by Martha Carr
Where is this? A shudder passed through her as she felt the darkness surge through her. At the far end of the tunnel there was something chained to the wall, wailing and thrashing. A low rumble followed by an angry roar echoed off the paved, curved tunnel.
The energy found its destination at last, swirling around the six-foot tall beast that stood on two legs, covered in fur, its fangs hanging over its lips. Tall horns protruded out the top of its head. They've made a fucking minotaur...
The beast sensed the presence of magic and thrashed in the air, swiping at it with its long claws. Its bloodshot eyes were enraged as it opened its mouth and roared again, a blue flame of magic surrounding its entire body. A magical fucking minotaur. Why?
Perrom watched in horror as he put two fingers in his mouth and letting out a loud, sharp whistle. He moved his fingers, changing the pitch, letting out a second sound.
A wizard and witch were approaching down the tunnel carrying lit torches. Leira could feel the magic trying to pull away as she stared at the beast and noticed a change. Something was happening to the beast. He cried out in pain as he twisted his head around, the thick fur disappearing from his hide and his jaw restructured itself. Leira could feel her heart pounding even inside of the energy. It's a man...
He glanced up and seemed to be able to see through the magic, his dark brown eyes making eye contact with her.
The light sensed Leira was in danger and let go of the darkness, shoving Leira backward as she caught the last glimpse of a Witch placing a blanket over the naked body of a man chained to a wall. As her hand came off the artifact attached to the cow she felt the darkness pull away from her, whipping out of her body and slithering into a void, disappearing into the distance. The images faded as Leira returned to her body.
She crumpled to her knees next to the cow, still shaking as she put her hands on the ground, trying to steady herself. She spit on the ground, trying to get the taste of ashes out of her mouth, absorbing what she had seen. The old line families, they're gathering. That's what I saw. Her head was spinning as she pieced it all together. Lacey Trader was right. Those fuckers are not happy campers and they made their own build-a-monster to do something about it. "I need to find Correk."
"What the hell just happened?"
"Not entirely sure but I think the old families just doubled down on the humans and have come up with a plot of their own that is making all of this look short-sighted and tame. I need to go."
"You got what you needed?" Perrom set off down the path the way they came, directing Leira out of the dense part of the forest.
"I got far more than I bargained for, as usual."
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Don ran around the car and opened the door for Eireka, waiting patiently till she was out before he shut it behind her. He held out his arm as she put her hand in the crook of his elbow and they walked together into Foreign and Domestic, the hot new restaurant on the north side of Austin in an old skate shop.
Don was dressed in the best of the two suits he owned. The navy blue one that showed off his eyes and the elbows weren't too worn out yet. The only other suit he owned was black and he kept in his closet for funerals or when he went to the bank for a loan. Tonight was a blue suit occasion.
He looked at Eireka as she carefully stepped up the stairs in her sling-back heels, marveling at how he had gotten a second chance with someone that beautiful. He loved the way her hair had a wave right near the top of her forehead that made it fall against the side of her face. Or the way her ass swayed from side to side whenever she walked, like all the parts were taking their time and knew just what they were doing.
But it's her eyes. She glanced up at him and gave him an easy smile. It's her eyes. You can see how kind she is just by looking in her eyes. She's tougher than I am but is so slow to anger. Even after all she's been through, she gives everyone the benefit of the doubt. She leaned in and rested her cheek against his shoulder for just a moment and he felt a surge of excitement run through him. I am the luckiest son of a bitch who ever walked this planet or that other one everyone keeps talking about.
"Here let me get that." He stepped forward and opened the door to the restaurant, his coat jacket swaying from the small book he had tucked in it for later. That was one of the secrets he knew about Eireka that most people didn't get to know. She loved poetry.
Giving her the book would get him one of those looks he craved. The look he wanted over and over again. Surprise that someone had seen that far into her and understood. He wanted to see that look again.
On their third date since finding each other again they had sat inside of a Starbucks near the UT campus and talked for hours as people came and went all around them. Don kept getting up to go buy something every time the manager gave him a look, just so he could keep looking across the table at Eireka.
"Poetry is what helped me hang in there," she had said so earnestly. She leaned forward in her chair, her elbows resting on the table and whispered conspiratorially to him. "It's my guilty pleasure. Lucille Clifton or Naomi Shihab Nye. Nye wrote, 'The river is famous to the fish. The loud voice is famous to silence, which knew it would inherit the earth before anybody said so...'" She ducked her chin down, vulnerable and blushing. He wanted to reach out and take her hand in his rough, calloused one, let her know he was all in, right then and there but he knew he had to wait. Third date... show a little patience. Don't be a dick, rule number one.
"That's from her poem, Famous. I used to repeat it to myself all the time in the middle of the night when there was no one else there and it was hours till morning. It's a funny thing that the place they send people who can't keep it together is set up in a way that it's the very place that may unwind them the rest of the way. You don't have to be out of your mind going in to lose your way while you're in there. Thank goodness I could dream of Leira."
That's the other thing about her. She loves people so easily. She doesn't couch it in anything, make you bargain for it. She doesn't even wait to see if it'll be returned like it's not even the point. Like she's fine if you don't. I'm not even sure I could figure out how to do that. Well, do it for anyone but her.
"All those years when I thought I had lost you, I wondered what I could have done differently. The thought of you made me feel equal measures of joy and sadness in opposite directions and all at once," he had said.
She looked up at him surprised with that look like he had seen something inside of her she had been holding onto for fifteen years, not sure what to do with it. Her eyes had shined with tears and she was the one who reached out and grabbed his hand, rubbing her fingers against his palm. He could feel his pulse pounding in his ears and held as still as possible, not wanting her to stop the simple gesture.
She looks at me like I'm ten feet tall and could take on giants and when I'm with her that's how I feel. Like anything is possible just because she believes enough for both of us. We could do anything together or nothing at all and everything would be alright.
He could feel the excitement bubbling up in him again as they waited to be led to their table. He had called and explained very carefully to the maitre'd that he needed a table off by itself, not too close to the front or the back. Out of the path of fast-moving waiters. You can do this. Don't be a bonehead twice in a lifetime. He found himself wishing he could live to be a hundred and beyond, a new thought. Just so he could look at Eireka Berens across a table each one of those extra days.
They sat down at one of the glossy wooden tables in the center of the room, pulled apart from the others nearby. "Thank you," said Eireka as she settled into the white metal chair, taking the menu from the waiter. "I'll give you a few moments to look at the menu. Would you like anything to drink?"
"Champagne," Don blurted out, pointing at Eireka and himself. "For the two of us."
Eireka gave him another one of those easy smiles, dimples showing in her cheeks. "Going all out."
"I wanted to take you somewhere nice." He was second g
uessing himself. No white tablecloths. Maybe this wasn't the right place.
"I love it." Eireka looked around, the light reflecting in her green eyes. She's happy. Okay, we're good.
The waiter gave Don a conspiratorial wink as he passed by him. Don glanced around the restaurant and saw the bartender glancing over, a smile on his face and the waitress waiting by the tables in the corner smiled harder when she saw Don look in her direction. This entire place is happy for us. He looked at Eireka and couldn't wait any longer. I will screw this up if I have to wait. Let it all start now. Let me find out now if it's possible to be this happy and get it all.
"She will know I love her now, the world will know my love for her! A man risked his life to write the words," he said, haltingly, repeating the words he had memorized in the shower and while working underneath a car and when waiting at a traffic light. Eireka lifted her chin, startled, her mouth open just slightly in wonder and amazement. That look came over her face and he almost lost his place, worried for just a moment he would ruin the moment, but then the words came back to him again. Thank God for all that practice.
He kept going, breathlessly, afraid to take in air till he got to the end, finally gulping it in, looking into her eyes. Those eyes, the way she looks at me.
She waited till she was sure he was done and pressed her hands to her face. "Thomas Lux. His poem, I Love You Sweetheart." She reached out and grabbed his hand with both of hers, squeezing tight. "The most wonderful way to say you love me. The best... I love you too. What a wonderful gift!"
He felt the blood rush to his head and a million thoughts scatter through his mind, each one wanting to be said. Stick to the plan. He reached in his coat pocket and pulled out the book he found in a second-hand bookshop. An old book of poetry with long forgotten poems. It was perfect.
He put it slowly down on the table and slid it across to her knowing she would open it carefully. Take her time and turn each page. Even without knowing it, she would play her part beautifully.
She gave a shy smile as she read the cover, moving her lips without making a sound. She opened and turned to the first page and saw that different letters were carefully cut out of the page. A giggle escaped her and she ran her finger over the tiny holes, piecing the word together.
She loves puzzles. That's another secret very few know about Eireka Berens, but I know.
"Will..." she said, saying it slowly, turning the page. There was nothing cut out and she looked up confused but Don sat there patiently, not saying a thing. He knew she would figure it out, keep going and be all the more delighted that she discovered it on her own. He could wait. He'd waited this long. Fifteen years.
She kept turning and finally got to another page that had the small, carefully executed cut outs and she ran her finger over them, parsing out what letter was missing. "You..." she said, delighted. She turned the pages a little faster this time, still careful not to miss the next clue. There it was.
Her finger pressed down as she worked out the first letters. "M...a...r..." She looked up in surprise, a smile spreading across her face. "Marry..." she whispered, as she suddenly dropped the book where it lay and reached across the table grabbing Don's face with both of her hands, her fingers spread wide, kissing him hard against the lips. She was leaning halfway across the table, her eyes wide open, laughing as she kissed him again.
Those eyes. I could look at them forever.
She sat back in the table, her face flushed, not saying a word. Waiting to see what would happen next.
He reached over and opened the book, turning the pages toward the back to show her where he had cut out a hole just big enough for a small velvet box. He took it out and opened it, as it made a soft click. The ring glittered in the lights as he said in a strong voice, louder than he intended, "Will you marry me, Eireka Berens?" He thought his heart would break from joy.
"Yes, yes I will..." She held out her shaking hand as he slipped on the ring and the restaurant exploded with clapping and laughter and shouts of "Congratulations!"
The waiter brought over two glasses of champagne and set them on the table as Don knelt by Eireka's side and she leaned down to kiss him, taking his face in her hands again. "A thousand times yes," she whispered close to his face.
Worth all the waiting. I hope I live to be a hundred just so I can look into those eyes.
"I love you too," she said again.
In this moment, I have everything.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The troll stood on the edge of the couch, leaning toward the TV. He was wearing an old washcloth tied around his neck as a cape and was punching his paws in the air. Correk was looking back and forth between Yumfuck and The Dark Knight rises on the television.
"This is a new phase." He looked back toward the kitchen and the bedroom but didn't hear a sound. "Have you seen your larger half around here? We keep missing each other."
Yumfuck shrugged and growled at the TV. "I am Batfuck," he said in a low voice.
"That's wrong from several angles."
The troll let out a cackle and blew a raspberry at Correk while farting out the other end.
Correk stood in one fluid motion, avoiding the colorful gas that floated toward the ceiling. "Aloha. That's the entire picture right there. Quite clear why trolls live outside. More space for gases to dissipate." He sat back down on the far side of the room in the red velvet chair, looking around the small guest house. My time here is almost up. Maybe it's even past due. "Did I tell you I saw a baby gargoyle today in middle America?"
The troll turned and made an O with his mouth, feigning surprise. He leaped across the cushion, and down to the floor, bounding over with his arms outstretched, pulling himself up onto a nearby side table and leaping out, neatly landing on Correk's knee. The washcloth flapping behind him. "Well I grew up in Gotham and I turned out alright."
Correk kept on talking, ignoring the tiny caped crusader's impersonation. "Yes, it's true. My first time in the field as a Fixer. Not sure if I'm a Fixer in training or just a Light Elf along for the ride. A Witch actually thought she could hide a gargoyle in suburbia." He shook his head.
The troll eyed him suspiciously but said nothing.
"For some reason I thought this role would be a little more complicated. We transported a small gargoyle through a portal and then went home."
"You need a cape and a mask too."
"I don't think things have gotten to that level yet but I'll keep you in the loop. Things have grown quiet. I'm not used to that feeling that all is well. Very unsettling."
Correk got up and put the troll back on the couch, going back to the red chair. "I'm a grown Light Elf from the royal court and I'm hanging out in a guest house in Austin, Texas with a troll wearing a makeshift cape. Yes, folks that's my life right at the moment. Everyone who needs rescuing is safe and sound. Rhazdon is defeated and has slunk off somewhere to wither up like a dried mushroom. Sure, the natives on this planet are running amok but that appears to be an ongoing issue and none of my business. So, I'm the Fixer. I thought it would be more action, like Batman and less fixing like an electrician or a glorified babysitter." He threw his hands up in the air. "Hundreds of years of answering calls."
"Hundreds of years of being of service. You like being of service. What else would you be doing with your time? Hanging with me?" The troll rolled back onto the couch, laughing. He stood back up and cheered at the TV before letting out a sigh and sitting back down. "You could always go back to Oriceran."
Correk looked around the room again, not saying anything.
"You don't want to leave her." Yumfuck threw the idea out there, his eyes glued on the television as he watched Batman sit on the edge of a tall building overlooking the city. It was giving him ideas.
"What? Don't want to leave who?"
The troll blew a raspberry. "It's not like you to wonder what to do next. You get an assignment, you go. Light Elves are not known for their introspection. You don't want to leave her."
"Full sentences, nice. It's about time." He sat back, unwilling to say it out loud. I don't want to leave her. He shook his head. No, that can't be. "That can't be right. She's equal parts annoying and courageous. Half the time I'm wondering how to get out of here."
"Maybe in the very beginning but things changed. You almost died, Leira got her entire family back. You fought side by side. You took a road trip together. Things went boom. It's like you've been doing the action hero's version of dating all along."
Correk opened his mouth to argue again when the door burst open and Leira came barreling inside, almost dropping her purse on top of him.
"You're here! Just the person I was looking for. I need to talk to you." Leira held her purse in both hands, looking around the room, wondering what to do with it. She walked into her bedroom and threw it on the bed and came back, pacing in the center of the room.
The troll leaned to the left as she passed by so he could get a better view of the television, and leaned to the right when she passed back the other way.
Leira stopped and looked down at him and looked over at Correk. "Is that supposed to be a cape?"
"I am Batfuck," growled the troll.
Leira let out a tense laugh. "Yeah, you are." She couldn't shake what she had seen and started pacing again, trying to figure out where to start. "It feels like I haven't seen you in a week instead of just a day. Packed a lot in while you were off being the Fixer. You must have a lot to tell me too."
"Ha!" Yumfuck snorted without looking away from the movie.
"You go first."
Need to ease him into this shit show. "There's a lot. I'll give you the highlights because there's a big boom at the end. I saw Lacey Trader and she gave me a personal tour of the vault. We shut down that operation in Mexico and rescued all of the animals that were there. Not all of it went exactly as planned." She was talking fast, gliding over the details. Save the part about taking off the bracelet for later. "Louie showed up out of nowhere with some kind of magic sword to save the day. Jackson sent him."
