“Honestly, my mind’s a blank. Let me sleep on it. I’m sure I can come up with a local expert in the morning.”
That was frustrating, but it wasn’t like I could do anything about it. If I’d known where to look on my own, I’d already be asking to borrow the Charger. In their shoes, I didn’t know whether I’d loan me a ride, as I had a history of losing them. Over the past few years, I had gone through three vehicles; only the Mustang had withstood my reign of terror, and technically speaking, that belonged to Chance. Which was probably why it had survived.
So many problems to solve and I had so few resources. I closed my eyes on a sigh, resting my head on the back of the couch.
“That was more excitement than I’m used to,” Booke said, breaking my reverie. “Well, in person at least.”
Dolores laughed. “Stick around, you’ll get used to it.”
“If you get the chance, bid the others
The slender woman blushed a little, and swatted at him with one of her myriad scarves. But she didn’t dispute his assessment of the situation. The two strode out to her car, entirely in charity with one another. Apparently Dolores only cut and ran if the spatter got on her outfit, which was a pretty impressive line in the sand. Otherwise, like most of Chuch’s relatives, she was rock solid. Of course, maybe she’d be more upset if the deceased had been fully human.
“We ID’d the host,” Jesse said, coming to the doorway a few minutes later. “Gigolo out of Vegas who went missing a few months back.”
“Is it possible for the Luren to take an unwilling host?” I asked.
“I’m not the expert, but I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure they can only be summoned into a willing body via sex magick.”
That sounded right, based on what I remembered from Sheol, but my time there was becoming vague and fragmented. Since I hadn’t been driving most of the time, that made sense. And sometimes the memories sneaked up on me like a sudden kick in the face. Then horror suffused me, and I worked to bury it all over again. Some of those things I said and did . . . how did I handle it? Denial wasn’t a solution, but I just couldn’t deal with everything at once.
One step at a time, right?
“I’m guessing the guy didn’t imagine the demon would use his body to go up against Barachiel, though.”
“Probably not.” Jesse didn’t sound sympathetic, though.
I figured he thought the dude should’ve known better than to rent his body out to a Luren. All kinds of things might’ve been promised in payment, none of which the guy would ever enjoy. No matter how foolish he’d been, I couldn’t be utterly unmoved by his fate. I hadn’t wanted to think about it until now, but that was a human being who lost his life in Chuch’s backyard.
“I don’t envy the detective working the case,” I said then.
He shook his head ruefully. “Me either. He’ll be looking for normal connections between the vic and killer, but there won’t be any. He’ll spin his wheels for a week and get nothing, even with our descriptions of the attackers. That’ll really stick in his craw.”
“You sound like you’ve been there.”
“Not under these circumstances, but yeah. And sometimes I wonder if a crime is demon-touched, if that’s why I’m coming up empty.”
A sudden thought struck me. “Is there an underground gifted network within law enforcement? To keep things hushed up?”
He smiled down at me. “Good question. It’s kinda nice to get back to the old footing, Corine. I’d almost forgotten I’m supposed to be mentoring you.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Yes. Weird tales would be in all the papers, not just the tabloids, if we didn’t do our part.”
“It must be pretty hard sometimes. Do you ever wish the gifted could come out to the world?”
He shook his head. “We tried that. It didn’t end well.”
“The witch hunts?” It was incredible to realize that for every name on the rolls of the dead, it had probably been a woman like me. Not evil. Not possessed by the devil, just a person with a strange gift and no ability to blend in.
“Yep.”
“Listen, Corine, if you have more questions, text me. I have work in the morning, so I need to get to bed.”
“That’s my cue,” Shan said.
She leaned down to give me a hug, and I squeezed back. Gods, I was so freakin’ proud of her.
I said my good nights. Then I checked on Butch. When the fighting started, he’d hidden and hadn’t come out since. He was cowering behind a flowerpot on the patio when I found him, ears down, paws over his face.
“It’s going to be fine,” I promised him. “Things are a mess right now, but I’ll figure it out.”
Butch whined at me; then he offered two yaps.
The dog didn’t even pretend; he knew bad things were coming, and as usual, they had my name written all over them.
Dream Lover
This time, there was no period of disorientation, no confusion when the dream came. I recognized the field of jonquils and the perpetually sunny day immediately, and I ran through the flowers in the direction Chance had come last time. But instead of Chance, I met an unfamiliar man by the river. The water was clear and fast-moving, rippling over the pretty polished stones lining its bed. As for the man, he was middle-aged, Japanese, with a softly rounded belly and a balding pate. His dark eyes held a merry twinkle, and when I met his warm look, I understood why Min had succumbed to his charms.
“Ebisu,” I whispered.
I had
“Today, I greet you as my son’s father, though I would not mind if you wished to pay proper respect at a shrine after we conclude our discussion.”
“I will,” I managed. “Sir, I’m sorry—”
He held up a hand. “No apologies. I have wanted to meet my son, and he chose his manner of ascension in the style of a true hero.”
“Ascension?”
“That’s why I wished to speak with you.” His friendly face took on a rather forbidding air. “I am not sure how familiar you are with my story.”
“Not very,” I admitted.
“In the scrolls, I am paired with Daikokuten, the god of wealth, and in some variations, we are father and son.”
