Pyromantic Page 17

  “I think it’s less of the man thing and more of the biker thing that makes it so unlikely,” I said. “But right now, we’re all just grateful.”

  Alistair nodded. “Yes. Though I hate to lose a fighter, I need you more on this. So I’ll talk to you and Sylvie as soon as I get in touch with the witch.”

  We were dismissed. Sylvie bunked with us. I have no idea where Fitz ended up sleeping. I was so exhausted, I fell asleep almost immediately. Sylvie, though, was restless. She kept tossing and turning, waking me up. Finally, sometime around four in the morning, I made fire fishes for her. They swam lazily through the air, giving her something to focus on. Then a long, thin dragon flamed in, snapping up the fishes in his giant whiskered maw. I let the last fish get away. The dragon tried to get him, but the fish was too quick. Eventually they both got tired and curled up together, friends instead of predator and prey. I let the image fade slowly into smoke. Then, with a happy sigh, Sylvie curled up and went to sleep.

  15

  YOU THINK IT’S KINDA FUNNY … BUT IT’S NOT

  I WAS CALLED OUT again a few hours later to deal with an ogre. We’d started sorting the events into two categories after Alistair’s talk last night—creatures who’d lost their minds, or the snails did it. I think it spoke to our lack of sleep that these categories made sense.

  The ogre, unfortunately, fell into the first category. We found him at a were’s house. The homeowner, a polite werewolf named Nora, had tried to escape the crazed ogre by hiding in the sailboat her husband had dry-docked in an old barn. He was in the middle of restoring it. I think Nora normally would have taken on the ogre, but she was five months pregnant and home alone. So she hid and the ogre beat the crap out of the sailboat.

  The ogre was too big and too dangerous for us to contain. By the time we got there, he was almost rabid—totally mindless and violent. Viscous, pink-tinged sludge dripped from his bulbous nose, and dark red blood oozed from both his ears. Lock and Bianca got Nora out while Sid and I distracted the maddened ogre. Bianca slid back in to help just in time for the ogre to let loose a monster-size sneeze. I had just shot a great blast of fire to herd the ogre back, so I only got hit by a few charcoaled lumps of … something better left unnamed. Sid and Bianca weren’t so lucky. They were both covered in the thick pink sludge.

  Once Nora was safe, I set fire to the boat and the structure around it, trapping the ogre inside. At that point, it was damaged beyond repair, and we figured it would be easier for Nora and her husband to claim insurance on the scorched remnants. Or, at least, it would be easier for them to explain that than try to feed the insurance company a plausible reason for why their sailboat became a busted-up wreck in dry dock.

  Though I knew there was no feasible way for us to save the ogre, that didn’t exactly make any of us feel better as we listened to him burn. Even Sid and Bianca, who really weren’t feeling charitable due to their mucus bath, looked on grimly while I kept the fire going. The ogre screamed, an unholy bellow. Bianca threw a veil of sound over it, drowning out the noise so that no one would call the cops. And so we didn’t have to listen. Which somehow made it worse. He was crying out the last of his life, and no one even heard it.

  For the first time in a while, I found myself retching after a job. I leaned against the side of Nora’s house and tossed up my cookies. It’s not like the ogre was the first creature I’d had to burn to death, and it’s not like I had a choice. Alistair didn’t pass out those assignments as often, not like Venus had. But something about his cries got to me. Crazed Elias aside, I’d grown used to not snuffing out the lives of others.

  The air was still and quiet, thick with heat. A blackfly buzzed around my head, and I waved it away. I couldn’t even hear the snap and crackle of the flames as it ate away at the structure. A freshly hosed-down Bianca came around the side of the house with a glass of water. I was done throwing up, but I still felt wobbly. I’d managed to stumble a few feet away from where I’d been sick before I slid down and rested against the wood siding. Bianca sat next to me and handed me the water.

  “Has he stopped screaming?” I croaked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Thank you.” I downed the water, enjoying the soothing cold on my ravaged throat. The blackfly buzzed by my head again. Annoyed, I flicked my fingers and it disappeared in a poof of ash. I didn’t feel bad about the blackfly. I’ve been on the biting end of one before. No, thank you. “Sorry about your snot bath.”

  “Me too.” She took off one of her shoes and attempted to squeeze some of the water out of it. “There’s nothing we could have done, Ava.”

  “I know. It’s just…” I didn’t know how to end that sentence.

  “It’s like they’re rabid.” Bianca tipped her head back against the house. “Whatever is going on, it destroys their brains. There’s no coming back from that. It might help to think of it as a mercy killing. Because they can’t be feeling good with that kind of damage happening.”

  I set the glass down in the dirt. “I know. Has Alistair learned anything yet? From the peryton or Howie?”

  Bianca sighed. “We had to destroy the male peryton at Katya’s house. Too dangerous. The females are quarantined somewhere. So far they aren’t showing signs of anything. It seems to strike quickly, so maybe they’re fine? I don’t know. There’s not enough data. We don’t know if it’s a virus or a chemical or what. And Howie, at least as of this morning, is being kept sedated and sectioned off. Heavily sedated. Or he loses it. So it’s not like he can be questioned. We have someone running tests on him. We tracked down his boss at the marina, and he didn’t have much to tell us except that Howie was a mellow guy, always came to work, well-liked. It’s driving Alistair up the wall.”

  “You’re very devoted to him, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah,” she said, squinting at me, her tone suddenly hostile. “What of it?”

  “It was just a statement.”

  “Oh.” We sat there and watched the smoke from the barn twist into the sky. “I guess I’m just not used to not fighting with you.”

  “It’s weird,” I said, hugging my knees and resting my head on them. “I guess we’ll both have to adapt. Especially since, you know … you’re spending so much time with Lock.” I had to push those last words out. Nobody likes to admit when they’re acting childish, and I was no exception.

  Bianca mirrored the way I was sitting, her cheek resting on her knee so she could see me. “That really bothers you, doesn’t it? Sharing your friend?”

  I wanted to say no. Deny it and act cool and nonchalant. Not just because I thought it might be the mature response, but also because I didn’t want Bianca to feel like she’d stolen him. It would be so easy to say that, think that. But it wasn’t the truth. Simple as that. And even if it made my insides feel empty and made a panicked part of my brain yell that we were being replaced, I knew that Bianca wasn’t going to take my spot.

  “Yeah,” I said. “It’s hard. I’m used to it being just me, him, and Ezra. And now there are all these other people, and I’m having to make room and share … and I guess I’m not good at it. I’m not used to it.” I thought on that for a second. “I’ve never really had to share people before. Until them, I didn’t really have people to share.”

  Bianca didn’t respond right away. She stared at me until I wanted to ask if there was something on my face. “So it’s not because it’s me he’s spending time with?”

  I snorted. “Geez, Bianca, think pretty highly of yourself, do you?”

  She smacked my leg with the back of her hand.

  “No, it’s not you. I would be grouchy over anyone.” Maybe not entirely true. If I had liked Bianca, would that have made it more painful or less? I wasn’t sure. Then I realized that part of the equation didn’t matter. “Actually, you made it easier. You’re nice to him. He seems … happy around you. And I’d be a shitty friend if I didn’t put that first.”

  “Just because you take the high road on something doesn’t keep it from su
cking,” Bianca said with a smirk.

  I groaned, leaning back against the house. “That is the truest thing I’ve ever heard. You’re right. It sucks. But I’m still happy you took care of my friend while we were fighting. Seriously.”

  “The timing thing probably didn’t help, either. Because you were being a brat and ignoring him, you didn’t get to slowly acclimate to my amazing presence.” Bianca grinned at me, then wiped her mouth on her arm, like she was trying to rub the smile away. “If it makes you feel better, I still think you’re awful.”

  “Good,” I said. “Because I still think you’re a rampaging she-beast.”

  “As long as we’re clear on that.”

  *

  WE STOPPED by Duncan’s on our drive back from the ogre roast. It was on the way, and Sid and Bianca wanted to borrow some dry clothes. I wanted to check on Katya. Apparently Alistair hadn’t been able to find family to take her in, so for now she was staying with the drove. He was too distracted to see to her well-being himself, and he didn’t think it was a good idea for someone who’d just lost both parents to be left alone.

  Frankly, she was lucky she hadn’t been quarantined like the peryton. But she’d shown no signs of whatever was causing this madness, and though we didn’t know much about it, we did know that it struck pretty fast. Katya was clean. Besides, Alistair was worried that too much more time by herself would be seriously detrimental. Time to grieve is fine. Time to stew and wallow, less so.

  We found her helping Olive string up laundry on the line, mostly cloth diapers for the seemingly endless parade of leverets. Since the drove had settled in on Duncan’s land, there had been a bit of a population explosion. Turns out it’s a lot easier to raise small ones when you’re not constantly on the move. This was probably less exciting for Olive, since she was almost permanently on diaper duty. She just couldn’t stay out of trouble for very long.

  “I thought you were at the cabin.” I helped her get the last few up and then motioned her away from the line.

  Olive stepped back, curious. “I caught a ride over with Ikka to check in. Besides, I can only trade off my chores so many times.” She folded her arms. “I won’t owe anyone.”

  “I get that,” I said. I held my hands out, palms up. It wasn’t necessary, but it helped me concentrate and focus, and there were few things worse than an unfocused firebug. I heated up the air around the diapers, keeping it short of actual flame. It was a tricky business. The diapers were cotton, and too much heat and I’d have singed diapers, or a flaming laundry line. I dropped my hands and felt the cloth. Nice and toasty.

  Olive picked up the basket and started unclipping the diapers. “That’s handy. I should bring you next time I have diaper duty.”

  “Olive, I’d have to move in.”

  *

  KATYA SEEMED happy to see us, despite her troubles. She’d piled her hair up in a loose bun on her head, and her skin was pale enough that I noticed a fine mist of freckles across her nose. Well, if her hair was a little greasy and her skin a touch on the pale side, who could blame her? Hygiene hadn’t exactly been high on my list after I lost my mom. Kat seemed to be taking it a lot better than I had. Hey, at least she was brushing her teeth and not accidentally setting all the furniture on fire. Cade had really had a hard time with me those first few months after my mom died. We went through drapes, quite a few chairs, and at least two couches.

  “You seem to be settling in.”

  She smiled at me over her shoulder as she stacked the last of the wood she’d been carrying under the overhang of the cabin’s roof. Katya didn’t even manage to fully turn around before she was accosted by a young leveret, maybe two years old, a streak of dirt across his face, arms up and wide eyes pleading in the universal gesture for pick me up. Katya scooped the boy into the air, spinning him in a circle—as she did so, he let out a whoop.

  “They’ve made it very easy.” Katya snuggled the small boy, who hugged her back before turning wary eyes on me. They started distrusting strangers young in the drove. Katya had already made it past the stranger phase, it seemed. “They keep me busy, so I don’t have much time to think about things. There’s a lot to do here. It’s nice to feel useful.” She gave the boy another squeeze before setting him down. “It’s not like at home, where my chores didn’t really seem to add much. Here…” She shrugged. “Here I feel like my contribution matters. Is that weird?”

  “No, it’s not.” I felt the same way when I did things for Cade.

  “And I know it’s only a few hours away from home, but it seems like a different world.” As we talked, a brown hare shot by, followed by several more. The boy at Katya’s feet squealed and took off after them, making good time on his stumpy toddler legs, but he wasn’t fast enough to catch the hares. He finally got frustrated enough that he changed, shifting seamlessly from boy to hare. Unfortunately, he hadn’t stripped out of his clothes first. He was trapped, flopping around in a panic.

  Olive approached, stopping to glare down at the hopping mass of clothes. “Really, Toby. Clothes first.”

  Katya reached down and carefully untangled him. When drove children were small, they only changed under duress. They can’t change at will until they’re six or seven.

  Katya laughed as the leveret bounded off after the other hares, only slightly less awkward in his rabbit form. “The drove doesn’t hide what it is, not here, not in their home. I miss my parents, but not hiding is kind of great.” She gave me a lopsided grin. “It probably helps that I already knew a lot about rabbits.”

  The image of Kat’s old 4-H photo where she was hugging a huge lop-eared bunny came to mind, and I laughed.

  Sid and Bianca suddenly appeared next to us, both of them jumping at Olive. They must have approached under a veil, because none of us had seen or heard them. Olive dropped into a crouch, sweeping her leg out and knocking both of her would-be attackers on their butts. They hadn’t managed to surprise Olive much, but Katya squeaked and jumped six inches. Snowflakes began to fall from the sky, though they instantly melted in the summer heat. Kat frowned at them until they stopped.

  Olive scowled at Bianca. “That’s what you get for using a veil to sneak up on me.” Then she kicked Sid. “And that’s what you get for startling Katya.” She pitched her voice louder. “And if you drop out of that tree and try to scare us, fox, it will be the last thing you do.”

  Ezra lowered himself down, bouncing on his toes when he hit the ground. “I let you spot me, you know.”

  Olive grunted, obviously not believing him.

  “At least it’s never boring here,” Katya said.

  “It truly isn’t. If you stay, I expect you’ll be overfed and coddled within an inch of your life,” I said, remembering how much the hares liked to fatten me up. “I mean, you’ll work, too. And you’ll have to watch Olive. Ezra’s been giving her pointers to help her become a better pickpocket. But if you’ve ever wanted to learn how to throw a knife or a punch, it’s a good place to be.”

  Katya went back to stacking wood. “You could have warned me about Olive before I got here, you know.”

  “Where’s the fun in that?”

  Duncan came out then to say hi, and we chatted for a few minutes, though it still felt forced on my end. I’d always thought of Duncan as sort of a fill-in grandpa. He’d been the closest thing I’d had to one, anyway. Kindly, dependable and always there for us. But now things were a bit more complicated. He’d fallen off the pedestal I’d put him on and had gotten a little scuffed on the way down. I still loved him … but I didn’t like all the things that he did. Despite my misgivings, I gave Duncan a hug anyway. I might not have liked all his choices, but he’d always been there for me, and I couldn’t discount that. My uncertainty didn’t mean he wouldn’t be there for Katya, either. I just didn’t trust easy, and so when it was broken, it was hard for me to come back from that.

  I made my good-byes and double-checked that Katya had my number and knew that she could text me anytime


  I eyed Olive and held out my hand. “Can I have my wallet?”

  She sighed and handed it back. Bianca began checking her pockets, a look of chagrin on her face. “Damn it, Olive. My wallet and my phone, please.”

  Olive pulled Bianca’s stuff out of different pockets. “I would have given them back. I promise.”

  We stared at her.

  “You know, eventually.” Now that I could believe.

  Kat started laughing so hard, she hiccuped. “I think,” she said, when she caught her breath, “I think I’m going to like staying with you guys.”

  I nodded. “As long as you watch your valuables, you’ll be fine.”

  16

  HE’S A REAL FUN GUY

  AFTER A QUICK STOP at the cabin, where we picked up Lock, Bianca had us head out to check in with Alistair. We found him, of all places, in a morgue. Or it would have been a morgue if it had been in a human hospital. All the trappings were there—metal tables, refrigerated drawers, cheap linoleum flooring, bright light, and the pervasive smell of bleach. The differences, however, were both subtle and profound. Human morgues don’t have warded drawers, for example. I didn’t want to know what kinds of things were being kept on those slabs, or what the wards did. Ignorance can equal bliss, or at least a better night’s sleep. Some of the equipment varied—a regular bone saw was not going to make it through an ogre’s bones without chipping the blade, and I’m sure the good doctor got more use out of a blowtorch than most medical examiners did. A doctor and an assistant were hovering around the room, and I was positive that at least one of them was a practitioner of some sort—a witch, probably.

  “I didn’t know Currant warranted such a place.”

  “It doesn’t,” Bianca said. “We paid the dwarves overtime to set it up. The way things are going, we’re going to need it. We even brought out some of our people from Boston.”

  Alistair was waiting in the hallway, but he was observing the doctor through a large glass window. Bianca joined him, the rest of us trailing behind. They both watched attentively as the doctor in the room worked; the assistant was now scrubbing tools off to the side. I couldn’t tell much about either of them since they were covered in gear.