The Gifts of Fate

by David T Myers

  “I miss you,” she said at last, kicking herself.

  “Believe me, I want nothing more than for this to be over. I hate sleeping alone and not having you around. We have a lead on the heirloom. With luck, we can secure it soon.”

  “If you complete this, no more, right?” She added some sauce to the food with a spoon.

  “That’s what the man said.” Dusk emerged from the bedroom wearing a black, collared shirt and grey trousers. Shilpy gave him an appreciative wolf whistle. He opened the bottle she’d left for him and took a sip.

  “You like, huh?” he said, a half smile playing on his lips.

  “Very much. What about me?” She placed the spoon, still covered in sauce, against her lips and pouted at him coquettishly.

  “Spicy,” he said, his voice loaded with sarcasm.

  Shilpy smiled. “If you’ve got it, flaunt it.”

  Dusk grunted and moved to the couch to watch the football match.

  “When do you have to go back?” Shilpy asked.

  “Tomorrow,” he said, groaning.

  “Tomorrow?” Shilpy stepped out of the kitchen so she could see him properly. “That’s crazy. You should have stayed in Melbourne.”

  “This was important to you.”

  “Catching up with Denise and her new boy toy isn’t that important.”

  “Maybe.” His eyes remain locked on the football. For a moment, she thought she’d lost him to the game. Then he spoke again, in a clear, soft voice. “Things in Melbourne are tense at the moment. They’re messing me around with all the modifications to the terms of our agreement. So, they can suck up the extra travel cost. The flight was already booked and I didn’t want to cancel. I wanted to be here.”

  His voice had taken an ominous and somewhat dangerous edge. Currents of frustration were poorly hidden behind his words.

  Shilpy lingered for a moment, but Dusk’s attention was back on the football. The curry was boiling, so she reduced the heat and checked on the rice. A moment later there was a knock at the door.

  “I’m not ready,” she said, fleeing the kitchen and disappearing into the bedroom. “Entertain them.”

  Before Dusk could answer, she closed the bedroom door. Fortunately, the bathroom was connected to the bedroom. It didn’t take long to scrub the smell of food off her hands, brush her hair, and put on a skirt and blouse. Denise and Thomas were each halfway through a glass of wine by the time she returned.

  “Shilps,” Thomas cried, his voice slightly too loud. It seemed likely he’d enjoyed a sneaky drink before arriving. He followed the greeting with another big smile and a hug, and the smell of his breath confirmed Shilpy’s suspicions. “That dress looks amazing on you.”

  She thanked him but stole a glance at Denise, who rolled her eyes. Before Shilpy had a chance to say anything, Thomas placed a glass of wine in her hands and urged them all to drink.

  Both Thomas and Denise looked fantastic. Thomas wore designer jeans, cowboy boots, a white shirt undone around the collar, and a black waistcoat. Denise wore a black skirt, a spotted blouse, and a yellow silk scarf.

  “So, Dusk. That’s a weird name,” Thomas said.

  “I guess you could call it a nickname,” Dusk replied.

  “I guess you could call it an awesome nickname. When I was at uni they used to call me Major Tom, which would be fine if I was a Lou Reed fan.”

  “David Bowie,” Denise said.

  “Whoever,” Thomas said, waving his hand dismissively. “What’s your real name?”

  Dusk told him, and Thomas and Denise shared a look. “That’s a long name. I can see why you go with Dusk.”

  Thomas continued to quiz Dusk on his work and background, and the interrogatee gave a series of vague and non-committal answers. Shilpy considered telling Thomas about Dusk’s non-disclosure agreement, but they looked like they were having fun. Instead, she pulled Denise away.

  “No one following you then?” Shilpy half whispered to her.

  Denise shook her head and smiled. She leaned in closer so the guys wouldn’t hear what they were saying. “If anyone has been tailing me, they would have to be about the best there is. I switched trains three times and got off at the wrong stop. Just to be on the safe side, I even had a change of clothes, so I didn’t have to go home again.”

  “Sorry for making you go to all the trouble.”

  Denise shrugged. “It was kind of fun.”

  Shilpy gave Denise a hug. She didn’t have many friends, but the ones she did have were pretty awesome.

  Meanwhile, Thomas was in full flight. “I used to be in business myself,” he was saying. “My business partner had this idealised view of how every aspect of the business should work. Lando could be such a control freak, except he never paid enough attention to how we operated. We were over-committed with orders, taking on too many staff, trying to diversify before we were ready. It didn’t matter how many times I told him—he kept barrelling forward.”

  He took another sip of his wine. “I loved being in business for myself, though. Beholden to no man or woman. Following my own path. I mean, how else are you supposed to reach your full potential?”

  Shilpy spluttered into her drink. It was a small hiccup, and fortunately, no one took too much notice. Full potential, huh? That was the last thing she wanted to reach.

  Dusk glanced at her to make sure she was all right. She gave him a nod, and he returned to face his blond companion.

  “If you go your own path, my friend, who will teach you and guide you to your full potential?” Dusk said. “Even elite athletes need a coach. This is why I consult. To teach what I know.”

  “Then that makes you the mentor of the story, not the hero,” Thomas said with a grin. Dusk frowned.

  Oh dear, Shilpy thought. Thomas wouldn’t win Dusk over in a hurry with comments like that.

  He must have sensed something, because he started back-peddling. “Which is okay, if that’s what you want. Truth is, we could have used someone like you. It would’ve been great to have an external voice in the room. Someone who possessed real experience and could help us balance the books.”

  “Did you sort out your issues in the end?” Dusk asked.

  “I sorted out my financial problems. Then I moved here. I wanted a fresh start.”

  “A fresh start?”

  “You know what it’s like,” Thomas said. “If you move somewhere no one knows you, there are no expectations to live up to. As far as I’m concerned, my baggage can stay in Melbourne.”

  “It’s my experience that baggage tends to find you wherever you go,” Dusk retorted. “And when it does, it tends to corner you until you deal with it.”

  Shilpy shifted uncomfortably and exchanged a look with Denise, who gave her an encouraging smile.

  Thomas looked as though he was ready with an answer, but he was interrupted by a knock at the door.

  Shilpy stiffened. Denise frowned. But neither of the women said anything. Denise had said that she hadn’t been followed. Could she have been wrong?

  “Must be our neighbour, Mrs. McKee,” Dusk said with a shrug. Mrs. McKee was the harridan in the room below. She always complained they made too much noise. It wasn’t even nine in the evening, but Thomas’s banter was the sort of thing that would set her off.

  For once, Shilpy prayed it was the old woman.

  She stood and made her way slowly to the door with reluctant steps. Please let it be Mrs. McKee, please let it be Mrs. McKee. She opened the door. It wasn’t Mrs. McKee, but it wasn’t a sister from the Keres Ter Nyx either.

  The man slouching on the step had a wrongness about him. He stood half a head taller than Shilpy and was thin—perhaps one of the thinnest men she’d ever met. Half-closed eyes leered at her from a cold, hard face. For the most part, the pigment of his dark skin was identical to Dusk’s, with the occasional discolorations. He didn’t move or say a word.

  Shilpy fell back half a step. “Can I help you?” she asked, in a raised voice.

&nbs
p; The others must have sensed something was wrong because the laughter dried up, and a few seconds later, Dusk was next to her. When his eyes met the stranger’s, his face dropped. “What are you doing here?”

  “We need to talk,” the new arrival said. He had a thick accent, the same as Dusk’s.

  Dusk’s eyes darted from the stranger to Shilpy and back again.

  “Do you know this man?” she asked.

  Dusk seized the visitor by the shoulder and spun him back towards the hall. They stepped out of the apartment together and Dusk slammed the door behind them.

  “Who was that?” Thomas asked.

  “I don’t know,” Shilpy replied, feeling as if she’d just been doused with ice water. She returned to her chair and continued drinking with her friends, but the previous playfulness had been sucked out of the room. Denise and Thomas kept talking, but Shilpy wasn’t listening anymore. She fidgeted, crossing and uncrossing her legs almost constantly. She wanted to stand by the door and eavesdrop. Instead, she took sips of wine and chewed on her fingernails while attempting to make conversation.

  A few minutes later, Dusk returned. The strange visitor trailed behind him. “This is Hond,” Dusk said. His voice was deadly serious. “He’ll be staying with us tonight. Denise, Thomas, our apologies—I’m afraid we’ll have to cut this short. Something’s come up.”

  “We haven’t even eaten yet,” Shilpy protested.

  “Yeah, we’ve got to eat. Hond, join us,” Thomas said, slurring his words.

  “Is everything okay, Dusk?” Denise asked.

  The man named Hond squinted at Dusk and then looked back at the ground. Dusk’s face hardened. He glared at the food as if it offended him.

  What the hell was going on? Who was this guy? Dusk spoke a few words to their strange guest in a different language. The sickly man nodded and, without a word, moved into the bedroom.

  “I have to take this meeting now. I can’t really explain, but it’s important. If you insist on staying, I’ll be in the bedroom.”

  “Surely you can talk after dinner,” Shilpy said, but Dusk stormed into the bedroom and shut the door behind them.

  The trio stared at each other in mutual confusion. “That was weird,” Thomas said.

  “I guess we should eat,” Denise added.

  Dinner was a subdued affair. Once they finished eating, Denise and Thomas made a rather awkward exit, with Shilpy apologising after them.

  Then she stormed into the bedroom.

  “What the hell was that?” she shouted. Dusk was pacing back and forth and talking into his phone in an angry tone. He stopped and gave her a hard look. Hond’s head also snapped around.

  “Wolf,” Dusk said into the phone. “Give me a minute, will you.”

  He turned to Shilpy and covered the receiver with his hand. Their strange guest watched him with pursed lips. Dusk eyed her and then took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I have to take this. We can move to the living room if that works for you.”

  No, it didn’t work for her. She wanted an explanation and she wanted it now. What was so important that he couldn’t have waited and had dinner with her and her friends?

  On the other hand, she’d had a lot to drink and could feel the effects of the alcohol fuelling her anger. Clenching her hands, she stepped to the side of the door. Without a word, Hond rose to his feet and stepped past Shilpy and into the living room. He hadn’t said boo, and Shilpy didn’t feel comfortable talking to him.

  Dusk nodded and moved to follow, but Shilpy stopped him at the door.

  “There are leftovers in the pot, but you’ll need to cook more rice for your friend. I’ll leave some clean sheets out. He can sleep on the couch.”

  Dusk left and shut the door behind him.

  She prepared for bed, and when she finished in the bathroom, she found the stranger sitting on her side of the bed, waiting to use the toilet. With no other bathroom in the flat, it wasn’t unreasonable for him to be there, but it still startled her.

  She couldn’t shake a feeling of violation. This was their sacred space. He didn’t belong.

  “Don’t take long,” she told him.

  Hond said nothing. His eyes wandered up and down her body, and his lips twisted into a slight smirk. He disappeared, closing the door behind him. It wasn’t until he finished and left the bedroom that she breathed easily again.

  She shut the door behind him. Then she wrapped the covers around her, enjoying the warmth and protection. A while later Dusk joined her.

  Silence hung between them. It felt as if the sword of Damocles were waiting to drop and tear through their happiness. Several minutes passed. Dusk tossed and turned while Shilpy silently ground her teeth. He put his hand on her waist, but she brushed him off. He sat up for a moment, grunted, and then rolled onto his other side.

  “What’s going on, Dusk?”

  The sword dropped.

  “I can’t say too much.”

  “No!” Shilpy almost hissed. “When it starts to affect what happens in our home—”

  “I don’t like it any more than you do,” Dusk said, his voice heated. She could feel his body stiffening. Whether he was angry at the situation or at her for questioning him, she couldn’t tell. She glared at the back of his head for another long moment and waited. “The guy organising our project had to be replaced. I needed to brief the new guy.”

  Shilpy frowned. “This Wolf must be pretty senior.”

  “Something like that,” Dusk said. “It was a work emergency.”

  She chewed on her nail, digesting what he’d said. “Who is sleeping on my couch?” she finally asked.

  “A colleague.”

  “A colleague from Melbourne?”

  “No and yes. He’s working with me in Melbourne.”

  “I don’t like him.”

  “You made that clear. He might stay another night. It depends on how things go tomorrow.”

  “Dusk—”

  “This isn’t one of those situations we have a choice about. I can’t succeed in Melbourne without him. You need to put up with this for the next few days. After that . . .”

  Without answering, she lay back and pulled the covers over her shoulder.

  “It will all be over soon, and then we can start the next chapter of our lives. Together.” She didn’t reply.

  * * *

  Shilpy awoke at some point during the night to go to the toilet. A product of drinking too much wine. The door to the bedroom was shut, but she could hear the stranger snoring on the couch. Shilpy shivered and headed into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

  Who was he? He was so creepy. He and Dusk both spoke the same language. They must have known each other before Dusk moved to Australia. Why would Dusk be friends with someone like that?

  There had been some sort of emergency, but if all that Dusk was after was some heirloom, then why drop everything to deal with it? The whole situation made no sense.

  She finished her business and washed her hands. When she reopened the bathroom door, the scene awaiting her left her shrieking with horror.

  Three hooded figures crouched in a loose circle on top of the bed. Despite their cloaks, it was obvious they were women. The youngest stood over a wicker basket. Hidden within, a cluster of softly glowing objects pulsed within, changing from one colour to another. She used a spindle to twist the lights into a long thread. She passed the thread to the woman next to her, who wove it through a needle and sewed it into a misty substance above her head. The third woman sliced the remains of the thread with long scissors.

  Dusk was nowhere to be seen, and the stranger’s soft snoring was no more.

  Shilpy’s mouth moved frantically, and she retreated into the bathroom until she struck the sink. In a single synchronised movement, all three women spun and stared directly at her.

  It had been five years, but she knew who they were, and they obviously hadn’t forgotten her, either.

  “Beware the shadows,” they said in one voice. A shive
r worked its way up Shilpy’s spine and erupted into a scream.

  Chapter 5

  “You saw the Moirai standing on top of your bed?” Denise gaped in disbelief. “You said you could see the future. You didn’t say anything about gods.”

  “I can.” Shilpy stared at her feet. “But I also saw this. You asked me what my vision revealed the night of the Ritual of Seers. I saw the Moirai. I saw them, and I ran.”

  Shilpy regretted the words’ leaving her mouth the moment she said them. Denise must think I’m a freak.

  Denise opened her mouth to say something but then closed it again. The waitress arrived with their coffee, and Denise remained silent.

  She probably doesn’t believe me. But who else could she confide in? Dusk and his strange colleague had left before she was up this morning. Left without even a word. Regardless, this wasn’t the sort of thing she felt comfortable talking to Dusk about.

  Denise was the only one who might possibly understand, but it wasn’t going to be the sort of thing she would accept straight away. Sure enough, when the waitress left, Denise was less than impressed.

  “Are you having a joke? You expect me to believe you saw the goddesses of fate. That’s impossible.”

  “Believe me, I didn’t want to see them. I don’t know if it’s my curse seeking them out or the Moirai coming to me.” Shilpy shuddered at the thought.

  “I can’t help you if you’re going to keep secrets from me,” Denise said, failing to hide the heat in her voice. “You told me you fled from Angela and the Keres Ter Nyx.”

  Shilpy blinked. “I did.”

  “But you lied about why you ran away. I thought we both ran away because we saw through Angela’s bullshit and you realised that Nyx, the Moirai, and all the other stories were told to control us. But you believe in it all, don’t you? All the crap the mothers spouted, you think it’s real.”

  Shilpy bit her lower lip and was about to try to say something, but Denise hadn’t finished. “You saw them, yet all this time you’ve sat there listening to me insult and mock their teachings. I abandoned my only sister and the mothers’ teachings. I walked away from all of it, turned my back on Nyx and her children. You must think I’m a heretic.”