Stray Fears - Gregory Ashe Page 0,89
of a joint out of one of the drawers, lit it, and drew hard. “Ok.”
“You’re not supposed to—”
“I’m not on meds, Dag. Just tell me what you need to tell me.”
“Is that smart, going off them like that?”
“Yes. My therapist knows. We agreed that we could try it.” He blew out a thin stream of smoke. “Now, tell me whatever you want to tell me.”
“Well, this is kind of anticlimactic, but I’m pretty sure Richard and Muriel were taking the life savings of the people they killed. Mason emptied his bank accounts shortly before he died, and a deposit for about the same amount showed up in one of Richard’s accounts a few days later. That was probably part of the compulsion. Apparently evil vampire monsters blow through a lot of cash.”
“Gee,” Elien said. “Alert the IRS.”
“Oh, and breaking news: they decided a bear killed Richard.”
Coughing and laughing, Elien fanned smoke from in front of his face. “Holy fuck. No way.”
“Yep.”
“And you stabbed that bear.”
“Yep.”
“And who burned down the house?”
“The bear’s accomplice,” I said.
Elien laughed even harder, wiping his eyes, trying to take another drag and not able to do it. I laughed too.
When we’d both calmed down, Elien said, “It feels unreal. I’m awake some nights, and I can’t even believe it happened.”
“It was real. Nobody would tell me what the medical examiner put in the report, but everybody was freaked. I heard there was a break-in at the ME’s lab.”
“Somebody made the hashok’s body disappear.”
I nodded. “And apparently Richard had an advanced form of cancer that explained the strange disfigurement to his bones.”
“Big news,” Elien said and drew hard on the joint again. “I guess you’ll get the full story when you’re back at work.”
“Uh, no, actually,” I said.
He looked at me again, the hazel eyes a little hazy now. “Did they fire you, or did you quit?”
“Technically, I guess I quit. They made me a pretty nice offer. I decided to take it.”
Butting out the joint, Elien blew out another streamer of smoke. Then he said, “I’m really sorry.”
“I’m not.”
“I know. But you were good at that job. You don’t agree with me, but you were. And you’re the kind of person who needs to be in that job: you don’t want the power, you don’t want to be in charge, and you care about people. Even people who don’t deserve it.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and made a weird hiccupping noise. “I hear how that sounds, and I want you to know I’m trying really hard not to feel so fucking guilty and shitty about myself all the time, but it’s not magic. I killed that son of a bitch. He messed with Gard, and he murdered my family, and he tried to murder me. But I killed him. And I know it wasn’t my fault, what happened with Gard. But fuck, I just feel so fucking awful all the time.”
I sat on the bed next to him. The first time I tried to pull him against me, he fought back, driving the heel of his hand into my chest. The second time, he let me. He didn’t cry or sob. His face was hot through my shirt. My hand followed the ripple of his spine. By degrees, he relaxed into me, his breath warm and soft against my neck.
“I think I’m going to be a marine biologist,” I said.
“God, that’d be perfect for you.” He pulled away, his eyes puffy, and studied me. “I hope it works out. You deserve it.”
“It means going to school.”
“Yeah, I bet. Lots of school.”
“I’m going to try to stay here. Tulane has a good undergraduate bio program, and I can live at home.”
“Your parents will be happy about that.” He took a breath. “Do you have to go?”
“Not unless you’re kicking me out.”
“Are you hungry?”
“Pretty much always.”
Grinning, he ran his thumb along my cheek and then stood. He got two of the microwave dinners out and held them up. “Salisbury steak or sweet and sour chicken?”
“Which one do you like?”
“I like them exactly the same, which is about a one out of ten.”
“Sweet and sour chicken.”
He popped it in the microwave. “Do you want wine?”
“Are you having some?”
“I don’t know. I already forgot to kick you out. I’m not sure I should mess with my judgment any more.”
I smiled. “I’ll have some wine.”
Elien opened the bottle and poured some into ultra-thin plastic cups, and I took mine and sipped it. It tasted like it was about