explanation for coming in just when Im about to wipe the floor with him and stealing my victory.
Adam smiled, but his eyes were dark as he finished putting out the last fire. He set the fire extinguisher on the floor and stalked over to me. Complain, complain, thats all I get. Arent you the least bit happy to see me?
I stepped into his arms, turning my head so the winedark silk shirt he wore pressed against my unhurt cheek and twisting so only the unburnt part of my collarbone touched him.
I thought this was it, I confessed in a whisper, and his arms tightened on me until I had to tap on his arm. Too tight, too tight, too tight better.
How long can you hold him? Adam asked Tad, though his arms didnt slacken.
Longer than you can hold her, Tad said dryly. He quit strugglingprobably lack of air. I could keep this up for an hour or two. If he fights like he was before, then a half hour, maybe a bit more. Aluminum is easier than steel. What are we going to do with him?
Jails not an option, Adam said. Ill call Branbut I expect were not going to have a choice but to call on the fae.
Tad grunted unenthusiastically. If someone told them Im not as powerless as most of us halfies, they would want me to join them. Maybe someone can contact my dad, and he can take credit for this. There was a metallic sound as if hed tossed something at the metal prison hed created from my nice wasserboxer engine.
Hey, Mercy? Did you know there is a finger in the backseat of this Passat? Tad asked.
I broke free of Adam and went into the garage to check out the Passat as I started to add up the damage. Id need to get another wasserboxer engine to replace the one that melted. The Beetle engine had been no loss but the Passat was going to need some bodywork.
The finger had melted all the way through the roof, through the lining, and dropped onto the offwhite leather, where it left a small puddle of blood and black ash. It looked like anyone elses finger.
He pulled off his finger and threw it at me, I told Tad. Do you know of any fae that pull off body parts and throw them at people?
I think there are some German folktales about disembodied heads, he said doubtfully. And then theres always Thing on The Addams Family . He opened the back door of the car and touched the finger. Its not moving.
I hugged myself and fought the urge to giggle. Thank the good Lord for small favors.
Adam moved Tad gently aside and used a hanky to pick up the finger and bring it to his nose.
I dont smell magic as well as you do, Mercy, he said, setting it back on the seat. But this finger smells human, not fae.
Human fingers dont
Tad interrupted me. He jerked his head around until he faced his metal sculpture and made a pained sound. He staggered off balance, and Adam caught his elbow to steady him.
Sweat broke out on Tads brow, and he said, in a guttural tone, Watch out. Something is wrong.
The whole building shook again. There was a thunderous crash as a transmission fell off the top shelf of a Gorilla Rack. Adam grabbed my hand and held on to me. It was the hand Id burned, but I just grabbed him back. Some things are more desperate than pain.
It lasted less than a second, and it left the cement floor of my shop buckled, car parts and boxes of car parts strewn all over. The highpitched wail of the office smoke detector went off. It went off with some frequency when I showered too long, or someone cooked bacon in the microwave, but it had ignored all the smoke and fires in the garage. Apparently, it had decided that enough was enough.
Adam dropped his hold on Tad and me, grabbed his ears, and snarled. I knew exactly how he feltand I knew what to do. I dashed into the office, hopped onto the counter, and snagged the stool as I jumped. I set the stool on the counter and climbed on top with speed and balance hard won with practice. Reaching up to the ceiling, I popped the battery out of the alarm.
Blessed silence fell. Relative silence, broken by things that were still rolling onto the floor and the sirens that were closer now. In the parking lot, a car engine purred to life, then revved hard as someone drove off with a squeal of rubber on asphalt. I looked out the window and saw Juan Floress rental car speeding away.
Tad was swearing in German. Some of the words I recognized, but even the ones I didnt echoed my own sentiment exactly.
Stupid, he said to me, his eyes horrorstruck. I am so stupid. Er war Erd und Feuer.
English, murmured Adam.
Earth and fire, said Tad without pause. Earth and fireand I trapped him and forgot what he was.
Earth.
Tad
clenched his fist and pulled at something invisible with enough force that it caused his muscles to stand out on his arms. With an almosthuman shriek, the aluminum that had encased Flores peeled back, revealing a cavernous hole where the cement floor of my garage had once been.
Adams head came up, and he measured the sound of the sirens. Stay here, he said, and hopped down into the hole. He was gone less than a minute before he was back.