Nobody's Ghoul

by Devon Monk

  “I am to be tortured?”

  That voice coming out of my mouth made my throat close up for a minute. It was the uncanny valley turned up to the max.

  “No torture,” I assured them. “Just talk. Go with Than. We’ll figure this all out. Why you’re here, how we can help, what part of the god weapons deliveries you’re involved with.”

  My eyes, well, Tish’s eyes went wide. I hoped that was not what surprise looked like on my real face.

  “Let me go distract Ryder and Vivian,” I said. “Give me about two minutes, then you can head off.”

  “I’ll come with you,” Xtelle said.

  “No.”

  “You need back up. Every police show says so.”

  “I don’t need a talking pony for back up.”

  “Of course you don’t. You need a unicorn demon queen.”

  “No, you’re going to go back to Hogan’s house where you belong, Xtelle. Unless you want the government taking over Ordinary and starting a war with every single supernatural in town, you will cool your jets, keep a low profile, and go home.”

  I thought she was going to argue, but she tossed her head, making her mane shine. “Fine. I’ll go back to a boring existence in this boring town. When do I get to have fun? When? A nice shopping spree, the theater, a consensual virgin sacrifice?”

  “I’m not even going to unpack all that. But if you want a life that is something more than what a pony is allowed to do, choose a different shape.”

  “But responsibilities come with different shapes.”

  “Yep. You got this?” I asked Than.

  He was a god. The god of death. He had probably met a lot of ghouls before. The ghoul certainly knew him on sight. I didn’t think it would be too terribly difficult to keep the ghoul from running.

  “If there are problems,” Than said. “I will just torpefy them.”

  The ghoul made a little eep sound, and now I wondered if that’s what panic looked like on my face.

  “Sounds good,” I said, not knowing how Than would do that exactly or why the mere mention of torpefying a ghoul would get that kind of reaction out of them.

  “But remember to follow the law. No one will be harmed under our watch.”

  “The ways of Ordinary are clear to me, Reed Daughter.” He extended his hand once more to Tish. Finally, Tish accepted.

  For a moment I was standing face-to-face with myself. Tish held my gaze, maybe a little fascinated to see me this way too.

  “Do you get any more of me besides my shape?” I asked. “Like my thoughts? My memories?”

  “I am not a mind reader? Your memories are not mine?”

  “So, no?”

  “No?” Tish smiled. I knew it was not my smile, because it was shorter, pursed more in the center. And while I thought it was strange to see it on my face, it still was genuine, joyful.

  I smiled back, because how could I not, and watched as Tish changed their smile to duplicate mine.

  “You’re good at this,” I said.

  Tish nodded quickly. “It is my great pride?”

  “I can see why. Okay, Tish, we’ll get this all figured out. Go with Than, don’t run, or try to escape. If you’re hungry or thirsty, let Than know. He’ll see that you’re taken care of. I’ll meet you both there.”

  “You,” I pointed at Xtelle, “go home.”

  “You can’t make me.”

  “I can,” I said.

  She rolled her eyes and trotted over to the green space behind the house where the fence was lower. “I do what I want,” she said. Then she hopped over the fence and took off at a slow trot.

  “The queen is your friend?” Tish said.

  “I don’t think so, Tish.”

  Tish-me just smiled back at me and looked smug.

  Whatever. I didn’t think a ghoul had a very good grasp on the dynamics going on in this town, much less whatever relationship I’d built with the ex-queen of hell.

  “Delaney?” a woman’s voice called out. “Is that you?”

  I glanced over the fence. Vivian Dunn was headed this way, fast, Ryder right on her heels.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Go, go!” I pointed back toward the fence Xtelle had just vaulted, and Than and Tish-me jogged to it.

  I got my hands on the fence and hopped up and over it, landing on the sidewalk in front of Vivian, hopefully messing up her line of sight into the yard.

  “Hey, hi, you two.” I said walking straight at her, which forced her two, three steps back. “Enjoying the weather?”

  Vivian oh-so-casually looped her arm through Ryder’s. “RyRy has been such a doll,” she said, leaning into him. “Taking me around this cute little town and showing me the cutest things.”

  “Cute?” I said.

  “So cute,” she stressed.

  I flicked a glance at Ryder. His eyes were rolled up toward the sky. I had to clear my throat to cover a laugh.

  “So where are you going next?” I took several steps back out toward the main road, and Ryder fell into step next to me, dragging Vivian away from the yard. He didn’t ask me why I’d been back there, but I knew he would follow my lead.

  “There’s a sale on pencils,” he said, sounding super excited about it. Which, he might not actually be faking that. “I’ve asked the store to set aside one of every brand they have. Vivian and I are going to test every one.”

  “Wow.” I couldn’t choke out another word, too afraid I’d laugh in his face. “How long do you think that’s going to take?”

  “Hours,” he said with a sigh, like all his dreams had come true.

  We’d turned the corner. The kite store and its murder-clown sign were straight ahead. “Well, I’ll leave you both to it, then. Good to see you Vivian. Don’t stay up all night testing pencils.”

  Vivian deflated, her shoulders dipping, but her smile set in mortar. “Where are you going, Delaney?” she asked with strained cheer.

  “Oh, you know how it is. I’ll find something to keep me busy around here. See you later, Babe,” I said to Ryder, picking up my pace. “Don’t buy all the pencils, I’ll need something left to get you for Christmas.”

  “Let me come with you!” Vivian shouted.

  I walked faster and pretended I was too far away to hear her.

  “But the pencils,” I heard Ryder call out. Just as my hand landed on the Jeep’s door, Vivian ran up and grabbed my arm.

  “Take me with you,” she begged.

  “Vivian?” Ryder called out as he strolled over, a fake look of concern on his face. “The pencils?”

  She glanced over at him, her eyes wide, and gripped my arm tighter. “Delaney wants to show me around.”

  “I don’t have time—”

  “Please,” she whispered. “Please get me out of pencil shopping. He spent two hours talking about manhole covers. I don’t know what happened to him. He used to be interesting, worldly. But now he thinks counting the barnacles on kelp is high entertainment.”

  Oh, gods, I was going to kiss the ever-loving face off him.

  “I’m working.”

  “I’m begging you.”

  “So I’m sensing some reluctance to pencil shopping?” Ryder asked, arriving next to the Jeep and leaning against the hood, his arms crossed.

  “They’re pencils, Ryder,” she said. “Why in the hell would anyone care?”

  There it was. The real Vivian. She sounded judgmental and bitter. She sounded like she’d be more than happy to stab Ryder with pencils until he stopped breathing.

  I didn’t like her much before. I pretty much hated her now.

  Ryder’s expression barely changed. Just a slight tightening at the edges of his eyes, just a slight clench of his jaw. I had a good feeling he’d seen this side of her before.

  “I mean,” Vivian said, her laugh falling fat and false into our shared silence. “I know you like them because you are so, so artistic. But I want to ride along with Delaney. Ask her some questions for my article.”

>   “You can ask me some questions,” Ryder said, sounding a little hurt. “I’m sorry I went overboard on the pencils. There are other things I can show you here. Kelp—”

  “No! These are questions only Delaney can answer. What it’s like to be a female chief of police. What it’s like having your sisters working for you. You promised me you’d answer the questions, remember?”

  Vivian turned to me and mouthed, please.

  I didn’t like liars.

  I didn’t like manipulators.

  And I didn’t like her.

  I opened my mouth to tell her no, when Ryder cut me off. “We’ll all go together.”

  Vivian closed her eyes for a second, her brows pulled tight, her fingers flexing into my arm, really digging deep now like she wanted to punch someone and was only keeping herself from doing so by holding onto me.

  I looked up at Ryder, who jabbed his thumb off to the side.

  Crow was about a block away, making the “kill it” slice finger sign across his neck.

  Something was happening, or about to happen, and we needed to get Vivian out of here.

  I jumped immediately into action, opening the back door and all but shoving her inside.

  “I’ll answer a few questions before I drop you off back at your hotel.”

  I slammed the door. Ryder had already ducked into the passenger’s seat, so I slid into the driver’s seat. I started the car, keeping an eye on Crow in my side mirror. Just as I eased out onto the street, I saw me, well, Tish-me running for all they were worth, Death hot on their heels.

  I gunned it and turned up the radio, old rock music coming on strong.

  “You’re staying at the Sand Garden, right?”

  “I don’t—Can you turn that down?”

  Ryder looked away from the side view mirror and turned the music down to a better level. “I know how you love to rock out,” he said to me, “but Vivian has questions.”

  Than caught Tish-me by the back of the shirt and pulled them up short. Tish-me hung their head, and Than leaned in to whisper something in their ear. Tish shivered, and nodded.

  Than held onto one of Tish’s arms. Crow jogged up on the other side of the ghoul, taking their other arm. Last I saw them, Tish-me was being carefully guided into Crow’s car.

  So much for promising not to run.

  “So, Delaney. Tell me what it’s like to be the chief of police?”

  “It’s good,” I said. “Following in my father’s footsteps. I’ve always known I would go into law enforcement.”

  “But didn’t you get any push-back from the town? I know small towns can be so much more judgmental than big cities.”

  “In my experience, it isn’t towns or cities that are judgmental, it’s people. We have a lot of diversity in Ordinary. No one blinked an eye at me taking on these duties. And if they wanted me out of the position, if I weren’t doing the best job I could do for them, I’d resign and let someone better qualified take my position.”

  “You don’t really mean that do you?” Ryder asked.

  “What?” I said glancing at him as I let a few tourist cross the road. “I do mean that.”

  “You’d quit?”

  I shrugged. “I’d resign. Look.” I glanced at Vivian in the rearview. “If I’m doing a good job, if I’m listening to the people in my town and doing everything I can to make sure they’re living in a safe and fair community, then I’m happy to be doing that job.

  “But if I lose track of what it means to care for people—all people including the ones who make bad choices and mistakes—when I start seeing them as something other than a living, breathing person who deserves to be seen as human before criminal, then someone better tell me so I can resign and let someone with a better sense of ethics, morals, and heart take care of this town.”

  “That sounds very…correct. Politically,” Vivian said with sniff.

  “Does it? Good. Because my job is to be strong for people when challenges come storming into their lives. My job is to make sure everyone is going to come out of the storm alive and whole.

  “If there has been a crime committed, then I’m going to follow the law and see that fair consequences are handed out for those actions. It’s law enforcement, Vivian. But I’m not the judge, jury, and executioner. I never forget that every person who lives in my town, or is just driving through deserves to be treated fairly.”

  Ryder was watching me while I talked, and I could tell from his small smile that he had not expected me to say that. Which, out of everyone, he should know this about me.

  Yes, I handled crime in the town. Yes, I had arrested people, jailed them. I’d pulled my gun before too, though I’d never killed anyone.

  Yes, I judged if gods and demons could come into Ordinary, but that mostly came down to whether they agreed to follow the rules. I didn’t automatically assume any god, human, demon, or hell, ghoul who looked like me, was up to no good unless they showed me proof those intentions.

  Look at Tish. They had come to town in a car that fell out of the sky. They were working for someone. They might have something to do with the theft of god weapons—might even have been the one to steal the weapons.

  But until I knew that, until we had facts and proof, I wasn’t going to jump to conclusions. I wasn’t going to hurt them—ever—if I could help it.

  Until proved otherwise, Tish was just another supernatural who had come to town and gotten themselves in a bit of a mess. Plenty of supernaturals did that.

  Ryder reached over, and took my hand, his fingers and mine slotting together.

  “I don’t think you’re going to have to resign any time soon,” he said.

  “I hope not. I like my job. I love it. But if there comes a day when I’m not the best person for it, when I’m not the best me on the job, then I’ll step away and find another way to help the people in town.”

  He squeezed my hand gently. “Like they’d ever let you retire.”

  I gave him a quick grin. “Maybe if I begged?”

  “What about moving on to a bigger town? A better town?” Vivian asked. “Move up in the world? Become someone?”

  She stared out the window, and I wondered how she saw the place that had always been home to me. From the look on her face, there was nothing special about the weather-worn buildings, the narrow, but clean streets.

  I didn’t think she saw how Athena’s surf shop had new candles displayed in the window, cleverly arranged to mimic an ocean wave. I didn’t think she could see how Zeus was still trying to camouflage the lopsided chainsaw statue of a walrus Odin had forced him to carry in his upscale boutique. I didn’t think she could see the new tea shop Ganesha, who had returned to town a couple month ago, was going to open, the sign on the window a cheery drawing of an elephant and mouse having tea together.

  She didn’t see the people here, the lives here, the love here. She saw only the surface of the place.

  Which was fine with me. I didn’t want anything to draw her attention. Didn’t want her interest.

  Boring was good. Boring was a shield and a protection.

  “I like it here,” I said. “I grew up here. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”

  Traffic was a little slow, so I took a side street, knowing I could cut back through the neighborhoods to the hotel.

  “Delaney, you don’t want to—” Ryder started, just as I realized I’d turned down a street with the spillover of cars and people heading to the pre-show practice of the Ordinary Show Off.

  Traffic slowed to a snail’s crawl.

  Shit.

  The lines of cars on either side of the street perked up Vivian’s attention. “Is there an event going on?”

  “Just good weather,” I lied.

  “No, I see something. Is it a festival? How cute.”

  “Oh, that’s a rehearsal, it’s not open to the public.” I was looking for a turn around, but the streets were narrow and there were cars ahead and behind me. We were at a complete stand still.
>
  “I’m sure they won’t mind.” Vivian opened the door. She slipped between two parked cars and strode down the sidewalk.

  “Shit,” I said.

  “I’m on her.” Ryder shouldered out of the car. A short jog brought him right next to her.

  They crossed the street. I wasn’t going to catch up to them in the Jeep. Putting on my lights wouldn’t do me any good. There was nowhere for the cars around me to move to let me get by.

  So I looked for a place I could park. I wedged the Jeep between two other vehicles, blocking a fire hydrant, which—not great—but this was an emergency.

  I ducked out of the Jeep and bee-lined to where Ryder and Vivian had disappeared down a cross street.

  The air was warmer now, and the smell of popcorn and cherry cotton candy puffed toward me, along with the more savory scents of barbecue.

  Because of course Bertie wouldn’t let the rehearsal be anything but a show in itself.

  Voices rose and fell, the lift of someone really getting a kick out of a joke, the shriek of a child running fast enough it felt like flying.

  Hammers banged, out of rhythm, a saw shrilled and stopped, a drill droned.

  The Ordinary Show Off wasn’t until tomorrow afternoon, so construction of food booths, props, and charity donation stations was still ongoing.

  “…many people can get in the way of construction. It’s not safe.” Ryder said to Vivian. They had stopped on the edge of the little footpath that led to the slight rise of hill overlooking the stage and seating.

  “We need to go,” I said. “I’m not asking. This,” I pointed at the event, “isn’t open to the public. It is not safe for you to be here until all of the construction is finished. Let’s go.”

  “But—”

  “I can put you in cuffs if you think that would make a better article,” I offered flatly.

  I was not kidding. She must have figured that out.

  “One person all the way up here isn’t going to get in the way of the rehearsal,” she said.

  “Okay, so cuffs it is.” I pulled mine out of my pocket and had the great satisfaction of seeing her eyes go wide.