She poked her head back around the corner. “Please don’t touch my laundry.” She smiled, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I’d never figure that out. I usually wore supe garments. The “no wash, summon what you want to wear” kind. I didn’t know why she didn’t do the same. While she argued with the dog about taking a bath, I put the flowers in water and set them on the nightstand in my bedroom. I’d silently taken over Jack Augustine’s room and quietly evicted his spirit. It was a room that had a touch of sadness to it, with cool shadows and a comfortable bed. Hopefully Thessalonike wouldn’t peek under the bed. I’d never be able to explain what I’d stashed under there.
I flipped on the cooking channel, scowling at that lying Bobby Flay who insisted that “anyone” could whip up one of his trademarked southwestern sauces. Was it true? The last fellow who suggested the beef hadn’t been honest at all.
It clearly wasn’t a foolproof recipe. I, the great Heliope, was no fool.
By the time the next television program rolled around, the food had arrived. As if by magic, so did Thessalonike and Springer. I shoved the tray of ice cream cones in the freezer and made us a picnic at the living room coffee table. “None for you, dog. You’ve got a bowl in the kitchen.” He groaned and headed off to eat his dinner by himself.
Thessalonike sat on the floor and thanked me again for dinner. “Are you really watching this?” She chuckled as she opened a hot dog and popped a straw into her root beer.
“It’s fascinating. Although I admit I’m a bit of an amateur.”
In between fries she said, “Just takes some practice. I can’t believe you’re even trying. That’s a huge development.” Thankfully she didn’t ask why. “How are things at the shop? Probably pretty dead now. Were there any sales this past week?”
“Oh, I forgot. Let me get the numbers for you.” I wiped chili off my chin with a paper napkin and went to the refrigerator door. I kept the daily sales numbers on a piece of paper under the Coca-Cola magnet. I had to admit, I was pretty proud of myself. Maybe I wasn’t Martha Stewart, but apparently I was a top-notch saleswoman.
“Here you go.” I handed the paper to her and got to work on my second chili dog. I felt no shame.
“Heliope, this can’t be right.” She frowned and squirted more ketchup on her fries. Muting the television, she tapped on the paper. “You mean hundreds, not thousands. See, the point goes here.”
I felt my anger rise exponentially. “I may not know how to cook a beef Wellington, but I do know how to calculate wealth. Even here in the New World.”
She wiped her hands and tapped on the paper again. “Are you serious? How did this happen? Oh God, you didn’t sell the store, did you?”
“What? I’m not an idiot, young lady. I merely added to the stock.” I unmuted the television and finished my dinner. “A few Heliope specialties.” Retrieving the remote control from the wooden coffee table, she pressed the mute button again.
“What do you mean? Please tell me you haven’t been casting spells or working magic. You’ll have the Order breathing down our necks, Heliope.”
“No, no. Nothing like that. Well, maybe kind of like that. I did create some cool potions, and they are selling like hotcakes. Which reminds me, do you have a pancake griddle?”
She shoved a wisp of brown hair behind her ear and stared at me. “What kind of potions?”
“Just some harmless love potions. Mostly red Kool-Aid and a few other spices, but it gets the job done well enough. I have a whole line of love potions. Some for falling in love, some for rekindling the romance, some for repelling a boss or an ex. Can’t believe how many people need romantic help.”
“I don’t think I’m licensed to dispense love potions, Heliope. Just souvenirs.”
“Well, that sucks. I’ve got another batch of ‘Kiss Me’ potion brewing in the storeroom.”
“It’s not explosive, is it?” She got up on her knees, ready to run to the shop.
“Stop acting like I’m a schoolgirl. Of course it’s not. I don’t blow up things…intentionally. Will you please trust me for once? I got tired of nobody coming in the shop. If the tourists are gone, you’ll need to market to the locals. The supes have been flocking, and more than a few humans. I thought I was helping.” This was certainly not the response I’d expected.
“I’m sorry. I’m just not used to anyone helping me in the shop. It’s been just me for a long time. If these numbers are accurate, which I’m sure they must be,” she added quickly, “then you’ve really pulled out a miracle here. You might have just saved Shipwreck Souvenirs.”
I smiled, uncaring if I had cheese in my teeth. It felt good to do something right for a change. I’d made so many mistakes…my whole life felt like a mistake at times.
Success! So this was what modern success felt like. It was a good feeling—no wonder everyone wanted it. I’d enjoy the feeling of accomplishment for now and tell her about the thing under my bed later. No sense in getting into a fight right now. The new episode of Cook My Tail Off was coming on, and the commercial promised an “epic shrimp battle.”
And there was ice cream.
Chapter Three—Cruise
Tidal Wave
“You ever watch ThunderCats growing up?” I asked Deputy Tragic as we sat in the squad car with binoculars focused on the boat. We were waiting to see if Earl dumped his illegal fish into the marina or if he sold them direct to a buyer. He’d been waiting around for a while, looking nervous. I knew he had the fish; his ex-deckhand had called to rat on him. I had hoped it wasn’t true, though. I hated coming down on fishermen—they were like cops and firemen to me. They were the good guys who kept everything going. At least most of them. This kind of bust wasn’t good for business, but the mayor had a bug up his butt about this new federal law. From what I gathered, the old saying was true: “Crap always rolls downhill.” I didn’t understand the need for all the rules and regulations they forced these guys to comply with. Especially red snapper fishermen like Earl. But I was just a dumb hick with a badge. I imagined if I asked Kendra, she’d agree wholeheartedly with that assessment.
She looked at me like I was stupid. “What? Is that supposed to be a joke?”
“ThunderCats? The cartoon? You’ve never heard of it?”
“No, I haven’t. Sounds stupid.” She squinted into the binoculars, the iciness in her voice more than apparent. Even to someone as dense as me. I didn’t understand her. She went from wanting to be my shifter mentor to being absolutely no help at all. And that was after I saved her life!
Thankfully, Vern, her dad, came around every couple of days and answered my questions. I had to admit some of them were pretty stupid, but I had no idea what being a shifter meant. My own father had been gone quite a while. Couldn’t ask him anything about Mom and what I saw. He just took off one day, telling me a lie about having to pick up some new rods and tackle. I guess he’d had enough of my dumb questions too.
“You want to tell me what you’re pissed about? I mean, even if you don’t want to be friends, we do have to work together. Can’t we do our jobs without all the secret conversation? It’s been months.”
“Secret conversation?” She sounded even more exasperated now.
“Yeah, you know what I mean. The conversations you have in your head, the ones you think people don’t hear?”
“Are you a mind reader?” Her eyes widened at the thought that I might know what she was thinking about.
“Not exactly, but I ain’t stupid. I know you’re hating on me. Let’s go ahead and clear the air. Just give it to me straight, Kendra.” I dropped the “Officer” since I was talking to her as a friend.
“All right then, jerk-face. I’m lying on the floor in that bunker, and you’re arguing with the eloi about who’s going to get stuck taking me to safety. Did you even think how I’d feel about that? I’m always second! However you feel about her, I’m the one lying on the floor bleeding to death. What the hell, Cruise? Even if you only think of me as a friend, that was
pretty ridiculous.”
I tried not to laugh in her pretty face. Her blond ponytail with the curl at the end bounced as she enunciated her last few words dramatically. She was clearly in the right here. I had acted like a jerk that day, but then again it had been my first time going “mano a mano” with a vampire. Couldn’t she cut me some slack? I mean, I had saved her life.
“Well? What do you have to say for yourself, buddy?”
Before I could drum up a witty comeback, the radio squawked to life. Our new dispatcher and secretary, Regina Fields, talked in a rush. “Chief? Deputy Tragic? Where y’all at? Answer me back, over!”
Kendra and I reached for the radio at the same time. I bumped her hand, and she pulled back as if I were too toxic to touch. Our talk obviously hadn’t done any good.
“We’re here. Down by the East End Marina. What’s up?”
“Get out of there, Chief! Get back to the station now! Tidal wave is coming!”
Before I could ask another question, I heard the island sirens going off from the courthouse and the schoolhouse. “What the hell is going on? Who turned on the tornado siren? What tidal wave?”
“Um, move the car! Now, now!” Kendra lurched in her seat and pointed out into the Gulf. A massive wave was coming this way, the kind of rogue wave that sometimes showed up when a hurricane or tropical storm was approaching. I hadn’t gotten any bulletins about bad weather, but it was definitely coming. I swung the car around and paused. “What about Earl? We can’t leave him here.”
“He’s on a boat. He’ll have to ride it out, Cruise! Get going now or we’re dead! Unless you can shift into a shark! I sure as hell can’t!”
I drove like a lunatic toward the station. We crossed onto Cadillac just as the wave slapped the southern shore of the island. It was an eerie sight. There were no dark clouds, not even a small puff of white in the sky—just a six-foot wall of water crashing against the land. Water sloshed under the car but didn’t get in. I didn’t know how I’d explain requisitioning another squad car so soon after getting this one. Kendra and I pulled into the police station and waited for the water to stop sloshing. The police station’s platform had thankfully kept the floors dry. Regina met us at the door.
“Thanks be! I am so glad to see you two alive. It’s a disaster of the first order!” Regina had an unusual accent; I assumed she was Irish, but sometimes she dove off into something not quite Irish. She was a kind if overly excitable person. That was kind of unfortunate, considering she was an emergency dispatcher. We’d gotten lots of calls about some first-order disaster that turned out to be a minor infraction or a prank call. Still, she took her job seriously, and I couldn’t afford to be picky. She was my third dispatcher.
“Scientists from the USGS are on the way. The mayor is on the phone, and I’m getting a bunch of calls from people needing help, Chief,” Regina blurted out in a rush as she met us at the door. All the phones were ringing, and I rubbed my stubbled face.
Breathe, Castille. You can do this.
“Tell the mayor he’ll have to wait. Let’s call someone in to help us with the phones, Regina. What about Roger over at the service station? He’s always willing to help, and he’s close by. When the USGS get here, give them what they want. They can use my office if they need to. I have a feeling I’m not going to see it for a while. Then call FEMA and the Red Cross, see if we can get some help down here. Let’s set up at the school, just like during a storm.”
“Okay, Chief.” She ran back to her desk and jotted down some notes. If nothing else, Regina was grade-A at taking notes.
“And I need to know if this is an isolated incident or if we should expect more,” I called after her as she raised her hand while talking to herself. I turned to Kendra and said, “Grab the extra emergency kit. I’ll grab the walkie-talkies; we’ll use those to stay in touch. Let’s recon the East End so we can figure out what areas are most affected. Hopefully it’s just this one side. Fewer homes over here.”
“Yeah, but a lot more boats,” she said, sliding on her slicker. I did the same and grabbed my keys off my desk. We grabbed the supplies and bolted out the door.
As we walked out, Roger jogged across Cadillac. “I’m here, Chief. Regina says you need help.”
Kendra cranked the car. I could see she wanted to be in control, and I was okay with that for the moment. I needed eyes on the ground. “Yeah, can you help her with the phones? Send us priority calls only, okay? And I forgot to tell her, we need to mobilize the fire department.”
“I’ve got you covered, Chief.” We peeled out of the parking lot, and all I could do was hang on and stare at the mess the wall of water had left behind. It had been destructive, but it could have been worse. I hoped it didn’t get worse. Immediately, I picked up the phone and called Nike. She didn’t answer, of course, so I left a voicemail. I felt Kendra stiffen beside me, but I couldn’t help that right now.
“Hey, Nik. It’s me. Just checking on you. Please let me know you’re okay.”
I had barely hung up when she called me back. “Cruise, are you okay?” she asked. “What just happened? I heard a loud boom!”
“Tidal wave hit the East End.”
Without hesitation she asked, “What can I do?”
“Head to the school. They’ll set up an emergency station there. Don’t let anyone drink the water. We’ll have to check the water supply. We’ll need all the bottled water we can find.”
“I’m on it.”
“Thanks, Nik.” I didn’t linger on the phone. I had a job to do. Kendra made the turn from Cadillac onto Fort Morgan Road. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Earl’s boat, Dreamsicle, was lying in the middle of the gravel road, and he was on the ground next to it.
Kendra slammed on the brakes, and I bolted from the vehicle to check on the old man. He was breathing, thankfully, but he didn’t look too good. “Radio for an ambulance!” I shouted to her. “Come on, Earl. Stay with me!”
His dark eyes, full of pain, flew open at the sound of my voice.
“I’m right here, Earl. Ambulance is on the way. Kendra, bring me a blanket!”
He grabbed my arm and pulled me down to him so I could hear him whisper something.
“What is it, Earl? You need to stay calm. Help is on the way.”
He didn’t loosen his grip. In a pained voice, he said one word:
Minerva!
Chapter Four—Nike
Attack Mode
Heliope’s “radar” was going off, Springer wouldn’t stop barking and I was doing everything I could not to freak out. The ground had stopped shaking now; Heliope and I had thought it was an earthquake at first, because what else could it have been? At least Cruise was okay. From the first reports on the local radio station, the tidal wave was completely unexpected. There was some talk about an offshore earthquake, but those didn’t normally occur down here in south Alabama. “Nope, it’s supernatural. Definitely.” She pursed her lips thoughtfully and “listened” for clues. After a moment she shook her head in exasperation. “It’s just not clear.” She followed me to the bedroom as I hurriedly dressed.
“What does the Order say?” I asked her as I slid on my worn jeans, a long-sleeved blue t-shirt and a pair of pink rubber boots.
Looking skyward she asked, “Any clues, guys? Anyone watching the gate? Can you see us down here?” I didn’t know if she was serious or not, so I looked around the room with her. No scroll appeared. Springer continued to bark, but I refused to unlock the doggie door for him. The last thing I needed was for him to get washed away or lost. I had just gotten him back after several decades. I couldn’t lose him again.
“Sorry, boy. You stay home and watch the house. You have my permission to bite any intruders.” I absently hoped Ramara would show up at my house unannounced. He used to do that all the time, but I hadn’t seen him in weeks. And I couldn’t make myself drive over there. He could read my mind, and I didn’t want him to know I’d read the scroll. It seemed so wrong now. But how was I to
know it had been for him? It’s not like the Order addressed the scrolls. I scratched Springer’s ears, but he bit the tail of my shirt and wouldn’t let go. “No, I have to go. I promised Cruise. You stay with Heliope.”
“I’m not staying here. I’m going too.” In the blink of an eye she’d changed her clothing. She’d swapped out her gauzy taupe sundress with a trapeze hem for a pair of camouflage pants, a khaki green tank with a matching jacket and shiny black combat boots. To top off the ensemble, she wore a pair of sparkly dangling earrings and some serious eye makeup typically reserved for a model’s photo shoot. I didn’t know whether to laugh or start rubbing her eyes with my sleeve.
“No way. And why are you dressed like you’re about to enlist in the military? Or hit the catwalk.”
“This is the trend for emergency situations. Don’t you ever watch television? Just wait. You’re going to stick out like a sore thumb with those horrible boots on. Pink doesn’t go with a blue t-shirt. Let me whip up something for you!” Heliope raised her hand, ready to cast her unique brand of magic. “We can match!”
“No! Please, don’t! I’m good, and you look great. I take it all back. Thanks, but are you sure you want to go? I don’t know when I’ll be back, and I would hate for you to miss your shows.” That was a weak attempt at distraction, but it was all I had at the moment.
“Nope, I’m ready and reporting for duty!”
“Oh goodness. Well, okay. Springer, stay out of trouble. I’ll be back soon.” I had grave misgivings about having her “help” me, but I couldn’t make her stay here.
I drove the rental car to the school; it was only a quarter mile, but we needed every second. Emergency services were establishing an early presence, and many islanders were already gathering for first aid assistance. I parked the car out of the way, and Heliope and I helped get things going. Lots of supes had showed up to help, and many of them had that familiar What the heck is going on? expression. I didn’t have any answers and didn’t offer any guesses. My goal was to keep a low profile and help the island’s residents. I helped move the stacks of stored water to the gym, gave candy to the kids and set up the registration tables. An hour later and as predicted, Heliope was ready to abandon her post at the table. Children were naturally curious about the fancy lady, but the feeling definitely wasn’t mutual. She didn’t appreciate their attention or their curiosity. But I did notice that one resident lingered around her quite a bit. His name was Jolly Jeff Treadmire, and he owned the island’s first gym, Double Time. Once upon a time, he had probably been a striking man. But time had gotten the best of him, as it always did in the human world. He had a bald head—not by choice—a trim beard and excessive muscles. Some would have considered him handsome, but Heliope treated him with disdain.
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