Chapter 24
Kris
It felt weird to do this big epic battle and then…
go back to normal daily life. But it was also hella nice to be able to do just that.
For a while there, we weren’t sure if the city would survive Annabelle’s fallout, but we’d managed to contain the battle so it only destroyed a Walmart. I’d call that a win.
So, while weird, I enjoyed driving to work like normal with my usual mental list of tasks to do. I also wanted to swing by during my lunch break to check on Jasha. He’d had quite the revelation yesterday.
Not often you hear you’re a descendant of a trickster god.
Jasha was a man who usually faced things head-on, rolling with the punches, but last night he’d taken the news about as well as a sledgehammer to the chin.
Based on the string of texts I’d received sporadically over the past fourteen hours, he’d been oscillating between shock, disbelief, and child-like wonder.
I couldn’t be happier for him. He’d always been a little jealous I’d gotten this awesome new sight and connection to the supernatural while he didn’t.
Now he could now step into the land of wonder, see and do things a normal person couldn’t.
I could only imagine the bragging rights he’d have once he found a proper mentor and harnessed his magic.
I was still reeling from the revelation myself. Zhen and Gramps had relayed the news so casually, like, oh, by the way, your best friend has illusion magic because his many times great-grandfather—mother?—was Loki and likely fucked a human. Neat, huh?
I’d swear to you, Zhen was immune to anything shockable. Unless it had teeth and was actively fighting back, my husband could not care less about the details.
Charlotte waved hello when I walked in through the back door, a cup of coffee in her hand. “Fresh pot, if you want some.”
“I’ll take it.” I’d had a busy morning getting people out the door and saying goodbyes.
With it being so close to Samhain, no one was comfortable being away from home for long.
They were all hopping back on planes and into cars today, heading home.
I was sorry to see them go but very understanding of why.
It had made for a hectic few hours this morning, though, and I was relieved to be at work.
“I don’t know if slayers are night owls as a consequence of their job or if they are all just naturally night owls, but my god, they can stay up until two in the morning like it’s nothing. ”
“I thought Zhen’s a morning person?”
“I think what he really is, is anti-sleep. He’s more interested in being awake and all over the place.”
“You know, that makes total sense? Knowing him.”
Something about the way she’d spoken, with such fondness, made me pause and really look at her. “Char, I’ve never asked, but do you like Zhen?”
“Adore him. He’s the big brother I never had and always wanted.” Her grin was lively, infectious. “He’s such a jokester, too. I can see why you like being married to him.”
“I mean, yes, that’s all part of it.” I’d had no idea Charlotte had such a fond love for Zhen.
It made sense, though; he’d helped out quite a bit getting her settled in Demonbreun.
Of course she would think well of him. It also put a little happy spark in me, because I wanted the two of them to like each other.
“Wait, is that what attracted you to Jo Jo? Because you sensed those two are kindred spirits?”
“Well, maybe in part? The physical attraction is what got my attention initially.”
“Fair enough, I had the same ‘oh he’s hawt’ moment with Zhen.” I shrugged and went to get myself some coffee.
Charlotte followed me inside the break room. “Jo Jo’s been telling me stories about what all he does and some of the crazier hunting trips he’s taken with Zhen. He said what he did with the curse breaking on the sword was one of the mildest jobs he’s taken.”
“He does not exaggerate.” I kept a weather eye on her as I poured myself a cup. “You okay with that? I know we talked about this yesterday.”
“I watched the video of the fight to take down Annabelle, so I think I have a good grasp on things. The danger’s not a deterrent for me. I think that worried him.”
“It worries every hunter, I think. They know it’s hard on their loved ones to see them dive into danger. Makes dating quite difficult.”
“I can see that. Would you have kept dating Zhen, after seeing what he does, if you’d had a choice?”
“I love how you’re asking me this before I can drink my coffee.”
“You must have already had a cup to get functional enough to come here, so I think you’re fine.”
I stuck my tongue out at her. She was right and I had no leg to stand on. “To answer, yes. I liked him that much, even then. I would have been nervous as hell every time he went out, but I would have stuck it out.”
“Huh. That does say a lot.”
I heard the clack of cane on tiled floor, and Boss stuck her head inside. She looked her usual fabulous self with loose, flowy clothes and her red-rimmed glasses perched on her nose. “Girls, I need help.”
I put my coffee down. “Of course, what do you need?”
“I want to try and reach another ghost from our groom’s family.”
We had four grooms we were actively looking to match, so that didn’t clarify anything for me. “Which one?”
“Yan Yichen.”
“Ah! Wait, why? Don’t tell me you still haven’t been able to reach him?”
She shook her head grimly. “I haven’t. I fear something is wrong. We may have to cancel the meeting with the family this evening.”
She hadn’t been able to summon him all week. Now I was worried. “Let me call the brother. He might be able to tell me a relative his brother was close to, we can try that angle.”
“Thank you, dear.”
I fetched my coffee—this was going to be a three-coffee morning at the rate we were going—and went to my desk. Charlotte had already fed Bootsy, who now lay in a cardboard box on the desk, so content with life the tip of his tail swished back and forth. Silly kitty.
Plopping down, I woke the computer, looked up the Yan Hao Ran’s contact info, and placed the call on the landline.
He answered on the second ring. “Hello?”
“Hi, Yan Hao Ran, this is Kris from the Afterlife Marriage Agency. I have two quick questions for you, if you have a minute.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“We’re having a hard time reaching your brother. This sometimes happens. We’d like to call a family member who’s already deceased, someone he was close to. To go fetch him, in essence. Does anyone spring to mind?”
He gave an I’m thinking sort of noise. “Yes, our grandparents on my father’s side. Grandfather especially. Those two were thick as thieves before Grandfather died about eleven years ago?”
“Sounds like the perfect person. Can I have his name and birthday?”
“I’ll email it to you.”
“Thank you so much, I appreciate it.”
Yan Hao Ran paused, and I could tell he was really considering the situation now. “Is this a sign of something bad?”
“Normally, no, it’s just shenanigans. Could be we’ve had bad timing trying to reach him, that he’s roaming about doing something else and misses the signal. If it is something bad, we will keep you updated so you’re not wondering.”
“I appreciate it. Thank you. All right, emailed.”
“Thanks so much. I’ll keep you in the loop. Goodbye.”
I appreciated his email. Mandarin names could be tricky, and while I was fluent, I wasn’t native level. Each syllable in a name could be one of multiple Hanzi, and knowing the name’s meaning didn’t always help. I still sometimes chose the wrong one. Written text negated any room for mistakes.
Armed with info, I met Boss and Charlotte in the altar room. Charlotte was putting the finishing touches on a spirit doll under Boss’s guidance. She really was getting the hang of this, wasn’t she? Good for her.
“I have the name and birthday of a grandfather,” I announced as I entered.
Boss tilted her head to watch me enter, a smile lighting up her face. “Perfect. Write that on the doll.”
I did, exactly as I’d been trained to do, then stepped back.
Boss oriented the doll so it was properly centered with her and then spoke formally, “Yan Mingze, I would speak with you.”
A minute passed, then the doll’s eyes blinked once, the head turning a little this way and that.
The spirit hanging above the doll looked like a rather handsome man in his late thirties?
Ghosts chose what age they presented as, once they realized they could.
He was handsome, hair slicked back with gel, glasses perched on his nose.
He observed us before speaking. “I am Yan Mingze. Who are you?”
“I am Gao Ah Lam, a ghost matchmaker.”
“Ahh! Have you finally come to make a match for my grandson?”
“Yes, I have. However, I’m having trouble reaching him. I spoke to him four days ago, about his preference for a bride, but I haven’t been able to reach him since. Is he with you?”
Yan Mingze blinked those big cartoon eyes of his. “What? No, he’s not with me. I haven’t seen him for days. I thought he was down here, as he checks on his daughter often, now that he knows where she is.”
I mean, as a parent, that made perfect sense. But him visiting his little girl wouldn’t stop us from calling him. So long as he was on this plane or the spirit plane, he should have been reachable.
Boss didn’t like this answer either. “Would you know if he’s in the spirit plane?”
“Yes. That place works differently from here. You can sense where your family is. It takes only a thought to move to them.”
“So he’s not there.”
“No. I’m now worried. Matchmaker, my grandson must be found. This is a serious matter.”
I think we were all officially worried. This went from strange to uh-oh in a hot second.
“My grandson is a hunter,” Boss told him, lips in a flat, unhappy line. “I will set him to searching for your grandson. We will find him.”
“Please. I leave this in your hands.” With a bow of his head, he left the spirit doll altogether.
All three of us exchanged glances. What could prevent a ghost from coming?
Aside from no desire to come. That didn’t make sense, either, though.
While Yan Yichen could ignore the call, he knew we were searching for a bride for him.
Surely he’d be interested in answering? And we were his bridge to talk to his living family, so, again, wouldn’t he want to talk to us?
“I’m calling in the cavalry.” I flipped my phone into the right position and speed-dialed Zhen.
He answered with his usual cheerfulness. “Darling! You must miss me already if you’re calling. I think you should be allowed to leave work early if you miss me that much.”
Considering I’d been here a whole whopping twenty minutes, I understood his teasing. “I’m so sorry I haven’t been able to annoy you today. Please be patient and I’ll get to you shortly.”
He chortled like the demented little speed demon that he was. “In all seriousness, something up?”
“Yeah...something bad, we think.”
He instantly sobered. “How bad?”
“I don’t know, and that’s the problem. The groom who had a supposedly living bride but turned out to be in a fraud situation—you remember that?”
“Oh, sure, the guy with the two girlfriends, and one of them was crazy pants.”
“That’s the guy. Well, the situation has upgraded from banana pants to a full banana ensemble. We can’t reach Yan Yichen at all. We called his grandfather, who said he hasn’t seen Yan in days. Also says he’s nowhere on the spirit plane.”
Zhen let out a groan. “Okay, first, don’t panic. Ghosts are actually notorious for getting lost. You’d be amazed how often that happens.”
“I know, but Boss has been trying since Monday. And we can’t reach him.”
“Oh. Shit, you’re right, that’s a really bad sign. Uh, hold on— Jo Jo, stop being a fucking pest.”
I could hear Jo Jo’s slightly fainter voice whine, “Don’t take away the only thing I’m good at!”
Those two were such peas in a pod, I swear.
“If you really want to come with me, come with me. It’s not like you need an excuse to go see my little sister anyway.”
“Since when was she your sister!”
“Since I married Kris, duh.”
If I’d learned anything, it was that Zhen and Jo Jo could bicker like siblings all day unless someone stopped them. I wasn’t actually convinced those two didn’t share blood. “Hey, boys, focus please. Missing spirit.”
“Yeah, can you come back to the house? I’ll start up a trace spell once I’ve got his info. I have a feeling we’ll be riding all over the city, and I’d rather not have to double back and get you.”
I was more of a known face for Yan Yichen, so he’d likely respond better to me.
“Sure, I’m on my way.”
I hung up and addressed the other two. “I’ll ride with Zhen and Jo Jo. Hopefully we get this resolved quickly.”
Boss gave a nod but stalled me with a hand on my arm. “Take your gun, dear.”
“Uh...okay?” Would I need to be armed?
“If someone’s captured a spirit and held it, they’re not in their right mind. And frankly, I can’t think of any other reason why Yan Yichen hasn’t responded.”
Well. Put like that, rather hard to argue.