Gods and Monsters (15 page)

“I have time still.”

“Why are you using it? You seemed so anxious to get back to…them.” Cori wondered if he intended to say ‘him.’ She had stopped thinking of this Ethan as different to her own, especially since he was able to remove her rings, but she imagined that he still thought of this like an extramarital flirtation.

“I wanted to get some answers about my rings.”

“Is that the only reason?” His eyes looked her over too quickly to be considered lecherous, but she knew what he was referring to with or without the hint.

“I’m enjoying myself, if that’s what you’re asking.” He didn’t seem to prefer that answer, but he nodded. “Are you?”

He smiled and narrowed his eyes. “Now, why does that seem like a loaded question?” He augmented his chest with his crossed arms.

“I was just curious. You didn’t seem to care for me when you first met me.”

“Oh,” he drawled as if he had uncovered her secret. “I hurt your feelings didn’t I?” She shrugged not sure whether to acknowledge how much it hurt her. “I wasn’t sure how to take you, but rest assured I am enjoying my time with you.”

“Good,” she said when nothing else occurred to her to say. “What’s next?”

“Fred.”

“Fred?”

“The monkey that rusts metal.”

“Why would I want to rust metal?” she asked as they headed over to a plastic cage containing a spider monkey creature that chittered happily at their presence.

“It would help you get out of a jail cell. Just rust the lock and push.”

“Yeah, that might come in handy,” she said with a little more enthusiasm for the power. Ethan instructed her to pet the monkey. The eyes on the small primate head, rolled back with enjoyment. “I didn’t realize he was so domesticated.”

“Yeah, he’s very tame, but damn does he cost us a lot of money when he gets out.”

“Why do you guys have such a problem with that?” Cori asked. She could feel the rings warm as the animal’s power filtered into her rings.

“What do you mean? Don’t you have to fetch escaped prisoners?”

“Yes, but not very often. Ethan has trained his guards so well, that they hardly ever make mistakes, and even when there is one, they rarely call us. They just handle it themselves.”

“His guards?” Ethan leaned on the cage and offered a neck scratch to the monkey that he leaned into so much that he fell over.

“Yeah, Ethan essentially commands them now. Danato rarely instructs them.” Ethan tried to appear uninterested in the statement, but she could see she was strumming his ego with her unintentional boast. “I guess the downfall to that is we don’t get to work together like you and Gypsy. You’re a good team. I was a little jealous watching you two today.”

Ethan stared at her or through her. She wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but it probably had little to do with what she just said, even if he heard it. “How often do you have escapes?”

“Well, not counting the elementals…maybe a dozen times a year and usually that’s just our escape artists on this level.” She nodded to Fred, who was wiggling his leg at Ethan’s neck scratching. “Why?” she asked when he didn’t lose the glazed look in his eyes.

“Nothing.” He snapped out of his trance and inhaled deeply like he had been holding his breath. “Just curious.”

Cori was about to ask about the sudden change in demeanor, but Belus’s voice snapped her to attention. “What are you two doing?” She ripped her hands out of the cage so quickly she raked her knuckles. She contained the hiss of pain, and turned to face him.

“I was showing her around, Belus,” Ethan answered with a little more disregard than her Ethan ever would have used. “What do you want?”

“Danato wants to see her…and you, now,” he said turning on his heel and leaving without concern for their answer.

“Why does that always feel like I’m being called to the principal’s office?” Cori asked. Ethan smiled and rested his hand on her back to usher her forward. She hoped that this meeting wouldn’t take too long. She had limited time to experiment with her new powers before she had to go back. She hoped she could learn enough about the rings to educate Danato so he wouldn’t be so fearful of her wearing them.

32

It was amazing to Cori that even a decade after Belus’s last cigarette Danato’s office still contained the stale smell of smoke. She wasn’t sure why it also smelled like a garage, but somewhere in the mix of the two, the ticking clock, and the squeak of Danato’s chair it was home, even when she was about to get her ass ripped.

She slumped down in one of the chairs in front of his desk and sputtered the air through her lips. Ethan leaned against the wall instead of joining her. Belus took his usual spot atop the small file cabinet. Danato opened his mouth to speak, but her resonating enthusiasm baffled him. “What’s wrong?”

“You tell me.” She shrugged. “What did I do this time?”

“Do? Nothing, I just wanted to go over your test results with you. Why, did you think you were in trouble?” Danato glanced at Belus.

“I only told them you wanted to talk to them,” Belus said.

Cori turned and glared at him. “You might mention next time what it’s for.”

“I don’t stipulate, I mandate,” he said losing some of his stone face to offer a slight glare.

Cori debated how far to take this. She knew she should let it go, but since Belus wasn’t likely to start trusting her in this version of things, there was no harm in burning the bridge. “Listen up you cold blooded little toad,” Danato’s chair squeaked as she stood, but she didn’t advance and neither did he. “It took me two years to earn the respect of Belus and in those two years he has earned my undivided loyalty and admiration as a mentor and a friend. I would not think twice about doing as
he
asks without question or complaint. You however, are not
him
, and I am not wasting an ounce of what
he
has rightfully earned on you.”

Belus’s index finger tapped on the file cabinet. She assumed he was debating adding to that burning bridge. If he knew her better he would have no trouble thinking of something to say that would put her back in her place, but without the familiarity he had no hold on her.

Danato cleared his throat. “Okay, Cori, you’ve made your point, let’s move on.”

She sat back down, and rubbed her forehead for a moment before turning her attention to Danato. He was watching Belus. Cori imagined she had pissed him off pretty good if Danato was keeping an eye on him. Ethan for the most part kept his face forward like a good little soldier, but she could see the tinge of a smirk on his lip. “What did you want to show me?”

“I wanted to check with you on a couple things. First off, your PET scan came back with an abnormality.”

Cori cringed at the sound of abnormality. The words malignant and cancer naturally popped into her head. Her mother and aunt had died of breast cancer, so she was careful to check for lumps, but brain cancer was so far off her radar she hadn’t even considered it. “Tumor?” she asked feeling the blood leave her face in preparation for hyperventilation.

“No, the PET scan didn’t show anything like that. Psychics show a concentrated use of the pineal gland and prefrontal cortex and the primary visual cortex. It’s the trifecta of psychic ability. To read someone else or predict the future you need those three areas to be in sync and highly active.” Cori tipped her brow. She didn’t really care about anything after the not a tumor part. “Your scan shows low activity in pin point spots in each of those locations.”

“What does that mean, I have brain damage?”

“I’m not sure. The areas aren’t dead. They just aren’t active even when the areas are functioning normally for talking, reasoning, and moving. In all the images taken, the areas remain at even levels and in the same spots each time. The doctor said he wouldn’t have noticed it since it is so small, except that it is consistent on each read. I guess I was hoping you might have an answer.”

“So, I’m anti-psychic?”

“Brain activity is highly subjective to the individual. Health and mental stresses can affect it dramatically. The reading is inconclusive, but it’s something I wanted to bring to your attention. The dangers of working in an environment with psychic energies flying around, isn’t something to shrug off. As you well know, new problems are tripped over every day.”

Cori nodded. She didn’t have an answer for Danato, but she was certain if there were any problems with her brain, Cleos would be the first person to question. He had been in and out of her mind like a convenience store, so he was as much a suspect as a witness. “I’ll look into that as soon as I get back.”

“I take it you’ve come to terms with the outcome of returning your wishes.”

“You can’t go home again.” She shrugged. Going back to her old life may have been an option because the genie made it available, but the truth was, she wasn't the same person she was at that time. She no longer wanted normal. She liked the abnormal, even if it was degrading her brain.

“Very true,” Danato agreed.

“What was the second item you found?”

Danato glanced around the room as if he was unsure of how to break it to her. “Given the levels in your blood, I’m assuming I’m telling you something you don’t know, but…” Danato paused as if he were waiting for her to predict what he meant. “Cori you’re pregnant.”

The blood drained back out of her face, as she struggled to remember how to breathe. She shook her head, but there was no point in it. Danato wouldn’t be wrong about that. The medical facilities at the prison were more than comparable to the outside world. In some areas, the technology exceeded it—the perks of private funding.

“I take it you didn’t know?” He asked.

“No, we were discussing. Actually, Ethan was discussing. I was avoiding.” Cori took in a deep breath. She hadn’t felt sick or lethargic, but she knew it might be too early for that.

“You weren’t trying then.”

“I must have miscalculated.” She slumped down in her chair and tried to decide how to react. Was she happy? Was she sad? All she felt was shock and a resounding loneliness. She wanted her husband.

When she looked up at Ethan to at least see the face of the man she wanted, if not the actual man, he was half concerned and half pleased. Her Ethan she imagined would be trying to keep from bouncing off the walls, with Danato right after. Since she still didn’t know what to feel it was nice to have a backboard of serene joy to balance her suppressed panic.

“Congratulations, I assume this will be a happy event?” Danato asked.

Cori took in a deep breath, and her voice pitched with faked enthusiasm. “Oh, of course. Ethan will be happy. You…the other you will be elated.”

“I imagine so.” Danato looked down hiding his own pleasure at the idea of a baby. Cori wondered how she had ended up living with two men who were more baby crazed than a woman. “It must be hard to hear this news from familiar strangers, but I thought you had a right to know.”

“Yeah,” Cori wasn’t really agreeing or answering just looking for words to fill in the space between his sentences.

33

It was easy to forget about the expectations of the real world once Cori came to the prison. It was clear that if she hadn’t been kidnapped, she would have finished school, got married, and had kids. It was the natural progression of a relationship.

Cori looked at Ethan from across the field. She knew he was cold, but she also knew he wouldn’t go inside until she came with him. He was patiently waiting for her to clear her mind with fresh air. The frigid air was leaving her incapable of thinking about anything but her chattering teeth. So, in that sense, it was working.

When it was clear she wasn’t going inside, Ethan made a slow approach to join her. Unprepared for a long hiatus, his hands were stuffed into his pants pockets so deep she wasn’t entirely sure he hadn’t poked through the fabric to find warmth. He surveyed the area as if he might find the tranquility required to withstand the cold and enjoy the beauty of the landscape. Aside from the endless grass patches that were tolerantly awaiting spring, there was nothing of that magnitude.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to be feeling right now,” Cori blurted out incase Ethan might have an answer.

“Supposed to?” He chuckled. “You can’t “supposed to” feel anything, you just feel it. There isn’t a wrong answer.”

“Oh, bullshit,” Cori took in a deep breath to draw back in the intensity that was meant for another man. “I’m supposed to be happy and overjoyed at the thought of a baby. Anytime babies are concerned, women are supposed to go weak in the knees.”

Ethan smiled broadly despite her obvious irritation. “Double whammy on the supposed to. What do you actually feel?”

Cori rolled her eyes, but searched for the words. “Betrayed.”

Ethan lost his smile at that particular description. “Can you explain that further?”

“I feel like I’m being pressured into doing this by Ethan and Danato. They don’t even care what I want.”

“Do you think Ethan has sabotaged your birth control methods?”

“No.” She winced at the thought of depicting Ethan that way. “I just feel like a tool in this. A vessel. A host.”