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“Nah. It’s fine. I was basically homeless when they found me. She said she’d take me in, take care of me. And she did, to a point, but all they did was keep me holed up in my room. I could’ve escaped if I could do what you do. I mean you have, what is it, like shadow magic?”
I perked up and nodded. I like talking about me. “Basically, yeah. There’s other stuff I can do with it.” I thought of the honing, and the mass destruction I caused each time I used it, then decided I didn’t want to scare off the one friend I was almost making by telling him I was a walking slaughterhouse.
“And I get life magic. That’s kind of lame.”
“Don’t be so sure. There’s a reason the Viridian Dawn wanted you.” I spotted the confused look on his face. “Oh. That’s what the people holding you called themselves. They liked to think of themselves as a sort of cult.”
Asher scoffed. “That’s what they were. They thought they were druids. Is that even a thing? Deirdre was the closest thing to it, I guess. She kept going on and on about how technology was evil, how the planet should be returned to nature, which was hilarious because her followers were always on their phones anyway. Apparently the whole point of bringing me in was to use me as an engine to cause some kind of overgrowth, to choke the city.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Wait. As in, to cause so many plants to just overrun Valero? Is that what you mean?”
“I know it sounds silly, but it’s more destructive than you think. You know how when a tree grows its roots through a house’s foundation, it makes some cracks? Imagine that but on a huger scale. She’d hit two birds with one stone – destroy the city, but also create a haven for druids like her.”
It made sense now, how even the enchanted objects her goons were using drew their power from the earth. Hell, even the god artifact they decided to corrupt was so closely tied to nature. I didn’t think hippies could be so theoretically dangerous, but then we had Deirdre.
“I actually had a sense that you guys were coming,” Asher said. “At least when you were still outside the compound.”
“How could you tell?”
He shrugged again. “It’s part of the package. I can sniff out signs of life around me. All the – cultists, did you say? – I was used to the scent and feel of their life force from them hanging around the house so much. The four of you were new, different, and I didn’t feel threatened, really, except for when your vampire buddy started getting cozy with me.”
“Yeah,” I said. “He’s got issues. But wait, sorry. You said that you detected our signals? Could you, I don’t know, use that ability to track down someone specific? Say, someone in this city?”
He shook his head. “No can do. It’s strange. I can sense people nearby, but outside of a house, or” – he wove a hand around the room – “whatever this place is? My range is pretty limited. I guess I’m still new to this stuff.”
That meant he couldn’t help find my dad. I tried not to look too disappointed. I mean, it was worth a shot. It couldn’t have hurt to ask.
“Did you have someone you were looking for?
“Not particularly,” I said, slipping him the lie as easily as I slipped a smile onto my face. “Don’t worry about it.” I extended a hand, finally remembering my manners. “We didn’t properly meet. I’m Dustin Graves. You can call me Dust.”
He took my hand and shook it. “Asher Mayhew. You can call me Ash.”
It was stupid, but the two of us chuckled over it anyway. Ash and Dust, like some kind of paranormal law firm, a supernatural detective agency, maybe even a fantasy novel.
“You’ve had something to eat, right? Looks like you totally destroyed what Mama Rosa prepared for you out there.”
“Dude, I love adobo, man. She makes good lumpia too. The spring roll things. I miss the way my mom made stuff.” He waved a hand by way of explanation. “I’m half Filipino. Nothing beats some good old home cooking.”
I smiled wanly, a pang of loss settling in my chest when I realized I couldn’t even remember what my own mother’s cooking tasted like.
“Well,” I said. “I’m bunked in the room next door. Knock if you need anything.”
“Appreciate it. I guess I’ll just wait around for Carver?”
I nodded. “Help yourself to the amenities until then. Your bathroom should be fully stocked. I suggest a nap.”
He gave me a salute, then turned to his knapsack, busying himself with whatever he kept in there. I ambled over to my room. Nice kid, I thought, just as I realized that we really weren’t all that far apart in age. I shut the door, stripped off my shirt, and threw myself on the bed, raring for a nap.
Except that my mind was whirring with so many thoughts, so much new information to process. It was exhilarating to be so close to throwing off the yoke of Dionysus’s curse, and this whole thing about making friends with an actual human being inside of the hideout was pretty cool, too. Fancy that, the Genesis Codex turned out to be a totally decent kid I could see myself hanging out with.
But it kind of sucked that he couldn’t help with finding my father. It still worried me not knowing where he was, and as much as I tried keeping it out of my head, that thing Amaterasu said was still gnawing at me. Typical entities, being all cryptic, just like Hecate. I needed answers. First order of business, just as soon as we sealed the deal with Enrietta and got rid of my death tattoo, was to find some way to track do
wn Norman Graves, even if it meant going over Carver’s head.
I tossed, forcing my eyes shut, then I turned, growing steadily annoyed with my inability to fall asleep. Ugh. Never mind, then. Maybe I could find some other way to pass the time. Maybe I could try and make something happen on a magical scale. I was tired, sure, but if I couldn’t sleep, then I figured it couldn’t hurt to route my energy in a more productive direction. The incident with Romira and the others was as clear a sign as any that I needed to make myself useful in arcane combat.
I did as Carver instructed. I emptied my mind, focusing on the very basis of what I was trying to do: generate heat. He’d said that visualization could help, so I started with that. I’d tried visualizing a candle, a convection oven, hell, even Sterling’s Zippo. But I decided I was going to work with the nervous energy thrumming through my body, to welcome the electrical tangle of confusion, and dread, and excitement. Fuck it. I closed my eyes, and in my head, I was a dragon.
