The Ring Bearer (26 page)

62

“I can’t tell you how pleased I am to be joining you in this meeting instead of being treated for my wounds,” Efrat snarled after everyone had piled into Danato’s office for the ass ripping of a lifetime. Cori took a seat on Ethan’s lap, rather involuntarily since he wouldn’t let her out of reach.

Belus took up stance to the left of Danato’s desk, since Efrat was resting against his usual filing cabinet. Daniel and Heaton were shoulder to shoulder against the wall with their arms crossed. Despite their mismatch features physically and culturally, Cori couldn’t help but think of them as brothers.

“Shut up, Efrat,” Danato barked and waved a hand to the door. Nevia stepped in a little bashfully, like she thought she was interrupting.

“The elementals are wondering where they should go.” Nevia glanced at Efrat. He rolled his eyes at her, but she didn’t seem to take offense.

“We’re still figuring that out,” Danato said. “Take a seat.” He pointed to the open chair. She sat down after exchanging a look with Daniel and Heaton.

“Nice shooting.” Heaton winked at her.

“Huh, oh yeah,” Danato pulled a stamp from his center drawer. “Well done Jordan.” Danato placed a red letter stamp “deceased” across the front of Paul Hirem’s file. Cori felt a pang that she knew didn’t belong to her, but she felt it anyway. She didn’t understand why she kept slipping into Jillian’s memories. She assumed that her rings were recycling the memories, just as they boomeranged the other powers. What she didn’t know and desperately wanted to, was how to stop it.

“Does anyone care that my brain fluid is coming out of my nose,” Efrat griped again. He was answered with a semi-synchronized “no” from everyone.

Danato leaned back in his chair and glanced around at each face individually. He stopped on Belus and shrugged. “Fuck, I don’t know where to begin.”

Belus tried to hide his smirk from everyone, but Cori caught it and couldn’t help, but smile at the strange timing for him to finally crack open his human side.

“I wouldn’t find too much amusement in that Cori, you’ve got more check marks than retard taking a Mensa test,” Danato growled shoving Hirem’s file in his drawer. Daniel chuckled, which was a mistake, because Danato decided to start with him.

“Who the hell told you, you could release a prisoner?” Daniel’s mouth opened wide. “The medical staff said he came in with a twisted spine. When did that happen? How did that happen?”

“I needed a tracker.” Daniel shrugged. “He volunteered.”

“He’s a prisoner.”

“I’m not prejudice.”

“Dude.” Heaton shook his head.

“It was my idea,” Nevia interrupted before Danato could start yelling. “I couldn’t get a lead, full werewolves are better trackers.”

“Like hell it was your idea! I did it on my own,” Daniel informed Danato in no uncertain terms. “And it’s a good thing, because little miss foot-in-her-mouth, met up with Queen of the Bitches, and nearly got eaten. Callin saved our asses. Well mostly, I helped, and then it got really weird.” Daniel turned to Heaton. “Fem-wolves are always a “no,” right?”

“Oh, dude.” Heaton furrowed his brow.

“I didn’t, but she…”

“Daniel!” Belus interrupted. “Would you give Danato a report so we can be out of here by midnight?”

“Oh, Nevia and Ethan argued for Callin’s release this afternoon, Nevia started a war with the fem-wolves, and Heaton is gay.”

“DUDE!” Heaton punched Daniel not so lightly in the gut, making in chuff.

Cori looked to Ethan for confirmation, but he was burying his head in her arm, to smother his laughter. Danato and Belus exchanged a look that was not amusement. 

“I will report.” Nevia leaned forward. “The werewolf trial went just as we expected. Callin’s case was not even considered, because the council is not interested in changing. The head councilwoman’s sister, Leona, is in love with Callin. She is very close to siding with him on his custody battle. Ethan and I took an opportunity to press her a little further in that direction.”

“By threatening the head bitch,” Daniel interjected. Danato’s eyes widened, but Nevia didn’t notice since she had turned to “report” to Daniel.

“I didn’t threaten anyone. I merely pointed out the werewolf bylaws. Something that Leona is no doubt aware.”

“You pointed out that if she was willing to knock her sister off the council she could get Callin custody of their son.”

“Exactly!”

“That’s an act of fecking war!” Daniel leaned forward to get in her face. Heaton touched his arm, but didn’t make any attempt to draw him back.

“If Leona is willing to fight—“

“It won’t be Leona! It will be you, and by extension me and Heaton! You heard that woman! She will relentlessly hunt you until you are dead!”

“Then let her! I’ve been prepared to fight this battle since the day I found out about my heritage! If you’re too much of a coward to fight with me, than walk away!”

Daniel abruptly turned around to face the wall, taking short stuttered breaths to calm himself. Belus and Danato both moved slightly, as if prepared to tackle him if he got out of hand. Heaton shook his head slightly waving them off and touched his friend on the back.

After Daniel had calmed himself, he turned to face Nevia. “How many people have you killed, Nevia?”

“I been using a gun since I was—“

“How many?”

“None.”

“Well I’ve killed dozens” Daniel looked over to Danato. “Most of them in the line of work.” Danato tipped his chin up as if he were defending himself against an accusation. Daniel stepped a little closer to Nevia. “Don’t you dare call me coward, because I don’t want to kill anymore.” Nevia opened her mouth to respond, but he interrupted. “And I’m not naïve enough to believe we can survive a fight with fem-wolves without bloodshed.”

Daniel looked to Danato. “Are we done here?” He sounded exhausted. “I’d like to get the hell out of here.”

Danato nodded. Even if he had more questions, Cori got the sense that he wouldn’t have asked him. Whatever animosity there was between him and Daniel, it didn’t trump what was going on between Nevia and Daniel.

63

After Daniel and Heaton left, Nevia hung around to offer further assistance, but Danato assured her, he could manage things. She reluctantly left to pack her things. Cori didn’t envy the silent treatment she was likely to get on the long ride from the prison to the train.

After she was gone, Cori slipped into her own chair and prepared, for her turn, but it wasn’t her turn yet. Danato looked back at Efrat. “Care to offer a report.”

“I’m not sure my report will make much sense to you. Not without a footnote about Cori’s choice of jewelry.”

Danato looked to her and she wilted. Now it was her turn. “Obviously, I was confused about a lot of things, and details were left out. Until recently, I didn’t fully understand what was happening, but I guess my rings are…magical.”

“You can touch Efrat when no one else can, and you can make fireballs,” Danato specified.

“Yes, but that’s not the whole resume. I can absorb the power from others and use it. That’s how I found out about Jillian. I accidentally took Cleos’s power and I saw Dr. Frank’s thoughts. I keep tripping over her memories and sometimes I get stuck in them.”

“You have Cleos’s power still?” Danato asked.

“No, I haven’t used it since. The activation seems to be tied to my emotions. I have Hirem’s power, Remi’s, Garr’s, and Efrat’s. I can almost wield them all on command now.”

Danato rocked in his chair looking her over then he turned to Efrat. “Why did you take her? Why after everything she did to help you, hide you, negotiate on your behalf? Why did you risk revealing yourself to Clark?”

Efrat shrugged. “I thought we could run away together and live happily ever after.”

“He wanted my rings.” Cori jumped in before Efrat felt too much amusement for his own joke. “He kidnapped, bound me, and since the rings don’t come off, he was about to cleave my hands off when Belus interrupted.”
Ethan stood up and turned to face Efrat. “You sick bastard!”

“Walk a mile in my shoes, son.”

“I could run a marathon in your shoes and still be a better man!”

“Sit down Ethan!” Belus chided. “You’ve already had your go at him. We need him intact.”

“What the hell for?” he asked before sitting down.

“Remi and Garr have requested amputation of their hands,” Belus explained. “They don’t want to continue struggling with their handicaps—at least not their supernatural handicaps. Efrat however, would like to avoid that, so I am going to help him.”

“What?” Danato wasn’t the only one to say it, but he was the loudest.

Belus looked at him squarely. “I have my reasons. I would rather not make any bold mission statements that I might have to recant later, but rest assured I will take full responsibility for Efrat.”

Cori looked back at Efrat. He was almost as surprised as everyone else, but the fact that he wasn’t objecting tremendously was about as acquiescent as he ever got.

Danato scoffed. “Is that it? Does anyone have any more life altering news? Cori has supernatural powers, my least favorite prisoner—who by the way I am not getting paid to house anymore—is going to be mentored by Belus. My best hunting team is probably going to become the most hunted team. A boatload of military men, have to be wiped and shipped back to the U.S. with partial amnesia. Not to mention eight fucking months of paperwork to explain this to my superiors!” Danato stood up and leaned over the desk to look at Cori. “All of this because of one fucking key!”

Cori felt Danato’s voice booming in her chest, and try as she might, she still couldn’t keep back her tears. “I’m sorry I doubted you, Danato. I really am. I just wish things could just go back to normal.”

“Oh, son of a bitch,” Efrat mumbled from behind Cori. It took a moment for her to realize what she had said, but by then it was too late, the wish was out.

64

Cori felt the shift more than saw it. Her rings burned against her fingers and she felt weightless. The world blurred like she was about to pass out, but didn’t. When she had gone from sitting in Danato’s office, to standing against a kitchen counter with a cup of coffee in her hand, she wasn’t entirely sure.

It took a moment to register the location. The smell of brewed coffee underlying the affable smell of blueberry scones, took her memory back five years. The woman washing dishes at the sink hummed an unintelligible tune that never amounted to a consistent melody, let alone add up to an actual song. Never the less, it was the most pleasant nonsensical sound Cori could imagine.

She didn’t move to her, for fear of bursting the window into her past. The mug she held that contained more cream than coffee, slipped from her fingers—her mind was too pre-occupied to be bothered with motor function. The mug tolled on the vinyl floor, but didn’t break.

The humming stopped and the woman turned around to see what the commotion was. She looked at the downed beverage and gave Cori a scolding look. Figment or not, the woman could see her as well. Cori swallowed hard and opened her mouth to say something or ask something, but she never got past the first word. “Mom.”

Sneak
Peek

The Warden

Gods and Monsters

Cori hadn’t expected any less than three guards with rifles pointed at her head, when she exited the semi-trailer. The prison was a high security facility and took stowaways very seriously. When there was only one armed guard sent to deal with her unexpected arrival, she was a little insulted. Ungracefully, she disentangled her leg from a strip of bubble wrap and smiled at the familiar face.

“Hi Duke,” she said with a relief at seeing anyone she knew from her pre-wish life.

Duke’s brow knit tightly before he lifted his rifle for a proper aim. His eyes fluttered over her in examination, but his hands stayed rock steady with his finger already on the trigger. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

“I’m an employee of Danato’s, or at least I was. I have to speak to him directly.

It’s urgent.”

“How…he…” Duke clearly wasn’t sure how to handle this. Trespassers were generally wiped by whatever psychic was on good behavior and sent back to their place of origin. Cori already knew too much to simply be whammy-ed and sent on her way. “I need to make a call.”

“Please do,” Cori said crossing her arms and looking around like she was merely waiting for her turn in a bathroom stall. The doc manager glared at her through the fog of his cigarette at the far end of the doc. She was certain that there would never be a time or dimensional schism that he didn’t hate her and every other human being on earth.

“Miss, what’s your name?”

“Cori…Reiger or Pierce, that was never really established,” Duke relayed the information into the walkie-talkie a few more times before the other end stopped asking him to repeat it. She wondered how hard it was going to be to convince Danato that she
was
in his employ, but that she rubbed a lamp and made everyone, except her, forget it. At least this was one catastrophe caused by honest absentmindedness and not intentional ambiguity. That should earn some points.