Eighteen

Marie

"I still can't believe he uses butter on the outside of his grilled cheese sandwiches and not mayo." Joe was still ranting. "Obviously spreading a thin layer of mayo on the outside of your bread gives the best golden brown."

"Wouldn't work as well with the way he browns the curry powder," Marie countered.

"True," Joe admitted. "The browned curry powder on the outside of those grilled cheese sandwiches was so, so good."

She was extremely amused. Joe had dispelled the tension at the table after Thomas had eased up. Thomas was intense, and it showed he cared, but his nature drove him a little too hard, and he'd gotten out of hand. She and Punch both took turns pushing back with him, but Marie was glad Joe and Kuro weren't too intimidated to step up to the line with Thomas, too. Anyone she'd consider getting into a relationship with would need to be able to hold their own with the members of the Darke Consortium. They weren't just work colleagues. To her, they were family.

"So." Joe adjusted the straps on the dog backpack.

Kuro made a soft bark in response. Same as the evening before, Kuro had changed about an hour after Joe had turned back into a human. Marie ached for them. They'd been really great about meeting with the members of the Darke Consortium, but they'd missed out on time together while they were both in human form. She'd noticed they had taken the opportunity to hold hands behind her chair, and they'd both reached for her hand, too. Those little touches had been nice, really nice. She was learning that they were both tactile people, at least with each other and with her.

"Sew buttons?" Marie answered whimsically.

"Huh?" Joe blinked. A lock of hair fell across his forehead and across one eye. He didn't even have to try, and he had the cute but also incredibly hot K-pop idol vibe going.

Marie shook her head. "Sorry, my dad liked to make puns like that. Any time someone would prompt a conversation with so and leave it hanging like that."

Joe laughed. " So , I was wondering why we're in front of the Seattle Central Library in the middle of the night."

"Well, we might be coming back tomorrow when they're open." Marie pulled the extra-large tote bag she'd been carrying off her shoulder. "It all depends on Rensho."

"Who?" Joe asked.

Marie unzipped the top of the tote, murmuring the words to release the binding she'd had on it. Then she reached in and pulled out a scroll. The scroll immediately unrolled itself, hovering above her hand.

"I'm free!" The scroll tried to fly away and stopped, twisting itself as if its bottom was tethered to Marie's palm. "Ah. Sort of."

"Hello, Rensho," Marie said pleasantly.

"Witch," Rensho greeted her. They sounded cautiously genial.

"Joe, Kuro, this is Rensho." Marie thought introductions were the best way to start the evening. She also gathered Rensho in both hands, holding them as if she was showing the Japanese silk scroll painting to Joe.

"Kuro would know for sure, but that's a Japanese yōkai, isn't it?" Joe asked, using the term for supernatural beings and creatures from Japanese folklore and stepping close enough that his shoulder brushed hers. He was playing along quite nicely. It was unlikely anyone walking by would notice anything out of the ordinary.

"This yōkai is an ittan momen, thank you very much," Rensho said. They sounded significantly more irritated. "You can speak directly to me."

"I could," Joe agreed mildly. "But ittan momen have a reputation for being fairly malicious. Some of you have gathered a significant body count. So I figured I'd address the witch that was carrying you around. Especially since I like her, and I don't know you."

Rensho was silent for a moment. Then the silk of the scroll scrunched up like they were shrugging. "Fair."

"Rensho and I became acquainted not too long ago, when they were discovered as part of a collection of Japanese painted scrolls." Marie kept her attention on Rensho. They seemed to be playing nice, but they were tugging at the binding, testing her hold on them. "Since they had enough feeling poured into them over the years to gather enough power to become self-aware, I couldn't just put them away for safekeeping in the consortium archives. It seemed like that would be a form of torture."

"It would," Rensho agreed emphatically.

"I think I have a good solution to this problem, but I need more than a promise from you," Marie said. "I want a vow, witnessed and binding."

Rensho went still.

It wasn't a small thing she was demanding. Beings like Rensho took vows seriously. They were, after all, alive and self-aware because of the feelings and strength of will they had absorbed over time until they had achieved a life of their own. Plenty of objects of myth and magic exhibited a certain spark of will, but to be as completely self-aware as Rensho had become took a lot. Marie had had to research for days to figure out what an ittan momen was, then Rensho had filled in what her research hadn't turned up. They were actually quite knowledgeable, having passed from museum to museum for at least some of their long existence. They'd absorbed a certain amount of academic learning.

"What vow do you want from me, witch?" Rensho asked finally.

"This is the Seattle Central Library." Marie gestured to the complex geometric structure in front of them. "It's eleven stories of knowledge, with access to infinitely more if you learn to leverage the modern technology inside."

The ittan momen arched in her hands, and she wished they had features she could recognize as eyes, but that might also be creepy. It was just harder to talk to something without a face like it was a thinking, feeling being.

"What do I have to do?" Rensho asked finally.

"For the immediate future, I need your help researching a topic. I can't set up automated searches. I need a thinking, reasoning mind to do the queries and follow potentially useful leads." Marie hoped this would work. It would speed up her progress by a lot if it did. "I'll visit the library regularly. You meet with me discreetly and fill me in on what you've found."

"That's all?" Rensho sounded suspicious.

Well, they weren't wrong. There was more.

"You must not be discovered. Not by any human or supernatural. If you are, you must let me take you out of there." Marie didn't want to tell Rensho to do everything in their power to avoid discovery because there were too many ways to get around that. There were also circumstances beyond Rensho's control. "No suffocating people and definitely no killing. You must not harm anyone. You must remain within this specific building."

"Is that all?" Rensho had affected a bored tone now.

Marie pressed her lips together. She didn't believe what she was asking was of no consequence.

"Any time I need help with a new topic of research, you'll do your best to help me. Your sincere best." She needed to be able to trust them. "No lies, not even by omission."

"You're seriously going to set an ittan momen loose in a public building?" Joe whispered.

Rensho didn't say anything, maybe waiting to hear what she would say.

"This particular tsukumogami, with the vow I've specified, yes," Marie said evenly.

Tsukumogami were yōkai that resembled household items. They were once inanimate and had gained a life of their own over time, for whatever reason. Rensho had a passion for knowledge, like Marie did. It was why she thought Rensho would make this promise and allow themselves to be bound by it.

Rensho had a strong sense of pride, too. She was banking on them caring that she wouldn't set just any ittan momen or tsukumogami loose, even with restrictions. Besides, she wanted to trust them. This was the best solution she'd been able to come up with to give them happiness while still keeping them from harming anyone. It wasn't like they had a home they could safely go back to.

For many who'd lived for a long time, the safety of a place to call home changed over the passage of decades, and most couldn't ever go back to what used to be. She could empathize with that even if she hadn't lived half so long as Rensho had.

Anyone who'd been friends with Bennett would understand, at least a little bit. The vampire had lost a lot over the long years of his life. Marie was so very glad he'd found Punch.

"What do you say, yōkai?" Joe asked finally.

Marie was learning, of the two, it was Joe who tended to fill silences. Not a bad thing. She was getting too cold to stop her teeth from chattering as she waited out in the cold night for Rensho to make their decision. Her mask helped keep her face warm, but the chill autumn air was seeping through her pants and coat.

"Yes," Rensho responded. "I agree, witch."

Marie smiled. "Make your vow. My kitsune and gumiho companions will witness."

They didn't need an item to make the vow binding. Rensho simply repeated the terms she'd stated, vowing to abide by them. Magic hummed across Marie's skin and a few of the flowers in the landscaping around them leaned toward her to bear witness, too. It was as simple as speaking out loud for the wind to hear. That was the scary thing about binding oneself with a vow. All it took was intention. No spell. Magic did the rest for those with the talent to gather it.

When it was done, she walked to the book return slot. "First topic to research, Egyptian rituals using the amulet in this image." She showed Rensho the image on her phone. "Secondary topic, hexes and rituals used to bind shape-shifters."

"Interesting topics. I may actually enjoy this, witch," Rensho said, sounding cheerful now that the vow was made. "I'll get started right away."

Rensho changed in her hand, taking on the appearance of a novel. She glanced at the title and huffed out a laugh, then dropped them in the chute.

The Ink That Bleeds.

She returned to where Joe was standing with Kuro on the sidewalk. "Let's head back to my apartment, okay?"

Kuro let out a sharp bark. It sounded like agreement to her.

Joe just smiled and took her hand, interlocking their fingers and tucking them into his jacket pocket. "Is this okay?"

Warmth filled her, and not just from the contact. "It's nice."

Joe gave her hand a squeeze. "So, about these consortium meetings. Are you planning to introduce us to any other supernaturals? And is it too soon to hope you'll introduce us as your boyfriends?"

Before Marie could respond, Kuro nipped Joe's ear, and Joe yelped.

Startled, Marie regarded Kuro. "Does that mean you're against it?"

Kuro blinked, his fox face looking surprised to her, his ears up. He whined and shook his head.

"I'm not sure what dating is like for you"—Joe stopped and leaned in to brush his lips over her cheek—"but over the last couple of days, I've had a lot of time to talk with you and observe you. I already knew I was interested in you, and so did Kuro. This is, honestly, the slowest we've ever proceeded in a relationship when it came to…physicality."

"Ah." Marie breathed out the word. Joe's lips were so close. She only needed to tilt her face up the slightest bit and they would be kissing. "It's not because I don't want to…explore the physical attraction between us."

"The current situation is complicated, but I'm choosing to believe we'll figure out how to break the hex one way or the other." Joe's voice was deepening. He spoke against her lips. "In the meantime, how do you feel about exploring a little when we get back to your place? Kuro should be changing back in a few hours, too."

Both of them. Marie's body tightened at the suggestion. That would be amazing.

"I'd like that."

She'd get no sleep tonight, but honestly, it would be worth it.