Ash to Embers (Courting Shadows)

by C. V. Larkin

  -Maybe, dick, but there's too much there to account for the good ole first and last routine.-

  "What are you doing?" Sio asked Avery.

  The skin-walker had his head down. His fat thumbs moved with frantic speed over the surface of a touchscreen. Avery pitched the phone with major league style accuracy over to Royal in the corner.

  "Facebook, man. A bonafide head shot of one Eloise Parker, marina chick and secret wizard extraordinaire. Gotta love the miracle of modern convenience."

  Royal grinned, flashing the platinum caps of his lower incisors. Ceyla took another hard drag on her hand rolled, ashing into her cup before closing her eyes and exhaling a flume of smoke through both nostrils.

  *You'd do better watching Sio. Stop looking at her.*

  -You know she wants you. Bad.-

  *Fuck you. Watch him.*

  Xavier caught the tail end of Royal's dirty look before his demon counterpart passed the phone over to Sio. Royal may have been facing the other man, but his attention was fixed over to his right where Ceyla sat ignoring him. A fission of electric green sparks leapt in the depths of Royal's eyes, repelled by the ink of his irises.

  -Focus then.-

  Royal hissed, but his attention snapped back, locking on to Sio as if the male were a lifeline. Sio looked down at the screen and the purple smear began to boil, churning as if it had gotten caught on the sickly mesh of his binding.

  *Well?*

  -It's reacting to something.-

  "I met her at a hotel the night I saw Tian in the fireplace."

  "That's not really possible," Avery said. "Not with the kind of binding you've got."

  Sio's jaw took on a stubborn set as he tossed the phone on the island. "It was pretty hard to miss. She was naked, twenty feet up, and half submerged in some crazy seething tar pit."

  "Hell," Ceyla said. She shrugged and took another faux casual drag on her cigarette, blowing the smoke in Royal's general direction as if oblivious to the fact that she was needling him with it. "Maybe it is possible."

  "It's not," Avery asserted with a stubborn shake of his head.

  "It is if the binding's degraded," Xavier said. He was half surprised the sentence had come out of his mouth. There it was though, all out in the open and shit.

  Tian's amber eyes snapped over to him. "Is it?"

  He nodded, compelled by the unwavering focus of the razored gaze that had always turned him inside out.

  "How?"

  -Answer her.-

  For a split second it seemed Royal would argue. He didn't. "Formative trauma while the binding is young enough to be in flux, still growing with him. In theory it's the only way to warp a binding as powerful as his. Would you like me to elaborate, Little Death?"

  Tian's ethereal features locked down tight, effectively shutting off the growing fury that had been building in her eyes. There had been something else there as well, but it'd been hidden as fast as it had surfaced. She folded her arms under her breasts and leaned against the counter, unconsciously mimicking Sio's position. Xavier gritted his teeth.

  "No." Tian unfolded her arms and gripped the counter behind her. "What happened at the hotel, Sio?"

  "Do you want me to see if I can find out who put the binding on him?" Royal asked.

  -What are you doing?-

  "I think you know enough of our business already," Avery said.

  Royal shrugged and made an elegant non-committal gesture. "Suit yourselves."

  "The wizard..." Tian prompted.

  "Was wearing a gray dress," Sio said. "I picked her up at the bar and fucked her in the bathroom. I saw you on the way, and was on auto-pilot afterward. I thought I was losing my mind." There was an empty quality to his monologue that made it sound as if he were rattling off a grocery list. The purple splotch had reasserted itself against the complex mesh design of the binding as he spoke.

  -It's back.-

  Royal's eyes narrowed in concentration. "This is important," he said, "was there ever a point after that first night that you remembered her name?"

  "No, but I should have. It took me hours to scrub off in the shower. She wrote it and her phone number on my chest in permanent marker."

  Bingo.

  "When did she mark you?"

  Sio was grinding his shit so hard Xavier had to wonder if he was gonna have any molars left after the inquisition. Tian didn't look a lot happier.

  "After. I. Pulled. Out."

  "Did you wait until you got home to wash it off?" Royal persisted, ignoring the likelihood that he was cruising to get himself popped in the socket again.

  Sio glared at him. "No. I didn't asshole, but since you're interested there's only so much you can do in a public restroom."

  Royal cocked an eyebrow. A slow smile spread across his face. The demon aspect was beginning to reassert itself and the bastard looked smug as he savored the agitation. "Obviously."

  Sio blinked and narrowed his eyes, the seconds stretched, and then, contrary to expectation, he started laughing. Thing was, it didn't sound like the guy had cracked, just like he'd finally gotten the joke no one else thought was funny. It was the kind of laughter that was genuine, infectious and surprisingly without ego.

  "Good point."

  *I hadn't expected to like him.*

  -Join the club.-

  *Don't be ridiculous. You don't like him.*

  -Sue me.-

  "Your sponge bath was probably the only reason you're not playing wizard lap dog right now," Xavier said.

  "No," Royal interjected, "there are two reasons you're not a wizard lap dog. The other is that the binding Ms. Parker was unaware of slowed the setting of the spell down long enough for you to change its intent by smearing it in a frantic attempt at removal."

  "I'm not sure whether to be relieved or pissed off, but if this is proof that I didn't set an innocent female on the 'socio-path' I'll take it. What happens now?"

  "It's not that easy, chief. All we can prove is that she put a spell on you. Since the original intent is obscured we've got nothing, man, not love, not infatuation, fixation, obsession, nothing." Avery cracked his neck and took a sip out of a bright red mug.

  "We need the marker," Tian said. "It'll reek of her magic, be made for a specific purpose with a specific intent, the resonance will be the same as what's left on your chest, and it'll have been made before she used it on you."

  "Without it the Guardian will claim she was trying to escape and gave you a good case of amnesia in the process," Royal said.

  "What?" Sio's face was one hundred percent under control, but the fury that road flared his aura was down for an old fashion ass beating.

  "It's what I would do," Royal answered.

  "That's fucked up, dude," Avery said.

  Sio took a more direct approach. "Yeah, except you're a dick."

  -Okay, so maybe I'm warming up to him.-

  *Tian seemed awfully warm in his lap earlier, perhaps that would help you along.*

  -I'd settle for watching him batter your cabbage again.-

  *Someone's got comebacks.*

  "What we need is to buy time, a doppelganger they won't be able to catch. Ceyla was right, we need to draw them out, distract them until we can get the marker," Tian said looking at Avery.

  Avery grinned, the charm generated by his amusement over the suggestion stole some of the average from his face. "I'd almost forgotten what a nasty piece of work you are, T. You know I'm gonna need a body fluid for that," he said.

  "I'm practical," she told him.

  "You're resplendent," Royal said.

  "Stop it. Can you track the original spell or is what's on him too inconsistent with the base intent?" Tian asked.

  Ceyla furrowed her perfectly arched brows and turned her face away to stare out the window. Xavier realized he hadn't been the only one to pick up on her response when Sio edged closer and nudged her with a gentle elbow.

  "You good?" he as
ked.

  "Ducky," came the tart reply.

  "Hey, I'm not above punching him in the face again for your amusement."

  Ceyla let out a choked laugh before growing quiet. Her aura pulsed as she lost the iron fisted control she'd had on her emotions. Dark spirals emerged, corkscrewing through the effervescent jade green spill that matched her eyes. Even to a half angel the serpentine fluidity was mesmerizing.

  "She's lucky, you know," Ceyla said. "You both are."

  Oh shit.

  Royal looked like she'd shoved a live grenade into his chest cavity and pulled the pin. The steel hue of his aura exploded, reacting to what Ceyla had said and the element of her nature she'd lost control of. It shot out into a ball of razor sharp points until he looked like the gooey center of a metal sea urchin. The tines shifted and rippled, elongating toward the female on the counter as if they were magnetized. There was a heartbeat in which she owned him utterly: mind and body and soul.

  And then Royal staggered backward. The panic in his eyes preceded the anger that shattered the moment. "Find someone else." Royal's eyes glowed electric green, all traces of emerald and humanity had burned away in the inferno that raged above the all too familiar hard set of his jaw. "You should fall down and thank whatever god you pray to that I have so much restraint."

  Sio and Tian stepped in front of Ceyla. Avery replaced his coffee cup with a fat black forty-five. Xavier realized he was cursing a steady stream under his breath and shut it down.

  -Hey asshole, she didn't do it on purpose.-

  *One of these days that logic isn't going to be enough to save her from me.*

  "Royal."

  -Today it will though.-

  *Today it's enough- barely.*

  "Tian," Royal answered.

  The relief that manifested in the set of her posture was almost comical. "Can you track the fucking marker or not?"

  "That depends on how far I can clarify the spell with what remains on his body."

  Without comment, Sio stripped off the t-shirt he'd been wearing and tossed it onto the counter. The physique the thin material had alluded to was exponentially better than the suggestion. Xavier didn't need to check Tian's aura for a reaction. Her skin flushed. She closed her eyes and grabbed onto the counter so hard she was seconds away from cracking marble.

  "Where do you want me?" Sio asked.

  In another country, motherfucker. Possibly on another planet.

  *Temper, temper.*

  -You're one to talk.-

  "On the island. Unless Tian would prefer to have you elsewhere," Royal said.

  "The island's fine," Tian answered, without bothering to open her eyes.

  "I require lavender, sage, devils claw, sweetgrass, rosewood oil, and a non-stick metal baking tin." Royal cracked his neck and pulled the silver athame from his left boot.

  "Hey," Sio said. He waited for Tian to look up at him. When she did, he leaned down and whispered something into her ear. She turned her face into him and both auras lit with the deep scarlet flush of desire.

  "I'll get them," Tian said, struggling to back away from Sio's half-naked form. She left the room, but not without a lingering backward glance.

  Xavier cursed himself for poking the gator with a stick, but he was overcome with the sudden masochistic impulse. "What did you say to her?"

  Sio regarded him with a straight face and a slow negative shake of his head before settling himself on the top of the island. "That's personal."

  "It's like that, huh?" Avery asked. He dug through the cabinets, pulling out a small rectangular baking tin and squat glass tub of dark crystals. He tossed the salt across the room and handed the tin to Sio who set it down on the island next to him.

  "It's like that," Sio said.

  Hard not to respect the guy.

  Xavier reached out and caught the projectile on impulse and held it and an eyebrow up in silent inquiry.

  "I don't want you boys carving up my kitchen," Avery said with a rose tinted grin.

  "You know me, I love a good host," Royal drawled with a wink. He pulled a slender stub of ash chalk from his pocket and twirled it through the fingers of his right hand.

  "Though I do always come prepared."

  "Fuck you, gov."

  Ceyla shook her head as she flicked her cigarette into her cup and slammed it onto the counter. "Sorry, Sio," she said as she hopped down and made for the door.

  Royal grabbed her as she shoved past him. "Next time, stay away from me," he said. His aura snaked out and wound around her body like smoke.

  "Then don't touch me, Royal," she snapped.

  "You don't know what I'm capable of, and you don't know me."

  "Yeah, ditto."

  Sio's big paw clapped down on Royal's shoulder, pulling him in toward the island before he could do anything stupid. "Watch yourself. This isn't your house."

  -He's right. You know she always fucks up your head.-

  "And it's not your business, but I will happily guarantee you that I won't touch her again if I can avoid it."

  Sio nodded once, let go, and looked at Ceyla who shook her head. Tian returned with an armload of elegantly labeled glass bottles and stopped halfway into the kitchen as she noted the emotional aftermath. "Are we going to do this or are we going to sit around watching you guys pull your dicks all night?" she asked.

  Xavier grinned. Crass never sounded as good as when it came from her.

  "You are, I'm done," Ceyla said.

  Tian plunked the bottles on the edge of the island near Sio's left thigh as the other female made her exit. Royal leaned down and began to inscribe his circle onto the hardwood around the island, murmuring to himself as the smell of scorched earth wafted up from the floor.

  -What, didn't think you'd be able to concentrate with the Draw in the room?-

  *You know, I'm really going to enjoy this, Angel.*

  Cause that wasn't ominous or anything.

  "Tian, you need to be inside the circle with him when it closes," Royal told her. The sigils he was inscribing began to glow.

  -Miserable prick. What are you planning?-

  *I like to leave my options open...Worried?*

  -Not in the mood.-

  *Funny, I'm always in the mood.*

  -Now who's the liar.-

  "Hey boys, you mind saving those meaningful glances for a time your shit's not burning holes through the floor?" Avery asked. He was waving the gun in his hand as if it were a kitchen utensil.

  Royal resumed his quiet incantation and dark energy rippled in the thin line of ash. It was difficult not to get lost in the intricacies of progeny sorcery. The light echoed like a beacon in Xavier's blood, infusing him with the usual sense of benevolent clarity and power. He eased it out of his body, pumping it through the psychic line connecting him to Royal.

  The demi-demon's steel aura sparkled with the push as he slipped through the circle and drew it closed. A loud hiss like a lit fuse raced around the edges, sparking as each sigil flared counterclockwise. Xavier gritted his teeth as a searing line of pain lashed up the side of his torso, adding to the design already etched in his skin, bleeding him for his complicity. Man, that shit hurt. You'd think he would have learned or been used to it by now. Not that he would have chosen differently any of the times Tian had been involved.

  Fucking sap.

  Inside the circle Royal picked up the jars, emptying them one by one into the tin. He murmured in the old language as he upended the contents of a small vile he kept in his pocket into the now shimmering mixture. He turned towards Sio who had been watching the process intently.

  "Spit."

  Sio lifted the metal pan, bringing it towards his face where he acquiesced to the request, then set the tin down. It was the suavest expectoration in history. The contents of the tin bubbled, bleeding into the translucence of a dream state. The fumes coming off the mixture made Xavier's teeth ache. Royal used the silver athame to stir the
spell, rolling the mist like pasta until it coated the blade and glittered with streaks of lazy iridescence against the slender point of metal.

  "Lay flat," he commanded.

  A muscle ticked in Tian's temple as she watched Sio comply. She folded her arms, hugging them to her body as if she were trying to avoid losing control and reaching for him. Xavier clenched his jaw to avoid making an ass of himself.

  *Quit mooning over her. Right or left side?*

  -You're one to talk. What happened to personal privacy?-

  *Right or left side?*

  -His left.-

  Royal sniffed as if he wanted to say something else, but he didn't. He lifted the athame and slid the thing against Sio's chest as if he were buttering toast. The purple stain flared to life, twisting through the binding as the image began to resolve itself. The final product was less than impressive.

  *Are you getting any more than we are?*

  -It's still too much of a blur to work with.-

  Xavier could feel Royal's irritation lurking beneath the placid exterior. To say that the demon was a perfectionist was a glaring understatement.

  "We need a new plan," Royal said.

  "Is this option two?" Xavier asked.

  "What's option two?" Avery piped up from his position on the counter.

  "Collect as much of the clarification as we can get so I can take it to Baba," said Tian. Royal turned and looked at her, weighing his options.

  -Not what you had in mind?-

  *Not exactly, but I can work with it.*

  Royal braced an arm against the island and leaned over to Tian's ear, "If you want to collect it, I need your breath on his chest."

  A delicate tremor ran through her body. Sio swallowed hard and his aura flared to meet hers, spilling out in a sensual display unacceptable for third party viewing. The hits just kept on coming. Xavier was tempted to leave the room, if only to stop torturing himself with the sight of them together. He didn't though. His feet wouldn't comply with the desperate signals his brain was sending them.

  Tian stood at the edge of the island and leaned across Sio's body, holding herself above his skin as if she were afraid to make contact. She gripped the edge of the butcher block top until her knuckles turned white and it looked like she was going to upend the thing.