by Ann Aguirre
“How’s life uptown?” he wanted to know.
“Good. But I miss people around here. I might be moving south in a few months, but I’ll stop by before I go.”
“Whereabouts?”
“Miami,” I said, paying homage to Kian’s assumptions.
“I got family there. Nice place, too humid for my tastes, though.”
“We’ll see.”
Before I left, I bought Selena’s olives and turned down the food José offered. When I first got here, the smell of Luisa’s tamales made my mouth water. Now the scent might be dirty shoes or stamp glue for all the interest it aroused. I was getting by on protein bars and vitamins, but I was starting to look hollow-eyed, as if the world was devouring me from within.
Last stop, I went to House of Style to pick up some gloves. People would think I’d developed a weird affectation, but it seemed best to cover the glimpses of gold as best I could. There was no solution for my face, but hopefully any witnesses would think they’d imagined it. Devon’s mom made cheerful conversation as I shopped.
“It’s been a while. How have you been?”
“Good. And you?”
She gestured at the store, which she seemed to be trying to organize. “Oh, you know. Devon talks about you sometimes. Says you’re funny.”
“I think he’s cool too.”
Once I had a pair that would work, I paid and put them on. With a wave for Mrs. Quick, I headed home. Two bus rides later, it was dark by the time I got to the apartment. Selena waited upstairs, watching a dance competition program. When she saw I had olives, she beamed.
“Thanks! You’re not so bad for a clay pot.” That was probably meant as a compliment. Without hesitation, she cracked the jar open and dug in with her fingers.
“What time do you want to head out?”
“Around half past eleven? That’ll put us in the park at the witching hour.”
“That’s midnight? I thought it was three a.m.”
“It’s whatever time the witch says,” she snapped around a mouth full of olives.
“And that’s you, I take it.”
“You dance naked under the moon? Didn’t think so.”
“I’ll put it on my bucket list,” I mumbled.
“Point in fact, devil’s hour is three a.m. But that’s not important now. Are you ready to be a damsel in distress?”
“Yep. It’s better than being a damsel in a dress cuz I don’t own one.”
Unlike Raoul, Selena appreciated my humor, cackling as she dumped the rest of the olives in her mouth. “Let’s watch three episodes of SYTYCD, then go kick some ass.”
Shrugging, I settled in next to her. “Hit it.”
At half past, she switched off the TV. “Okay, it’s time. Do you need to limber up or something? Your bodies are so weird.”
“Probably not a bad idea.” I ran some katas and calmed myself until the phantom pain eased. These days I had discomfort pretty much all the time, like a low-grade headache all over my body that no medicine could touch.
“Set?”
I nodded.
“Then I’ll give you a five-minute head start. Do it just like we discussed, and try not to die before I get to you. That would piss Big Bro off, and then he sulks.”
“Yeah, because that’s my primary concern,” I muttered, dodging a shoe.
Outside, the weather was calm and clear, plenty of moonlight. Since it was warm, it wasn’t weird that I’d be out. As I walked, I pretended to be nervous like a normal girl would be a night. I looked at my phone a lot and glanced around—up, down, across the street, behind me—until my neck felt like it might snap. A chill down my spine halfway to the park suggested I’d caught an immortal tail.
A bench mostly hidden by the trees offered the perfect for an ambush. And the bag man must be thinking it was his lucky night as I paced and stared at my text messages, doing my best impersonation of someone being stood up. The scrape of boots on pavement sounded nearby, but I didn’t see anything. Aegis tingled on my wrist, but if I drew it before the trap snapped shut, our targets might get away.
I whirled in a slow circle. “Jake? This isn’t funny.”
Seems right to talk to my fake boyfriend while feigning terror.
The bag man materialized behind me, and honest to God, he did scare the shit out of me. My heart skipped, until I realize his aura must be swamping me. It had been a while since I fought him, and the wrong timeline had weakened me. Diving, I rolled away from his claws, only to find the two creepy children on my legs. Their tiny teeth sank into my flesh, and I screamed. Holy shit, that stings. Unlike an attack animals, they didn’t just lock on; instead, they chewed, as if they’d eat me alive. The boy-thing spat out a mouthful of me, his mouth stained red. Then he went back for more.
Come on, Selena. Where are you?
His face a horrible rictus of anticipation, the bag man stalked closer. This creature pulled off my mother’s head. Killing it twice wouldn’t be enough. On the verge of activating Aegis in a panic, I held off somehow, even as the girl-thing ground her teeth. Another step, and the old one would have me.
Then Selena dove from above. How the hell’s she in the trees? No time for wondering—I called Aegis and executed both the children before they could blink away; they vanished in a swirl of black smoke as she spiked a knife into the ancient monster’s chest. Her weapon paralyzed but didn’t kill. She seemed to realize the children were gone then.
Yeah, it’s permanent. Not sure what you were expecting.
Limping, trembling, I copied the bag man’s awful prowl and beheaded the thing in a clean sweep. One more puff of dark smoke, and Selena narrowed her eyes.
“You have to tell me about that sword now,” she said.
AN ECHO OF LONGING
The silence stretched taut between us on the way back to the apartment. But we’d agreed that it would be unwise to have a conversation in the park past midnight. On her end, I suspected it was more the inconvenience of being questioned by human authorities than actual fear. As we walked, I frantically tried to decide what to tell her. Selena’s jaw was set, her expression grim. Unsurprisingly she made me get into the lift first.
When the studio door shut behind us, she said, “Talk.”
There’s no chance she’ll believe this.
I couldn’t come up with a more plausible story on the fly, though, so I just recounted everything that had happened since Kian first found me on the bridge, including my fight with her big bro in the other timeline and ending with my time jump. Her eyes widened as she listened, and when I finally stopped talking, it was past one in the morning. Selena sat quiet for a whole minute, obviously analyzing my story.
“You’re serious with this? Govannon forged that sword and it’s actually…” She trailed off with a faint shiver. “Looks like we underestimated you.”
I stressed, “I never met you in the other timeline. And we’re not enemies in this one. Your brother has nothing to fear from me.”
“Because you already yanked out his heart,” she muttered.
“That was when I had a truce with Wedderburn. Here, he wants me dead, remember? That’s why your side approached me.”
“True,” she said, thoughtful.
“What are you going to do?” It was impossible not to sound anxious.
If she revealed all of this to Dwyer, my life would get even more complicated, and I didn’t have the time or energy to deal with another enemy when the world itself was trying to kill me. Maybe I should tell her that too.
“I don’t know yet.”
Acting on instinct, I added what the Harbinger had told me and how two cement blocks nearly crushed my skull not long ago. Shitty for me, but that information seemed to reassure Selena. Relaxing visibly, she went to the fridge to get mineral water. From what I’d seen, she only consumed fizzy drinks and olives.
“So … you’ll be gone soon, either way,” she said.
“The goal is a bit over two months away. I’m trying t
o last that long.”
“That’s like … a nap. I won’t say anything, but I’m making you swear a blood oath that you won’t try to harm me or mine.” She eyed my bracelet as if she’d like to cut off my arm and take it by force.
“What does that entail exactly?”
“You offer blood in my name and make the promise. Believe me, I have sufficient power to make it binding.”
“But … you could double-cross me. Then I wouldn’t be able to defend myself without invoking the curse or whatever.”
Selena shrugged. “You’ll have to trust me. I mean, you’re asking me to believe you won’t take your immortal-killing sword and annihilate me on a whim. If you don’t accept this offer, I’m heading straight to Big Bro to let him decide how to proceed.”
“We both know he’ll try to kill me on principle.”
“He’s pretty hotheaded,” she agreed. “The downside of being a sun god.”
“If I agree to your deal…?”
“You get that sliver-of-grace time you asked for, and I keep your secret while watching over you, both for your protection and to make sure you’re not planning anything dire.”
This was probably as good as it got. I’d already sacrificed so much; it would be absurd to balk now. Whatever it takes. “Okay, let’s do it.”
Selena snapped her fingers and a battered silver chalice appeared in her hands. “Come with me.”
Surprised, I followed her to the building’s roof. Since it was a clear night, the moon shone bright, three-quarters full, overhead. Clouds offered a wispy fringe flickering about the lunar face, and she tipped her face back in visible pleasure. Odd, but I’d never seen an immortal react so strongly to a component from an origin story.
“What should I do?”
“Slice your palm with this.” She proffered a curved knife, and I complied.
My blood trickled into the cup; then Selena followed suit. Her hand yielded light instead of bodily fluid, yet instead of dissipating, it mingled with the red of mine, until it looked strangely phosphorescent, glowing like I had some radioactive ailment. She swirled light and blood together, and then she cupped my hand around the chalice, covering it with her own.
“I pledge to protect you and keep your secret,” she intoned.
“I promise not to harm you or yours.” That sounded overly simple, but once I finished speaking, a shudder rocked the roof and a tone rang out, almost too low for me to catch.
“Good, our vows are locked in.”
“Wait, so you’re accountable too? You didn’t tell me that.”
“Duh. I was testing you. But yeah, it’s reciprocal. Basically, according to the old ways, I just accepted you as my priestess. Try not to let it go to your head.” She stretched, popping her neck. “Damn, it’s been a while since I did that.”
“Really?”
“Like a thousand years or something. But I feel better about keeping my mouth shut. This way, you can’t decide go for a dual wield or something.”
“Thanks, Selena.”
“Let’s go back. You need to clean those bites before they turn putrid.”
Shuddering, I followed her advice and patched up as best I could. By then it was close to three, and I didn’t much feel like going to school in four hours or so. So I finally turned on my phone to find over forty texts and almost that many missed phone calls. Most were from Jake and Kian, though I had some from Devon, Carmen, and Vonna too. It surprised me how persistent Jake was in trying to get in touch, not like our audience could appreciate how devoted and loyal he was via cell service. I skimmed, opting to ignore voice mail. The gist was that they were all deeply concerned about my tendency to vanish.
Dark amusement flowered. You think that’s impressive? Just wait for the grand finale.
But … if I don’t answer, it will just get worse. So I texted them the same basic message: I’m OK, don’t worry. But not feeling school tomorrow. See you the day after.
With Jake, I added, No need to pick me up.
Devon was either an insomniac, a night owl, or both, because he responded. Damn, girl. U had everyone so worked up.
Sorry, I was dealing with some personal stuff. Unrelated to school drama.
As I crawled under the covers, my phone buzzed again. That shit was crazy. Word is, Wade had a breakdown. His parents took him to county for mental help.
Whoa. Tell everyone U talked 2 me, OK? Switching phone off so I can crash.
Will do, Devon sent back.
Then I plugged it in and powered down and passed out for ten hours. The apartment was empty when I woke, past one in the afternoon. Probably I should feel bad about Wade’s breakdown since Wedderburn was just using him as a pawn, but hopefully removing the school’s star athlete from my orbit would let him recover. Grudgingly I ate a protein bar, showered, and then checked messages. I answered the urgent ones and then vegetated in front of the TV until the bell rang.
Selena must’ve forgotten the code again. For an immortal, she could be surprisingly absentminded. I buzzed her up and schlepped back to the sofa. A few minutes later, my bell rang. Weird, she usually finagled the doorknob, though modern digital security was beyond her. Sighing, I got up to let her in and found Jake standing there with a paper sack.
Shit. His gaze skimmed down my legs where the bandages were clearly visible in the lounge shorts I had on, and then he took in the gauze wrapped around my palm. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
“I wasn’t planning on it.”
“That’s just rude when I skipped out on practice to cheer you up.”
“Nobody asked you to do that. You understand that we’re not really together, right?” I started to shut the door.
“Please,” he said. “You said yourself, I’m still pining for someone. But it’s clear that you’re going through some shit and could use a friend.”
“Maybe. Fine, you can watch TV with me, but forget about cooking. I already ate.”
“This isn’t food,” Jake said.
“Oh?” He had my attention.
“Magazines, mostly, a few DVDs. There are also some tissues and cold medicine.” He shrugged, seeming self-conscious. “I thought you were sick.”
“Just of school.”
He stepped into the apartment, taking it in with a curious air. “Okay, I suspected before, but you obviously don’t live with your parents.”
I sighed. “What about it?”
“You’re a seriously mysterious girl. Do you plan to say anything about all those injuries?” Jake took a seat, looking ready to hang out for a while.
“Nope. If you hadn’t showed up uninvited, I wouldn’t have to. So let’s skip ahead and pretend I made a plausible excuse and you accepted it.”
“Fine.”
That acceptance set the mood between us. My emotional spine softened, so we just watched TV in silence. When he left, I wasn’t even mad that he’d stopped by anymore. Selena came home late, but she didn’t mention where she’d been and I didn’t ask. Since it was made of moonlight, our truce might not sustain heavy scrutiny.
The next day was a mess at school, as expected, but it blew over within a week. People gradually stopped talking about Wade’s meltdown and forgot my role in it. Anonymity suited me just fine, and with my chief agitator gone, the time trickled away with a sweetness that made me ache, even as I savored it. All this average joy, everyone else took for granted. Sometimes I glanced around the lunch table and wished this was my real life.
But I’m living on borrowed time. Literally.
Before I knew it, April Fools’ arrived with pranks and cries of, “Oh my God, you asshole, I thought you were serious.” March had come in like a lamb, and the days warmed further, more like a purring cat than tentative spring. Wedderburn must be reeling from Buzzkill’s supposed defection and the disappearance of his next-favorite murderous minion.
A week later, Jake pulled me aside at lunch to whisper, “You know what day it is, right?”
“Yeah, ar
e we breaking up now?”
He shook his head. “Tanya’s still dating that asshole. But lately she’s been watching us more. I think she’s almost ready to crack.”
“You’re diabolical. So I take it you want an extension?”
“Unless you have other plans,” he said.
“No, it’s fine. It’s not like we don’t get along well enough.”
He grinned and brushed a strand of hair away from my face, dropping his voice so I had to come closer to hear. “I’ve had shorter relationships.”
I caught the unspoken real in between shorter and relationships. Smiling, I took his hand and led him back to the table. Sure enough, Tanya was watching from the popular table, but she didn’t look angry, just … sad and sort of heartbroken, like she’d gobbled down a huge plate of regret for breakfast. We joined the others in the middle of a debate about what classic movie was the most underrated. Jake didn’t have much to contribute, and I caught him stealing looks at Tanya when she glanced away.
“You two are adorable,” I whispered.
“A normal girl would at least pretend to be jealous,” he shot back.
“Normal is for suckers.”
Devon aimed his fork at us. “I don’t care if you’re the happiest couple, secrets are rude.”
“Actually we were talking about asking Vonna and Kian if they want to double.” The idea came to me in a brilliant flash.
For the last two weeks, Kian had been hinting, unsubtly, that he wanted to see my new place, but I didn’t want to invite him over alone. Anything that might make Vonna feel uncomfortable was off-limits, and I had been careful to keep him at friend distance for a while now. But this way, I could make him happy without coming off sketchy to his girlfriend.
“Sounds fun,” she said. “When?”
“How about this weekend?” Jake was apparently down with this plan.
Kian eyed him. “No offense, but I’m not going to your place again.”
“None taken. Why don’t we hang out at Nine’s apartment?”
Fortunately, nobody else realized he meant my place, not the family home, and I kicked him in the ankle. “Stop being a butt.”