by Peter Glenn
Anything to spite you, the blade said.
Delightful. She was in an awful mood this afternoon. I’d have to use her for target practice later.
“Oh?” Mei asked, bringing my mind back to the conversation at hand. “Try to get rid of it again, did you?”
I grimaced. “You could say that.”
I’d tried to get rid of Grax’thor at least a dozen times by now. At first I’d just left the blade in a dumpster, hoping someone else would be fool enough to pick it up. Someone had, in fact, but they’d brought it straight to me and laid it at my feet, then ran off like they didn’t want to be anywhere near it.
Not that I could blame them.
The next time, I’d buried her under a foot of solid earth out in Olympic National Forest. I thought for sure that would have kept the sword at bay, but nope. The very next morning, Grax’thor had been waiting patiently at my bedside in my apartment like I’d left it there. How it got through the lock on my door without damaging it, I’d never know.
All of my other attempts—this morning’s included—had met with an equal lack of success. The bond between us appeared to be unbreakable. It didn’t seem like I’d be getting rid of her anytime soon. Or possibly ever.
“I thought for sure my attempt would be successful this time,” I told everyone. “Although, looking back, I’m not sure why. But this is the first time the weapon ever pulled me to it. Usually, it happens the other way around.”
“So you tossed Grax’thor into the ocean, then?” Mei clarified.
I nodded. “Yeah. I was hoping the undercurrent would carry it far away from me. Far enough to break the bond, at least. Imagine my surprise when I went flying through the air to meet her instead.”
Hank laughed and smacked me on the back, making a squishing noise as more water oozed out of the fabric and down my clammy skin onto the floor. “Now that would have been quite the sight to see, lad. Sorry I missed it.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, nursing my drink. “Maybe next time I’ll catch you doing something stupid. Then we’ll see how you feel.”
“Tch,” Hank said. “I’d have to do something stupid first.”
Everyone chuckled at that. I even joined in a little bit. Even if it was all at my expense, it felt good to be around friends. A small amount of embarrassment was worth it.
At least I was starting to feel a little bit warmer by this point. Mei kept her bar on the hot side, and the dry heat was starting to penetrate through my drenched outfit, reducing the overall chill I’d felt the whole way over here.
I finished my drink and set it aside, only to see another one show up a second later.
Mei flashed me another smile. “On the house,” she said. “For providing the evening’s entertainment.” She let out another quick laugh and gave me a wink.
I snatched the drink and gave it a good sip. I wasn’t about to turn down free alcohol for any reason. That habit was expensive enough as is.
But I was starting to wonder where Elden had gotten off to. It was well past three, now, and I’d still not seen hide nor hair of him. Had he forgotten about our little appointment? Was he hiding more than I’d sensed earlier, and he really wasn’t safe to be around?
Oh well, if he didn’t show, at least I’d get to enjoy a few drinks in relative luxury before I headed back home for the night. It’s not like anything was waiting for me there. Aside from the next level of my alien shoot ‘em up, of course. I’d been stuck on level thirteen for two weeks now and was determined to finally beat it.
I heard footsteps clamoring down the stairs, then, and turned my head to see who the newcomer was.
Almost as if he’d read my thoughts, it was Elden in the flesh, still wearing that same outfit from before, gloves and all. That struck me as odd for a half second, but I dismissed it just as quickly. It had been pretty cold out there today. Gloves were reasonable in this weather.
I relaxed a half step, seeing him entering the bar. That meant he’d been on the level about his little story this morning, and that he was relatively safe to be around. Or at the very least, he wasn’t out to kill me.
Which made it far less likely that he’d try and break into my apartment later to threaten me if the job went south. Always a good thing. I mean seriously, why threaten someone when you could just do the decent thing and kill them outright? Far less messy for everyone involved. But nope. It was always threats to break someone’s nose or kneecaps. So uninspired.
“Elden!” I called out, beckoning the man to come in and take the stool next to mine. “Glad you could make it.”
He took in my soggy appearance, but said nothing. Whether it didn’t faze him, or he didn’t want to upset his new would-be employee, I would never know. Didn’t really matter anyway.
“Damian, good to see you, too,” he said. He didn’t take off his gloves or offer to shake my hand, but wet as I was, I didn’t really blame him.
“What’ll it be?” Mei asked him as he took his seat.
Elden glanced in her direction. “Martini, straight up, no olive please.” His eyes trailed over to me for a half second. “And give this man whatever he wants.”
Mei nodded and got to work.
“I have to say, I’m impressed,” I told him. And I was, too. More free booze. I hoped I wouldn’t be too sloshed to handle the job at this rate. “So, about that job of yours?”
Elden smiled and turned to look at me. “Ah yes, the missing person case. Of course.”
I cocked my head to the side and shot him a questioning gaze. Had he forgotten why he was hiring me already? That didn’t feel right at all. “You okay? We can always talk about it later.”
“No, no, please!” he replied. He shook his head a little. “Sorry, it’s just... it’s been so hard on me since she went missing, I... I don’t know what to do half the time, you know?”
The tension in my shoulders relaxed a half step. That, I could understand. I’d lost my fair share of people in the past. None of those experiences had ever been pleasant.
“It’s okay,” I said, reaching out and patting him on the shoulder. My hand made a wet, smacking sound, and I retracted it quickly. For a moment, I’d forgotten I was still wet from head to toe.
He gave his shoulder a slightly disgusted look and then returned his attention to me. “So, about this missing person. What do you need to know, exactly?”
Another curious question. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that something was seriously off about this guy. Still, he’d passed the Mei’s bar test, so he couldn’t be that bad.
“Um, well, as much as you can tell me, to be honest,” I told him. “The more information I have about her, the better. What she looks like, what she was wearing, the last place you saw her, that kind of thing. All of it helps me locate her that much faster.”
Or at all, though I didn’t vocalize that part. It was a well-known fact that the majority of missing persons cases never got solved. Not even mine. Sure, my odds were slightly better than the industry average, but most people that went missing stayed missing. Or were found, but were found dead. Neither were great options.
I wasn’t about to tell him that, though. He was obviously so shaken up over the whole thing that he was acting erratically. No need to heap more worries onto his head until something actually happened.
Elden’s eyes rolled back into his head for a moment, like he was trying to recall something. “Well...” he started. “Let’s see. She’s a girl, about twenty-five or so. Or at least she looks to be about twenty-five. Hard to tell what her real age is. You’re never supposed to ask a girl her real age, am I right?”
He paused for a moment like we were all supposed to laugh at that, but the room remained quiet.
I took a sip of my new Manhattan that had materialized while he was talking. “Go on,” I said.
“Right.” Elden let out a half chuckle and rubbed his shirt collar a bit. “Sorry, this is really hard for me. I still can’t believe that she’s even gone.”
/> His words rang true enough, but his face still seemed all wrong for someone that was grieving. There was a hint of a smile on his lips, and his eyes held a certain brightness to them. But grief could do weird things to people, I supposed.
“Anyway, she went missing two days ago. I’ve asked around, but no one seems to know where she went. Not even her mother had any idea where she might have gone.”
I nodded. “That is troubling.”
“Very much so,” Elden continued. “I looked all over the place for her, but she was nowhere to be found. Of course, the Seattle Metro area is a big place, so it’s possible she’s still hiding out there somewhere.”
“Sure,” I agreed. He wasn’t wrong. Seattle and its surrounding areas encompassed hundreds of square miles. Didn’t exactly narrow things down much.
I was starting to get really curious now. He’d spoken for several minutes without giving me anything even close to a solid lead to go off of.
“Who are you looking for, exactly?” I asked, impatiently tapping my fingers on the bar.
He gave me an odd look. “Oh, I’m sorry. I probably should have started with that bit. She’s a fae.”
“A fae, huh?” Now things were starting to make more sense. The fae were a tricky lot. Notoriously hard to pin down. I didn’t know a lot about them, other than they were generally to be avoided whenever possible. Or at least that’s what Mei had always told me. I’d never met one in person that I could remember.
A sinking feeling in my gut told me I was going to break that rule all too soon.
“Uh huh,” Elden said. “That’s why I couldn’t go to the police, you see.”
This job was looking worse and worse by the minute.
“Look, you seem like a nice guy, Elden,” I said, searching for the right words to use to turn him down. “But I don’t know, searching for a missing fae girl? That’s a tall order.”
Elden’s expression took on a look of desperation. “I know.” He bit his lip and turned slightly away from me. “But I have nowhere else to turn. Are you sure you won’t help me? I can pay you really well.”
Wow, he didn’t need to lay the guilt on that thick, did he? I was always a sucker for lost causes. And good paychecks. What did “really well” mean, anyway? I’d at least have to find that out.
“How much are we talking about, exactly?”
Elden rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a second. “Ten thousand, if you find her. Twenty, if you bring her to me.”
I let out a low whistle and placed my hand on his arm. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so harsh. Let me think it over for a bit and...”
I never got to finish that sentence. A strange noise from behind me, sounding kind of like a high-pitched wail mixed with laughter, broke through the stillness of the bar. I saw Hank and Sally cover their ears as their heads thrashed around to block out the noise.
The others seemed less affected, but no one appeared to be that comfortable.
Seconds later, a brilliant, blue light formed in the center of the bar. It was just a tiny dot at first, but it grew in size until it was as big as a person.
A shockwave of light and energy burst forth from the glowing center, making me bring up my arm to block my eyes as it rushed over me, leaving me feeling surprisingly warm and safe in spite of the weirdness of it all.
When the light faded, I could finally make out the cause of all the commotion. A small woman stood in the middle of the bar. Her skin was a pale white. Whiter than it had any right to be. Even her lips were pale.
She had long, flowing, blue hair that spilled down her neck and shoulders, glowing slightly in the light of the bar and partially covering her slightly pointy ears. Her bright blue eyes were the only thing on her that seemed to give off any overt signs of life, and she was wearing a silvery outfit that fit nicely against her figure. Some sort of metal flowed along the exposed skin of her arms and legs, glowing with a silvery blue light where it tapered off on the top of her hands and feet.
In her hands, she was clutching some sort of oblong object wrapped in white, silky fabrics. I craned my neck to make it out, but I couldn’t see any more than that.
To be honest, she was possibly the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen. At least until I saw the numerous cuts and bruises all over her body. Almost every inch of her exposed skin was covered in them.
It was a wonder she was even standing through all that pain.
“S-sanctuary,” she said in a voice barely over a whisper. I’d barely even caught it, it had been so faint.
Mei’s eyes practically bulged out of her head as she looked over the strange creature that had materialized in front of all of us.
“What was that?” Mei asked.
“S-sanctuary,” the girl repeated. “Please. For... both of us.”
Mei’s face took on the most serious look I’d ever seen her give, and she nodded firmly. “Granted,” she said.
“Thank the Fates,” the girl said through clenched teeth. Then she collapsed onto the ground.
I got up to tend to her, but before I could do or say anything else, another harsh burst of light, greenish this time, enveloped the bar. This light was even brighter than before. It was all I could do just to stay seated as the emerald glow washed over me, blocking out everything.
Chapter Two
A FEW SECONDS LATER, the bright emerald light faded from view, and I could see again. I blinked several times to clear the spots and floaters from my eyes and help them regain focus. That light had hit me dead on, and I hadn’t been prepared for it.
Everything around me was chaos. Yuri, Sevin, and Isaiah were off cowering in one corner of the room, still apparently coming to and doing an awful job of it. Elden had fallen off his chair and was nursing a rather large goose egg on the back of his head.
In front of me, Hank and Tacobeh had gone up to the new mystery girl in the center of the room. They looked to be checking over her numerous cuts and bruises, making sure she was okay. From where I was sitting, it looked like they had everything under control for the time being, so I let them be.
Only Mei seemed to be unaffected by everything.
“What...?” I asked her, somehow unable to form a full sentence. “What... happened here?”
Mei gave me an inquisitive look. “You mean granting sanctuary?” She put her hands on her hips. “Don’t tell me you’ve never read the name of my bar before. It’s right over the door.”
I felt heat rise to my cheeks. I had, in fact, read the name of her bar on multiple occasions. It was written in Chinese symbols. It would have been a shame if I’d never actually read them before. But I’d never really given it a lot of thought, either.
“Sanctuary?” I said in a hesitant tone, scrunching my nose. I threw up my hands. “What of it?”
Mei rolled her eyes and shook her head. She folded her arms and glared at me. “You’re so dense sometimes, Damian.”
Had to give her that one. I never had been overly deep. “Okay, so your bar’s a sanctuary. I mean, come on, what bar isn’t, am I right?”
It felt like one of those high-five kind of moments, so I lifted my right arm, but Mei didn’t appear to be equally impressed, and my joke fell flat, so I lowered it again a moment later.
“Fine,” I said, sighing a little. “Obviously, I’m the dummy that’s missing the big picture here. So please, go ahead and fill me in.”
Mei groaned. “Haven’t you ever heard the old tales of places that were hallowed ground? Places where you could stay and be safe from all your enemies?”
I nodded. “Sure, I’ve heard of them. Who hasn’t?”
Hallowed places practically littered the ground in China and most of the other older countries. Every holy man worth their salt made their place of worship a sanctuary. Of course, with the amount of holy wars and turmoil that happened back then, it was practically necessary just to make sure blood wasn’t spilled during the weekly sermon.
Here in the United States, those places wer
e far more rare. Most of the older traditions hadn’t followed the immigrants that had come here and had been long forgotten. Even now that the world at large knew about magic, you still couldn’t find that many actual sanctuaries outside of the old world.
All at once, everything dawned on me, and I felt like a massive idiot. My cheeks burned hot, and I grimaced a little. “Ohhhh,” I said, taking it all in. “So that’s why you named the bar that. It’s a real life sanctuary. A piece of hallowed ground.”
I smacked myself in the forehead. “Of course. So that’s why people with malice in their hearts can’t enter the place.”
She nodded. “Took you long enough, doofus.” She ruffled my hair a bit.
But all of that was more of a passive thing. What Mei had just done was a little different. Brilliant green light never filled the room before when a new person entered. Could you imagine? We’d never finish a drink in peace that way. No, she’d granted sanctuary to a person, not to a place. And that was altogether different. I’d never heard of that being done before.
“So, I get all that, I do, but... our little newcomer,” I said. “What did you do for her?”
Mei shrugged. “I made her safe. For now, at least. It’s part of the contract with the old magic and a little more involved, but long story short, I extended her my protection both in and out of the bar.”
“Huh.”
The whole thing still flew over my head. I didn’t really get the nuance or what it would entail. But Mei seemed to know exactly what she’d been doing. Which made me relax a little, while simultaneously wondering how many other secrets like that she was hiding from me.
In fairness, she’d lived a lot longer than I had. She was over a thousand years old, which was young for a dragon, but more than three times my current age. And she could wield actual magic, although she rarely did. So she likely knew a whole lot more about old magic and how it worked than I did.
Well regardless, one thing was certain. The old magic was pretty spectacular to watch. That had been one hell of a light show.