Explosive chemistry, p.12
Explosive Chemistry, page 12
“Pete is going to ask you to marry him. But you will say no. It will make him very sad. And you should give me his sword. If you don’t, someone will steal it and Pete will die.”
Ben’s smile did some very strange things, first widening into delight, then tilting wryly, then fading into confusion. Liliana had never met anyone who seemed to express nearly every emotion with a smile.
“Uh.” He set the stylus down on the table. “That’s um. Pete’s going to ask me to marry him?”
“He has a ring. He has just been waiting for a good time. There has not been a good time lately because so many people have been dying. Pete and Sergeant Giovanni have to help Detective Jackson, so Pete has been busy and distracted. He wants to take you somewhere nice and ask.”
“Pete told you all that?” Ben asked, his smile turning ironic.
“Pete did not tell me any of that. I am a seer. I have wondered why you will tell him no, though. Pete is beautiful and smart and fierce and loves you. Why will you not choose him for your mate when he has chosen you?”
Ben’s smile seemed a little teasing, and he looked around as if someone else might be hiding behind the big elm tree or in the decorative hydrangeas by the fence. “Why is Pete so sure I’ll tell him no that he sent you to talk to me? Maybe I’ll say yes.”
Liliana sighed. Once again, she was completely failing at communication. She sat down at the picnic table and reached across it to touch Ben’s hand. Sometimes people paid more attention if you touched them. “Pete thinks you will say yes. Pete doesn’t know I am here.” She looked up directly into Ben’s dark brown eyes for as long as she could stand it. “I came because I need you to give me Pete’s sword so it will not be stolen, and Pete will not die. I just wondered why you did not want him for your husband.”
The smile faded from the teacher’s face. “You’re serious. Pete didn’t send you?”
“Pete doesn’t know I am here, and you must not tell him. The paths of the future where he finds out and comes to me to ask about it are bad ones. You must not tell him.”
“The paths of the future, right.” Ben Harper smiled again, but the smile bothered Liliana. It reminded her of the people who spoke to her very slowly. “Look, Miss Lilly, I’m not one of your customers. You don’t have to put on an act for me.”
Liliana frowned and fought to remain calm against rising anger. “No. You are not a customer. You are my best friend’s beloved, who will reject him and break his heart. And if you refuse to give me his sword, you will get him killed too.”
“I’m not the one who sent him straight into a club full of armed serial killers,” Ben Harper pointed out sharply, his smile vanishing.
Liliana blinked her human eyes and pulled her hands back into her lap. She ran the bright silken sleeves of her blouse through her fingers. It didn’t help. He was right. She blinked again and a tear ran down her face. “I did not mean to nearly get Pete killed.”
The spider-kin got up abruptly. This was not working. Ben would not give her Pete’s sword. Ben did not like her.
“Whoa. Whoa. Wait a minute.”
Liliana ignored him and climbed back up the gazebo support pole, still blinking tears from her human eyes.
“Lilly, please, stop a minute. You said something about Pete dying?”
Liliana stopped when she reached the gazebo roof. Ben was right. The spider-kin could not just give up and leave. Pete’s life would be forfeit. “You believe I am a charlatan who puts on an act. You do not believe that I can see the future, so why would you care what I have seen?” Liliana sat down on the peak of the gazebo roof and wiped her human eyes.
She always wondered why only her human eyes wept. She had seen Stella’s spider eyes weep when she lost her beloved, so it was not the same with all spider-kin. Only her kind. Or at least, only her. There were so few spider seers left, she didn’t really know.
She couldn’t remember ever seeing either her older sister Isabella, or her first mother, Solifu, cry. Liliana didn’t remember crying much herself over the last few decades. Yet lately, Liliana seemed to be doing it a lot. Her life was no longer a bland nothing with every day the same as every other day. It had lovely high points, but it also had moments like this when she wondered why she’d ever left her house.
Ben stepped out onto his back lawn and backed up until he could see where Liliana sat. “I teach science, not fantasy.” He shrugged and smiled apologetically. “Fortune tellers are always charlatans. I don’t believe anyone can see the future. It’s nothing against you personally.”
The spider-kin pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “You will say no to Pete when he asks you to be his for life. I have seen this. Am I wrong?”
Ben looked down at the grass. “Maybe not.”
“Pete’s soul is shining and good. He is the bravest man I have known since my father died. Why will you reject him?”
“Is this some really weird version of a shovel speech?”
Liliana tilted her head to one side. “What is a shovel speech?”
“You know, ‘I have a shovel, and if you break his heart, I’ll kill you and bury the body where no one will find it.’ That speech.”
“That is something that people do?” Liliana asked, shocked.
“Why do I get the feeling I’m talking to one of my fifth graders?” Ben said, softly.
Liliana did not think Ben meant for her to hear that, so she pretended she hadn’t.
“In general, people don’t actually kill each other over hurting a close friend or relative, but the threat is intended to make it clear how important that person is to you, and that you won’t tolerate them being treated badly,” Ben explained.
Liliana thought about that. “I would not kill you for breaking Pete’s heart.”
Ben grinned at her. “That’s good to know.”
“I might break your bones, or threaten to cut off a limb or something, but I do not think I would kill you.”
Ben laughed. “That is definitely a shovel speech.” His smile softened. “You must love Pete a lot.”
Liliana swallowed and hugged her knees tighter. “If he loved me like he loves you, and he asked me to be his for life, I would say yes.”
“Hence your confusion as to why I might say no.” Ben sighed. “Come down and I’ll make coffee, and we’ll have this conversation where it won’t give me a crick in my neck.” The teacher picked up his tablet and stylus from the picnic table and went into the house.
Liliana climbed down and followed him. “I do not like coffee, but I like tea.”
“I’ve got some Earl Grey around here somewhere.” They said nothing more about Pete while Ben prepared a cup of tea and one of coffee, only exchanging a few words about sugar and cream.
Once they were inside and settled on the soft living room couch with their warm drinks, Ben spoke again. “Pete and I met in grad school, both pursuing our doctorates in biochemistry. Back then, if he’d asked me to marry him, I would have said yes without hesitation. Now that he works for the military, he keeps a lot of his life to himself. Sometimes I think there are more things I don’t know about Pete than things I do.”
Pete could not tell his beloved about fighting widow spiders or the empty pain a wolf-kin felt when he had no pack. He could not tell Ben Harper about two of his closest friends, the oak goblin and the wood sprite, or much about Liliana, the spider seer. As long as Ben Harper believed only in science and refused to even admit the possibility of more, he would never be able to share in much of Pete’s life.
Ben’s hesitation made a little more sense now.
There wasn’t much Liliana could do to help, though. Normals had been known to go insane when suddenly confronted with the truth of the world, or more often, they simply found “logical explanations” for the stranger things they experienced and insisted on the insanity of those who saw the truth.
She sipped her tea and wished she could open a few more eyes to look for ways to help without possibly sending Pete’s beloved into hysterics.
Ben set his cup down on the coffee table, and his smile turned bitter. “You fought with him against those killers. You know what he’s doing on a daily basis. He didn’t even tell me why he was going to be late tonight. You probably know him better than I do.”
This man loved Pete but could never completely know his mate until he first accepted that the world was not how he had always believed it to be. Her heart hurt for Ben. “When I am sad, sometimes, Pete hugs me. When Pete is sad, he wants you to hug him. I have fought at his side, but when the battle ends, it is you that he comes home to.”
The smile the teacher gave her conveyed both sadness and gratitude. Ben Harper’s smiles said more than his words. “So what’s this about his sword?” the teacher asked.
“Assassins are going to target Janice’s husband because they believe he has information they want.”
“Wait, are you talking about Janice Willoughby? Her husband, Lou, the mechanic?”
“Yes. Janice is my best customer. I warned her about the assassins, but I promised her that when danger came, Pete would protect Lou.”
“Of course he would.”
“Yes, but without his sword, the assassins will kill him instead, and Doctor Nudd, too, since he will try to help Pete protect Lou Willoughby, assuming he survives that long.”
“Okay, that all sounds plausible, although I’m not sure why assassins would be after Lou, or why Pete would need his sword when he has his gun and his knives.”
“His gun and knives will not work. He must have the sword, or he will die.”
“So why won’t he have it?”
“Someone will steal it very soon.”
“Who?”
Liliana considered. She knew who would steal the sword, the water wizard, William Eliot, but it was a secret, and telling would put Alexander Bennet in a bad light with Pete. “It doesn’t matter who will steal it.” Ben did not believe that she could see the future and was just humoring her, so if she told him, he probably would not believe her anyway. “What is important is that you must give me the sword to keep it safe, so that I can make sure Pete has it when he needs it. And also, you must not tell Pete, or anyone else.”
“What am I supposed to say if Pete asks me where his sword went? His mother gave him that sword.”
“I will take the sword. If anyone asks, tell them the sword was stolen. I will steal it.”
“But you’ll give it back?” Ben asked.
Liliana nodded. “I’ll give it to Pete when he needs it most.”
The teacher shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. “This all assumes that you can actually see the future. You really believe that you can, don’t you?”
“I am not a charlatan. I see what other people cannot. I saw that you would refuse Pete’s proposal.”
“Okay. You’re sincere, obviously very intuitive, and Pete doesn’t think you’re crazy, but I’m still not comfortable handing over a family heirloom without telling Pete, based on some dream or feeling you had.”
Liliana tried to consider what she had said from a normal human’s point of view and could not see any way to convince Ben Harper.
Pete would die if she could not. She knew that Ben Harper would be as heartbroken as Liliana would be when that happened, if not more so.
Oh. That is the important thing.
“Pete will die if I do not do this.”
Ben’s smile was again the condescending smile of an older person amused by the naivete of someone younger. “But I don’t believe that’s true, Lilly. I understand that you believe it, but…” he shrugged.
“You are a man of science. There are two possible outcomes here. Either I am wrong and Pete will be fine, or I am right and Pete will die if I don’t take the sword. If you do not give me the sword, you are betting Pete’s life that I could not possibly be right.”
Ben’s condescending smile gained an edge of fear.
“As an experiment, permit me to steal the sword. If nothing happens, then I will return it in one year and admit that I was wrong, and that I cannot see the future. Pete will have his sword back, and your hypothesis will be proven. No harm will come to anyone.”
“And if you’re right?”
“Then I will give Pete the sword when he needs it, and he will not die.”
Ben drained his cup, set it down on the coffee table, and stood. “He keeps the sword under the bed when it’s not in his van. I’ll pull it out this evening, and ‘accidentally’ leave it in the gazebo under the picnic table.” He winked at her. “It would be a shame if it got stolen.”
Liliana smiled and finished her tea.
Chapter 11
The Cyber-Fae And The Room-Bot
Liliana practiced with Pete, Siobhan, and Doctor Nudd every day that they could spare the time. Pete’s schedule was as busy as Doctor Nudd’s, between his work in the biochem lab on base and spending valuable time with his beloved teacher, not to mention trying to track down a new murderer. They had all stopped Spearfinger just in time for a new killer to start leaving pieces of his victims torn limb from limb hanging from tree branches. Detective Jackson had not wasted any time bringing in Pete and Sergeant Giovanni since it was clear no Normal had done that. But they had not yet discovered who the culprit was.
And there had been no new leads as to who might have killed the two women found buried in the forest.
Doctor Nudd’s medical practice, which was almost entirely made up of beast-kin and unseelie Fae, often meant he kept odd hours, or had to cancel suddenly.
One day, a few weeks after they had all begun to practice together, Nudd called Liliana to let her know he could not make it to practice. Pete had already told her that he and Ben had a date, so he would not make it either.
Liliana called Siobhan. Instead of meeting in the woods as they usually did, she invited the fuchsia sprite to come to her house. They could practice in the garage, which the spider-kin had long before converted to something like a gym since she didn’t have a car. With gym mats on the floor and bars, ropes, and obstacles built into the open attic space above, it lent itself well to both swordplay and unarmed combat practice.
They started with swords. Without the two men, who were relative swordplay novices, the spider and the sprite honed each other’s skills to the next level. Siobhan wielded her long slim blade like an artist wielded a brush. It had been a long time since Liliana found someone to cross swords with who truly challenged her, and even had some interesting new tricks to teach her.
The spider found herself smiling and laughing out loud sometimes as they sparred. The sprite grinned back at her with a glint of mischief and battle joy. Liliana was more agile, and accustomed to the odd configuration of her two-story garage practice area, but not as skilled with a blade as her opponent.
Siobhan could fly when she needed to, giving her another edge that countered some of Liliana’s acrobatic abilities.
Liliana had forgotten how much fun combat practice could be with a well-matched partner.
After an hour or two of delightful fencing involving both of them dancing on beams and somersaulting through obstacles to put an Errol Flynn movie to shame, Liliana coached Siobhan painfully in unarmed combat for another hour. The sprite was not strong, but she was small, clever, and quick. Liliana did her best to focus on techniques that would lend themselves to such strengths. She wasn’t certain how much her training would truly help the small warrior. Siobhan was worlds more formidable with her weapons than she was without them, but Liliana had promised to teach her. Liliana kept her promises.
When they were both exhausted, Liliana invited the Fae into the personal part of her home with some trepidation. She did not know Siobhan as well as she knew Janice Willoughby, who was the only other person she had invited into her house for a social visit this century. But she did not think it would be proper to send the exhausted, sweaty sprite home without offering her a chance to rest first.
“I hope you do not mind tea with honey. I do not have any beer, like Dr. Nudd has.” Liliana handed the tired sprite a tall glass of iced sweet tea she’d made in the sun that afternoon.
“Cheers.” Siobhan flopped on Liliana’s second-hand, overstuffed couch and gulped down tea with enthusiasm. “You’re a woman after my own heart, spider girl.”
Liliana sipped gratefully at her glass of cold tea. It was exactly what her tired body needed. Her muscles had a pleasant, warm ache to them. A smile played around her lips. She couldn’t remember the last time she had enjoyed herself that much. “You should come and practice with me more often.”
Siobhan chuckled. “Maybe I should. You certainly keep me on my toes.” Her face clouded for a moment, losing its tired good cheer. “Hey, about sending Pete after you …”
The spider-kin nodded. “I considered killing you for that.”
“I’d have considered killing anyone who put a red wolf on my trail too.” Siobhan shrugged, clearly not concerned.
“I fit the description he gave you of the killer, and I am spider-kin. If you did not know the difference between a widow spider and a spider seer, then it made sense.” In her place, with the knowledge that Siobhan had, she might have given Pete the same advice.
Even exhausted, the sprite did not seem capable of sitting still for long. Siobhan’s nimble hands turned the now-empty tea glass round and round.
In the quiet of her home, along with the usual ticking of her clocks, Liliana noticed a tiny, soft whirring sound that she couldn’t place. She looked around her house curiously with her human eyes, seeking the odd whisper of sound. She considered opening more eyes, but her spider eyes made Siobhan uncomfortable, and she didn’t wish to disturb her guest.
“Your bot is banjaxed,” Siobhan commented. She gestured at the forlorn room-bot in the corner, one of its telescoping arms permanently bent at an angle it was never meant to reach.
Liliana missed the convenience of the little bot, but she never could have afforded it if it hadn’t been a gift. The price of repairing it was prohibitively high. Without it, her wood floors and the knickknacks on her shelves were often dusty, and she had to do her own dishes and laundry. “I used it to slow Pete down, so I could escape the day he came to kill me.”
