Death and Relaxation (Ordinary Magic #1)(105)

“Yes,” he said. “I accept the power.”

I knew there was something else I was supposed to say, but at his agreement, the power leaped.

Leaped out of me, slipped from my hold, and hit Cooper like a lightning bolt out of the sky.

Voices filled the shop, thrumming, shouting, joy and passion. The song, the power, demanded entrance, demanded release. Distantly, I heard my own voice. Small, faint. A whisper among so many others.

I was the connection, the road, the string over which the song of power was plucked. The single point in this world where power and vessel could meet. Join.

I was, for one infinite moment, harmony.

Then silence swallowed me, so dark and soft and deep, I wondered if I’d been wrapped in thick velvet.

“Holy shit,” Cooper said in a trembling whisper. “Holy shit.”

I blinked and the world returned.

Cooper was gripping me by my upper arms, gazing down at me, his eyes filled with a light, a power, an otherness I’d never seen in him. It was alien and strange to see him as not quite the man I knew. But then his lips curved in a very Cooper smile. “Well, that is a hell of a thing.”

“Are you okay?” I asked.

He nodded and stepped back until his arms were at full length. He gently released his hold on me.

“I’m good,” he said. “Really, really good. Delaney, it’s…” He shook his head, all out of words.

Heimdall’s power surrounded him in a low, happy chord. It was where it belonged. In safe hands.

“Good,” I said. “Maybe we can all get some rest.”

“Not yet,” Raven said. “I still have some vacationing to do.” He stepped forward and clapped Cooper on the shoulder, then shoved the other man out of the way. “Help me stash my power in the furnace, chief?”

“I don’t think it works that way.”

“Maybe not with the other gods.” He grinned. “But, hello? Trickster?”

I glanced at Myra and Jean. They both shrugged. “All right,” I said. “Let’s see if you’re right about that.”

Turned out he was.

~~~

BY TUESDAY, the tourists had left. The residents of Ordinary seemed to release a collective exhale. The Rhubarb Rally lights, whistles, and bells were officially packed away and recorded in the history books.

I’d even seen Death, in his pressed slacks, shiny shoes, and bright Hawaiian shirt, standing on the edge of the glittering blue ocean, a bright yellow kite in his hand.

If I were the kind of woman who prayed, I’d pray I’d never have to carry another god power again. It had changed me, left marks somewhere deep inside me, lingering behind my thoughts, my sanity, like scars pulled too tight. I hadn’t told my sisters about that yet. They were worrying enough about me. But the marks the power had left behind scared me if I thought about it too much. I didn’t even know what kind of damage it might have done, didn’t know if it would heal.

I felt ten years older. I ached everywhere.

Reeds had acted as bridges for god powers for centuries. I hoped this was just a part of the job, and the wounds left from the power would heal as quickly as my physical injuries so I could get back to my real job.

Myra was at her desk finishing with the deck hand’s statement. He had corroborated Dan’s story. Walt had indeed been drunk when Margot approached him. She’d offered him a lot of money to take her to Heim’s boat and show her around. He was fuzzy about if she’d stayed on the boat or not. When he woke the next morning and heard Heim had been killed, he’d bolted.

He had a couple misdemeanor priors he was hoping wouldn’t catch up to him.

Dan was still on the hook for waving a deadly weapon at a police officer. I figured the local judge would remove all firearms and explosives from his home, give him a few months of jail time, then move him on to community service.

I was hoping the community service might actually go some distance in changing his petulant attitude. If not that, maybe cooling his heels for a while in jail would.

Lila had come in to see her sister before Margot had been transferred down to the Lincoln County jail. They’d cried while hugging each other.

It didn’t matter how long I was a cop—it was still hard to see people screw up their lives. But Margot had killed Heim, and I couldn’t find any forgiveness for that, even if she’d done it out of a twisted sense of love for her sister.

With her confession, Margot would remain in jail until her trial. After that, it would be up to a jury and judge to decide her fate. I suspected her lawyer would angle for an insanity plea.

Cooper had left town again. But this time he’d left with a big ol’ grin on his face and a cheeky promise that he’d be back when he needed a rest.

He’d finally found his horizon to chase. And Ordinary would always be a home when he needed one. It was still weird that Crow’s power had transferred back to the kiln. I guessed every rule had an exception.

And Ryder…I tried not to think about Ryder.

I thought about him constantly.

The door to the office opened and Jean sauntered in with a gust of cool air. “Guess who got her box filled with free hot donuts this morning?”

“Please tell me that’s not a euphemism,” Myra drawled.

Jean snorted and placed a pastry box down on the coffee station. “Maybe.”