I waved at Ethel as she ran toward us from across the park.
“Holy shit, that is her?”
I looked in the direction James was talking about. Standing next to Arun was the dark-haired lady, with a big nose. She was yelling at him, and he would not look her in the eye. How did I ever date someone so cowardly?
“When you described her, we knew exactly who you were talking about.”
“Who is she?” James asked quickly.
“This isn’t your fight.” I didn’t answer his question.
He pulled me closer to him and wrapped a free hand around my waist. “I have a feeling it is about to be.”
Debating whether I should tell him or not, I went with my gut instincts and let the names slip from my mouth. “She is the mother of our coven. You probably know her as Sigyn.”
“Shit. Why does that name sound familiar?”
Most people aren’t as familiar with her as they are with her husband. I smiled and threw James a bone. “Think back to Norse mythology back in school. She was the goddess of poetry, but what she was really famous for was her one mistake. She held a bowl over her husband, stopping deadly snake venom from dripping on him. She held the bowl for days, and when she switched bowls...the poison fell on him anyway....”
“...Wait, Sigyn as in the Sigyn?” James interrupted me as the pieces fell together. I really enjoyed the light in his eye when he figured it out. “So that makes the man you have been calling father, Loki?”
He laughed when he said it but stopped laughing the second I answered, “Yes.”
“Well, shit. I thought my family was fucked up.”
I snorted. He made me snort, and then he made me laugh. The harder I laughed, the closer he held me. If we didn’t argue, then we could defeat anything. With him standing close to me, I just knew we could figure out how to convince Sigyn not to kill Ethel. Despite my new-found confidence, in the back of my mind was a sliver of doubt. What if we only hit the tip of the iceberg? Why would Sigyn want to kill her own daughter?
Chapter Eleven
James
There was no way I was losing my chance out of the city to convince Sigyn not to take one of Cat Girl’s nine lives. No matter how hot Violet looked in the corset, she’d never be my bride. I reminded myself ‘no women’ before finally offering one last time to take care of the coven mother myself. But Violet wouldn’t allow it.
A part of me felt emasculated by it. Why she thought Big Nose would be really hard to get rid of, or that it would take the two of us, was beyond me. But I didn’t speak portal and all things fucked up. Life was hard enough in the real world. And if Violet didn’t want my help, I wasn’t begging her. Besides, Big Nose would not be around for long. Not if what I’d seen was really true.
I hadn’t activated the curse. Instead, I’d kept my own eyes low and let Ethel and Violet argue over what to do. I had no interest in getting any more involved than I already was. I’d given them what they wanted and that was enough.
I looked up toward the purple sky – the same color as Violet’s eyes. I didn’t have all that long. I laughed, thinking about the portal and it being the perfect spot to hide from probation officers. Hell, if the guys from the Big House knew, I could make a fortune off of throwing them in the stupid portal. But I was done with that life too.
After checking on Ray, who’d fed me Leroy’s phone number and sent me off with a good chunk of change, I finally had my way out. The only thing he’d asked for in return was to put in a good world for him with Violet. I’d blown that part. But I had a feeling I’d be seeing her again anyway.
Syracuse. I’d been there before. And from what Leroy had told me, it’d be the perfect place to start over – big enough to get lost but not so big to be overwhelming. He’d taken a risk—sure—in calling me. But he also knew I wasn’t one to cause trouble if it could be avoided. He’d seen me walk away from more than one fight and never thought me strange for the curse.
EIGHT HOURS AND A SIX hour bus ride later
“J.T. ...Man! How ya been?”
Leroy looked good cleaned up.
I couldn’t say the same for myself. Whatever I was—a death seer, steer? see-er? What was it?—I’d probably have looked better with the monster face. Instead, after a bus ride with too many stops and all I’d been through since leaving the clink, the best thing my old block mate could offer me was a shower.
“Good. I mean, ya know.”
“Didn’t work out with your old buddy?”
I shrug. “No, I mean, it wasn’t horrible. But he’s sort of a pack rat and I just needed out of that place. New start, new beginning.”
Leroy’s frown tells me I won’t be staying here long. If he thinks I’m getting involved in any sort of robbery or break in, he’s out of his mind. I’ve never been locked up for reasons other than where the curse has led me. Now, with some level of control, the last thing I plan to do is let some other outside source take away my freedom. Enough is enough. I’d rather be leashed to Mistress Pain.
“Yeah, I hear you,” Leroy says, reaching for my duffle bag and asking me if I want a beer.
I don’t know what it is with everyone trying to feed me booze. It’s on the probation guidelines clear as day. And for the next two years, I have to play it cool. I tell myself that before remembering I’ve already broken the rules. Maybe I should have just entered the stupid portal. They’d never find me with the solstice gang on some freakish fertility orgy. At least there, I’d get laid?
It occurs to me to ask Leroy if he thinks I should check in with the state. But I know what he’d say. Instead, I shake my head and tell him I’m too tired to drink. I offer him a raincheck and ask if he’d mind if I showered. Since being electronically leashed to a perpetually purple-lipped chick whose best friend shifts shapes and needs to know the origin of her ninth death, I haven’t had time to breathe. Oddly, Leroy’s is my first chance at any real feeling of freedom.
“Sure, man. Two doors down. On the left. In the closet there are towels. Make yourself at home.”
I have to admit, Leroy’s pulled it together a hell of a lot faster than me. But then, Leroy has more experience and Leroy has an Old Lady. I wonder what she’d think if she knew Leroy had about twenty pen pals in the clink and how he often snuck into Bob Eastland’s cell to do all kinds of nasty shit. It doesn’t matter. She doesn’t need to know. I mean, when I thought about it, I had a sneaking suspicion Violet and her ex had some plans of their own. I was better off with no woman at all. It wasn’t like any would replace Jenn.
WATER BITES AT ME IN long, hard bursts. Leroy and his Old Lady could win the best water pressure award. The tiny, standing room only shower has enough force to keep an entire block of men clean even at the three times a week pace.
Don’t think about it. You aren’t there anymore, dude. You’re finally free. Put Violet away. Put prison there too. Get a job, get out of Leroy’s place before there’s trouble. You gave her what she wanted. She won’t fuck with you. She’ll leave you alone and keep the system off your back. She has to. She still has plans for you. And death curses can’t be issued to people who aren’t on your visiting list...