by Diana Graves
Lidia was smiling at me, but then she frowned. “And you’re a bounty hunter for non-humans now?”
I hated talking about it, but I was glad it was Lidia that asked me this time. I’d explained myself to Everett already, but he wasn’t a gossiper. What I told him would probably never go beyond him, and that left me open to having to explain myself over and over again as each relative got up the courage to confront me for betraying my race. I knew that everything I told Lidia would be repeated several times over, until everyone knew just how I felt. Usually a gossip mill is a pain in the ass, but this one would work for me this time.
“Yes, I sort of fell into it. Ruy, my mom’s soon to be husband, was a hunter once and he told everyone that I was his protégé. It was a lie but soon work requests started coming my way. I turn them down mostly, but if I think that the mark is legit and that I can help, I will. I don’t take marks for an excuse to kill, Lidia. Bad people come in all flavors, you know.”
She bobbed her head, but she didn’t look convinced entirely. Non-humans were raised from an early age to fear human law enforcement and to fear bounty hunters. They were the monsters in our scary stories, they were the things of nightmares, and now I was one. I hunted down and killed people. I never in one-hundred years would have imagined that’s who I’d become, but nonetheless, that was me and I was good at it, too.
She sat on a stool at the counter and pointed at the menu for the seafood joint down the road. They didn’t actually deliver, but I could call in an order and pick it up.
“I haven’t had good seafood in a long time,” she said.
I smiled, “Nettie’s Seafood it is!” Fish for them, fries and bean burritos for me…
TALKING SHOP
IT WAS LATE at night. Damon was in his office upstairs and Thomas was finally asleep after a very eventful day. The smell of fish and spice was faint throughout the house, a house full of young adults. The living room with the television was jam packed with four young women, Katie, Eros, Tria and Flow, and four young men, Everett, Kent, Anthony and Robin. The television was on but they weren’t actually watching it. They were talking and laughing loud and cheerfully. I had to remind them a few times that there were sleeping people upstairs; a little boy and my aunt and uncle, whom because of the time difference, fell asleep as soon as they had their dinner. But, apparently, young people aren’t affected at all by jetlag.
I was on my computer in the library. I was supposed to be working, but instead I was writing an email to Nicholas about my day when the noise from the other room rose to an unacceptable level once again. Since when did I become the authoritative adult type? I wasn’t even twenty-five years old, damn it. Oh yeah, since I became a mommy. That will age you.
When I walked into the room the kids immediately lowered their voices. I say kids, but six out of eight of them were eighteen or older. Hell, Kent was nearly my age. I was a tad annoyed with them, but I had to smile. Usually, I kept my ability to feel other’s emotions in check, but Katie was smiling and laughing and I so wanted to feel that right then. I opened myself up to her and the feeling of acceptance washed over me. They were all witches and wizards and she was a human, but they made her feel wanted and good about herself, especially Everett. He seemed to be finding any excuse to touch her, or look at her, or talk to her. She noticed it, too, and she couldn’t remember the last time a man looked at her like that, and suddenly I realized I jumped from reading her emotions to reading her thoughts without even trying.
“Sit, Raina,” said Eros. She was Everett’s older sister, but she looked years younger than him. Like my half-brother Michael used to be before he was turned into a vamp, Eros had a child-like innocence that no amount of years could touch. She had bright blue eyes and yellow and orange hair like her mom, but she had the Kirkland skin, an envious milky softness that didn’t tan well. She collected stuffed animals and loved romance movies and novels.
“Thanks, but I’ve got work to do.”
“Are you hunting someone?” asked Kent. He looked a lot like Everett, minus the piercings and leather, and even though he was the eldest of the three, he was shorter. The way Flow was hanging all over him I had to wonder if we didn’t have a case of kissing cousins on our hands. Not that I cared. They were second cousins, maybe third. I wasn’t sure how all that works.
“Yeah, actually.”
“What’s marked; a werewolf or something?” asked Tria. She and Flow were identical twins but they looked very different in every way they could. They were both tall, dark haired beauties, but Tria had short spiky black and red hair and wore skimpy clothes, little skirts and tight shirts. While Flow had long black and red hair and wore more casual clothes. She was a little heavier than her sister and it really suited her body type. Tria looked too lanky, with too much bone and not enough meat.
“No. The police don’t know their race or whatever yet,” said Katie, and I didn’t stop her. We weren’t cops and there was no rule against speaking to people about the cases we were working that I was aware of.
“So, how do they know it’s something that involves non-humans? What makes them so sure humans aren’t doing whatever it is you’re hunting them for?” asked Kent.
I sat on the arm of the couch near Robin and he smiled up at me, so cute and chubby and not looking much his age at all. He and his brother were very identical, so much so that the only way I knew one from the other was their hair parting. Robin parted his on the right, while Anthony parted his on the left. Other than that, they wore the same clothes and had the same haircut and everything.
“We may very well find that humans are behind what’s happening, but a non-human was killed, so it’s now Ethereal Investigation’s business, and they’ve asked me for help, so now it’s my business.”
“What’s happening?” asked Everett.
Katie looked down into her lap. “Mass murder. They’re caging people up and burning them alive.” And, just like that happy-go-lucky Katie was gone and sad Katie was back. Great.
“That’s insane,” said Anthony, eyes wide, with a deep frown.
“Oh my Goddess,” said Flow with a downcast shake of her head, and disgust clear on her face.
Everett moved closer to Katie and hugged her.
I nodded. “Exactly. That’s why I need to get back to work.”
I moved to leave the living room when Kent said, “Wait!” He left Flow and walked across the room to me. “You said these people were caged and burnt alive, like a wicker-man?”
I knew what he spoke of. Wicker-man was an ancient method of sacrificing criminals to the gods after they’d been found guilty. The Romans wrote about witnessing such happenings when they invaded the British Isles. A large statue of a man was supposedly built of sticks and its hollow insides would then filled with people and set on fire. But I put little faith in what Romans wrote about the Celts. They erased much of our history and wrote anything that would convince the emperor to fund the invasion.
“I don’t think this is a tribe of serial killing Celts. The victims were caged in wire boxes, not great statues made of wicker.”
“No, I wasn’t thinking that at all, but fire is something used often in human sacrifices, also animal blood, cutting of flesh, and stripping of clothes. It’s not just Celts. Those elements are fairly universal, from China to South America. Human sacrifices usually dealt with burning people alive.”
I looked at Kent with a new appreciation. I had to smile because he gave me a lot to think about, a new direction to take this. I was assuming that the people behind this had a serial killer’s mentality; that they were getting off on the murders somehow. Admittedly, I didn’t know much about human sacrifice.
“Is this something you learned in college at SMU?”
“Yes,” he said, and moved closer to me, because his next words were for my ears only. The others remained quiet for a moment, but then they began asking Katie more questions about the case, and she answered them, cuddling against Everett’s chest.
I just gave him a shallow nod. I didn’t know what to say. Because of what I was doing, I’d unintentionally influenced yet another young person to follow in my footsteps. I had to wonder how many other non-humans were looking at me and thinking about a career change. I couldn’t be the first non-human to become a bounty hunter, could I?
He licked his lips and stepped even closer. “Don’t say anything to my parents or Eros and Everett, but I was hoping that you’d take me in and teach me the ropes when I graduate next spring.”
Again I didn’t know what to say, so I just said, “Let me think about it.” Disappointment flashed across his face and disappeared behind a forced smile that left his eyes sad. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I wish I could give you a more definite answer right now, but honestly, I want you to think about what becoming a hunter would mean for you. It’s a hard life, full of hard choices and—” I don’t know what I would have said next. I was sort of talking out of my ass, trying to convey my concern without insulting him in any way, but I was saved by my cell phone. It rang just then and I stopped talking and pulled it out of my pocket without another word. The room went silent as I brought the phone to my ear.
“Fillips,” I said by way of greeting.
Apparently there was no time for pleasant greetings. “I need you to come to Children’s Hospital, now,” she said immediately, and she paused but not long enough for me to ask why. “The girl you and Mato found isn’t conscious yet but we need answers now.”
“And you want me there because…?”
There was silence for a moment, some wrestling sounds and then Fillips spoke again, softer. “Raina, no bull shit. I’ve worked with you long enough to know you’re hiding something. When shit hits the fan, you suddenly have information you shouldn’t; you suddenly know shit that helps. Well, shit just hit the fucking fan. I don’t care why you’re hiding it and I’m not about to force it out of you, but I know you can hear thoughts.”
My heart rate spiked with sudden fear. If Fillips knew, who else had come to that conclusion? I took several deep breaths before I realized that telepathy was very common among vampires. She probably just assumed it was a vamp thing, and not a demigod thing. Mind control, now that’s a god thing. As long she just thought I was a telepath, I was fine. My last deep breath was one of relief.
“I’ll be there as fast as traffic allows,” I said, and she hung up without a goodbye.
I closed my eyes and they burned for sleep, but I sighed and put my phone back in my pocket. When I opened my eyes and all eyes were on me.
“I have to go. Duty calls,” I said.
“Where are we going?” Katie asked.
I shook my head. “I’m going to Children’s Hospital. You’re staying home.”
“Raina, I’m your apprentice!” she protested.
I gave her a deep frown, but my eyes shot to Kent. He looked shocked and maybe a little hurt as he looked from Katie to me and back to Katie. “You’re her apprentice?” he asked her.
“Yes.”
“No,” I said. “Katie, didn’t you see how horrible it is last night? Didn’t that change your mind?”
Katie stood then, leaving Everett’s warm embrace. “At first, yeah, but—I can’t do nothing. I have to help, Raina. I have to stop that from happening again. You can’t leave without me. You promised.”
“No, I didn’t promise field work, not until you’ve hit the books and learned some self-defense,” I said. Her eyes were downcast in defeat, but there was tension in her shoulders. “Look, just because you can’t come with me doesn’t mean you can’t help. When I told you that most of what I do is research, I wasn’t lying. If you truly want to help then I could use you at the computer, trying to figure out who or what we’re up against.”
Her head gave a shallow nod, but she didn’t look happy. “I’ll take a look, but I don’t know where to start.”
I put a solid hand on Kent’s back, “I’m sure Kent here won’t mind you picking his brain.” Kent wasn’t smiling when he looked back at me. Whatever. You can’t please everyone, you can try but it’s virtually impossible. I didn’t want anyone I knew and loved to follow in my footsteps. I didn’t want them in harm’s way, but if they insisted upon it then I’d keep them safe as long as I could and put them to good use behind a desk.
BROTHER COUSIN
WHEN I KNOCKED on Damon’s office door I found him on his cell phone with one of his clients. He opened the door for me but put up a finger to let me know he needed me to stay quiet. I could hear the man on the other end. His words were loud and quick, but I ignored their content. It wasn’t any of my business what drama a client of Damon’s was going through. I had my own to deal with, and that was enough. Damon took a seat behind his desk and I remained standing by the door, shutting it behind me softly. Damon’s home office was dark, like him; black bookcases, sculptures of onyx and wrought iron, and dark red walls. All of his degrees were showcased on a wall in black picture frames with gold matting. Damon Barguest awarded Doctorate of Psychology from Yale. Damon Barguest, awarded masters of Philosophy from Cambridge. Damon Barguest awarded Doctorate of Education from University of Washington State, and so on and so forth…Looking at that wall always made me feel stupid, as if I hadn’t accomplished enough in my life.
Sitting comfortably in his chair, Damon didn’t say anything to the man; he just listened. He was good at that. He listened quietly until the other man stopped talking and then he had calm words of wisdom for him.
“Your son is a grown man now and he deserves the truth, but it’s up to you. Your sister has obviously made up her mind. She likes the lie; it suits her just fine. But –it takes all who are in the know to keep a secret. Is it wise to keep it going if it’s hurting you?”
I was trying to be respectful and not listen in on their conversation, but I hated to admit that I was intrigued. I took a seat in the black chair in front of Damon’s desk and pretended I wasn’t listening in. The man on the other line sounded familiar, very familiar, but I couldn’t quite put a name to that voice until he said a name himself, Anna. Then it clicked. I knew who it was. The man on the phone was my uncle, Seth, a vampire and the Anna he was referring to was my mom!
“—She made me sign a contract,” Seth was saying.
“Do you think she would really take you to court over this?” Damon’s face was a black mask, but I felt him see me, see my wide eyes, and he knew that I was listening.
“I never got to hold him once she took him, Damon. She kept me from him. She didn’t even let me visit him until he was ten years old, and then she was always there. She would keep an eye on me as if I was a strange diseased dog that had wondered into her home to play with her son.”
Damon shook his head and stood. “That wasn’t fair,” he said. He walked to the door and opened it again. He inclined his head, clearly asking me to leave the room. I didn’t get up, I didn’t move at all. I just looked at him with defiant, sad eyes. This had something to do with my uncle and my mom and I wanted to know what was going on.
My mom took Seth’s son? Seth had a son? There were only three of us; Tristan, Nick and I and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to guess which one of us Seth was probably referring to. I’m not a boy, so it’s not me. Nick looked too much like our dad to not be his son. Tristan however, looked exactly like Seth, an older version of him at least. Seth was attacked by a vampire when he was only a teenager. He’d be forever sixteen in appearance, but Tristan was in his late twenties.
“Can I put you on hold for just a
second?” Damon asked Seth.
“Of course, I suppose Raina has questions,” Seth said, and at the mention of my name I nearly fell out of my seat.
“You know I’m here?” I asked him, not loudly because if he could hear what little noise I’d made so far, I didn’t need to shout.
“Yes, I heard the knock. Shave and a haircut, two bits,” he said in a sing song voice. I did always knock to that song’s rhythm. What can I say? ‘Who Framed Rodger Rabbit?’ was one of my favorite movies while growing up. “I knew it was you and I knew you could hear me.”
Damon closed the door. He was still holding the phone to his ear. “Then you already made up your mind, I take it. You wouldn’t have said what you said; knowing Raina was listening if you didn’t want people to know that Tristan is your son.”
There was silence for some time and then Seth took a breath. He didn’t have to breathe. It was just habit. It was akin to a man who wore glasses for a long time before switching to contacts still adjusting his invisible glasses on occasion. The vamp disease healed my own vision within hours of infection, but I still pushed nonexistent glasses up the bridge of my nose from time to time, especially when I was tired. Seth took in a breath because he’d accepted something, and to sigh is body language for ‘what the heck.’
“I guess I did. I want Tristan to look at me and see me as his father, and I want to hug him as my son”
“There is no guarantee that he will accept you, Seth. Anna has raised Tristan in her likeness. He’s a proud elf. He abhors violence. Right now he accepts you as his uncle, but he may reject you entirely if he knew you were his father, as he’s rejected his siblings.”
It was true. Tristan didn’t think of Nick and me as his siblings any longer. We’d both killed people. The people I killed were bad people, but people nonetheless. He killed a man once too, but he seemed to forgive himself for that because he regretted it and swore he wouldn’t kill again. I hadn’t even seen Tristan in over a year. Once our half-brother Michael moved out of Tristan’s apartment, I had no reason to go there, and we didn’t really share any friends or enjoy the same night clubs and restaurants.