Rainbow Brigade: A Sarah Beauhall Novel

Chapter One

When you’re a dragon slayer, it’s rare to think that your life could ever be normal. And this isn’t some LARP where I run around the woods with friends playing pretend; this is the real deal and I have the scars to prove it. There are far too many graves in my wake for me to ever think I’d find a little house with a picket fence and live a life of quiet contemplation.

But in this moment, I was experiencing the closest thing to normal that I’ve seen in a couple of years. It was glorious, and something I would give my right arm to keep. At the moment, Jai Li and Katie were both happy and hale. Well, Jai Li was healthy. Katie was in a sort of remission. Whatever was attacking her body had taken a hiatus and that’s the best I could hope for. I was content.

So, when Katie asked me to go with her to a birthday party in Bellingham for Ginny Prine, one of her old college cronies, how could I refuse?

To be honest I didn’t even try, but on the drive up I came up with several spectacular ideas. By the time Katie and I were in the fancy-schmancy restaurant and the hosts were handing out wacky party hats and noisemakers, I was ready to give a couple of them a whirl.

I didn’t exactly hate Katie’s friends. Not all of them, anyway. There was this one couple: Melanie, an ER doc, and her squeeze Dena, who was an EMT. They were cool enough. Katie and Melanie had been friends since high school and sometimes lovers in college. Nothing there but friendship these days.

I could take her.

And I really dug all the Black Briar folks. We’d gotten into enough fights together, protecting each other’s backs, standing toe-to-toe against cultists and giants, dragons, and all manner of creepies, that I trusted these people with my life.

But her old college friends? That was a whole ’nother world. I didn’t know any of these people when I went to Western Washington University, even though they were only a few years behind me, and I didn’t care to know them now.

Right or wrong, I pegged them as pretentious and judgmental. I could feel them staring at me, talking behind their hands. Okay, maybe I was being paranoid. These were mostly faculty, grad students or lawyers, doctors and teachers. You know, professionals. I was the only one with her head half shaved and calluses on her hands from hammering steel and wrangling horses. I was being the good partner, sitting in clothes that made me want to vomit while Katie beamed at anyone who looked our way.

She’d tried to get me into a dress, but I think she was kidding. Gods, I hope she was kidding. Either way, I had T-shirt, jeans, and boots in the truck. The second this soiree was over, I was ditching the gawd-awful pant suit and getting back into my shit-kicking gear. Even if I had to strip down right there in the parking lot.

The things we do for love.

The party was at Madrigals, one of those posh restaurants perched on a cliff overlooking the Bellingham Bay. It was famous for its seafood and breathtaking views. No way I’d ever afford a place like this. Good thing the party was a buffet. I managed to eat two plates of lobster ravioli without an ounce of buyer’s remorse.

All the time I watched them, watched Ginny with her new girlfriend, I wondered if that was how other people saw me and Katie. I don’t think we were quite as effusive about our love, nor as over-the-top with the public display of affection. Hard to see yourself with others’ eyes.

I’m pretty sure Ginny had crushed on both Katie and Melanie back in the day—maybe at the same time. Either way, they hadn’t dated. I think there were a few drunken make-out sessions and maybe some underwear dancing, but it never led to sex. At least not with each other.

I glanced out over the bay. The restaurant had the best damn view. I marveled at the bright blue of the sky, and how it fell to meet the deeper colors of the bay beyond. This exclusive balcony was probably worth every penny it cost to eat here. You could see all the way down to the rocks if you leaned out. It was a little disconcerting, but the day was beautiful, and the company was good. Katie looked hot in her long dress. I was imagining how she would look with that dress on the floor of our hotel room. Fat chance with her being as sick as she was, but it was a nice thought.

I took Katie’s hand and gave it a squeeze. I needed her to be better. We’d survived the battle with the blood cult out in Chumstick at the winter solstice, but the jury was still out on whether or not we’d really emerged unscathed. Something had happened to Katie, and the fact we didn’t know what continued to haunt me.

There was a commotion and I looked around to find Ginny standing, gathering all our attention.

The last five years have been glorious, she sang out, throwing her arms wide.

The crowd cheered. I raised my beer to her and cast a glance at Katie, who laughed as she slipped her hand out of mine and clapped with abandon. Ginny was a total attention whore. She was dressed in a flowing evening gown that I’d have expected to see at a prom. Or maybe on a drag queen. It was a bit much for brunch.

Louder, someone called from the back. Ginny laughed, waved at the crowd and climbed up onto a chair to get above all the people on their feet.

Her partner, Samantha, stood next to her, one hand on Ginny’s hip. They were cute together. Ginny was a tall redhead, thin with a long face and big hands—boyish. Samantha was shorter, about Katie’s height, with short cropped black hair and a round pleasant face.

Careful, hon, Samantha said.

Ginny just laughed and waved at her. I’m fine. She put her hands up to shade her eyes and looked over the crowd. The air was warm and golden, as you’d expect for an August in the Pacific Northwest: low seventies with a few clouds scudding across the sky. Beautiful day for an outdoor event. They couldn’t have wished for better.

I don’t know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

People looked around, confused. Only Katie laughed. She leaned in and kissed me on the ear. She’s quoting Bilbo’s birthday speech.

Bilbo? Like the hobbit?

I missed most of the rest of the speech as I turned to kiss Katie. By the time I turned back Ginny was standing on the table, holding her glass of wine aloft. Someone in the crowd whistled and Ginny curtsied. People were milling about, raising their glasses of white wine in salute.

As I said, five years is much too short a time to spend among you.

She drained her glass of wine in one long pull and someone cheered.

She wiped her mouth on her hand and grinned. She was quite lovely in that moment. So, I have an announcement.

Don’t ask me why. One second I was thinking maybe I could see the charm of Ginny, and the next, alarms were going off in my head. I remembered how that speech ended, and her table was too damn close to the edge of the balcony.

Katie whispered, Oh, no, and I was on my feet.

This is the END. I am going. I am leaving NOW. Goodbye. Ginny’s voice echoed across the patio, washing over the confused crowd.

I tried to stop her, honest I did.

Ginny gave a silly little wave as she hopped backward off the table and over the edge of the balcony.

I lunged over their table, made a grab for her without going over the balcony myself.

Someone in the back screamed as I grabbed empty air.

I leaned over the edge, holding my hands out to her, too late.

She fell backward, her arms out wide, as if expecting the embrace of a lover. The look on her face was rapturous.

She smashed into the rocks far below, a broken and bloodied ragdoll.

People were screaming. I just stood there, the railing pressed against my chest, arms outstretched. She was a broken doll on the rocks below and I couldn’t stop reaching for her.

Katie pulled me back, grabbed me by the shoulders and wrestled me into a seat.

She jumped, I said. My brain refused to put the pieces together. This was insane.

Katie was crying. Nearly everyone was hysterical. One of the guys, Jake something, was screaming for everyone to just calm down.

Samantha had passed out, striking the table on the way down. There was blood.

Someone was talking into a cell phone nearby. Calling 911.

All I could see in my mind was how freaking happy Ginny looked on the way down. No terror, no fear. Just pure bliss.

What the hell?

Chapter Two

Days later, I stood looking over the Bellingham Bay from the student union at Western. We’d come up for the memorial service the university put on for Ginny. They had several counselors set up in the student union to answer questions. Most of the students just passed through, not really paying attention to all the fuss. I remember being that self-absorbed.

A couple dozen kids stood clumped in groups, crying or talking. Ginny had been a well-liked teaching assistant in the theater department—explained a bit about her flamboyant personality.

Katie was out in the lobby chatting with one of her old professors while Jai Li and I finished our lunch in the commons. I’d polished off my burger, but the remains of Jai Li’s lunch had congealed into a mass of cold fries and ketchup. She claimed she wasn’t hungry. I figured she was worried about Katie and contemplating all the death she’d been witness to in her short life.

You okay, hon? I asked her. Jai Li was tiny for six. She looked like a doll with fine facial features and long black hair. She’d decided to grow it out after Christmas. I thought it looked good on her. Nidhogg, the dragon who’d owned Jai Li before I came along, had insisted her servants keep their hair short.

We changed most of the rules when she came to live with Katie and me at Christmas. All our lives had grown to be more amazing than any of us could have imagined. I can tell you Jai Li was full of typical little kid attitude most of the time. The fact she’d had her tongue cut out at birth gave her a bit of a disconnect with normal folks, not that she let it stop her. One thing about our foster kid, she was tenacious.

Are you going to finish your lunch? I asked, stroking her hair.

She looked up at me and shrugged.

It’s okay. I understand. I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her close. She snuggled into my arm, a little sigh escaping her.

Mei Hau, Jai Li’s twin sister, had been killed just over a year ago. They had been thralls of the most ancient of dragons—Nidhogg, She Who Must Be Obeyed. Nidhogg ruled Seattle and all of Washington. Think steel fist in a velvet glove.

It was a year ago, around the same time that Mei Hau had been killed, that we had all found out that dragons really exist. Jai Li had known her whole life, of course. The rest of us had been more sheltered.

As it was, the minute I remade the sword Gram, Nidhogg went into a rage, setting all our lives on a roller coaster of battle, pain, and unexpected joy.

I held one of those joys in my lap as we sat and looked out over the bay, letting the clear day hold our attention while our minds whirled off into secret directions.

Katie had wanted to come up to the memorial service. We’d both gotten off work, as it was Friday. The funeral wasn’t until Saturday afternoon, so we decided to visit Rolph and Juanita as well. Juanita was staying with her sister here in Bellingham, since she’d just had the baby and all.

Juanita was a human, like most of us, but her hubby, Rolph, was a dwarf. Not the Disney type of comical dwarf—all waggling beards and bulbous noses. Rolph was a Nordic dwarf. He stood over six feet, with a shock of black hair and a great bushy black beard, more of a cross between Albert Einstein and Santa Claus hair-wise. His job kept him over the Canadian border in Surrey most days. I wasn’t sure exactly what his job was—he didn’t talk about it and I didn’t ask. He’d had a rough life. I’m sure he was doing what he had to to get by. It would be good to see them.

If we could only get out of here.

Unlike Mei Hau, Ginny had chosen to check out. Not something that jived with my worldview. She’d been happy, a good student, well-liked. She’d written and produced several plays and had been up for a national award for one of the musicals she’d created.

No one was sure what had triggered the jump. Samantha had needed a few stitches from where she’d hit the table when she passed out. She was a real mess. We’d expressed our condolences to her when we arrived at the memorial, but she was too far out of it. Shock, I think.

I spoke with one of the counselors before the memorial had gotten started, and she told me that it was not uncommon for people with depression to commit suicide when they were at their most successful. They’d achieved their dreams and knew it could only go downhill from there. Funny thing was, no one ever thought Ginny was depressed. If she was, she hid it really well.

Samantha didn’t think Ginny had been depressed, and she’d know. You can’t wake up with someone every day and not begin to get a pretty clear picture of their moods and issues.

The funeral Saturday would be small. Not sure why we were having a service anyway, not with the memorial. Ginny had no family. She’d told everyone she was an orphan when she first showed up at Western. Katie took her under her wing that first year, made sure she was surrounded by people. It hadn’t lasted. They each had their own wants and desires. Katie had Melanie at first, and Ginny experimented with a whole rainbow of choices. Katie said Ginny had seen the world as an array of flavors, and she was in a hurry to try them all.

You had to admire her lust for life—and undergrads. Until we got the call for the birthday party, Katie hadn’t heard from Ginny in a couple of years, other than the occasional social media update. They were all so busy. That’s just how life got to be. But the suicide brought important things back into focus. Like the little girl who counted on us to keep her safe.

Katie was still in deep conversation, so Jai Li and I headed out to the balcony along the back. The view was just as breathtaking as it had been when Ginny took the plunge. We stood at the railing and looked out over the bay toward the open ocean. I couldn’t get Ginny out of my head. The way she fell like that, peaceful and content. Made me wonder what she knew that I didn’t.

We walked around to the front of the student union, and I pointed out the various buildings. Jai Li drank it all in. Until Christmas, she’d lived the majority of her life inside Nidhogg’s mansion. The outside world fascinated her.

That was one of the wonderful things about having a kid. They made you pause and look at the world through new eyes. Made you think about things you’d long forgotten. Not all of them were pleasant, mind you. There were plenty of things in my past I’d have liked to never think of again.

Like this campus, for instance. Jai Li saw it as wondrous and full of secrets to discover. Me, not so much.

It was haunting, being back here after going on seven years. I’d started at seventeen, excited to be away from home and scared out of my mind. I’d felt like such an outsider here, no matter how hard some of the people around me tried. I’d lived up on The Ridge for four years, never daring to go out and get my own place. It was too terrifying. Da couldn’t afford for me to get my own place, and I barely got by on the cafeteria food and student housing.

There had been this one kid, though, who had been worse off than me. She had to be a girl since she lived in my dorm, though you wouldn’t know it by looking at her. Not sure she was sure who she was. She lived down the hall from me. Kept her hair over her face and her body buried in layers of bulky clothes. I tried talking to her a few times, but she only grunted. She disappeared partway through my sophomore year. I heard she got a place in one of the local boarding houses. I’m not sure if she ever finished the year, but people I know said she didn’t come back junior year.

I always wanted to talk to that girl, see what her deal was. I felt that if I’d reached out to her, maybe I could’ve been a friend, you know. Instead I kept my own shields up around me. Safer that way.

Katie finally finished with Doctor Weepy-McCries-a-lot. They hugged and I tried not to gag. I remembered that professor. I didn’t take her classes, but I knew people who did. Brilliant, they assured me. Only thing was she always reminded me of that Trelawny character in Harry Potter.

Katie loved her, though. Go figure.

You ready to get out of here? Katie asked me, giving the good professor a little wave as she walked out to meet us.

I shrugged and let her fall into my arms. At least Katie had stopped crying.

Death sucks, she said.

Had to agree with her there. I know she was thinking of Jimmy. I didn’t blame her, losing him while she was in a coma, not getting a chance to say goodbye. Never resolving their outstanding issues. It was the same with her parents. Just gone one day with no recourse.

And don’t get me started on funerals in general. I couldn’t take all the thrashing and moaning. Maybe I’d seen too many die over the last year. Maybe I was a cold-hearted bitch. Likely both.

Why don’t we stop at Mallard Ice Cream before we head over to Juanita’s? I asked.

Jai Li’s head snapped around at the words ice cream. Girl had a sweet tooth.

Katie rolled her eyes at me. Of course. Can’t come to Bellingham without getting ice cream at Mallard’s. I think that’s where the freshman fifteen was invented.

I hadn’t been able to afford Mallard’s when I went to Western. I never gained the freshman fifteen, either. But she knew both. She was just busting my chops.

Katie was looking worn, thin. I was putting together a theory about her ailment. She seemed to be better, stronger when she was eating huge amounts of calories. Ice cream would definitely fit the bill.

Juanita just had the baby, of course she wants ice cream, Katie assured me. We should get something with dark chocolate. Really helps with the post-delivery hormone crash.

Whatever, as long as Katie had a supersized portion.

Jai Li was practically vibrating by the time we were all buckled into the pickup. She loved ice cream and babies. Today would end up full of wins for her. Now if my stomach would unclench and Katie would stop looking so haunted …

Chapter Three

Juanita and her sister Evelyn spoke in rapid Spanish. I could understand bits and pieces, but not enough to make heads or tail of the conversation.

I’d met Evelyn once before, when Juanita had gone into hiding at her place. She was short and plump, like Juanita. Older by about six years. They’d come to the States when they were little. At first, Evelyn wasn’t too sure about me. She was protective of Juanita.

With the necromancer, Justin, killing people around me back before Christmas, Evelyn had viewed me as a threat. The fact we killed Justin and his psycho cronies didn’t totally clear me in her books. I courted trouble, had some seriously bad mojo in her world. Rolph vouched for me, explained about how I’d reforged the Norse sword Gram and all, but she wasn’t convinced. I had no beef with her. I’d probably be the same way in her shoes.

When Katie and I showed up with Jai Li and chocolate ice cream this time, her attitude softened somewhat. Raising a kid apparently meant I wasn’t a complete lunatic.

Our elf friend Skella had been ferrying Rolph back and forth from his job in Surrey for the last few weeks. She traveled by mirrors—step into one, step out another. A damn handy skill to have.

Juanita had the baby in late June and, by the pictures Rolph had shown me from those first days, it looked like a cross between a naked mole rat and that chest monster thing from Alien.

It was a huge deal that I was willing to hold young Jacob Rolphsson after those pictures. Parents shouldn’t show children until they started to look human. Even the troll twins were better looking than poor Jacob just after birth. I questioned the sanity in how the naming passed from the father’s first name. Rolphsson was awkward.

I sat in a rocking chair and Juanita placed little Jacob in my lap. He was asleep, with the most amazing look on his face. Here this child was, sleeping in my arms, and I had the strangest urge to lean in and sniff his hair. I have no idea what brought that on, but it was heavenly. Pure bliss. There was like thirty seconds or so there where I thought I might slip into walkabout—just let my spirit leave my body for the pure joy of it—the sensation was that powerful.

Jai Li was very reverent of the baby. She approached him with care, only dipped her head in long enough to sniff his hair, then scampered away. She wasn’t upset though. Just seemed afraid to touch the little squaller.

Her caution was justified. Almost immediately he woke crying and filled his diaper. It was precious and disgusting. Rolph laughed and took the amazing fluid translator away from me before something started to leak. Katie thought I was being a big baby; Jai Li actually laughed.

I dreaded touching the little guy ever again. At least he hadn’t puked on me.

After the sun went down, Rolph and I went out onto the back porch to talk.

Things were getting more stable in Vancouver. The longer the self-proclaimed King of Vancouver held sway, the more settled things had gotten. The gang warfare that occurred right after I’d killed Vancouver’s tin-pot dictator dragon had died off. Rolph said the king had been fairly ruthless in the beginning, reconciling the old factions that had once worked for Jean-Paul. Some retribution had been bloody, but now things were calm. Vice was still as rampant. Plenty of drugs and prostitution, gambling and such. But there were fewer deaths, fewer predators on the streets. Bad for business, the king claimed.

The King sends his condolences and his congratulations on defeating the necromancer and his cultists. He has asked once again that you visit him. He considers you a hero of the realm.

I laughed. I’ll pass. Last thing I need in my life is to get mixed up with another spooky underworld type. Dealing with Nidhogg and Qindra is more than enough for me, thanks.

How fares the witch since you rescued her? Rolph asked.

Nidhogg has kept her pretty close to home. It’s been strange. You remember Stuart?

One of your Black Briar compatriots, correct?

Yeah, anyway. He’s been hanging out with Qindra. He’s gotten pretty protective of her. It’s cute. First Gunther takes up with Anezka and now Stuart is with Qindra.

It is fitting. Finding a mate helps one find themselves.

I glanced over at the big guy. He was delirious with Juanita, and now Jacob. He’d been alone for a long time. But I didn’t think you needed someone else to complete you. Don’t get me wrong. I love Katie. But if I relied on her for me to be a whole human, what would I be if something happened to her or to us?

What’s the king like? I asked, changing the subject.

Rolph shrugged. I have not met this king in person, he said. Always an emissary between he and I. Not that it matters in the grand scheme.

I wanted to know what Rolph did for a living these days but was afraid of the answer. He had been willing to get his hands dirty in service of the sword Gram. I just didn’t know fully where his limits were beyond that. My instincts told me he was a good man—cared for his family. That was good enough for me.

Something Evelyn said recently has piqued my curiosity, he said after we’d let silence fall between us. "She said there was a bruja in town."

Witch? I asked, thinking back to college Spanish. Like Qindra?

Doubtful, he said. But not something we should overlook. She was at the grocery the other day, met this woman in the produce section. Evelyn did not like the way she selected her avocados.

I laughed. Seriously?

He grinned at me and shrugged. Maybe it’s nothing. He grew silent again. Still, I’d hate to risk my loved ones just because it seems silly.

Good point. Hell, we’d found worse with less clues. I’ll be here all weekend. How about I poke around tomorrow? Could it be Madame Gottschalk? She lived down in Kirkland. Why would she be messing around up here? Or maybe her sister had come over from Minsk. Didn’t feel right either. Something I’d have to look into.

Rolph smiled and nodded. That would be much appreciated. Do you have the blade with you?

Here it came. I never knew if he was being generally interested, or if the old crazy cult of the sword stuff was gonna rear its ugly head with him again. He’d searched for that blade for a couple a hundred years after he’d lost track of it. Kinda obsessed.

Yeah, I said. I have it here in town—

He turned quickly, started to speak, but I cut him off.

—and it’s in a safe place, no worries. You concentrate on your family.

He let a sigh escape him and leaned against the railing once more.

It is as you say. My priorities are with my family now. I have surrendered my responsibilities for the blade to you. He turned his head slowly and looked at me. The dark of the night and the thick shaggy hair made him look even more sinister than normal. Do not forget, he said quietly. Never let down your guard.

I nodded and clapped him on the shoulder. It’s under control, bud. Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it. I gave him my best grin and he smiled finally.

You are insolent and brash, he said, but his voice had lightened. I question the wisdom of Odin to have marked you in his service. You are capricious. More Loki’s temperament.

I stepped back, shocked. Loki? The betrayer? Seriously?

He looked back at me and recoiled. My apologies, he said, holding up his hands. I meant no disrespect. I just meant that you are unpredictable, headstrong. No enemy could discern your next action, as you yourself don’t seem to know what it will be.

I rolled my shoulders and let the muscles loosen up. I’d gone into serious fighter mode at those words. Loki indeed. The Norse gods were a crazy bunch, the whole lot of them. But Loki had betrayed them to the dragons. Who cares that he fell to them in the same assault? Bastard. Fire pulsed through my veins as the runes on my scalp and left calf burned with the call to action.

Evelyn is on edge, he said. The day of the suicide, she collapsed. Juanita found her on the kitchen floor. She said she had felt something powerful. Something she said dealt with death and obligation. He looked at me. She has the sight. I have seen this. But this makes no sense.

Something niggled the back of my mind. Hadn’t Gletts said something about a portal somewhere in Bellingham? Maybe there was more woo-woo activity here than I’d given credit.

Did this have anything to do with the witch who was picking avocados?

Rolph grinned sheepishly. She said that was the biggest reason the woman stood out. She said her aura was painted with the same sweep of energy as when young Katie’s friend killed herself.

Strange coincidences, I’m sure. But I’d promised to look into things for him. I’d call Qindra; maybe she felt something.

After Rolph went back into the house, I stayed on the porch, rolling my head from side to side, trying to loosen the knots. I needed to go for a run. I had way too much pent-up energy. Sleeping tonight was going to be tough.

After a quarter of an hour or so, Skella came out onto the porch and leaned against the railing to my right.

Hey, she said.

She was still dressing like a Goth—all black loose-fitting clothes and black makeup. It was a lot neater, more put together than when I first met her. I guess she was doing okay with the income Black Briar was paying her as an emergency transportation consultant.

Things have been pretty slow since we busted up Chumstick, she said. Her voice was full of longing and woe. I’m bored. At least when I was helping Black Briar keep an eye on that haunted house, it was something. Taking people through the mirrors isn’t exactly high adventure, but it beats sitting around the sick room waiting for Gletts to get better. And don’t get me started about Gran.

I laughed. Her grandmother Unun led a clan of fairly xenophobic elves. The fact she tolerated me and Katie was close enough to a miracle. How is the old lady?

She sighed again. Gran is getting worse, honestly. Gletts is just pissing me off. I could see the frustration in her. I was pretty sure she was a few decades older than me, but she acted like she was fourteen most of the time. He’s stable, the jerk. Personally, I think he’s sandbagging, you know? Perfectly good body and he refuses to step up and carry his load. Just moans about how weak he is. Selfish, that’s what it is.

She loved Gletts. I knew it. It’s the way she worried about him and protected him. In those first days after he’d been wounded, she was on edge all the time, afraid he’d die. Now he was just being churlish.

And Gran is just making it worse. She hovers over me all the time, like I’m in danger or something. It’s creepy.

She loves you, I offered. Cut her some slack.

Skella sighed and leaned against the railing, like all the wind had been knocked out of her. I just wish there was something to do.

You could get a job, right? I’m sure Rolph could help you get the right papers and all. I don’t suppose you have a birth certificate or driver’s license or anything?

I knew the answer by the look on her face. Elves don’t usually register with the government. Strictly underground work for me, she said. And that’s getting harder to come by. I don’t want to become a stripper or deal drugs or anything.

The wind was picking up a little and the temperature was dropping under fifty. I wished I’d brought my jacket.

What if, Skella said quietly, as if she said it too loud it would go away, I was thinking maybe you could get me a job out at Flight Test. I know you’re working on a new movie. I could be an extra or something. Or maybe be a runner. I’m good at getting supplies and such.

Now that was an idea. My night gig as a props manager was an exercise in managing chaos. Flight Test was in the early stages of filming Cheerleaders of the Apocalypse, and our director, Carl, was always looking for unpaid interns.

I think we can work something out, I said. I’ll discuss it with Carl and Jennifer, but I don’t see why not. Extras aren’t paid very well.

Honest? she asked standing up straight and clapping, totally blowing her Goth mystique.

I looked at her, quirking my eyebrows up.

She quit clapping and grew solemn once again. Yeah, right. That’s cool.

Kids. I promised I’d call her and let her know. She was beaming by the time we’d all said our goodbyes and headed to the hotel.

As we drove away, Rolph stood on the porch with little Jacob in his arms and waved to us. I wanted to talk with Katie about what Rolph had told me, but I didn’t want to do it in front of Jai Li. Katie would be concerned, maybe even upset. Jai Li was likely to just be scared, and I didn’t want that.

Family definitely made things different. Having Jai Li in our lives was a curse and a blessing. I loved her. It’s just that the logistics of having a six-year-old hadn’t occurred to either Katie or me at the time. This would be the first time we’d checked into a hotel since we got her. No grown-up time this trip.

I’m not sure I knew how to behave in a hotel room if I had to keep my clothes on all the time. No wonder parents were so crazy. Kids really put a crimp into things. But they’re totally worth it.

Chapter Four

Igot up early on Saturday to find Jai Li already awake. I tucked her in with a bottle of orange juice and a new coloring book, then changed into my running outfit and tied on my trainers. Katie was still asleep. I was looking forward to unwinding a bit—lots of tension in the last few days. Katie had snuggled right up against me and did a few things that would have led to noise-making. I wasn’t comfortable with that while Jai Li was on a roll-away four feet away, so we settled in for a little smooching and a night of anxiety dreams.

Once I pushed through the doors out into the damp and foggy air, I started to feel a little better. I double-checked my fanny pack, making sure I had my phone, water and my wallet. Then I put on my ear buds and cranked up a long play list containing all my favorite thrash metal. By the time I was off the property, Dragula by Rob Zombie was pounding in my skull.

The music and the first mile of road added to my energy levels. I loved the way the ground felt beneath my feet, jarring my body with each long stride. Nothing too drastic, but enough to build a good solid rhythm. By the time the sun was burning off the wispy fog, the music had evolved to a section of retro-metal, led off by Judas Priest from like way back in the eighties.

I found my way to familiar streets. The second mile came and went before my shoulders began to loosen up. Mile three fell