Mob Rules

by Cameron Haley

  I went back out to the living room, paused, looked around and then went back to the kitchen. I crossed to my bedroom and office and checked them, too. All of the walls had been painted in soft but vibrant shades—peach, mint-green, rose. A little girly maybe, but it was pretty. There was no smell of fresh paint. I went back into the living room.

  “Nice paint job,” I said.

  “Thanks!” Honey said. “It’s not really paint, just glamour. If you want, I can change it.”

  “Nah, it’s pretty. Mrs. Dawson will love it. What’s glamour?”

  “Fairy magic.” Honey threw out her hands and spun a circle in midair. A sparkling cloud of pixie dust winked and danced around her and then faded.

  “Nice,” I said. “Say, Honey, if you can paint the walls, why can’t you use your glamour to give yourself some clothes? What was all that shit about fig leaves and garlands?”

  Honey shrugged. “I like being naked. Anyway, you said I look good.”

  I nodded, threw open the French doors and walked out onto the balcony. Honey had started a garden. There was still room for one patio chair amidst the pots and planters of all shapes and sizes. There were flowers and herbs and other green things I couldn’t identify. There were three healthy marijuana plants, each at least four feet tall. A dinner plate had been set out, and birds were flying onto the balcony and depositing seeds on the plate.

  “Where’d you get the flowerpots and stuff?”

  “Neighbors.”

  “They gave them to you?”

  “Not exactly. I’m just borrowing them.”

  I nodded. “Okay, if someone calls the cops on us, you can deal with them. Same goes for the weed.”

  “Okay.”

  “I wasn’t sure what you eat. Mostly I have alcohol and frozen dinners.”

  “Yeah, I saw that. I had a beer.”

  “Anyway, I took a guess and bought some honey.”

  “I want ice cream.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Ben & Jerry’s. Cherry Garcia or Chunky Monkey.”

  “Okay, I’ll have to go back to the store.”

  “No hurry. I turned on the TV, but just to say hi. I told Mr. Clean he should have told you about your spells in the Between.”

  “What’d he say?”

  “He said you didn’t ask.”

  I grunted. It was true, I hadn’t asked. Sometimes Mr. Clean will volunteer information, but only if it isn’t directly relevant to anything.

  “So you’ll be living in the nest?”

  “Yeah, I’m still working on it. I could use some cotton balls.”

  “In the bathroom, drawer under the sink.”

  “Okay, thanks. Did you find the vampire?”

  “Not yet. I have someone working on it.”

  “What then? You said he was protecting something.”

  I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to tell Honey about what I was working on. The fact was, I could only afford not to distrust her because she wasn’t part of my world and didn’t know my business. Then again, I needed her and if she was going to be rooming with me and working with me in the Between, she’d probably have to know sooner or later. Plus, I liked what she’d done with the place. At least she hadn’t trashed it or stolen all my stuff.

  A decent human being would have left it at that. I spun up a spell and got inside Honey’s head. “If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything,” I said.

  The piskie’s mind was an untidy place, but it was easy enough to find what I needed. She didn’t know anything about the murders, or about Adan. She wanted to return to this world, and she wanted it with a fierceness that was almost overwhelming. She needed me, too. She wanted to be my friend.

  She trusted me.

  I dropped the spell. Honey wouldn’t remember what I’d done to her. But I would.

  “I think someone is being possessed by an evil spirit,” I said. “Someone in the organization I work for.”

  “Your gang. You’re a gangster.”

  “Yeah, I guess. Anyway, this guy in my outfit is being possessed. I think the vampire is protecting the spirit in the Between.”

  “A guy?”

  “Yeah, my boss’s son. It’s pretty complicated.”

  “What’s his name?”

  “Adan.”

  “What’s he look like?”

  “I don’t know. He’s good-looking, I guess.”

  “You like him?”

  “Yeah, he’s nice. You know, he’s my boss’s son.”

  “Is he your boyfriend?”

  “No. Maybe. I don’t know. We just met. Really, I just have to keep an eye on him because of the whole possession angle.”

  “Why do you think he’s possessed? Maybe he’s just an asshole.”

  I looked at Honey. She seemed cross. “Are you jealous, Honey?”

  Honey laughed. “Of course not! Why would I be jealous?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know, you just seem awfully interested in Adan.”

  “You’re my roommate. I just don’t want you to be taken advantage of by some asshole.”

  “Well, I don’t think he’s going to take advantage of me. He did threaten to skin me, but that was when he was possessed.”

  “Are you going to go out with him again?”

  “Yeah, tonight. He’s got to have something that belongs to the vampire. I need something of his to track him.” I’d stopped by the canal on my way home, but there was no sign of Jimmy Lee’s blanket.

  “You need something for a spell?”

  “No, it’s hard for me to lock on to a vampire with my magic. Different kind of juice, I guess.”

  “Have you slept with this guy?”

  “That’s personal.”

  “You haven’t.”

  I scowled. “Like I said, we just met. We’ve only had one real date.”

  “But you want to sleep with him.”

  “It’s none of your business.”

  “You do. Even though he wants to skin you.”

  “He doesn’t want to skin me. He was possessed by an evil spirit.”

  “Do what you want. I’m just saying, I don’t think you should have sex with some asshole who wants to skin you. It’s irresponsible.”

  “He’s not an asshole. He’s sweet.”

  “How many people has he skinned so far?”

  “Just two.”

  “That’s sweet.”

  “Possessed!”

  Honey shrugged.

  “So what about my training? Once I track down the vampire and take him out, then I can go back to the Between for the spirit. But I have to learn how to fight there before I can deal with it.”

  “We could cross over and start tonight.”

  “No, I have to meet Adan and get the thing from the vampire.”

  “Didn’t you look for something when we were there before, in the Between?”

  “Not really. I was looking for the spirit, or some clue that would lead me to it. I wasn’t even thinking about Fred at the time.”

  “What kind of person hangs out with a vampire, anyway?”

  “Yeah, I question his judgment on that one. He says Fred is cool.”

  “He murders innocent people and drinks their blood.”

  “Yeah. But I’m a gangster, so it’s hard for me to win moral arguments.”

  “Still, Domino, don’t you think it says something about him that he’s friends with a vampire?”

  I shrugged. “I guess vampires can be mysterious and intriguing, or whatever. Plus, his father is my boss. He had to be raised with a certain amount of ethical flexibility. Anyway, like I said, Fred is working with the spirit. I figure the spirit probably manipulated Adan into hanging out with him.”

  “Domino, seriously, what do you know about this guy? You’re pretty hot for him. What is it about him you like?”

  I shrugged.

  “Well, what does he do?”

  I frowned. “I don’t know…he’s taking some time off.”
<
br />   “So he’s a bum?”

  “No! He’s got plenty of money. He’s just between jobs.”

  “What did he do before?”

  “He was in school.”

  “Has he ever had a job?”

  I shrugged. “He’s not a gangster.”

  “That’s what you like about him? He’s not a gangster?”

  “Yeah, for one thing.”

  “Your standards are really low. Shouldn’t be hard to find a guy who isn’t a gangster.”

  “Yeah, but finding one who doesn’t freak out every time I drop a spell is a little tougher.”

  “Oh, I get it.”

  I waited. Honey just hovered there and looked at me.

  “What? You get what?”

  “You’re not falling for Adan. I mean, he’s a bum—what’s to fall for?”

  “He’s not a bum and I never said I was falling for him.”

  “You didn’t have to. Anyway, you’re not falling for Adan, you’re falling for the idea of Adan.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “You see it all the time in women who make bad choices about men. It’s not the actual guy they fall for—he’s just a blank canvas they can project their own needs onto.”

  “Another Newsweek article?”

  “Cosmo.”

  “Well, you’re wrong, Honey.”

  “Yeah, see, you don’t want a gangster and you don’t think you can have a normal man, and then here comes this…boy…and he’s neither one. He’s perfect, even if he is a bum and a serial killer.”

  “He just needs to find himself.”

  “You’re hopeless.”

  “Look, I’m not falling for him, Honey. But I do want to help him. And even if I didn’t, it’s my fucking job.”

  “Well, if you have to go on a date with your sweet, vampire-loving, serial-killer boyfriend tonight, we can start your training tomorrow.”

  “How long will it take? For me to learn the kung-fu magic, I mean?”

  “I don’t know for sure. It shouldn’t take very long. It’s just manipulating magic. You already know how to do it—you just don’t know you know.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s like what you do when you cast a spell. Only you’re not tapping the juice. You are the juice. You control the juice, you control your construct.”

  “Sounds easy enough.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay, tomorrow then. After I track the vampire.”

  “What if you can’t find something to track him with?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead yet. I guess if I can’t find Fred here, I’ll have to deal with him in the Between.”

  “He’ll probably kill you. He was just playing before.”

  “Yeah, well, then I better find something to track him. Don’t jinx it. What are you going to do while I’m out?”

  “Probably work on my nest.”

  “Okay. I’m going to grab a shower.”

  “Sounds good. I need one, too.” Honey leaped into the air and flew to the bathroom.

  “Honey?” I called.

  “Yeah?” I heard the shower running.

  “You know I’m not going to take a shower with you, right?”

  She flew back into the living room. “Why not?”

  “I’m just not. It’s not appropriate.”

  “You don’t want me to see you naked?”

  “No, it’s not that, it’s just…roommates don’t shower together.”

  “Why not? Come on, I’ll do your back.”

  “Honey, you’re a lot smaller than me. Don’t you think that would take a really long time?”

  “Remember how fast I knocked you down before?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I work fast.”

  “That’s not just in the Between? I thought that was your kung-fu magic.”

  “It is, but I can do it here, too. And use glamour. But I don’t cast spells like you do, because I’m a piskie.”

  “Oh.”

  “So come on, it’ll feel really good.”

  That’s what I was afraid of. The whole Honey situation was pretty hard to figure out. I had no objections to a little harmless fun between girls. There’d been a few times with girls from the Men’s Room, and I’d never regretted it. So how was I supposed to feel about a pretty, young naked woman who wanted to take a shower with me? What if she was eight inches tall? It was kinky, but more like a foot fetish. Not like bestiality or necrophilia kinky. And besides, it was just a shower.

  Then I thought about Adan and what he would think of me showering with Honey. Well, he was a guy, so he’d probably be all for it as long as he could watch. But I knew I wouldn’t like the idea of him taking a shower with some girl, no matter how short she was.

  “Look, Honey, I just can’t take a shower with you.” Then I had a moment of real inspiration. “You’re a very beautiful woman, you’re very sexy, and I’m just not comfortable with that level of intimacy. We’re roommates and I value our friendship.”

  “You think I’m sexy?” Honey beamed.

  “Of course. You’re hot. And I can’t say the idea of some kung-fu scrubbing isn’t tempting. But that’s why I can’t take a shower with you.”

  Honey sighed. “Okay, I’m first then.” She flew off again. “You can come in if you change your mind,” she called from the bathroom.

  I dropped onto the couch and let out a deep breath. I felt like I’d either dodged a bullet or missed out on something so weird even the men’s magazines wouldn’t know what to do with it.

  My preference for searching Adan’s apartment was to do it when he wasn’t there. I called him a little after ten and suggested we meet somewhere. My plan was to pick a place far enough away that I could break in after he left, search the loft and then make up for lost time with the traffic spell.

  It was a good plan, but Adan invited me over instead. It was about ten-thirty when I got to his loft. He’d already had dinner, so we settled on coffee and shared a slice of take-out Washington. We finished the pizza and he let me smoke after I agreed to use my housecleaning spell to kill the odor.

  “Tell me about Fred,” I said, tilting my head away from him and blowing a line of smoke into open air.

  “You picking a fight, Domino? You just got here.”

  “I’m not, but I work for your father and it’s my job to look after his interests.”

  “And protecting little old me is part of that job?”

  “I’m not trying to protect you, Adan. I know you can take care of yourself.” It was the exact opposite of how I really felt, but I couldn’t very well tell him that.

  Adan nodded. “He’s German, but I think he’s older than the country. He says it wasn’t really unified when he was alive. He says he was a noble or a prince or something.”

  “They always are. You never seem to run across a vampire who came up a peasant.”

  Adan laughed. “Well, I told you I met him at the club.”

  “Yeah. I figure he hunts there.”

  “I think so. Actually, he owns the place. Anyway, we became friends before I knew what he was, and I’ve never been with him when he…did that. But I’ve seen him leave with women.”

  “And they don’t come back.”

  “No, sometimes they don’t.”

  I sank back on the sofa, smoked and thought about my next move. This was tricky. It was possible Adan could help me find the vampire, saving me the trouble of having to search his place. But if I asked the kind of questions I’d have to ask, he’d know what I was planning. Would he help me kill Fred? Or would he throw me out of his apartment?

  My gut was telling me that his friendship with Fred didn’t run too deep. He’d found out about him after they’d become friends. His father had him juiced-up with protective magic and spell talismans, but he was probably still a little intimidated by the vampire. Maybe he was worried Fred would come after him if he told him to get lost. Maybe
I was right, and the spirit had even manipulated him into the friendship.

  I just didn’t know him well enough to make a read. Some people will remain loyal to a friend or family member no matter what they do. Even if he wasn’t thrilled with Fred, that didn’t mean he’d be okay with me taking him out. He might tell me to get lost. What I was most worried about, even though I didn’t want to admit it, was that he wanted something from the vampire. Adan didn’t have the juice to be a sorcerer, and he felt trapped between two worlds as a result. Maybe he saw vampirism as a solution to his identity crisis and he wanted Fred to turn him.

  I didn’t believe that, but I couldn’t be sure. And again, I had to figure the spirit into this, whether it was responsible for the Adan-Fred connection or not. I didn’t know all the details of how this thing worked, but it was a fair bet the spirit knew everything Adan did, even when it wasn’t actively possessing him. It’d have to. I didn’t like it, and I didn’t blame him for it, but there was no way I could completely trust Adan, even if he would line up with me against Fred.

  I couldn’t read his mind, either, as I had with Honey. Even without his father’s wards protecting him, I’d like to think I wouldn’t have done it. Maybe it was even true.

  “Are you going to kill him, Domino?” Adan asked. “Don’t lie to me.”

  “No,” I lied, “not unless you want me to. You had it right last night—I’m not really in a position to judge him.”

  He nodded, but I couldn’t tell if he was relieved or disappointed. “I don’t like what he does. It disgusts me. But he says he’s a different species, that it’s natural for his kind to prey on humans just like it’s natural for us to eat cattle.”

  “Do you buy that?”

  “No. I understand why he sees it that way, but I don’t think it’s the same thing.”

  “It’s not,” I said. “He’s a monster. There’s nothing natural about him.”

  Adan smiled an uneasy smile. “I told him the exact same thing once.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He said cattle would have the same opinion of butchers.”

  I grunted. It was chilling, but it wasn’t a big stretch for me to look at the world the way the vampire did. Maybe when I wasn’t paying attention I did look at it the same way. I was a hell of a lot closer to human than Fred was, but I had to admit I usually didn’t think of myself as one. Maybe it was the gangster thing, or the power magic gave me, but the same rules just didn’t seem to apply. I was an outsider, and we made our own rules.