“And it’s not just a matter of renting an apartment.” Kai stepped back and hitched himself up to sit on the kitchen counter. “The reason we’re here is to provide a community for spirits like ourselves. Safety in numbers, you know? Spirits aren’t the rarest thing in the world, but we’re a bit more concentrated here specifically because Obaachan opened this place to provide shelter. There are a few places like this around the country, but as far as I know this is the only one on the West Coast.”
“Yeah. We’re not just inviting you here because we like you.” Sebastian nodded. “We do, but that’s sort of a bonus. We invited you here for safety. Ours as well as your own. You’re human, and you don’t use your magic consciously, or even willingly I guess, but that still more than qualifies you to live here amongst people who understand that you’re special, not damaged. And if you’re here, you’re not out there accidentally giving out visions willy nilly, which makes you more comfortable and us safer, just in case.” Sebastian hated that last fact, but he couldn’t deny it.
“So you want to keep me here?” Gabe frowned.
“No, no. You’re not a prisoner.” Kai answered Gabe’s real question. “You’d be a neighbor and a friend and an employee. But you can’t tell me it’s safer to sleep by yourself out there in the Wight Cave than in an actual apartment with a door and a lock, in a gated apartment complex with extra magical security measures and people around you who would not only notice if something happened to you but care about your safety and wellbeing.”
Gabe’s mouth opened and closed a few times as he processed Kai’s point. The expression on his face cycled through irritation and resistance through to hope. His eyes dipped to the floor, then he stared around at the apartment again.
It was a tiny place, really. Sebastian felt almost guilty for offering what amounted to little more than a dorm room. There was space for a bed and a dresser and a table and a few more pieces of furniture, but not a lot. One of the other studio residents had a privacy screen next to his bed and that division of the room made it feel claustrophobic.
“Thank you.” Gabe’s voice was so quiet that if he’d been human, Sebastian wouldn’t have heard it.
“You’re more than welcome, Gabe.” Kai hopped off the counter and went to pat Gabe’s shoulder out of habit. His hand stopped just short of contact and hovered for a second. Gabe glanced up and tipped his head.
“I… I think it’s okay,” he said. He frowned and chewed his lip for a moment then continued. “Last night when you touched me nothing happened. I mean, I didn’t get a vision or anything. I don’t know why, but it felt okay. Almost calm.”
“Do you want me to try?” Kai asked. He took a step back and faced Gabe head on. Gabe’s frown grew then he looked up to meet Kai’s gaze and nodded. Kai held his hand out as if to shake Gabe’s, and after a hesitant start Gabe reached out and took it.
They stared at each other, expressions serious and concerned. Sebastian knew that Kai was paying close attention for signs of distress, but after a moment Gabe broke into the biggest smile yet.
“How? Why am I not having a flash of… of whatever? A vision? Even with my mom I’d get them once in a while, back when she still touched me. But nothing from you!”
“Maybe because I’m not human?” Kai asked, his own head tipping in curiosity. “Definitely worth looking into further, I think.”
“Not today, though,” Sebastian broke in. He could feel his own grin stretching across his face. “If I make Gabe late to work at the Apothecary, both Sarah and Doc will come after me. Sarah’s been looking forward to her evening off since you started. Come on, I’ll walk you over and get this place set up a bit for you. You come stay here tonight, okay?”
“Absolutely. No more secret campsite,” Kai agreed, and this time he let his hand land on Gabe’s shoulder. The boy practically preened into the touch and Sebastian realized suddenly that he must have been starving himself of human contact for years.
“I’ve got an inflatable mattress in the storage shed somewhere. I’ll dig it out, and see what sort of kitchen gear I can dig up that we don’t need,” Kai said while he locked the door behind them. “It won’t be much, but it’ll be much better than sleeping on the floor.”
“And I’ll go ahead and finish up the wall paint. It’ll only take a couple of hours, I’ve just been lazy about it,” Sebastian added.
“I…” Gabe’s voice cracked and he swallowed before starting again. “Thank you.”
“What’re friends for?” Sebastian grinned. Kai reached over and dropped the key into Gabe’s palm. Gabe stood there, staring at it and Kai laughed, the sound warm and joyful.
“Welcome to the Village, Gabe,” he said.
18
“Hey sweetie, what’re you doing?” Sarah hung her keys up on the hook by the door and dropped her purse on the coat tree. She balanced the bag of groceries on her hip and leaned over Sebastian’s shoulder to give him a peck on the cheek and look at the laptop screen he was peering at.
“It’s the website for that secondhand shop down the street. They’ve got some furniture that’s not too bad for pretty good prices.” He turned his head and grinned up at her. “We talked Gabe into moving into the Village. Kid’s gonna need some stuff that isn’t camping gear.”
“I know. He was talking almost nonstop about it when he got in. He’s excited to be working, too. Doc said that once you get a schedule put together for him we can work our schedule around that. It sounds like our street urchin has decided to put down roots.” Sarah grinned and headed for the kitchen. “Oh I’m so glad, Seb. I’ve been so worried about him.”
“Me, too. I’m actually kind of excited. I mean, it’s not every day I get to help someone like this. It’s usually just yelling at Kai to take care of himself and trying to prove that I’m useful around the Village.” Sebastian closed the laptop and set it down on the coffee table.
“You are useful, stop that.” Sarah smacked his arm when he got close enough. “I was thinking I’d make a chicken salad from last night’s leftovers. Sound good?” She was already pulling the ingredients out of the fridge anyway, so Sebastian dutifully agreed.
“Man, it is so nice to be home in time to make dinner! I guess Doc’s old assistant graduated in the fall semester and went off to seek his fortune, so it was pretty convenient that I turned up when I did in January. We’ve been going pretty much all out once I got the hang of it, but now we have Gabe… I’d forgotten what it was like to have evenings available on days’ other than Sunday and Monday!”
Sebastian laughed. They chatted about nothing in particular while they chopped and mixed and Sebastian set the table.
“So I think that David guy walked by the shop today.” Sarah said when she sat down to their meal. Sebastian froze at the statement and looked up at her. “I only saw him once, and he was almost past the window already when I caught sight of him, but it made me all goosebumpy, I didn’t see him again and believe me, after that I was watching.”
“Did Gabe see him?” he asked, taking his own seat. The fine hairs on the back of his neck were prickling as the started standing on end. There was something about those two that made Sebastian uncomfortable, and the idea of David hanging around near Sarah or following Gabe irritated him
“No, he was in the back the whole time it would have taken the guy to walk past the front of the shop, so unless he had a vision he was safe enough. Still, he started getting kinda nervous as the afternoon wore on. He wasn’t jumpy and anxious or anything, just seemed like he was thinking about something he didn’t like, you know?” She poked at her chicken.
“I hope he’s not reconsidering. You should have seen his face when we took him into the apartment. He was not expecting it at all. Oh, another strange thing— you know how he avoids letting people touch him? It’s because he gets flash visions from the contact, but he doesn’t react to Kai. They shook hands and nothing. He lit up like Christmas.”
“Huh, that is odd. I wonder… Anyway,
I think he’s starting to really feel safe with us,” Sarah said.
“He is safe with us,” Sebastian frowned.
“Of course he is, Seb. I know that, and you know that, but he’s been on the run for four years. I mean his own mother…” Sarah squeezed her eyes shut. Sebastian reached out to cover her hand and squeezed it.
“Maybe you can talk to him a bit. If anyone can sympathize with his family life it’s you.”
“Yeah.” Sarah sighed and shook her head at her plate. “Mom sent me an email last Friday. Just a short note about some tax thing, but still. I think she might thaw after a while.”
“I hope so,” Sebastian said. “Gabe’s mom probably won’t, I’m guessing.” Sarah shook her head and her shoulders slumped.
“No. Probably not,” she said. “I hope he’s okay at work. He’s starting to understand that he can rely on us, I think, but he was getting pretty wound up.”
Sebastian jabbed his fork at his plate a few times to catch the last couple of pieces of his dinner. He missed about half his targets and sighed and glanced at the clock. The back of his mind prickled with vague suspicious, but the urgency to do… something… had been growing since Sarah had mentioned David walking past the tea shop.
“Shop closed about ten minutes ago,” he said.
“Yeah. I got out of there hours ago. I’d have been home sooner but I had a couple of errands. I’m out of coffee for some unfathomable reason and had to stop on the way. Everyone and their uncle was at the grocery store this evening. The place was a zoo.” Sarah looked across the table at Sebastian still chasing food around his plate. “You’re worried.”
He nodded. “I’m just getting a bad feeling.”
“Then go on. Go check on him. You should be able to beat him down to the campsite if you go now and use all four feet.”
Sebastian looked up at Sarah and saw the agreement in her eyes.
“If you don’t hear from me in an hour or so, call in the cavalry.” He stood and headed for the door.
“I’ve got Kai on speed dial just to let him know how reckless you are.” Sarah grinned. “Go on. Be safe, and call me when you get Gabe settled in his new place.”
Sebastian slipped out the door and he was on four paws to dash under the hedge at the back of Sarah’s garden before he heard the backdoor latch snap shut again.
19
It didn’t take Sebastian long to get to Gabe’s camp. It was still early enough that the Los Gatos Creek Trail was populated by humans out for a stroll or an evening run, or trying to exhaust their kids before bedtime, and usually Sebastian enjoyed watching the stream of people but tonight he felt like they were merely slowing him down. If they’d been at home already and the trail clear he could have run straight down it. As it was, he had to dodge and slink through the brush at the side of the trail and try to stay mostly out of sight or risk someone getting overexcited about the local wildlife.
The evening felt like a storm was brewing, though there were no clouds in the sky and he couldn’t even smell a hint of the fog that the San Francisco Bay area was so famous for. None of the humans he passed seemed to notice the charge in the air, but Sebastian did.
He was not a seer, he had no visions of the future or magical knowledge of the answers to anything, but he had long ago learned to trust his instincts. Not merely those of a human aware of the many complications of living in the modern world, nor those of the fox whose body lent him extra awareness of the more natural areas of the planet. But the deep connection to the magic of the universe that allowed him to shift between the two forms and gave him his foxfire also tugged at him sometimes, directing him one way or another.
That connection was one of the things that led him to be so protective of Gabe in the first place, before he knew the boy’s story. Now, it was the thing that sent him crashing loudly enough through the bushes that the nearby humans were reminded of the world’s wildness they tried to ignore from inside their modern homes and fancy cars. Even if they didn’t see Sebastian as he ran, they heard him and he left a ripple in his wake as his own power disturbed the local magic like his body disturbed the air. The humans reacted to it even when they had no idea what caused their sudden shiver.
When he got near the cave he started picking his way more carefully through the wooded area, his ears pricked forward to try to catch the sound of Gabe packing up his camp. Sebastian hoped that they would actually arrive at about the same time, so he would be there in case David had indeed followed the boy back here. A few calming breaths had his mind more focused and his magic more under control rather than wrapping around him wildly.
“I told you, I don’t want anything from you anymore.”
Gabe’s voice was raised in apparent irritation, but Sebastian could hear the fear underneath the words. He bolted for the camp, skidding in the brush when he heard a snap and the sound of a body falling.
“I said you’re coming with us, and that’s all there is to it,” David growled. Sebastian couldn’t see them yet, the voices echoing oddly off the trees and the rock of the cave. They weren’t at Gabe’s camp, that much he could tell. It seemed to be coming from deeper into the open space preserve, away from the populated trail he’d just left.
“Dammit, David. This is not what we discussed!” It was Olivia’s voice now. Her voice was harsh, but calm.
“We need to know. We need answers, and this kid is the only way we’re going to get any,” David answered her, his voice deep and harsh. “You know that as well as I do.”
“No, actually. I don’t know that,” Olivia objected. “I know that you’re impatient, though, and that you love shortcuts more than almost anything.”
Keep talking lady, Sebastian thought. Makes it easier for me to find you.
“And you love dragging your feet,” David snapped back. “We’ve wasted enough time. I want to know why my cousin is in jail, and I want to deal with it. If they won’t let me in to talk to her, this is the only way I can find out. I know it’s related to the case she was on.”
“Look, we both know that she and her partner were hunting something. They’ve always been tight-lipped about their work. And we all know the risks here; they were probably caught mid-hunt and the police thought they were hurting a human. You know better and so do I, but the regular authorities don’t.”
Sebastian stumbled. Hunters. No wonder they’d always set him on edge. Many hunters wore charms and protections they bought from warlocks or the less scrupulous witches to ward off spirits of whatever sort they believed in and tried to murder. The charms were usually quite effective against their targets, but had the side effect of making the hunter wearing it stand out. It was a bit like having your own personal electrical field that raises the hair of those nearby.
“Whatever they were hunting might have survived. I want to know what it was and whether we need to go after it,” David growled. “If the thing, whatever it is, is still around here I want to know so I can finish the job. Then we’re getting Suze out of prison. I don’t give a rat’s ass about her boyfriend.”
“You just knocked a human out cold and are currently kidnapping him. It’s not his fault that he was cursed, we need to help him, not hurt him. In order to help, we need to gain his trust. This isn’t the way to do this.” Olivia sounded frustrated now, but wasn’t trying to stop David, apparently. How much further ahead were they?
Suddenly Sebastian broke into a clearing and saw the pair walking towards the SUV which was pulled up on the side of an access road that was meant for the park service, not a pair of hunters after their own personal seer. David was striding along in a hurry, Gabe flung over his shoulder and draped down his back, limp as a rag. Olivia was jogging at David’s side, trying to talk him down from whatever insane scheme he’d hatched.
There wasn’t a chance to think of a complicated plan. In a few minutes they’d be inside the car and driving away. Sebastian ran as close as he could and pulled on his magic. It was a risk. If he missed, he’d lose Gabe. I
f he drew attention to himself… Well he doubted he could take two hunters on his own. He wasn’t Kai, after all.
The tiny ball of foxfire flew behind David when Olivia turned to open the back door, and slid under the collar of Gabe’s t-shirt. A small mental push and it spread flat across his shoulder blades, tucked invisibly to his skin, the fire lighting Sebastian’s way but not burning his friend.
It was a huge risk. If these two had protected their car against enchantments, or had any sort of spell detection set up they would notice his foxfire immediately and destroy it. Wherever they were staying was another possible problem point. Most hunters tended to protect their home base, according to his understanding. Granted, the first and only experience he’d had with hunters at all had been leading the police to where the last two were holding Kai and Cassie.
That must be why these two are here— that cousin David mentioned must be one of the people who was involved with that mess. One damn thing after another. Sebastian crouched in the tree line and watched Olivia tuck a blanket around Gabe and fasten his seatbelt over him. She frowned and he heard her sigh, but she climbed into the front seat without further complaint. So far so good. If he could conjure more than one foxfire at a time he’d mark the car as well, but Gabe himself was by far more important to track.
The sound of the engine coming to life shredded the peace of the forest at night and Sebastian let out a whine as the taillights started being obscured by the foliage around the access road. Dust billowed past him and dried his nose for a moment before he returned to his human body. Still watching the road that the hunters had taken and listening to the rumble of the engine fading as it wound through the park to a public road, he reached into his pocket and woke his phone. A few taps later and he replaced the sound of the car for the ringing in his ear.
“Hey, Seb, what’s up?”
“Kai, those two harassing Gabe? They’re hunters and they just kidnapped him. I think one of them is related to the two that attacked you and Cassie, but that’s just a guess,” Sebastian growled.
Finding Insight Page 12
