by Chanel Smith
Amy came forward to the creature and touched it. I did not think it could be touched, as it appeared so thin and ghost-like. But it could be. It smiled at Amy and Amy drew her hand back.
She turned around and dragged Veronica with her to the kitchen of the chalet. They spoke there, I could not hear what about. When they came back to my side, Amy was carrying a small bag of something. She reached inside and pulled a handful of powder from it. She threw the powder over the creature and it just seemed to vanish. “Ashes to ashes and dust to dust,” she mumbled. She turned and smiled at me. “Quite simple, really.”
***
Belle had no idea what they were talking about when she sat on the sofa by Walker’s side.
“So you think the other one can be taken down by this too?” Veronica asked, sipping from a glass of thick red liquid.
“I think so, yes,” Amy said, crossing her arms under her chest in a pose that resembled that of an old granny who was annoyed by some kid disturbing her knitting. “Why do you doubt me on this?”
“Because you sent me on a wild goose chase to San Quentin Prison.”
“I did not. Averbach was there. And the dust of those bones is part of the new creature.”
“But you knew that already, and you just sent me there to get your reward for this.”
“My reward is seeing you do some legwork, Miss Veronica Melbourne.” Amy remarked so tartly that it seemed to throw Veronica. “Besides, this is interesting. I might be able to actually recreate what Ida Averbach, one of the most powerful witches in the world, did. That’s an exciting opportunity.”
Belle saw the incredulous look on Veronica’s face. She wondered what the relationship between those two women was. She could not figure it out. They were acting like an old married couple, but they were clearly not an item.
Amy got up and sat down next to Belle. “You’re alright?” She touched her leg.
Belle nodded. “Yeah, I’m good.” She still felt dazed. “What happened?”
Amy nodded at Walker. “I’ll let him tell you. He’ll be better at it.” She got up and winked at Veronica to follow her into the kitchen.
Belle was still dazed, but she did have good hearing. She could follow most of the conversation between the two, and it worried her. She did not understand all of it, but the words were disconcerting enough. Moreover, she knew she was the only one they could be talking about.
She glanced over at Walker, who wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders when he saw the nervous look on her face.
“So, what do you do for a living?” Walker asked her casually, trying to make conversation to take her mind of off the events of the night and the conversation that was taking place in the kitchen.
Belle frowned at him. Surely he knew that already. “I work the truck stops.”
“Ah,” Walker said. “You mean you work the register there? Don’t have to be ashamed of that. It’s an honorable job.”
Belle gave him a blank look. Either he was deliberately ignoring the obvious truth there, which was quite sweet, or he was really that naive.
“I work in banking. It’s pretty dull in comparison. It’ll be a lot more fun to see different people all the time.”
“Yeah, yeah, it is.” Belle looked over to the kitchen, but Veronica and Amy had stopped talking. Amy seemed to be busying herself with the teapot now.
Belle almost felt like she should get up when Veronica came back into the room. Veronica seemed a very imposing woman when she wanted to be. At least, that is how Belle saw her. She could not help admiring the woman’s strength.
Veronica did not even seem to notice Belle had been about to rise from her seat. She sat down on the sofa with a sigh and looked back at the kitchen. Then she leaned forward and looked at Walker, demanding his attention.
“We’ll be leaving before sunrise. I’ve got an idea of where we need to be going.”
Walker nodded. “I’d best get a rest then.” He got up and straightened his shirt before going to the stairs.
“Take her up as well. She needs rest too.”
“She’s coming with us?” Walker asked, turning around.
“Don’t know yet.” Veronica reached for the glass that she had left on the table. She drank a bit and made a face. She lifted the glass up to the light and checked it. Belle could see there was some sediment in the bottom. Veronica swore. “Maybe she is, but Amy will have to decide on that.”
“Don’t I get a say in that?” Belle asked, rising to her feet.
“No.”
***
I took Belle up to the bedroom and laid her down on the big bed. I settled next to her, on top of the duvet, wrapping myself up in the bedspread instead. I fell asleep almost immediately, but my sleep was far from restful. My mind kept replaying the events of the night and the images that had imprinted themselves onto my retina kept coming to the fore.
In the middle of the night I awoke to the feeling of a hand under the bedspread. I rolled around, dislodging it from my pants, but I knew it was Belle who had tried to make the restless night more pleasurable. I rolled over, looking into her eyes and kissed her lips.
She was a great kisser, and I felt a sense of lust rising I had not felt since Chelsea’s death. But the moment I realized it, that feeling subsided. My body might have wanted it, but my mind was preventing me from feeling that lust for someone else. I had always been able to indulge my passion for women, but always with my Chelsea and the thoughts of the night she died came rushing back. I rolled back onto my side of the bed and stopped Belle climbing on top of me.
“I can’t,” I muttered at her. “I just can’t.”
Belle lay back on the bed and took my hand instead. It felt good. It felt comfortable. She simply smiled at me as I looked sideways at her and it felt like I had someone to share my troubles with for the first time.
Veronica had saved me and she had been my companion in these difficult days, but she was morose and costive. She seemed protective of me, but I had not seen her happy other than with the man she called Rand. She had been happy then. I had seen her smile, often in fact over our time together, but only a few of those smiles had been happy smiles. She seemed to have liked seeing Amy and she had smiled when the creature had come from Belle’s belly. But other than that, her smiles had all been expressions of mirth or disdain.
Belle crawled into my embrace and laid her head on my chest. The duvet was a barrier between us, but she laid her arms around my chest and soon her breathing slowed to the steady rhythm of sleep. I was not long behind her in closing my eyes.
It was early morning indeed when Veronica came into the room and roused us both. It seemed we were both to come along anyway. We dressed and followed her downstairs to find Amy waiting with breakfast and coffee. Soon after that, we were on our way to a destination only Veronica knew.
Chapter Six
“You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”
—Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight, 2008.
Julia Agrippina was in a bad mood too. She liked Veronica and she would help her with her endeavors, but what she had asked her now was next to impossible. Nothing was impossible to arrange for her, and nothing was impossible for the Watchers, but it was close to impossible what she needed to get done.
Los Angeles had a large underground scene, so to find a capable scryer who could keep his or her mouth shut was not that difficult. To find one with Pacific First Nation heritage was something else. She had resigned herself to going over to the Hoopa Valley to talk to a friend of Rand’s when she had the luck of running into a Haida actor. The man trained orcas and dolphins and worked in Hollywood. He had reminded her of the Indian in Free Willy from the start, but he proved immediately he had the sight. He also surprised her with his knowledge of the wildlife of the Pacific and the history and lore of his ancestors.
A wad of cash persuaded him to help, but it took days for him to find the answers to the questions that Veronica had. A
ll that time he pitched his camp in the backyard of her mansion. He spent the evenings in his sweat hut and he demanded a specific diet for the entire time. It was a pain. Luckily, the weres among the Watchers were keen hunters and supplied that diet, but still it was a huge inconvenience.
After three days he had the answer, and Julia had arranged the other things Veronica had asked her to arrange. The two humans she had been dragging along had been put up in the Sacramento mansion, under guard, and a plane and all the gear Veronica Melbourne had wanted had been arranged. When all was taken care of, she called Veronica.
Veronica was ungrateful over the phone and Julia told her in no uncertain terms that she had better put her ass in gear and get back to Los Angeles to take care of her own affairs. She was willing to help her with everything, but she was not Veronica’s assistant. The next morning Veronica showed up, looking rather bedraggled and scruffy.
“What the hell happened to you?” Julia Agrippina asked her when she let her into the mansion in the hills.
Veronica spat on the step and her eyes shot Julia a venomous look before she entered. “What do you think happened?”
“You were mauled by a Siberian tiger and then got caught up in a hurricane before walking through Death Valley?”
“Ha, ha. Rather funny, Julia. Didn’t know you were doing jokes now.” Veronica went through to the parlor where she flopped down in one of the plush couches. “You’ve got everything I asked then?”
“Yes, I do.” Julia sat down on her fauteuil and reached for the glass she had left on the table when she had gone to answer the door.
“Great!” Veronica sighed and lay back in the soft cushions of the sofa.
“A bit of gratitude might be in place, you know. Especially since I am not your servant,” Julia Agrippina snapped at Veronica Melbourne.
Valerie opened her eyes and looked up. She grunted as she sat up straight. “I’m sorry. I am grateful, really I am, but I’m just feeling so out of my depth here.”
“That’s no excuse for being rude.” Julia’s voice still sounded tense.
Veronica shook her head. “I know.”
“I got the water plane you asked for.” Julia took a sip of her drink and sat back in the chair. “And this.” She took a piece of paper from the purse she had put down on the edge of the coffee table.
Veronica took the paper. Her fingers grabbed it lazily and she unfolded it. There was not much on the paper, but she smiled when she saw what it said. “Thank you for this.” She got to her feet and began walking to the door.
“And where do you think you’re going?” Julia asked.
“Fly to this place.”
“No, you’re not.” Julia got up too. “If you’re really that tired, you’re going to find a bed first.”
“Fine.” Veronica’s voice sounded like that of a teenager who has just been told off by her mother. Julia’s eyes narrowed and she glowered at Veronica.
“Is Rand here?” Veronica asked.
“Yes, he is,” Julia said tersely.
“I’ll go and find him then.”
“No, you’re not.” Julia came forward and laid her hand on Veronica’s arm. “There’s a guest room ready for you on the first floor, right next to my upstairs parlor. You’ll go there and rest. With Rand, you’re not going to be resting.”
“Yeah, I need that more than rest though.”
“Well, apparently not,” Julia said tartly. She watched the fight go from Veronica and suddenly she saw how worn out she really was. “You can’t fly a plane in the state you’re in. And leave your clothes outside the door; I’ll have someone wash them. They’re absolutely filthy. It’s no wonder you don’t have nice things. Look what you’ve done to this vintage Valentino blouse!”
She watched Veronica meekly walk out of the room and go up the stairs. She used the intercom to call downstairs for one of the maids and instructed the girl to attend to Veronica and then guard her door. It was obvious she needed rest, even if she did not seem to want to tell her what she was planning, or even the details of where she had just come from.
Julia sat down with her drink again and pondered for a moment. Then she grabbed her phone and called Rand.
***
Rand came walking into the parlor, still wearing his swimming trunks and carrying a towel.
He and Björn had recently taken up swimming to stay in shape. Or rather to get in shape. Björn was planning to move to Labrador and Rand would be going up there with him for a while. Rand was a city boy, but Björn was a man of the woods and the sea. Los Angeles was beginning to bore him, and Rand needed to stay out of the city as much as possible. As long as he stayed with Julia Agrippina, his foes would not touch him, but he could not stay in the city otherwise. The memory of Samantha Moon’s threat – no, promise – to finish him off if she ever saw him again, still rang true.
“You called for me?”
“Yes, Rand,” Julia began. “What’s going on with Veronica?”
Rand shrugged. “I don’t know really.”
“Is it just the things surrounding Ida Averbach and that thing she conjured?”
“She’s not saying much, to tell you the truth, Julia.” Rand shuffled his feet and looked down. He suddenly became aware of what he was doing and stopped, looking up at her again. “She’s not telling me anything,” he repeated.
“Right. You know she’ll be gone again before daybreak, don’t you? Where is she going and why?” Julia resorted to taking a sip of her drink. She did not believe him.
“Really, Julia, she’s not saying a word to me these days.”
“She’s not telling you?”
Rand shook his head. “She doesn’t tell me much at the best of times. But she didn’t even mention that anything was off a few days ago when I saw her in the mountains.”
Julia frowned, not knowing what to ask or how to ask it.
“I could tell she’s having a hard time with all of it though. Meaning she’s not thinking straight either.”
Julia nodded. “She’s always been impulsive.”
Rand shook his head again.
“She is, but normally it’s impulsive combined with clear and steady thinking. I think she’s slightly losing the plot here. She might deal with all of this in the wrong way, take the wrong steps and try to solve it in the wrong way.”
Julia sat back and closed her eyes. “It doesn’t matter really. I think I have an idea where she’ll go.”
She thought. She let her ancient brain ponder what it all might mean and what could be happening.
“Do you think she might become dangerous?” She opened her keen eyes again and looked at Rand.
Rand stared straight ahead. He did not know the answer, or rather; he did not want to know the answer. He suspected Veronica might well become a danger to the public and in need of the same treatment as she had been chosen by the Watchers to administer to others. She simply was not coping very well this time. It was certainly not likely behavior from the vampire that came to him that night when he had been abandoned on the cruise ship. She had been his hero for those few days; she had made everything okay. But it was becoming evident that since her encounter with the cambion in New Orleans and her time spent with the Watchers, she’d had too many traumas inscribed on her brain. She was a loose cannon at the best of times, but if she was losing the plot, there was no telling whether she could be restrained again or even whether that trend would be reversible.
Julia seemed to think the same.
“That might actually be the true intention that this witch, Ida Averbach has. Make her lose her mind and have us take care of the mess.”
Rand nodded. It was entirely plausible. Julia sank back again, her fingers tapping the edge of her glass. “You’re not being very useful right now, you know.”
“Well, thanks,” Rand said tensely.
“The whole Samantha Moon affair means you’re no use here and right now all you’re doing is odd jobs and preparing to accompany Björn for a w
hile,” Julia explained. “But I think there might be a way to make yourself useful.”
“Do tell.”
So Julia told him.
***
It was strange to be alone in the big house in Sacramento. We had a guard placed on us, but we barely saw him. The big ginger man with a big beard and a massive tattooed face and torso accompanied us when we went into the city, but other than that, we did not really see him.
When we first arrived and Veronica had introduced us to him, Belle seemed to think he was a gangster. I thought he looked too much of a hipster to be a gangster, but I was intimidated by the man’s tattooed visage and his bulk nonetheless. His name was Erik, he said, but he did not say much else.
There was a butler in the mansion too, who helped us with groceries and cooking. I got the feeling that we were not meant to leave the house, though nobody explicitly told us that.
Within just a day of Veronica’s leaving, we got to enjoying ourselves. The house was grand and amazing, even compared to the homes I know on the East Coast. The kitchen was well equipped too, and the bedrooms were the definition of luxury. I had stayed in one of the small guest rooms before, had seen the parlor and the breakfast room, but I found the house to be even more impressive than I had thought previously.
But even as I lay in bed, thinking over everything that had happened and was happening, I knew Belle and I were only pretending to enjoy ourselves. In reality, we were waiting for Veronica Melbourne to return and guide us through the mad things that were taking place. We were waiting for her to resume her guarding of us and drop us back into a world that was more familiar and normal.
As I lay there, pondering these things, the door to my room opened. And then suddenly, I felt I could and would be truly enjoying myself after all.
Rand looked down at the clear blue water of the Sitka Sound and marveled at Björn’s navigational skills. The ancient were hated flying, but he controlled the float plane like a pro. The old light craft had not been fitted with all the modern GPS equipment that now came as standard, but Björn had simply followed the coastline and turned them after refueling near Vancouver.