Azure and Glitch

Grace

Sylis and I get home at around 10. Paige comes in with us to take a look at Solomon. I can’t believe I am still so tired, and it is still early. Well, early for me. I leave them in the living room and crawl into bed, but I can’t fall asleep. Thoughts are doing the cha-cha through my head, and they won’t stop. Oh great, now they’re doing the tango.

But seriously, what did I just do? Why don’t I ever get the chance to reason things out? I always have to decide right this minute what I’m going to do. But I suppose that’s the way it is in life. Everything’s always rush, rush, rush. You don’t get a chance to slow down.

The majority of my life is at the Iris Academy.

And what would my parents think? I doubt that they’d be happy. If they could do anything, I’d probably be grounded for life. Or worse. Then again, I don’t think they’d have let the Iris Academy play games with me. I wish they were still here, even if it meant getting grounded.

I sigh. This is going nowhere fast. I have half a mind to tell Sylis to knock me over the head or something. Anything to get some sleep!

Suddenly, I hear a soft (very soft) cry and something thudding in the kitchen. I’m out of bed and in the kitchen in one second. Sylis is sitting on the counter with her knees pulled up to her chest, staring at the floor.

“Sylis?” I say. “What’s wrong?”

She looks at me, her eyes wide. “Spider,” she whispers through clenched teeth. I stare at her. She has a pitiful look on her face.

“Let me get this straight,” I say incredulously. “You’re an undead Reaper, you face terrors very few other people do on a daily basis, and you’re afraid of something that you’re probably a hundred times bigger than?”

Sylis’s pitiful look turns into a glare. “It’s not all that uncommon to be afraid of spiders,” she says defensively. I shake my head in disbelief and sigh. I locate the spider and crush it. Sylis closes her eyes and breathes out carefully. “You know, elephants are afraid of mice. It’s really not that stupid.”

“Are you saying you’re an elephant?”

“You know that’s not what I meant,” she mutters. Suddenly, I realize that Sylis had been boiling water. My astute observation was accompanied by the whistle blowing on the tea kettle.

“Couldn’t sleep or something?” I say.

“Or something,” she admits.

“Yeah, me neither.”

Sylis glances at me.

“You seemed pretty out of it in the car,” she points out.

“Yeah, well, there’s just something about the movement and humming of a car that makes me want to go to sleep.”

“Really? It always makes me sick if I try and go to sleep in the car.”

“I was being sarcastic, Sylis.”

“I know.” She seems so innocent. “You want some tea?”

“Sure, why not,” I reply.

“    Well, it might make you sick, or you might not like it, those are both good reasons not to.”

I look at her. I am confuzzled.

“What?”

“Well, you said, ‘Why not’, I was just giving you reasons why you might not want any tea.”

Again with the innocence! Sylis gets another cup down from the shelf as the kettle starts screaming. She takes it off the burner and gets tea bags out of the cupboard, limping a little, I notice with a grimace. The water hisses and steams as it meets the cups. She sighs. “Tomorrow, we need to go rent a hotel room or find a safe house or something. Iris obviously knows where we are, and there’s no guarantee that they aren’t going to come again. We probably shouldn’t even be here now but we both need rest and Solomon can watch out for us; Paige made a couple of tweaks after I told her what happened. We’re probably not going to see this place again for awhile.”

“For how long?”

“Who knows? All I know is that both Paige and your Master Hillring are right: one, something strange is going on that somehow involves you and me, and two, the Iris Academy isn’t going to just stop. They’ll keep at it until they accomplish their plan or until we figure out what’s really going on and put a stop to it. Until then, we can’t live here.  Jeez, I guess I’m also going to have to call my college and my job and give them some sort of story.”

“Just tell them you have urgent family matters and calling the school completely slipped your mind until now,” I suggest.

“Right. That’ll work.”

“It might.”

“I doubt it.”

“Of course you do. You just like being obstinate.”

Sylis glares at me. It’s my turn to play innocent so I innocently sip my tea, and promptly burn my tongue.

“So Solomon is all figured out now?” I ask.

“Yeah. He just needed a manual system refresh. Nothing overly complicated. Paige said she would install a couple new features while she fixes the problem. Stuff like running the dishwasher, or running the washing and drying machines. Stuff to make life easier.” We sat there in silence for a while.

“Sylis?”

“Hm?”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“Everything. I’m sorry I blamed you, I’m sorry I fell in love with Metal, I’m-”

“Shut up. It’s not your fault. If you want to blame anyone, blame the freakin’ Academy.”

I look down. “How do you know so much about the Iris Academy?”

Sylis sighs and rubs her eyes. “It’s complicated,” she says.

“I’m listening.”

“Of course you are.”

“Are you going to tell me or not?”

“Fine, whatever. You remember my trainer that I told you about a while ago? Well, it turns out that he’s merely a figment of my imagination.”

“‘It turns out’?”

“Do you want to know what’s really going on or not? Be quiet.

“Anyway, I was actually trained at the Iris Academy for a few years. I started at the time when I would have been in eighth grade. My parents thought that it would be a good place for me to hone my skills, since I really did like to pick fights with Riven and Bales, although I wasn’t completely untrained. I took martial arts classes when I was little. They sent me to the Iris Academy, and the Academy got on my nerves. I couldn’t stand the way you couldn’t go out of the Academy grounds until you turned eighteen, and how they had to control every little aspect of your life. It annoyed me a lot. So one day I decided to leave, and not come back. I took my daggers with me. But I was young, only fourteen, and didn’t know too much about avoiding guards or lying effectively. They caught me, and told me, in no uncertain terms, that if I tried to leave again, the consequences would be dire.

“So I stuck with them for a couple more years, until I grew so irked at them that I tried to leave again. This time I got out, and contacted my parents. They picked me up, but they weren’t too happy about me leaving. Even though I had left the Academy I was still able to get my first contract with the government, and I’ve done pretty well.

“Since then, the Iris Academy has contacted me twice, with offers, but I’ve turned them down. Apparently, they hold grudges against anyone who doesn’t do what they want them to, so I assume that’s why they sent you.”

”Wow.”

“Yeah. Sort of.”

Sylis finishes her tea and stands up.

”Well, I’m going back to bed. I’ve got some sleeping pills in the bathroom if you need them,” she says. She leaves. I yawn and decide to take a pill with the last swallow of my tea. I go into the bathroom and find the pills. I manage to choke one down (sleeping pills are nasty), then fall back into bed. I lay there for about ten minutes, then the pill hits my system, and I sleep.

Sylis

I get up early, grab a suitcase, and knock on Grace’s door. I hear a muffled groan of protest, before the door opens and a tousled, irate Grace is standing there, glaring at me. “You should pack some clothing. I want to get out of here early,” I say, handing her the suitcase.

”Mhm.”

I raise an eyebrow, head back into my room, and start throwing clothing unceremoniously into a bag. That done, I hurriedly get dressed and enter the kitchen for breakfast. I hear a lot of thumping coming from Grace’s room. When she finally emerges, looking a little frustrated, I smirk.

“What were you doing in there? Wrestling with a ninja ape?”

”Yes,” she replies, but doesn’t elaborate further. She just flings a couple pieces of bread into the toaster and sits down at the table.

”Why do we have to be up at” -she looks at the clock- “6 am?”

”I told you, I want to be out of here early.”

“But, 6 am?”

“Yes.”

Her toast pops up with great enthusiasm, begging for butter. She pulls it out and spreads copious amount of butter on each slice. Crumbs spray as she bites into it. I finish my own breakfast and pack my necessities. I run out to the car and throw my bag in the trunk. Grace follows with her bulging bag. I go back in and start packing some food, then grab my laptop and its accessories.

“Solomon, lock down mode, please. I’ll be gone for a couple days, but some people may or may not come by and stake out the house or try to break in or whatever. I expect you to do anything you can to not let them in, unless you have undeniable proof that it’s Paige, or some else that I know. If it’s Metal, no mercy, and be wary of shape-shifters,” I say. Solomon replies by shutting and locking all the windows and doors after I walk out.

We drive in a sleepy silence to a hotel in the downtown area. I check us in for three days. If we need any longer than that, we can just move from one hotel to another. I wait while they scan my debit card, then take the room key and go up to the room. Flopping down on one of the beds, I close my eyes, wanting to go back to sleep. Grace gives in to the temptation of sleep and is out like a light, but I get up and call my college on my cell phone.

Grace

Later that day I eat a small snack and head out the door, leaving Sylis in the hotel. She said she wanted to do some things, but I want to go out. It is a nice day, with a little chill. It’s now October, which means autumn. I never really liked autumn. To me it just says that winter will be here in a couple months, so get out your warm clothing. I loathe winter. The only good thing about it is that it looks nice.

I walk along, trying to rid myself of a feeling of foreboding that keeps tapping me on my shoulder. I keep looking over my shoulder for Iris Academy goons.  I decide a latte might help. I step into a coffee shop called Cafe Chocolatte. I love chocolate with every fiber of my being, so Cafe Chocolatte sounds like heaven. I order a small latte and a dark chocolate truffle, because, true to its name, Cafe Chocolatte has a large selection of chocolate.

I take a newspaper out of one of the racks and sit down at a small table near the window. There is some story about the War on the front page, which I skip. Give me comics over terrorism any day.

Out of the corner of my eye, I notice someone coming toward my table. For a wild moment, I think it is Metal, and then I realize it isn’t. Well, it could be, seeing as he can shift. The man stops in front of me.

“Sorry,” he says. “Do you mind? Everywhere else is full.”

I look around. The cafe has filled up quickly, and every table is taken.

”Go ahead,” I say, still wary. I doubt I’ll be able to trust another guy for a long while.

”Thank you,” he says, sitting down.

Under the pretext of reading the paper, I study him under my eyelashes. Given recent events and current circumstances, I’m on alert for friendly strangers and anything out of the ordinary. He is of average height, with curly dark brown hair, pale blue eyes, tan skin (more of a copper color than the olive shade), and wiry; a type that hormonal teenage girls would label as being ‘hot’. I decide to ignore him for now and continue reading. That doesn’t work for very long.

”So, come here often?” he says.

”Only when I’m on the run from maniacs. Or looking for peace and quiet,” I say. The hint bounces off of him as if he’s wearing a Teflon clue-meter. A few moments later he opens his mouth again.

“So, what do you think about the War?”

“I prefer comics.”

“Mhm. Not many would agree with you.”

“Well, frankly, I don’t care about how many people agree with me or not, I still think and say what I wish.”

He laughs. “I like your style.”

“It’s not for sale,” I say and go back to the paper.

A few minutes later, I finish the paper, my coffee and stand up to leave.

“Goodbye,” I say.

“Have a nice day,” he replies, his closing remarks as original as his opening ones. I nod and leave.

Outside, a nasty wind is blowing so I decide to abandon the idea of exploring the town and head home.

I hate the cold.

Sylis

I love autumn. I love everything about it. I especially love the smell of rotting vegetation. Mmmm, rotting vegetation. Another thing that’s good about autumn and winter is the fact that almost all of the Anathema tend to stay in wherever they come from, which means less work for me. The only things (besides werewolves at the full moon) that come out are the Riven vampires. They love the cold. Unfortunately.

Grace comes back into the hotel room just as thunder starts muttering darkly. I look up from the email that college sent me.

”It’s going to rain soon,” she says.

“I noticed,” I reply. “My college is having a Halloween party thing in a couple weeks, do you want to go?”

“Sure.”

“You sound terribly excited.”

“I am. I’m just jumping up and down for joy. Internally, of course.”

”That has to be uncomfortable.”

Just then, my cell phone rings.

”Hello?”

”Hey, Sylis, it’s Paige. Where are you? Solomon is being very defensive and won’t tell me anything.”

”Hey, Paige. I’m at a hotel. I told Solomon to go into lock down mode and not let anyone in. Why don’t you know where I am?”

”Oh, I’m in the middle of upgrading my systems. Why are you at a hotel?”

“In case the Academy peeps decide to drop in again.”

“I see.”‘

“What’s up?”

“Do you and Grace want to come over for dinner tonight?”

“Um, sure. What time?”

“7:30. We have some important news.”

“You’re PREGNANT?!”

“What? No! You’ll find out when you get here. Mom and Dad will be here, too.”

“Oh, it must be really important.”

“It is.”

”Okay, see you later.”

“Bye.” I hang up and when I turn around I see Grace is staring at me.

“Paige is pregnant?” she asks.

”No, that was just me over-reacting. We’re going to her house for dinner tonight.”

”Oh. Okay,” says Grace.

”So, what did you do today,” I ask.

”I went to Cafe Chocolatte. I met a guy there.”

”Hmm. What’s his name?”

Grace pauses. “You know, I don’t know.”

“Great. How did you meet him?”

“There were no open tables left, so he came and asked if he could sit at mine.”

“What’d you talk about?”

“Nothing much.”

“What’d you do after that?”

“Came back here. I was bored. I need a job.”

“What kind of job are you looking for?”

“I don’t know. Something available and simple.”

“I think there’s an ice cream shop that has an opening.”

“Oh, great, just what I need. ‘Have you had any previous experience in a job?’ ‘Oh, yes.’ ‘Care to elaborate?’ ‘I kill dead things.’ That’ll go over real well.”

“They might ask you that question at any job you apply for. Besides, don’t you get a check from the government every month for your hunting?”

“Well, yeah, but I need something to keep me busy during the day.”

“You do realize that ‘normal’ people do know about Reapers and ‘Naths and all that, we just choose to keep ourselves hidden for morale purpo–”

“Yes, Sylis, I am aware of all that. Elementary. I just don’t think an employer would be crazy about hiring someone who has to suddenly go off and Reap something constantly.”

“Why don’t you just find a hobby or something?”

“I could, I guess….”

“Good. Take up painting or something.” I pause for a minute. “So tell me, Grace, how much do you know about the schoolmasters?”

“You mean Master Hillring?”

“Yeah. Him. And the one-eyed sleaze. When I was there, Hillring wasn’t a Master yet. I think he was the level below. The other guy, I never saw him before.”

“You make it sound like a video game.”

“Are you going to answer my question or what?”

“Okay, well, he takes his orders directly from the headmaster, Master Danilo. He’s fairly fanatical about the whole thing, and I know that if the headmaster were to suddenly disappear, Master Hillring would step up to the position and probably continue whatever the headmaster had been doing at the time.”

“So an extreme case of loyalty?”

“Right.”

”You said he takes his orders from the headmaster. Does that mean it was actually the headmaster who ordered all this, and Hillring was just following orders? Or does he randomly do things on his own?”

“He was probably following orders. He rarely does things on his own.”

“So the person we really have to look out for is this Danilo.”

“Yes. Hillring is apparently good with machines and that kind of thing, because before they did whatever it was that erased my memory, I told you I heard them talking. It sounded like Hillring had created the device, how he did, I have no idea, but the headmaster knew more about us than Hillring did.”

“Oh, right, because the headmaster thought I was too strong-willed or something like that?”

”Right.”

“Well, that only proves that he knows something about me, because he thought that you wouldn’t try to break out of it, or at least, that you wouldn’t be able to break out.”

“So we have a bit of an advantage.”

Not very much of one. “But what do they really want? Why bother trying to frame me, and go through all the trouble to forcibly get you back on their side? What does that accomplish?”

“I don’t know. I’ve wondered that myself. From what I can see, when whoever made the video thingy, they purposefully made it look like the Academy couldn’t possibly have made it, because how ham-handed it seemed. That sounded a lot better in my head.”

“No, I think I see what you mean. Like, the Academy couldn’t have made it because they think their students are too smart to fall for something like that, or it’s so poorly made that the Academy itself would have to be a fool to think anyone would fall for it?”

“Almost.”

“It’s still pretty lame, don’t you think?” Actually, it’s really lame.

“Yeah, it really is.”

“But there’s still the why of it all…”

“I don’t know what to think.”

“Right, well, I’m going to take a nap. Wake me at seven-fifteen.” And with that, it’s off to bed.

I woke up two hours later to a very insistent hand shaking my shoulder.

“Sylis! Get up!” It’s Grace, of course.

“I’m up!” I roll out of bed and I’m momentarily confused. Why is the sun setting if I just woke up? Then I remember.

I quickly change my shirt and go into the bathroom to wash the croakiness out of my voice and the sleep out of my eyes.

“Let’s go,” I say to Grace as I put on a jacket. I walk outside and discover that the temperature has gone down considerably, and it’s very damp out. The storm seems to have blown over very quickly.

Arriving at Paige’s house, I see my parents’ car, plus another one I don’t recognize. We park on the street, and approach the porch. Andre opens the door almost as soon as I ring the doorbell.

“Bonsoir, mademoiselles,” he says.

“Hello, Andre,” I reply.

“Hi,” says Grace.

“Hi, Mom, hi, Dad,” I call, seeing them in the kitchen.

“Hello, dear,” Mom says. I walk into the kitchen, with Grace close behind. I noticed a kid, maybe 18 or 19 years old, that I don’t recognize sitting at the table.

“Mom, Dad, this is Grace,” I say, ignoring the kid. For now. I think I’m starting to develop this weird paranoia thing about strangers. Imagine that.

“Hello, Grace. Victor Quick,” Dad says. “This is my wife, Lanie.”

“Hello, Mr. Quick, Mrs. Quick,” Grace says, blushing a little. She blushes really easily, I’ve noticed. When she’s fighting, she’s all GRRR, but in normal conversation she turns red as a beet.  Just then, Paige enters the room. I look at her, asking her with my eyes who the kid is.

“Sylis, this is Simon Lee Carver, also known as Glitch.”

“Nice to meet you,” I say to him. To Paige I add quietly, “Glitch?” She ignores me.

“Alright, now that everyone’s here, dinner is served,” she says. She takes a pot of mashed potatoes off the stovetop and sets it on the table, along with a plate of roast beef and a bowl of green beans.  As I wait for the food to be passed to me, I study the kid. He has short, spiky obsidian hair with a stripe of dark blue and a stripe of dark green. It’s as if his hair-dresser is a frustrated anime artist. His eyes are almost black, and one ear is pierced. A black cross on a hoop hangs from it. He also has sharp features and very dark skin. I load my plate with food and redirect my attention to Paige, who is talking.

”Okay, so Andre and I have decided to move,” she announces. I almost choke on the mashed potatoes.

“Really? To where?” Mom asks.

“Andre wants to go back to France for a while. We’ve decided to go for maybe five years, then come back.”

“When are you going?” Dad asks.

“We’re thinking June,” Andre says.

“But what about…,” I say, then hesitate. I don’t know if Rainbow-head over there is trustworthy enough to know about my hunting. Thankfully, Paige knows what I’m thinking.

“I trust him, and so should you. I’ve already told him about what you do, and he’s familiar with it. He will be my replacement while I’m away.” I nearly choke again. I need to learn to not put food in my mouth while my sister is talking. It’s too hazardous to my health.

“Replacing…?”

”I’ve already shown him my ‘work room’, and he knows how operate almost anything to do with computers. He is, and there’s no other word for it, a computer geek.”

”Nice, Paige,” I say. “I’m sure he loves that.”

”He also loves being talked about as if he weren’t even here,” Glitch says, very dryly. Grace suppresses a snort.

”I was beginning to wonder if you could talk, Simon,” I say.

”Glitch,” he replies. “And I can speak three languages and fake two more.”

”Fine, then. Glitch.”

”So, where in France are you moving to?” Grace asks.

”Paris, most likely. We’re still working out the details,” Andre answers.

”So, how old are you, Glitch?” I ask.

”Nineteen.” So I was right.

”What’s your exp-” Just then, my pager beeps. “Crap.” I check it. “Double crap.” It’s showing a grouping of those fur-covered mongrels, also known as werewolves, about five miles west of here. Not to mention Grace didn’t bring her sword. I always keep a dagger or two on me, and my trench coat is usually in the car. I stand up. “We have to go,” I say, getting my coat. “I don’t suppose anyone wants to come?”

“I do,” Paige says, surprising the heck out of me.

“Me, too,” says Glitch. Yeah, I saw that one coming.

“Um, I was actually joking, but whatever. We have to stop at the hotel first. Just really quickly, so Grace can get her sword and I can get my crossbow,” I said. “Mom? Dad? Andre? You coming?”

“Reaping is not for us,” Dad says. “It won’t take too long, will it?”

“You never know,” Grace replies.

“We can wait.”

“I will stay,” says Andre, “to keep my in-laws company. Besides, loup-garou make me sneeze.”

“I seriously doubt anything too terrible will happen. The nature park is five miles west, that’s as close as I can give you,” I say to Glitch and Paige, already halfway out the door. Grace and I jump in the car and peel out of the driveway. Less than ten minutes later, we were in the area, having gotten our weapons at top speed. Paige and Glitch are already here, parked underneath a bridge. This area has some nice trails in it, but nobody (thankfully) is out at this time of night, even though it was only 8:30.

The howling is really close by, just through some trees and up a short cliff a few yards away. I can see ominous, furry shapes through the trees. Grace dashes through the foliage and into the middle of the group, but I decide to play sniper because of my leg and climb a convenient tree. Loading my crossbow as quickly as possible, I take out a werewolf trying to get at Grace from the back, and then notice something odd. There is a man, either unconscious or dead, with a couple werewolves standing guard over him. He looks pretty bad. I swear silently and make those werewolves my next targets. I aim, but then my right arm gives a huge, lycan-affected twinge just as I am about to shoot. The bolt goes wide, and alerts the guards that I’m trying to shoot them. Dang it.

I jump down from the tree and draw my daggers, then rush toward the wolves. They looked a lot less challenging from the tree. Plus, now they see me coming. The wolves are six inches taller than me, and way more hairy. Things are not going well. After a minute, I realize that they are quickly moving forward, making me back up. We’re now on the bridge. I put my back to the stone railing, hoping to only have to face one at a time. I manage to kill one, but the other one steps right up and continues attacking, getting faster and faster.

Then, as if in slow motion, I slip on the ash the previous wolf had left behind, and I feel myself going backwards over the railing. And I thought railings were supposed to keep people from falling off bridges! Silly me. I suppose since the bridge is wet from the rain, the moisture mixed with the ash makes it slippery. I manage to grab the werewolf as I fall and get him under me. I land with my knees firmly planted in his ribs. I feel them break under my weight and I wince, not just because of the feeling of things breaking, but also because I landed heavily on my healing leg. I quickly finish that wolf and rush up the short cliff and back into the battle.

Then the oddest thing happens. Grace glances over to where I was; sees the guy on the ground, and some weird expression crosses over her face. Then she starts fighting incredibly fast, so fast that I can barely follow her movements. All around her, the wolves are dropping like magnets to a metal floor. And yes, I know that is a really terrible metaphor. Slightly perturbed, I turn my attention to another wolf that has appeared. I quickly dispatch the unfortunate wolf, as Grace finishes the other one. Odd, I didn’t even see her come up.

”Okay, that was a little freaky. What happened to you?” I ask. Grace blinks at me.

“I don’t know. But I recognize that guy,” she says.

“Really? From where?” I crouch down next to him, trying to see if he was hurt at all. He looks like a Reaper. He has a ripped black leather jacket on, and a humongous great-sword for a weapon. “Oh, no way…”

”He was the guy in the coffee shop today.”

“Oh. Okaaaayy…. So. Yeah. I know him, too. This is Azure. He’s the other Reaper in this region. I’ve met him a couple times,” I say.

”Do you know his real name?”

“No. He doesn’t know mine, either. We just talk for a couple minutes if we both happen to get the same call, which only happens once in a blue moon.”

“Does he have a pager, too?”

“No, he’s got some other form of technology from the government suppliers, rather than from a personal source. He’s not a, well, a mercenary like I am; he was actually trained by the Reaper corps,” I explain. Seeing a nasty cut on Azure’s leg, I call Glitch. He appears almost instantly. Handy.

”What?”

“Do you know how to stop bleeding?”

“Well, yeah.” For knowing three different languages, he certainly is… eloquent.

”Show me.”

”You don’t–”

“I know how. I just want to make sure you do.”

“I see.”

“Eww, look at this,” Grace says. She points at a nasty bump on Azure’s head. It wasn’t bleeding that much, but it was probably the thing that had rendered him unconscious.

”Do you have any turmeric?” Glitch suddenly asks.

“What?” Grace asks.

“Turmeric. It’s a spice. You can use it to help stop the bleeding.”

”Maybe. It doesn’t sound like something I’d have. I definitely don’t have it on me,” I say. “I have wolfsbane. At the hotel. For my arm.”

”He’ll probably need that, too.”

“I have some,” says Paige, coming into the area. “Turmeric, I mean.”

”I don’t suppose you have any on you?”

”Well, no.”

I get out my cell phone and my Reaper ID card and quickly dial the appropriate number. After a quick explanation of where we were and what had happened, a medic was dispatched to our location. He arrived on the scene within ten minutes.

The medic was fast and professional. He didn’t say much, just pulled out a few supplies and got right to work.

”He doesn’t need to go to the hospital,” he says as he ties off the stitches, “But there should be someone around to watch him, at least for a couple days.”

“And I suppose that someone would have to be a Reaper, or at least someone who knows about them,” I mutter. I look at Paige. She catches my gaze and narrows her eyes.

”What?” she says, looking at me suspiciously.

”Could he sleep at your house until I go home? You don’t have to do anything, I’ll take care of him, but otherwise, there’s nothing we can do.”

”I’ll call Andre,” Paige says. She flips open her cell phone and dials. A minute later she hangs up and nods at me. “We can take him for a day or two.”

”Thanks,” I say. I turn to Grace. “Ready to go?”

”Uh-huh. And are you okay? Should I drive home?”

”Me? Yeah. Why?”

”You fell off a bridge!”

Oh, yeah. That.

“I’m fine; I landed with a werewolf as a cushion. I’ll probably have sore knees for a couple days, but other than that, falling off a bridge and landing on a werewolf isn’t exactly lethal, except to the werewolf.” I pause a second. “Wait, you can drive?”

She gives me a look. “I got my license at the Academy, at the same time as everyone else in my class. Didn’t you?”

“Well, yeah. You can drive, if you want to. Here, help me lug Azure’s great-sword to Paige’s car.”

“Of course, I haven’t done it for a while, but it’s like riding a bike, right? You never forget.”

I look at her, suddenly deeply regretting my decision.

She looks at my face and laughs.

Laughs.

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