Chapter Ten

Santino didn’t know what was worse, how small Ryan’s kitchen was or how little the man had in it. Ryan and Santino had relocated to Ryan’s apartment after dinner. The next morning, as he waited for Cam to call and say she was ready to confront Melissa at the hotel, Santino figured he’d make breakfast for himself and Ryan to replenish some of their well-expended energy.

He found some powdered garlic and pepper in the cabinet above the stove. At least the eggs would end up with some flavor. There was some shredded cheese in the fridge, and he added it to the eggs in the pan. There weren’t any cast iron pans, but whatever. He should be happy to have any pans at all, judging by the state of the kitchen.

Santino couldn’t miss the lady ghost who kept peeking into the room to see what he was doing. He’d have to ask Ryan about her as she was disinclined to communicate with him in spite of her interest in a newcomer to her haunt. Ryan’s cat sauntered in, carefully skirting the ghost. It parked its fuzzy butt next to his feet, canting golden eyes up at him before meowing imperiously.

“Don’t even think about it. You look like you’ve had more than enough to eat.” What had Ryan called the cat? Something from an anime. “Besides, there’s no bacon for anyone, and you probably don’t like eggs.”

The cat meowed again as if to assure Santino he did indeed like eggs.

“Smells good in here.” Ryan sauntered into the kitchen in his boxers.

Santino had on little more, but he’d put on a T-shirt since he didn’t want to be spattered by hot butter. “You seriously need more food in here. Some of your bread is questionable, but you probably should put it in the toaster anyhow. You do have one, right?”

“Of course.” Ryan took care of the toast and feeding his cat.

They’d barely gotten through the eggs when Cam called. Santino put his dish in the sink and turned to Ryan. “Showtime. I’ll come back to let you know what happened.”

“Like hell.” Ryan jumped up. “You want to recruit me, show me how you two work. Besides, I know Melissa a little. It might help to have me there to get the conversation going.”

Santino thought about it for a moment and then nodded. “All right. Guess we better find pants, then.”

Finding where he had thrown his pants was harder than Santino expected. Still, it didn’t take long to get ready and wait outside for Cam to walk with her to the hotel.

When Cam arrived, she raised her eyebrows a bit, spotting Ryan, but said nothing. It wasn’t unusual to let a prospective member observe. Ryan took the lead once they were inside the hotel gift shop, talking to Melissa, giving Santino and Cam time to scope the place out. Melissa ran the place alone, but that shouldn’t have been too surprising. It was no longer the weekend, and Cassadaga hollowed out during the week.

From where he was, Santino easily heard their conversation. He drifted closer when Ryan said, “He’s my new boyfriend.” Ryan wiggled his fingers at him, and Santino joined Ryan.

Melissa looked him over, wary as a feral cat. “Do you know what your boyfriend is, Ryan?”

“Psychic like me,” Ryan said, barely reining in his offended tone.

She shook her head, color fleeing her face. “I know the look in his eye. In hers.” Melissa whipped around, pointing to Cam. Her lips trembled. “I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”

“Then you know why we’re here,” Santino said, almost feeling sorry for her. He suspected this encounter might not go as violently as he and Cam feared.

Melissa nodded, wiping at her reddening eyes. “I didn’t think it would be this hard. Cassadaga sounded like a fun place to be, but I’m used to cities. It’s easier there.”

“Liansidhe?” Santino asked as Cam closed the distance between her and Melissa.

Melissa wiped her eyes again, giving only a tiny nod.

“You’re a young one.” Cam put her fingers together, making a circle out of them, readying a restraining spell.

“My mother told me to stay to the cities. A little sip here and there, and all anyone feels is oddly tired. I didn’t mean to make the people here pass out. I thought if I used psychics, since they have so much more energy than normal, it would be okay,” Melissa said mournfully.

“There’re not enough people here to sustain you.” Santino stepped back, tugging Ryan with him to give Cam room to work if she needed it. “You’re eventually going to take too much from someone.”

“If I go to the city, will that keep you from hurting me?” Melissa turned her sad puppy-dog eyes on them.

“We have no desire to hurt anyone,” Cam said, not dropping her hands.

“But you know the rules,” Santino said. “You can’t be in this realm hurting humans. Your own queen made this ruling.”

Ryan’s body stiffened as if he expected Santino and Cam to kill Melissa here and now.

“I didn’t think it was me the first time it happened. I thought it really was the heat. I tried to be so careful. I’ll go to Orlando or maybe Daytona.” Melissa perked up a bit. “Or Miami, plenty of life there. No one will notice me taking a little bit of their energy.”

“Convince me you mean it,” Santino said.

She narrowed her eyes as if a switched had been flipped. “How can I trust you? We fae know what all supernatural policing groups are like. You have to be with one, or you wouldn’t be here bothering me. You think you know best, and you never give us the benefit of the doubt.”

“This isn’t convincing us you mean what you say when you tell us you’ll go to a city.” Cam made a fist. “Your queen made the deal with groups like ours, the Aspida, for a reason. You wouldn’t want to violate her good will.”

Holding up a hand, Melissa moved outside meekly, and they followed her. The moment she exited the building, she swept her hand out. Santino’s knees weakened. Cam fell against the building, fighting to keep upright.

“Santino!” Ryan cried, and then Melissa yanked him off his feet bodily.

Hauling him close, she hustled Ryan down the street faster than his legs could keep up. He stumbled, and Melissa lifted him up, forcing him to run.

Finding his strength, Santino wasn’t going to let a liansidhe drain his boyfriend dry of life force. He raced after them toward the Colby Temple with Cam on his heels. A spell, one of the first spells newbie Aspida members learned, roared in his mind: fey banishment. It wouldn’t kill Melissa, but it would knock her through a one-way door to the fae realms. From the way they had screamed, he wondered if it hurt, or was it rage? It also prevented them from coming back, at least immediately. They used the spell as needed especially for cases like this. It was better than killing all of them; not every rogue fae deserved that. Melissa hadn’t killed yet, and she seemed to be trying not to harm people. But if she hurt Ryan, the door opening might be off the table, and fatal measures would commence.

Cam kept pace with Santino as they ate up the ground between them and the other two.

A few feet in front of the Colby Temple, Melissa ground to a halt and pulled Ryan in front of her.

“Don’t make me hurt him!” she cried.

“Don’t you even dare,” Santino said.

“I didn’t mean to hurt them. I need to eat.” Melissa showed nothing after her mad dash, dragging Ryan—no panting nor sweating. “I killed no one. I was careful.”

“It’s too rural here for your kind,” Cam replied. “You’re taking too much energy, and it’s only a matter of time before it becomes fatal, no matter your intention.”

“I’m careful!” Melissa repeated. Tears stood in her eyes. “Don’t kill me!”

Santino hated being cast in the role of villain. He might be able to talk her into relaxing. “Then let Ryan go.”

Ryan’s eyes rolled like a wild horse. Santino hoped he wouldn’t black out.

“If I do, you’ll kill me.” Her voice quavered, fear in every word.

“We want you to go home. You can’t stay here,” Santino said. He geared up the spell in his head. He couldn’t cast it with her holding onto Ryan.

Tears trickled down Melissa’s cheeks. “The Aspida has no mercy.”

“Not true,” Cam protested.

Suddenly, Ryan slammed his elbow into Melissa’s gut and tore himself away. Taking the advantage, without hesitation, Santino cast the spell. With a loud wail, Melissa disappeared through the door of light. It flashed out of existence.

Santino raced over to help Ryan up. “Are you okay?”

“I might need new boxers,” he groaned.

“You did great.” Santino hugged him tight.

“I got captured,” he muttered into Santino’s shoulder. “How’s that doing great?”

“You didn’t panic, and you didn’t die,” Cam said. “Not bad for a first time.”

“If you say so.” Ryan quivered head to toe.

Santino tightened his embrace, rubbing Ryan’s back. “Now you know exactly what we face. Hope it hasn’t run you off.”

Ryan didn’t respond immediately, making Santino’s heart pound. He didn’t want Ryan to reject this, but it wasn’t the life for everyone. Despite that, he wanted Ryan to take the chance. “So, now what?”

“Well, now you’ve experienced a typical day in the life of the Aspida. We should probably talk about it.” Santino tried to play it off as nonchalant, but his stomach quivered. Ryan could walk away right now, and whatever this was, beginning between them, was too interesting to let die so soon. He didn’t need a psychic to know Ryan might be the best partner he ever had in the group and in his personal life. Ryan was a man he could love.

“I think you’re about to really complicate my life.” Ryan smiled.

Santino patted his own chest. “I excel at that.”

*

Was he insane? The idea of joining a group like the Aspida, having entry to a wellspring of people like himself and to those even more supernatural had such appeal. It was akin to the ubiquitous childhood dreams of running away to join the circus. But the running away analogy nagged at Ryan. Was that what he was doing? He had responsibilities here, but if he were truthful, the Center would easily find another psychic to take his place. His sister would love it if he left. She’d already said as much, more times than he could count.

Kuro jumped in his lap and head butted his chin. Ryan stroked the cat’s back. Would he be allowed to take Kuro with him? He couldn’t possibly leave Kuro behind, and he wasn’t sure any of his friends would cat sit for however long this training would take. What was he prepared to leave? Wasn’t that the real question?

He’d lived in Cassadaga most of his life. Leaving home might not be as easy as he’d like it to be. Cassadaga was safe and quiet. He didn’t need to worry about getting killed by a dangerous supernatural being here. On the other hand, it was too quiet, bordering on boring. His job didn’t pay particularly well, but he enjoyed it. He liked his customers. They weren’t boring at all.

On the other side, it was an aged population and rather homogenous as far as diversity went. Ryan mostly went to Orlando when he wanted companionship. It might be nice to have a different group of people with him, to be able to date Santino once the training was over. But would he like traveling? Ryan hadn’t done much, so he had no frame of reference. There was no way of knowing if he had the right stuff to face down danger. Was he ready for that? He hadn’t panicked entirely with Melissa. He had freed himself from her clutches. Of course, he might not do anything really dangerous, being what Santino had called a searcher. He didn’t have Santino’s abilities, the kind likely to put him on the front lines.

His thoughts started to circle. He needed to get some clarity and focus. Ryan fetched his Tarot cards. He didn’t really read for himself. That never worked out the way it should. He used them as a touchstone to help harness his abilities. Reading others was easy enough. Reading his own life often proved next to impossible.

Ryan drew the cards, putting them in a cross pattern. He studied them, trying to simultaneously clear his head and letting the images soak in. The Pope represented his current situation and was surprisingly accurate. He was clinging too close to old traditions, which was the crux of his problem. And the card representing his goal also proved eerily too accurate. The page of wands represented a new fiery passion, a potential danger. Certainly, some of what Santino had told him was dangerous.

The knight of coins as a foundation worked too. He was like the earth, slow to change, bound to duty. Maybe it was time to put a few cracks in his foundation, let the molten core surface. Ryan needed a little fire in his life. The seven of coins reversed, the two of cups, and the ace of swords reversed told him more. The whole cross ended in more swords, the representation of his fears, the three of swords denoting his worry about being hurt, about continuing loneliness. The final card, the king of swords, said he would be answering to a mature unwavering person whose word was law. That wouldn’t be Santino. There was someone in charge of the Aspida. Whoever the boss was, this card potentially represented them.

But did he really want to do this? Cards aside, it would be easy to stay in Cassadaga, letting life go on as it had, comfortable and predictable. He had a good life, maybe a little dull and more than a little lonely. It had been nearly a year since he’d gone on a date—until Santino strolled into his life. He wasn’t quite ready to let Santino go. But if Ryan left, everything he knew would all change. He could end up over his head. He could die. Or, he might end up working side by side with a great love. Santino wasn’t his great love yet, but he could be. Ryan was already in free fall over the man.

Was that reason enough to leave everything he had known? Maybe not, but getting to do more with his gift—that was worth the risk, surely. Ryan sighed loudly. Kuro jumped up on the couch with him, and Elsie peeked in through the wall, as if both of them sensed his distress.

“I’m going to do it. Maybe I can take a short leave of absence. Santino did say returning to my old life would be possible if the Aspida wasn’t for me, Kuro. I’ll have to find out how long the training is and if you can come with. If the training isn’t too long, I’ll keep the apartment. If I go, you be good to the next tenant, Elsie.”

She had no reply. Ryan sighed, wishing he felt as confident as he sounded.