22. What are you attempting to do? Single-handedly raise the birthrate in Vermont? #3
Considering magic hadn’t been widespread then, limited to the rumor of witches and mythology, my father deemed me pure enough I wouldn’t utterly disgrace the family name. Hiding the murder of a baby in a family unwilling to use birth control wouldn’t have ended well for him, and he knew it.
How had I survived my childhood?
Sighing, I went to work filling the gel capsules with blunt needles attached to syringes.
Kevin had brought a hundred slot tray to make my work easier and simplify the filling process.
Wearing latex gloves and a dust mask, I filled the smaller half of the capsules with the golden fluid first. Then I began the tedious process of using tweezers to fit the larger halves on top.
The second part of the tray would flood the chamber with enough heat to meld the two halves together and prevent leakage.
It took me almost an hour to fill the capsules with both substances and put them in their appropriate bottles. I put the ambrosia in a red bottle to give a very visual cue I carried death in my pocket.
Somehow, I managed to avoid contaminating anything, although such close proximity to the ambrosia left me with a mild headache.
“Are you finished turning the break room into a death trap?” My grandfather-in-law leaned in the doorway, watching me slip both bottles into my pockets.
“Whoever made yoga pants with pockets needs a raise.”
“Is the room contaminated, Bailey?”
I sighed. “Bring a little ambrosia into a police station and everyone freaks out. I didn’t spill any, so don’t worry.
I’ll spray the place down to be cautious, but everything’s clean.
I’ve been careful. I’ll even do a full scan to be sure.
It’ll take ten or twenty minutes for the place to clear out. ”
“You have a tan, and you’re glowing.”
Was I? I lifted my arm and scowled at it. Sure enough, I’d developed a golden-brown tan with a faint gleam. “Oh, look. I’m shiny. Neat.”
Unless I turned into a living lightbulb, I wasn’t going to worry. The ambrosia would bleed through most containers. Indirect contact wouldn’t hurt anyone. Just to be certain, I checked the meter Kevin had left with me, set it for a close-range blanket scan, and watched the results, stifling a yawn.
It confirmed ambient ambrosia in the area and a single strong source. Had I spilled any, there would have been a second strong source detected.
“I’m concerned.”
“You encouraged Quinn to run off. If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t be handling dangerous substances right now.
” I peeled off the gloves and set them inside the emptied tray, covered it, and set it aside.
Mixing a strong batch of neutralizer spray, I spritzed the entire room and coated the tray in a layer so thick I couldn’t see inside due to the pink, glittery fluid coating it.
“There. Give it ten or twenty minutes and the residual essence should be gone.”
A faint golden radiance illuminated the glass box containing the baby blankets.
Oops. At least the phoenix feathers wouldn’t be affected by it; the birds loved ambrosia, and my stash might convince them to help me rather than fry me to a crisp.
The sedatives might help, too, if push came to shove—and I lived long enough to trick them into eating a few along with the ambrosia capsules.
“It is rather concerning he isn’t answering his phone.”
I glared at him. “It’s just a handful of horny gorgons—including one who hates him. How bad could it be?”
“You must drive my poor grandson crazy. Your sarcasm has been refined through extensive use, I see.”
“If you hadn’t let him go wandering off, I wouldn’t need to be sarcastic, now would I? Anyway, I need a map, some chalk, and a pot of ink. After that, I’m going to need a vehicle.”
“The car and map I can understand, but why the chalk and ink?”
“You’ll see. Just trust me.”
“I’m concerned.”
Sighing, I shook my head and headed for Chief Hollands’s office. The man eyed the glass box warily. “This scaly pest has a list of things I’m going to need. If you could help him, I’d really appreciate it.”
“Of course.”
“I’d stay out of the break room for twenty minutes unless you want to glow for a while.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Thanks for the help.” I turned to my grandfather-in-law. “Remember: chalk, map, ink, car.”
“Would you care to elaborate what you’re going to do with all those things?”
I was beginning to understand how Quinn had become so infuriating.
It had to be a part of his genetic makeup, just like his devastatingly good looks.
“You’re the one who thought it was a good idea for Quinn to go to the gym.
Therefore, you’re the one who has to get the things I need to find him—and that poor cop.
I bet he kidnapped that poor cop sent out with him. ”
“No, I suspect he suggested the young man should go home and enjoy the rest of the night with his wife. I told Chief Hollands his cop was probably influenced and to let it be.”
“Influenced? How?”
“Little Samuel is part incubus, dear. He just doesn’t draw on that part of his heritage unless necessary.”
My eyes widened. “He can do that? Without pixie dust?”
“He prefers to handle matters with his own skills rather than rely on, and I quote, ‘a cheap trick.’ He makes things more difficult on himself than necessary. If I could—”
“I don’t want to know.”
“But—”
“No.”
“If—”
“I have pixie dust, phoenix feathers, ambrosia, and sedatives. You and your snakes don’t scare me.
Go ahead and continue that sentence, old man.
I could be sleeping in some nice hotel room right now, but no.
I have to chase my idiot husband who got the idea into his pea-sized brain he needed to handle a horny gorgon hive on his own. ”
“You mean eradicate.”
I was so tempted to find out what pixie dust would do to the gorgon. “He’s not stupid enough to cheat on me. Remember, magical ball and chain? I’d know.”
“He’s also incapable of it.”
“Not stupid enough, incapable—whatever. He wouldn’t. End of story.”
“You’re very trusting.”
“You’re very lucky I’m holding phoenix feathers right now, or you’d be sporting coral snake braids, old man. Quinn’s a stubborn ass, but he’s not like that. Just help me find a damned map, ink, chalk, and a car already.”
Quinn’s grandfather sighed. “Gorgons are patriarchal.”
“Bullshit. You’re whipped by a centaur, and we both know it. You’re not dumb enough to cross her, and you’re not dumb enough to cross me, either. Do you want to know why? Please tell me you do, just so I can tell you.”
He scowled, and his snakes hissed at me. “Why?”
“You adore me because I don’t put up with your shit. Now, go fetch my things so I can find Quinn.”
“God help us all.”
“You keep saying that.”
Had I been anyone else, I would’ve been petrified. The gorgon’s magic made my eyeballs itch. He grunted, hissed at me, and stormed off. “Fine.”
“Thank you,” I called after him. See? I could be a polite, well-adjusted adult when I wanted.