Rites & Desires

by Amanda Cherry

  Fire engines were pulling in on all sides at street level, yellow-clad men and women dragging out hoses and connecting to hydrants as they mustered in front of the station to plan their assault on the fire within. But Ruby’s gaze couldn’t help but be drawn to the now constant stream of rats and mice climbing up the brick walls from every direction to assault the two heroes on the roof.

  The rodents were swarming the rooftop, enveloping Wild Kat up to her knees in a solid, writhing mass of gray and brown fur that turned Ruby’s stomach. She tried to look away from the grotesque scene of Wild Kat slashing through the vermin with her claws and Stardust trying to fling them off the places where they had climbed up and begun gnawing at the joints in his suit. She looked for Fire, who she found standing on the far side of the roof from where Pestilence and his rodent army were taking on the heroes. She had no idea what Doubt was doing at this point, but she was sure it had to be something, as the woman’s gaze was firm and fixed on Stardust as he continued to do battle with the onslaught of rats and mice that streamed nonstop up the walls and onto the two heroes.

  It was gnarly and not unlike a train wreck--even though Ruby was sure in her gut that she did not want to look at the weaponized rodents for another moment, she was somehow unable to force herself to look away.

  So she was oddly relieved when a wall of flame kicked up between herself and the battle that blocked her view of the superheroes and the Blights they were dueling. She decided that was as good a time as ever to stop watching and get the hell out of there. They had all agreed before the night began that everyone was on his or her own to get back to the Tower, so it wasn’t like there was anything she was waiting for. "Go," she said to her driver. The car obediently started forward and Ruby sat back in her seat.

  There was nothing more she needed to see on that roof. She trusted that the Blights would be able to handle themselves without too much difficulty; after all, they were on loan from Loki, and she had confidence he wouldn’t send her assistants who needed too much minding. They had plenty of power between them, and there was no reason to worry about their ability to get through the battle and get the hell out. And she’d seen enough to know Stardust was going to make it out okay as well. It was time to get away from this crazy place and to her next appointment.

  Jaccob might be a little late to meet her, thanks to the mayhem on the station roof, but in the event he might show up on time, Ruby wasn’t about to let herself be late.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Changing her clothes in the car was an act Ruby had practically made into an art form in the months and years she’d spent climbing the entertainment and corporate ladder. The fact that she was a couple of years out of practice didn’t stop her from making it part of the plan. She had no problem changing from her black leather vault-robbing costume into a purple to brown ombre chiffon high-necked mini dress and brown knee-high boots. She fluffed her hair out of its loose up-do, combing her fingers through the gentle curls that had been formed by buns and heat. She’d figured it would look intentional, and as best she could tell via her compact mirror, it did. Jaccob would never suspect she was coming out for drinks straight from a heist.

  She glossed her lips as the town car pulled up in front of the address Jaccob had texted her earlier in the night. She made one final check of her face in the rearview mirror, then slipped the Eye of Africa into her bag before stepping out onto the sidewalk. She hadn’t had much time to pay attention to it on the way over, and she felt a little bit like a kid on Christmas morning--forced to go to church before playing with her wonderful new toy. Fortunately, a date with Jaccob would be a hell of a lot more fun than a church service; she was sure she’d be enjoying herself enough in his company not to be bothered too much by having to wait to get close to the Eye. If only getting out of skin-tight leather pants in the back seat of her town car hadn’t been such a chore, she’d have had more time to stare at it. Had it been anyone other than Jaccob Stevens she was scheduled to meet, she’d have likely called to cancel, but her intentions concerning him were almost as powerful as those concerning the Eye, and the opal in her handbag would be coming home with her tonight.

  Of course, there was every chance that Jaccob Stevens might be coming home with her tonight as well. But that was a problem for later. For now, she made her way across the crowded sidewalk and into the little restaurant Jaccob had recommended. It was a tiny place, with a storefront barely as wide as its double doors. The entry was curtained with heavy brown velvet on the inside, and there was nary a window in the front. No wonder this was where Jaccob had wanted to meet. If a person didn’t want to be seen having a drink with another person, this was surely the place to make that happen. In fact, the only indication there was an establishment at all behind the darkened, curtained glass doors was the poorly lit etched copper sign above them reading simply, "Durian." That was definitely the name of the bar Jaccob had given her.

  The place was dark inside in a way that reminded Ruby of gangster movies from the 1950s. It was exactly Ruby’s kind of place. The candles on the little round tables provided the only light, save some amber tinted bulbs behind the bar that took up the entire length of the south wall. Few of the liquors on the shelves behind the tall, Asian bartender were of an ilk commonly found on offer at commercial establishments. She recognized several bottles of rare and unusual spirits among the more commonplace, but still high-end varieties. The ambiance was exactly her style, but her best guess was that the top-shelf libations had been what put this place on Jaccob Stevens’s radar.

  Ruby had scarcely made it two meters into the room when she was met by a petite African woman who greeted her with a bow of the head. "You are Miss Ruby," the woman said.

  Ruby’s eyebrows rose; she didn’t like to be at such a disadvantage, but she nodded in affirmation anyway.

  "Welcome. Mr. Stevens apologizes for his tardiness," she added. "But he has instructed us to take care of you until he arrives."

  Ruby nodded again. She couldn’t help but smile at that. Jaccob had been called out to save the city, and yet he’d thought to phone the bar and tell them to look after her. That was a delightful revelation.

  Her smile grew wider as the woman led her through a curtain adjacent to the bar and into a tiny back room. There was only one table--an intimate round one with a brown velvet semi-circular bench seat behind it and a bundle of orchids laying between a pair of copper and wooden folders on top. The woman gestured for her to have a seat, and Ruby did so. Sliding across the plush velvet bench, she gave the woman a nod by way of dismissal.

  Ruby wished she’d worn a watch. She didn’t dare reach into her bag to pull out her phone; she was practically itching to handle the Eye of Africa, and she knew that once her hand grazed it, she’d be hard pressed to leave it be. And the last thing she wanted was for Jaccob to walk in and find her in possession of the stolen article he’d just been called in to deal with. That would end this budding relationship before it had the chance to begin. She was reaching for one of the copper-clad menus when she noticed a slip of paper on the table beneath the orchids. She slid it out from under the three stems, careful not to bruise the blooms hanging just off the edge of the table.

  She recognized the flowers as Gold of Kinabalu, one of the rarest and most costly per-bloom flowers on the planet. She’d tried to have a few stems included in her office arrangement when she’d moved in a few months back, but had learned they only bloomed two months out of the year, and March wasn’t one of them. She didn’t have to open the note to know who they were from. The question remained as to whether or not he’d somehow known of her failed flower order, just figured out her fondness for the colors these orchids displayed, or had made a very lucky guess when going for the most expensive blossoms he could have delivered in late May. It didn’t matter.

  The flowers were lovely, and they were definitely from Jaccob. Ruby was more than a little pleased. She had been greeted personally with an apology and found $18,000 worth of orchids waiti
ng for her on the table. This was perhaps a better start to the evening than had Jaccob been on time. And it only got better when she read the note.

  "Apologies," it read. She thought she recognized Jaccob’s handwriting on the folded cardboard. Had he really taken the time to write this note himself before running off to answer an alarm at a police station? That would be just like him, wouldn’t it? "I don’t know how long I’ll be," the note continued, "and I’ll forgive you if you don’t wait. Please have a drink, and I will get there as soon as I can. Hope to see you, Jaccob."

  Ruby grinned. She could hang around for a while. After all, it wouldn’t be too long before Fire and Pestilence would let up and make their exit. She had no idea what Doubt was up to, but was pretty sure she’d be leaving with the others. They had only gone to the roof in the first place to cover her escape, and she was sure they would know she was away by now. She hadn’t yet sussed out by what means they were connected to her exactly, but she was aware they were somehow. Whatever method Loki had employed to bind them to her had done a pretty good job of keeping them where she wanted them, so it only stood to reason that they would know when it was safe to beat a hasty retreat.

  Ruby also had no idea how long the fires would keep burning without Fire there to sustain them. If things inside of the station had truly caught fire, then she supposed the Fire Department would handle it in due course. But if it was as she suspected, and the fires would only burn for as long as Fire remained present, then it wouldn’t take long for the heroes to breach the building. And seeing as the alarm that had been triggered was inside of the occult vault, it would practically take no time at all for them to find the damage and see that whatever dastardly villain had breached the vault had clearly gotten away. Jaccob would be joining her soon after that.

  Stardust might be Cobalt City’s preeminent superhero, but he was no super sleuth. Once he had determined with reasonable certainty that there was no perpetrator to apprehend, he’d be on his way. Oh, she was sure he would be aiding in the investigation into the missing item, lending all manner of technological assistance in trying to ascertain what had been stolen, its powers, its history, and its possible uses. But that wouldn’t be tonight. Tonight he would excuse himself while the CCPD went about securing the crime scene and gathering evidence.

  Ruby wasn’t concerned about evidence. She knew the Blights didn’t have fingerprints, and she was confident Pestilence had done away with the video surveillance as he had claimed. Add to that the fact that nobody in Cobalt City knew she’d ever had any powers--much less that she had lost them--and she could be secure in her confidence that no one was going to suspect her.

  She was on her second plate of foie gras pastilles and her third durian cocktail when Jaccob finally made his appearance. The bar, it turned out, was named after the exotic South-Asian fruit they specialized in featuring in their mixed drinks. It tasted something like garlic spun into caramel and folded into whipped cream, and Ruby wasn’t sure she liked it. But as she finished her first rather strong-yet-odd martini, the waitress had come by to suggest she try the chef’s favorite food pairing. Having nothing else to do with her immediate future, Ruby had decided to give the pastilles a try.

  One bite in, she remembered she’d failed to eat dinner and realized she was incredibly hungry. She’d wolfed down the first plate of foie gras just fast enough for it not to last to the end of her second martini, but just deliberately enough to understand that the chef knew what she was talking about--the two menu items definitely played well together. So she’d ordered more of both the next time the waitress came by.

  She still didn’t know what time it was, and she was beginning to get the feeling the staff was talking about her behind her back. She might know what was going on, she might know she wasn’t actually being stood up. But the kitchen and floor staff in this bar probably didn’t. They probably had no idea that a police station across town had been broken into, a valuable and dangerous item stolen from their vault, and their building set on fire to cover the perpetrator’s escape. And she was sure they had no idea that the police station in question had been equipped with an alarm that specifically summoned Stardust to their aid.

  Even knowing all of this, Ruby didn’t enjoy being the object of pity nor of ridicule from the serving staff. She had resolved to finish the food and drink in front of her and then call for her car and excuse herself for the evening. But she hadn’t needed to.

  The chips of ice had barely begun to melt in her glass when a smiling Jaccob Stevens clambered through the door. His face was flushed, his hair still damp from sweat, and his clothing not as tidy as Ruby was used to seeing it. But he looked equal measures pleased and relieved to see her waiting for him at the table. "I’m really sorry I’m so late," he said as he slid into the booth to sit beside her.

  "Think nothing of it," she replied. It did her no harm to be magnanimous now. He didn’t need to know she’d practically had one foot out the door when he arrived. "I take it you were saving the city from certain doom?"

  "Something like that," Jaccob answered, giving a wave to the waitress who’d just poked her head into the room. The waitress nodded at Jaccob and then took off again.

  "Then it’s no problem," Ruby insisted.

  "Really?" Jaccob asked, sounding oddly surprised.

  Ruby reached over and patted his hand. "Jaccob," she addressed him, scooting a little closer to where he sat as she looked him in the eye. "I knew who I was agreeing to go out with. And it’s not as though Stardust is exactly a secret identity. I am well aware that, from time to time, there will be larger concerns that take you away for an hour ... or several. And if I’d had a problem with that, then I would never have said yes when you asked me out in the first place." She patted his hand again as she went on. "The last thing you need right now is someone who’s new in your life trying to keep you from being the person you’ve been all along. I’m never going to be angry that you put the needs of the city ahead of any appointment you have with me."

  Jaccob turned his hand over and squeezed her fingers.

  "And the orchids are lovely," Ruby added, "I appreciate that you cared to send them. But I promise a text or an email will suffice in the future."

  "I appreciate you saying that," Jaccob said. He sat up straighter then, and his face was suddenly much more serious. "And, wait, you’re already saying you’d go out with me again? Even after I made you sit here for ... how long has it been?"

  "Long enough for you to save the city," Ruby answered, smiling. "And yes, I’d like to think this won’t be the only time we get to go out for a drink together."

  Jaccob nodded.

  The waitress made another appearance then, bringing with her a tray covered in dishes which she expertly unloaded onto their table. There were a pair of martini shakers, and two small cylindrical vessels made from ice nested in silver bands with curved handles, along with four plates of hors d’oeuvres that included a third serving of foie gras pastilles.

  Jaccob poured the two little ice cups full of the whitish liquid from one of the martini shakers as the waitress gave a nod and left the room again. Jaccob slid one of the ice cups toward Ruby and then picked up the other by its handle. Ruby lifted hers as well.

  "To good company," Jaccob offered, as the two of them clinked their glasses together.

  Ruby inclined her head in agreement as she moved to take a sip of the sweet-smelling liquid. It was good: more tropical and refreshing than the durian martini had been, but still containing the fruit’s unmistakable notes of chives and powdered sugar.

  "Now," Ruby said as she put down her glass and picked up a tiny croquette from one of the plates on the table, "tell me all about it ... if you can." Ruby really wasn’t sure what kind of non-disclosure agreements Cobalt City’s superheroes had with the local police, but she hoped Jaccob would talk about what he’d been up to tonight. First off, it would keep her from having to make up details of a work meeting she hadn’t really gone to. Secondly, it woul
d make her look like the kind of woman who would be content to sit back and listen to a man talk about himself all night long, and men always seemed to like that. But most importantly, it would give Ruby the best possible insight on what the police had figured out about what had gone on in their vault.

  Jaccob rolled his eyes and took a pronounced swig from his drink. He reached for the shaker to re-fill the cup as he looked at Ruby and answered. "There was a break in," he began, topping off his drink from the silver shaker, "at the CCPD’s occult vault."

  "The CCPD has an occult vault?" Ruby asked, playing both dumb and interested at the same time.

  "Yeah," Jaccob answered, taking another sip from his cocktail. "They do. It’s full of ... magic stuff."

  Ruby chuckled. "Magic stuff," she repeated, bringing her glass to her lips.

  Jaccob shook his head again. "I hate magic," he said.

  Ruby’s eyes went wide for a moment, but she managed to keep a hold of herself. "Hate’s a strong word," she contended.

  Jaccob shrugged his shoulders. "It doesn’t make any sense," he replied. "I like code. I like numbers. I like machines. There’s logic to tech. I like logic. There’s no logic to magic. No discernable rules."

  Ruby took a pronounced gulp from her drink and fought the impulse to explain the intricacies of differing magical traditions, the rules that governed them, and the critical distinctions from one tradition to another. Now was not the time to deliver a treatise on the orderliness of magic. She needed to hear what he knew about the break in at the vault, not spend the rest of the night debating the relative merits of the supernatural versus the technological.

  "Okay," she managed to allow, popping another croquette into her mouth.

  "And the CCPD’s got a whole vault of this stuff," Jaccob went on. "Magical stuff. Some of it they understand, and some of it they really don’t. Sometimes the stuff is just evidence in a case, and they give it back to its rightful owner after the case is disposed. But sometimes the bad guy gets convicted and the police or whoever decide the items in question are too sinister or too powerful to be returned, so they put them in this giant underground concrete vault surrounded by salt and lead and whatever is supposed to repel magic, I guess."