by Leo Romero
Bracken rubbed his hands. “Now that that’s all taken care of, things can return to normal.”
Man, am I even going to get a ‘thank you’? I doubted it. Mean old bastard.
“Your payment.” Bracken clicked his fingers and a guard came over with a hefty bag of pixie dust.
I took it and nodded in appreciation of the quantity. That would get me on more than a few card tables in the Netherworld. “Okay, well if we’re all done, I’m going back home. I’m beat.”
“I’d better stay here, Gabe,” Aurora said.
I nodded in agreement. “Yeah, until next time, kiddo. Now if you don’t mind, I need my bed.”
*****
Aurora got me to my apartment and I had never been so glad to see the place. As the portal closed behind me, a soothing feeling of safety engulfed me. There really was no place like home. Outside, the sun was up. It shone through the window, making my apartment look slightly more appealing than usual. But only slightly. I pulled out Excalibur and dumped him on the coffee table. I went and placed Bam Bam back on the mantelpiece and laid my Deck of Death down next to her.
“Did we win again, honey?” Alabama asked me.
I nodded. “Yeah, Bama. Until the next time.”
I turned in time to see Godzilla walk into the lounge to greet me. I went and gave him a pat. “Hey, pal, how are you?”
He flicked his tongue out a couple of times, then wandered off, his tail wagging in lazy arcs. I let out a contented sigh. My bed was calling. I was about to head for my room when the front door slammed and a familiar thrum of footsteps played out over the hallway floor. A diminutive female figure entered the doorway, complete with familiar irate facial expression. Inside me, I almost died; I really wasn’t in the mood for her crap.
“So, you’ve finally decided to come home, have you?” Lucy said in a faux pleasant voice. “After your exertions, you must be exhausted!” Her top lip was curled up.
I rubbed my tired eyes. “Yeah, actually I am.”
“Well, sorry to ruin your fun!” she sneered.
I faced her.
“God, you look terrible,” she said. “Must’ve been a helluva night with your buddies!”
I rolled my eyes.
“Well, while you were out having drunken brawls, I’ve been stuck here to fend for myself. And we could’ve sat down instead and discussed my horse.”
Screw your horse, I thought to myself. I was way too tired. All I wanted to do was go to bed, not respond to any of this. And then an idea hit me. A humorless grin spread across my face. “Okay, sweetie! Let’s go!” I grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her out of the room.
“What? Go where?” she asked in a surprised tone as I led her to the front door.
“You’ll see,” I said, slamming the front door behind us.
*****
I drove Lucy out to a secluded field outside of Chicago. A place Mia and I used to go when we wanted to be alone in a secluded spot to cuddle up and stare at the moon. I pulled up and she jumped off my bike. “Daddy! Why have you brought me out here in the middle of nowhere?” She spun around, her face in a pout. Endless fields stared back at her.
I let out a sigh. “You wanted a horse.”
“Yeah. And?”
“Well, I brought you out here so you could ride him.”
She huffed. “I don’t see any horses. All I see is grass and insects biting my legs.” She scratched her thigh to add emphasis.
Oh boy, there I was, a dutiful father doing something special for his little girl and all I was getting was an earful of crap. I mean, it wasn’t like I’d had the week from hell or anything and being away from it all was kinda nice for me. I kicked down the stand and got off my bike.
“You forgot to mention the blue sky and glorious sun,” I said, waving my hand up and out in front of me. And it was a gorgeous day for a spot of horse riding. Deep-blue sky and golden disc sun bathing a sea of green. Peace and tranquility personified.
Lucy slammed her hands into her hips and began doing her Mick Jagger thing she always did when she was uptight, which was made all the funnier because she probably had no idea who Mick Jagger was. “So you want me to get sunburned as well? Fabulous!”
“Ah, Lucinda, if only you knew.”
She jabbed her head forward. “Knew what?”
I shook my head. “Nothing,” I said. “Close your eyes.”
“Why?”
“Just close them, sweetie.”
She gave her head a brisk shake and closed her eyes.
“No peeking now,” I said as I threw the seven of diamonds down on the grass and quietly said, “Pegasus”.
“Daddy! I really wish you’d stop being such a—”
Pegasus neighed, shutting her up. Her eyes snapped open and her jaw dropped. “Uh!” she gasped, and for a second I was frightened she was gonna choke. She looked Pegasus up and down while struggling to breathe.
My brow furrowed. “Sweetie, are you okay?” I was genuinely concerned.
“Where the...Where the hell did that thing come from?” She exclaimed in a breathless voice.
“Sweetie, this is your horse, Pegasus.”
“But-but-but...it’s...got wings!”
“Yep. That’s because he’s a flying horse.” I held out my hand. “Come on. He’s friendly, don’t worry. Come and pet him.” She took my hand and she staggered over drunkenly, her bulging eyes fixed on Pegasus. With a trembling hand, she gently petted him.
Pegasus neighed and she flinched back.
“It’s all right, sweetie,” I said and pulled her hand in toward him.
She stroked his gorgeous mane and her eyes crossed. “I-I-I—” she stammered.
“Come on, get on!” I moved behind her and picked her up and threw her on Pegasus’ back. She went with a yelp.
I gazed up at her. Her face was riddled with fright. Pegasus spread his wings. “Oh, wow!” she said. “I thought you were joking about flying horses. This is insane!”
I gave her reluctant nod. “Yeah. You know what else is insane, sweetie?” I grabbed Pegasus’s reins and began pulling him along. He went into a trot.
“Whoa!” came Lucy’s reaction as she wobbled and teetered.
I looked up at her. “I’m an angel!” I told her. She gazed down at me, her mouth agape.
“Don’t drop her, Peggsy!” I whispered to him. “No matter how much you might want to!”
“What do you—” Lucy began, but I gave Pegasus a push.
“Yah!” I shouted and Pegasus went into a gallop. Lucy bumped up and down on his back. She bent down and grabbed hold of him as tight as she could. I watched them go, a hand sheltering my eyes from the sun. Lucy looked like a fish out of water, while Pegasus strode majestically across the grass. He flapped his wings and left the ground. Lucy’s eyes almost popped out of her skull. A laugh escaped me as I watched Pegasus soar into the sky, Lucy hanging on for dear life, totally oblivious to the magic gripping her to Peggsy’s back like a magnet. She gripped clumps of his mane as he ran through the air. Lucy let out a half-exhilarated, half-terrified ‘wooh!’ and I laughed harder.
“Well, you wanted a horse,” I said to myself.
Pegasus dived and ran and swooped across the air in elegant formations, frolicking on the air like a prize equestrian. Meanwhile, Lucy’s face was a picture, everything wide open in astonishment. She wasn’t expecting that. She should know that her dad wasn’t kidding when he said things like he’d get her a flying horse. A flying horse? Pah, that’s no sweat to a guy like me.
“Make him stop!” I heard her shout down at me. “Daaad!”
I cupped a hand over my ear. “What’s that, sweetie? I can’t hear you from down here.” I chuckled to myself. Pegasus went into a loop the loop. Lucy’s hair flew about the place. I savored the spectacle of Pegasus showing off his skills like a circus performer. It was an awesome way to end the last week. But all good things must come to an end. The adrenaline rush eventually subsided and Pegasus slow
ed. He’d had his fun, now it was time to leave. “All right, Peggsy,” I shouted up at him. “That’s enough. Bring her back down.”
Pegasus came back down to Earth and landed on the grass. He trotted over to me, what appeared to be a big grin on his face, but that could’ve just been an illusion. His eyes were half closed and dreamy.
I gave him a pat. “Enjoyed that, didn’tcha?”
Lucy, on the other hand, clearly didn’t. She was sprawled across his back, her head and limbs limp, her hair an untidy mess. I grabbed her by the ankle and pulled her off. “Oopsy daisy,” I said as I dragged her down into my arms. She rolled over to face me. She was queasy, as green as Bracken’s beard.
Her bleary eyes rolled. “That was terrible,” she said and threw up.
I turned her to the side and rubbed her back. “It’s all right, sweetie. Let it all out.”
When she was done, she rolled back over and flopped in my arms. “You...really are an angel,” she said, her eyes brimming with adulation.
I nodded down to her. “Yeah, sweetie. I am. I was up there in Heaven with your mom and I was kicked out and sent back down here to be with you.”
She focused in and out on me, while I gave her a loving grin. I looked up at the sun, it burned golden in my retinas, but I held my stare while my conflicting emotions tore me asunder. I felt good but rotten about what I’d just told her. I didn’t know if I could hold out, if I could see it through.
In the end, I collapsed under the weight and I shook my head. I couldn’t do it. With a regretful sigh and my heart dropping like an anchor, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the pixie dust from the bag I got from Bracken. With sadness engulfing me, I sprinkled it into her eyes and nose. It shot up her nostrils and she sneezed. In seconds, a dreamy smile spread over her face and her eyes shut tight.
“Sweet dreams,” I whispered to her.
That pixie dust would not only put her to sleep, but it would render all of this nothing but a dream. It had been tempting to tell her the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, but I couldn’t. She wasn’t ready for such craziness in her life. She was actually the happiest I’d ever seen her. She had Chad (holds down puke), her friends, her life. It would’ve been irresponsible of me to expose her to the messed up side of life that I knew all too well, even if it would probably do her some good. But it was my burden. Not hers.
I stared down at her asleep in my arms. She looked so innocent, so helpless. I thought of Aurora and all the burdens she’d had to take on recently and how it must’ve weighed down on her and I just couldn’t do it to my angel. I wanted her to remain innocent for as long as possible. I looked up at that picture-perfect sky, my eyes squinting under the glare of the sun. It wasn’t often I could enjoy those quiet moments with my daughter with nothing but the beauty of Nature around us, away from the vampires, werewolves, fairies, gargoyles, demons, and all that other crap. I took a moment to soak it all in. I never knew if it could be my last.
I took long, shuddering breaths as I basked it all in.
After a while, I kissed her gently on the cheek. “Come on, sweetie, let’s get you home.”
*****
I sat in my armchair and laid the copy of Equestrian Monthly I’d bought the other day across my lap. I was waiting for Lucy to wake up so we could discuss her horse options. I heard her door slam and I made out like I was studying the horses hard.
Lucy trudged in, holding her forehead. She looked hungover, like she’d been on the booze all night. A hit of pixie dust could do that to you.
“Oh, hey, sweetie,” I said, glancing up from my magazine, but immediately putting my focus back on it.
“I had an awful dream,” she said in a cracked voice.
I looked up at her, a concerned look on my face. “Oh, really? How terrible.”
“Yeah. You were an angel and you had a flying horse that I rode on called Peggy Sue.”
“Angel? Me? Man, that really was a crazy dream!”
“But, it was so real.”
I gave her a sympathetic nod. “Yeah, sometimes dreams can be like that. The other night I dreamed I went to Tartarus through a portal on the top of a skyscraper to destroy an army of gargoyles controlled by a satanic elf and was saved by a demon-possessed, sexy necromancer.”
She shook her head. “What’s Tartarus?”
I flipped a hand on the air. “Oh a type of sauce they serve with fish, don’t sweat it, sweetie.” I cleared my throat and held up the horse magazine I had open on my lap. I showed her a picture of a horse. “Sweetie, I’ve been looking at horses and I was thinking maybe a mustang would be the best thing for you.”
She cleared her throat. “You know, I really don’t think I want a horse anymore.”
“Oh no?” I asked, my eyes wide with innocence.
She shook her head. “Nah. I’ve gone off the idea.”
“Oh dear. That’s a shame, sweetie. You really had your heart set on that horse.”
“Yeah, I know. I just don’t know if, you know, it’s really my thing.”
I slapped my thigh. “Oh, that’s such a shame! I was really looking forward to uploading photos of you riding one of these horses!”
“I know, Daddy. But I just don’t think my stomach could take riding on a horse’s back.”
“Oh no, and you were so looking forward to it,” I said in a faux sad voice.
“Hmm, well, I think I’d prefer something else.”
My pretend sadness melted. “Something else?” I asked, my eyes narrowing with concern.
“Yeah, something less exerting.”
My heart started to thud hard. “Like what?”
She smiled. “Well...You know I’ve always really wanted to go for a ride in a Ferrari or a Lamborghini or a Porsche. You know a really fast, sporty car.”
I grabbed my forehead. Oh boy.
“Do you know anyone who drives one?” she asked with a toothy grin.
I sighed, images of a certain Russian mafia boss who liked to drive such exotic cars in the nude jumping to mind. Images I was keen to erase from my memory. Yes, I do know a guy, I thought with a lamentable sigh.
And you’re never gonna meet him!
Chapter 23
Everything went back to normal. Or as normal as it could be. Jerome, some of the other Enforcers, and I got busy repairing the damage the gargoyles had done in the Guild. Okay, so none of us were going to make it on Home Improvement, but hey, we tried our best. Z99 forms were making rare appearances, which was a welcome relief, and the bounty hunters were pleased to be able to get back on the job and earn some cash. And we had a new weapon in our arsenal if we ever had to confront any gargoyles again which was an added bonus. I still hadn’t heard from the higher uppers about all those L45s I filed, but hey, no news is good news, right? Well, if they got pissed, I’d give them what for. I had no choice, we were at war.
Brutus recovered from his bang on the head and was back on the door. I have to say, I preferred him to Rabid. I could mess with Brutus without risking getting my head smacked in. Zane got the Russian treatment and aftercare for his injuries and a bottle of anti-lycan milk from yours truly. As a result, he was back in his magic store selling magic tricks to kids. He’d decided to turn over a new leaf. He’d given up the dark arts and spent his free time practicing illusions. He’d also started a Tuesday night poker school that I promised I’d join when I had the time. Sucker wouldn’t know what hit him once I took ’em all to the cleaners!
Aurora continued to flip between the Underworld and the Overworld. Her portal creation was getting a much-needed fine-tuning while her other skills were being worked on. It wasn’t over with her. More satanists and demons would eventually be along to try and fulfill the prophecy of the Dark Bearer and so we had to be ready.
Tarron Skalanis was tried by Bracken in his court. Snigger. Good luck, buddy. Bracken slung his ass in the privy gaol where Fishstink took care of the rest. By all accounts, Seventh Disciple had been eradicated from the
Chicago Underworld, but I told Bracken not to underestimate these satanists. They were devious. They could hide in plain view without anyone being any the wiser.
I never found out what happened to Nigella. Once that portal was closed, she was trapped in Tartarus. Did she escape? Who knew? I could’ve taken a trip down to Graceland Cemetery to check on her, but something told me that would no longer be her secret hideaway anyhow. Her location had been compromised and she’d need to find a new lair to practice her dark arts. Part of me hoped she’d made it out okay, then I remembered that demon inside her and I thought the best place for her would be Tartarus. Whatever the case, I appreciated her help.
So, all’s well that ends well.
I took my seat at my desk. Everything seemed to be calm and normal. I took the opportunity to check my phone. I winced as I turned it on. It lit up like a slot machine. Great!
Lucy again making more demands. I heard the word, “Daddy!” and I ended the message right then and there. The next one came up and it got all of my attention. Smith.
“Mr. Stone.” He sounded glum, no, scared? I didn’t like it. “Your presence is requested here immediately. I cannot say much more than that. Please come here as soon as you can and meet me in my office. Floor sixty-two.”
The message ended just like that. Intrigue rose inside me. Smith never, ever sounded spooked or concerned or even perturbed, but I knew something had got him agitated. I grabbed my jacket, left the Guild, and headed straight down to the Loop. Dark Suits HQ awaited me. I stared up at the building and I shivered. Something was going on up there, I didn’t know what, but I had a bad feeling in my bones.
The two guys on the door gave me clearance this time. I was finally known around Dark Suits Tower. Was that a good thing? I really didn’t know. I took the elevator up to the sixty-second floor, just as Smith requested. The elevator pinged and the doors zipped open. The moment they did, this bad feeling squirmed in my stomach. Something wasn’t right. A shiver crawled up and down my spine. I put my hand on Excalibur’s hilt as I stepped across the gray carpet, my wide eyes taking in everything. There was no one in sight. The obligatory CCTV camera watched me round the corner.