Beyond the Stone, page 2
“Welcome to the black market,” Myko said. “Abandon all hope ye who enter here and some shit.” He waved a hand dramatically.
“Spare me the theatrics, would you, Myko?”
“Well fuck you, theatre is in my soul. It breathes the stage.”
“Whatever, from the smell of things around here, it breathes dragon dust and other assorted chemicals.”
Myko made a flippant gesture with his right hand, his many rings flashing in the half-light. “You say tomay-toe, I say to-mah-toe.” He took a pack of cigarillos out of his back pocket and lit one. “Whatever, darling. Who the fuck pissed in your mouth today?”
“Too many fucking people,” Bane said.
Letting out a brash laugh, Myko put a hand on Bane’s shoulder. “Honey, if you were going to become the town piss hole, you should at least charge money for it.” Myko gave Bane a look that saw right into him. “Come with me. You look like you need the good shit.”
Myko led Bane down a dark hallway lit intermittently with small white pot lights. There were no bulbs in the pot lights; instead, they used magic that shone softly in the shadows. Bane looked at one of the lights and watched as it moved, as it contracted and grew, almost as if it were breathing.
“Honey, I fucking tell you this shit all the time. Magic is alive. It is an extension of the one who casts it. If the magician breathes, the magic breathes. If they die, so does the magic. You’re a fucking Rook. You should know these things.”
Bane bristled and a thin layer of rock covered his skin. “Fuck you too, you sparkly piece of shit. Get the fuck out of my head.”
Running his hand through his hair, he said, “At least you called me sparkly.” Bane could hear the smile in his voice. “Plus, if you don’t want me listening in, don’t think so fucking loud, okay?”
They turned down a hallway and came upon a door. There was a pentagram etched on the surface of the door. Putting his finger in the groove of the etching, Myko traced the pentacle in exactly the right way: the circle first and then the star. He had explained this once before; it was so the magic, whatever happened within the room, would be contained in a sacred space. Bane didn’t want to know what would happen if you traced the star first and then the circle.
“Honey, you don’t want to know,” Myko quipped.
“Would you get the fuck out of my head?” Bane said, gruffly.
“Honey, I keep telling you. You have to learn to block your thoughts. You been doing that meditation I taught you?” Myko walked into the room and Bane followed him.
“I keep trying to, but every time I sit still, I get antsy. I don’t do sitting still very well.”
“I noticed.” Myko closed the door behind them, and soft pulsing lights came on. They bathed the room in a calming white light. “I don’t know why you spend so much of your time fighting who you are; fighting yourself is not a healthy habit. You could try masturbation, but I know you haven’t been laid in two years, so you probably do a lot of that, don’t you? Are you as big as you look?” Myko gave Bane a wicked grin.
“You checking me out? I thought you liked fairies.”
“Honey, have you ever tried to have sex with a fairy? They have such high-pitched voices and they’re so small. Takes them forever to suck you off. Why are you here tonight? Want something to help you sleep? Something to take the dreams away?”
“Yes please.”
Myko busied himself at an altar and pulled out a mortar and pestle. He started adding powders and crumbling in twigs, squeezing the juice out of berries and other things that Bane didn’t know the name for.
“I still don’t understand how a clairvoyant like you knows how to do shit like this,” Bane said.
“I tell you each and every time, you can be two things at once. I’m a Witch and a clairvoyant.”
“Yeah, but Witches aren’t one of the five races.”
“You know as well as I do that there are more things out there unknown than there are known.”
Bane said nothing in response to that but continued to watch Myko as he put the blue paste into a small jar.
“This is pixie dust, just like last time. Sprinkle a bit of it on your head when you’re ready to go to sleep and you won’t have any more dreams. Also works wonders if you want to have a really good fuck.”
“I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
“Never say never, honey.” Myko brought the bottle to him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “I still don’t see why we can’t mess around.”
“I don’t like mixing business with pleasure...” He hesitated. “Myko, there’s something I have to tell you.”
Myko let out a little laugh. “You don’t have to tell me. Your mind has been shouting that out loud since you got here. I could hear it when you were out on the street. I don’t know why you’re able to see through all of our magical defences as if they aren’t even there but still can’t grasp that I can read whatever is in your mind. I may not be wearing a fancy name badge like you do at work, but don’t you forget what I can do.”
“I’m sorry.”
Myko shrugged. “Don’t be. So, you’re on a task force. You going to write me up? Punish me to the full extent of the law? Whip me, beat me, chain me in your basement and hose me down with your big hose?”
Bane shook his head. “No, don’t be ridiculous. I’m going to protect you.”
“Well, I already knew that,” Myko said. “So, do you get a sexy new uniform? Are you going to come in here, guns ablazin’ and whips a whipping? ‘Cause you know, that shit turns me on.”
“You’re one sick son of a bitch, you know that, right?” Bane said.
Chapter Three
When he got home, he found a ward on the door.
Its lines were sloppy, and they were done in a hurry. He could see the lines sparkling on the wood. It looked like they had been drawn by a child who had little to no grasp of what magic was supposed to look like or what it could do. He grabbed a few of the lines in his hand and pulled and the ward came away like spiders’ webs. They felt wispy against his skin, as if the ward had been made from smoke.
Letting out a sigh, Bane opened the door into a world of chaos.
He pushed through a pile of chairs stacked against the door. The china cabinet had been emptied and placed like a barrier to block the way through the foyer. With a grunt, Bane pushed the china cabinet back so that he could get into the house itself.
The lights were dark, the hallways filled with shadows. There was no sound except the creaking of the wooden floors and the hum of the ventilation system. Venturing farther into the house, he walked with care, stepping around and over the stuff cluttering the hallways.
He heard a whimper somewhere in the shadows. “Mom?”
Turning towards the sound, Bane realized it was coming from upstairs. He saw scatterings of magic, leading like a thread to the upstairs landing. She must have been trying to cast more wards, more spells, but they had failed her and fallen to the ground. As Bane walked over them, the magic clung to his shoes and pant cuffs like candy floss. It sparkled even in the darkness. He vaguely wondered what spell it had been this time.
He took the stairs two at a time. When he was at the top of the landing, he called out again, “Mom? It’s Asher.”
The cries came louder, and he followed them into her bedroom. He went slowly so as not to frighten her. Bane stood at the doorway and regarded the scene before him: His mother sat huddled inside of her closet. Only the closet light was on, throwing her face into sharp relief. She looked like a being, part-shadow, part-ghost.
Clothing was strewn all over the room, the furniture overturned and moved, as if a giant hand had come into the room, shaking everything up. Bane’s stomach dropped. Her magic was getting stronger, and it was harder for her to control this way. It would erupt out of her in fits and starts, like a pot boiling over. She couldn’t do anything with it but destroy. It had always been this way. She had tried to keep it inside her for too long and it was seeping out.
Going to his mother, Bane kneeled in front of her. He took her hands in his, noting the fine dust of sparkly magic residue. He noticed the star tattooed on her wrist—it had turned black. He sighed. It had been a bad one, then.
“Mom, it’s Asher. It’s Asher, Mom. You’re okay.”
Her hands clutched on his, her fingernails digging into his skin. She leaned forward and he saw her face more clearly: gaunt and drawn, as if there wasn’t a drop of blood left within her. Yet, at the same time, there was an undeniable beauty about her, her high cheekbones gracing an oval face and dewy skin. Her eyes were like small purple jewels set inside her face. Her black hair, usually kept neat, was wild and stood out like a lion’s mane.
“Asher, the shadow men came to get me, but I wouldn’t let them come in! I wouldn’t! They can’t take me. They won’t take my Edgar, they won’t take my Gabriella, they won’t take my Justine! They won’t take you, Asher. My beautiful Asher. Did you know that there are words on the walls that we cannot see but they are always talking to us? Did you know that? Do you know what they are saying? I know, my darling boy, but I’m sworn not to tell, not to say a word, or the shadow men will come and take me. They are lonely in their shadows; they want to fill me with light so that I will be their queen.”
Bane’s stomach dropped further. He supposed by now it had fallen through the fucking floor and he would have to gather it up when he sorted through this fucking mess. “Mom, it’s okay now. The shadow men won’t come to get you, they won’t. I told them not to.”
She looked up at him and there was something almost childlike about it. “You told them not to?”
“Yes, Mom, they won’t come now. I told them not to.”
She patted his hand and smiled one of her beautiful smiles that had thrilled him so much when he was a kid. “Oh, Asher. How can I ever thank you? You do like to take care of me, don’t you?”
He nodded and helped her up, gently. He didn’t want to jostle her. It had been a long time since she had brought up Edgar, Gabriella, and Justine. They had been his brother and sisters. His throat tightened and he held the tears back. Bane couldn’t cry in front of her. Crying set her off.
“Come with me now, Mom. I’m going to make you a cup of tea to help you sleep. You always loved your chamomile tea. Did you want me to put you back in bed and bring you a cup?”
“Yes, Asher, please. That would be so lovely. My beautiful Asher, like the phoenix that rose from the ashes to spread light upon the world that had been bathed in darkness.” She patted his cheeks and then kissed them. “Beautiful ashes,” she said.
He helped her get into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. He left her to quickly make a cup of tea. Bane wished he could heat water quickly like a lightning bolt or a star, but he had to do things the hard way. When the water was boiled and the tea bag was steeping, he put a grain of the powder that Myko had made for him into his mother’s tea. She was only truly calm when she was sleeping. Bane knew that he couldn’t keep his mother doped up forever, but he didn’t know what else to do.
Bringing his mother the tea, Bane handed it to her and watched as she drank it. She looked so calm. It was hard to believe that she was a Black Widow, that her magic had caused her to take her other children from her, his brother and sisters. Eventually, driven to darkness by what her magic had done to her children, his mother had gone bat fucking nuts. Her magic had taken her from him, too.
Eliza handed the cup to him and said, “That was lovely. Could you read to me, beautiful Asher of the ashes? Could you read to me? I love to hear your voice, because you say all the words, even the ones that shouldn’t be said, you let me hear them all. Could you read to me?”
“Sure, Mom. What did you want me to read tonight?” She always kept a stack of books on her bedside table. He picked up the first one, a book called Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. He knew it was about magic and he hoped that that wouldn’t upset her. “Did you want me to read this one?”
“Sure, Asher, ash angel. I love that book. Can you do all the voices?”
“I will.”
“Promise?”
“I promise, Mom.”
He opened her book where she had left her bookmark and began to read. Bane read until she fell asleep. Then he just looked at her for a moment, wishing things were different. He reached out to trace his fingers through her hair.
Then he got up and began to clean. It would be a long night.
Chapter Four
Bane got to work early.
It was best this way. He enjoyed the office when there was no one else there, where he didn’t have to talk to anyone or interact with other people. On the walk into work, he tried to look for the sunshine that would sometimes show itself by peeking through the clouds. This happened rarely though. His kind thrived in sunshine. There were other ways to get the energy that he got from the sun, but it was the purest and the easiest.
He certainly needed to recharge. Last night had been draining. After cleaning the house up, he had taken a pinch of the powder himself and had fallen into a dreamless sleep. It was better that way. Without it, he always woke in cold sweats, a layer of rock covering his skin. It was always this way when he didn’t have anything to put him to sleep.
Bane relished the quiet before he had to put up with other people’s bullshit. He tried to balance himself as he walked to work and then would arrive, make a coffee, and sit in his cubicle next to a window. He would take in more sunshine before it faded throughout the day. He looked at this time of day as sacred.
Which was why it was such a piss off to see Madison sitting in his cubicle.
“Clear the fuck out,” he said.
“Well, good morning to you, sunshine.” She smiled at him and tossed her hair. “Isn’t it a beautiful day?”
“Get the fuck out of my chair.”
She stood and pulled a chair over from another cubicle. “I thought we could sit together and have coffee. Look, I brought you a dark roast from the Mud Oven. I even got you a ginger molasses cookie to go with it. I know it’s your favourite.” She rustled the bag playfully.
Bane took the coffee but looked at the cookie with some apprehension. “Clear the fuck out but leave the cookie.”
Madison laughed. “Oh, Bane. I’m just trying to share a moment with you in the morning. Is that okay?”
“We never share moments together.” He grabbed the cookie, and she narrowed her eyes at him.
“We work together, Bane. We have whole days of moments.”
“That’s one moment too many,” Bane said.
Madison took the cookie and the coffee out of his hands. then she took Bane’s hands in hers.
“What are you doing?” Bane asked.
“I’m trying to have a moment with you, Bane. When was the last time someone touched you in a loving way?”
“Do you have to do this now?”
“Yes, I have to do this now. Answer my question. When was the last time someone touched you in a loving way? I know it’s been two years since you have known someone in an intimate way, but how about just simple touch?”
“I haven’t had my coffee, you’re holding my cookie hostage, and you are holding my hands. This is not a good start to my day.”
Madison gently let his hands go. “Look, I’m trying to help you.”
“I don’t need your fucking help,” Bane barked at her.
“Oh really? Says the man that has only known touch from his mother who doesn’t know him anymore and Myko, the black market magic man? Yeah, sure, you don’t need my fucking help, oh no, not at all.” She gave him a wry smile.
Bane’s blood ran cold. “How do you know about my mother?”
“Bane, are you dense or just hard of hearing? Psy-chic!” she said, in two syllables. “Honestly, Bane. You need to get fucking laid.”
“I don’t need to get laid,” Bane said, gruffly.
“Yes. You. Do. And I can help there.”
He shrugged and took a bite of his cookie. “I don’t do the ladies, so I’m not sure how you can help me.”
“I have someone I want to introduce you to,” Madison said, quietly.
“I already told you I’m not going to date Claude, he of the small junk.”
“It’s not Claude. It’s my friend Jax. You’d like him.”
“Why are you trying to set me up on a blind date? I can use my hand well enough.”
“Yes, I know you can. I can see inside your head, you know. I just want you to meet someone and maybe make a connection. An honest to goodness connection with another person. Is that so much to ask?”
“Why, though?”
“Because I fucking care about you! Because I don’t want to see you alone, okay? Because you’re my friend and you fucking depress me.”
Her use of swear words made him stop and pay attention. He could think of nothing else to say except, “I depress you?”
Madison grabbed the other half of the cookie from him and took a bite. “You don’t get a whole cookie. Only smart people get the whole fucking cookie.”
“You swear like a pro,” Bane said, smiling.
“Fuck you very much, asshole. So, do you want to fucking meet him?”
“Sure, I guess, if it will get you off my ass.”
“I’m not on your ass. I think you’ll like Jax. I know you like breaking the rules, what with Myko and the black market, so he should be right up your alley.”
“Why would you think I would like him?”
“Well,” she said, “for one thing, he’s a mortal.”
***
Bane knew that there was no unsaid rule that someone who possessed magic couldn’t date a mortal; it just wasn’t done. The government of Clocktower had been created to help protect the mortals after the last great battle, but the government did whatever it could to stay unattached to them.
Take the task force, for example. It was really just a way to control the mortals, to make them do what the government wanted them to do. Given the fact that he was able to walk into the black market and that it wasn’t a horrible place, Bane wondered if the task force he was tasked with was actually to cover something up.
