by Amber Kizer
“Not until we’ve all talked about it,” Meridian said, and shook her head.
My opinion was dismissed as the pros and cons were battled around. I lost my appetite, counting the minutes until the pizza arrived. Until they’d eaten their fill and decisions were made. Events with the Nocti are rising again. No one knows why.
I wanted to meet Fara. Decide for myself. Make up my own mind.
Tens finally took pity on me and suggested he go get her.
“No. You can’t bring her here,” Tony objected. “Not until we know more about her. Juliet is just starting to get comfortable.”
Really? News to me. “But—” I tried to argue.
“Juliet can’t walk on that foot,” Nelli pointed out.
“We do have her bags …,” Meridian suggested, and let it hang in the open space as everyone heard her and thought of the invasion, the line that going through her bags crossed.
I leapt to my feet, putting all of my weight on my wound, showing no weakness even though a light sweat broke out along my scalp. “I want to see her bags. Now.”
Meridian winced as if she regretted suggesting it.
“Okay,” Tens said. “I’ll get them, but I think we’re invading her privacy.”
“She dared us to, Tens.” Meridian shrugged.
He nodded, his expression closed and hard to read. “Fine.” He headed out the front door and I sat back down.
“Don’t get your hopes up,” Meridian said to me.
What does she mean by that? Maybe Fara wasn’t here sooner because she, too, knows I’m not worthy. She knows how damaged I am.
CHAPTER 13
“An extra pair of combat boots, enough metal jewelry to remold into a jumbo jet, and a wardrobe from Madonna’s 1986 closet,” I huffed. Nothing incriminating.
“I told you she’s one of us,” Tens scolded me.
I almost stuck my tongue out at him. “I didn’t expect to find a Nocti membership badge.” But maybe something, anything that lent a little suspicion. There’s nothing. Just the bags of a girl who shopped at thrift stores and collected shiny objects like a magpie.
Juliet sniffed a sweater but abruptly stopped when she realized I was watching her. I raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. She’d stolen my scarf, hidden merchandise from Helios, and stashed the flora and fauna of the creek under her bed. What else is she hiding? Why?
“How do we know we can trust Fara? You’re sure you felt a connection?” Tony asked Tens, having a complete change of heart.
“On my grandfather Tyee, she’s like me.” Tens nodded.
Tony and Tyee served in Vietnam together. Tyee saved Tony’s life, and it was this long-standing relationship that brought Tens and Tony together.
Tony crossed himself. “We must have faith. If you say she’s worth trusting, that must be good enough for me. Why don’t we put her bags in the guest room while you go get her from the coffee shop?”
“I’m sure she can stay at Joi’s house while they’re gone. I don’t know how comfortable I am with her here.” Nelli’s anxiety notched up a level. “What if she’s—”
“Does anyone care what I think?” Juliet’s face flushed bright red. “If she’s my Protector, then she should be near me. Unless Tens is going to go to Joi’s too?” Her defiance felt overblown, but I understood her view. Juliet has to fight everything. She knows no other way of life.
“It’s a risk,” I pointed out.
Juliet simply stared me down.
“Okay, Juliet wants her here.” I shrugged. I wasn’t going to argue, and no way in hell was Tens leaving the cottage. My man stays with me.
Tens nodded. “She’s just down at Book ’n’ Bean. I’ll be right back.” He brushed a hand against mine as he left the condo.
“Why don’t we hang the Spirit Stone in the front hallway?” Nelli moved toward the living room. “That way everyone who enters must pass by it.”
Bad people don’t make the glass darken, nor do good people make it lighten. Only Nocti or Fenestra changed the light within. But whatever, Nelli was nervous.
“We’ll unpack Fara’s things.” Juliet began taking stacks of clothes into the room across the hall from hers. “That way it won’t be like we snooped.”
“She won’t have any idea,” I muttered under my breath, grabbing boots and another scuffed leather jacket full of metal spikes. Juliet needed a Protector who was nurturing and cuddly. Someone who would give her confidence and teach her to navigate this world. I felt like Juliet lived most of her life in a very nasty bubble. The last thing she needed was arrogant, cocky, know-it-all Fara.
“Can Protectors be female?” I asked no one in particular.
“We’ve found evidence of male Fenestra,” Rumi answered me from the hall. He didn’t need a ladder to hang a hook in the high ceiling, only a footstool.
But is Fara Juliet’s soul mate? Like Tens is mine? Or does that have to happen? Can you have a soul mate who isn’t also a lover? Juliet loved Kirian, but he was human. A fallible manipulated innocent who hadn’t stood a chance against Ms. Asura and her cohorts.
My thoughts tumbled over themselves, twisting, knotting, tangling, and giving me a headache. A very human throb at the base of my neck.
Juliet disappeared with her canvas satchel into her bedroom and shut the door. I thought about knocking but decided to give her a minute alone. Each change seemed to take a lot out of her.
Tens came back less than five minutes later, Fara in tow. She marched in, filling the spaces with bravado and conceit as if she belonged and we had no say in the matter.
“That was fast,” I said by way of greeting.
“There’s a GPS tracking bug in my bag. I was already outside.” She shrugged.
My jaw dropped.
“Nah, I just like old spy movies they show late at night. But Dark could do that, so we’ll have to be more careful.” Fara straightened when she realized there were more people in the room. She considered each face, dismissing us quickly. Clearly she thought she knew what Juliet looked like.
I half expected her to crack her knuckles and pop her neck like she was preparing to go into a boxing ring.
“Welcome.” Tony was the first to hold out his hand. “Juliet is like a daughter to me. You’ll care for her to the utmost of your abilities?”
Fara nodded, taking his hand. “Fara Vishi. I will.”
“Lass, I’m Rumi.” Rumi engulfed her in a bear hug that made me giggle. Fara’s stiff acceptance made me think she wasn’t used to such displays of affection.
“Where is she?” Fara let herself be guided toward the couch.
Nelli answered, “We have a few questions for you first.”
Juliet was still nowhere around. I excused myself to find her, and after knocking on her door, opened it.
She was in her bedroom, rocking back and forth with her arms around her knees. I knew Tony wanted her to feel at home, but he’d decorated the room as if a six-year-old had requested a theme of unicorns, princesses, and Laffy Taffy. But the interior decorating wasn’t making her cry.
“Fara’s in the living room,” I said quietly, trying not to startle her.
Tears clung to her bottom lashes as she raised her head and wiped her eyes on her T-shirt.
“What’s wrong?”
“Bad day,” she said so quietly the words floated before drifting away.
“Are you worried about Fara being corrupt? Tens swears he knows she’s one of the good guys. The Spirit Stone didn’t do anything when she walked under it either.” Not like it would.
“No, I … just …”
Don’t interrupt her; let her speak. I slouched down, trying to give her more room to get the words out. Sometimes Juliet seemed like a wild animal.
“Never mind.” Juliet shook her head.
“No, I want to know,” I pushed. She couldn’t keep shutting me out. It was as if we took one step forward and two steps back.
“I thought when my Protector got here I’d feel b
etter. Like it would fix everything. And she didn’t fix anything. Nothing!” Juliet raised her voice and tossed a pillow.
Not sure what to do with her anger, I shook my head. “Tens and I fought when we first met. It wasn’t easy and it certainly didn’t make everything better.”
She nodded.
What is she really thinking? “I wish I could make this simpler for you. I do. Just talk to me, okay? Tell me what you need. Let me try to help?” How do I prove I’m her sister?
“Okay.”
“Promise?” I asked, holding up my pinkie, mimicking Bodie and Sema’s new swearing ritual.
She gave a tiny smile and hooked her finger. “Promise.”
“Want to go meet her now?” I asked.
“No.” Juliet stood and put all her weight on the toes of her foot. She stumbled, losing her balance, then righted herself with a frown and a shallow breath.
“We need to get you crutches, don’t we?” I suggested, already knowing she’d shoot me down. Juliet didn’t like relying on anyone, let alone anything.
“It’s not that bad. Nothing a little chocolate frozen custard with red grapes can’t fix.” She offered a gentle smile that apologized for not trusting me more.
“I’ll run down and get a pint from Auntie Em’s.” Taking a custard order seemed the least I could do.
After taking my hand, Juliet followed me down the hall toward the living room. It felt as though she were preparing herself for another blow, sinking deeper into her center away from the rough edges life kept brushing against her.
Fara stopped midsentence as we entered the room. I was struck by the sight of Mini sitting in Fara’s lap and Custos licking her face. Okay, I get it. She’s good.
I waited to move nearer to Tens until Juliet dropped my hand and stepped toward Fara.
Closing the distance, Fara reached into a pocket in her skirt and held out a cellophane baggy. “I brought you dark-chocolate-covered raisins. Sorry, they’re a little melty.”
Juliet relaxed. “These are my favorite.”
Fara nodded and I think blushed. All the adults stared with smiles that spoke of relief, of resolution.
“Who else wants frozen custard?” I asked loudly, making a big display of taking orders, trying to give Juliet and Fara a moment to adjust to each other without an audience.
Tens followed my lead, tucking hair behind my ears as we walked down Main. “What do you think?”
“She’s not what I wanted for Juliet,” I answered honestly.
He guffawed. “Like I was what you wanted?”
“Good point.” We’d danced and crackled around each other like a match put to kindling.
Tens and I returned with cold bags and individually dished custard from down the street.
Fara was finishing a story about her upbringing. “I’ve been trained my whole life for this job. I expected it to happen later, though, when I was older and my father finished teaching—” She broke off, glancing down at her hands.
I handed her a dish of chocolate.
She placed a dainty spoonful in her mouth and her eyes widened. “What is this? It’s better than iced cream.”
“Frozen custard—the secret is in the recipe,” Rumi answered her. “Not the same thing as ice cream; it’s our mana from heaven in the summers.”
She nodded, digging deeper into the cup.
Juliet didn’t touch hers but watched it melt.
“So it’s your family’s business? Being Protectors?” I asked.
“Yeah, a calling I think, in blood?”
“It’s in your blood?” I clarified.
She nodded, smothering a yawn with a quick apology. It is late.
“How long have you been training? How will you protect Juliet?” Tony asked.
“Can you read her thoughts like Tens is supposed to do with Meridian?” Rumi asked.
“What about Nocti? Have you met any of them? Killed them?” Nelli added.
“How do we know we can trust you?” Tony added.
They all talked over each other.
Fara put her custard down and inhaled. “I cannot prove I am who I say I am. But I am here, and if you ask me to leave, I will sleep on that bench out there. I will be here every day. I will be respectful but I will know where Juliet is at all times. My father swore on Zoroaster, as did his father, and his father back forever. We give our lives to Dey, the Creator. Everything I am is here, in this life, to help Juliet be her full self. My life is Light’s. I am Haji Firuz on Earth. I answer to no one but Light, and I will fight the Dark, with or without your blessings. But I would rather we be friends.” She looked each one of us in the eyes as she spoke. Sincerity vibrated off each word. “I am sorry my father’s Amordad is not here to introduce me to you and make right.”
“Amordad?” I asked.
She glanced at me, her brow furrowed. “You say Fenestra.”
I nodded. “Yes.”
As if the discussion was over, Juliet stood. “I trust you. I put your things in the guest room. You must be tired.”
With that, the conversation was truly over. Juliet took control and even when Tony opened his mouth, she limped past him, dismissing us.
Fara hesitated.
“If you are not who you say you are, my vows to God will not protect you from harm. I will not lose her again.” Tony waved a hand in Juliet’s direction.
“We understand each other,” Fara said, and disappeared down the hallway.
We left the van in Tony’s parking lot, preferring to walk home and make sure there was no one watching for us at Helios. No vandals, no news crews spilling over from the story at Rumi’s studio following leads to us. No Nocti that we saw.
“You think they’ll be okay?” I asked Tens, swinging our hands.
We passed a statue of a mother with a stroller and I swore her eyes followed us. As callous as it might sound, I preferred homeless people to the statues. At least the homeless smiled back occasionally when I handed them coffee and a hot dog. The statues seemed to watch everything and judge.
“Given enough time and space, she’ll be fine. Juliet’s wounded, Merry. It’s going to take her a long time to heal.”
“I know. I don’t know how to help her.” I refuse to believe it’s too late.
“You can’t. You have to let her ask. Maybe Fara will get through to her.”
“Custos stayed at Tony’s. Aren’t you a little jealous?”
“Jealous?” He stopped and tipped his head in question.
“She’s yours,” I insisted.
“Oh no, I learned a long time ago that I was hers, and only when she wanted me. She’s of the Creators, Supergirl. She comes and goes as she pleases. Makes sense she’d stay with Fara. Juliet knows her, trusts her. She’s going to buffer as long as she needs to.”
“That’s very wise of you.” I smiled up at him.
“Oh, I’m very wise. You should listen to me more often.” He grinned, leaning down to kiss me.
“I should, should I?” I said against his lips before melting into his embrace.
“Mmm-hmm.”
No one had staked out the cottage. The door was secure and Tens’s special-ops double check of a single dog hair across the threshold was intact as well.
He flopped onto the bed and held up his feet. “Remove my boots?”
I snorted back a laugh. “Let me consider it … yeah, no.”
“You wear me out,” he sighed.
“That’s cuz you’re so old.” I flopped down next to him.
“Ouch.”
“You’ll be how old on your birthday?”
“Twenty, and you know it.” Tens leaned over and unlaced his boots, toeing them off.
“Your feet stink.” I wrinkled my nose playfully.
“Really?” His eyes twinkled.
I didn’t like his expression. “No. No. No.” I backpedaled. Hard. “Roses? I smell roses.”
Tens grabbed me and tossed me down on the bed. “My feet stink, huh?”
Instead, he belched in my face.
I gagged. “Lordy, hell.”
He rolled over onto his side, laughing so hard I thought he might hurt himself. “My feet don’t smell so bad now, do they?”
Boys.
CHAPTER 14
Nelli’s apartment was really the old carriage house to an estate in a very high-end part of town. The type of neighborhood that housed professional athletes, television personalities, and heiresses. The private drive was on the back side of the property, and I couldn’t even see the main house from her living room.
Tens dropped me off on his way to speak with Gus and track down the student photographer.
I hadn’t been to Nelli’s in weeks and gawked at what used to be a neat and tidy living area. If the tornado that went through picked up all of the households in February, it deposited all their papers here. The smell of mildew and dust was overpowering. What fresh disaster is this?
“What happened in here?”
Nelli’s eyes were red and swollen. “Here, take one of these allergy pills. They help.” She held out a glass of water and a bottle of over-the-counter medication as I walked in. “I know it’s not a very elegant offering, but trust me, you’d rather have that than crackers and cheese.”
I swallowed a pill because my throat scratched immediately. Perfect.
Nelli opened windows. “Can you turn those air cleaners on? Bales dropped them by last night when he unloaded the rest of the boxes from the storage unit.”
“Sure.” I found the right switches and the cool rush of air ruffled file folders, notepaper, and sticky notes.
“It looks pretty bad, doesn’t it,” Nelli said. “When I got home last night, it clicked for me. I’ve been looking for a piece of paper I’m sure had Howie’s name on it and several others, including Argy. There was a photograph attached. It’s got to be here. Somewhere.” Hysteria and exhaustion lifted her voice. “It’s got to. I think it’s a piece of Juliet’s past.”
She’s one minute from a breakdown.
“We’ll find it. Where should I start?”
She pointed to different sections of the room. “Decades are split up, then years between them. Anything that is patient files and not kid related goes to the dining room. Yes, it looks as bad as this. Why don’t you start over by the fireplace?”
