Unclean Spirits Part 20

"And you're going to be here. In the house. When I get back?"

"I am."

"You aren't going to take off on me."

"I'm not."

"f.u.c.king promise."

He grinned.

"I f.u.c.king promise," he said.

I took a deep breath, then another, then another, letting each one out slowly until I was back under control. Chogyi Jake was smiling gently. He looked tired. If I'd let myself think about it, I wouldn't have done it. I leaned in and kissed his cheek the way my mother used to when I was a kid. He laughed.

"Okay," I said, loud enough for it to carry into the living room. "Let's get this show on the road."

The heat was worse than it had been before. Candace drove a two-year-old Saturn sedan, and even with the air-conditioning turned up high enough that Kim and I had to lean forward to hear and be heard, the backseat still felt like a sauna. On the streets, the trees seemed to wilt under the press of sunlight. Pedestrians reclined at the bus stops like prizefighters between rounds.

"There's supposed to be a cold front moving in," Aaron said over his shoulder. "It always gets like this right before the heat breaks."

I squinted into the sun.

What does the secret lair of an evil wizard look like? It was two stories high with a red tile roof and stucco I could only think of as Realtor beige. Across the street, there was a wide park where improbably green gra.s.s looked like a very short jungle. We circled the block once, Aaron watching the house as if it might move. Kim murmured under her breath, and I had the feeling she was doing something not entirely natural with her will.

"Okay," Aaron said. "Here's the thing. There are a lot of different ways he can go from here to there. I'm thinking that our best option is to take him out close to one of the ends. Either here when he's heading to the speaking thing or downtown when he's leaving afterward."

"There are going to be more wards and protections here," Kim said.

"On the other hand, there are going to be more innocent bystanders downtown," I said. "If there's going to be a fight, I'd rather have it someplace where no one's likely to get hurt. By mistake, I mean."

"If we find the right site, it won't be an issue," Candace said.

"You sound like you've done this before," I said.

"Nah," she said, with a nod toward Aaron. "I've just been hanging out with him too long."

We spent two hours driving different routes back and forth between Coin's neighborhood and the convention center. The convention center itself was a huge gla.s.s-fronted building like an aquarium built for people. The streets downtown were busy and almost all one-way, usually not the one we wanted. There were two places-one near the convention center, the other down near Coin's house-that particularly excited Aaron's interest.

Kim, sitting beside me, seemed to grow more and more withdrawn through the day. At about half past three, I called a break, and Candace drove us a couple of blocks to the Rock Bottom Brewery at the Sixteenth Street mall. We sat on the patio so that we could actually hear one another. In the shade, it wasn't too bad. With a cold beer, it was better.

"Okay," I said after we'd ordered some food. "What have we got so far?"

"I think we can take him out by the convention center without there being too much risk of it spilling over," Aaron said. "It'll mean taking him by surprise, but-"

"But he's a rider," I said. "He can do things that a human being can't. We have to figure that in."

"I've been thinking about that," Kim said. "He's going to outcla.s.s us when it comes to magic. There's no way around it."

"What options can you give me?" I asked.

Kim sipped her beer, then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. It was the least cultured and controlled gesture I'd seen her make.

"My toolbox is smaller than you're used to," she said. "I quit working with Eric before Aubrey did, so I just don't know as much. In a way, that makes it easier because there isn't much to choose from. I can attack Coin. Try to break the bond between the rider and the body it's in. It's unlikely to work by itself, but if he's also being a.s.saulted physically at the time, there might be a chance. Or I can protect the group by making us difficult to focus on, which has the advantage of giving our side more time. But it doesn't do anything about his protections, which I expect are going to be difficult to penetrate no matter how much time we buy ourselves. Or...or I can damp down all the unnatural activity in the immediate area."

"Tell me about that last one," I said.

"It's a simple ceremony," Kim said. "The name for it is Calling Malkuth. It doesn't take a lot of finesse or preparation, which is an advantage because I'm not very good at this. It's fairly easy, since it's essentially calling forth normalcy, and bringing things back to their natural state is simpler than pulling them out of it. I don't think it would be wise to count on me for anything fancy."

"What's it do?" Aaron asked.

"It invokes the material world," Kim said. "It makes riders less powerful. Which means it will affect the bodyguard too. We can't forget about him. It also restricts the kinds of things other people can do. Normal humans who've been trained would find it harder to cast spells or express their will in nonphysical ways."

"What's the downside?" I asked.

"It's indiscriminate," she said. "I can't just affect their side. So you wouldn't be able to do anything either."

"Okay."

"And I don't know what it would do to the protections Eric put on you." That she looked down when she said it was enough to show that this was her real objection.

"Tell me about that," I said.

"Well. Chogyi and Midian both said that there have been things about you...that you've been surprisingly good with some kinds of fighting, that you're harder than usual to locate using nonmaterial means. If Eric had protections on you, Calling Malkuth would diminish them. And then I don't know that afterward they would come back."

"What if she wasn't there?" Candace asked. "If Jayne didn't come, then she wouldn't need to be there when you did the-" She waved her hands like a stage magician.

"I'll be there," I said. "If it's a risk, that's fine. I'll take it."

"No. Don't just make a snap decision like that. Think about this," Kim said. "We don't know all of what Eric's done. We don't know what other work we might be interfering with. I don't want...I don't want to be responsible for breaking something I can't fix."

She shrugged, and I understood what she wasn't saying. I was her husband's lover. There was a whole side of her that wanted nothing more than to see me hurt. She didn't trust herself.

"Okay," I said. "I'll think about it. But right now, it's the option that sounds the best to me."

The food came. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until my first mouthful. Then I couldn't stop. The sun pressed down on the world. A constant trickle of sweat ran down between my shoulder blades. It was Sunday. The last day in the worst week of a life that had a couple other real contenders.

Maybe Tuesday wasn't the right time. Two days didn't seem long enough to really plan out what I was going to do, all the possibilities and contingencies. All the things that could go wrong. I paid the bill with cash when it came. There was still a part of me that shuddered a little bit at a single meal that cost over fifty dollars. A month ago, it wouldn't have been something I could afford. Now it was subliminal. Next month, it could be up to whoever was catering my funeral.

The street mall was permanently blocked to cars. We'd parked in the structure underneath the restaurant, so when we left, the direction was down. The garage was pretty full, but also offered the kind of cool that comes with being underground in the unkind heat of August. We angled for Candace's sedan, and I fell into step beside Kim. She looked over at me, then away. A motorcycle whined.

I didn't know what was happening until Aaron had already pushed me down between two cars. Candace and Kim were crouched low and following. A pistol had appeared in his hand as if from nowhere. The motorcycle's engine dropped to a lower hum.

"What?" I whispered.

"The bike," Aaron said. "It's been following us. I wasn't sure before. The thing is the guy on the bike keeps changing."

"More than one person?"

"He changed in the middle of traffic," Aaron said. "He was a big black guy, and then about half a block later, he was an Asian chick. I thought maybe it was just similar bikes, but..."

I moved forward. The motorcycle was at the end of the row, pointing vaguely toward the exit. The man sitting on it was craning his neck, looking for something. Looking for us. He pulled something small and plastic out of his pocket, looked at it, frowned, and put it back. He was maybe in his early fifties, with salt-and-pepper stubble and a long, greasy ponytail. I gathered my qi, drawing it slowly up to my eyes. The image s.h.i.+fted. The glamour washed away, ponytail and stubble and decades flowing away from the man. I said something vulgar.

"Stay here," I told Aaron, then stepped out into the aisle, walking down the oil-stained concrete like I owned it. On the motorcycle, our shadow saw me. His expression went from surprise to chagrin to anger in less than a breath. By the time I reached him, he had braced the cycle with his legs and his arms were crossed.

"What do you think you're doing?" I shouted over the low roar of the engine.

"I was going to ask the same of you," Ex said.

Twenty-one.

He looked near exhaustion. His hair, tied back in a ponytail and held with a thick rubber band, was limp and greasy. His face was grayish around the eyes, like someone who's been working around smoke and soot so long it's been ground into the pores. Without the glamour, he was wearing a white s.h.i.+rt that looked as worn as he did, with old jeans and black boots.

I crossed my arms.

"I'm doing what we should have done from the start," I shouted. "You want to kill the engine on that thing, or should we talk about this really loud and in public?"

His expression soured further and he nodded to the back of the cycle, ordering me on. I raised an eyebrow and didn't move.

"I'm not having this conversation here," he said.

I turned and spat on the ground, then walked back to Aaron, Candace, and Kim. They were still hunkered down behind parked cars, but the fact that I had talked to the mysterious stranger without the pair of us devolving into a street fight seemed to rea.s.sure them all.

"It's Ex," I said. "You three get back to the house. I need to talk to him. I'll meet you there in an hour."

"You're sure?" Aaron said. The gun was still in his hand, though pointed professionally away from anyone. His glance over my shoulder offered to beat the living s.h.i.+t out of Ex. Part of me appreciated the thought.

"I'll be fine," I said. "I want you guys to talk to Midian and Chogyi Jake. Tell them about the Calling Malkuth plan, and see what you can brainstorm as far as strategies."

"We're doing it?" Candace asked. "Tuesday night is the time?"

"I don't know yet," I said. "See what you can work out. I'll see what I can do about getting Ex over whatever his problem is."

The others looked at one another for a moment, then Aaron slid the gun back into an ankle holster I hadn't noticed before. I walked back to Ex. He reached into a small side bag and pulled out a black helmet, holding it out to me as I came near.

"Where's yours?" I asked.

"I'll be fine," he said. "Put it on and we'll go."

I got on the back of the bike, the helmet weighing down on my neck, and tucked my leather backpack into the side bag. Ex leaned forward, gunning the engine. Resenting the physical contact, I leaned forward, put my hands on his sides, and got ready for launch.

I hadn't been on the back of a motorcycle since I was sixteen, and even then it hadn't been more than a few slow blocks with a guy from church. Ex's launch felt like an amus.e.m.e.nt park ride without the amus.e.m.e.nt. Before we'd gotten out of the parking structure, I'd forgotten all about Coin and the Invisible College, Kim and Aubrey, and riders in general. All my attention was on s.h.i.+fting my weight the right way so that the pavement wouldn't rise up and rip my skin off. My arms slid forward, and within a couple blocks, I was holding Ex closer than I'd ever held anyone I wasn't looking to sleep with.

The streets slid by, the wind of our pa.s.sage drying the sweat off my arms almost before it was there. Despite the heat of the day and the punis.h.i.+ng weight of sunlight, I felt cool. I only wished that I had refused the helmet. The air would have felt good against my face.

Ex turned us onto Colfax, and then, to my unease, onto I-25 heading north. The Sunday traffic was light, and speed turned the asphalt to a gray blur beside me. I found I could tell from the subtle movement of Ex's body when we were going to change lanes or s.h.i.+ft direction. Before long, I was matching him without thinking.

Back on the surface streets, the houses were low and comfortable looking, the shops mostly strip malls. I felt sure enough of myself at the slower-than-highway speeds to lean back and allow a little air s.p.a.ce between me and Ex's back. The front of my T-s.h.i.+rt where I'd pressed close to him was sweat-soaked and I suspected less opaque than I would have liked. I didn't want to have the coming showdown looking like I was trying to win a contest at a sports bar.

I didn't need to worry about it. By the time Ex slowed the cycle down to a putter and angled us down a long dirt driveway, I was back to myself and sure of my dignity. The house on our right was a one-story ranch, white paint flaking at the eaves. It was the sort of place where I expected to see a family living. I wouldn't have been surprised to see a swing set out back and children in the yard. Ex coasted past it.

The garage in back was huge. Three cars would have fit in it easily. But instead, it was fitted out as a little apartment. Ex's s.h.i.+ning black sports car sat close to the eastern wall. A canvas cot that looked like it came from World War II rested against the back wall beside the open door of a bathroom almost too small to turn around in. Ex killed the engine, dropped the kickstand, and got off the bike. I got off too, pulling the helmet off as I did. My legs were trembling.

The smaller details of the s.p.a.ce began to register with me. The books in Latin and French stacked under the cot. The crucifix reverently hung by a small, dirty window. The mixed smells of dust, motor oil, and old laundry. Ex leaned against his car, his arms folded, his expression stern. In context, it was all I could do not to laugh.

"Okay, I need to know two things," I said. "First, tell me that's not your parents' house up front. Second, tell me you didn't spend all your money on the cool car just to impress girls."

Ex looked puzzled for a second, then glanced around at the ad hoc apartment as if seeing it for the first time. He seemed chagrined, but he covered it quickly.

"The house belongs to a friend. He lets me rent this when I need a place to stay."

"When you need a place to stay?"

"It's not like I'm carrying a mortgage," Ex said.

I couldn't help it. I laughed. Big, strong, authoritarian Ex, with his black clothes and s.h.i.+ning sports car, lived in a garage. Ex's expression darkened.

"Let it go, Jayne," he said. "You are risking your own life and the lives of everyone who was at that restaurant with you today. The first thing you need to do is tell me what you're planning, and the next thing you need to do is call it off."

"How is it," I said, ignoring him, "that Eric has enough money to buy a small island, and the rest of you are living like college students?"

"That's what I'm telling you! Will you listen to me? Eric was the real deal. He'd been doing this for years. He was connected. Chogyi Jake, Aubrey, me. We were his gophers. We were the day labor he took on when he needed an extra pair of hands."

There was real pain in his voice. It sobered me. I looked at the cot, the books, the crucifix. I tried to see beauty in it.

"Why are you following me?" I asked.

"Because someone has to keep you safe."

"They know you've left me," I said. "The Invisible College? They know you left."

"They caught sight of me a couple times," he said. "And now that I'm out of the house, I'm not under Eric's wards and protections. Even if they don't know exactly where I am, they can tell that much."

"And yet you're still alive," I said.

"I am."

"Luck?"

"Partly," he said. "I've got a talent for not being found."

"You're going to stop following me," I said. "You're in or you're out, but not this halfway c.r.a.p. It's creepy. You scared me today. I thought you were them."