The world we live in is not necessarily the world around us. In fact, there is far more to our world than most people think. The world shapes us just as much as we shape it. Interacting with others is much the same. What we do affects them as much as they affect us.
Finding that common ground, that point at which different viewpoints can converge and agree is a leap of faith. It is a moment where cards are on the proverbial table and whoever has just placed them there feels vulnerable, gambling that the other party won’t take advantage. The more cards, the more risk. Some people prefer to play one or two. Some people play them all.
Some people are playing the game and the other person doesn’t even know it.
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I knew that it was too good to be true when Kelly called the night and sent the men offsite without mentioning my involvement with the initial fire. I was right, of course, for even as I had started to walk away, he moved up beside me and asked me if I wanted to work with him on this, or did he have to start an investigation on a conflict of interest.
“A conflict of interest?” I imagined he’d meant the Ravenswing girl. “Kelly, I had no idea what I’d find here when I started my investigations. All I knew was that I kept ending up back here at this facility, and that there wasn’t something quite right about the way things were set up.” I waved my hand across the dockyard. “Tell me what you see. Or, what you don’t see.”
“I see cargo containers and storage buildings, Shestin. Nothing unusual for a dockyard.”
“Here’s what I don’t see: Cranes to put that cargo on boat. Sure, there’s a dock, but tell me how they move these big crates. Look at them, Kelly. That one’s not moved in so long that rust has collected at the base. And that one over there? Rusted shut, I’d say.” Realization flickered across his face, and I shook my head. “So, what the hell is he moving? Unfortunately, the damned warehouse caught on fire and fell in on us before I could ask him.”
“You said he was dead.”
“Oh yes. Decidedly so, though it could be argued that he wasn’t alive to begin with. Look, I’ll wager you’ve seen your share of pretty strange things in Charleston. Things that you can’t explain, things you can’t account for in the normal course of the world. Shadows that aren’t there, voices that tell you to turn left instead of right. That’s my world, and I’m telling you that this is your crossroad. Right here, right now.”
He was giving me that look, the one that says he’s not buying into anything I’m saying, but because he doesn’t have anything better to say he’s just letting me talk. I kept talking anyway. “So I’m giving you a choice: Walk away. Turn around and leave the world of magekind, let the night blow off as some bad job and be satisfied with the rescue of the Ravenswing girl.”
I took a deep breath before I continued, turning my gaze back to the burned husk of the warehouse where everything had started. “Or you keep walking down this path, deeper into my world and you make yourself an antagonistic target for every magically natured creature who has ever been wronged by a mundane hand. I’ll fish your ass out of it when I can, but I can’t guarantee that I’ll always be there to do it.”
He was thinking about it. I could tell by the weight of the silence as it settled around us. He was a cop through and through, and he was a good one. But he was also the kind who bulldogged everything until he’d gotten to the heart of it, and as the world I walked was so vastly different, it was hard for a mundane to conceive it. I could have offered he work with me, we’d not done badly together this night, but I didn’t think he’d take me up on it.
“I’m in.”
Okay, I stared. He looked at me for a moment, and then nodded, as if to himself. “Yeah, I’m in. And I’d take you up on it, but you have to balls-up and ask me.” And with that, he turned and headed for his car, leaving me openmouthed. Son of a bitch was a thoughtmage, and I’d had no clue. Oh, I was so screwed.
“I-I’ll-I’ll call you.” I stammered after him. “We’ll discuss it.” I couldn’t believe that I was even entertaining the idea. He lifted a hand and waved it at me as he unlocked his car, and I watched him drive away. Once he was out of sight, I let myself ponder the implications of Kelly being a thoughtmage. What had he read from me, and what did he know? Now that I knew, I could understand his dogged determination to get to the matter of me, and I was fair certain that he’d still be after me, no matter what side of the metaphysical fence he stood on. I might as well keep him close then, so I could keep an eye on him and make sure he didn’t get too close to the truth.
Some days I felt like my life was a balancing act.
By the time I made it home, I had eight messages on my phone. Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t look at the thing while I’m driving. It’s not that I’m worried that I’ll kill myself in a car accident; it’s that someone inevitably does something stupid in traffic and someone else will end up hurt. So I just don’t bother with it. Besides, it’s more fun to make Ravenswing wait if it truly is him. Generally, though, it turns out to be news and other types of messages.
I got in the townhouse and checked my phone. Sure enough, the messages were mostly trivial, emails trying to sell me things, and one from my cell phone provider, telling me my bill was ready. Nothing worth reading anyway, so there’s no harm in making it wait a few more minutes in the end. I set the phone to charging in my office and went to the kitchen to poke about and see what I could find for food before I started writing up a report on the evening’s occurrences. Technically, I hadn’t been acting in my official capacity, but I could write it up and get clearance to move forwards on suspicious activities found.
Without Suzu in the house to work her culinary magic, food tonight was a bit closer to catch-as-catch-can. Today was one of those cup of noodles things, and while it wasn’t the best meal I’d ever eaten, it beat out the worst by far. Just don’t ask what that was, and we’ll all be happy.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Banging out a case report is about as much fun as it sounds. You must be analytical, dispassionate, and circumspect. Unless you catch someone undeniably in the act, you say ‘alleged’ and ‘purported.’ And if you not-so-accidentally kill them in a plasma fire, you have to justify the use of lethal force. I was just incredibly glad that I’d not had to fire my service weapon in the doing so. That’s even more paperwork, and possible administrative leave. While I don’t much care one way or the other about the leave… I’d prefer to keep the paperwork to a bare minimum.
Fortunately enough for me, I could blow off the fire as collateral damage and leave it at that. I hadn’t intended to kill him; I’d not known he was a demon. Still, I couldn’t be too terribly torn up about his death. It was one less demon in the world and ultimately put Ravenswing owing me one. That in itself was so rare it had been worth it.
It took an hour to plod through all the forms and to submit the necessary documentation up to the home office, and by the time I was done, I’d had five or six bites of noodles and the Styrofoam had given up on trying to keep the contents warm. Being that there’s nothing in the world quite as nasty as cold oriental flavored instant ramen, I threw it out.
Work done, and food mostly ignored, I checked the clock and found it later than I’d expected. It was near on to midnight, and I hadn’t heard from Ravenswing since I’d called him to collect his daughter. I half wondered if I’d bought myself some peace with that, and I decided to settle in with a book. I’d found the newest release from one of my favorite authors in the sharing library at the office, and I’d taken it home with me to read. It turned out to be not half bad, but I did rather miss the snarky presence of the ghost.
Two a.m. and I was done with the book. On an intellectual level, I understood what the author was going for, but on an emotional level, I wasn’t happy. That was, I decided, the mark of a good author: the ability to create a character and a world that I cared about and felt an emotional response to. I put the book on my coffee table and wandered up the stairs to my bedroom. I wasn’t planning to go to sleep, but I wanted somewhere a little more comfortable to spend meditating.
I was running, no, nearly flying across the green rock-strewn expanse, the rich scent of old earth and magic filling my senses. Nothing was chasing me, there was no reason for panic, I was doing it for the sheer joy of it. Wide open plains, the soul-deep knowledge that the land knew me and welcomed me, the rich and heady sensation of other mages in the area… I was home. I laughed, whooping like a child when I went down a hill too fast and had to use my magic to keep myself from falling, hearing the chuckle of my brother as he overtook me in the race.
Xelander and I, the way we used to be, racing through Chiarraíleigh, careless and carefree. It felt so dead to rights real, and yet a distant part of my brain knew that I was dreaming. Of course, once that tiny little part of me acknowledged that I was dreaming, the pain of being separated from my childhood home hit me in the chest like a mule kick and I awoke gasping and clutching at the scar as if it were on fire.
Five in the morning found me in the shower, and by half past I was in the rental headed up to North Charleston. I wanted to see where Xelander’s paperwork was and see if anyone on the board had earmarked it for recommendation. I’d prefer he be one of the participants in the new program, but I didn’t want to sponsor him, as that would be a conflict of interest. Of course, only a handful knew he was my brother, but in the event that it became public knowledge, I wanted to be as clear as possible ahead of time.
There isn’t much traffic in Charleston, not half as much as Atlanta, and I pulled into the parking garage just after six. I’d stopped along the way and collected bagels for the office, as was custom on Wednesday, and when I dropped the boxes off on Caroline’s desk, I left a note that hers was in the top box, right corner. She liked the cheddar cheese. Sometimes they had them, sometimes I wasn’t so lucky.
I found the scan of Xelander’s proposal in my email, and right away noticed that even if I hadn’t been looking for it, I would have known who it was. He wasn’t big in the imagination department and was calling his prospective medical practice ‘Wexforth Xenobiological.’ Fortunately, it had been signed off by the board, so I didn’t need to put my own recommendation on it. Ravenswing, of course, would find it irritatingly appropriate, but I’d make sure he approved it. He owed me one at this point, and I’d happily call it in if I had to.
There was a knock at my door and Caroline stuck her head in to greet me and thank me for the bagel. She walked all the way in the office and tutted at me, raising the blinds to let the morning sun in and to take away my cold coffee. That was part of the morning routine, and when she returned with a fresh cup of coffee, I sat back and looked to her. “Thank you, Caroline. I’d be lost without you.” That, too, was part of the routine, and she gave me her bright smile and ducked back out of the office, pulling the door closed behind her.
I signed off on Wexforth Xenobiological, burned my tongue on the coffee by way of celebration, and cussed mildly as I left my office to put the paperwork on Caroline’s desk. She didn’t comment on my language, and I didn’t mention that the first thing she’d done was take off her four-inch heels in favor of flats. She wore the heels when she walked about the office, but she didn’t need to add height when she was seated. I’d only teased her about it when she’d broken a heel and complained that everyone would think she was short.
“Caroline, do me a favor… when Doctor Wexforth calls in again, invite him to a luncheon. Better yet, call him and arrange it. Tomorrow would be good, today would be best.” I flashed her a grin, and she shook her head in bemusement. Of course, she didn’t know why I’d suddenly decided to entertain the good doctor, but no doubt she chalked it up to my personal brand of perversity.
I passed through the break room, putting in an appearance and making myself available for casual discussion. One or two offered verbal thanks for the bagels, but most of them were too busy eating to offer more than a nod my way. It was all part of the Wednesday morning routine anyway, so it wasn’t too far out of the normal.
When I returned to Caroline, she was busy thanking someone on the phone for their patience, and I hung back, waiting to see what Xelander had opted to do. Of course, once she hung up, she looked to me. “He said he’d be here at eleven. I’ll call across to your usual and make reservations for lunch at noon. The car will be ready at quarter after unless you wish to drive.”
I almost said we’d walk, but I decided against it. If a random storm decided to blow up, it wouldn’t look good to be caught out and have to call for a car after the fact. “That will be fine, Caroline. Thank you.” I slipped back into my office and started reading through my emails, deleting the recruiters and the sales calls. There were some invitations to various conferences, and an interoffice request for a charitable donation. I read through that, did a little internet research and then emailed the authorization to release funds down to payables.
The conference in Atlanta looked interesting, but that week was a bad one with the rollout of the project that Xelander was working for being scheduled at the same time. Granted, I wasn’t necessary to the success, but I preferred to be onsite in case something went wrong, and it usually did.
At quarter to eleven, Caroline buzzed me and let me know that the downstairs receptionist had just signed Doctor Wexforth into the building. It came as no real surprise that he was fifteen minutes early; Xelander was punctual to a fault. The man would have to learn the fine Southern art of being fashionably late, though I didn’t feel the need to start that lesson today. He’d be getting enough of a shock when he stepped into my office. I thanked her and told her to send him in when he arrived, and turned my chair so that the back of it was facing the door. Who said I couldn’t play it up as much as I wanted to?