Immortal Brother Where Art Thou (The Immortality Curse Book 4)

by Peter Glenn

  “And how is your wife Huifang? Is she still bugging you for more children?”

  Taio took the seat next to mine and turned to face me fully. “A little, Li. But not too much. I think we’re coming to an agreement.”

  “She’s not disturbed by the fact that all your kids will be immortal?” I pressed.

  I’d always wondered about that. I’d chosen not to have any children because I didn’t want to curse them with my own immortality. But Taio had always been different. He’d wanted to see the family live on through future generations. It was admirable in a way, even if I hated that about him.

  Taio shrugged. “Why would she be concerned about that? A mother just wants what’s best for her children. A long, healthy life is what’s best.”

  I rolled my eyes but relaxed a little more. At least that bull-headed part of my brother hadn’t changed at all over the years.

  “So, what brings you here, Taio?” I asked. It was nice catching up, but this was still my brother we were talking about. He had an angle. I was sure of it. “Why have you come here after all these years?”

  I thought you were never going to talk to me again after that last incident, I wanted to add. But I left that part out.

  Truth be told, I’d been missing my brother a little of late. Over the course of my last investigation, I’d worked with a couple of people whose brothers had been killed. They didn’t have the chance to be with family anymore, but I did. I’d meant to reach out to Taio on my own after that, but something had always been in the way, keeping it from happening.

  Only now that he was here, I was second guessing that whole track. He was being nice enough, to be sure, but deep down, I was sure he was still the same hard-ass he’d always been. Had to be. People didn’t change that much.

  “Always business with you, isn’t it Li?” My brother said, tsking.

  “And just why should it be anything else?” Mei blurted out. She burst forward from where she’d been standing by the door, temper raging, and made her way over to where we were sitting.

  Taio huffed. “Can’t a man just have a nice chat with his brother?”

  Mei glowered at him. “Some men, yes. You? Not a chance.”

  “It’s okay, Mei,” I started. “He’s just–”

  “Just taking you for a fool!” Mei snorted.

  “I see you haven’t changed at all, Mei,” Taio said, slinking back in his seat.

  Mei folded her arms over her chest and continued to glare at him. “And why should I? People actually like me.”

  Taio looked from me to her and back again. “Do you feel the same as she does, Li? Like I’m trying to fool you?”

  I bit my lip slightly. “Maybe.”

  “Maybe?” Taio’s eyes went wide. “Brother, I am sorry. It was not my attempt to–”

  He started to rise, but Mei stood in front of him, keeping him down. In her human form, she measured up to about his chin, but she was still far more commanding in that tiny frame than Taio could ever be.

  “To what?” Mei demanded. “What are you attempting?”

  If it was possible, Taio shrank away even further. “I… uh… huh.”

  I spared a quick glance at Sevin. He was still standing in the entryway, mouth hanging open, saying nothing. Poor guy. He was in way over his head here.

  “So?” Mei asked. “What is it? Why did you really come here? What could you possibly want from my Damian that isn’t mean or insulting?”

  Part of me felt a sense of soaring pride at the way she called me “my Damian”. I could get used to being owned by a dragon like that.

  Taio looked deep into her eyes, then finally, he looked back over at me. There was a painful expression on his face.

  Good. I was glad to see that he was finally feeling the pressure and the burn. For once, he wasn’t in control of a situation in his life. I don’t know why, but that made me feel so much better just to know that one little fact.

  “It’s Bao,” he said at last, sighing deeply.

  That stopped me cold, wiping the smug smile from my face. “What about Bao?”

  “He’s… he’s missing, Li. Bao is missing.”

  4

  “Bao’s what now?” I asked my brother. My blood chilled at the thought of harm coming to that sweet little boy’s head. “And how long have you known about it?” I added in an accusatory tone.

  Taio inched away from both me and Mei. I saw a small bead of sweat break out on his forehead. That was unusual.

  Unusual, but pleasing. He’d always been such a hard-ass before. I’d never gotten to watch him squirm the way he made me. It was unreal and strangely satisfying. But I did my best to push those feelings aside. There were more important matters at hand.

  Like Bao’s safety.

  “A few days,” Taio admitted in a shaky voice.

  “Days?” I asked incredulously. “Bao is gone, and you’ve known for days?”

  Taio backed so far away he almost fell off his stool. “Look, I thought it was just a stunt, okay? He’s played hooky a few times before. How was I to know this time it was serious?”

  As much as I hated to admit it, Taio had a point. I backed away a little and so did Mei, giving him room to breathe.

  Taio muttered something I didn’t quite catch and sat up straighter in his chair. He used a hand to smooth out his t-shirt and I finally got a chance to get a good look at it. It was a Metallica shirt. Not my favorite band, but I figured it was probably for Bao anyway. Taio wouldn’t have worn a band shirt to impress me. Not even this new Taio I was interacting with. He’d consider impressing me beneath him. He was the elder brother, and for him, respect only needed to go one way.

  Mei shot Taio one more icy glare, then she made her way behind the counter. At long last, Sevin came into the room proper and took a seat at the table furthest away. I could only imagine how this must all be for him. He was an only child, having no idea what brotherly relationships could be like.

  And they could be contentious in the best of families. Not that we were the best of families or anything, which only made it that much worse.

  I’m betting he was suddenly very glad he didn’t have a brother right now. Poor Sevin.

  “So,” I said a moment later. “What do you know? Where was Bao seen last? How can I help?”

  Taio’s brows raised, and he shot me a surprised look. “Just like that? You’re on board just like that?”

  I nodded. “Yep. Just like that. Bao is family. And in spite of our personal reasons for not liking each other, that matters to me.”

  Taio looked even more shocked than he had a moment prior. “That’s… good to know,” he said slowly.

  He added something else under his breath, but once again, I didn’t catch it. I was blessed with good luck and a fast-healing body, but that’s where my gifts stopped. Good hearing simply wasn’t on the list.

  “Yeah, well, family is still family, even if they’re assholes.”

  Taio smoothed down his shirt again and stared at me. “Thank you, Li. It means a lot to me.”

  My brother was resting one hand on the bar. He took that hand and reached forward toward me, like he wanted to squeeze my hand in his. I did my best to ignore it. Bao, I would help. But I’d want as little to do with Taio during it as possible.

  I still didn’t trust him.

  To his credit, Taio made no mention of the slight and retracted his hand smoothly like it had been his plan all along. Always finding ways to save face, that Taio.

  “What’ll it be, jackass?” Mei asked, scowling at Taio.

  Taio looked taken aback. He huffed again, but one glance at Mei, and he looked circumspect. “Martini. Straight up.”

  “Got it,” Mei fired back. She gave him one last glare, then went to go prepare some drinks. “But you’d better pay up front.”

  “What did I ever do to her?” Taio asked, turning his attention back to me.

  “It’s not what you did to her,” I said flatly. Taio arched his brows. “It’s
what you did to me.”

  Taio’s face contorted into a frown, and he lowered his gaze. “Oh.” He left it at that.

  Yeah, that’s right. You know you were an asshole to me, big brother. You can’t deny that, now can you? Not when you’re here looking for my help. Speaking of…

  “So, spill already. What all do we know about Bao’s whereabouts?” I shook my head slightly. “I still can’t believe you didn’t lead with that.”

  Taio sat a little taller in his stool so that he was taller than me. I was positive the move was intentional to make me feel insecure. He could be a bitch like that sometimes.

  He cleared his throat. “Well, I called his employer when he didn’t check in for our weekly call. They said he hadn’t been at work at all in the last three days.”

  Okay, that was odd. My mother had filled me in on Bao’s progress every now and then, even though I’d never asked about it. By all reports, Bao was a model employee at his company. Sure, he’d had a few rows with his father—who hadn’t—but he’d always shown up at work.

  My anxiety heightened further. “And where is he working now? Some gaming company, right?”

  Taio nodded and puffed up his chest. “Yes. The company is known as Delta Fox. I believe it’s based here in Seattle.”

  I couldn’t contain the surprise I felt. Delta Fox? The makers of the Alien Invasion games I was so fond of? And Bao had been here in Seattle all this time? My head swam from this burst of new information. I had a relative that worked at the premier gaming company in the whole world, and I’d never even known about it? How could I have been such a fool?

  Had I known, I would have gone and had lunch with the little kid ages ago. I felt that familiar pang in my chest at the missed opportunities.

  Suddenly, I wondered why Bao had never checked in on me. Did he have a tiff with me, too, or was he just really into his work? Maybe he didn’t realize I lived in Seattle? It was possible. I didn’t expect my brother to fill him in on much about me. I mean, we didn’t talk, so why would he care?

  Well hell, I’d have to find the kid just so I could get some answers out of him. And maybe a free demo copy of their next game…

  I found myself at a loss for words, but thankfully, the drinks came at just that exact moment. I watched my brother like a hawk as he gingerly picked up his glass and put it to his lips, then set it down a second later.

  Had he actually had any? I couldn’t tell. His beverage looked the same.

  Ugh, even when he drank, he was aggravating.

  As much as I wanted to down my whole drink in one big gulp to help calm my nerves, I did my best to mimic his actions. I was determined not to look like the lesser brother this time. I was better than him.

  I sighed. “So does anyone know where he went? Maybe he had an unscheduled vacation?”

  Taio set his drink down and shook his head. “No, they’re fairly certain that’s not the case. They have a pretty strict check-in system. Besides, according to them, he usually stayed overnight on their campus, so when they couldn’t find him anywhere, it was a bit alarming.”

  Delta Fox had an overnight section at their campus? Dang, I had the wrong job. Maybe I’d have Bao show me the ropes when I found him.

  And I would find him. Brother be damned.

  “Okay, so that is weird for sure, but it’s only been a few days. Maybe he got sick?”

  It was a longshot, but it was possible. We immortals didn’t get sick too often, but it had happened to me more than once.

  Taio shook his head again. “Don’t you think I thought about that, Li?” he said with a small grin.

  I winced. That was a dig at me, and we both knew it.

  “But no, he’s on some immunity-boosting serum that his doctor recommended. You know the one. It came out three years ago. So they’re pretty sure he hasn’t fallen ill, either.”

  My lips contorted into a frown. “Well then, what do they think it is?”

  Taio shrugged and took another sip of his drink. “That’s just the thing, Li. They don’t know. Nobody seems to know. That’s why…”

  His voice trailed off, but I heard the unspoken words. “That’s why I came to you,” is what he was going to say. But somehow, in spite of the new look and his insistence that he’d softened, he couldn’t bring himself to say those words. Couldn’t bring himself to admit that he needed his little brother for once.

  Which meant that I held the power this time. Oh man, I was going to enjoy the hell out of this.

  “Fair enough,” I said, flashing him a broad grin. “But what about the police? Did you check with them?”

  Taio looked down at the bar. “You know they won’t interfere in magical affairs, Li. They were of no help.”

  It was true. The police tended to let us magical types police ourselves, so long as there were no regular people involved. Less paperwork that way, and less chance of ending up dead at the hands of some rogue mage. I could only blame them so much for taking that stance.

  But this time, that meant Bao’s immortal status put him completely off their radar. Ugh.

  “Well, what do we have to go off of, exactly?” I asked. I took another sip of my drink as well for good measure, downing more of it than I’d intended.

  Taio pulled a small slip of paper out of his pocket and handed it to me. “An address. This is the last place anyone saw him.”

  I studied the piece of paper in my hands. It was the address for the Delta Fox campus, Building Four, Suite Twelve. Undoubtedly Bao’s last working address.

  “Well, it’s not much, but I guess it’s a start,” I told him. I stifled a yawn and stretched a little, being careful not to knock over my drink in the process. “Don’t worry, I’ll get to the bottom of this. I’ll head over there tomorrow morning, first thing. Bao deserves that much.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Taio said with a little too much eagerness for my taste.

  “Nonsense.” I waved a hand dismissively at him and saw Mei nod in approval in the background. “It’s just a check-in. I can take care of it and contact you wherever you’re staying afterward.”

  Besides, I really didn’t want to spend more time with him than I had to. A slight shiver went up my spine at having my brother—my goody-two-shoes brother—as a shadow for this kind of op.

  “That’s the thing,” Taio said slowly, looking away again. “I… I don’t have a hotel.”

  I almost hurt myself laughing. “You, the great Taio, are without a hotel?”

  “I… it was Huifang, she… she kicked me out over this, and I…”

  Oh, man. How much it must be hurting him right now to have to say all this to me. It was glorious.

  “All right,” I said, chuckling again. I couldn’t believe I was about to say the next words that came out of my mouth, but I couldn’t help myself. “Tell you what. You can stay at my place tonight, and I’ll come collect you in the morning. But I go to Bao’s workplace alone.”

  “That won’t work,” Taio said quickly. He was starting to sweat again. “The campus is closed to visitors, you see.”

  “Pssh! You know I don’t care about stuff like that!”

  Taio frowned. “Perhaps you do not, Li, but I am sure they would turn you away. And what good would that do? His father, on the other hand…”

  I saw where his line of thought was going. It was a long shot, sure, but I’d seen stranger things in my day. And this was Bao we were talking about. I still remembered him coming at me with a fake sword when he was five, trying to “storm the castle” or some such. He was a cutie. Still was, really. At least the last time I’d seen him, he had been.

  A long sigh escaped my lips. “And as his father, you think they’d let you in to see him, where I would not?”

  Taio nodded. He still didn’t look up at me, but it was something. “Yes. Perhaps.”

  I wondered briefly just what had happened at his house, and how long Bao had really been missing. His wife was apparently really upset with him to have kicked him out l
ike this. I knew he’d have to be desperate to come to me, but I hadn’t realized just how desperate.

  At the very least, something told me this had been going on for longer than three short days.

  But I let it drop. There would be time enough for more answers later. It was already getting late, and even though I’d offered, I wasn’t relishing the thought of spending even more time than I’d thought with my estranged brother. Even if he would have to spend it slumming in my dingy apartment like some kind of lower-class citizen.

  Maybe the rest of the night wouldn’t be as bad as I thought…

  “Very well, Taio,” I said. “If you want, we can… go together to Delta Fox. But make no mistake, I’m still the one running this operation. Got it?”

  Taio looked overly serious for a moment, then finally gave me a slow nod. “Deal.”

  We got off the bus stop the next morning and made our way toward the giant Delta Fox campus that was looming in front of us.

  Granted, I probably could have borrowed Sevin’s car again—he let me borrow it a lot—but I wanted to live up every moment of Taio having to “slum it” that I could. He probably thought I hadn’t heard that slight when he went up to my apartment last night, but I had. Not that I cared what he thought about my little apartment, anyway. Even if it was a hovel compared to his little mansion home.

  Taio had always been the “better” brother. He was taller, if only by an inch and a half. Broader. Handsomer. Better at swordplay. Better at school. Better at saving money. Better at relationships. Better in bed.

  Okay, I was imagining that last bit. At least, I hoped I was. I really had no idea if he was good in the sack or not, nor did I ever want to find out. But I guessed he was. He was my older brother by about ten years, and he’d always been better than me at everything. So why not that?

  Worse, I was also pretty sure he was my mother’s favorite, though I didn’t have any hard evidence for that one, either. Still, a little niggling thought in the back of my head told me it had to be true. Taio was everything I was supposed to be, and the worst part was that he didn’t even try to lord it over my head. Well, not overtly. There were the little covert digs like he’d done last night, but that was it. In public, he was the perfect gentleman of an older brother.