"Have you forgiven us?" Frank said.
"Have you learned your lesson?" Jin asked.
Ling frowned. "I don't think so. Your pardon, Immanent One, but your spiritual perspective may be... uncertain, in your present form, but ours is not. Ending Shiro's shadow existence and putting him back into the Cycle of Birth and Death is the right thing to do."
"No argument from me," Jin said, "but we disagree on how to accomplish this. Maybe if I'd been a few seconds later the point would be moot, but once I did know, I had to stop it."
Now Frank looked puzzled. "Why?"
"Because then I would have been a party to his murder, because that's what it looked like to me." Jin noted several people approaching along the corridor and lowered her voice. "My 'spiritual perspective' may be wonky, but that doesn't mean I can ignore it. Besides, if Guan Yin thought that was the answer don't you think she'd have told you to kill him long ago?" She didn't, did she?"
"Our Mistress has a kind heart -- " Frank began.
"Bullshit. If Guan Shi Yin thought destroying Shiro was the right thing to do to help him, she'd have turned him into fishbait herself and whistled while she did it. Do you doubt this?"
Frank and Ling exchanged glances again and this time Jin was a little amused to see that they actually looked a bit guilty. "Well, no," Ling was forced to admit.
"So trust her judgment, then, if you don't trust mine. The easy, simple way isn't always the right one."
"Then what is the right one?" Ling asked, and Jin shrugged.
"I have the beginnings of a notion, but I'll tell you about it later. Right now I need to get into the prisoner holding area down in the basement, preferably without being seen. I went down earlier but couldn't get past the stairwell. Is there another way?"
"More than likely," Frank said. "Let me scout a bit."
Frank vanished, and then a doorway of light opened and closed.
Jin sighed. "He's invisible now, isn't he?"
"Of course," said Ling.
"I always suspected you two could do that. I haven't been alone as much as I thought, have I?"
"This is true for all beings," Ling said piously, though she looked like she was trying not to smile.
"I'll take that as a 'yes,'" Jin said. She glanced at her watch. "Frank needs to hurry. The courthouse closes in thirty minutes."
Frank was back in five. They saw the flash of light and then Frank reappeared. Fortunately the number of people walking by was diminishing and no one saw him. "There's only one guard, which I assume you saw. There are security cameras at each end of the holding area. Could you tell if the cord was pulling you left or right from the stairwell?"
Jin shook her head. "There wasn't time, and I couldn't see far enough to get a fix on anyone."
"There are only three prisoners currently in the holding area -- two on the right side, one at the far left. I overheard the guard on the phone calling for the Sheriff's department to transfer them back to the county jail. The court is apparently finished with them for today. We have perhaps fifteen minutes before that happens."
"Can you get me in there?"
"We can persuade the light to ignore you for a time," Ling said.
"If by that you mean 'make me invisible too,' fine. Take me to just beyond the inside door. I'll take over from there."
"As you wish."
Jin thought she would feel a change when she turned invisible: a tremor, a tickle, something, but when she held up her hand the process was already complete. She waved what she thought was her hand across her face, saw nothing. Her reaction was pretty much the same child-like excitement she'd known when she saw Ling switch from true dragon to her human form for the first time, but she managed to keep it to herself this time.
This is so farkin' cool!
Jin felt herself blush and was glad Frank and Ling couldn't see her. Still, what was wrong with a little delight? It's not as if the role of Guan Yin in a human suit gave her much else besides a ton of aggravation; Jin was a bit relieved that she could still feel joy over what, compared to some of the other things she'd experienced lately, had to be the metaphysical equivalent of a card trick.
A doorway of light opened. Jin hesitated, then she felt a hand on each arm as Frank and Ling guided her through. Again Jin felt that moment of total dislocation and once more she risked a glance with her Third Eye into the void. It only lasted a moment, but that was quite long enough. In another moment they reappeared in a dim hallway.
You'd think, as much as that sight unnerves me, I'd stop looking. Maybe she wanted the reminder of the reality beyond all the appearance. Or maybe she wanted to wonder if the void was what was actually real after all.
Jin banished the distracting thought and concentrated on her surroundings. Her first impression of the dimness beyond the cold iron door didn't change. She glanced up and saw that the overhead florescent light was barely flickering. Behind her by the much brighter guard's station she could see the stairway leading up to the ground floor, and the guard at his desk idly flipping through a newspaper. Jin turned away from the door and looked down the hallway.
The cells were laid out as Frank described. Jin saw two men sitting in the rightmost cell, speaking in low voices. She didn't feel anything at first. Jin glanced toward her wrist and saw the golden cord right where it was supposed to be. Her passage through the doorway seemed to have confused it for the moment, but Jin waited patiently and, after a short time, it began to pull on her wrist again.
Good boy, Jin thought, as the cord led her past the first cell. So it wasn't either of those two. Jin kept walking. If Frank was correct, there were only three prisoners in the holding area, and no one else besides the guard up front. Her goal had to be the final prisoner. She went to the last cell.
A large black man with flecks of gray in his hair sat on the bunk. Jin stopped. She had not seen the man in some time, but she knew him beyond any doubt.
Lucius Taylor.
Jin shook her head. No. This wasn't right. It was a mistake. This particular hell wasn't through with him yet, and when it was he was going to one that made this one look like Paradise. All the things that Jin believed, but hadn't realized she believed, came rushing over her as she stared into the stony face of Lucius Taylor.
The cord tugged at her.
Jin shook her head. No. You can't make me.
The cord tugged, stronger this time. More insistent.
It's too much. Can't you see it's too much? Stop it.
The cord paid her no heed. It tugged again.
"I said stop!"
Before she even realized what she was about to do, Jin grabbed onto the cord with her free hand and tugged. She had to keep staring into the void opened by her Third Eye to keep a grip on it, but she did not let go, even when she felt that the darkness beyond the hell was staring back into her. There was an instant of unbearable pain.
The cord broke.
Jin just stared dully at the severed end of the cord that was slowly fading into nothing. Lucius looked around, startled.
"What the hell was that?" the guard was at the barred door, "Who's there? Dammit, Lucius, I know that wasn't you!"
Lucius didn't answer the guard, who fumbling with a security code pad by the door. Jin just kept staring as the remnants of the golden cord faded to nothing. She almost didn't see the shadow that moved in the corner and then faded into the greater darkness.
I can't let my anger go. Shiro, you taught me this.
There was a harsh whisper at her left ear. Jin recognized Frank's voice. "Jin, what just happened?"
"Nothing," Jin said softly as the iron door opened. "Take me home."
"But -- "
"Take. Me. Home."
They stepped through the doorway of light and vanished into the void.
(())
Chapter 26
Jin woke from a troubled sleep and lay staring at the ceiling. She finally yawned and checked the clock. It was after 10:00AM, but she didn't get up immediately.
There was no need to hurry.
The funeral wasn't until two.
She had halfway expected the Guan Yin That Was to show up in her dreams to rip her a new one, or Teacher to come pounding on the door demanding an explanation, but neither happened. Jin wondered if, perhaps, she had triggered the end of the world and no one noticed.
Would it matter if I had? There are many more hells than this one.
Jin pulled back the drapes. The glare made her look away, but when her eyes adjusted she could see that the world was pretty much as she'd left it. The sun was shining -- intently, in fact -- and outside her window there were trees with birds singing in them, just like yesterday. Jin stumbled to her desk to check her email but there was nothing. Not even spam. On a whim she scrolled down looking for the emails she'd gotten from her mother over the last several weeks, but of course they weren't there.
Your mother's life was rearranged to explain her absence. Why did you think you were immune?
Maybe, Jin thought, because she still remembered all those things that didn't happen, at least in this version of the world. Jin knew that, if Joyce had been freed as her mother was, the world would have rearranged itself for her as well. As things were, funeral arrangements had been made and Joyce's killer was now in jail and, thanks to Jin, he would remain there pending trial. The Board would be looking to replace Joyce, just like before. The only real difference was that now Jin's mother wasn't a candidate for the job, even if the board did happen to run out of other options. But at least no one was pretending the last several years of Joyce's life hadn't happened. Jin took some small comfort from that, so she didn't really know why.
Jin remained at her computer long enough to type out and print a letter to Frank and Ling, though she used their more formal -- and correct -- names Lung Nu and Shan Cai. She slipped this into an envelope before she called them.
"Yes, Jin?" Frank asked when they appeared. Jin handed them the envelope.
"What's this?" asked Ling.
"That is a set of very precise written instructions for how you are to proceed the next time I confront Shiro. Just so there will not be any confusion as to my intentions when and if I summon you. Read them carefully."
"Jin..." Frank began hesitantly, but Jin raised a hand.
"Frank, if whatever you're going to say is about yesterday, I've already said that I do not wish to discuss it, now or ever."
"Actually, I was going to ask if you wanted either of us to accompany you to your friend's funeral," Frank said.
Jin frowned. "You're assuming that my apparent betrayal of Shiro has turned love to hate. I only wish that were so, but I know better. And assuming Shiro is angry with me, do you really think he will attack me there?"
"If Shiro intends you physical harm now he'd attack you wherever he could. I simply think there are times when one does not wish to be alone," Frank said softly.
Jin nodded. "That was almost sweet. Thanks, but I'm pretty sure I won't be alone. I think Shiro will be there. That's why it was important to give you your instructions now."
"We will consider them very carefully," Ling said.
"You will do more than that. You will follow them to the letter...please. This is important. All right, you can go. Just be ready when I call you."
"Always," Ling said, and they disappeared.
Jin sighed. No matter how many times they did that, it still made her feel a bit like a white rabbit was going to rush by at any second, pull out his watch, and fuss about being late. Jin grinned. She had a sudden image of Teacher in his duster, sporting long white ears and a fluffy tail, checking his karmic timepiece. My, my. Everyone's late for judgment. This won't do at all.
Jin couldn't keep the smile going for very long, but she tried. She forced herself to eat a little soup when it was lunchtime, and soon after it was time to get dressed for Joyce's memorial service. Jin felt a moment of panic when she realized she had no idea if she currently owned a black outfit of any kind, but a quick sort through her closet came up with at least two outfits appropriately somber. Jin selected a demure knee length black dress and found a matching bag and shoes without having to dig too deeply.
Dammit, I should know these things.
It wasn't the uncertainty about her wardrobe as such that was so annoying. It was more the fact that this was the second time her life had been rearranged without her permission, she was more than a little sick of it already, and the only way that she could see to stop it from happening again was to never, ever have any meaningful contact with another human being as long as she lived.
"Well," she said aloud, though there was no one there, "At least that way I wouldn't have to attend any more funerals."
Her Miata was in the garage but she didn't trust herself to drive it. She thought of having Ling or Frank transport her to the service, but in the end she'd just called a taxi.
Willowbrook Funeral Home was about five miles north of the subdivision where Jin lived now, past the point where Elysian turned into State Highway 501. There were several cars in the parking lot of the chapel when Jin arrived for the viewing, though the service itself wasn't scheduled to begin for another twenty minutes. Jin recognized some of the people there. There were one or two members of the board of the Legal Aid Office, plus several former clients of Joyce's who had come to pay their respects as well. Jin knew that Joyce had few living relatives in the area and was, apparently, on the outs with most of those, but Jin was surprised that no more of her family seemed to be present.
Jin took a deep breath and went in to where the casket rested on its platform. There were flowers. Jin realized she hadn't ordered any herself. She knew she had an excuse, but that didn't seem to matter just then; she should have remembered. She glanced at one nice wreath of yellow roses and was shocked to see her own name on it.
But I didn't...oh. Shiro.
Or rather, Jonathan Mitsumo. He was standing at the back of the room; she hadn't even noticed him when she came in. He was looking at her, expressionless. Jin turned her back on him and went to see Joyce's body.
What did they do to you, Joyce...?
It wasn't just the heavy makeup the undertakers had used to cover up what must have been massive bruising on her neck. It took Jin a moment or two to realize that they had also put Joyce in a wig. Joyce had always favored very short styles because they were no trouble to take care of. The wig made her look matronly, and Jin had to resist the urge to reach in and pull the silly thing off.
"There you are, missy."
A small black woman had walked up beside Jin and was peering down at Joyce's body, and Jin realized the woman had been speaking to Joyce, not her. Jin started to leave, but she wasn't even well into her turn before the woman's next words froze Jin in place.
"I was right, missy. Don't you lie there dead and try to tell me I wasn't right."
Jin saw the resemblance. The woman looked about seventy and she might have been as heavy as Joyce was at one time, but age seemed to have burned it away and left little but skin and bone and wrinkled behind. She looked down at Joyce Masters with hard, dry eyes.
"Excuse me," Jin asked. "Are you a relative?"
The woman nodded, but she didn't look away from the body. "You could say so. I'm her mother."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Jin began, "I'm Jin Hannigan. Joyce didn't talk about her family a great deal."
"Luella Masters. How did you know my daughter, Miss Hannigan?"
"I worked with her. She was very dedicated."
The old woman sniffed. "Oh, yeah, and see where it got her at the end of her days. My Franklin worked himself to nothing to get her into that law school. She could have made it all back in no time. She had good offers. So what did she do? Threw her life away on one charity or another, not to mention that waste of a free law clinic."
Jin stiffened. "I wouldn't call that a waste."
"Call it what you want, Miss Hannigan. You don't know."
"No," Jin said, "I suppose not. I would like to ask you somethi
ng, though it's none of my business."
"People always say that when they're gonna ask anyway. I'm listening."
"If you had a chance to speak to your daughter one more time, is this what you'd have told her?"
Just for an instant Jin thought she saw a softening in the old woman's features but it was no more than a hint, and soon gone. Luella Masters just shrugged. "And more besides, you just believe. She never listened no way. At least now she can't walk off when I talk to her. That's what I get to do now, rickety old bones and all. Good day, Miss Hannigan."
And I thought Joyce only had one devil on her shoulder.
Jin opened her Third Eye just a little as Luella Masters walked back out of the room and out the front door. She saw what perched on the old woman's shoulder. She was a little ashamed of herself for doing it, but not much.
If Joyce didn't listen enough I think you listen a little too much, Luella Masters. It's a pity you don't know who's doing the talking.
Jin saw a movement at her right elbow. She turned and found Shiro standing beside her in his Jonathan form.
"I see you've just met Joyce's mother. Lovely woman."
Jin just shrugged. "Lots of people get distracted by things that don't matter. You should understand that."
He smiled. "Jin, you have no idea what I understand. I sent the flowers for you, by the way. Do you like them?"
"Yes," Jin said, and added because she felt she needed to, "Thank you."
"You're welcome. See? Not impossible to have a pleasant conversation with the devil himself."
"You're not the devil, Shiro. You're not even a devil, though there was a time I thought so."
"That's almost a compliment," Shiro said.
"Not in my book. A devil at least is doing his job. That's more than I can say for you."
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