by Peter Glenn
“Goodness, no!” I said.
“Phew!” Mei let out a sigh of relief. “For a second, I thought you had gone and ruined things even further.”
I shook my head. “Nope. No texting LaLuna, don’t worry. It’s just, well… my brother, he… he texted me.”
“Taio?” Mei asked, her eyes full of confusion. “Well what in the nine hells does that sack of flesh want with you this time?”
Well, at least I knew which side of the family she was on… And boy was I glad it was mine.
“Umm, he said he wanted to meet with me. Tonight. Said it was some kind of an emergency or something,” I explained.
Mei cocked her head to the side. “An emergency?”
I shrugged. “Well, all he said was ‘SOS’. But that’s pretty serious, right?”
Mei’s eyes narrowed. “Damian, you don’t think this is your mother trying to repair the family bond again, do you? Remember the last time she tried that, she–”
“No.” I cut her off, shaking my head and chuckling slightly. “No, I think he might actually need help this time. Though why he’d come to me about it and not someone like the police is anyone’s guess. It’s no small secret that he hates my guts.”
Mei rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it. But tonight? We need to take you to LaLuna’s tonight to repair that relationship. Your stupid brother is just going to have to wait his turn.”
“I don’t know,” I said slowly. “If he was willing to reach out after everything to come and talk to me, it must be something really important.”
“Oh, come on,” Mei growled. “The last time your brother said it was something important, it was that you ate too much of the New Year’s cake before the party.”
She did have a point. My brother could be one to overreact. He’d been so pissed at me over that incident he’d whipped me in an attempt to keep me in line for the rest of the New Year’s celebration. And Chinese New Year isn’t exactly short.
I mindlessly rubbed a small spot on my back where I still had a tiny scar from that incident. All my other scars had healed themselves—some part of the magic that kept me immortal also made it so I healed a little faster and more completely than the average human. But that spot had never quite healed for some reason.
Was it a sign that my brother and I were never going to get along? That we were better off staying apart? Or was it that there was still something there that needed repairing?
One of the ancient logicians my mother was fond of quoting stated that scars were remembrances of times when things had gone wrong. A reminder of how one could improve in the future. Was there something to all that nonsense after all?
I shook my head to clear that train of thought. It didn’t really matter. Mei was right. My older brother was not a great guy, and I had LaLuna to think of. Unlike my brother, she actually deserved my time and attention.
But my stomach churned at the thought of slinking back to LaLuna tonight. Did I really have to go back there right now? Wouldn’t things be better if I gave her a day or two to cool off first?
And my older brother was technically the head of the family, since our father had long since passed on. It was only after his passing that we’d all been granted immortality. And like it or not, family did still mean a lot to me. Could I safely ignore my brother’s call, knowing what that would mean to the rest of the family? What would mother think about that? Would I ever be able to look her in the eyes again, knowing I’d ignored my brother’s plea for help?
“We have to go,” I said finally, staring straight at Mei. My grim expression belied the gnawing doubt that battled within me. I pushed it further down.
“To LaLuna’s?”
I shook my head. “No, to my brother. He’s the head of the family. I cannot ignore his summons. Even if he is a jerk.”
Mei took a long time responding. She searched my eyes and my face with her hardened glare, revealing nothing about her own thoughts or emotions. After several seconds, she finally nodded.
“Understood. Family is the tie that binds, after all.” There was a heavy emphasis on the word “binds”.
But she’d relented. She, too, knew just how demanding a family could be, even when you didn’t like them, nor they you. She was a bit of an outcast from her own dragon clan. They thought she fraternized with humans and other lesser races far too much.
They weren’t exactly wrong. She definitely hung out with me too much. And I could only imagine what they’d say if they knew she was dating a werewolf. But even I kept that secret from her elders. The backlash that would occur if that little tidbit came out, well… let’s just say my brother’s tiff over cake would pale in comparison.
“Thank you,” I said, nodding at Mei.
She reached over and squeezed my arm. “It’s okay. We can go to my bar tonight and meet with your brother. But tomorrow, you will go repair things with LaLuna.” Her tone made it clear the decision was final.
I felt my tension start to ease, both from Mei’s acceptance, and the fact that I could put off making up with LaLuna for another day or so.
“You’re the best, Mei.”
She grinned back at me. “But you’re still going to have to text LaLuna tonight, at the very least. Before we go see your brother.”
“Aww, do I have to?” I whined.
“Xiang Li!” She spat, using my Chinese name. She only did that when she was mad at me. “You will text that poor girl this instant!”
“But I thought you said I’d ruin things by texting her!”
Mei put her hands on her sides. “That was when we were going over there tonight. Now that we’re not, you have to let her know you’re thinking of her.”
“Fine.” I rolled my eyes. “I’ll do it.”
I pulled out my phone and typed a few words into it and tried to press send, but Mei ripped the phone out of my hands before I could finish.
“Let me see that,” she snapped. Her eyes scanned my text. “’Sry for leaving. C u later’?” Mei looked up from the phone and glared at me. “This is what you were going to send?” She held the phone out in front of her so I could see the words clearly.
“Maybe?” I said with a sheepish look on my face.
“Ugh.” Mei shook her head and deleted my words, then started typing furiously. She narrated while she typed. “LaLuna, darling. Sorry I ran off without saying anything. My heart aches at how we left things. I cannot leave it at that. I must see you soon and apologize. I’ll bring lunch tomorrow and we can talk.”
She smashed the send button so hard I feared I’d have to replace my phone. And this one wasn’t even a year old.
“There,” she said, grinning up at me. “I’ve done it for you. That should help a little bit.”
Mei handed my phone back to me, and I accepted it gingerly.
“Now, text that stupid brother of yours and tell him we’re on the way.”
I gave Mei a little salute. “Yes ma’am.”
Sevin parked the car close to Mei’s and we all got out. Along the way, I’d texted my brother to tell him I’d accept his offer.
Grt. C U soon, had been his reply.
I couldn’t believe my hard ass, stickler for the rules older brother was using text speak with me. What had the world come to these last few years? Was an evil Celtic queen hell bent on domination and a half-baked demon summoning at a concert not enough? Now I had to deal with broken speech from my older brother? A man I didn’t even want to talk to to begin with?
I let out a soft sigh as we made our way over to the door to Mei’s. It was undisturbed, but that didn’t mean much of anything. Mei’s magic made it so that people who bore ill will towards its patrons couldn’t enter, but nothing actually blocked people from entering when Mei wasn’t there.
For all I knew, there could be a horde of patrons waiting in there alongside my brother. So long as none of them wanted to kill or kidnap me, the door would let them through.
True, Mei could probably lock the bar up, but in ad
dition to being the best place in the world to get a Manhattan, it was also a real-life sanctuary, offering asylum for any magical creatures that were on the run. LaLuna and Grace had taken advantage of that very clause just five months ago.
The thought of LaLuna and Grace gave me a pang in my chest, but I swallowed it down. It was best to go into battle devoid of all emotion. And if my brother was indeed waiting for me, I was positive it would be a battle.
Mei pushed open the door to her bar and turned to look at me. “I can go in first, if you like. Scout it out. Tell your brother to go to hell.”
She grinned up at me, and I returned the grin. I held up a hand in protest. “It’s okay. I can handle him, I promise.”
Mei shrugged. “Suit yourself. Don’t say I didn’t offer.”
I plunged into the bar entrance with Mei and Sevin following close behind. At least I wasn’t going in alone. If things really did take a turn for the worst, the bar’s magic should protect me.
And if not? Well, Mei could always turn into a dragon and eat my brother, I supposed. Now that would be a hell of a sight.
The scent of burning sage and dragon’s blood incense hit me as I descended the stairs, making me feel instantly more at ease. Mei’s had a very distinctive scent, and it was nothing like your average bar. Smelling that mix of incense always served to settle my nerves.
But it didn’t last. The person standing at the front of the bar, grinning at me with some sort of odd half-grin that only showed the left side of his teeth made my sense of uneasiness return nice and quick. I felt the tension return to my body the second his face came into view.
Part of me wanted to run. To bolt back up the stairs and forget about the whole thing. Run back to LaLuna. Who could blame me? Sure, my brother would be a little confused, but he deserved no less after the way he’d treated me in the past. But I knew I couldn’t do it. I took in a deep breath and faced my brother head-on.
Taio was a tall man with a hardened body. He looked every bit the part of a stern, over-controlling older brother. Or at least, he always used to. Now? I wasn’t quite so sure.
His hair had been silver the last time I’d seen it, but now it was a stark black, save for the temples, which had a hint of gray. He had a buzz cut, so the hair barely stuck out on his head at all, and every single piece of it looked like it was meticulously put in place.
There was a small, silver earring in his left ear with some sort of gemstone in it. A peridot, perhaps, but in the semi-low light of the bar, it was hard to be certain. And even from this distance, I could make out the small tattoo on the right side of his neck. It was the Chinese symbol for Life, I believed. Again, the lighting made it hard to make out.
He had uncharacteristically broad shoulders and was wearing a very non-traditional outfit that looked completely out of place on such a stark fellow. A t-shirt with some sort of band name on it and dark blue jeans—not all that dissimilar from what I myself had on. Gone was the Tang suit I had last seen him in.
It didn’t look like he was armed, or if he was, he was hiding it very well. So well that I couldn’t even detect a hint of a bulge about his torso where a weapon would be hiding. Very odd. I’d never known him to go anywhere without some sort of weapon. He’d even insisted on packing a knife to his own wedding.
All in all, my brother looked nothing like I’d expected him to. And I didn’t know whether or not that was a good thing.
“Taio?” I said hesitantly as I half-stumbled down the last stair.
“Li?” Taio replied. His voice was soft and warm, not hard and demanding like it had always been before.
Something was off. My eyes narrowed and my hand went subconsciously down to Grax’thor at my side. “What have you done with my brother?”
Taio cocked his head to the side. “What do you mean, Li?” He held his arms out wide. “Come, embrace your elder brother so we can talk.”
Now I knew something was wrong. My brother was not in the least the mushy type.
“I… think I’ll take a pass,” I stammered. I tried my best to smile at him, but it came out as a half snarl.
Mei and Sevin crowded in behind me, but I kept them at bay with a hand. They didn’t need any part of this.
My eyes locked with Taio’s and I caught something odd—a strange glint in his eyes, maybe. It was the tiniest of things, but it set me off. His lips curled upward just a little and I saw his shoulders tense.
Before I knew it, Grax’thor was in my hands, and I held it between us, the tip leveled at his well-muscled neck.
Taio let out what I could only describe as an empty laugh. It was like a chuckle, but without any of the feeling behind it that would have made it authentic. “Come, brother,” he beckoned. “Put that thing down. There is no cause for alarm. It is I, in the flesh.” He patted the bar stool next to him. “Come. Let us sit. I’ll buy you a drink and we can catch up on old times.”
I eyed him cautiously, still holding on to Grax’thor. “You are not my brother,” I spat at the creature pretending to be him.
“Ah, but I am,” the Taio creature countered. He held out a hand to me again, ignoring the blade pointed at his throat like it wasn’t even there. “Come, brother, I can show you.”
I had to admit, holding his hand out to me while I had my sword poised to end his life was a ballsy move. It was something my brother Taio probably would have done.
Which only made the whole thing that much weirder.
“Fine. If you’re Taio, tell me. What cake was I eating when you beat me within an inch of my life?”
“Li,” Taio said, shaking his head. “I came across the country to see you, and all you want to do is drudge up the past?”
“Answer the question.” I leaned a little more forward, bringing my blade so close to Taio that it grazed his throat. “Before I get itchy and do something stupid.”
Taio gave me a wry smile. “Very well, brother. You know as well as I do. It was nian gao.”
I balked slightly. He was right. But something was still off. “Pfft. Too easy. Anyone could have known that.”
Taio huffed. “You asked the question, Li, not I.”
“Fine.” I groaned, my mind racing. I needed something better. Something that only the real Taio could possibly know. But what? I glanced down at my sword hand and could see it shaking just a little. This alternate Taio was creeping me out. I needed something and I needed it fast.
Ah ha. Yes, that would do it.
“Seventy years ago, I came to you with a problem,” I said. “You were the only one I ever talked to about it, so if you are the real you, you should know what it was. What did I talk to you about back then?”
Taio tsked. “Is this really how you want to spend your time with me, brother?” He glanced down at my sword and put his hand on top of it, forcing the tip down a hair. In spite of my resolve, I let it drop. “Put the sword away and sit down, Li.”
For a second, I almost did it. Then tension flared, and I redoubled my efforts, tightening my grip on the sword and inching it even closer to him. “The question, Taio. Answer it!”
Taio let out a sigh. “Very well, brother. I remember it well. You had decided to go to high school. Not that I know why, but you had made up your mind that you’d wanted to try this relatively new human experience. You asked me which high school you should join.”
Huh. He was spot on. Back in the 1950s, high school had seemed like all the rage. I’d wanted to experience it, so I’d faked an ID and gotten to go. It wasn’t that hard to fake IDs back then.
Ah, the good old days…
Still, I had to press further. “Which school?” I demanded.
“I’ve answered your questions, Li.” Taio flashed me a toothy grin. “Please, put that thing away already.”
There was a pleading look in my brother’s eyes. But I still wasn’t completely sure. I inched my blade so close that the tip was tickling his Adam’s apple. “The name, Taio. What was it?”
My brother didn’t eve
n flinch. “Springfield High. Go Raptors,” he said in a wooden tone. “Now, can we drop the act, please?”
I cocked my head to the side and let my sword drop, returning it to my side. “Brother?” I asked hesitantly.
Taio nodded. “Indeed, Li. Like I said, it is I.”
I took a small step forward, still feeling like the whole scenario was surreal. “It really is you?” I asked.
“Yes, Li. It’s really me.” Taio held his arms out again. “Come, give your elder brother a hug.”
This time, I accepted. I put my arms around him and squeezed gingerly. I was positive it was my brother now, but his mannerisms still made no sense to me. The last time I’d seen him, he’d been so hard. So cruel.
“What happened?” I said after a moment.
Taio chuckled again. He embraced me fully, hugging tight, then let go and backed up a half a step.
“Parenthood,” he said, smiling. “It changes a man greatly.”
Heh. My mind instantly went to little baby Grace. She wasn’t my actual child—both her parents were dead—but sometimes, it kind of felt like she was. I wondered how she was doing right about now. Probably sleeping next to LaLuna. I was somehow positive that LaLuna had picked her up from the babysitter’s by now, and the two were fast asleep.
It had only been five months that I’d known that little kid, and she was maybe only six months old, tops, but already, I’d felt my own interior softening at the sight of her little smiles.
But nah. I didn’t buy it. He’d been a parent for a while. It was more likely that it was the fact that his kid had finally moved out on him that had done it.
“And how old is Bao, anyway?” I asked my brother.
“A hundred twenty-nine,” Taio replied. A warm smile crossed his face.
“Wow, that old already?”
He chuckled. “I know, time flies, right?”
For sure. Where had the last twenty-three years gone, anyway? The last time I’d seen little Bao Xiang, he’d been barely over a century. To think that he was big enough to think about getting married and having kids of his own by now? Crazy. Just crazy.
I eased into the stool next to Taio. I was still a little on edge—Taio was acting very unlike himself, in spite of the cute answer—but my tension level had gone down considerably.
