Chapter 28: Joyla looks backward, moves forward
Joyla twisted into an impossible knot, slid her legs in a complicated twining, then shot her hips forward. Rex’ arm was suddenly distended, her leg across his throat, pain threatening his elbow. He tapped.
“Good choice.” She released him. They rolled apart.
“You think?” He lay panting for a minute. “You let me beat you that night.”
“Yes.”
“So what changed? And what does it have to do with the target who winked at me and killed my scope?”
“It’s a long story. And you’ve become a part of it.”
They lay on their backs on the matts of the dojo, sweat cooling as she considered where to start. She wondered what to leave in, what to leave out, which chapters of the omnibus of her life and others were pertinent, which would merely be curious to a tourist. She discarded Tunisia, Tessa, the second mate, said no dice to to the blaze, the sepia blades, the thawing motel.
She started with herself.
“I’m over 80 years old.” She waited, heard a rustle, looked over. He was on an elbow, looking at her.
“You’re awfully well preserved. Something in the water? Maybe the yoga?”
“I’m not kidding. I’m my nenek. And my mother. And I’m considering becoming my niece.”
“So the hanbo legend?”
“Me.”
“And the stories of the Church of Rhythm in London?”
“Me as well.”
“What about the bo shuriken? I didn’t ask why you were bringing throwing darts to a gun fight. Should I have?”
“Magic.”
“Magic.”
“Yes. Magic. That’s why the lack of aging. It’s not like the movies where I’ll turn old over night. I’m this age for as long as I want to be. And my bo shuriken will hunt their targets, turn 90 degree corners to get to them, accelerate after I’ve thrown them. Magic.”
“So the wink and the puff of smoke?”
“Magic. Different sort though. She’s a goddess.”
“A goddess.”
“Yes. Of lightning. She uses mirrors to channel it.”
“Mirrors. Like, for example, the small mirrors I’ve been spreading around coal and gas plants of half the continent?”
“Yes.”
“Crap.”
“Yes.”
“Classic.”
“What?”
“I knew it was too good to be true. Easy gig, soft targets, no downside if I was caught, because, really, mirrors. Prank city. And the pay was good. And then there was you.”
“I didn’t know.”
“Right.”
“I didn’t. I found out after you told me about the mirrors. We just figured it out.”
“We?”
“Kaa and I.”
“Kaa. The snake from Jungle Book?”
“Oh, right. No, that’s just the name I call him. It’s one of the names he offered up in a long list of tricksters and seducers when we met. It’s the one that stuck.”
“Seducers.”
“Yes. He seduced me. With magic. Then taught me more of it, brought me into a world within a world that I was already on the edge of. Taught me to stay this age.”
“And now he’s back in your life?”
“He never left. Wait. Not true. He left a long time ago, but we stayed in touch, stayed friends, would see each other when we were somewhere the other was.”
“He left you?”
“Well, he’d been fading for a while, but he disappeared entirely. For a potion maker in Bali.”
“Oh. Magic potions, I guess. What happened to her? Is she still floating around, forever 35, still making potions?”
“She died. He loved her. It almost killed him. And he’s older than I am. Of course.”
“Another god?”
“No. Very human. He had his own tutor.”
“Wait. What about Zau?”
“Ancient Chinese water dragon. A really pissed off, really dangerous one.”
“A god and a dragon are going to blow up most of the power supply of Asia with magic lightning shooting from mirrors?”
“Yes.”
“When do you get to the punch line?”
She looked up at him. Exerted her will. A hanbo left a rack on the wall, floated over in front of his face, tapped him gently on the forehead. He squawked, fell over backward, scrambled away. She rolled onto her knees, sat patiently, hanbo hovering between them.
“Can you make that thing go away, please?”
The hanbo floated over to the rack, settled. Rex rubbed his forehead.
“You aren’t making this up.”
“No.”
“You are 80. This Kaa guy is older. There are dragons and gods roaming around. Why are you telling me this?”
“Because you’re my potion maker.”
He paused, thought that one through, glanced at the hanbo, then stood and walked over to her. Pulled her to her feet. Kissed her deeply. Held her for a few minutes, both of them just breathing.
“So how can I help? I assume you and Kaa need help?”
“No.”
“What do you mean, no?”
“I need you to be safe. You have no protection, no connections. You’re merely human, no magic. Dian Mu has already marked you, Zau is already using you. He eats people when he’s done with them. You need to finish and go. Before one or both of them are too playful or too hungry.”
“No.”
“My turn. What do you mean, no? Haven’t you been listening?”
“I mean no, I’m not going anywhere. Bad tactics. And I don’t want to. I’m here. I’ve found you. I’m staying.”
Joyla looked at him. Her will reached out. The exit doors all locked. The floor matts stacked themselves a bit deeper. Their clothes slid off. And then she and Rex were satellites of one another once again. Only this time, when she twisted into an impossible knot, slid her legs in a complicated twining, then shot her hips forward, the end position was different, the sensations more pleasant, and he didn’t tap out.