Between Decisions: The City Between: Book Eight

by Gingell, W. R.

  “And who’s going to protect me from her, I’d like to know?”

  “Fair point. But at least you’ll stay alive long enough to figure it out.”

  “What are you looking for in these records, anyway?” asked the detective, after a disgruntled sort of silence.

  “Kids like me,” I said. “Turns out there’s quite a few of them, and they’re all pretty important.”

  Detective Tuatu sent a narrow look around the room. “Important to what?” he asked. “Because from what you lot have told me, the world is going into a kind of Ragnarök, and if these kids are going to make things harder—”

  “They won’t make things harder for you,” Zero said, his eyes a shade bluer. “Well…tangentially, perhaps, but no more than that. They’re more likely to make life extremely difficult for my father and the King Behind; by definition, their existence will propel the worlds Behind and Between into civil unrest, but once the change is made, the human world should return to normal.”

  “That doesn’t sound tangential to me!”

  “That’s only because you’re not aware of the full extent of the unrest in the worlds Behind and Between,” said Athelas, smiling faintly.

  The detective didn’t say anything else, but he looked thoughtful, and that was enough. If I knew Abigail, she’d already made sure she had a way to contact him again. I was pretty sure she’d get an affirmative answer out of him the next time she asked him to look after her stash.

  It wasn’t like he didn’t already have an object around his neck that was similar to the things he was being asked to look after. And thinking of that necklace…

  “Oi,” I said to him. “You said you got that necklace off your grandma. Givus a look at it.”

  “I’m not taking it off around them,” he told me. “Sorry. I trust you, not them.”

  “Rude,” I said. “Your grandma tell you anything about it other than that it was a good idea to wear it all the time?”

  Detective Tuatu’s lips pinched in and rolled out. “She told me a lot of nonsense.”

  “Bet it doesn’t seem like nonsense these days,” I said. “Like the widdershins thing.”

  “Maybe not,” he said. “But it still doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

  “She alive or dead?” I asked curiously. I’d been assuming dead, but you never knew with people who knew about anything to do with the worlds Between or Behind.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “She disappeared a long time ago. It’s why I became a cop.”

  “Heck!” I said in surprise, staring at him. “Look at you being all silent and strong with your trauma.”

  “I’m not traumatised,” he said. “I might have been if I hadn’t come to think she disappeared on purpose, though.”

  “Maybe you should talk about that with Abigail and her lot as well, then,” I told him. “They know a few people I wouldn’t have expected them to know, so you might get lucky.”

  “Lucky isn’t something I’ve been since I met you,” Tuatu said. “I’ll think about it. In the meantime, can we please come up with a plan for next time? I can’t keep the waterfront cordoned off indefinitely, and the markets will start up again in two days.”

  Chapter Seven

  It wasn’t quite dawn when I called Morgana. I hadn’t slept, and I didn’t think I was going to drop off any time soon—not with JinYeong’s cologne seeping under the door and into my room like it had legs of its own. I suspected that he was sitting out in the upper living room instead of his own room, which was to be expected given that Athelas and Zero were both out of the house. I didn’t poke my head out to check because if I did, he would have seen me, and I was feeling a bit too weird about everything to have him looking at me at this time of day.

  Usually, it’s rude to call your friends before the sun’s up. Zombies don’t sleep, though.

  Sure enough, Morgana sounded wide awake and completely coherent when she answered the phone; she answered it pretty quickly, too, which was a relief. She’d only just started talking to me again after finding out she was a zombie, which was understandable: I’d been the one who had to tell her what she was, after all. It’s pretty hard not to resent the person who brings the world you think you’re living in crumbling down around you.

  “Pet,” she said. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “I mean, I’ve got something I want to talk about, but it’s not like I’m in trouble or anything.”

  I could almost picture the sharp, interested look on her face, the moue of black lipstick. “Let me guess: someone tried to kiss you?”

  “You’re flamin’ terrifying,” I said sourly. “He didn’t try, he did it. Kissed me and told me he loved me. Then he dared me not to fall in love with him.”

  “Wait!” said Morgana sharply. “It was the vampire? The vampire did that, right?”

  “Yeah.” I would have wondered how she had guessed it was JinYeong I was talking about, but when I thought about it, I knew that if someone had told me one of the psychos would do it in that particular way, I would have known exactly which one they were talking about, too.

  “What about Zero?”

  “What about him?”

  “He hasn’t…I don’t know. Made a move?”

  “Nah, Zero’s been patting me on the head.”

  She sounded surprised. “Patting you on the head? Good grief, how old is he!”

  “Yeah, but at least he hasn’t made a move on me.”

  “I don’t know,” she said. Her voice seemed disappointed. “Some men are like that: the fatherly kind. It’s a move for some of them. I wouldn’t like it much, but Daniel likes it.”

  “What, he likes patting you on the head?”

  “No, he likes being patted on the head.”

  “That’s not surprising,” I said. Daniel was our—well, Morgana’s—resident werewolf.

  “He doesn’t like people thinking of him like a dog. He says he’s not a dog, he’s a human. It doesn’t stop him getting all floppy and relaxed when I pat him on the head, though.”

  I grinned, the constriction that had been in my chest all evening vanishing. It was familiar and yet somehow new to be talking to Morgana again properly; I’d known that I missed her, but I hadn’t realised how much.

  “Wait!” said Morgana. “We’re supposed to be talking about Zero and JinYeong, not me and Daniel! What else did JinYeong say? Does Zero know what he’s done?”

  “Good grief, no!” I said hastily, answering the last, most pertinent question first. “And he’s not going to know, if I have anything to say about it! I’m not having the two of them trying to sling each other through walls again.”

  Morgana sounded a bit brighter. “That’s very promising!”

  “Yeah, promising for a fight,” I said sourly.

  “Well, if it is, that’s a good sign!” Morgana argued. “I was surprised when you said he’d been patting you on the head, but if you think he’d be jealous enough about little vamp boy making a move on you—”

  Hastily, I said, “I didn’t say that! I said it’d mean a fight: Zero doesn’t think it’s a good idea for humans to be mixing with behindkind.”

  Heck, I’d just got to feeling more comfortable around Zero again; there had been a kind of uncomfortable insecurity every time he patted me on the head or stood just a bit too close to me, prompted by Morgana’s certainty that he loved me, or liked me, or whatever it was she had thought. I liked to think that he’d just become a bit more demonstrative, even if I didn’t know exactly why. Unlike JinYeong, Zero hadn’t tried to do anything that I could have construed as romantic in nature, and I’d started to feel more comfortable around him again by degrees. Not enough to hug him as often or freely as I’d used to, but enough to make me less likely to try and dodge every time he went to pat me on the head. He hadn’t said so, but I was pretty sure it had hurt his feelings when I did so. Since he was only just starting to acknowledge the fact that he had feelings, let alone figure out how to use them, I
didn’t want to discourage him.

  And I would definitely have had to discourage him if he was really in love with me.

  “Why?” asked Morgana, and I realised I’d said the last bit aloud. “I mean, I know you’ve rejected the vamp, but why would you reject Zero?”

  “Heck!” I said, startled. “Didn’t mean to say that out loud. What do you mean, you know I’ve rejected the v—JinYeong?”

  “He’s too pretty for you,” she said. “You’re not the sort that goes for pretty boys, are you?”

  “It’s not his fault he’s pretty,” I argued, taken by surprise. “And he’s a good fighter, anyway, plus he listens when you tell him no—actually, he listens to me in general, which is more than I can say for—”

  “I’m confused,” complained Morgana. “Have you rejected him or not?”

  “Of course I did! I was just surprised that you knew it without me telling you.”

  “Trust me, I watch a lot of dating shows, and—”

  “Good grief, why?”

  “Don’t interrupt, Pet,” she said imperiously. “This is important. I watch them because it’s a good study of human nature, and—”

  “Only of weirdos!” I protested. “You don’t think normal people go on those shows, do you?”

  Morgana sniffed. “I thought you said you wanted to talk about it?”

  “I already feel better.” I said it flippantly, but the truth was that I did already feel better. I asked, “How are you doing lately, anyway?”

  I asked the question tentatively, unsure what reaction I’d get. I hadn’t wanted to risk asking it at all, but I didn’t want Morgana to think that I wasn’t concerned about her. It was pleasant just being able to talk to her again, and if I had to forever ignore the issue of her being a zombie to be able to do that, I would. I hadn’t had a female friend before, and I only had two in my life, if you could count the North Wind as a female friend.

  “I still haven’t changed my diet, if that’s what you’re asking,” she said bluntly. “And I still don’t plan on it.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Just be a bit more careful at the moment, all right?”

  Morgana’s voice sounded unusually sober. “I know,” she said. “Daniel told me about the cycle. He says I might be important to the…the way things turn out from now on. I’m not going to fight in the Trials, but—”

  “You’re an Heirling,” I said. “And the king doesn’t like us Heirlings much: you might have to fight whether or not you want to. If someone tries to force their way into the house, they won’t just go for you—they’ll try to take out Daniel and the kids. Someone just went after someone like you and burned the whole house down.”

  “Don’t worry,” she said, and there was a thread of darkness in her voice that was a deeper black than her lipstick usually was. “If someone tries to get into the house—if they try to hurt the kids—Daniel won’t need to go to the kitchen to get me something to eat.”

  Maybe I was comforted by being able to talk things over with Morgana, but I’m more inclined to think I was comforted by knowing what a gothic little battler she was. Hopefully, she’d never need to put that attitude to the test, but I hoped I was there to see it if she did.

  I managed to get to sleep after that, which was a pleasant surprise. I meant to sleep for just a couple of hours, then get up early and drag JinYeong out with me to follow up my lead at the post office before Zero and Athelas got back home. They probably wouldn’t cause a fuss if they knew we’d gone out together, and we could probably do something case-adjacent while we were out to make it look good.

  Unfortunately, by the time I got downstairs, Zero and Athelas had returned.

  I hesitated for just a moment, then decided to push through anyway. I didn’t want to wait any longer.

  “Pet,” said Zero, as I pulled on my hoodie more from force of habit than actual need, “where do you think you’re going?”

  It wasn’t like I could tell him—not just yet. I did want to be open about my secrets, though, if it was possible. JinYeong had said as much the other night: it was getting dangerous for humans out on the streets, and for me in particular. So long as the others knew I was out and when I was expected back again, there was a better chance of me surviving…all of this. I wasn’t prepared to tell them exactly what I was doing, but I was prepared to let them know that I was up to something.

  I said, “There’s something I need to see about. It’s personal. If you’re not using JinYeong, I’ll take him with me.”

  “I shall come,” said JinYeong at once, before a baffled Zero could say anything about it.

  “You’re…not going to try and push into the case?” he said, as though he didn’t quite comprehend any of the words—or maybe their meaning when all together. “You want to go somewhere with JinYeong?”

  “What a startling circumstance!” marvelled Athelas.

  “It’s not as startling as all that!” I protested. “I’ve gone places with JinYeong before: actually, I’m with him as much as I’m with either of you! Anyway, we know it’s sirens, and you lot have already been out today, so I figured you know what you’re doing next.”

  “Us knowing things doesn’t usually stop you from trying to stick your nose into our business.”

  “No, we just disagree about what’s my business,” I said promptly. “It looks as though you’re doing a good job all on your own, and—”

  “How delightfully condescending,” said Athelas. “It’s good of you to admit as much.”

  “We will go,” JinYeong announced, ignoring both Zero’s amusement and Athelas’ sharper-edged version of the same. “Hyeong does not need me.”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  “I said it,” said JinYeong. He pinched my cuff between thumb and forefinger and tugged me gently toward the front door. “We will go.”

  He released me once we were outside the front door, which made me suspect that he was trying to annoy Zero, but a sparkle came to his dark eyes when I said, “Right: Hobart P.O. You’re up for vamping a few humans, aren’t you?”

  “Ah, this will be fun!”

  “No unnecessary vamping,” I warned him, stepping down from the patio and marching toward the road. “Just enough to get us a look at the records and find the bloke’s real name, and maybe the security cameras if we know when he came last.”

  “I am very useful, am I not?” said JinYeong, his step a swagger. “I can do all of that, and I will also buy coffee.”

  “Okay, but only if you get the good stuff,” I said. His eyes grew brighter, and I looked up at him in distrust. “What are you grinning about, anyway?”

  “I am not grinning,” he said, his nose lifting slightly. “I am looking forward to our date.”

  “We’re not on a date,” I said flatly, as we followed the street. “Don’t try and trick me into stuff like that.”

  “You told Hyeong,” he pointed out. “You chose me. Now I shall buy coffee.”

  “Yeah, because I don’t want the others to know what I’m up to. I wasn’t asking you out on a date. I would have just said it if I was.”

  “Hm,” said JinYeong, narrowing his eyes at me. “How would you ask?”

  Before I could think better of it, I said, “I wouldn’t ask, I’d just—hang on. Stop grinning at me. We’re not going to talk about this; we’re supposed to be working.”

  “Very well,” he said, slipping his hands into his pockets. “It is not a date, but we will have coffee. That old halabeoji is following us again.”

  “I know,” I said. “He’s been following us since we got past the wheelie bins next door. He must be hungry again. Maybe I should try to set him up with Vesper to get a square meal every couple of days.”

  JinYeong sounded unconvinced. “Hm. He is dirty.”

  “You’re worried about Vesper’s chairs?”

  “That little lady is too small,” said JinYeong. He sounded sulky, but I was pretty sure he wasn’t. “Dirty things shouldn’t be allowed in her
house.”

  “You’re worried about her!” I said in amazement, stopping in the middle of someone’s driveway to stare at him. “You’re worried he’s going to bring trouble into her place.”

  He scowled. “I am not worried. She can poke trouble with her knitting needles.”

  “You’re allowed to be worried about people, you know,” I told him. “It’s not a weakness.”

  JinYeong’s shoulders hunched just a little. “It is a weakness,” he said. Before I could open my mouth to disagree again, he added, “I did not say it is wrong, I said it is a weakness.”

  “You sounded just like Athelas then,” I said, but I couldn’t help sneaking another look up at him while he was looking away. All of my psychos had changed to some extent since I’d known them: I had always thought that Zero had changed the most of all of them, but right now, I wasn’t so sure. I couldn’t picture the JinYeong I’d first met—the one with bloody eyes, always trying to jibe Zero into fighting tooth and claw, the one who had seemed as though he would happily tear my throat out—worrying about a small, defenceless old lady.

  JinYeong only sniffed, which made me add, “You can be human every now and then, you know. It’s not forbidden.

  “But I am not human,” said JinYeong, with a curious dissatisfaction in his voice. “You said I am dead.”

  So that still rankled, did it? I’d said it to him thoughtlessly one day—maybe even more than once—and I hadn’t realised it would hurt him so much. I certainly hadn’t thought he’d still be thinking about it.

  “You’re not dead,” I said. I’d been doing a bit of reading since then—Zero’s impressive book collection wasn’t for the faint of heart, and it definitely wasn’t light reading, but it did come in handy for a girl who was trying to stay afloat in a dangerous world of behindkind—and I’d learnt a lot more about the virus that turned people from humans to vampires.

  Unlike Morgana, who was technically both dead and alive at the same time, JinYeong was alive and functioning. He just had a very good grip on his internal systems due to a virus not unlike the one that made Daniel turn into a werewolf at will—one that required blood transfusions regularly to keep the system up and running.