by Tess Adair
“Mostly.”
“Good. I’ll only be a moment.”
With that, he hung up. Logan held her phone in front of her face, staring up at it with tired eyes until she heard a sharp knock to her left, followed by a swishing noise.
“Are you hurt?” Knatt’s voice sounded from somewhere above her head.
She let her phone drop onto the bed and used her left hand to push herself to a seated position, then stood up entirely, her pride compelling her to downplay what injuries she had left. Only the faintest groan of effort escaped her lips, but her right arm stayed bent and held tight to her side. In front of her stood Hugh Knatt, wearing dark dress pants, a white collared shirt, and a dark grey sweater vest. His gold-rimmed glasses perched on the edge of his nose, and he looked overall so British she could have sworn he smelled like tea and scones.
“Not too damaged. Mostly sore and stiff.” She reached her left arm up and back to massage her neck a little. It felt strange, somehow, just seeing him. He looked so comfortable and warm in his nice clean clothes. She felt a stab of embarrassment over her half-buttoned shirt and her messy wet hair. Something about his pristine presentation made her feel unkempt by comparison. But what could she do about it now? “To be honest, I want to sleep for like three more days.”
Knatt glanced down at his watch. “You do seem to be up before your usual hour.”
“Well, you know. I’m on a school schedule now.”
“Ah, yes.” He nodded briefly, then pulled his cell phone out of a pocket on his vest. “I need to make your arrangements, don’t I? Won’t be a moment.” He pressed a few buttons, then brought the phone up to his ear. “Yes, hello? May I speak to Mrs. Wendell please? Yes, I’ll hold.” He closed his eyes serenely and gave Logan a placid smile. “Ah, Mrs. Wendell? It’s Mr. Stewart, we’ve spoken before. I’m from the non-profit that sent Miss Logan to your school for a few days. Yes, that one. Well, I’m sorry to say, we’ve got a new assignment for Miss Logan, so—well, I’m glad she’s worked out so well for you. Yes, unfortunately we need her right away, so she won’t be coming in today at all. Certainly, if she comes available again, I’ll let you know. Thank you for being so understanding.” With that, he hung up.
“You don’t like to say goodbye on the phone, do you?” said Logan.
Knatt gave her a look that simultaneously conveyed both confusion and a mild irritation.
“Are you sure you don’t have any injuries?” With a wave of his hand, he indicated the vague area of her torso.
“You can inspect if you want.” She threw her mobile arm up in the air and performed a full-point turn, landing a little suddenly when her left knee gave out unexpectedly. “Uh, well, I guess that’s still happening. I’ll probably be all better in a day or two.”
Knatt grunted in acceptance. “In that case, you should get some more sleep. You may come home now, if you like. The direct way.” This time, he indicated the door behind him.
She was almost tempted. He didn’t like to let her take the Ninja through the portal, since the easiest way to get it outside after that meant rolling it through the kitchen at the Manor. He was precious about that kitchen. But she knew she wasn’t quite done yet.
“I appreciate the offer, but I actually think I’ll pass. I have…well, exactly one string to tie up before I can come home. Thanks though.”
Knatt grunted again, but this time it sounded more like disapproval. “Very well. I’ll take the weapons home, at least. And the clothes of course.” He started to move in that direction, but he stopped himself to fix her with a laser stare. “You still ought to spend the day resting. Get a few more hours, at least.”
She was a little taken aback. Did she look that bad?
“Yeah,” she shrugged, trying not to feel self-conscious. “I got a bed right here. I can’t tie up my string until school is over anyway.”
“Good.” His shoulders seem to slump a little, and he shook his head. “I shouldn’t have let you come up here alone. If I’d known you were dealing with a rekal…well, we would have done this differently.” He looked at her again, but his gaze had softened. “I’m glad you’re all right.”
What did that mean? Did he feel guilty?
“Thanks.” She shifted uncomfortably. It had been a while since they’d had a moment that wasn’t characterized by sarcasm or admonishment. She wasn’t sure what to do with it.
Fortunately, Knatt seemed just as uncomfortable with the moment as she did. Even more fortunately, he had the sense to end it.
“I’ll be on my way then,” he said with a brisk, decisive nod. With that, he pulled open the portal door and left it wide, then started wheeling the clothes rack through. A few moments later, he came back for the armory. He left behind only what could reasonably fit into the hideaway spot on the Ninja.
Once it closed, the door took only a few seconds to dissipate into nothing. She was alone again. She felt an immeasurable relief at the knowledge that she had most of the day to herself once more.
This time, she managed to get her clothes off before she fell into bed. The slight humming warmth of the Key carried with her as she lost herself in sleep.
She hadn’t been lying when she’d told Knatt she could have slept for days, but considering her desire to get out of Montana, a few extra hours would do for now. She woke up well into the afternoon. Even though she’d showered in the morning, she already felt sticky again—either from the heat or from continued exposure to the motel bed, she couldn’t be sure. So when she finally got up, she rinsed herself off in the shower one more time before finally pulling on clothes. By now, she could at least bend and unbend her elbow, though it still twinged with pain when she did.
There wasn’t much in the room to pack up—small weapons, extra underwear, one more pair of pants. The clothes were shoved to the bottom of her satchel, along with one of the knives. She strapped the other two knives to her calves again, hiding them neatly under pant legs. Then she swung the satchel onto her shoulder and walked out of the room for the last time.
The small bag slid to the bottom of the Ninja’s hidden compartment. She left the bike behind for a few minutes while she went to the front desk, located in a small room at the center of the long, low building. Its insides were every bit as questionable and grimy as her room had been. She almost quibbled at having to pay for an extra night because she was checking out so late in the day—after all, she’d gone without internet her entire stay—but she was still so tired. While the lackluster girl behind the counter processed her bill with the speed of an indifferent sloth, Logan located a pot of free coffee in the far corner of the room and proceeded to down two cups of its sludge-like contents. Muddy trenches of grounds greeted her at the bottom of each serving.
Finally, the girl was done. Logan took her card back gracefully and waved a friendlier goodbye than she felt. Then she was back outside and on the bike once more.
It might have been her imagination, but this day seemed a little cooler than the few preceding it. Even so, riding in her heavy helmet and leather jacket made her itchy—and it made her long for home, where the weather was always a little bit cooler. A part of her wished she’d taken Knatt up on his offer of immediate transport, but she knew she’d be home soon enough. Besides, she had made a promise. At the center of her shoulder blades, the Key buzzed persistently.
She drove to the high school, which would be letting out any moment now. Forgoing her usual spot in the corner, she parked instead in clear view of the entrance. Everyone leaving would see her as they left—including Judith Li. She threw down the kickstand and hopped off, choosing to lean against the seat until her last task walked out the door.
After a few moments, the laughing, chattering, calamitous crowd swarmed through the front doors, spilling out in every direction. Logan watched the first wave pass, recognizing a few faces here and there. One of them waved at her, and as Logan locked eyes, she placed her immediately—Ashley Carson, the first girl she’d spoken to. She returned t
he wave and smiled at her warmly.
Perhaps, she thought to herself, if I were someone else, this would be the moment that I would think I might miss this place after all. A million images could have come to her then, but the one that swam to the fore was that of Jason Reed’s smirking, lizard-brain face. Nope. I won’t miss anything. Well. Maybe the food.
She was saved any further reminiscing by the appearance of Judith Li. Li carried a backpack that appeared full-to-bursting, along with one large and one small duffel bag. She noticed Logan immediately and tried to wave, but the action almost caused her to lose a bag. Logan rushed forward to help her, grabbing the larger bag off her shoulder and taking it on—even though it was the other one that had nearly fallen. Logan lifted it easily.
“Thanks,” said Judith, turning to look Logan face-on. “I was hoping I would see you.”
“I did promise.” Logan gave her a serenely inscrutable smile.
“So, uh, are you taking off again?”
Before she answered, Logan turned back toward her bike and motioned for Judith to look in that direction. “Why don’t you come with me somewhere? I’ll buy you a burger. Or something else equally bad for you.”
Logan had begun to walk before she was finished asking, and Judith jumped to keep up with her.
“Oh man. Are you taking me for a ride on your motorcycle?” Her voice sounded stunned and awed.
“Only transportation I’ve got,” Logan answered with a shrug. “Hope that’s okay.”
Judith Li stopped a few feet short of the Ninja, staring at it in reverence. After a long pause, she spoke in a hushed voice.
“This may be the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me.”
As Logan swung her seat up, she felt a small amount of relief that Knatt had taken the ax with him when he went. She’d carried it with her before, but it usually took up almost the entire compartment. Without it, she was just barely able to squeeze Judith’s largest bag inside. She then hefted Li’s smaller duffel from her and hooked it to the back of the seat with the attached leather straps. She handed Li the helmet.
“Keep your backpack on and hold on to me as tight as you can.”
With that, she swung up onto the Ninja. Judith looked dumbfounded for a moment, then scrambled to catch up to her, clumsily swinging herself onto the seat behind Logan. The girl’s arms circled around either side of her, but she hesitated to pull them in, instead leaving them to hover in midair. With a grunt of irritation, Logan grabbed hold of her wrists and forcibly wrapped Li’s arms around her torso.
Li’s tentative hold tightened to a death grip as soon as the engine roared to life. Logan started at an easy pace, but as she accelerated into her turn out of the lot, Judith gave a small yelp and ducked her head below Logan’s shoulder. The action was no small feat given the helmet’s heft, and the fact that Judith was by far the taller of the two.
Within a few minutes, they came up on their destination, and Logan pulled up right in front. The diner.
Judith Li removed the helmet and took a few shaky steps away from the bike before turning to Logan with a bemused expression.
“After all that, you wanna go to this place?” She placed the helmet on the back of the seat and looked up at the neon sign that said only Diner.
“Yeah. I like it here.” Logan didn’t quite understand Judith’s confusion. “Would you prefer somewhere else?”
“I guess not,” Judith shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe I thought we’d go somewhere out of town. It’s not like there are a lot of good options in Wolf Creek, you know?” Logan felt a small shock when she heard the name; after everything that had happened, she had completely forgotten that particular coincidence. Was it a coincidence? “But yeah, I guess this place is pretty good. Better than my parents’ place, anyway.”
She gave Logan a cheery smile once more and marched toward the entrance with a bounce in her step. This time, Logan had to jump to catch up.
Once inside, she led them to the table in the far corner, where the sheriff and his deputy had sat before. She liked the symbolism of it: she’d closed their case, so she took their spot. Sherene was with them almost immediately, dropping off menus for both of them and a piping hot coffee for Logan.
“You want coffee?” she asked Judith, her right eyebrow cocked.
“Uh, can I get a strawberry lemonade?” She glanced at Logan, like she was making sure it was okay. Logan gave an almost imperceptible nod.
“Sure, kid.”
Judith watched Sherene walk away, waiting until she was out of earshot before turning excitedly back to Logan.
“So, are you gonna tell me what happened?”
“What happened?” Logan poured a little cream in her coffee before bringing it to her lips. Even after the sludge in the motel lobby, she felt like she needed it.
“You know, what happened with the…monster.” She dropped her voice to a dramatic whisper on the last word. The act seemed to reinforce for Logan her relatively young age. She realized that the past few days must have been fairly intense to an 18-year-old who barely knew what magic was.
“I killed it,” said Logan. Her voice was low but neutral.
Judith scoffed. “Well I know that!” Her eyes widened. “But how? How did you get it? You gotta tell me the whole thing.”
Logan nodded, thinking it over. Judith deserved the whole story, but the end was a delicate matter. She gave Judith a summary of their chase, and then a quick overview of her back-and-forth with Kurt. She did, however, sidestep any mention of the Wolf. She didn’t know what to make of that yet, and Judith didn’t need to be bothered with it. Nor did she think Knatt would appreciate her inclusion on the details.
“Wow,” said Judith, after Logan had given her the feel of it. “Sounds like he was a fucked up guy. I mean, I’m not really surprised, honestly. He always kinda freaked me out.”
“So, after I all but called him a creepy little weirdo, he did that whole ‘I’ll show you’ bit, and tried to order the beast to attack me. Naturally, I defended myself and tackled him to the ground.” She took another deep sip of coffee. “Which is when he dropped his flute and severed his magical connection to the beast. He lost control of it.”
“Wait, he dropped his flute? What does that mean?”
“Oh, yeah. He was using a flute to control it. A flute with magical properties, obviously.”
“Kurt had a magic flute? A magic flute controlled that giant werewolf monster thing?”
“Yes. A magic flute.”
Judith slumped back in her chair. “That’s amazing. And kinda stupid.”
Logan nodded. “Agreed.”
“So what happened after that? After he lost control?”
Logan was about to answer, when Sherene sidled up to them with Judith’s massive lemonade in hand. Giant chunks of real strawberries, along with a healthy portion of strawberry syrup, floated up through the bright yellow juice.
“You two know what you’re getting?”
Judith snapped to attention and answered immediately. “Yeah—blueberry pecan pancakes with maple whip and a side of bacon.”
Logan was impressed, and a little taken aback, by her speed and detail. Then she realized Sherene had turned to her.
“Falafel wrap. And garlic fries for the table.”
Sherene nodded briefly and walked off without writing a single thing down. Judith’s laser gaze narrowed in on Logan once more.
“So he lost control.”
“Yes. I told him to run, then I attacked it with…with another weapon. It kept healing, of course, but I tried to cut it up as much as possible. Then I ran to catch up with Kurt. Actually, I ended up carrying him for a little bit.”
“You carried him?”
“Well, he’d stopped running. So, yeah, I carried him. Not for long, he started running again after a minute of that. Then we hit another clearing, so I stopped to fight the monster again.” She paused, glancing out into the street through the window so she wouldn’t have to mee
t Judith’s eyes for a moment. Absentmindedly, she reached her left hand over to rub lightly on her right elbow. Pain still throbbed up to greet her if she moved it too fast. “I told Kurt to run again, but he tried to climb up a tree instead. I don’t know what he was thinking. Anyway, I attacked the beast again, but this time when it threw me, it almost knocked me out. I couldn’t move. And that’s when Kurt made a little too much noise trying to get up that damn tree.”
Judith’s eyes widened ever further as she understood the implication.
“Oh my god. Did—did the demon get him?”
Logan’s gaze fell down to the table, to where the little salt and sugar packets were. This particular table carried pretty golden packets of honey, too.
“He didn’t make it.”
Judith fell silent, too. They both gazed solemnly out the window, as though the gathering twilight outside held some kind of message for them.
Sherene arrived in their silence and placed their plates in front of them without interrupting it. Then she walked off without any further questions.
Logan’s guilt threatened to press in on her. What had happened to Kurt was her fault. She was the professional; she should have been able to save him. If she hadn’t tackled him like that, he might still be alive. Maybe, on some level, she hadn’t cared enough to be careful. Hadn’t she told him he disgusted her?
This line of thought did her no good. She shifted her gaze to the fries and forced herself to pick one up and bite into it.
“Eat something,” she told Judith. “You’ll feel better.”
Face still blank, Judith gave a nod and looked down at her plate. After a moment, she seemed to remember herself and set about getting her knife and fork. The pancakes in front of her looked impressive and decadent, piled high with off-white whipped cream—Logan guessed that to be the “maple whip” Judith had specified.
“So,” said Judith through a mouthful of sodden pancake, “what happens now? Did you hide his body or something? Because, like, I think killed by monster is kind of a legal gray area.”
