by Josh Vogt
“This is not the channel for comparing job descriptions, Janitor. That’s what Human Resources is for. Please state the nature of your situation or sign off.”
Ben chewed on a lip, debating whether it’d be worth cramming anything into Francis’ ear. Grumbling for Destin’s attention wouldn’t get results, and another visit to HQ would waste time. He belonged in the field, and if Francis wanted to wrap what he gave them in red tape, then the ensuing sticky mess belonged to him.
“We just had a run-in with Sydney. A scrub-team needs to check out Matt’s bar over on Tenth and Garnet—what’s left of it. I wanna to know why this snake reared his scaly head and if it has anythin’ to do with the earlier disturbances we bumped into.”
Silence. Ben imagined Francis’ raised eyebrows and his fist tightened around the radio. If he heard so much as a single chuckle …
“We’ve had no reports of Sydney’s presence in this region for almost eight years.”
“Well you’re gettin’ one now, ain’tcha? I’ve done my job, Francis. Now get out here and do yours. Something’s goin’ on, and I’m steppin’ in cow patties no matter which way I go. We’re done for the night. I got a new apprentice who needs a shower, food, and sleep if anyone’s gonna expect her to work tomorrow.”
Dani’s eyes narrowed. “I need a shower? You’re one to talk.”
“Nothin to be ashamed of, princess. Fear does that to a body. Sours everythin’ up.”
She opened her mouth to retort, but the radio cut her off.
“I’ve received your report and will follow up on it. If there’s any evidence of Sydney’s presence, I’ll handle it, rest assured. In the meantime, I suggest you return your focus to the assignment already given to you by the Chairman.”
Ben bellowed into the speaker. “Don’t you sign off on—”
A click signaled Francis’ going off-channel. Ben slammed the radio against the dashboard and barely resisted flinging it out the window and driving over it. He only stopped at Dani’s alarmed look, and forced himself slump back and breathe evenly.
They sat that way for a few minutes, his arm itching, her silence cautious until she cleared her throat.
“I take it you and this Francis guy weren’t bunk-buddies at summer camp.”
Ben snorted. “Ever since he got promoted, Ascendant Francis has been one of the most straight-laced, clean-nosed, boot-polished Cleaners our company has ever known. He’s been Destin’s right hand man for years.”
“And you hate his guts.”
That prodded a laugh. “Not as much as you might guess. He’s just … too young to be in his position.”
“Too young? That applies to pretty much anyone around you.”
Another dry chuckle. “I mean he’s makin’ a lotta mistakes but is just too caught up in his own big britches to ever accept a little advice that might save him from trouble down the road. I’ve tried to give him some perspective, but that ain’t exactly been taken kindly.”
“I can’t imagine why, seeing how charming and diplomatic you are.” Dani leaned back, tapping the spikes on Tetris’ head. “You think he’s watching to catch you screwing up? Make you look bad so he can look better?”
“Naw,” Ben said. “He’s not the kinda guy who needs to prove himself. He’s already convinced he’s better. He just don’t agree with the Board’s decision to stick you with me. But don’t break a sweat over him. I’ve handled bigger pricks in my day.”
She snorted and giggled. “Oh really?”
He squinted at her. “What’d I say this time?”
She waved it away. “Forget it. I’m less concerned about a few ****fights …” She went cross-eyed for a second. “Are you serious? I can’t even say that?”
Ben grunted. “Francis maintains a long list of naughty words and phrases he submits to the Board each week to add to the foul-filter. I’ve contributed a lil’ bit.”
“Guh. Fine. I’m less concerned about a few roosterfights and more about the two attempts on my life before dinnertime.”
“It ain’t like this for everyone,” he said. “Some new recruits go months before buttin’ heads with their first Scum.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel lucky? I understand I’m supposed to be learning things, figuring out what it’s like to be a Cleaner, but I feel like I’ve walked into my first class and got handed the final exam. Aren’t you supposed to help me be better prepared?”
He knuckled his forehead. “I didn’t think it’d hit the fan this fast. I’m all for puttin’ you on the advanced track. You just gotta realize I got some mucky history stickin’ to my boots, and I don’t want you steppin’ in it. So let’s keep the questions to the business at hand.”
“All right. Start with Sydney. Who is he?”
“Mucky history.”
“Uh, no. Not since he went all Gropey McGroperson on me and stuck his tongue in my ear. Whatever’s happened between you two before, I’m involved, whether you like it or not.”
Ben stared out the windshield, wrestling with the emotions and memories her question summoned. He’d conquered the flashbacks years ago, but that didn’t mean every ghost had been exorcised. Focus on the facts, he told himself. Facts are simple, and don’t involve punchin’ out the window.
“Sydney used to be a handyman in the Cleaners,” he said. “Handymen are all sortsa gifted in healing—our version of puttin’ on Band-Aids and kissin’ booboos. When he went over to the Scum, his powers got all twisted. He’s an entropy mage now.”
“Entropy mage?”
“Yup. He can accelerate the entropic forces around any object or person he gets his hands on.”
“And you knew him? Why didn’t you recognize him right away?”
“There was an ol’ muddy spell on the bar. Some call it a murk, like an oily film on the surface of a puddle. Confused me long enough for him to get us by the short hairs. The other customers never existed, either. They were part of the murk.”
“I thought you said he dealt with entropy. Isn’t illusion a bit different than turning things to dust?” She smiled at his sharp look. “What? I read some fantasy books as a kid.”
He allowed himself to smile back. “Well, I guess you’re right. He ain’t known to muck around with that kinda whim-wham. So he had help.”
“Or he’s more powerful now than he used to be. Does he … does he really go around killing new recruits?”
“We ain’t really sure what he’s been up to, but we got our share of folks who go missin’ on the job. Not a lotta Scum take prisoners. For most, the best Cleaner’s a dead one.”
“Then why’d he spare me? I can’t believe he really thought I’d see it as being saved.”
“You’re new. Mebbe he figures you’re vulnerable. Plus he’s always had a thing for younger women. And with all your power, I warned you others might try to get’cha to switch sides. Do you know how many Catalysts are actually alive today?”
She shook her head.
“Six, not countin’ you,” Ben said. “Two are in locked up in loony-bins. One’s been missin’ for a decade, and everyone figures she’s long gone. One’s over with our Europe division, and the last two are twins that can only control their power s’long as they’re within a hundred paces of each other. So we need to figure out how to control your powers before someone else does it for you.”
Huffing, she glowered at the floor. “Okay. Yeah. I get it.”
“I don’t think you do, princess, but you’re gettin’ there. And I gotta apologize.”
She shot a suspicious look his way. “Apologize?”
He drummed on the dash, avoiding her eyes. “I’m your trainer. That means my main duty is keepin’ you safe until you learn to handle things on your own. I shoulda never let Sydney get to you. I won’t let it happen again.”
Her voice softened. “Are you sure?”
“No. But I’ll die tryin’. I swear it on my mop and plunger.”
Surprise slapped away her usual sulk. She tilted
her head as if seeing him for the first time.
“Okay then,” she said.
“So why a lizard?”
She looked to the scaly rascal in her lap. “What? Him?”
“Yeah. Why on earth does a spooked-by-her-own-spit princess have a crawl-in-the-dirt pet like him? Woulda pegged you for somethin’ lower maintenance and lots cleaner. Like mebbe a set of collectible spoons.”
Dani cupped her hands around Tetris. “My parents made me get him, actually. Said they wouldn’t pay for med school until I proved I could get over my fears enough to keep something alive.”
“So why not go with a kitty or pup?”
“Fur creeps me out. But something about him living in a desert environment—especially a contained one—appealed. I just kept my gloves on, cleaned his terrarium each day, and got through feeding times as quickly as possible. Eventually, I realized I could handle it. After a while, the little routines I built up around him helped steady me in the face of everything else. Most of the time. I figured I could start small and then work my way up the food chain.”
He snorted as he started the van. “Food chain, eh? Here’s a tip. With us, it ain’t so much a chain as it is a big tangled ball of yarn. You don’t work your way up or down. You just gotta try to avoid gettin’ strangled by it.”
“Oh, that’s comforting.”
O O O
Ben walked out of the motel lobby and rapped on the passenger window. Dani, her face lit pink by the vacancy sign, rolled it down and frowned at the room key he offered.
“Why a motel?” she asked. The small glass aquarium in her lap held Tetris, who lounged on a square of plastic grass, content after having gobbled several mealworms. Dani had tucked away a plastic container full of the insects into one of her uniform pockets. Ben had paid for it all at a pet store they’d driven by on the way.
“You need somewhere to sleep, don’tcha?”
“Yeah, but motels are so … dirty. Did you know thirty-five percent of surfaces in a motel room have some contagious virus? Most places don’t even wash bedspreads between each guest.”
“I had no idea. But look. They got cable. And here. I gotcha somethin’.” He handed her a plastic bag through the window. “Consider it a little Welcome to the Team present.”
She took it and inspected the contents. “Mini toothpaste? Mouthwash? Hand wipes?” Her green eyes flashed with mirth. “You got all this from the front desk, didn’t you?”
He hemmed and hawed until she smiled, though still a shade nervously.
“Thanks. But if you think I’m sharing a room with you—”
He threw his hands up. “For Purity’s sake, you really think I’m that much of a dirty old man? You gotta room to yourself. This is just until we can set you up with somethin’ more permanent.”
“Where do you sleep then? Behind the garbage bins? Don’t you have an apartment or something?”
Ben thumbed at the storage section of the van. “If you’d paid attention, you mighta noticed there’s a fold-out cot behind the shelves.”
She turned to look, and her eyes widened as she spotted the canvas bundle. “You sleep in your van? Ben, that can’t be healthy. The fumes from all those cleaning products alone …”
“We’re immune to any side effects,” he said. “Another perk of the job. Regular cleanin’ chemicals don’t affect us like normal folk. We can gargle bleach and come out smilin’.”
“Really?” An uncomfortably eager gleam lit her eyes.
Boy, he really needed to learn when to shut his gob. “Yeah, but I ain’t recommendin’ it. Still painful and takes forever to get the taste outta your mouth.”
“But still,” she said, “you mean this is literally all you do? Drive from job to job, cleaning places and scrubbing out any Scum you run across? That’s your life? Don’t you do anything for fun?”
He scratched the back of his head. “Have I already mentioned what happens when you give coffee to imps?”
“Yeah. That doesn’t fit my definition of ‘fun.’”
“Gettin’ a job done and done well is enough for me.”
“I’m sure.”
The needle of his gaze deflated further personal questions. She shoved the door open, forcing him back as she got out with Tetris’ cage tucked under one arm.
“That’s your room there.” He pointed to the closest motel door. “I’ll be parked right outside. If you need anythin’, just kick the bumper.”
Dani alternated between looking at the door and him until impatience got the better of him. He spread his arms.
“Well?”
“I … I’m not sure I can do this. Can’t we go back to Headquarters?”
“Even if we did, you really wanna sleep with Francis and the Board watchin’ you all night? C’mon, princess. You can beat this.”
She let out a quavering breath, eyeing the door as if it was a portal to Hell.
Ben raised a finger. “Let’s figure this as a lesson in controllin’ your power. If you can spend the night here without freakin’ out and levelin’ the place, we’ll chalk today up as a success and go meet a friend of mine in the mornin’.”
She brushed her ponytail over a shoulder. “You have friends? Good. I was worried everyone you knew either wanted to kill or shun you.”
“Go on. Stop dallyin’ and get some sleep.”
“Fine. I can do this. I can.”
After she marched inside her room and the door clicked shut behind her, Ben parked the van out front and killed the engine. He waited half an hour before slipping out and up to the room door. After unscrewing the spray bottle top, he hunkered down and poured Carl onto the concrete. The water sprite puddled and reflected his face.
“Keep anythin’ or anyone but me away from her, a’ight?”
A burbling noise, like a stream trickling over a boulder.
Ben flicked the puddle. “I know, but she’s a more long-term investment than me, you gotta admit. Consider this a favor. I’ll owe you. Oh, and make sure she doesn’t try garglin’ bleach.”
A tiny wave splashed his hand. Carl drained uphill and through the crack beneath the doorframe where he soaked into the carpet.
Satisfied, Ben climbed back into the van, unfolded the cot, and shut the door behind him. After settling into the creaking bed, he took down a metal-edged squeegee and laid it beside him. Rubber gloves went onto both hands, a dust mask over his face, and finally, some construction goggles that had black paint obscuring the lenses.
He lay back and wriggled until he got comfortable. No noise but thumping heartbeats and his breath sounding hollow behind the mask. The pain in his right arm throbbed in a separate rhythm to his pulse, a distant ache, but growing stronger.
He wasn’t worried about Dani waking up with night terrors. Despite her finicky habits, she was a tough kid, able to process the weirdness she’d experienced without any mental cracks showing. Having her sleeping separate didn’t provide him relief from being woken by her midnight screaming.
It would keep her from hearing his.
***
Chapter Eleven
Dani stood just inside the motel room, feeling as if she’d walked into a torture chamber. The bed might as well have been a rack, the closet an iron maiden, and the bathroom a cauldron of boiling oil. The shower might’ve provided some respite, but the thought of so many other bare feet having contaminated the tub raised goosebumps on her arms. All of it stewing with germs.
Norovirus. Diptheria. Rhinovirus.
And that wasn’t considering …
Bedbugs. Lice.
Her stomach clenched, and her power flickered awake, eager to seek and destroy all possible threats. She closed her eyes and tried to wrestle the energy into submission. Cords of power latched onto the wood framing and concrete foundation, testing for weaknesses that could send it tumbling down with a small quake. Lights flickered and sockets sparked as the bottled lightning within offered itself to her. The harder she fought it, the quicker it escalated, u
ntil she teetered on the edge of unleashing another miniature disaster.
Think like a janitor, Ben had said. What would a janitor do in this situation?
Dani had no idea. She ground her teeth as the magic writhed within her. I will not burn down a motel room. I will not endanger anyone sleeping around here. I am not Dani the Human Disaster.
Better to retreat. To convince Ben to let her sleep in the passenger seat. Anything other than spending a night in this pit, battling this rebellious power.
She took a squishing step backward and reached for the doorknob …
Wait. Squishing?
She eyed the floor. A dark blotch stained the area in a Rorschach pattern, centering on where she stood. Great. Of all the available rooms, they gave her one with leaky pipes. At least it gave her an excuse to vacate the place.
Before she could leave, though, the water swept up into a melon-sized glob. She jumped to the side and raised the plastic bag as if to swat the thing. Only then did she realize this must be the water elemental Ben carried around.
Once her heart rate slowed, she squatted to inspect the creature. Despite its lack of features, she suspected it scrutinized her in turn. When she reached out with a gloved hand, it didn’t roll away, but a hand-sized indentation formed on its surface.
“Carl, right?” She glanced at the door. “Ben sent you to keep an eye on me?”
Carl flattened into a splotch again, as if embarrassed to have been found out.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” As she rose, it reformed into a rippling liquid dome. “I’m surprised. I thought you two were joined at the hip.”
The water stilled, and Dani got the sense of being glared at. She flushed.
“Yes. You’re right. That was terrible. I apologize.”
She went over and set Tetris’ cage on the dresser. After digging out a couple more mealworms, she dropped them in with him and watched as he gobbled them one by one.
When she looked down, Carl had burbled up beside her boots. She smiled hesitantly, oddly comforted by its presence. The immediate threat of losing control had receded, though her germ-radar still pinged plenty of warnings anytime she glanced around. She focused on Carl, instead.