Blood Tally

Chapter 14

I spent the next two days playing Mario Kart, listening to Eddie complain about not being in his temple, and really growing to like Olivia. She was smart, thoughtful, and wildly competitive. I’d never seen someone who would do a victory dance after literally every win – and she did a lot of them. There were little things that told me that she might enjoy me as well: occasional glances, the accidental brushing of our hands, our knees touching as we played games. I’m not an idiot, but I also wasn’t about to make a move on her in this situation.

When we weren’t playing Mario Kart, she spent her time renewing her rolling scry on Michael from the privacy of the bedroom and spying on her own house to see if Jacques sent anyone by to find her. As for the former, Michael was still nowhere to be seen. As for the latter, someone came by a few hours after we left and picked up the Suburban from in front of her house but left the place itself unmolested.

I spent my own downtime trying to get ahold of Ada. She didn’t answer her phone once. Nadine had gone on vacation like I suggested, but even she couldn’t find Ada, causing us both to become increasingly worried over the status of our boss. I had to assume that she was still alive, otherwise my bond with her would be broken and I would have felt something.

Jacques called me three more times on the first day with increasingly ridiculous threats. I pretended to sound conflicted each time we spoke, until I finally demanded that he give me until the weekend to decide what, exactly, I was going to do. He did not agree, but he did stop calling me.

The silence was both welcome and terrifying. The whole next day was quiet. I kept looking at my phone, expecting someone to call – Ada, Jacques, Justin, Boris. But there was nothing. I played Mario Kart, checked my emails, and tried to keep Olivia from realizing just how terrified I was of a bunch of Lord Ruthven’s servants busting though the windows of our AirBnB. Maggie, for her part, remained quiet. She was listening carefully so she could warn me of exactly that possibility.

It was the morning of the third day and I’d just gotten out of the shower and was drying my hair in the kitchen when Maggie whispered in my ear.

Alek, you’re not wearing your shirt.

So?

You’re not at home, Alek.

I frowned, opening the fridge, failing to see her point, until I turned around and found Olivia sitting on the couch with a copy of Catcher in the Rye on her lap, staring at my chest. It wasn’t one of those oh he’s so hot stares either. I let my towel drop off my head and onto my shoulder, covering the barcode tattoo over my heart. “Morning,” I said lamely.

Olivia’s eyes narrowed. “Morning.” She kept her gaze on me for a disconcerting amount of time before lowering it back to her book. I let out a sigh of relief and walked over to the window, where Eddie was lying in a sunbeam with his wings unfurled. He purred loudly as I bent to scratch the back of his neck. Once I was sure Olivia had diverted her attention elsewhere, I retreated to my bag in the corner of the room and grabbed a T-shirt, which I quickly pulled on. “Hey,” Olivia suddenly said, “I’m still curious about something: how did you avoid my scrying?”

“Oh, like I said. Reaper special.” I waved my left hand to show her the tattoo of Grendel’s claw on the back of it. “Like these tattoos. Secret of the trade.” I prayed that she dropped the subject immediately.

She did not. “Huh. Never heard of anything like that. It was weird. I’ve had scrying fail – like I told you with Michael, it’s relatively easy for normal people to hide themselves from scrying. But you … well, that was something I’ve never seen before.”

“How so?” I asked carefully. I could feel Maggie listening in.

“It was like trying to scry thin air. It’s not just that you were hidden. It was like you weren’t there. You, your clothes, your truck. I couldn’t see or sense anything. Complete, sorcerous invisibility.” I could see out of the corner of my eye that Olivia was talking without looking up from her book. “I was just curious what kind of protection could do that.”

Trying to act casual, I went over to sit at the kitchen table and began to look through my phone. You overcompensating a little bit? I asked Maggie.

I have to make my protection strong to keep Matthias from finding me, she answered. Most people aren’t that perceptive. Olivia should have given up at the failed scrying and assumed that she didn’t have the right ingredients for the spell or that she just wasn’t strong enough or … something.

Well, she didn’t. You going to answer the question?

Very funny.

I looked up from my phone. Eddie was staring at me. He blinked slowly, then glanced toward Olivia and back to me. Don’t you dare tell her, I thought furiously at him. He returned to grooming himself, and I felt the knot between my shoulders ease a little.

“You’re doing it again,” Olivia said. “That little head tilt like you’re on the phone.”

I turned toward her quickly, only to see that she was still looking down at her book. I took a deep, shaky breath. I liked Olivia – I might even have a genuine crush on her after two days sharing the same space – but I wasn’t ready to share my secrets with her. And Maggie? Well, Maggie’s secret wasn’t mine to share. I pointedly did not answer Olivia. As if sensing my discomfort, Olivia got up from the couch and crossed the room, sitting across from me at the table.

She’s not going to let up, I warned Maggie.

Maggie didn’t answer.

“That barcode on your chest,” Olivia said, absently tracing something on the table with one finger. “Is that a reaper special too?”

My mouth was dry. Goddamn witches. Couldn’t leave well enough alone. I took a deep breath, adopted my best authoritative, expressionless face, and said, “Look, you’re a nice lady. It’s been fun playing games with you for two days and I know I got you into a bad situation, but you should learn when to stop asking questions.”

“My mom had one of those,” Olivia said, not breaking my gaze.

That took the wind out of my sails. I couldn’t have hidden my surprise if I wanted to. “She did?”

“She was a rumpelstiltskin,” Olivia continued. “A slave bought from her dad for a carton of cigarettes back in the sixties. She got set free when OtherOps shut down Paronskaft. Met my dad a few years later, then I was born. They’re both dead now – car accident – but yeah. I know what that barcode means.”

A swirl of emotions went through me. Not many people knew, especially people my age. Paronskaft isn’t even talked about among the younger Other. The fact that Olivia had seen my barcode and knew what it meant was a gut punch of irritation, vulnerability, and shame. “Good for you,” I said petulantly.

“How old are you?” Olivia asked.

“Twenty-eight,” I answered automatically, without thinking why she might want to know.

To my surprise, Olivia reached out and took my hand. I recoiled. That didn’t seem to bother her, and she took it again. “You’re still a slave, aren’t you?”

I told you she was really clever, Maggie muttered in my ear.

Olivia continued, “I’ve heard of people like you. Just rumors, of course. But my mom used to claim there were still thousands of slaves, even after the OtherOps operation. She was a bit of an activist about the whole thing before the accident.” When I didn’t respond, Olivia took her hand away from mine. “Look, sorry. I didn’t mean to make things weird. I can’t imagine it’s something a lot of people know about.”

“Nobody knows.” My voice came out as a harsh whisper. I cleared my throat. “My boss, my secretary. And you, I guess.”

There was an elephant in the room, and Olivia must have sensed it. “I’m not that kind of witch. I’m not a gossip. I’m not in a coven. I’m not beholden to some demon or ancient god. No one is going to find out.”

She’s telling the truth, Maggie said quietly.

I looked up at Olivia, searching her face, and decided I agreed. “Thanks,” I told her.

“You’ve tried to get free, right?”

“What do you think?” That came out a little more sarcastically than I’d intended.

Olivia snorted. “I’m guessing it’s not easy.”

“I need the original contract,” I said. “I can’t get it from my … boss. Which means that I need to find my parents.”

Olivia spread her hands. “I’d offer a scrying, but unless you have a lock of hair or something, I won’t be able to actually find them.”

I didn’t. And despite her assurances, I still wasn’t at all happy about someone knowing about my situation. At least she’d stopped asking about how I’d avoided her scrying in the first place. Maggie was a secret I would keep. “I appreciate the sentiment.” I sat back, feeling raw, like I’d been filleted in a few short seconds. It was bad enough knowing I’d made enemies out of a Vampire Lord and might just have less than a week to weasel my way out of his wrath. But that felt like en earthly concern. This was deeper, and it hurt.

“I probably shouldn’t have said anything,” Olivia guessed.

“Probably.”

She pulled a comically pained expression. “Dad used to say that I didn’t know when to stop asking questions.”

I lifted an eyebrow, then pretended to check a watch I wasn’t wearing. “So, uh, three more days stuck together, eh?”

“Is there any way I can keep those from being three days of super awkwardness?” she asked.

I thought about that for a minute. “Just … don’t think of me like a slave. I get through each day because only one person in the world actually treats me like that. I don’t need pity, or to be the project of some activist’s kid. I’m just a normal guy with a normal job. Does that make sense?”

“Perfect sense.” She bit her lip. “Mario Kart?”

“Maybe in a bit.” I stared down at my phone, wishing I’d get a call to interrupt this whole thing.

“Want to make out?”

“Seriously?” I scoffed. Maggie did a spit take from the back of my head.

Olivia threw her hands up. “Well, you said not to treat you differently, and I figured we were headed that way at some point, so …”

I lifted both eyebrows. To my delight, Olivia turned bright red. A few seconds past, and the snort of a laugh pushed itself out of me. Olivia turned redder, then cracked a smile. I chuckled. She began to giggle. In a few moments we were both lying on the floor, laughing like a pair of hyenas. It felt good – a release valve that I didn’t know I needed. I laughed until tears were streaming down cheeks, and I got up to wipe my face and get us each a beer. I opened both bottles, handed her one, and sat back down on the floor.

She chugged hers like a frat boy, wiped her face, and laid her head on my knee. She looked up at me, biting her lip. “Well?” she asked. “Wanna?” Before I could answer, she suddenly threw up a hand. “Shit.” She leapt to her feet, rushing across the room to her bag. She pulled something out – a bit of sand, maybe – and passed it from one hand to the other, muttering. Finally, she turned to me. “I found Michael,” she said. “He’s camped under a bridge on Clifton Boulevard on the west side.”

Distantly, I heard Maggie laugh. God, she muttered, I have never seen a cockblock like that outside a TV show.

I took a deep breath, smoothed the front of my jeans self-consciously, and nodded. “We have three days until OtherOps can help us. We can wait … but if Jacques or Boris manages to find Michael first, this whole thing wasn’t worth shit.”

“Let’s go get him,” Olivia agreed.