Part 53 (1/2)
”Lee!”
”Bruised but fine.”
CB and Jack had gotten rid of the bodies. Henry didn't know where and hadn't asked. ”Why would I? This wasn't my fight.”
”You upset about that?” Tony wondered, his hand paused in the bucket of fried chicken. ”That we didn't, you know, need you?”
”Honestly?” Red-gold brows dipped down. ”A little.” And rose back up again. ”It's a conceit of mine that I'm essential when it comes to saving the world. But mostly, I'm proud of the way you've grown into your power. Proud that you found a way to prevail against nearly unbeatable odds. Proud that you refused to quit and kept fighting long after many would have given up.”
”Hey!” Tony jabbed a chicken bone indignantly in Henry's direction. ”I couldn't give up; I was responsible for those people. They wouldn't have even been there if not for me.”
”And, mostly, I am proud of that.”
If his ears got any hotter, they were going to ignite and there was a suspiciously damp itch in his eyes. ”Henry, I'm carrying some serious negative father s.h.i.+t, and you're creeping me out here.”
”You'll have to get used to it if you're going to keep saving the world.”
”Yeah, well I'm not...” He sighed as Henry smiled. ”I am, aren't I? This kind of c.r.a.p is just going to keep right on happening.”
”You said it to me once; like is drawn to like.”
”Yeah, yeah, and then I said it to Leah. I'm a font of freakin' wisdom.” Looking into a future full of metaphysical bulls.h.i.+t, he sighed again and reached for the last piece of chicken. Paused, hand back in the bucket. ”Leah. What happened with Leah?”
”Happened?”
”After I pulled Ryne Cyratane through the Demongate. Is she all right?”
”She's fine.”
”She's really p.i.s.sed, isn't she?”
”She's a little...” Henry visibly considered and discarded several words. ”... annoyed.” Tony didn't see Leah until early November-her agent had called while he was recovering and she'd gotten a job doubling on a CBC Movie of the Week being shot up in Hope.
”Being immortal doesn't pay the bills; falling off a railway bridge in a corset and bloomers does. I'll see you when I get back.”
His entire response had consisted of: ”Yeah, but, Leah...” and then he was talking to a dial tone.
The Demonic Convergence was still going on, but without Sye Mckaseeh's manipulations, things were coming through from a lot closer to home. Tony was out for no more than a couple of hours most nights tracking down weird little odds and ends and sending them back where they belonged. With the exception of a city employee working in the old sewer tunnel under Highbury Street who ran into a rat carrying a short sword, no one got hurt. Kevin Groves became an invaluable filter-most reports came first to him, and he could tell if the weirdness was real or homemade. In spite of a few very visible incidents, there was a remarkable lack of hysteria from the general population. The people of British Columbia had always been more willing than the rest of the country to adjust reality to suit them, and the contrary att.i.tude of Vancouverites kept them from agreeing on just what exactly they'd seen.
During the day, they were so busy getting the last episode of Darkest Night in the can before going on hiatus there wasn't time to replay the whole climatic battle scene in any detail. Maybe a few people strutted-as soon as they stopped limping-and maybe Mason thought a little more of himself than usual, but his ego was so enormous already it was hard to tell. Mostly they worked at getting the stains off the floor under the gate and got on with the job. Where they included Tony. CB'd given him as much time off as he was getting if he wanted to remain employed.
TO: [email protected] FROM: [email protected] u r teh suckhead!
TO: [email protected] FROM: [email protected] when you get back, i'll teach you what i can TO: [email protected] FROM: OMG! I <3>
A small part of Tony held out a forlorn hope that something eldritch would attack and rip him limb from limb before he had to make good on his promise. Most of him had grown resigned to the inevitable where ”the inevitable” had been defined by powers with a vicious sense of humor as his boss' youngest daughter. ”Nothing.” Amy hung up the phone and looked up at Tony and Zev. ”That's four days since Kevin's had anyone call about something going b.u.mp in the night. Maybe Halloween was the last.”
A pair of half-meter-wide, phosph.o.r.escent-green, eight-legged visitors had made the traditional Haunted Village at the Burnaby Village Museum out on Deer Lake a little more authentic than most years. By the time Tony found them hiding under the carousel, they'd been completely terrified by the giant bat on stilts and were more than willing to go home.
”Halloween does have a certain satisfying end-of-season feel about it,” Zev admitted. ”And that means this whole thing lasted about a month.”
”Golly, Tony.” Amy batted bright orange eyelashes suggestively in his general direction. ”The Demonic Convergence is over and the show's going into hiatus, so everyone who works on it will have some free time. What are you going to do?”
Before Tony could answer her, the door to CB's office opened. A motorcycle helmet cradled under one arm, Leah paused on the threshold and grinned. ”Ah, that's so sweet. Spanky and his gang. Oh, stop looking at me like that.” Eyes rolling, she crossed toward them. ”I got back last night. I would have called.”
Tony ignored the excuse. ”Henry says your tattoo changed.”
”That was a little abrupt. What's up your skirt?”
”We were still in the Demonic Convergence. You should have checked in before you left, just to be on the safe side.”
”Should have?” Arms folded. Lip curled. ”You're not my keeper, Tony,” she snarled.
She'd had millennia to work on that whole ”don't f.u.c.k with me” thing, and it was definitely definitive. Zev took a step sideways, putting more of Amy's desk between them. Amy looked like she was taking notes. Tony didn't really give a c.r.a.p. All things considered, att.i.tude from an immortal stuntwoman was pretty f.u.c.king low on his list of things to be impressed by.
”I'm the only wizard we know of,” he told her flatly, ”and you're walking around with the oldest working magic in the world etched into your stomach. I need to know what's going on with it.”
Leah's eyes narrowed, and she stared at him for a long moment. ”You used me to defeat Ryne Cyratane. You had no idea what slamming him back through the gate would do to me, and yet you did it anyway.”
”I knew what Ryne Cyratane would do to this world. Reshoot the scene and I'd play it the same way.”
”Would you?”
”Yeah. I would.”
Unexpectedly, she smiled, set down the helmet, and unzipped her jacket. ”Okay, then.”
”Can you say anticlimactic?” Amy muttered.
”Anticlimactic,” Zev acknowledged.
Leah grinned and pulled her fuchsia turtleneck up off the tattoo. ”You were expecting a fight? I made my point when I blew town, leaving him to his own devices, and besides, he's right. He should have a look at this, just in case.”
”In case of what?” Amy demanded as Tony peered at the interlocking circles. ”These are new,” Tony announced before Leah could answer. He traced the inner circle, his finger about a millimeter above the skin. ”And there wasn't this much color before.” Not only the new runes in the inner circle but a few of the unchanged runes were now a deep crimson. The color of fresh blood instead of dried. ”What does it mean?”
”I don't know. You're the wizard.”
”Yeah, but...”
No but, actually.
”I guess I'll have to find out,” he said, straightening.
Letting the sweater drop, Leah leaned forward and kissed his cheek. She smelled like cinnamon. ”I'm not going anywhere for a while, I'll help. There's not a lot about demonology I don't know.”
”You didn't know Ryne Cyratane would betray us.”
”Please!” She smirked and reached for her helmet. ”He's a demon, what did you expect? Ciao, Antonio!” A second kiss on the other cheek and a wave with her free hand as she headed for the door. ”Bye, kids. See you around.”
”You going to stop her?” Zev asked quietly.