Bitten in Two (11 page)

“How long do you need her?” I asked.

He looked over his shoulder. I did too. If he thought somebody else could fol ow him into my dreams I sure as hel wanted to know who.

He said, “I’l tel you. If you promise to keep it to yourself.”

I said, “Okay.” He waited. “Oh! I promise not to tel anyone,” I finished.

He lowered his voice. “Remember the woman we discussed a few days ago? The one with the shiny lips?”

“Yeah. What was her name? Tina? Thea?”

“Nia,” he said.

I nodded. “Right. Nia with the intimidating lip gloss. Did you make with the chitchat?”

“She’s coming over for lunch.” He slid toward the edge of his chair, like I was about to send him off on a vital errand.

“You smooth talker, you!”

“Yes. Wel , no. I wrote everything down first and memorized it.” He took a breath through his nose and blew it out his mouth. I could see the stress drop away as the corners of his mouth lifted. “Spending my life in the military did not prepare me to converse with women.”

“You’re talking to me.”

“You’re different.”

Okay, we’ll stop before you tell me I’m just another
guy, okay? That way I won’t have to club you over the
head with this flower vase.
I asked, “So where does Astral come in?”

“Nia mentioned that of everything in life she had to leave, she missed her cat the most. So I thought…” Mischievous smirk. Gosh, it seemed that even higher beings needed props to get to second base.

So I guessed the question was, should I steer Raoul away from the shiny-lipped cat lady or get comfortable with a Diet Coke and a bowl of popcorn? Wel , he had interrupted one of my favorite dreams. “Astral wil make the trip okay?”

“She’s a robot.”

I’ll take that as a “yes.”
“Then you can have her. But—” I raised my hand before he could shower me with thanks.

“I’m going to need some payback.”

“Anything.”

Oh, no, Raoul. Tell me you haven’t got it this bad.
I said, “Kyphas is going to betray us.”

“Natural y.”

“Can you find out what she can do with the Rocenz if she gets her hands on it? I mean, beyond the obvious political gain she’d receive by returning it to hel ? We know what it’l do for humans. But she hinted that it works differently for demons, and I’m worried that someone’s gonna lose his soul if we don’t head her off quick.” Raoul nodded. “You make an excel ent point. I’l get busy with that.”

“Okay. And next time I wake up, I’l send Astral through the portal. I should warn you, she’s developed some funky habits since Jack accidental y blew her head off.” Raoul nodded. “Good. That wil be a great icebreaker.” He leaned over and took my hand. “Thanks, Jaz. I real y appreciate this.” I looked down at his fingers, long and bronzed by endless days in the sun. And watched them change into shorter, broader digits that wrapped around my own with familiar strength.

“I think it’s time for bed, Jazzy. How about you?” I raised my eyes to Matt’s. Such a clear blue I could imagine sailing around the world in them.

“Okay,” I whispered.

He pul ed me to my feet. Slid his arm around my waist, slipped his fingers under my shirt so he could brush them along the sides of my ribs. I shivered with anticipation.

“Let’s get married right away,” he said. “Can we get the whole thing planned in a month?”

I caught my breath. “Why are you in such a rush?” He pul ed me closer. “I’ve always wanted to be a dad.

What do you think? Soon?”

I smiled up into his eyes, part of me dancing as I imagined the future unfolding ahead of us. But even deep into sleep I couldn’t push away the voice that said,
Hold
tight to this moment, Jaz. Because two weeks from tonight
the dreams die with him.

I woke feeling more exhausted than I had when I’d falen asleep. My hand went to my face, trying to brush away the drool that must’ve dried on my chin while I was out. But it was too thick for spit and too smooth for upchuck. Then I realized it was on my upper lip too. I sat up and looked down at the T-shirt I was wearing. It was one of Vayl’s. Plain white cotton that made him look like a bodybuilder but hung to my knees. I’d bled al over the front of it. I checked the pil owcase. Soaked. Geez, how do you sleep through a gushing nosebleed like that?

Maybe when you spend the whole time dreaming
backward instead of looking forward.

I ignored Granny May, who was staring at me with uncharacteristic concern from behind her embroidery hoop.

Because I stil had to deal with the aftermath. Not as big a deal as you might expect, because I’d already done cleanup twice before, and I was starting to develop a process.

I showered and then spent another half hour in the tileriffic bathroom. With gal ons of cold water, a little soap, and some scrubbing, I got al the blood out. I hung everything but the pil ow over the shower’s curtain rod, and that I just set on the toilet lid. At the end of that time I final y admitted to myself that the race was on now. If I couldn’t carve Brude’s name on the gates of hel before he blew my circuits for good, it wouldn’t matter much what century Vayl thought we were living in. Because he’d be trudging through the rest of it without me.

I returned his cane to my trunk and motioned to Astral.

“Time for breakfast, girl. What do you eat, like, bolts and oil or something?” She looked up at me and blinked a couple of times. “No patience for stupid questions, huh? See, that’s why you’re a sucky pet. Now, Jack? He thinks everything I say is bril iant. You can tel by the way he wags his tail. Have I told you lately how much it bites that he’s gone? And so, pretty much, is Vayl?” I stopped, shoved my palm against my chest. Amazing how it literal y hurt from time to time. Maybe people real y could die of broken hearts.

hearts.

“But not in this getup, right, Astral?” I looked down at my sun-colored T-shirt and couldn’t help but feel cheered by the grinning superhero posing on the front, who was pretty much al straight white teeth, pointy-edged face mask, and flowing red cape. He had his hands on his hips as he gazed bravely off into the wild blue. The caption read IMAGINE WHAT I COULD DO IF MY TIGHTS WEREN’T STUCK UP MY

CRACK!

I’d found it in a package outside my door just before going downstairs and had immediately decided to change clothes. It had come with a note:
You’re the best. Happy
Birthday!
Cole

I also wore a pair of denim cutoffs that hit me just above the knee and black running shoes. I left my hair down and shoved the yel ow-framed sunglasses Cole had also bought me on top of my head for later. Grief needed a place to hide, which wasn’t a big deal now that the temperature hovered in the mid-sixties. I threw on my white jacket from yesterday, made exclusively for gun-toting babes like me.

Lined to hide the dark contours of my holster and gun, it was stil made of material that breathed like cotton. It might begin to look slightly awkward when the temperature rose to eighty-five or so. But that was where my country of origin saved me. People just seemed to accept weirdness from Americans.

Walking downstairs for the fourth day in a row didn’t feel any more habitual. I stil marveled at the exotic feel of Monique’s riad, a house so old that even the dirt lodged in the carved curlicues of the stair balusters had become valuable. While we stepped in and out of the rays of sunshine slanting through classical y arched windows, Astral played a song she’d overheard in the Djemaa el Fna the day before, one that a group of musicians with flutes, drums, and a couple of brass instruments had been belting out with more enthusiasm than talent. It felt like a fanfare as I reached the front door.

“So you know where you’re going?” I asked her. She looked up at me. I slapped my chest. “Jump up here.” She sprang into my arms. “I’m sending you to spend some time with my Spirit Guide, Raoul. Be a good girl.” She launched into a terrific cover of Cyndi Lauper’s hit

“Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” Which made walking her to the end of the block where a plane portal stood between a fruit sel er’s souk and a shoe repair shop somewhat awkward—because I had to pretend to be belting out the words as she sang, “Oh, Mother, dear, we’re not the fortunate ones. And girls, they wanna have fu-un.” By the time we were done with the song, we’d gathered a smal crowd, who clapped politely and gave me a handful of euros for our performance.

“Thanks,” I said, waving goodbye to them as they moved on down the street. I glared down at the cat. “You are a pain in the ass, you know that?” I held my finger under her nose as she opened her mouth. “Don’t. Sing. Don’t talk.

Just act like a damn cat for a second.”

I stood watching the portal, the flames that framed its rectangular entry flickering from blue to orange and back again as I waited for Raoul to open it from his side. A car slowed down and a grinning old man with hair sprouting from his ears leaned out the passenger door. “Hel o, pretty lady!”

“Get lost!” I yel ed.

Come on, Raoul. I have now done a cappella karaoke
and convinced the natives I’m a prostitute, all so you can
get a date. Open the damn door!

The shadowed entryway swirled and then cleared. I looked straight into his penthouse, a tidy black-and-white-themed bachelor pad located high above the rooftops of Sin City. He stepped into view, his boots polished to a gleam, his trousers and jacket creased so sharply if you looked at them too long they’d give your eyebal s paper cuts. He held out his hands and I stepped forward just far enough to set Astral into them.

“She’s in a musical mood today.”

He nodded, his clear blue eyes busy taking in my T-shirt. When he laughed out loud I nearly fel off the curb.

Relaxed Raoul was a whole different guy. Like somebody you’d want to go bowling with, because between frames you knew he’d have you rol ing with stories about when he and his buddies had once hung a gigantic sign lined with old-lady bloomers from the high school roof that said NOW

WE KNOW WHY NOBODY BAKES LIKE GRANDMA!

I said, “One thing.”

“What’s that?”

“I stil haven’t figured out quite what you are, but I know you deserve the best. If she doesn’t treat you right, move on.”

Stil smiling, he said, “I’l go one better. If she breaks my heart, I’l sic
you
on her.”

I nodded. “Works for me.”

He lifted Astral, who’d been rubbing her paws against his buttons, as if she was fascinated by their shape and texture. “Thanks for this.”

“You’re welcome.”

He looked over both shoulders. Touched Astral on the forehead and whispered, “Some celestial interference, if you please.”

Astral yawned widely, but her mouth didn’t close again.

If any sound was coming from it, I couldn’t hear. But suddenly I felt… tense. “Raoul?”

“My scouts have discovered information that not everyone thinks you should be privy to. They fear, if you knew, you would throw this mission and run back to America. They don’t know you as wel as I do, but they have more power.” His voice went even lower. “So listen closely and be careful who you repeat this to. What you asked me about before? About the… tool and what the demons could do with it?”

I swal owed past the sudden dryness in my throat.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t al ow the demon in your party to get ahold of it. If she did, she could turn any one of you into spawn as wel .”

“How?”

“They’re stil questioning the informant, so I can’t be sure. I only know she’d have to use her own blood and another item, the source of which we haven’t pinpointed yet.” He looked around again. “You’l be careful?”

“Of course. And thanks. For everything. But I should real y go. Because I’m sure it looks like I’m talking to myself in the middle of the sidewalk in Morocco. And I think I’ve pul ed al the weird stunts this neighborhood can handle for one day.”

He nodded. “I’l be in touch.” The image of his place grayed out, and I turned back to the riad before I was, once again, staring into a black hole. It just felt like I was doing too much of that lately.

Monique Landry had probably been born smiling. In fact, I’d never met a person I believed more when she said, “I’m delighted to know you!” This was a lady who ran a hotel because she’d be lost without company.