by Lish McBride
I wasn’t sure how I’d feel if I suddenly lost my fire, or if I’d still think of myself as a firebug, but apparently Fitz didn’t suffer from the same conundrum. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Fitz waved a hand at me, indicating that all was forgotten, but his eyes were still full of ire.
“We’ve just been trying to decide where he should go now,” Sylvie said.
Fitz ran a hand through his hair. “I cannot stay with the other kelpies now. I’ve lost my water legs. Besides, I need a fresh start. Somewhere else.”
Because it was hard to heal when you had to stare your old life in the face every day. I knew how that was.
“I told him he can stay in Currant,” Sylvie said. “But he can’t stay with me. I can’t think of any excuse to get my parents on board with a strange man moving into our house.”
The drove was an option, but not a good one. What would work well for Katya would fail miserably for Fitz. The drove functioned as a whole. Despite the kelpies having recently banded together, they were solitary creatures at heart. They needed quiet. Peace. Like the kind you find in a bookshop. I tried to not think about it, lest I changed my mind. “Fitz, you can come stay with Cade and me until we figure things out. You won’t get a real bed, but you’ll get a roof and meals. Don’t think of it as a forever thing. Think of it as an ‘until I get on my feet’ thing. If you don’t want to stay in the cabin, then there’s a nap room above the bookshop.”
Fitz considered it, nodding slowly. “I accept. As long as your father agrees, that is.”
Now to break it to my dad that we’d have a recovering kelpie staying with us. Good thing he’s a flexible guy. Fitz would stay a little longer in the clinic before he came home with me. The doctor wanted a few days of having her patient around for checkups. Sylvie had to finally go to her own home, but she promised to visit him as much as she could. And I still had some fires to put out. Not literally.
With a cure now possible, our assignment shifted. We went from “burn and destroy” to “contain all evidence and bring it in.” Ezra got to be a great shot with the tranquilizer gun. Dr. Wesley trained her assistant in the fungus removal procedure so that she could take the occasional break. Since her assistant wasn’t human, Sylvie volunteered to do the actual snail holding. She’d screwed up, and this was a concrete way to do something right and make up for her mistakes, however well intentioned they were. With each success, she smiled a little more, and while I was happy for her, I was worried about how much time she was spending with the Coterie. When I realized that there was no way Sylvie was walking away from us, that she was stuck with the Coterie forever now, because there was no way Alistair was letting her go, I felt a heavy sadness settle into my stomach. What could she have become without the interference my friendship had caused? As sad as I felt, I knew it was miles away from what I would have been feeling if this had happened under Venus’s watch.
*
A FEW DAYS passed as the patients got better and the rest of us continued to run around like chickens with our heads cut off. We were making some progress, but we weren’t quite keeping up with the demand. Katya was starting to get exhausted and the doctor and her assistant were napping in shifts. And we still couldn’t get to everyone in time. Some creatures were solitary and quiet, and we only heard about them when it was too late and they were too far gone.
It was with an entrenched weariness that Ezra and I returned to the clinic from our last task before we went back to the cabin for the night. We needed a break. Katya would have to stay for a bit longer, but she seemed okay with that. Dr. Wesley had set up a cot for her to nap on as well. I think staying busy was helping her, to be honest.
I went to return the tranquilizer gun while Ezra carried an unconscious witch down to the infirmary for quarantine. Despite Thomas and other past experiences, I refused to give witches a bad rap. I’d met a few nice ones and I didn’t want to let myself fall into the same trap as Thomas, where I started pigeonholing creatures. Like the body we’d found in the boat, the one Thomas had left for the snails. Turned out he was one of Thomas’s group that had started to get cold feet. When he’d tried to back out, he was locked in with the snails. He’d deserved it, surely, but it still made me cringe.
After I turned in the gun to Dr. Wesley’s assistant, I went to find Alistair. He sat in a chair in Bianca’s room, playing a game of chess with her. Alistair looked more relaxed than I’d ever seen him, and Bianca practically glowed with health.
I pulled up a chair. “They letting you out soon?”
Alistair grinned. “Twenty-four hours and then the doctor is giving her and Sid the heave-ho.”
“I think she’ll be happy to see the back of us, to be honest,” Bianca said. “Well, not so much me as Sid. He’s driving her nuts.”
Alistair moved his rook, taking one of Bianca’s pawns. “We didn’t anticipate how difficult sitting still would be for a were.”
“Last time Alistair looked, Sid was doing jumping jacks. He’s going stir-crazy.” She sidled her knight close to Alistair’s bishop.
Alistair frowned at the board, seemingly unsure of Bianca’s strategy. “Heading home?”
I nodded. “I need a break. Lock, Sylvie, and Fitz are dropping off what finished cardigans they have right now.” We’d had an independent witch who Alistair knew from his pre-Coterie days examine the cardigans. He’d shipped them off to Seattle for her to study. I think he wanted to get them as far away from any local witches as he could, and you couldn’t get much farther than Seattle. She’d found a suspicious rune after a thorough examination. It needed to be triggered, but once it was, it would wick all the moisture away from the kelpie. If they were close to water, they would be fine, but if the kelpie had wandered too far … well, let’s just say it’s a good thing we had the sweaters checked. Thomas might have been gone, but he clearly hadn’t been working alone. All it would take was one witch knowing the spell to end things poorly for the kelpies. Alistair’s friend in Seattle had sent a new pattern for Sylvie to follow for the time being and had promised to fly out in a week to work with her on a new size-shifting design.
I didn’t ask Alistair what had happened to those two witch hostages from Thomas’s group that we’d handed over. Quite frankly, I didn’t care. Turns out I have little sympathy for bigots. Who knew?
“We’re going to meet back at the cabin when we’re done,” I said. I’d been thinking on something for a while, back in the recesses of my mind while everything else was going on, and I felt it was ready to present to Alistair. I wasn’t sure how he was going to take it, but I needed to try. “About Sylvie, and the possibility of you dangling temptations like college scholarships in front of her…”
“Her choice, Ava.” He hesitantly picked up his queen, then set her back down, still thinking. Bianca grinned. Judging from the pile of pieces on her side of the board, she seemed to be winning.
“I know it’s Sylvie’s choice, but it got me to thinking.” I took a deep breath. “I want the same deal.”
Alistair frowned, taking his eyes off his queen. “I already told you I would pay for you to go to college. Insisted you pick one, in fact. And you haven’t. I know you’ve been busy, but fall is quickly approaching.…”
“Yes, but that’s the difference. You insisted. You can order me around. This whole thing, it’s illustrated something that Lock told me a long time ago but I’m just understanding now.”
“And what’s that?” Alistair’s tone was wary, but he was listening.
“I always believed the Coterie was bad. Evil. A force for destruction. And on some days that’s what it is. But then there are days now when I see what good I can do.”
“I’m glad you’ve decided I’m not an evil despot,” Alistair said drily.
“The jury is still out. I haven’t decided anything. It’s just—I want the option Sylvie has. You don’t want to lose an asset, and I get that. No wasting of the resources. So let’s renegotiate my contract. I work for
you through college—four years minimum, but as an employee. Not a tool you own. There are times when I’ll still have to do the bad bits.” I paused, momentarily distracted as I watched Alistair take Bianca’s knight with his queen, only to lose his bishop to Bianca’s rook.
“Check,” she said, a wide grin splitting her face. Alistair scowled at the board.
I took another breath and started up again. “I think my offer is fair. If, after four years, things are still going well, we can move on from there.” And honestly, even with my possible education, let’s face it, Bianca was right—what would I do besides Coterie work? It was all I knew.
“Ava,” Alistair answered, “I’m not even sure I can find a blood witch strong enough to break your contract. The one Venus used was formidable and, unfortunately, is nowhere to be found.”
“It doesn’t hurt to try.”
Alistair leaned back in his chair, and though he was eating and sleeping a little more regularly again now that things were starting to calm down, I could still see the weariness around his eyes and in the way his shoulders rested. “I think that it’s an option worth exploring,” he said finally.
My eyebrows shot up. I hadn’t thought it would be that easy. “Really?”
“Really,” he said. “Ava, I could trot out all the data that shows happy employees are more productive or state that it’s the right thing to do, but all those reasons, while valid, aren’t why I’m agreeing to look into it.”
“Then what is the reason?” I asked.
Alistair picked up his bishop, moving it decisively on the board. “Checkmate.”
Now it was Bianca’s turn to scowl at the game, a flush to her cheeks. Alistair stared back at her, a strange look on his face. It took me a second to realize it was contentment. This is what he looked like when he was happy. Weird.
He turned his attention back to me. “I’m doing it, Ava, because when the Coterie was crumbling, when Bianca was sick, your team—Lock, Ezra, Sid, Ikka, all of them—none of you backed down. It was dangerous work, but you just kept throwing yourselves at the problem until you fixed it. That’s not how employees function. That’s how family functions. And rather selfishly, I decided that I prefer it.”
I swallowed and carefully thought out my response. “Well, as long as you’re happy,” I said finally.
He nodded, his eyes narrowed. “So I’ll do what I can, Ava. For family.”
Bianca raised up her ginger ale, the ubiquitous drink of all hospitals. “To family!” she said, raising her glass. “Even if they do cheat at chess.”
Alistair stood up, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. “I never cheat at chess,” he said. “I’m just very, very good at it.” She grimaced and drank her ginger ale.
To family.
I stopped in to visit Sid. If he had been doing jumping jacks to stay sane, he was in desperate straits. Ikka and Olive were there as well, doing their best to distract him. It wasn’t working. Sid grinned fit to bursting when he saw me. He had me in a hug and was spinning me around. “I hear I owe you a thank-you.” He put me back on my feet, slinging his arms around me and Ikka. “In fact, I owe all of you.” He squeezed us both in, roping in Olive, too, who pretended she didn’t want to be hugged, but I saw her lean in when she thought we weren’t paying attention. Sid squished us all into a blob of people.
Ezra came in with Katya and the doctor’s assistant, whose name was apparently Deena. Sid dropped us and squeezed them as well. “I didn’t forget you guys.” He kissed both the girls on the cheek, hesitating when he got to Ezra. The fox raised one eyebrow. The hare grinned back, right before he grabbed the sides of Ezra’s face and kissed him full on the mouth, slapping one cheek after. “And you, I have to say, will probably be the only fox ever welcomed into a drove of hares.”
Ezra gave a half shrug. “I go where I want.”
“Yes, but now you’re invited.” And Sid’s grin widened at the expression on Ezra’s face. On the one hand, the invitation was a bit of a coup for a fox. On the other, it meant he wasn’t sneaking and taking what he wanted, which meant it was less fun. He was trying to decide if the two canceled each other out.
Finally, he gave up. “I am honored.”
“Great,” I said, anxious to get going. “Now return each other’s wallets so we can get this show on the road. I am in desperate need of a hot bath and a comfy bed.” Both sighed, reaching into their respective pockets.
25
WIBBLY WOBBLY
THINGS SLOWLY shifted back to normal over the next few weeks, even though it wasn’t entirely restful. After all, I had a displaced kelpie to keep an eye on. Sometimes explaining the intricacies of being a normal human was harder than I thought it would be. And, yes, I realize that me showing anyone how to be normal was somewhat laughable. But you haven’t seen weird until you try to explain to someone Post-its, egg timers, vacuums, and Popsicles.
Thanks to his new ward, Fitz’s more kelpie-like features remained hidden. His sharp teeth and pupil-less eyes had been replaced by a nice smile and irises of a warm brown. He still moved too gracefully for a human, but there didn’t seem to be much we could do about that. Sylvie ended up telling people he used to be a dancer.
Overall, he was blending in fairly well. Cade even took him to a contra dance—it’s sort of like square dancing, only there’s no square. Fitz enjoyed the music and the whirling steps, but unfortunately for the girls in attendance, he had no interest in any of his partners. He was light on his feet and picked up the dance quickly, but for the most part, he still saw people as a lesser species, with Sylvie as an exception to the rule. You should have seen the look of horror on his face when I tried to explain why the pretty brunette had handed him her number on a torn slip of paper. I had to stop him from throwing it away where she could see. He still had a lot of learning to do.
Cade was unsure at first how things were going to go, but it helped that Fitz wasn’t comfortable just sitting around. Kelpies are independent, and he bristled at the charity offered. So he cleaned, he chopped wood, and he helped mend clothing. Sylvie taught him how to bake, and though the first few tries were akin to hockey pucks in consistency, he quickly learned how to make a passable brown bread. But the thing that really sealed the deal on Fitz staying was when we took him to the bookstore.
Cade and I are very judgmental when it comes to reading. It’s not that we care what you read, but there should be a certain reverence for the written word. So I watched Fitz carefully the first time he entered Broken Spines. He stopped in the doorway and took off his hat, a look of awe on his delicate features. I have no idea how old Fitz actually is, but between his kelpie genes and the glamour on the ward, he didn’t look much older than me. Until you looked into his eyes. That’s when you could see the years stretching out and you’d start to wonder when, exactly, he’d been born.
He marveled at the intricate woodwork. Horatio took one look at Fitz and decided he was better off at the top of the giant stained-glass tree. I made a mental note to go over with Fitz what humans counted as acceptable food sources and to explain that pets, especially a certain shop kitty, were off the menu.
“You’ve a beautiful shop, Mr. Halloway.” We were still working on getting him to call Cade by his first name.
“Thank you, Fitz.”
Sylvie grabbed his arm and dragged him around, showing him the layout and explaining how the store worked. After that, he was at the shop more often than not, and we gained a handyman and bookseller in one fell swoop.
Sylvie got her Doctor Who–themed party in the end, though it was belated. She’d wanted to wait until everyone was well. So it was that we found ourselves on a Saturday night with a house full of people. Fitz had helped Cade bake a cake in the shape of the TARDIS. For those who didn’t show up in costume, Sylvie had fezzes and bow ties ready. We played board games and charades and watched a few of Sylvie’s favorite episodes. Lock, Ezra, Ikka, Sid, Olive, Bianca, and Katya were all there. Katya made an excellent Amy Pond.<
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Sleeping bags were rolled out—everyone was staying over. The chatter was loud in the cozy space, and it followed me into the kitchen, where I found Lock helping Cade with the pizzas. We’d made the pizza from scratch and had to stop Sylvie before she created a fish sticks and custard pizza. Even if it would have pleased the Eleventh Doctor, we still had to eat it. Party themes can be carried too far.
“You’re such a suck-up,” I said, pushing Lock out of the kitchen. “Go. Party. Enjoy. I will help with the hosting duties, thank you very much.”
“You just want an easy excuse to get away from all the social interaction.”
“Vicious lies.”
He looked at me for a minute like he was going to argue but then gave up with a sigh and gave my hand a gentle squeeze. “Join us when you’re feeling less socially awkward, please.”
“Go.” I gave him one last shove.
I put away the leftover cheese, getting out some containers for the toppings when I was done. Laughter and conversation filtered in from the living room, but for now it was just Cade and me.
“So,” he said, being careful to keep his attention on the pizza he was sliding into the oven, “you and Lock—”
“Haven’t even talked to him, Dad. I mean, not about squishy feeling stuff.”
“You’re going to have to eventually. You obviously like him—”
“This is a conversation we’re so not having.”
He settled the pizza in the oven. “You realize your denial is just confirming things, right?”
“I don’t care as long as I don’t have to discuss it.”
His shoulders dipped. “Sometimes, you know, you sound just like her. She was never comfortable discussing emotions, either.”
My throat tightened. He was right. Mom had hated talking about feelings, but you always knew they were there. She was good at showing them. I left the toppings alone and hugged Cade’s back.