A Toiling Darkness (10 page)

Kay nodded towards the other man. I
retracted the shadows he kept himself in and his eyes bugged out in
response. “This shy little fellow is Devon. He just moved into the
city.” Kay frowned at him before turning back to me.

“Now that the pleasantries are over, why, my
dear, are you here?” Kay asked, relaxing into his throne-like chair
made of all kinds of minerals and gems. He once told me the chair
helped him with his magic, and after watching it absorb an attack
by a vicious witch and sending the spell back to her, I believed
him. Everyone learned quickly not to mess with Kay when he sat in
his chair.

I looked at the three beings and wondered if
one of them was the master of the slauve, and if so, who? Kay
didn’t have the right kind of power, his was too based on using the
magic around him and the spell required the use of the power within
the being. The Fae could probably do it. Even the loc, he had the
right kind of magic too.

“Someone managed to make a slauve. I’m just
wondering who.”

Kay cocked his eyebrow and started tapping
his armchair. “Ah, your curiosity at work again. Careful, you know
it could get you killed someday.”

He patted his knee and I grimaced.

“You’re kidding right?” I asked.

“No,” he replied. “You came to me in such an
adorable form. Come here. Let me hold a form so precious.”

I ignored him and pulled out a chair,
setting it down a couple of feet from him, refusing to crawl into
his lap. The chair was as close to the edge of the stage as I could
get without falling off and making a fool out of myself. He hated
that I made myself into a child and liked to treat me like one as a
form of punishment. Sitting in his lap was a punishment meant to
embarrass me. And it would too. He knew my reasons, even respected
them. It didn’t mean he had to like it.

He sighed. “When will you move on and stop
holding yourself back. Your real human form is glorious.”

“But not as glorious as my true form,
right?”

“Nothing can ever compare to your true form.
When will you let me finally see it?” His words came out wishful,
his eyes a little distant as he tried to picture it. Tried being
the keyword. No one but El knew my true form and I was keeping it
that way.

This was becoming a pattern. I come to see
him and he tries to get me to show my true form and I have to turn
him down. My true form was up there with nuclear explosions. I came
close once, but then El came and fixed it. He taught me ways to
express myself, outlets to stay away from that spiraling madness. I
like to think the Consort only sent him because they felt guilty
for branding me and wanted to give me another chance before they
were forced to kill me. I stubbornly accepted it, not wanting to
look a gifted horse in the mouth.

“How about when the world ends?”

The delight in his expression melted away to
a more serious expression.

“Don’t you miss it? All that power available
to you to use again. Don’t you miss being who you were meant to
be?” His words were seductive, like one of those billboards trying
to sell a new perfume. I could feel my mind wander off into who I
used to be. My powers were something to be feared and it used to be
exhilarating to use them. I couldn’t do half of what I did in my
natural human form. Just using the shadows to transport around
could be tiring. Let alone, whole armies like during the Viking
Age.

Ah, the good old ancient days. I smiled a
little.

“You know I miss being who I really am. But
this is who I need to be right now.”

“Someday, Darkness.” He raised his hand and
a young man materialized with a tray of refreshments. After Kay got
his drink, a thick blue slosh in a martini glass, the man
disappeared. I had to wait patiently while he took a drink. If I
showed any impatience, he would only drag out the motion.

When he finished, he leaned back with his
eyes closed and minutes painfully ticked by before he opened
them.

“A slauve, huh? And his existence important
enough to grab your attention and change your rather recent
sloth-like state.” When I met Kay hundreds of years ago, we went on
little expeditions, causing trouble everywhere we went. How I am
now makes me look like a saint compared to what I was.

“What would a slauve want with you?” Frey
spoke up. Kay glared at him, not happy at being interrupted.

“Did I say he wants me? He’s just something
interesting. It takes a lot of juice to make one of him.”

“Well you should probably avoid the slauve.
Who knows what he will do.” Frey kept talking, ignoring Kay’s
glare.

“Doesn’t that make him all the more
interesting? I mean, come on. A slauve, out killing beings to
protect humans,” I grinned. I glanced at Devon. He looked like he
wanted to say something. “Do you want to contribute something to
this interesting conversation?” I asked, staring right at him. He
stayed quiet, looking down at the ground. “What? He doesn’t have
much to say, does he?”

“Maybe he just has nothing to say to you,”
Frey said, jumping in to protect the loc.

“Unlike you, apparently,” I muttered.

“I just like to make myself clear with
others.”

I snorted. “Oh, I’m aware you don’t like me
much. But you also fear me, so your attitude is moot.”

“There is no way a child like you will ever
scare me,” he argued.

“I’m well acquainted with fear…in all its
forms.” I stared at him, my eyes narrowed as I scanned his body. “I
can feel your heart pound against your chest. Bravado is attached
to your fear. Maybe you should keep that in check before it gets
you killed.”

He snickered in disbelief. “You’re incapable
of killing me.”

“You want to bet on that?” I challenged,
preparing myself. If he pounced, I was ready.

After a few moments of an intense staring
competition, he looked away, making me the victor. Kay laughed,
clapping his hands excitedly. “Ah, Darkness, you still haven’t lost
your touch.” Frey scowled, apparently not happy to be the butt of
the joke. Kay chuckled again. “Enough, Frey. Not many can scare
her, not anymore.”

I laughed and shook my head. “No, not many
can scare me, especially a slauve.”

“Why are you really interested in the
slauve?” Kay asked, trying to get us back on topic. I gave him a
small sheepish smile. I almost forgot why I was here.

“I told you, I’m just interested in who had
the balls and juice to create a slauve.”

Frey went to say something, but Kay lifted
his hand as a warning. The look in his eyes told me he wasn’t
fooled with my reasoning. If his lackeys weren’t around, he would
try to force me to tell him everything. He was powerful enough to
do it too, and it would end in only pain and misery for the both of
us—if neither of us died.

What was the new term humans used these
days, frenemies? Yeah, me and Kay were frenemies. Sometimes we
loved to hate each other and it made for good competition. Way back
when, we were both real competitive asshats.

Instead of trying to push the topic further,
he said, “I wonder if Death is going to come. Having a slauve
around is sure to attract him.”

“Do you know who his master is?” I tried
asking again, not wanting to go down that route either. I have no
intention of ever talking to Death again. He was a pompous
know-it-all.

“No. This is the first I’m hearing about
him. Seems my informants are starting to slack.” He glared at the
shy loc who pressed himself into the chair and tried to
disappear.

“Kay, if there was a slauve around, we would
know. Making one is no small feat.” Frey jumped in.

“Enough, Frey. Darkness isn’t dumb, she
knows a slauve when she sees one,” Kay snapped at him, his patience
at a wits end. The temperature in the room increased with Kay’s
anger. Frey closed his mouth into a thin line, and looked down at
the ground, sweat forming on his forehead.

Ah, Kay cared, he really cared. I mentally
rolled my eyes. Kay’s only real concern was power, anything else
was disposable. “Did you go see Seeker?”

“I did. He went into a coma before I could
finish talking to him.”

He nodded and tapped his fingers
thoughtfully against the table for a few seconds.

“Since it’s you asking, I’ll point you to a
very special woman. Not many know about her talents and I know you
will continue to keep that number low.”

I nodded, understanding the threat.

“There is a seer you can go visit, living on
the east side of the city. She likes to keep her life normal, but
for some, she is willing to use her gift. I’ll send word to her.
She’ll do it if I call. Don’t bother visiting until after the sun
goes down, she’s a graduate student.”

“You her pimp?”

He smirked and shrugged. “Who knows?” He
wrote down an address on a napkin and handed it to me.

“If you speak of her to anyone else, I’ll
know.”

“Yes, sir,” I mockingly said with military
flare.

Not wasting any time, I headed to Kay’s
precious seer’s home right after leaving his. The address Kay
coughed up led me to a middle-high class area where all the street
lights worked, and cop cars were passing by every fifteen minutes.
Even the streets were clean, lacking the smell of old garbage and
unwashed bodies. The neighborhood felt safe enough that women
walked the streets alone, a jogger even passed by while listening
to music and kids played in a small parking lot with a basketball
net. The lot was well lit with more lights since the sun was
down.

I strolled by the kids and turned into an
alley that cut through the block to the other side, where the seer
lived. The alley was spotless too. Lights everywhere and not a
single piece of trash on the ground. The area had some very
garbage-conscious tenants. An old fire escape came down the side of
the building and when I passed it, a hooded figure dropped
down.

The man grunted as he stayed kneeling on a
leg, his hand holding his side.

“How the hell did you find me?” I asked,
recognizing the hunched figure as Kalen. I did not need this right
now, not when I was only a block away from the seer’s home. I
glanced to the end of the alley wishing he wasn’t here. Not right
now. “Can’t I have a night without you ruining it?”

“Darkness?” He stood up slowly, and the hood
fell back to reveal a battered face. A breath escaped through my
teeth, making a hissing noise. He looked horrible. His nose was
broken, covering his lower face with blood. His left eye was
swollen shut and a cut near his eyebrow was still bleeding. He
looked like hell and from his slightly bent posture and rasping
breath, hurt even more.

“Hell hounds, what the hell?” I basically
swore.

“Hell hounds? Are those real?”

“Yes, and if you see one, then you’re
already dead,” I responded. I reached up and touched his cool face.
Images flashed through my mind. “I see,” I mumbled, my blood
boiling. Someone was going to die.

“Huh?”

“That damn necromancer. I told you they were
bad news. You should have stayed away.”

“It wasn’t his fault.”

“If that were true, he wouldn’t have left
you surrounded by more of them.”

Kalen shook his head. “He was helping me. We
got Tracy to a hotel and then we went to speak to some beings. On
my way to see another necromancer, Tracy called Chris and he went
to her. Apparently, without a necromancer, other necromancers are
more inclined to redecorate your face,” he said and winced when
something in him hurt.

“No duh. And didn’t I warn you that
necromancers are no good. Stay the hell away from them!”

His eyebrows furrowed. “No, you never said
anything.”

“Well, I thought it and that is what really
matters. For future reference, necromancers are bad news.”

“Funny. They said the same thing about
you.”

“Heh.”

His voice grew even more serious. “They know
the woman I need to find. I know they do.”

“Whatever.” As long as he wasn’t dead, I
guess. Side note: Talk with Chris. I take my threats seriously and
Kalen was hurt. “Do you even know where you are?”

“No.” He looked around, completely dazed and
confused. His pupils were dilated, the ring of brown nearly gone.
The man was really pushing himself. He should be passed out
somewhere. He really had no clue to how he got here. His body went
into autopilot and went where it wanted to be most—in front of the
being he wanted to kill the most.

“The east end of the city, a place someone
looking like you shouldn’t be. If you were spotted, you would have
been locked up just on principal.” If his face wasn’t so eff’d up,
I would think he was blushing—always so quick to be
embarrassed.

Kalen stayed silent and I grew impatient. I
could just leave him here, in an area where he would only end up
arrested in a matter of minutes. If only I could. The last place I
needed him to be was in jail. It didn’t help he was appealing to my
nicer instincts. I didn’t even know what to call these
feelings.

Motherly? Sisterly?

Naw.

I didn’t do any kind of relationship like
that. Not since Eithna and looked where that ended.

Empathy?

I smiled, thinking about the word. El would
finally be proud of me if I was empathizing with anyone. He would
probably get a kick out it being with someone who wanted me
dead.

His unfocused eyes turned to mine and
blinked a couple of times.

“Who are you really? You have to be more
than what you appear.”

My heart skipped a beat and I couldn’t
really figure out why. Why did the idea of this man figuring me out
scare me? I could take him. I knew I could. And yet looking at him,
I was…comfortable. I didn’t want to lose that. There weren’t even a
handful of beings I could say I’m ‘comfortable’ being around. Which
brought me to the bigger question.