New Title 4 (23 page)

The special unit had descended on the mess at Leechman Park far faster than usual. Some of the bodies there had been connected, very connected, and strings ended up getting pulled. Within half an hour of when they got there the bodies were all gone, leaving only occasional missed patches of blood and a few scorch marks from magic that couldn t so easily be cleared away.

At about half an hour before sunup a single figure made his way across the park. No one saw him except for some of the zombies returning to their unmarked graves under the hills, and none of them much cared. He went unmolested as he hurried to his own dwelling before the sun rose.

But he had to stop as he passed the central pavilion. The obvious signs of a struggle marring the perfect grass bothered him a great deal, but that was not why he stooped down to take a closer look at the ground. He had seen something shiny from the grass catch the faded starlight, and it had caught his attention. As he looked closer he saw that it was a penny, heads up and looking completely new and flawless. There was something about it, something terrible that made it almost glow with some sort of dark malevolent energy, but he didn t care at all about that. To his eyes, it might as well have just been another penny, and he picked it up.

One! One penny, ah ah ah! he muttered to himself, then stuck it in his pocket and continued on his way.

Gloria walked Caleb back home to his apartment, and for no logical reason Caleb felt that same nervousness from when they d walked to Gloria s earlier. That hadn t felt like it should really be the end of their date, but this time it did. He d already gotten a kiss, and a whole lot more that neither of them had expected, but it still felt like there was more here that he needed out of this. He just wasn t sure what yet.

Most of the conversation on the walk over had been about what to do with the artifacts now. Obviously they weren t safe in Caleb s bathroom, but he didn t have anywhere else to put them. Everything they had been able to recover was still in his duffel, and they both decided that when she went back home she would take it with her. For now it was safer there, if for no other reason than she had a lockable door and he didn t, but some time in the future they were going to have to find a more permanent way to dispose of them. As much as Caleb liked to have the trophies to trick himself into thinking he was special, he acknowledged that he might just not be the best caretaker for them.

Caleb checked to make sure the front door of his building was locked this time, but it was fine. When they got up to his floor the hall was still strewn with splinters, but the blanket Caleb had tacked over the door didn t look like it had been moved at all. No one had probably even left their apartments during this whole time to see that anything was wrong. They had just slept peacefully through everything.

Right, so, I guess this is the end of our date, Caleb said as they stood outside the blanket. For real this time.

Yeah, I guess it is, Gloria said. I d say you know how to show a girl a good time, but most girls would have hated this.

Caleb paused, thinking back to how the date had started. I suppose I should still apologize for some of the things I said and the way I acted, especially near the beginning. I He stopped. That was it. That was exactly what he needed to do yet. He was not going to let the date end on that note.

Actually, you know what? Screw it. I m not sorry, or at least mostly not. That s who I am. I m a loudmouth. I m a little bit egotistical sometimes. And a whole lot of other little issues. But it s who I am. It s who you asked out. If you don t like it, screw it. We can still just be friends, if that s what you really want.

Gloria stared at him. For a second he thought she was actually going to say that, yes, she did just want to forget they had done anything tonight and just go on from now as friends. Instead she said. I don t like it, not all the time. But that doesn t mean I can t deal with it.

Caleb s eyes went wide. Oh. Really? I didn t actually expect you to say that. What about what you were talking about earlier, about some of the issues you wanted to deal with?

I don t have to deal with them alone, Gloria said.
Oh. Cool, Caleb said. They stood there staring at each other for several seconds. Soooo now what?
Now is when you re supposed to go in for the kiss, idiot.
Right. He leaned in and their lips touched, gentle, sweet, the perfect ending to the night. He moved away. Now what?
Now we get into your bed before I go crazy with the tension and rip your clothes off right here. She pushed aside the blanket and went inside, and Caleb followed with the largest grin he had ever had on his face in his life.