Secrets of Skin and Stone

by Wendy Laine

  “Was this on the menu?” I picked up the burger.

  “Nah, that’s why it’s the Piper Special.” Piper took another bite and closed her eyes with a sigh of appreciation. She even made eating sexy.

  I took a bite.

  Everybody in the diner was waiting to see my reaction. Their gazes made the hair on the back of my neck stand at attention. Small towns.

  The peanut butter blended with the bacon and burger. There were enough flavors all at once that I was surprised at how good it was. “Did you come up with this all on your own?”

  Piper shrugged. “I’m special that way. It actually started out with Dick saying, ‘Piper is special, so she gets her fries on a separate plate, and she gets the best-looking lettuce so I don’t have to deal with her complaining.’ Now he just calls the whole thing Piper’s Special. He was gonna put it on the menu as Piper’s Special, but I told him I didn’t want…that.”

  She didn’t want the attention.

  “You’re a genius,” I said.

  She smiled while pressing her napkin to her mouth. I loved how polite she was. My mom would love that, too. Mom hadn’t been impressed with the girls in Atlanta I’d dated. She said they had the manners of badgers dressed up to look like humans.

  Piper put her napkin down to the side of her plate. She had another on her lap that she’d unfolded and kept ironing the wrinkles out of with her hands.

  “You like the burger?” she asked.

  “Best thing I’ve ever eaten.”

  Another round of betting took place behind me. If I was laying down money, I’d bet whatever Piper wanted, Piper got. Including me…if that’s what she wanted.

  Leaning across the Formica table, Piper whispered, “You’ll have to leave a decent tip when you ask for it, though. Dick isn’t above spitting in food if you annoy him, and I’m not so sure he’ll go to all this trouble for somebody new in town.”

  I glanced over at the older man at the grill. He was in his forties, a big man with shrewd eyes that were watching me. He either wanted my response to the burger or to Piper. Both were good, but he’d probably appreciate me lusting after the burger more than Piper. He flashed her a rather paternal smile when she gave him a thumbs up.

  “Especially someone renting,” she added, frowning.

  I saw the moment it occurred to her that I might not be anything more than a transient person in her life.

  “I have family here.” It might be the one and only time I claimed Danny.

  And it backfired. She nodded, and her spine stiffened.

  Behind me, a chair scraped the floor as one of the jocks got up from their table. The heavy tread of boots thudded on the diner’s floor, heading in our direction. Great. Just what the moment needed.

  “Hey, Piper.” The guy’s hair was brown, but buzzed short, and his nose looked like it had been broken once. He was bulkier than Danny, but shorter than me. “Who’s he?” He nodded at me with a flat expression that his tight-muscled stance contradicted.

  Piper eyed him warily, but she hadn’t heard the betting behind me—she didn’t look pissed enough. “This is Gris, Hank. He’s…uhh, Danny’s cousin.” Not how I wanted her defining my place in the world.

  “You’re Danny’s cousin?” Hank asked. “Danny says you hunt monsters and ghosts.”

  Thanks, Danny. Real nice. I couldn’t punch Hank for that. I might punch Danny instead. My business was my business, and it should’ve been my right to spread it around.

  “Pretty much,” I answered.

  Hank laughed and called to his friends, “He really does. Danny weren’t messin‘ with us.”

  They all laughed.

  Piper retreated even more—either because of their laughter or because it was obvious she knew very little about me.

  “He said you’re like Batman, too. You have all this money and you sleep during the day.”

  I ignored that. I had to. Danny hadn’t just been referring to money and my sleeping habits when he’d brought up Batman. I sipped my shake and took another bite of my burger. “Does it taste as good if it’s not crunchy peanut butter?” I asked Piper.

  She shook her head. “Plus, there’s the texture.”

  “He says you’re rich,” Hank interrupted us. “Are you rich?”

  Piper froze like a statue again.

  I shrugged. “Inheritance.” It was my standard answer. I’d inherited being a Watcher and money came with it. It was the way my funny little world worked. I’d had a career at six years old.

  “Why are you here in Hidden Creek?” he asked.

  “Seemed like the thing to do and the place to do it.” Then, because he’d pissed me off talking about Piper earlier, I added, “My aunt thought it might be nice for Danny to have a good example around for a bit. She says he hangs out with jerks who aren’t worth a girl’s time.” I looked at Hank. “So, you’re friends with Danny?”

  It was worth it to see Piper hide a laugh by turning away and covering her mouth.

  I darted sideways quick so that Hank’s fist hit a metal bar on the back of the seat. It was likely pissing painful even before I swept his legs out from under him. He fell flat on his back with a loud swack that got everybody’s attention.

  The cook jumped from behind the counter right as Hank’s friends stood up.

  “All of y’all, cool it,” the cook said to the others. He was my height with an additional hundred pounds of bulk from eating the same food he cooked. He reached down a hand to help Hank up before asking me, “You fixin’ to make trouble?”

  “He was defending me,” Piper said just as I opened my mouth.

  The cook, whose name badge proclaimed him to be “Dick—Owner” smiled at Piper, before frowning at Hank. “What’s the matter with you? Your daddy know you’re still picking fights?”

  “He told me to make sure I win ‘em.” Hank rubbed his fist while scowling at me.

  “Not in my place.” Dick gestured at the door. “Pay your bill and stay away for a week, or I’ll have a talk with him and spit in your food.”

  Hank nodded. “We was leaving anyhow.”

  His friends shuffled by. One of them, tall, sharp-eyed, mouthed, “You’re dead.” I didn’t like the way his gaze lingered on Piper. They paid their bill, grumbling, but under Dick’s watchful eye.

  When the door shut behind them, Dick turned to Piper. “Sweet Pea asked if she could come play with your dog sometime this week.”

  Piper wiped her mouth with her napkin, and this time I saw tears flood her eyes.

  “Somebody killed her dog yesterday,” I said.

  Dick‘s eyebrows rose, and he looked to Piper for confirmation. She nodded, even though she had closed her eyes, keeping her body tense and shut-off.

  “Somebody?” Dick repeated.

  Piper covered her face with her hands, and her shoulders shook in silent sobs. Our waitress came over and hugged Piper.

  I swallowed. I’d thought her control was unnerving, but seeing her cry tore at my heart.

  Dick stared out the diner’s windows where engines revved as Hank and his friends took off. He frowned, but muttered, “They’re stupid, but I can’t see them killing a dog.”

  What was I supposed to say? I agreed, but I didn’t have a better answer. Telling him that wasn’t likely the answer he wanted from the new guy around.

  “Hank used to be better,” Dick said. “I mean, he’s a bully like his daddy, but he got much worse after what happened to his sister last year.”

  I filed that away. Another unusual occurrence within the last year.

  He tapped his fingers on the table twice. “You let me know if you need any help…uhh…”

  “Gris. Gris Caso, I‘m staying in the house across from the Porters for a bit.” I shook the hand he held out.

  “I don’t like this business with Jester,” Dick said. “It’s ugly in ways we haven’t seen here. This ain’t that kind of place, you know? Didn’t used to be, anyway. Been full of surprises, lately.”

&
nbsp; Piper pushed out of the waitress’s hug with a stoic smile stretching her mouth. “We saw the police at the cemetery. I figured you’d know what it was about.” She sniffed and bit her lip—hard. It seemed to give her a measure of control, and she sat a little straighter.

  Dick snorted. “I probably knew before the sheriff. Everybody’s been talking about it up until you two strolled in. Somebody dug up an old grave.” He gave me a suspicious look.

  I shook my head. “Not me.” I’d been up to other things last night, other things I wouldn’t be sharing.

  Piper glared at him, and she punched his shoulder. “Dick! It wasn’t Gris.” I liked how quick she was to defend me.

  “I heard he’s some kind of ghost hunter. Maybe he went to the source.” Dick rubbed his shoulder where she’d punched it.

  I held up my hands, flipping them side-to-side. A night of digging would’ve shown under my nails.

  Dick grinned. “You’ve got city boy hands.”

  I shoved my hands back under the table. When I was in Watcher form, I had claws and hard-shelled skin, but he was right about my human hands.

  Shrugging, Dick added, “Besides they’re not sure it was dug up last night. It was in a quieter part of the cemetery—could’ve happened a few days before.” His expression said I wasn’t off the hook.

  The door opened. Dick and the waitress both called greetings to the older couple who strolled in. The waitress squeezed Piper’s shoulder before heading to get the newcomers’ orders.

  “Your heart attacks are on the house. Least I can do for Jester,” Dick said, going back behind the counter.

  “So, umm, you’re a paranormal investigator?” Piper exhaled. “That’s…” I waited for her to finish, but she just shook her head as if she couldn’t find a polite word.

  “Yes.”

  “Like a medium?”

  “No. I research paranormal events.”

  “And you’re here.”

  I cleared my throat. “I have family here.”

  “You’re not here on a job?”

  I couldn’t lie to her. “I am here on a job.”

  She nodded. “I know absolutely nothing about you.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “You’re right. I know I can’t trust you. I don’t know if you’ll be here in a week, or that you’re not like your cousin, or that you’re not just interested in me ‘cause I’m weird and strange things have happened.” She pushed to her feet. “Excuse me. I see someone who can give me a ride. It was nice meeting you again, Mr. Gris Caso, paranormal investigator.”

  I swore under my breath.

  “Don’t profane.” Piper shook her head and called out, “Lorna, are you headed home?” to someone leaving. She was gone a moment later.

  I tightened my fist around the napkin in my hand before forcibly relaxing. Piper wasn’t wrong and, hell, she didn’t know the half of what I was keeping from her.

  Don’t get too attached, Gris.

  Dick sat down across from me a second later. “Struck out pretty hard there.”

  “Thanks for noticing.”

  “What was it? If you don’t mind me asking.”

  I did mind, but I also didn’t want to alienate everybody in town. “I think it was…everything actually. I’m still going to find out what happened to her dog.”

  Dick started in on the remainder of Piper’s fries. “Want some advice?” He dipped a fry in her tartar sauce, then ate it. It was probably very “city boy” of me that it seemed kind of unhygienic.

  “Sure.”

  “I don’t know if this paranormal investigator shtick is some sort of snake oil business.”

  “It’s not.” I was saving their town from being bedeviled into madness—and not even getting paid. Unbelievable, but not a con.

  He waved that away. “If you want to know what’s happening in this town, you’ll make nice with Piper. Piper waited tables for me over the summer, and she pays attention. I mean, she really pays attention, and nobody knows the dirt on a town like the people who are hovering nearby to see if you’re ready for your check yet.”

  I looked out the window where Piper was chatting amiably with one of the servers while heading toward the woman’s car. Just before getting in, Piper looked at me. Her jaw tightened, and she slid into the passenger seat.

  Dick laughed. “I’d meet her on neutral ground, though.”

  “Where’s that?”

  “Her second home.”

  “Here?”

  “The library.” He got up from the table with Piper’s plate. “She’s there nearly every day after school. Good luck.”

  I wiped a hand down my face and stared out the window. Piper was an obstinate, complicated, beautiful puzzle, and she had a point. This place would be in my side mirror in a couple weeks. Though I wasn’t leaving until I was sure Piper was safe. Someone had been putting curse bags in her room for a while. Killing her dog had been an enormous escalation.

  Pulling my phone out, I started making notes of situations and people to check out. Suddenly, Hidden Creek had way too many people, and the only person I was ruling out as a suspect was Piper Devon. Ninety-seven percent sure.

  …

  It was difficult to tell whether Piper was awake or not. It was late, but she slept with at least one of her lights on. Her breathing didn’t seem slow or deep enough for her to be asleep. I wasn’t going inside, not tonight.

  I tackled a fiend outside her window, muffling the sound as it turned and tried to claw my eyes. I drove my fist into its chest and ripped out its heart. The fiend dissolved with one last shriek only I could hear. I shook the sticky guts off my fingers, even though they disintegrated, too. Their insides were the consistency of wet sand. It got underneath my claws before they dissolved. Danny and his mom might think the birthright was a blessing, but we earned the money we made.

  Most jobs, you could take a day off. If I did, fiends had an extra day to get into a person’s brain and drive them mad with nightmares. Other cities contacted us. Cities and governments. Small towns like this one usually didn’t know or worry about their fiend population. Of course, most other rural farming towns likely didn’t have relations to Watchers living there to recognize things had gone wrong.

  I’d cleaned out Piper’s room and yard of fiends last night. Tonight, there were just as many as before, as if I’d never done it. I must’ve missed a curse bag…or two.

  Behind me, a fiend shrieked in the air, diving at my back. I swung around as it shot from the roof straight at me. Ornery things always tried to tear my wings off. Its momentum knocked me to the ground. My outstretched claws plunged into its chest. Greasy and gritty fiend gore dripped down all over me, and I turned my face away, even as it sizzled and disintegrated. It was like a gross form of pixie dust. Only these Tinkerbells were six and seven feet tall, reeked of brimstone, and had fangs and claws.

  I lay on the ground for a minute, catching my breath. If it’d managed to tear my wings off—wings which were very much a part of me—and there were other fiends waiting to attack, it might be easy enough to kill me. I’d never imagined such a thing, but that Watcher’s grave and Danny’s story about the Watcher dying here had gotten into my head.

  After shifting back into human form, I inhaled shakily and got up. It was rare fiends managed to break any of my bones, and I did heal faster, but I was feeling unusually fragile tonight. My Watcher body had a hard shell, more muscle mass, and I had talons of my own. Feeling my own mortality like this was ridiculous.

  I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. I’d gotten a bulletproof case because my phones didn’t seem to care for crash landings or being slammed into things at high-velocity. This phone had lasted six weeks now—a new record.

  I added to the notes on my phone as I walked back home. I never wore shoes or a shirt at night because my Watcher form would split both, but I drew the line at pants. I wore pants. They were loose, and I tore through them fairly regularly.

  The ceme
tery would have to wait a night. I’d flown by there earlier and there was a sheriff’s cruiser hidden in the nearby bushes—probably hoping the vandal would come back to check things out.

  There was still plenty of research to be done, and my laptop was one of the few things I was never without. Since Hidden Creek didn’t put so much as their newspaper online, visiting the library tomorrow had a two-fold purpose.

  I sensed their presence in the bushes the second I stepped onto my property, but it was too late to wrap the night around me and muffle my approach. Hell, I’d be messing with the demonic and dumb tonight.

  “You guys might as well come out. I hear your breathing,” I shouted, stopping in the middle of my front yard.

  Their shadowed forms fanned out as they walked toward me. It was Hank from the diner, and he’d brought along four little friends. It wasn’t a fair fight, but I’d never held with fighting fair. Hopefully, their vision wasn’t anywhere near as good as mine. I planned to keep my wings tucked in, but once it was five against one, my talons might come out.

  Hank swung a sledgehammer in his hand—a one-man welcoming committee, even without the other four.

  “You couldn’t take me by yourself so you’ve brought that rockbreaker with you as well as your pack?” I asked.

  Snorting, Hank gestured behind him. “No, they’re here to clap when you’re down. And this”—he held up the sledgehammer—”well, I helped you get a start on breaking up your firewood.” He nodded at the house.

  I’d picked up wood because I was planning to rebuild the swing I’d broken. Now it was all the size of splinters. “Damn.”

  The guys snickered. Hank handed off the sledgehammer to his closest buddy and dropped into a crouch with his fists up.

  “I’m not about to fight you,” I said. If it was only Hank and me, it wasn’t fair, and I might not be able to prevent myself from transforming. “Y’all are trespassing and you vandalized my property. Clear out before I call the police.”

  I knew it wouldn’t work. I knew it even as I said it. Hank had lost face in front of his buddies, and he wanted to get revenge. I wasn’t expecting him to move so fast. He ducked down and barreled into me before I had a chance to do more than brace myself. Hank was solidly built, and I rolled before he landed on top of me. He knocked the wind out of me, but fiends did that nightly. My wings shivered as my skin pulsed, begging to transform. But I could control the monster inside me. I’d had enough practice. I stayed Gris.