Raven Mask

by Winter Pennington

  “Where do you think she is? She’s where she always is. In her office. By the way, it’s noon, not morning.”

  I was wondering why I hadn’t spiked her coffee with Prozac when Rit walked into the room. She was wearing a pair of navy blue slacks with a white button-up blouse that accented her thick waves of black hair. Though it usually fell around her shoulders, today it was pulled back into a tight ponytail that made her coffee-and-cream complexion with its cinnamon highlights glow.

  I held out the cup of coffee to her as a sort of peace offering, a way of apologizing for dumping everything into her lap.

  “Coffee?” I asked.

  Her dark gaze flicked to the cup as she took it. “Extra shot?”

  “Yeah.”

  She gave me a concerned look. “Have you been all right?”

  “I’m fine.” I climbed the stairs and walked toward my office with her.

  “I’ve been a little worried. The last time we spoke you sounded like there’s a lot going on…” It was her way of asking what was happening in my life. Rit was polite and respected my privacy. She wouldn’t demand I tell her everything. If I brushed the comment off, she’d drop it.

  I decided not to. “I’ve been working with the police on another case, and it’s eating a lot of my time. I’m sorry I really haven’t given either June or you an explanation.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I know there’s a reason you asked me to take care of things here for a few days.”

  I plopped into the seat behind my desk. “How’s business?”

  Rit was quiet for several moments. I glanced up and noticed her watching me. “You’re not wearing a gun?”

  I hadn’t bothered to stop by my apartment before coming to work. I still felt naked without the gun, but I refused to tuck it in my pants, and well, guns don’t go in pockets, and purses are a good way to lose one, ask any woman. Somehow, we’re capable of losing elephants in our purses. It’s like magic.

  “No.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked, again.

  “I’m fine. My holster isn’t.”

  “What happened?”

  “The snap broke.”

  I checked my desk calendar to see if June had written anything on it, but it was blank. Yay. The little full-moon symbol marked at the beginning of the month caught my attention. The last full moon, I’d gone out of town to shift like I did every full moon. Rosalin had told me I was welcome to go with the pack, along with Claire, a brand-new wolf she’d taken with her. The wolves gather on the night of the full moon to shift and run through the forest. In truth, we’re pack creatures. The only lone wolves are the ones that choose to be, or the ones that don’t have the connections to join a pack.

  I spared a glance at next month’s calendar. The full moon would be on my birthday in November. Werewolves can sense the full moon like a woman can sense when she’s about to start her menstrual cycle. A few days before the full moon, I get restless. A lot of the time, I try to go running to burn off the restless energy, but the energy won’t dissipate until after a complete shift on the full moon. When the moon mother calls, you obey.

  Rit sat on the other side of the desk and crossed one leg over the other. “What’s going on with the police?”

  The image flashed through my mind. Timothy’s lifeless brown eyes, the slit on his thigh trying to mask the puncture wounds, his youthful body left vulnerable and exposed, a killer’s trophy in the night. Rubbing my temples, I sighed.

  “The police found a boy’s body.” I focused on keeping my tone even and undisturbed by the visions in my head.

  “What’s the boy’s name?”

  “Nelson. Timothy Nelson. Why? Have you heard something? It hasn’t been on the news, has it?”

  She nodded again. “It’s been on the news, but that’s not how I heard of it.” She paused. “Kassandra, his older brother was here.”

  “Here?” I pointed at my desk.

  “Yes. He came in to speak with you about his kid brother’s case, but since you weren’t here I talked to him. His brother’s murder is one of the ones I’m dealing with.”

  “Avani.” I rarely called her by her first name, and I hoped it would help drive the seriousness of my point across. “You need to drop it.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m already covering it. Why the hell would his brother come here? Is that the one that was away at college? Texas University?”

  “Same one. Why do I need to drop it?” Her expression turned suspicious. “What do you know that I don’t?”

  I got up and closed the office door. If I told her, I didn’t want anyone to overhear, even if it was just June downstairs. You never know when something supernatural might come in. Granted, most of the business we did was with humans, and I’ve had to turn away a lot of potential clients just because they wanted me to tell them whether their house was haunted. There were still a lot of “not humans” out there, and any one of them could show up at any time.

  “Do you remember the last time I took a few days off work?” When she nodded, I continued. “I was investigating a killing out near the Nelsons’ family home. They didn’t have any connection to the killing, and it wasn’t anyone they knew well. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Mrs. Nelson practically threw me out of her house.” I shook my head. “I met Timothy. Rit.” I nearly choked on the words. “It was there.” I forced the words out of my mouth. “I saw it. I knew it. I sensed it. I tried to warn him…”

  I hugged myself, closing my eyes.

  Her hand was on my shoulder, a gentle touch. “Kassandra, what was in his eyes?”

  “Curiosity. When I mentioned that a werewolf had to have made the attack, he pressed me for more information. I told him to be careful. I should’ve told his parents.” I looked at my desk. “No matter how neurotic Mrs. Nelson seemed, I should’ve warned one of them that Timothy was curious and to watch him, but I didn’t.” My throat was tight. “I told a sixteen-year-old with an insatiable curiosity about monsters not to do anything stupid.” I blinked, which only made my vision blur.

  Distantly, I was aware that Rit had put her arms around me, pulling me against her. “It’s not your fault,” she murmured. “It is not your fault.”

  I don’t do well with compassion, and hers broke through the careful walls I’d built around myself. No matter how untouchable people try to convince themselves they are, they are not. Whether it is a werewolf, vampire, or human, pain is pain. Heartache is heartache. The question I’d feared thinking swam to the surface of my mind like some great oceanic beast. Could I have saved Timothy’s life if I had acted differently? If I hadn’t shrugged him off with a quick be careful, would he still be alive? If I had told someone to watch him, would it have kept him safe?

  I closed my eyes as tears threatened to break free. I would not cry, damn it. I would not. I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself, feeling Rit’s arms around me like a friendly anchor. My body jerked with a silent sob. I could never truly open up to Rit, because she had no idea I was a werewolf, and I was pretty sure I would break up our little office. And I liked Rit. We weren’t close, but I’m not really close to anyone.

  I heard the door open before June’s voice carried into the room. “Someone’s here to see you, Kass. She says she’s a friend.”

  Rit turned at the hip. “She’ll be out in a minute.”

  June grumbled unhappily as she left, but I didn’t think Rit heard her.

  “You know this isn’t your fault.” She brought my attention back to her. “I’ll drop the case if that’s what you want.”

  “I’m not asking you just because I’m already working on it, Rit. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  She squeezed my shoulder and stepped back. “I know.”

  “Good.” I wiped my eyes, glad I’d decided not to wear makeup. Mascara is a bitch when you cry, no matter how much a brand promises it’s waterproof. There is virtually no such thing. If you cry, you still end up looking li
ke a raccoon.

  “You should talk to the brother,” she added. “There were things he refused to tell me. I told him I couldn’t help find his brother’s killer unless he shared everything. He’s pretty determined to talk to you.”

  “That’s fine.” My voice was hollow.

  “You want me to schedule an appointment?”

  “Yeah, see if he can make it this afternoon.”

  Noises outside the door made both of us turn to look.

  June raised her voice. “You can’t just go up there!”

  “I’m a friend!” Rosalin said. “Would you stop pulling on my shirt?”

  “Get your ass back in that lobby.” June still wasn’t yelling, but she was getting close.

  “If you don’t let go of my shirt,” Rosalin growled, “I’ll take the damn thing off! I told you, I’m her friend. She won’t get pissed.” There were sounds of a struggle, then she said, “Lady, you need to take a freaking chill pill!”

  “I’m about to show you a freaking chill pill.” June sounded like she was ready to knock Rosalin through the wall.

  Rit looked at me. “Friend?”

  “Yep.” I tried not to smile, but damn, it was hard.

  Rit laughed. “Are you going to save her?”

  I thought about it. “Nope. She can take care of herself. They both can.”

  Rosalin burst through the door holding June in a fireman’s carry. She was pounding on Rosalin’s back. “Put me down!”

  I bit my bottom lip, trying not to laugh. Rit attempted to cover hers by pretending to cough.

  “Would you tell her I’m a friend?” Rosalin pleaded.

  “June?” I took a step forward. “I’d like to introduce you to my friend Rosalin.”

  June’s hand resembled a snake about to strike.

  “June!” I was too late. She hit Rosalin’s ass with a loud smack, and Rosalin’s eyes flew wide with shock as she dropped June, catching her just soon enough to break her fall.

  “What the fuck did you do that for?” she asked.

  I went around the desk to help June, but she swatted my hands away. I retreated, holding them up in surrender and backing off.

  She got to her feet on her own, turning on Rosalin. “You deserved it! I told you to wait in the lobby. You should’ve listened to me. I don’t care if you’re the President of the United States. If I tell you to wait in the damn lobby, I mean it.”

  “You smacked my ass,” Rosalin said.

  “You’re damn right I did!” She shoved a finger into Rosalin’s sternum. “You,” poke, “wouldn’t,” poke, “put me down,” poke.

  Rosalin tried to get out of June’s reach. “Look.” She put her hands up as I had earlier. June had a way of making people surrender, even big bad werewolves. “I just wanted to talk to Kassandra. I told you I’m one of her friends. I told you she wouldn’t mind if I just came up here.”

  “Next time, you listen to me, you got that? If I tell you to sit and wait—you sit down and do just that. I work here. You don’t. I’m doing you a service. Therefore, you listen to me.”

  “Fine, whatever. Just get out of my face, please.”

  June turned an angry look on me. “Your friends!” She tossed an angrier look at Rosalin, practically stomping out of the room.

  “Is she always like that?”

  “Yes,” Rit said.

  “June has a hot temper,” I said.

  “Gee, really?” Rosalin asked. “That woman needs to get laid.”

  “Why do you always think everyone’s problem is that they need to get laid?”

  “Because it is.”

  Rit laughed. “You’ve got balls.”

  Rosalin looked as if she had eaten something sour. “I don’t like balls,” she said, then grinned. “I’ve got pussy.”

  “No,” Rit corrected her, “anyone that stands up to June like that has to have balls.”

  Rosalin looked a little green around the edges. “That’s just…gross.”

  Rit laughed again. “A lesbian friend, I take it?” she asked me.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know what her sexual preference is.” It was true. I mean, I knew she liked women, but she could’ve been bisexual.

  “I am a lesbian,” Rosalin said, giving me a look that said I was supposed to know better, or something. “I thought I had made that obvious.”

  “Rosalin…” I warned.

  “That kind of friend?” Rit asked.

  Rosalin said, “No, Kassandra already has a girlfriend.”

  “When did you get a girlfriend? The last I knew you were happily single.”

  “Long story. One day, I might tell it to you. For now,” I looked at Rosalin, “what do you want?”

  “To see you.” She was smiling sweetly. Yeah, right, like I believed the innocent werewolf act for an instant. I stared at her for several moments.

  “Rosalin. Why are you here?”

  “I told you, I wanted to see you.”

  “That may be true.” I fixed her with a hard look. “But that’s not all.”

  Rosalin continued to smile.

  Rit clasped her hands together. “Well, I’ll leave you two to your awkward silence. It was nice meeting you, Rosalin.” Rit moved around her to walk out the door, then looked back at me, shaking her head before disappearing into the hall.

  “I want to take you to lunch,” Rosalin said finally. “Honest, that’s it. Lenorre didn’t ask me to spy on you or anything. If she wanted someone to do that she would’ve sent Zaphara.”

  “You want to take me to lunch? What do you plan to do? Give me a piggyback ride?” The last I checked, she didn’t have a car.

  “I’ll pass on that. I’m not scared of your driving.”

  I was quiet.

  Rosalin sighed. “You know, this isn’t as difficult as you’re making it. Do you want to go to lunch with me or not?” She put her hands impatiently on her hips. “I promise, I won’t pounce on you or start table dancing or whatever scenario you’re—Kassandra? Why are you looking at me like that?”

  I couldn’t help it. I lost my cool and started laughing.

  “What? What did I do?”

  “Rosalin, I’ll go to lunch with you.”

  “Then why didn’t you just tell me that to begin with?”

  “And miss this?” I put my hands on my hips and pushed my bottom lip out at her.

  “I wasn’t doing that.”

  “Uh-huh.” I grabbed my coat, then put it on.

  “I wasn’t...”

  I snatched my keys and started heading for the door. “Since I’m driving that means you’re buying, right?”

  *

  I drove the few blocks it took to get to the Skyline Café. At one of the tables outside, a couple laughed together. An older man took a sip of his drink, reading the newspaper. We walked through the glass door and up the stairs that led to the roof.

  I hadn’t felt dressed up next to Rit, but next to Rosalin I did. She wore a long-sleeved black shirt layered under a light pink short-sleeved tee. The pink T-shirt had three black rings around the sleeves. The back of the shirt had the word BITER written in black letters, like the last name on a sports jersey. A pair of light blue flare-legged jeans clung to her figure. Her black, pink, and white skate shoes matched perfectly. I felt better that I wasn’t the only one over twenty that owned a pair of skate shoes.

  “How’d you get a ride?” I asked, waiting for the hostess.

  “Trevor. He had to go to The Two Points to help put up decorations.”

  “Ah.”

  A blond-haired girl with lips painted a shade of pink that was brighter than Rosalin’s T-shirt smiled at us and asked cheerily, “Two?” We weaved through the crowd of round tables and chairs to a spot in the middle. “Is this all right?”

  “It’s fine,” I told her. “Diet Coke for me and…”

  “Water,” Rosalin took her seat, “extra lemon.”

  The waitress smiled again and placed the menus on the table. “I’ll br
ing them right out. My name is Leslie. I’ll be your waitress this afternoon.”

  “Thanks, Leslie,” Rosalin said. With one last smile Leslie left to get our drinks. I opened the menu, trying to decide what I wanted to eat.

  “When did you start drinking diet? It’s not like you need it.”

  I glanced away from the menu to look at Rosalin. “I always have.”

  “Why?”

  “The corn syrup in regular cola makes me nauseous.”

  “Oh.”

  When Leslie returned with our drinks we placed our orders. Skyline Café had a variety of foods, from pasta to burgers. It amused me to find that Rosalin and I had both been checking out the list of steaks. We both ordered the eight-ounce sirloin, medium rare, with baked potatoes.

  “Why didn’t you join a pack?” She plucked a lemon from the small saucer and squeezed it into her water.

  I looked around to make sure I didn’t see anyone I knew. I didn’t but still kept my voice low. “I’ve come out of a lot of closets and put my job on the line more than once.” I shrugged. “It used to seem important to be able to be who I was without fearing rejection or oppression. It still is, but I’ve learned to keep work and my personal life separate.”

  “You’re afraid joining a…group,” she said carefully, “would make everyone look at you funny and suspect you’re a…witch?”

  I smiled at her discretion. “Something like that. I just don’t want it interfering with what I do for a living. I mean, a lot of people have accepted that I’m Pagan and lesbian.” I took a sip of my Diet Coke. “My life is complicated enough. I don’t want to complicate it further. I’m solitary and have been for years.”

  “True, but by being solitary you’ve alienated yourself from your community.” She glanced around. “Kassandra, look at them. We’re not like them.”

  “I know. We are and we aren’t.”

  I gazed out across the array of tables and listened to a woman with her child order a tofu burger. They were on the other side of the rooftop, and the woman was soft-spoken. A human wouldn’t have heard them from where Rosalin and I were sitting.