Age of Aquarius

by Tawdra Kandle

  She had her back to me as we both climbed the steps, but I could practically hear her eyes rolling anyway. We remained silent until we reached the conference room, where two men and a woman sat at a long oak table.

  “Sorry to pull you away from your books, Cathryn.” Harley, my father’s right-hand man and a vice president here at Carruthers, winked at me from the opposite side as I dragged out a chair. “Duty calls.”

  “Duty’s been calling a little often lately. It’s beginning to get old.” I arched my eyebrows in the direction of the head of the table, where my father sat. “You promised the Institute wouldn’t interfere with my classes.”

  “Now, sweetheart.” Daddy reached over to pat my arm. “You know we try to work around your school schedule. I understand you have challenges.” Ironically, my non-gifted parent was more compassionate than my mom, who had her own special talents.

  “You’re a part of this family, and you’ve got a role to play in this business.” My mother took a seat across from me. “And this particular discussion concerns you.”

  I felt her unease, even though I was skilled at blocking my parents’ thoughts and emotions, thanks to a lifetime of training. Most families would’ve been freaked out to discover their daughter could hear thoughts and sense every emotion experienced by those around her. But not the Carruthers-Whitmores; for them, I was just another person to carry on both the family gifts and the family business.

  “What’s going on?” I leaned back in my chair, my eyes flitting between my parents and Harley and Delia. The latter looked distinctively uncomfortable, as though she wanted to be in this room about as much as I did. I frowned, easing down my mental walls just enough to probe subtly at the older woman. Her forehead puckered, and I knew she’d sensed the intrusion. I drew back without any insight into her preoccupation.

  “Remember a few years ago, when we looked into the Nell Massler affair?” My father tilted his head as he regarded me. “It was the mess with the girl who tried to use a few of her high school classmates for a blood ritual. Down in King, it was.”

  King. My face grew warm, and I dropped my gaze, mentally kicking myself the whole time. King, a small town in central Florida, was an odd little town apparently; established by Gravis King, the famous carnival owner in the late nineteenth-century, as a special home for his now-retired carnies, had a long and mysterious history of mystical events. Carruthers Initiative Institute, our family organization, had been monitoring activity there for generations, recruiting some of the more gifted townspeople to work for us. Few of them had accepted our offer, and all of them were cagey, secretive and protective of whatever went on within the town’s boarders.

  It was also the hometown of the guy who I’d been crushing on for the past few months. Michael Sawyer appeared to be completely normal, in the sense that he didn’t possess any special abilities that would make him appealing to Carruthers. I’d been assigned to get to know him when he’d arrived at Perriman College; he was two years behind me in school, but because of some advanced high school courses, he was in some upper-level botany classes. I’d been both relieved and disappointed when he didn’t show any signs of talents that might force my hand to recruit him for the Institute.

  “Yes, I remember,” I answered now, keeping my voice decidedly neutral. “She was committed, right? She’s in a mental health hospital?”

  “Yes.” My mother nodded. “But it’s not her we’re interested in, not at this point. Some of our sensitives have been picking up unusual activity in King, so we sent an agent down to investigate. There’s a girl in town—she’s not local, she’s a transplant—but she’s displaying some pretty incredible power.”

  “So you need me to pay her a visit?”

  My father shook his head. “No. Turns out her boyfriend’s at Perriman. Matter of fact, you know him. His name is Michael Sawyer.”

  The bottom dropped out of my stomach.

  2015 Flash Fiction

  {This is a flash fic piece I wrote for a blog’s Halloween promo in 2015. It’s a Jackie and Lucas story, set on Halloween, and it includes characters and a setting I borrowed from my friend author Mandie Stevens’ paranormal world. It takes place between Death A La Mode and Death Over Easy.}

  Jackie

  “That was one of the best dinners I’ve ever eaten that I didn’t cook.” I dabbed my mouth with the linen napkin and sat back in my chair. “But now I don’t think I can move.”

  Lucas smiled as he sipped his wine. “Good news is that you don’t have to move far. Aren’t you glad now that we decided to get a hotel room for tonight?”

  “Yeah, yeah, whatever. You were right. I just hope Makani’s not giving Mrs. Mac any trouble. Normally I wouldn’t worry, but with tonight being Halloween, he’s going to be crazy.” My dog was normally pretty chill, but dozens of trick or treaters set him on edge.

  “I warned her about letting him get hopped on sugar. I think he’ll be safe.” He reached for my hand then jerked upright, away from me. “Shit. Shit. Jackie, I’m sorry, but I’m being summoned to a Reckoning. I need to get someplace private to transport.”

  I sat up, too, and pointed to the back of the courtyard where we were eating. “There’s the alley we cut through on our way here. Now that it’s dark, you’ll probably be safe there.”

  “Okay.” He stood up, pushing back his chair, and leaned down to kiss my lips quickly. “I’ll get back as fast as I can. Are you all right to walk to the hotel by yourself? If you feel uncomfortable, call a taxi.”

  “I will, but don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” I lowered my voice. “When your boyfriend’s a vampire slash death broker, you don’t spook easily.”

  Lucas rolled his eyes, but he didn’t have time for anything else. As he jogged away, our waitress approached the table.

  “Everything okay?” She frowned at the back of my departing date, probably thinking I’d been ditched.

  “Yep!” I gave her a bright smile. “My boyfriend . . . uh, his job sometimes calls him away.”

  She nodded. “He’s a doctor?”

  “Something like that.”

  I paid the bill and left, wandering down the narrow side streets of St. Augustine. I’d been here before often enough that I knew my way around this part of town, the old city across from the Fort. The shops and cobblestone streets were familiar, though tonight they seemed just a little spookier, a little more mysterious than they usually did.

  After all, it was Halloween.

  I knew I should go back to the hotel and wait for Lucas. Reckonings, where he was required to determine the final destination of just-departed souls, could move quickly or take hours, depending on how much of a fight the advocates for light and dark put up. But the idea of sitting in the room by myself, channel surfing, sounded too pathetic. I decided it wouldn’t hurt to wander a bit.

  The streets and alleys were crowded, with more people wearing costumes than not. Sometimes it was hard to tell which ones were children and which were adults. I paused outside the spice store, watching the parade of witches, ghouls, monsters and vampires pass, amusing myself by picking out which ones really existed—to my knowledge—and which ones did not.

  Jackie.

  I startled, glancing around, but the voice seemed to drift by me, as though it had floated in on the sea breeze.

  Jaaaaackie. .

  A shiver of dread gave me goose bumps. I was about to push off the wall and head back toward the hotel when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I froze as a strong sense of déjà vu swept over me. Not long ago, I’d had an encounter with Veronica, the mysterious woman who’d apparently changed Lucas into a vampire. I hadn’t known who she was at the time, but ever since, I’d been a little jumpy, seeing creepy vampires around every corner.

  Wheeling around, I relaxed when I saw a tall blonde woman I didn’t recognize. Not Veronica. She stepped back when she saw my face.

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought—I was meeting someone here, and I thought you were her.” Her eyes
narrowed.

  “Are you all right? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “At least a dozen of them.” I pointed behind me at the costumed people, grinning. When the woman only tilted her head, frowning, I shrugged. “You startled me a little. I thought you were someone else, too.”

  “You look as though you could use a drink.” She hesitated, as though debating something as she glanced over my shoulder. “Come on. I know a place where—well, just come on.”

  She grabbed hold of my hand and hauled me down the road a little. Apprehension prickled at the back of my neck as the woman kept looking behind us, as though she saw something I couldn’t.

  “I’m Jackie, by the way.” I trotted to keep her from pulling off my arm. “And um, my boyfriend is expecting me back at our hotel. I really should—”

  “I’m Eva. And he’s not back yet.” She scowled. “Damn it. Here.” She pulled me around the corner, and suddenly we were on damp stone steps that led up a narrow passage between two imposing walls.The moon shone through the wispy clouds, illuminating Eva’s face. She had an almost other-worldly sense about her, an elusive something I’d seen in our friends Nell and Rafe. And when I’d mentioned Lucas, she’d replied, He’s not back yet.

  “Who are you?” I meant the words to sound like a demand, but they came out as a whisper.

  She flicked a glance at me. “I’m a friend. And you were being followed. Don’t worry. I won’t let anyone hurt you. I know where we can go to be safe.” She shot me a half-smile. “But you’re going to have to trust me.”

  Without waiting for a response, Eva took off up the steps, and I had no choice but to follow her. The passage turned to become a long hallway bathed in pitch-black darkness. I kept moving, groping along the wall until I heard a creak and dim light shone through a rough-hewn wooden door.

  Eva slipped through the opening, standing back to let me in before she closed the door behind us. I heard muffled noise below us.

  “Where are we?”

  “Nowhere you’ve ever been.” She beckoned me forward. “We’ll be okay if we get downstairs. I think, anyway.”

  We crept down a winding iron staircase, and the hum of voices and laughter swelled. At the bottom of the steps, Eva paused and glanced back at me.

  “We’re going into a bar now. It’s called Spellbound, and you’re going to see some, uh, interesting types here. Don’t talk to anyone unless I say, don’t make eye contact, and stick close to me.”

  “I thought you said it was safe.” I wasn’t feeling particularly reassured.

  “It is, relatively speaking.” Her lips quirked into a sardonic smile. “You’re going to learn, probably sooner than later, that there’s no place truly safe.”

  When Eva had said I’d see some interesting types, I’d pictured a typical bar scene. And in some ways, I wasn’t wrong. But as we darted between groups and wound our way to the bar itself, I began to suspect some of these people weren’t dressed in costumes. They looked eerily real. And some of them stared just a little too long as Eva and I pushed past.

  “No eye contact,” she muttered just before she pushed me forward to the bar. I caught myself with both hands and glared at her.

  “Eva, what the hell?” The man behind the counter was huge, and instantly I thought, Viking. He crossed his massive arms over his chest and stared down at us.

  “Soren, not now. I was looking for—well, it doesn’t matter at the moment. I was supposed to meet someone, but then there were demons after this one.” She pointed at me. “I didn’t have anywhere else to bring her.”

  He raised one eyebrow. “So you brought her . . . here?”

  She scowled. “It’s Halloween. There’re all kinds of humans in here.”

  “Fine, but what’re you going to do with her after midnight? And don’t even think about throwing down with any demon types in my place. Not tonight. Any of them followed you in here and go after her, I’m kicking all your asses out the door.” He let his eyes fall almost shut. “Unless you want to make it worth my while not to do that.”

  Eva growled under her breath, and I could hear the frustration. I licked my lips and stood taller, beginning to creep away.

  “Listen, why don’t I solve everybody’s problems by going back to my hotel? My boyfriend’s probably freaking out waiting for me.”

  Both of the blondes turned as though they’d forgotten about me until I spoke. Eva started to reply, but Soren interrupted her.

  “I have a better idea. Why don’t you just come back to my office? I can protect you . . . in privacy.” He smiled at me,and the light glinted off dangerous white teeth. A chill ran down my back.

  Eva sucked in a breath, but before she could say anything else, a hand closed around my arm. “Jackie. Thank God.” Lucas folded me into his body, and I sagged against him in relief.

  “How did you know where to find me?” My words were muffled against his chest.

  He sighed. “It’s a long story, but basically, this was a set-up. I could tell from the beginning something was wonky with the Reckoning. The advocate for the dark kept hemming and hawing, long after I knew what the outcome would be. Finally, the advocate for light accused him of stalling, and we managed to find out what was going on.” He looked grim. “The light advocate told me where you would be.”

  “Eva saved me.” I glanced at her over my shoulder.

  Lucas’s arms tightened around me. “Thank you.”

  She shrugged. “Right place, right time.” Her lips pressed together. “But I need to go. There’s someone else I’m supposed to be with right now. You got this?”

  “We’re good.” Lucas nodded.

  Eva started to leave and then stopped, looking back. “It’s coming. It’s getting closer. You’re right the hell in the middle of this, and there are forces that would do anything to stop you. You need to know that. There’s no such thing as safe anymore.”

  With that, she turned and disappeared into the crowd. Lucas watched her go and then took my hand.

  “Let’s get out of here.”

  We threaded our way through the crowd and out into the uncertain darkness.

  Rafe and Nell at the Beach

  {A Coastal Magic promo that first appeared on the blog Literal Addiction.}

  “I’m not going to the beach.”

  I didn’t even bother turning around to check out Rafe’s expression. I knew what it would be: a mix of patient exasperation and frustration, the same way he looked whenever I dug in my heels about something he wanted me to do. I waited for his next move, which was typically a sigh as he came up behind me and slid his arms around my waist, pulling me tight against his hard body and began to persuade me in his own special way.

  But this time, he didn’t move. When I finally turned around to sneak a peek at what he was doing, his head was bent over the slim silver laptop on the counter in front of him. He wasn’t even looking my way. I frowned.

  Rafe’s eyes didn’t leave the computer screen, and his fingers flew over the keys. If he’d heard me, he wasn’t giving any indication of it. I slammed the door of the coffee mug cabinet, and finally he glanced up at me, his green eyes distracted.

  “Did you hear me? I said I’m not going to the beach.”

  He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Okay.”

  Okay? Since when had my boyfriend—yes, I still winced at the use of that word, but what else could I call Rafe? My lover? My roommate? My screwing buddy? Since all of my limited circle knew the deal about our relationship, I rarely had to use that word, but sometimes among strangers or acquaintances, it slipped out. But since when had he given into me so easily when I gave him a hard time? My stomach clenched as old insecurities flooded back.

  “Okay, as in we’re not going to do it, or okay, as in you’re still going to go?” I leaned back against the counter and crossed my arms over my chest.

  “Okay, as in I made the commitment for us to go, and even if you don’t, I am. I promised Cathryn we’d take care of it.�
�

  I made a face. “Why can’t someone else handle it? She has a whole institute of people at her disposal.”

  “Everyone else is busy or on assignment. It’s not as if it’s a challenging job, Nell. It’s a possibly haunted hotel in a small beach town a couple of hours away. Cathryn offered it to us as a favor. She figured we could combine business with . . . pleasure.” Now he did shut the computer and advance around the kitchen island toward me, a predatory gleam in his eyes. “The beach is supposed to be a romantic setting, you know. Sunsets over clear blue water, the lapping of the waves against the soft white sand, the heat of the sun . . .”

  “Sand getting into inconvenient places, blistering sunburns on my very pale skin . . . and the sun doesn’t set on that coast, it rises on that side.”

  This time Rafe did sigh as he grabbed my hand and tugged me close, wrapping both arms around me. “Nell, how many times do I really ask you to do anything you don’t want to do?”

  I burrowed my face against his chest, breathing in pure Rafe, the one drug that calmed me body and soul. “Well, there was Christmas a few years back—”

  “Uh huh, and did I tell you that we had to go back to King? No, I suggested that we go to Nebraska and make like snow bunnies.”

  I rolled my eyes. “But I did go.”

  “Yes, and I really appreciated it. Didn’t I show you that?” He nuzzled my neck, his tongue darting out to touch the pulse there. “C’mon, Nell. I just want to lie on the beach with my beautiful girlfriend and veg a little. I promise, you don’t have to socialize or anything. Just go for me.”

  I heaved out a deep breath. “Fine. I’ll go to the beach. But I won’t like it.”

  * * *

  I liked the beach.

  I didn’t want to like it. I wanted to sit there wrapped in layers of my gauzy cover-up, brooding. But I couldn’t, not when the sun was beaming down on us, and a soft breeze cooled our skin. Not when Rafe peeled off his shirt and his tan skin gleamed against the white of the powder-soft sand.