Kim Harrison - Something Deadly This Way Comes

“You should have waited and gotten your body back after we saved Tammy,” Barnabas said.

I gave Barnabas a dark look, relieved that it wasn’t anything that the seraphs did to curtail me. Grace had said something about how my decision to claim my body messed up both fate and chance. I’d just have to deal with it. How am I going to deal with it?

“So we look for her on foot,” Josh said, seeming as relieved as I was. “What’s the big deal? We have enough people. We should hit the bus depots and all-night places first. There isn’t much open. How hard can it be?”

“You’d be surprised,” Demus said to the stars. “Finding someone on foot isn’t as easy as it sounds.”

Nakita nudged him with the toe of her white boot. “Saving a mark isn’t easy, reaper. It’s hard work. Get used to it.”

Scowling, he swung at her foot, and she danced back, laughing at him, enjoying herself.

Barnabas was frowning—as usual. “Finding her visually will take too long. Even if we split up. This would be a lot easier if you hadn’t changed her resonance,” he grumbled.

“Maybe you can ask the seraphs to fix your amulet,” Josh said, sitting back down on his broken grave marker.

“Yeah, like they would do that now?” Demus said with a harsh laugh. “Madison, they are so mad at you.”

“Ron maybe?” Nakita offered, looking like she had swallowed something nasty, and I shook my head.

“He doesn’t know we’re here,” Barnabas said. “I think we should keep it that way.”

He probably suspected we were here, but I wasn’t going to bring it up. Not being able to see the time line was going to be a problem. I knew what Tammy’s resonance looked like now, but I couldn’t show anyone if the time line was a blurred mess to me. I didn’t think reapers could backtrack by themselves into the past to see where her aura shifted unless I was there to guide them. It would take a timekeeper for that. Or perhaps . . . one studying to be a timekeeper?

Elated, I yanked my borrowed pants back up. “Paul,” I said firmly, and everyone stared.

“Paul?” Nakita echoed, disbelief in the slant of her eyes.

“Who’s Paul?” Josh whispered.

Demus had sat back up to better laugh at me. “You mean the rising light timekeeper?” he snorted, and Josh’s expression darkened. Yeah, he remembered him now.

“Paul isn’t skilled enough to tweak your amulet,” was Barnabas’s opinion, but I was waving at them to listen.

“Yeah, I know. But he can help us find Tammy. He can look at the time line back to where I changed her aura. He can show both of you.” I glanced at Demus. “The three of you, I mean. And once you have that. Ba-da-bing! We have her.”

Demus was eyeing me in disbelief. “Uh, we’re talking Ron’s grub, right?”

Grub? I thought. How insulting is that?

Nakita had crossed her arms in front of her, looking immovable. “This is not a good idea. Even for you, Madison.” Josh, too, had turned away and was scuffing the turf with the toe of his boot. He wasn’t jealous, was he? I wondered, feeling a flash of delight.

“Why not?” I asked, not caring that everyone thought it was a bad idea. When had I ever had an idea they thought was good? “Paul helped us before. We never could have saved Ace if it wasn’t for his help.”

The words were out of my mouth before I had a chance to think about them, but it was true. Dark and light working together had done it.

“Oh, come on!” I almost moaned as Nakita rolled her eyes. “You got any better ideas?”

Barnabas gave up with a long exhale. “If she wants to try it, why not?” he said, and Nakita’s lips parted in surprise.

“Great,” Demus said as he stood and stretched. “You go talk to the rising light timekeeper, and I’ll go check in with the seraphs.”

Barnabas spun, his long coat unfurling. His hand was on his amulet, and his threat was obvious. “You show even one feather to leave, and I’ll cut your wings off. You’re Madison’s reaper, and you’ll do as she says, so help me God!”

“Gee, thanks, Barnabas,” I said to try to lighten things up, and Demus slumped. Apparently Barnabas’s swordsmanship was legendary.

“I guess I’m in, then,” the dark reaper said.

I smiled at that. Demus wasn’t really a bad guy. Just focused on old methods. Nakita had been, too, and she had been far more militant in voicing her opinion. Still smiling, I held out my hand to Nakita. “Can I have my phone?” I asked sweetly, and Demus made an odd, strangled sound.

“Sweet seraph nubs, she’s going to phone him?” the reaper gasped, and Josh sighed, falling back to stand against a tall pillar with his arms over his middle. He was starting to look cold. I knew I was. And he’s jealous!

I smiled my thanks as Nakita handed me my little pink phone, the battery charged and five bars showing. Magic, technology . . . it was pretty much the same thing to me. The important thing was that we were going to do this together. I couldn’t do it alone. I didn’t think it was even possible to do alone. It was going to take all of us. Light and dark.

“She has his number?” Demus asked in disbelief as I went through my phone book and hit ice.

“When did you get his number?” Josh asked, his voice clipped.

“Last month,” I said, listening to it ring. “I got it from Shoe, and thought it would be a good idea.” Josh was still staring at me, and I made a questioning face. “What’s the big deal here? I’m a timekeeper, he’s trying to be one. I’ve got him as my emergency number in case, I don’t know . . . I get put in jail for starting a fire or something.”

Josh turned away, and faintly, almost at the edges of my hearing, I thought I heard Grace huff and say that she was all the protection I’d ever need.

“Am I the only one who sees a problem in this?” Demus was saying. “Nakita, she’s betraying everything the seraphs believe in. Everything we believe in.”

“Shut up and watch,” Nakita shot back at him, but I could tell she was worried.

The phone was still ringing, and I fidgeted with it to my ear, wondering if the warmth I felt on my face was from Grace.

“’Ello?” a tired voice came on, and my tension doubled.

“Paul, it’s Madison,” I said, and Paul said nothing. “Dark timekeeper?” I prompted, then felt a flush of worry. Maybe I’d gotten the number wrong. “Crap, is this Paul?”

“Oh! Hi, Mark,” Paul said, and I froze until I realized he wasn’t alone. “Sorry, I fell asleep on the couch watching a movie. Sure. Hold on and I’ll get it. It’s in my lab book. You’ve got all weekend to do it. Couldn’t you have called tomorrow?”

Demus was leaning against a rock again, his disgust obvious. “He doesn’t even know who you are.”

“Relax,” Barnabas said, leaning close to whisper it. “He’s with Ron is all. That’s the problem with you dark reapers. You don’t know how to lie properly.”

Demus’s expression became irate, but I thought it was funny.

There was a smattering of background noise, the sound of a door closing, and then Paul’s hushed voice saying, “Are you insane? Why are you calling me?”

“Why did you tell me I could if you didn’t want me to?” I asked him.

“It was in case of an emergency!” Paul said, then hesitated. “What did you do?”

I would have taken offense, but I had kind of screwed up. “Um, I found my body. And now my amulet doesn’t work right.”

“Congratulations?” he said, making it into a question.

“See?” Nakita said, leaning forward so she could hear. “Even the grub knows it was a mistake.”

“It wasn’t a mistake!” I said, but I was starting to think that it was. Giving her a dark look, I turned back to the phone, my eyes on Josh’s. He looked mad, or maybe worried. “Paul, I need your help,” I said. Jeez, I hope he hadn’t heard the grub comment.