26: is safiya on drugs?

I'm led back to the front of the station by a puny officer who's probably of legitimate age but doesn't look a year over twelve. At this point I'm so pissed off there's probably steam coming from my ears, and what I really need is a cup of green tea and a place to chill out. And maybe Midge. Midge would calm me down.

And so my wish is granted, partially, because Midge and the others are all waiting for me when I reach the front room. The four of them are seated in the waiting room; Jamie and Midge hop up when they see me, yet Safi and River seem less excited.

Goddammit, River. He saw me use that sword, more than likely.

The puny officer guy waves me off, and I make my way over to Midge and Jamie, trying to look more tranquil than I really am. Midge narrows her eyes at me, however, and that's when I realize just how awful I am at hiding things. "Are you okay?" she asks. "You were gone for a while. "

"We were worried," Jamie pipes up, a frown at his mouth.

"It's nothing," I lie.

Midge raises an eyebrow. "It's something."

"Well, you could argue that everything's something. Even nothing."

Her eyes get narrower. "Where are you going with this?"

"I don't know."

Midge sneaks a glimpse back at Safiya and River, but neither of them seem to be watching. I wonder what the fuss is about until I feel her fingers entwine with mine, and in the back of my head, I'm going, no, no, stop that, you're killing me, but I'm trying to be cool about it. I'm not cool about it. I'm not cool around Midge; I physically can't be.

Midge taps my knuckle with her thumb, her eyes searching mine. "You're not planning to tell me, are you?"

I bite my lip, almost feeling bad about it. Almost. "Can we just go home, Midge? I don't want to make a big deal about this."

"Grey, I don't even know what this is."

"Yeah," I say. "And I plan to keep it that way."

"Grey—"

"Jamie!" I call, and he looks up from whatever the heck he was doing, which was probably daydreaming about steak. I'm pretty sure half the thoughts in the kid's head are about food. The other half's probably just kill kill kill. "Are you ready to go?"

He nods with a bit too much exuberance, and I let him lead the way towards the door. I'm about to follow him, until I hear behind me: "Demonboy, wait a second."

Seriously—there's got to be a more original nickname than that somewhere in this vampire chick's head. Yes, I am male. Yes, I am part demon. But she's gotta have some other ideas besides putting the two facts together.

I glance over my shoulder at her. She's still perched on her bench with just the beginnings of a scowl at her pursed lips, her dark hair swept over one shoulder. Ebony eyes regard me with the utmost reluctance, like I'm a cockroach that needs to be crushed. Safiya has crushed me enough times, though. It's a wonder I'm even still here.

"Yes?" I say, my eyes wandering towards the pixie for a second. I can't help but notice that he's not saying anything to me. Good. Maybe I've scared him off.

"I don't like you," mutters Safiya, "but thanks for killing that thing."

I pause.

I must have lost my marbles.

Nothing close to the word thanks has ever come out of Safiya's mouth, so I must have heard wrong. I just stand there, blinking at her, my mouth half open.

Then she hisses at me and I'm revived. "What the hell are you looking at?" she snaps.

"You just thanked me. I'm stunned."

"Yeah, well don't get used to it. It's just—God, you're an idiot. You need to be more careful."

No, no. This is a dream! Yes. I'll pinch myself and I'll wake up. "Are you expressing concern? Towards me? Safiya! I'm touched."

She raises an eyebrow at me, then scoffs and lifts a hand, waving me off like a service she no longer needs. "Whatever. Just get out of my sight before I give in to the urge to throw something at you."

From Safi, this is a very real threat, so I obey. I beckon Midge forward, and she, Jamie, and I step out into the free world again.

Outside, it's hot as hell. Not that every part of hell's hot, according to my dad: "If you live near the Eternal Furnaces, then yes, it's like living in a sauna twenty-four seven. But I lived closer to the Eternal Pop Quizzes section." I'm not actually sure when he came up above ground; I just know it was long before I was born.

Midge's townhouse is at least a twenty minute walk away from the police station, which would be fine if the humidity wasn't sticking my shirt to my chest. Regardless, the three of us start making our way there. There's steam rising from the asphalt, and that hanging city smell in the air: warm brick, food cooking in a restaurant somewhere, oil and nicotine.

I don't realize it until it's much too late, but Jamie's a few paces ahead of us, practically skipping, which leaves Midge and I side by side, all the time in the world to talk to each other. You'd think I would get used to it. You'd think it would get easier—but it just never does.

My eyes are still on Jamie, watching how people raise eyebrows at him as he passes and trying not to strangle said people, when Midge says, "They interrogated you, didn't they?"

I stop walking, but Midge shoots me a wide-eyed look that reminds me I have to move. Fanning myself with my own sweat-soaked shirt (super effective), I ask, "How did you know that?"

"Because they did the same to everyone else."

My hand latches around her arm; her eyes immediately lift towards my face in surprise, mouth parted. "Did they lay a hand on you?" I demand. "Did they hurt you in any way? If they did anything, I'll—"

She plucks my hand off her arm with a scoff. "They didn't. If they did I would have karate-chopped them."

I get the feeling I'm supposed to laugh, but it's Midge, and if she stabbed me the first time I ever laid eyes on her, I'm pretty sure she's not kidding about the karate-chop thing, either. So I just nod uncomfortably.

"Was it something they said to you?"

I squint the sun out of my eyes, suddenly wishing for darkness. If it gets any sunnier, all my energy's gonna drain. I've just had enough of everything for today, I guess. "They think I have something to do with the fact Rocco's missing."

Midge makes a theatrical gasp, her hair bouncing as she shakes her head. "That's ridiculous. He's your best friend, why would they think—"

"Because he's human," I mutter, "and I'm not."

Midge walks beside me in silence for a moment, and when I look at her, her eyes are searching the concrete beneath her, a dainty finger held to her chin. I try not to eye her profile too much, but it's hard. I'm not even an artist and looking at her just makes me want to paint.

We've walked another two blocks before she just says, "Grey."

"I know," I say. "I know it sounds bad. But it's true—it's what the detective said. Said my kind is known to go on violent rampages, or whatever. Ones we don't always remember."

"You'd think the dragon thing would be enough proof that this had nothing to do with you," muses Midge.

"You'd think," I repeat, watching as Jamie takes a swift left turn towards Midge's courtyard. I follow him until I'm in the shade of the townhouses' awnings, a calm little brown-brick oasis in a loud, concrete jungle. I close my eyes a moment, resting my head against the outer wall. "Midge, I...I just want all this to be over soon. I'm worried about him. I'm so worried. And now I just decapitated my only lead."

Midge leans her forehead against my shoulder. She says, "I'm worried, too," and then she says, "You looked pretty cool, though."

My eyes snap open. "What?"

"When you were killing it. You looked like a real prince of darkness and all that. Or a knight, or something," Midge elaborates. She nudges her forehead against my shoulder again, settling there like a dozing cat. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that you're pretty badass, Grey Meesang, whether you know it or not."

"Sure," I say with a chuckle, "but I nearly plummeted to my death—well not my death, I guess. It just would have hurt a lot. Could've killed me. Maybe. I'm not even sure of my own limits—"

I'm cut off by the loud shrill of my phone, which buzzes to life in my pocket. Startled, I fumble around for it, not even bothering to check the ID before I hit answer. "Hello?"

Midge is eyeing me; I press a finger to my lips to signal her to shut up.

"GREY MEESANG," bellows my dad's voice, so loudly that both Midge and I wince a little. "IT IS YOUR FATHER."

"Yeah," I mutter, "I guessed."

A pause. "Oh? Was it that easy?"

I'm more than glad he's toned down the scary demon voice without me asking. It's the most superfluous thing, honestly. Most of the time he just uses it because he thinks it's cool and not because he's mad at me, so I had to get very good at knowing which was which.

"Do you need something, Dad? I'm—"

"Don't say you're busy. You shouldn't be busy, because of that thing that's happening tonight, right?"

I flip over a jillion ideas in my head, but none of them seem like the right one, so I just go, "Huh?"

Which was a mistake.

"GREY MEESANG! YOU TOLD ME YOU MARKED IT ON YOUR CALENDAR! HOW DARE YOU LIE TO THE DEMON ALVANOR, ASCENDED FROM THE BOUNDS OF HELL—yes, yes, I know, Sybil. I wasn't really expecting him to—it's just—alright, I'll shut up."

I'm holding the phone away from my ear when I realize just what he's talking about, and it takes everything in me not to curse. Where the hell did the time go? I mean, I knew I was going to forget because I forget everything, but I didn't know it would be so soon.

To Midge, I say, "Crap," and into the phone I say, "Dinner with Mom. Got it. What time?"

"Seven," Dad replies.

"Alright, I'll be there. Sorry. Love you, bye."

I hang up the phone swiftly, jamming it in my pocket and grumbling all my way to the front door. Jamie's eyeing me like I'm a nuclear weapon pending explosion, and Midge just has this weird pout on her face. I wait by the door, expecting her to put the key in the lock, but she just stands there and stares at me.

I let out a sigh. "Midge, open the door."

"Not until you tell me what all that was about."

I groan, rubbing my eyes. "Midge—"

"Just tell me!" she snaps.

"Fine!" I oblige, throwing my arms up in pure frustration. "I have to have dinner with my birth mom tonight; she's coming back home, and I almost forgot. That's it. That's all. I just—I really don't want to go."

Midge makes a small hmm noise, then heads to the door, unlocking it. She swivels the knob. "I've got an idea to make it more enjoyable."

"Oh, whatever it is, I'm sure it'll just work like a charm."

Midge punches Jamie playfully in the arm, then looks at me with a devilish smirk on her face. More devilish than I, half-demon, have ever seen.

"It's obvious, Grey," she says. "I'm gonna come with you."