Heart's Redemption (MxM)

Chapter 10 ~ Sam

I admit I thought Ian was being a little rude—I mean, getting angry over a delay isn't going to make someone want to speed things up for you—but I don't know why the mechanic decided to take it out on me.

One second I'm standing next to Ian, listening to him cuss her out for not having his truck ready, and the next she douses me in water and starts chanting in some form of Latin. I wipe my face with the sleeves of the too-large flannel shirt Ian bought me the day before, and blink at her in confusion.

She stops chanting and frowns. "Shit. Why isn't it working?" she asks, seemingly of no-one in particular. 

I expect her to explain or something, but instead, I jolt a little as she splashes me again, waits a beat, and then dumps the whole little vial over my head. 

Cold water trickles through my hair and runs into my eyes, but otherwise nothing happens.

She stares at me a moment, says something more in Latin, and slaps me across the face.

Like me, Ian has been standing frozen with confusion, but the crack of her palm against my cheek snaps him out of it. He recovers his voice, pulls me away from her and starts yelling. 

"Hey! What the fuck is wrong with you, you crazy bitch?"

"Your friend here is possessed," she says evenly, pulling something else from her pocket. "I'm trying to help him." She dips her fingers in a little cloth pouch, pulls out a pinch of something that looks like ashes, leans around Ian, and blows it in my face.

I cough, and some of it gets in my eyes, but other than that it just seems like dust or fine sand. I scrub at my eyes and I can't see whatever it is she's trying to do next, but it sounds like Ian's had enough.

"Whoa! Shit—take it easy. Look, lady—he's not possessed, alright? He's fine. All I want is my truck. I don't even care if it's fixed yet. I'll just take it and go, okay?"

I clear the grit from my eyes and see that she's waving some sort of ornamental dagger at me and Ian is warding her off with his hands raised.

She turns her gaze from me to him and her frown deepens. "You know what he is?" she asks, nodding at me.

"Yeah, he's a kid, and he's under my protection," Ian snaps. "Now leave him be."

Shaking her head, she continues to study me through squinted eyes. "You got a powerful demonic aura, boy. If you're not possessed, then what are you?"

It seems like she knows too much already for pretending ignorance to work, so I brush the ash-like dust from my hair and answer. 

"I'm a failed experiment," I say. "A demon-human hybrid. I'm not possessing anyone, and I'm not possessed. I just am. And I'm not evil or anything, either," I add, eyeing the sharp, twisty dagger thing she's still waving in my direction.

"Hybrid? How does that even happen?" she asks. Ian had asked me the same question, and I'm bracing myself to explain yet again that neither of my parents banged Satan, when her expression abruptly clears. "Wait a minute... Are you Sam?"

I don't answer for a few seconds, holding perfectly still in my surprise, and then I nod. "Yeah, I'm Sam. How do you...?"

"Come on. Follow me." She slips the dagger back in a sheath concealed inside the top of her boot, turns, and walks off around the back of her shop.

I share a look with Ian.

"Should we?" I ask. She seems a little strange, but not really dangerous, and I do want to find out how she knows my name. Still, following strangers around corners seems like a bad idea.

Ian looks unhappy, but shrugs. "I do need my truck back," he says.

"Fine," I sigh, rubbing my stinging cheek. "But if she throws anything else in my face, I'm blaming you."

~☆~

The mechanic leads us to a mobile office behind the main garage. Inside, there's a beat-up couch and a couple of chairs, some fake plants, a desk with a computer and other standard office things, and a bookshelf stuffed with well-worn repair manuals. 

She gestures at the couch. "Have a seat," she says. "You can call me Toni, by the way."

"I'm Ian," says Ian, "and this, as you seem to know, is Sam. Now, who the fuck are you?"

Rather than sit, she leans her hip against the small desk and crosses her arms over her chest. She wears tough-looking leather boots, jeans, and a plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Her black hair is cropped short, and her features are pleasant in a no-nonsense sort of way.

"As I said, I'm an exorcist," she says, keeping her eyes on me. "A demon hunter. Or I was. Used to be one of the best in the business. Now I'm mostly just a mechanic, but I can still recognize a demon when I see one. Seems like there's been a swarm of the things, last two days. I'm guessing you're why."

"How do you know about me?" I ask.

"You're Karin's pet, right?" she returns, raising a brow.

I feel a shock of alarm and bolt to my feet, backing towards the door, but she uncrosses her arms and raises both hands, palm outward in a gesture of reassurance.

"I'm no friend of his," she says quickly, "believe me—not even an acquaintance. But he's well-known—and hated—among those of us who want to keep demons where they belong—out of this world."

Ian has risen as well and moved to place himself between us. "Let me be clear," he says. "You try anything, and I'll—"

As he speaks, the door to the little office bursts open and I suffer yet another moment of confusion as the annoying waiter from the night before wanders in, wiping grease-blackened hands on a rag.

"Oy, Toni, I got that truck done like you wanted. It's out front by the—hey! It's you—the hot red-head!" he exclaims, face lighting when he sees Ian. "You forgot your receipt yesterday," he adds, grinning.

"Oh, I...yeah," Ian replies, flushing pink and rubbing a hand across the back of his neck. "Carlos, right? You work here, too?"

"He's my nephew," Toni interjects, drawing our attention back to herself, "and he should know better than to enter my office without knocking." She eyes him sternly and he wilts under her gaze.

"Sorry, Toni. I didn't think you were with anybody," he says, then perks up again as he turns back to Ian. "That's not your truck, is it? With the busted window?"

"That's it, yeah," Ian confirms, his face brightening with interest. "You got her fixed?"

"Sure," Carlos nods. "That's a nice set of wheels you got. She's all ready for you."

"Great, then we can get the hell out of here," Ian says, turning back to Toni. "What do I owe you?"

"Not so fast," she objects. "We're not done talking, and I think we might be able to work out a different kind of deal. Carlos—go get my kit."

Carlos's eyes widen, and he looks between me and Ian. "Your kit? You mean...that kit?"

"Yes, Carlos, that kit."

"So one of them is...possessed?"

Carlos's face pales under his tan, and if I knew how my newfound transformative abilities worked, I'd flash him my horns or something, just to freak him out.

"I thought so," Toni says, looking at me. "But it seems I was wrong. On the other hand, I think I might have found exactly what I've been looking for."

"Oh yeah? And what's that?" Ian asks, his jaw thrust forward in challenge.

She smiles back at him, undaunted. "Bait."