Wayward Souls

by Devon Monk

She strode forward, shoulder-checking him hard enough Sales Schmuck had to take another step back.

  Sunshine planted his elbow on the table and fanned his fingers around his mouth to hold back his chuckle.

  “You better have my damn car ready by time I get there,” Doug snarled, his skin gone purple, sweat beading across his forehead.

  “No, that’s not going to happen now.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “I don’t need your business, Doug.”

  “Like hell you don’t.” Doug went on with his snarling while he stomped over to Susan and demanded a table.

  I hoped Susan spit in his coffee.

  “You’re turning away his money?” Lu asked.

  “I don’t support people who can’t treat other people like decent human beings.”

  “And you were going to pay for her to stay in town?” Lu asked, her eyes on Sunshine, watching every move.

  “Sure. Better a fresh start in the morning than her having to put in overtime. I haven’t had reliable internet for a couple weeks now. One more day wouldn’t matter.”

  Lu listened to every word and all the things behind them. Even I could tell his casual tone covered more he didn’t want to say. It covered confusion, mixed with surprise and a soft sort of loneliness.

  “We don’t do this, Lu,” I said, sitting down in the seat Jo had left. “We don’t meddle in love affairs. We hunt magical items. We sell magical items. We look for some way to break this half-alive curse we’re living under. Love falls squarely under the rule of gods and mortals, not wayward souls like us.”

  Her fingers lifted toward the pocket watch resting against her heart. She didn’t touch it, but I knew she wanted to. I knew she wanted to talk to me.

  “Let’s go, Lu. Let’s hit the road. I don’t think Jo wants anything to do with Sunshine, here. He just let her walk out that door.”

  “I’ll settle the bill,” Sunshine said, “and get to work on your truck. You can stop by anytime to check out the progress.”

  “I will.”

  He stood away from the table and paused to say something to Susan who was at the coffee station. She gave him a peck on the cheek, then he strolled out the door.

  Lu stirred the ice in her glass with a straw, then drank the rest of her water. “He likes her,” she whispered so that only I could hear.

  I blew out a huge sigh. “I’m never gonna talk you out of this, am I? You playing Cupid.”

  Lu looked off into the distance, a small smile ghosting her lips.

  “Wish I knew what was going through your head to put that look on your face.” I leaned forward to crowd up into her space, wanting to be nearer to her, wanting to hold her, surround her, feel her. I drew one finger across the back of her hand, and she turned her hand over, letting my fingers slide between hers even though she couldn’t feel it.

  “They’re talking,” she whispered.

  I frowned and looked around. “Who?”

  That’s when I spotted Sunshine standing outside the window with Jo.

  “Oh, hell no.” I stood and pushed through the wall, careful not to touch Lu on my way past.

  There was a moment where the diner spoke to me—it was old, had seen fire, hard winds, floods. Flashes of those moments stuttered before my eyes, along with the echo of laughter, sobbing, and music that was popular during the jukebox fad.

  Then I popped through to the outside.

  Lorde lifted her head from where she still lay in the shade, gnawing on the soup bone.

  “Stay, girl.” I didn’t want the dog to follow me and put an end to the conversation I planned to overhear.

  Lorde looked between me and the restaurant, wagged her tail slowly, then went back to the bone.

  “…think it’s pretty clear, isn’t it?” Jo said. She leaned against her car—a little GTO with great bones and a bad paint job. Sunshine was standing in front of her, hands stuck in his back pockets, smiling that smile.

  “What, that Doug is a class-A jackass? Yeah, he’s been that way since he moved back here ten years ago. We mostly ignore him.”

  “We?”

  Sunshine shrugged. “The town McLean. We all know he’s a crappy human.”

  She bit her bottom lip, trying to figure something there behind his words.

  “You could stay,” he said quieter, “for the night. Let me cover your room. Business expense. No personal strings attached.”

  “I don’t think I fit in here.”

  “I’d rather have fifty of you over one of Doug.”

  Her eyebrows raised, and there was the slightest pinking of her cheeks.

  “What I’m saying is, I’m sorry for him, and I hope you won’t let the worst of us turn you away from the good we have here. If you’d like, stay the night. I mean, not with me. I’m not expecting you to…” His ears went red, and he leaned his shoulders back and stared at the trees on the other side of the parking lot.

  “I’m not asking for…anything else.” He blew out a breath and chuckled, wiping a hand over the back of his neck.

  “Smooth moves, Champ,” I said.

  “It’s like I’ve never spoken to a woman before,” he muttered. “What I’m saying is, this is purely business despite the fact that I enjoy your company, Jo.”

  She had that focus in her gaze. She liked the look of him, liked his thoughtfulness, liked his awkwardness.

  “You’re looking for a new start,” I reminded her as I leaned my ass against the car and rubbed a finger over a rusty spot. “What’s a pit stop town like McLean got that makes you think you can build here?”

  But from the softening of her body language, from the strong beat of her heart as she silently considered Sunshine and his offer, I knew exactly what this town had that was looking like a new start to her.

  One handsome, sincere, slightly awkward mechanic, who could put his foot in his mouth, and be man enough to take it out again.

  “Up to you,” Sunshine said. “You can start off in the morning, be back here early afternoon. You’ll have the rest of the day to fix it before you… go.”

  He swallowed, and I could see the desire in him, too, the need to be near her, the need for her to stay. But he didn’t make another move, didn’t crowd her up, just stood there, giving her time to think it over.

  I grunted, grudgingly admitting he had boundaries.

  Lu stepped out of the restaurant, and Lorde abandoned the bone to run over to her, wagging her tail for all she was worth.

  I watched Lu stroll this way, facing the two of them like she knew what they were talking about (which she did) and happy they were working things out (which she was).

  I couldn’t keep my eyes off her. My wife, looking smug and maybe a little high-handed, but also happier than I’d seen her in a long, long time.

  “Maybe it’s time,” I said to her. “Let the road go. Settle down in a place. Maybe it’s time…” I almost said to stop looking. To give up on finding something that would fix us, change us, give us back a life once and for all.

  But Lu’s eyes narrowed. From the lift of her chin, I knew she was feeling the gist of what I was saying, and she was having none of it.

  I sighed. “I know,” I said. “We don’t give up until we’re both alive or the bastards are dead.”

  Lu’s gaze skated the area and finally landed pretty close to where I sat, still leaning on the car.

  I pushed off and stepped over to her, running my hands down her arms. “I hear you. I know. I know.”

  She blinked, then tipped her palm up. I took it, just as I always did. Just as I always would.

  “So that room,” Jo said, when Lu moved a little closer to them. “It still open?”

  Lorde stopped next to Sunshine, who bent and gave her a good scratching behind her ears. When he raised his head toward Lu, there was nothing but hope blazing in his eyes.

  Lu smiled at Jo. “Let’s find out.”

  Chapter Nine

  Lu and Jo strolled up the B&B steps, but be
fore they reached the door, Lorde pushed past them to stand right in front of Lu, her nose almost touching the door, her ears flicked back.

  That was all the warning I needed.

  I dipped my shoulders so I didn’t hit either woman and slid through the door sideways.

  For just a moment, I caught old voices of women, a man’s laugh, and the giggling of children long grown and gone, but I didn’t pause to sort out the house’s memories.

  Something was wrong. Wrong enough, Lorde was in protection mode.

  As soon as I stepped into the living room-turned-lobby, I knew what it was.

  Or rather, who.

  The hunter stood on one side of the visitor desk, Dot stood on the other, her back to the wall.

  To say she was intimidated by his size and body language would be doing Dot a disservice. She didn’t look afraid, but she did look cautious and annoyed.

  “Just the night?” she asked, obviously stalling.

  The hunter was a big man. Big enough people probably looked up when he entered a room.

  But I was bigger. And I knew there were ways to carry a big body, ways to give off signals that big didn’t mean angry, or violent, or dangerous.

  He wasn’t putting any effort into downplaying his size, looming as he was over the smaller woman.

  “Don’t rent to this asshole, Dot.” I crossed the space so I stood next to her, shoulder to not-quite-touching shoulder.

  The asshole’s dark eyes flicked my way.

  Interesting.

  “Yeah?” I said. “You can hear me? Well, then listen real close. You are not welcome here. Fuck off.”

  His gaze wandered across the wall behind me, like a blind spider tracking a fly by feel alone.

  “Maybe two,” he replied to Dot, finally looking her way again.

  “Not happening,” I said. “Don’t do it, Dot.”

  I widened my stance and shook out my hands. Lu came striding into the room like she owned the place and rent was overdue.

  “Hello,” Dot said, relieved to see her. “Welcome back.”

  Lu didn’t even pause in her stride, she stepped past the hunter who had the sense to turn her way as soon as the door had opened.

  “I don’t like how you’re looking at her, ass,” I said. “You touch her, she’s gonna break your neck, and I’m gonna finish off whatever soul you have left.”

  Lu ignored the hunter like he was invisible. “Jo was just wondering if she could pick up the key to her room now.”

  Yeah, Lu had good hearing. She knew Dot didn’t want to rent the extra room to the hunter.

  “Right, Jo?” Lu gestured her forward.

  Jo sauntered over like she’d been here for weeks. “Sorry I wasn’t by earlier. Thanks for letting me reserve the room over the phone.”

  Dot glanced from Lu to Jo to the hunter, and then back to Lu. Jo had not reserved the room on the phone.

  “Come on, Dot. Be smart,” I said. “Go for the nice punk rock girl and ditch this joker.”

  “Not a problem at all,” Dot said. She dug the key out of the drawer and held it out for Jo. “Sorry to say that’s my last room.” She smiled sweetly at the hunter.

  He nodded, the corner of his lip twisting as he chewed the inside of his cheek. “Looks like you got the drop on me.” He nodded at Jo, but his eyes ticked over to Lu and turned cold.

  Lu just held his gaze.

  “Thanks again,” Jo palmed the key and moved out of the blast zone of the glaring contest. “Lu, I can show you that program you wanted to see now.”

  There was no program, but I had to hand it to her. She had good instincts and knew when to back up a friend to get her away from a dangerous situation.

  “Take a hike, hunter,” I said. “These women are more than capable of knocking your teeth out. Don’t make them humiliate you.”

  His hands twitched, as if he’d heard that. Or heard part of it, anyway.

  Fine by me. He wouldn’t be the first human sensitive to ghosts, the undead, or whatever sort of thing I was.

  “Sure,” Lu said. “I got nothing better to do.” She gave the hunter one up-down look, then turned her back on him and walked down the hall, discreetly guiding Jo toward the room while letting the hunter know he wasn’t worth her time.

  “I think you can find a room at the Super 8,” Dot suggested.

  He seemed to remember she was in the room and sniffed. “Yeah.”

  Then he turned and was out the door.

  I followed him all the way to his truck. Got in the passenger side while he sat in the driver’s. He didn’t start the engine for several minutes, just sat there watching the house.

  “And people think ghosts are creepy,” I muttered.

  Finally, he pulled out his phone and thumbed through his contacts. He pressed dial and held the phone against his ear.

  “It’s here,” he said.

  I leaned in to hear the other side of the conversation. Just like the wireless router, electronics and me didn’t always mix, so I was careful not to touch the phone. All I could make out was it was a woman’s voice.

  “Yes,” Hunter said. Then he disconnected the call.

  “That was not helpful,” I said. “You working for someone? Who? You hunting for someone? One of the werewolf clans? One of the government agencies? You hunting for monsters? Gods? Or are you just hunting for magic? Who’s your boss?”

  He sat there through every word, just staring at the house, eyes shifting from window to window.

  “You touch any of those women, and I will tear through reality and turn you inside out. Understand?”

  I pushed that last word, filled it with my anger and sheer, pig-headed determination.

  If he heard it, he showed no sign.

  He just started the truck, backed up and drove to the Super 8.

  I stuck with him while he checked in, walked to the room, and tossed his duffel on the bed. I shoved my hand into the duffel and found clothes, toiletries, a gun cleaning kit, and explosives.

  Interesting.

  I waited for another hour, but all he did was take a shower—leaving a gun handy on the sink—then pulled the chair over to the window so he could stare out it.

  When he closed his eyes and started breathing like he was asleep, I moved from the room and followed my soul back to my heart.

  Lu was in her room. She sat in the middle of the bed, Lorde half draped across the quilt, her head in Lu’s lap.

  Lu wasn’t looking out the window. Her eyes were closed. Other than her fingers slowly petting the softest spot behind Lorde’s ears, she was perfectly still.

  “Hey, love.” I sat at the top of the bed, leaning against the headboard. Lorde lifted her nose toward me and wagged her tail. Lu didn’t open her eyes, but she smiled.

  “You should get some sleep. I need to talk to you tonight.”

  Lu inhaled, exhaled, her shoulders relaxing by degrees.

  I scrunched up, scooting forward so my chest was nearly touching her back. I reached around her and pressed one finger firmly on the pocket watch that hung against her heart. “Tonight.” I made the word strong enough, I knew she felt it.

  She pressed her fingers against the pocket watch, chasing the feel of me, even though my touch was already gone.

  “Get some rest,” I said again. “I’ll keep an eye on you. And Jo.”

  Lorde wagged her tail again, thumping, thumping.

  “There’s a graveyard just on the west side of town,” she said. “Good?”

  “Tell her good, Lorde.”

  Lorde gave a short woof. Lu nodded. “All right. Let’s get some sleep, girl.”

  I slid out of the way and watched Lu unlace her boots and shuck out of her jeans. She left her shirt on and climbed between the sheets, patting the side of the bed to tell Lorde to sleep there between Lu and the door. Lu settled on her side, facing the big window.

  The blinds were closed, but sunlight still trickled through at the edges and corners.

  “I got it,�
� I repeated. “I’m right here.” I eased down into the chair—the one by the dresser, not the one in the corner that the ghost had been in.

  Lou shifted and pressed her back against Lorde, who was already snoring softly.

  I watched Lu drift off to sleep, dividing my attention between the slice of sky I could see out the window, and the rest of the room.

  “I found it!” Stella appeared in the chair, her knitting once again in her lap. “I found the journal.”

  “Where is it?”

  Stella looked exactly as I’d seen her earlier, except for the glint of determination in her eyes. “I want to talk to my sister first. Then I’ll tell you where it is.”

  “That’s not going to work, Stella. You could be lying.”

  “You could be lying too.”

  I shrugged. “Chance you take. Show me the journal, and I’ll find some way for you to talk to your sister.”

  She frowned, working through the risk and reward. I’d had this conversation, or similar ones, with a variety of people and creatures over the years.

  Me, I was dead. So there wasn’t much on the line. It gave me leverage in negotiations most couldn’t wield.

  “How do I know I can trust you?” she asked.

  “You don’t. But if it’s any solace, Lorde trusts you.”

  She studied the dog snoring happily on top of the bed in what had once been her own room.

  “Lorde isn’t worried about you,” I went on, “so I’m not worried about you. Maybe you can’t trust me, but dogs have a nose for quality people.”

  “You don’t know how long I’ve waited for the chance to speak to her…”

  “Don’t talk to me about longing, Stella.”

  Something in my expression must have tipped her off that I had an intimate knowledge of the pain of waiting for someone you loved.

  “You’re right. I…I’ll take you to it. To the journal. But I won’t let you take it. You can’t have it until I speak to her. Understand?”

  “Yes.”

  “You give me your word?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Good then.” She stood and quick as a blink, flickered out and was standing in front of me.

  Ghosts. Always showing off.

  Lorde lifted her big bear of a head to assess the situation. Then she yawned and lowered her head with a snort.