We Will Heal These Wounds

by Nicole Thorn

  I shifted in my seat, uncomfortable. “Our mother left when we were little. We don’t remember her at all, but we used to have a few pictures. I don’t know about my siblings, but I don’t really care about her. She had us so that she wouldn’t have visions anymore. The second we had our first visions, she collected her siblings and took off, leaving us with our father. The one thing she did for us, was set us up with trust funds that we got when we turned eighteen.”

  Verin watched me, paying attention to my words. It unnerved me in an odd way. It felt like he took note of every time I twitched, or couldn’t meet his eyes. Which happened a lot. To have this stranger witness something like what happened in the kitchen? If it had been anyone else, they wouldn’t have been allowed back in my house.

  “When we turned eighteen, the three of us moved out of Dad’s house, and into a motel. We wanted to be on our own.” That last felt dangerously close to a lie. We wanted away from him, which couldn’t be considered the same as wanting to be on our own. “He wasn’t happy about it, Dad I mean. He didn’t think we could survive without him, but we were willing to try.

  “We bought this house and set it up. I picked out all the furniture, and got everything organized. Started the bills being paid. Got Nemo the tank when we brought him home from the carnival. I did all the things you’re supposed to do. Then Dad came by one day. He said that with the three of us gone, he was finding it hard to keep above all the bills he needed to pay.”

  “Why was he having a harder time paying bills with three less mouths to feed?” Verin asked immediately.

  I looked down at my knees. It had been a bad thing we did, and I debated telling Verin about it. It wasn’t the worst of our secrets, so I decided to give it to him. “He’d have us . . . spy on our neighbors,” I said. “Then blackmail them. For a long time, we didn’t understand that what we were doing was bad, but we stopped when we realized how much of a violation it was.”

  Verin’s hands balled into fists, but he sounded perfectly reasonable and calm when he said, “All right. Go on.”

  I didn’t want to, but plowed ahead anyway. “He asked us for money. We decide to give him some, so that he wouldn’t bother us. I didn’t realize that’s why we did it for a long time, but that is why we did it. We paid his bills, and he didn’t have to worry about staying afloat anymore.

  “Then the demigods came along. I love Kizzy and Zander. They’re like two extra siblings to me. They’re also not so inclined to ignore things the way me and my brother and sister are. Kizzy made Jasper want to get better, and when he got better, he thought we needed to cut Dad off.”

  Verin looked like he wanted to ask what ‘get better’ meant in Jasper’s case. I couldn’t tell him that, but he kept the question to himself. I didn’t know what kind of lie I would have told, or if I would have simply said I couldn’t answer that. It felt like walking a minefield, trying to keep everyone else’s secrets to myself.

  “Jasmine and I were reluctant at first,” I explained. “We didn’t want to cut him off after everything he had done for us, but Jasper talked us into it. It pissed Dad off something fierce. He felt like we were betraying him, I guess. Either way, he’s been getting angrier and angrier ever since we cut him off. He doesn’t come by as often, but when he does, he leaves an impression.”

  Verin’s hands clenched into fists again. “So, he’s pissed because he has to make his own way, instead of taking from all of you.”

  I nodded, biting my lip. “A couple of months ago, he also got hurt. Broke his leg. The hospital called me to come pick him up, but I didn’t. I called him a taxi, and let him get home on his own. He was really upset over that.” I looked down at my hands, entwined in my lap. “I didn’t tell Jasper or Jasmine this, but he called me after he got home, and asked why I hated him so much. He wanted to know what he had done to deserve being treated that way.”

  Verin leaned forward, and spoke softly, like he didn’t want to spook me. “What did he do?”

  My eyes flicked up to meet his. I thought he would have gotten an answer out of me, if someone didn’t knock on the office door. I blinked, and suddenly remembered where we were, and who I was talking to. It shut me down immediately. I didn’t want to burden Verin with our secrets, but I also didn’t know if I could trust him. It seemed perfectly reasonable while we had been stuck in there. Now, I wondered what the hell I had been thinking.

  He probably thought me a freak girl that couldn’t keep her mouth shut. Couldn’t keep herself from panicking over a few coffee grounds on the floor, and now I thought he wanted to hear any of this? I wanted to hide from him more than I wanted anything else.

  “Yeah?” I called.

  “Do you know where my brush is?” Jasmine called through the door, louder than she needed to. “I’m trying to pack, and I can’t find the stupid thing.”

  “Did you try Zander’s room?” I said, walking toward the door. I pulled it open so that I could look at my sister. She scowled at me until she looked over my shoulder and saw Verin. Her expression smoothed out, and she eyed me curiously. Oh, I would scratch her eyes out if she suggested something happened between us.

  I glared at her, daring her to say something that she would regret. She smiled, and held her hands up. “Why would my brush be in Zander’s room. He knows that I’m not moving into that room, so all my stuff should be where it belongs.”

  “You know it’s never that easy.” I told her, crossing my arms over my chest. We still glared at each other. Her with the smallest smile on her face, and me with the most murderous expression that I could muster. One word, and we would throw down in a scary way.

  “Fine,” Jasmine said, turning on her heel, smiling over her shoulder at me. “I’ll go see if he knows where my brush is. We have lots to discuss it looks like.” She sauntered down the hall, and I wanted to tackle her.

  Huffing, I looked back at Verin. He watched me curiously. “You should probably head home and pack,” I said sourly. “We hopefully won’t spend the night in Portland, but knowing my sister, she’ll find a way to make us stay just so she can sightsee.” I left him there, in the office, because I feared the look in his eyes.

  CHAPTER TWELVE:

  Knock, Knock. Who’s There? A Dead Body?

  Verin

  Mum seemed more than happy to babysit Nemo, and he took to her quickly. Blame that on the cupcake she gave him. He rubbed his head on her face, and Mum may have fell in love with the little bugger. Surely, she would want to visit him after this . . . and that meant I would have to come back. I honestly couldn’t tell if any part of Juniper wanted me there. Worse, I couldn’t tell if I wanted me there.

  It had been me and Mum since I was born, and I’d never had real mates before. No one I spoke to outside of school. I didn’t fit with them, and I didn’t care to. I had a job, and that had been taking care of my mother. Now . . . five people lived just a few doors down, and I might have a chance at something more. If only they wanted me there. Odd . . . I’d never had to deal with that kind of thing. Worry if people liked me. How unnerving.

  We left early in the morning, hoping to arrive in Portland after lunch. We tried to take as few stops as possible, but we had to eat on the road. Juniper made a fuss over keeping Zander’s car clean, though I knew he didn’t care. Considering what just happened with her, I decided to be careful about my messes.

  We arrived in Portland just after two in the afternoon, and we didn’t have a fucking clue where to start. Zander parked outside of some sort of shopping center place. I didn’t know how to properly explain what this looked like. A road split into all different directions, and little shops had popped up all around it. A nice little café on the corner, and several couples in the seats outside, enjoying their food.

  “Where to?” I asked, looking ‘round the little city. I already didn’t like it, because I saw far too many people. Kizzy cringed away from the close calls. “How do you find a three-headed dog in a place like this?”

  Jasper smi
led. “Maybe if we whistle and call his name.”

  I couldn’t help the smirk. “Lovely idea, but best not just start shouting the name of what most would believe is a mythical dog.”

  Juniper shrugged lazily. “I’m sure lots of people give that name to their dog. It wouldn’t be all that weird.”

  “No, but what if people start offering to help us? We can’t let people see a three-headed puppy.”

  Jasmine grinned and lifted up on her toes. “Oh, I look forward to cuddling that doggy!”

  Her boyfriend looked pleased with her adorableness, and his arm went around her shoulders. Compared to him, she looked like a tiny little thing, so she melted into his side like she’d been molded to fit with him.

  While we stood debating, the aging hipsters began populating the area. They brushed past us, too distracted with iced coffee and mobiles to notice. Several of them kept brushing Kizzy’s body, knocking her around. For the look in her eyes at the contact, I wanted to kill them. A demigod should never have her eyes that wide in terror. Alone, she could destroy this place, but she’d been damaged beyond feeling that strong.

  She huddled up to Jasper, who put his arm around her defensively, keeping her safe. And the odd part was that she looked like she believed he could do that. That a human could be more capable than she to keep her safe from those who might harm her.

  I looked at Zander and Jasmine again, noticing more than I had. The girl had her hand on his stomach, fingers curled in as she smiled up at him. And he looked better for having her there. The man had power beyond comprehension, and he looked stronger for the human at his side. But I suppose the human of it all had nothing to do with it, for him or Kizzy. The support and trust in their partner made them stronger.

  Juniper, the seer who was only just starting to see. A little flicker of anger ignited in my chest again when I thought about the tenor of her voice when she told me about her father. The slight tremble, and the stillness in her gaze. Like she hurt too much to cry. She stood all by herself in the crowd, in a dirty city. I watched her watching her siblings with their people, and I didn’t like how it made me feel. I didn’t like that I couldn’t fix this for her.

  “Do I need my sword?” Zander asked.

  Jasmine’s eyes got fucking huge, and she clutched his shirt. “Yes! Yes, you need your sword. Please . . . please get it.”

  Jasper frowned hard, and Kizzy made it go away by putting her head on his arm. He responded immediately, holding her closer and kissing the top of her head. That little twitch in me came back, but I shook it off.

  Juniper sighed and put her hands on her hips. “Do you think you can get away with walking around with a freaking sword in your—” She stopped dead when a man walked past us. He had on a pink sweater with long shorts and suspenders, all the colors of the rainbow, matching his fedora. The curly cue mustache pulled it all together. That, and the duck on a leash.

  All six of us turned our heads to watch him walk away with his feathery pal, and I . . . didn’t know what to say.

  “Sword it is!” Zander declared.

  We got to the trunk of the car, where everyone had their weapons, just in case. It would seem Athena gifted the seers with toys, and the demigods got things from their parents. Kizzy had a bow from Artimis, and some special arrows that she wanted to save for a more desperate situation. So, she had normal ones today. Jasmine had her dagger tucked carefully in her boot, so she could keep her weapon without it being noticed. The rest of them . . .

  Jasper couldn’t really walk around with a beating stick, and Juniper couldn’t have her crossbow out in public. Though she still pulled it out and checked all the parts to make sure they survived the drive. I didn’t like the below the belt stir that happened when I saw her eyes go cold, checking the sightings. Hmm.

  “You’re really gonna have that?” Kizzy pointed to the sword Zander had over his shoulder.

  He smiled. “Hell yeah. You never know if I’ll need it.”

  All weak in the knees, Jasmine said, “Yeah . . . never know.”

  Jasper rolled his eyes.

  “And what will you say when someone sees you?” Juniper asked, putting her crossbow back in the trunk.

  “That we’re going to a convention,” he said with ease. “I can pretend like I’m some character from a book.”

  Kizzy snorted. “A book where someone in modern clothes has a sword? What the hell kind of book is that?”

  With conviction, he said, “A fucking great one.”

  With that settled, we started on what I knew would be a fruitless journey, to search for my father’s pet.

  ***

  Zander set his sword against the booth when we sat down, and we all miserably picked at chips in a basket, in some chain restaurant I’d never heard of. We all scooted into one half circled booth, getting squished together thanks to genetics making me and the other men massive. Jasmine and Kizzy had been nearly crushed between Zander, me, and Jasper, but two of them seemed happy to be beside their partner. Juniper got the end seat, next to me.

  “We’re fucked,” I started, popping a ketchup covered chip in my mouth. “How the hell are we meant to do this? The city is massive.”

  Jasmine laid her head down on her arms, sighing. “I really don’t know. Maybe I should call Callie and see if she has anything new for us.”

  “I think she would have called,” Zander said. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea to call on her right now anyway.”

  Yes, that sweet girl seemed to think that we were in danger. We may have been, but I’d get us out alive. I focused more on figuring out what she meant when she said I had completed them. No one told me a damn thing, and it started to annoy me. If I had to be part of this, then I needed to be on the inside.

  “Should we call our moms?” Zander asked his sister. “They might know something that we don’t.”

  “Probably,” she responded. “But I don’t know how smart that is. If word gets out to too many people that Cerberus is out, then people might think that they should start getting into the underworld. God only knows what’s kept down there.”

  I smiled. “Not God, luv.”

  Eyes turned to me, and Jasmine asked, “Do you know something we don’t?”

  “My father is a collector of special things, being able to keep them safe. There are certain objects that exist, that can’t-slash-shouldn’t be destroyed, so he guards them. I agree with Aunt Kizzy.” She grumbled. “The fewer people who know Cerberus is gone, the better. Not that I don’t trust Demeter and Aphrodite, but . . . ”

  We sat there some more, eating and pouting over the mess in front of us. Somewhere, a god with a dog that belonged to him laughed. I started to wonder if Dad gave this to me just for fun, because he knew it would be a lot of running around, hoping to stumble onto a hint that would help us.

  “ . . . found by a maid early this afternoon,” I heard from a television.

  My ears pricked up, and I nudge Juniper beside me. When she snapped out of her blank stare, I pointed to the telly above us. Soon, we all listened.

  A woman on the news read from a teleprompter, not a fleck of inflection in her voice. “As of now, the name of the victim has not been released, but we can confirm that he was an employee of the Grand Argent hotel and spa. The cause of death is unknown, but it appears to be an animal attack. How the animal got into the hotel unseen is being investigated now as security tapes are . . . ”

  I smirked at Zander, who inched toward his sword. “Well . . . looks like we’ve got a crack in the case.”

  Juniper swallowed, hands pulling on her shirt. “Do you . . . do you think Cerberus killed some poor, innocent hotel employee? He’s only a puppy now.”

  “He might look like a puppy, but he’s thousands of years old, luv. He can take care of himself. That employee probably tried to hurt him.”

  She made a face, suggesting that didn’t please her. Good. Be upset that someone tried to hurt my dog.

  Jasper tossed some cash on
to the table and Zander shoved the rest of the chips into his mouth as we all started getting out of the booth. Kizzy took her boyfriend’s hand as we hurried off to the car.

  Getting in, I said, “So do we need a plan, or are you gonna let me have at it?”

  Jasper moved to the front seat, Kizzy beside him. Then he turned to me as the other girls got in. “Meaning?” Jasper asked.

  I smirked. “I can take us in, and get whatever information we need.”

  Zander stopped just before climbing into the car, and he sighed at me. “Or I can Charm someone into telling us more of what we need to know.”

  He got in, and I glowered at him. “Well, if you wanna take all the fun out of it . . . ”

  I sat beside Juniper, because Jasmine chose to sit on a different side this time. Odd that she had such a cheeky little smile on her face. Zander noticed, and smiled back at her.

  Jasper drove us to the hotel, and it matched the image we saw on telly. Massive and garish in its decorations. They may as well have a sign that said poor people wouldn’t be welcomed. The kind of place a god would stay if they didn’t care about being unnoticed. The pillars at the entrance had been painted silver and gold, some kind of play on the name, maybe. They matched the silver statues of various animals that sat in the garden, overflowing with great bushes trimmed into perfect circles.

  The valet station appeared empty of employees, due to the fact that the area crawled with police cars and detectives. Several men in suits that had to be managers, spoke with the officers.

  “They won’t let us anywhere near,” Kizzy said, half to herself as Jasper slowed down to get a look. “We’ll have to sneak in.”

  News vans sat in our way, and it irritated me greatly. Jasper drove past them, parking a block away from the madness. We left all noticeable weapons behind when we got out to look around.

  “You can get us in,” Jasmine told Zander. “What do you think we should do?”

  Kizzy stopped farthest from us, peeking over the wall at the police. “We don’t really look like cops, so we can’t play that angle without too many people noticing something is up. A Charm can only go so far.”