Twenty

Marie

"Three hours of sleep is not enough."

Marie lifted a steaming mug. "Which is why I'm drinking tea and not coffee. I want to wake up just enough for this outing and then come back and take a really long nap."

"All you've been doing since we started staying with you is catching quick naps," Kuro said. "Is this how you normally sleep?"

Marie sipped her tea thoughtfully. This was her favorite blend of Earl Grey. It was a loose tea mixed with flavors of vanilla and cream to take the sharp edge off the bergamot citrus notes that usually were present with traditional Earl Grey. She had taken the drink in an even creamier direction by making her version of a London fog, which was basically brewing a particularly strong mug of this blend and mixing it with heavy cream.

When she made this for herself in the afternoons, she also indulged in a little bit of rock sugar as a sweetener. In any case, this was a black tea blend, which meant it was high in caffeine, for tea. Just enough to kick-start her for what she planned this morning, then she could come back here and curl up for a solid three-hour nap.

"Honestly, I do like to take a nap in the afternoon." She wrapped both hands around her mug, taking comfort from the warmth seeping into her palms. A warm beverage in the morning was about more than just caffeine for her. "But it's closer to normal for me to take a thirty-to-sixty-minute nap, not three hours like I have planned to make up for missed nights of sleep. I don't really think we can risk me lying down for a whole night or whatever it would take to catch up with the sleep deficit, and I don't think it would work even if we tried. I have a tendency to wake up after six or eight hours no matter how exhausted or sick or otherwise in need of rest I might be."

Kuro studied her for a long time, then finally took a sip of the mug she had put together for him. "If we're thinking ahead to planning naps, can you also let us know if there's anything else we can provide to counteract the toll this is all taking on you?"

Just when she thought she was getting used to how good both Joe and Kuro made her feel, one or the other of them seemed to say or do something that made her heart expand another two or three sizes. She had never understood what some of her acquaintances or colleagues meant when they would gush over one of their partners doing something cute and proclaim that their "ovaries had exploded." Now, she was kind of getting the reference.

"I'll think about it." She finished the rest of the tea in her mug, washed and rinsed it out in the sink, then placed it on the top rack inside her dishwasher to dry.

Foxtails brushed across the back of her legs and up over the curve of her behind as Joe wound himself around her calves like a cat. He tapped the dishwasher with a paw and gave her some pretty strong side-eye.

"Look," she said. "Up until recently, I lived alone and wasn't here more than a couple of days a week max. I didn't use enough dishes to justify running an entire load. There's not a whole lot of space on the counter, so why not use the rack inside the dishwasher for drying rather than taking up counter space? It makes sense."

Kuro chuckled. He walked over to her, gently nudging her to one side with his hip so he could wash and rinse out his mug, and place it next to hers on the rack in the dishwasher. "Let's debate this some other time."

Right. Focus. Don't get distracted by the very attractive man who you already know can blow your mind. Marie turned with effort and walked to her entryway, taking her shoes off the shoe rack and slipping them on. Then she grabbed her mask off the hook on the doorframe and her keys. Lastly, she grabbed her light trench coat. It wouldn't be as cold during the day as it was last night, and it just made sense to her to change up what coat she was wearing when she was out. No need to catch anyone's attention by being consistently recognizable in the same outerwear.

Kuro and Joe both came with her this time, still unsettled by the encounter with the pain witch the night before. Kuro really did look attractive with Joe in a backpack on his back. In fox form, Joe passed for a dog more easily than Kuro's fox form did, but Marie wasn't going to say that to either of them.

It wasn't just that Joe had a lot of soft white fading into red across his face, and Kuro's face was a darker red with more black fur that resulted in a fiercer look. It was also the fact that Joe was just…fluffier. With Joe in the backpack, they got a lot more friendly smiles and a few compliments as they walked through Pike Place Market.

Marie led them into the main arcade and down the ramp to one of the lower levels. Tourists were only just starting to wander around the most well-known level of the marketplace where the fishmongers tossed fish, independent vendors set up booths in the crafts market, and the more iconic eateries were opening up for the day. It honestly took an act of willpower not to stop at her favorite crumpet shop.

"Have you two checked out what's here in Pike Place Market?" Marie asked as they headed for one of the lower levels.

"No," Kuro answered. "We've been in Seattle a year or two, but never had a reason to come into the market."

Ah. Marie wondered how many transient supernaturals moved through the Seattle area without becoming aware of the potential connections that could be made throughout the city. After all, she had been working with the Darke Consortium for ten years now, and there was still plenty she didn't know about the supernatural communities tucked away in pockets all around the city.

"I didn't realize there were this many levels to the marketplace," Kuro offered.

Marie laughed. "I didn't either for the first couple of years, but then again, the definition of what exactly is Pike Place Market has probably evolved over time, too. Some people don't necessarily consider the shops on 1st Avenue part of the market, or the shops up and down Post Alley. I think if someone were to check a map, they're all listed as part of the market along with an atrium and the mezzanine and even shops down Western Avenue. There's something like 450 or more individual stores here, and that makes it really convenient and easy for shops catering to the supernatural community to blend in as quirky antiques and oddities stores."

"Is that how you get supplies you need?" Kuro turned slightly as a passerby tried to pet Joe, covering it by murmuring a quiet thanks as they gushed about how cute he was.

Considering the appreciative glances and giggles, it was just as likely the compliment was intended for Kuro as it was for Joe. Even with Kuro wearing a mask in this crowded space. Take an incredibly attractive man and put a cute canine in a backpack on his back, and it was more attention than they actually wanted. But they were out and about now. They would just have to make the best of it.

Marie shrugged. "I grow most of the herbs I need and I have ways to forage for the rest. If I go on a shopping excursion, it's more in search of knowledge. When I first moved into my apartment, there was a shop selling crystals and herbs across the street from me, just a block away from the market. It was really popular with the tourists, while also having a lot of really useful supplies for my craft. But what was really the most valuable for me was chatting with the store owner, who had a lot of thoughts on creative ways to combine various herbs to make use of their magical properties. They also talked a lot about candle rituals and crystal properties that were more than the generic information one might encounter in other shops."

Kuro grunted. Marie held back a smile. She was learning that he ran out of words when he wasn't absolutely sure how to say what he wanted to say or was worried what he was thinking would come out in a way he wasn't intending.

"Here we are." She let them into an antique shop with shelves so full of items they had to walk slowly and carefully to avoid knocking anything out of place. They made their way through a veritable maze before they came to a counter at the back.

The man behind the counter stood waiting for them. He was tall and long-limbed with thinning hair and a salt-and-pepper scruff. He had a long, pointed nose and deep lines etched between his eyebrows and across his forehead. His eyelids folded over at the outside corners, giving him a look of perpetual squinting. His mouth curved in a frown, bracketed by more deep lines. Maybe once a upon a time those had been laugh lines, or maybe not, because everything she perceived was a glamour.

"Reinhardt, hello." Marie was careful to greet him with respect in her tone. Every time she interacted with him, she got the impression that he didn't mind her presence, which was a distinct improvement over the very clear irritation he projected toward most people who came into his store.

"Witch." That was Reinhardt's version of a greeting.

His gaze took in Kuro and Joe. "I have nothing in my store capable of freeing them."

Marie wondered suddenly how much Ashke had been able to sense the hex on Kuro and Joe when Reinhardt seemed to understand so much at a glance. It was hard to say, since there were so many kinds of fae, and they all had so many different types of abilities. The fae folk weren't exactly known for being forthcoming about what they were capable of, either. That included Duncan, Ashke, and Ellery, too.

"We're here to put in an order with your apprentice." Marie decided it was best not to say anything about the hex on Kuro and Joe. The less it was discussed, the less Reinhardt could interpret as a request.

"Hmm." Reinhardt pushed away from the counter. "Your request will not involve my apprentice in the business of pain witches."

He framed it as a statement. Marie decided to handle it as a question. "It has nothing to do with the pain witches who cast their work on my companions."

She was careful with her phrasing, because she really didn't know how many pain witches might be active in the area. She would've loved to know, but Reinhardt would make her pay for the intel, and might still not give her enough to be useful. If she was transparent and honest in her dealings with him, he'd proven in the past that he would drop important tidbits anyway, if only to make sure a customer he could actually tolerate interacting with would come back.

Reinhardt grunted and thumped the door behind the counter with the bottom of his fist twice.

"Yeah?" a sweet, high voice called from the other side.

"Customer is here to see you." Reinhardt didn't have to raise his voice, he just pitched it to carry right through the wall. It wasn't about volume, it was about resonance.

The door opened. A teen emerged, her black hair pulled into looped ponytails on either side and a little toward the back of her head. She had full lips and a wide mouth currently shaped in a pout. She wore minimal makeup, but had decided to do a dramatic eyeliner to accentuate her round, black eyes. Even in November her coppery skin had a healthy glow. Or maybe Marie was just jealous of the vitality of youth.

Jenna had tried to guess Marie's age once, and when she had found out exactly how old Marie was, her only comment was that Marie had good skin. So maybe Marie didn't have anything to be jealous of.

"Hey," Jenna greeted Marie. Then her gaze went past Marie to Kuro. "Well, hello, hottie."

"Rude," Marie stated.

"But also true," Jenna returned.

"Taken," Marie countered.

Jenna leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest, tucking her chin. Her eyebrows rose until they were hidden under her bangs. She regarded Marie with new respect. "Damn. You're good."

"You have no idea." Marie decided to shut this down because Jenna would offer to find out and Jenna was jailbait. Marie wasn't tempted in the least by anyone that young, no matter how much of a cougar she was. "Got a job for you. Do you want to keep drooling or do you want a new project?"

Jenna's lips parted and she ran her tongue over her teeth as she thought about it. "You always have interesting projects."

Marie smiled. "I've got a photo for you, and I need a reproduction. It needs to be good enough to fool a collector, but it doesn't need to fool an expert."

Jenna stepped toward the counter, hopping up so she could get a better look at the image Marie was holding on her phone. Marie was glad Jenna was willing to do that because Marie was not willing to lean over the counter herself. It was too damn tall, and she didn't fancy propping herself up so her feet hung inches off the ground. Let Jenna do it.

Jenna let out a low whistle. "That's intricate. Cool. What's the symbology for all this?"

Rensho had been quick, sending Marie a secure email with some preliminary information via the library's computers.

Marie zoomed in the image to the top part of the amulet. "To my understanding, the very top is a crescent moon cradling three figures. Horus is on one side with Set, or maybe Thoth, on the other side, and that's supposed to be Pharaoh in the middle."

"Which pharaoh?" Jenna asked.

Marie shrugged. "I'm not sure who it was intended to represent specifically. But the concept is about the balancing of the opposites, chaos and order. A need for both."

Marie didn't look at Kuro and Joe. Chaos wasn't her favorite concept at the moment, not when she knew what Babel had done to them.

"So is this the Eye of Horus?" Jenna asked. Reinhardt grunted and Jenna grinned. "I've been to a museum or two for school."

Marie tried to remember what she'd read of Rensho's notes. "It's the Eye of Horus, or possibly Ra. What's important is that it's bracketed by Wadjet snakes for protection. I think they're cobras with suns on their heads as a symbol of fierce protection."

"Protection from what?" Jenna asked.

"Sometimes a protective amulet is intended for general protection," Marie answered. That wasn't exclusive to Egyptian mythology. "Other times it's designed to be specific. But that's set by the intention of the person who made the amulet, and not necessarily something anyone else would know, not even the wearer."

"So what's this next level?" Jenna pointed, careful not to touch the screen of Marie's phone.

"The center is a scarab beetle, representing rebirth and dawn." Marie tilted her head. "Oh, I forgot those two upper tiers on top of this thing. That's supposed to be a solar boat, I think. The scarab is holding up the boat, lifting it up into the sky."

Rensho's notes had been incredibly helpful, and Marie was going to have to trust their interpretation, because she hadn't found any better explanations of the symbology, much less to this detail.

"So what's up with these wings on the side of the scarab?" Jenna was studying the image very closely. Her detail-oriented nature was part of why Marie liked to work with her.

"The scarab is apparently combined with some kind of bird, a hawk or a vulture." Marie paused to consider. "It's likely a vulture. Vultures are another traditional symbol of protection, representing…Nekhbet, I think? The vulture goddess. She's sometimes featured on a crown worn by Pharaoh or the queen, next to the snake."

"Huh." Jenna was more focused on the symbols than she was on the meaning behind them, as she continued to point at parts of the amulet. "What are the vulture's feet holding?"

"That's a shen symbol," Marie answered. "Papyrus held on one side and blue lotus from the other side. As a whole, the shen symbol represents eternity, or the place where all life emanates from."

Perhaps the dead man walking had been searching for eternal life. Humankind tended to attempt that on a regular basis throughout history. But generally, individual humans tried to find and keep it for themselves. Socrates Industries was in the business of selling the products of their research.

"So all this at the bottom is alternating papyrus and blue lotus." Jenna wiggled her fingertips at the bottom of the image. "Lots of protection and balance in the iconography here."

"Yes," Marie agreed, but her mind was processing Jenna's interpretation.

Eternal life wasn't a balanced thing. Looking at the scarab, maybe this was more about death and rebirth. After all, the next time they'd run into the scientist, he'd been alive and well. Huh .

"What materials are we talking about?" Jenna asked, reaching across the counter to slide her fingers across the phone and enlarge the image.

"Gold mostly. Some semiprecious stones like carnelian, lapis lazuli, and jasper," Marie answered. All of those were materials Reinhardt could acquire for his apprentice.

"This is different, though." Jenna tapped the center scarab.

"Ah, for that you're going to have to get creative," Marie stated. "From what I can tell that's not a material we want to re-create. Melt glass or something to look like it, but don't actually re-create it."

"So that's why you came to me and not an artificer." Jenna looked up at Marie through her long, dark eyelashes. Unfair what this teenager had to work with. She probably cut a swath through just about anybody at school and left a trail of broken hearts in her wake. Marie was glad Jenna had Reinhardt looking out for her.

"Correct. I want magically inert re-creation of it, not a magical replica."

Jenna threw back her head. "It's so boring being human. Imagine what I could make if I was an artificer, with the magic to enhance anything I can think of."

Marie was more inclined to be thankful for small blessings that Jenna had no magic. There were too many beings out there who would make a grab for her magic and care nothing for her artistry. They'd rip her magic out of her and the world would lose a bright young soul as well as an incredibly talented artisan.

"You're not just any human. Reinhardt wouldn't make just anyone, supernatural or no, one of his apprentices. You have a talent that's much rarer." Marie wanted to say more, but also remembered what it was like when she was young and dissatisfied. Lectures got boring. So she satisfied herself with saying, "I like who you are, even if you're drooling over one of my boyfriends."

Marie instantly regretted letting that particular fact slip out.

Jenna's eyes widened and her mouth split into a huge grin. "Aw, Marie, I knew you were queer, but this is the first time you've given me evidence that you actually have a sizzling love life. Where's the other lover? Lovers?"

"Here," Marie answered simply.

"In the market?" Jenna asked.

Marie just shrugged. She wasn't going to explain. She'd promised Reinhardt she wouldn't involve Jenna with anything having to do with the pain witches, and explaining Joe's current form would break that promise.

"How soon can you have this piece ready for me?" Marie waved her phone.

Jenna sighed. "Send me the images you've got. I like that you've got other stuff in the pics to give me an idea of scale. I can have something for you by tomorrow."

That was why Reinhardt had taken over guardianship of Jenna. She didn't just create things with amazing craftsmanship, indescribably detailed. She managed it in record time. Like magic, only Jenna had none. She was a once-in-an-age talent.

"I'll pay you the cost of materials plus your usual hourly fee. Bonus if you never hit on any of my significant others ever again." Marie held out her hand in a loose fist.

Jenna reached out with her own fist and met her with a light fist bump. "So long as you know I'm never going to stop hitting on you."

"Not going to happen, Jenna."

"Not yet," Jenna insisted.

Someone save her. Marie glared at Jenna. "I refuse to entertain the idea."

"Because you're irrationally bound by overly strict societal rules," Jenna shot back.

"Because I am only attracted to mental, emotional, and physical maturity approaching my own," Marie clarified.

"I…"

"No. You're not."

Jenna tried to get assertive again. "Not yet."

Oh, but it would be a while before she was able to stand toe-to-toe with Marie. "I'm leaving now."

Reinhardt rumbled, "Safe travels home."

He might have been amused. He might have simply been glad they were leaving. Hard to say. But Marie rather thought Reinhardt enjoyed the back-and-forth. Thing was, the slightest mistake and Jenna could have her feelings hurt. Neither Marie nor Reinhardt wanted that. Reinhardt's reaction to that would definitively be bad for anyone involved.

Marie breathed out a sigh of relief as she left.

Kuro stepped to her side, offering his elbow, and Joe leaned close from his backpack to nuzzle her hair.

"Precocious." Kuro sounded amused.

"I'm lucky Reinhardt hasn't decided I'm a threat to her," Marie muttered.

"You handle her well," Kuro offered. "You like her."

Marie sighed. "No. She's still a kid. Obviously. Ew."

"Not that way." Kuro got that strained note in his voice, the way he did when he realized something he said hadn't come out the way he'd intended. "You think she's a person worth investing time in."

Oh. Marie gave his arm a squeeze. "Yes. She's bright and tough and deserves a chance at whatever future she wants. She's good for Reinhardt, too."

"They're not…"

"No. Reinhardt wouldn't, any more than I would. He's old. Very old. And he doesn't just have power, he is a Power among the fae. With supernaturals like him, it's mortal connections that anchor them to this modern world. Otherwise, he'd have no reason not to destroy everything."

That was a part of the reason Jenna was special. Because she could be found family for a being like Reinhardt, someone so very old and otherwise disconnected.

And that was also something humans as a whole shouldn't know. There were supernaturals in this world that could destroy it more thoroughly than nuclear war. The last thing anyone needed was whatever consequences would come out of humans being aware of and fearing the supernaturals among them.