by Carrow Brown
The rocking chair and the small bit of floor it rested on remained. A part of my mind felt if I stepped off the single bit of tile and cement, bad things would happen. Not the sensation of falling. Something with teeth and hunger lurked in the darkness.
“You do not tell me what to do in my domain!” the woman said to Silence, her voice filling my head until I thought it would explode from the volume alone. A slender hand, now the size of a school bus, came down on Silence who was cowering beside the rocking chair.
He let out a scream and batted his hands at her approaching fingers as they wrapped around him and lifted my friend off the ground. His form shifted from a human back to his machete shape.
“You’ve forgotten your place, Edge,” she said as the woman grabbed Silence by the hilt and blade. Her arms flexed until Silence started to bend. “Let me remind you.”
I watched the blade bend, a high-pitched shrill sounding from Silence.
“Stop!” I yelled, on my feet with my hand extended toward her. “Give him back to me.”
She sniffed, her hands bending Silence farther. “When I am done. You’ve allowed it too much freedom, and it forgets itself.”
“No,” I said, infusing my voice with as much authority as I could. “Give him back now. He’s mine, not yours. You don’t get to do what you want with my possessions because of where we are.”
She glared, and I took a moment to consider that arguing with a seventy-foot-tall woman wasn’t my brightest idea, dream or not.
Her hands opened and Silence fell, the blade shifting back to a human child before thudding onto the ground before me. With a gesture of her fingers, the darkness receded, and the walls of the warehouse surrounded us once more.
I went to Silence, scooping up his small form. He’d sported a black eye at the start of the dream, but now half his face appeared bruised and misshapen. Fury rose up in me. A primal, protective part of myself, like a mother bear with her cub, surged through me.
Silence was mine. My charge, my weapon, and my partner. No one, not even my maker, could harm him and get away with it.
Rising, I glared at the colossal woman. “You don’t get to come into my head and fuck with my things. I want an apology.”
Her head tilted to the side. “A what?”
“An apology,” I spat. “It’s where you say, ‘sorry for being a cunt.’”
Her brows drew together, her body shrinking to the size she’d held before. “I do not know this word, but it sounds derogatory.”
“It is.” I shifted Silence so he rested in a fireman’s hold over my shoulder. “You fucking hurt him.”
She tsked. “You shouldn’t be angry at me.”
“Don’t tell me what I should or should not be. I already get enough of that without you jumping on the bandwagon as well.” I left the room and turned down the hall, heading toward the main door, but her body shifted, blocking my path. A growl tinted my words. “You’re in my way again.”
Her bottom lip pouted. “I don’t like your anger.”
My teeth gritted together, and I mentally counted to ten before saying, “And I don’t like that I’m not waking up from this dream. Seems like neither of us is getting what we want.”
She let out a sigh, floating toward and then around me. “Very well, but do keep in touch. The others are tired of waiting.” She pulled out the phone Kathy had given me and powered it on.
A vibration ran through me, starting from my toes and stopping at the crown of my head. A faint hum buzzed about, making my eyes water and ears ache.
The woman tucked the phone into my back pocket. “There. You can play whatever game this is, but this will keep you out of trouble with Leader.”
I paused, thinking. “Walker. Leader. I suppose you have an -er ending name as well. Or should I make up a name for you?”
She smiled at me, both a playful and teasing expression. “You’re playing now. I can tell! I’m Dreamer.”
I snorted, my feet turned toward the exit.
She shifted to block my path, hovering close to me. Her emerald eyes stared into mine and I lost myself in the vast field of unending stars. “How much longer will you be?” she whispered, the question jerking my gaze off her.
“As long as I need to be. Why?” I closed my eyes and massaged the bridge of my nose as I tried to ease away the constant hum. Without warning it stopped, abruptly. At the silence, I lifted my head to stare at the woman, but she was gone, along with the sensation of being watched. Pivoting on a heel, I glanced around to make sure but didn’t see or hear any hint of her. I patted Silence’s leg with my hand. “You awake?”
He didn’t stir at the touch or question.
I adjusted my hold on Silence. My eyes looked him over, and my heart both twisted and pounded at the sight. The bruising along his face deepened in color along with the swelling, but he wasn’t dead.
“Poor little guy,” I murmured, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “I’ll take you out stabbing soon.”
Though it’d taken what felt like ages to get to the rocking chair, it took only a few steps to return to the main entrance to the warehouse. The doors opened for me without assistance, and I stepped out into the double-mooned night.
The shapes along the fence had changed. No longer vague and shapeless, they all appeared humanoid. Even at the distance I stood, it was easy to pick out all the details of their appearance. Or maybe because they all looked like me.
They prowled the fence, some slamming a fist into it, others trying to dig at the ground under it. One lifted her head, golden eyes locked on me. She bared her teeth and screamed, “We’re hungry!”
“Welcome to the club,” I muttered.
I wanted to leave, but part of me knew opening the door to the fence would end in disaster. Clenching my eyes, I whispered, “Someone get me out of here.”
Pain exploded in my hand, jerking me up and out of the dream. Breathing hard and covered in sweat, I turned about, trying to regain myself. My room remained unchanged, the lights on, but low to imitate nighttime. Nothing was out of place. Even the clothes I’d tossed on the floor after my wash remained where they’d landed. I flopped back onto my futon, the covers already kicked off to the side. My eyes stared onward while I focused on slowing my breathing.
Pulling my hand up to my face, I saw an injury between my thumb and forefinger. It wasn’t a piercing or slicing wound but made by teeth. I saw more blood than wound, and the skin was already knitting itself back together. In an hour, I’d be the only one to know it had existed. No scar. No ache. Nothing. The small perks of being immortal.
Laying my hand back on the mattress, I narrowed my eyes up at the support beams of the room. “You let something come in and bite me,” I told the Manor.
It responded by dimming the lights and pulling the duvet over me once more.
I rubbed my face with my unbitten hand, trying to make sense of the dream while the imagery was still fresh in my mind. A large warehouse full of wine, a smoky woman, Silence as a child. Whispers I couldn’t figure or understand.
And that’s when I noticed it. The incoherent whispers from the dream.
I could still hear them.
Everything in me froze, my blood turning to ice. “Oh, no-no-no,” I muttered, pulling Silence out and gripping him tightly in my hands. “Silence, I need you.”
When he didn’t respond, I examined him and saw his bright surface no longer reflected the dim light of the room. Instead, he was matted like charcoal. Scuff marks tarnished his sleek appearance, and his hilt felt misshapen against my palm. However, it all paled in comparison to the crack along the length of him.
I fought down the rising panic in my throat and pressed my thumb to the side of his blade. Seconds passed before I felt his presence touch my mind, and the crack melded together. Too slow for my liking, but it did meld. I wrapped my palm around the blade, feeling the bite into my flesh. More of my black blood coated and dribbled across him.
Minutes that felt like ho
urs passed until Silence’s appearance returned to normal.
I released a breath. “Silence?”
The mental image he had from the dream, small and beaten, filled my mind. His good eye met mine. Silence sighed, and his awareness eased my panic.
I pulled him closer to me. “I need to talk to Vainya about this.”
Silence responded quick and sharp, No. Don’t.
I pressed Silence’s hilt to my forehead. “Why not?”
If you talk to him, it’ll be like Fenris Wolf. They’ll lock us up in a hole instead of with Vainya. At least Vainya gives us a long leash.
A chill ran through me. I’d already suffered a similar fate in my early life before being placed in Vainya’s care, and I had no intention of ever returning to it. Every action I took was governed by that single motivation.
I hated being caged.
Curling on the futon, I held Silence close to my chest. In the darkness of the room, my hand bleeding all over my weapon, I whispered, “What the flying fuck is going on?”
CHAPTER TWLEVE
Kitsune Haven
Irose the next morning to the sensation of a bunch of ravens trying to peck their way out of my skull. My morning routine of practice strikes and kicks eased some of the discomfort of my aching body. I felt better by the time I finished the sword drills with Silence. Sluggish, but still better.
Trudging to the Manor’s bathroom, I inspected my appearance. My eyes had lost their trademark shadows and even my skin had a healthy glow.
See? When you eat properly, you don’t look like a walking skeleton.
“I don’t want health and wellness tips from you.”
A splash of cold water and hairbrush later, I was in the kitchen cooking up Vainya’s breakfast of sweet potato pancakes, eggs on toast, hash browns, bacon, sliced melons, and a few blueberry muffins—a lot of effort for someone who didn’t need to eat. But what the Master wanted, the Master got.
I finished loading up the tray when David hobbled into the kitchen. I paused when I noticed he leaned on a crutch, and his prosthetic was gone.
Pulling the skillet from the stove, I asked, “Lost something?”
“I was hoping you could tell me. Woke up this morning and it was gone. So was my backup.”
My eyes became half-lidded at the sound of his voice. He could’ve read the phonebook to me, and I would’ve been thoroughly engaged. Shaking my head and forcing my hormones back into a steel box, I sucked on my teeth and eyed the mirror to my left. My reflection did not look back at me because it wasn’t there.
Ooo… She’s hiding from you, Silence said.
Letting out a sigh, I turned back to David. “I’ll find them for you after breakfast. The Manor doesn’t steal stuff, but she does like to eyeball new things.”
He eyed the tray with his brows up. “I thought you said it was just you and Vainya who lived here.”
“It is.”
His hand gestured to the food. “Who is this all for?”
I knelt and braced the tray on a shoulder as I rose. “Vainya. I’ve got a breakfast skillet for you as well.” I nodded toward the door leading to the sunroom. “Let’s feed his royal furriness.”
Vainya lifted his head from his book as we entered and watched while I set out the food.
David settled onto a chair and pulled the still-sizzling skillet toward him. “Smells wonderful.” He started to dig in but stopped when I gave his foot a light kick and nodded toward Vainya, who still examined his meal.
The chimera’s eyes narrowed, head tilting this way and that as his large nose flared to pull in the scent of the food.
After several moments of inspection, Vainya asked, “And this is?”
“Breakfast a la Americana.”
His head tilted to the side. “It doesn’t appear to be French cuisine.”
“Because it’s not.”
Vainya lifted his eyes to me and snorted. With deliberate slowness, he used his talons to pick up bits of food and place them into his muzzle.
I looked at David and gestured to his plate. He didn’t just eat his food, he inhaled it. Parts of his skillet disappeared in seconds and his glass of juice was drained just as fast. “This is great,” he commented around a mouthful of egg.
“It’s better when you actually chew,” I replied, feeling pleased by his enjoyment.
He grunted before picking up a slice of toast and devouring it in three bites. “You should open a diner or something. This really is good.”
His table manners are worse than yours, Silence cackled. Granted, you have to hold your food down.
“It wouldn’t be fair to other businesses since I have several thousand years of experience.”
David lifted his gaze from his forkful of eggs. “Thousands of years?” He looked between Vainya and me. “How old are you both?”
Rude.
Vainya lick a morsel of food from his nose. “We have resided here at the Well for five millennia. Ghost was brought to me shortly after I took over the role as Master.”
“Jesus, I thought you two were old, but not, well”—David’s eyes shifted between us once more—“not that old.”
“Hey,” I said, “at least we are younger than dirt.”
“Indeed,” Vainya said. “Though you will be exposed to many others of our age or older, do not let it intimidate you.”
David rested his forearms on the table. “No respecting the elders?”
I grunted. “You can respect them if you want, but you don’t have to let them command you around just because they happen to live longer.”
Vainya’s tail poked my side. “Stop giving him bad advice.”
“What? I’m serious!”
Shaking his head, Vainya looked to David. “There are those who you should tread with caution with, but you will know them when you encounter them.”
Once they both finished, I picked up the plates from the table. “Anyway, I’ll be back in a few hours. Try to not do anything crazy while I am out. I’ve left some food in the pantry in case you get hungry.”
Vainya settled his red eyes onto my face. “And what will David be doing?”
“Staying here.” My brows knitted together when Vainya continued to stare at me. “Why?”
“Did you offer to keep David safe or was it asked of you?”
I paused, thinking over the discussion with Anann and the light trickle of magic that had sparked along my arms. “Kind of both? I offered, but she asked afterward.”
“Then you were commanded to watch over him. Therefore, the responsibility of his safety falls onto your shoulders.”
I whined, “But Vainya, I—”
His tail lifted and pointed in the direction of the front door. “Try and leave without him. We shall see if you make it outside.”
“I’m confused,” David said. “Is there some reason I can’t stay here?”
Holding up my arms, I showed him the tattoos on each forearm. “I have to obey the command of any god or divinely made creature, so long as it doesn’t put the safety of the Well in danger.” I lowered my arms. “Anann didn’t mean to command me, but she still did.”
Vainya’s tail scooped up his book. “Enjoy your trip out. Bring me back a surprise.” He turned and padded down the hall to continue his research.
David hobbled over on his crutch to help gather up the dishes. “Sorry to be a hindrance.”
“You’re not. It’s just a little unprofessional to bring friends to client meetings. I’ll figure something out.”
“Client confidentiality thing, I getcha.” David lifted and stacked the dishes onto the tray with one hand. “I’m pretty much dressed. I can do the dishes while you get ready.”
I reached to take the tray from him. “You’re a guest and on a crutch. I can’t have you—”
His face went blank as he took a step away from the table and turned to keep the dishes out of my reach. “I went through almost a year of rehab on a crutch and did everything fine. Besides, mama always
said the people who cook the food don’t wash the dishes.” David turned and moved toward the kitchen before I could give a response.
Probably better that way.
He set the dishes next to the basin and looked around for a handle for the water. “Uh… I need water?”
The faucet over the basin poured steaming water and did so until it filled and foamed with a combination of water and dish soap. David took the sponge I had on the counter and set to washing the dishes.
Are you going to get a lady-boner watching him being domestic? I didn’t think that was your thing.
“It’s not,” I said under my breath before leaving the room. Heading to my room, I filled my backpack with all the items I may need that day and double checked my Glock and ammunition.
Once I dressed in a swimsuit, I went back to the kitchen and held out another for David. “Here, take this and put it on while I go and look for your legs.” When he didn’t take it right away, I said, “Unless you want to walk around Tokyo soaking wet.”
* * *
An hour later, I climbed out of Tokyo Bay coughing and shook myself free of the water. A cigarette butt clung to my hair along with other unmentionables. I pulled it out and flicked it to the side, trying to not gag as something cool and sticky came away with my palm. Looking down at myself, I realized I was covered in the bay crap and turned to give the industrial buildings across the way the double bird.
David arrived in the same state due to the limitless water pollution. He let out a cussing fit as he pulled himself up and peered down at the black slime covering his upper body. “What the fuck is this shit?”
“Pollution,” I grumbled. “Concentrated by the water elemental.”
“Concentrated? What did we do for it to cover us in this crap?”
“We didn’t do anything. Elementals like to point out problems in their own way, but,” I gestured to the massive city, “there isn’t much we can really do about it.”
There was no way David and I could walk into town looking like we crawled out of a swamp. Giving the area about me a quick look, I observed a cardboard box village along the pathway from where I stood near a bridge. Over it, the main walkway was crowded with people who did their best to not look down where David and the rest of the cardboard village resided. Many of the homes had blue tarps kept in place with duct-tape along the edges. Some had large trash bags next to them full of cans and plastic bottles with either a child or adult standing guard over their own bag of recycled goods.