Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
"Mom, Dad, it's Kate. I'm spending the night over at Prue's, I'll stop by early to get my clothes.
Since I know you're thinking it, no, I'm not drunk, we just want to hang out and movie marathon.
Love you." Kate hung up and shut off her cell phone, grateful that they weren’t home and that her voice sounded normal as she left the message.
After the Tad debacle, Nan had dropped them off at Prue's loft in West Berkeley, an unassuming building sandwiched between a found object art studio and a software developer. The loft was one large, spacious room. Prue’s bed was on a suspended floor in one corner, but otherwise everything—kitchen, living room/dining room/meditation corner—was just out there in the open.
The loft was perfectly Prue, minimalist, clean lines, lots of natural wood and stone, accented with sensual touches of fun, funky charm.
Prue rolled out the futon, dropping the sheets and bedding on top of it. "You okay?"
Kate let out a deep, shaky breath. "I don't know,” she answered, as she started making up the bed. “I kind of can't believe I saw any of that. Part of me wants to pretend that it was just some crappy horror movie I watched in high school, you know?"
Prue nodded sympathetically, sitting cross-legged in a hanging-basket chair. "I know."
"Did you see the way his body went all ragdoll like that?” Kate shuddered. “I don't know how his bones are still intact."
"Possession's a gnarly one," Prue said. "He's lucky, the demon didn't have him all that long."
Kate grimaced, stretching out on the futon.
She was swimming in one of Prue's T-shirts—the girl was almost a foot taller than she was, and curvy where Kate was linear—and the futon wasn't all that comfortable, but she didn't care. Prue was her best friend and the one person she could talk to about all of this. There was no way she was going home and trying to act normal after tonight’s shenanigans.
"That brings up a point. How long have you known about this whole demon thing? "
Prue went to the kitchen, started futzing around with a teapot and teabags. "Most of my life."
"And you're just now telling me?" Kate didn't know what was worse—that demons existed, or that her best friend had kept such a massive secret for so long. "You totally could have said something!"
"It's not something I talk about." Prue set the water boiling, leaned against the counter. "I mean, would you?"
"I told you about my criminal record," Kate pointed out.
Prue looked sad. "I know. I’m sorry. It's sort of a family secret. And it's not something they talk about either," Prue quickly added.
She filled the teapot, put it out on her low coffee table with the cups. Kate found herself accepting a cup absently.
"Listen, I would have told you, but honestly, it wasn't anything I wanted to think about, myself.” She took a deep breath, like someone about to jump off a diving board. “I'm an onimyoji."
Kate blew on the tea. "You're a what?"
"Onimyoji," Prue repeated patiently. "It's... think of it as a demon wrangler."
"Seriously?"
"I know, right?" Prue smirked. "Anyway, it used to be really important in Japan, They even had a government job classification for it and everything. My Dad’s family was the best. They’ve been onimyoji since back in the day.”
“So it’s like the family business,” Kate surmised, taking a sip. Cherry blossom green tea, she realized… her favorite go-to tea for calming down.
This was why Prue was her best friend. She always knew what the situation called for.
"It’s not the family business as far as I'm concerned," Prue said firmly. "That's part of why I don't want to think about it. Why I don't talk about it."
"But it wasn't that you were afraid I couldn't keep a secret, or that I’d judge you, or anything?"
Prue's expression softened. "Of course not. You're like my sister. I trust you with anything. It's just... it’s this really weird thing that I was born with, that I don’t generally know what to do with. As far as I’m concerned, it has no bearing on my life, period."
"Oh.” Kate thought about it. “Like a third nipple?"
Prue laughed. "Exactly like a third nipple."
"Okay. Well, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Kate said, sorry that she'd made her friend so unhappy. It was going to take a while to wrap her head around the whole “demons are real and my friend is a metaphysical badass” thing anyway. They didn’t have to hash it all out tonight.
"Besides, with any luck it will never come up again and I will never, ever see anything related to any of that again.
Ignorance is bliss, and I like to follow my bliss.
At least, I will, right to the unemployment office. "
Prue cleared her throat. "About that..."
"About what?" Kate snuggled under the cover, patting the futon. "Jeez, this thing's like a rock. How did I spend four years of college on your floor?"
"About the job," Prue said. "I think you should stay."
"I mean it, I might need to get you one of those inflatable... Wait, what?" Kate stopped. "You think I should stay? You think I should work for the evil guy?"
"I think that he's up to something, yeah," Prue said. "And if he's got soul contracts, he's up to something seriously bad."
"And I want to march right back into that why?" Kate asked, flabbergasted.
“It’s nearly impossible to evict a demon if it’s moved over here with someone’s free will. Are you going to sleep easy, letting demons run rampant, going on killing sprees as they take those newly signed bodies out for a spin?” Prue’s voice was calm, but relentless.
Kate swallowed hard. “Murders happen all the time,” she tried, even as her stomach lurched and guilt gave her a good hard squeeze. “Besides, I’m just a civilian. I don’t have cool mystic powers like you. I don’t even have a gun. What can I do about it?”
“Nothing you can do,” Prue agreed, taking a sip of her own tea as she sat cross-legged on the floor.
“Exactly.”
“You don’t want to get involved.”
Kate squirmed. “It’s just…”
“A lot of people said that,” Prue murmured. “You know. In Germany. In the 1940s.”
Kate rolled her eyes. "Whatever he's doing, there's no chance in hell—no pun intended—that I can stop it," Kate said. "I think that I should just consider this a bullet dodged, and get out while I can."
Prue put her tea aside, and suddenly Kate saw the raw fear that Prue had been trying to hide. "That’s the thing, though. Are you so sure he's going to just let you go?"
"Why wouldn't he?"
"He's offering you a crazy amount of money," Prue pointed out. "Way more than the job calls for. That means he needs you really, really badly."
"True." Kate nibbled at her lower lip as the gears in her head got going.
"And he’s signing people’s souls. Those co-workers of yours? Probably already signed over.”
“Uh…”
“Anybody moving that amount of contracts has some serious power, and serious connections with the demons,” Prue continued. “That tells me he’s not really all that ethical. You’re a loose end. You’ve been exposed to the contracts. When the job's over, what do you think happens?"
"He congratulates me on a job well done, gives me a bonus, and lets me walk out?" Kate tried to laugh at her own joke, but it sounded rusty. "Shit. If he's working with demons, he's probably going to kill me or something, isn't he? Even if I don't understand what's going on?"
“That’s what I’m afraid of, yeah." Prue's dark brown eyes were somber.
Kate's mind started to race. "Running is going to be a problem, too, isn't it?"
"There are spells that could track you," Prue said. “Even if there weren’t, the guy’s a billionaire. All he’d have to do is hire some private investigators. He’d find you.”
"Oh." Kate's heart plummeted. "I'm basically fucked, then?"
"I'll talk to Mom and Dad," Prue said, referring to her own parents.
"And Nan. I'll bet Nan could do something to hide you. But I think your best bet is to keep playing along. Don’t let him know you’re onto his tricks.
Then, find out what he really wants—get some leverage.
At the very least, find out what he's up to and see if you can get ahead of him. "
Kate hugged her knees to her chest. "Prue,” she admitted, “I'm scared."
Prue scooted over, giving her a tight squeeze. "I know, sweetie, I know," she murmured. "You're my best friend. I don't want you to be in danger, either. But I think this is the best way. Go in, find out what you can. Then we'll move from there."
“Okay. I’ll do it.” Kate grimaced. "All it means is being quiet, keeping my head down, and playing along, right? I can totally do that."
Prue tensed. Then Kate felt her shaking with laughter.
“What?”
“Sorry, Kate,” Prue said, around a nervous chuckle. “But when have you ever just ‘played along’?”
“Huh?” Kate blinked, thinking it over. “Oh. Crap.”