Kelley Armstrong - Broken

I knew then what “Tee” stood for, and why it embarrassed Zoe. T for thing. Someone’s cruel idea of a joke.

Zoe stepped forward, as if to speak, but the thi-woman’s gaze was fixed on me.

“Oh, oh my,” she breathed. “Yes, yes, I see. It is indeed. Or so it…” Tee’s head cocked, sunken dark eyes darting to an empty spot beside her. “Are you quite sure?” She squinted at me again. “No, of course it isn’t. I know a wolf when I see one, and that is a woman-” She paused, then hissed. “Yes, of course. I see that now. Human form. I was confused. No need to mock me.”

“Tee?” Zoe said.

A scrabbling noise. Tee’s head moved higher, looming above ours, jutting forward and sniffing the air.

“Zoe?” she said. “Yes, yes, I can see. I’m not blind. I know my Zoe. Did she bring me something?” A wet, smacking noise. “A sweet morsel from my sweet Zoe?”

“Straight from me, if that’s what you’d like, Tee. I have a favor to ask of you.”

More smacking, then a nauseating gurgling sound. Tee’s face moved back and forth, as if she was rocking.

“Oh yes, yes. You’re good to me, Zoe. You never try to trick old Tee. Give and take. That’s the way the world works. Give and take.”

“That’s the only way to do it, Tee. Now, I’m here-”

A cackle from Tee drowned her out. “Oh, I know why you’re here, Zoe. Yes, I do. Been waiting for you. As soon as it came, I knew my Zoe would be here.”

“It?” Zoe said.

Another cackle. “The gate opened, and out it came. Now it’ll come for sweet Zoe, and she needs protection. But it’s not big bad vampires this time, is it?”

Clay opened his mouth, but Zoe cut him off.

“Something has come out of that gate, Tee, but I’m not the one in trouble. It’s-”

“The bitch.” A high-pitched, spine-grating giggle, and her gaze flicked to that empty spot at her side. “Oh, I know it isn’t nice to call our poor momma wolf that, but she forgives Tee, doesn’t she? Knows she’s just having a little fun. Momma wolf needs a little fun right now. All that trouble closing in, and the other wolves keep circling around her, leaving no one to watch out for my Zoe. No one except Tee.”

Tee’s head jerked, eyes narrowing as she stared at that empty space. “Sheep? What sheep? I’m talking about wolves. Don’t confuse-Stop that. You’re-” Her head whipped around, eyes going wide. “No! Not you. I said I won’t talk to you.” Her gaze darted about, then her head pulled back into the shadows. “I won’t-I’m busy, can’t you see that? No! Stop!”

Her long arms wrapped around her head and she crouched, cradling herself. An eerie noise, somewhere between keening and humming, filled the room.

“Should have known it was going too well,” Zoe muttered.

The noise rose, and Zoe motioned us into the mouth of the book labyrinth, where the stacks insulated against the sound.

“Maybe if I try-” I began.

Zoe shook her head. “She’s gone. I might be able to pull her out again, with the proper motivation.” Her gaze skipped to a crate near the door. On top of it, beside a few dark blotches, lay a penknife. “But it’ll take some time. Better to give her a rest and try again. Let’s get out of here, get some air and a cold drink, and we’ll try again.”

We walked a few blocks in the bright sunlight and found a café patio. Clay ordered while I called Jeremy. I phoned Nick’s cell first, but Jeremy was back at the bookstore with Jaime. I wondered why Antonio and Nick weren’t with them, but found out as soon as I got hold of Jaime.

“Matthew’s clinging like a barnacle,” she said. “He was terrified of being left behind at the hotel, and Jeremy agreed it might not be wise, so we took him along, and sent him with the guys for a coffee while I worked here.”

“What have you found?”

“Nothing. Either her spirit has already left or the wound wasn’t fatal but…” A small pause. “I think she’s gone. Jeremy’s been trying to pick up a recent trail of hers leading out of the apartment or the shop, and there isn’t one.”

“Meaning she was probably carried out.”

“Maybe to dispose of the body…or maybe because they’ve figured out you guys have a necro working for you. Either way, I’m useless here, I’m afraid. How’d Zoe’s lead go?”

I told her what was happening, leaving out the less palatable details of our encounter.

“A clairvoyant?” Jaime said. “Now that I can help with.”

“I think Zoe has things under-”

“No, seriously. I’ve had experience with older clairvoyants. There’s one Lucas knows-used to work for his dad-and I’ve visited her a few times. Great old gal, but she…has her problems. I’m used to stuff like that. My Nan…well, it happens to necros, too, and I’ve been around a lot of them, so you learn the tricks. Same things work with clairvoyants.”

“I’m not sure-”

“Is she catatonic?”

“Umm, no, not exactly…”

“That’s okay. I’m sure I could get her to talk. Faye-that’s Lucas’s friend-her nurses say no one can get through to her like I can.”

Beside me, Clay shrugged and said, “Can’t hurt.” I wasn’t so sure.

“She’s pretty far gone, Jaime,” I said. “It’s not…it’s not something-”

“Too much for the celeb necro to handle?” She laughed, but an edge crept into her voice. “I know, you guys are looking out for me. And I appreciate that. Really I do. Been a long time since anyone didn’t just want to get whatever they could…” The sentence slid off into silence.

“Here’s Jeremy,” Jaime said. “Let me run it by him, and I’ll phone you back.”

Twenty minutes later, we were back at the hatch, with Jaime. Zoe had gone ahead to check on Tee.

Jaime stepped into the basement. “Dark, huh? And it smells…kind of like my apartment when I run off for a week and forget to clean first. Only this place is cleaner than mine, which is pretty sad. We should speak to this Tee about relocating. I’m sure that Dr. Tolliver has some connections. He could probably get her into a decent nursing home.”

“Um, maybe,” I said.

At Tee’s door, I paused. This wasn’t right. I had to warn her.

“About this-” I began.

Jaime jumped and clutched my arm. A small laugh, and she released her grip, and patted my arm in apology. “A little tense, I guess. Seems there are a few spooks here. Old houses. Always a few, it seems.”

“Oh? Maybe you shouldn’t go in then-”

“It’s okay. Oddly, they don’t seem to be interested in me.”

She reached around me and opened the door.

I led her through the maze of books, with Clay once again bringing up the rear. Jaime took in her surroundings with the occasional “hmm,” but didn’t comment.

Finally we found Zoe, talking to Tee, who was still hunched in her corner, enshrouded in shadow.

“Zoe,” I said as I walked in. “Here’s-”

But Zoe’s gaze was fixed behind me, brow furrowed in concern. I turned. Jaime was still in the mouth of the maze, with Clay barely visible behind her. She was rigid and pale, her gaze flitting about the room. Then she flinched, as if a bird had swooped toward her.

“Jaime?” I said.

“Sh-she’s not a clairvoyant,” Jaime whispered.

As she spoke, her eyes never stopped moving, landing and focusing on one thing, then another, then another. Ghosts. A room filled with ghosts.

“Shit,” I murmured as I swung around. “Let’s get you out-”

“N-no. They aren’t interested in me. Not while there’s a stronger necromancer around.”

Stronger? Oh, God. I hadn’t brought Jaime to see a mad clairvoyant; I’d brought her to a mad necromancer.