Carlos pounded his fist. "I ain't supposed to know all that-I'm a married man."
"True dat," Phat G said, laughing. "But you ain't blind."
"Not at all," Carlos said, rounding the bar to find the small office in the back.
"Oh, thank the heavens," Val said, dropping to one knee and crossing her chest with her forearm.
"Damn, bro, you got it like that?" Phat G said, truly amazed.
"Naw, Val, c'mon, sis-we family," Carlos said, embarrassed, helping Val up quickly and then giving her a hug. "I know if you rolled up on us like this, it's bad. Talk to me."
He stared at her. He'd felt the wings, felt her strapped with all sorts of weapons, but couldn't see them. She stared back at him, her eyes silently begging him not to give away her secret in front of the man she didn't know. Carlos gave her a subtle nod, and Val's shoulders relaxed.
"Carlos, it's horrible," she said, tears brimming. "Yolando said to take this message from my mind and put it in silver and then shield me once you got it."
"You want me to fall back, man, and give you space?" Phat G glanced from Carlos to Val.
"Yeah, man, and do me a favor . . . if my wife comes out of the bathroom, send her back here, too. In fact, can you ask Inez to handle her mom and send my wife in here, stat?"
Phat G looked at Carlos for a moment, and hesitated before nodding. "Brother, when I grow up I wanna be just like you."
Carlos waited until Phat G had left and then he held Val's hand. "I can pull the message out, but I don't trust my silver," he admitted. The truth stabbed at his pride, but Val deserved no less. Openly admitting it made the reality sucker punch him. "Damali will have to silver-coat your mind and prayer-barrier you. I got hit with something from the ultimate darkness . . . I'm not even sure if I can go in to pull Yonnie's transmission without affecting you."
Carlos walked away from her, dragging his fingers through his hair. "If Yonnie sent you, then I know where he was . . . and right now, I'm real susceptible to losing it-if I see any more shit today that's gonna take my mind down a black hole."
"What if I just tell you what I see . . . explain what Yonnie sent into my mind?"
Carlos closed his eyes and dropped his head back, frustration eating him alive. "Yeah, cool, till Damali gets here-then she can pull it." He rubbed his temples and opened his eyes. "But I gotta askyou, even though Yonnie is my homeboy . . . did he nick you?"
"Nick?"
Carlos let his breath out hard. "Bite you?"
She looked away. "No . . . he gave me the message and made my wings invisible, as well as my weapons."
"Cool."
"He doesn't seem evil," Val countered, her eyes haunted. "We ate a meal together . . . pancakes, he called them. He even advised me to hide in your home, for safety. But after he slipped behind enemy lines, he came out with an urgent message. It just so happened that I was searching the beach for my fallen weapons, and he found me to give this important news to you."
Carlos wiped his palms down his face. Yonnie had to be near the breaking point. He'd gotten a daylight elevation from Lilith, eaten food for the first time, obviously fought Val if she was searching for weapons, and gotten close enough to bust a dematerialization move on her and then mind-lock her.
"He's not evil," Carlos said, walking over to Val and taking her jaw in his hand. He turned her chin first to the left then the right, trying to see through any vamp illusion with silver. "He's just a man, pure male. But he is my best friend; that he didn't lie about." He stared at her body outline, silver-scanning her, now able to see her wings and all her weapons.
Val touched his hand before he removed it from her jaw, and then let it fall away. "He is a good friend, Carlos. The man's heart is pure. The risks he took to get these scenes . . . I cannot fathom."
"Yeah," Carlos said quietly. "My boy's in real deep." He held back telling her more, not sure why.
She nodded. "I have his back, too . . . is it wrong, Neteru, to feel attracted to one's fellow warrior? Is that taboo?"
Carlos shook his head and walked away from her. "Yonnie, Yonnie, Yonnie . . ." He released a hard breath. "Val, he's good people, but the man has issues. That's all I can say."
"You are disappointed that I have lost my focus as a soldier." She hung her head and swallowed hard. "I stand before you, ashamed."
"Naw, sis," Carlos said quickly. "Don't even go there.I just . . . no. It's cool." He came to her and landed a hand on her shoulder. "But you make him tell you more abouthimself before you take things to another level, feel me?"
She smiled a bashful smile and looked down. "You are like the father or big brother I never had. Now I am truly honored."
Carlos chuckled. "He may be my homeboy, but if he does anything foul to you, I'll kick his ass myself. Hear?"