by Devon Monk
We were walking again, our reflections warped and wiggly in the glass windows of the shops.
The Pop Shop was one of the last shops in a strip of touristy places on the bay. The smell of fresh caramel and salty popcorn mixed with the clean green overlays of the ocean and sunlight was all it needed to draw hungry visitors in through their door. Although the fact that a siren owned the shop didn’t hurt either.
Jean stopped outside the door. “I…can’t tell him. Not right now.” Her gaze roamed over me like she had to make sure I was still in one piece, even though I hadn’t been out of her sight for a second.
“I am fine.” I put as much warmth and comfort into those words as I could. “And you should totally talk to Hogan about your life and about the secrets you don’t want to keep from him. Whether I’m fine or not.”
“It’s not that easy.” Yeah, I knew she was going to say that. The Reed stubbornness ran strong through our veins. “Let’s just get popcorn, okay?”
“Sure,” I said. A declaration of temporary ceasefire.
She opened the door and stepped inside.
The Pop Shop was one long counter of popcorn machines and popcorn-related mixes with nuts and chocolates. On the back wall sat candies, soda, and a slushy machine. There was floor space for maybe six people in the shop at one time, no chairs, no tables.
A mom and two little kids were inside, taking up half the available space. Gladys, the blonde-bombshell siren and co-owner of the shop, poured sample popcorn into the little outstretched hands. They clutched at it with sweaty fists before shoving it in their mouths.
Gladys loved working here on the edge of the bay during the day. During the night, she helped out at the bar just a few doors down.
She and her mortal husband, Cordova, had been together now for twelve years.
I wasn’t sure if Cordova knew she was a siren. We left it up to each creature to decide if they wanted to tell a human companion who and what they were.
The default in Ordinary was secrecy. But when it became clear that a few dates would slip into years of sharing a life, every creature had the right to share what they were with their loved one. Heck, they had the right to share before then too.
One would think we had droves of people spreading the word about all the supernaturals who lived in our town, but oddly, no.
I chalked it up to the nature of Ordinary. Created by the gods for the gods to put down their powers and vacation as mortals, and settled by creatures and humans alike, I had a theory that folks sort of…forgot about the unusual bits of the town when they moved out.
They remembered the good time they had here, the sand and sun and seashells. But they didn’t remember buying popcorn from a siren, or living next door to a genie.
“Hey, officers,” Gladys said as she handed the mom two little bags of popcorn. “What’s your pleasure?”
The mom and kids left the store and the clang of the brass bell mounted on the side of the building rattled out twice, as each kid gave it a ring.
“I need an extra-large caramel and extra-large cheese, extra cheesy, and no comments on my love life.” Jean dug in her back pocket for her card. “Oh, wait. You’re paying, aren’t you, Delaney?”
I rolled my eyes behind her back and then leaned in with my card.
Gladys fought a smile. “You got it. Do you want to sample the pumpkin and vanilla spice nut mix? I’m testing it on customers before the holidays. See if it’s worth stocking up on.”
“Sure.” Jean said. Gladys scooped what appeared to be potpourri into two muffin liners.
Jean handed me mine. I eyed it a little warily. I still wasn’t hungry.
“You okay, Chief?” Gladys started filling our popcorn order. “You look a little under the weather.”
Oh, I’m fine. I’ve just been chomped on by an angry, ancient vampire who kidnapped my friend and wants to kill as many people as possible to force Old Rossi to give up a book of dark magic that could destroy the world. No big deal.
“I’m good, thanks.”
She made a polite noise that really meant she didn’t believe me and glanced over our shoulders at the door to make sure we were alone.
“I heard about Jame and Ben. Is Jame out of the hospital yet? Have you found Ben?”
News traveled fast in a small town. Staying up to the second on your neighbor’s business was pretty much our Olympic sport and we took gold every year. It wasn’t every day, or actually ever in our history, that a vampire was kidnapped right out from under Old Rossi’s nose.
“Jame’s recovering but isn’t stable enough to go home,” Jean said. “We haven’t found Ben yet.”
“Do you know what has him?” Gladys spun the extra-large clear bags of popcorn, deftly wrapping twist ties on the ends to keep them fresh.
“We’re pretty sure we know.” Jean said.
“Is it a human male?”
I knew what she was offering. She was a siren after all. Could lure men toward anything she wanted, from novelty snack foods to their deaths. But her special skills weren’t going to work in this case.
“It’s a vampire,” Jean said. “So, no luck there.”
Gladys swiped the back of her hand over her temple, pushing back thick gold waves of hair. “You’re right. Vampires are a little out of my range. But if you think it would help, I’d be happy to try.”
“Thanks,” I said. “We’ll call on you if it comes to that. Say hi to Cordova for us.”
“Will do.” She gave a finger wave, flashing what looked like a woven bracelet on her right wrist. It was blue and green, the colors of a summer ocean with little flecks of ragged beads caught here and there. It was pretty, and just unusual enough, I knew it was handmade. Maybe knitted.
A group of eight people laughed up to the door, and we did that crowded elevator thing to get out of the shop so they could squeeze in.
Which put us right in front of the brass bell. There was a little note on the wall beside it encouraging customers to ring it for luck.
And yes, the bell had been fashioned by a leprechaun who had lost a bet. The bell gave each person a tiny boost in the luck department. Maybe not enough to win the lottery, but enough to notice the glob of gum on the sidewalk before they stepped on it.
But we didn’t need a little luck. We needed a damn miracle if we were going to kill the ancient vampire we still didn’t have a good plan to find, much less stop, while somehow rescuing Ben.
If Ben was even still alive.
“Make a wish,” Jean bumped me with her shoulder once we were on the other side. “Ring the bell.”
I held my breath, made a wish, and rang the bell.
Let Ben be alive. Let us find him in time.
Jean closed her eyes a second and then rang the bell after me. I didn’t have to ask what she wished for. I knew, even if she didn’t, that her heart was full of Hogan.
Chapter 2
“Tell him.”
The bench was positioned on a jut of sidewalk that curved out toward the ocean. A couple of sharp-eyed seagulls landed on the gray stone wall in front of us, laser-focused on the popcorn bags.
We stared down the birds as Jean carefully handed me the caramel corn. The kernels were warm. I popped several in my mouth, chewing slowly, letting the sweet and salt linger.
“Like you told Ryder?”
I made a face at her. “That’s different.”
“You’ve been in love with him for half your life and you didn’t tell him about the monsters under the bed.”
“I was not in love with him,” I lied, “I was infatuated. It was a crush. I wasn’t sure about him. About us. Not enough to risk the secrets of Ordinary.”
“You are so full of shit.” Hard words, but Jean laughed. “Dad told you not to tell Ryder when you were in fifth grade. I remember it. I remember how you stood there and cried, but nodded anyway and then never said a word. You were in love. It wasn’t you who wasn’t sure about Ryder, it was Dad.”
I had mostly for
gotten about that, but now the memory filled me, carrying the sorrow and crushing loss. I had told Dad that I really, really liked Ryder and would like him forever. He had dismissed it as a childish infatuation. I inhaled, exhaled, and released the ache of that long ago moment when my father’s truth and my truth had not aligned.
“Then that’s the question I should be asking. Are you sure that you love him?”
“It can’t be love.” Jean frowned. She leaned her head back and palmed a small pile of cheese popcorn into her mouth.
“Why not?”
She wiped her hand on her jeans, traded me cheese for caramel. “We haven’t known each other long enough.”
“There’s a time requirement for love?”
The wind picked up, grudgingly stirring the heavy wet heat of the day.
“I don’t know. It seems like…yes. You should know a person a…a long time before you say it’s love. It takes time to grow. Years, maybe.”
“Why can’t years happen in a day? Or a month? Or several months? Where did you get the idea that you have to know someone all your life before you can love them?” As soon as it was out of my mouth, I knew. I knew why.
“Ryder and me. Jean, you know he and I have not handled our relationship very…we really haven’t even tried to be a relationship until recently.”
“You’ve known him all your life. He’s known you.” She said it with a sigh of longing. I kind of wanted to smack her out of it.
“You’re ridiculous. Knowing him that long hasn’t made it easier. And it doesn’t make it the only way to fall in love.”
Jean closed her eyes, soaking in the sun. “I missed summer. I’m glad we’ll get a couple weeks of it. Did you make a deal with Thor?”
Total change of subject, the chicken. “Sort of. I told him we’d throw him a big welcome home party next year when he comes back if he’d lay off the water works. I think he got bored and decided to go start a hurricane in the south. Talk to me.” I whacked her with the popcorn bag and the seagulls squawked, cheering for a kernel-spilling fight.
“No.”
“Don’t ignore Hogan. And you loving him. And him loving you and wanting to share his life with you.”
She scowled out at the ocean. No easy feat with the wall of seagulls crowded in front of us, beady black eyes following our every potential popcorn dropping move.
“I’ve never thought of our town as dangerous.” She winced. “That’s so naive.”
“Our town isn’t any more dangerous than any other small town.”
Jean chewed on a few kernels. “Lavius got across our border, Delaney. He found you alone on the beach and he attacked you. He could have killed you.”
“He didn’t kill me. You all got there in time.”
“He didn’t leave you alive because we showed up. If he thought he could have gotten his message across better with you dead, you’d have been dead, even with us standing there.”
Wow. That was difficult to hear.
“It’s…it reminds me too much of Dad,” she said. “He was there, and then…then he was gone. Off a cliff he’d driven along all of his life. You and I both know he didn’t lose control of the car accidentally.”
“What are you saying?”
“Something killed Dad. Something that was here in Ordinary. Something we still haven’t found. And now there’s something that wants you dead too. A vampire of all things. Do you know the last time a vamp from the outside crossed over into Ordinary, challenged Old Rossi and attacked someone?”
“No.”
“I do. Myra told me. It was never. Never, Delaney. This shit doesn’t happen. Except that it did.”
She drew her gaze away from the waves to take a good look at my face and make sure I was paying attention.
I was.
“Crow made a stupid mistake with his power and the god Mithra used that to get his grips on Ryder and make him a warden so that Mithra could have his…whatever…god hands in all our rules and laws and contracts. The newest vampire in town was murdered outside of a gas station. Heimdall, a god, was killed. Ben was attacked and dragged away from Jame, who was left for dead. You got bitten by a vampire.
“Is that enough? Oh, no, it is not enough. You also got shot by a crazy woman and Dad drove off a cliff and died. Dangerous things are piling up around here, Delaney. Lots of them. Way too many of them.”
“The crazy woman was human. Nothing supernaturally dangerous about her.” I was trying to lighten the mood a little because, yeah, that was a big list.
Jean didn’t even smile.
“I thought some things would always be safe in Ordinary. That certain things couldn’t reach us, hurt us. I mean, we have a heap of gods living here. That should count for something.”
“Is that what a group of gods is called? A heap?”
“Shut up. Even though they walk around like mortals and have their powers in cold storage, they still have some influence over the place. Old Rossi has always kept things okay with the vamps because of all the rules he makes them follow. We have werewolves in most of our emergency response departments, a Valkyrie running the community center, and every Thaumas, Dictys and Hylaeus—”
“—those are all centaurs, so pretty much the same thing.”
“—be quiet, I’m on a roll—all sorts of supernatural people, work everything from security to our burger joints.”
“None of the centaurs work at the burger joints.”
And, oh, the look she gave me. I grinned at her and crunched popcorn.
“What I’m saying is there have never been attacks like this, but now….”
I waited, letting her work it out.
“Now everything is different. Nothing is as safe as I thought it was. I don’t want to drag Hogan into that. I like him and I think…keeping him safe, which means keeping him in the dark about stuff is the better thing to do. Until Ordinary is safe again. Until we make it safe again. Then maybe. Maybe then.”
She slumped back against the bench, all out of steam.
“This isn’t like you, Jean.”
“Putting someone else’s safety ahead of my wants? I can be selfless.”
“No, I know that. Giving up on something you want. Someone you want.” Jean was fearless, willing to jump into anything for the fun, for the joy, for the sheer experience no matter what the risks might be. I hated that I’d been a part of shutting down that wild joy inside her.
“Well, it’s me now. It’s me until we make sure this kind of crap doesn’t hurt anyone again.”
“We can do that and still live our lives on our own terms. Just because things go wrong once in a while doesn’t mean we should stop doing and being what we love.”
“I’m not ready to show Hogan how wrong things are yet, okay?”
What was I supposed to do? Force my sister into sharing a secret she didn’t want to share?
Not this time.
She glanced at the bulky watch on her wrist. “Hey. It’s time. Let’s go back to your place.” She shoved a handful of popcorn in her mouth, twisted the bag as she stood, and walked toward the truck.
I knew this whole popcorn and fresh air thing had been a cover to get me out of the house.
“What did you do?”
“Me?” She made big kitten eyes at me. That hadn’t worked since she was five and told me Dad said she should take the carton of ice cream over to the neighbor kids who were sick with chicken pox.
Turned out Dad had not said that, there were no sick neighbor kids, and Jean could down an entire quart of mint chocolate chip ice cream before Myra and I could finish chasing her around the block.
“Why did you drag me out here?”
“For the sunlight. Fresh air. Popcorn.”
“Jean.”
“Just get in the truck. We can go back now.”
“What did you do to my house? Oh, gods, you didn’t move me out of it did you? Like take all my stuff to an underground bunker? Or some weird vampire-proof yurt?”
&n
bsp; She paused with the door open and squinted at me. “If we had either of those things, yeah, I’d probably lock you in one. But we don’t. The yurt idea has merit. Tourist attraction? Vampire camping. Vamping?”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing big. We might have modified a couple teensy little things.”
She ducked into the truck and started the engine.
“What things?” I slammed the door and buckled up. “What things, Jean? What did you modify on my house?”
That house meant a lot to me. It wasn’t much, but it had been my family’s before it became mine, and I didn’t want anyone changing it just because I got attacked by a vampire.
“You hosed it down with garlic and holy water, didn’t you?” I groaned. “I will never get the stink out of the place.”
Jean snorted and made a totally illegal U-turn to head north.
“You spread goofer dust on my roof?”
“Seriously? Goofer dust?”
“You sprinkled salt over the thresholds and window sills?”
“Would that even work?”
“Not on vampires.”
“We didn’t hose, spread, or sprinkle anything, you big baby. Your house is fine.”
“Myra’s behind this, isn’t she? Because if she is, forget those other things, she’s probably installing an electric fence around my property. Oh, gods. Think of the seagulls. So many dead beach chickens.”
“Getting warmer.”
I groaned again and leaned my head against the window. After some time, I muttered, “It’s one bite. One little bite. I don’t need to be wrapped in cotton.”
The muscle at her jaw tightened and so did the corners of her eyes. “Yeah, we’ll see. And you can stop whining now. We’re here.”
Myra’s police cruiser was parked next to my Jeep in the gravel driveway. A van was also parked in front of the empty vacation house across the street. QUICK BROWN LOCKS was painted over the image of a fox with a key in its mouth jumping over a dog sleeping in a lock-shaped dog house.
