by D. R. Perry
“Okay.” I heard the rustle and rattle of cards being shuffled. “What’s your question again?”
“Mom, put the cards down. I don’t want a tarot answer, just a Mom one. It’s not about the future.”
“Oh?” I heard a hollow thud as she set her deck down. I could almost see her, leaning on her elbow in a mirror-image of the posture I used to apply all the makeup she never bothered with. Her brown eyes would be slightly unfocused, traveling the room until they rested on her deck again. “Fine, then ask away, sweetie.”
“Mom, why hasn’t Dad turned you?”
“Why didn’t you tell me it was a personal question?” She was dodgier than cat-form Tony in a room full of rocking chairs for some reason.
“Oh, come on, Mom. Please just answer me.” Her side of the family had Changeling blood, so sometimes it was hard to get a direct answer out of her. Other times, she just spouted things I wished I could unhear. Life with a precog was interesting.
“It’s not time yet.”
“Have you ever thought that if you wait much longer, you won’t get the license approved before it’s too late? They can take decades to finalize, Mom, you know that.”
“We already have the license. Had it since you started Kindergarten.”
“Wait, what? Then why aren’t you turned already?” I spritzed my hair with water again. Yay, speaker-phone.
“Like I said, it’s not time yet. Close, but we need to wait a little longer.”
“What are you waiting for, Haley’s Comet? Another solar eclipse?”
“Nothing like that.” She sighed. “I can’t tell you yet, either. Don’t feel bad. No one knows why, except me and Dad.”
“Oh. It’s one of those thingamabobs.” I snapped my fingers, trying to remember the word. “A psychic whatsis. Starts with the letter c, I think?”
“Yes. A contingency.” I heard the clink of stone on stone. She’d be charging her crystals since I’d asked her to put down her cards. “If I mention the thing I’m waiting for, it might never happen.”
“Yeah. Oh, and thanks. I passed a test because I know so much about coincidence and contingency. I told Professor Thurston I owe it all to you.”
“Sorry I can’t tell you, but we’ve got what we need.” She sounded more relaxed now that I’d dropped the subject. “Your grandma used to think we’d split up if I kept waiting.”
“I learned last semester how the turnings during the Big Reveal split a lot of families up.” I put the spray bottle back in my bag. “You and Dad are outliers, you know. Weird, huh?”
“There’s nothing wrong with that, Maddie, especially when you’re both happy. If something improves your life, helps you feel cared for and less alone, then it’s right for you. When a place or person makes you feel like that, it’s a keeper.”
“Thanks, Mom.” I packed my makeup away. “I have to go now, meet people.”
“Well, thanks for calling. I always love hearing your voice.” Her voice brightened instantly. “Have a good time!”
“I think I just might now, Mom.” I picked up the phone and tapped the icon to turn off the speaker. “Love you.”
“I love you too, sweetie.” She hung up.
I walked down the empty hall to my room. After I’d put away my cosmetics and hooked my phone to the charger, I glanced over at Lynn’s side of the room. She’d found someone and gone for it, even though she spent the better part of last semester thinking she couldn’t make friends.
I’d spent the better part of my life thinking no one would remember me long enough to care the way Dad and Mom cared for each other. Last semester, I’d asked Lynn to stick around at PPC because hope was important and she was worth it. It was time to follow my own advice.
The intercom buzzed just as I started scrolling through my phone contacts to find Henry’s number. I set the phone down and pressed the intercom button.
“Hello?” It had to be for Lynn.
“Hi, Maddie.” Nox’s voice surprised me. Should she be able to remember me?
“Nox. What’s up?” Of course, she’d remember. She had Faerie magic.
“Figured I’d walk over with you if that’s okay?”
“Sure.” I pushed the button to open the door downstairs. “Fifth floor. Meet me in the lounge. Left off the elevator, you can’t miss it.”
“Cool, thanks.” I heard the door downstairs open over the static-filled connection, then let go of the intercom button.
I put my wallet and keys in a smaller satchel than the one I carried to class. I added lipstick, my spray bottle, and the Umbral Affinity book. Brodsky could send the Brownie after us. It couldn’t do much to hurt us, but it could spy and try roping people into bargains. Water might scare it off. It’d be able to sense the trail of my magic if I hid after it saw me, but the book might have some tips on how to mitigate that.
Nox was already in the lounge when I got there. I’d called Henry, but he hadn’t answered, so I sat next to Nox, tapping my foot. I stopped that as soon as I noticed. There had to be a reason he hadn’t picked up, right? A reason that didn’t involve some kind of attack or disaster. The sun had set almost a half-hour earlier. I glanced at my phone, then away again.
“Waiting for a message?” She tilted her head, a slight smile tilting the corners of her mouth.
“Maybe.” I shrugged.
“I’d be worried, too.” She nodded.
“Huh?” I blinked.
“About whoever you’re messaging. We were like Captain Obvious and his In-your-face Band of Obviosity Pirates over at Brodsky’s.”
“Yeah, I was just thinking about that when you got here.” I pulled opened my satchel, showing her the spray bottle. “Check it out, brownie repellent.” She laughed.
“Josh and I have big red targets painted on our backs now.” Nox smirked, eyes sparkling. I only just noticed she wasn’t wearing her Kelpie skin. “Trouble with a capital T. T is for taunt, drawing aggro for you guys.”
“You say that like it’s a good thing to pull the boss without your armor.” It was my turn to laugh. I got the reference even though I’d stopped playing World of Warcraft a few years back.
“Maybe it is. It might take the heat off Henry long enough for him to figure something out. He’s the one with psychometry, right?”
“It’s a little like psychometry, but really he’s reading old memories.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
“Not really. A Psychometry Psychic can touch something another person hasn’t and still get an impression. It’d be all about the object and its history. Henry can’t read something unless someone touched it. And what he gets has to do with the person who touched it, not really the object.”
“Wow, you know a lot about Psychics.” She raised her eyebrows.
“My parents are Psychics.”
“Cool. We have Magi in our family. I was born mundane, though, so that’s why I got the pelt instead of my brother. He’s an Earth Magus.”
“Wow.” I wasn’t sure what that meant, but Nox seemed to be in an explanatory mood.
“Yeah. Incompatible magic. It’d be amazing to have both if they didn’t cancel each other out, though.”
“Yeah, it’d be like a Magus with more than one school who could also shift. And had Faerie powers.”
“Totally broken.” She smirked. “GM would hit it with the nerf bat.”
We laughed together, then stopped when my phone beeped. The screen said Josh Dennison instead of Henry Baxter. The corners of my mouth dropped like rocks.
“Not who you wanted to hear from, huh?” Nox didn’t even try looking at my phone. My level of respect for her skyrocketed.
“No.” I checked the message. Here already, where r u? I sighed. “Let’s go. Josh is already at the cafe. Lynn, Bobby, Blaine, and Tony are going to meet us there. Maybe Henry.” I tried to look as nonchalant as possible. “Olivia decided she needs sleep more than a night out.”
“Is she really a diurnal owl shifter?” No
x pushed the lounge door open.
“Better living through chemistry.” I ducked under her arm and out into the hall. “You should meet her sometime. She’s read just about everything in the universe. Remembers it all, too. Like a walking trivia bank.”
“So you’re saying she’s a hoot?”
We laughed together all the way down the stairs. I’m not exactly sure why Nox headed for the stairwell instead of the elevator, but I didn’t mind five flights down. Up would have been another story with my short legs. Outside, I saw a familiar long, black car standing at the curb in front of the building. As we started walking by, the window rolled down.
“Mr. Harcourt sent me to drive you to Wickenden Street.” Nox blinked and stared at the liveried driver. I didn’t blame her. The chauffeur was like a movie trope, with a shiny hat, white gloves, and a pristine uniform.
“Blaine’s the only person I know whose family has more money than the Dennisons. It’s legit.”
“Okay, then.” She reached for the door, but the driver shook his head, got out of the car, and did it for her. “Swanky.” She climbed in. “I never imagined.”
“I haven’t been in one either.” After I got in, I bounced a little to test the springy, plush seats.
Nox sat across from me, long legs stretched out in front of her. I seriously envied her shiny oil-slick leggings. I’d never have the guts to wear those without a skirt over them. She put one hand over her mouth, giggling at my antics. I found a radio and switched it on. NPR talk. I rolled my eyes and pulled a cord out of my bag. Once one end was plugged into my phone, I connected the other to a jack next to the radio. A few swipes and taps got us some decent music. Peter Murphy’s voice crooned about how Bela Lugosi was dead. Undead, undead, undead.
“Wow, this is an old song.” Nox shut her eyes and swayed. “My mom loved this stuff.”
“Mine didn’t. She’s kind of a hippie.” I chuckled. “Listens to Jimi Hendricks, Fleetwood Mac, Janis Joplin. She and my dad both wonder where I got the Post-Punk bug.”
“You never told them?”
“I’m not sure myself.” I shrugged. “Just that when I heard this kind of music, the first thing I thought of was my shadows. This stuff sounds like how they feel.”
“After being in them myself, I can see why.”
The car stopped. I put my cord away, and we got out. The cafe was half a block down. We thanked the driver and walked over. Josh opened the door. He held it, standing with his back against it as we passed. He barely looked at me because his eyes were glued to Nox. It was nice to see my new friend getting some attention, but downright weird that he’d asked me out when she’d been standing right there. Hopefully, he’d rectify that and leave me alone, already. All I could think while he held the door was how he’d unknowingly left the house in a shirt with the “f” word all over it.
The scent of coffee and wood polish surrounded me like a warm hug. I remembered how Henry said he loved the smell of coffee. Lynn and Bobby leaned together on a less threadbare couch than the one at Professor Brodsky’s. Tony sat on an ottoman which didn’t match the chairs. They waved us over. I plunked myself down in a chair-and-a-half, leaning on the arm so no one could share it with me. The only comfy seats left were two spots on a loveseat. Josh pulled a hard wooden chair over from one table, turned it around, and straddled it. Nox took the love seat, stretching her legs out under the coffee table. I watched Lynn’s left eyebrow do its Spock imitation at the seating shuffle. She opened her mouth to say something snarky, but Bobby’s impromptu shoulder massage put a stop to that.
“What do you want?” Josh propped his elbow on the chair back, then leaned his chin on his fist. His eyes focused on a spot somewhere between Nox and me.
“Coffee, black like my soul.” I spoke in a sing-song voice with the brightest smile I could manage. Tony burst out laughing, Bobby joined in, and Lynn chuckled behind her hair.
“Light and bitter for me.” Nox smiled across at Josh, her expression somewhere between flirtatious and predatory. “That’s exactly what I like.”
Josh got up and turned toward the counter pretty fast, but I still noticed his reddening cheeks. Once he was up there, Lynn put her serious face back on and gave me a pointed look. I smiled and shrugged. She lifted her eyebrows and shrugged back.
“Hey, look who decided to show up!” Tony stood smiling at the door. I turned to see who was there.
Blaine and Henry shouldered into the shop. I watched Henry inhale through his nose, his eyes going half-lidded just as I’d imagined. I shifted my weight to make room in the chair, kicking myself for choosing the smaller seat. Blaine made a beeline for the other half of the loveseat, plunking himself down next to Nox. He smiled at me.
“This is your friend from lab, right, Maddie?”
“Yes. Blaine, this is Nox. Nox, Blaine.”
“Thanks for sending your car around, even though it was ostentatiously swanky.”
“I’ll need it over here for later, anyway.” He gave Nox a toothy grin. “My walk was much shorter. It was the least I could do. And everyone should get to ride in one at some point. Same goes for other kinds of rides.”
While Blaine played out his particular brand of not really humble demurral and flirtation, I looked for Henry. He was at the counter, speaking to Josh in low tones. Both had their hands on their hips. I wondered what they were arguing about, so I tried reading their lips.
“It didn’t work.” Josh clenched his jaw, shaking his head. “It’s like trying to mix up oil and water.”
“So, now what?” Henry shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
“Go.” Josh jerked his chin at the door.
“Blaine brought me. He won’t like that.” He raised an eyebrow.
“Tough.” Josh crossed his arms over his chest, tucking his chin to hide his throat. He stared directly into Henry’s eyes. I knew an Alpha stare when I saw one. “You said you’d quit.”
“I did.” Henry smirked.
“She didn’t.” Josh sneered.
“Tough.” It was Henry’s turn to cross his arms, though he didn’t tuck his chin.
I stood. They had no right to talk like I couldn’t make my own decisions. As I stepped around the love-seat, Blaine glanced up. He winked, then gave me a sly little smirk. I tilted my head, raising an eyebrow. He responded by jerking his chin at the vampire/werewolf standoff and waving one hand at me in a “move along” gesture. I went. Henry was already out the door by the time I got to Josh.
“Don’t go to all this trouble on my account, Josh.” I immediately crossed my arms and tucked my chin, glaring up at him with upturned eyes. “I’ll determine my own dating prospects.”
“He’s dangerous, Maddie.” Josh met my eyes, reminding me of half the arguments I’d seen on TV between brothers and sisters.
“So am I. Umbral magic’s no joke.” I gestured at myself. “Poison hides in pretty bottles.”
“Prove you can handle him and I’ll get out of your way.” He glared down his nose at me.
I focused my energy, marking an invisible circle around Josh’s head. Then, I filled it with shadow. I heard Blaine’s voice choking out choice words about Tiamat. I glanced over my shoulder where the rest of the group looked puzzled with one other notable exception. Tony. How in the world could he see magic? That was a question for another time. I peered back through my shadows at Josh. He turned his head, nostrils flaring as he scented the air. His head cocked to either side, ears wiggling slightly as he listened. He got nothing, of course. The sphere of shadow had cut off all of his senses except direct touch.
“Proven.” The rest of Josh’s breath whooshed out in a relieved sigh. “Now knock it off.”
I called back my magic, smirking up at him. His slight frown upended itself, spreading out into an easy smile. Josh dropped his arms to his sides.
“Let’s go bring him back.” Josh turned toward the door.
“No, I got this.” I shook my head, hoping my bouncy curls didn’t
make me look like an intractable toddler.
“Nothing doing. I’m responsible for this whole business.” Josh narrowed his eyes.
“So am I, and—” Just as I was about to break the truce and call Josh a third-wheel, I heard a feminine gasp and a low male chuckle. Over on the love-seat, Blaine had turned on the charm. He was putting some serious moves on Nox, one arm around her shoulders as he grinned. He smiled, then turned a challenging glance on Josh. So that’s what he’d meant with all the pantomime. I felt like I was stuck in a production of As You Like It.
“Handle it yourself, then.” Josh’s eyes glimmered. He handed me the black coffee. Now, Josh had something more important than a brooding vampire on his mind. He strode over to the rest of the group, turning his back on me.
I headed out of the cafe, glancing through the window to see Josh approach the love-seat, then stop. He’d forgotten Nox’s coffee. Blaine got up to get it. Lynn and Bobby looked on in confusion. Tony grinned like he was from Cheshire, knowing he’d have some extremely juicy gossip for Monday.
Once on the street, I shut my eyes. I couldn’t track the unliving energy that made Henry what he was, but I had my amulet. I reached in my shirt and focused on the connection between it and me, the one he’d helped me make. After that, it was easy. I ended up in front of the Wickenden Pub. Ninety-nine beers, one sign said. I read another one: Top Ten Reasons You’ll Not Feel You Belong at the Wickenden Pub.
I smiled and went in.
Chapter Fifteen
Henry
I stared at the scarred table, not realizing what was carved in the wood next to the unfortunately, sweating glass that contained my stout. I’d nearly forgotten that the Wickenden Pub served all their beer cold. While drawing a line down the condensation with my pinkie, I sighed. I dragged water through the letters H and T. That was when I remembered why the x under the initials hadn’t been a mistake. Rick had meant to make a multiplication sign between Henrietta’s initials and his. He’d wanted a whole tribe of children with her back when we celebrated his twenty-first. All he had to wait for, he’d said, was her graduation.
