“Hello?”
“Is this Willow Jones?” a voice asked.
“Yeah, but if you’re selling something, I’m not interested,” I snapped, about to hang up.
“This is the police,” the person said quickly. “I’m calling to tell you that your store, Unique Finds, was set on fire. It’s out now, but it was bad enough to burn into the shops on either side of yours. You might want to come down here.”
“I’m on my way,” I said, wishing Vie hadn’t left. I ended the call and headed to the elevator.
I knew better than to utter the words “today can’t get any worse” and challenge the fates to do more evil. I couldn’t help but think it, though.
Chapter 12
Vie
Unlike Sorrow and Pain, Vengeance didn’t bother to keep in touch with me, so I didn’t know where he was living these days.
Once I took my mist form, I sent my magic out in all directions. I could only hope he was still in the area. Usually when a wraith moved any significant distance, we’d inform each other, but Vengeance was the one brother I didn’t think would bother with those niceties.
Sorrow and Pain might find me aggravating, but they still visited with me. No one sought out Vengeance.
Except when they needed to hunt someone down.
I felt a trace of him to the east, deep in the desert. Flowing in that direction, I continued to send out feelers. He must have finally felt my searching because I got a harsh smack of magic from him and a pull. He wasn’t avoiding me, but I could tell I’d irritated him.
When I got to the place where he was, I floated around until I found a suitable place to materialize. I was struck by the desolation of the area. He was located inside an old mechanic shop on a large, poorly maintained lot. Yellowing weeds grew between cracks in the asphalt, the chain-link fence surrounding the property was falling over in several places, and ancient, broken-down cars covered in dirt and grime were parked so close you couldn’t have opened a door on any of them.
I couldn’t feel it, but it must’ve been hot here because heat shimmered up from the ground. I couldn’t see a single living thing. There wasn’t even anyone inhabiting the properties next door. The entire area seemed deserted. This was the type of place that died off because a freeway or bypass was created somewhere else. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Vengeance owned everything around him and deliberately kept them empty.
I stood outside the property line, giving Vengeance plenty of time to come out and greet me. It was an old custom I never bothered with, except for him. It wasn’t that I expected him to come out, but I wanted to make sure he noticed that I was being polite.
I waited for a very long five minutes before he slapped me with his magic again as an invitation to enter his property. What a dickhead.
Stepping through one of the gaps in the fencing, I walked to the building at the center of the property. All the bay doors were shut so I walked to the glass office door. It was so dirty I couldn’t see inside.
Stepping inside, I was startled by how clean and orderly everything was. No dust, no dirt, no heaps of detritus. There was a desk with a few folders and a laptop on it. Stepping through a door to my left took me to the mechanic bays. Like the office, this place was neat and clean and full of gleaming motorcycles.
Moving further inside, I found Vengeance sitting on a stool next to one of them. Ignoring me, he continued to work on the motorcycle.
I stood next to him, waiting for him to acknowledge me.
The only sound was the click of his wrench.
Impatient, I nudged his foot with mine. “Vengeance, I need your help.”
“I figured,” he said without looking up. He was wearing old, oil-stained jeans, a t-shirt, and a leather vest that had the image of a hooded figure with skeletal hands at the center. Written over the hooded figure was Wraiths and under it was written SoCal. When he moved a little, I saw a patch that said Vengeance on the front of the vest.
I knew he’d been affiliated with a motorcycle gang fifty years ago, but now it seemed he’d formed his own.
“The Wraiths?” I said. “Really?”
Whatever part he was working on came loose, and he pulled it free. Setting it and the tool on the floor next to the motorcycle, he picked up a rag and stood up.
“What kind of help do you need?” he asked, ignoring my questioning of his club's name.
Suddenly, I realized that I didn’t want to tell him about Willow. Vengeance could be unpredictable. Sorrow's reaction to finding out about Willow had been excitement that there might be a human out there for himself. Vengeance’s response could be to steal her and see if one wraith was as good as another.
“I want to hunt down some humans,” I said. “They destroyed a friend's apartment.”
