Chapter 33
Matt
“You are a son of a bitch,”
I growl at Tio as we run to the gym. Who the fuck just stands there when someone is attacked? A Chaos Eater, that’s who.
“True. And I’m bitchy when I’m hungry, that’s true too. Feed me, Reaper. I’ll be your best friend for life,”
he begs like a starving orphan.
“No thanks,”
I grunt, unamused, I can think of no possible future in which I trust his guy enough to be friends with him.
“Come on, I would be the bestest of best friends,”
he pleads, giving me puppy-dog eyes, if said puppy had ocean blue eyes and was utterly insane.
“Fuck no,” I spit.
He chuckles, amused with himself, as we hit the gym doors. It’s deserted in here, but that’s not surprising; the PE classes are preparing for the spring track meet, so they’re all out at the track. Tio walks through the gym, heading straight for the locker rooms. He goes into the guys’ locker room, bypassing the rows lockers until he reaches an equipment closet with the door slightly ajar. I grab the handle and swing it open. Inside, Darius lies flat on the floor, unconscious, while his three buddies look around with bewildered expressions.
“Damn, we just missed it,”
Tio pouts, crossing his arms.
“What’s going on?”
one of the idiots asks.
“You tell me,”
I reply. “Where’s Robbie?”
He looks at me confused. “Who?”
My phone buzzes in my hand. I glance at the notification, seeing Deejay’s text: Robbie is with Chanda now. Says he’s fine.
“What happened here?”
I demand of the three conscious guys.
“I—I don’t know,”
the idiot replies, looking around like he doesn’t know how he ended up on the floor of the equipment closet.
I spot Robbie’s backpack and his phone laying on the floor as Tio chuckles. “Oh, this is delightful. We missed the good part but look at these idiots. Someone cut some strings in here,”
he laughs before taking a deep breath. “Smells like revenge.”
I step over Darius and grab Robbie’s stuff, finding his glasses in Darius’ front pocket when I check that fucker for signs of life. This is a mess.
One of the idiots gets up and wanders out of the closet. I glance at the one I spoke to. He stares after his friend then gets up, stepping over Darius like he doesn’t even see him and follows the other guy out.
The third one looks at me, confused. “I don’t know what happened, but I’m out. My dad is going to kill me if he finds out I’m skipping class again.”
He too gets up and follows his friends out.
I look up at Tio. “What do you mean strings have been cut?”
“Everyone has strings of Fate attached to them. The Diviner is one of maybe three people in existence with the ability to cut those strings. He cut some of them in here. This guy,”
he viciously kicks Darius in the shoulder, “is going to need some medical intervention. I very much suggest we let someone else find him. Unless you want to be arrested for assault—that might be fun too.”
“I do not,”
I growl, standing up with Robbie’s possessions in hand. I check to make sure there’s no sign he was here and then head out of the locker room through the doors that lead outside, jogging around the building with Tio on my heels. “Shouldn’t you be getting back to class?”
I suggest, pointing my feet toward my vehicle.
“I should, but you’re just so much more fun,”
he agrees, grinning at me, black teeth on display.
“How do you hide that from the students?”
I ask, pointing at his teeth.
“Humans see what they want to see,”
he laughs. “And I have glamour that hides my true form from anyone who doesn’t know for a fact that non-humans exist.”
“Why are you working for Erroll and who is he?”
I know what Morgaine is—the realm of the Elves. I know who their King and Queen are, a mother-son ruling partnership, but I don’t know who Erroll is.
“Erroll is the youngest Prince. He’s quite the interesting character. You may want to learn a bit more about the royal family of Morgaine since their Earth-side demesne is here in Houston. It would be beneficial for you to be aware of the movers and shakers in this city, especially if you’re going to kill their Demons.”
He grins again and waves, taking off back to the building as he calls over his shoulder, “See you around, Reaper!”
A lot of thoughts run through my head, buffeted by annoyance at the enigmatic Chaos Eater. He works for the guy who tried to stop the ally agreements between Demesne D’Aquino and the Kingdom of the Triton, who may have hired the Siren to kill me, but he’s giving us some pretty vital information for investigating those events and stopping the continued attacks. I won’t chase him down to find out what exactly he knows about the Demon I killed and how that dead fuck connects to Morgaine’s royal household.
Nope.
I jog to the van I’ve borrowed from Deejay for the day, instead. When I get in, I turn it on just to roll down the windows, then I pull up Deejay’s text conversation.
Me: I have all Robbie’s stuff, glasses included. You sure he’s safe?
Him: He’s with Chanda. I’m sure he’s safe-ish.
Me: I guess that’s the best we can hope for. :/ Chanda made a small mess—nothing bloody. Apparently he cut some strings?
Him: Oh. That’s bad. It’s illegal for him to cut strings unless he’s in danger for his life or has permission and a contract with the person/people whose strings he’s cutting. That’s a crime against humanity.
Me: I know nothing.
Him: Same.
Me: What do you know about the royals of Morgaine?
Him: They rule the Elves of Morgaine but hold court here in Houston because there are a lot of Elves in Houston. Erroll is the youngest of 4 sons and known to be the level-headed one. He’s the King’s most trusted adviser. I honestly do not understand what Demesne D’Aquino might have done to cause him to work against us. He isn’t even one of the rulers, he’s just an advisor.
Me: The Demon I killed apparently belonged to the royal family? Are Demons pets/slaves?
Him: Illegal to own a Demon slave, though it’s not illegal in Tartarus. He could have been an indentured servant, which skirts the legality of not owning Demons. They are people, not pets.
Me: I’m thinking of coming home now.
Him: You’re not going to go to class?
Me: I’m going to get my GED. I don’t want to be here anymore than anyone else and less since I have much more important things at home. All this shit just makes me realize that I could be much more useful if I weren’t bogged down by having to come to school every day.
Him: If that’s what you want, I will support you. Do you feel confident you can pass the GED test?
Me: I studied for it when I wasn’t sure if I would be going back to school after Cary was born. I could take it in my sleep. The only reason I went back to school was because I knew I was missing out on learning things I didn’t know that I didn’t know.
Him: Ok. If you want to drop out and get your GED, I will help you in whatever way you need.
I don’t actually go home. I feel bad about wasting the gas to go home and then having to turn around to get the other kids from their schools, so I go to my last class before heading over to get Jasper and then the middle schoolers. As I am unloading them at home, Robbie’s phone rings. I check the caller ID, and answer it swearing under my breath. “Hello Ryan, this is Matt. Robbie left after lunch and forgot his phone at school.”
“Damn. Is he coming shopping? Do you know?”
“I do not. I will see if I can get a hold of him and text you or have him call you. If he’s not going, obviously I’m not.”
“Aww. I was going to fashion you up too,”
he whines, disappointed.
“Maybe another time.”
I’m not really in the mood to go shopping with a bunch of guys I barely met. Also: malls do not carry my size in anything and I’m not an accessories kind of guy. “I’ll let you know in ten minutes max.”
“Ok, thanks. Hopefully he’s still in the mood to shop.”
I seriously doubt Robbie is ever in the mood to shop. “Ok,”
I say and hang up.
I follow the other three into the house and find Deejay in the kitchen preparing a snack with everyone hanging around waiting. “Did Robbie get home?”
I ask as I walk in and Cary flings himself at me. I pick him up and kiss his cheek. “Hey buddy.”
“Where’s Robbie?”
he asks curiously.
“He did not. As far as I know, he is still with Chanda,”
Deejay answers.
“You got Chanda’s number?”
I ask, pulling out my phone.
Deejay knocks his chin at his phone on the counter in front of him. “Just use mine.”
I put my phone down and grab his, shoving it in his face to unlock it. He smirks at me as I pull up the call log and hit Chanda’s contact. It rings three times before he answers. “Yes?”
“This is Matt. Robbie is supposed to go shopping with some new friends today and they’re wondering where he’s at. Can you ask him if he’s going?”
“New friends?”
“The Headsman’s brother and company.”
“Gage. Hey, Matt wants to know if you’re going shopping with Gage and his friends.”
There’s a pause and then I hear Robbie whispering, “I do not want to go. Tell him I’m asleep.”
“I heard that,”
I deadpan, amused. “And I will tell everyone to be very disappointed that he’s too busy to come—or rather, go,”
I add with the smallest hint of innuendo in my voice, aware that some jokes shouldn’t be spoken around little ears.
“Nothing like that is happening, jackass,”
Chanda chuffs, but now I know there’s more going on between them than a proper student-teacher relationship.
“I prefer not to know,”
I reply. “I have Robbie’s stuff, so he doesn’t have to worry about that.”
“Thank you,”
he breathes. “I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s no problem for me. Later.”
“Yeah.”
I end the call and set Deejay’s phone on the counter, switch to Robbie’s and send a text to Ryan letting him know that Robbie is busy.
“What happened to Robbie?”
Colt asks, looking between me and Deejay.
“Robbie got into a situation with the guy who punched me a few weeks ago,”
I reply. “Chanda Marduke got him out of the situation and left some bruises on the perpetrators.”
Psychic bruises, but I don’t think the thirteen-year-old needs to know that his future teacher did something illegal to some of his own students.
“Who is that?”
Kendall asks.
“He teaches social studies and government, and a humanities class at our school,”
I explain.
“He’s also the Ntu Waamelika,”
Deejay adds.
“Are the kids that hurt Robbie suspended?”
Colt looks pissed, but at least he’s angry for the right reasons today.
“No. We resolved the situation without involving the administration. However, those kids will never mess with Robbie again,”
I promise, though I don’t know the extent of what Chanda did, I do know that Robbie won’t have any trouble with them anymore. They didn’t even recognize their own friend and Darius may well be out of school for a while.
“You’re going to make sure of that, right? Robbie isn’t like the rest of us. He’s smaller than me.”
I nod to Colt. “I am definitely going to make sure Robbie is and stays ok. The Headsman’s brother is also going to help keep Robbie safe, so he’s covered on all sides, I promise.”
Colt purses his lips and gives me a curt nod. “Good.”
At least I’m good for something. The kid isn’t happy with me, but he’s much more wary and far less violent since he punched me. I don’t want him to know that I’ve noticed the behavior change, so I hide my smile by kissing Cary again and giving my son my full attention. “What did you do today?”