by Brandon Witt
He let out a low, deep growl. Not threatening, but not kindly either. “I know who you are. If I were you, I’d be getting the hell outta the Square and get your queer ass to the Cathedral.”
“Where’s Marina?”
“None of your fucking faggot business.”
Caitlin stormed up beside me. I could feel the blast coming. Nobody called her brother a faggot. Except her.
I put out my hand, stopping her. “No. Let me handle it.”
The wolf never took his eyes off me.
“What about Farvin? Where is he?” I glanced past him toward the rear of the bar. “Is he in the back room?”
He snorted. “Can’t believe he even lets you know his name without ripping your throat out.”
“Where is he? Are he and Marina alive?”
He blanched at that. “Of course they’re alive. Why the fuck wouldn’t they be alive?”
“I just heard Hazel is dead. Is that true?”
Some look passed behind his red-rimmed eyes—whether reproach or anger, I couldn’t tell. “Yeah, she’s dead. Farvin and his bitch aren’t stupid like her.”
I thought I knew what that meant, but I had to make certain. I wasn’t sure how genuine it was, but I’d begun to count Marina as a friend, even Farvin by the end, although I doubted he would use the same qualifier. I was pretty sure he wouldn’t slit my throat if given the chance, and for Farvin that probably counted as friendship. “So they’re alive? They’re okay?”
Again, some emotion darkened his face. “Yeah. They’re fine.”
My shoulders slumped. “Thank God.”
We studied each other, the wolf and I.
“You’re not going to give me any other information, are you?”
He shook his head.
I started to leave, but then a thought crossed my mind. As much as I’d hated that damned voice in my head, now that I needed to have some contact with the vampires, it would have been helpful if it would show up for a moment or two.
“I’m leaving for the Vampire Cathedral today. You’ll let them know?”
He stared at me impassively. When I refused to look away, he gave a nearly imperceptible nod.
Four
FINN DE MORISCO
In the nearly six-hour flight from San Diego to Costa Rica, Caitlin and I should have had plenty of time to figure out some type of plan for when we reached the Vampire Cathedral. If not a plan, then at least a strategy of which one of us would talk first upon arrival. We didn’t even get that far. We didn’t plan. We didn’t talk about how to get from San Jose to the Nicoya Peninsula, where the Cathedral was. We didn’t even fight or argue.
Neither of us had stopped moving in the five or six days since Mom and Dad were admitted into the hospital, one of us constantly helping heal our parents or taking the shortest power naps in history.
Then with Cynthia taken the day before—God, it felt like years ago—we had gone from hyperdrive to pure maniac status. As soon as the plane had risen off the runway, for the first time in nearly a week, everything was out of our hands. We couldn’t help our parents, and we couldn’t make the plane get to Cynthia any quicker. We were doing all we could do. Either because it was the first chance we had gotten, or because we knew it to be the last chance for a while, our brains shut down. We plugged in our earphones the flight attendant gave us and zoned out on the screen in front of us, not even bothering to change from the image of the little plane making its course toward Costa Rica.
Within half an hour, Caitlin fell asleep, her head lolling on my shoulder, her tiny hand slipping into mine of its own accord. I couldn’t remember the last time Caitlin and I had cuddled up together. I doubted we ever had. If it had been any other occasion, I would have snapped a photo with my phone to lord over her later. As it was, I let her be and allowed myself the comfort of being with my sister, knowing our eldest sister was taking care of our parents as we jetted off to save the youngest of the de Morisco girls.
Every once in a while, Cate would mutter something in her sleep. A couple of times, I was pretty sure I heard her calling out to Dad, one more thing I’d never tease her about later. I turned off our televisions and leaned my head against the window.
I wasn’t sure if we were flying over the ocean or Mexico. We were too high up, and the clouds were thick below us. I almost woke Caitlin up. Neither of us had been on very many plane rides, and we had never been out of the country, although we’d gotten our passports a few years before when the family was thinking about taking a trip to Spain. The only flights I’d really taken had been when I’d attended culinary school in New York. I’d never seen the sky like this on any of those flights. The sun was setting below us, below the clouds, lighting them up with rosy-pink hues. Above the clouds, where we were, it was already night. The first stars showed in the darkest part, almost out of reach, from the slip of sky in the small round window. Caitlin would have loved it, but she probably needed the sleep more. Cynthia. She’d be the one I would have woken up for this view. I’d save this story, this image, as we departed to her rescue and tell her when we were safely back in Mom and Dad’s house. Tell her about Caitlin holding my hand. Tell her about how much her family loves and needs her. Tell her in the place where we’d been kids together. When everyone else was asleep. When it would just be her and me and some of our folks’ desserts. When we were snuggled up together on the couch, the familiar orange shag carpet surrounding us. When we would relive this adventure. When we were safe. When she was safe.
Safe.
Five
FINN DE MORISCO
Schwint smiled hesitantly as Caitlin and I exited the Juan Santamaria Airport. We’d agreed to meet outside of baggage claim. Not that we brought much luggage, but it seemed the easiest place to find.
“Oh shit. I’d almost forgotten he was going to be here.” Caitlin’s mutter was quiet enough, I didn’t think Schwint would have been able to hear.
In all honesty, I’d forgotten as well. I’d been so busy thinking about Cynthia that Schwint hadn’t really entered my mind.
“Hey, babe.” He stepped up and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. “How you doing?”
It had only been a little over twenty-four hours since he’d left us in the hospital to get a head start on scoping out Costa Rica. It had also only been twenty-four hours since we’d first said, “I love you.” As I sank into him, I couldn’t believe that was all the time that had passed. It felt like weeks since I’d seen him.
I pulled back and caught his sunflower gaze. “I’m better now. I love you.”
The tentativeness I’d noticed evaporated, as if, until I’d confirmed it, he wasn’t sure I hadn’t had a change of heart. “I love you too, my little witch.” He lifted his head and leaned up to meet my lips.
Caitlin groaned after a few moments. “For fuck sake, you maricónes! We’re here to save Cynthia, not for a honeymoon. You two getting married ain’t legal here, you know.”
Breaking the kiss, I turned to her. “Nice, Cate. Nice.”
Schwint grinned at her without letting me go. “You guys didn’t actually bring any luggage, did you?”
She rolled her eyes at him. “We didn’t get confused and think it was a vacation.” She motioned to the two small backpacks slung over my shoulder. “Just toothbrushes and such.” She craned her neck as if inspecting his backside. “Do I even want to know where fairies store stuff when they fly?”
“Okay, okay, Caitlin. Knock it off. And, Schwint, I love you, but let me go.” I’d begun to notice people were starting to give dirty looks at the two men wrapped up in a hug for way too long. Especially some guy directly in my line of sight over Schwint’s shoulder. His glower made him look like he was ready to whip out an assault rifle and punish the entire crowd for our immoral behavior. “Let’s not cause a scene even before we get to the Vampire Cathedral.”
Schwint let me go and turned, following the direction of my gaze. “Oh, we’re fine. He’s with me.” As he turned back t
o me, his gaze lingered on a couple more people that were staring at us. “Well, maybe you’re right.”
“He’s with you?” I tried to keep my voice neutral, but I could tell I didn’t succeed. Part of being with a fairy meant having an open relationship, as fairies don’t do monogamy. They just don’t, apparently. Love, sex, not the same thing. Yeah, I wasn’t so sure I was so in love with the idea either. And here I was, one day after the I love yous were said, in another country to find my sister and probably give myself to a bunch of vampires, and I was ready to have a catfight with the first guy I saw with my man. Overreact much? Not to mention forget what was really important.
Schwint waved to the man. “Come on over, let me introduce you real quick, then let’s get outta here. Haven’t been here long, but I gotta tell ya, I’m not loving San Jose.”
The man closed the few feet between us, his hostile expression never wavering. If Schwint was going to fool around already, I’d like to think he’d at least pick someone a little more appealing. I mean, if he couldn’t wait for a day to see his boyfriend, the guy could be the tiniest bit attractive, not that I’d love that either. But this guy? I knew I wasn’t demon-quality hot or anything, but I thought I was at least a seven on the hotness scale. Maybe a seven and a half on a good day? This guy was a solid four, possibly a five if I took off my green lenses. He was as average as you could get. Brown hair, brown eyes, average build, skin that was too white to have a tan but not pale enough to have that rosy glow some redheads get. He gave a little chin dip in way of greeting as he stepped up beside Schwint.
Motioning between the three of us, Schwint made introductions. “Finn, Caitlin, this is Pewlet.”
The man’s mud-brown eyes narrowed in Schwint’s direction. “For the hundredth time, my name is not Pewlet.”
Schwint took a deep breath, rolling his eyes as he exhaled. “Oh, right. It’s Newman or something now, right?”
“Newton.”
“Yeah, that’s it, Newton.” Schwint flicked his wrist between the three of us again, his words slurring as he rushed them together. “Finn, Catlin, meet Newton. Newton, meet Finn and Caitlin.”
We stood awkwardly for a moment, no one saying anything. The babble of differing languages seemed to get louder around us, the tourists seemingly moving in fast-forward compared to our solidity. Finally, Caitlin shot out her hand. “Well, this isn’t awkward at all. Nice to meet you, Newton.”
He reached out his hand and shook hers, and offered what I was pretty sure was meant to be a smile. You know it’s bad when Caitlin looks polite in comparison.
Pewlet. Pewlet. I could feel the name triggering something in the back of my brain. I’d heard it somewhere. Maybe some guy I’d run into in the back rooms at the Square. Easy to forget when you’re hopped up on Spor. Not that I’d need Spor to forget this guy.
Following Caitlin’s fine example, I stretched out my hand toward the man. “Hi. I’m Finn. It’s nice to—” I sucked in my breath. “Oh!” Pewlet! It clicked. Schwint had taken me to a fairy party celebrating the new moon a few weeks ago. As we were leaving, I’d noticed a fairy sitting off by himself. Schwint had said something to the effect that Pewlet was a sort of troublemaker in the fairy community and here the royal family was talking about banishing him. I couldn’t believe this was the same man. I never would have recognized him. Despite his plain-Jane appearance, Pewlet had the most beautiful wings on a fairy I’d ever seen—not that I’d seen tons of fairies. His wings were nearly twice as large as his body and patterned like a butterfly, their metallic hue constantly shifting colors in the light of the party. He had long, flowing golden feathers that covered the upper costal veins of his wings. They’d looked too beautifully alien to be real. Schwint had assured me they were, that Pewlet never altered his appearance, even though beauty was most valued by fairy society.
“We met at the New Moon party Schwint took me to last month. Well, I guess we didn’t meet, but I noticed you there. Your wings are gorgeous! It’s nice to meet you, Pewlet.”
“It’s Newton.” He shook my hand, but his face managed to deepen its blush, whether due to me using his given name or because I’d complimented his wings. Probably both.
Schwint looked like he was struggling not to laugh.
“So, can we get out of here already? The longer we’re here learning all about fairies, my little sister is being tortured by some fucking day-walking vampires.” Caitlin looked over at one of the couples that were still staring at the four of us. “Yes, we got a couple of fags here, okay? Move on or you’ll find out what else we’ve got.”
The man opened his mouth to retort, but his wife clutched his arm and pulled him away.
“There’s gonna be enough wanting to kill us here, Caitlin. Do you really need to add others to the list?” I looked back to make sure the couple was still moving away and caught Pewlet’s—I mean Newton’s—scowl teasing up into the faintest hint of a smile as he watched the couple scurry away. It seemed Caitlin might have found a new kindred spirit. I hope he didn’t develop a crush on her. My lesbian sister would get way too much enjoyment in destroying him.
Schwint turned to Caitlin. “As much as I don’t want to stay in this city another minute, we need to spend the night. There’s a bus that can take us tomorrow. It leaves at seven. That’s the earliest I could find.”
“There’s a bus that goes to the Vampire Cathedral?” That didn’t make any sense at all.
He raised his eyebrow at me, then grinned. “I thought you were kidding. Thank goodness you’re pretty, little warlock. The bus will take us to the Nicoya Peninsula, near Montezuma. We will find our way from there. Newton and I already located it from the aerial perspective.”
“Oh, that sounds more right. I’m choosing to blame that question on stress and lack of sleep.”
“Doubtful.” Caitlin gave me a look, then returned to Schwint. “And there is no way I’m wasting any more time. We need to leave right now. Cynthia’s waited long enough.”
“Actually, from what Schwint has told me, I highly doubt the vampires are doing anything to your sister.” Newton’s voice had a bored quality, like what he said should be obvious to everyone. “There’s not too much to bargain with if they kill her.”
Caitlin muttered something and flicked her fingers. Newton stumbled back a couple of feet as a gush of air hit him. “I wasn’t talking to you, Pewlet! And there’s a lot they can do to Cynthia before they kill her. As far as she’s concerned, a lot worse than killing her.”
The fairy righted himself again. “My name is New—”
She flicked another rush of wind at him, this time tossing a few minuscule fireballs into the mix. To an onlooker, it would simply look like some large cigarette embers. Newton yelped and swiped at his cheek as one landed on his skin. His furious gaze said that any admiration for Caitlin had vanished even quicker than it had come.
“Caitlin, we don’t need all—”
“Shut up, Finn.” She waved me off, only taking her stare away from Newton to glare at Schwint. “We leave tonight. She can’t wait any longer.”
Schwint’s expression was surprisingly gentle. “Caitlin, I know you and Finn are desperate to get to the Vampire Cathedral, but trust me, from both what I’ve seen from above and from those I’ve spoken to here, leaving on a bus in the morning is the best alternative. The roads are too hazardous here at night, and hiring someone that isn’t a licensed driver tends to end up in a dangerous situation. It would ultimately take longer if something went wrong.”
Caitlin started to object once more, but Schwint cut her off. “I wish we were able to fly you and Finn there ourselves, but our magic isn’t strong enough to carry you. Maybe one of you if both Newton and I did it combined. Maybe, but I doubt it, especially that far. If you like, he and I can fly there tonight, and you can meet us there tomorrow afternoon.”
“What good would that do? It didn’t do us any good to have you come down here before us.”
Schwint was staying amaz
ingly calm with her. Doing better than I could have. “Actually, we do know they didn’t bring her through the airports, here or Liberia, which is closer.”
“I could have told you that. We weren’t even able to get tickets to Liberia until the day after tomorrow. It doesn’t—”
He cut her off again. “I also know that they didn’t use any private jets or planes to get her here.”
“And how does that help us, exactly, Schwint?” While I didn’t like how she was speaking to him, I had the same questions she did.
“I was hoping they did, so we’d be able to intercept them and possibly rescue Cynthia ourselves. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. But it does tell us they had to bring her by boat. It also raises the possibility they may not have brought her here at all, that they may be holding her somewhere else until they get what they want. The best chance we have, the best chance she has, is for us to have as much information as possible. Even if most of it proves to be useless, you never know what might end up making a difference.”
Although she looked like it was killing her, Caitlin didn’t offer up another argument. “So where are we going?”
“I got us a place to stay by the bus station.”
“How’d you pay for that? I thought fairies didn’t use money.”
He gave her a classic Schwint wink. “I may not have enough magic to carry two full-grown witches across a country, but I have enough to make a hotel clerk forget I haven’t paid.”
Newton took off as soon as we reached the hotel, claiming he slept better on his own and would meet us at the station in the morning. Probably went off to find some fairy to sleep in a tree with or something.
Caitlin fell asleep in the bed next to ours, her grumbles alternating between having to share the room with her gay brother and Tinker Bell and having to spend the night here at all instead of Schwint having the balls to head out tonight.