Grace Under Fury

by Annabel Chase

  “Call your father and tell him it’s his turn to babysit,” my mother said.

  “Sorry, Mom,” Anton said. “It’s every man for himself.”

  Anton and I bolted outside just as a vile stench overtook the house.

  “You’re driving,” I said.

  Anton patted the keys in his pocket. “Gladly. Which bar?”

  We hopped in his Audi and I immediately buckled up, remembering my brother’s driving skills.

  “The Devil’s Playground,” I said. “I’ve never been and there’s supposedly a good band playing tonight.”

  He started to laugh. “Remember that time…”

  I gave a solemn shake of my head. “No need to make me relive it.”

  “I owe you one,” Anton said. “Ryan’s a mess right now. I thought it was only a cold, but it seems to have morphed into something worse.”

  “And you left your wife holding the diaper bag?” I clucked my tongue. “She’s not a druid. She’s a saint.”

  The Devil’s Playground is nestled in the woods on the outskirts of town. Its remote location makes it less likely for unsuspecting humans to wander in.

  Anton pulled into the dirt parking lot and squeezed between two pickup trucks. “Tuck the side mirror in so no one knocks into it,” he said.

  We studied the exterior of the building, hunting for the entrance. “They sure don’t roll out the red carpet for customers, do they?” my brother said.

  “It’s supposed to be secret, like a speakeasy during Prohibition.”

  “That only works in an alleyway where everyone walks,” Anton said. “This packed parking lot is kind of a dead giveaway that the building isn’t abandoned.”

  “You can take that up with Ethan,” I said. “He’s the owner.” I was curious to talk more to Ethan.

  “It’s smart business to cater to supernaturals here, although I preferred human bars when I was still in that phase,” Anton said.

  I lifted an eyebrow. “You think you’re out of the bar phase? Did I blink and miss it?”

  He shrugged. “A wife. A career. Two young kids. A side gig. Yeah, I’m not exactly swimming in ale these days.”

  “Well, here’s your big chance to enjoy a night out,” I said. “Consider it my gift to you.”

  We pressed a hidden button that took us more time to find than I was willing to admit and the door slid aside. A bouncer stood sentry inside, waiting to check our IDs. Two members of the band were setting up their instruments on the stage. The banner pinned on the wall behind them read Ghost of Billy Crystal.

  “That’s macabre,” I said. “Billy Crystal’s not even dead, is he?”

  Anton pulled out his phone and Googled. “Nope. Great shape, too.”

  Phew. Robin Williams had been hard enough to accept. I couldn’t handle Billy Crystal, too.

  A familiar blast of cologne forced a cough from my lungs.

  “You made it. Fantastic!” Shayne said. Ethan's husband looked dapper in smart black trousers and a crimson shirt.

  “Hi, Shayne. This is my brother, Anton,” I said.

  “Great to meet you,” Shayne said.

  “Oh, there’s Ethan,” I said.

  The owner emerged from a back room, trailed by two more bandmates—a man and a woman. Both of their noses were bright red and a stash of tissues peeked out of the guy’s pockets. They continued to the stage and Ethan broke away to greet us.

  “Hey, Eden. Congratulations. You can finally mark this place off your bucket list,” Ethan said.

  “No chance of punishment tonight,” I said. “My family was happy to get rid of me. This is Anton, my brother.”

  Ethan scrutinized him. “Do I detect a hint of vengeance demon?”

  “I tend to be non-practicing, for the most part.”

  “I know how you feel,” Ethan said. “I’m a selkie, but I spend far more time on land than in water.”

  “You’re human with the Sight?” I asked Shayne.

  He nodded. “I’m also a scuba diver, so we can pretty much spend time anywhere together.”

  Ethan gave me an appraising look. “I know you’re one of us, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what you are.”

  “You have a strange black aura,” Shayne said.

  “That’s just my shadow,” I joked. I wanted to avoid any discussion of my true nature.

  “She’s a fury,” Anton announced proudly. “Her powers are terrifying.”

  I closed my eyes and mentally counted to ten. “Thanks, big brother.”

  “Show them your wings,” Anton urged.

  “I am not showing my wings in a crowded bar,” I said through gritted teeth.

  “You have wings?” Ethan asked, intrigued.

  “I cloak them,” I said. “It’s not like I need them in the modern world. The gods haven’t quite caught up to airplanes.”

  “Check out her eyes,” Anton continued. “They’ve got these cool little flames in them now.”

  Ethan and Shayne both leaned forward to gaze into my eyes. “What does that mean?” Shayne asked. He was so close that I nearly gagged on his cologne.

  “Means she’s immortal,” Anton said.

  Ethan observed me closely. “You’re not really FBI, are you?”

  “I was, before I moved back home.” Probably best to avoid the circumstances that brought me here. Fergus’s near-death experience was an accident and one that I vowed never to repeat.

  “Now she’s FBM,” Anton said. “She took over for Paul Pidcock.”

  Ethan snapped his fingers. “Right. I heard about that whole thing. I didn’t realize you took over for him.”

  “Nice guy,” Shayne added. “He used to come in here on occasion, if he needed information from Ethan.”

  Not a bad idea. I’d add it to my mental list.

  I shifted my attention to the stage where the band was warming up. “What about the entertainment? I’m getting a mixed vibe.”

  “Three supers,” Ethan said. “The lead singer is human, though.”

  “Sighted?” I asked.

  Ethan shook his head. “Not this one. He has no clue that his bandmates have more fur than Cruella De Vil.”

  “Are they any good?” I asked. “I’ve never heard their music before.”

  “And you might not tonight either,” Ethan said. “The drummer and the lead singer both have colds and the singer’s worried about going hoarse during the performance.”

  “I’d rather be immune than immortal,” I said.

  “That’s because you’re a baby when you’re sick,” Anton said.

  I gave my brother a pointed look. “Says the guy that abandoned his own baby over a Code Five.”

  Anton bristled. “I left him in his mother’s capable hands. She’s a healer, which makes her the best parent for the job.”

  The band began to play and, while the music itself was good, I had a feeling the singer’s scratchy voice wasn’t intentional.

  “If you’ll excuse us,” Ethan said. “Time to make the rounds.”

  As Anton and I bobbed our heads to the music, I felt a pair of eyes on me from across the room. I craned my neck to see a scruffy guy in a white muscle shirt eyeing me from the bar. Terrific. He treated eye contact as an invitation and sauntered toward me. The muscle shirt was a bad choice for many reasons, but mainly because his body was so scrawny that I was pretty sure I could blow him backward with a deep sigh.

  He sidled up to me, his beady eyes dancing with interest. “Hey there. Name’s Chris. Your scent attracted me from across the room and I just had to come over and introduce myself.”

  Only a werewolf would lead with a line like that. “I’m not really interested in making new friends tonight, Chris, but thanks.”

  He leaned closer and sniffed me. “Are you sure about that? You smell awfully friendly to me.”

  Beside me, Anton twitched and I placed a steadying hand on his arm. I didn’t need my big brother to protect me from creeps. I had years of experience.

&
nbsp; I fully faced the werewolf. “And you smell like you bathed in wet leaves and then dried off with bark.”

  The werewolf seemed to take the insult as a compliment. “Nature’s perfume,” he said. “Are you new in town? I come here a lot, but I don’t recognize you.”

  “My name is Eden,” I said. “My cousins are werewolves. You must know Julie and Meg.”

  He frowned. “You’re Julie’s cousin?”

  “Rafael, technically,” I said. “Julie’s husband.”

  Chris’s head snapped back. “The wizard?”

  “And amazing chef,” I added.

  Chris backed away slightly. “You’re Eden Fury.” He flashed a nervous smile. “You know what? I see an old friend by the bar. Nice to meet you.” He practically left scorch marks on the floor.

  I turned to smile at my brother. “I guess he’s heard of our family.”

  Anton gaped at me. “Is this what it’s like for you? No wonder you don’t date.”

  “I still don’t know how you managed to convince someone as wonderful as Verity to take a chance on you.”

  Anton rocked back on his heels. “I am a lucky demon.”

  “Make sure you tell her that when you get home.”

  The drummer sneezed and one of the drumsticks slipped from her hand and shot into the crowd. Someone gave a triumphant scream and held up the stick. I’m not sure she realized it was an accident. The drummer carried on in vain with a single drumstick.

  “This poor band,” I said. The singer’s voice seemed to worsen by the minute.

  “Can’t you do a spell to help them?” Anton asked.

  “You know I don’t use magic frivolously.”

  Anton grunted. “Sometimes I wish you were more like Mom.”

  I recoiled. “What did you just say?”

  “The drummer lost her stick,” he said. “What’s the big deal? You have so much angst over Mom being evil, but not using your magic for someone in need is the real injustice.”

  “I don’t think I need advice on justice from a vengeance demon, but thanks,” I said.

  “Why not? We have the best vantage point.”

  Someone chucked the missing drumstick back to the stage and the drummer caught it with her free hand.

  “See?” I said. “It all worked out. No magic required.”

  “You’re just saying that to make yourself feel better for being a magic hoarder.”

  I was starting to regret bringing my brother along. “I am not a hoarder.”

  “You might as well get involved with Chief Fox because it’s not like you act like a supernatural anyway. Just be a human and go make human babies with the law-enforcing underwear model.”

  I hugged myself. “I wouldn’t make human babies, Anton. That’s part of the problem. Chief Fox would have no idea what he’d signed up for. It isn’t fair.”

  “Then tell him. He’s a grown man. Let him decide.”

  I choked. “Have you lost your mind? Are you seriously suggesting that I reveal to the chief of police that there’s a supernatural world and I’m from a long line of evil-doers?”

  Anton shrugged. “You never know. He might be cool with it.”

  I started to laugh. “You’re living in a fantasy land, brother.”

  There was a brief lull as the band began its next song. At this point, the singer’s voice was too strained to understand and the drummer’s sneezes seemed more like a strange attempt at harmonizing.

  Shayne stepped into the empty space beside me. “They’re usually better than this,” he said.

  I arched an eyebrow. “You think?”

  “Ethan should’ve canceled them,” Shayne said. “Ray sounds like he swallowed an entire litter of kittens and that drummer has sneezed so many times, I’m pretty sure we’ll all leave here with a parting gift.”

  I shuddered at the thought. Good thing Sally wasn’t here. If only my stepmom still had a beating heart, she’d have a coronary over the spreading germs.

  “Do you have any magic-infused alcohol that might strengthen everyone’s natural defenses?” I asked.

  Shayne lit up. “Spoken like a true witch. I’ll talk to the bartender right now.”

  “I’m not a witch…” I began, but he was already gone.

  “You don’t have to make such an effort to distance yourself,” Anton said. “Fury. Witch. It’s all the same to someone like Shayne.”

  “You know I don’t want to be associated with them,” I said.

  Anton mimicked me. “Wah. Wah. My name is Eden and I’m so tortured.” He inclined his head. “Are you sure you’re not part vampire? Because you sure whine like one.”

  I folded my arms in a huff and faced the stage. Now I really regretted bringing my brother. This was supposed to be a fun night out and instead I was getting doused in germs and insulted by family. I could’ve stayed home for that.

  The singer wobbled toward the microphone and a hacking cough reverberated from the sound system. He gripped the pole to steady himself and tried to resume singing, but it was no use. He couldn’t seem to form words. The bass player sensed trouble and picked up the vocals where the lead singer left off.

  “He looks like he’s trying to do the DUI walk,” Anton said, as the lead singer staggered forward in a daze. He reached the edge of the stage and tipped forward. The crowd cheered, thinking he wanted to body surf. They passed him from one pair of hands to the next, the singer’s body still and sagging.

  “Anton,” I said in a quiet voice. “His eyes are open.”

  “I guess he likes to see his admirers up close,” Anton said.

  “No,” I said. “I don’t mean that kind of open. He’s not blinking.” I watched as the singer was passed to the fringe of the crowd.

  “He has to be blinking, Eden. If he’s not blinking, he’s…”

  Someone in the crowd screamed.

  “Dead,” a woman shrieked. “He’s dead.”

  I turned and faced my brother. “That.”

  Chapter Five

  The bar was mostly cleared out by the time Chief Fox arrived. Ethan didn’t want too many supernaturals lurking in one place when law enforcement showed up, not that the chief would know any better. We all looked human to him.

  Anton and I remained in the background while the body was prepared for transport to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office. Ethan joined us after speaking with Chief Fox.

  “What was the singer’s name?” I asked.

  “Ray Langdon,” Ethan said. “He was only twenty-eight.”

  Too young to die of natural causes, unless he had an underlying condition that weakened his immune system.

  “Should I hang around?” Anton asked. I knew what he was really asking—did I want to be alone with the chief?

  “I’m only here for official reasons,” I said. I wanted to be able to brief the chief on the singer’s behavior leading up to his unfortunate demise.

  “I think I’ll go anyway,” Anton said. “That way he can give you a ride in his squad car.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

  “How do you manage to make even the most innocuous sentences sound dirty?”

  Anton buffed his nails on his shirt. “Everyone thinks it’s vengeance, but that’s my real talent.”

  “What’s your real talent?” Chief Fox’s voice pierced the quiet.

  “Timing,” Anton replied. He shook the chief’s hand. “Good to see you again. Don’t work too late.” My brother left the bar without a backward glance.

  “Good evening, Chief,” I said.

  “More like good morning, but sure,” he said.

  “Were you asleep?” I asked.

  He stifled a yawn. “Doesn’t matter now. Duty calls, so I’m here.”

  “You look tired,” I said.

  “You would be too if a little pug kept pestering you to go out and pee every five minutes.” He managed a smile. “Not that I blame him. He loves the grass. You should see him roll around on his back.”

  “I can imagine
.” Princess Buttercup preferred to scorch the grass with her fiery saliva, but the pug thing sounded cute. “Are you crating him at night?”

  “I was,” he said, “but then I accidentally fell asleep with him in the bed and he snuggled on the pillow next to me.” He shook his head. “Agent Fury, you’ve never seen anything so adorable in your whole life. I couldn’t bear to put him back in the crate after that.”

  I couldn’t blame him. I had a hard time saying no to Princess Buttercup, too. One look into those soulful eyes and I melted like butter in the microwave.

  “So care to tell me what happened here tonight?” Chief Fox asked, switching deftly to professional mode.

  I explained about the band members with colds and the lead singer hacking up a lung before literally falling to his death.

  “Hmm.” The chief stroked his dimpled chin and I longed to swat his hand away and replace it with my lips. “Maybe drugs involved, although Ethan over there insists the band is all about clean living. Wheatgrass shots. That sort of thing. I’ll order a tox screen to be on the safe side.”

  “He didn’t drink anything except water tonight because he felt too sick,” I said. “It could even be an overdose of cold medicine. I’ve read about cases like that.”

  “I’ll need to get a hold of his medical records. Make sure there wasn’t something else going on that nobody knew about.” He stared at the place on the floor where the body had been. “There does seem to be something going around. My dentist cancelled on me this morning because he’d come down with something.”

  Ethan joined our conversation. “You won’t need to close the bar, will you?”

  “When do you normally reopen?” the chief asked.

  “Tomorrow night at ten,” Ethan said.

  “I’ll have a look around now,” the chief said. “Depending on what I find, health and safety might have to come in.”

  Ethan's expression soured. “I understand. I’ll go finish up in the office.”

  “I can help you while I’m here,” I said to the chief. “You’ll finish faster.”

  The chief wore a vague smile. “I’ll bet.”

  I swatted his arm. “Mind out of the gutter.”

  He grinned. “Sorry. Couldn’t resist.” He walked toward the stage and surveyed the area. “Meet anyone interesting here tonight?”