“Blue!” I called out her name, which seemed a little old-school, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. “Blue, sweetheart, where are you?”
Rocket appeared at my side. “Is she here, Miss Charlotte?”
I threw myself into his arms. “Rocket, honey, are you okay?”
Putting him at arm’s length, I pressed my palms to his face to check him over.
“I’m okay, Miss Charlotte. I didn’t say nothing. I promise.”
“What?”
“I didn’t tell him. Not nothing. He was so mad.”
Gooseflesh erupted over every part of my body. “Who are you talking about, hon?”
“I didn’t tell him, Miss Charlotte. I would never. That’s breaking rules. No breaking rules. But now I can’t find Blue.”
“Rocket, sweetheart.” I tried to bring him back to me. “Was it Reyes? Did Reyes do this?”
His impaired gaze landed on me in confusion. “No, ma’am. Not him.”
Relief flooded every cell I possessed. But then who? “Do you know who did it?”
“It only looked like him. He was so mad, Miss Charlotte.”
My lungs seized when I realized what he meant. It only looked like Reyes but wasn’t him. This was not happening. “It looked like Reyes?”
“Reyes Alexander Farrow,” he said with a nod. “Only not. Not anymore.”
I sank onto a concrete slab, the edges jagged but also burned. Parts of the surface had been charred. Narrow black strips lined parts of the crumbled walls with tiny burst patterns. Almost as though the building had been struck by lightning over and over.
Reyes had been covered in live electrical currents when he came out of the god glass. Could he use it as a weapon? Is that what did this?
Rocket spun in circles, calling out his sister’s name to no avail. I stopped him with my hands on his shoulders. “Rocket, I need to know, is Reyes in there anywhere? Is there still a part of him inside?”
Rocket’s expression turned grave. “I didn’t see him, but I wasn’t looking neither. He’s not dead. Reyes Alexander Farrow. He’s not dead and gone. Not yet.”
“Not yet?” I asked, elated. “Is … is his time coming?”
He bowed his head and went to work. When Rocket searched his data banks, he sometimes blinked in rapid succession. He was doing that now, and I realized I was holding my breath in anticipation.
“His time is moving. It won’t stop.”
Okay, no idea what that meant, but I was going to take it as a good sign.
“Blue!” he called out again.
I followed suit, calling out his sister’s name. The kids looked on with both curiosity and apprehension, not sure what to think of my conversation with Rocket, an entity they could not see.
Most of them, anyway.
I noticed one of the bicyclists’ coloring was a little off. He was one of the younger ones, his bike, a dark maroon, now only a faded version of that once vibrant color. The boy looked alarmingly similar to the smaller kid I’d spoken to earlier.
When my gaze landed on him, he raised an arm, extended an index finger, and pointed to a copse of trees on the north side of the property.
I turned and saw a slight discoloration behind a row of bushes.
“Blue?” I said, stepping closer.
Rocket followed, hope burning in his eyes.
“Blue?” I asked as I got closer.
Suddenly and without hesitation, the little girl whirled around and ran into my arms. My arms. I knelt down and caught her, wrapping said arms tight around her tiny body. She sobbed onto my shoulder as Rocket ran toward us.
“Blue?” He stumbled beside me and wrapped us both in his cool embrace.
In all the years I’d known Rocket, Blue had never let me get within ten feet of her. She either hid behind her brother or stayed away altogether. But now, today, she was letting me hug her. Letting me comfort her.
I stroked her hair, a short, dark bob, and rocked her while Rocket cried against us. And a vengeful kind of fury sparked inside me, kindled by my love for these two.
A few kids took out their cell phones and began filming. Kids these days. I could only imagine what this looked like. Sadly, I could not have cared less.
I glanced at the departed boy and silently thanked him. He didn’t react, just watched. Even after the other kids left to show their friends the video of the crazy lady, the young entity stayed behind.
After Blue had spent all her tears, she leaned back, looked at her big brother, and patted his face a microsecond before jumping into his arms.
“I’m so sorry this happened, Blue.”
She’d buried her face in Rocket’s shirt, but she nodded, acknowledging my comment. Also a first.
“She didn’t tell him neither, Miss Charlotte.”
“What?” I asked, alarmed. “Rocket, tell me what happened.”
“He came here. He was so mad. He wasn’t him anymore, but he came here, anyway. That’s breaking the rules, Miss Charlotte.”
I patted his back and rubbed Blue’s. “I know, hon. But what did he want? What didn’t you tell him?”
“Where it was.”
Confusion swept through me. “He was looking for something?”
He nodded. “We didn’t tell him, though. Neither of us. We would never.”
“Rocket, honey, what was he looking for?”
“The embers.”
“The embers?”
“The ashes.”
“Ashes from what? Rocket, what does that mean?”
“It means—”
Before he could get out another word, Blue slammed a hand over his mouth.
Disappointed, I started to protest, but she slammed a hand over mine as well, then she took it away and held an index finger over her mouth to shush us.
They straightened and glanced around as though searching for something. I joined them but saw nothing even though they must have. Their heads swiveled in the same direction, and a microsecond later, they vanished.
I turned so fast I almost fell, but I saw nothing out of the ordinary. Just in case, I put my hand to the ground and lifted Artemis from the earth. She materialized beneath my palm and did a quick inspection of the area, sniffing and pawing at the debris. Finding nothing amiss, she gave up the search and assaulted me, knocking me to the ground and pinning me there while she licked my face.
I laughed and looked over at the boy, finally wresting a smile out of him.
9
I’m not saying I don’t like you.
I’m just saying I’d unplug your life support to make a pot of coffee.
—MEME
The boy disappeared down the street before I could talk to him. He wasn’t ready for the likes of me. I got that. Some days I felt the same way.
I called Cookie on the way back to the office.
She picked up, saying, “Davidson Investigations.”
“Cook, I called your landline. The one to your apartment.”
“Oops. Sorry, boss. How’d it go with Rocket?”
“Blue came to me.”
She let out a soft gasp. “Blue? The Blue? The same sweet girl you’ve been trying to make contact with for…”
“Ten,” I offered.
“For ten years?”
“The very same. Cookie, he destroyed the asylum.”
“What? Reyes?”
“He leveled it.”
“Oh, my God, Charley. I’m so sorry. I know what that place meant to you.”
“And to Blue and Rocket. I don’t like to be a negative Nancy, but this day has sucked.”
“You need tacos.” She knew me so well.
“I do. But that’ll have to wait. We’re doing this, Cook. We’re going to try to trap him the moment the sun sets.”
“Why when the sun sets? Are his powers diminished?”
“Sadly, no. I just figure fewer people will happen to spot us if we wait until dark.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s a good reason.”
“I just wanted … you know … if anything should happen—”
“Don’t you dare.” She paused when her voice hitched. “Don’t you even think about it. Besides, we’re going to be there, Robert and I.”
“Not this time, Cook.”
“What? We agreed this morning. We’re part of the plan.”
“You were a part of it. I don’t think Reyes is in there anymore. You should have seen Blue and Rocket. He left them terrified. I don’t know what he’s capable of now, and I just can’t risk you and Uncle Bob. Not this time.”
“Charlotte Jean Davidson,” she said, slipping into her mommy voice.
“I love you so much.”
“Charley, damn it.”
“I keep telling people, Damn It is not my last name. It’s not even my middle name.”
“No, your middle name is Cookie Is Going to Kick My Ass Next Time She Sees Me.”
“That’s it, I’m legally changing my middle name.”
Before she could make it even longer, because that one was going to be hard to explain at the registrar’s office as it was, I hung up. No way was I risking my best friend’s life. I’d already put her through so much, and she stuck with me, no questions asked. There was some cussing and name-calling and a little bit of hair-pulling, but no questions. And Cookie’s hair grew back better than ever.