“Who?” I thought, too tired and too confused to think anything else.
“The Benefactor,” my mother responded. “He’s after you.”
“He’s after Renee,” I answered, sure of that much at least.
“He is, but the cypress tree was cut down for a reason. She’s not supposed to exist, but even still, she’s not what’s important,” Mother said. “She’s a piece in a puzzle, Roy. She’s a key to a lock she has no business even knowing exists. You’re much more than that, son. You’re the whole of all of this.”
I felt another strong push and then a flash of light and warmth blinded me.
My entire body shook and ached as I retched back and forth on what I thought was the floor.
As my eyes opened, I realized I wasn’t on the floor. I was on a bed, my bed in my apartment, and Renee was staring down at me.
“Thank all that’s holy,” she exhaled. “It’s been days, Roy. You’ve been unconscious for days.” She swallowed hard and my heart broke at the sight of her, obviously tired, obviously worried.
I wanted to take her into my arms, but what if I couldn’t? What if this wasn’t real? What if I had gone off toward that booming voice and now found myself in some sort of dream world? I couldn’t think of anything crueler than that; than giving me what I wanted more than anything only to reveal it wasn’t true.
Though I was the one who had just been through the grinder, Renee looked like she had been right there alongside me. She looked tired. She looked worried. She looked real. I knew it was the truth now. No one trying to lull me into a false sense of security would show me Renee in this state. They’d give me the seductive girl, the happy carefree woman who would pull me toward her. They wouldn’t break my heart by reminding me how much being around me hurt sometimes. Before I could respond though, her expression changed. Her relief turned to somber reflection.
“When you can, you need to get up,” she said, her voice low and measured. “Something’s happened, Roy. It’s not good.”
14
I stood as quickly as possible. Renee’s words and tone suggested she was afraid I was going to take a moment to get back to myself, to let all of the nonsense I had just been through sink in. I couldn’t do that though. If what she told me was true (and I was sure it was), not only had I been out of the game for two entire days, but something awful had happened in the interval. Given the spectacularly high bar of ‘awful’ that had been set lately, there was no way I was going to stay in this bed another minute.
Turned out I should have though. Life would have been far simpler that way. As I popped up, gaining my footing, a rush of blood ran to my head, making me dizzy enough to have to grasp the wall for support.
“Stop,” she said, looping an arm around my waist and trying to angle me back into bed. “Lay back down, just for a minute.”
“No.” I pulled away. I was angry, and not just angry because of whatever horrible thing had come to pass while I was snoozing. I was pissed off because I had failed. I had let my guard down and allowed Bandhal- whether he was in his right mind or not- get the jump on me.
I should be dead right now. I deserved to be dead right now, and that meant leaving Gary, and Renee, and all the other woefully underprepared people of this city to fend for themselves.
The fact that I wasn’t dead had absolutely nothing to do with my own resourcefulness or skillset. It was grace or something that looked a lot like it. It was either the spirit of my mother giving me one last push in the right direction, or my dying mind saving itself through a hallucinogenic manifestation of something I desperately needed to see.
Whatever the truth was, it was unacceptable. I was stronger than this. I was better. If I wasn’t, the people around me would pay for that as some already had. I wouldn’t allow that to happen ever again.
“How did I even get here?” I asked, pulling away from Renee and watching the sting on her face harden as she realized I wasn’t going to let her put me back into that bed.
“Bandhal brought you. He said the two of you had a disagreement, that he almost threw you into some huge black hole thing. He’s been in shambles about it ever since.”
A wave of indignation moved through me though it passed with just as much ease. Being angry at Bandhal wouldn’t do me any good right now. Whatever happened, happened. Though I was pretty sure the two of us would never be brunch buddies after this, I also knew he was still my best chance at getting the information I needed. So, I only had one choice.
“Come on. Let’s go see the others,” I said, pushing myself off the wall and taking Renee’s hand. I wasn’t sure whether I was holding on to her so tightly because I needed her to steady my body or I needed her to steady my mind. Turns out she was pretty good at both.
I felt a little better as we moved out into the living room. Gary caught sight of me from atop my glass coffee table and his oblong face broke out into a fanged smile.
“Thank the god of whatever,” he said, hopping off the table and scurrying toward me. “I thought you were going to sleep through the whole thing.”
He made a play for my shoulder, compacting himself to pounce up onto my leg and run his way up my side until he settled on his regular perch, but Renee put a stop to it.
“Give him a second, Gary. He’s still getting back to himself.” There was admonishment in her voice that stopped the imp in his tracks. He looked to me for verification, and I shot him a look that said ‘I’m fine, buddy’ and ‘Just listen to her’.
He pulled back and folded his arms over his scaly green chest. “Did Renee tell you about everything that happened while you were in the land of Nod?”
“She gave me a general flavor,” I answered, cracking my knuckles and feeling like I’d been in a coma.
“Is that flavor horse shit? Because that’s what it tastes like from down here,” Gary said, shaking his wobbly head and turning back toward the center of the living room.
For the first time, I saw a circle of salt in the center of the room. It was large and oblong, and it surrounded a scorch mark in the carpet.
“What the hell?” I asked, moving forward. “I don’t remember Bandhal burning the damned carpet.”
“I didn’t.” His voice sounded to me from the kitchen. Moving through the door, I tensed as I saw him. It was reactionary, the same way you might tense up if you saw a stove you’d burned yourself on or a horse that had kicked you in the chest.
I could tell from the sad droop of his gaze and the worried angle of his eyebrows, that he was both sorry for what he did and concerned for my well being.
Still, he had nearly killed me, so I couldn’t be too hard on myself about being a dick to him right now.
“What happened at the black hole?” I asked, changing the subject as a new thought entered my mind. “What did you see when I went in? What did you hear?”
“I am confused, Detective Morgan,” he said, his eyes still drooping and his brows still worried. “You never entered the thing. You got close. You screamed in agony, but I managed to pull you back just in time. The abnormality closed up just as I did it.”
“No,” I answered, my head spinning. “That’s not right. I went into the thing. I’m sure of it.”
“Perhaps. You certainly did get close enough for it to seem that way. I assure you though, while I am blessed with the energy of my ancestors, even that would not be enough for me to pull you fully from the force of that thing. I knew as much as I neared it.” He swallowed hard. “I also knew that you alone saved my life. You are responsible for that, and I thank you with my entire being.”
I could see the genuine nature of what Bandhal was saying. He was telling me he was wrong, thanking me for what I’d done, and apologizing for his actions. That wasn’t easy for him. If I didn’t know from the truths of his tribe, then I’d certainly be able to see it in the humbling slump of his shoulders.
Still, I couldn’t focus on that right now. I knew what had happened back there. I was in a vortex. I heard m
y mother. I heard the Benefactor. I knew it.
“Are you-are you going to tell him about the other thing?” Renee asked, looking down at Gary.
“What other thing?” I asked, looking from one of them to the other as concern rose up into my chest.
“Something came here, Roy boy,” Gary said, hopping back onto the table and pointing at the scorch mark and the circle of salt surrounding it. “Green eyes and pointed cheekbones. It had pink hair, and it smelled like roses.”
“A genie?” I asked, putting the pieces together. “A genie came to my house? In America?”
Genies were as rare as mediums, and they all lived overseas. I had lived my entire life bouncing around this big blue rock of a planet, and I had never seen one up close. What I knew about them came from textbooks of my youth and old wives’ tales I’d picked up during my travels.
“I couldn’t believe it either,” Gary said, pacing around the table. “But there she was, came in right through all the defenses.”
“I’m not sure my wards work on the djinn,” I admitted because I was this close to just making my wards deal with every kind of supernatural creature that had ever existed, fictional or otherwise. “I never thought it would be an issue.”
“Well it was,” Renee answered. “She lit herself on fire right in front of me. She said it was all for me, all so I could do what I needed to.” Renee shook her head as tears filled her eyes. I wanted to comfort her, but I knew enough at this point to know she had to process these sorts of things herself. “The fire was strange. It was green, and it didn’t spread.”
“It’s the true flame,” I answered, looking at her. “The djinn are strange things. They can only die when they will themselves to, and only by the power from their own hand. The true flame is a manifestation of that power.” I blinked. “I’m sorry this happened. I’m sorry I wasn’t there to stop it.” I was also sorry I wasn’t awake to see a real live genie in person but that seemed a bridge too far at the present moment. “Why the salt though?”
“To bind the energy so it didn’t spread, so it could be studied,” Gary answered. “Though that wasn’t our idea.”
“What?” I asked, my brows furrowing. “Who else is there? Whose idea was it?”
They all fell silent, and I knew something else was wrong. They looked at each other for guidance, but I didn’t have time to let them find it.
“Tell me what the hell is going on,” I said firmly, and watched as Renee turned to me.
“He called someone,” she said flatly.
“Who called someone?” I responded. My mind was racing, going over a mental rolodex of all the people who could make this situation worse just by interjecting themselves into it.
“You opened your mind up to me,” Bandhal chimed in. “You gave me access to all the people you’ve ever known, to how to get in touch with most of them.”
“Who did you call?” I asked, pulling away from Renee’s hand and moving toward Bandhal. I was too revved up to worry about being unsteady. The long list of people I had met in my life-both supernatural and otherwise- wasn’t something I wanted to revisit right now. I couldn’t think of anyone I wanted to see at my doorstep right now.
“You were unconscious. We had no idea if you would even wake up. I still need to find the rain queen. I still-”
“Who did you call?!” I repeated, my voice in a fever pitch.
“Calm down,” an achingly familiar voice called out from the kitchen.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing as the door to the kitchen swung open. Blond hair, fair skin, eyes that shone like diamonds in the ocean, and a smile that still haunted me in my sleep some nights.
Of all the people I could have imagined walking through that door, of all the people Bandhal could have summoned, this was the worst.
“Scott,” I said through clenched teeth. “Why the fuck did you come here?”
“Come one now,” he said, his smile growing as he made his way toward me. “Is that any way to greet your big brother?”
15
He stared at me with a look that was both achingly familiar and completely foreign. I hadn’t seen Scott in years, not since the day I left my mother’s coven. What was more, I hadn’t wanted to. Not after the shit he pulled with me.
“You need to leave,” I said, unblinking in both my stare and my intensity. I had been through enough, too much in the last few weeks. I didn’t need to throw old gas on new fires. Having Scott here would open up things that needed to stay closed, things I wasn’t sure I had the time or fortitude to get into.
“Not going to happen, baby brother,” he said, shaking his head and walking closer to me. I threw a hand out in front of me, letting my palm glow and purposely allowing my eyes to flash red.
“Is that supposed to scare me, Royce?” Scott asked, his lips quirking up into a sly half smile. Still, he must have been a little scared because he did stop his forward momentum. “We’re not kids anymore. I’ve dealt with demons since you left, more than a few. I know what I’m doing now.”
“That would be a first,” I growled in response. Looking at my brother sent spikes of anger through me. It took all I could do to stand still and not belt him in the face.
“Did-did he call you Royce?” Gary asked, looking up at me with his head cocked to the side curiously.
I shot my imp a withering look, telling him to shut it. “Yes, he did,” I responded. “But he won’t do it again. That’s not my name anymore.”
“I know,” Scott chuckled, brushing blond hair off his forehead. “It’s Roy now, but that’s not what your mother named you. And it sure as hell isn’t what our mother called you.”
A flash of anger, so pure and intense it forced my already red eyes to pulsate with energy, rushed through me. Seeing this, Scott’s half smile dropped into a sterner line.
“We didn’t have a mother,” I answered, turning from him to Renee, Gary, and Bandhal. “This sonofabitch told you he was my brother?” I scoffed. “He’s not.”
“Hey!” Scott yelled, anger of his own burning bright inside of him. “You want to be Roy now, then be Roy. Honestly, I couldn’t give a shit what you call yourself, but don’t rewrite history. Don’t take what my family did for you and turn it into nothing because you’re mad about the way things ended!”
“The way things ended?” I said, practically screaming. “You mean the way you ended them? It was your fault, Scott! Yours and nobody else’s!” Now it was me who was moving toward him, red energy practically leaping off my body as my anger and powers went out of control. Somewhere, in the far recesses of my mind, I felt the demon stir to life, hungry as ever.
“I know how things ended, Roy,” he said, shaking his head. “I think about it all the time, but that doesn’t change how they started.” He cleared his throat and let his eyes flicker away from me for just a second before leveling a softer gaze at me. “It doesn’t change the fact that I’m your brother.”
“I was never your brother,” I said, bile rising in my throat as I settled in front of him. For all the energy swirling around me, Scott hadn’t even bothered to power up. That was either a sign of him believing I thought too much of him to ever hurt him, or a sign that he didn’t think I was a big enough threat to worry about. Either way, it was a mistake. “We didn’t have the same mother, and we sure as shit didn’t have the same father I was just some pathetic half-breed your family decided to take in. I was the Oliver Twist of the warlock set, and your father fancied himself Daddy Warbucks.”
“Daddy Warbucks is in Annie, not Oliver Twist. Either way, it doesn’t matter. You’re wrong. Mom and Dad never looked at you like you were an orphan. They looked at you the same way I did-the same way I still do- like family.” His voice was somewhat reserved and quiet, like he was actually genuine in the way he felt. I knew better.
“The hell you do,” I said, my jaw clenched so tightly I wondered what sort of mechanical intervention would be necessary to pry them apart once all of this was over.
“Why the fuck do you think I’m even here, Roy?” he asked, throwing his hands out at his side and widening his eyes at me, daring me to answer the questions. “You think I don’t have ways to fill up my time? You think I came here out of boredom? I came here because someone told me my brother was in trouble. I came here because I want to help you.” He swallowed hard and continued, something somber passing through his eyes. “It’s been years since I even knew where you were. We didn’t know if you were alive or dead, didn’t know if you were happy.”
“I’m happy,” I said flatly. “I’d be happier if you left.”
“Tough shit,” he answered. “I’m not going anywhere, not until I’m sure you’re okay.”
“I can take care of myself, Scott. I don’t need you to fight off bullies for me anymore,” I said, thinking back to the warlocks who used to give me shit for being demon spawn back in school.
“You’ve got the remnants of dead genie burned into your carpet telling me different,” he answered. “Look. I know that what I did was wrong. I shouldn’t have-”
“This isn’t about what you did or didn’t do back in the day,” I said, cutting him off. “This is about me making a life for myself. It wasn’t easy, you know. It sucked being on my own, at first. Then I realized why it was better. I never belonged there, Scott. I never belonged with those people, or with your family. I’m not a warlock, Scott. Not in the same way you are, and I sure as hell am not your brother. So take a long walk off a short cliff, or go to fucking Disneyland for all I care. Just get the hell out of my life. I’m better off without you.”
“What about her?” Scott asked, motioning to Renee. Her face hardened as he pointed to her, first out of shock, but then it looked to be more out of indignation. “Is she better off without me?”
“Don’t bring me into this,” she answered quickly. “You came here under false pretenses. For almost two days now, you haven’t said a word about a rift between you and Roy.” She shook her head. “And even if you had been truthful, even if you were his biological brother, for God’s sake, I agree with Roy. I trust Roy. So, if he says you need to go, then you need to go.”
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