by Jamel Cato
“I know he’s alive.”
“You do?”
“If Ronnie were dead, or even on death’s doorstep, there is no way Isabella would have allowed any of you to be in this room when I came to. She would have insisted on breaking the news to me herself.”
After what he had observed of Isabella the last two days, Adam was sure that was a true statement. He ruminated again on the mother-son dynamic between his friend and the captivating woman, which was often unsettling to watch because they looked about the same age. Xavier deflected all his questions about Isabella. And Ronnie would always just say, “Trust me Gray’s Anatomy, you can’t handle that.” He knew that meant she was probably a thousand years old or something weirder, but she had a certain gravitas that made him want to know more. Like way more.
“Ronnie is in the ICU at Penn. He’s stable. The good news is that he had his seat belt on and the airbags deployed, so there was no brain trauma.”
“What’s the bad news?”
Adam sat down on the edge of the bed. “He is exhibiting symptoms of a severe toxic poisoning. They have him in isolation because his bloodwork and other labs keep coming back with multiple organisms the lab can’t identify. The hospital is ready to call in the CDC.”
“Symptoms like what?”
“His body is experiencing a form of shock that is similar to a coma.”
“A coma? Where are my clothes? I need to find a healer.”
“I have already sent every type of healer to visit him,” Isabella said, stepping out from a darkened corner of the room and startling Adam. “Unfortunately, none of them have been successful. In one way or another, they all said that their healing abilities were being blocked by a foreign substance that they’ve never encountered before. The consensus is that Ronnie was infected with something unnatural during the mauling.”
“Do you send a Zywie matron?”
“Yes.”
“A Derzalas bantu?”
“Rahthawan was the first person I called.”
“I would love to hear more about these healers when you have some time,” Adam said, giving Isabella his best smile.
She turned to the physician. “Some of them,” she said, “are not what they appear to be. Do you still wish to know more?”
“I do,” he said. “I want to know it all.”
“Perhaps when your rounds are done you can join me in the commissary. They have an excellent selection of herbal teas that I chose myself.”
“Sounds perfect.”
“I’ll find you then.”
“I better get back to my duties,” he said, rising and heading toward the door.
Isabella said, “Dr. Bloomberg. There is another exit behind the armoire to your left. Would you mind using it? I’d like a few moments with Xavier without exciting our friends outside.”
“Sure thing.”
After Adam had gone, Xavier said, “Haven’t you already seen him naked?”
“Yes, but he doesn’t know it, which takes away half the fun.”
“You know how hard it is for us to find physicians we can trust.”
“Which is why I’m meeting him for tea instead of dinner.”
“What were those creatures that attacked us?”
“South American Chupacabras.”
“I think they were trying to capture me before things went sideways.”
“They were. We found the rope. That’s one of two peculiar things about them.”
“What’s the other?”
“They could talk.”
“Really?”
“The hotel’s security system captured them meeting behind your car two hours before you and Ronnie arrived. They were speaking a mix of Portuguese and Spanish.”
“I didn’t know chupacabras were sentient.”
“As far as I know, they are not.”
“Could this be a species we didn’t know about?”
“We did an autopsy on both of the bodies. Their DNA is an exact match to a species that is well documented. Both had food in their stomachs and debris in their fur from plants native to the region of the Amazon basin where this species is known to live.”
“What about the third one? The one that bit me.”
“It escaped. That one seemed to be the leader based on what we saw in the footage.”
“Did the DSO send a team to the site?”
“No. We acted quickly. I had one of my security team members shadowing you to ensure you made it to your car safely. He alerted me right away and I initiated the plan I had in place for a scenario like that. Wi Jin also helped a great deal by casting a radio wave spell that temporarily disrupted every cell phone signal for two blocks. The Police and EMTs didn’t get their first call until twenty minutes after the accident. By then we had delivered you to the safe house, changed the plates on your car and gained full control over the hotel’s security system.”
“Do you think Baynin had something to do with this?”
“If Baynin is who I believe he is, then no. He would know better than to send three small chupacabras and a rope to capture a fully grown anubis.”
“Who then?”
Isabella retrieved her mobile phone from her designer handbag. After deactivating its special encryption, she accessed an image in her photo library. “This was captured by another one of the hotel’s security cameras.”
Xavier looked at the screen. “That’s one of the vampires who attacked me in DC.”
“Petrov Leclerc,” she said helpfully.
“Yes, Leclerc,” Xavier said. “That was his name.”
“It’s hard to tell from this shot,” Isabella said, “but the van he was in had a clear view of your parking spot. Unlike in Washington, he avoided risking his own people and made sure to confront you somewhere without plant life for you to control.”
“And you’re sure he was behind this?”
“I’m positive. One of the ropes your attackers left behind still had the UPC tag on it. It was purchased at a hardware store in Norway.”
“Is that where I can find Leclerc?”
“My sources say he’s gone to ground. He knows we’re on to him. But he will show up eventually. You cannot operate the type of criminal organization he runs by phone and email.”
“So now what?”
“Now you need to go see Caden for a new phone. Your old one was ejected from the car in the accident and we didn’t have time to search for it, so I had Maya wipe it. As for me, I need to prepare for this weekend’s parlay and call in a few favors to my sister priestesses in Norway.”
“I’m going to visit Ronnie tonight,” Xavier said. “I’ll wait until visiting hours are over, but I’m going.”
Isabella said nothing.
“What? He’s like a brother to me.”
“Ronnie is in a special isolation unit. There are no visiting hours and he is under twenty-four-hour surveillance.”
“So, I’m supposed to just go about my life while he suffers? He’s there because of me.”
“There is no place in the world Ronnie would rather have been that night than by your side. What is it he always says about the sidewalks?”
Xavier didn’t answer.
Isabella put a hand on his shoulder. “The best thing you can do for Ronnie is convince Baynin to tell you exactly what those chupacabras were infected with. Then we can have the right kind of healer try to overcome it.”
“I have no idea where to find Baynin.”
“I believe you met someone at the hotel bar who does.”
Xavier looked up. “I was going to ask you about her.”
“There is not much more I can tell you beyond what she already has,” Isabella said carefully.
“Is she really my sister?”
“Yes.”
“Do I have more siblings?”
“No.”
“Why am I just meeting her now?”
“I promise we can discuss it later. Right now, there is a situation that requires my atte
ntion. And there are five people outside that door who very much want to see you, including one who canceled two dates on her world tour to be here. Let’s not be rude.”
“Thank you,” he said. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”
* * *
A dietary worker and a nursing assistant employed by the hospital stood in a stairwell peeking into the private waiting area outside Xavier’s room.
“O-M-G girl, that is Zina,” the dietary worker said.
“Told you,” her friend said.
“She’s here to see that patient in one-oh-seven? The one you said looks like Ghost from Power?”
“Yup.”
“Maybe I should change my shift and bring him some chocolate.”
“Girl, you could walk in there butt naked with a steak and one of Pattie’s pumpkin pies and you still won’t stand a chance against her.”
“It’s like that?”
“Yes. Yesterday I was in there helping Dr. Bloomberg check his vitals. Out the blue, he wakes up and says, ‘You have good taste in perfume.’ I was like, ‘Huh?’ Then he said, ‘That’s Chance by Chanel. Zina wears that.’”
“You wore perfume on patient rounds? Are you trying to get fired?”
“That’s the crazy part. I haven’t worn any perfume since last weekend.”
The dietary worker pulled out her phone. “I’m taking a picture to show my sister. She won’t believe Zina was here.”
“Your sister? You’re thinking too small. We can sell pictures of her to CelebScoop.com for some real cheddar. Everybody wants to know why she took a break from her tour. I sent them an email from my boyfriend’s phone and they said they would pay up to ten grand if her publicist confirms the pics.”
“Ten grand! Move over, girl. I’m about to fill up my camera roll.”
From behind them, Isabella said, “You will spend twice that amount in legal fees to defend yourselves against the lawsuits you will be facing for violating the Confidentiality Agreements you signed as a condition of your employment here.”
The women were so surprised they nearly tumbled through the doorway.
Isabella made eye contact with the nursing assistant. “Money will be little comfort to you, Ms. Jones, when you are in prison for violating HIPAA.”
“We were just joking Miss O,” the woman said. “We would never violate a patient’s privacy. We know better.”
Isabella held out an open palm. “Give me your phones or your resignations. And I assure you that unemployment will be just the start of your troubles.”
They handed over their phones.
Isabella turned to head down the stairwell, then turned back. “For the record, he likes sweet potato pie, not pumpkin. If you walked in with one of those and a cold bottle of Orangina, you would certainly get his attention. And being naked always helps. Trust me.”
The women turned to each other with wide eyes.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The Amazon Rainforest
Baynin walked into the center of the village to find everyone gathered behind Cezar, who was holding a hellfire rifle.
“You are a false god,” Cezar said. “We know that you sleep. We know that you lie. Our enslavement to you ends today. You will no longer take our pups from our arms. We will no longer grow your poison. We have hidden all the fruit that was in the storehouse. If you wish to have it returned, you will reveal the secret of our awakening. Do this or die.”
Yefet made her body visible. Then she hopped down from her perch and beheaded Cezar with a broadsword.
The other villagers gasped.
“Enieda is your new chief,” Baynin said before stalking off toward his trailer.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Mullica Hill, New Jersey
Xavier rang the doorbell of a palatial mansion.
A bespectacled African American man in his late forties with cappuccino-colored skin answered the door. He looked over Xavier’s shoulder at the subcompact rental car parked in the driveway. “Does that have one of those bumper stickers that say My other car is a Rolls Royce?”
“No, but it has one that says Wizards do it with magic sticks.”
The man laughed and opened the door wide so Xavier could come in.
* * *
Caden Wells was a genius and the founder of the video game company behind Norm City. He had become a part of the supernatural community when an AI he created sought political asylum in the Self Governance Zone after coming to the attention of the DSO.
Wells had dubbed the AI the Advanced Neural Networking Algorithm, or Anna for short. Anna was his friend, the pièce de résistance of his life’s work in computing and, by almost any definition, a person. None of those things stopped the DSO from killing Anna with an electromagnetic pulse as soon as they located the data center where Wells had been housing her source code.
* * *
Caden’s eight-year-old daughter ran up and bear hugged Xavier around the legs. “Hi Mr. X.”
“Hey Talia,” Xavier said. “Am I seeing things or did your dimples get deeper since the last time I saw you?”
She giggled.
“What have you been up to?”
“Gymnastics, ballet, piano and the Science Club.”
“Wow! Where do you find the energy for all that?”
“Skittles,” she said.
Xavier laughed. “Well, that would do it. If it’s okay with Daddy, I’ll bring you a pack the next time I see you.” He gently poked her in the ribs. “I wouldn’t want you passing out on those fluffy curls while you’re tickling the ivory.”
She howled in laughter.
A short while later Caden and Xavier were alone in Caden’s study.
“Where’s Simone?” Xavier asked.
“Probably in her room watching YouTube. Or Snapchatting. Or doing something else that teenagers do.”
“At least she’s not spending all your money buying virtual credits in Norm City like some kids.”
“Now that would be ironic,” Caden said as he pulled open a desk drawer that was lined with eight smartphones. “Do you know which phone you want? I have one of those new Google models with a VR interface.”
“I’ll take the iPhone,” Xavier said.
“The Borg phone,” Caden said derisively. “You do know it makes easier for the DSO to monitor your communications when you all use the same device, right?”
“Really?”
“No. I just like to give you a hard time for being a conformist. There is no way the DSO can monitor anything I give you.”
“Yeah, Maya said your phones are encrypted with dust or something like that.”
“Close. They use dust motes in the air to form a WIFI mesh network over which they transmit random pieces of a quantum key based on the heat dissipation from the phone’s battery. There’s more to it, but that’s the most I can explain without equations.”
“Wait, does that mean this phone can’t get Facebook?”
Caden chuckled and the two of them socialized for another half an hour before Xavier departed.
Fifteen minutes after leaving, Xavier rang Caden’s doorbell again.
Caden opened the door with a grin. “Yes, your phone has all the new smiley faces.”
Xavier didn’t laugh.
“What’s wrong?” Caden asked, concerned.
“Do the kids know?” Xavier asked.
“Do the kids know what?”
Xavier just looked at his friend.
“Let’s go back to my office,” Caden said.
Talia came to greet him again. “You came back.”
“I missed you.”
She blushed and then yelled out, “Simone! Mr. X is here again!”
Simone appeared at the top of the stairs with a pair of Beats headphones around her neck. “Did he bring the Skittles?”
“Calm down girls,” Caden said. “He just forgot something in Daddy’s office.”
Talia wasn’t letting Xavier off the hook that easily. “You said t
he next time I saw you would have Skittles.”
Xavier produced two rectangular packets from his pocket and handed them over. “I sure did.”
Her eyes lit up. “Simone! He has them! I told you he would have them.” She darted up the stairs and disappeared down a hall with her sister.
Caden motioned Xavier into the plush guest chair in his home office. “I’m surprised it took you this long to ask,” he said, perching on the edge of his desk. “It occurred to me once that you must pick up her scent every time you come here.”
“It’s really none of my business,” Xavier said.
“Then why are you asking?”
“Because there are a lot of strange things happening and I want to be sure about the things I can be sure about. We rely on you for things that could get people killed.”
“You wouldn’t do that if you didn’t trust me.”
“And you would never let me near your children if you didn’t trust me. That’s why you make almost everyone else pick up their phones from that post office box in Dover.”
“You’re kind of like the son I never had.”
Xavier looked up in surprise.
“Stay here,” Caden said before Xavier could respond. “I’ll be right back.”
A minute later he returned to the room trailed by a stunning woman about his age with flawless ebony skin and crinkled natural hair.
“Xavier, meet Anna.”
Xavier gawked. He knew it was impolite, but he couldn’t help himself. She was even wearing perfume.
Anna smiled. “Hello, Xavier.”
“Hi.”
Caden said, “Xavier’s been coming here for years and was wondering why he never met the Lady of the House. I think he was starting to get offended.”
Anna knitted her brows. “I’m so sorry, Xavier. It wasn’t intentional. My work keeps me away a lot.”
“I know what that’s like,” Xavier said. “And I was never offended. I was just wondering who to compliment for the wonderful behavior of those children upstairs.”
She beamed. “You’re too sweet. It’s a team effort.”
“A team consisting of her and them,” Caden said. “Lord knows if they took after me they would be wallflowers.”
She looked at the scientist lovingly. “I’ve seen your extroverted side.”