I heard the squeak of the lock on the side door disengage and momentarily panicked before remembering how well warded we were. A moment later, all three of the Rosewood witches entered the bar, covered in dust and looking a little worse for wear. Louise looked over at Desmond, who was refilling his glass and motioned to the bottle.
“Pour three more, my good man, because hot damn, we deserve a drink after that fiasco.”
“What happened?” I asked, feeling a little guilty. The three of them had stayed behind to clean up the damage that had been done to the church. Damage that, while indirectly, I was responsible for causing.
“Harry showed up and assumed we were there to trash the place,” Betty answered with a dirty look but her expression brightened immediately when she noticed Bogie behind the bar. “You’re back!”
“Who’s Harry?” Desmond asked as he slid three full glasses across the bar.
“The groundskeeper,” I explained. “He’s the resident Catholic mystic.”
“And a real dick,” Louise added. “He thinks we’re a bunch of Satanists.”
Desmond frowned. “When I first got here I checked out the church. I felt the power in the building, but none of the clergy had the sight.”
“No, the clergy are neutral. Harry’s the only one,” I explained. “He’s been out of town for the last week. I’ll introduce you. He’s old and cranky, but he’s pretty powerful and has helped keep the Discordant population down in the past.”
“Old and cranky is an understatement,” Donna grumbled, tossing back her drink. “We had just finished putting the doors back on when he showed up and blasted them off again, saying we’d desecrated the chapel with our dark energy. I had to call mom out to calm him down and she wasn’t too happy about it.”
“Wait, so he has a problem with witches but not psychics?” Desmond asked.
“He grudgingly respects mom as the elder of the mystic community. The rest of us he just sees as hooligans and whippersnappers.”
“Well, I’ll reach out to Harry later in the week,” I said with a glance at the clock. “I’ll fill him in on what happened and make sure that he understands the situation was my fault.” Not that it would help much. Harry wasn’t very open-minded, especially when it came to pagans.
“I’d like to come with you,” Desmond said. “I’d like to find out how much he knows about exorcisms.”
“I’m pretty sure all you need to know is that they’re completely bogus fear tactics used by the church to scar young women for life,” Louise said with disgust.
“Admittedly, those exist,” Desmond acknowledged. “But a Catholic mystic should have some experience with performing a proper demon expulsion.”
“Are you already in trouble?” Betty asked Bogie with her hands on her hips.
“Me? I ain’t done no misbehavin’. Not yet at least,” he added with a suggestive wink.
“Speaking of misbehaving,” Desmond interrupted, giving Bogie a tight smile. “Would you be a dear and check on your houseguests? Seth and I can bring the coven up to speed.”
“With pleasure, boss,” Bogie replied sarcastically, muttering not so quietly about his feelings on the situation as he left.
“Houseguests?” Donna asked, raising her eyebrows.
Desmond explained the situation we now found ourselves in and the challenges that our new Guardians were going to pose.
“Kids? I mean, why? How are they going to help?” asked Louise with a look of disgust.
“Careful, there, Weezy,” Betty said with a wink. “You’re starting to sound like Harry.”
“Oh shut it and don’t call me Weezy!” Louise shot her a dirty look. “You know what I mean. They can’t get into the bar and they probably have to go to school.”
“I think that could help us, actually,” I said with a shrug. “We can cover more ground if they can get to the lost kids at school. After school, they can hit those that I’ve pegged during the day and they should still have time to finish homework.”
“Um, are you forgetting how much homework they pile on kids these days?” Donna asked with a skeptical snort, adding for Desmond’s sake, “I was all set to drop out, take my equivalency test, and get some vocational training. The only reason I graduated is because mom and Seth threatened to bind my magic permanently if I dropped out.”
“We’ll figure something out,” I said dismissively. I really didn’t need to be reminded of the hell that was Donna’s teen years. “Besides, we have bigger issues at the moment,” I added and let Desmond explain Bogie’s theory regarding the wraith.
“Huh,” said Louise, looking around at the others, who all wore the same grim yet apologetic expression. “I hate to say it, but that does sound more up Harry’s alley than ours.”
“We’ll still do everything we can to help,” Betty added quickly and looked over at Donna, who nodded her agreement.
“Thanks,” I said. “You’ve all done more than any of us should ever expect already and I’m truly grateful. Go home and get some rest. We’ll let you know if we come up with any breakthroughs.”
“Are you…” Louise began, but glanced over at Desmond. Even with my brain slightly fuzzy from too much drink, I didn’t miss the silent communication that passed between them. Though I had no idea what it meant exactly. “You’re right. We all need some rest,” she said with a puzzling half-smile. “You know where to find us if you need us.”
After the witches left, I locked the bar back up and turned to see Desmond staring at me with a troubled look, similar to the one Louise wore.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Hm? Nothing. Are you…” Like Louise, he trailed off, looking everywhere but at me.
“That seems to be the question of the evening,” I said with a slight edge to my voice.
“Sorry,” he said, turning back to me with the closest approximation of an abashed expression that a Warrior could muster. “It’s just that after what you just went through, well… You don’t need all of this dumped on you right now. I’m worried. We’re all worried.”
I suppose that after the events that had just transpired, I should have expected as much, both from Desmond and Louise. I realized, of course, that I should have been grateful for good friends who cared about me, but to be honest, I was upset. They now saw me as an emotional liability, something fragile and in need of protecting, and that hurt.
“Honestly, Desmond, I would have appreciated a few hours of sleep before the new Guardians were dumped in our lap, to say nothing of the threat of a new and unfamiliar flavor of Discordant. I appreciate everyone’s concern, but I don’t require special treatment. We all went through the same bad day, okay?”
“Fair enough,” he said and turned a wary eye to the stairs. “Well, might as well get the last hurdle over with.”
“After you,” I said with an exaggerated bow.
Meeting the kids went smoother than I imagined. I’d not spent any length of time with split souls in the past, but I didn’t need prior experience to know that we were going to be in for a rough beginning. Jem’s smile and Nai’s scowl seemed permanently affixed to their faces. Despite her general unpleasantness, I did feel some sympathy for Nai’s disgust over their unconventional names. I imagine that joke got old very fast.
Aside from a tense moment when Nai apparently tried to soul gaze Desmond, the twins didn’t give us any trouble. Whether that was because they had exhausted themselves bickering or something Bogie had said, I don’t know, but I was grateful that after the brief introduction, I was able to get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep. However, by the time I was up and ready to begin moving into our new home, the kids had taken to arguing once again. For the first time in a long time, I was looking forward to the relative calm of work on Monday.
* * *
“So I don’t get it,” Nai said, frowning as she took a bite of her burger. “I thought this place was a big deal because everyone was lost. So far, everyone seems normal. Maybe a little cranky, but
not lost. Even the people who work here, which has to be soul sucking.”
We were sitting in the mall’s food court, taking a much needed meal break. Pete’s team had been gracious enough to provide us with some basic furnishings, but we needed to provide the rest and the kids had come to us with literally nothing but the clothes on their backs. As such, we had spent most of Saturday shopping, which was probably one of my least favorite activities. By their emotional output, it appeared both Desmond and Nai shared my sentiments. Only Jem remained free of obvious annoyance and anxiety.
“She’s right,” Jem said, looking around. “I mean, look at that guy.” He pointed to the kid behind the counter at a smoothie stand that was known for making their employees wear ridiculous uniforms. “He doesn’t look too happy about what he’s doing, but doesn’t feel lost.”
“He’s not happy about the job, but he’s grateful to have one,” I explained after casting out slightly to read the man’s emotional state. It dawned on me that I could use the necessary evil of shopping as a learning opportunity for the teens. “Not everyone who is unhappy is lost.”
“What does that mean exactly? Lost, that is,” Jem asked.
“It’s hard to explain in words, but the closest approximation is deep confusion. You’ll know the lost by how they feel. As a Guardian, you’ll know exactly what to do based on what you see when you look at their soul.”
As I spoke, a young man in a leather jacket breezed past our table and the atmosphere took a sharp turn.
“Um… that guy isn’t…” Jem stammered as Nai’s eyes went wide in comprehension.
“Oh my god, is that a…” she started, but Desmond interrupted her by standing abruptly.
“Pardon me for a moment.”
“Can I go too?” Nai asked, half out of her seat with sudden enthusiasm.
“Stay here,” Desmond growled and took off after the vampire, who had followed a group of girls down the hall that led to the restrooms.
“Ugh!” she huffed and sat back down.
“Vampires are dangerous,” I said with a hint of warning. “All Discordant are, for that matter. But you did a great job of identifying his aura,” I added, hoping my compliment would placate her, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears. “If you come across a Discordant, always call Desmond.” I stared pointedly at the shiny new phones that neither she nor her brother seemed capable of putting down since we purchased them this morning.
“Um, Seth? About that…” Jem set his pizza down, looking pale. “Can vampires, you know, turn us?”
“Turn?” It took me a moment to figure out what he was saying. Monster mythology fluctuated so much in popular culture that I had a hard time keeping up with how the general population perceived what they believed to be imaginary creatures. “Ah, no. Humans can willingly sacrifice their souls to the Discordant in hopes of one day joining their rank, but in doing so, they are submitting themselves to slavery in the Chaotic realm and most don’t survive.”
“The what?”
“Oh my god, Jem, really? Pete told us about that. It’s where the Discordant come from,” Nai said before I could explain. “Really though, why haven’t we just gone over to their realm and put an end to this?”
“Don’t you think that if it were that easy, we would have done so already?” I countered. “Look, now that you have your phones, I’m going to send you a link.” I called up a page on the internet and sent it over to the kids. “A few years back one of our agents set up a wiki with all of the information you could ever want about the Discordant. I suggest you study this in your spare time.”
“But this is just the wiki for the game Monster Curse,” Nai said with a frown.
“That it is,” I said with a knowing smile. Video game mechanics eluded me, but I had their attention. “Monster Curse was developed to be a training tool for agents.”
“Well, that explains why it was impossible to beat,” Jem noted.
“The Warrior who developed it thought that passing it off as a commercial game was a good way to make money,” I explained. “Prior to that, all of our information was kept in a handbook the size of the Greater Manhattan phone book. When game wikis became popular, this one was added as a way for all of us, not just the Warriors, to easily access information on the Discordant without carting around the reference books.”
The fact that we now had this information at our fingertips was something that still awed me, but it was obvious I was alone in my awe. Though really, I should not have expected a reaction from two kids who were born after the advent of high-speed internet connections.
“Wait,” said Nai, whose lips were twisting into a devious smile that I didn’t trust. “So here, where it tells the weaknesses, this is actually a guide on what weapons to use on the different Discordant!”
“In the most general terms yes,” Desmond said as he rejoined us, flashing me a look that said he knew, as I did, where Nai was going with this. “But the wiki doesn’t mention Warrior magic or any of our trade secrets, so I wouldn’t start sharpening any stakes if I were you.”
“I was just thinking this could be useful if we’re attacked,” she said defensively.
“Your souls are muted,” I explained. “You are in no personal danger of being attacked by a Discordant.”
“Unless you start sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong,” Desmond added with a look of warning. “If you’re hell bent on slaying beasts, a mobile version of Monster Curse is available. I’ll even invite you to try to best my high score,” he added with a smug smile.
By the time we were finished with all of our shopping, the sun had long since set and it was time to get back to the bar and back to our real job of protecting Blackbird from the Discordant. I was hesitant to leave the teens home alone, but I didn’t have a choice. Even with Bogie and the witches assisting, there wasn’t much hope of saving the lost if both the Guardians and the Observer weren’t present. As we were leaving, Jem stopped us.
“Um, do you think it’d be okay if we hung out with Bogie?” he asked, looking slightly embarrassed.
“Bogie’s working the bar,” Desmond said. “And why the hell would you want to hang out with that runt anyway?”
“Well, he’s a nice guy and uh…” he stammered, suddenly embarrassed. “And it’s just… we don’t…”
“There’s no food,” Nai supplied in irritation, opening the empty fridge for emphasis.
“Son of a…” Desmond sighed, looking just as guilty as I felt. Despite spending the day at what felt like every store in Blackbird, we’d neglected to do any grocery shopping for the new place.
“Here,” I said, handing them each a few bills. “There’s a diner down the street called Louie’s that stays open all night.”
“And next to that is a convenience mart for snacks and drinks. I suggest picking up some bottled water,” Desmond added. “I strongly advise against drinking from the taps.”
“Maybe we should send Betty over to check on them,” I said as Desmond and I crossed the park that separated our new neighborhood from downtown. “She’s good with kids.”
“Did you explain mystics to them?” Desmond asked.
“Never mind,” I said with a defeated sigh. There was always something.
“They won’t be kids forever,” Desmond said as we passed Louie’s Diner. “What’s a year when you’ve lived as long as we have?”
I stopped and gave him a pointed look. “You’re going to drag out that cliché after the week we just had? Need I remind you that you only arrived in Blackbird last Tuesday?”
Desmond flinched, as if I’d punched him. “Fair point, Seth. Fair point.”
* * *
“You know, Seth, as backwards as Blackbird is, I’m sure there is a plumber out there who could set up a bathroom.”
“Several,” I grunted as I tightened the connection on the drainpipe I was installing. “But they would charge four times more than what it cost me to get the supplies from Home Depot.”
&
nbsp; I had to admit, after living in the small apartment over the Five Penny, having a spacious home that afforded each of us privacy was a nice change of pace. Everyone had their own bedroom and there was even an extra room that we turned into a study, but like most homes built at the beginning of the last century, there was just one full bathroom, which was the first thing that Nai noticed (and complained loudly about).
“True, but aren’t some things worth spending money on?”
“Desmond, it’s plumbing, not rocket science. I can do this,” I said, trying to keep my irritation in check. To be fair, my previous plumbing experience involved unclogging the drains at the apartment, but I was confident that the hour of video tutorials I had studied were sufficient. If I actually had the guts to be honest with myself, installing the plumbing on my own was a pigheaded display of macho pride. Ever since Friday night, Desmond had been treating me as if I was some sort of fragile child incapable of self-preservation and quite frankly, I was hurt. Sure, I was ready to sacrifice my soul for the greater good, but being prone to martyrdom didn’t mean I was helpless.
“I wasn’t implying that you are incapable,” he said, rolling his eyes upward. “I was merely suggesting that the DIY approach seems unnecessary, especially when we have bigger issues to deal with at the moment.”
“Physical labor helps me think. At least it would, if someone wasn’t nagging me every five minutes,” I grumbled. “Besides, have you looked at the mortgage payments on this monstrosity yet? Admin may have covered the closing and down payments, but we’ve been saddled with thirty years of monthly payments equal to half my income and last time I checked, the bar was all but breaking even. That’s not even mentioning two additional noncontributing household members draining our funds.”
“Actually, we ran a considerable profit last week,” Desmond informed me without hiding his surprise. “At first I thought that Bogie was watering the drinks, but no, people actually seem to like the runt.”
“Well thank the Creator for small favors,” I said, ignoring the barb against Bogie. I wasn’t in the mood to add another log to the argument fire. “I just hope it’s enough if they decide they want to continue their education next year.”
Rise of the Discordant: The Complete Five Book Series Page 21