Alek
I insisted on selecting my meet-up spot with Norvin this time, an upscale café with warm brick walls and booths to provide us with a bit of privacy. Strong coffee and pastries baked in a kitchen adhering to health codes were also major plusses. Back in LA earlier than expected, I had a lot of information to share with him; I could not afford to be distracted with greasy fries and food poisoning. Still, he resisted.
"That place? It used to be part of a distribution warehouse."
"What's wrong with that? It's got provenance."
"Provenance? They shipped toilets."
"It's referred to it as industrial chic."
"Industrial chic." Norvin snorted. "That's the problem right there. It's a daisy trying to be an orchid. Your favorite café is trying way too hard."
I wasn't going to budge. Daisies, orchids—they were all fine with me. "You picked last time, so..."
I arrived before him. Norvin sauntered in a few minutes later, sipping his drip coffee like he expected it to retaliate. He winced as he swallowed. "A bit much for me, but it'll have to do."
Norvin preferred diner swill coffee—hot water with a hint of grounds.
The acrid smell of freshly brewed beans and the steady hum of the grinder settled my nerves. I could deal with his bullshit today. "It won't kill you."
"Maybe not." He set the mug down and pushed it away. "What about the girl? Would she kill me if she had the chance?"
"Verity is a woman, not a girl."
"Oh God, not this." The skin on his neck right above his collar began to turn red. "Not from you."
"Just pointing out a basic fact."
"Save it for your Gen Z blog."
"No one writes blogs anymore. You're out of touch, old man."
"Thank God for that." Ready to give it another try, he tore open a sugar packet and dumped it into his coffee mug. "Just tell me what the status is. Do not leave anything out."
I took a swig of my own drink, a double Americano—no sugar, no cream. Not sure if I intended to leave anything out or not, I let the bitterness settle on my tongue before responding. "Well, you already know why the tour was suspended."
"She went into a trance during a performance, yes. It was only a trance, am I right?"
"That's what I told you." The last few words came out with more force than I intended. I loved Norvin but he could really get on my nerves. "You said that all suspicious. 'Am I right?' Yes, of course, you're right, Norvin. Like, why would I lie to you about that? If something more happened, there would have been thousands of witnesses."
"You moved her offstage."
"I did. Along with her friend, Flora. Who never left Verity's side, by the way."
"And nothing. Just, unseeing eyes, motionless, dead to the world."
"The most significant thing was that I was able to use an odor to bring her back. That's critical, right?"
"I suppose, but..." He thrummed his fingers onto the tabletop. "I almost wish you hadn't."
"Seriously? What if she'd progressed? Think about the damage she could have inflicted."
He waved me off. "The thing is, we would have known!"
"People could have died. The audience..."
"You had her contained backstage. You could have handled it."
I pressed my back against the padded booth. Norvin had kept me away from a lot of the darker aspects of Aurum Venari, supposedly for my own protection. I'd had some preparation, but not at the level of some of the other hunters. "Not sure the training I've received would have been sufficient."
"You're a natural, you'd have done fine."
"Would I have though?"
"I suppose it's a moot point now. She came out of it, and it hasn't happened since?"
"Not that I'm aware of." I'd stayed with her all the way back to LA, but today, Verity's father and Janene were taking her to be examined and she'd insisted I not accompany them. "It could just be stress, you know. Or an unrelated psychological condition."
Norvin snorted again. "Like hell. I do believe in coincidences—they're a fact of existence. But in this case, the facts don't add up to that conclusion."
"Hold on. We don't have all the facts yet. I'm not disagreeing with you, but we still need to rule out all options."
"Fine. Do you have more facts for me to consider?"
This was the moment I'd been waiting for. "I talked to Flora. She's been Verity's friend for a long time. Figured if anyone knew the truth about Verity, it would be her."
"And does she?"
"Possibly. She did mention something I thought you'd want to hear: Verity has a stalker."
"I know that already." He frowned. "That's why, after a year of resisting security detail, she broke down and agreed to hire you."
"She agreed to hire a bodyguard. If she'd known she was getting me specifically, she may have reconsidered."
"She hasn't fired you yet."
"Yet being the operative word. But, returning to the stalker, do you know what he claimed? He said, repeatedly and within range of witnesses, that Verity was his mate."
Norvin perked up at this. "You don't say?"
"He could be a run of the mill loon, but..."
"No, no. I'll have someone interview him."
"That might not be easy. He's in jail."
"Not a problem. We, of the Aurum Venari are everywhere, son."
My fingers froze around my coffee cup. Only two people had the privilege of calling me son, and both were dead. "I hate when you call me that."
A moment of awkward silence followed. We'd had this argument before.
"Jesus, I forgot, okay? You can lay off the dagger eyes." Norvin tried his newly sugared coffee and gave it a nod of approval. "You're wound tight, Alek. This case getting to you?"
I shifted in the booth, a sudden urge to throw the rest of my coffee in Norvin's face building. "Of course, not."
'Good, because if ever there was a situation that could make or break you, this is it. We need Verity to show her true colors soon. She's been in potential status far too long. There's a lot of pressure within the organization to have her dealt with, especially considering how high profile she is. Apparently. I don't know, I've still never heard one of her songs."
"You don't have to go out of your way to prove how old you are, Norvin. It's apparent just by looking at you."
"Smart ass."
"I'll be back on guard duty tonight. I can keep watching her. Try to capture the next episode on video, assuming the psychiatrist doesn't suggest she spend the next month at a treatment center for exhausted celebrities or something."
"Let's hope not." Pausing, he stared at a random spot near the ceiling, his lower lip jutted out. I knew that look. "That does bring up a good idea."
"Which is?" I braced myself for his response.
"Exhaustion. You said she's an insomniac?"
"Yes."
"And her manager clearly thinks touring is taking a toll on her."
"Verity blacking out mid-song probably convinced her, yeah."
"Sounds like our popstar could use a reset."
"I'm not going to like where this is going, am I."
"Maybe, a few days in the beautiful wilds would do the trick."
"Oh no. Do not suggest it, Norvin."
"Trekking through forests, reconnecting with her... natural self."
"No. I mean it this time!"
"An adventure! Out of doors, fresh air, excitement. For her and her friends."
"I'd be going in alone. Totally isolated."
"Verity Jayne seems like a platinum package kind of girl. I'm sorry, woman."
"You want me to lead her on a treasure hunt... in the hopes that communing with nature will trigger her?"
"There's The Missing Treasure of Mission Hill or Gold Rush Revenge."
"Ugh, those are the longest hunts!"
"I'm leaning towards Mission Hill but ultimately, I'll let you choose which one to suggest to her manager. Janene is it?"
If I gripped my mug any tighter, it was going to shatter. "Verity won't go for it."
"She will if she believes her precious tour is dependent upon it. Pretty sure if Janene's on board, Verity won't have much of a choice."
"Norvin, this isn't a good idea. If something happens, we'll be miles away from help."
"For someone who wanted this opportunity, you sure are resistant. I had to practically force you to do this job in the first place. Now, I'm giving you the key to wrapping it all up, and you don't want to take it? What is wrong with you, Alek?"
Verity is what is wrong with me, I wanted to tell him. Something was off about her, and I was too inexperienced to know if it was because Norvin had her pegged correctly, or if it was something more.
Unable to articulate this in a manner Norvin would accept or even understand, I shook my head instead. "If I don't make it back from this fucking hunt, I hope you wallow in regret until your dying day."
"I've only regretted one thing in my entire life." He looked away again, this time towards the barista pulling shots on the espresso machine. "I don't think I'll add your untimely demise to that list, so just stay alive and we'll be fine."
I downed the rest of my coffee. "I'll haunt you. Show up in your bathroom mirror while you're shaving. Rattle chains at night when you're trying to sleep."
Norvin chuckled. "Remember, the manager is the one you need to convince. Let me know which package they decide on and give us at least two days' notice so I can have Tom and Ashley restock the treasure trove."
"I know how it fucking works, Norvin."
We left the café. As I watched him speed away in his car, I thought about what he'd revealed to me. Norvin, this man who had taken me in after my parents' deaths, had always told me it was futile to fixate on the past. "If you can't fix something, move on until you find something you can. The past is set, but the future will be what you choose."
He'd never shown anything resembling remorse. Yet here he was, not with some meaningless unnamed regrets, but with one. One, single thing in that unchangeable past that he would change if he could. What was it? And why did I suspect it had something to do with Verity Jayne?
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Author's Note: What do you think Norvin regrets... and is Alek right that it pertains to Verity Jayne? Whatever it is, dear reader, you may have to wait a bit to find out.
But...
Here's another pressing question: Which treasure hunt is Alek going to pitch to Janene: The Missing Treasure of Mission Hill or Gold Rush Revenge? I've been doing research for this and I'm not going to lie: I'm pretty excited to write the next couple of chapters!
As always, thank you for reading and supporting my story! I appreciate you :)