“I’m surprised the two of you got along well enough to talk,” I said as I watched pearl-white clouds hang heavier and heavier. Snow; you could smell it in the air. “And who of the three did you claim to be best?” I asked, amused.
“By the two of you, yeah, I know you mean me,” he snorted. “I gave her twenty minutes and tuned her out. That’s the best I could do. As for the best, I’m not that stupid, Nik. I said it was a toss-up between you and Robin, but I definitely came in dead last.”
With swords that was true. However, with his gates and guns and Auphe genes that were more active all the time, I wondered. If he did lose control for good, Robin and I together might not be enough. I tightened my hands on the steering wheel. But that wasn’t going to happen. Cal wouldn’t give in to it, and I wouldn’t let him.
Unpleasant and unnecessary thoughts, and I distracted myself with others. He had tried with Cherish, because of what Promise meant to me. Naturally, Cal’s trying fell under the category of not walking out of the room the second she walked in, but it was effort, and I gave it the appreciation it deserved. “McDonald’s drive-thru?” Positive reinforcement; it was a good way to train dogs and brothers.
After a grease-laden bag was dumped in his lap, he took a bite of something that squirted syrup, dripped bits of egg and biscuit, and lost an entire sausage patty to the floor. “I’m surprised it didn’t come blended in a cup of coffee. It would’ve made things much simpler,” I said with distaste, sticking with the only palatable thing I’d found on the menu: orange juice. And I was careful to check for chunks of waffle floating within. “Did Cherish have anything to offer other than tales of misbehavior?”
“Nope, not that they weren’t fun. She’s not that bad once she gets over herself. She told me one story about some sheik, a huge diamond, and how long it takes something that big to go through a camel’s digestive system. Gotta say, she worked for the money on that one.” He wiped his mouth with the back of my hand. I felt the internal twitch and quelled it. Not every battle is worth fighting. Focus on the war. “Like I said, she was curious about our amazing ass-kicking abilities too, although more you, really. You’re apparently a vampire-nookie magnet. Guess that makes my monster half yesterday’s news.” He finished off the McAngioplasty and stuffed the wadded paper back into the bag. “She also wanted to know where we grew up. How’d you get to be so great a swordsman. Were you always your brother’s keeper.”
All that in twenty minutes. Cal had been more social than he wanted to admit. “And you said?” It wouldn’t be unusual for her to be curious about the man occupying her mother’s bed. It would be unusual if she weren’t.
“I said it was none of her goddamn business, and went to take a shower.” He frowned. “At least I’m pretty sure I did. The coffee hadn’t kicked in yet.”
“Thankfully you were polite,” I said sardonically. Now that was more like the brother I knew.
“I do what I can.” He leaned the seat back and rolled over onto his side. “She can get in good with the stepdad on her own time. See you in twenty.”
Cal had pulled the last watch. He needed the nap. I didn’t mind the silence during the drive. I never minded silence. The lingering smell of greasy pork death I could’ve done without, but in life there are always challenges.
He slept hard, twitching occasionally, until I parked about two blocks down from the Ninth Circle. I didn’t need to guess at his nightmares. They were the same as my own. Insanity, slavery, and far worse. But it wouldn’t happen. I wouldn’t let it. Cal wanted to carry the burden this time, but no one could carry that one alone. The moment I turned off the engine, he woke up. He blinked once, took in his surroundings, and said, “You know the only thing Ish will be interested in giving us is his foot up our asses?”
“You could be right.” Unfortunately for Ishiah, whom I thought so far to be honorable in his fashion, I was more concerned about my brother than I was about his ass-kicking threats. The sooner we solved Cherish’s problem, the sooner we could completely concentrate on our bigger one. And by now some information on Oshossi could’ve surfaced among the bar patrons. “But our options are limited.”
“You ever think of just hauling Cherish’s ass off to Central Park and dumping her there?” he asked, gray eyes calm and, yes, ruthless. “Let God, Zeus, and Allah sort it out?”
“No.” She was Promise’s daughter, and although a careless thief, she wasn’t entirely without merit. Although even if she had been, I would do what I could for her for Promise’s sake. And she did seem to be changing for the better . . . or at least trying to. Putting people if not before her, then at least equal to her. It counted for something, especially in one that young. And she did care for Promise now, and that counted for much more than just something. “Do you?”
He didn’t answer, rubbing his knuckles thoughtfully along his jaw. “I think I’ll plead the Fifth on that one.” Getting out, he slammed the door shut. “Not too fair to Promise to make her think my shit smells like roses if I’m actually thinking something . . .”
“Survival oriented?” I offered.
“That sounds better than ‘homicidal.’ Yeah, thinking something survival oriented about her daughter. Let’s go with that.” He started to grin, but it twisted to a frown as his eyes slid from one side of the street to another.
“Cal?” I looked as well, but saw nothing. That didn’t mean there was nothing to see.
He looked back at me. “Eh, it’s nothing. Just feeling paranoid. What with the Auphe in heat and a South American ass-kicker after us. Go figure.”
We walked the two blocks as the snow began to fall. It wasn’t the puffy flakes of Christmas cards and winter wonderlands. It was small pellets of hard white ice that bit at your face and collected under the collar of your coat. Breath billowing in the air, Cal pulled at the handle of the bar’s front door. It didn’t budge. “Huh. It’s past noon. It should be open.” He dug in his pocket for the keys, turned one in the lock, and opened the door. He didn’t go in; he didn’t take even a step. I saw him inhale sharply. His grip on the door handle tightened.
The lights were out, the windows covered, but I could see Ishiah in the interior gloom of the empty bar. He sat at a table alone with a bottle of whiskey and a glass. “Go away.” His voice was one of the perfectly sober. I thought he wished he weren’t.
“Who?” Cal asked, his own hoarse.
“Cambriel.” He lifted the full glass and drained it. “Go away.”
Cal closed the door with a jerky motion and rested his forehead against it. He had smelled them as soon as he had opened the door. I hadn’t needed to. Seeing Ishiah was enough to know what had happened. Cambriel was a bartender I’d seen before. Cal had talked about him a few times. Had said he didn’t quite have the peri temper that Ishiah had, but damn close. When push came to shove and the bar erupted, he could fight like a winged lion. Hold his own against the wolves, the vampires, the revenants.
But not against the Auphe.
Cal had worked at the bar for a while now. Months. Day after day. It was an association the Auphe couldn’t have missed, and one we hadn’t even considered. “It’s just a job, Nik,” he said, closing his eyes. “Just a stupid goddamn job. I didn’t know Cam. I mean, he poured a mean shot and never turned me in if I took a long lunch, but I didn’t know him. Him or Ishiah. They’re just guys I work with.”
If that were true, and I wasn’t sure that it was, for the Auphe it seemed to be enough. “Call Delilah and let her know.” He didn’t move. I took a handful of his jacket and shook him lightly. “Cal, call. Now.”
“Okay.” He straightened and stepped away from the door as if it were red-hot. “Call Delilah. All right. I got it.”
Keeping my eyes on him, I stepped far enough away that he couldn’t hear my conversation with Georgina. She answered on the first ring. “Niko. Hello.”