lawnmower — promised restoration and use by John — lay abandoned by the dilapidated shed. The grass reached our shins and weeds strangled their way around most of the flowers which lay dotted around, distributed by nature alone.
Moving over to the overgrown patio, I crouched down. “Hold on tight.”
Mikey grabbed onto my shoulders and I sprang into the air, landing on the roof. Scarlett was sitting at the other end, watching the setting sun. As we neared, I could see that her eyes were damp and the corners of her mouth were turned down at the ends.
Mikey noticed too.
He sat down next to her. There was silence for a few moments. “Sun not a problem?” he said eventually, pointing towards the sinking orb.
“No,” she replied. “Not for us dead ones anyway.”
Mikey grimaced, but persevered. As their conversation continued, I made my way back down, wanting to give them privacy. I smiled as I saw him stretch his fingers towards hers and she took them, curling them into her own.
*
I was lying on my bed, reading the last part of the hand guide when I heard someone knock on my door.
“Come in.”
The door nudged open and Mikey stepped in, a smile wide on his face. I set the book down on the table, using Dad’s picture as a marker. He sat down on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath. I could hear Scarlett pottering around downstairs, clattering pans about and opening the fridge. “So,” he said. “So.” “So my brother is a superhero whose job is to protect Earth from monsters from a parallel world.” I gave a slow shrug. “In a nutshell, yeah.” Mikey nodded. “You could probably use a brother to talk to about all that then.” I sat up. “You mean-”
“I’ve decided that I want to be part of your new life, yeah. Even if that does mean being afraid of the dark for the rest of my life,” he added with a grin.
Inside, something released. A tension I wasn’t aware of slipped away. I hadn’t realised, but I’d wanted to hear him say that. Needed him to. Before I knew what I was doing, I’d grabbed him into a hug. “Thank you,” I whispered. He patted me on the back. “That’s what brothers are for right?” We let each other go and I settled back against the headboard. “And Scarlett?” I said, gesturing towards the door.
He raked a thumbnail along his eyebrow and made a noise with his throat. “Ha, that was a bit trickier. I think puking in reference to your girlfriend is a general no-no, even if they are a Vampire. But, she forgave me eventually. I think I’m going to try and get used to it. I mean my bird is a Vampire. How cool is that? And besides, it’s not like she’s dead-dead. Although she is pretty cold. I mean this one time-”
I put up a hand. “Enough said.”
He laughed. “Anyway, I want her as my protection. I want her…around full stop. See where it goes.” He pulled a face “Wow, who’d of thought I’d give a crap about a girl this much? Anyway if it doesn’t work out, I still have my solid big bro to look after me don’t I?” he gave me a light punch on the arm and stood back up. “You know, Scarlett ate food I cooked her, even though it makes her feel ill. How sweet is that? Anyway, she’s offered to cook for us both tonight. Apparently she’s quite good. Used to be a cook’s assistant or something when she was still human.” “Sounds great.” “Okay cool, I’ll go and tell her you’re in then.” He motioned to leave. “Mikey?” He turned to face me. “I’m really glad you know.” “Me too bro.” He vanished from the room. A second later, his head reappeared in the doorway. “Oh, you know you’re a badass and everything now?” “Yeah?” “I bet you’re still crap at football!”
I jumped from the bed and he sprinted away down the hallway, laughing his head off. I lay back down, chuckling to myself. Picking up the guide, I carried on where I left off, reading a passage about Lamiae; rare Umbra that could send their ethereal forms through the Veil and possess humans.
My phone rang, vibrating on the desk. I set the book down in my lap and grabbed it. As soon as I saw Gabriella’s name on the screen, butterflies filled my stomach.
“Hey, what’s up?” I said pressing the receiver to my ear.
The sound of rushing wind and traffic filled the receiver. I could barely hear Gabriella’s voice. “Are you at home?” she shouted over the roaring noise.
“Yeah, why?”
“I’m on my way to you now. Rachel just called me. The Coven has picked up an attack at a local bar called The Black Tap, happening in a few hours.”
I jumped up, spilling the book onto the floor. Adrenaline coursed through my body.
“This is it Alex. Your first real mission.”
27
The Black Tap was a bar for Pandemonians.
I hadn’t read about them, so Gabriella filled me in, as we sped along the Nexus, heading for Balham. Apparently, Illegal bars existed all over the world. Places where Pandemonians could drink and socialise in peace, away from the watchful eye of the HASEA. They were always moving about and were hard to track down. The Alliance usually chose to ignore their existence, unless any rules were broken.
Chosen were not welcome.
Gabriella assured me that as long as we kept calm, our adapted Kapre belts would make it difficult for any of the punters to identify us.
The doors of the elevator rolled open and we stepped out into a foul smelling alleyway. I turned to see a solid brick wall slide back into place. The only clue that it was an entrance to the Nexus was an almost imperceptible cross with two semi circles either side, carved onto a brick at the bottom. I guessed it was the button to call it.
The whole of Orion was in attendance, minus the recovering Sophia. We were all well-armed. I wore the Crimson Twins low over my back, concealed underneath a specially designed trench coat. A gun was holstered to my Kapre belt, loaded with multipurpose Stun rounds made from a cocktail of Iron, Silver and Wood filings. Next to the gun hung a few pairs of handcuffs, lined with various Apotrope material. A tiny receiver had been fitted in my ear, and an inconspicuous bracelet acted as the microphone. The others carried a mixture of stakes, guns and swords. The only exception was Delagio, who had a single silver dagger and a pouch full of various marbles.
The sky was overcast. The weather felt thick and oppressive. Thunder rumbled in the distance. It looked like there was going to be a storm.
Gabriella squeezed the side of her bracelet. I heard her voice deep inside my head, as if she were my own internal voice. “Can everyone hear me?”
We all nodded.
“Okay. This should be pretty straight forward. Humans are going to enter a Pandemonian bar within the hour. They are going to get attacked. We stop that attack. Any harm to a human by a Pandemonian or hybrid constitutes a violation of the treaty, so agents will come in after we’re done and shut the place down. I would prefer to avoid a mess if I can, so let’s try for arrests. Unless they engage us directly, in which case anything goes. Trojan are on standby if we need them. Is everyone clear?”
Everyone agreed.
“Okay, press your belts,” commanded Gabriella. I watched as everyone in the team apart from Rachel pressed the button on the side of the buckle. A shimmer of light rolled up their body. Rather than disappear, a silvery hue surrounded them, like an aura. Guess the Invisibility does only work on humans.
I pressed the button.
The main street was crowded with people. Business people on mobile phones, harassed mothers trailing kids, and teenagers in hoodies all battled their way along the pavements. When they reached us, each person stepped around as if we were an obstacle in their path, but didn’t give it a second thought.
A multi-storey car park stood at the top of the road. We entered at the ground level and followed the ramp down several stories. At the bottom, only a few cars were dotted around. We ran forward and crouched behind a
