“Took you long enough,” he snapped behind me.
I stopped and turned. Instead of responding, I watched him. Gave him the opportunity to take it back or apologize. He declined by not meeting my eyes. “All right,” I said, “What’s your problem?”
He tried to stonewall me. His jaw went hard and a hand shoved into his jeans pocket, like he was thinking about starting a fight.
I held up a hand. “Whatever story you’re telling yourself right now? It’s bullshit. I stayed behind because I knew if I pressed a little more, Volos would give up something useful. And I was right.”
His brow quirked. He didn’t ask the question, though.
“He said he was with Yü Nü and Hung last night.”
“So? They could have sent the tea at any point.”
“Yes, but I didn’t tell Volos how Krystal died. He seemed to assume she was shot or something. That tells me he wasn’t privy to the plans, but it does place him in cahoots with both Yü Nü and Hung.”
“Christ.” He ran a hand through his hair. “But Hung’s MIA, so we can’t pull him in.”
I placed a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to look at me. “You need to get your shit together.”
He pulled back. “I’m fine.”
“No,” I said, “you’re not fucking fine. Yü Nü rattled you. I get it. But you need to keep your head in the game if we don’t want everything to blow up in our faces.”
He sucked a deep breath in through his nose, held it for a couple of beats, and blew it out like he was exorcising some demons. “Sorry. You’re right.”
I winked at him and threw his own words back at him. “’Course I am, Cupcake.”
He nudged me with his shoulder. “So, what’s our next move?”
“There’s someone we haven’t talked to who’s up to his knees in this bullshit.”
“Don’t say it.” The words were gruff, but the sparkle returned to his eyes.
“I think it’s time we paid a visit to Uncle Abe.”
Chapter Twenty
Getting to Crowley Penitentiary for Arcane Criminals wasn’t supposed to be easy. The only way to get to Crook’s Point Island was via ferry. The prison itself sat atop a cliff like a gothic fortress overlooking the iron sand beaches and dark waters below.
The day we went, the lake churned in advance of a massive spring storm. The gunmetal gray sky pressed down on top of us, and waves knocked the boat around like a kid’s toy in a washing machine. We were about halfway across the lake when the sky opened up, forcing us into the pilothouse. Rain fell in sheets that obscured the view.
With nothing left to do, Morales and I sat on the benches and tried not to knock each other over as waves crashed into the boat.
“Nice day for sailing, huh?” he said.
Nausea made me woozy, and I imagined my skin had to be about as green as Sweet Ray’s after a bender. But Morales looked like he was enjoying himself. After the tension from the night before, it was nice to see him more relaxed. However, I wasn’t fool enough to think it would last. Not only did we still not have any idea where Hung was, we were also about to be in a room with my uncle, who was really good at destroying a person’s chill.
“Why don’t you make yourself useful and distract me?” I said, hoping to keep the good mood going as long as possible.
He raised an eyebrow.
I swatted his arm. “Talk, I mean.”
“Oh,” he said, “all right. How about we talk about the fact Aphrodite’s wedding is tomorrow.”
“All right, I approve of that topic.” I sat up straighter. “What are the chances it’s going to be a clusterfuck?”
“Pretty high, I’d say.”
“When I mentioned it to Baba, she said that on one of her daytime talk shows, a woman married herself because she thought all guys were jerks.”
“Why didn’t she just marry another woman?”
“I asked the same thing,” I said. “According to Baba, the lady didn’t want to, and I quote, ‘chomp bush.’”
He snorted. “Were those the lady’s words or Baba’s?”
“Baba’s.”
“Naturally. Although, honestly, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”
I couldn’t take a stance on that one, so I let it sail by. “In alchemy, the sacred marriage is the holy union of the sun and the moon. It’s a symbolic deal that represents the communion of female and masculine aspect to create the Lesser Stone.”
“Well, that certainly applies literally in this case, since Aphrodite is marrying her male and female sides to each other.”
“Yes, it’ll be a big deal for the covens. Aphrodite is already pretty revered for being a sacred hermaphrodite. Once they’re married, though, they’ll ascend to a higher state of respect. Like a guru or whatever.”
“Can you imagine how insufferable they’ll be then?”
“No shit. Although, I have to question how enlightened a glorified pimp can actually become.”
“Especially one that still has a thriving poison garden,” he added. “Any idea what the ceremony will be like?”
I shook my head. “The invitation said it’ll be at the old Orpheum Theater, so it’s bound to be quite a to do.”
“I don’t know the Orpheum.”
“Used to be a big deal when the town was booming. Real ornate and all that. But after the steel mills closed, no one wanted to go see the opera. It sat abandoned for years, but you-know-who arranged for some company to buy it last year. They’ve been renovating it to use for concerts and events.”
“You-know-who?” he prompted.
“The mayor.”
“Ah.” He plucked at the edge of his sleeve. “So, you never told me what else he said last night besides trying to give an alibi to Hung and Yü Nü.”
I looked out the window to the stormy lake. “He made some vague threats about pulling us off the case if we hassled them.”
“Good.”
Shocked, I pulled my gaze from the window. “How do you figure?”
“Let him try to explain obstructing our case in court. We really should sit down and write up all these instances for use down the road. It’s only a matter of time until he’s going down.”
“Good idea.” I swallowed and looked down at my hands. I’d had a few months to tell Morales about the gun. On the night I’d taken it, things had been really crazy and Morales didn’t see me make the decision not to toss it in the lake. I’d had plenty of opportunity to tell him about it since, but I held back. I told myself it was because I knew once he found out, he’d be angling to make a case against Volos ASAP. I felt it was too soon, since Volos had dirt on us, too. We had to wait until we had something huge to use, and then the gun could be just another nail in the coffin.
But now I realized there was another reason I hadn’t told my partner. Hell, I’d barely admitted it to myself. As much as I hated John Volos, I knew he was better than whatever would replace him. As shady as he could be, he’d done a lot for Adepts in Babylon. If we took him down now, it would confirm for a lot of old-school Mundanes what they’d already suspected—all Adepts are criminals.
Morales bumped my shoulder. “I wonder if he’ll be at the wedding,” he said, unaware of my woolgathering. “Can you imagine? The mayor attending the self-wedding of a hermaphrodite who runs a brothel.”
“Actually,” I said, “it’s not that farfetched. The Adept community will see this as a big deal. Dirty magic or no, a sacred hermaphrodite is revered by all Adepts, regardless of whether they’re trained in the alchemical traditions or not. If he didn’t go, it would be noticed.”
“But the Mundane community will notice if he does go, and not in a good way.” Morales shrugged. “Regardless, I hope we’re at different tables at the reception. That guy seriously ruins my appetite.”
The boat’s motor downshifted, saving me from responding. I looked up to see the cliffs that held the prison looming. The driving rain softened the edges but intensified the feeling of gloom that hung over the place.
The boat bumped into the dock, shifting my weight into him. His hands came up to steady me. For a minute, I allowed my weight to settle against him.
“You okay?” he asked into my hair.