Living with the Dead

HOPE

Karl pulled into an empty day-care parking lot, so they could talk. They left Robyn in the car.

"She's exhausted," Hope said. "We need to find her a motel room while I – "

"Then she can nap in the car while you meet him, and I'll watch over you."

Hope bit back her protest and went quiet, looking out over the play area with its eight-foot fence, security cameras and warning signs. A scary world when your kids needed to play in what looked more like a prison yard than a playground.

Karl thought she needed his eyes at this meeting as much as these parents thought their kids needed to play under a video camera eye. Whether the danger was real or not, the fears and the concerns were.

"All right," she said. "We can push on and keep her sidelined."

Karl's narrowed eyes fixed on the bright red and yellow plastic equipment, as if its cheerfulness offended him. "No, you're right. She needs to stay with us, and to do that, she needs to keep up. I'll drop you off at the meeting place and find a motel. You can take a cab there when you're done."

They stared at the yard, as if watching the ghosts of children at play. A gust shrieked through a crawl tube and Hope shivered. At a warm pressure on her hand, she looked down to see she was holding Karl's and realized she had been the whole time, more clutching than holding, fingers locked tight, thumb rubbing the back of his hand.

"I know you saw it," he said softly. "His death."

She sucked in the bitter air. Like chomping down on ice cubes, her molars aching.

"I could meet with him," he said. "If you aren't up to it, say so."

"As long as my brain's busy, the vision won't come back. You might want your own bed tonight, though. It'll be a rough one."

"Not if you're sleeping soundly enough. I'll make sure of that."

A laugh circled her stomach. It didn't make it out, but the tickle lifted her mood and she looked up at him. "And how are you going to do that?"

His free hand went to her hip, pulling her close enough to shield the wind, his breath thawing her numb earlobe as he sent the rest of her mood scattering with promises that left her trembling.

"I'll find a few chaos memories for you, too," he said. "New ones."

"As long as none of them involve leaps from rooftops."

"I know." His lips brushed her ear as he straightened.

"What you did back there, on the roof, it was very…" Hope struggled for a word, but every one – brave, selfless, heroic – would make him cringe.

"Stupid?" he offered.

She leaned against him and laughed. "That, too. But I appreciated it. Just don't ever do it again."

He nodded, which didn't mean he agreed, only that he'd take it under consideration.

When Hope saw where the meeting was being held, her anxiety jumped a notch. It was in the midst of a business district, where the only glowing Open sign was on her destination, a little shop called The Scone Witch. It made sandwiches from scones. Scone-wich, get it? She didn't either until she saw the helpful picture below, complete with the kind of wart-ridden hag that made real witches gnash their teeth.

The choice made her nervous because, given the location, it was sure to be empty. While that might seem perfect for a clandestine meeting, "empty" still meant there would be servers or counter help, probably very bored and quite happy to eavesdrop on the weird patrons talking about clairvoyants.

But when Hope drew closer, she realized it wasn't going to be a concern. It was like approaching a barn at feeding time – the cackle of conversation, the neighing of laughter, the honking of voices trying to be heard over the din. She made it inside the door, then was blocked by a guy in unrelieved black with a bad bleach job, flirting with a silver-studded girl.

When a shoulder tap and a loud "excuse me" failed, she was about to "accidentally" knee the back of his kneecap, when the guy stumbled and smacked hard into the wall.

As he glowered around for his assailant, Hope slipped past and followed a wave from a blond young man alone at a side window table.

"You looked like you could use some help," he said.

"Ah, knock back spell. And here I thought I'd developed a new power."

She sat down opposite him. Sean Nast, Savannah's half-brother and grandson of the Nast Cabal CEO. Sean was a couple of years younger than Hope, but with a quiet seriousness that made the age difference easy to forget.

She'd have thought Sean would prefer someplace farther from the head office, but he reasoned it was better here, where if anyone spotted them, he could say he'd invited her for coffee to discuss a business proposition.

Speaking of recruiting valuable supernaturals, Lucas had already filled him in on their theory about Irving trying to hire Adele. Sean confirmed that Cabal lower executives did that all the time, trying to get ahead by finding and cultivating new employees, which Hope knew, having been the subject of just such an independent project once herself.

But it didn't really matter what Irving had been doing with Adele. The problem was that photo, linking him to a cop killer. To squelch that threat, Sean would do what he could to help Hope find Adele.

As for Detective Findlay, Hope had been wrong about his being on the Nast payroll. Nor would he be a Cabal executive's "independent project" – if so, he'd never dare show up at the head office, flashing his badge.

Sean explained how he found Detective Findlay at the office and, on hearing him mention Hope's name in a phone call, he'd excused himself to phone Lucas.

"I planned to call Irving in and play it straight while I figured out what was going on. But when I came back, he was checking out a picture of Savannah. He asked about her, and I started wondering if dropping your name hadn't been an accident. I decided to brush him off and look into it some more."

"So he seemed to recognize Savannah?"

"I probably overreacted and he was making conversation. It just rubbed me wrong." He sipped his latte. "You told Lucas this detective is a necromancer?"

She explained. Sean hadn't known Expiscos could detect other supernaturals. Hearing that, most Cabal executives' eyes would glitter as they pondered the applications. Even Lucas, when he found out, hadn't been able to suppress a pensive moment of consideration. But Sean reacted with mild curiosity, as if it was an interesting but esoteric fact, like discovering sloths slept with their eyes open.

"Findlay could be working for someone else. A gang or a counter Cabal group…" He trailed off, gaze sliding up, as if making mental notes. "I'll check that out. In the meantime, I pulled up our records on clairvoyants in L.A."

"And…"

"Current records? None. At least, none who aren't already on the payroll."

"You have two clairvoyants on staff, don't you?"

He nodded. "Granddad brags about that, but it's not as impressive as it sounds. One has severely limited powers and the other is approaching retirement."

She noticed he didn't say "approaching retirement age." Cabal clairvoyants rarely survived long enough to collect Social Security checks. "The Cabal must be looking for a replacement, then."

"Even if they had a powerful one at every satellite office they'd still be looking for more. It's an incredibly valuable power. The problem is finding them. With rare half-demons, like an Expisco or Ferratus, sometimes we get lucky and you guys come to us for work. Other times, we stumble on you and the negotiating begins. We'll take no for an answer because we know somewhere out there is another one willing to say yes. We want to entice you into employment. Voluntary employment. It's just good business. That never happens with clairvoyants. They're well compensated – come to us and you'll live like a millionaire – but it's selling your soul."

"Or, in this case, your sanity."

He nodded. "Clairvoyants have underground networks for hiding and protecting their members. Even if a family hasn't had a bona fide clairvoyant for generations, they're part of the network, ready to disappear if they ever do. They also have the lowest birth rate of all the races. Intentionally, it's presumed."

"Genetic Russian roulette."

"Most choose not to play."

She'd gotten all this from Lucas, but talking obviously relaxed Sean, and a second opinion never hurt.

He continued. "This girl is young and she seems to be voluntarily talking to Irving. As for why, my guess would be simple youthful ignorance. She figures she can make a lot of money and get out. It happens now and then – the misconception, not the getting-out part. My guess is that her family isn't part of the underground network and hasn't properly warned her. She's moved here recently, on her own, hoping to make her fortune."

She studied his face for any sign he was misleading her. But it was open, relaxed, his hands flat on the table. In his element now, not discussing his family or his firm, just having a casual speculative conversation with a fellow supernatural.

"I don't think she's new to L.A., and I don't think she's alone," Hope said.

"With other supernaturals?"

"Other clairvoyants."

That made him blink in genuine surprise, but even after he'd digested it, there was no gleam of discovery. It was like a diver finding a treasure chest and thinking only of the historical significance.

She was sure Sean Nast was good at his job. He had to be – Irving was proof that Cabals didn't promote on genetics alone. But whatever instinct was needed to truly embrace a Cabal family's philosophy, to look at a fellow supernatural and see only an asset, Sean didn't have it.

Still, she didn't mention Adele's paparazzo double life or her teenaged clairvoyant partner. However much Lucas trusted Sean, Hope had learned her lesson often enough. In this world, when you can keep your mouth shut, do it.

They talked a little more, and he promised to dig deeper into the Cabal files. Then she finished her tea and called for a taxi.