Chapter 46

Ryan ran his fingers through his hair for the fifth time that morning. Across the apartment his sister giggled. He shot her a look and went back to his oatmeal. When he leaned over his bowl, short hairs brushed across his forehead, and his hand automatically went up to scratch. Talia giggled again.

“You might want to put some gel in that,” she called to him from the couch.

“I can’t believe I listened to you,” he muttered. “I feel like an idiot. I look like an idiot.”

“You are an idiot,” she added helpfully. “Especially if you think you’re going over to Leda’s house with your hair like that.”

“It’s just going to get messy again anyway.”

Talia sighed theatrically. “Yes, but that’s not the point. The point is to look pretty when you get there!”

“Didn’t I tell you not to call me pretty?”

“You’re the one with the pretty new haircut,” she retorted.

“That you told me to get. I don’t see what was wrong with my hair before.”

“Ugh, don’t even get me started! Now, stay right there,” she said, holding out her hands. She dashed to the bathroom and returned holding a bottle of hair gel and a comb. Ryan turned in his seat and eyed her suspiciously.

“If you won’t do it yourself,” she told him, “I’ll do it for you. You’ll be thanking me later!”

“Why do I seriously doubt that?” he groaned.

“Shush. And turn around.”

Ryan found his head shanghaied and subjected to an incomprehensible assault of hair gel and comb as Talia pulled his hair this way and that in her efforts to make it absolutely perfect. He growled intermittently, whenever she pulled particularly hard. She was making it really hard for him to enjoy his oatmeal. What would have been a midnight snack had become a legitimate breakfast, after he had started sleeping for a few hours immediately after work. It was a strange arrangement, but it did mean that he could spend all of his daylight hours hunting demons while they slept in their nests. And at that moment, legitimate breakfast had suddenly become a legitimate ordeal.

“Will you stop that?” he demanded after his sister’s efforts had caused him to spill oatmeal onto the table for the third time.

“Almost done!” she answered cheerfully. She finally relented a few seconds later and stood back to admire her handiwork.

He couldn’t stand the look on her face. He stood up and went to look at himself in the bathroom mirror. Yeah, he looked like an idiot. He looked like every other cocknose arsehole he saw on the streets these days. He refused to believe that he’d have better luck with half of his hair cut off, but, well, his sister did have more experience with this sort of thing. If she said it would work, then it probably would. No matter how ridiculous he felt. He had to resist the urge to run his fingers through it. Talia had sculpted some sort of intricate masterpiece into his hair, and heaven help him if he messed it up and had to sit through that again.

He sighed and left it.

“Alright, fine,” he said. “Can we go, or do I need another drastic makeover?”

“I think we’re all set,” Talia said. “Don’t forget your new coat!”

Ryan found it in his closet. It was wool, and much fancier than his old leather jacket. It felt all wrong, and he grumbled as he pulled it on. Oh, well. At least they were taking Talia’s car. He wouldn’t be caught dead on his motorcycle wearing that coat.

And, with any luck, he wouldn’t be needing any coat for very long. It was the twentieth of March: the vernal equinox. That was the whole reason he was going to Aleda’s house two days early… well, not the whole reason, but it was the whole excuse. With any luck, it would be enough excuse for his new haircut and clothes, as well. Maybe he’d get lucky, and nobody would even notice.

Maybe pigs would float on by his window.

He picked up several large bags of chips and pretzels from the kitchen counter and followed his sister out of the apartment, stopping only to slip a hand into an inside pocket to reassure himself that the other small package was still there.

Somehow, despite the suspicious and angry-sounding noises coming from the engine, Talia managed to get the two of them the whole way to Delaware without the engine dropping out, thanks in part to his efforts to prevent exactly that. Well, he’d done what he could with duct tape, a rusty engine, and no spare parts. He’d probably voided a warranty somewhere.

There were a few other cars parked along the street in front of the house. One was Mike Connor’s; he wasn’t too sure about the other three, although one of them did look familiar. They found a spot a little ways down the street and rattled to a stop. Talia inspected him one last time before she allowed him to walk into the house.

“Now, remember,” she said, wiping at whatever lint had managed to collect in the space of a day, “Girls like it when a guy does things for her. Like bringing her a drink, that sort of thing. And compliment her! Girls love that.”

Ryan batted her away and made for the front door.

“Yeah, yeah, I got it,” he said over his shoulder. He just wanted to get inside before he remembered how much of an idiot he looked like. He opened the door without knocking and found himself in a house full of people. Sure Jaysis, somebody must have carpooled. There were at least a dozen people already crowded into Alejandro’s little living room, and Ryan was suddenly surrounded by familiar faces. One in particular caught his eye, and he walked immediately to the sandy-haired man.

“Uncle Seth!” he called out, and embraced him enthusiastically. “Merciful heaven, how are you?”

“Ryan, my lad! It’s good to see you!” he exclaimed in reply. “I’m doing well—I’ve been in Australia for the last few months. And what of yourself? The last I heard, you were exploring the far corners of the earth!”

“For a while there, yeah. Not a bad way to spend a couple of decades,” Ryan admitted, suddenly feeling guilty for being away so long, now that he was standing in front of the man who had been like an uncle to him and his sister while they were growing up.

Seth smiled. “Well, it’s lovely to se—”

“SETH!”

A blonde blur flew past Ryan and tackled the poor man, who barely managed to catch the girl that landed on him. She sorted herself out after a moment, grinning from ear to ear, and promptly hugged him again. “Seth! How’ve you been? It’s been forever! Holy crap, you’re all young again! You finally stopped powdering your damn hair, didn’t you!”

“I thought I’d try being twenty-five for a time,” he agreed. “It is certainly something one must grow accustomed to, I’ve noticed.”

Talia happily fell into conversation with him, and Ryan rolled his eyes with a smirk. His sister had always been infatuated with that British accent. He left them to talk and made his way through the press of cousins even further into the house. He had someone else he wanted to find. Aleda had told him on Saturday morning that Aria would write her a note excusing her from school that day—there was no way she would miss the annual first-day-of-spring party which had somehow, by unspoken agreement, become the reunion gathering of the year for their cousins. Everybody liked the first day of spring.

First, he finally unloaded the bags of chips and things he had brought under protest by his sister. One of his conditions for submitting to her makeover was that she clear out the junk food she kept crammed in every corner like a squirrel stockpiling for nuclear winter. Aria must have seen him coming, because she came at him brandishing large plastic bowls. He left her to sort it out. He also greeted Mike, and a few new cousins he had brought with him. New to Ryan, anyway. They introduced themselves and he promptly forgot everything but what they looked like as soon as he moved on.

He finally found her hiding in the hallway next to the stairs—five feet from the front door in the complete opposite way from the route he had taken, of course. It was too bloody hard to find any one person in a gathering like this—too many bright bloody souls jostling around. Still, he felt silly for not finding her sooner. Then wondered why.

She did a double take when she saw him.

“Ryan!?” she said incredulously. “What… you… b- what happened to you?”

“Nothing.” He slipped off the wool coat as discreetly as possible and shoved it into the hall closet. “I got some new clothes.”

“And chopped off half your bloody hair!” she protested. “What would you go and do that for!?”

“I… thought it was time for a change,” he said.

She narrowed her eyes and looked at him sideways. “Well, you look… weird. Did you really have to use hair gel?”

Despite himself, Ryan smiled. “I guess I didn’t,” he said. “Anyway, it was Talia’s idea.”

“Ah-hah! That’ll do it! I might have to have a word with her.” She moved closer to him and reached up. “C’mere.”

He ducked back, startled. “What are you doing?”

“Fixing your hair. Come here,” she repeated.

Obediently, but bewildered, he ducked down a bit so she could reach the top of his head.  She started raking her fingers through his hair, though she made a slightly disgusted expression at first. That hair gel was pretty sticky. She managed to get it more or less loose, though, and combed it into some semblance of what it had been before with her fingernails, then ruffled through it one last time for good measure. She let him straighten up and stood back to admire her handiwork.

“Well, it’s better,” she decided. “Not like it was before, but… better.”

Ryan had to smile. The last time her fingers had gone through his hair, he had been slightly less conscious. He raised a hand to touch it; his hair was as scruffy as short, half-gelled hair could be. “If it makes you feel better,” he said, “It’ll probably grow back in a month or two.”

“Really? Your hair grows as fast as mine!”

He shrugged. “Yeah, well, one of the perks, I gu- wait, what?”

She wasn’t paying any attention. “Hey, how many people are out there, now?”

“A… dozen, or so. I guess. Your great-grandfather is here, I saw.”

“Yeah, Aunt Firi too.” Aleda giggled. “She actually brought another hunter this time. Maybe this one will stick?”

“Ha. Doubtful. So what are you doing out here? Shouldn’t you be in the living room, or kitchen, or something?”

“Ugh, no thanks,” she said, and rolled her eyes. “Cousins! Cousins as far as the eye can see and they’re all asking the same damned questions over and over. I can’t move without running into two bloody cousins! Did you know they’re even out on the back porch? And I don’t even recognize half of them!”

“Mike is here,” Ryan pointed out. He swallowed. “And I saw the Burnses. You know them, at least.”

“Yeah, I guess. But not really, you know? Mostly I just hang out with Nate—we don’t spend much time at his parents’ place.”

“Where is that boy of yours, by the way?” he asked, and hated himself for it.

Aleda smirked. “School. He’s having some issues passing Geometry, so his mom’s not letting him skip any more.”

“Well, that is a shame.” Inwardly, he smiled. He also remembered something else his sister had told him. “Do you want something to drink?”

She made a face. “I think I’ll hide back here a little while longer, if it’s all the same to you.”

“I’ll get you something. Punch?”

“Yeah. Okay.” She smiled slyly at him. “But what if I have to hide from one of these bloody cousins and you can’t find me? You’ll be stuck with an extra drink.”

“I’ll find you,” he assured her. “I’ll always find you.”

He braced himself and rounded the corner, back into the sea of cousins.

 

 

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Sweet merciful heaven cousins. Cousins in the living room, cousins in the kitchen, cousins talking to other cousins out on the back porch. Aleda couldn’t move but bump into at least two blasted cousins.

Her relatives were there, of course. Great-grandpa Seth, Aunt Firi, and Aunt Firi’s newest “friend”. Those, she was used to. Seth and Fioralba had visited often when they were in Spain, and it wasn’t as if two relatives took up an inordinate amount of space, even counting Aunt Firi’s interchangeable companions.

Relatives were one thing.

Cousins were something else.

Excluding Talia, Ryan, and Nate’s family, Aleda didn’t recognize a single soul in her house.

Every so often one of the multitude of cousins would corner her and ask about her plans and prospects. The last time she had attended a gathering of this size, she had simply been passed around as the cute little girl-mascot of the family. Aleda wasn’t exactly sure which situation was worse. At least a five-year-old could get fussy and Mom would just blame it on fatigue. Also, a small five-year-old had a much easier time finding someplace to hide. A seventeen-year-old, on the other hand, had to keep smiling and making small talk and responding to the same set of unanswerable questions for every new cousin that she encountered.

They all presumably knew her parents in one way or another. Considering her Papá’s part in the war, however, this wasn’t much of a requirement. Even so, Aleda suspected that a second set of cousins had been invited by the first set. Mom was ecstatic about the number of people in the house, though, and Papá was happy because she was happy, so any hope of curtailing the masses was soon lost.

And now Aleda was lost in a swarm of cousins.

At least there was plenty of food to go around. The dining room table was covered end-to-end in platters and bowls and bags of various snack foods, the latter having been supplied almost entirely by Talia. Knowing Ryan’s opinion of his sister’s eating habits, Aleda had a feeling that this supply may or may not have been entirely voluntary on her part.

Come to think of it, Talia had been at the last gathering as well. It had been the first and last time she had met the little blonde before coming to Delaware. Ryan, of course, hadn’t been there because at that point he was still off wandering the far corners of the earth.

Speaking of which…

She spotted him making his way back through the crowd, drinks in hand, walking as quickly as possible through the crowd without spilling. She ducked back behind the corner. If she wasn’t careful, one of the cousins would spot her and ask questions at her until another cousin found them and started the process all over again.

“That was quick,” she said with a glint in her eye. “Not one for crowds, are you?”

He grinned ruefully at her. “Not really,” he admitted. “I can only endure inane small talk for so long.”

“You mean you can stand it at all?” Aleda teased, feigning surprise. “Ryan, you’re going soft!”

He rolled his eyes, but the small grin didn’t leave his face. He handed her one of the plastic cups.

“Don’t you start, now, lass” he chided her. “Next thing you know, Talia will get wind of it and I’ll never have a moment’s peace.”

“…Do you ever regret it?” she asked.

Ryan sighed and looked into his cup. “I regret a lot of things,” he confessed. He looked back at her. “Which instance are you referring to?”

“Coming here. Back to ‘civilization’. To live with Talia.”

Ryan was silent for several seconds.

“…No,” he said at last. “No, I don’t.” He let out a forced chuckle. “I mean, don’t get me wrong—I’m not exactly delighted to be living in a brick box the size of a shoebox. But… no. Not anymore.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Well… hey! Don’t you go thinking I’m ready to settle down for a ten-year haul, now.” He shook his head, to emphasize his point. “I probably won’t stay longer than Talia’s lease holds out.”

Aleda nodded and looked away. “Of course you wouldn’t want to stay,” she said. “There’s nothing keeping you here, after all.”

Ryan looked up at her, trying to read her expression. “There are barely any demons left around here these days. I can’t stick around a place like this, you know that.”

Aleda straightened abruptly. “I understand completely. Killing demons is the only thing you give a rat’s a*s about, after all. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to our guests.”

“Aleda, wait!” He put his drink down on the steps and went after her. “Aled- oh, bloody hell.”

He almost ran into Aleda, who had stopped at the edge of the crowd. Most of the people had stepped back from the middle of the living room, clearing a space for the two men who were currently engaged in a heated discussion. By the looks of it, it would soon become a shouting match.

It was Seth and Mike, of course.

“Damn it, Seth, you know the rules,” Mike said. “One-to-four, and only at night. There’s too much risk of somebody seeing you, otherwise!” Seth crossed his arms impatiently. “And don’t think I’ve forgotten that stunt you pulled in Paris!” Mike added.

“Would you rather I had left those people to die?” Seth inquired. “Because I assure you, that is exactly what would have occurred!”

“War, Seth! War is what bloody well occurred last time we got sloppy. You of all people should know the consequences of that.”

Seth’s face turned to granite, and Aleda could feel Ryan stiffen behind her.

“What does that mean?” she asked in sotto voice.

He whispered just one word: “Lily.”

Oh, merciful heaven, that’s right! Aleda’s grandmother had been murdered during that war. She had almost forgotten, because it had been before Aleda was born.

“To hell with the rules,” Seth told him, his voice frosty with ice. “Your lovely rules bring harm to far more than they protect. There is but one last large nest from here to Cape Charles. We could have the entire area cleared in a month, if we liked!”

Ryan rested a hand on Aleda’s shoulder and moved past her, towards the two men.

“Less, actually,” Ryan called out. The two men both looked up, startled.

“Whatever do you mean, lad?” Seth asked. “I’ve just found out the latest estimates from the charts.”

“The charts are wrong.”

“Now wait just a minute,” Mike protested.

“I’ve been clearing a nest a week since the solstice,” Ryan said. “Sometimes two.”

“What, by yourself?”

“How?”

“I found them”—he glanced at Talia—“I watched them. I cleared them. It’s no more than what I’d been doing for the last twenty years. I could get rid of the rest in a week, even without help.”

“There must be fifty nests still scattered across the peninsula!” Mike said. “I don’t care how reckless you are. No hunter can clear that many in a month!”

“Three,” Ryan said. “Three nests left between here and CapeCharles, and only one of them large.”

“Well, why didn’t you tell me?” Mike demanded. “I’m supposed to keep track of these kinds of things!”

“Oh yes, and have you call me off?” Ryan asked. “Hound me until I had no choice but to fall in line or leave? No, thank you.”

“There is a way to do these things…”

“There are many ways to do these things,” Ryan corrected him. “And some, frankly, work better than yours.”

“Listen, Ryan, you can’t just walk up to a nest and clear it on a whim!” Mike exclaimed. “There are precautions that must be taken!”

“To hell with all that bullshit!” Ryan shouted. “I don’t think you want to clear all these nests, because if we did, you’d be out of a job! To hell with that! You know what? Why don’t we go right now?” Ryan turned to the stunned crowd of cousins. “Who here wants to go clear a nest?”

Talia immediately pushed through the crowd, pulling Fioralba along with her. Seth put his hand on Ryan’s shoulder and nodded encouragingly to him. Aleda stared at the group, wide-eyed. She wanted to go. She desperately wanted to go. But she glanced over to where her parents stood. Mom now visibly pregnant. Papá with his arm around her even more protectively than usual. Mom was concealing a small smile, but Papá looked just as shocked and appalled as Mike at Ryan’s words. If she took so much as a step towards Ryan there would be hell to pay. Forget not being allowed out with him after sunset, she’d probably be locked in her room for the rest of her natural life.

And yet…

When Ryan walked towards the front door, Aleda ducked around the opposite way and grabbed their coats out of the hall closet. She caught up with him at the door and handed his wool coat to him without a word.

“Oh, damn,” he said, “And here I was hoping to lose this coat.” He looked at her searchingly.

“Take me with you,” she said softly.

“…Are you sure?”

She nodded.

“Good. Then I didn’t bring these for nothing,” he said. He reached into the inside pocket and pulled out a freshly-carved set of sharp training claws. Aleda smiled.

“Aleda Michèle Solana! What do you think you are doing!?” Papá pushed forcefully through the crowd.

She jutted out her jaw. “I’m hunting, Papá.”

“You are not hunting! You are grounded for the next month!” he yelled. “Now go upstairs immediately!”

Aleda swallowed and tried to ignore the shaking in her knees. Ryan found her hand and he squeezed it reassuringly.

“Your ‘little angel’ has grown up, Alejandro,” he said. “You don’t have a choice about that.”

“As long as she lives under my roof, she will live by my rules!”

“Don’t go that way,” Ryan growled in warning, “If you’re not sure of the outcome.”

“Ryan…” she breathed nervously. He gave her papá one last warning glare before turning and leading her out the door.

“Are you alright?” he asked when they had reached the car.

Aleda closed her eyes and laughed almost hysterically. “I… I think I really am. Oh, merciful heaven, did I really just walk out on Papá?”

“I think you did,” he said.

“…Am I really going hunting?”

“You are,” he confirmed. “Unless you’re having second thoughts.”

Aleda shook her head vehemently. “No. I’m in.”

“Then let’s hunt.”