by Devon Monk
Dane’s no slouch, I thought. Neither is Sedra. And if he had those other men with him, Jingo was outnumbered.
Dane isn’t strong enough to fight Jingo Jingo alone, Dad said. Nor to break Sedra’s cage.
How do you break the cage? I asked.
A spell. A dark magic spell.
So Dane, or one of the men with him, used dark magic? I said.
Perhaps.
There was a knock on my door. I picked up the brush on my dresser and ran it through my hair as I walked through the apartment.
I looked through the peephole.
Zay looked back at me.
I unlocked the chains, didn’t bother with the wards, since he was the one who had set them, and opened the door.
He had a pizza box in his hand and a case of beer in the other. Shame and Terric were behind him.
“Dinner?” he said.
“Starving. Hey, Shame, Terric, come on in.”
Shame had another pizza box and a small paper bag; Terric, bless him, had a liter of Coke. Beer just wasn’t my thing. Not even with pizza.
“So I hear you had an interesting day.” Terric handed me the Coke.
“I suppose. You mean the Hounding?”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell Victor about it?” I asked.
“Didn’t see that it was any of my business to. Any luck?”
I shook my head. Zay was already in the living room, sitting on the couch and pulling a slice of pepperoni out of the box he had opened on the coffee table.
“We covered ground,” I said. “If he’s in the city, he either hasn’t used magic in the last day or he has some kind of trick up his sleeve I can’t figure out.” Of course, he could know Shield spells like the one around the boat that made it seem like there wasn’t any magic going on behind it.
Something niggled at the back of my brain. I’d just Hounded the entire city—and I’m assuming the other Hounds had done a thorough sweep in their areas too. Dane had recently used magic. Hadn’t he? He broke Sedra out of the cage. Fought Jingo Jingo. There should be some lingering scent of his signature somewhere.
“What’d you tell the Hounds?” Shame asked around a bite of pizza. He was sitting at the round table in front of my window, the paper bag in front of him.
“That doesn’t matter.”
Shame scoffed. “Oh, but it does matter. Have you ever heard of Zayvion Jones? He’s this big bad Closer. And if he catches wind that you’re letting the Authority secrets get loose in a few dozen Hound heads, he’s gonna have to clean up after your mess. There might be a fight; someone could die. Then there’ll be a trial, and you’ll wake up one day on a boat to Guam, wondering why your life in the convent isn’t as fulfilling as you thought it would be.”
“Convent?”
“Well, I doubt he’d send you off to become a stripper.”
Terric chuckled. “I think there are some shades of gray between nun and stripper.”
“Not with Zay,” Shame said. “When he gives someone a new identity, he’s ham-handed as they come.”
I took a piece of pizza with olives and mushrooms and settled down on the couch next to Zay.
“Nun?”
He shrugged. “Shame has a limber imagination.”
“You going to Close me?”
“Have you told the Hounds anything you shouldn’t have?”
“No.”
“Then no.”
He took a swig of his beer and dropped the subject flat. Don’t get me wrong—I was glad that he didn’t immediately morph into Mr. Righteous and Good and go dig around in the minds of the Hounds. But I was very surprised he didn’t even look like he was interested in doing such a thing.
“How often do you Close people?” I asked.
He groaned a little as he bent and reached for another slice of pizza. “It’s a last-ditch resort.”
“How often do you resort to the last ditch?”
“Maybe a half dozen times a year. Sometimes less.”
Not nearly as often as I’d thought. The Authority made it a point to remind me, it seemed like daily, that they could Close me at any time. It was good to know they didn’t do it very often. Or at least Zay didn’t.
“I told them Dane’s name,” I said.
“Good,” he said. “Maybe they’ll find the fucker.” Zay drank the last of his beer, and Shame tossed him another.
Shame caught my eye, grinned. “Wee bit of larceny,” he said.
I considered Zayvion. “You take a pain pill lately?”
Zay shook his head. “Beer’s good.”
Stone, who must have been making a mess out of my bedroom all this time, trotted into the living room.
“Hey, Stone,” Shame said. “C’mere, boy. I brought you something.”
Shame picked up the paper bag and shook it.
Stone’s ears lifted into points. He cooed and tromped over to Shame.
“Look at this.” Shame pulled a box out of the bag.
I groaned. “Are you serious?”
“Sure, I am.”
“Jenga?” I said. “He won’t understand how to play it. He’s a rock.”
“Oh, now, you don’t have to hurt his feelings, do you? Stone is a smart boy.”
Shame opened the box and carefully upended it onto the table. The stack of blocks teetered for a second, then stood like a nice little tower.
Stone cooed and rumbled, his wings rubbing against his back.
Stone and blocks, like butter and bread.
“See now, here’s the trick.” Shame pushed one of the long, thin blocks out of the tower with just his pointer finger, then placed the block to the side. Stone stood entranced, like he had just seen magic for the first time.
“Push the block.” Shame said. He chose another block, pushed it out of the stack.
Stone cooed.
“You try. Push the block,” he said.
Stone scooted up closer to the table and sat on his haunches.
“He won’t do it,” Terric said.
“Bet on it?”
“What you want to lose?”
“Twenty bucks.”
“Deal, though I hate stealing from your mother.”
“I have my own money, you arse.”
“And yet, we’ve never seen it.”
“Just use one finger,” Shame said, holding up his middle finger and looking at Terric.
Stone held up one finger, mimicking him. I snorted.
“Pick a block, and push.” Shame touched his fingertip to a block, and nudged it a little.
“Did I tell you Stone showed up to help Nola and Cody?” I asked.
“Yes,” Zay said. “You didn’t say what, exactly, happened, though.” He tipped up his beer, finished that one too. Not that it showed on him yet. All I got off of him were waves of discomfort and a low-level frustration that was not quite anger.
I wondered if mixing beer with those emotions was a good idea. And decided it didn’t matter; we weren’t going out again tonight. Man deserved a couple beers before bed.
So did I. But I hated beer. Too bad there was no wine in the cupboard.
“One finger,” Shame said, this time showing his index finger.
Stone growled, stuck out one finger, touched a block, and looked at Shame.
“That’s it. Push.”
Stone pushed. The block shifted a millimeter or two.
“Little bit harder.”
“She said they were stopped by a man,” I said. “Cody called him the shadow man.”
Shame looked over at me. “What?”
Stone pushed harder on the block and kept pushing so that his entire finger filled the hole where the block had been and unbalanced the whole thing. The blocks tumbled with a loud clatter over the table.
“Hot damn,” Terric said. “Twenty bucks. Pay up.”
“Hey now. I wasn’t watching.”
“Deal was if he could do it. Not if you could see him do it.”
“I never said
he’d do it on the first try.” Shame restacked the blocks into the plastic sleeve.
“You owe me money,” Terric said. “Do I have to ask your mother to settle your bets? Again?”
“Just hold on a damn minute,” Shame grumbled.
Stone gurgled and took the plastic sleeve away from him, then swiftly stacked all the blocks perfectly again into a tower.
Stone held up one finger, looked at Shame. Touched a block near the bottom.
“I don’t think I’d go for that one, mate,” Shame warned.
Stone pushed it. Careful to keep his finger out of the hole this time, he moved the block halfway through the tower, then shifted so he could reach the other side and pull the block the rest of the way out.
He clacked, and his wings opened and closed while he talked to the tower of blocks. He was one happy rock.
“That’s it! Good job.” Shame rubbed Stone’s head. Stone soaked up the praise, then pushed another block out. And another. And another. Within seconds, the tower had taken on an entirely new shape—more holes than solid lines, blocks stuck half out, completely removed, then replaced on ends, on edges.
It looked like an M.C. Escher painting, unbelievably, eye-trickingly complex.
Terric chuckled. “You’ve been out-Jenga’d by a rock.”
“A rock who just earned me twenty bucks. Hand it over, Ter.”
“It fell. You owe me.”
Shame patted his pocket. “I don’t think I have it on me. No, wait.” He pulled his middle finger out of his pocket. “Here it is.”
Terric just shook his head. “Ass.”
Stone pushed one more block. The entire thing came clattering down. He clattered back at it and stacked it up again. He used both hands to reshape it into holes and stair steps. It looked a little like the Eiffel Tower.
This time he left it standing, tipped his head a couple times, and trotted off toward his box of blocks I’d bought him a while ago.
Shame pushed back from the table and dropped down into the chair next to the couch.
“Shadow man?” he asked, reaching for the pizza.
I popped the last bite of pizza in my mouth. “That’s what he said.”
“Think it’s Leander?” Terric asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “The solid Veiled are locked up, right? Have we had any leads on where Leander is?”
“No. We’ve been looking.” He glanced at Shame, who frowned.
“We’ve tried a lot of things,” Shame said. “But he’s damned impossible to track. Did you catch a hint of him around Cody?”
I groaned. “I didn’t even think of Hounding the area. Maybe we could go back.”
“Probably too late now,” Shame said. “I’d guess any spells he used would be gone.”
He was right.
“But what I don’t get,” Shame mused, “is why he would bother Cody. Z? Ideas?”
“You know how Cody was with magic,” Zay said. “Never did anything short of amazing.” He paused and stared out the window for a minute or two. “If what Allie says is true, and part of his soul is attached to Mama Rositto, he’s a broken spirit. Maybe there’s something about that that Leander thinks he can use. I don’t think he wants Cody for his magic—he can’t use magic anymore. Sedra saw to that with the second Closing that broke him for good.”
We all fell quiet. I still didn’t know how she could have had her own child Closed. Twice. The image that Sid had shown me of her, laughing, and somehow so much more alive and loving, flashed behind my eyes again.
She used to be happy, used to have a life she loved living. Or at least that’s what I’d guess if I’d met the Sedra in that photo. But the Sedra I knew was as cold as death. Empty of laughter. Angry. Like she’d been hollowed out, and only the shadow of what she was remained.
Zay reached over and took one of the last beers.
“So why would Leander want him?” I said, echoing Shame.
Terric sighed. “Could be for a million things, if it was Leander. He is clearly out for revenge—the battle at the inn proved that. Cody’s pretty simple. There’s the possibility he saw a Veiled, a ghost, or just a shadow and called it a shadow man. You might have jumped to conclusions, thinking he saw Leander. Where did it happen?”
“St. Johns.”
He took a drink of his beer and leaned forward, rolling the bottle between his palms. “Weird shit’s been happening out there an awful lot lately, hasn’t it?”
I tossed one hand into the air. “That’s what I said.”
“Have any of the rest of you wondered if Victor’s keeping something from us?” Terric said quietly.
“What?” Zay asked.
Terric shrugged. “I don’t know. He seems worried. He keeps looking over his shoulder, and I don’t know if he’s expecting Leander to be there, or Bartholomew.”
“Maybe both.” Shame put his empty beer bottle on the coffee table. “I’ll try to wheedle it out of Mum. She should know if Victor’s been threatened by Bartholomew. As for Leander, fuck all if I know where the bastard is.” He pushed up onto his feet. “Your da happen to say anything about him?”
“No.”
“Have you asked him?” Shame asked.
I shook my head. Bad idea. That headache I’d decided I’d pay for all the Hounding tonight was kicking in.
“Want me to?” Shame offered, rubbing his hands together.
“No, times a hundred,” I said.“Any more magic tonight, and I will be barfing. It can wait until tomorrow. Unless any of you think someone’s in immediate danger?”
Shame shrugged. “Nola and Cody are with Stotts, right?”
“Yes.” Damn, that reminded me. I wanted to put a Hound on the house to let me know if anything happened around Nola.
“They’re in good hands,” Zay said.
Shame nodded. “So we pick this up tomorrow?”
“Works for me,” Zay agreed.
“Victor has shifts out looking for Sedra,” Terric said. “We’re not on until afternoon. You too, Jones.” He picked up the last beer and pointed it at Zay. “See you tomorrow. Sober.” He took the beer with him, out the door.
Zay just shook his head. “I think Terric’s getting too comfortable around here.”
Shame stood. “You’re singing my song, Z. The sooner he ships out, the better.” He absently scratched Stone behind the ears, then walked over to the door. “Night, you two. Keep it easy.”
“Night,” I said.
He shut the door, and I leaned my head against Zay’s shoulder, tucking my legs up on the couch and closing my eyes. I needed to set the locks on the door, needed to call the Hounds and see if they had any leads on Dane, and ask one of them to watch over Nola and Cody. Needed to ask my dad if he knew where Sedra was. Needed to ask him if he could find Leander or Dane.
Instead, I fell asleep.
“Allie?”
I woke. Zayvion stood above me. He was still wearing his T-shirt and jeans, but a groggy glance around the room showed me one pizza box was closed on the table, Stone was curled up in the corner with the other pizza box on his head, and the Jenga blocks now resembled the Colosseum.
I assumed at least a little time had passed.
“I’d let you sleep there, but you’re on your bad arm and hip.” He held his hand down for me, and I took it. Sat. Ouch. My bad arm, my hip, and my head hurt.
Zay didn’t say anything else. He just helped me up onto my feet and walked with me to the bedroom. I didn’t trip or whimper or swear—impressive victories, as far as I was concerned. I even managed to pull the covers back and crawl into bed all on my own.
Zay turned off the lights, checked the window, then crawled into bed next to me. He shifted and, with a groan, worked on finding a position in the bed that made his ribs comfortable—flat on his back with one arm crossed over his chest. I pressed my back up against his side, and he slipped his hand up to rest on my hip.
And then I slept again.
Chapter Ten
; I am not a morning person. Never have been. But I woke sharp and early the next morning. Sunlight filtered through my curtains with the curious blue of predawn.
It wasn’t a dream that woke me. I woke because I knew why Leander wanted Cody.
I pushed the covers back. My arm still hurt, but not as bad as yesterday. My skull felt like it’d been scrubbed out with steel wool. Raw, sore, but clean. There was a reason why I took my Proxy pain fast and hard. It got it out of the way so I could work again.
Fast Band-Aid rip for me, every time, baby.
By the time I stood up out of bed, Zay was awake.
“Tell me you’re making coffee,” he mumbled.
“After I shower. I know why Leander wants Cody.”
That did it. Zay’s eyes opened, and he was very, very alert.
“Why?”
“He’s looking for a body to possess. Right? He’s just a spirit. And he can’t do anything unless he’s solid. He used the solid Veiled to do what he wanted before, but they’re locked up. You said it last night—Cody has a broken spirit. I’m guessing there’s room in his head for Leander. As a matter of fact, I think we should go make sure he didn’t get in there. Get in Cody before Stone got rid of him. Do you think Shame could tell since it’s Death magic stuff?”
Zay levered up, the tightening at the corners of his eyes and jaw the only indication that he was in pain.
“Shame should be able to tell. I’ll call him.”
I padded into the bathroom and took a five-minute shower. By the time I was done, Zay was just hanging up the phone. “Shame will be over soon. I also told Victor what we’re doing.”
“You told him we’re looking into Cody, right?” I tucked the towel tighter around me, then dug in my dresser for my bra and panties.
“Yes.”
He got up, paused halfway to standing and exhaled, then pushed until he was straight.
“I’m going to take a shower,” he said.
He walked stiffly into the bathroom, and I got dressed. Work clothes, which meant jeans, a tank, T-shirt, and sweater. I brushed my hair and tucked it behind my ears.
I finally heard the shower water turn on and went to make coffee. Stone was still sleeping, which I could tell only because he didn’t move. I wandered into the kitchen. Looked like it was going to be cold pizza for breakfast, unless we wanted to catch something on the way out. I started the coffee.