Good As Dead

Chapter Twenty-One

It's easier said than done, trying to rest while the sun slides closer to the horizon. I'm back in the bedroom I slept in last night, fingers tangling together while I stare out the window. Everyone else is asleep, except for Gideon and Rhys, who are expanding the wards, and Maya, who's with them to make sure they don't kill each other. Gideon tried explaining the work to me before they left, but my eyes glazed over by the time he reached terms like pulse-rate activation.

Thoughts jangling together, I push myself up, too edgy to stay still another moment. After wandering through the house once or twice to get a sense of the layout, I start poking around rooms with open doors. Most are bare or stuffed with old furniture, but eventually I find one that looks like a library, the rows of stand-alone shelves turning the room into a maze of books.

My steps remain aimless as I wander along, trailing fingers along spines, looking for anything interesting. But when they find the vampire book Gideon had earlier, I jerk away, remembering how the mere sight of its illustrations sent me reeling. Then I flush. What kind of coward am I, avoiding a fucking book? Hand still shaking, I reach for the spine again. But just before grabbing it, I hear a small, scraping noise from somewhere else in the room.

After an instinctive glance out the nearest window to make sure the sun still hangs on the horizon, I move toward the sound, keeping as quiet as possible while weaving between shelves.

Oh, shit, it's Desmond Healy, boots shifting against the floor as he lounges in an overstuffed chair, the only one I see in this room. He fiddles with a piece of metal, so intent on it that the cigarette hanging from his mouth has an inch-long cherry. I have one moment to hope for slipping away without being noticed, but at my first step back, his head jerks up, eyes picking me out from the shadows and shelves in the space of a breath. His pupils dilate in surprise. "Well, now."

"Sorry," I say, quickly. "I didn't know you were in here."

He grins, taking the cigarette from his mouth to flick it free of ash. "What's the matter, can't sleep without your teddy bear?"

Guess that means Odalis already blabbed about what she saw between me and Gideon. And probably what I told her afterward, too. I must make a face, because he adds, "Forget about keeping secrets when you're in a pack." Then he tosses his work to the table beside him.

"Yeah, well." My gaze follows the movement to avoid looking at his face, and I get a good look at the piece of metal, which is twitching at the sound of my voice. "Fuel!"

Fuel, reduced to a bent, broken mass of metal scales barely holding themselves together as a necklace. Remembering the photo of Mrs. Kent that Agent Slake showed me, my heart starts racing.

Desmond looks from the struggling familiar to me. "You know this little creature? I found it straggling up against our border. Went ahead and brought it back to clean out the magic from the metal and see what can be used for scrap. Is it yours?"

I shake my head. "No, but I know—knew—who it belonged to. Clarice Kent, a mech witch. Fuel was her familiar."

"Then you're the one it must be looking for. A familiar won't go off on its own except to search for a new witch."

"No, that can't be right; I'm a dud. Metal is totally dead to me. But Mrs. Kent was always very good to me and Gran. And she always got my jokes. Maybe Fuel remembers that." I don't realize I'm smiling until Desmond suddenly leans forward, resting his arms on his knees as he studies my face. Even in the dim light of the room, his eyes look bright and clear as glass, their color slipping from blue to green.

The scrutiny makes me uncomfortable, and I can't help fidgeting. "Anyway, what are you going to do with Fuel?"

Finally, he glances away to pick up the familiar again. His fingers resume pushing and pulling it back into shape, but most of his attention stays on me. "Funny thing. This little creature was spelled to record its route. Very sly use of magic, whoever did it. The vampire would've crushed it for sure if he'd known about this spell. It'd be interesting to see where it led back to, yeah? Maybe even the vampire's dumping ground."