A Wolf at the Door

Unless that had been Real-Alec, instead of Not-Alec, and…a person could hemorrhage something trying to follow all the twists and turns.

When I’d touched it, there was no spark of magic, nothing I could sense. No cloves, no sulfur. Almost like it was as dull and neutral as I myself was. Inert. So it couldn’t have created the little riot-inducing coins. Not on its own, anyway. It had to have help. Something controlling it, or at least partnered with it. Something that had known, long before we arrived, that Gretchen would be at that party.

I scribbled all my thoughts down on a yellow legal pad that I’d stolen from the nurses’ station, scratching out false starts and dead ends with enough force to rip through three layers of paper. Anyone who found it would think they were the ramblings of a madman, but I had to do something to organize the buzzing in my head. I still felt like there was something missing. I had all the pieces, but they just weren’t connecting in a way that would point a big flashy arrow at the bad guy.

On the other side of the room, Gretchen shook a doctor’s hand, then came back to her seat, gathering up her purse. “Bobby’s sleeping, and probably will be for quite a while. They think he’ll be all right, but they’re still not sure what internal injuries he has. Something about watching him for crush syndrome or something. The doctor says we should go home and get a little rest, come back in a few hours.”

Since sunrise had passed about an hour ago, rest seemed like the best course of action for all of us. But the thing had known we were at that party. We couldn’t go back where we were expected. “Where would be the last place someone would expect to see you? Someplace you never go.”

“Um…the beach?”

“Tai, take us to the beach. Doesn’t matter which one.”

As we drove, I briefed them on what I’d deduced about our shape-shifting friend. Neither of them had any ideas on the matter, but I felt better keeping them informed.

It was early morning in late December, so I wasn’t sure how many people would be at the beach. Luckily, aside from a few joggers and dog walkers, we seemed to have the place largely to ourselves. Gretchen kicked off her shoes and walked down toward the water’s edge, Tai sticking close to her side.

I just watched up and down the sands, gray in the early morning light, listening to the faint pulse of the ocean somewhere in the back of my ears. I pulled the hair tie from my ponytail, letting the light breeze ruffle my long hair. The seabirds called, already swooping low to see if we had any treats to offer, but it was still a sound that belonged. Something right and natural. It was like meditating, and I continued to breathe in time with the tide until my phone rang.

“Dawson.” At the sound of Ivan’s deep, gravelly voice, relief coursed through me so hard I almost sat down in the sand. “I am here.”

The old man was here, and suddenly, it didn’t matter if I was pissed off at him or not. He was here, and he’d fix this shit. I told him where to find us, and waited.

By the time Ivan got there, Gretchen was sacked out in the backseat of the Town Car, sleeping as best she could. Tai had the radio on softly, his eyes closed as he rested in the front seat, but I didn’t think he was sleeping. In fact, his head came up when he heard me stand, his eyes watching my every move until he was sure things were okay.

“Ivan!”

The enormous white-haired man strode across the sands, his black trench coat flapping around him like wings. I had to wonder if he knew he still looked like death walking. Probably the kind of death that would grind your bones to jelly and eat it on toast. Ivan’s a big boy. “Dawson! There you are!”

“Man, it is so good to see you.” We did the one-armed manly hug thing, Ivan pounding me on the shoulders like he was trying to mash my back through my front. “You have any trouble getting here?”

“Ni. I have visited Los Angeles before.” Ivan then leaned back to look me up and down. “You are not to be looking well. What has happened?”

“Christ, where do I even start?”

We found seats on the beach, far enough away that we wouldn’t disturb Tai and Gretchen. First, I turned over the half-burned demon sigil. “Destroy this somehow. Don’t burn it.” The old man took it grimly, tucking it away in a coat pocket with no further questions. Next, I poured out the little envelope of gray dust into my palm. “What do you think this is?”

The old man wet his finger then dipped it in the powder, first sniffing then tasting it. (See? It’s not just me!) “Hmph. It is to be tasting like clay.”

“What, like…Play-Doh?” Anna had Play-Doh, it came in bright colors, had a distinctive smell, and was salty tasting. (Oh, don’t even act like that. You ate it when you were a kid too.) This powdery stuff wasn’t Play-Doh.

Ivan was apparently familiar with the concept, and gave me a scathing look. “Ni, clay. Like…dirt. Soil. From the earth.”

“I smelled damp soil, at the movie lot.” Freshly turned earth, in fact. Like a new grave. How’s that for a somber thought? “Why would he be coated in clay?”

“Perhaps you should be starting this story from the beginning. Explain to me what is to be happening.” Yeah, seemed logical, so I did. I think I included all the pertinent details in a way that made sense. Helped to have them scribbled down on my yellow legal pad. Except for that part where I was out here doing a favor for a demon. I kinda threw that in at the end, hoping he might miss it. That didn’t go over so well.

In fact, I don’t think I ever saw the old man speechless until that moment. His craggy face turned red all the way up into his snowy hair, his jaw clenched until I could hear his teeth grinding, and even the birds overhead suddenly found a different place to be.

“You are to be realizing that this is foolish, tak?” Funny how he could make “foolish” sound exactly like “suicidally insane.”

“I know. Believe me, I know. But it had to be done.”

Ivan let out a long breath through his nose, clearly still pissed but trying to be calm. “Often, we do things that must be done, regardless of whether they should be done.” He shook his head, then ran a