The Better Part of Darkness

he was there. He started for the door. “Be back in a few.” His form disappeared into a cloud of mist as he literally disintegrated into the closed door.

“Neat trick,” Hank said.

Rex pushed away from the table. “Who wants to order pizza?” At our look, he said, “What? We gotta eat, don’t we?”

“He’s right. DeLarano’s stays open ’til one, I’ll order something.” Bryn went to the phone.

Keeping her head low, Zara glanced from me to Hank, an apprehensive frown marring her perfect face. “I’ll just go and wash up.”

Her departure was obvious. She was leaving us alone to talk. Once it was just Hank and me, I regarded him for a long moment as he zipped the weapons bag. I had no idea what to say or how to say it, so I just went with my gut. “How are you doing?”

The muscle in his jaw jumped. “Been better. You?”

“Could say the same.” Well, at least he’d asked. That was a small step in the right direction. “Look, Hank, I’m sorry you got hurt,” I began as sincerely as I felt. “But I’m not sorry for leaving. I didn’t really have a choice, and I’d do the same damn thing again if my daughter was threatened.”

Still, he didn’t look at me. A lock of blond hair fell into his eye. He shoved it aside with a quick drag of his fingers. With only his profile to go on, I had little in the way of judging his emotions.

“Don’t worry about it.” He lifted the bag off the table.

Feeling as though I was losing him, I grabbed his arm. Hard, sapphire-blue orbs gazed down at me. His look was so guarded, angry, and betrayed. “Hank.” Why couldn’t he understand? “Why are you doing this? You would’ve done the same exact thing, and I would’ve been pissed if you hadn’t.”

He pulled his arm away. “No kidding. Just let me be for a little while, Charlie.” With that he walked away.

I sighed and braced my palm on the kitchen table, the other hand on my hip, debating whether to confront him now rather than let this divide grow any bigger.

Zara exited the bathroom as Hank sat down, his back to me. She came over, looking like she should be in a Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue rather than here in Underground helping a group of misfits go up against a Charbydon Elder. “He’s having a hard time.”

“Really.” She didn’t deserve the sarcasm, but Hank and I had been together for so long. It was always us against the world, two people who had grown to love and respect one another, willing to give our lives to protect the other. I didn’t understand. And I didn’t like being left out.

“Sirens are different,” she started, ignoring my rudeness. “He’s angry, but it’s more to do with losing his powers than anything. He knows you did the only thing you could at the time. I would have gone after my daughter, too, if someone had threatened her.”

Her words deflated my ire somewhat. “It’s just … he’s Hank. My partner.” I shook my head, unable to explain further.

“And he just lost everything that makes him who he is. It’s like you losing your ability to walk or hear. Now, to him, he is weak and of no good to anyone. At least that’s how he’s feeling. Just give him a chance to work through it. He’ll come around.”

Maybe she was right. I studied her for a long second. “I never really thanked you for helping out.”

She shrugged, tucking her sunset locks behind her ear with a small smile. “It’s nothing.”

“Breaking into Veritas wasn’t nothing. You could lose your job and be forced to return home with a criminal record.”

“If they find out. They won’t.” A spark lit her crystal-blue eyes. Sirens, especially the females, had always seemed the same to me. Haughty, full of themselves because of their beauty, and demeaning to anyone else they viewed as below them in status, birth, or looks. Maybe I’d been wrong about them, too. Like so many other things. Zara was indeed beautiful, there was no denying that, but she was giving, adventurous, and willing to sacrifice her time and safety for a cause that had nothing to do with her.

“No wonder Hank likes you,” I finally said.

She blushed. “It took him long enough. I was starting to think I’d have to wear a sign on my forehead before he’d get that I was interested.”

I laughed. “Yeah, that’s Hank for you.” Laughing felt good. But the feeling was all too brief. “You don’t have to do this, you know. It’s gonna be one hell of a fight.”

“I know.” A wide smile split her face. “Haven’t had one of those in decades. Besides, I like my home and this city. The last thing I want is for Mynogan to mess it up.”

I nodded and then sat down at the table as Zara went to join Hank on the couch.

Pizza arrived just after midnight. Anxiety curbed my appetite, but I ate a piece anyway, knowing it was better to keep up my strength. Rex acted like he was having an orgasm every time he took a bite. I wanted to tell him to give it a rest, but the guy obviously hadn’t enjoyed real food in a while. Watching him eat made my thoughts turn to Will.

Slowly, I chewed a bite of pepperoni and cheese, completely stunned that Will had turned to such a desperate outlet. He had seemed to be doing so well. But maybe I just hadn’t seen how serious his despair had become, his hopelessness at being able to make things right with me. He had destroyed our marriage, something he never really wanted to do, but had done anyway. And no amount of therapy, addiction counseling, twelve-step programs, or love could erase the past. Something I was sure he must have realized, and probably the thing that made him turn to a proverbial genie in a bottle.

I tore off a piece of crust, feeling downright pissed off. If he had just stuck with it … been patient. Who knew what might have happened.

A knock interrupted my thoughts. Bryn answered the door. Aaron had returned. I wiped my hands on a napkin and stood as he slid into the chair and rested his elbows on the table.

“Well?” Bryn was the first to prompt him.

I grabbed him a water from the fridge.

“Thanks,” he said, throwing a look at Bryn. Hank and Zara leaned over the back of the couch, waiting as Aaron drank deeply. Finally, he said, “Sign says closed for renovations. No patrons to worry about, so that’s good. Bad news is it’s heavily warded.”

“How heavily?”

“More than a Magnus can break. There are only two others like me in the city, and even if we pooled our power, it’d take at least two days to break it. This ward was made by an Elder. Most likely Mynogan. Everyone who comes and goes from the building must possess a complex key, an amulet, which allows them passage. No amulet, no passage. But, if we can get in, the odds move in our favor. I only detected two Abaddon nobles, six jinn warriors, a black mage, and a hellhound.”

“I thought hellhounds were illegal,” Zara said.

“They are. But every once in a while one gets smuggled in,” I told her, returning my attention to Aaron. “How would you break the ward, if you had to?” He’d gotten the ancient skin scroll from the House of Abaddon. Surely he knew of a way to break into Mynogan’s bath house.

A smile split his face. He knew exactly what I was thinking. “Actually, I have a plan. Simple, really. All we have to do is lure the guards through the ward and take their keys.”

Disbelieving expressions passed across everyone’s face except Aaron’s.

“Am I the only one who thinks that sounds way too easy?” Hank asked.

“There is one other thing. We must have their blood on our hands. Each amulet is made with a drop of the person’s blood. You can’t borrow someone else’s key and expect to walk through the ward. But, if you have enough of their blood on you when you make the attempt, it usually works.”

“Okay,” Rex said, “I’m not bathing in anyone’s blood. There are health risks, you know …”

“You won’t have to bathe in it,” Aaron told him. “Just enough to cover your hands should do the trick.”

Suspicion narrowed Bryn’s eyes. “How the hell do you know this stuff?”

Aaron shrugged. “It’s in my interest to know details such as these. I’d be an unworthy Magnus otherwise.”

“How do we lure them through the ward?” I asked.

“They’ll know if someone is trying to break it,” Hank said.