by Bea Biddle
"Yes, well," he retorted without knowing what to say. "Maybe seeing Colin is a bad idea."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Karen laughed despite her anger.
Cef couldn't answer. He had no answer. He hadn't thought he had said the words out loud before Karen replied. He scoffed and kicked a pile of foam at his feet, making the water splash around. He tried hard to think of something to say, anything to make sense of his thoughts again. "I don't think it's a good idea. It's just a hunch," he said eventually when everything else failed him.
"A hunch?" Karen asked in disbelief, "You have a hunch that it's a bad idea for me to have coffee with Colin? Yes, that makes perfect sense."
”I don't like him,” he heard himself mutter. That was even dumber than the first statement, well done, Ceftion, you idiot. He really needed to find a way out of this conversation, he wasn't completely sure how he ended up in it in the first place. He didn't want to argue with her, he hadn't come for that, he had come- well, he wasn't sure why he had come.
"Well, thank you for your expert opinion,” Karen hissed at him. “But I like to make my own decisions.”
“Your decisions are wrong,” Cef huffed at her, squaring his shoulders stubbornly.
That was it. That was the last straw. “My decisions?" Karen wanted to laugh but instead, she growled furiously at him. "How dare you? At least I'm not the one marching around the city looking for fights all the time."
“I am patrolling, it's my job,” Cef shot back. “I'm not lucky enough to dance around the cozy, warm diner fetching bottles for Vamps all night long.” He had lost all control of the situation. This was not what should have happened. He should have had her in his arms, she should have been moaning his name. Not yelling at him.
“Is that all you think I do?” Karen hissed with a heated sigh.
“I-” Cef shrugged out of desperation, he had no other answer.
“Well, I hardly get a chance to prove you otherwise, do I?”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You stayed away, Cef,” Karen yelled finally, panting angrily, throwing her hands in the air out of aggravation with him. “You've been avoiding me, haven't you? What is with you? Do you really hate humans so much you can't stand to be around me? I get all these mixed signals from you and I don't- I can't-” She finished that with an angry growl. She didn't know why she had shouted that at him. She shouldn't have. It was dumb, but it was still bugging her. It made her feel childish. She should have kept to her resolve, she should have stayed away from him entirely, told him to leave her alone. Not skate around a soapy floor, getting all sorts of hopes up.
“I don't know myself when I am around you,” Cef bellowed back, not knowing where that admission came from. The launderette fell silent. Only bubbles that still swished around on the floor penetrated that silence, popping at random.
“What does that even mean?" she asked, her shoulders sagging. She had given up trying to make sense of anything he said anymore, anything he did. And when all he did in response was offer a shrug, lean back against the washing machine once more, arms over his chest, huffing and puffing to himself, she had had enough. “Fuck, you are frustrating, Ceftion,” she hissed, “You are the most irritating person I have ever met.”
“And you are the most obstinate, vexing human I have ever encountered,” he growled in return, “And you can't bring humans to the diner.”
“I didn't bring Colin to the diner he just showed up. It wasn't my fault.”
“I don't want him hanging around. I don't care if he's your mate. Keep him away from me.”
She growled loudly as she ran her hands through her hair. “He is not-” she began, grounding out the words carefully and loudly but then stopped, there was no point going over this. Not when he was being so pigheaded. Leave. She had to leave before she yelled at him again. Karen was about to stuff the cigarette pack into her jeans and walk outside, but then she remembered that she was soaked through. Going outside in the cold completely drenched was not a good idea. She would have to wait until she could get a chance to dry her clothes. First, she had to rewash it though. She cast a glance at the ruined machine behind Cef. Fuck this. She wanted to hurt him. Hurt him as he had just hurt her. How dared he show up there only to mess with her head and tell her not to go out with Colin? She hadn't even wanted to go in the first place.
Except, now she kind of did. Only to spite Cef. Only to show him that no man, no matter how ridiculously sexy, would tell her what to do ever again. And if seeing Colin was the way to do that, then so be it. "Well, I'll be seeing him soon anyway." Her voice spiteful. ”It's going to be so nice sitting down with someone, having a coffee and proper conversation, instead of arguing in a fucking launderette in the middle of the night.” That was a blatant lie, she would rather pour soap directly into her eyes than look at Colin ever again, but Cef didn't have to know that. She waved her arms for emphasis, the sloshing sound of her wet hoodie squelched. “Completely soaked. Thanks for that Cef.”
“You can thank your damn human contraption for that,” he pointed out in a mumble, huffing at her.
“You could have waited, you could have asked how to turn it off. Not charged at it like a- like a- like a fucking caveman.”
Cef growled at that. “I am a Demon!” he snapped. He didn't want to admit that she was probably right. But he was a Demon, a creature of action, of quick decisions. It was in his blood. He was no little human. Like her mate. Like the kind of man she obviously preferred. There was that stab again.
Karen's shoulders sank, and she shook her head at him in confusion. “What does- what?”
Cef's jaw clenched and unclenched as he fought to find words to use. None came, and he growled under his breath. “I just- What I mean is-” He never finished that sentence. Not that he had any clue what it had been. But something caught his eye. Or someone. Someone watching them from outside the window, barely noticeable under the sharp glare of the reflected light in the glass. Cef instinctively stalked towards the door, he continued out onto the street. A figure was running, halfway up the street. Cef sped after him but the figure was lost in the maze of streets before he knew it. He recognized the scent though.
Wet dog.
Thirteen.
Karen turned the sign to Closed and locked the door. The last customer had just left, leaving her a pretty generous tip. Vamp, of course. She untied her little apron and sat down on a stool with an exhausted sigh.
"Breakfast?" Sylvester offered. He sauntered over and leaned on the counter next to her, his fingers tapping the sides of his glass and a smirk brewing on his lips.
“No thanks, Sly,” she said, shaking her head. She hadn't canceled the breakfast date with Colin. The thought of Cef telling her not to go was still in her mind and she really, really just wanted to do the opposite of anything he told her. She knew it was childish, she knew it was petty, but she didn't care. Besides, it would be the perfect time to sit Colin down and tell him she wanted nothing more to do with him. Yes, it was probably for the best. Closure, they needed closure. That's what people did in these situations, wasn't it?
Sylvester raised his eyebrow at her, his smirk grew bigger. "I guess it's for the best," he declared knowingly, "Wouldn't want to spoil your appetite before your big date." He shrugged with a suggestive grin and asked, "Tell me, did you ever finish that laundry?"
Karen glared at him. "Is there anything Cef doesn't tell you?" she asked. "You two, really, you're like a pair of gossipy old women," she mumbled and buried her face in her hands.
Sylvester placed his glass on the counter next to her and leaned closer. "Listen, I have much better things to do with my time than worry about a pair of love-stricken, but stubborn, idiots," he pointed out softly. When Karen shot up and was about to argue with him, he silenced her with a finger on her lips. "But," he continued calmly, "I would like to point out just how incredibly dumb you are being, both of you. I know Witches enjoy their drama. Me? I'd much rather yo
u two just get it over with."
"What- Uhm, what?"
"Just fuck already. Seriously, the tension is unbearable. And like I said, I have better things to do than worry about you and Mr. Big, dark and smoldering. Yet, I often find myself having to be the voice of reason or a shoulder to cry on when the solution is so painfully obvious. Do him already, Karen," he said, casually sipped his blood with an elegant shrug. "Put the poor boy out of his misery. Fuck knows he could stand to be just a little happier. Well, a little less brooding would suffice."
"You can't be serious," Karen hissed at him in a whisper, "After everything he put me through? He's the reason that I had to wait several hours at the launderette yesterday to finish my laundry, and then change in the back because I was soaked through. He's the reason why I- I-" He's the reason you lie awake when you should be sleeping, just thinking about his naked body. Her self-conscience butted in. He's the reason you can't wait to go to work every day, just because he might be there. He's the reason you could no longer be with Colin, even if he hadn't cheated. How she hated her inner voice sometimes, but it was right. Annoyingly. "He- He- It's just not happening, Sly, He's far too interested in just fucking around with my head. I can't be dealing with that." She was lying, of course, she so could be dealing with that. He could mess around with her head as much as he wanted to as long as he also messed around with other parts of her as well. This, ignoring it, walking around pretending, business, hoping her crush would just fade, wasn't working out for her. She groaned helplessly and buried her face in her hands again. She was still angry at Cef, but that didn't stop her from wanting him so badly it hurt. What was that damn Demon doing to her?
Sylvester looked at her as if he was able to read her thoughts. For a second, she feared he might be. "As I said, you're both stupid and stubborn."
"Well, thank you for that unwanted advice," Karen huffed. "You have an awful lot of opinions for someone who can't be bothered worrying about this. But you can stop worrying now. While I admit, I may have had something of a tiny, little, minuscule crush when I started here. I'm over it now." If she could just convince herself of that fact, life would be so much easier.
"I believe what you wanted to say was 'Thank you very much for that excellent advice, Sly, I'll get right on that.' Or, you know, 'him'. Am I right?" Karen rolled her eyes at him in reply and he chuckled at her. "Why Alyssa ever decided to hire a human I'll never know." Karen opened her mouth to reply but only managed to scowl at him. He laughed loudly at her before his attention was taken away. "Well, speak of the devil. No pun intended," he added when Cef walked through the kitchen doors into the diner.
Karen immediately locked eyes with him. His coat was thrown over his arm and his beanie was in his hand. She bit her lip, swallowing a groan at the sight of him. He looked so good with his dreads in a bun on the back of his head and his horns free. His shirt was tight, all shirts were tight on his bulky frame, and it hugged him just the right way. His stupid unruly beard perfectly framed his strong jaw and complimented his bold eyebrows. The left one with the scar running through was still her favorite, the way they made his black eyes just that much more intense. Even his nose she was fond of, and she usually couldn't find anything nice to say about noses. This one was perfect, even if it did look as though it had been broken a few times. His gaze held her captive, she was frozen in place until he broke eye contact and walked away. Only then could she breathe normally. She hated the way he made her feel, hated the warmth that spread through the pit of her stomach when he looked at her. She hated what he did to her.
"Yeah, you're over him," Sylvester whispered, the words overflowing with sarcasm, and then laughed. Karen couldn't even find the will to reply. She knew he was right.
Karen and Cef hadn't spoken since their argument in the launderette, even though he had been at the diner all night. She suspected he was proving a point to her about being there while she was as well. Yet, they had been ignoring each other, taking great pains to avoid any contact at all. Even if it meant she had had to take the extra long way around the tables in order to serve customers, or keeping her nose in the air while walking to and from the kitchen. Even if it meant he sat completely straight-backed at the counter without even touching the steaming coffee in front of him, pretending to be oblivious to her presence behind him, or talking loudly with Sylvester and Zac, trying to drown out her voice in his ears. Even if it meant she had to giggle a little too hard with overly flirtatious Vamps just to make sure he knew she wasn't at all bothered by his brooding stare she felt at the back of her head. Even if it meant he had to pretend not to glare at her over the rim of his coffee when he thought she wasn't looking, just to show her he didn't care at all that she was ignoring him.
And all of it to Sylvester's vast amusement as he watched them dance around each other. They had been acting like children. She knew it. He knew it. But neither was able to stop.
Besides, she was still angry. She didn't even care that he had moved to the large table in the middle of the diner, where he had spread out a map of the city and pinned it in place with salt shakers and pepper grinders. Didn't care at all that he had thrown his coat and beanie on a nearby chair and stood studying the map thoroughly. Alright, she cared a little, and she only snuck secret little glances at him, when she thought Sylvester wasn't looking, because he had folded his arms across his chest and his biceps tightened and became deliciously defined when he breathed. She wanted to touch them. Of course, Sylvester noticed, Karen was aware of the teasing looks he sent her, but he had the good sense to keep his mouth shut this time.
"What are you thinking?" Alyssa asked Cef, having appeared out of shadows to his right. Sylvester joined them at the table and with his usual casual, almost bored, expression he stared down at the map. Reluctantly, Karen moved closer, joining them.
Cef answered with a deep frustrated sigh before speaking. "I've searched Greenwich, Soho, Upper West Side, Upper East Side, nothing, no traces of them. I ran into Tamas here." He pressed his finger down on a street close to the Chrysler Building. "The first time I was attacked was here." He pointed to a street close to Empire State Building. "Then there was outside Road Rage," he said, his eyes flickered to Karen before he pressed down on the street she knew well, close to Times Square. "And I felt the presence here, Rockefeller Centre. The rift is somewhere in Midtown, it has to be. But I've walked the streets and can't feel it, I can't feel them."
A plate was dropped on the floor in the kitchen. Zac's head appeared in the door. He laughed nervously. "Sorry, I'm finding it hard to concentrate today. My fingers keep disappearing on me," he apologized as he walked out to join them. "Pete's on it," he added.
"There hasn't been an appearance since Tamas?" Alyssa asked, ignoring Zac, "There have been no more reports about banks or vaults been broken into. Perhaps they've gone back? Dare I hope they've given up?"
"It feels more like they're lying in wait," Cef stated, "They're waiting for something, Tamas would never give up, he would never turn back. Their numbers might still be too few for what they're planning.”
"Or maybe they've found another way to open the rift fully?" Sylvester suggested, "Perhaps they don't need the stones anymore."
"There is no other way. They need the stones," Cef asserted.
"How do you know?" Alyssa asked, "None of us here have ever opened a rift, none of us have even been present when it's been done."
A chair fell over behind them, making them all jump. Zac slowly picked it back up with an apologetic shrug and smile, then stacked it on top of the table he had been cleaning. Karen tapped her bottom lip with her index finger and narrowed her eyes at him in deep thought. Something clicked. Something Zac had said before. If Cef hadn't been filling up her brain so much lately the thought would have presented itself sooner. "The stones?" Karen mused quietly to herself. "The rift was opened roughly two hundred years ago? The one in the basement, I mean," she asked. It was only a little thought, but she couldn't let it go.
&nbs
p; "Yes?" Alyssa answered her with a nod.
Karen took a deep breath, attempting to piece together her theory in her head before blurting it out. "Well, as far as I understand, you need a victim to sacrifice to open the rift fully. And Zac, well, you've been sixteen for roughly two hundred years, haven't you? You told me Ghosts don't move far from where they died because it's too uncomfortable. So, you must have died pretty close to here," Karen continued, "How did you die?"
"Well, I was- I was-” He swallowed and blushed, coughing nervously. ”I was murdered, if you must know.” Another chair, he had been trying to stack, fell through his hands, he was having a hard time staying solid, clearly uncomfortable. Suddenly all eyes were on him and he shifted on his feet.
"Do you know how? Do you know why?" Alyssa pressed, easily following Karen's train of thought.
"I- I-" Zac breathed and stopped himself, but will all eyes still burning into him he suddenly spilled everything. "I didn't know the man," he said quickly, "He just offered me a job. I was a nobody, just a young man fresh out of the orphanage, I was perfect." He started stuttering, old feelings of horror welled up in him. "I was told not to be scared, that everything was going to be alright. At first, I didn't feel the knife, it was so cold against my throat." His hand went to his throat and he started rubbing it furiously. "It didn't hurt at first, but then my vision blurred. Other men stood in the shadows, I hadn't even seen them before. The last thing I remember was those stupid stones on the floor covered in blood. Once I realized it was my blood, everything went dark." Zac swallowed and sobbed loudly. "It's all my fault. I wouldn't have gone with him if I had known what I would be opening. He offered me two dollars, do you understand how much that was at the time? A fortune. At least for someone like me. But I didn't know I was supposed to die. I would never- I would- I would never..." his words died out and the room fell quiet. Uncomfortably so.
