Natural Consequences by Elliott Kay Page A

out wide, “as you all know, I have searched tirelessly for our vanished friend and ally to the north and her court. From across the continent, Lord Mayor Wentworth offered his aid, and together we have labored to find answers. We now have the scent of blood, and we will follow its trail.”
    He gestured grandly to a lovely young Latina woman in a white toga beside his bed. Her skin was still flush with warmth. Only a mortal slated to receive the gift of eternal night from the host himself would be allowed in such private counsel. She raised a small plastic remote to one wall and pressed a button, causing the wall panels to slide back and reveal a large, state of the art flat screen television.
    The image that flickered to life was of a scrawny, bald, broken man. His hands were cuffed to the arms of his chair. Not all of his fingers remained. The evil eye tattooed at his neck and other symbols on his skin suggested much. Dozens of small scars covered his head, neck and shoulders, all of them looking to be fresh but at least sealed.
    “This is Kenneth,” explained Cornelius. “He was a member, though junior in rank and likely not valued, of a group of sorcerers in Seattle that called themselves the Brotherhood of Apollo.”
    Murmurs broke the silence of his audience. Cornelius continued. “As you may or may not be aware, it is difficult for mortals to cast spells without fingers. It also requires a certain precision of speech,” he added with a smile, waving one finger around his own mouth. “Please forgive Kenneth’s lisp. He had only recently lost his front teeth when this video was made. But I bid you pay close attention. He tells an interesting story.”
     
    ***
     
    “So Jason turns up at mah place the next night, right? An’ he’s got this bewildered look on his face like he’s jus’ come outta combat or somethin’.  He’s got every inch of his arms covered with stuff in pink marker, like hearts an’ X’s and O’s, an’ ah swear t’ God one hand is marked ‘shock’ an’ the other says ‘awe,’ an’ his neck is jus’ covered in hickies…”
    “This is so not cool, man,” Jason grumbled.
    “The hell it ain’t,” chuckled Drew. He slapped Jason on the back as he rounded the table again to make another shot.
    “Now you know how Alex felt when he first introduced me to you,” smiled Lorelei.
    “No, no, I’m interested,” Amber pressed, leaning her butt against the pool table as she listened. She waved for Wade to continue despite Jason’s objections.
    “So ah’m like, ‘Whut the fuck happened to you?’ An’ Jason says, ‘Hey, can I crash here for a night or two? Mah momma jus’ threw me outta the house.’”
    “I want to point out that I didn’t sound like a hick,” Jason interrupted.
    “An’ ah said, ‘What inna hell did you do?’ Well, Jason jus’ walks inside, dumps his bags right in the hallway inside mah door . He slumps down on mah couch, an’ stares off into space, an’ then he finally says, ‘It’s true what they say, man. It’s all true. Pimpin’ ain’t easy at all.’”
    Laughter burst from Amber. She noted that the story had not yet gotten old for Drew or Lorelei either, given their smiles. “So wait,” Amber said, turning to Jason, “you said you’ve got your own place now, right?”
    “Yeah, I was only on Wade’s couch for like two or three nights. I mean my parents went back and forth on the whole ‘exile’ thing, but after a week of not knowing where I’d be sleeping on a given night, I said, ‘Fuck it,’ and I got my own place. It’s small, but at least it’s mine and there’s no bullshit.”
    “No roommates either, right?” Amber asked. She ventured a wink.
    “Hell no,” Jason said, giving a cocky shrug. “Cramps my style.”
    “But you say you don’t have a girlfriend. Or, you know, plural. So was this just a one-night stand?”
    “ More like a couple weeks. Everyone was cool at first. I mean I’m not gonna say it was all