Dark Horse

by E. A. Copen

  “Let’s shoot for nine,” I said. That’d give me enough time to finish my meeting with Detective Moses before holding court. Look at me, being all organized for once.

  I said my goodbyes to Foxglove and then turned off my phone. If anyone needed to reach me, they could wait an hour while I got some much-needed sleep.

  Chapter Eleven

  Wind spun the plastic fan blades as it moved through the window. The fan was off to conserve electricity. Turning it on wouldn’t have made much of a difference. The ceiling fan was already whirling above me full force, pushing hot air down to masquerade as something cool against my face. My eyes burned as I watched the fan go around and around. It had been over twenty-four hours since I’d slept, the short time I spent unconscious notwithstanding. I should’ve passed out when my head hit the pillow.

  Instead, I couldn’t stop thinking about all the mistakes I’d made, working my way back through everything, searching for the moment where I made a choice that damned me and everyone around me. Had it been when I ignored all the warnings and went to Hell to save Emma? That hadn’t seemed wrong at the time. Who wouldn’t save an innocent woman if he had the power to? It wasn’t in me to walk away when I could help.

  Because I’d gone to set her free, I’d also opened the door for Loki to free the Titans. It was my fault Typhon was barreling toward New Orleans because I had made it possible. If only I could’ve let her go... But no. That would’ve been wrong. Given the chance to do it over, I wouldn’t change a thing.

  Maybe I should’ve stopped Emma from fighting in the tournament to choose the next Famine. I shouldn’t have let Emma get so involved in my world where I knew it was dangerous. Yet if I hadn’t, we never would’ve had the brief time together that we did. Emma wasn’t the sort of woman who could take half-truths, and I couldn’t lie to her anyway. She chose to be involved. If I’d tried to stop her, she would’ve just done it anyway. Her stubbornness was one of the things about her I liked best.

  What then? What could I have done differently to save her?

  I wrestled with it until my phone beeped next to my head, announcing that it was time for me to get up and get moving. My meeting with Moses was in two and a half hours, and I had agreed to meet Pony for dinner before that. I couldn’t be late to that.

  With a groan, I sat up in bed and swung my legs over the side where I stayed, trying to convince my brain we had to get to work. Someone knocked on the door and I almost immediately yelled for them to come in before reminding myself that opening the door was what got me into this mess to begin with.

  “Who is it?”

  The door cracked open, though I hadn’t told anyone to come in. Beth slid through the narrow opening and shut the door behind her. She’d come in without her weapon. Guess that was supposed to make me trust her more. It didn’t, but it was a good try.

  I drew a hand over my face, wiping away sweat. “What?” It came out almost as a grunt rather than an actual word.

  “Loki would like to arrange a meeting,” she said, folding her hands behind her back.

  I sighed. “I’ve got meetings all night already. No offense, but he can stuff his meeting. I’ve got more important things to do than keep him up to speed. I thought that was supposed to be your job anyway.”

  “I told him everything I knew, including that you were planning to sacrifice yourself. I warned you he wouldn’t like that.”

  “How else is this supposed to go down?” The bed creaked as I stood. While we talked, I went through my dresser, searching for something presentable to wear to meet an angel in a bar. “Fenrir said a Horseman has to deliver the final blow. There are only four of us to choose from.”

  “Yes,” Beth agreed, “but some Horsemen are more expendable than others.”

  “No one is expendable. You’re a healer, or you used to be. You’re the last person I’d ever expect to be willing to throw someone under the bus, Beth. The Beth I knew—”

  “The Beth you knew is dead,” she cut in harshly.

  I closed the drawer and turned around.

  Her eyes were watery as if she wanted to cry, but she held her chin high. “She died when I took up this mantle. But if she were alive, she wouldn’t want you to die either.”

  “Then who? Felicia? Tell me you trust her.”

  Beth shook her head.

  I stepped up to her, standing just inches away to look her in the eyes. “What about you? Could you do it? Loki wouldn’t let you. He’s not done using you. No, he’s enjoying parading you and Emma around in front of me, trying to use you as bait to get me to cave. Maybe he hasn’t gotten the message. I won’t hesitate to kill you to get to him. You’re not an obstacle. The only reason Loki is still breathing is because I care about Emma.”

  She swallowed, the delicate lines of her throat flexing as she did. “You overestimate how much control he has over me. Over both of us.”

  “Are you saying you’re working for him because you want to? I call bullshit on that.” I pushed past her and opened the door.

  “It’s a horn, by the way. The weapon you need to make.”

  I glanced at her over my shoulder, raising an eyebrow. “A horn?”

  She crossed her arms. “And not just anyone can make the type you need. You need a master enchanter to work the souls into the material. Know any?”

  I didn’t, but maybe someone I was meeting with that evening would. Or maybe Loki would offer one. Yeah, because I could trust anyone he sent to help. “I’ll find someone.”

  “You don’t have to, you know. You could just ask Loki. I’m sure he knows someone.”

  “I think I’ve accepted enough of his help.” Besides, the last thing I wanted to do was put myself in debt to him again. I’d just gotten out of that position, or I would once this was over.

  Water rattled in the pipes the whole time I was in the shower, reminding me there was probably something there that needed fixed too. How the hell did Pony keep that old house from falling apart? I never saw him fixing up the place. Maybe he knew something I didn’t. I supposed I could ask him over dinner, which was my first stop.

  I almost fell asleep in the shower, which was a testament to how tired I was. When I got out, I realized Beth had distracted me from grabbing any actual clothes, so I wrapped myself up with a towel and stepped out into the hallway.

  Beth and Emma were both waiting for me, weapons in hand. They barely seemed affected by the insane heatwave, but between that and the lack of sleep, I was in a foul mood.

  I gave them a warning growl and stormed into the bedroom. I didn’t bother closing the door. They’d probably just follow me in anyway. Sure enough, they stopped to prop up either side of the door frame while I sorted through my clothes. “Here,” I said, handing Beth a basket of dirty laundry. “If you’re going to follow me everywhere, make yourself useful and set that out there so I remember to do laundry if I survive saving the world.”

  Beth took the basket, frowned at it and dumped it unceremoniously outside the door. “We’re not here to be your maids.”

  “Then what exactly are you doing shadowing me around my own house? Aside from spying for Loki, because that’s obvious and you could do that without being up my ass.” I grabbed a pair of jeans that looked mostly clean and pulled them on. Trying to do that without taking off the towel wasn’t an easy task.

  “We’re supposed to assist you however we can,” Emma said. Her tone was a lot softer than Beth’s, but I wasn’t fooled. She was probably more dangerous than Beth, especially since Loki knew I wouldn’t want to hurt her. I had to keep my guard up.

  “You want to assist? With which part? You going to stand guard over me while I eat dinner with Pony? How am I supposed to explain the two chicks with weapons at either end of the table to management at Bubba’s? And what about when I hold court? My people are going to be pissed as hell already. They might just turn around and leave at the sight of you. There are rumors flying, and you two have nearly cost me War’s help just by hanging a
round. You’re not helping. You’re complicating my life.”

  Emma and Beth exchanged a glance.

  “Maybe it would be better if we remained accessible but at a distance,” Beth suggested. A slow, dark smile blossomed on her lips. “On second thought, you’re right. There’s no need for both of us to follow you everywhere you go. Emma can accompany you tonight. Her presence won’t raise suspicions, will it?”

  I tugged on an old Nirvana t-shirt that’d seen better days. At least it was thin enough I wouldn’t be sweating in it. That smile meant Beth was up to something, I just didn’t know what, and that bothered me. “And what’ll you be doing instead?”

  She shrugged one shoulder. “Research. I’ll see if I can track down an enchanter who can do work on short notice.”

  I glanced at Emma. “Okay, but you’re not going to like it.”

  She quirked a little smile that made my heart jump into my throat. “Try me.”

  PONY PULLED THE BONES of a frog’s leg out of his mouth, scraping off the meat with his teeth without breaking eye contact with Emma. He chewed thoughtfully and cast the bone on his plate as if it were a snake before pushing away the nearly untouched plate. “Didn’t you used to be a cop?”

  I shoved a bite of the Boudin I’d ordered in my mouth and looked up, glancing between the two of them. Last time I’d brought Pony to Bubba’s, it was to butter him up so he’d watch Remy. He’d grilled me hard, advising me not to go opening doors to Hell for some woman. I’d of course told him Emma was more than just some woman to me. It wasn’t something Pony’d probably ever understand. He was a serial divorcee who never kept less than two girlfriends at once, not in the entire time I’d known him. Of course he knew she was a cop. I’d told him everything about her.

  Emma offered a tight smile. “I used to be a lot of things.”

  “And now you’re working to end the world.” Pony folded his arms and leaned back. “Huh. I gotta ask what you think you’ll get out of it.”

  Emma had ordered the blackened redfish and finished about half of it. She put down her fork, but Pony cut in before she could answer him.

  “Boy, she is pretty fucked up, ain’t she?” Pony looked at me for the first time since we sat down.

  “Excuse me?” Emma’s hands closed to fists against the tabletop.

  Pony leaned forward without uncrossing his arms. “You even know all the shit he’s been through for you?”

  “Pony, please,” I turned my head away knowing he wasn’t going to back down. This would go south and fast.

  He raised one hand and kept going. “You know, I wouldn’t have done half of that, not for nobody. Now, maybe that’s because I’m a jaded old asshole, but I got a feeling most folks’d say the same. Ain’t every day you meet a fella willing to put his own soul on the line to save you. And you just spit in his face, sittin’ there pretending like everything’s just fine. Well I can’t do it. Not no more. I gotta know. Is there any part of you in there that gives a damn about him at all? Or did Loki destroy everything?”

  I sighed and shifted in my seat trying to get the waiter’s attention. Of course he was too busy with another group to notice. “It’s a spell, Pony,” I muttered under my breath. “She can’t help it.”

  Emma’s fingers uncurled. She glanced at me before turning back to Pony. “I’m still me. The same person I always was. I just see the world differently now is all.” She pushed her plate away. “Think of it this way. I was a cop for almost eight years. Eight years, Pony, all of them in this city. The things I saw... You know most officers never have to draw their weapon, let alone shoot anyone. No one I know has ever had to hide the body of a teenage werewolf in a swamp and say it’s for the greater good.”

  “You didn’t have a choice.” I put a hand on her arm.

  Emma jerked away. “Yes, I did. I could’ve let that monster maul those children. It wasn’t my responsibility to step in and fix things. But that’s not who I was. I thought I could help. That I could save everyone, and in the process, I lost sight of myself. This world sucks. Take you for example.” She gestured to Pony. “You murdered a little girl to add ten years to your life.”

  He frowned, but didn’t deny the accusation.

  “He went to prison.” She pointed at me. “And he’s killed gods.”

  “I’ve helped save people too,” I reminded her. “So have you. We’ve helped more people than we’ve ever hurt.”

  She shook her head. “There’s not some giant scale that weighs it all out, Lazarus. When I died, my soul was weighed against a feather and found inadequate. How can anyone expect to have a soul as light as a feather when the world is so full of...” She trailed off, looking around the restaurant. “So full of weight?”

  I stared down at my plate, unwilling to meet her eyes. It was a valid argument. What was it all for? What was the point in killing one Titan if three more, worse things would show up to replace it? We were in a losing battle and not even I could see a way forward that led to a happy ending.

  Emma’s hand landed on my wrist, her skin soft and touch gentle. She offered a comforting smile. “We can do better. We can start over. Build a better world from the ground up. A perfect world. What’s wrong with that?”

  “Nothing.” My voice was a tight whisper. “Except for everything.” I pulled my hand away with a sigh. “But we don’t have time to debate that right now. I’ve got to meet Detective Moses at Paula’s in forty-five minutes and hold court. Loki wants to meet with me at some point too, and eventually the Tengu are going to send someone to guide me to a parlay so I can convince them I’m not the bad guy.”

  Pony nodded, grunted and picked up his water for a sip. “Did you give any more thought to who you’d use as your human sacrifice?”

  I pressed my lips together and turned away. Pony had put his name forward and he’d be hard to turn down. He wanted his death to mean something, he’d said, and this was about the only way to ensure that. I wasn’t stupid enough to believe there was any other way for this to end. Pony had come home to New Orleans to die, and it wasn’t right for me to deny him the power to die in the way he chose. “Only if you’re certain.”

  He snorted and rolled his eyes. “I ain’t been certain of much these last couple months, but I think I’d rather go out on my feet and bein’ useful than on my ass with everyone cryin’ over me. I can do this. I should do this. I owe it to you because of Lydia.”

  My head snapped up. “No, not because of that. Nothing you do will ever make up for Lydia. We can’t ever be even, Pony.”

  He nodded gravely, knowing what I meant. Things could never go back to the way they were before, not even with his sacrifice.

  “Not because of Lydia then. How about because this is my town?” He picked up his glass of water and swallowed a mouthful. “I was born here. Got married three times here. Raised you here, and—God willing—always thought I’d die here. New Orleans is in my bones, Laz. If some monster wants it, he’s going to have to go through me first.”

  I nodded, understanding the sentiment. There were a lot of cities out there people called home, but none quite like New Orleans. The people there had a special resilience, an inner strength and will to survive most other places didn’t seem to have. If Typhon wanted to wipe the city off the map, he was going to have a fight on his hands. That much was for sure.

  Pony’s eyes shifted to Emma, an emotion reflected there that I couldn’t quite read. The wrinkles in his forehead deepened and held for a moment before he cleared his throat, adjusted his glasses and asked, “You won’t mind if I don’t tag along, will you? It’s getting late, and I don’t have the energy I used to. Think I’m due for a nap.”

  “Of course. I’ll drive you home.” I stood and pulled out my wallet to drop enough cash to cover the meal and a tip.

  Pony put his hand gently over mine. “Don’t trouble yourself. I’ve got this. Remember? We had a deal. This is my treat.”

  I’d been hoping he’d forgotten about that, but it seemed
his memory was as sharp as ever.

  “And don’t worry about taking me home.” He flashed a tired smile. “I’ll grab a cab. You’ve got places to be.”

  I frowned. Part of me didn’t like leaving Pony alone. At least if I took him back to the house, he’d be with Beth. She wouldn’t let anything happen to him, especially since he was supposed to be one of our sacrifices. Not only that, but she’d always liked Pony. Well, before Loki turned her into Famine. Left to his own devices, Pony might not even make it back to the house. I was onto him. Tired or not, he’d likely take the cab out to Karma and blow the last of his money on a couple of lap dances.

  But what would that hurt? Let the old man have his fun while he could.

  “At least let me pay for the cab,” I said and handed him three twenties.

  Pony tilted his head at the cash. “That’s enough cab fare to get me all around the city. What do you expect me to do with that?”

  “Tip the girl when she’s done, would you? Stingy bastard.”

  He grinned that old familiar grin and took the cash. “Ain’t no pulling the wool over your eyes, is there?”

  “And don’t bring anyone home for after-hours partying. I’ve got to start giving a damn about my reputation, or so my knight tells me.” I pocketed my wallet and nodded to Emma. “You ready?”

  I walked through the crowded restaurant for the door, Emma trailing behind. It was a Friday night and the heat and humidity had people clamoring to get inside any air-conditioned building in the city, Bubba’s Shrimp Shack included. That made for tight spaces and packed tables. It was probably the busiest I’d ever seen Bubba’s.

  So, of course that’s when a monster would strike.

  It started on the opposite side of the restaurant from where we were, the side facing out over the water. Bubba’s wasn’t on the Mississippi; that real estate was too highbrow for a shrimp shack like Bubba’s. Instead, it butted up one of the canals that connected the river to Lake Pontchartrain. Big picture windows gave diners on the east side of Bubba’s a view of the water.