Part 7 (1/2)

”I don't know,” I said. ”Are you? What do Rhoda Swann's Rules of Life say this week?”

Sunny's mouth curled down on one side. ”You're never going to get over Grandma Rhoda letting me move back in, are you?”

I slammed the drawer shut and said, ”Letting ”Letting you? That's a great twist. She you? That's a great twist. She let let me bargain you back when I needed her help most. Actually, no. That makes perfect sense in her bizzaro version of the world.” me bargain you back when I needed her help most. Actually, no. That makes perfect sense in her bizzaro version of the world.”

”Luna.” Sunny sighed. ”This may come as a shock, but I'm a person, and I do occasionally make my own decisions.” She went into the kitchen and I heard the water start. I followed out of habit. Sunny set the clean mug in the rack and faced me. ”It's easier for you to believe that Grandma manipulated me away than to admit this was partially your fault.”

”Wow, are you and Dr. Merriman sharing the same Psychobabble Bulls.h.i.+t handbook?” I asked with my eyes wide.

Sunny flipped a hand at me. ”Don't start. Displace your anger onto a punching bag or something.”

I burned. I'd forgotten how immune she was to my inherent b.i.t.c.hiness. Still, it felt good so I kept it up. ”And how is is life in Grandma's gingerbread cottage?” life in Grandma's gingerbread cottage?”

”No one's broken in and tried to kill me yet,” said Sunny quietly.

That one, I didn't have a snotty comeback for. I sat down and examined my hands so Sunny wouldn't notice she'd scored a point.

”You've kept the cottage in good shape,” Sunny said. ”No new damage. How's your moonphase?”

”Fine,” I said. It was pleasantries now, and I hated the way Sunny swept things under the rug by reverting to small talk, but I was too tired to poke at her anymore. ”I'm fine. The restraints have been enough for the past few months.”

Sunny nodded. ”Glad to hear it. You know you can call me if you ever need anything.”

”Not on the warpath to cure me anymore?” I asked with a thin smile. Sunny shook her head.

”You made that choice when you killed Duncan. I saw how trying to control the phase was killing you. I'm sorry I pushed so hard.”

Well, I'm sorry you ran out on me was the first thing that came to mind. ”Forget it.” I stood up. ”I need to get some sleep. Me and my new partner are going to some fetish place tonight, and I'm exhausted.” was the first thing that came to mind. ”Forget it.” I stood up. ”I need to get some sleep. Me and my new partner are going to some fetish place tonight, and I'm exhausted.”

”Partner?” said Sunny. ”That's new. Who is he?”

”She,” I said. ”Shelby O'Halloran, the little witch that couldn't.”

”O'Halloran?” Sunny's eyes lit up. ”Of the the O'Hallorans? Luna, that's amazing!” O'Hallorans? Luna, that's amazing!”

”Not the adjective I would have chosen, but yeah. She's something.”

”Can I meet her?” Sunny demanded. ”I'd like that so much. The O'Hallorans are the Kennedys of magick.”

”Complete with booze and wh.o.r.es?” I asked. She rolled her eyes at me.

”You just don't like her because you have that thing about magick.”

”It's not a 'thing,'” I said. ”It's a well-honed instinct to avoid something that tries to kill me every time I get close to it.” And the fact that magick was like G.o.ds-d.a.m.ned Kryptonite when it came to me. I couldn't use it, didn't like it, and it made me nauseous. This was the first in a long line of disappointments for my mother and grandmother, right up there with the time I'd done that admittedly ill-advised home nose piercing.

”What's an O'Halloran doing as a cop?” Sunny wondered. ”Does she use magick on the job?”

”She's a dud, magickally speaking,” I said. ”Didn't get the blood. Doesn't have much of a gift for police work either.”

”I'd still like to meet her,” said Sunny. ”It would be nice to hear her insights on workings.”

”Come by the Twenty-fourth some night and follow the screaming,” I said. ”She's pretty obnoxious.”

”Well, you can be too,” said Sunny with her d.a.m.ned logic, ”so you two must be very alike.” She checked her watch. ”I have to go. Grandma needs my help with a sun ceremony.”

”Wouldn't do to keep Grandma waiting,” I said with a saccharine smile.

”Before I leave...” Sunny hesitated and then offered, ”If you're going into a rough place tonight at work, I could give you a protection rune. I'm still learning but my technique on basics is good.”

I started to brush her off and then realized that once she was gone, I'd be alone in the silent house again. I got a marker from the junk drawer and offered her my right wrist. ”Scribble away.” Never mind that I didn't believe anything, including cold hard bullets, protected you from something really evil.

”I noticed a new toothbrush and shampoo in the bathroom,” Sunny said casually as she started to draw something that looked like either a Celtic knot or snakes in a mosh pit. ”Has Trevor been staying here?”

”Sometimes,” I said, fighting not to jerk my wrist. The marker tickled the thin skin and I felt it spread as the magick came to bear on the rune Sunny was working.

”I said it when you hooked up with him-you can do better.” Sunny finished the design and began to trace over it again, adding flourishes around the perimeter. My entire arm felt like it had fallen asleep, rife with pinp.r.i.c.ks.

”Well, I don't care, because right now I like him,” I growled. ”And since when are you my social director?”

Sunny jabbed me with the marker and I flinched. ”He's a broke musician who calls you 'babe' constantly, wears clothes that make him look like a reject from a Nine Inch Nails video, and his songs are ridiculous,” she said.

”Gee, Sunny, tell the audience how you really feel.”

She finished and I whipped my arm back to my side, glaring. ”I'm not ditching Trevor just because you've got some sort of artistic sn.o.bbery going on. You hate all of my boyfriends. You didn't like Dmitri either.”

”I liked Dmitri very much,” said Sunny, picking up her bag and finding her car keys. ”At least he was honest.”

The pain from Ghosttown magnified until it threatened to break my chest. ”So honest that he ran off and never spoke to me again,” I whispered. ”A real winner.”

”I'm sorry,” said Sunny. ”It's not my business anymore. Be careful tonight, Luna.”

She opened the back door and stepped out. A moment later I heard the convertible crunch out of the driveway. I stayed at the kitchen table for a long time, watching the sun come up to start another bleak day.

CHAPTER 10.

Bete Noire occupied a bas.e.m.e.nt level beneath a used-clothing store in downtown Nocturne City, one of those little pockets of grunge on an otherwise spotless facade. A small pink neon sign was the only indication there was anything going on behind the black steel security door.

I spotted Shelby's Nissan and pulled in behind her, flas.h.i.+ng my headlights once. She got out and we both looked at the club's entrance, imagining what must be occurring within. ”Have you ever been here before?” I asked.

”Not to this one,” said Shelby. ”I did an underage sting at Top Hat, and that was enough to last me a very, very long time.”

”Top Hat?” I was only half sure I wanted to know.

”Dom/sub specialty,” said Shelby. ”Along with the kiddie p.o.r.n being filmed in the back room, of course.”