Page 17 of Elixir of Strife
She stalked toward our table, face like thunder, then slammed both her hands on the surface. Roscoe and I jumped.
“Maximo. Where is Maximo? We need to talk.”
8
MAX
Ijoined Johnny in his back office, nodding approvingly at all the concert and band posters decorating the walls. We went to some of these together. Got into fights at them together, too. Against other people, of course. Johnny and I had always gotten along great, but especially over music.
Kind of cute how he still wanted my input on stuff like this. Time was when we’d hang out in my room back at Casa Brillante, kicking back and listening to records. We each still kept our collections, but these days it was way more convenient to just build a playlist straight from a computer.
“That one,” I said, pointing over his shoulder at his monitor, his hair smelling of his favorite pomade, the little space between us tangy with the scent of his aftershave.
Man, Johnny was so cool like that, vintage and yet modern in all the right ways. The catch was I couldn’t ever tell him that. Very uncool to tell cool people how cool they were. Cool people would know.
He turned over his shoulder, frowning. “Do you see the title I typed in? ‘Global Beats.’ No. No classic rock for this one, Max.”
I flinched away when the door slammed open, hands dropping to my waist, prepared to conjure a pair of diamond daggers. It’d be better if I could figure out how to fire them as projectiles, make myself even more useful in a fight. So far all I’d gotten them to do was manifest then fall limply to the floor.
“Tina,” I barked, relaxing when I saw her silhouette and her wild waves of hair filling the doorframe. “What did I say about bursting into rooms like that?”
She jabbed her finger at me, half a room away, yet I could imagine the tip of her nail digging into my skin. “Okay, but this is important. Slivers. Out.”
Johnny scoffed. “Throwing me out of my own office, Hernandez? I don’t think so.” He folded his hands behind his head and kicked his heels up on his desk, his swivel chair making a tiny squeak of protest. “Whatever you need to say to Maxy, you can say in front of me. Right, Max?”
I shrugged. “I mean, unless it’s to tell me Mama is dead, but still. We’re good enough friends that I wouldn’t mind if — oh my God. Tina. Is Mama dead?”
“That’s not it,” she snarled, fixing Johnny with a death glare, rolling her eyes when she realized he wouldn’t budge. She pulled the door closed behind her, stalking toward us. She placed her hands on the desk, leaning in to whisper. “I heard you had a run-in with Divina Brillante.”
I chuckled with relief. “Is that all? Yeah, I did run into her. She bought out my favorite bakery. Batter Up, remember? Great croissants. Great danishes. You guys have tasted them, I’d bring them over all the time.”
“Oh, I remember,” Johnny said, grumbling to himself. “Bringing over those annoyingly superior pastries when we serve perfectly decent lukewarm day-old baked goods here, too. They’re not even stale, mostly.”
Without answering or looking, I shoved Johnny’s shoes off his own desk. He stumbled as he righted himself in his chair, cursing under his breath.
Guillotina brought her fist down on the table. “They made the best cake donuts in town. I would kill for those crullers. Divina Brillante will pay for this.”
“Whoa, okay.” I held my hands up to pacify her, only because I knew that some part of her was serious about that. “It’s okay. The owners will probably find somewhere else to open up, and we’ll have our crullers and croissants like we used to. No sweat.”
“But I should have been more vigilant.” Tina swept a tumble of curls out of her face, regaining her composure. “I should have warned you that she was back in town, though you might have noticed yourself. The wind is colder. The birdsong is not as beautiful. Where Divina Brillante goes, vultures follow.”
“Hang on, I haven’t been noticing any of — oh.” Johnny quirked an eyebrow as he glanced between the two of us. “Oh, we hate this person. Got it. Noted.”
Tina sneered. “Divina Brillante is a viper in human skin, so evil and repugnant that even demons would run screaming from the very sight of her.”
I snorted. “Divina Brillante is a mean, bitter woman who takes pleasure in the pain of others. Flowers wilt when she enters a room.”
Tina leaned even further across the table, so much so that Johnny backed into his own chair.
“Every time Divina Brillante laughs, an angel dies. Divina Brillante is someone who has accomplished little if not for the money she siphons out of the clan elders, and for the longest time we thought she was happy going on her ‘international gourmet tour.’”
When Tina made the air quotes, I could just as well imagine her using those same fingers to scratch Divina’s eyes out. I’d somehow forgotten that she’d gone on some hair-brained expedition around the world.
To taste it, she said. To taste the world. I could vaguely remember wishing she would swallow actual rocks. I heard that some animals would do it to aid digestion. Why not Divina?
“And now she’s back,” I said. “But again, nothing to worry about. We had our usual back and forth, nothing major to report. It’s very sweet that you’re so worried about me.”
She stamped her foot, straightened her posture. “It’s my job, after all. I’m just looking out for your well-being.”
