by Sarah Biglow
“Thanks for trying anyway,” I said and stood up.
“Detective, I know you blame me for what happened with Adrian. And I know I deserve some of that blame. I should have realized that something was off after not hearing from him for so long. But I have to believe if he were still alive, he would regret what he did.”
“Guess he’s lucky he’s dead then,” I muttered.
Nine
I waited for Avery to join me. When she appeared her face was resigned, and she kept her gaze cast down. “I’m sorry I dragged you here for basically nothing,” she said once we were outside.
“It was worth a shot,” I answered just as my phone buzzed with an incoming text from J.T. I swiped to open the message to find a bunch of emojis which I interpreted to mean he wanted to go out for dinner.
“I’ll let you know if anything else comes from looking into the Order,” I said and stepped away to give him a call.
“So, I’m guessing that’s a no to dinner?” J.T. said when he picked up.
“I’ve got plans with Jacquie tonight at eight, but if it’s beforehand I’m totally in,” I answered.
“I’m off shift at four. I can run home and change. Then meet you wherever you want.”
I had a place in mind. “Hope you’ve got some extra cash laying around, because the place I’m thinking of is pretty high-end.”
“After everything we’ve been through, we deserve it. Text me the address and I’ll meet you there.”
“It’s a date.”
Visiting Natalia had been a bust, but maybe dinner with my fiancé was exactly what I needed. I had a couple hours to kill before then, so I headed home to get ready. Avery still loitered on the sidewalk, like she was waiting for me to dismiss her.
“We’re going to figure this out,” I said, hoping my words were enough to keep her from running off and trying anything crazy.
“I was just so sure she’d be the answer,” Avery sighed and pushed her glasses up her nose. Finally giving me a small wave, she trudged up the street away from the shop.
The drive home was eerily silent. I couldn’t help glancing at the pendant’s reflection in the rearview mirror as I pulled into the parking spot. Had I screwed things up for Des by trying to keep his magic safe?
Standing in front of the bedroom mirror an hour and a half later trying to get my eyeliner just right reminded me of how much time I don’t take for myself. I hadn’t gotten dressed up like this, let alone gone out on a date in months. Not since before Desmond’s death. Part of me feared that any celebration of the life J.T. and I were going to start together dishonored his memory and that I shouldn’t be celebrating.
“You look amazing,” J.T. said from the doorway.
I fumbled the eyeliner pencil and turned to look at him, my cheeks burning in embarrassment. “I feel kind of silly all dressed up.”
He closed the distance between us, still in his paramedic uniform and pulled me in for a kiss. “We could always just say to hell with a fancy dinner and stay in.” His serious bedroom eyes told me in no uncertain terms just what his idea of a night in entailed.
“We should go out and enjoy ourselves though,” I replied, leaning back against his embrace to study his face.
“So, what are these plans you’ve got with Jacquie tonight?” He began unbuttoning his shirt and I couldn’t help ogling him. The shirt hit the floor, revealing the flimsy undershirt covering his chest and upper arms.
“Uh, a work thing,” I answered as he tugged the undershirt off.
“Got it,” he said and went hunting through the closet for a dress shirt. I wanted to protest, to say that he was right, and we should never leave the apartment, but I needed to see what I could find out about the Order’s meeting place.
“Not everything has to be about work you know,” Grandma’s voice said from off to my left.
“You have terrible timing,” I ground out through pursed lips.
“What’d you say?” J.T. asked, turning around as he buttoned the sleeves of his shirt.
“Nothing. I need to go to the bathroom, then I’ll be ready to go,” I said and darted out for the room.
Grandma was already present when I slammed the door shut. “Seriously, I am glad you aren’t alive, because holy crap you are such a buzzkill.”
Her aviators slid down the bridge of her nose. “Girl, you’re the one forcing yourself to drag that very sweet man outside in the cold to dig for answers that you yourself don’t really believe will be there.”
“I am not,” I answered, but I knew the words were total bullshit the moment they left my mouth.
“I’m trying to get justice for Desmond, and I keep hitting walls. But don’t I owe it to him to keep trying? To keep searching?”
“Course you do, Ezzie. But that doesn’t mean you can give up your own life, your own happiness in the process. Now, either keep that man home all night or just enjoy a fancy dinner together. Leave the work and the justice seeking at the door for a few hours.”
I wanted to argue, but I knew I’d been beaten. She was right. I’d been burying myself in Desmond’s case just like I had my mother’s. I could say I was keeping J.T. in my life this time, but I was only using our relationship to get what I wanted. He deserved better than that.
“You okay in there?” J.T. called through the closed door.
“Fine,” I answered and checked my hair before opening the door. “We don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” I blurted, taking in the fact not only was he in a dress shirt, but he’d put on a jacket and tie.
“You wanted to go out, so we go out.”
I bit my lower lip. “I kind of suggested this place, because it might be a meeting place for higher-level Order members … and it’s related to me digging into Desmond’s case.”
“Ezri, I have known since you suggested it. You don’t think I knew there was a reason you wanted to go to one of the highest price steakhouses in the city out of nowhere?”
“You did?”
“Am I happy you couldn’t just tell me the truth? No. But, honestly, I’m used to it. It’s part of who you are, for better or worse. And I’m pretty sure that’s part of the vows we are going to make to each other.”
I shook my head and leaned in to kiss him. “I really don’t deserve you. But, I promise, no sleuthing while we are there. Just a nice dinner.”
“I’m going to hold you to that. Now come on, our ride is waiting.”
“What ride?”
He grinned. “You’ll see.”
I wasn’t expecting the freaking limo sitting outside in our parking lot. If he hadn’t already proposed to me three months ago, I would have suspected he was going to pop the question tonight. I let him help me in and accepted the tiny glass of champagne sitting on the limo bar.
“To us,” he toasted and clinked glasses.
“To us.”
The bubbles fizzed in my nose and it took everything I had not sneeze into the glass. Some types of alcohol just don’t agree with me. J.T. sat beside me and scooped my left hand into his right, running his finger over the band on my ring finger.
“I know things haven’t been normal since Desmond died, but I have to believe he’d want us to be happy, right?”
“Of course, he would,” I answered leaning my head against his shoulder.
“I know you aren’t one to rush into decisions and you asked to put things for our wedding on hold, but we still don’t know exactly what you’re facing.”
I smiled and felt tears prick the backs of my eyes. “I’ve been thinking the same thing actually,” I admitted.
“You have?” He shifted to gaze down at me.
“Yeah. I know what I said and all, but the truth is I think I was just trying to deny whatever was coming. And I don’t really want to have to plan a wedding. It’s too much drama figuring out who to invite, and who sits where and all that stuff. I just want it to be us, maybe some witnesses down at City Hall.” My cheeks flushed as the words fell out of my mo
uth. I hadn’t wanted to acknowledge those feelings, especially not to him. I didn’t want to crush his expectations.
“That’s all I want, too. Our families and close friends. Whatever is coming for you, I don’t want you to face it alone. I want to be there with you, as your husband.”
I smiled up at him and a giddy laugh escaped. “So uh, how about we take some time off tomorrow and get married?”
“Sounds perfect.”
The limo stopped and the driver climbed out of the vehicle, rounding the back to open our door. He offered me a gloved hand and I took it, giving him a little curtsy as I stepped onto the curb. I had never felt so important before and I was the Savior of the whole magical community. J.T. stepped up beside me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders before ushering us inside and out of the cold.
As the revolving door spun behind us, I came to a very important realization. Wanting to eat here, no matter the reason, was all well and good, but it probably took reservations months in advance.
“Two, under the name Somers,” J.T. said casually to the hostess.
She glanced down at her chart and gave a nod. “May we take your coats?”
“Thank you,” he replied and slid mine off my shoulders. He started to offer my purse to the coat check when I snatched it back. I was meeting Jacquie later on police business and this dress didn’t exactly have lots of places to hide a gun. I didn’t normally keep it in my purse, but I figured J.T. would be upset about the thigh holster.
“Right this way,” she said and waved us past the podium.
“How the hell did you get a reservation here on like two hours’ notice?” I whispered as we followed the woman past large round tables for six or eight people and into the back at a cozy table for two.
He waited until the hostess had seated us before answering. “I got lucky. My partner Lily pulled an extra shift a couple months ago, saved the life of one of the owners of this place. I got her to pull in a favor to get us a reservation short notice.”
“I knew there was a reason I loved you,” I sighed.
He kept smiling at me across the candle-lit centerpiece, the sort of dopey school-boy grin that I couldn’t help but mirror back to him. I’d been so focused on all the negative things in my life, I had forgotten to relish the good.
“I know you promised to not focus on work tonight while we’re here, but have you found anything else out that could help solve the case?”
I shook my head. “Only dead ends. Reuben Wickham has completely lost his magic. And his memory of ever having it. I thought maybe Avery might have gone a little rogue, but it happened way before she knew anything about him being involved. And we went to see this necromancer, Adrian’s cousin. But she couldn’t sense Desmond in the spirit realm.”
“What does that mean?”
“She wasn’t sure, other than it had never happened before. I don’t know, maybe since he bound his family magic to an object and because he put the rest of his power into the pendant he’s bound here somehow? I just wish he’d show his face and talk to me.”
“For a therapist, he wasn’t the best at communicating with other people sometimes,” J.T. mused.
“I may have had issues, but he had his own drama, too.”
The conversation halted as a waiter in a navy vest and tie appeared to take our drink orders and deliver menus. It was so perfectly normal, I tried to cling to it and savor everything.
“So, what sounds good? I was thinking steak. It is a steakhouse after all,” J.T. rambled adorably across the table.
“I was going to go all seafood.” I glanced at the prices and paled. “Or not.”
“Get whatever you want. Don’t worry about the price,” J.T. said and squeezed my hand.
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.”
Lobster tail and crab legs with a side of sautéed shrimp it is. Our waiter reappeared with our drinks and dutifully took our order before disappearing from view again. I took the time to survey our surroundings. It was a well-appointed dining area with soft neutral tone carpeting and warm wood paneled walls. The lighting was set at just the right level to be inviting, but not too bright or too dim to impact reading. Even the music was kept at a respectable level and played some light classical tune I didn’t recognize.
“I’ll be right back, I need to find the bathroom,” I announced.
Our waiter materialized at my side, making my heart skip a beat. I was about to accuse him of eavesdropping when I realized he was already bringing our meals.
“Is everything all right, Miss?”
“Yes. Just need to make a trip to the ladies’ room,” I answered, trying to get my heart to calm down.
“Very good. Take the spiral staircase up to the second floor. It is the last door all the way on the right when you reach the landing.’
“Great, thanks.” I turned to J.T. “There better still be food on my plate when I get back.”
He feigned a wounded look. “I would never.”
I shook my head at his expression and marched up the stairs to follow the waiter’s directions. I paused at a door marked ‘Private.’ I could hear voices from within. They were low, but still audible. I was about to ignore them when the word ‘magic’ caught my ear. I knew I shouldn’t listen in. It could be a discussion about anything. They might not even be talking about real magic. Yet, my curiosity got the better of me.
“Just for a minute,” I murmured to myself.
A high-pitched female voice was speaking. “Are we really going to let this go on?”
“Like we have a choice? You want to go up against … that thing?”
“I happen to like remembering all of this.” As the woman spoke the last word something clattered beyond the closed doorway and I could swear I caught a whiff of aloe.
Definitely real magic.
The reference to a thing and memory signaled Reuben’s odd condition in my mind. Maybe he hadn’t been the only one affected back before Desmond’s death? If that was the case, perhaps that death creature was slowly siphoning magic from the rest of the Order? But why?
“I have to get going. I’m late for another meeting,” the man said, and I could hear the abrupt scrape of chair legs against the floor.
I turned, not wanting to be caught and remembering I actually needed to use the bathroom when I spotted Theodora Harrow standing at the end of the hallway. I hurried toward her and found the door to the women’s room. I darted inside to find the rest of the stalls empty.
“You have some insight you just couldn’t wait to share?” I whispered.
“You made a promise to your betrothed that you would leave the mystery unsolved for the evening,” she quipped. For the first time since she’d begun popping up in June, she gave me a disapproving look.
“I didn’t break that promise. I just lingered before coming in here.” I gestured to the nearest stall. “Speaking of, do you mind? I do actually have to go.”
She turned her back and I slid into the stall. “So, do you have any idea how this creature could be removing everyone’s entire memories of magic?” I sort of understood the mechanics behind removing their memories of the attack, but to take their entire recollection of magic itself seemed unnecessarily cruel. Especially if that memory loss spread down through the victim’s entire family tree.
“I am afraid I have never witnessed such magic being done. After the trials, we had to keep our gifts hidden away. Even the Order was subtle in their methods at the start.” She stopped speaking. Only with the way her words fell off, I could tell she wanted to say something else.
“Whatever it is, I’m a big girl and I can take it,” I said and stepped out of the stall over to the tiny sink.
“I think you may be distracting yourself with trying to right a wrong instead of preparing for the battle that looms.”
“You sound like that thing who keeps showing up in my head.”
“I can feel the fear it instills within you. I do not have such an aim.
I want you to be ready to face whatever comes.”
“But how can I face it if I don’t know what really happened to Desmond?” I swallow the lump in my throat as a thought flashed through my brain. “What if this is the last chance I’ve got?”
“You believe you will be asked to pay the price of a life?” Theodora’s voice diminished so much in pitch I almost thought I’d imagined it.
“Something about the words the last of Harrow’s blood flowing forevermore doesn’t exactly instill me with hope.” Maybe I’d avoided trying to figure out the prophecy this long, because I didn’t want that to be the outcome. I was only twenty-five years old, far too young to die.
“My sister was not much older than you when they hung her,” Theodora breathed.
“It’s not a trend I’m eager to continue.”
“May I pose a different question?”
I gestured for her to continue and she clasped her hands in front of her.
“If the Order has been dismantled in this way, is that perhaps a good thing?”
“I have no love lost for them. They’re a bunch of greedy assholes who enjoy hurting people for fun. And I can’t say I’m broken up about some of the heavy hitters being taken out of play, but magic is part of a person’s makeup, just like their eye color or hair color. It’s not supposed to be stripped away. There may be less evil in the world, but if this death creature is actually stealing their power, it’s increasing its own and that is far more dangerous.”
“You may be correct,” she sighed.
“I need to get back to J.T. before he decides I’ve drowned in the toilet and steals my food.”
That at least brought a smile to Theodora’s lips before she disappeared. The pendant around my neck warmed slightly against my skin and I took it to mean she was having a good laugh at me with the rest of the family.
When I descended the stairs by our table, I saw J.T. poking at his steak.
“Sorry about that,” I apologized as I settled across from him.
He looked up from his food. “Are you okay?”
I leaned closer to the candle flickering between us and whispered, “Impromptu family reunion.” I tapped the pendant for emphasis.
