Page 10 of Bent Out of Shade
Tatiana sat at the large table, a pen in her mouth and her brows furrowed behind her oversize red glasses, typing using only her index fingers. Oy vey.
“Greetings and salutations,” I said.
She glanced up and snorted a laugh that spat the pen out of her mouth.
I crossed my arms. “What’s so funny?”
“Emmett,” she called out, “Miriam’s here.”
“Coming.” There was the clatter of heels and the golem entered the room.
My eyebrows shot into my hairline. “What the fuck? No way. No. Noooo. Nope.”
The golem was dressed eerily similar to me, except with a bald head, and a pair of heels that I’d break an ankle in.
“A good power suit is a wardrobe staple.” Tatiana smiled indulgently at him, before nodding at me. “Though I’m surprised you know that.”
“You bought it for him?” I crossed my arms. “Order him to take it off.”
Emmett stroked his lapels. “Get real. I’m clearly the winner in the ‘who wore it better?’ competition. Go change into your regular sadness clothes, toots.”
“First of all.” I shot him the finger. “And B, you’re supposed to be my muscle. Dress menacingly.”
He sneered. “You think I can scare a vamp in bouncer black? This way, I’m formidable because of my unpredictability.” He flexed his biceps. “Will I use my brawn? My shoe? Who can say?” He touched his lip then snapped his fingers at me. “Got any more lipstick? I’m out and I need a little coverage.”
I lunged at him, but he dashed behind Tatiana.
“She’s not letting me live my truth,” he whined.
“You can live your truth all you want! But not like this. I’ve never even gone twinsies with my kid, and I’m not about to start with you.”
“How was I supposed to know you’d finally wear something interesting?”
“Kindeleh, sha!” Tatiana wagged a finger at us. “You both look very fetching.”
Emmett and I narrowed our eyes at each other, our lips curled in disdain.
“Go, meet with Vincenzo or you’ll be late. And if you make me look bad, I’ll make you have a terrible day.”
My co-associate and I ducked our heads. “Yes, Tatiana,” we muttered.
“Come on.” I grabbed Emmett’s elbow and hauled him into the Kefitzat Haderech.
The shadows rippled outward like splashing through a warm, shallow pond, and the ground turned spongey for the long, slow blink that it took to transition to the magic space. I kept my gaze firmly forward, convinced that if I looked down, gravity would rear its head and I’d plummet Wile E. Coyote–style into a bottomless chasm. Once we landed in the cave, I tugged Emmett and myself free with the same gentle pull as exiting waves on the shore, shadows falling off us like droplets.
Pyotr, the gloomy gargoyle guardian, was crouched in front of a large grow light, testing the soil for his Chinese evergreen. During a recent garden store visit—that I still couldn’t believe we’d gotten away with—Pyotr had fallen in love with these leaves edged in red, named the plant Scarlet, and clutched it to his chest like a teddy bear.
As soon as he got back to the KH, he’d replanted Scarlet into a fancy and far-too-large ceramic planter that he kept next to his table.
“Scarlet’s looking good,” Emmett said. He’d also been with us on the garden store outing.
Pyotr lumbered to his feet with a creak, his large stone hand on his lower back. “Ooh. Best friend Sadie give team outfits for us?”
My daughter had dressed him and Emmett on our garden store jaunt, earning Pyotr’s everlasting adoration.
I hated to dash the hope shining in his eyes, but dressing like Emmett was bad enough. I wasn’t adding this lanky stone creature into our wardrobe mix. “Sorry, buddy. It’s a work thing.”
Pyotr shrugged, his bulbous eyes drooping farther down his face as if this was exactly what he expected from the universe. “Take sock.”
