by Allie Burton
Use the oil. The voice in my head awakened.
“Where have you been all this time?” When we needed Tut’s help finding the oil, he’d been missing in action.
The woman screwed up her face probably thinking I was crazy.
I pasted a phony smile on my face feeling the weight of the decision to let him stay with me. “He’s fine. I just need to get him water.”
My stubbornness tried to ignore Tut’s voice while the woman watched. I didn’t want to expose our secrets. Practicality won out. Palm was for revitalizing energy and right now that’s what Xander needed.
“If you’re sure?” The woman didn’t believe me. Still, she continued up the steps with only one glance back.
Hurrying, I took the palm vessel out of the bag and opened the stopper.
Did he sniff it? Drink it? Apply it to his skin?
My body flushed and my brain steamed. No way could I rub oil on him. Way too personal. Besides, if I touched him I’d make it worse. He couldn’t drink it in his current state.
I looked at the woman now standing at the top of the steps looking down at us. She gave me another sharp glance before continuing on her way. Hopefully without reporting us to security. But I couldn’t be sure.
Without touching him, I placed the container under his nose. “One, two, three.”
His long eyelashes flickered.
“Xander?” I kept the vessel in place.
His face lost its paleness. His eyelids moved again. His body jerked.
“Xander?”
“Huh?” He opened his eyes.
My gaze contacted with the emerald green of his pupils and the weight that had borne down on me lightened. “You okay?”
“Wh-what happened?” He tried to sit up.
I wanted to help him but knew I couldn’t. “Take a few more sniffs.”
He inhaled and sat up. “The palm. We found it.”
“Yes.”
He shook his head as if clearing the cobwebs. “You hugged me and I blacked out.”
“I’m sorry.” I bit my lower lip. “After we touched in the ocean I thought…I thought I could touch you like, whenever.” I didn’t add how much I wanted to touch him. And now probably never could.
Emptiness engulfed me like a large wave. I’d never be able to touch Xander, or anyone. I’d be alone the rest of my life. Not that my life was going to last long.
It was time to move along. We’d gotten what we came for and I didn’t know if the woman had told security. Chinatown was only a few blocks away, and my stomach had rumbled, so the decision was easy. A granola bar didn’t fill a girl, or her male soul, for long.
* * *
After talking to my dishwasher contact, we were settled in a corner table at the back of the small Chinese restaurant. I breathed a little easier. Normally when I came around for food, Fitch’s contact handed me a take-out box with no payment required. I was glad the dishwasher ushered us inside and gave us a table. We needed time to figure out the clue and time to eat.
Few people ate this late in the afternoon. The lunch crowd was gone. Most of the cloth covered tables weren’t set for dinner yet. We sat in a corner near a decorative screen that covered the entrance to the kitchen. Fitch would probably hear about our visit, but by the time he did we’d be long gone. He’d be even more furious I was roaming the city before contacting him and giving him the amulet. Hopefully, once I explained he’d understand why.
My old life seemed so far away, separate from what I was living now. At this point, I didn’t know if I’d burn up and die or if the power would disappear. If I kept the power, then I couldn’t even imagine what my future would be like.
Xander took out the new vessel and handed it to me. Funny, how he’d studied ancient hieroglyphics, but I could read them faster.
“Where river smells, local fisherman sell.” The words didn’t mean anything to me. “San Francisco might be surrounded by water, but there’s no river.”
“Concentrate on the smelling part. What smells in the city?”
“Do you really think we’ll be able to follow the clues to find all the oils?” Doubts snuck in like my hunger.
“We don’t have much choice. Finding the oils is our only option.”
A waiter set two plates of egg fried rice, deep fried wontons, and steamed trout with black bean sauce in front of us. The aromas of my favorite meal here wafted and my mouth salivated. Chinese food had always been a rare treat.
“This food smells delicious.” I didn’t bother with chopsticks. Just used a fork to dig in. I couldn’t shovel the fried rice in my mouth fast enough.
He eyed me and arched a brow seeming to say, polite much?
“What?” I glanced at my almost empty plate and back at him. “I’m hungry,” I said around a mouthful of food.
Gross. Now, I was talking with my mouth full. I set my fork down with a bang, forced myself to chew each piece, and then swallowed.
“If Chinatown smells delicious, do you think that’s an option?” He held the chopsticks in his hand the correct way. “Is there anything Egyptian in Chinatown?”
The waiter peered at us from the next table pretending to rearrange plates and cups. I wiggled in my chair trying to ignore the man’s look. The tiny hairs on my arm rose and I rubbed my skin. I thought about Xander’s question. “I don’t think so.”
The waiter went back to the kitchen. Was it because he could no longer hear our conversation?
Xander and I ate in silence from that point forward, both buried in our thoughts. Worried about Fitch rushing down here and yet knowing this was the only place I’d get free food, I tried to focus on the clue and where we should go next, but the whole touching thing kept circulating in my brain.
How come one minute I could touch Xander and the next I couldn’t? I’d been so careful on the bus from Golden Gate Park to the Society’s mansion, afraid if I touched anyone else they’d fall at my feet. Not the best way to be inconspicuous.
Then, after he’d grabbed me in the water I’d thought that part of the curse was over. I wouldn’t have to worry about hurting anyone. Wouldn’t have to worry about hurting Xander.
I was wrong.
The fullness in my stomach turned over. I rubbed my belly trying to comfort myself. By the ocean wave I created, the powers were getting stronger.
Why? I touched the amulet lying under my shirt.
You haven’t united yet.
Huh?
“It doesn’t have to be a good smell, does it? What about a bad smell?” Xander poked at the trout with his chop sticks. “Egyptians fished a lot.”
A light bulb went off in my head like a cartoon character. “Fisherman’s Wharf.” I jumped out of my chair with a burst of energy. That had to be it. Tut was finally talking to me and with his help, we might be able to figure this out.
Xander’s chair scraped back and he stood. “We need to get to the wharf.”
“Now.”
Our minds seemed to be on the same wavelength. Working together, we were stronger, smarter than the Society. And with Tut’s help, we’d be invincible.
The waiter came and delivered a plate of Moon cakes and fortune cookies. My dishwasher friend must’ve realized we were starving and sent the man over. Shorter than me, the waiter pointed at the cookies. “Fortune cookies and moon cakes.”
Our quest took precedence over our stomachs.
“Thanks, but we need to go.” I smiled at the waiter.
The waiter’s gaze darted toward the kitchen and then back again. He stood between us and the door. “Must eat. Moon cakes good luck.”
“Thanks, but we’ll take the fortune cookies to go.” I scooped the cookies off the table.
Xander bobbed his head. He was anxious to go, too. “Thank you for the meal.”
“You must wait.” A drip of sweat trailed down the waiter’s face.
The kitchens must be really hot. Or did my friend expect us to pay for the meal? That wasn’t our agreement. My full tummy f
elt queasy. I peered over the decorative screen into the kitchen.
All the chefs and waiters and dishwashers were scrubbing countertops, dropping dishes, talking super-fast in Chinese. Like they were expecting an important visitor.
I listened intently. An older man wearing a tall white hat held a cell phone in his hand. “He will be here soon. We must stall them.” The chef’s broken English scrambled in my brain.
Them? As in Xander and I?
My stomach flipped the meal over and I felt like I was going to taste it a second time. I turned to Xander. “Someone important is coming and they want to force us to stay until he gets here.”
Could it be Fitch? And if so, he probably would try to stop me and put an end to my association with Xander. We had to get out of here.
Chapter Sixteen
Xander
Xander tensed and widened his stance. A quick glance around showed the hardness in the waiter’s expression and a stillness in the air. He considered Olivia. “How do you know they want us to stay?”
At this point, he expected trouble. From everyone they met on the street including homeless people and guys with guns. So different than his past circumstances. Before, the only one who gave him trouble was Jeb, and only when Xander didn’t do what was expected.
“A guy said something on the phone in the kitchen.” Olivia’s gaze shifted to behind the screen.
Angling his head, he gawked in the same direction. How could she hear twelve feet away and over the noise of the running water and banging pots?
“I know what I heard.” She must’ve seen the questioning on his face.
“We’re out of here.” He trusted her instincts when it came to sensing danger. Raising his hands in a martial arts position, he was ready to take out the small waiter with the same move he’d used on the man at the loading dock. “Don’t try to stop us.”
Olivia snatched the bag and turned to leave.
“Must wait here.” A second, brawnier waiter blocked the path to the door. His professional wrestler body would be harder to take down.
“Step aside.” Xander kept his voice low and calm. He’d learned to not show fear when giving orders. It was one of the things Jeb had trained him to do.
“I’ll handle this.” Her smirk poked Xander in the chest. She shouldn’t expose herself and burnout her powers.
He put up a hand to stop her.
She touched the brawny waiter’s shoulder. “Sorry but, no we won’t wait.”
The waiter’s eyes bugged out of his head. He slapped at the spot she’d touched. His body convulsed one, two, three times. He dropped onto the restaurant floor with a large plop.
Fine, Xander would take care of the other guy. He’d do his part to help.
The smaller waiter backed up toward the exit.
Raising his arms, Xander got ready to make his move.
Olivia touched the other waiter on the arm. What was she thinking?
The waiter’s arm shook. He tried to hold it in place. His eyes became as large as the other guy’s, before he sank to the ground.
Xander huffed. She didn’t have to save them at every turn. He could’ve done some butt-kicking. He had skills and muscles. She was showing off. Didn’t she trust in his abilities to protect her?
She stepped over the convulsing bodies and ran to the door. “Come on, Xander.”
His ears hurt from her ordering him about. He should let her take off on her own. See if she understood what was happening to her body. See if she could control her powers and overcome the burnout on her own.
He doubted it.
Stomping out the door, he followed. It was his job to protect her. She might’ve saved him this time, and at the Transamerica Building—although she’d caused him to pass out in the first place—but he was the one who understood her harsh new reality.
There’d be no kisses or hugs from her. Or for her. What would the guys in her gang family think about that? She needed to stay isolated and alone. From everyone except him. He’d share whatever future they could cobble together. If they had a future.
After taking the Muni Metro streetcar, they hopped off near Pier 39 and walked to Fisherman’s Wharf. The sky had grown dark and cloudy while they’d eaten in the restaurant. A mix of rain and fish tainted the air. The extra humidity stuck to his skin.
“This is definitely the right way to go.” She wove in and out of the few people on the normally-tourist filled sidewalks, not afraid of the coming rain or coming into contact with an innocent bystander.
Her over-confidence slapped him. She led him around like he was a dog on a leash. He was the one with the knowledge. She was the one stupidly using her powers in front of everyone. And while he’d thought of this as a big adventure, she didn’t seem to understand the consequences.
“The wharf always smells like bad fish.” She spoke as if he was a fifth grader.
Not her partner. Not her equal.
“How did you overhear that phone call? I couldn’t hear anything coming from the kitchen.”
Did she have really good hearing or was this another aspect of the power? An aspect he didn’t know about.
“I don’t know, but I could.” Her hidden smirk told him she was stonewalling him.
His gut clenched. If he was going to help her, he needed to know everything that was going on with her. The differences between what she could do before and what she could do now. If Tut talked to her all the time or only once in awhile. If she felt differently.
She swung her gaze at him with narrowed eyes. “How do you think the Society found us at the restaurant?”
The accusation sliced through him. Did she think he had something to do with it? Who would he tell? When? They’d been together since she’d stolen his power.
“Who knows?” His shoulders jerked in a shrug. “You knew the waiter. Anyone could be a spy.”
“The security guard at the Transamerica Building sure looked at us oddly. He got out his cell phone as we walked away. Maybe he took a picture.” Her tone said there was no maybe about it.
Had she seen, or heard, the guard take a photo? He should mumble something to himself and see if she heard.
“Then there were all the people who saw you pass out by the plaque.”
“Not my fault.” He’d passed out so fast, he hadn’t even been able to appreciate the hug. “What about your friend at the restaurant? Maybe he told.”
They walked through a parking lot that led to several moored docks. Boats bopped on the waves. He’d never been to Fisherman’s Wharf and would’ve loved to take a few minutes to play tourist. Finally free from the Society, and yet beholden to Olivia.
“My friend is not a member of the Society. He knows me through Fitch.” She sounded defensive.
Who was this Fitch to her? Why does she protect him when he’d treated her badly? “Maybe it wasn’t the Society, but your Fitch who the chef was talking to on the phone.”
“Maybe we should’ve stayed.” She stopped walking and crossed her arms, contemplating her words.
“You must be kidding. Your Fitch wouldn’t understand the delicate situation you’re in.” Xander understood, mostly. He’d been coached about some things and not told about others. “He’d only care about the powers you now hold.”
“And satisfying his client.” Her quiet, bewildered tone softened his stance. She was more lost than anyone.
He wanted to pull her into his arms and tell her everything would be all right. Except he didn’t know if that was true. They were both lost, stumbling around in a new world order.
Strolling to the edge of the parking lot, they hit a wide sidewalk that housed shops and restaurants. The waiters at the Chinese restaurant had known Olivia and Fitch.
“Would Fitch have people looking for you?”
Her shoulders rolled in on themselves. Her brows gathered together like a storm. “Fitch wouldn’t hunt me down like a rabbit. He trusts me.”
Her tone ripped into him. She’d immediately jumped
to a negative conclusion. “What I meant is, he might think you’re hurt or need help.”
“Oh.” Her expression fell. “Your distrust of Fitch is rubbing off on me.”
He didn’t buy her explanation. The man had some type of control over her and Xander didn’t know why. The worry itched like dry skin, he wanted to scratch but whenever he asked her, she shut down.
“Fitch trusts me, knows I’ll return to him once its safe.” Her over-explanation made it seem as if she didn’t have a choice.
Xander’s muscles tightened in a protective instinct.
“If the Society knows where the oils are hidden, by now they would’ve figured out we’re going after them.” Her quick mind calculated the same odds he’d considered.
The sky grew darker and the clouds plumped with rain. A large splat fell on his head.
“We need to be more careful.” His grave tone added to the turmoil in the air.
It looked as if they were strolling around San Francisco like they didn’t have a care in the world, and yet the entire future of the world depended on them. He wished it could be casual and carefree. But nothing about his relationship with Olivia was casual. From the moment they met something had hummed between them.
Is that only because she was the first girl he’d gotten to know? Or was it something more?
A stiff wind carried across the bay. Rain fell more steadily. A drop would ping on her skin, sizzle and evaporate. Her hair and clothes stayed dry.
Unlike his. “You need to get under a roof so you’re not noticeable.”
“I’ll never have to worry about ruined, wet hair again.” She flashed a stiff smile and threw her arm over her head.
As if that would help.
“Over there.” He pointed to a covered area and they dashed under the overhang.
Ice filled tubs lined the sidewalk holding fish, shells, and other sea urchins. Aromatic steam rose from the outdoor stalls selling whole crabs, seafood cocktails, and calamari.
His stomach rumbled even though they’d just eaten. He loved seafood and had never had the opportunity to visit Fish Alley. It was like a smorgasbord of everything good to eat.
“Fresh lobster.” The fisherman held up the orange-beige crustacean with snapping claws.