Grave Dealings

by R. R. Virdi

  Like having your feelings spurned.

  She thought she had something with Daniel. She didn’t. Nothing real, at least.

  And that’s what she had wished for. When it didn’t pan out, she pulled her work from his gallery in anger. It wasn’t long before her rage won out and she wished for something else.

  My face must’ve shown some signs for Ashton to notice.

  “Put it together yet?” He gave me a bloody, macabre smile.

  “Caroline, is it true?”

  She looked away from me.

  Ortiz reached out, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Is what true? What did she do?”

  Ashton squirmed in my grip. It was an act. He could’ve gotten free of my hold if he wanted. “Go ahead, Dan. Tell her.”

  “Tell me what?” Ortiz’s stare bored holes into the side of my head.

  I didn’t want to answer that question.

  But contrary to the Faust’s promises, we don’t always get what we want. Not without paying a hefty price.

  I cleared my throat and looked Caroline in the eyes. “Did you kill Daniel Kim?”

  Chapter Forty-One

  Caroline’s mouth opened and hung in silence.

  Ortiz’s hand gripped my shoulder tighter than before.

  “Caroline, hey, look at me.” I shifted my head, trying to get her attention.

  She did as I asked, but looked out of sorts. The question had rocked her hard.

  “Go on. Tell them. It’s all on you.” Ashton let his head loll back, glancing at Caroline upside down and flashing her a bloodstained grin.

  Ashton’s comment prompted Caroline to return to reality, sort of. She blinked several times before speaking. “I... It’s not like that.”

  I let some of the heat and metal out of my voice, hoping the softened tone would encourage her. “Then what’s it like? Tell me?”

  “Yeah, tell them.” Ashton’s smile grew.

  I released my hold on him, letting him fall flat as I plunged a fist into his gut. “Shut up.”

  Ortiz squeezed harder.

  I faced her and caught her look.

  She held my stare before nodding towards Caroline.

  The young woman was in shock. The added violence wasn’t helping, not with what she’d already been through. Not with what weighed on her conscience, her soul. The extra aggression would drive her back into the shell I’d pulled her out of.

  I lifted both of my hands into the air in a gesture of peace. “Caroline, just tell me what happened, please? What did you do? What did you ask for?”

  She licked her lips, looking to the fallen Ashton before meeting my eyes again. “Yes.”

  One word. One helluva damning weight behind it.

  “I did. I wanted you dead. I thought you were. When you came back, I—”

  “She seized up is what.” Ashton leaned up and slammed an open palm into my sternum.

  I gasped and fell back onto my ass, clutching my chest.

  Ashton got to his feet and booked it towards Caroline with unnatural speed.

  Ortiz moved to follow, but the Faust outpaced her by a ridiculous measure.

  He was by Caroline’s side before I’d gotten to my feet. Ashton knelt by her, putting a hand on her shoulder that drew a slight shiver from the woman. “She lost her mind when she saw you again.” He looked directly at me. “She wasn’t too clear on how she wanted you dead. I took creative liberty. It’s Queens. Swimming with the fishes seemed poetic for an artist, no?”

  I glared.

  The look on Ashton’s face told me he was enjoying this. “At first, Caroline thought I didn’t hold up my end of the bargain. Then she thought I’d killed you and brought you back so she’d have a second chance.”

  Caroline flinched at the comment.

  “It’s funny, isn’t it? The things humans tell themselves to feel better, to rationalize things. The little lies.”

  I felt Ortiz stare at the back of my head when he said that. My lies had caused her a lot of pain, confusion, and sleepless nights. Ashton had a point on that, and I had the feeling he knew it. I wasn’t going to let it sit though. “Maybe, but we’re not the ones using them to pervert people’s desires. You take the things they’re willing to do and give people a push into doing them. After all, what’s the invisible, theoretical soul worth, right?”

  Ashton put a hand to his chest in mock indignation. “You’re forgetting who asked for my power—twice, in fact.” He held up two fingers. “Caroline wanted you. She wasn’t content with a little flirt session.”

  “What?” Ortiz’s voice was like a hammer coming down on marble. It cracked through the room and drew our attention.

  Ashton took a second to compose himself. “You didn’t know.” He smiled like he’d come across a juicy secret. “Oh yeah, Caroline traded her soul for something as simple as a roll around the hay with Daniel.”

  Ortiz winced for a split second that might have gone unnoticed had I not been watching her intently. Ashton’s revelation had stung her. I didn’t know just how far Daniel and Caroline had taken their relationship, but that was the kind of thing that’d leave a mark.

  Ashton caught that and would likely exploit it. “Caroline.” He turned his attention to her and stroked her cheek with the back of one of his fingers. “Did it ever get that far? You ever sleep with Daniel?”

  Ortiz’s hands blurred, and she drew her handgun. She sighted it on Ashton.

  I didn’t know what went through her mind, but I could guess. “Ortiz, he’s too close to Caroline. Don’t.”

  “I don’t care.” She quivered in place, practically radiating fury.

  What?

  I gawked at her. “You can’t be serious.”

  Her face twisted in pain before she clenched her jaw. “They killed him, together. She’s not any better than him. They’re both monsters.” Her hands shook, and the gun looked like it wavered more towards Caroline.

  Maybe they were both monsters. Sometimes people make the best of those. We’ve got a nasty history. But we’ve also got one of compassion, of doing the hard things, even when something easier is an option. Especially when that might bring a whole lot more satisfaction.

  I reached out towards the gun. My hand shook as much as Ortiz’s grip on the weapon. “Hey, hey.” I inched my hand forwards to get her attention.

  She took her eyes off the pair against the wall. Ortiz said nothing though.

  “Look, I know hearing that hurt.”

  Her eyes hardened, and she gave me a look that asked the silent question, “Do you?”

  “I know it doesn’t help that I look like this.” I touched a hand to my chest. “But believe me, whatever happened between Daniel and her, it wasn’t real.”

  Ortiz jerked like she’d been shocked.

  I followed a hunch and put my hand on the barrel of the gun, brushing it aside. “That’s what Fausts like him do. They mess with your brain. Get you angry so you can’t think straight. He wants you to make a mistake like shooting them both. He’ll shrug it off. Caroline won’t. Then what?”

  Ortiz froze. “What?”

  “You’ll have killed an innocent person. What was her crime? Killing Daniel, sure. Can you prove it to the law? How about to your job?”

  She stiffened, and her color paled a shade.

  “You’d be killing her in cold blood. I know you don’t want to hear it. Hell, I don’t want to say it, Ortiz, but she’s a victim too. She had her buttons pushed by a freak that’s got untold years of experience at this. It’s what they do. Didn’t you hear him? She sold her soul for one bit of affection—attention—from Daniel.”

  Ortiz’s shoulders sank a fraction. The anger, the stress, and everything that came with it was leaving her.

  “It wasn’t love. It sure as hell wasn’t even real. It just…was. That doesn’t make it hurt any less. But don’t let him take something else away from you. Something you can’t get back. You won’t be able to sleep at night if you do this. I know you.”

/>   Ortiz cleared her throat and sniffed once. “Yeah, you do.” Her eyes glistened.

  I convinced myself I didn’t see a thing. As far as I was concerned, she’d been stone-faced through all of it.

  “Did you hear all that, Caroline?” Ashton cooed. “You’re right. It wasn’t real. Nothing more than intense infatuation. When she realized it wasn’t enough and she couldn’t have what she wanted, she came back and wanted to renegotiate.” His laugh echoed through the exhibit.

  I dropped my voice to a whisper. “If I can get him away from Caroline, can you nail him?”

  Ortiz flashed me a look that made me regret asking the question.

  Of course. I was an idiot for asking.

  “And let me guess, that renegotiation ended up in Daniel biting the big one, huh?”

  Ashton inclined his head. “Yeah. Anger is a great thing. Impulse-driven desire to hurt someone, to do something rash. People will give up anything unconditionally.”

  Oh crap.

  I took a step towards the pair. “Caroline…please tell me you didn’t sign over your soul just like that?”

  Ashton snapped his finger. “That’s exactly what she did. It’s mine whenever I choose.”

  Tears marred Caroline’s face. Her cheeks were reddened and swollen. “I didn’t think it mattered.”

  People never do.

  “I just wanted to be with someone who I thought got me.”

  Doesn’t everyone?

  “All I had was my art and you.” She sniffed harder.

  Sometimes that’s all people have. It’s not easy, but it’s not something to make you want to hurt someone else.

  Then again, maybe it was.

  “I just wanted something to matter in my life.”

  Damn, who doesn’t?

  “Well it doesn’t matter now, does it?” Ashton cradled her jaw in one hand.

  I blinked, taking a moment too long to figure it out. “No!” I rushed towards him. “Ortiz, shoot!”

  She didn’t hesitate and fired.

  Ashton’s head snapped to the side, but not before his hand twisted.

  Caroline’s head snapped to the left, staring at Kelly. Her eyes almost looked like they shook in their sockets from the violent snap. A hollow look filled them seconds later.

  Kelly stared into Caroline’s eyes, unflinching.

  Horrible things have a way of grabbing hold of you and not letting go.

  This wasn’t the first time she’d seen something die. But it was the first she’d seen a woman, a human, be killed while defenseless. Cold-blooded murder is never easy to witness.

  Instinct told me to not let up on Ashton and drive him into the Neravene any way I could. My humanity, whatever amount of that I actually had, told me to make sure Kelly was okay. And not just physically.

  Ashton shook his head clear. Spent lead fell from above his right eye, hitting the floor with enough weight to be heard across the room. He blinked several times before placing his hands against the wall and pushing himself up.

  Ortiz timed it perfectly, dropping him with another round to the skull the instant he came to his feet.

  Ashton flopped to the ground.

  It wasn’t much, but if she kept up the cycle, it’d buy me just enough time. I rushed to Kelly.

  She sat unnaturally still.

  I came to her side and fell to a knee. “Hey.” My hands went to her shoulders, giving her a gentle shake. “Hey, come on. Right here. Focus on me, Kelly.”

  She came back to reality, squinting hard.

  “You’re good.” I bowed my head, giving her a small smile.

  Kelly licked her lips and shook her head. “No, I’m not.”

  “Yes, you are. Perspective. You’re alive. Rattled, yes, but alive. I’m here. Ortiz is here.”

  Another gunshot drummed behind us.

  Speak of the devil hitting the floor.

  “See? You’re good. I don’t need you to be perfect. I need you to tell me you’re good and that you’re ready to listen, okay?”

  “I don’t…” She bit her lower lip and stopped talking.

  This wasn’t working.

  I grabbed her hands and brought the bands of duct tape binding them to my mouth. I bit down, using my canines to puncture a hole near the top. My thumbs went to the top of the tape and I tore. It took more effort than I’d thought, leaving me to twist and jerk at the tape. Her hands came free.

  “Okay, Kelly, I need you to do something for me. You’re stressed. You’re overthinking. You need to do something. Your hands are clear; free your legs on your own.”

  She gave a slight bob of her head and proceeded doing as I’d instructed. Kelly pinched the remaining tape with her nails. She ground them against the material, loosening it enough for her to tear.

  Bang.

  Ortiz had dropped Ashton again.

  I don’t know how much longer she could keep it up.

  Unless he was allowing it.

  Ashton had been putting up nowhere near the fight Anna did. He hadn’t even ditched his Skin Sheath.

  He was stringing us along.

  I turned my attention back to Kelly. “Okay, good. Now you’re present. You just freed yourself.”

  She opened her mouth to argue.

  “Nah-uh. Look. You’re alive. You’re free. You’ve got friends here. Focus on that. You’ll have time to process everything else later. Where are you?”

  “What?”

  “Where are you?”

  She frowned for a moment. “In an art gallery.”

  “Good. Work through a set of facts you know to be real. They’ll help settle your mind.”

  “Then what?” She peeled away the tape clinging to her skin, wincing through the process.

  “Then get yourself the hell out of here!”

  Twin percussive beats rang out. Ortiz had unloaded two shots into Ashton.

  “I can’t.”

  What?

  I stared at Kelly. “Like hell you can’t. It’s easy. Get up, move them legs, and hustle your ass out of here.”

  Another shot.

  Ashton was recovering quicker.

  Another bang.

  Dammit.

  I gripped Kelly’s shoulders. “Look, you don’t have to prove anything. Not to me. Not to Ortiz. And most certainly not to yourself.”

  Her hands came to fall on my wrists. She held me as tightly as I did her. “I do though. To me. I can’t explain it.”

  She didn’t have to. I knew where it’d go. I’d been through it myself many times.

  “I know all these things are out there. And…I have to know more. I can’t let this go. But—”

  “But you’re scared. You don’t know how to process it all yet. Doesn’t matter that you did it back in the Neravene. It’s new each time. It’s over your head. Your body is acting out of control. Your mind’s going crazy. And, if you don’t get something to hold on to, you feel like you’ll drown in all the crazy. That about right?”

  “Yes.”

  Thunder reverberated through the room five times.

  Crap. Ortiz was really unloading into Ashton now.

  “Fair enough. I don’t know what to say, but I’ve got to say it fast, and I’m pulling things out of the air here.” I cast a nervous glance over my shoulder.

  Ashton leaned against the wall for support, but he didn’t seem too bothered about the bullet burying into him.

  “I want you to leave, yes. In part, so I feel better knowing you’re safe and can’t be hurt. Part of it is that I don’t think you should deal with this. It’s selfish, not my call, and whatever. I’ve seen this life do bad things to people. I don’t want that for you.” My words fell with more weight than I intended.

  Kelly froze.

  I could see her mulling through it all.

  “I know, but I don’t know what else to do. So, I have to do something—anything.”

  That settled it.

  Sometimes people reach a point in their lives where they know they�
��re stuck. No amount of self-talk can change that. Something’s changed in them. They can’t go back to the way things have been. And they sure as hell can’t sit on the sidelines. They have to find a way to move on.

  This was Kelly’s moment.

  And I hated myself for it coming to that. But I was going to help her through it.

  Another gunshot ripped me from my reverie.

  I looked around in panic. The shotgun was half a dozen yards from me. I scrambled for it, grabbing it by the strap and yanking it towards me.

  The smart move would have been for me to hold on to it.

  Sometimes the smart moves aren’t the ones that need to be made.

  I reversed my hold on the weapon, handing it to Kelly. “You ever use one of these?”

  She looked at me like I was crazy. “Does it come with built-in Wi-Fi?”

  I snorted. “No.”

  “Then, no. I’ve never used one.” She took the weapon from me anyway, holding it like it was far more cumbersome than it actually was.

  “Quick and simple then. Don’t point it at anything you don’t mean to shoot. Point, squeeze, be ready for the kick. Ashton, bad. Me, good. No shoot me.” I gave her a goofy grin.

  She swallowed and got to her feet. “Okay, I can do this.”

  I put a hand on her shoulder, reassuring her. “You can do this.”

  “Shit!” Ortiz’s curse prompted me to turn.

  Ashton cricked his neck to the side, slapping the side of his head with a hand. Drying blood marred his face.

  Ortiz ejected the magazine, pulling out the replacement.

  Ashton dragged his hand against his face to remove much of the blood. “I don’t think I’m in the mood for any more of that.” He charged Ortiz.

  I rushed to meet him.

  He closed the distance faster than I could move to intercept.

  The magazine slammed home, and Ortiz trained the weapon on Ashton with practiced precision. A twin report echoed.

  Ashton staggered. The left side of his body was driven back by the shots. The Faust collapsed to his knees but retained consciousness.

  Good. This was going to hurt.

  I increased my pace, lifting my knee as I came close. Momentum carried me forwards as I drove the bony joint across the side of his face.