“Dicks and pussies?”
That elicited a snort from Shay. At least the man’s sense of humor was intact. “That too. No. It’s that women understand, like on the level of our DNA, that not everything can be fixed, that sometimes you just have to roll with it, but men, oh you men, somewhere you’re always thinking, I can fix this shit. Just give me a big enough tool.”
Shay fought down a wince and hoped Brownstone didn’t follow-up on the obvious dirty joke set-up.
Instead, he chuckled. “Maybe. Things are still weird.”
“Given some of the shit I’ve seen you do, I’m surprised to hear that. Weird is really kind of relative, you know?”
He shrugged. “Kicking ass, I get. Bringing in the bad guys, I get. Taking care of a girl? Some girl who’s half-Oriceran. What if I fuck her up?”
“Can’t do worse than the dad who tried to sell her to a group of gangsters who were torturing her mom.”
Brownstone winced. “Yeah, suppose so.”
“Don’t overthink it, Brownstone. Kicking ass is more your strength.” Shay grinned and winked. She couldn’t believe the man was so down on himself after all the sweet, sweet vengeance he’d delivered.
This may mean I’m more fucked up than Alison thinks. Just because she can see my soul doesn’t mean she’s right about everything.
The Spider pulled up to her nice two-story brownstone townhouse with an attached garage. She’d made sure not to move in next to any stash houses this time.
“Nice place,” Brownstone muttered.
Shay smirked. “Hey, Brownstone, how do you like my brownstone?”
“You’ve been probably waiting to say that for days.” He snorted. “You should quit trying to be a tomb raider and take up stand-up comedy. I’m sure there’s some magic that can actually make you funny.”
“You know I’m as funny as I am hot.” Shay pressed a button on a garage door opener connected to her sun visor then parked the car. A sober look settled over her face. “I’ll let you take the lead on whatever you want to tell Alison.”
Brownstone’s only response was a nod as they got out of her Spider.
Shay tapped a code into a pad near the door and moved her head forward for a retinal scan. The door clicked open.
“Actual security, see? On the house, not just the Red Room of Pain.”
He followed her inside. Two earth-toned love seats dominated the living room, a huge TV hung on the back wall. Fine white carpet covered most of the floor. A quartz-topped island lay in the center of her kitchen. The overall vibe on his first impression was clean and modern, yet comfortable.
Shay loved the new place and her sense of style, but her stomach tightened at the thought of Captain Tight Butt doing a dust test with his finger.
“Whatever you do, don’t look in my refrigerator or my cabinets.”
“Why? You got body parts in there?”
“Nope. Because it’s not all fancy and organized. Your OCD will explode.”
“I’m not OCD. I just like to keep things…”
“Simple.” Shay finished his sentence for him, giving a short laugh. “Sure, and let’s not even get into my bedroom.” A few beats passed, and she added in a sultry voice, “Unless you ask nicely.”
Brownstone plopped himself down on a love seat and didn’t say anything in response.
The lack of even a playful response hurt, but she didn’t dare show it on her face. She was still half-convinced Brownstone was gay, and yet still interested in him as something more than a slaughter partner. Go figure.
“You’re so boring,” Shay muttered.
“Better boring than annoying.”
“You’re that, too.”
Light footfalls sounded from the stairs, and Alison made her way down, tightly gripping the bannister. The girl stopped at the bottom on the stairs and looked at Brownstone, her eyes as unfocused as always.
“What?” Brownstone asked.
A huge smile spread across her face. “You’re glowing brighter. It’s so beautiful. I wish you could see it.”
Shay managed not to sigh and looked away.
“I… I’m gonna be straight with you, kid.” Brownstone waited for Alison to come join them.
“Nothing good follows a sentence like that.”
“We found the place where your mom was, and we, uh…”
“I listen to the news, Mr. Brownstone. I know you just think I’m a kid, but I’m not an idiot. I heard about what happened. It’s kind of a big deal, even on national news. They are calling it World War G.”
“World War G?”
“World War Gangster.”
Shay nodded, satisfied. At least her theory about what the cops would think was correct. That took a little pressure and punishment off her good deed. If one could count facilitating bloody vengeance a good deed.
Brownstone rubbed the back of his neck. “A lot of that… violence happened going in. We found your mom, but she was already in bad shape by the time we rescued her.”
Shay watched him for a moment, giving him time to decide about disclosing the torture. The girl didn’t need to know in her opinion. The people responsible were already dead.
Alison’s lip quivered, and she gave a curt nod. “She’s dead, right?” She swallowed hard.
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
The girl sighed. “I almost kind of knew. But I don’t understand why all of this happened.”
Brownstone took a moment to gather his thoughts.
“You’re special, and she was special. More than you realize. Your mom wasn’t from around… here.”
“A lot of people aren’t from California.”
Yeah, tell me about it, kid.
Brownstone managed a chuckle. “Your mom was two hundred and twelve years old, Alison. She was Oriceran, some sort of Drow Princess.”
“What’s a Drow Princess?”
Shay and the man exchanged glances before he continued. “We’re not totally sure on that, and we’ll have to ask around, discreetly. It’s something we’re gonna keep to ourselves for now, so no one else comes after you.”
Alison moved over to a love seat. “That explains a lot of stuff. Like why I can see what I can see and my hair.”
“Your hair? Did it change?”
Shay looked at the girl’s hair. It looked the same to her, black with frosted tips.
“I don’t
