He smiled wide, exposing white gums and a few gray teeth set against his green lips. “I told you, Peewee sees everything.”
“All right.” I laughed. “You take care of yourself, okay?”
He waved the cell phone. “Thanks.”
When I got back to the car, Danny looked up toward the stairs. “Who’s that guy?”
I paused before starting Sybil. “That, my friend, is what happens to people who get involved with dirty magic.”
“Whatever.” He rolled his eyes like a pro. “Can we go now?”
* * *
We pulled into the parking lot about ten minutes later. The Conservatory building looked half-baked but full of promise in the golden rays of first light. I chose to see that as a positive portent.
“You can just drop me off.” Danny opened the door before I even pulled to a complete stop.
“Hold it.” I threw the car in Park, grabbed my travel mug of coffee, and turned off the Jeep. “You’re stuck with me until that bus leaves.”
He muttered under his breath, but I knew it was all an act. He’d been checking his hair in the visor mirror ever since we left the house, and he kept looking in his backpack to see if he forgot anything. The kid was nervous as hell. He might be able to convince himself that he didn’t need me, but I wasn’t naive enough to believe it. Besides, even if he didn’t want me there, I needed to be there to see him off.
It was the first time we’d be apart this long. He’d spent the night with friends plenty of times, and had a couple of school trips over long weekends. But my little brother had never been out of my sight for two whole weeks before. Even Baba, who’d known him since he was about six years old, couldn’t handle it. She’d refused to come to see him off because she was afraid she’d make too much of a scene. Instead, she opted to stay home to start making cookies to send him in care packages.
“Kate?” His impatient tone dragged me out of my reverie.
“Right. Sorry.” I climbed out with my coffee, holding it like a security blanket.
I surveyed the parking lot for any familiar faces. The only one I spied was Principal Hidalgo. She stood next to the bus, checking kids in against a roster on a clipboard. She spotted us and waved, but then a group approached and she got caught up with their questions.
Around the lot, some of the other parents gathered in clusters to chat, but they didn’t look like people I’d like. The moms all wore full faces of makeup and wrinkle-free clothing. I, on the other hand, wore no makeup and I was packing heat, which I was pretty sure wouldn’t be a great conversation piece in that crowd.
I turned to tell Danny we should go check in with Hidalgo, but realized he was already halfway there. I smiled at his enthusiasm and resisted the urge to call him back to help me carry the rest of his stuff. In addition to the backpack, he had a trunk filled with clothes and toiletries, plus all of the alchemical supplies we’d had to buy for the camp.
Some of the other kids were pretending to look at their cell phones but casting each other cagey side-eyes to size up whether new arrivals were potential friends or foes. While I handled loading Danny’s stuff into the bowels of the bus, he assumed the position near a cluster of two boys and a girl who looked about his age.
I was trying to wedge his trunk into the bus when I heard one of the guys say, “Your mom made you get a trunk, too? Lame, right?”
“She’s my sister, not my mom, but yeah.”
“Your sister’s old,” the girl said.
“She’s almost thirty,” Danny said in the same tone others might have used to say, “The disease is terminal.”
I smiled and finished putting his gear into the bus. Then I wiped my hands on my jeans and stood. “Hey, Danny?”
“What?” He had the slouchy posture of a teen in full impress-the-new-friends mode. I saw the fear in his eyes, though. He was terrified I would embarrass him. I suddenly was overcome with a sense of relief.
Danny was fine. Hell, he was better than fine. He might be headed off to a summer camp for Adept kids, but he wasn’t so different from the average American teen. His grades were solid, he never got into any major trouble, and he had a good head on his shoulders. On the other hand, by the time I was his age, I already had a tattoo, a smoking habit, and experience selling dirty potions on street corners.
Now I was a decorated detective on an elite task force, and I’d helped bring down some of the nastiest coven characters this city had ever produced.
I was under no illusions that I would never have a problem with Danny again. But for some reason, standing there that morning, I realized that I’d earned the right to feel confident that I could handle anything he threw my way.
“Um, hello? Earth to Kate?”
His new buddies snickered.
I shook myself. “Just wanted to let you know I’m headed out. You got the money I gave you?”
“Yeah.”
“All right. I’ll get going. Have fun and don’t forget to call every now and then.”
“Whatever.”
Turning to walk away, I felt a mixture of pride and sadness. It wasn’t easy letting him grow up. Hell, sometimes it was way harder than the things I ran into in my job. But I knew I’d done right by that kid.
I was almost at the car when I heard my name. I stopped and turned. Only to find myself the recipient of a quick side-hug.
“Thanks, Katie.”
I closed my eyes and squeezed him tight. “You’re welcome. Just do me a favor?”
He pulled away, looking bashful for an instant before the too-cool teen returned. “I know, I know. Don’t get in trouble.”
I shook my head. “Just promise me you’ll never forget who you are.”
“Like my name?”
“Some people might hear you’re a Prospero and think you’re bad news.”
He shrugged. “Fuck that. I don’t care what people think.”
I barked out a laugh. He was lucky the swear jar was at home, but he did sort of have a point. “Right, fuck them. Because you know what? We get to decide what it means to be a Prospero now.”
The bus driver honked the horn to indicate it was time to embark for the trip.
Danny squeezed me again. “I promise I’ll try to follow your example and show the world that being a Prospero means acting like a total badass.” He ran off, turning to taunt me as he went. “Behave yourself,” he mocked. “Don’t do anything that I wouldn’t do.”
With that, he ran off to join his new friends to climb on the bus. I forced myself to get into the car to watch them go so I wouldn’t be the dumb woman crying in the parking lot. Once the bus drove off, trailing exhaust behind it, I saw the man leaning against a truck on the other side of the lot.
Cursing under my breath, I climbed out of the Jeep and walked toward him. As I got closer, I noticed the truck’s bed was filled with luggage and fishing gear.
“You following me now?” I said.
Duffy didn’t crack a smile. “That your kid?”
I leaned against the fender beside him. “Brother.”
“How’s your partner?” He crossed his arms and looked up at the sky, as if we were just two pals shooting the breeze.
“Better. Should return to work soon.”
He turned his head to shoot me a meaningful look.
“What do you want, Duffy?”
He heaved a sigh. Whatever he’d come to say would cost him. I allowed myself to enjoy that. “To thank you.”
I raised a brow and shot him a side-eye. “Oh, really?”
“You saved my life.”
I opened my mouth to brush it off, but he cut in.
“It’s not often someone surprises me, but you managed.”
I huffed out an ironic laugh. “I suppose you meant that as a compliment, but I’m a little offended that you thought I’d let you die.”
He cocked a brow. “You know I know what happened with Morales in Los Angeles, right?”
I nodded. “Yeah, and you know I’m not my partner, right?”
He paused, thinking it over for a moment before nodding. “True enough.” He scrubbed a hand over his chin. “Anyway, thanks.”
“I guess I should thank you, too,” I said.
“How you figure?”