by H. D. Gordon
Matt voiced the obvious question. “So what are we going to do? What’s the plan?”
“We have to figure out a way to free those Halflings before they can do to them what they did to the Blue Beast,” I said. “I have to go back to that lab and help them.”
Sam nodded. “Chances are they’ve tightened security since you broke in. I doubt it’ll be so easy a second time.”
“I’ve contacted the Brokers,” I said. “One of them is coming to meet with me tomorrow. Maybe they’ll help.”
“You talked to Nick?” Sam asked.
I nodded.
“How’d that go?”
I rubbed a hand down my face, picked up what was probably my fifth cupcake, and took a bite. “As well as you’d think.”
Sam gave me a sympathetic look and steered the conversation back on track. “So, they’re taking women and breeding them with supernatural men, then injecting them with some kind of serum that turns them into crazed beasts…Why? To what end?”
I shrugged, the fatigue of all the recent happenings starting to catch up to me. “World domination?” I said. “Boredom? Power and control? What does it matter? We just have to stop them.”
“Well, we know who’s behind it, right?” Matt asked. “I mean, obviously Dr. Cross and Cross Corp are evil. They’re the ones doing all of this. At least we know that.”
I shook my head, biting my lip. “I’m not so sure. One of those doctors told the other one to remember who they’re really working for, and it sounded to me like there must be another entity behind Cross and his company. Someone in the shadows. The arm that controls the hand that’s moving the pieces, if that makes sense.”
“And we have no idea who that could be,” Sam said.
I raised a hand. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
Looking over at Matt, I saw that he had gone silent, his face scrunched up in thought. I asked what his news was, since he’d told me earlier that we needed to talk.
“I could be wrong,” he prefaced. “I mean, I don’t have any proof or anything, just a gut feeling, really, but the more I think about it, the more it nags at me.”
“Just spit it out,” Sam said. “We trust you, Matt.”
Matt gave a nod. “The other day when I was coming into work at the flower shop, I overheard Rose talking to someone. She didn’t know I was there. I came in early and parked around the rear of the shop, you know, where the deliveries get picked up.” He shrugged. “So I came in the back door instead of the front, and Rose was in the front of the shop. I was about to join her when I heard her whispering. I don’t know why I paused and listened, but I did, and I heard her saying that she was doing the best she could, that she didn’t know anything else about the girl, that she needed more time.”
As he said this, my stomach slowly dropped, my thoughts turning like a hamster wheel. I shook my head, not wanting to hear it, but knowing I had to listen.
“She was on the phone,” Matt continued, “so I didn’t hear what the other person was saying. I just know that the tone of her voice was all wrong, like she was choking and terrified, almost pleading, as if her life depended on it. She set up a meeting with whomever she was talking to. That meeting is supposed to happen tomorrow night at the docks near 3rd and Brewer.” He shrugged again. “It could be nothing. I just thought I should tell you guys.” He looked at me. “In case you wanted to go.”
“She’s been good to me,” I said. “Rose has been so good to me.”
Sam placed a hand over mine, which were tearing a cupcake wrapper into a thousand little pieces. “It’s not your enemies that stab you in the back,” she said gently.
I felt stupid tears trying to well in my eyes and blinked them back. “What time is the meeting?” I said.
Matt pressed his lips together in a sympathetic half smile. “Ten p.m. I could be wrong, you know. It could have nothing to do with you. Should I have even mentioned it? You’ve got a lot to worry about, and this could end up being nothing.”
I gave his shoulder a small squeeze and nodded. “You did good, Matt, and I trust your instincts. Whoever is breeding Halflings and doing those experiments is no small fish, and I guess it’s completely possible they got to Rose. She has been acting strange lately. I just thought it was because of her daughter being ill, but maybe it’s something else.”
I stood from the table and stretched, thinking that what I really needed was a good night’s sleep, to get lost in the dream world, where hopefully the troubles of this world would not reach me.
“If we’re right,” Sam said, speaking slowly, almost as if to herself, “then the Blue Beast is just a child.” She looked up at me behind the rims of her glasses, her blue eyes full of worry. “I was listening in on the police scanner earlier, and the Chief of Police has issued a kill on sight.” She swallowed. “It’s just a child.”
With this super uplifting comment, we agreed to head home and get some rest, to tackle all of this when we were fresh in the morning. The curfew was drawing near anyway, and we all needed to get home.
But Sam’s words followed me, as if floating in the wind beside me as I traversed the rooftops of Grant City back to my apartment.
Just a child, she’d said. The Blue Beast was likely just a child.
The thing was, so were we.
***
When I reached my building, leaping from the structure beside it onto my fire escape, I heard a familiar heartbeat on the rooftop, and hesitated only a moment before pulling myself up and over the ledge.
Sure enough, Thomas Reid sat there on his wooden crate, his strong, wide back to me as he regarded the city laid out before him in silence. Without breaking the peace, I took a seat on the crate beside his, letting out small sigh as I did so.
We sat that way for a little while, comfortable in the quiet and the assuring presence of the other. He handed me a cheeseburger and fries, and unwrapped one for himself as well, as if he’d waited for me to have his dinner.
In between bites, he said, “I’m sorry you had to see me like that earlier.”
I swallowed some delicious burger and shook my head. “Don’t be. You’ve found me in several compromising positions, so I’m pretty sure it was your turn.”
No gold touched his aura. It was all black shadows, representing an agony that made my chest ache for him.
“I’m not proud of it, and it’s not an excuse,” he began, “but sometimes when the dead won’t stop talking to me, when the ghosts won’t go away, drinking is one of the few things that shuts them up. It dampens my sixth sense. Sometimes I just can’t ignore them.”
He didn’t look at me as he said this, only stared out at the lights of the city, his hazel eyes fixed on something only he could see. It was strange, because one would think discovering such a destructive addiction would make me want to take a step back from the man, but instead, it only had me drawing closer.
I lifted my bottom so that I could scoot my crate closer to his, so that our shoulders were touching. It felt both brave and natural when I rested my head against him, and when his hand came up and stroked my hair just once, I swore my heart skipped a beat.
“You said I help to keep them away,” I whispered, a small smile pulling up my lips. It felt like the first real smile in a long time. “You said I was like your dream catcher.” I swallowed. “Did you mean that? Or was it the drink talking?”
Thomas was silent for so long that I wasn’t sure he was going to answer, but then his head tilted down as he looked at me where I was still resting against his strong shoulder. “Even when I’m drunk,” he said, “I only ever say things I mean, little Halfling.”
That, as it would turn out, was a good answer.
CHAPTER 33
I watched Coach Sanders with the eyes of someone who has been enlightened to his darkest secrets, his ugliest self. Sometimes you learn things about people that can’t be unlearned, see things that can’t be unseen, and from then forth, those indelible things forever color your view of
them.
There was a difference in the man that didn’t go unnoticed. His eyes were duller, his voice void of emotion, his movements robotic, as if all of his actions were running on autopilot. Whatever Raven had done to him, Coach Sanders had been altered, and I knew it was misplaced and undeserved, but watching him move about like a zombie almost evoked some sympathy.
Almost.
After practice—Andrea Ramos had called out sick and didn’t show up to practice—I caught up with Raven as she was heading off to wherever an evil Succubus goes when not annoying me.
“What’d you do to him?” I asked, walking along beside her, my skateboard tucked under my arm, since I didn’t trust the wench enough to ride it on the street next to her.
Raven applied some red lipstick as we walked along, her dark eyes flashing over to me and then rolling up dramatically. “What does it matter?” She made a sound of disgust in her throat. “Don’t tell me you feel bad for the pervert, fairy. He got what he deserved. In fact, he got off easy.”
“That’s not for us to decide.”
“Ugh, seriously? You can’t be serious. The man’s a pedophile. He’s lucky I only took the part of him that’s corrupted.” She shrugged. “Not my fault if that was a big ass part of him. He won’t be putting his grubby hands on anyone again. You should be thanking me. The world is better off.” Raven’s red lips tilted up in a smirk. “I’m a hero, just like you.”
“Heroes don’t make snap judgments and suck the souls out of people. We should’ve reported him.”
Raven came to a stop on the sidewalk, fixing me with an incredulous glare. “You are serious.” She pointed a red-painted finger in my face, and I resisted the urge to slap it away. “Let me tell you something, fairy. The world isn’t kind to women. In fact, it stacks every damn odd there is against us, and do you know what happens when a female steps forward to say she’s been sexually assaulted? Do you?”
I only stared at her, my jaw clenched.
“I’ll tell you what happens. She’s made to look like a slut, like a bitch who’s just trying to ruin the life and reputation of the man who hurt her, when in fact, it’s her life that’s been destroyed. She’s made to look like a liar, branded as if she’s somehow dirty, or wrong for what happened to her. You know what? I say screw that. Coach Sanders is damn lucky I didn’t suck every bit of his unworthy soul out of his fat body.” She gave me a small shove, and I stumbled back. “And I would have, too, if you hadn’t stopped me.”
I wasn’t sure what to say to this, so I said nothing at all.
“Tell me I’m wrong, fairy. Tell me you disagree.”
I looked down at my shoes, still unable to find words.
Raven smirked without victory and shook her head just once. “You’re over here asking me what I did to him, concerning yourself over the wrong person. You want to do some good, to be a real hero? Go inquire about Andrea Ramos instead. She’s the one who needs the saving. She’s the damn victim here.”
With that, Raven walked away, leaving me to stand on the sidewalk feeling effectively cowed, or perhaps more sheepish.
It wasn’t everyday an evil Succubus schooled you on right and wrong. But I had to admit, I didn’t disagree.
***
I had a busy schedule Thursday evening, and with the constant movement, I felt as though I’d barely had time to wrangle my thoughts. I longed to sit down a while, maybe with a good novel, and clear my head of all the craziness that had infected my life as of late, but there was too much to be done.
I couldn’t afford to miss anymore work, or to let Matt cover for me, so after the awesome conversation with Raven I headed straight to Roses. As she had been doing a lot as of late, Rose barely said a handful of words to me before shuffling out the door to go visit her daughter—if that was even where she was going.
Now that Matt had brought his suspicions forward, I couldn’t look at Rose the same, either. I did notice the guilt in her aura that I had previously attributed to her inability to finance the situation with her daughter. I could only hope her meeting at the docks tonight would corroborate this attribution. It hurt me to think that Rose could have betrayed me.
Caleb visited me at the shop, which made me feel even worse for the fact that I’d so recently betrayed him, and he picked up on this in the intuitive way he had.
“You okay?” he asked in greeting. It was a question I’d doubt I’d ever stop hearing. I reminded myself to be thankful for this, because it meant that the one asking actually cared.
I shrugged in answer. “What about you?”
Caleb smiled big, the dimples on both sides of his cheeks appearing. For whatever reason, seeing it made a small crack shoot across my heart.
“I’m great,” he said. “I’ve actually come to tell you that we don’t have anything to worry about with my father and his company. Chris took me out the other night and explained everything. They’re not hiding anything. They’re actually doing a lot of good.”
I nodded slowly. “That’s good news… Where did Chris take you? What did he show you?”
Caleb’s grin was so open and trusting that I swore my heart wasn’t just cracking, but breaking altogether.
“There’s this old farm my family owns, and we used to visit it when I was a kid. Anyway, Chris showed me this whole project that supplies food and medical supplies to children in need all over the world.” He laughed. “I feel so stupid for even suspecting them. My father is stern, and sometimes he doesn’t know how to show his love, but he’s not some evil doctor turning people into beasts. Even saying that just sounds ridiculous.” He paused. “Hey, you sure you’re okay? You look a little pale.”
“I’m fine,” I lied. “I’m really happy for you, Caleb.”
Caleb leaned forward and planted a kiss on my cheek. “Thank you, beautiful girl.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked back a little on his heels. “So, I was thinking, since my family isn’t part of some crazy conspiracy, maybe you want to give things between us a real chance? I know I’ve been kind of absent as of late, but that’s because I’ve been so wrapped up in trying to uncover my father’s secrets.” He laughed again. “It’s like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders, and I’d like to spend more time with you.”
I nodded, not trusting my words. I had to swallow twice before I could form any. “I’d like that,” I said, and was glad when my voice came out steady.
Caleb’s dimples appeared once more, and he placed another kiss on my cheek, the scent of his cologne filling my nose. “Awesome. I’m gonna plan something special, then. Court you like a proper gentlemen. No more nonsense. I’m going to prove to you why you should be on my arm.”
With this, he left the shop, the bell above the door signaling his exit. As I watched him skip away, his aura full of hope that had not been there just yesterday, and tinged with something else that I attributed to whatever his brother had injected him with, I honestly couldn’t remember a time in my life when I’d felt so low.
And that was seriously saying something.
***
I sat at a low table in the back corner of The Grind, one of the novels Caleb had given me this past Christmas open before me. When she walked in, I knew she was a Peace Broker even before she sat down across from me. One always recognizes their own kind.
She wore her blond hair in a slicked-back, efficient ponytail, her clothes black slacks and a matching black blouse. There was no makeup on her face, but she was still pretty, and of course, in excellent physical shape. If her aura was any indication, she was a Halfling Vampire. I understood now why she had wanted to meet at night. As a Halfling, she wouldn’t burst into flames in sunlight, but she was still a creature of the night.
“Miss Fae,” she greeted, her tone veiling slight disdain. I had no doubt she’d heard about me. The Fae Halfling who’d gotten banished, readmitted, and then walked away from that reinstatement. I was pretty sure everyone in the Brokers had heard.
“How does one Broker Peace
?” I asked.
It was a code question, asked to determine the authenticity of the operative, and she answered with the right response.
“By standing up for what’s right and moving in love.”
I gave a single nod, folded my paperback shut, and set it to the side. “You want to get some coffee before we start?”
She raised a finely plucked brow. “No, Miss Fae, I do not. My name is Vivian Night, and I’m here to respond to your request for a meet. The operative who relayed the message said you had urgent information that would concern the Brokers.”
Night was the last name given to all Halfling vamps in the Brokers, so this confirmed my suspicion about her race. I glanced around, keeping my voice low so that I wouldn’t be overheard. “Something serious is going on in Grant City, and I believe it involves the illegal breeding of Halflings. Whoever is doing it is also conducting experiments on these Halflings, turning them into beasts and setting them loose on the city.”
Vivian sat back a little as she absorbed this, her mouth pressed into a thin line. It wasn’t easy to shock a Peace Broker, and despite her poker face, I could tell that I’d done so. Being an Empath—an aura reader—was a gift that was particular to Fae Halflings, and I was glad for this more often than not. It meant that I got to view more of the hand others were holding than they got to view of mine.
“You have proof?” she asked.
“I know where they’re keeping hundreds of Halfling children. I can show you.”
“This Blue Beast that’s been all over the news, I’m assuming that’s connected?”
“From what I’ve gathered, that’s how it seems.”
She checked the watch on her wrist. “How soon can you take me to this place with the Halflings?”
“I have another meeting tonight, but I can go after.”
She was silent a moment, studying me in a way I didn’t like, as if I was not to be trusted. Not for the first time, I wondered just what was being said about me among the Broker ranks.
“You understand these are serious accusations, Miss Fae?”
