by R. L. King
“Brilliant,” Stone said sourly.
He didn’t see Verity much, since she spent most of her time in San Francisco with the Harpies. She called him every day to keep him up to date on Greta’s situation.
“She’s finally awake, anyway, so that’s good,” she’d told him on Wednesday. “I was able to get in there with Hezzie and try some healing, but I have no idea if it did any good at this point. Her neck’s in a brace, and her leg’s all pinned up and in a cast. It’s too early to tell if she’ll be able to walk. We just have to wait and see.”
“How is she holding up?” He didn’t ask if Greta blamed him for her situation; he blamed himself and that was all he truly needed to know.
“She’s...not great, as you might have guessed. That’s part of why we’re all spending as much time as we can there, so she knows she’s not alone. She’s grumpy, but that’s not really much different than usual.”
“Fair enough. Do you think you might have a few hours to spare this weekend sometime? I’m thinking about going up to Oakland to see if I can find anything.”
“You sure that’s a good idea? Blum and Jason are already looking, and…let’s be honest, you don’t exactly fit into the kind of places these guys are probably hanging out.”
“I know, I know, and point taken. But I need to do something.” He hadn’t told her about Aldwyn yet—he hadn’t told any of them, not even Eddie and Ward. But as long as the man minded his own business and stayed away from Stone, Stone intended to afford him the same courtesy. For now, at least. “It’s either that or work on my research while trying to fend off Raider.”
“We’ll see,” she said after a pause. “I need to play things by ear right now, you know?”
“Yes, of course. I understand. Let me know.”
Although it seemed Stone and his plan to go to Oakland weren’t compelling enough to pry Verity away from the Harpies, Jason apparently was.
He called Stone on Saturday morning, asking if he’d be willing to meet for pizza that night. “V’s gonna be there too,” he said. “I’ve got something I want to talk to you both about.” He refused to elaborate even when Stone probed him for details.
“This can’t wait?” Stone had decided he was going to Oakland tonight, with or without Verity.
“It kinda can’t. It’s pretty important, Al.”
What could he say? Jason had made room in his schedule for him enough times that he couldn’t exactly turn down the request. “Fine. I’ll be there.”
He had no idea what Jason could possibly be announcing, but whatever it was, he hoped it was important enough to justify pushing his Oakland investigation back.
Stone hadn’t been back to the Oasis for ages. It used to be a frequent spot for him, Jason, and Verity to get together when they wanted to get away, but not for a long time. As always, the place hit him with a brief wave of nostalgia: they’d spent a lot of time here together over the years, discussing events from momentous to trivial. He hoped this was one of the latter instances—he didn’t have the time or the energy for another problem. Hell, he didn’t have time for the problems he already had. He got a pint from the bar and headed to the back.
Jason was already there, seated at their familiar graffiti-scarred wooden booth. At first Stone thought Verity was with him, but then he got a better look at the woman next to him. She was taller than Verity, wider through the shoulders, and her brown hair was both lighter and longer. Her leather jacket was scuffed and well-worn, built for function rather than fashion.
She looked up before Jason did, meeting Stone’s gaze. A beat later, Jason spotted him and grinned. “Hey, Al. How’s it going?”
“Er—well enough, I suppose. Busy.” He glanced at the woman, shifting to magical sight. Her aura was a deep blue-green, darker than Jason’s, calm and amused.
“Thanks for coming.” Jason waved him toward the opposite side of the booth. “V’s in the ladies’—she’ll be back in a minute. Ah, there she is now.”
Stone halted his slide into the booth and stood aside as Verity strode up behind him.
“Hey, Doc. Late as usual.” She stood on tiptoe to kiss him, then took her seat, reclaiming her half-finished glass of iced tea. Although both her expression and her aura looked subdued, a subtle twinkle in her eye revealed her amusement.
“I’ve got a large pizza coming any time now,” Jason said. He nodded toward the woman. “Al, I’d like you to meet Amber Harte. Amber, this is Alastair Stone.”
She flashed Stone an easy smile. “I’ve heard a lot about you. It’s good to finally meet you.” Her voice was as pleasant and straightforward as her expression.
“I’m—er—pleased to meet you as well.” He raised a questioning eyebrow at Jason, then glanced at Verity. She was smiling now too, and didn’t appear to be surprised by Amber’s presence.
“Yeah, you can say it,” Jason said. “You haven’t heard about Amber, and you’re wondering why she’s heard about you.”
“Well, yes, that—among other things.” Last Stone heard, a few months back, Jason was dating a paralegal from the law firm next door to his office in San Jose. He didn’t remember her name, but he was sure it hadn’t been Amber. Verity had mentioned something about a girlfriend in Truckee, but he’d been so preoccupied with other things at the time that he’d barely registered it.
“Kind of a long story. Remember a while back when I went to Reno for a case, and got my car totaled?”
“Yes…”
“Well, she’s the one who did the totaling.”
“I…see.” All three of them appeared amused, as if they were sharing some secret he wasn’t privy to. Well, two could play at that game. “You two are obviously seeing each other, and I’d guess you have been for some time, so I’m assuming there were no hard feelings about the whole thing.”
Amber laughed. “There were a few at first, but they didn’t last too long.”
The pizza arrived, heaped with cheese, pepperoni, and sausage, and they all paused to grab slices. Jason focused on his for a while, then tossed the crust on his plate. “Okay,” he said. “So, Al, you’re right—we have been seeing each other for a while now. She lives in Truckee, so mostly I’ve been driving over there to see her.”
“Ah, yes. Verity had mentioned something about that. So it hasn’t just been our insane work schedules that have been keeping us from getting together to catch up.”
“Not—entirely.” He looked at Amber, whose eyes were glittering with challenge as if to say, Go on, and then let out a long, loud breath. “So—I guess there’s no easy way to dance around this. I know it’s not the best time with everything that’s going on, but we’re here so I’ll just spit it out. I asked Amber to marry me a couple days ago, and she said yes.”
That had not been what Stone had expected, auras or no auras. He struggled for a moment to find something to say, and then settled for a wide grin. “Jason! That’s—that’s brilliant! Congratulations, you two.” To Verity, he said, “Did you know about this?”
“Yeah…Well, I’ve known for a while that they’ve been seeing each other. They admitted to the other part earlier today, when Jason called to invite me to this.”
“Only because you figured it out and asked me point-blank,” Jason pointed out. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”
“Hard to surprise me, big brother. Sorry.”
If Stone had been anyone else, he might have been hurt or offended that all of this had seemingly been going on under his nose and his two best friends hadn’t bothered to tell him. But, being Stone, that didn’t even occur to him. Given how many things he’d kept from them over the years, he could hardly get upset about it.
“It’s brilliant,” he said again. “When’s the happy event?”
“We’re still working things out. It’ll be a few months, but neither one of us wants a big fancy wedding, so we don’t need to plan for a year or anything.” Jason leaned in closer. “But Al—there’s something else we need to tell you too.”
<
br /> “Oh?” He watched their auras again; both showed signs of something that hadn’t been there before. Nervousness? Anticipation?
“Yeah. So…”
Amber snorted, still smiling. “You people take too long to get to the point. I’m part shifter. Bear.”
Stone blinked. Apparently, the shocks weren’t over for the evening. “Indeed?” was all he said.
Jason seemed relieved to have it out in the open. “Yeah. She’s a quarter bear. Which means she can’t change into one, but she’s got some of the other good stuff, like heightened strength, speed, and regeneration.”
“And tracking,” she added. “Don’t forget that, especially since it’s part of my job.”
“Well. That’s…unexpected.” Stone tilted his head. “And I take it by the fact that you’ve told me this as if it’s nothing to be shocked about, Jason, means you might have let Ms. Harte in on a few things as well?”
“She knows about mages,” Verity said. “I helped them out with a little trouble a few months back. We didn’t get you involved because you were really busy at the time.”
“I hope you don’t mind that she knows, Al,” Jason said, suddenly frowning. “I know it wasn’t my secret to tell, but—”
“No, no, it’s quite all right. We all have our little secrets, don’t we?” He sipped his pint, then regarded Amber. “So. A bear shifter. Does this have anything to do with the recent unpleasantness up in Sonoma?”
“Surprisingly, no,” Jason said. “I…for a while I was thinking I might try to reconnect with Tony—apparently there’s a colony of bear shifters up in the Tahoe area—but that didn’t pan out. But no, I wasn’t even thinking about it when I went over there for a job a few months back. When the accident happened, I wouldn’t have thought much of it until I saw a big bruise on Amber’s arm disappear in like two minutes. That made me suspicious.”
“Like I said, we helped her out with a little trouble she’d gotten into,” Verity said. “We didn’t get you involved because you were really busy, and anyway we handled it fine. Amber works as a freelance bounty hunter.”
“Indeed?” Stone raised a questioning eyebrow.
“Yeah,” Amber said. “Not an official one—I don’t have a license or anything. But I hunt down the kinds of people normal bounty hunters might have trouble with.”
“I…see.”
“Hey, I didn’t think of it until just now,” Verity said, “but Doc, do you think Amber could help us out with the Oakland situation? She’s really good at tracking people who don’t want to be found.”
“Hey, wait a minute—” Jason began.
“It’s okay.” Amber waved him off. “You guys are looking for somebody?”
“Several somebodies, as it happens,” Stone said. “A group of most likely minor-talent mages who’ve gotten together to commit petty crimes up in the Oakland area. We’re trying to find them before they cause too much trouble.”
“They’ve already caused trouble,” Verity said, frowning. “A good friend got hurt bad because of them.”
Amber shrugged. “Sure, I can help. But not for a few days, I’m afraid. I’m just here till tomorrow—I have to go back home in the morning to wrap up some business. Not sure how long it’ll take.”
Stone got a look at Jason and realized he might have allowed the conversation to veer farther off track than his friend would have preferred. “Anyway,” he said quickly, “that’s not something we need to talk about tonight.” He raised his pint glass. “I’m very happy for both of you, and I look forward to getting to know you better, Amber. To the happy couple.”
The others clinked their glasses with him. “To the happy couple,” Verity repeated, grinning. “It’s about time, Jason. Maybe now you’ll keep your nose out of my love life.”
“Fat chance,” he grumbled.
They chatted about neutral topics for the next hour. It was easier than Stone had thought—Amber had the kind of straightforward, no-bullshit personality he appreciated, and he could see even without checking her and Jason’s auras that the two of them were crazy about each other. When she got up to visit the restroom (“gotta make some room,” she said, pointing at her empty pint glass) and Verity went with her, Stone leaned back in his seat and flashed Jason a lazy smile. “About time, mate.”
“Right?” Jason watched the two women as they disappeared into the back. “I guess it’s true what they say about somebody turning up when you least expect them.”
“Can’t hurt that she knows about…our world. That’s always been my problem. Mundane women don’t tend to appreciate the sort of upheavals we deal with.”
Jason gave a sober nod. “Yeah. For a long time I didn’t want to admit it—you know me, mundane pride through and through—but even though I don’t have the mojo, thanks to you and Verity I’m still up to my neck in this stuff. I guess it’s time I acknowledged it.”
“Sounds like Ms. Harte is doing a good job helping you with that.”
His aura surged with affection. “Yeah, she’s pretty amazing. Athletic, smart, gorgeous, great in bed—and best of all, she doesn’t take any shit from me. I don’t feel like I have to tiptoe around her like you do with a lot of women. She actually gets pissed at me if I don’t say what’s on my mind, even if it’s something bad.”
Stone chuckled. “That’s a rare quality in anyone, regardless of gender.” He raised his glass again. “In any case, I’m very happy for you. Will you be moving to Truckee after you’re married, or will she come here?”
“We’ve already discussed that, actually. She’s moving here. She can do her freelance stuff from anywhere, and Truckee’s close enough she can go back if she needs to. I’ve got the agency, and—”
“And what?”
“Well…V’s here, and you’re here…and don’t laugh.”
“Why would I laugh?”
He didn’t meet Stone’s gaze. “Because I’ve been bitching for all these years about wanting to get away from all the supernatural freakiness, but now…I’ve kinda gotten used to it.”
Stone didn’t laugh, but he did smile. “Took long enough, but it appears you’ve finally become one of us.”
“Yeah…whether I want to or not. Anyway,” he added, his tone changing from contemplative to brisk as his eyes came back up. “I wanted to ask you something before V and Amber come back.”
“Yes?” Stone didn’t miss another faint surge in his aura.
“Yeah. I want you to be my best man at the wedding.”
He blinked. “Me?”
“Well…yeah. You are my best friend. And I can’t think of anybody I’d rather have at my side.”
“You make it sound like you’re expecting trouble.”
“I always expect trouble. But no—I just want you there. So will you do it?”
“Well…of course I will, Jason. I’m honored.” He narrowed his eyes and gave a sly smile. “But you might want to consider the sort of debauchery I might come up with for the bachelor party before you commit.” He glanced up and spotted Amber and Verity heading back from the restrooms.
“I’m counting on it,” Jason said, laughing. “As long as you don’t ship me off to another dimension or anything, I’m good.”
“That still leaves me a lot of leeway…” Stone mused.
18
Ben’s head had been pounding all day.
He’d moved again, leaving the last abandoned building off 3rd Street to settle in a rent-by-the week place near Emeryville. He’d used an illusionary disguise and a fake name, paid cash, and the landlord didn’t give a damn as long as he didn’t cause trouble. Since the last thing he wanted to do was cause trouble—he actually spent very little time in the place except to sleep—it had proved to be a mutually beneficial arrangement. He wasn’t looking forward to having to leave it again—with his share of the money the group had made with their jobs, he could afford something nicer than the ratty duplex he and Ma had lived in—but he couldn’t take the chance of staying anywhere too
long. Even with the magic, there was too much chance somebody might be looking for him, and unless he wanted to do more jobs, he had to make the money last.
He’d been watching the papers and TV. By now the story had dropped out of the news, but he knew that didn’t mean the police had given up. He had no idea if they thought he was responsible for Ma’s death or the other guy’s, nor did he know whether the second attacker was alive or dead. If the cops didn’t think he was responsible for the killings, that meant they probably considered him a missing person, which was almost as bad. He might not get tossed in jail if they found him, but he’d certainly have to answer a lot of uncomfortable questions. Best to keep his head down. Especially since, if the second attacker was still alive, he would have reported back to Julio about what happened. Was whatever had been in the back of the van worth chasing Ben down for after all this time, or had Julio merely written it off as the cost of doing business? Ben didn’t know, and once again it made more sense to just keep his head down.
What would really make sense, of course, was to get the hell out of the Bay Area. His magical powers had grown—he had no idea why they’d grown, but he could do a lot more now than he could before the night everything had gone to hell. Maybe it was just practice; out of respect for Ma he’d only used his powers sparingly and only when he really needed them, but maybe magic was like working out at the gym: the more you did it, the stronger you got.
It would be easy for him to disguise himself and hop a train or hitch a ride out of the area—anything where they didn’t look too closely at his ID. He could go somewhere in the Midwest, settle in some mid-sized city where nobody would give a damn about him. With the magic, it would be easy, and it would mean he wouldn’t have to look over his shoulder all the time, waiting for either the cops or Julio to catch up with him.
Every time he thought about it, though, something in the back of his mind nixed the idea. It was a weird feeling, sort of like the one you got when you were in bed and knew you had to get up and go to work, but you couldn’t force your body to make the necessary motions. Some part of him—and apparently an influential part—didn’t want him to leave the Bay Area.
