Missing powers, p.8
Missing Powers, page 8
“Well, yes.”
“How do you make them friends?”
Was Harrison asking because he wanted to be classed as one of Reg’s friends? If so, she would be happy to call him one and avoid having to explain complex human relationships to him. She didn’t think he was worried about his relationship with Starlight, since neither of them was human. Harrison scratched Starlight’s ears and the ruff of his neck.
“Well, I can’t make them friends unless they want to be friends. It is a two-way thing.”
“Do they not want to be?”
“Yes, they do. I think. Jessup does for sure. Damon… I don’t know. Maybe friends. Maybe something else. Davyn is my mentor, but he is a friend too.”
“How?”
“Uh… he cares about me and my opinion. We talk about things other than just firecasting. I’m interested in his life and he’s interested in mine.” Reg wasn’t quite sure that the last bit was true. She cared about Davyn, his opinion of her, and what happened to him. But her interest in his life had not extended beyond their mentorship role. She knew where he worked and she knew about his relationship with Julian, but she didn’t want to know any details of either one. She and Davyn didn’t have much in common other than firecasting. “And… since we’re the only two around here who are firecasters, that kind of bonds us together as friends. Other people can’t understand how to handle fire like we do. How to play with it.”
Harrison nodded slowly. “You like to play the same games.”
“Yes, I guess so. And there isn’t anyone else I can play them with.”
She could just see Sarah letting her play with fire in the cottage or the big house. If she were lucky, Sarah might let her light candles with her fire. But that was probably as daring as she would get.
“You want him to live so that you can play with him.”
Reg laughed awkwardly. “Uh, yeah. That’s right.”
“And the woman. You don’t have a lot of woman friends.”
“Sarah?”
He shook his head.
“Jessup? Uh… well, it’s kind of hard to be friends with her, even though we’d both like it.”
“But you are friends.”
“Well… mostly. But there are reasons I can’t be close friends with her. Reasons I don’t want her in this house.”
“Why?”
“She is a police officer… do you understand what they do?”
“Bind people,” Harrison said promptly. “Enforce the human rules.”
“Yes. Exactly. And… I don’t want to be bound. So when she thinks I have done something to break the human rules, I don’t want to be around her because I don’t want to be arrested. Bound.”
“But other times, you are friends.”
“Mmm. Yes. We have been.”
Harrison nodded. “It is time,” he said obliquely.
“Time for what?”
“Human friends are time-based,” Harrison said, with more clarity than usual. “Friends at this temporal point, but not at that. Changes over time. Not always friends.”
“Yeah, I guess. Yes, it is time-based.”
“Not always.”
“No.” As a non-time-traveling mortal, Reg wasn’t even sure she could comprehend “always.” Forever, always, and other words denoting eternity or some undefinable period of time were too difficult to wrap her mind around. Humans were time-based; she didn’t think it was possible for them to clearly understand what it would be like to live without a linear timeline, being able to move in both directions through time or time that never ended. It was just too fast for her to conceptualize. “We can’t always be friends. We don’t begin to be friends until we meet and find similar interests. And we can’t be friends forever because… we don’t live forever. And sometimes we don’t live in the same area for very long or find that we can’t stay friends with someone for some other reason.”
“This is so.” Harrison nodded as if he understood it all, though Reg felt like she was more confused now than when they had started the conversation. “Human friendships are linear.”
He petted Starlight again, kissed him on the top of his head, and disappeared.
Reg stood there staring at the place where Harrison had been standing, still holding her mug of cold coffee.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Reg dumped the cold coffee from her cup and the carafe and brewed a new batch.
She had thoughts of just going back to bed, since it was much too early for her to get up for the second day in the row. She could just go back to bed and finish her sleep.
But the thought of going back to bed wasn’t as attractive as it usually was. Harrison’s questions had her brain whirling away, trying to sort out everything she had told him and what was the truth. Had she been telling the truth or lying when she had listed off friends to him? Were those people unconsciously the most important people in her life, even though she had ended the friendships or hadn’t officially become friends?
Had she pushed her friends away when things became difficult because she couldn’t run away like she normally did? Were they still willing to continue to be friends and had been confused or hurt by her rejections?
Could she really say that she was friends with Davyn when she wouldn’t take any action to find him and make sure he was okay?
“Human relationships are complex,” she told Starlight as she waited for the coffee to finish brewing and he stared at her from his perch on the island.
He continued to stare, unblinking.
What did cats know about relationships? The only thing he cared about at the moment was when she was going to get around to putting fish in his bowl.
Starlight blinked and began to wash. If she knew what he wanted, why wasn’t she doing it?
Reg shook her head and found some tuna in the fridge for Starlight. He jumped off the island and began chowing down, his purr filling the room.
Cats were easy. Humans, not as much. Of course, Starlight wasn’t a regular cat, but he still had cat instincts and behaviors, so that was how she thought of him.
Someone should be looking for Davyn.
Someone was looking for Davyn. It just wasn’t her. Reg sighed. She picked up her phone and hit the number on her recent calls list for Jessup. She touched the speakerphone icon and looked through the fridge for something that appealed to her for her breakfast. She didn’t usually eat early in the morning and she wasn’t sure she would. Maybe she would just have the coffee and wait until the rest of her body woke up.
“Reg?” Jessup’s voice blared from the phone.
Reg reached over and turned the volume down. “Umm… yeah. Hi. Sorry, I probably called you too early. Were you already up?”
“Yes, I’m up. How are you doing? You aren’t usually up at this time. Unless you’re still up from last night. Is everything all right?”
“Sure. Everything is fine.”
“Just… making sure you aren’t calling me because you happened across a body. Or some creature.”
Like Reg would call Jessup if she happened across a body. She would sneak away and do everything she could to avoid detection. Being at the center of a murder investigation was not an experience she wanted repeated.
“I was just thinking about your call yesterday. About Davyn.”
“Ah. Do you think you could do anything to help? I know it’s presumptuous to ask. It’s up to you when and how you use your gifts. But like I said, I would pay you as a consultant. It wouldn’t just be a freebie.”
“I don’t know. I haven’t had any impressions about where he might be. But I was talking to Corvin, and—”
Jessup snorted. “Are you still talking to Hunter? I don’t think I would if I were you, especially knowing he’s been allowed back into the coven. I really don’t think they waited long enough. His punishment should have been more severe, considering how serious his breach was.”
“We’re not talking a lot, but… I just happened to run into him at The Crystal Bowl.”
“Happened to? I doubt it. If he was at The Crystal Bowl, he was looking for you. It isn’t one of his usual hangouts.”
Reg considered this. She frequently ran into Corvin at the restaurant, so she had just assumed that it was one of his favorite places to eat too. Even though it wasn’t like the places he took her to when he was taking her out. People didn’t eat every meal at fancy restaurants. He must have some places he went just because it was quick and easy. Like The Crystal Bowl. Reg was sure that he went there for reasons other than just seeing her.
“So, we were talking,” she said, deciding to ignore the tangent. Jessup was interrupting too much, not letting Reg get to the point. Reg hadn’t called to gossip or talk about Corvin’s behavior. She had just wanted to give Jessup a quick tip. One quick call, and then she could stay out of the case, confident she had done everything she should. “Talking about where Davyn could have gotten to. And Corvin said that he wasn’t sure you even knew about Julian. And… I don’t think I told you anything about him.”
“Who is Julian?”
“Julian Sabat. He is with Magical Investigations. An investigator.” Reg tried to remember the other details on Julian’s card. “On… animals, I think. Creatures.”
“Magical Investigations.” Reg could practically hear the gears turning in Jessup’s brain. “I wouldn’t think you would want anything to do with Magical Investigations after the Everglades thing.”
Reg cleared her throat. “He was the investigator on the Everglades thing. And you’re right; I don’t want anything to do with him. That’s why I’m telling you. I don’t want to call him.”
“So… explain to me why I should call this investigator about Davyn’s disappearance? What does that have to do with magical creatures?”
“Nothing. No. I don’t think Davyn was kidnapped by a goblin or anything,” Reg hurried to assure Jessup. “No, Davyn and Julian are… friends. You know. Corvin wondered if maybe Davyn decided to take an impromptu holiday and to go see him. Because long-distance relationships are hard,” Reg finished lamely. It didn’t sound like as good of a lead as Reg had hoped. Maybe Jessup would just laugh it off.
“Oh, I didn’t know Davyn had anyone. No one that we talked to so far said anything about that.”
“Maybe he was trying to keep it quiet. But they’ve been out in public together. Julian stayed to watch the Spring Games.”
“Everybody stayed to watch the Spring Games,” Jessup laughed. “I wouldn’t have thought anything about seeing Davyn there with a stranger, unless they were…” She cleared her throat. “Obviously together. I would have just thought that the stranger was an old friend from out of town.”
“Maybe. So, that’s all I called about. I just didn’t know if you had that piece of information and thought that it might be important.”
“That’s helpful. I appreciate you calling about it. And do you think… we could work that consultation in? We’re doing everything we can, but we haven’t turned up anything concrete that indicates a direction he might have gone. It seems like he has disappeared off of the face of the earth.”
“You don’t think that he just went to visit Julian?”
“Without his wallet or keys or vehicle? How did he do that?”
“Oh. Well, I don’t know. Maybe Julian picked him up. Maybe it was a surprise for an anniversary or something like that and Davyn just dropped everything and went with him.”
“We’ll certainly look into it, but I don’t think that is very likely. Davyn isn’t really the ‘drop everything’ kind of person.”
“No,” Reg admitted. “Sarah thought he might have had some kind of nervous breakdown. So I was just hoping…”
“I’ll check it out. But assuming it doesn’t pan out… can I come to see you? Maybe you won’t be able to tell me anything, but at least I would know that I was checking every possible angle.”
Reg sighed. “I suppose,” she finally agreed.
Human relationships were complex.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Reg opened the door to admit Jessup, a slim woman with a golden-brown complexion and features faintly Asian. She invited her in. As Reg did so, she couldn’t help thinking about how Jessup had treated her as a suspect in the past. Not just once, but multiple times and, in each case, Reg had been completely innocent. She hadn’t had anything to do with the crime that had taken place. And Jessup’s partner had been one of the people who had tortured Reg for information so, even if Reg had not already had a distrust of police, then she would have after that day. She ran her finger over the scar in the middle of her palm as she thought about it.
And here she was, letting a cop into the house—one who had betrayed her in the past.
What was she thinking?
Starlight came out of the bedroom and approached Jessup, sniffing the air.
“Hi, Starlight,” Jessup greeted, putting her hand down to the floor to call Starlight and allow him to smell her hand. Starlight immediately sat back on haunches and began to wash, ignoring the outstretched hand.
Reg grinned. Cats really were contrary.
Jessup waited for a moment, making clicking and kissing sounds and wiggling her fingers, then finally gave up. She stood back up to her full height. She motioned to the living room area, and Reg nodded. “Have a seat.”
Jessup selected a chair. Reg grabbed the kettle as it started to whistle, and poured boiling water into two mugs, which she took on the tea tray over to the table in the living room. She and Jessup went through the familiar routine of making themselves tea. Reg watched Jessup in her peripheral vision, not looking directly at her.
It would only take a few minutes, and then Jessup could leave to continue the investigation, either with new information or, as she had said, knowing that she had at least explored all of the avenues open to her. Reg didn’t have to keep her entertained or to immediately resume the friendship they’d had prior to stumbling across a body in the graveyard.
Jessup tried to open with some small talk, but Reg ignored it. She got to her feet and went over to the shelf to pick up her crystal ball. She didn’t need it, but found it a little easier to focus her brain if she used it. And Starlight helped too, if he were inclined. Reg sat down with the crystal and called Starlight to her.
“Do you want to help me, Star? We’re looking for Davyn. You like Davyn, don’t you?”
She knew that, unlike Corvin, Davyn had never been rude or aggressive about Starlight or the subject of cats in general. Reg didn’t think that he had a familiar, but maybe if he did, it would have been a cat.
Starlight paused in his bath and looked at Reg. She patted her lap. “Do you want to help me?”
Starlight gave his fur a couple more firm licks and then padded across the room to Reg and jumped into her lap. Reg scratched his ears and rubbed his fur, though she tried to keep from ruffling his fur up so that he would have to lick it down again. “Davyn has disappeared and we’re going to see if we can see him.”
Starlight settled himself comfortably into Reg’s lap and sat looking at the crystal ball.
“He looks like he knows exactly what he’s doing,” Jessup chuckled.
“He does.”
Jessup rolled her eyes, but didn’t argue about it. Reg reached out and touched the crystal with her fingertips, staring first at the reflection on the outside of the ball, and then into its depths. Nothing appeared to her. Reg closed her eyes and tried to reset. She was looking for Davyn. He had to be out there somewhere. All Reg needed was to see a flash of something. Some clue as to where Davyn was or what kind of shape he was in.
The crystal remained stubbornly dark.
“Come on,” Reg murmured. “Show me Davyn Smithy. He must be close by.”
But the universe and the spirits that surrounded Reg were not obliging.
“Can you do a seek?” Jessup asked after a few minutes, in a respectfully lowered voice.
Reg closed her eyes. Seeking had been hit and miss for her. It was a powerful bit of magic that really, she shouldn’t be able to perform, but sometimes it worked perfectly. She had always been good at finding lost items when she was a little girl, so she must have an affinity for it. But since she had come to Black Sands, she hadn’t always been able to find people or magical objects when she had tried. Sometimes there were counter-spells in place to prevent it.
She didn’t want to do a seek, just to have it fail.
But she needed to get over the fear of failure. If she didn’t try, she couldn’t fail, but that meant she was stopping herself, rather than an outside influence stopping her. Which was more embarrassing? Failing at a seek or being afraid even to try?
She could just tell Jessup that the seek had failed. But didn’t she want to find Davyn?
“Okay,” Reg said, more to herself than to Jessup. “I’ll give it a try.”
She pictured Davyn in her mind as clearly as possible. Where is Davyn Smithy?
Starlight’s claws pricked Reg’s leg. Not hard, just enough that she knew that he was exerting all of the power he could to help her with her demand. With both of them working together, seeking Davyn should be a cinch. But she still couldn’t see Davyn in the crystal or her mind. She reached out with all of her senses, trying to sense a pull in one direction or another. He had to be somewhere. She knew him well enough and was exerting all of the effort she could, including using Starlight’s magnifying power. How could she use so much and still have no idea? Even when trying to find Wilson, someone she had never met before and had been missing for decades, she had felt a pull. She had been able to track him even though Damon had shown her the wrong image.
Reg sat back, letting out a puff of breath. “I can’t. I’m not getting anywhere.”
Jessup’s brows drew down. “Nothing? Not even an inkling?”
“No. Nothing at all. It’s like… he’s not anywhere.”
“Could someone or something be cloaking his location?”
“I guess. I don’t know enough about that kind of magic. I can usually find what I’m looking for, eventually. But you know, a lot has happened that has disrupted things and messed with my brain and with what I can do. It seems like just when I get a handle on things, start to understand what I can do, something else happens that messes it up. It’s always changing.”
