Part 14 (2/2)
”Two against four.” Mike smiled. It wasn't a comforting expression. ”Sounds just about fair.”
”a.s.suming we don't plan to walk away.”
”Who does?” He shook his head. ”You know you can't trust him anymore, hon. He's trying to serve two masters-the Covenant, and his heart. That never works out for anybody in the long run.”
I sighed. ”I know. I'm just . . . I guess I'm still holding hope for him picking the right side.”
”Right for him, or right for you?”
This time I didn't have any answers at all. We drove down the streets in silence, and I hoped as hard as I could that when we reached Gingerbread Pudding, we would find Sunil and Rochak alive and well, and I wouldn't have to make up my mind about Dominic De Luca. I wasn't ready for that. Soon, maybe, but not yet.
Luck was on my side for once. We found a parking s.p.a.ce a quarter of a block from the cafe, and even from there, we could see that the joint was jumping. The line wasn't quite out the door, but people were pus.h.i.+ng their way both in and out, and happy tourists with their cups of cocoa and squares of gingerbread choked the sidewalk.
Dominic freaked out when I mentioned monsters in public places. There was no way the Covenant would try to pull off an ambush with this many civilians around. Too many centuries of secrecy weighing them down.
Mike took a few quick steps forward, putting himself in front of me, and proceeded to clear us a path to the door simply through dint of walking with his elbows out and his legs a little farther apart than strictly necessary. People got out of the way without seeming to realize they were doing it. One more advantage to being a large male, rather than a small female.
Then again, being a pet.i.te woman has advantages of its own. Once we were inside, I slithered around him and flashed a radiant smile at Sunil, who was manning the counter. He blinked, looking concerned for half a second before plastering an artificially radiant smile on his face and declaring, ”There you are! I was starting to worry that you'd forgotten about me, and were leaving me here to die of a broken heart.”
”Never,” I said flirtatiously, and worked my way around the people between us to slip behind the counter. I leaned up onto my tiptoes, close enough that onlookers would a.s.sume I was kissing his cheek, and whispered, ”The Covenant is coming. We need to get you out of here.”
Sunil laughed nervously. ”Of course, sweetheart. Take your friend back to the break room and I'll send Rochak to bring you some gingerbread while you wait.”
I nodded as I dropped to the flats of my feet. ”See you soon, honey.” Motioning for Mike to follow me, I started toward the back. A few people grumbled, but not many. Everyone's forgiving when romance is in the air. (Too bad it wasn't real. My parents would have been thrilled if I'd come home with a nice cryptid boy, and Sunil was sweet. Literally.) Mike trailed along behind me like a silent shadow, and I led him into the little employee break room where I once shared gingerbread and secrets with Piyusha, just hours before she died.
True to Sunil's word, Mike and I were barely in the room when Rochak arrived with a tray of gingerbread, and a white to-go bag of the same stuff. ”What's going on?” he asked.
”Nothing good,” I replied, taking a piece of gingerbread. ”Rochak, this is my uncle, Mike Gucciard. Uncle Mike, this is Rochak, one of the owners of Gingerbread Pudding.”
”Charmed,” said Uncle Mike, claiming his own piece of gingerbread.
”Likewise,” said Rochak automatically. He turned back to me. ”What's going on? You don't normally drop by like this.”
”How quickly can you close down and get out of here?” I asked. His eyes widened. I shook my head, and continued, ”Dominic-who may or may not be compromised, but that's a matter for later-just called me. There's going to be a Covenant sweep of this neighborhood tomorrow. You need to leave, and you need to leave now. ”
”Now?” Rochak glanced at the clock over the door. ”We close in an hour. If I try to clear this place out before then, it'll be a madhouse. I think the best thing to do is close normally, then put a sign on the door saying that we're doing inventory and will reopen after the weekend. That should buy us a few days.”
”That sounds good,” I said. ”Do you have someplace to go?”
Rochak shook his head.
I could practically feel Candy's glare on the back of my neck as I sighed and said, ”Well, we do. Providing you can agree to stay inside until this is over, I've got a place you can go to ground.”
”Is it safe?”
”It's as safe as anyplace else in this town. Safer, if everyone stays careful and follows the rules. Kitty at the Freakshow would also be willing to give you sanctuary, if you don't mind bunking with her entire staff.”
Rochak made a face. ”I'd rather not. I'm unhappy enough at the idea of leaving the cafe without adding a bunch of strangers to the equation.”
The Nest was full of strangers, too, but there would be fewer of them; maybe that would help. I decided not to mention it for the moment. ”Then you come with us. We'll stay here long enough to let you shut things down, and then we'll take you back to our current haven.”
”Thank you.” Rochak put the tray down and seized my free hand in both of his, holding tightly. ”I don't know how I can possibly thank you enough. Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to us.”
”It's my job,” I said. Then I blinked, and repeated, almost wonderingly, ”It's my job.”
”Very?” Uncle Mike frowned. ”You okay?”
”I'm fine. I just need to go upstairs and make a few phone calls. Rochak, can I use your apartment?”
He nodded, reclaiming his hand. ”Please. What's mine is yours.”
”Great. Have some more gingerbread, Uncle Mike. I'll be right back.” I turned on my heel and left the room, heading for the stairs up to the second-floor apartment that Rochak shared with his brother. I didn't look back.
My dance partner wasn't home. ”h.e.l.lo, world. You've reached the home of James and Dennis Garcia. Leave your message at the tone, and we'll call you when there's enough of a pause in the glorious adventure of our lives.” James' gleeful monologue was cut off by the sound of a shrill beep.
I cleared my throat. ”James, it's Verity. You need to take Dennis on a nice vacation, and you need to go now. Something nice and far away. Maybe a cruise to Hawaii. Leave tomorrow, and don't come back until you hear that the city's clear.” I hesitated before adding the second part of my message: ”When you get back . . . I think it's time for you to start looking for a new partner. We both knew this was coming. I wish it didn't have to end this way, but it's not fair of me to keep holding you back because my heart isn't in it anymore. Thank you so much, for everything. You've been wonderful to dance with.”
I hung up the phone and stared blankly at the wall of Sunil and Rochak's apartment for several minutes, waiting for my heart to start beating normally again. There it was; that was it. I was done. I could teach dance cla.s.ses, I could partic.i.p.ate in local compet.i.tions, but with one little phone call, I had finally put the nail in the coffin of my professional ballroom dreams. And oddly, it hurt less than I had expected it to. Maybe my parents were right when they said that spending a year away from home would be exactly what I needed to set my priorities straight. At the time, I'd laughed at them, saying that all a year in New York would do was make d.a.m.n sure I never took off my tango shoes . . . when really, a year in New York was what it took to teach me that dancing was my heart, but cryptozoology was my soul.
I shook my head, clearing away the cobwebs, and lifted my phone again. This time, I dialed the Freakshow office. Kitty picked up, with a sultry, ”You've reached the Freakshow, how may we fulfill your midway fantasies today?”
”Okay, you have got to stop answering the phone like that. You sound like you're running a bordello, not a perfectly respectable t.i.tty bar.”
”Sometimes people can't tell the difference, and it helps bring in business,” said Kitty, dropping the artificial seduction as quickly as she'd put it on. She was all business now. ”What's the news, Verity?”
”I won't be coming to work tomorrow.”
”I didn't expect you.”
”Neither will Istas.” Istas wasn't aware of it yet, but with as many noncombatants as we now had at the Nest, either she or Ryan would need to be there at all times. It was a security measure. ”She's staying with me.”
”That's fine. Let her know that she'll be getting paid regardless, since you wouldn't be keeping her away if you didn't really need her. Anything else?”
”There are three Covenant operatives in town.” I sketched out their descriptions and provided their names, adding, ”Dominic may be traveling with them. I think he's still on our side, but it's hard to be certain, and there's evidence both ways. Watch for anybody seen in his company. He doesn't know where I am, and we're keeping it that way. The new Covenant folks have telepathy blockers that may work on other forms of psychic ability and confusion charms. Keep them away from the hidebehinds if you possibly can.”
”Honey, I'm keeping the Covenant of St. George away from everyone if I possibly can.”
”That's a good approach. I'll keep you posted to the best of my ability. Things are about to get pretty messy around here, and I'm not sure how much time I'm going to have.”
Kitty sighed. ”Verity, you've done more than anyone could ask you to. This isn't your fight.”
I looked around the perfectly domestic little apartment where, once, three siblings sat and dreamed of a new life, one that involved owning a dessert cafe of their very own. Below me, the two who survived would be shutting things down, getting ready to abandon their dream-even if temporarily-for the sake of their lives. They shouldn't have had to do that. No one should have to do that.
Dreams mattered. I shook my head, even knowing that Kitty couldn't see it. ”No,” I said. ”This has always been my fight. This is everyone's fight.”
”Fine, then,” said Kitty. ”What do we do now?”
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