by Michael Todd
“N-n-no,” he stuttered. “All you see is the fire and the coal, right? Well, underneath this is a tunnel that moves air up and ash down. It keeps the fire burning.”
“Oh,” Liza remarked brightly, twirling her hair. “And then you stick the metal in there?”
Joshua blushed under her gaze. “Pretty much,” he explained. “You have to get it to a certain temperature before you can put the metal in. Heat it up so it gets red and fiery, then you hit it with that hammer to shape it into what you want it to look like.”
“So you don’t start out with a knife like that?” Liza asked.
“No.” Joshua shook his head, pulling out a fresh billet to show her. “You start with something more like this.”
Liza’s mouth formed a little ‘o’ of amazement. “Well, how do you do the small ones without burning yourself?”
Joshua had trouble meeting her eyes. “You use these long tongs,” he mumbled shyly. “You grip it with these, and put it in the fire and do the same thing. When you’ve gotten it to the shape you want, you want to dip it into water to cool it off before the blade warps. That allows it to keep its shape. Then you move on to the other tools to get a sharp edge, and so on and so forth.”
“Do you burn yourself a lot?” she wondered.
Joshua shrugged. “I did with my old forge because it was so small, but I have these big thick gloves now, so I rarely even feel the heat except on my face and my arms. We’ve taken a lot of precautions here to keep me safe while I’m working.”
“You are the only one who can do this,” Liza told him with a megawatt grin. “We wouldn’t want to lose you, because then there would be no business.”
“I know, right?” Joshua laughed nervously.
“Liza?” Mamacita called from the top of the stairs. “Come help me with something.”
“I gotta go.” She smiled and left Joshua to get on with his work.
When she reached the top of the stairs Mamacita grabbed her by the arm and led her into the office. She shut the door and looked at her angrily. Liza had no idea what she had done, but she never wanted to make Mamacita upset.
“What did I do?” she asked nervously, licking her lips.
Mamacita’s expression was flat. “What were you asking Joshua?”
“I asked him how a forge worked, and how you bent the metal, and how you made the sharp part of a sword,” she explained slowly.
“And that was it?”
“Yeah.” She shrugged. “He explained it really well.”
“Look.” Mamacita leaned forward to stress her point. “I will not allow any of the women in our home to ‘trick’ Joshua into a relationship. He has a…well, an alternative personality, I will say, and he will not understand when a woman is trying to use him for something. I know you tricky bitches. You like to get yourselves into situations with men you believe will set you free. Well, Joshua is just as imprisoned as you, although he has more money in his bank account.”
Liza spluttered her denial. “I don’t want his money!”
Mamacita gave her a knowing smile. “Good. When you think of Joshua, I want you to think of him as my boy—as if he were my flesh and blood.” She paused to make sure Liza was getting the message. “So if you don’t want to shit my high-heels out of your ass, you’d better treat him the right way! And I don’t mean giving him your sexual favors, like at the house. I mean like a real man, with feelings and a heart.”
“Mamacita,” Liza said, putting her hands up. “I am sure that Joshua is a fine man, and great person. He seems very sweet. But honestly, I was just interested in forging. I’ve always wanted to work with my hands and make things.”
“Right,” Mamacita said, her hands on her hips. “Well, I can give you plenty of things to work on with your hands back at the house, and then poof—magically you’ve made money.”
“I meant something more than just turning tricks.” Liza let out a heavy sigh. “Something I could really do, you know? Like Armani told me. He said I could do anything if I put my mind to it, and I believed him. I just have to have the right opportunity. There aren’t a lot of opportunities at the house, you know? It’s work most of the time, so when I am out, I try to learn new things. I didn’t think of Joshua in that way at all. I just liked hearing about making different kinds of weapons. He is really talented.”
“Hmmm.” Mamacita’s mouth quirked dubiously. “He is, and we are going to leave it at that. Now, if you want to help, there are floors to be swept and walls to be painted to brighten this place up a little, and then we will run and get some food. I’m sure Joshua is starting to get hungry.”
Liza capitulated. “Yes, ma’am. Thank you for giving me the day off from the house and letting me work here instead. I really like it. Maybe one day I’ll have a job like you, working out of an office, wearing nice clothes like your suit, and driving a car.”
“I’m sure you can do it if you put your mind to it.” Mamacita watched her walk away. “And someone else’s, for good measure.” She rolled her eyes.
Katie entered the team’s San Diego house, which was situated in a smaller area outside the city proper called Imperial Beach. It was quiet there. No one asked too many questions, and they had a big place right on the water. Katie hadn’t been there before, but she was more than happy to have some time in the sun and sand.
“I’m gonna go grab a shower,” Calvin told her. “There are clothes—bathing suits, etc.—up in the bedrooms. Feel free to do whatever you like, but don’t go far. Korbin and the team will be here soon.”
“Gotcha,” Katie replied, pulling up a chair. “I think I might be just fine sitting here in this chair staring out at the ocean. I’ll take one later.”
“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Calvin smiled. “I’ll be back.”
Katie leaned back in her chair and put her feet up on the small table in front of her. The waves washed in and out on the shore, and she watched as surfers tried to catch a wave or two. They weren’t the kind of waves you saw in movies, but the surfers were having a good time. Katie couldn’t help but think about how nice it would be to spend more time near the water.
Las Vegas was her home and she loved it there, but it was a desert. Even the grass had to be imported. They had created an oasis in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes it felt a bit claustrophobic.
She took in a deep breath of the salty sea air and waved at a jogger running by. There were no houses next to them, but there were plenty of people walking up and down the beach, playing games, and just enjoying the sunshine. The sun was so warm that Katie closed her eyes. Before she knew it, she woke to the sound of Korbin barking orders at everyone else. She smiled and stretched her arms, looking into the house at the team set up.
“Hey there, sleepy head.” Korbin chuckled. “Come on in and get some food, and we can talk.”
“Sounds good to me.” She smiled, getting up out of her chair and heading inside to help.
They had picked up a stack of pizzas and a couple of six-packs of soda on the way over, figuring no one would feel like cooking at that point. Everyone grabbed their food and headed to the porch while Korbin, Calvin, Damian, and Katie sat at the table inside. Korbin wanted to know what the hell had happened.
Pandora bitched that there were no Chicken McNuggets.
“He came out of nowhere,” Calvin began in a low voice. “Someone brought that demon into this world, left it there with food, and walked out the door. Honestly, if it hadn’t been for Katie I’d probably be dead. He was almost too much for one person to handle, then here comes fucking Katie from the goddamn sky. She landed on the thing and jammed both her knives into its skull.”
Korbin looked to her for confirmation. “You flew from the sky?”
Katie chuckled and raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t say I flew.”
“Yeah, she jumped from the adjacent building,” Calvin revealed. “It was badass.”
“It wasn’t that badass,” Katie protested when Korbin raised his eyebrows at
her. “I had gone to the roof after the demon, but when he jumped off the building I headed inside and took the stairs down aways first. When it was clear and I was good to go I jumped, and I got lucky where I landed. I mean, you didn’t think I jumped from six floors up, right?”
Korbin laughed. “No, that would be nuts.”
Everyone laughed, but Katie could tell that Korbin wasn’t buying her story. She shrugged and took a big bite of her pizza.
She’d done what she had to do.
Chapter Eleven
“Wakey wakey,” Damian sang, sitting on the edge of Katie’s bed.
“Huh?” she mumbled, then groaned and peeled an eye open to glare at him. “But it’s so early.”
“Early bird catches the demons.” Damian’s tone was serious. “Come on, I’m taking you out.”
“Okay, just give me a minute,” she bitched, rolling out of the bed.
“I’ll be in the living room waiting for you.” Damian smiled as he left the room.
That priest fucking needs to learn about personal space, Pandora drawled.
That is rich, coming from you, Katie snarked.
Katie grabbed some clothes from the closet and pulled them on hurriedly, then she headed out to the living room to meet up with Damian. He smiled and handed her a travel mug of coffee, and the two went out and jumped in one of the SUVs.
She sat quietly in the passenger seat watching the ocean waves from the window as they drove along. Damian headed away from the marina and back into the city. They pulled into the parking area of a large old church constructed of beautiful blocks of hand-carved stone. It was simple, but related so much by its age and the way that it had been preserved. He smiled and nodded as he climbed out of the car and led her inside. There was no service going on, it was just quiet. Serene like the chapel at the base in Las Vegas, only much bigger.
Katie smiled and looked around, stopping to study the intricate carvings fixed into the archways throughout the church. There were cherubs, demons, crosses, and doves in every corner of the place.
Sunlight pouring through the stained glass in the windows cascaded over the interior, washing a shifting rainbow of colors over the entire church. It was quiet there, but not awkwardly quiet—just a comfortable peace inside.
Pandora broke the spell. Comfortable peace unless you are an altar boy. She snickered. I bet those doves mean something different to you when you are one of those kids. Everyone wants to give demons such a bad name, but they can’t even control their own churches. I swear, humans are hypocrites of the worst kind.
They can be, Katie agreed softly, but humans can be beautiful creatures of light and love as well, and way more often. I haven’t seen that side of any of your kind yet.
Probably because we are dark souls. Pandora sniffed. Light hurts my eyes.
You mean my eyes. Katie laughed.
Wait, do you smell that? Pandora interrupted. It’s weed! Somebody is up in this church; rolling a blunt. Maybe we should move to California, if weed is part of the religious ceremonies. Hell, I’d go to church for that.
You would be hissing in the corner, Katie teased. Can you imagine us going to church every day?
NO! It would be miserable, but with weed…well, it could be way more interesting, Pandora insisted. We could count our Hail Marys on cheese balls instead of on rosaries.
Katie snickered and walked to the front of the church, where Damian was sitting. He was quiet and seemed contemplative, just staring at the candles and the brightly-colored shadows. Katie sat down next to him and let out a deep breath.
“My first experience with the church was something like this. Just sitting alone in a quiet church, reflecting,” he told her. “I loved it. It was beautiful.”
“That’s nice.” Katie smiled. “I used to go to church with my grandma, but it never really caught on for me.”
“Everyone has their own spiritual journey, whether through a deity, the universe, or time spent in introspection,” he said. “It’s the conviction that matters in the end, or at least, that’s what I think.”
Katie wasn’t so sure. “I hope you’re right.”
Damian gave her a sympathetic half-smile. “So, you want to talk about that fight yesterday? Seeing as we are in the sanctity of the church and all.”
She peered at him but his eyes didn’t waver, nor did the all-knowing-smile on his face. She raised her hands in the air. “You got me,” she confessed. “I did jump from the top of the building. I mean, I was concerned for Calvin, and didn’t realize just how high I was. Thankfully the demon was squishy.”
Damian narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. He could tell she wasn’t ready to tell the whole truth, and that was okay. It was up to her when she decided she was ready.
When they left, Katie noticed a marijuana store close to the church.
I don’t think the smoke you smelled earlier was in the church, Katie told Pandora, glancing at the storefront.
Damn it! Pandora sighed. Dreams…crushed.
“You want to get some breakfast?” Damian offered as he climbed into the truck.
“Sure,” Katie agreed. “Wherever you want to go.”
Damian grinned. “I know just the place.”
Come on, please let it be fucking donuts, Pandora begged. Please, please, please, I’ll be a good girl.
I don’t think it works the same way when you pray. Katie smirked.
It would if you weren’t such a bitch, Pandora growled.
Damian took Katie—and Pandora—to a diner along the boulevard in Coronado, which was on their way back to Imperial Beach. The place was cute, like a real old-time diner, only it was crazy busy.
They waited nearly an hour to get a table, but Damian assured her that there weren’t any other places for her to get food that they could get in and out of. It wasn’t like Las Vegas. So, they stayed, and in the end Katie was glad they had.
They just had a normal conversation while eating eggs, bacon, and toast and watching the tourists come in and out, talking about the next steps when they got back to Las Vegas. It almost felt like they were on vacation, and it would have been the first vacation Katie had ever been on.
Pandora was happy with the breakfast once Katie started eating it, so she kept quiet and let them have a decent conversation. Katie needed it, especially with everything going on.
As they were driving back from breakfast, Katie spied an occult shop on the righthand side of the street. It wasn’t bright or touristy, so she could tell that it was for serious followers and researchers. She felt weird asking the priest to stop, but there were things she needed to find out about.
“Hey, is there any way you could drop me off here?” Katie asked. “There was a shop back there that I would really love to check out.”
“Sure,” Damian said. “You want me to come?”
“No, it’s okay,” she told the priest as he pulled over. “I’ll just call an Uber when I am done.”
Concern crossed Damian’s features. “You’re sure?”
She gave him a warm smile. “I’m sure. Thanks for breakfast, and confession.”
“No problem,” he replied. “I’ll see you back at the house later today.”
“I’ll be there,” Katie told him, shutting the SUV’s door.
“Katie,” Damian called before she left, doing something in his lap. “Here. You need the address for the house.”
“Duh!” she exclaimed, shaking her head and reaching through the window to take the slip of paper he’d hastily scribbled the address on. “Thank you. I’d be wandering around for the next week trying to find the house.”
As he rolled up the window she stepped onto the curb and waited there for a moment, smiling and waving as he drove away. Once he was out of sight, she pulled down her sunglasses and walked quickly across the street and up to the shop’s door.
Once inside, she removed her glasses so she could check out the layout. The space was cramped, overfull, and very dark. They had low lighting, wit
h candles lit all over the room. The girl behind the counter smiled as she walked in. She was pretty, with long black hair, very short bangs, bright red lipstick, and a nose piercing. Katie pulled her bag around in front of her and wandered through the shop, taking everything in.
In one back corner was a rare book section with a comfortable chair and some bottled water. She pulled down a couple of books, and sat there reading about different things having to do with the occult.
In essence, the books described the occult as knowledge of the hidden, knowledge of the immeasurable, and knowledge of the paranormal. However, the farther she read, the more she began to understand that there were both light and dark in the occult.
Her heart fell as she realized that her life was completely submerged in the dark side of things.
You have to understand that humans have done terrible things through the ages, Pandora told her. People of the occult, demons, spirits—we are harshly judged by humans, but you are the reason that we can’t openly practice, why we can’t coexist. Hell, you are even the reason the planet is so fucked up and the climate is spinning out of control. Sometimes it is hard to really pinpoint who’s worse in this scenario.
Are you done doing PR for your side?
Pandora sniffed. Only telling the truth.
Totally objective truth, too.
See? Pandora’s voice brightened. You get it!
I get that you are a totally biased source, like most of our news channels today. Katie told her. She noticed a noise, and turned to see someone stepping around the corner.
“Are you finding everything okay?” the girl from the front asked.
“I am, thank you,” Katie assured her, then stood up to call her back. “Actually, I have a question.”
“Sure.” The shop girl smiled. “My name is Alice, and I own the store.”
“Oh, nice.” Katie returned Alice’s smile and held out a hand. “I’m Katie, nice to meet you. I was wondering if there was any way that I could get any copies of old grimoires or history books?” She indicated the selection of books she’d been flicking through.
