Binding the Shadows
Page 46
Peter sank back in to the sofa and crossed his ankles. “I’ll be fifty this year. Guess I thought why not? You only live once.”
“Bullshit.”
Tiny lines filled Peter’s forehead as he raised his brows. “What are you implying, Lon?”
“I’m not implying anything. I’m telling you, I know something’s changed.”
“Like what?”
“You tell me. What are you doing to increase your knack?” Lon’s tone was unfriendly and accusatory.
I tried to smooth things over. “Because if you’ve stumbled on something good? Boy, we definitely want in on it,” I said, smiling my best flirty smile.
“ ‘We?’ ” Peter said. “I thought people like you used magick to get everything they want.”
A quick anger flickered inside my chest. “And just how many magicians do you know?”
He curled his thumb and index finger into an 0. “Unless I count you.”
“You don’t,” Lon said.
“So protective.” Peter reached for the wine bottle and tried to pour a drink, but nothing came out. “If you ever get tired of Killjoy over here”—he pointed the bottle at Lon—“give me a call. I could use a little magic in my life.”
A long silence fell. I could practically feel Lon’s blood pressure rising. Or maybe that was mine.
“Let’s cut the shit,” I said. “We know you’re using a bionic drug. We just want the name of your dealer.”
Peter’s face twitched in about fifty different places. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
A long moment passed. We all stared at each other. Strange noises floated nearby. Sounded like someone was in pain.
“Bind him.”
I looked at Lon. “What?”
“Bind him. He won’t talk unless we make him.”
Peter straightened in his seat, twitchier and twitchier. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Daytime, remember?” I whispered hotly to Lon. I wasn’t Sunchild.
“There’s more than one way.”
Alarm spread over Peter’s face like wildfire. He shot up out of his seat and whipped around the sofa to a low credenza behind it. As he was tugging open a drawer, Lon calmly stood, strode three steps, and slammed the drawer closed. Peter barely got his fingers out of the way in time. The blond man retreated a foot or two. “Stay back or—”
“Peter?”
We all looked toward the back of the living room, through an arch that led to the kitchen. A busty girl in a black bikini top held a white towel around her waist. Another girl peered over her shoulder. “The hot tub is done heating,” she said dumbly.
Peter said nothing.
“He’ll be there in a minute,” I told them. The first girl shrugged and they both retreated into the kitchen. As soon as they were out of sight, I said, “Who’s your dealer, Peter?”
“I don’t have one! I swear to God. I went to a party in Morella a couple weeks back, and everyone was talking about bionic knacks, but nobody knew how it was happening. Some girl invited me into a little side party in a bedroom and they were passing around a drink. She said it would make me luckier, so I took a swig. Everyone did. I didn’t feel anything, but I was already pretty drunk. Things got blurry after that. I didn’t think much about it until I tried to play the lottery. And, you know . . . it worked, I guess.”
“Where was this party at?”
“I don’t know. Somewhere in midtown. A really nice place. Some rich guy with connections to Morella politicians. I don’t keep track of who’s who in city politics anymore, and this was a friend of a friend—they heard about it when we were out at a bar, and someone drove us there. I was really trashed. I wasn’t paying attention.”
I shared a look with Lon, and he gave me a reluctant nod: Peter was telling the truth. Great.
“No one’s offered it to you since?” I asked.
“No.”
“And you went to this party two weeks ago?”
“Yeah. A day before the first lottery win.”
Which meant the potion lasted a hell of lot longer than I’d hoped. Not exactly what I’d wanted to hear, but it told me Telly was still dangerous.
Lon gave Peter a long stare. “If you hear of anything else—someone selling it—we’d appreciate a name.”
Peter glanced at my halo. “Uh, yeah. Sure.”
“We’ll let you get back to your teenage Dream Team,” I said, kicking the purple panties out of my path.
We headed out the way we came in and didn’t talk until we were back inside the glass elevator.
“Why are all your friends creeps?” I asked, a little perturbed.
“He’s not my friend.”
I punched the Lobby button several times, then the CLOSE DOORS button a few more times.
“I have normal friends,” he argued in a calm voice, pulling my hand away from the control panel.
“Like?”
“Mick.”
“The doctor?” I’d only seen him briefly from a distance in the emergency room when Jupe’s tattoo got infected during the chaos around Halloween.
“His wife is real nice. You’d like her. They’ve got two daughters. One’s Jupe’s age, the other’s a couple years older.”
“Hmph.”
The elevator began descending. I crossed my arms over my middle and considered what Peter Little had just told us. “He said the party he went to was swank. Someone connected to politics in Morella. So this bionic elixir is being distributed to rich politicians. I don’t think they’re buying it from homeless gutter punks like Telly.”
“Bullshit.”
Tiny lines filled Peter’s forehead as he raised his brows. “What are you implying, Lon?”
“I’m not implying anything. I’m telling you, I know something’s changed.”
“Like what?”
“You tell me. What are you doing to increase your knack?” Lon’s tone was unfriendly and accusatory.
I tried to smooth things over. “Because if you’ve stumbled on something good? Boy, we definitely want in on it,” I said, smiling my best flirty smile.
“ ‘We?’ ” Peter said. “I thought people like you used magick to get everything they want.”
A quick anger flickered inside my chest. “And just how many magicians do you know?”
He curled his thumb and index finger into an 0. “Unless I count you.”
“You don’t,” Lon said.
“So protective.” Peter reached for the wine bottle and tried to pour a drink, but nothing came out. “If you ever get tired of Killjoy over here”—he pointed the bottle at Lon—“give me a call. I could use a little magic in my life.”
A long silence fell. I could practically feel Lon’s blood pressure rising. Or maybe that was mine.
“Let’s cut the shit,” I said. “We know you’re using a bionic drug. We just want the name of your dealer.”
Peter’s face twitched in about fifty different places. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
A long moment passed. We all stared at each other. Strange noises floated nearby. Sounded like someone was in pain.
“Bind him.”
I looked at Lon. “What?”
“Bind him. He won’t talk unless we make him.”
Peter straightened in his seat, twitchier and twitchier. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Daytime, remember?” I whispered hotly to Lon. I wasn’t Sunchild.
“There’s more than one way.”
Alarm spread over Peter’s face like wildfire. He shot up out of his seat and whipped around the sofa to a low credenza behind it. As he was tugging open a drawer, Lon calmly stood, strode three steps, and slammed the drawer closed. Peter barely got his fingers out of the way in time. The blond man retreated a foot or two. “Stay back or—”
“Peter?”
We all looked toward the back of the living room, through an arch that led to the kitchen. A busty girl in a black bikini top held a white towel around her waist. Another girl peered over her shoulder. “The hot tub is done heating,” she said dumbly.
Peter said nothing.
“He’ll be there in a minute,” I told them. The first girl shrugged and they both retreated into the kitchen. As soon as they were out of sight, I said, “Who’s your dealer, Peter?”
“I don’t have one! I swear to God. I went to a party in Morella a couple weeks back, and everyone was talking about bionic knacks, but nobody knew how it was happening. Some girl invited me into a little side party in a bedroom and they were passing around a drink. She said it would make me luckier, so I took a swig. Everyone did. I didn’t feel anything, but I was already pretty drunk. Things got blurry after that. I didn’t think much about it until I tried to play the lottery. And, you know . . . it worked, I guess.”
“Where was this party at?”
“I don’t know. Somewhere in midtown. A really nice place. Some rich guy with connections to Morella politicians. I don’t keep track of who’s who in city politics anymore, and this was a friend of a friend—they heard about it when we were out at a bar, and someone drove us there. I was really trashed. I wasn’t paying attention.”
I shared a look with Lon, and he gave me a reluctant nod: Peter was telling the truth. Great.
“No one’s offered it to you since?” I asked.
“No.”
“And you went to this party two weeks ago?”
“Yeah. A day before the first lottery win.”
Which meant the potion lasted a hell of lot longer than I’d hoped. Not exactly what I’d wanted to hear, but it told me Telly was still dangerous.
Lon gave Peter a long stare. “If you hear of anything else—someone selling it—we’d appreciate a name.”
Peter glanced at my halo. “Uh, yeah. Sure.”
“We’ll let you get back to your teenage Dream Team,” I said, kicking the purple panties out of my path.
We headed out the way we came in and didn’t talk until we were back inside the glass elevator.
“Why are all your friends creeps?” I asked, a little perturbed.
“He’s not my friend.”
I punched the Lobby button several times, then the CLOSE DOORS button a few more times.
“I have normal friends,” he argued in a calm voice, pulling my hand away from the control panel.
“Like?”
“Mick.”
“The doctor?” I’d only seen him briefly from a distance in the emergency room when Jupe’s tattoo got infected during the chaos around Halloween.
“His wife is real nice. You’d like her. They’ve got two daughters. One’s Jupe’s age, the other’s a couple years older.”
“Hmph.”
The elevator began descending. I crossed my arms over my middle and considered what Peter Little had just told us. “He said the party he went to was swank. Someone connected to politics in Morella. So this bionic elixir is being distributed to rich politicians. I don’t think they’re buying it from homeless gutter punks like Telly.”
