We were slowly gaining on the couple ahead of us. Less than two hundred yards now. I scratched my chin. “Peaceful, huh? What about during turbulent times? Like the Black Death. And the World Wars? And the sixties?”
He chuckled. “Well, bell-bottomed jeans weren’t so bad in my opinion.”
I thought I caught him glancing at my legs … Did he want me to wear bell-bottoms?
“Wars not so much. If only humans could know what I know, see what I’ve seen … Earth is but a marble suspended in the void, so fragile. In space, there seems no need for boundaries, for conflict.” He shook his head. “Who am I to say this? I have observed long enough to know that there will always be more fighting.”
“What are you saying?” I asked. “That humans never learn?”
He took a deep breath. “Some do. Some don’t. I like to think I won’t repeat many of the mistakes I’ve made in my past.”
I smiled.
“What?” he asked.
“It must have been a great honor to be commemorated as a constellation, your memory passed on through the ages. I mean, you’re Orion. You’re a friggin living, breathing legend.”
“In my younger days, I might have shared your enthusiasm.”
“Speaking of which, exactly how old are you?” I asked rather unabashedly, and a little worriedly. “Not in light years or whatever but in human years.”
“Forty!” Garfunkel said.
“Hush,” Simon said, his ear cocked intently toward Orion. What? Did my familiars have bets on Orion’s age or something? It had been a topic of much discussion between the three of us …
Orion rubbed at his jaw. “Well before I was a constellation I was … and since the gods left it’s been …” He moved his fingers, muttering to himself as he counted. “I’m thirty-three years old. I think.”
He must have seen me sigh in relief because he followed it up with, “What? How old did you think I was?” When I still didn’t say anything, he added, “Nutrition back then was terrible. See, back in the day we didn’t have fancy lotions and facial creams …”
I laughed and punched Orion in the arm as we walked, glad he was only eight years older than me. That wasn’t bad. Not bad at all. “Yeah yeah. And you had to walk to school uphill, both ways, in the snow.”
“I … don’t follow,” Orion said.
I gripped at his arm. “Don’t worry about it.”
On my shoulders, Simon pointed to Garfunkel and said, “I win! Pay up, sucka!”
Sucka? Where had Simon learned that word? And wasn’t that a bit snarky for him?
We continued walking. Now only a hundred yards or so to the target.
“What did it feel like when the gods left?” I asked, partly because I was curious, mostly because I hated the silence between us.
“Disorienting. My stars were disconnected and my body trailed down to the earth like a meteorite.”
“Aww, Orion is your shooting star …” Garfunkel said. “Your knight in shining armor …”
Simon shook his head. “Don’t listen to him, Theo. I think it’s romantic.”
I was really close to testing if the both of them knew how to swim when Orion continued.
“It was weird. Learning how to breathe and eat again … Confusing times. I landed next to Ursa Major. The big brute tried to maul me.”
I laughed. “You got mauled by the Big Dipper?”
Orion chuckled himself and gave that awkward wink again. “An easy enough misperception. The Big Dipper is part of Ursa Major, the Great Bear. Anyways, my trusty bow was destroyed in the fall. I landed in the Appalachian Mountains on the border of Canada and Maine. In other words, the middle of nowhere. With a giant, pissed-off bear.”
Wow. I hadn’t known that. If Orion had fallen just a tad bit more to the west, he could be walking around right now saying “Eh” like a Canadian instead of “Ayuh” like a Mainer.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Orion the mountain man. And you slew the bear, I take it?”
“I did not. Definitely in my younger, more boastful days …” He paused almost sorrowfully, then lifted his head tall and proud. “The Great Bear and I were able to make peace with each other. Which is more than humans and Others can say.” He hesitated. “The tension. The violence. That’s why I don’t like going into big cities. It doesn’t matter which side you’re on, people just can’t seem to get along. I say, if a hunter can make peace with a bear, humans can make peace with Others.”
Luna meowed from her cat carrier.
“Geez. We humans aren’t that bad, are we?”
“I used to be human. It’s not like I’m a god or even a demigod. I lived. I loved. I died—”
“You became a constellation,” I finished.
He chuckled. “Ayuh.” He glanced down at me. “Theo. You’re smiling again. Do I have sardine or olive peel in my teeth again?”
I laughed. Damn this man and his way of getting under my hard armor. “No, you lug. Now stay frosty. We’re coming up on them now.”
“Stay cold?” Orion asked.
“Never mind. See those bushes up ahead?”
Orion nodded.
“The woman’s ticket is probably in her purse. And the man’s ticket is probably in one of his pockets.”
“You got any ideas?” Orion asked.
I patted my side. “My tranq gun. I’ve got two darts with their names on it. No one’s around. And they’ll never know what hit them. No one gets hurt …” My words trailed off when I saw the shock on Orion’s face. “What?”
“I didn’t realize you always carry it.”
“Don’t look at me like I’m a bad person. And I don’t usually have it on me. I just didn’t know if I’d need it for when I stole the cat.”
Orion glanced down at the cage in my hand. “Stole the cat?” He turned his gaze up to the sky. “I don’t want to ask, do I?”
“You do not. Now, if we can discuss the plan like a couple of professionals …”
“A Walk in the Park … Yeah Right!”
We waited for our doubles to pass a thick clump of bushes that would conceal them from most fields of view: the perfect spot for a mugging. Wow, yesterday grave-robbing. Today mugging. Wonder what tomorrow had in store for us. Death match fighting?
Ten feet in front of us, the couple stepped past the bushes. There was no one else around. I set down Luna’s cage and whispered, “Catch them, OK?”
I closed the distance like a swift dagger-strike, as I drew the tranq gun from under my jacket. They didn’t even see me as I lined up my sights on the man’s neck from a quartered away stance.
Thwip!
I edged my sights a few inches to the side.
Thwip!
The woman’s knees immediately gave out and Orion rushed forward, catching her before she could dash her head against the sidewalk and dragging her off the sidewalk. The man, however, turned and faced me, his eyes clouding over, and then his knees buckled as well. Orion caught him under the armpits from behind and dragged him away. I replaced the tranq gun under my jacket and crouched over the woman who passably resembled me, unzipped her purse while Orion searched for the man’s wallet.
I shot a glance over my shoulder to make sure we hadn’t been spotted. Still no one around. And the way I sat them down on a nearby bench, these two looked like they were only sleeping. Two lovers partying all night, too drunk to make it home. Happens all the time in Central Park.
And given that they hadn’t seen us and couldn’t ID us made this the smoothest mission in recent memory.
I ran my leather gloved hand through the purse. Lipstick. Another lipstick. Some lip balm. Pepper spray. More lipstick …
“Bingo!” I said, gripping a rectangular concert-ticket-shaped ticket and held it up to the sunlight in triumph. I yelped as my fingertips suddenly felt like they were on fire.
They were.
The ticket in my gloved hand ignited with a spark, flaming from top, liquid-like swirling green flames engulfing my h
and like a … well, glove.
Beside me, I heard Orion gasp.
“What the hell is going on?” I asked.
“Langua—” Simon started.
“My GoneGodDamned hand is on fire!” I said, glancing about at the small clearing surrounded by bushes and trees. The ticket had already burned away to tinder, but my hand was still on fire. Hot fire. Green fire.
I saw the Reservoir glimmering on the other side of the sidewalk, and I lurched toward it, plunging my hand into the water. I lifted my hand but the flames were still there. I dunked my flaming arm again and some of the green flames fell off my arm and floated on the water’s surface.
This isn’t working … What the hell!
I turned to my familiars. “What is this? Magic?”
“Oh dear,” Simon said. He looked like he was about to be sick.
“What? Spit it out.”
“That’s Greek fire.”
“I don’t care what it’s called—how do I put it out?”
I pressed my dripping and burning leathered hand against my pants leg, igniting the cloth of my pants. GoneGodDamn!
The green flames licked even further up my arm toward my shoulder. “Oh shit! Simon, what do I do?”
Simon cleared his throat. “Greek fire,” he said as if reading from a script. “Water fuels it—”
“I know, Captain Obvious!”
“Very difficult to extinguish … some have had success with … strong vinegar, old urine …”
“I’m not going to piss on my hand!”
“… or sand—”
“Sand?” I all but shouted. This wasn’t some beach—it was a park in the middle of NYC! I could smell my flesh burning like kameno tost.
“There was a sandbox a ways back, off the path,” Garfunkel said, clambering up my hair to put distance between him and the fire. His lower half dangled over my eyes as he climbed and I shook my head to fling him to the side so that I could see.
My leg was now mostly consumed by the squelching green flames and it would be only a few short moments before I was toasty as a French fry. And these were my good jeans, too. Well, my only jeans … Damn ancient Greek magic curses!
My eyes watered as the ghastly flames flickered up at them. I took a step in the direction of the way we’d came … and my leg gave out.
“Ow! I can’t move!” I thrashed about on the cold ground, smoke simmering off my body.
From off to the side, I was vaguely aware of a small crowd forming, and camera phones pointing down at me.
“Theo!” Simon shouted.
While I appreciated the concern, Simon’s words didn’t help me in any way. I was quickly burning alive—and now I couldn’t move.
Crap.
A shadow fell over me. Orion.
“I’m going to burn some time to try to extinguish the flames.”
I hated when Orion burned time at my expense but I wasn’t going to argue this time.
Flames whooshed up into the air with an evil hiss. I closed my eyes to ward against the intense heat.
“Uh oh,” I heard Orion say. “My magic only fanned the flames …”
Crap. I’d pretty much resigned to my fate as a burnt marshmallow when strong arms scooped me up. Fire lapped upward and over me, spreading like a malevolent forcefield.
Wind whooshed through my hair which was probably burning by now. (No great loss there, I guess …) I heard the vague sound of footfalls upon sidewalk. And then I felt myself falling.
There was a solid splash. And my body was being rolled in … sand.
Orion grunted, suppressing a scream, and I heard him thud beside me on the ground and roll around. From somewhere nearby Simon was screaming or crying, and Garfunkel was gasping for breath.
I opened my eyes. Orion sat up, his face badly burned and scarred by the Greek fire. He looked like a Scottish warrior straight out of Braveheart except it wasn’t paint on his face …
“Orion …”
I couldn’t take my eyes off his face, and I’ll admit, I cried. Hard and long.
After a time, I felt someone sitting next to me. I turned and squinted at Orion, his face now pristine and smooth. Not even a bruise.
“What—did—happen—huh?”
Yep, words …
I noticed, too, that the pain shooting up my arm and my leg was gone. Had it even ever been there? I felt a little out of breath, but other than that, I felt fairly fresh.
“Orion, you burned time, didn’t you? To heal yourself. And me.”
He nodded slowly.
“Do I even want to know how much?”
He shook his head. I didn’t press him.
See, Others who once had unlimited wells of magic at their fingertips could still use their magic—they just had to trade in some of their life to do so. Magic for life. Life for magic. Tough choice when you’re mortal.
“But you tried your magic on the fire. I thought it was impervious to magic.”
“It was. But while magic ignited it, Greek fire isn’t in itself intrinsically magic. So the damage inflicted by it can be healed with magic.”
I threw an arm over his shoulder, balled my hand into a fist and pulled him close to me. “Thanks.”
Then I drew back and mussed with my hair, which seemed to still be … mostly intact. My clothes, on the other hand …
I staggered to my feet. More people had gathered, some with their phones out, others with some sense of decency. Luckily there weren’t any police officers to ask Orion and me difficult questions. Most of the people were pointing at me and my missing jacket sleeve, burned-away pants leg and charred everything else. I must have looked like the survivor of some war-ravaged, post-apocalyptic world.
My eyes shot back over to Orion, looking cool and mostly pristine in his undamaged leather jacket … Seriously, what the hell! Was he wearing the Golden Fleece or something—
“Meowww.”
Luna’s carrier rested in the grass beside Orion who scratched his chin. “I retrieved your cat for you.”
“Um thanks.”
I picked up the carrier and dialed Arachne’s number as we stumbled away from the scene of the crime. “Arachne, those tickets. I think they were cursed or something. Mine ignited with Greek fire—”
“I know,” Arachne said. “It’s all over Instagram, Snapchat and Tik Tok. Don’t worry. I’m deleting the photos as they’re being posted in real time.”
“You can do that?”
“Theo, you know I’m the master of the web.”
“Yeah, but … right now I’d settle for what the hel—” I glanced at Simon, still trying to catch his breath. “—heck set off the curse.”
A long pause. Uncharacteristic of Arachne’s bubbly, fast-paced nature.
“Hello?”
“Sorry, I was re-reading the fine print on Typhon’s dark web site. Appears the tickets are non-transferable.”
I rolled my eyes. “As in try-to-steal-them-and-get-burnt-to-a-crisp-by-magical-fire non-transferable?”
“Yaaaa. I swear I didn’t know. I, like, never read User Agreements. Who has time for that? Maybe I will from now on though, you know?”
Orion coughed. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell Theo—”
“Yeah, yeah. Read the can-tract. I get it. What we need now is to get gone before the cops show up.”
Orion grinned. “That’s why it pays to build up goodwill with as many people as you can. Karma and all that …”
Uggh. Here we go … the karma speech.
“Arachne,” I said. “We still need two tickets. Think you can figure out what went wrong and how we lay our hands on another set?”
“You got it. No sleep tonight. Red Bull to the rescue!”
Arachne hung up and I turned to Orion as we tromped through the grass. “I thought I saw your sleeping bag somewhere along the way,” I bluffed. “How bout you get it and we head over to my place and recoup?”
Orion’s eye twitched as if he was trying to figure out i
f I knew about his impromptu outdoor hotel … Then he straightened up and became all cool-like again. “Theo, I appreciate your offer, but I do not wish to take advantage of your hospitality. They say NY apartments are no larger than the size of a bathroom.”
I laughed, which hurt probably due to smoke inhalation (from my burning flesh!) and punched Orion’s arm. “You literally carry everything you own in a duffel bag and a backpack. You’re like the least intrusive houseguest ever. Come on. I insist. The entire park will be filled with cops tonight trying to piece together just what happened and why the Reservoir is on fire. Water, Orion. Water is on fire.”
Orion seemed to think it over. “I will take you up on your offer. I have some errands to run and then I shall meet you at Pop Amir’s, say around 7:00 p.m.?”
I nodded. “I’ll grab us some food.”
He gave a casual grin. “It’s an appointment, then.” He took off, leaving me standing there like an extra in the next Mad Max film with a cat carrier in my hand.
Appointment? I thought. A strange term but Orion could be strange at times.
“Meowww.”
I peeked through the front of the carrier. “Hey, Luna. You still want to come home with us crazy people?”
Luna meowed good-naturedly in her cage again.
Guess so …
“Dinner with the Fam(iliars)”
I was going to dress up. You know. Maybe do something with my hair instead of the usual ponytail. But this was just a … what did Orion call it? An appointment. Yes. An appointment. A meeting. We settled on a time and place. And there’d be food. Not a date. An appointment. A meeting. Between two friends. Were we friends? Business partners. Yes. That’s it. Partners.
So I decided on a sweater and sweat pants, seeing as my jeans had been ruined at the park.
I sat at the kitchen table where I had a stainless-steel pan full of gyros I was keeping warm. I watched the clock. Rapped my fingers against the hard surface while I waited.
“Ready for your date?” Simon asked from beside me as he munched on his plate full of pancakes.
“For the last time, it’s not a date.”
Axes and Angels: A Snarky Urban Fantasy Novel (Better Demons Series Book 1) Page 10
