by E. A. Copen
He nodded and took a long drag before speaking. “You ever been outside of the country, Judah?”
“We vacationed on the Canadian side of the falls once when I was a kid,” I said.
“When I was deployed, I went to this discothèque in Qatar on R and R. Blows my mind sometimes I’ve been places some people have never even heard of. You know, people over there, they’re not so different. They wanted the same thing we wanted. Drink, dance, have a good time...”
“Hard to imagine you dancing,” I pointed out.
Sal laughed and bumped into me with his shoulder. “I can tear it up. Come out with me sometime and see. Promise you a good time.”
“Nina would have an aneurism.”
“Fuck that. I would too at my age. I’m not twenty-two anymore.” He dropped the cigarette onto the first step and crushed it with a bare foot. “But I wonder how little countries deal with us. I mean, I know in Canada there’s no registration and Mexico is a war zone, but neither place really seems to have it figured out. I have to wonder if the little countries aren’t doing it better.”
I didn’t tell Sal there had been widespread acts of genocide all over the Middle East, most of the victims supernaturals like us. Many governments hadn’t bothered to try to get along. They embraced the radical position of human exclusivity. Supernaturals in many parts of the world were being hunted almost to extermination. I just leaned against his shoulder and listened to him talk.
“I fought for this,” he continued. “But I didn’t do it for this, you know?”
“I’m sorry to have brought this to you,” I offered. “I just didn’t know where else to go.”
“Ain’t your fault,” Sal said, lighting another cigarette. “And I’m just being nostalgic. Something bad happened to your friend, Judah, damage I’m not sure I can fix. From before whatever this fight was. His aura’s all torn up, and it looks like it’s been that way a long time. I’ve never seen anything make holes like that. I tried to knit pieces back together but... I had to stop. Whatever it was, it’s getting to me, making me remember things I haven’t thought about in a long time.”
“What kind of things?”
He closed his eyes. “Dead things.”
“You could talk to Daphne.”
Sal laughed and shook his head. “I don’t do shrinks. Daphne’s nice and all but I don’t need that kind of therapy.”
I sat up and folded my hands on my lap. “Okay, then. What can I do to help?”
He sighed and blew smoke out through his nose. “Honestly? Not a damn thing unless you want to take up my offer to go dancing, get shitfaced and go have crazy sex with the hottest guy in Paint Rock.”
“Why? You going to introduce me to him?” I gave him a playful shove. “Seriously. You don’t want to see me dance.”
He shrugged.
More silence.
I cleared my throat. “So, what now?”
“Now, we wait and hope. I take care of the thing on your leg that’s making you limp around like an old lady.” He patted his lap. “Give it.”
I swungmy leg up, and he peeled back my jeans. We were just about to get started when an engine backfired. He jerked, eyes flashing with memory. I turned to the puttering sound of an old moped sputtering into the driveway, Ed at the wheel. On the back, in minimal, tight fitting clothing, was his girlfriend, her face obscured by a helmet. The moped stopped, and she reached up to remove her helmet.
“Oh, you’ve got to be shitting me,” I said, pulling my leg away from Sal in surprise. “Ed’s dating Mara?”
Chapter Thirteen
Ed kicked down the kickstand to his moped while Mara hopped off. Clutching the helmet under one arm, she ran her fingers through her wild colored hair and shook it out. “Hey, teach.”
“I see you two have met,” Sal said, taking a swig of his beer.
I was still in too much shock to react. Ed didn’t seem like Mara’s type. Then again, I’d never really pried into Mara’s love life too deep. I did know she had a long history of broken and bad relationships behind her, mostly because of her past. You don’t get to be a channel for spirits and then stay completely functional. Mara wasn’t crazy but she had her inner demons, just like anyone else. She was a bitch to deal with sometimes and few people could stand her for more than one or two days at a time. Ed was such a nice kid. I just couldn’t see it going any which way but south between them.
Mara came up to me, put down her helmet and offered me a smile and an exaggerated wink before leaning against the porch railing, kicking one foot over the other. “’Sup, wolfman? Bum a smoke?”
“Sorry, kid,” Sal answered, lighting one up himself. “That stuff’ll kill you.”
“And you’re supposed to be quitting,” I added. “What happened to that pack of gum you had earlier?”
She crossed her arms and raised her shoulders limply. “Gone.” Mara cocked her head to the side. “Hey, how come you didn’t pick up your phone earlier? I tried to call.”
“I was kind of in the middle of something,” I answered, rubbing my aching forehead. “What did you need, Mara?”
“Nothing important,” she answered, her face growing distant. After a minute, she turned back to Sal. “Since I can’t smoke, how about a beer, then?” That was it. I grabbed Mara by the arm and gave her a hard tug, pulling her around to the side of the house about halfway between the porch and the shed. “Ouch! What gives?”
“How long’s this thing with you and Ed been going on?” I hissed at her.
She jerked her arm out of my grip. “What do you care? We’re both adults. We can make our own decisions.”
“Mara...”
Three human acts can cause an uncontrolled release of energy in a contained area: birth, death, and sexual climax. A lot of old school witches like to incorporate sex into their magick. The other two... Unless you happen to hang out in morgues and hospitals, they were more difficult to work with. It wasn’t as if things were going to explode because Ed and Mara were messing around, especially given Mara’s particular set of abilities. But she didn’t have complete control over her powers. Until she did, she wasn’t supposed to be taking those kinds of risks at all, let alone with one of my friends.
Mara was a ticking time bomb. Eventually, someone was going to get hurt. But how was I going to get through to her? If I told her not to do something she’d make it a point to go out and do it. That was just the kind of person Mara was. Sometimes, it worked to my advantage. Reverse psychology worked well if it was subtle. But she wasn’t going to back off of this, not once she knew I objected to it.
I sighed, trying to let go of some of the frustration. “Ed is a good friend of mine, Mara. I’m not just going to stand by while you jerk him around. If you hurt him...”
She laughed at me. “Do you think you’re the first one to give me that speech? Ed is a fucking werewolf, teach. If I screw him over, the whole pack will have my ass. Don’t act like I don’t know that.”
“She’s got you there,” said Sal from the steps.
“Not helping!” I growled at Sal before turning back to Mara. “They’ll be the least of your worries if you do to Ed what you’ve done to every other boy. Are we clear?”
Mara narrowed her eyes at me. “Crystal.”
After that, what choice did I have but to stand by and let things happen on their own? There was no good way for it to end and I knew it. Deep down, I thought Mara knew it, too, but my word wasn’t going to stop her.
She went back to Ed and laced her fingers around his, shooting me a dirty look before pulling him into the house.
“Well, that went well,” Sal said in a jovial tone.
“Did you know about this?”
He shrugged. “Sorta. Ed brought Mara around the other day for me and Chanter to meet. I thought she was an okay kid. Chanter says she’s gifted. I just thought she was stubborn. Kind of reminded me of you a little if you’d ever had a heavy metal goth phase. I like to think you did.”
I came to stand bes
ide Sal, arms crossed, staring angrily at the front door. I imagined Mara inside, laughing at how powerless I was to stop her from ruining her own life. “I’m not anything like her and if you ever say that again, I swear, I’ll throttle you.”
“Promise?” He smiled at me and polished off his beer before patting the stair next to him. “You’ve got to learn to pick your battles, Judah. In the meantime, let me finish up your leg.”
I sat down on the step and repeated the action of rolling up my pant leg for Sal. Chanter had done a fair amount of work. The black, spidery veins were now just a light shade of gray. The spots had gotten smaller but they were still there.
As Sal touched his fingertips to my leg, my thoughts drifted to the elf in the shed. I knew all fae had some level of innate talent, but I’d never seen someone wield it quite the way he did. Creven was a powerful practitioner. Someone as powerful as him could have gotten into all kinds of trouble. Kim had said he was wanted for something. It wasn’t hard to imagine him committing a violent crime.
I shuddered to think what would have happened if Creven hadn’t dragged me back behind the barrier in the conference room. He’d saved my life. More than that, he’d stood with me, and here I was considering arresting him. But he was definitely guilty of something. I needed to get to the office and pull his sheet so I knew who I was dealing with. Good intentions in the present didn’t absolve him of a past crime. You know what they say the road to Hell is paved with.
If nothing else, then he knew something useful about the giant or other parts of the investigation, I was sure of it. Creven was tight with Kim. Perhaps he knew something useful about her. She’d paused when I inquired about the missing fae. I suspected already she knew more than she let on. He could be holding the key piece of information I was missing.
“It wasn’t a spirit,” I found myself telling Sal as he worked. “It was some sort of giant. I think whatever it kills comes back to life. The girl in the morgue? She came back to life and attacked me. She had those marks, too. I’d be just like her if Creven hadn’t saved me.”
“Creven’s the elf?”
“Yeah. That’s his name.”
Sal nodded but kept his eyes closed, moving his fingers gently to the next hole in my skin. “When I was trying to heal him, I felt him resisting me, the magick. He’s a tough son of a bitch, that elf. Not much to look at, but if he wanted, he could really do a lot of damage in the magick department. Do you know what kind?”
I thought about the barrier. It had been a decent one, strong enough that I’d never seen one like it. But it didn’t mean anything. I couldn’t base my assumptions off of a single spell.
“No,” I admitted. “And I need to talk to him as soon as he’s able. I have questions.”
“Well, that could be awhile. He’s got some innate healing ability, and I was able to jumpstart it but there’s no telling how long it will take.”
He moved his hands up my leg. Sal’s hands were the perfect mix between rough and soft. There was a part of me that found I liked having them on me. There’s a primal instinct triggered when we touch one another. It requires trust, especially when both parties are powerful practitioners. When we were together, auras pulsating one against the other, it was hard not to think about how far things had come and how far they could still go if I wasn’t careful. I knew Sal had a thing for me. It didn’t matter whether I felt the same. Even if all our lucky stars lined up, I had my career and my son to think about. Getting involved with Sal would complicate both for me. Besides, I’d just scolded Mara for taking on an unsustainable relationship. Anything Sal and I would ever have would be fireworks—short, explosive and with the potential to burn everything down. Guys like Sal, they don’t do slow burn.
Sal cleared his throat. “Did you talk to Chanter about what happened?”
I nodded. “He mentioned something called a draugr or a revenant... And, in a way, it kind of makes sense. The girl, whose name was Annie, I guess, she was so cold. A supernatural kind of cold. Is there some connection between a revenant and a giant?”
Sal shrugged. “Sounds like you’re talking fae stuff. Either that or Vikings. I can’t say I know much about either.”
“But why reanimate the dead?”
“Free publicity?” said Sal with another shrug. “Who knows why any fae things do what they do?”
“It wanted Kim,” I said frowning. “And I stood in its way. I offered Kim my protection. I’m it’s enemy now, Sal. I don’t think it’s done.”
He winced and jerked his head to the side.
“You okay?”
“Never better,” he lied, though I could see the exhaustion on his face.
“You don’t have to do that. The black veins are gone. I think I’m out of the woods.” I started to pull my leg away.
Sal grabbed onto my ankle and held it tight. “I want to.”
I felt my face flush as we met eyes. As soon as I felt the warmth spread to my ears, I jerked my head to the side. “If you’re sure.”
He shook his head. “Only sure things in the world are death and taxes, babe. What’ve we got to lose?”
I decided a change of subject was in order. “So, do you have any idea why this thing would attack her?”
Sal hesitated with his answer. I couldn’t tell if it was because he was disappointed in the change of topic or because he was thinking. “Could be this thing is drawn to power. You standing there unprotected... You’d be like a buffet for something like that.”
“I’d hardly call reading auras and a little physical enhancement a buffet. I’m small time.”
Sal pulled his hands away and wiped some sweat off of his forehead. I offered him the rest of my beer and he took it gladly, swallowing half before answering. “You ever look at your own aura?”
“Can’t.”
“Why not?”
“They’re not visible in mirrors, Sal.”
He nodded, deep in thought, and then said, “I think you could do more if you wanted. You’re only small time because that’s what’s comfortable.”
I grabbed the bottle and took a drink from it before passing it back to him. “Is that your professional opinion?”
Sal turned the bottle around in his hands, staring at the label. “You’ve really got no idea, do you? I mean, you’re no elf but if you ever wanted to cut loose, I don’t think anyone else could stop you. You’ve got a lot of power behind you for someone who just reads auras and uses magick to run faster and jump higher. The elf could teach you a thing or two.”
My eyes drifted back to the shed. “He’s a criminal. I’m not sure what he’s wanted for but Kim wouldn’t let me take him to the hospital.”
“So? So was I. You didn’t care then. What’s different now?”
Creven was different than Sal. I knew Sal was reformed. He’d changed. And besides, the people he’d killed, he’d done it defending someone else. Even the law couldn’t convict him. Sal had a family, an established pack. He was a leader. I knew nothing about Creven other than that he was powerful and he worked for Kim Kelley.
“BSI is sending someone to take over my case tomorrow,” I told Sal. “A hardass who’s going to scrutinize everything I do for a while. They didn’t give me an end date and didn’t specify how involved he was going to get in other aspects of my office. I think headquarters thinks I can’t do my job. I could lose everything over this. I’ve got to be careful.”
“Christ,” Sal muttered and polished off the second beer.
“I’ve got the feeling he’s going to screw me over more than help.”
The screen door to the house opened and Ed stepped out, hands jammed in the pockets of his faded blue jeans. He was wearing a white t-shirt that read in large, block letters: KEEP CALM AND FUS RO DAH. He pushed his thick, black-rimmed glasses up off the point of his nose with a single finger and said, “Hey.”
I frowned. As much as I wanted to, I just couldn’t let it go. “Ed, about Mara...”
He held up a finger. “
Don’t try to talk me out of it, Judah. Mara and I are happy and I’m not going to back out just because it makes you uncomfortable.”
“How the hell did you fall in together?” I asked. Ed’s social circle consisted mostly of people who played online games and, occasionally, those who showed up to a comic shop in Eden. Mara just wasn’t that type of girl. I couldn’t see it, not at all.
“World of Warcraft,” he said with a shrug. “I’m good but she’s amazing. You should see her play.”
“Explains why she’s failing her classes,” I said with a sigh and rubbed my head. In the process, I caught a look at my watch. Dammit. In all the excitement, I’d almost forgotten about Hunter. “Look, Ed, as much as I’d love to stand here and chat about your love life, I need someone to go pick up Hunter from school.”
“Detention again, huh?” Ed said. “You got an earful for him, too, or is that just for Mara?”
“Ed,” Sal said. His tone was calm but there was an underlying, unspoken tension in the air after he spoke.
Ed lowered his head, his shoulders slumping. “Sorry. Guess Mara’s rubbing off on me a bit. I just don’t want this to be a problem. I don’t like fighting.”
“Be careful with her, Ed,” I found myself saying. “She’s more fragile than she looks.”
Ed went to his moped. “You too,” he said. “Your approval matters to her.”
I picked up the helmet and tossed it to him. He caught it in one hand and lowered it onto his head. “Make sure Hunter wears it on the way here.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The moped coughed to a start, and he backed it out of the driveway, puttering off down the street at a slow but steady pace.
The screen door opened and closed again as Valentino came out with more beers and a container of aspirin. He offered one of each to Sal who took them, swallowing the aspirin and chasing it with a big gulp of beer. Valentino did the same. I reminded myself they wouldn’t listen if I pointed out the warning on the side of the label about stomach bleeding if you mixed alcohol and aspirin. Nobody listened to me anyway.
“Shit,” Valentino said, watching Ed ride off. “You know things are fucked up if Ed’s getting laid more than you and me, Sal.”
