Mystic Ink by Casey Wyatt

favorite flavor.” Jason rocked on the balls of his feet, his own sundae temporarily forgotten. “Did Nix break her winning streak with you?”
    Cal cleared his throat. “She picked another winner. Coffee ice cream with hot fudge and raspberry sauce. Thanks, Nix.”
    “Jason, why do you doubt my powers of perception?” Nix wanted to make an “in your face” gesture, but something about Cal’s tight smile dampened her enthusiasm. That, and the fact she still hadn’t informed Cal they only had two weeks to locate his soul.
    Two weeks. If they failed, he would be damned forever. Her throat constricted while her stomach threatened to unload triple chocolate sundae all over the shop floor. She was overwhelmed by that same hopeless feeling she had whenever she woke up in tears. Nix knew, deep in her heart, that she couldn’t lose Cal. How strange was that? She barely knew him.
    “I need to go check inventory.” Nix retreated to the backroom, haunted by Cal’s thoughtful expression. Like he could see into her soul.
    “Man, what is wrong with her today?” Jason heaped a large spoonful of whipped cream into his mouth. A smear of white stained his lower lip piercing. He ran his blue eyes up and down Cal. “Whoa. What happened to you?”
    “Yes. Where is your soul, Calder?” Mary Swain sidled around the front desk, her ice cream forgotten. Her exotic accent purred in the air. “Who did this to you, Son of Ares?”
    “I don’t remember,” Cal said, wishing he could escape into the back with Nix. “And when I try too hard, I pass out.”
    “Cool. Can we try it now?” Jason laughed and continued to eat. Caramel ran down the spoon as he drew it up for another bite.
    “Jason. You are such an infant. This is serious.” Mary stared until Jason suddenly decided he needed to finish cleaning his workstation. She swiveled back to Cal. “There are very few beings left on Earth who can do something like this to a God-born child like you.”
    Mary’s kohl-lined eyes glinted like steel, her gaze unsettling. Cal wondered, not for the first time, how old she really was. “I know. Nix and I will figure this out.”
    “Do you suspect a Destroyer’s hand?” Mary picked up her sundae, cracked the lid, and gave it a long sniff. Her nose twitched like a cat. Cal wouldn’t have been surprised if she suddenly transformed into one. Mary had a cold, predatory grace about her. Like she would play with you before she killed you.
    “Can’t say.” His mouth tingled, as if ready to lock down if he speculated too much. He suspected that Nix’s conversation with Hades had upset her. She couldn’t meet his eyes. Then again, Nix had thrown him for a loop. The coffee ice cream with raspberry and chocolate were three of his favorite dessert flavors. Maybe some small part of her psyche remembered their time together after all. Hope filled his heart for a brief moment before he stamped it out. Hope was the most dangerous emotion. He had seen dashed hopes crush the heartiest of spirits.
    “Don’t wait too long to solve the mystery, Calder Quinne,” Mary said. Her eyes, black as night, captured his. In his mind, he saw desert sands, a bright blue sky, and an oasis of fertile palm trees. A hot, dry breeze caressed his face . . .
    The phone rang, breaking the spell.
    Glass shattered in the backroom. “Gods damn it. Curse Zeus!” Nix’s muffled yell was followed by a cardboard thud and the clinks of small bottles rolling across the floor.
    Jason sighed. “Shall we draw straws?”
    “No. I’ll go help her.” Cal capped his sundae. On the way to the storage shelves, he popped the container in the small freezer in the employee fridge. He smiled, listening to Nix’s sailor-like cursing. Jason took a lot of the blame for Basil’s fresh mouth. Unfairly, it seemed.
    Cal found Nix on her knees, arranging small ink bottles inside a cardboard box. Another tattered old box lay crumpled on the floor behind her feet, the bottom torn out. “I