Gray tidings, p.23
Gray Tidings, page 23
>>Have you dispatched the creature?
First text on my new phone, and it was the director. As if I needed confirmation he had eyes and ears everywhere. Just not my eyes and ears. Updating him on our progress was one of the balls I dropped on this case. Thrown, really. As far as my arm allowed. I was surprised he let me get away with radio silence for this long.
Maybe he afforded the deputy director more leeway than I anticipated. Or maybe he had already fit me for a noose and was waiting for me to run out of rope and hang myself.
>Yes.
He didn’t have to know it was a catch and release.
>>Did you identify those responsible for its summons?
>The Toussaints are at it again.
>>What purpose did they have for the beast?
>A ritual ingredient. The usual.
>>No one else was involved?
A hollow carved its way through my stomach, the certainty he was about to quit playing games and admit he sent me hunting for Dad.
>Another local coven. The Garniers.
>>No one else?
Tempting as it was to throw Luca under the bus, she might drag Dad beneath the wheels with her.
>Looking for someone in particular?
>>I expect a full debriefing upon your return.
I bet he did. Jerk. I wish he would man up and confess what he knew.
It would be so much easier to lie to him if he told me the truth.
“Try the fried pies,” the Swyft driver said when we opened our doors. “Cherry’s the best.”
“Thanks for the tip.” Clay rubbed his midsection. “I’ll be sure to test your theory before we leave.”
On the sidewalk, I glanced at the sign above the bakery then back to Clay. “Well?”
“Well what?” He strove for innocence. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Is he right?” I waited. “The cherry was best?”
“Poor guy is delusional.” He tsked. “The apple kicked its ass into the next county.”
Surprised to find I could smile, I made my way to the bus’s door, and it opened before me.
“Hey.” Marita pointed at her head gameshow-hostess style. “What do you think of my new ’do?”
A teeny Colby had climbed into her hair, which she wore in a fluffy bun.
“Spilling all our secrets, I see.” I clucked my tongue. “I thought hairbow mode was our thing.”
“I thought it was our thing.” Clay climbed in behind me. “I’m hurt, Shorty.”
“I was just explaining the rules,” she said primly. “I told Marita I can only go out like this.”
“A damn shame too.” She lifted Colby gently onto her palms. “You’re a little badass, you know that?”
Antennae aquiver, Colby turned her wide eyes on me, waiting for me to chastise Marita, but I was out of juice. I accepted Colby from Marita and flopped down on the bench, stroking her soft back.
“You don’t look so good.” She cuddled against my neck, hugging me tight. “Things didn’t go well?”
“They did not.” I let my head fall back against the window. “I’ll fill you in later, okay?”
“Hey.” Derry strode from the back. “I was just checking on the girls.”
Jerking upright, I was seconds from rising. “Camber and Arden?”
“Eliza and Tibby,” he clarified. “They’re watching TV and cuddling.”
“Mind going to your bunk?” I stroked down her back. “I need to talk to them.”
“I have to put the finishing touches on my virus anyway,” she said cheerfully.
The Ferret wouldn’t know what hit her when Colby was done with her.
Rocking back on his heels, Derry hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “Want me to get them?”
“Yeah.” I raked a hand through my hair. “I want this settled.”
With a nod, he strode off to bring the young witches to me. Meanwhile, Marita sat beside me.
“Want to talk about it, when this is done?” She rested her shoulder against mine in solidarity. “You can talk to me, you know?”
“Thanks.” I took her hand and squeezed it. “I appreciate the offer.”
“But you won’t take me up on it,” she said without reproach.
“I don’t know what happened, but I might need a sounding board once I figure it out.”
“The door is always open.” She winked twice. “Unless Derry and I are…you know.”
“I do know.” I spluttered a laugh, one of the last I expected for a while. “We’ll talk soon, okay?”
Once Derry returned with the girls, he and Marita exited the bus and entered the bakery.
With only Black Hats present, I was ready to begin. The girls sat across from me, their arms linked.
“Tibby, you’re in a bad situation. Your clan wants to—”
“I’ll join.” She gazed into Eliza’s eyes. “As long as she can come too.”
“Um.” I rubbed the base of my neck. “That took less convincing than anticipated.”
“I have an uncle in Black Hat,” Eliza explained. “When your friend tackled me, I realized why you were here and what you would want from her.” Her fingers laced with Tibby’s. “I understand what it means to be Black Hat, and I’m okay with it.” She wet her lips. “Tibby needs it. To be safe. I believe you can do that for her.”
Had she an inkling there were two girls almost their age under a sleeping spell in the bottom bunk, she might not feel so confident.
“Eliza, are you sure you want this?” I gave her a moment. “It’s for life.”
“You’ll be stuck with them,” Tibby said quietly, “even if you get tired of me.”
“What does that mean?” Eliza flushed red with hurt. “Are you…breaking up with me?”
“You don’t have to give up your entire life for me.”
“I don’t have a life without you.”
“Tell me Asa and I weren’t this bad,” I whispered to Clay out of the corner of my mouth.
“You were worse,” he whispered back. “So much worse.”
On my other side, Asa chuckled softly, overhearing our conversation with ease.
“We’ve decided,” the girls said in unison. “We’re joining.”
“You’re welcome to take the night to consider your options.”
Tibby had none, but Eliza could decide to stay in New Orleans with her…
Awkward.
I had vaporized her father and several of her coven members. She could return home, but he wouldn’t be there waiting for her. I ought to break the news, but Clay squeezed my knee in a silent warning.
Armed with the facts, Eliza might let grief cloud her judgment when she needed it most.
“We’re sure,” Tibby assured me. “Beyond certain.”
“We don’t even need to pack.” Eliza nodded. “We’re ready.”
“Call Isiforos,” I instructed Clay, a weight settling on my heart. “Tell him to come pick up our new recruits.”
“Will do.” Clay rose. “Let’s go get you two some necessities.” He waved them out. “It will take a few days for all the paperwork to process, and a week for you to receive your first paycheck as a trainee.”
Another first? One for the Black Hat history books?
Recruiting two young women who wanted the job without having done anything to earn it.
Both girls were headed straight to Fergal for training. I trusted him—gulp—to guide and protect them.
“Put it on the company card.” I flicked my wrist. “Whatever they need.”
“Mind if I borrow Ace?” Clay slanted a mock glare at the girls. “These two look sneaky.”
I saw the opening for what it was, and I gave a nod that weighed so much, I was shocked my head didn’t pop right off my shoulders.
With a soft kiss, Asa left me to my fate.
There was, after all, another set of girls that needed to be dealt with.
Trudging to the back, I allowed myself a momentary reprieve to peek in on Colby. “Listen out, okay?”
Worst-case scenario, I might need help controlling Camber and Arden if this went south.
“Okay.” She flew at my face and hugged me. “You got this.”
“Let’s hope so.” I eased her back into her gamer den. “It won’t take but a second to wake them.”
Her marching orders in place, Colby perched behind the curtain, ready if I needed her.
Sliding the fabric open on Camber and Arden’s bunk, seeing how they clung to one another, even in their sleep, brought a sour taste to my mouth as bitter memories surfaced from their last brush with magic.
Camber and Arden huddled together, their fingers laced, and their heads bowed until their hair tangled.
A touch of my hand to their foreheads woke them, and they sucked in ragged breaths, their eyes bright with panic.
“Rue,” Camber gasped. “Where are…?”
“Get back.” Arden recovered first. “I don’t trust you this close to us.”
Had she held a knife and driven it through my heart—and twisted it—I couldn’t have been more hurt.
“That’s fair.” I lifted my hands and backed away. “We need to talk.”
“You kidnapped us,” Camber recalled, her voice shrill. “The only person I want to talk to is a lawyer.”
“A restraining order isn’t going to make this go away.” I wished I could hold their hands or stroke their hair, but I no longer had that right. “You’ve seen the truth. You know what I am, what the others are, and that means you have a choice to make.”
“We choose to go home,” Arden growled. “We choose to never see you—any of you—ever again.”
The trials they endured had dulled Camber’s edge, but they honed Arden’s to razor sharpness.
“We won’t tell anyone,” Camber whispered, “if you let us go.”
This was the exact conversation I expected to have with Eliza and Tibby, who didn’t know me from a hole in the ground. Instead, girls I had watched grow up begged me to forget I ever knew them.
Black witches ate hearts for a reason. For power, yes, but also for that black magic high that let you forget how people looked at you like you were a monster from a fairy tale the instant they learned who and what you were, what you could do.
“Those are both options,” I allowed, “with the right precautions in place.”
“Precautions?” Arden set her jaw. “What?” She scoffed. “Will you wipe our memories?”
“Yes.” I watched horror spread across their faces. “If that’s what you want.”
“What if we don’t?” Camber’s bottom lip trembled. “Does that mean living with what we know?”
“Yes.” I linked my fingers. “If that’s what you decide.”
“I don’t want to know.” Camber shook her head hard. “I still have nightmares about…”
What the Silver Stag copycat did to them both.
“All right.” Coward that it made me, I relaxed a fraction. “I can arrange that for you.”
“Will it hurt?”
“No, sweetie.” Another fracture spread across my heart. “You won’t feel a thing.”
With the resources at my disposal, I could request the best for her, and I would. The witch could untangle the spell that had opened Camber’s eyes to our world too, so she could close them again.
“I don’t want to forget, and I don’t want the spell broken.” Arden stuck her fingers in that fracture and ripped it wider. “I don’t want to be blindsided again.” Her cheek twitched as she turned to her friend. “This way, I can watch out for both of us.” She kept her eyes on me, her stare hard and cold. “Tell me one thing.”
The word got stuck in my throat. “Ask.”
“Have you ever tampered with our memories?”
“Yes.” I wouldn’t lie to her again. “I helped you both forget the worst of the kidnapping.”
“It was your fault.” She spoke with absolute certainty. “That’s why you screwed with our heads.”
A rustle of fabric behind me warned the hole I had dug was about to get deeper.
“She was trying to help you,” Colby shrilled, “not hurt you.”
“That moth spoke to us.” Camber’s breathing turned choppy. “How did that moth speak to us?”
The thing in Camber that broke that night, the fragile core of her that I had nurtured and done my best to heal, splintered. She melted onto the mattress, curled on her side, and pulled the covers up to her shoulders. Rocking back and forth, she sobbed into her pillow with quiet cries that left my eyes stinging.
“I can help you sleep, if you want.” I expected her to rebuff me, if she replied at all. “When you wake up, you won’t remember anything. You’ll be back at the townhouse, ready to pack and go home. It will be as if none of this happened.”
“Do it,” Arden agreed on her behalf. “She can’t handle much more.”
Unflinching, Arden sat with her friend while I reached around her, touching Camber on the hand.
“Tell me about the man who kidnapped us,” she demanded when Camber relaxed into slumber.
“A black witch attacked you.” Colby puffed up with indignation. “Rue saved you both.”
“How did a black witch end up in Samford, Alabama?” Her gaze drilled into mine. “Why did he pick us?”
“He followed me,” I confessed. “He chose you two, because he knew how much I love you.”
“You don’t keep secrets from people you love.” Arden didn’t want to hear me. “Not like this.”
“She had no choice.” Colby bristled so hard she bumped up to cat size. “She had to—”
“Who are you?” Arden got to her feet. “What are you?”
To protect Colby, I told her what I could afford her to know, and I leaned hard into known witch lore to make it easy for Arden to grasp the depth of the bond between her and me.
“She’s my familiar.” I ruffled Colby’s antennae. “She’s not responsible for any of my actions.”
As a matter of fact, not that it would help my case, but Colby was a victim of them herself.
“Where are the others?” She scanned the RV. “Clay and Asa and…Aedan.”
“They’re giving us privacy.”
“That’s what changed, isn’t it?” Fresh hurt carved her features. “Things were fine until they showed up.”
“The less you know about the details, the safer you’ll be.”
“We both know that’s not true.”
“The more you know, the harder it will be to keep the truth from Camber.”
“If I have trouble, I’ll ask myself—” More tears fell. “What would Rue do?”
“I deserve that.” I sank my fingers in Colby’s fluff to keep her from launching at Arden. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry you got caught.”
“Sorry people like me don’t get to live in small towns and have small lives and enjoy small happinesses.”
A flicker of something passed over her features. “You’re not coming back?”
Though I knew better than to ask, I must not be done flagellating myself yet. “Do you want me to?”
Her lips parted, but she didn’t give an immediate response. I don’t think she had an answer.
“Nothing has to change. You two can co-manage the shop. I’ll increase your pay to make up for the extra workload. If you need help, you’re welcome to hire a part-time employee. You don’t need me to make Hollis Apothecary profitable. It’s as much your business as it is mine.”
“The two of us?” A slight tremble shook her jawline. “Aedan isn’t coming back either, is he?”
“He has business in Samford, so he’ll be staying on my property for the time being.” I measured her reaction before adding, “He won’t return to the store, and he won’t contact you again.”
“Is that his choice or yours?”
“You called him a monster,” I reminded her. “That tends to stick with people like us.”
“Monsters?”
“People who grew up believing the worst of themselves only to have someone they love confirm it.”
“I don’t know what to do.” She shrank into herself. “About you. About him. About any of this.”
“You don’t have to figure out everything today. One life-altering choice is plenty.”
“Yeah.” She reclined onto the bunk. “Okay.”
“Let me make some calls, and I’ll get someone out here for Camber.”
A fragile thread of what I wanted to call hope strung between us. “Can’t you do it?”
“I want the best for her, and that’s not me.”
Fingers touching the curtain, she stifled a yawn I didn’t believe for a hot minute. “I’m going to nap.”
The fabric slid closed, both of us knowing she wouldn’t be sleeping anytime soon.
“That could have gone worse.” Colby leaned against my throat. “At least it’s over.”
“You’re right.” I leaned right back. “It is over.”
My simple life, my simple job, my simple friendships.
All of it.
Everything.
Over.
17
Sometime before dawn, Arden elected to witness Camber having her memories altered. I wasn’t surprised she didn’t trust me to oversee the process, but it still hurt. Everything hurt. And yet, I discovered it could still get worse when she chose Clay over me to escort Camber back to Townhouse A.
Without saying goodbye, or anything else, she left, and then I was alone with Isiforos.
“Need anything else?” He stood at my elbow. “I’m about to leave with Ms. Toussaint and Ms. Garnier.” He studied my profile. “Are the other girls coming too? Camber and Arden, right?”
Chills broke down my arms to hear a Black Hat mention them so casually.
“No.” I shook my head. “They’re not recruits.”
“In that case, I’m off.” He winked at me. “I have a hot date with a local cambion.”
After he left, Fergal arrived at the RV, which was currently functioning as the world’s most embarrassing mobile office, with reports for me to read and sign.
Now that both sets of girls had gone their separate ways, I didn’t mind my lieutenants joining me.
Fergal updated me on the lake massacre, but most of it went in one ear and out the other. Selfish of me, I know, but I was too busy nursing my own broken heart to envision how the victims’ loved ones would take the news.
