Strange Fates Read online

  “It’s a gas fireplace,” I pointed out.

  “Exactly,” she said.

  I laughed and she grinned triumphantly. She flicked a button and a flame lit. Instant roaring fire.

  I had to admit it was cozy, sitting snug in their living room as the storm raged outside.

  I settled back into the sofa and watched the snow fall. Contentment made me nervous. Is this what it was like, not to have a sword dangling over your head all the time?

  What prompted my aunts’ rage? They would leave me alone for months, years sometimes, and then Gaston would appear. I didn’t kid myself that it took him that long to find me. How could I finally get them out of my life?

  I turned the questions over and over in my mind. Elizabeth’s resemblance to my dead ex wasn’t a coincidence, but what was it? A trap? Good fortune? Something somewhere in between?

  I realized that Elizabeth was looking at me expectantly. She’d obviously said something I’d missed.

  “You’re staring.”

  “You remind me of someone I used to know.”

  “Is that a good thing?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  Apparently, it was up to me to provide the entertainment. “Up for a game of poker?”

  Jenny looked from Elizabeth to me. “I’m going to bed.”

  She was barely out of the room before Elizabeth jumped up and went into a discreetly concealed cabinet near the fireplace.

  “Let’s make this game interesting,” she said. She handed me a bottle from the cabinet and sat next to me, so close that our legs were touching. She’d given me a bottle of Mezzaluna Italian vodka, my favorite. Coincidence?

  “This is my favorite,” I said.

  “Mine, too,” she said.

  “I have the devil’s own luck,” I warned her.

  She grinned at me. “I’m willing to take the chance.” She grabbed the bottle and poured healthy amounts into each glass. “What are the rules?”

  “Lowest hand drinks?” I suggested.

  We popped some microwave popcorn and used that to bet with.

  I watched Elizabeth’s face as we played. My gaze was drawn to her, despite my best efforts to keep my mind on my cards.

  An hour later, I wished I had picked some other rules. Elizabeth had spectacularly bad luck and had lost the last five hands. I wasn’t one of those guys who needed to get a girl wasted to get her to make out with me. At least my ego hoped I wasn’t.

  I’d won again, but this time I pretended I had the low cards. Elizabeth had somehow gotten closer to me. She’d inched closer, probably without realizing it, during every hand.

  “You’re cute,” she slurred. Her pale skin was flushed, and my eyes traced the lines of her body as she stretched like a cat.

  I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t let anything distract me from my plan, and Elizabeth could be much more than a distraction.

  “I need a break,” I said. I stood and went down the hall to the bathroom, where I splashed cold water on my face.

  When I went back into the living room, Elizabeth was gone, so I headed for the guest room.

  I bumped into someone standing in the hall and reached out to steady her. Elizabeth.

  “I thought you went to bed,” I said.

  “I needed to check on something.” She didn’t move away from me. We were so close I could smell the alcohol on her breath.

  We stood there, in the dark, where it was quiet, except for the sound of our breath mingling. I wanted to kiss her more than anything. Instead, I realized I was holding her and took a step back.

  “Good night,” I said.

  “Good night,” she replied.

  A pair of men’s pajamas was folded neatly on the bed. I took off my jeans and slid into the cotton bottoms. A fellow could get used to this kind of life, but I needed to keep my distance from her. I needed to find my mother’s charms, take care of the aunties, and get out of Minneapolis. I needed to get away from Elizabeth.

  Chapter Eight

  The next morning, the weather finally cleared up. When I came down to the kitchen, Jenny was drinking a Bloody Mary. The smell of vodka was strong so I sat at the opposite end of the counter in my borrowed pajama bottoms. The house was warm so I hadn’t bothered with a T-shirt. Besides, I bet it pissed Jenny off that I was walking around shirtless. She’d taken an immediate dislike to me, which was more than reciprocated.

  “A little early, isn’t it?”

  “That’s rich coming from you,” she snapped.

  Elizabeth walked in wearing a maroon sweater and a plaid skirt. Complete posh schoolgirl outfit, even down to the pearls studs decorating her earlobes and the headband in her hair.

  I poured a bowl of Wheaties and offered it to her, but she shook her head. “You look different,” I said. “Like a schoolgirl.”

  “I am a schoolgirl,” she said. She laughed at the look of horror on my face.

  “Scared you, didn’t I?” She chuckled. “I’m completely legal. I’m in college.”

  I was perplexed by the many faces she’d shown me. Who was the real Elizabeth?

  “I have a class in approximately twenty minutes,” she continued. “What are you going to do today?”

  “I’ve got stuff to do,” I said. I was going to hit the streets to look for my mother’s charms. I needed to check my messages. I’d never heard from the guy I was supposed to meet at the Red Dragon. It worried me that someone else had bought the charm from him before I could. Or worse.

  “You could come with me,” she suggested.

  I shook my head. “I’m done with school,” I said.

  “Dropout,” I heard Jenny mutter.

  I ignored her. “I could use a ride to my car.”

  I wouldn’t be surprised if Gaston was already trolling the city looking for me. The guy had the nose of a bloodhound when it came to me. He’d sniffed out my hiding spot more times than I wanted to admit. He and my aunts would figure out I was here soon enough, but I wanted it to be a surprise. The kind they’d never forget.

  I grabbed my stuff and walked out to Elizabeth’s sports car. She slid into the driver’s seat and started the car. “Where to?” she asked.

  “It’s just a couple of blocks away,” I said.

  “You promise you’ll call me?” she asked.

  She grabbed my phone and programmed her number into it. It was the kind of phone you could use a couple of times and toss, but it freaked me out to have her number stored there.

  “Don’t you have to get to class?”

  She made a face at me but headed the car in the right direction.

  She sang along with the radio as we drove. I didn’t say anything, just watched her. Why was she so eager to keep me around? I didn’t kid myself that it was my strong jaw. She wanted something from me, besides finding her brother, but I wasn’t sure what it was. A competent private detective could find her brother before I could. There was more to the story than what she was telling me.

  I hopped out while the light was red. “I’ll see you later,” I said.

  “I hope so,” she said. “You promise you’ll be in touch?”

  “I’ll be in touch,” I said. I watched her drive away.

  * * *

  I hit a couple of antiques stores, but I didn’t have any luck. My source had been sure that the cat carved from ebony he had was the one I was looking for. He’d indicated that the other charms were in Minneapolis as well. I dialed his number, but it was disconnected. I slammed the phone down and swore.

  My next stop was the manufacturing district. Jasper had mentioned my aunts were producing something the magical world had never seen before. But what could it be? And Elizabeth had said her brother was in research and development.

  I headed back to the Drake, but as I walked along Fifth Avenue, a few blocks from the hotel, the wind kicked up, sounding like someone was howling in pain.

  I glanced up at the graying sky and froze.

  High in the sky, large birds circled lazily
above the hotel. My skin felt too tight, and it got hard to breathe.

  I squinted and took another look. Not birds, harpies. The bird-women were really my aunt Deci’s favorites. She loved them like they were her own sisters. If the harpies were in town, my aunts had something horrible planned for somebody. I hoped it wasn’t me.

  I forced myself to turn and walk, not run, in the opposite direction. The Drake was out and I couldn’t risk going back to Elizabeth’s. I’d have to rough it for the night. I needed to test my disguise. Come face-to-face with my aunts and see if they recognized me. Infiltration. Retribution. Revenge. My plan in three easy steps, except there wasn’t going to be anything easy about it.

  It was a big leap of logic to assume that Elizabeth’s brother Alex was the same Alex Jasper knew, but I did know that Alex had worked for my aunts. Maybe I’d be able to find out what happened to him and spy on my aunts at the same time. But none of it would work if the spell didn’t hold and my aunts recognized me.

  As much as the thought gave me the shakes, I knew I’d have to face them and soon, if I had any chance of my plan succeeding.

  But first, I was going to reunite with the Caddy and head to the library, where it was warm. And more important, where they had computers.

  The Internet was as almost as good as witchcraft and not nearly as detectable. It only took me an hour or two to find out enough about my aunts’ new business to figure out my strategy. The company website indicated that Morta, Deci, Nona—and surprisingly, Nona’s husband, Sawyer Polydoros—all worked at Parsi Enterprises. Since when did the Fates bother getting married?

  Elizabeth’s brother had worked at Parsi before his disappearance. Why was I not surprised? I printed out the address and stuffed it in my jacket pocket.

  * * *

  I found the address easily. Parsi Enterprises was in an old converted warehouse building in the North Loop neighborhood.

  A security guard sat at a desk in the lobby, reading Guns & Ammo. When I approached, he grabbed a clipboard. “Name?”

  I wasn’t on any list for the building. “Uh, I wanted to drop off a résumé,” I said.

  His clipped “Name?” told me I wasn’t going to be able to breeze right on in.

  I couldn’t risk using magic to convince him, not so close to where the Wyrd family made their fortune. I held out the sheet of paper with the directions on it and hoped he wouldn’t look too closely. “I wanted to drop off a résumé,” I repeated.

  He sneered at my beat-up leather jacket and scruffy Docs. “Twenty bucks,” he said.

  I handed over my last twenty and the guy pocketed it before he returned to his magazine. I took that as my cue and rode the elevator to the third floor.

  Once there, I admired the limestone blocks and heavy wooden beams. The building was built to withstand time. Or a magical onslaught? A familiar sensation alerted me that the third floor had been warded.

  The elevator opened onto a suite. Everything was decorated in soothing neutrals, but a pair of shears, the symbol of the House of Fates, had been woven into the pattern of the carpet. At least I knew I was in the right place.

  I ignored the bored-looking girl who lounged in the waiting area and approached the receptionist, who looked almost as bored.

  “May I help you?” he asked. He wore a suit and tie and a tiepin with the House of Fates insignia, but I didn’t feel any magical ability coming from him at all.

  “Are you hiring?” I asked.

  An imposing-looking woman with high cheekbones and silver hair swept into the office and threw down her gloves. Morta. Would my disguise hold?

  “Trevor, any messages?” she asked the receptionist.

  I choked back the desire to reach out and squeeze her neck until she stopped talking.

  He gestured to the girl. “Naomi’s here.”

  Morta gave him a short nod and seemed to notice me for the first time. “What do you want?” she snapped. Her eyes were sharp as thorns.

  “A j-job,” I stuttered. I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans.

  She was used to intimidating mortals, so my bumbling response didn’t even cause her to raise an eyebrow. “We’re not hiring.”

  The girl had wandered over while we were speaking. “Is Aunt Deci coming, too? I’m starving.” She pulled the hood of her jacket down, which revealed red hair and freckles.

  “Aunt Deci isn’t feeling well, I’m afraid,” Morta replied. “Maybe next time.”

  My legs began to work again and I left. As I pushed the elevator button, I realized what the young woman had said. Aunt Deci. I’d just met my cousin. What had the receptionist said her name was? Naomi.

  As I crossed the street, I spotted a crumbled five-dollar bill in the gutter and grabbed it before the wind could blow it away. I headed for the coffee shop directly opposite my aunts’ office building.

  I ordered a large coffee, took a seat near a front window, and waited. They were probably grabbing an early dinner. I didn’t know what I was waiting for until they emerged from the building and got into a town car with Morta at the wheel.

  It was after five. Their little desk jockey was probably gone by now and I could sneak by the security guard. Their office was warded, but not by anything I hadn’t seen before.

  The thought of going back there made my throat turn dry, but I crumbled my empty to-go cup and headed back to rifle through my aunts’ office.

  I made it to the third floor without any problem. I didn’t expect to find anything at the reception desk and didn’t. I froze. Someone was coming.

  I moved away from the desk and was standing with my hands in my pockets when an older man with auburn hair came out of one of the offices.

  “Can I help you with something?” He had a slight Southern drawl, but he hadn’t lived there for a very long time. I wondered exactly how long it had been.

  “I was looking for Alex,” I said.

  “I’m afraid he’s not with us anymore,” the man replied.

  “But he loved this place,” I ad-libbed.

  “He quit about a month ago.”

  I tried to look more down on my luck than I usually did. “Damn,” I said. “He said something about a part-time job. I could use the work.”

  He gave me a charming smile. “Sorry, I don’t do the hiring,” he said. “Why don’t you leave your résumé and I’ll give it to HR?”

  His resemblance to Naomi convinced me to attempt to extend the conversation.

  “I don’t have a résumé,” I said. “But I’m a hard worker.”

  I tried to look hungry and harmless at the same time.

  It must have worked.

  “There’s a deli down the street,” he said.

  I shrugged. “I’m broke.”

  “My treat,” he said. “I’m Sawyer Polydoros, by the way.”

  “Nyx Fortuna,” I replied.

  “Fortuna?” he asked. “That’s unusual.”

  Had I just given myself away? I should have realized they would associate that name with my mother. “Family legend says that my grandfather was a hopeless gambler,” I said. “He changed his last name, hoping it would be lucky.”

  “Well, Nyx Fortuna,” Sawyer said, “are you hungry or not?”

  “I could use a hot meal.” And information from Nona’s husband.

  “After you,” he said.

  It wasn’t until he reached for his coat and we left the third floor that I realized I’d just agreed to have dinner with a necromancer.

  Sawyer Polydoros was unlike any other necromancer I’d met. Nona’s husband was a handsome man with a booming voice and more than a little Southern charm. He smelled the same, though. Underneath his expensive cologne, the unmistakable odor of grave dirt, mummy dust, and old bones came off him in waves. What was different was the air of kindness and interest in the living world.

  Necromancers were also known as bone-conjurers, and since one of their talents was summoning the dead they were on the top of the heap at the House of Hades. Sawyer di
dn’t wear an insignia from the House of Hades or from the House of Fates, which intrigued me.

  Necromancers were almost as rare as trolls. Most had spent so much time in the dark that they had forgotten how to smile, but Sawyer’s smile lit up the tiny deli.

  We ordered thick sandwiches piled high with pastrami and settled in at a corner table.

  “Have you been with the company long?” I asked.

  He nodded. “My wife and her sisters own it.”

  “Sisters?” I tried for a casual tone.

  “Nona has two sisters who run the business with her,” he replied.

  “Only two?” My curiosity was showing, so I added, “I mean, it’s a pretty large corporation and all.”

  “There was another sister,” he said. “But she died long before I met Nona.”

  “Tragic,” I managed to grit out.

  He nodded. “Nona never talks about her, but I think they were close.”

  So close they murdered her. Sawyer was clueless. Did he even know his wife was a Fate? He was a necromancer, so he couldn’t be completely clueless. I hoped the occulo spell concealed my magic.

  He noticed my untouched sandwich. “Eat. You must be starving.”

  I bit into the sandwich and chewed thoughtfully. It was delicious, but my mind was on other things. My aunt was married to a necromancer.

  “This is the best deli in the city,” Sawyer proclaimed.

  He was right.

  “So how do you know Alex?” Sawyer asked.

  “We’re old friends,” I lied. “Couldn’t find a job back home and Alex convinced me to try my luck out here. I don’t know a soul in Minneapolis.”

  We finished our meal, making inane small talk.

  “I’d better go,” I finally said. It was clear I wasn’t going to find out anything else. “Thank you for dinner.”

  “It was my pleasure,” Sawyer said.

  “You sure there isn’t any work for me?” I asked. The occulo spell had held. Now it was time to get close to my aunts. Close enough to stick in the knife.

  He laughed. “You’re persistent, I’ll give you that. I’ll see if I can get you an interview. No promises, though.”

  He took down the number of my brand-new burner phone. I switched numbers every few months. The not-so-anonymous death threats got old, and I figured why make it easier for Gaston to find me.