event,” Jean said. “I’ll cover your shift. And yes, this is probably the one and only time I’m actually going to volunteer to help Bertie and not try to get out of it. So you’d better not waste it.”
“I still think—”
“Delaney! Delaney! Pay attention to me!”
Xtelle pushed her way through the front door and trotted across the lobby until she was right next to my desk. On her heels was a very familiar goat.
“Ponies don’t talk.”
Xtelle blew her rubbery lips. “Everyone here knows I’m more than a pony. I am a magnificent unicorn!”
“You certainly are, my sweet,” Pan said.
“Goats don’t talk either,” I said.
He lifted one hoof and made a little locking motion in front of his mouth.
“What do you want, Xtelle?” I asked.
“Oh, now I can talk? Now?”
“Yep. I’m giving you ten seconds.”
She flattened her ears and showed a little teeth, but then she took a deep breath.
“You can’t keep Amy in jail because Vychi will be looking for him and when he finds him and finds him trapped he will attack Ordinary with legions of demon hordes and even if you think you can beat them I will remind you that Vychoro will not care if there are human casualties especially those outside of Ordinary like that person at the casino you yattered on and on to about his child and college and boring I do not like children with their sticky hands and tiny screechy voices and they kick and they bite and a petting zoo for children is the worst thing I have ever experienced in my life and I have not one but two houses in hell.”
Pan nodded along and scooted closer to her, his side against her side. He bleated a little baa that sounded like “babe.”
She made her eyes wider and stuck out her lower lip, which made her look ridiculous, and leaned into him.
“Vicki?” I asked, somehow stuck on that name.
“Vychi. Vychoro, the king of course.” Xtelle sniffed.
“Got it. Well, whatever the demon king does won’t change how I do my job. Avnas is in jail. That’s what happens when you break the law in Ordinary.”
“Oh,” she said. “Then don’t worry. I thought you actually cared about human life.”
“Xtelle.”
“I thought that person at the casino was someone you liked. Someone you thought should remain alive.”
“Xtelle,” I warned.
“But if you’re fine with The Brute tearing the world apart at the seams and killing everyone you care for, then by all means, keep Avnas behind bars.”
“Who’s The Brute?” Jean asked.
“Her husband,” Myra said.
“King of the Underworld,” Jean said. “Why are you still married to him?”
Xtelle’s mouth fell open, and her eyes dashed between Jean and me. “Because…you wouldn’t…he’s very…I can’t…well, it’s not like I wouldn’t…it’s just. Complicated.”
“Is it
?” I was going with my gut here.
“What?”
“Is it complicated?”
Her ears flattened half way. “It always has been.”
“You know you have a home here in Ordinary, Xtelle, if you follow the rules.”
She held very, very still. Those pony eyes suddenly looked much more human, or maybe just demon. Vulnerable. Hopeful. “Do I?”
“Yes. You signed the contract. Our contracts are good.”
Pan moved closer to her again, leaning his shoulder against hers. I thought I heard him whisper: “I told you so.”
“Well,” she said. “Well. I see.”
Ryder clapped his hands once. “Great. Now that we’ve got that figured out, Delaney is going home for the rest of the day.”
“Delaney isn’t going home,” I said.
He frowned.
“Xtelle.” I stood and waved away everyone’s helping hands. “You need to come with me.”
“I don’t want—”
“This way.” I took it easy for the first few steps, but it was immediately clear I really was feeling fine.
Ryder fell into step next to me. Myra was on her phone, and all I caught was, “now” and “the station.” I didn’t know who she was calling, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was taking control of this demon situation once and for all.
“But where? Where, Delaney?” Xtelle shouted as she trotted along beside me, the goat attached to her like Velcro. “Where are you taking me?”
“To the scene of the crime.”
“Which one—I was never even with that monkey!”
I let that go, because there was only so much I could handle at one time. And right now, I was going to handle the demon who had bound himself to my soul.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“This isn’t a forest,” Xtelle grumped.
“Enough of one,” I said.
“There’s something more here, isn’t there?”
“Yep.” I kept walking through the grass and underbrush. Ryder walked with me and so did Jean. Myra had stayed behind.
“What is it?” Xtelle prodded. “Is it a secret? It’s magic of some kind. I know it has to be magic.”
“It’s magic.” I took one more step, and the building appeared.
Xtelle stopped so quickly, she left little skid marks in the dirt. “No. I’ve followed almost all the rules. I demand a lawyer. The cute one on TV.”
“I’m not locking you away. But you are coming with me.” I pointed at her, and took another step, passing right through the door and into the jail.
Xtelle passed through the door with me, caught by my command. I hadn’t expected Pan to come with her, but he must have been standing close enough, he’d ridden on her coat tails.
Pan whistled. “I’ve always wondered about the inside of this place.”
Jean opened the door for Ryder, whose gaze immediately found me, then took in the demon behind bars, the pile of metal the dragon pig had left behind, and the screen of baby ducks that Jean turned off. He walked to one side of the room, closer to the cell than the door and waited.
“My Queen,” Avnas said, startled.
“Avnas,” she replied, bored.
“Some demon knight,” Pan snorted. It had a weird musical quality to it, like he had a horn stuck up his nose. “Not impressed.”
“Delightful,” Avnas said through his teeth. “The goat who thinks he’s a god.”
“That is so enough of that.” I pointed at Pan. “You. Be quiet, or I’ll throw you out.” I pointed at Xtelle. “You, listen. Avnas, now is your chance to talk.”
Everyone was quiet, except for Ryder who brought me a wooden chair and positioned it so I could sit and keep them all in my sight. Not that I really had to guard them. It was impossible for anyone to leave without Reed permission and help.
“Talk,” I repeated.
“I do not know what you expect me to say to you,” Avnas said stiffly, shoulders back, head held high.
“Not to me,” I said. “To her.”
He glanced at Xtelle, but his facade did not crack.
“Tell her what you told me. Tell her what you want. Tell her why you really bound yourself to my soul. Tell her what your real goal is.”
“My current goal is to be out from behind these bars and to never see another adorable baby mammal chase its tail again.”
“Here’s something you may not have figured out about Ordinary,” I said conversationally. “Truth works here. It’s a good thing. Conversation works here. Tell her real things, Avnas.”
Ryder stood behind my chair, and even though he wasn’t touching me, it was good to feel his strength at my back.
“You have one chance at this,” I said. “Why not try the truth this time?”
His eyes cut to Xtelle, than back to me. They were steel hard. “Or what?”
“No or. Whether you talk to her or not, I’m going to break your hold on me. Close your mouth, because whatever you’re about to say, you’re wrong. The hell spell you put on me had a few flaws that worked to my advantage.” I leaned forward, elbows on my thighs, hands loose between my knees.
I had all the power here, he just hadn’t figured it out yet.
“Let me tell you a truth,” I said. “Trying to use my friends against me in that spell was a fatal miscalculation.”
“You underestimate my power.” Fire flickered gold in his eyes and burned there just under his skin.
Even though he was on that side of the bars, and I was on this side, we were still bound. I felt the connection, tight behind my breastbone, behind my lungs. Somewhere deep, my soul fluttered and stretched, trying to pull free, like lungs bound too tightly and unable to draw air.
“With one flick of my finger, I can crush you, Delaney Reed. Crush you with the very rules and magic by which you live.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I don’t think so.”
“Shall we try?” he asked, still angry, but softer, as if this were intimate, just between the two of us. As if Xtelle, Pan, Jean, and Ryder weren’t in the room. As if there weren’t bars and layers upon layers of magic separating us.
“You can’t use magic in that cell. That’s kind of the point. So. Last chance, Avnas. Tell her the truth.”
His eyes narrowed. He raised his hand. He was so going to do magic no matter what I told him. Idiot.
“Delaney,” Myra’s voice was a little breathy, as if she’d been jogging. “I have someone to see you.”
My sister: right place, right time.
“Good afternoon, Reed Daughter,” Than’s voice was as dry as rice paper.
My sister: right place, right time, and right equipment. Which in this case was a god wearing an eye-watering pink shirt polka-dotted with neon-green olives.
Jean, who had moved over by them, said, “Nice nails.”
“Sleepover,” Than said.
“Sweet.” Jean made a fist. Than considered her fist a moment, then bumped it with his own before moving to stand next to me, facing the demon.
Amy’s hand didn’t lower, but the tension in his muscles shifted. He looked more like he was getting ready to retreat instead of attack.
“Avnas,” Than intoned. “It has been some time.”
Yes, he was on vacation. But even so, all the gods carried residue of their power, the weight of it always at the ready to use in an instant, if they so desired.
“What’s the plan here?” Myra asked. “Are you setting him free?”
“I’m giving him his one chance.”
“You told me I have three chances,” Xtelle piped up. We all looked at her, and she recoiled, squishing her head back, wrinkling up her neck. “Well, you did.”
“You get three chances because you signed the contract,” I said. “You are a citizen, and there’s a learning curve to living among mortals and gods.”
She cut her eyes to Avnas.
“He forced his way into town, attacked me, took part of my soul, stole precious items, meddled with my m
emories, and cast a spell to use as leverage over me to get his way.”
She shook her head like she didn’t understand the difference.
“He’s not following the rules,” I said.
“That’s all that matters to you, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Yes.” My answer was swift. Rules really weren’t the only thing I cared about, but for right now, she and Avnas needed to know I would absolutely die on this hill.
“But lucky for all of us, I’m going to simplify things.” I reached into my back pocket and pulled out Than’s calling card.
“Than?”
“Yes, Delaney?”
“I would like to hire you.”
“I see. When?”
“Are you free now?”
Avnas had gone a strange gray-green color, his face glistened with flop sweat.
“I am,” Than said. “Shall we agree upon the conditions and terms previously settled?”
“Yes.” I rolled up my sleeves and turned my hands so Avnas could get a gander at the tattoo and knife wound. “Should I call for backup?” I jiggled my hands.
Avnas was breathing hard now, his jaw locked, his nostrils flared. He looked like a man preparing to step off a plank into an awful lot of alligators below.
“I don’t believe that will be necessary,” Than said.
Good, because I didn’t know how I was going to fit the entire Wolfe clan in the building, and I didn’t want to deal with the years of hard time Bertie would put me through for interrupting her event.
“Shall I?” Than asked.
“What?” Avnas and Xtelle said in unison. The demons locked eyes.
Before Than could do whatever it was to break the spell, I held up a finger.
Than stilled, though he hadn’t done anything except fold his hands together.
Avnas must have known the jig was up. He’d been outsmarted, outmaneuvered. I had the Wolfes behind me. I had the Valkyrie on my side. They’d marked me as their own.
And here was Than, at my call, his services at my discretion.
All three ingredients of his binding were about to be corrupted. As soon as Than threw his weight behind my request—to break the spell, of course—Avnas was all out of leverage.
“I came here for you,” Avnas said in a rush.
Xtelle looked over her shoulder, at each corner of the room, at Pan, who shook his head in short jerks, and finally back to Avnas.
