Page 84 of A Shade Too Far
“Right. What did you want?”
“Could you hook me up with a demon?” I said. “You must have some informant in your network.”
“Is this about the curse? Tell me what you want to know, and I’ll ask around.”
What I want is to not be sidelined on my own case.Saying that would lead to another fight, though, so I moderated my tone. “The woman from the island is definitely behind all this and she’s Banim Shovavim. I’d like to go along if I may.”
He pursed his lips. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“Because I’m”—I made the quotes—“a ‘BS’?”
“Don’t let Daya hear you use that term,” he joked weakly and rubbed his arm.
His lame teasing made me sad. I plucked a long stalk of grass from the lawn and tore it into strips. “Losing Rishi like that must have been awful, but I never deserved to be painted with the same brush as a murderer. You liked me when we met, but the second you found out what I was, that was it. I never stood a chance.”
Naveen bowed his head, his face in shadow and his expression unreadable.
I brushed the pile of decimated grass off my lap. “You really hurt me.”
He gave me a rueful smile. “I didn’t much like myself either.”
“Then why?”
He rubbed at a patchy spot with his shoe. “Rishi died trying to break up an altercation between two big guys outside a club. That’s who he was. A peacekeeper.”
“One of them was the Banim Shovavim?”
Naveen nodded. “The Ohrist in the fight had been stabbed so Rishi used his healer magic to help him. But the other guy wasn’t happy about that and followed Rishi to his car. He attacked my brother-in-law, punching him again and again, forcing Rishi to use his magic to keep from bleeding out. Someone saw and tried to intervene but they were injured too.” His jaw hardened. “The witness said that the Banim Shovavim toyed with Rishi like a cat with a mouse until Rishi used his magic one too many times.”
I pressed my hand to my mouth. “Ohr got him?”
“Yeah. The bloody bastard had the nerve to spit on the ground where Rishi had stood, then he walked away.” Naveen tipped his head back to stare at the sky. “Daya was destroyed and my niece would never know her father.”
After hearing that, I didn’t have the heart to bug him about a demon informant. Laurent might not want to talk to me, but he wouldn’t hang up if it was about helping Tatiana.
Speaking of our absent friend… “Where’s Laurent? Is his… Can he…?”
Naveen shook his head. “Not yet. He’s booked on some nightmare red-eye from Los Angeles involving two stops. It’s a three-hour flight that they’ve turned into six. I swear, demons run that airline.”
“He can’t stay in a plane that long. Is it a question of money?” I calculated the balance on my credit card. “I’ll pay for him to upgrade to a direct flight. Business class even.”
Naveen stared at me like he was weighing something out in his head. “He can afford it. There was no other availability.” He shifted his weight uneasily in his seat. “You know he’s Banim Shovavim.”
“Yes.” I pulled my cardigan tight, not up for a fight about having learned about Laurent’s magic before Naveen had, but he watched me expectantly. “Oh! You mean, could he use the Kefitzat Haderech? He could try. If his shifter magic hasn’t come back, he should be fine.” I could even meet him there. I sagged. No. I couldn’t. “Call him.”
“I’m sure if that was an option over flying, he’d have taken it,” Naveen said.
“You’re right.” Sighing, I plucked another stalk, wrapping it around my finger. “Laurent isn’t a true Banim Shovavim. His magic must be restricted to scenting and dispatching dybbuks, since he can’t put them down for good, like I do. Damn it.”
Naveen looked at me oddly. “That’s where your head went?”
I frowned and flicked away the piece of grass. “Where should it have gone?”
“Laurent is the solution to your problem.”
“I hadn’t thought of that,” I said slowly.
“You hadn’t, had you?” he murmured. “Well, would you like to come see a demon with me tomorrow?”
