Fragility Unearthed Read online

  Victoria grabbed her phone. “I’m calling Jenny.”

  I marched toward the front door, not surprised when everyone except Victoria followed me to the front hall. I was sure my best friend would follow as soon as she got off the phone. We hadn’t done anything to check my DNA. Things had gotten busy. If she checked mine now versus then—well, I didn’t know what it would show.

  My time had run out.

  Claudia stepped around Henry when I approached. “Kendall.”

  “Detective.” I put my hands on my hips. “How can I help you? Come to arrest me?”

  She shook her head. I could see her light, but as the Master had indicated to me in the Chinese food restaurant, I couldn’t count on being able to tell anymore.

  “I’m not here to arrest you. I have nothing to charge you with. All of our evidence has disappeared. Everything that was unearthed is now gone.”

  Thank you Michael.

  I didn’t know how he’d managed such a feat. If I ever saw him again, I wasn’t going to ask him. There were much more important things to ask, but his interference in this way didn’t come unnoticed.

  “Well, I can’t say I’m sorry. You won’t have heard, but my mother is gone. She died. My father has … left.” I could barely swallow the words. “I’d rather not go to jail four months pregnant.”

  “Let’s start with you calling me Claudia.” She shut the door behind her. Apparently, she was staying.

  Malcolm stepped in front of her. “I’m her husband. Do you need something? Or did you just stop by to make our morning harder?”

  “I came by because there is something wrong, and ever since I left here I’ve been filled with the sense that you could answer my questions. You can, can’t you? What is wrong out there?”

  I took a deep breath. I don’t know what I would have said because Levi answered from the stairs. He sat at the top of them. I didn’t know he was up there and neither did Claudia because the second Levi spoke, Claudia turned pink.

  He had that effect on people.

  “Tell her the truth. She has no evidence. She can’t arrest you. You’ve broken no laws anyway. So tell her the truth.” He stared at Claudia hard. “And let’s see what kind of a person she turns out to be.”

  Unbelievably, the police detective believed me. I don’t know what disturbed me the most, the fact that she did or that Levi hadn’t been at all surprised. How bad was it out there? Molly wanted us to clear the ghosts. We’d spent months behind Victoria’s protective spell. Was the world falling apart out there without us?

  My stomach clenched. Was there even anything we could do?

  Michael wanted the hole plugged and the Master stopped, but would there be any world to save if we managed to get the job done?

  Claudia drank a scotch at Victoria’s kitchen table. I left her there, Levi by her side. They were silent. There was nothing I could ask of Levi anymore. He’d done more than his fair share. If he wanted to sit and not speak with someone else who had no business being wrapped up in mine, he was more than entitled.

  Malcolm stared at the white board. “Empty spaces. That’s what Levi said. They need a building with no one in it where they can make their alter and they can make it go boom until their people come through. Only problem is that they think they have that. Levi bought us time. We have no idea if they’ve even set out to find a second space because they don’t know they’re about to blow up.”

  I wrapped my arm around his waist. “All true. Question.”

  “Hit me.” He kissed my head.

  “You two are making me sick.” Chase slumped down in a chair and yawned. He hadn’t slept all night. I wasn’t surprised he was crashing. “Annika went to work.”

  Mary groaned and crossed into the room. “I leave for a couple of years, and you go and fall in love. Get all mushy.”

  Chase’s sister had been mostly quiet since she’d demanded to come back to life. I’d given her what she wanted, and now I had to wonder if she was at odds. Of course, we were all slightly that way since we were locked in Victoria’s house.

  “You had a question.” Malcolm nudged me. “Don’t forget what it was.”

  “I am easily distracted. Listen, what happens if, when Levi’s faulty semi-conductor doesn’t work, when it blows up, it takes out my father’s body anyway?” I hated the image, but there it was. I had to survive this time. Then I could get some serious therapy on all the grief I wasn’t letting myself feel. “Then what do we do?”

  He took a deep breath. “Then we’re back to square one. What we really need is the witch to figure out how to scry shadow energy without needing the body.”

  “Mom.” Dex’s voice shook where he called from the hallway. We all turned to look at him. I always knew when he was having a vision. His voice just sounded different. Like he spoke with the vocal cords of an old man instead of a nine-year-old boy. “So many people crying out. So many people to help.”

  Dex sunk to his knees, and I rushed over. I wasn’t my mom; she’d had visions herself, and she knew how to handle them. The best I could do was hold my baby. “I know, baby. There are lots of people who need our help. It’s okay.”

  He shook his head. “It won’t be okay. Not until the sacrifice is made. I can’t see … who.” He closed his eyes, resting his forehead against my chest. There was that word again. Sacrifice. I wasn’t sure that Dex even knew that word before. Chase walked over and placed his hand on Dex’s head. A second later, my son’s smile appeared, and he popped back.

  Chase’s gift was an amazing one. He could temporarily control people’s minds, and even more than that, he could take away their pain and worry. The first was weird to watch, but the second was a dangerous ability. Sometimes our fear protected us; sometimes our anxiety was exactly what we were supposed to feel.

  But my son hadn’t asked for this so-called gift, and a lot of pain that he suffered was beyond his ability to cope with. If Chase could help, I didn’t complain.

  “Thanks.” I looked up at him when Dex scooted from the room.

  He nodded at me. “Welcome. That actually hurt. How does he endure it when I’m not around?”

  “How does anyone live with pain?” I stood, my back groaning. “Listen, here’s the deal. I think we need to leave the house. The world is going on out there. And other than sneaking around at night, we are doing nothing at all.”

  Malcolm pointed at me. “Question.”

  He was imitating me from before, and I scowled at him. “Yes?”

  “Can you actually light bring? You’re pregnant. Can you take the light from the sun inside of you and do what you’re supposed to be doing in battle? Won’t it burn the baby alive?”

  I stopped, my whole body seeming to go on pause. “You’re right. I probably can’t. I can’t battle at all. Not like this. And you can’t win without me. It’s one of those must-haves. You can’t possibly bring in enough light to kill a shadow without me.”

  Malcolm crossed to me and placed a hand on my belly. “You aren’t going to be going straight from the hospital room to duels either.”

  “Michael says we have a year.” And I could suddenly hear the clock ticking. Tick. Tick. Tick.

  “We can plug it without you. That we can do. You’re right about me not being able to take down The Master without you. I barely made a dent in Top Hat, and he’s evidently not as scary.” Malcolm sounded resigned. “In the meantime, maybe we can help. Maybe we can all take down the small shadows, stop them from hurting. You can do that. We all can. Ghosts. Demons.”

  The entire operation, the entire focus of beating back creatures that would destroy us all, waited on me giving birth.

  “I need a minute.” I walked outside for some air. The world pressed on my shoulders. Everything was always about choice. I’d decided to have my memory erased. I’d had three kids. I’d gotten pregnant; that had been an accident, but it had also been a choice. Maybe I should have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off fighting all the ti
me. Maybe I should have just focused on what I was supposed to be doing.

  Was the world going to end because I had gotten pregnant? I hadn’t been thrilled when I’d first found out, but now I was in love with the baby. I hadn’t met him or her; in fact I’d declined to know the sex of the baby at the last appointment. But I loved the little peanut.

  “Kendall.” I looked up at Malcolm when he approached.

  I made myself count to five. None of this was his fault, although by default I tended to yell at Malcolm when I was stressed. Not my finest quality, but there it was.

  “What part of ‘I need air’ was confusing?”

  “The part where I couldn’t breathe it with you.” He leaned on the house nearby where I stood but made no moves to touch me—probably a good thing.

  The wind blew on us. It was cold, and I rubbed my arms. “This all went awry when Michael manipulated me into giving up my memories. That being said, I’d do it all the same. I know part of that caused you pain. Still, I’d do it again. Everything. Including this baby. He or she will not be born to a nice world, but I still want to know him or her.”

  “It was always going to be a big, giant clusterfuck of a fixed outcome where we couldn’t win. I’m sorry. But, knowing what I know now about the whys and hows of it, it was a bunch of nonsense thinking we could win. Even Michael didn’t know the outcome of what we had to try to do.” He took a deep breath. “I’d do it the same, too. Not a second with you was a mistake, and that baby belongs here. End of story. I’m going to be a terrible father.”

  I took his hand. “Well, you won’t have to do it very long.”

  “That’s very funny.” He drew me to him. “This is what it is. You’re feeling antsy. You want out of this house. We’ll go out tonight. Clear some houses. You can do that. We see a demon, you leave. Leave finding the Master and plugging the hole to the rest of us. We’re a team. It’s been the Kendall Show for so long. Maybe you’ve forgotten you don’t have to do it alone.”

  He was right. That didn’t make it any easier to swallow.

  Our first night out, we cleared a house and toasted four baby shadows that wanted to come out and play. I didn’t feel particularly satisfied with the experience, but it was good to be busy. The ghosts were nothing now. For years, they’d been my focus—what I was good at and then what I’d denied doing. But they were like feathers. I could hardly feel them as I sent them off. It was as if my body had transitioned into an ability I couldn’t use. I wanted shadows, and the big ones were denied to me.

  Victoria came over and put her arm around me when we got home. “You look … pissed.”

  “Good word.” And it applied.

  She grinned at me. “I’m cool like that. Listen, the detective is still here. She and Levi spent the day together.”

  Did my ex like the police detective? Well, she was really cute and so completely different than me. She actually did a job she could talk about. “Oh?”

  The thought didn’t burn me. I didn’t want Levi, not that way anyway. I had all the man I could deal with. I turned to listen to something Malcolm said to Ross. The two of them were getting ready to go back out and do a real clearing—a big one.

  Malcolm turned to me and blew me a kiss before he followed Ross out the door. “He never was very big on being sentimental, was he?”

  “Maybe you’re already the old ball and chain.” Block walked up next to me before he delivered his dig.

  I kicked him in the shin. “Don’t be an ass.”

  He put his arm around me. “You two were always spinning around each other. If you don’t like that goodbye, make him fix it next time.”

  “I don’t need a Kendall- Malcolm lesson from you.” I elbowed him. “I need to go see the detective who spent all day here.”

  “Have fun with that.”

  The detective hadn’t moved. Her coat was off, and she leaned toward Levi and laughed at something he said. Otherwise, she remained as she’d been when we’d left earlier. My ex grinned more easily than I’d seen him in a very long time.

  “Hey, you two.” I cleared my throat. “Claudia, I’m shocked to still find you here.”

  She looked up at me, her expression clouding a bit. “I need a favor.”

  Of course she did. “What would that be?”

  This was a woman who had threatened me the last time she’d been in this house. As much as I liked to help where I could, I wasn’t sure Claudia Sun was going to be on the list of people I felt like exerting myself for. Although, maybe I didn’t get to pick and choose. How the hell did this work?

  “I need to know if my partner is possessed.”

  “The last time I saw him he wasn’t,” I lied. Technically, he had been but not by the shadows. Michael had taken him for a brief time. That wasn’t what she meant, so I didn’t mind the fabrication.

  She shook her head. “Something has changed. I need to know if I can trust him.”

  “I’m not totally capable of this. Sometimes it’s hidden from me now. You could be a shadow. I’d never be sure.”

  Levi lifted his eyebrows. “You seem reluctant, Kendall.”

  “That would be because I am, Levi.” I rubbed my eyes. “Look, I can take a looksee if you’d like.”

  For Levi, and the things he’d done, I’d try.

  Claudia stood. “I need to know if he’s on the right side.” She took my hand. “I’m grateful.”

  I pulled my hand back. Once, I’d been the kind of woman who didn’t mind being touched. No longer was that the case. I didn’t know Claudia. We’d keep our hands to ourselves.

  “You got the kids for a bit longer?”

  Levi snorted. “Kendall, for years you took care of the kids. I went to work. I think it’s official that we can say our roles have reversed. Go to work. Yes, I’ve got the kids. Happily.” He raised his hand. “Do me the favor of not lying to me about how things will someday change. You and I both know that’s not true.”

  Levi had certainly gotten his voice back.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Claudia pursed her lips as she looked out the window of one of Chase’s SUVs. “So you and Levi, that must be long over. You’re married to Malcolm.”

  I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel. “We’re never really going to be over; we have three children. But yes, for the part that you mean, we’re over. He’s as wonderful as he seems.”

  Unless you suddenly have powers he doesn’t want to deal with …

  I shook my inner musings. Someday I would be fully over that. Assuming that I lived long enough to do so.

  “Great.” She brightened. “Do you think he would ever ask me out? Or is he the kind of man whom I should ask out?”

  “I’m not really sure.” He’d asked me out, but that had been a thousand years ago. Or at least that’s what it felt like. “Don’t you live far away?”

  She nodded. “Things can change.”

  It was usually a terrible idea to move for a man, particularly one you just met. I almost told her so and then shut my mouth. I was not, not, not getting involved in Levi’s love life. I couldn’t think of anything I would like to do less.

  “Sure.” We finally arrived at a hotel where her partner was staying. They’d apparently not left Austin since our last meeting because Claudia had been sure we would need to meet again.

  I wondered how they’d managed to convince their department to pay for it. The case of the strange bones couldn’t be that important on her docket.

  The baby wasn’t moving a lot yet. He or she was still too small to be much of a presence, but I could feel what essentially reminded me of butterfly wings inside my stomach. Right then, the baby seemed to be moving. I rubbed the spot.

  Claudia knocked on the motel door, and it swung open. I took a good look at Detective Edward Torrance. He didn’t have a light where his soul should be. I raised my eyes to meet his.

  “Hello, shadow.”

  He smirked, and Claudia pushed me forward into the motel room. I whirle
d around. What was she doing? As she grinned, her light faded too. I stood dumbfounded. How much dumber did I have to be to not see these things coming anymore?

  She patted the former Detective Torrance on his back. “If it means anything, Kendall, they’ll find your father soon in a dumpster on the other side of town. He wasn’t useful to me once you got his soul out. I didn’t see that coming. Bravo.”

  I hadn’t had anything to do with that, but I wasn’t going to tell the Master—who inhabited Claudia’s body—that Gabriel had done that unasked and not instructed by me. If he wanted to give me more credit than I deserved, he could go ahead.

  “Then I found this soul. I’d been keeping a look-see on her since she last visited you. Everyone you interact with is on my scope. You let her right into the house. She spent the whole day there. That was fantastic for me. I now know about the semi-conductor that’s going to blow up. We’re already making moves to fix that.”

  I put my hands on my hips. I wasn’t going to be able to beat this creature. I was stuck listening, which really, really sucked. In my pocket, I pressed my phone to turn it on. I didn’t know who I was calling, but the only people I had on my work phone were on our team. Someone would hopefully at least figure out I needed help. It was a long shot … but maybe.

  She—The Master was now a she—watched everyone who came and went. Patricia and Annika and Erin …

  “What do you need from me? You’ve killed my father and heard all my plans. Why bring me here? Going to kill me? Or are we going to talk about it first?”

  She touched her shirt. “I’ve been giving it a lot of thought. I’ve been pondering over the very best way I could bring you down. I thought and thought. Spending the day with Levi was very illuminating. Such a nice man. How did you throw him over for Malcolm? Big step down.”

  I thought about punching her in the face. She—it, whatever—had no right to even speak either of their names. I wasn’t afraid. Michael had scared me, but the Master didn’t. I was past fear. Resignation did that to me.