Blood Moon

Marc was arguing with Jake. Eyvor could hear it from where she was feeding the fish she and Jake had bought to put in the tank. Three goldfish (one for each of them) and then a fish that she’d picked out excitedly because it was so fun to look at, a plecostomus. It was supposed to clean the tank because it ate the algae that grew inside it, but she just liked the way it looked. She had named it Dust Mop (Dusty for short) because she teased the boys that both of them were always cleaning up their messes. 

(Truth be told, she had wanted one of the koi, but they would grow too big for the little tank, so she didn’t point them out to Jake.)

She wasn’t eavesdropping, but Marc was obviously bickering with him about something because she had heard him use Jake’s name at least once. 

“Boys!” she called. “I’m leaving!” She turned on her heel and headed to the door. A moment later, the door to the bathroom flew open, and she turned to find Jake looking at her with a scowl. “What?”

“Where are you going?” he asked, crossing his arms.

“To get the last of my stuff from my apartment? Have you finished clearing out a space in the bathroom yet?”

“I’ll come with you.” He put his hat on from where it was hanging on the coat rack. “I’ve got things I need to do too.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s just us, gotita.”

“Now? You want to do this now?”

“I told Marc I’m taking you on a date.”

“And by date you mean you want me to come with you to kill Harrow?” She placed a hand over her heart dramatically. “Jake, that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever given me.” He rolled his eyes and took her hand.

“Come on, gotita. We’ve got a bird to find.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eyvor wasn’t sure if Steven and Marc even knew about this warehouse. She and Jake had been here so many times, but if he was blocking them out (or they were giving them privacy for their “date”), they probably didn’t. Eyvor was sprawled out across the crate that Jake kept spare clothes in while Jake leaned casually against a support beam nearby, the two of them waiting. 

“I’m hungry,” she said.

“What do you wanna eat?” She smiled.

“Tacos. Marc mentioned them. I’ve never had them.”

“Ah, want some of my food, gotita?”

“Yes. You’d know where some good places are.”

“Not around here, mi amor. I’ll take you home, then you’ll get good tacos.”

“You’re going to make me tacos?” Eyvor asked, sitting up to smile at him. Jake had never cooked for her before.

“Sí.”

“Old bird better show up, then.”

“What do you want?”

Ah, there he was.

“To make a deal,” Jake replied, not even shifting his weight. 

“You would deal with me after the others worked so hard to free themselves of my presence?”

“And they are. You deal with me. Not them.” Khonshu looked over at where Eyvor was getting to her feet, mirroring Jake’s posture.

“I see you brought the interloper.”

“You deal with my boyfriend, you deal with me,” Eyvor replied. “Plus, I know how to make good deals.”

“What would you offer, Jake Lockley?”

“Leave Marc and Steven out of this. You don’t ask them for anything. You don’t talk to them. Otherwise, deal’s off. I’m your only Avatar. And I’m not working for you. We work together. If I’m busy, I’ll get to it.”

“And if it’s important, you talk to me,” Eyvor spoke up. “Because I’m nice like that.”

“Why?” the bird asked.

“Because our interests align,” she replied. “I want to protect people too. And I’m not letting you make my boyfriends’ lives a nightmare again. So you get your Avatar, and we all work together. Like a team, if you know what that is.”

“Será divertido, ¿sí?” Jake asked with a wicked grin.

There was a long pause as the bird considered both of them.

“Fine. Jake Lockley, do you swear to protect the travel–”

“Sí, sí, lo juro. Manos a la obra.” Eyvor snorted, and if the bird had eyes to glare, he would have. She watched as the familiar robes started to loop around Jake, but they were different from Marc’s or Steven’s. It didn’t look much different from his driving outfit, honestly, except the long coat with the hood that shadowed his face. It was black, and she smiled at the gold threading similar to what her own armor had around the edges. What she liked, though, were the gleaming metal parts over his knuckles. Ever since she’d found out what brass knuckles were, she’d thought he would look good with a pair of them, and she liked that his outfit had them.

“We match,” she said with a smile, and Jake smirked at her. 

“Hacemos.”

“It’s a good look on you.” She kissed him, pleased that they were making Khonshu stick around for this. She smiled at him. “We have a job to do,” she said to him.

“Sí.” Jake stepped back and looked up at Khonshu. “You want Harrow dead? We’ll handle it.” 

Again, the bird had no mouth to smile with, but Eyvor could feel the pleased look he was giving them. 

“We have work to do.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eyvor cracked her knuckles as she leaned against the doorway to the guard station. It appeared that Ammit’s followers hadn’t all been taken care of in Egypt. She’d have to make sure that Jake knew. It may create issues for them in the future. At the sound of footsteps, she looked up to find Jake walking towards her, pushing a wheelchair with Harrow in it. She found it incredibly hilarious that Layla had put the man in a psychiatric hospital. It felt a bit like poetic justice. She waited until Jake had passed to start walking, following behind him and watching for danger. They walked out of the hospital without issue. Maybe it was from how many of Ammit’s followers they had dealt with inside the hospital alone. Maybe the hospital was just that bad. Either way, Eyvor climbed into the passenger side seat while Jake wheeled Harrow to the back of the limousine. She reached into the glove compartment and pulled out the gun that Jake had stashed away in there. When Jake finally climbed inside, Eyvor handed him the gun with a smile. 

“I want those tacos you promised me,” she murmured. He grinned at her.

“Por supuesto, mi amor.” There was a knock on the window, and Jake rolled down the glass pane separating them from the bird and Harrow in the back. Jake glared at him in the rearview mirror.

“Meet my friend Jake Lockley.”

Jake turned around, bringing the gun with him, and Eyvor shifted a bit to give him room. 

“Wait,” Harrow said. Jake tilted his head a bit, and Eyvor watched, a smile on her face. She loved this man.

“Hoy es tu turno de perder.” The gun fired, once, twice, three times, a fourth. Eyvor leaned forward to look at his handy work. Two in the head, to make sure the job was done. Two in the chest, as revenge for killing them. She kissed his cheek, and Jake turned around with a satisfied smirk, driving off. 

“Steak or chicken?”

“Whichever,” Eyvor answered with a shrug. “I’m hungry, though.”

“You can’t rush perfection, rosa de sangre.”

“You already made me wait an extra hour so you could scout the hospital. I’m hungry.”

“Eat one of your apples.” She reached into her bag and pulled out an apple. Tearing it in half, she held one side out to him, which he bit into while navigating traffic easily. “Gracias.”

“De nada.” Jake glared at her.

“Marc taught you that.” She giggled.

“Maybe he did. Maybe he didn’t.”

“Bastardo traidor,” Jake muttered as they drove into the warehouse Khonshu had brought them to to find this very pristine limousine. Eyvor was a little impressed by the vehicle. She was more impressed at the plate with Marc’s last name on it. It made her wonder what the old bird’s plans for Marc had been, but she didn’t care enough to ask.

“Don’t be mean,” Eyvor scolded, poking his arm. “And I figured it out myself, takk skal du ha.” Once they were safely inside, Jake and Eyvor climbed out. The bird was gone, unsurprisingly. The interior of the vehicle was a mess, though. She sighed.

“Which one do you want?” she asked, secretly hoping that he asked her to handle the body.

“I’ve got it,” he replied. “Go shopping. I’ll meet you at the apartment.”

“What am I getting?” she asked, watching as he slung the body of his shoulder. 

“I’ll send you a list.”

“Okay. Hurry. I’m hungry.”

“Finish your apple.” She kissed him quickly and turned to leave, feeling lighter than she had in a week knowing that Harrow was dead and wouldn’t hurt her boys anymore. 

More importantly, Jake was making her tacos. That was worth her excitement. She really was hungry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eyvor kicked her feet absentmindedly as she sat in the window ledge of Steven’s apartment, watching the people walk by far below. Jake had come back a little while ago, and he was making her dinner, since they’d missed lunch (she’d eaten three apples and was still hungry) while handling Harrow and Khonshu. Jake told her she didn’t have to worry about Marc or Steven, since he’d told them that he was taking her out on a date for the whole day. They weren’t going to front again or bother them until tomorrow morning. Eyvor didn’t like the idea of lying to them about what they had done, but it was just going to be how it was. Neither of them would like that they’d killed Harrow, or that they were working with Khonhu again, but Jake and Eyvor had agreed that it was safer for them, and it was just a secret they were going to have to keep.

Above the din of the city and the music that Jake had turned on while he was cooking, she heard a quiet voice. Leaning back into the apartment, she found Jake’s back as he stood over the stove. It smelled delicious and was making her stomach growl, hence why she was sitting in the window, where she couldn’t smell it. Now that she was listening, she could hear him singing along to the music that was playing. It was a song in Spanish, so she hadn’t been able to understand any of it since he turned it on, but his voice was quiet, a bit rough. She liked it. Bringing her feet back inside, she got up, walking on quiet feet to the kitchen. Either Jake was purposely not acknowledging her, or he was too focused on what he was doing that he didn’t notice her, because he didn’t react when she sat down on the little table in the middle of the kitchen and listened. 

She had grown up listening to her father sing. His voice was perfect. There was no other way to describe it. Never a wrong note, unless it was on purpose, never off-key, always on beat, and it sounded beautiful, perfectly pitched in every way. Melodic, soothing, upbeat, enthralling–her father’s singing voice was all that and more.

She liked Jake’s better. It was raspy, quiet. Rough around the edges, a bit like him. It wasn’t perfect, and perhaps to many people it wasn’t a singer’s voice, but she didn’t care about that. She liked it and was perfectly content to listen to him without interrupting. 

He turned around and froze when he saw her sitting on the table, and she smiled contentedly at him.

“Is it done yet?” she asked, choosing to let him avoid the situation if he wanted to.

“Sí.”

“Great! I’m going to waste away any moment.” She hopped to her feet and gave him a kiss while grabbing plates out of the cupboard and setting them on the table. “I’m excited. It smells delicious.”

It was delicious. He was a very good cook, and she wasn’t sure she would be able to eat anything not made by him ever again. They sat side by side, her ankle hooked around his leg, and talked about all kinds of things. As they were cleaning up, he looped his arms around her waist and swayed with her for a moment, his chin hooked over her shoulder while she washed the dishes.

“Gracias, rosa de sangre.”

“For what?”

“Todo.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“Se que tu no.” She leaned back into him and turned her head to kiss him.

“What are you thinking about, tvillingsjel?”

“Leave those for tomorrow,” he said, pulling her hands out of the soapy water.

“Why?”

“I get you all to myself for the whole day. That means tonight too.” He nipped at her earlobe, and she sighed.

“You are a menace. Steven hates leaving dirty plates.”

“Qué pena.” She giggled, shutting off the water and drying her hands.

“If you insist. But I’m not cleaning them tomorrow when Steven’s upset about it.”

“I’ll do it. Prometo. Ahora déjame adorarte.” He pulled her away from the kitchen, the pair of them walking backwards towards the bed, narrowly missing running into one of Steven’s overflowing bookshelves. Eyvor tilted her head back and smiled.

Yep. Good date. Maybe next time they’d actually get to do things.