by Chloe Garner
“Are you okay?” he asked. She picked her hands up off the floor and wiped her face, finally picking up her head. She wiped tears off of her face again.
“He’s never done that before,” she said.
“What did he just do?”
“Applied force of will,” she said. “I pledged loyalty. If he demands something of me, I don’t have the free will to say no.” She wiped her face again. “I’m sorry. It’s just… a huge shock. To feel bound like that. I didn’t think he could do it.”
“That’s not like him,” Jason said. “He really does care about you. You know that.”
“I do. He just couldn’t feel what he was doing.” She shuddered, finally standing. “So much anger.”
“Are you okay?”
She nodded, rubbing the length of her sleeve across her face and nodded again, taking a deep breath.
“Well, one good thing,” she said.
“Hmm?”
“He cared. About something. That’s better than we’ve done in a while, now.”
<><><>
The report on Larry came back relatively clean. A couple of speeding tickets, an arrest for breaking into an empty house when he was in high school. Married, no kids. Nothing that screamed possession or witch. Or even abnormal. Simon had attached a picture. Decent looking guy, pretty-enough wife, happy enough when a camera was pointed at them. Jason shoveled another pancake into his mouth and pushed the laptop over to Sam.
“We need to talk to this guy,” he said, then he looked up at Samantha, who was still pouring pancakes at the stove. “Cornmeal, you said?”
“My favorite,” she told him.
“These are awesome,” he said, grabbing the pitcher of milk and pouring another glass. A pitcher of milk. He didn’t think he’d ever seen one before, in person.
“Doesn’t look interesting to me,” Sam said.
“I know, man, but he was there at all three accidents,” Jason said. Simon had confirmed from the police report that the unnamed witness in the newspaper story was indeed Larry. Sam pushed the laptop back toward him.
“Some people are just at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Sure, but three times in two months? Either he’s cursed, or something he’s carrying is cursed, or someone hates him, because that’s more than just bad luck. Could be an evil eye? You remember the one evil eye, from the place that time?”
“Sure,” Sam said.
“No one is dying of wasting disease,” Samantha said. “It’s not an evil eye.”
“Look who knows so much,” Jason said. “Sam writes you a crib sheet, and you’re an expert.”
“Apparently have you beat,” she said, coming to sit down at the table. “I can tell without reading anything about him that he isn’t casting evil eyes.”
Sam stood and left.
“We need to go talk to that guy. Find out what’s going on with him.”
“I know.”
“Maybe we should leave Sam here.”
“I’m not leaving him,” Samantha said. Jason stabbed another three pancakes and dragged them over to his plate.
“Maybe I should go by myself,” Jason said, cutting a wedge through all three and smearing them through the syrup on his plate.
“You think that’s a good idea?” she asked. He paused, the pancakes suspended between his plate and his mouth.
“No, you two would kill each other,” he said, stuffing the bite in his mouth and chewing thoughtfully. “Spose we can get him to behave in front of strangers for a couple of hours?”
“Depending on what you mean, I’m not sure you can count on me to behave.”
“What?”
“I don’t feel like running your games, today,” she said. He groaned at the ceiling.
“People dying. Strangely normal lunatic killing them through unknown means. That doesn’t get your juices pumping?”
“Whose girlfriend am I going to be this time? Or is it going to be a lab technician again?”
“Haven’t decided. Which do you prefer?”
She rolled her eyes at him and stood, going over to the sink and starting to wash dishes.
“Oh, come on. You make a great technician. You’re really convincing.”
“I can’t talk. Any word out of my mouth would be a lie.”
“Seriously? That’s your problem this morning? You don’t like us lying to people? What, you want to tell them the truth?”
“Maybe.”
“Okay, sure. Hi, we think you’re killing people, and we’re here to figure out if you’re doing it on accident or on purpose. Care to weigh in?”
“I bet I could do it better than that.”
Jason snorted, butchering the pancakes with happy vigor.
“Is that how you do it in New York? All happy and friendly and telling people the truth?”
“We only work with people by contract. One of the feeders sends us a tip and we show up. Like the girl at Janice’s. They already know what we do. And, mostly, I just killed demons. Show up, beat them back with angeltongue and a blade, then ash them.”
“What an idyllic life. It’s a little more complicated out here in the real world.”
“Maybe it really isn’t anything. Like the german shepherd last week,” she said, turning and leaning against the sink.
“You really believe that?”
She paused, looking at one bare foot and one orange cast.
“No.”
“You think we should just mind our own business?”
Another pause.
“No.”
“Then stop acting like a little kid. If you’ve got a better idea than talking to Larry, I’m all ears, but… It’s walking up to a house and having a conversation. It really doesn’t get any simpler or easier than that. If it doesn’t pan out, we move on to the next thing.”
She looked up at him and gave him a half-hearted smile.
“I want to scream at you. I’m so angry and tired, I just want to scream. And if I screamed, I’d want to hit you.”
“I can take it, Sam. It’s okay.”
She laughed grimly.
“Yeah, but if I hit you, I’d kick you, too, and then I’d just refracture my leg again, and… I can’t take Elspeth telling me every time I go in there that Sam is going to die.”
“Then tell her he isn’t,” Jason said, finishing the stack of pancakes and helping himself to more. “Aren’t you going to eat?”
“The kitchen still smells like Sam.”
“Then go take a plate out on to the patio. I’ll talk Sam down off of whatever ledge he’s found, and we’ll go talk to Larry.”
“I feel the clock,” Samantha said. “So does he.”
“And I’ve got a job to do. Clock or no clock. It isn’t that complicated.”
She took a plate out of the cabinet and gathered pancakes, butter, syrup, and a fork, then glanced at him.
“Thanks.”
<><><>
“Hi, I’m Jason. This is my brother Sam and his girlfriend Samonica, but we mostly just call her Sam. They’re looking at buying some property in the area, and the real estate agent said that they might want to talk to you about building on it. Do you have some time?” Jason asked. It was guessing; Larry was a contractor, but he would have to be truly hungry for work, or extremely friendly, to be willing to talk to strangers on a weekend about construction.
“Sure. Come in,” Larry said. “You two getting married?”
Jason looked at Samantha, and she glared.
“We haven’t really made any firm plans, yet,” she said.
“You from around here?” Larry asked.
“Northern Colorado, up in the mountains,” Samantha told him. He nodded.
“Pretty country around here. Hot, though, compared to up there.”
“Seems like a pretty tight-knit community,” Jason said. Larry led them through the entranceway into a living room and indicated they should sit.
“Anadidd’na anu’dd,” Sam sai
d. Jason frowned at him. He hadn’t said a word all the way here, and then that.
“What?” Larry asked.
“Nothing. Just thinking out loud, sorry,” Sam said.
“Your home is beautiful,” Samantha said. She was watching Sam, too.
“You should tell my wife that. I built the place, but she makes it home. Anna,” he called. “We have visitors.”
A Hispanic woman appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Oh? I heard the door.”
“They’re looking at land,” Larry said. “Looking for a builder.”
She bustled down the stairs and smiled at them.
“Has he offered you anything to drink?”
“We’re fine, thank you,” Jason said. “So how do you like living here?”
<><><>
As quickly as she could, Samantha excused herself to stare out the back window. She had managed this, before, but her nerves were frayed, now, and she was in no mood to keep the illusion spinning. Sam simply stared off into space where he sat.
“What do you think?” Anna asked.
“It’s beautiful. Different from back home. I would have never known how to make a backyard look like that, when nothing grows… I’m sorry.”
“You always have a special fondness for home,” Anna said. “Would you like me to show you what I do?”
Samantha allowed the woman to usher her out of the house and into the lovely back garden. Cacti bloomed and dry, hardy shrubs shaded expanses of colored stone. A stone walkway wound through the large space, leading to a gazebo at one side and a ring of benches around a firepit at another. It was a space that was comfortable being hot. A slight breeze stirred through, catching the many edges of Anna’s skirt.
“A lot of people like to have a pool, instead, but I prefer this. It’s quiet, and I can come out here in the evenings and enjoy the land. The sunsets are unbelievable.”
“We’ve seen a few, in the last week or so,” Samantha said. She made her way over to the gazebo and sat in the shade, laying the ever-cumbersome crutches next to the bench.
“You’re happy here?” she asked. Anna nodded.
“I’ve never lived anywhere else. This is my home.”
“How did you and Larry meet?” Samantha asked.
“We went to school together. I went away to college, in Albuquerque, but I always wanted to come back here. We started dating when I moved home,” she said, smiling at the distant rock formations.
“How did you and…?”
“Sam,” Samantha supplied.
“How did you and Sam meet?”
“We bumped into each other a little less than a year ago, and it was… It was an interesting match.”
“He is…” Anna glanced at her, folding her hands in her lap. “He is an odd man.”
“The last month has been rough. He isn’t normally like that.”
“They say you can tell the character of a man in how he reacts under stress.”
“Larry reacts well?” Samantha asked. Anna smiled, then something behind her eyes faded slightly.
“He has always proven to be a man of great character.”
“Is everything okay?” Samantha asked. Anna waved her hands.
“It isn’t the burden for new neighbors,” she said. Samantha smiled.
“The truth is we’re only here to humor Jason. Neither Sam nor I want to move here. And sometimes strangers make the best ears.”
Anna looked at her curiously for a moment, then nodded.
“I think it’s only stress. The last few months haven’t been easy for us, either. Friends have died. Larry witnessed a terrible accident. I think he doesn’t believe the world is a happy place, like he used to.”
“He seemed happy enough to me,” Samantha said. “Invited strangers into his home.”
Anna smiled, closing her eyes.
“That is my husband. He has never met a stranger. I can’t point to any one thing that is different. He just feels… cold. Colder. Like a small piece of him is gone.” She paused, eyes opening to look at Samantha. “Small, but important.”
“Grief makes people act in strange ways,” Samantha said.
“It does. Are you okay?” Anna asked. Samantha smiled and turned away.
“Sam is sick. Dying, actually. I’m not sure either of us are handling it very well, to be honest.”
“That’s why his brother wants him to move into the country? For his health?”
“He thought that coming here would be a useful distraction. It doesn’t really change anything,” Samantha said.
“You should still consider it with an open mind. This land has great healing powers,” Anna said. Jason came to the back door and waved at them.
“It looks like we’re leaving,” Samantha said. “I hope we haven’t wasted too much of your time.”
“I’m glad you came,” Anna said. “I hope we meet again.”
Samantha looked at the multi-hued paradise.
“May I take a stone, to remember this place?” she asked.
“Of course.”
She slid a sun-warmed rock into her pocket and made her way back into the house. They thanked Larry for his time and went back out to the car.
“Nothing but building code and architecture,” Jason said. “I never could get him talking about the people here. Guess we did waste our time.”
“No, it’s him,” Samantha said. “Anna told me he’s off, lately.”
Jason turned in his seat.
“All that about not wanting to lie to people, and you come up with the proof?”
“She just needed someone to talk to. I told her that Sam and I were only here to humor you.”
“Whatever works. What else did she say?”
“Just that he’s strange.”
“Well, it isn’t a demon,” Jason said.
“No, Sam proved that,” Samantha said. He looked at her when she said his name. “As impressed as I am that you even managed the words, you should probably stick with anadidd’na anan’ae. Certain demons might put together that you’re using my name. Okay?”
His head bobbed in what might have been a nod and he looked back out the window.
“I’m not convinced that guy could be a witch,” Jason said.
“Not powerful enough to trigger death if he only just changed recently,” Samantha said.
“But he at least knows something is going on. He isn’t completely unwitting,” Jason said.
“Yeah.”
“You have anything to add, Sam?” Jason asked.
“What, I haven’t done enough yet?” Samantha asked. Jason jerked his thumb at Sam.
“I felt weird in there, letting my brother date a normal girl, like maybe you had to be a prostitute, to be willing to be with him,” Jason said. Sam looked at him.
“What? Sorry,” he answered defensively.
“So what makes a man kill his friends and make it look like accidents?” Samantha asked, not looking at Sam.
“If it isn’t demons, it’s spirits or people. If he couldn’t be capable in the window we’re talking about, but he knows what’s going on, either he’s in league with someone who is capable…”
“Which seems unlikely, given his character,” Samantha said.
“Which seems unlikely, or there’s a spirit involved. Fetch?”
“Do they have that kind of power? To kill, like that?”
Jason looked at Sam again, waiting to see if he would jump in, then shook his head.
“Not normally.”
They rode in silence for a while.
“Did the three victims have anything else in common, besides Larry?” Samantha asked.
“Besides the guy who killed them?” Jason asked. “No, I kind of quit looking after I found that out.”
“Motive,” Sam murmured. “You found opportunity, you’re hung up on means. Need motive.”
“We, Sam. We,” Jason said, pulling into the driveway. “You are still a part of this.”
Sam
looked back out the window.
“So why those three people?” Samantha asked. “Can you look at that? I’ve got some work I need to do.”
Jason opened her door and helped her down.
“I’m on it. What’s for dinner?”
“You up for giving the grill a shot?” she asked. He grinned and she rolled her eyes. “Men will cook when there’s danger involved.”
She went up to her room and pulled the list out of her backpack, looking at the thirteenth spell on the list. The rock had given her an idea. It wasn’t inspiration, but at least it was a new idea. She pulled out some of the things she had already identified for the spell, then added elk grass ash and demon fang - a root - to the pile. She powdered the demon fang and added it with the elk grass ash to RO water in a deep enough bowl, then put the rock into it, adding water until it was submerged. She whispered a genuine prayer in angeltongue over it, then set it down on the desk. This one felt good. Life-centric, healing magic, and adding a blessed sun-warmed stone… It would have been four or five on her list except for a potential fatal interaction with something from the first spell she had tried.
She found Jason in the kitchen with the laptop and raised an eyebrow at him.
“Simon’s looking. I’m looking. We’re not miracle workers,” he said.
“Where’s Sam?”
“Outside.”
She went to the door and opened it.
“You mean you aren’t going to help?”
She looked at him, out the door, then back at him again. Took a breath and pursed her lips.
“No.”
She smiled to herself and stepped outside, pulling her sunglasses off the top of her head and putting them on. Sam was staring up at the sky.
“You want to walk?” she asked. He looked at her like the obvious answer was no, but got up anyway. He followed her down the driveway and along the sidewalk for a while, until she finally managed to lose enough steps to make him walk at least nearly next to her.
“I don’t need a pep talk,” he said, looking at the ground. He shrugged his jacket up over his shoulders - the spring nights were as yet cold - and glanced at her.
“I don’t doubt you need one. I just know it isn’t going to help anything.” She looked at him, then back at the sidewalk. “I believe you’re doing your best.”
“I don’t need you to patronize me, either.”