Page 57 of Fortress
By the time they pulled into the motel lot, he had a plan, though he waited until Jake was safely in the room before voicing it. “We have his address, and we know enough about him to gauge his threat level with w-witchcraft. I don’t think it’s very high, more like a novice. So I don’t see any point in waiting.”
Some guilty part of Tobias thought that it was easier to talk to Jake this way, not to get flustered by his gaze on him. When Jake looked up sharply, his eyes were blank and unfocused as they had been all day. “Yeah? What are you suggesting?”
“I want to go after him,” Tobias said flatly. “I want to corner him and give him no choice but to reverse the curse on you. I don’t see a better solution.”
Jake’s brow creased, his face turned to some point just to the right of Tobias. “You want to go alone? I don’t think so.”
Tobias tensed. “I’m used to dealing with monsters on my own.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to.”
“Jake—” Tobias bit back the rest, because there was no good way to sayyou’ll get in the way. That was not something they said to each other. By the way his shoulders stiffened, Tobias could see that Jake had heard it anyway.
“Look,” Jake said, his voice steely like when they were facing down a freak and running low on rounds. “I’m not waiting here again. Not while you go toe to toe with some teen wannabe warlock hopped up on knockoff mojo. I’m not gonna sit here and guess how long it’s been since you left, how long before I should call Roger, wait forhimto show. How long before I lose my shit wondering what happened to you, not sure if you’ve ended up answering questions in some lockup or gutted for ingredients by that sick fuck. And either way, I’mtrappedhere because I move more than five feet outside this door and I’m going to fall on my fucking face. I’m not doing it!”
Tobias would have identified that rise in anyone else’s voice as incipient hysteria. With Jake, he was transfixed by how he could look Tobias in the eye even when he couldn’t see a fucking thing. “You may need to be there,” he said at last. “If he needs you there to undo the spell.”
Jake’s shoulders relaxed an inch. “Yeah, exactly. I’m not saying you have to keep me by your side when you have your showdown, but I should be in range to hear what goes down, with a radio and cell on me in case it goes south. It’s take me with or call Roger and wait until he gets here.”
Tobias shook his head. “I don’t want to risk Malveaux taking off. I’ll take you to the site and scope out the best place for you. But until I disable him and give you the all clear, you have to stay where I put you, okay?”
Jake’s mouth twisted in a thin imitation of his usual smile. “Yeah. Crystal. So, we hit him first thing tomorrow, when he’s not expecting us.”
Tobias hesitated. “I don’t want you to have to spend another night like this.”
Jake sighed, gesturing in matter-of-fact agreement. “Trust me, I feel you. But we have to do this right and take it slow. This is not a situation we can afford to fuck up. I mean, if we both end up blind, we’re gonna have a hell of a time finding someplace safe to wait while Roger makes it down to save our asses.”
“Yeah.” Tobias paused, took another breath, and held Jake’s hand. “Okay. So, what do you want for dinner?”
Later that night, curled together in bed and staring into the darkness that was his world, Jake said, “What do blind people do all day?”
Toby didn’t answer for a long moment, and Jake wondered if Toby had slipped into the sleep that so thoroughly evaded him. Then Toby sighed and shifted in his arms, pulling away slightly.
“I’d have to do research. There’s a lot I don’t know. But I’ve heard of a type of trained dog—Seeing Eye dogs. We could get one of those.”
“Thought you didn’t like dogs.”
“I’m sure I can get used to one trained to help.”
Jake huffed. “Probably wouldn’t be much good on a hunt.”
Toby didn’t answer, and Jake felt like kicking himself. Of course they wouldn’t be hunting if he stayed blind. “Guess we’d move our stuff from Colorado to New Mexico or Arizona, what do you think? Whatever one’s got a better school for you.”
Toby made an indeterminate noise. “We’d figure it out.” Jake felt Toby’s fingertips on the back of his hand, and he turned his hand over to let Toby grasp it more firmly.
Jake went on, unable to get his mouth to shut up. “I always figured that if I couldn’t hunt anymore, I’d work in a garage, but fuck, Toby. If you tell me I’m never gonna be able to drive again, not anywhere—”
“I’m not telling you that,” Toby said quietly. “I’m going to get your sight back, Jake.”
Jake heaved out a breath, forcing his other hand to unclench. “Yeah. I know you will.”
They fell silent, and Jake thought that maybe Toby had really fallen asleep. He let himself move in, brush his lips over Toby’s cheek. He didn’t need light for that, at least. “I miss your face,” he told Toby, in a whisper more breath than voice.
Toby took Jake’s hand and brought it to his own cheek, letting Jake’s thumb trace his nose, his lips. “I’m right here.”
Finally, Jake slept.
The barn was decrepit, the back half of the roof collapsed. Tobias drove slowly around the structure without seeing any other vehicles or signs of life, then parked in the back.
