"I'm going to go have a chat with Burrom, if you must know my every move. I didn't think staying in the casino was going somewhere." That wasn't a lie. I did want Burrom's help.
He eyed me up and down. He stepped out of the way but placed a hand on the door just as I went to open it.
"It's not your fault. When are you going to snap out of this?"
I turned to face him. "I'm sorry if destroying the world has thrown me into a funk."
I went and pulled the door open an inch before he slammed it shut again.
"Stop being so melodramatic. It was this or extinction for them and us. They'll get over it."
"What? In a few hundred years if we haven't all been eaten alive by the rippers?" I slammed my hand against the door out of frustration. "Don't you get it? I'm not like you. I care."
"Well get over it. And you better start realizing that I'm not going to allow you to do stupid shit that endangers your life just because your head’s all out of whack from misplaced guilt."
"I helped destroy their world! How is that misplaced? If I didn't think they'd be worse off without me, I'd let them rip me apart."
He inched closer until I was forced to give up some ground or have him on top of me. "You better cut this out."
"I know you don't get this. You're completely unfazed by it, but you can't scare me out of feeling guilty." My voice rose by the end of the sentence.
He backed off after I called him out on his bully tactics and took a couple of paces away from me, then turned so suddenly it caught me off guard. "Then what can I do?"
I slumped against the door, wishing he could make this horrible feeling go away. "This isn't something you can control. There's nothing you can do to fix this. You just have to give me time."
He pulled open the side of my jacket. "That's not going to fix it either," he said, motioning to the flask in my inner pocket.
"It's not like I'm stumbling around the place drunk."
"No, but when was the last day you've been completely sober either?"
I didn't say it, but I knew right off the top of my head. New York. I started drinking on the plane ride back and hadn't stopped.
He shook his head and left the room.
I walked out a minute later, still waiting for him to try and go all cave man on me. He didn't. He just let me go. It was probably stupid, but I suddenly was a bit annoyed. If he did think I was going to kill myself, he could've put up a bit more of a fight.
I took the stairs, even though Pat said our gas supplies were still okay. When it came to being stuck in an elevator, I decided the ease was no longer worth the risk. Better to break the habit now than to eventually be stuck.
When I got to the seventh floor, wouldn't you know that Burrom had all the entrances guarded? I was pretty sure he was trying to keep two types out, Vitor's Fae and humans. The Fae who was sitting on the stool recognized me and waved me in.
The whole floor looked radically different. The weird smoke that used to fill his bar hung heavy in the air and the lights were dimmed. I wasn't sure if Fae didn't like the bright lights or didn't need them. I still knew very little about the Fae, even though it was half my bloodline.
Most of the doors were open, as people communed in and out, which made it harder to find his room. I turned a corner and was about to ask someone when I saw a familiar shape down at the end. A short, stout figure with green highlights in his hair walked into the last unit on the end.
The door was wide open when I got there. I was about to tap on it anyway when he spoke. "Come in, Jo, and shut the door."
The room was one of the several suites located on the seventh floor and had couches, a bar area and a separate bedroom off to the side. He settled into the dark brown leather sofa as he waited for me to come in. Dressed in denim and a metal band t-shirt, he was a complete oddity.
I proceeded into the room but didn't sit. The topic on my mind might get me thrown out quickly, so I might as well not get too comfy. I'd been in close contact with Burrom for the past week and I knew there was more to his story than was being said. I didn't care about his secrets but I wasn't walking away from anyone that had knowledge.
"What brings you here?" he asked.
I'd thought about how I was going to broach the subject all yesterday. Burrom wasn't one for decorum and he detested weakness, so I decided a direct approach would give me the best shot. Or, it might insult him. I didn't think he'd kill me though, so I opted for a direct question.
"I know you're Fae, but you're not like the rest of them."
He didn't reply, just pulled out a pipe and lit the tobacco. He didn't lunge at me or kick me out, so I continued on.
"What exactly are you?"
"I've got a question for you," he said and then took a long puff on his pipe. "How do you know I'm not?"
I shook my head. I felt it the same way I felt the energy of a wormhole, but it wasn't something I could explain logically. "I don't, but I know I'm right."
"Sit. I'm not going to eat you," he said, puffing again on his pipe and waving his hand toward the seat next to him. "You're too old for my tastes."
I sat, hoping his last line had been a joke.
"What are you?" I asked again.
"Tell me why you want to know."
I didn't want to explain the silver smoke that crept around me and was now coming out of me, but if I wanted information, I was going to have to take a leap of faith and trust him.
"You know about the silver strands, you've seen them first hand."
He didn't speak, just nodded.
"They're coming out of me now."
He cocked his head to the side, squinting his narrow eyes even smaller. "How?"
I let out a deep breath as I resigned myself to having to get into the nitty gritty details. "It happens when I'm sleeping, so I haven't seen it myself. I'm told that it starts to seep out of my nose and mouth while I'm sleeping. Not as dense as the strands you've seen, more of a wispy nature."
He sat there, just taking it all in, as he watched me.
He took another puff on his pipe and I suppressed the urge to choke on the smoke.
"I'm going to share some things with you."
"Okay," I said, wondering what the delay was.
"This can't be repeated. If you do repeat it…I'll kill you."
I nodded. He would, too. I could tell from the way he ran his affairs. You didn't cross Burrom.
"And I want something in return."
Nothing surprising there. "What?"
"Protection."
That was surprising. What would he need protection from, that I could provide better than him?
"My time is coming and when it does, I'll be vulnerable, more so now than ever. I will help you, but in return, you will do this for me." He pointed at me with his curvy handled pipe.
"What time? And how am I going to protect you?" I didn't like to show my weaknesses, but this screamed for a large dose of reality.
He just smiled. "If I'm right, I have no doubt in your ability to do so."
I tried to think this over the best I could. Once he started spilling whatever information he had, there'd be no turning back. "Will I have to hurt anyone?"
"No."
Quick firm answer, off to a good start. "Nothing morally objectionable?"
"No."
"To my moral standards, not yours." Insulting, but it had to be qualified.
He laughed a little. "No. Don't you trust me, Jo?" he asked in a mocking tone.
"Then okay."
He held out his stumpy hand and I accepted it, hoping he wouldn't do any funny charm or spell on me.
"I'm a Ground Fae."
"What is that?"
"You wouldn't know because there are only five of us left in existence. I live above ground for several hundred years and then I hibernate for another fifty, underground, before emerging once again in a different form."
I started to suspect he was much older than I'd ever imagined. "I thought Fae only
lived about five hundred years."
"Vitor's kind do. But I'm of an altogether different breed."
I nodded, still not understanding the need for such secrecy.
"When I go underground, that is when I'll need you. These are scary times, and not because of what you think. I originated here on Earth, way back at the dawn of creation. Back when magic was stronger, but still nothing like this."
"So, then you have an idea of what is going on?"
"It's not the same as then. At that time, there was more magic but everything was in balance. Now it's different."
"How so?"
"Because magic was never meant to exist in this strength. It's like rain. You get different amounts every year, but within a certain range. This is like a magic tsunami."
"Do you know what the smoke is?"
"It's a pure form of magic."
Goosebomps spread out across my skin as his words cemented in my brain.
"And the dark smoke the senator used against me?" I asked, already having my own hunch.
"Magic that has been twisted," Burrom confirmed.
"The smoke that has been seeping out of me, I don't know where it comes from. I used to only see it, but now…" I couldn't say it again, as my palms grew sweaty at the thought.
"I think as the magic grows stronger…"
"Stronger? You think it's still accumulating?"
"Yes, I do. And I think as it does, it's building up in your body more."
"Do you think I could get rid of it?"
"I don't think so, but I don't know why you'd want to. And if there was a way, I wouldn't tell you, anyhow. I need you to use it."
"But I don't know how to do that, either." I looked to him, hoping he was going to explain that next.
He just shook his head. "No idea. I don't even know if I'm correct, but I believe I am. And if it is the case, we both need you to figure out how."
"I still don't know why you need me?"
"Because when I go to ground, I need you to seal my place of resting."
"What did you used to do?"
"We used to help protect each other, but as our numbers dropped, it became more difficult. There were more of us a long time ago, but we've lost many because of killings during hibernation."
My funny phone buzzed on the seat next to me and I looked down and saw Sabrina's name flash on the screen. Worst timing ever, but it had to be important. She rarely called me. There wasn’t a need, when I saw her every day.
"Go ahead," Burrom said, seeing my expression.
I grabbed my phone and walked to the other side of the room. I was still in earshot so I wasn't sure what the point was.
"Everything okay?" I asked her.
"Do you know someone named Oslo? He's down here asking for you."
I bit my lip.
"What's he look like?" Let him be blond and short.
"Tall, lean but muscular, black hair and very pale skin."
I shouldn't have been surprised but I was anyway. Oslo was a crafty character. I'd started my new life with ID and documents purchased from him. We'd met when I was a teenager, selling fenced goods and hot cars to him. The last time I'd talked to him, I had used him to send Cormac on a wild goose chase. Now he was here. Brilliant.
I told Sabrina I'd be down in five minutes, hung up the phone and turned to Burrom. "I've got to go."
His short frame rose from the couch to his full height, just shy of five feet and I thought he was going to give me a hard time about leaving. That wasn't his purpose at all.
"You repeat what I've told you to no one."
I looked down at the small Fae and really saw why the other Fae cowed to him. There was something a bit crazy behind those eyes, when they stared at you. I got the feeling that not only would he kill me if I said something, he might really eat me, like he implied earlier.
"Not a word," I said and meant it. I did not intend to screw with this particular Fae. "We'll finish this conversation soon."
Chapter Five
I left the room and practically ran down the hall and into the elevator. I didn't have time for the stairs. I needed to get Oslo out of here, and pronto. If I couldn't get him out of here, I'd at minimum make sure he was going to keep his silence.
The ground floor was crawling with humans when I got there. I dodged in between them as I made my way to Sabrina's office, trying to pretend I didn't see the glares. My throat constricted when I saw it was indeed Oslo. Worse, Cormac was in the room as well. This was not looking good. I wanted to sprint the last fifty feet to them but that would scream guilt.
When I got to the door, everyone turned to me. Sabrina mouthed sorry and rolled her eyes toward Cormac, making it clear that she hadn't been the one who had called him here.
"Jo," Oslo greeted me.
At least he was calling me Jo, the name I'd assumed as an adult. That was a positive sign.
Cormac tilted his head in Oslo's direction. "Your friend has a message for you that he refused to share until you were present." Cormac didn't like that many people. If he had been Santa, there would be a whole lot of coal going around. It looked like Oslo had made the naughty list.
"Can we go somewhere more private?" Oslo asked, looking around at the glass walls. "This might not be something you want to go public with."
My stomach clenched and my eyes darted around the room. I wasn't sure I wanted to go private with whatever it was, either. I'd prefer if it just went away altogether, but that didn't appear to be an option.
"Sure. Come on." I led him out of Sabrina's office and headed toward the conference room upstairs, hoping it was empty. I turned back in the guise of making sure Oslo was following me. How full of it was I? I really wanted to see if Cormac was. He was following right behind Olso, like a dark shadow of death just waiting to strike.
Now what? Cormac knew I had a shaded past. I was prepared for that skeleton. The goose chase I'd sent Cormac on with Oslo's help? That haunting seemed imminently close, with the ghost right on my tail.
I'd stay close to Oslo. If I had to take him down to keep him quiet, I would. I'd apologize in a note pinned to his shirt when he woke up tomorrow, miles away from here.
"Long time since I saw you in class. How have you been faring in these crazy times?" Oslo asked.
I inwardly sighed in relief. He was letting me know he wasn't here to give me up. But if he's not here to blackmail me or some other such thing, what the hell did he want? His clothes and appearance didn't look like he'd been toughing it out, so he wasn't a refugee seeking shelter.
"As good as can be expected. How about…" My feet flew up over my head and I knew I was in for one dozy of a headache as I was about to land head first. I felt Cormac's hands on my arms right before I totally wiped out.
"What did I slip on?" I asked as Cormac helped me right myself. I looked down and there was a four feet by four feet area of carpet gone with stone in its place.
"What happened to the floor?" I asked, looking at the weird spot. "Renovations? Now?"
"I'll ask Dodd," Cormac said.
He held the door to the conference room open for us and just as Oslo was about to follow him in, I saw Dodd and Buzz turn the corner down the hall. I held back a sigh of annoyance. Of course, they would run right over.
Oslo stopped a couple feet inside the room and I knew what was running through his mind.
"You'll get safe passage out of here," I said, then threw him a look that made it clear, as long as he didn't screw with my secrets. Oslo was slick enough to get the point and gave a subtle single nod.
"What about them?" Oslo asked, looking over at the three menacing figures, also known as Cormac, Dodd and Buzz.
"Cormac?"
He stared down Oslo for a minute. "This is a one-time offer."
"That's all I need," he said. Oslo sized up the room before he turned back and looked at me. "I'm here on behalf of the senator." It was telling that in a room full of chairs, not one person sat.
Of all the thi
ngs he could have said, that was the last thing I expected. Buzz edged in closer to Oslo, Dodd silently positioned himself next to the door and Cormac moved nearer to me. It was weird, like they'd been practicing. Strange men, they might have been too. If they had, I was glad I hadn't been invited, for once.
"Frisk him," Cormac told Buzz, probably thinking what I was. Rick. Promises and assurances wouldn't do us any good if he had no control of himself. The image of Rick shooting a bullet into his own head would never leave me.
Oslo stepped back from the table and raised his hands in compliance as Buzz patted him down.
"He's clean," Buzz said and returned to his spot by the door.
"I understand your concern but I'm not corrupted. I never come into physical contact with him."
"Is that how it happens?" I asked.
"Yes. He's got a way of interjecting a piece of himself into people with touch. But I'm pretty sure he doesn't like to do it."
"Why are you here?" I asked.
"To offer you his terms of peace."
"Terms?" Cormac scoffed.
"Yes," Oslo continued looking at me. "The senator wants to offer you a deal."
"After our last encounter, what makes him think I'd even negotiate? He's the one that ran, not me."
Oslo's eyes widened slightly at that. I didn't add that I'd very nearly died and my control over the silver strands was nonexistent.
"That's your decision, but I have to deliver the terms. That's on me." He said it like a man that knew what the consequences of not fulfilling his responsibilities were.
"Go ahead," I said.
"Are you familiar with the wall of tornados that are running diagonally through North America?" Oslo continued.
"Yes, we're aware of them," I replied.
"They extend all the way around the Earth."
And it just gets better and better. Wait until the crowd downstairs hears about this one. Wow, is my popularity going to skyrocket then.
Oslo walked to where there was an antique globe in the corner and traced a line with his finger, demonstrating the divide all the way to China.
"The senator has agreed to relinquish any claim on this side of the globe," he pointed to the half we were in, "if you stay out of his half."
Shattered (Alchemy Series Book #3) Page 3
