11. Rory
CHAPTER 11
RORY
Manny decided he wanted to come with us to Pflugerville and Mineral Wells, which was a relief. Pia had really clicked with him, and I could use his feedback on whether leaving her with the dryads was the right choice. It probably was, because what did I know about the needs of teenagers in general, much less teen dryads?
Except my gut kept telling me to let her stay in Houston.
Manny and I drove to our respective homes to pack for an overnight trip, and I was picking him up on my way back to Shane’s house. Luckily the Range Rover SE Hybrid with the long wheelbase I’d bought on impulse last month was plenty big enough for four adult men, one small girl, and a tiger. Ellis had assured me that Ms. Jackson could make themself look like a stuffed tiger for the car ride, which the highway patrol would no doubt appreciate.
I never did change into the clothes Manny had picked up for me. It was easier to take a shower at my apartment and get dressed there. I threw another set of clothes, some boxers to sleep in, and my toiletry kit into a backpack, and I was set .
Oh, except I had to deal with the little matter of my job. My boss had been less than pleased at my last-minute call-out for today, and no doubt another call-out would piss him off further, but he’d live. I sent a quick email that I was feeling worse, and it must be some sort of stomach bug. I’d be out tomorrow for sure, but I’d try to make it in Thursday or Friday.
Or maybe I just wouldn’t go back. The thought lingered seductively in my brain as I tossed my backpack over my shoulder and left the apartment. I didn’t love the job, but I was good at it, and it was certainly lucrative. But Grandfather’s illicit help with investments was starting to mean I wouldn’t need a regular job anymore.
But that was a problem for another day. Today I had to survive being trapped in a vehicle with Ellis and Shane. Ellis had flirted with me a little. It was good for my ego, but I could tell Shane wasn’t on board, and I didn’t want to come between them. My version of polyamory required full consent from all parties involved.
Too bad. Those two tripped every one of my wires.
I was so busy imagining scenarios where Shane had a change of heart about me, I didn’t notice the stranger leaning against my SUV until I was only ten or so feet away. “Oh. Can I help you?”
Any other day I’d have been less abrupt in my tone. He was stunning. Thin—a little too thin, honestly—and taller than I was. He had gleaming amber eyes and auburn hair falling almost to his shoulders.
He didn’t respond, just walked over to me. It was hard to tell in the dim light of the parking garage, but I thought I caught a glimpse of a sort of sparkle around him. Was he involved in Shane and Ellis’ world ?
I opened my mouth to ask, but nothing came out.
He stopped with only about a foot between us. I wanted to look away from his laser stare, but I couldn’t make myself.
“Hey, there, Rory. I’m Simon. Can I touch your hand?”
I almost held out my hand in reflex, but I managed to get out, “Why?” just in time.
His eyes lit up. Like, literally they glowed. I wanted to step back. I wanted to look away.
I couldn’t.
“You have great willpower. Color me impressed. I need to hold your hand to find out if we’re compatible to be mates.”
“I’m sorry, mates?”
“Oh, yeah. A bonded couple. Once I’m mated, I’ll get the acceleration of my abilities I need to help complete my mission. A Seer told me my mate will be a human with psychic skills, so when I found out about you, I came right over.” He gave a self-deprecating chuckle. “Sorry. You have places to be. I don’t get to talk to as many people as I'd like, so I tend to go on and on.”
His eyes seemed bigger, like whirlpools I was spinning around in. I felt him take my hand. I was pretty sure I should be scared, but I couldn’t seem to feel anything.
Simon made a disappointed sound. “Turns out you’ve already got a couple of romantic connections started. Congratulations.”
His phone beeped. He pulled it out of his pocket, and he tsked . “They’re on the move. Time for me to go.” His eyes drilled into mine again. “Tell Cal he needs to call a vision about the next victim. You’ll remember to do this. ”
I blinked. “Okay.”
“Good.” He smiled. Damn, he was pretty. Too bad it was a cold and scary beauty. “Have fun on your road trip, even though your new friends won’t find what they’re looking for. Still, if those are your future mates, you need to spend time with them anyway.” He looked down at our joined hands, then back up at me. “Hey, can I ask a little favor?”
I snapped out of my reverie. Dammit, I didn’t have time to stand around daydreaming about... whatever.
Rubbing my wrist, I resumed my walk to the car. I was lucky I’d only gotten the one bug bite after spending the night outdoors.
After filling the SUV with gas, I picked up Manny and drove back to Shane’s house, pulling up to the curb right out front. The potted plant from last night was on the front porch along with another potted plant of a different variety. I thought I remembered seeing it in Shane’s back yard.
The front door was unlocked, so I just knocked as I opened it. Ellis was standing in the living room with his hands on his hips. He gave us a wave, but then he went back to staring at Shane, who was slumped on the couch with his phone pressed to his ear.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t. I told you, I have a family emergency.”
I couldn’t make out the words on the other end of the call, but I could hear the shouting. Damn. His boss might be more of an asshole than mine. I walked over to Ellis, with Manny trailing behind me. “Where’s Pia?” I whispered.
He pointed toward the guest room. “Taking a bath. Ms. Jackson is guarding the door for her. ”
I glanced at Manny. “Do we need to stop and get her some new clothes?”
He shrugged. “She says no. Shane found her a couple more of his granny’s outfits, and she seemed to get a kick out of them.”
“Smart girl,” observed Dimi from near my left elbow. I stifled the impulse to jump and curse. “Unlike my grandson,” she sniffed. “He should’ve quit that job years ago. Do you know he barely makes more than people who work in fast food?”
What? I’d thought Shane was a landscape architect. I shot him a worried look. The amount of grief his manager was giving him was more than he should’ve had to deal with, especially for that little money.
Dimi crossed her arms and pursed her lips as she regarded her grandson. I wanted to go over and... help him somehow. Provide comfort, maybe? I looked at Ellis. Why wasn’t he sitting on the couch next to his partner?
Shane clenched his fist. “I don’t know what to tell you, Ricky. If you have to fire me, you have to fire me. I gotta go.”
He hung up and tossed his phone onto the coffee table. He leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.
Ellis took a hesitant step forward, his arms going up and out, but he stopped as if unsure of his welcome.
Pia and Ms. Jackson came into the living room. Pia had left her hair in the sparkly braid crown Manny had fixed for her earlier, but she’d changed into calf-length pants my own grandmother used to call “pedal pushers”. They were lime green and she’d topped them with a bright orange t-shirt that had a sequined cat on the front. On her feet were white sneakers, and she was holding a gold metallic tote bag dotted with fake jewels and with “Las Vegas” stenciled across it.
Manny said, “Pia, that is one fab outfit. Did you pick it out yourself?”
She grinned and nodded, petting Ms. Jackson, who still sported the tiara.
Shane put on a fake smile and said, “I guess we’re ready to get on the road.”
The potted plants on the front porch came with us. We set Pia up in the third row of seats with Ms. Jackson next to her in their stuffed tiger form and the potted plants on the floorboards by her feet. Ellis produced an iPad and offered it to Pia with the comment, “Just don’t open the Kindle app, please.”
Pia had wrinkled her nose and fervently agreed.
We’d loaded everyone’s overnight bags in the back, and then I’d gotten in the driver’s seat. But Ellis and Shane had performed an awkward shuffle next to the car, neither willing to commit to where they wanted to sit. After watching this for almost a full minute, Manny had thrown up his hands and pushed Shane at the front passenger seat and Ellis at the second row of seats. Manny got in next to Ellis and informed me we were ready to go.
Manny, Pia, and I were the only ones who spoke the first hour of the trip. Eventually Ellis started participating, telling me and Manny all about Elves and magic carriers, but Shane stared out the window and didn’t look at the rest of us. He also didn’t look at his phone, which kept beeping every so often with text messages .
Pflugerville, where we were meeting Greg and Cal, was near Austin, about two and a half hours from Houston. We stopped for lunch in Brenham, which was roughly halfway. Manny tried to get Pia to join him in checking out the Blue Bell Ice Cream factory, but Ms. Jackson was the only one interested, and none of us wanted to deal with that, so Manny didn’t go on his excursion. Shane perked up a little after he ate, and he even engaged Ellis in a little conversation.
Seeing them interact with each other, even such a small amount, made me warm inside. I didn’t want to be the cause of tension between the two of them. And, to be completely honest, if Shane had seemed open to having me join them, I’d have done it in a heartbeat, even if it was only for a night.
Because I was attracted to them. To both of them. I hadn’t spent any time with either man one-on-one, but just being near Ellis made me smile. He was so calm and positive, never demanding anything for himself, but there to help everyone else. But who helped Ellis other than Shane? Who took care of him?
Shane, he was a tougher nut to crack. He was gorgeous, no doubt about it. And at first, when he’d been so focused on helping Pia, he’d come across as this take-charge guy—the kind who usually made my dick stand up. But when he was dealing with his boss, he seemed smaller, less confident. It made me want to hug him and tell him everything would be okay.
But that wasn’t in the cards today. Or any other day, apparently.
Ms. Jackson had had to stay in the car when the rest of us had gone into the restaurant. We’d gotten their lunch to go, and they scarfed down the grilled cheese sandwich and fries before we’d even left the parking lot. Then they decided they were tired of being a stuffed tiger and had become a live tiger again, lying down across the seats with their head in Pia’s lap and watching her play a game on the iPad.
It was about 1:30pm when the signs told us we were almost to Pflugerville. Everyone had been quiet for the past several minutes, so I tapped Shane on the leg. “Where am I going from here?”
He jumped in his seat. “Uh, sorry. It’s a cemetery. Let me check.” He opened his phone and winced. Then he schooled his expression and scrolled. “Here we go. Forest Rest Memorial Park. I’ll pull up the directions.”
The guy had died in a cemetery? Ouch.
In a moment the navigation app announced we should take the next exit, and our destination was twelve minutes away.
Ellis called from the back seat, “I texted Greg and Cal to let them know we’re almost there.”
“Thanks.” There was something I’d wanted to ask Cal, or maybe tell him, but it was escaping me. Oh, well. I’d remember eventually.
“Greg says they’re waiting for us.”
Manny twisted around in his seat to look at Pia. “ Chica , if you don’t want to get out of the car when we get to the cemetery, I can hang in here with you.”
I glanced in the rearview mirror. She was frowning down at Ms. Jackson’s head. Finally she said, “I’ve never been to a cemetery. Can Ms. Jackson get out with us?”
Ellis said, “I don’t think the cemetery allows tigers. But this would be a good time for them to practice another form. Like a big dog or something?”
Shane cocked his head. “Irish Wolfhound? ”
I offered, “Mastiff?”
Manny said, “Saint Bernard!”
Pia ducked down so I couldn’t see her in the mirror for a moment. Then she popped up. “Ms. Jackson says it’ll be a surprise!”
“Oh, god,” Shane muttered beside me. “As long as it’s not a six-foot tall Chihuahua.”
I laughed, and he gave me a wry smile. I said in a low voice, “Yeah, the hedgehog was... unsettling.”
He gave an exaggerated shudder. “I hope they never do that again.”
“You said Ms. Jackson started out as an inanimate object? How...?” I waved my hand toward the back seat.
Shane blew out a breath. Then he turned so everyone else could hear him too. “Ms. Jackson, I’m going to tell the short version of your story if it’s okay with you.”
They made a weird soft yowl, which Shane seemed to take as assent. “They aren’t sure what they were originally, but they’re definitely from the Elven dimension. Somehow they came to Earth and ended up in the book room at TWIST, which is the Wonder rescue organization Greg’s mom runs.”
“Okay.”
“Greg and Cal were searching the book room for information on vampires, and they came across a statue of a cat. When Cal dusted the statue off, they changed into something else; I can’t remember what.”
Ellis leaned forward. “I think it was a typewriter. Then a toilet seat.”
Manny and I laughed .
“Eventually someone suggested they become a Ouija board so they could communicate, and they said they were called Ms. Jackson. This, uh, larger and more animated version came about when Cal was experimenting with his magic, and he accidentally gave it all to Ms. Jackson. It was, what, three weeks ago?”
I shot him a startled glance. They’d only been able to walk around for three weeks? Before I could ask for more information, the navigation app directed us down a side street, and then we were cutting though a subdivision. The houses ended and the cemetery appeared on our right. I drove through the huge wrought iron gates, and for the second time in less than twenty-four hours I was in a cemetery.
This one was wide open, with trees and tall grave markers here and there, but mostly grass and gentle little hills. There was a wall around most of the cemetery, with the subdivision bordering it on one side and some trees on the other. I didn’t see any other visitors.
Shane directed me to follow the drive until we got to the far end near the trees. A silver SUV was parked along the curb, and two men, who I assumed were Greg and Cal, were standing next to it.
Ms. Jackson’s head rose up behind Ellis’s seat, and they made a weird growling-yowling sound. Ellis turned to look at them and chuckled. “You miss Greg and Cal already? You just saw them yesterday.”
Both men turned to watch as I pulled in behind their vehicle. Shane hopped out and started to walk over to them, but then he stopped mid-step. Ellis, who hadn’t left the car yet, grabbed his chest and made a coughing sound.
Manny had opened his door to exit, but he whirled around and said, “What’s the matter? Are you choking? Chest pain? What is it?”
Ellis waved him off. “I’m okay,” he gasped out. “Shane and I can’t get very far from each other.”
Shane walked back toward the car, and Ellis sighed in relief. “That’s better.” He looked at Manny. “I’m fine, I promise.”
Manny frowned. Shane opened Ellis’ door. “Sorry.”
I got out of the car and helped Manny slide his seat forward so Pia and Ms. Jackson could get out.
“What the fuck was that?” Manny whispered.
I shrugged. “They just got bonded? Which sounds like magically married, I guess? They can’t be very far apart from each other right now.”
Pia hopped out, landing on both feet at once. “Bonding is more permanent than marriage. Can’t you see the bond between them?” She tapped right below her sternum.
I scrunched up my face. “No? Should I be able to?”
Then Ms. Jackson exited the car. They were a tiger as they emerged, but on the way to the ground they shimmered and a very, very large pig landed gracefully on the pavement. They had a black head and shoulders, and their rear half was white with black spots. They still wore the rhinestone tiara they’d sported as a tiger, and over their back was a red blanket which read “Service Animal”.
I suppressed a laugh. “Um, Ms. Jackson, that’s a, uh, great choice.” What the hell else was I supposed to say?
Pia clapped her hands before petting Ms. Jackson’s neck. The pig’s back was higher than her waist .
“Okay,” Manny said. “Let’s go meet these people and then we can walk around.”
We started toward the front of the SUV. Grandfather appeared beside me. “The girl looks better today.”
“Thanks to you.” I glanced around. “Where are your friends?”
“Not sure about Dimi. She was here a minute ago. Garfield and Mercy decided to watch Randolph and Hugo. They’re supposed to check in with me every few days.”
I raised my eyebrows. “You’re in charge of the investigation?”
He scoffed. “I didn’t run a company for decades for nothing, boy.”
I was grinning when I walked up to stand next to Ellis. One of the men, the slimmer, model-quality gorgeous one, was saying, “I’ve never seen a bond do that, but I’m no expert.”
The heavyset guy, who was wearing a t-shirt saying, “Shh... No one cares”, glanced at me, then he smiled at Ms. Jackson. He turned back to Shane and Ellis and scowled at the couple of feet of air between them. “I just started being able to see bonds, so I don’t have a lot to compare it to, but that doesn’t look comfortable. How does it feel?”
Ellis crossed his arms. “Like any minute the wheel will stop spinning.”
Shane nodded. “Or like the magic threw its back out and needs someone to crack it and get everything aligned.”
“Uh huh. And what’s with the way you’re standing?” He waved a hand between them. “You’re acting like you’re acquaintances at best. A bond requires consent and intent to form. Are you regretting it? Is that why it’s... unbalanced? ”
Shane rubbed the back of his neck. “We... it was kind of the heat of the moment. And we’ve been arguing some.”
I saw Ellis’ eyebrows pop up, but he didn’t comment.
The big guy pointed at them. “Maybe figure out your relationship and then let’s see what happens to the bond?”
Shane and Ellis both sagged in defeat. Whatever fix they were looking for, they weren’t going to get it here.
The handsome guy turned to the rest of us. “Hi, I’m Greg and this is Cal.”
We all introduced ourselves, and Pia said, “And this is Ms. Jackson. They learned a new form today!”
Cal grinned. “Much better than the hedgehog, Ms. Jackson. Good job.”
They trotted forward and butted their head between Cal and Greg, who automatically started petting them. Those two, who’d bonded a few weeks ago, stood so they were always touching or almost touching. Shane and Ellis rarely got that close.
Shane’s grandmother popped up beside me, and I flinched. “Shit! Please don’t do that.”
She waved this away. “You need to toughen up. We’re ghosts. Scaring people is what we do.”
I rolled my eyes and said to my corporeal companions, “Sorry. Ghost.”
Dimi pointed back toward the main part of the cemetery. “The other ghosts here, they saw the imp get taken away.”
“Imp?” I looked at Cal and Greg. “We’re here about an imp?”
Both of them smiled in what appeared to be relief. Greg said, “Yes. Thomas Baird, is his ghost here? ”
Dimi scoffed. “Wasn’t dead when they took him, so how could his ghost be here?”
I blinked and turned to Greg. “He wasn’t dead when they took him.”
Greg and Cal gaped at me. Greg said, “But his connection to me was severed. Death is the only way that can happen.” He looked at Cal. “Right?”
Cal threw up his hands. “Why are you asking me?”
“Right. Sorry.” He pulled out his phone. “Excuse me, I’m going to see if anyone else knows.”
I turned back to Dimi. Several ghosts ranged behind her. Some were in modern dress, and some looked like they were from much earlier time periods. Most of them were staring at Ms. Jackson, who was nosing at some flowers with Manny and Pia a few yards away. Shane was heading over to join them, and Ellis wandered in the same direction, looking glum.
I addressed the group of ghosts. “Did any of you follow the, uh, vampires?” I had trouble even saying the word. How did I get to be here, talking about vampires, driving around with a dryad and a... whatever Ms. Jackson was?
The ghosts all shook their heads. One guy in the back shouted, “If they done that to an imp, they mighta been able to do it to us!” He looked like a cowboy, complete with hat and a shirt with silver snaps on it.
I held my hands out, palms up. “What exactly happened?” Cal came to stand beside me.
A woman in a power suit with large shoulder pads glided forward. “We didn’t know anything was wrong until the imp came over the wall.” She pointed at the stone wall separating the cemetery from the forest. “Three of those... well, I guess they were vampires as you say, but we didn’t know what they were at the time. None of us had ever seen magic like they had. Anyway, they came over the wall after him. One of them jumped from the top of the wall and landed on him.” Several of the ghosts winced and nodded. “He didn’t move after that. The vampires lifted him up, and all his connections....” She looked around at the other ghosts. Then she shrugged. “Disappeared.”
“Like they drained his magic?” Could that happen? They were vampires after all.
The ghosts all shook their heads. The cowboy who’d spoken before came forward. He said, “The magic didn’t go nowhere. It was like they chopped off anything going outside him.” He made a slashing motion with his hand. “Cut him off from anyone else.”
I wasn’t sure how connections worked, but that sounded awful. “Okay. Then what happened?”
The first woman said, “They carried him back over the wall. We didn’t follow, in case they could see us.”
A young guy, probably about sixteen years old, said, “I wish we’d gone after them, though. They didn’t notice us standing around. It would’ve been fine.” He threw a frustrated glare at the others.
A new man zipped up. He hadn’t been with the group up until now. He was dressed like he ran a saloon in an old Western movie, with a white shirt, string tie, and a vest. His hair was slicked back, and he even had big sideburns and a mustache waxed into curls at the ends. He positioned himself between me and the teenager. “You’re new here, Ethan. You’ll learn it’s safer not to meddle with magical beings. Look at this one. A Medium.” He pointed at me. “Sure, he’s being all nice now, but he could suck out our energy or rip us into shreds with just a thought if he wanted to.”
My mouth dropped open. “What? No. I can’t do that.”
The man sneered at me. “Seen your kind afore this. All, Tell me what I want to know or no more afterlife for you! ” He spat on the ground—or appeared to. “Or drain us of what life we have left so we’re only a remnant, doomed to nothing more than walking through the same room over and over for eternity!”
He ballooned in size, looming over me like an old timey Incredible Hulk. “We’re done here! Get out!”