“But how?”
He tapped the clock on the radio. “In about forty minutes and I don't know how. Only you and the universe know.”
“But that's a problem because I don't know. The universe hasn't bothered to tell me that.”
“You'll find out when you get there.”
After almost two weeks of no answers, watching TV in solitude while I knew my parents and Charlie mourned me, having to deal with bad attitudes, and that was only if I wasn't being completely ignored, my honey well had officially run dry. All I had to offer now was vinaigrette. Bon appetite.
“Harold, we're treading in dangerous waters. I've got no honey left.” I gripped the steering wheel, trying to hang on to the temper set off from too few explanations and far too many expectations.
“I don’t have honey. If it's such a problem, go to the supermarket.”
I turned and glared at him. “I'm not surprised you have no honey.”
His face made it clear he thought I was crazy. I didn't care. If I was starting to lose my mind, they were to blame.
I pulled up to the address of a sprawling beach mansion. Before I could ask what we were there for, I knew.
Fate was heading toward the car. Two things came to mind. That better not be where he lives and he better not be coming with me.
“Did you need to talk to him for a minute?” I asked Harold, clinging to hope.
“No. He's going with you.”
Harold ignored my scream of “Absolutely not!” and got out of the car anyway.
Then he was there.
I saw Hank pull up in the Mercedes behind me as Fate took Harold's spot and sat in my front seat. I didn't want him in my Honda.
Neither Fate nor I said a word to each other in greeting.
He finally spoke first. “Do you plan on driving? I've got things to do besides babysit you.”
“I was hoping if I ignored you, you'd get out.”
“Wish I could. But the bottom line is you need to learn the ropes and I'm the best equipped to teach you.”
No wonder I had no honey left.
I put the car in gear and my Honda's engine whined slightly, as if she resented his presence as much as I did.
“This is my job, so don't think you're going to get all bossy on me either.”
“Whatever, transfer. We both know you have no clue what's going on.” He hand cranked up his window and turned on the air conditioning full blast, which made my old Honda wheeze like it had a pack a day habit.
I white knuckled the steering wheel and headed out. Eighteen days left, that was it.
I pulled into a spot near the coffee bar, after stewing over his last comment the whole ride over. If Harold didn't know, I bet he didn't either.
“Fine. You're right. I have no idea what we're here to do. Why don't you tell me?”
“It's your job. I won't know until you do.”
“If you, the so called experienced one in charge, are clueless,” yes, I'm petty and that dig was extremely necessary to my emotional well being, “how am I supposed to know?”
“Because, this is how it works.”
“Well, thanks for the big heads up.” I shouted at his back, since he was already getting out of the car and heading toward the coffee shop alone.
It didn't look like he was planning to wait for me but I knew I had to do this, active participation and all. I got out and took my time making it inside.
Even if I wasn't particularly fond of him, I wasn't sure I was ready to go it alone, not after I found out I could literally vaporize myself. Even if Fate was a bit of an ass, I didn't doubt his competence.
I found a free table toward the front windows when I entered, while he was in line. I heard the girl at the cashier giggling flirtatiously and caught Fate smiling back, equally friendly. So, it was just me he instantly disliked.
When he returned with two cups I was actually surprised. Did he buy me a coffee?
He sat across the table, and I forced the words “Thank you,” out, even if it felt like chewing on sand to do it.
“And now?” Between my dislike of him for how he treated me and the unsettling feelings I had being near him, I was watching the second hand on the clock tick away all too slowly.
“Now we wait.”
Ten to twelve, six more revolutions it had to swing around. Neither of us bothered to make small talk. Of all the things I wanted to know, I didn't bother asking him or we wouldn't even make it ten minutes. Silence was the best option when it came to him.
The second hand did its final turn and I looked out the window, not expecting to really see him, the man from my visions. My breath caught as I saw the guy approach the building.
“Stay calm.”
I didn't reply. “Go to hell, you arrogant jerk,” didn't seem like the correct response and I knew, for some reason, I overreacted to Fate. But I couldn't think about that right now, I had a job to do.
As the man from my visions got closer, more flashes popped into my head; horrible images that made my stomach turn. A picture of a hive appeared in my mind and then a tree. Now, this might sound odd to some people, but I've always loved trees and when I notice a particularly nice specimen, I always take note, so I knew this was the old oak in front of the building we were sitting in now.
And just like that, I realized what I was supposed to do. But was that really it?
The man entered the shop and I watched as he got into line to order a drink. I looked at Fate, having no one else to turn to, and then a strange thing happened. Fate and I had an honest moment.
He touched my hand and looked at me with what seemed sincerity, the rancor that had existed between us since almost the very first meeting disappeared. “Go with your gut feeling. Whatever you are seeing is the right way.”
“I'm afraid.”
“If you do what it showed, you'll be okay. Just follow the visions.”
He broke contact then and our small moment of truce seemed to fade the minute he pulled back.
My mark, as I decided to call him, took a coffee and sat down a few tables away.
I got up and went outside. His convertible was parked under the old oak, directly under the beehive.
Good thing I had jeans on. I walked to the base of the huge ancient tree. It had a lower branch that made it perfect for climbing and, having scaled many in my youth, I was a bit of a pro. I looked around, making sure no one would see me climb into the tree, when I realized Fate had followed me.
He stood directly under the hive, arms folded and waiting. “No one will see.”
“How do you know?”
“They just won't.”
“How is that possible?”
“Does it matter? Just do what you have to do.”
Would it kill him to be pleasant for more than one minute? I kicked off my shoes then gripped the branch in my hands and hoisted myself up, all while muttering curses at him under my breath.
The branch wasn't as strong as I hoped and it swayed with my weight. My fingers dug into the bark until my nails hurt. My memories of climbing were a lot more fun than the current reality.
I crept close to the hive, waiting for either the bees to start going crazy or the branch to break with me landing on my ass at Fate's feet. What a wonderful time that would be. Well, there was always the bright side; maybe if I fell while the bees were chasing me, he'd get stung in the process.
I paused two feet from the hive. My fear taking over, I couldn't seem to force another step forward but I had enough control to halt a movement backward.
“They're going to attack me,” I mumbled to myself.
“What?”
I looked down at where he stood safely on the ground, safe and useless. I wanted to drop the hive on his head.
“Nothing,” I shouted down at him.
“Just do it.”
“You just do it.” Good thing he wasn't human. He'd have no friends at all if it weren't for the freaks at the office. If they were his friends. Maybe t
hey didn't like him either? I was technically a freak now too, and I certainly wasn't looking to spend time with him.
“I can't. You got the order. I wish I could.”
Order? That's what we were calling a few flashes? This business, for lack of a better name, had some serious gaps. Lots could be left to interpretation with this but I went with the hunch.
The fact that I'd be stuck with him until I got this done urged me forward.
“Okay, bees, just you and me, boys.” I edged out further on the limb. Probably about twenty or so bees were buzzing in and out of the hive as I closed the final distance and, at some point soon, they were going to be mightily pissed off.
“I just want you to know, I didn't want to do this to you. Personally, I think it’s very wrong to involve you in all this ugliness.”
“Why are you talking to them?” Fate's hands had shifted to the equally unhelpful position of resting on his hips.
“I'm making friends. You wouldn't know anything about that.”
I crawled closer and closer, waiting for them to decide to attack me. They buzzed by my head, a few landed briefly on my hands and arms, but no one stung...yet.
I made my way to the hive and perched next to it. This was it, I knew what I thought I should do, but this could go bad quickly. So far, the bees had left me alone but once I yanked the hive loose, I imagined I'd get their wings in a bunch.
I looked around, knowing I'd taken a while. No one was in the parking lot or seemed to notice me at all from the huge windows that had clear sight.
“We don't have all day.”
Wow, I really didn't like him, but he did have a point. Both shaking hands out, I grabbed the hive, turned my head away, with eyes squinted shut, and yanked it loose.
Hmmm, no stinging? I opened an eye the tiniest slit. It was idiotic really. Seeing the bees or not wouldn't change their mind about attacking me. And yet, I couldn't bring myself to fully look at the mad swarm that was surely about to vent their anger.
When I did look, I saw the bees were still calm. Huh?
“Come on!” Fate screamed from underneath.
I looked at his handsome face and I swung a leg, eying the distance between my foot and his head. Nope, not close enough. I guess he gets to keep his straight nose today.
I tucked the hive under one arm, expecting a full on attack at any moment and shimmied down awkwardly with only one free arm.
“Can you take it?” I asked, trying to hand him the hive so I could make the final jump down.
He stood back arms crossed. “Can't touch it.”
“Not even for a minute?”
“Not my choice. Right now, even if someone were to walk out here, right by this spot, they might notice me, but they wouldn't see you. If I touch that, which is part of your job, all bets are off. You stay to assignment and you’re shielded. It's when you step out of the boundaries that it can go badly.”
I huffed a bit and then looked at the hive. “I apologize for the jolt ahead of time.”
I jumped the five feet or so down and managed to hang onto it. I froze there in a squat as I waited for the mad swarm that would finally decide it was time to let me know they weren't happy about their relocation.
“You getting up?”
I looked under my arm where I had tucked it. The bees that were flying around followed me but none of them seemed overly upset, even after that jump. I stood slowly, not wanting to rock the hive.
The mark's convertible was sitting right under where the bees’ previous home had been. I could see an image, as clear as a photograph in my mind, of the hive sitting in his back seat.
My hands froze as I lifted the hive to put it exactly how I envisioned it and I froze. What exactly would this lead to? Not many people actually died from bee stings. It just sucked.
“Do. It.”
“Shut. Up.” I didn't bother looking at Fate. I just stood there. Could I really do this? It was rare, but there was still the chance I could be murdering this man.
And then, like a jolt to the system, more images of the people he'd abused flashed through my head. An older couple with bare cabinets.
I looked upward. “I don't know who's running this show, but you made your point. He's got it coming.”
I placed the hive onto the floor of the back seat of the open convertible and stepped back.
I looked over to Fate. “Now what?”
“We take a seat and watch the show. Make sure it goes smoothly.” He walked over and looked at the hive, still calm.
“I don't know if I want to see it.”
“You do the deed, you see it out.”
I blew out a long breath. I'd never intentionally hurt someone and, no matter who this person was and what he'd done, I'd still prefer not to see it happen.
“No one likes this part.”
And just like that, a little glimmer of the person he could be showed through a bit. Was it just me? I knew he made me more agitated. Maybe something about me triggered him as well.
He walked away without another word.
I headed over to a bench in front of the strip mall about fifty feet away. Fate found a spot about thirty feet down from me. I was glad for the distance.
A minute later, when the sound of thunder rumbled, I was glad I was under the overhang. My mark dashed out of the coffee shop just as the rain started. First thing he did was put the roof back up on his car.
I looked upward. “Nice touch.”
And then the mark got in the car. It didn't take long for the screams to start. Even from where I sat, I could see the cloud of bees swarm up in the car. That's when I really started wondering what I'd done.
I had a gut reaction to the pain I knew I'd inflicted. I leapt to my feet to go and help him, but Fate got to me first and wrapped a hand around my forearm.
“You can't.”
“What I can't do is this. Let go of me.” I tried to pull free but instead of making headway toward the car, I was being towed further away by Fate.
All I could do was watch. There was a big difference between wishing bad on someone who's done harm and inflicting it yourself. The magnitude of the difference was hitting me hard, right now. In theory, I could’ve hurt someone evil like this all day, everyday. The reality was a lot harder.
People heard the screams he was making even through the closed car and ran to help, but couldn't get the doors open.
They banged on the windows and screamed for him to unlock the doors. Someone screamed for a knife to cut the canvas top but by time one arrived, who knew how many times he'd been stung.
I couldn't break free of Fate but he'd stopped tugging me further away, so we stood there, arms outstretched in between us, as we both watched the horror of what unfolded.
“Will he die?” I asked.
“It takes ten bee stings per pound to kill a human. I'd guess he was about a hundred and eighty pounds. That hive probably had about 45,000 bees. Yeah, I'd say he's dead.”
“I just killed a man.”
“It'll get easier.”
“I hope not.”
He dropped his grip but it didn't matter now. I could hear the sirens of the ambulance as we walked toward my Honda. The good Samaritans had helped the man out of the car and laid him on the cement. His body didn't move. The stingers were so dense, patches of his arms appeared gray from a distance.
I could hear the people talking as we passed.
“What a fluke!”
“The hive must have dropped from that branch with the wind.”
“Can you believe what just happened?”
I imagined the coverage on the news later today, talking about the crazy coincidence of a hive dropping and lying dormant in the back of a man's car until he got in it. A freak accident, they'd call it.
It's what I would've thought, a week ago.
Now, I knew better.
Chapter Seven
Everyone scattered out of my way as I stormed into the office and headed directly for Harol
d's door. It was shut but I didn't bother to knock.
He looked up as I walked in, the door slamming into the wall in my wake. He pushed a hand through his hair, which just made it stick out more.
“This is the job?” I asked as I stopped on the other side of his desk. “I'm an assassin?” There was a chair but I ignored it, opting to pace instead. “You said right the wrongs of the universe! Not kill people!”
Harold held his hands up in front of him. “It won't always be killing.”
“How often? Every other time?”
“I don't know.”
Harold got up from his seat and went to shut the door. I guessed he didn't want everyone to hear me, but I personally didn't care. They could all hear as far as I was concerned.
“Oh good. You're here,” I heard Harold say and looked to see Fate walking into the room. Harold closed the door behind him.
I looked at the both of them now. “I'm not doing this job.”
“Can we discuss this calmly?”
I sat in the chair in front of his desk and took a deep breath, forcing myself to relax. “You want calm? This is me calmly telling you, I'm not doing that again.”
I sat with a disgruntled Harold at his desk in front of me and Fate leaning against the wall behind me.
I turned around in my chair. “Is there something wrong with one of your legs?” Everywhere he went he was leaning on things. Like the vertical space he occupied wasn’t enough. He had to hog up as much horizontal area as he could possibly get, too. It wasn’t like you could miss him when you entered a room, but that just wasn’t enough for Fate.
“Does my leaning bother you?” he asked.
I turned my back on him again. There was something very unsettling about being around him. I always wanted to kill him and the fact that I found him attractive on top of that made me want to torture him first.
“Do you know how your human form was killed?”
Of course I knew. I was there. It was a stupid question intended to throw me off balance and it did.
I'd been avoiding thinking of that day. If I did, I'd remember my parents were just miles away and yet I couldn't speak to them. I'd miss Charlie and all the friends I'd lost. The only way I was mentally surviving this situation was to push what had happened from my mind. I was living day by day until I left.
Karma (Karma Series) Page 6