Beware, p.27
Beware, page 27
“Great.” Faye slapped his back. “Go get some clothes, Benny-boy. I want to have some fun tonight.”
“Molly gave me work to do.”
“You’re shitting me. We were supposed to get drunk.”
“Well, I was supposed to get drunk. You don’t get drunk easy.”
“True.” Faye pouted. “Did she give Joel something to do, too?”
Ben nodded.
“Fuck this.” Faye’s fists clenched. “She’s messing with all my fun.”
“Part of being the boss.” Ben looked Faye up and down. “I’m sure you can find something to do, or someone.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“What’s going on with you and Malek? I’ve seen you two together.”
“Nothing.” Faye sighed. “Ignore it. It won’t last. He won’t be here long.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing. Don’t you have work to do?”
Ben shrugged. “I guess.”
“Then get to. I don’t want a pissed Molly on the rampage and I doubt you do either. Then we’ll never have a get drunk night again.”
“Truth.” Ben smirked and moved his stance. He shifted into the snake again and slithered his way around Faye’s leg and up to her hip.
She gripped him around his head and dropped him on the floor with a loud slap. “No need to get too close, Benny-boy. Do your thing. I’ll see you later.”
She walked off in one direction, leaving Ben on the floor coiled up. He wished he could speak to her when he was shifted, but at least he could still hear her. Uncoiling, he stretched out his muscles and slithered along the floor to the next room over. He was supposed to be checking on the habitats and working on tracing the drugs origins with the list of ingredients Molly had given him to check out, but the urge to shift was far too strong, and he hadn’t managed to stay at his computer for more than a few hours that day. He loved the freedom he was finding in shifting from one creature to the next.
Ben moved through the lower floors of the house. He got to the stairwell and shifted into an ant to walk under the door before moving back into the snake to climb the railing to take him up to the main floor of the house. He wanted to see Molly and listen in on whatever she was up to. That would be interesting for sure.
Twice more he had to shift from the snake to the ant to get into her office in the attic. The door to her office had been shut, but until he was inside, he didn’t know if it was locked. Ben went from his ant form into a small little beetle that could move far more rapidly than the ant.
Molly sat at her desk, her hair falling over one shoulder as she was bent over some papers. Ben climbed up the backside of the desk and stopped right behind the computer. He could see her, and if he moved slowly enough, he hoped she wouldn’t be able to see him. His muscles ached from shifting so much, but Faye had been right, the pain wasn’t as bad as that first time, and the desire to shift kept pushing him to do it more.
Molly flipped a sheet of paper and rubbed her temple as she squinted. Ben inched forward, trying to read what she was working on. It was simple financials for the house, something he was very glad he never had to deal with. Backing up, Ben decided he’d have to either show face to her to gloat about his improving shifting abilities or he’d have to sneak back out and pretend he was never in there.
Ben climbed off the desk and was just about to shift back into the ant to sneak out of the room when something in his body felt off and funny. He tried shaking his head to get rid of the feeling, but he couldn’t. It was as if he was floating. His brain wouldn’t work right, and every time he tried to focus, he’d wander off on a cloud. Drawing in a deep breath, Ben shook his head again.
Something wasn’t right.
Chapter Thirty-One
Molly jumped, her hands flying to the top of her desk as she pushed herself up to stare over it. Ben’s naked form flopped around on the center of her floor just by the coffee table. She grabbed her radio and flew around her desk as fast as she could. Shoving the table to the side and out of the way so Ben wouldn’t hurt himself any more, she depressed the button on her radio.
“Joel, get the emergency medical kit and bring it to my office, now. Call Amachon and have him return.”
She tossed the radio to the side as she held Ben’s head to try and keep him from bumping it into anything and causing even more damage. She wished she could heal whatever it was that was making this happen, but she couldn’t. Healing was not her mastery skill. They would need Tess for that, and not for the first time, she was tempted to call her and beg for help. She hated seeing Ben like this.
Brushing her fingers over his cheek as his head jerked, she counted the seconds and the minutes as his seizure continued. His legs flung around him, his arms thumping against the floor as the seizure wracked through his body. Fear sprung in Molly’s chest as she worried about what this would do to him, how much it would hurt him in the long run if these seizures didn’t stop. She’d read as much as she could find on shifting, but none of it included latent shifting abilities or suppressing them since it had never been done before. Not for the first time, Molly regretted making the medication.
Faye got to her office first, sliding on her knees to the other side of Ben’s uncontrolled form. Faye blocked him from injury on that side, and they shared a look over his body. Faye’s lips parted, her eyes wide. “What happened?”
“No idea,” Molly answered. “I was working. Then he was here, seizing.”
“Did he talk to you first? Tell you something?”
Molly shook her head. “No, he wasn’t here and then he was.”
“He was shifting, a lot.” Faye stared down at Ben’s face.
Molly could easily see the love Faye held for him. As much as she teased him, he was like her little brother in many ways, and Faye would never want to see harm come to him. It was part of why she always sent the two of them on missions together, to protect Ben. Faye would never let anything happen to him if she could help it.
“Shifting how much?”
“Spider, then snake, then human, then snake.”
“He was not a snake when he entered this room. He was much smaller.”
“Then that’s at least one more shift. Did you call Amachon?”
“Joel. I haven’t heard beyond that.”
Faye’s hand cupped Ben’s cheek. “It’s slowing.”
“It is.” Molly closed her eyes, thankful the seizure was ending. Joel would be too late, but at least he wouldn’t have to see Ben seize again. It was as much a toll on him as it was on her and Faye. Molly drew in a sharp breath, bolstering herself for Joel to burst into the room because she knew he was nearby, his pounding feet against the stairs gave him away.
Molly’s heart broke as Joel skidded into the room. He flung the medical kit in Molly’s direction as he took Ben’s head into his lap. His chest rose and fell heavily as he’d no doubt run the entire way. “What happened?”
“Best guess is he was shifting too much too quickly for now.” Molly carded her fingers across Ben’s still cheek.
“You said this would stop.”
Molly nodded. “It will. It takes time as his body gets used to everything going on.”
“He shouldn’t still be doing this. He was making so much progress.”
“He still is.” Molly shared a glance with Faye. They had to get Ben down to the medical area, and Faye was the best bet since she was strong enough to lift and carry him down the stairs without Amachon there. “Amachon?”
“I…didn’t get him called.”
“I’ll do it,” Faye piped up as she moved away from them with her phone in her hand.
Molly stared down at Ben, remembering when he’d first come to live with her. It hadn’t been that hard to convince Deidre to let him stay there. She’d lied, of course, as she did a lot of the time, but it was for Ben’s own interest. He’d shifted once, and Molly wasn’t even sure he remembered doing it all those years ago, but it had scared him so much she’d agreed to find a way to help him stop temporarily. Well, temporary became more permanent. It was so hard to remember twenty years to her was not the same as twenty years to someone with a normal life span.
She brushed fingers through his messy hair he’d never been able to tame. He’d fallen hard for Joel when she’d hired him, and as much as she’d tried to stay out of it, Ben had convinced her to help him out. Everything had tumbled from there. When she looked up, Joel was staring right at her.
“What?” Her brow drew together sharply.
“Why are you sad?”
“No reason.” Molly turned to Faye. “Is he coming?”
“In an hour when he has a break in patients. He said since Ben’s not seizing any more that he’d be all right if you take care of him.”
“All right.” Molly pushed onto her knees. “Would you bring him to his room?”
“Not the medical bay?”
“I think he’ll be fine and far more comfortable in his own room. Take all the electronics though. I don’t want him working.”
“I’ll do that,” Joel spoke up.
Faye bent down next to Ben and slid her arms under his shoulders and his legs. Molly watched her as she stood up, groaning under Ben’s weight even though Molly knew it was next to nothing for her to lift him, only awkward at positioning. Joel followed them to the door and stopped as Faye started down the stairs.
He turned back to Molly. “Tell me.”
“Another day, Joel.”
He came forward into the room as Molly cleaned up what had been left on the floor and stood herself. He helped her move the coffee table back into place and set everything in order before he gripped her hand and tugged her so she had to face him.
“Tell me.” His voice broke, as if he was begging her to let him in a little.
Tears flashed in her eyes again, but she held them back. Stepping closer to Joel, she pressed a hand to his cheek and shook her head at him. “I met you the first time when you were five. Do you remember?”
“No.”
She gave him a sweet smile. “I’m not surprised. I met Ben the first time shortly after he was born. I held him, protected him.”
“Really? He’s never told me that.”
“I’m not sure he knows. Deidre might never have told him, and I haven’t.”
“Why not?”
Molly stepped away, taking her time and sitting on the couch, crossing her legs as she stared up at him. “Go to him. You don’t want him waking up with Faye as his company, do you?”
She could tell he was hesitating, but with a little more encouragement, he stepped out of the door and down the stairs. Once again alone in her office, Molly stared out the window to her parapet. She’d been mournful since she’d opened up to Faye about Pearl. It was beginning to affect every aspect of her thoughts, which was not something that should be happening.
Taking the time for herself, for once, Molly settled into the couch with a glass of whiskey. She could take a few hours to think about those she had lost over the last century, and those in her house she would lose because she would outlive all of them.
###
Joel sat in his office after having taken the day off to sit with Ben while he recovered, but he had to play catch up. He was filing paperwork when Faye popped her head through the door, a grin on face as she eyed him up and down.
“How’s Ben?”
“Still recovering,” Joel muttered before focusing on his work. He didn’t pay her any attention. Faye was not someone who would stick around if there was something she wanted, and she also wasn’t one to beat around the bush if she thought she needed something. When she did actually need something, she could avoid with the best of them.
The door clicking shut surprised him. Joel looked up to find Faye standing. “Ben said something about making the room quiet?”
“Uh…yes? I can do that, but why?”
“Ears.”
“Faye, not to sound obtuse, but what is this about?”
“Malek.”
Joel clenched his jaw. He’d known for months Faye and Molly were up to something with Malek, but he hadn’t been able to quite figure out what. Suddenly intrigued, Joel held up a finger as he pulled over his tablet. He logged into the system in a roundabout way Ben had showed him and input the code. Narrowing his gaze at the device, he hoped it worked.
“I’m not Ben, but I think it worked. You’d know better than me.” He handed the tablet to her.
Faye took it, skimmed through it, hit a few buttons and handed it back. “There. I added a backdoor so even if people suspect, it’ll confuse them to find out.”
“That makes no sense to me.”
“Doesn’t have to. Just know I upgraded Ben’s system.”
“Just like that? In like three swipes of your finger?”
“Yup.” Faye smirked. “Now, Malek.”
“Yes, tell me all about Malek.”
Faye plopped into the chair on the opposite side of his desk and slapped her palms onto her knees. “Well, he’s obviously here for some reason and we haven’t figured out what that is, and it’s frustrating the fuck out of me.”
Joel glanced from her to the door. “Is that it?”
“Pretty much. You know anything?”
“No.”
“Weren’t you also working on this?”
“Sort of.” Joel leaned into his chair, relaxing. “You needed me to turn everything off for this?”
“I don’t trust him.”
“That’s probably wise.”
“What do his emotions tell you?”
“He’s very hard to read.”
“Like me?”
Joel shook his head. “No, not like you. Your emotions are easy to read, figuring out what they mean to you is hard. For Malek, he’s very even-keeled. Much more like Molly.”
Faye scoffed. “Why does that not surprise me?”
“What have you learned so far?” He could tell Faye was hesitating. He knew just about everything Molly did in the house that she wanted him to know, but since Ben had taken on shifting full-force and the drug had been introduced into their city, he’d been far more distracted and not as much of a listening ear to Molly as he normally was. Perhaps that had been what the day before had been about. He needed to set some time aside to sit with her.
Faye said something, and he realized too late, he hadn’t heard her.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Malek wants me to convince Molly to release Lamek.”
Joel furrowed his brow. “Who?”
“The troll.”
“Oh! Oh…well, that’s interesting. Did he say why?”
Faye crossed her arms. “Other than he thinks it was wrong and when the fold finds out she’ll be in trouble, no.”
“Do you agree with that assessment?”
“Yes, but I think there’s more to it.”
Joel drew in a deep breath. “Did you know Molly was the one who put him there?”
“Yes. Didn’t you?”
“No.”
“Oh. I knew before I even met Molly, but he and I were friends far longer than that.”
“His name is Lamek?”
“Apparently.” Faye cocked her head at him. “Are you still mad at her for it?”
“A little.”
“She thinks she had a good reason for it.”
“I understand that.”
“You disagree?”
“Yes.”
Faye chuckled. “Least I’m not the only one.”
“I agree with Malek. If anyone was going to convince her to release him, it would be you.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Faye pouted as she stared at the floor. “Still, why does he want Lamek released? Because I don’t think it has anything to do with the fold.”
“Good question.”
“Malek is good at manipulating. Like, you thought Molly was good? Nope. He’s better.”
“Actually, I thought you were fairly good at it, better than Molly.” Faye gave him a funny look, so he continued. “Molly is easy to read when she’s hiding something, not what she is hiding but that she is. You’re so all over the place it keeps everyone on their toes.”
“Thanks. I think.”
Joel chuckled. “What do you want to do about it?”
“I don’t know, but I do know that I want to keep him out of whatever business I can manage.”
“Is that why you’re here?”
“Yup.” Faye pointed at him. “You’re smart.”
“Why are you here, Faye?”
“We have to figure out who is behind this drug.”
“Oh? Is it not your preferred drug of choice anymore?”
“Do I look high to you?”
Joel paused to really look her over. She’d come in like she normally would have. Her eyes seemed clear. Her emotions—well, that was always another story, but they did seem to at least be steady. Shaking his head, he answered her. “Not in this moment, but that doesn’t rule out any other time.”
“I’m not.”
“Good for you. Have you gone back to sobering up or is this temporary?”
She shrugged, and he had his answer. She’d sobered up enough to get something from him, but an addict was an addict, and Joel was pretty sure that as long as he was alive, he’d be wondering if Faye was slipping herself some drug somewhere. The least he could ask for was that she was honest about it, which she seemed to be for now.
“Why do you want to find the dealer so bad?”
“I think the dealer will lead us to who is making it.”
“Your troll friends didn’t give you any hints?”
“I don’t think they have any clue about it. They’re just trying to keep it off the street.”
“Why? I mean, they don’t come to the surface ever, what would they care?”
Faye froze. “You know, I hadn’t thought about that.”
Joel stiffened his shoulders as he leaned forward on the desk. “Okay, so let’s lay out what we know already. There is a new drug. It only affects Tainted, and it is deadly. Not just to those who take it, but to those around anyone who has taken it.”
