Meeting in the back room at moonrise, Hawk, you, and me.
Oscar
I shoved the note in my back pocket, debating whether it was wise to go. Was there really a choice? It was hard to avoid. If I wanted a cup of coffee or tea, boom, I was at the meeting. Plus, he’d just stalk me until I met with him anyway. That was the trouble with living with the people you wanted to avoid.
I changed into something that didn’t scream I’d been out hunting grouslies while I choked down my stew. Then I slowed my pace. Choking down anything Bertha made was a crime.
By the time I made my way downstairs again, Oscar and Hawk were already sitting in the back room. The fact Hawk was willing to attend was probably an improvement, even if it was only because Oscar asked him to. Or they were combining forces to tell me how stupid I was.
Oscar waved his hand toward the other side of the couch. “I know you two are out of sorts, but we’ve got bigger issues. I’m not overly confident in our ability to take care of Dread in a month.” He turned to Hawk. “If we lose her, the only thing Dread seems to avoid, I’m even less confident we have a chance in hell of fixing this situation. Those idiots over from hell don’t know their asses from their heads. They’ll definitely blow it. And I know she got us into this situation, but we need to come together and fix it.”
Was this him trying to bridge the gap and mend fences or another way to spend the night calling me stupid?
“I was trying to do the right thing,” I said, for what seemed like the fiftieth time in days. You would’ve thought they’d all be grateful that I was willing to put my life on the line. No. Every single one of them was annoyed by it.
“It wasn’t, though, was it? We had this talk. Let’s not drag out the ugly details,” Oscar said.
“You talked. I didn’t agree.”
Hawk leaned forward, resting his forearms on his legs, and we both fell silent. Oscar might’ve been in a state of shock over Hawk’s appearance of possible participation. He wasn’t the only one. I’d thought he was going to sit and glare all night.
Hawk looked at me, and I could see the anger still swirling, like I’d betrayed him somehow, before he turned to Oscar.
“It doesn’t matter if they want to take her,” Hawk said.
He might as well have packed my bags and tossed them in the alley. We’d had our problems, but I’d thought this was just a tiff. Could he really turn his back on me so easily? Would there never be any loyalty between us? Would he be willing to toss me away continually like I was nothing?
I didn’t say a word. I was too busy swallowing the big, fat boulder in my throat and pretending my eyes weren’t burning. I didn’t cry, ever, and I wasn’t breaking that streak for this man. He didn’t deserve to hurt me.
Oscar, who looked like he’d taken the same sucker punch I had, said, “How can you say that? Even if she did screw up, she’s not only our only hope, but she’s our friend. Say you don’t mean that.”
“You’re missing my point. It doesn’t matter if they want to. They can’t.” Hawk’s voice was ice cold and calculating. This was the Hawk I’d met when I first came here. The one always looking at every angle.
“What do you mean? She put herself up as collateral,” Oscar said.
At least I wasn’t the only one confused. Nice of Hawk to fill us in. He’d let me sweat it out for days and he’d already worked something out.
“She offered up collateral that isn’t hers to give,” Hawk said.
“She put herself up. You’re not making any sense.” Oscar was still frowning, trying to wrap his head around what Hawk was saying. I was already getting a bad sense that I knew where this was going.
“Hawk, what did you do?” I asked.
“I safeguarded for this very situation.” It was the longest sentence he’d said to me in days, and I immediately wished he’d gone back to not speaking to me.
“How?”
He leaned back in his chair, calm and emotionless. “That spell, way back when you agreed to work for me. It wasn’t quite as cut and dried as you might’ve thought. You agreed to work for me until a time of my choosing. I couldn’t fire you, but you can’t quit either, so you aren’t actually able to offer yourself as collateral, since you’ve already been promised to this place.”
Oscar gasped. “I knew something seemed off about her right around the time she started working here as a broker. That’s what it was.”
While Oscar was relishing in his ah-ha moment, I was having one of my own. “For how long? How long am I actually stuck here?”
“Until we do a joint release. It was an insurance policy against immigration being able to evict you from Xest.”
All the nerves, wondering if I’d done the wrong thing, went up in smoke from the fire he’d just lit. “How could you do that without telling me?”
“Don’t act as if you had no idea. You were aware I did something. It was very obvious you didn’t want to know the details. After the immigration trial, you asked me what I did that swayed the hags. I told you the timing wasn’t right to answer that question. You dropped it then, and in the months since, you haven’t once mentioned it. That’s not someone who wants to know.” He was still being that calm, ice-cold Hawk of old.
“I never thought you’d do something like this, or I would’ve asked.”
“Then you should’ve. You know me well enough to realize I’ll do whatever it takes.”
Oh, he was right there. I never should’ve underestimated that at all.
“You might’ve mentioned this earlier,” Oscar said.
I sprang to my feet. “You need to undo it.”
“You sure about that?” Hawk asked. “Do you want to risk them being able to take you? If that’s what you want, say the word.”
I was stuck, hanging out in owned limbo. But what bothered me more than anything was that I didn’t think he’d really do it anyway, even if I truly did want him to.
I moved closer until my toes were nearly brushing his. “You know what? I’ll take my chances. Undo it.”
This might’ve been the stupidest thing I’d ever asked for. What if he did undo it?
He stood. “You’d cut off your nose to spite your face?”
“No, she wouldn’t. She doesn’t want you to really do it. Right, Tippi?” Oscar got to his feet as well, trying to angle into the small space between us. “Tell him you don’t want that, Tippi, because it would be incredibly stupid.” Oscar was looking at me like I’d lost my mind and he was sure hoping I’d find it fast.
He was right. I might’ve lost my mind. No, I’d definitely lost it, and I wasn’t finding it anytime soon. I was going down with this ship.
“Oscar, I know what I’m doing. Step out of the way.”
Oscar closed his eyes for a second, groaned softly, and then stepped back.
No buffer left. It was just me and Hawk now. “Undo it.”
His eyes didn’t flinch from my gaze. “Do you realize what you’re asking for?”
“Yes. I’m saying the words. And I’m asking you to undo it.” Probably too clearly. That didn’t bode well for my sanity, but no one was controlling my life. Not anymore.
He looked down at me. “No.”
“You won’t undo it?”
“No, I won’t. Even if you care so little about your wellbeing that you’d risk everything, as demonstrated by the actions you’ve taken in the last few days, I’m not going to compound your mistakes.” The lines of his face were hard, but there was something calling to me in his eyes, a warmth that might undo me if I let it.
I wouldn’t. I wasn’t falling for the little glimmers and hints of what Hawk could be when the man before me was being an ass, again.
“That’s the thing. They’re my mistakes to make.”
Oscar had dropped onto the couch, groaning after my last comment.
“And if you die?” Hawk said. “Where does that leave everyone else? Or do you not care what that would mean to other people?” The rage was buildin
g in him, wiping out all traces of softness.
“And you do? This is about everyone else now? I think this is about you and keeping your situation afloat.” That was all he ever cared about. Him, his place, what he needed. “This is getting undone whether you want it to or not.”
He crossed his arms, making a point of looking down at me. “We’ve faced off before. Doesn’t tend to work out well for you.”
“Really? If I remember correctly, you didn’t want me in Xest, and I’m here.” I pointed to the floor I was standing on.
“Because I helped you by doing the exact thing you’re telling me to undo now. Thankfully, I’m not following your game plan.”
I took a few steps away from him, afraid I’d start swinging if I didn’t. “I knew I was better off hating you.”
“Another reason why you don’t really want me to undo it. You have another reason to add to your list of why you’re angry at me. This is good news for you.”
“Don’t try to turn this. Everything has to be your way.”
“When the other options are pure stupidity? Yes. I guess they do.”
I gave him my back, leaving the room before I tried to kill him.
“Well, I guess the meeting is over. At least that takes care of that. No one will be taking her anywhere, it seems,” Oscar said as I left.
10
I was sipping tea, organizing some requests, and tossing ones that were already too old to fulfill, giving myself busywork and pretending Hawk wasn’t on the other side of the room, doing his own busywork. We hadn’t said one word in greeting, not that he was chatty anyway. But typically, there’d be a nod, a glance, some acknowledgment of another life form. Today? Nothing, and it was mutual.
I was doing my damnedest to pretend he wasn’t in the office, and that I didn’t hear everything he said, and that I didn’t know when he told Musso he was leaving, or that he nodded toward Bibbi and Zab as he left.
I was glad he’d left. It was much easier to concentrate on my busywork without him constantly moving about the place.
Hawk had been gone for twenty minutes when the door opened. A man in a white polo shirt and equally bright pants, a crisp pleat down the center of each leg, walked into the office. Nothing about him looked local. He might’ve been strolling in from a barbecue, instead of a snowfield that would give Antarctica a good run for its money.
Musso and Zab didn’t appear to recognize him either.
He took off his sunglasses, tucking them into his shirt pocket. His hat came off next as he looked around the place.
“Can I help you?” Musso asked, standing.
The man in white looked at Musso, as if he were startled he’d been addressed, even though he’d walked into our office.
“Yes, sir, you may. I was wondering if a friend of mine might’ve stopped by?” He raised his hand about level with his own height. “About this tall, dark hair, loves to wear all black. Horns just so.” He held his index fingers up near his head.
Friend? I doubted that. Oh yes, the man he was looking for had been here.
I leaned back in my chair so hard that I almost rocked myself right onto the floor. This had to be some sort of sick joke. We barely got one strange man out the door and now we had another?
Bibbi was at her table, leaning forward, her lips parted. Her eyes continued to take in this new guest from head to toe. Zab and Musso were speechless.
Musso cleared his throat, but didn’t say anything. I got it. You didn’t shoot the shit with angels every day. Or demons, for that matter. Must have been my lucky week.
“What was this friend’s name?” I asked, stalling as we tried to figure out what to do.
“Xazier.” He turned his full attention on me. “My name is Lou. Have you seen him?”
“I think someone fitting that description passed through here, but I haven’t seen him in a bit.”
Lou walked closer to my desk. “And you are?” His stare’s intensity reminded me of how his “friend” had also looked at me.
There was a two-second glitch where old habits warred in my head, screaming that I should retreat. Then my new self’s chest puffed out a bit, and I smiled like a person who had nothing in the world to fear.
I stood with more confidence than I’d thought I could muster and said, “I’m Tippi,” in a way that dared him to do his worst, because he better not screw with me.
His perusal only intensified, as if I’d flipped the lights on and he could see all the better.
His eyes flickered over me again, taking in every detail but not hovering anywhere untoward, giving me the impression that his interest was anything but sexual. What he saw, I couldn’t imagine, but it didn’t seem to be my fashion he was admiring.
He rubbed his knuckles over his chin. “And you’re a…witch?”
The way he asked that made me rethink my bravado. “Of course. What else would I be?” I asked, daring him to contradict me.
“Yes, what else indeed.” He took a step back, looking around the place again before turning back to me. “Well, if my friend passes through again, let him know I’m aware of the situation. He’ll understand.” He put his hat back on and nodded. “I’ll be off now. I don’t want to take up too much of your time.”
He headed to the door, stopping and giving me a last look that got stuck too long for comfort. It made me almost revert to my hiding ways. I stood my ground until he turned, but if he’d stayed any longer, I couldn’t have guaranteed my feet would’ve stuck it out.
The door clanged shut, and I got up to get a better view of him leaving. I watched as he made a right, and then disappeared completely.
Bibbi got out of her chair and came to stand beside me. “What in the hell was that?”
Zab came and stood on the other side of her. Musso walked over as well, rubbing his jaw. “You might want to say what in heaven was that, would be my guess.”
“That was not normal. I gotta call Hawk,” Zab said, walking to where a fresh stack of newsflash papers were sitting on his desk.
“What happened?” Hawk said as he walked in from the back room. “I felt something unusual cross my ward. Who was here?”
Hawk’s gaze met mine and our eyes locked. We hadn’t said a word to each other since I’d discovered what he’d done. Didn’t plan on doing it now, either, unless absolutely necessary. That wasn’t the case when I had Zab.
Was this place rigged with some magic surveillance system? Did it send Hawk some fairy ding, telling him to get back here? Not to mention, someone needed to put a bell on that back door. When he came from upstairs, at least the stairs creaked. Although maybe not for him. He had a sneaky way of being really quiet that was definitely not human.
As I mused on how to set up my own traps around this place, Zab didn’t hesitate to spell out all the details to Hawk, down to the extra attention Lou seemed to pay me.
Hawk walked to the front, as if tracing the man’s steps. He placed his hand on the doorknob and paused.
“What the hell,” he said softly before saying to Zab, “Send Mertie a newsflash. Tell her to get here immediately.”
“Will Mertie come here?” I asked Musso in a soft voice. After the meeting the other night, it had seemed quite apparent that she was avoiding any appearances of taking sides.
“Everyone comes if Hawk calls,” Musso said, not softly at all.
Had he not picked up on that fact I’d whispered? This was why I shouldn’t have asked.
Zab sent the newsflash, a nice, tame-looking little bird of a thing. If Hawk really wanted to make a point, he should’ve asked me to do it, not that I would’ve.
I’d taken two steps toward the back room to get a fresh tea when the door slammed open. I guess Musso was right. She’d come, and fast.
Her hooves hit the floor with a thudding noise as her hands parked themselves on her hips. “What is it now? You know even setting a foot in here makes me look bad, right? I’m trying to steer clear of the mess you people are making, if you haven’t f
igured that out.”
Hawk had commandeered Zab’s desk and kicked his feet up on it. “Why is Lou here?”
“You mean the butcher?” She began shaking her head. “You called me here to ask about the butcher?” She turned to leave. “These stupid humans think all I have is time to gossip or put in their meat order for them. It’s absolutely ridiculous that—”
“Not Lou the butcher. Lou who doesn’t live here or in Rest and likes to wear all white,” Hawk said, raising his voice so he was loud and clear.
Mertie stopped and spun around so fast that her hooves nearly squealed. “Why would that Lou be here? What did he say?” All the steam was gone and she fumbled in her jacket, pulling out a cigarette.
“He was inquiring after another visitor we had a couple of days ago by the name of Xazier.”
As much as I didn’t want to talk to him, was he really doing the right thing here? We had no idea who she was aligned with. You’d think he was the new witch to Xest. Yeah, she’d given me a heads-up about some dreams, but that might’ve been a setup. Maybe it was mental warfare?
I cleared my throat and then shot him a glare.
Mertie let out a small laugh, drawing my attention back to her. “This is just brilliant. Disco girl lights up the alley and now she’s worried about saying too much?”
“What are you talking about? I didn’t light up the alley.”
“Oh, this is just perfect. She doesn’t even know.”
I glanced around, hoping someone would explain.
“You were glowing a bit in the alley.” Bibbi gave me a half shrug.
Now they told me? I’d thought it was my hair that had freaked everyone out.
“We still love you, kid,” Musso said.
“It’s all right to be a little different,” Zab said.
Don’t look at Hawk. Not him.
I looked anyway.
He was smiling. “You knew I thought it was a bad idea.”
That was why I shouldn’t have looked.
Mertie started stomping around the place. “I’m not sure you people realize it, but we’re a hair away from an invasion if they’re both showing up. What is wrong with you people? Are you trying to wreck a good thing? We don’t want that kind here. Neither of them. One thinks they’re too good for everyone, and the other thinks we’re not good enough for anybody. Either way, they’re trouble.”
The Most Wanted Witch: Tales of Xest Page 6
