Dead Aiden’s face poked through the living room wall. Jared got up, and by the time he was upright, Dead Aiden was gone.
An hour and a half later, the door unlocked and his Trickster twin walked in, held his hand out for Jared’s phone and then quickly typed a text. He showed Jared, but Jared couldn’t focus on the words. He felt the sense of things slipping and Wee’git grabbed his arms before he fell.
“She has someone watching you,” Wee’git said. “The apartment’s a mess of dead magic, though. They’re hard to track.”
“Okay.”
“All your psychos now know that Jwasins is pulling the strings,” Wee’git said. “Wait ten minutes before you go back to Mave’s.”
He put Jared’s phone and the apartment keys on the kitchen counter. After a long silence in which he stared at his son, Wee’git said, “You’d be safe with Chuck. He can protect you.”
Jared could feel Wee’git’s longing to be part of a family. His frustration that all the closeness he wanted had dropped in Jared’s lap like ripe fruit, but Jared never bit. Then Wee’git became aware of Jared being aware of his leaking thoughts and he stomped away.
Jared didn’t wait even a moment before he grabbed his phone and the keys and sprinted down the hallway. Just as he got to Mave’s door, Mallory stepped out of the stairwell, opening her jacket to show him a gun. She hit the elevator button.
“Move,” she said when the door chimed open.
“No,” Jared said.
She aimed the revolver at him. What a useless piece of hardware, Jared thought. Who cheaps out on a gun? Especially if you’re trying to kidnap someone. He was thoroughly sick of being kidnapped. Dead Aiden appeared in the hallway, miming eating popcorn, smug satisfaction on his face. Mallory glanced at him.
“A little birdie told me you have an evil twin,” she said. “One who was visiting Mave while the other one sat by himself in an empty apartment.”
“I’m talented that way,” Jared said.
“Get in the elevator.”
“Shoot me.”
“It would just be a flesh wound. It wouldn’t kill you, but it would be painful.”
“I’d love to see you try to drag my fat ass away.”
“You’d be bleeding and screaming.”
The elevator doors chimed shut.
Mallory pointed to Mave’s door with her gun. “Then let’s pay your aunt a visit.”
“Her door is locked. Sarah won’t open it for you. And one of the neighbours is bound to call the cops because of all the screaming I’ll be doing.”
“Give me your key.”
“Don’t have one. Just kick the door in. See what that gets you.”
“Think you’re funny?”
“Neeka’s looking for you. She’s thinks you’re soulless.”
Mallory aimed at his head. Their breathing was the only movement either of them made. If he moved fast enough, if he grabbed the gun before she fired, he could knock it away like in the movies. Maybe. Then she abruptly lowered her gun, pointing it at the floor.
“You’re going to bring Georgina back,” she said.
“No, I won’t.”
“Morality is arbitrary, a bunch of rules to keep the sheep from wandering out of their pen. Neeka doesn’t understand that. She’s too blind and stupid to see the world as it is.”
“That’s easy to say when she isn’t here.”
“You and I, we’re going to be together for a thousand, thousand years.”
“You aren’t my type.”
“I’m not joking.”
“If you love someone, let them go. And if you have to point a gun at them to get them to talk to you, it’s probably not meant to be.”
“Good night, Jared. I’ll be seeing you soon.”
“Maybe call next time before you show up.”
She backed away and pushed the elevator button, her revolver pointed at his knees. The elevator paused a floor above them and they could hear something heavy thumping around.
“It’s a busy elevator,” Jared said. “You might want to take the stairs.”
“How has no one killed you yet? Fuck, you’re aggravating.”
She felt along the wall for the stairwell door handle and then slipped through. He whipped out his cellphone.
Mallory just left Mave’s apartment building, Jared texted Neeka.
He was expecting Neeka to text back immediately, to dramatically screech to a halt in front of their building, to call maybe, but he remained alone in the hallway. The apartment door was locked and he had to knock. Mave answered, annoyed, asking how come he’d locked himself out.
Jared shrugged. As he closed the door, Dead Aiden stood in the hallway and mimed slitting his own throat.
“I can’t wait for you to die,” Dead Aiden said. “When you get to this side, we’re going to have so much fun.”
23
LOVE, AND BE SILENT
Constantly being threatened and terrified had the benefit of distracting him, but, in the quiet, the things he’d been avoiding slithered out. Shadows in the wall. He moved out to the living room, took the pistol case down from the bookshelf where Mave had put it and sat in the recliner.
It wouldn’t actually hurt to take the edge off. It might calm him down enough to get some sleep. He was sweating a small lake. Pistol case open. Gun loaded. Safety on. The shakes, shaky, for goodness’ sake. I’ve got the hippy hippy. Random thoughts. Maybe Neeka hadn’t got his text. Maybe Wee’git hadn’t texted his mom. Maybe he couldn’t find the text on his phone because it wasn’t actually there, not because he was mentally blocked. Maybe Wee’git was secretly partners with Georgina/Jwasins. After all, she was his real sister, unlike Mave.
He hadn’t done the work since he’d come back. Hadn’t voluntarily hit a meeting, only been dragged there by Kota. Hadn’t worked the steps. Wasn’t sticking with the winners.
Booze-free apartment. He’d have to leave to find relief.
Ding.
Busy, his mom texted him. Stay put ffs.
The world hadn’t ended when he’d had a few drinks with his mom. His life was still insane whether he was drinking or not. A couple of beers would make it bearable, dealable. A little bubbler,
