Glamorous - A Grace Bishop Novel - Chapter 34
© Denise Bossarte
As Grace finished walking the
long hall and approached the door in the wall of the theater, Samuel rose
without speaking from his accustomed place on the nearby stool to hold open the
door. He gave her a gracious nod as she crossed over the threshold.
Grace was too preoccupied to react to the change in behavior of
the bouncer. She hastened across the room to Eli’s office, wondering if Eli
would pay heed to Anthony’s message and would be waiting for her.
She entered the room to find
Eli standing at one of the bookshelves, a thick book held in one hand, absorbed
in turning the pages with the other. He glanced up when she entered the room,
then reached out to re-shelve the book before turning to face her.
“Good evening, Mon Chéri. Another visit is always a pleasure,”
he greeted her as he moved to take a seat behind his desk.
“Would you like to have a seat?” he asked her as she moved to
stand opposite him.
“No thank you, I prefer to stand,” Grace replied.
“I take it you want more information on this man you are trying
to capture. Shall I get more objects for you to read?”
Grace stared at Eli as she waited for him to finish speaking. He
always greeted her in that polite neutral way, even as he was doing everything
in his power to use and manipulate her. She was done with other people pushing
her around and trying to get her to do things their way. Whether it was the
Glamour, or The Family, it was time the games stopped, right here right now.
“Yes, I’ve come for information on the Glamour. But no. I will
not do more readings for you in exchange. Only the information I want, no
bartering,” she stated matter-of-factly.
Eli raised an eyebrow at her.
“You are refusing to honor the conditions of our agreement?” he
asked, the threat latent within his tone.
“Come on, Eli!” she exclaimed. “You know as well as I do this
whole ‘arrangement’ is complete bullshit. You bullied me into agreeing to read
for you in exchange for information. I’m saying I will no longer bow to your
strong arm tactics. We will work in an equal partnership from now on. One which
starts with me getting the information I need to deal with the Glamour
permanently.”
Eli’s face went stone still while she spoke, his sapphire eyes
turning a cold, hard blue.
“Miss Bishop, I would caution you from making demands of me. You
are in no position…”
Grace interrupted him.
“Oh, but I think I am!” she said, leaning in to rest her hands
on the edge of his desk, looming in toward him. “I’ve heard about the threats
you use to keep the Paranorms in line; you’ll cut them off from their powers if
they don’t do what you want. The problem for you is the threat is empty when it
comes to me.”
Eli gave a mocking laugh, but
his posturing did not perturb Grace. She had him and she knew it.
“Don’t pretend I am like the other Paranorms, Eli,” she
continued. “I’m the first Paranorm with more than one ability. You won’t block
me from my powers. You and The Family are too interested to find out how it is
possible; how I can use more than one power. You won’t risk an opportunity to
find out by doing something as foolish as blocking my powers.”
Eli considered her, all false sense of humor quelled at her
words.
“And what’s more, I am an Aperto Rotto who stayed sane and
functional. It would be a rare thing for the usual Aperto Rotto, but one with
two abilities? Inconceivable, I would bet. You’re curious to find out how I did
it. How I could master my abilities without help from the Paranorm world.”
Eli’s expression changed from one of disdain and anger to one of
amused respect.
“I see. You are holding all the cards because we would not be
willing to block your abilities due to your distinction as a multi-ability
Aperto Rotto? But you forget, Mon Chéri. There are other ways to force you to
acquiesce to our bidding. Others whom will be affected by your lack of
cooperation,” he reminded her, his voice never rising in volume but still
holding a sharp edge.
“Do you think you will get me to cooperate with you by
threatening my friends?”
She leaned closer to him over the desk, balling her hands into
fists on the wooden surface to keep from lashing out at him.
“Let me tell you right now. You don’t know me at all if you
believe bringing my friends into this, or hurting them, will force me to jump
to your beck and call. I will walk away from this entire Paranorm bullshit.
You’ll never get the answers you want about me and my abilities if you even
look at one of them the wrong way.”
Eli did not recoil under her angry retort. Instead he stood and
leaned in to meet her face to face.
“Now it is you who is threatening me, Miss Bishop?” he asked,
his voice now loud and angry.
Grace was pleased to see she had broken through his calm facade
to reach some real emotion. Now to throw him off guard once more.
She sat in the chair Eli offered to her earlier.
“Of course not, Eli. I am simply looking to renegotiate the
terms of our original agreement,” she said with forced mildness.
Changing her approach at this point in the game would get his
attention more than continuing an argument.
Eli blinked in surprise and then followed her lead to retake his
seat. After a moment’s pause, he asked in a more normal tone “And what would be
the new terms of the agreement?”
Grace smiled a pleased cat-like smile.
“You give me official recognition as a Paranorm. From now on I
am considered ‘an employee’ of The Family ‘corporation’ who on occasion gives
readings. But not as an exchange for information. You will answer my questions,
provide the information I request, and I will do the readings on my schedule.”
Eli regarded her, his expression thoughtful.
“You want an official recognition?”
“Yes, it will make things easier if everyone knew I had your
‘seal of approval.’ At some point they will learn about my tattoo and wonder
why I am not recognized as one of them.”
Eli grimaced at the mention of her tattoo but didn’t appear
inclined to argue the point.
“Agreed, I will recognize you. Now as to the other conditions
you stipulated. There are certain things I cannot tell you. Things that would
not be shared even with other Paranorms. I cannot agree to share everything
with you, but I can agree to share what I may without requiring a reading
first. There will be times when you have to do readings on my schedule due to
circumstances needing immediate attention. Would those ‘terms’ be acceptable?”
Grace reviewed the conditions Eli offered in counter to hers in
her mind. She had pushed her position about as far as she could. It was
reasonable she should be treated the like the other Paranorms, at least for
now.
“Agreed,” she said, rising from her seat to offer Eli her hand,
resisting the urge to spit on it before holding it out. Better not push it and
offend Eli’s gentile sensibilities.
He gazed at the proffered hand for a moment before rising
himself and grasping it in his own. His grip was warm and firm and he met her
eyes without rancor as he shook her hand in agreement.
As they both settled back into their respective chairs, Eli got
to the point.
“What information are you seeking, Mon Chéri?”
“I want to learn more about the Glamour. I assume Anthony got
you up to speed on what happened when we confronted him at the warehouse?”
She paused until Eli nodded his acknowledgment, although she
noted he offered no further condolences for what happened to Billy.
“I am wondering how he was able to create the ‘creature.’ Given
Paranorms have only one ability, he shouldn’t be able to manipulate minds AND
build a monster. Either he is like me with multiple abilities, or he had help
from someone else. Which is it? Is it possible for another Paranorm to build a
creature like that?”
“Applying the principle of Occam's Razor, the answer would be
this involves a second person,” Eli stated.
At her look of confusion, Eli continued. “In essence, it means
the simplest solution is the best solution. Until you came, it was unheard of
for Paranorms to have multiple abilities, ergo, a second person.”
“Another Paranorm?”
“I have heard of Paranorms with the ability to preserve things,
like food, but not one who could preserve human flesh. Although I am not sure
anyone with a ‘preservation’ ability would be mentally imbalanced enough to
consider human flesh as the subject of their power. Although it is unheard in
our history, it is possible a Paranorm could create such a creature.”
Not the news Grace wanted to hear, but it confirmed her
suspicions and made sense given all she saw and learned about the Paranorms.
“It means there are two of them who we need to stop, not only
the Glamour,” Grace said
“I am afraid that is true, Mon Chéri,” Eli said, with genuine
sympathy in his voice. “To stop these murders, you will need to stop both
Paranorms.”
Grace realized her task had doubled, if not increased
exponentially, but her resolve was undiminished. She needed to finish this: for
DL, for the girls, and for Billy. She should come up with a plan. A great plan
and fast.
“Is there anything else you can tell me about the Glamour or the
other Paranorm?”
“No, Mon Chéri, there is nothing else I can share with you.” Eli
said.
Grace focused on Eli’s eyes at hearing the particular phrasing,
searching for hidden meaning in his words. She felt he was trying to tell her
something without saying it. But she couldn’t tell from his countenance whether
she was being paranoid or if she was catching on to a subtext to their
conversation. Regardless, their agreement was for him to share what he may, and
she would need to trust he was keeping his word.
“I’ll take learning about a second Paranorm as enough for what
needs to be done,” she conceded. “What must happen for you to recognize me as a
Paranorm?”
Eli smiled at her
redirection, this one having more warmth than the one she saw before.
“You are wondering if I need to make a ‘proclamation’ as to your
new status?” he asked, for once without condescension or mockery.
“Something like that,” she admitted.
“It requires two things. One is I inform Marcella of your
status. She will pass the word to the rest of her family.”
“That sounds simple enough,” Grace said with relief.
“Marcella will tell the Paranorms. I will make a similar
announcement to The Family.”
Grace felt a tinge of apprehension at the mention of The Family.
She was already on their radar, she realized. It shouldn’t bother her they
would be told of her new status. She hated all the attention this would bring,
but it was the best thing to do moving forward, for her, Danny, and her
friends.
“And the second thing?” Grace asked. “Do I have to go through an
initiation rite, a ritual, more readings or something?”
She hoped for once it would be a simple requirement that
wouldn’t put her through another emotional ringer.
“Nothing elaborate,” Eli reassured her. “We will pierce your
ears that you may wear the ‘segno di famiglia,’ the earrings like Anthony and
Sophie wear, as an outward sign your status as a Paranorm.”
Grace realized she hadn’t paid attention to the fact Anthony and
Sophie were wearing modest sapphire earrings. They were smaller versions of the
large sapphire in Eli’s left ear. Now she thought about it, she recalled
Anthony had an earring in his left ear, while Sophie had both ears pierced and
wore two sapphire earrings. Sophie hadn’t mentioned the earring during their
conversation about the tattoos.
“You want to pierce both my ears, right here in your office?”
she asked half-jokingly.
“I can do it right now for you,” he confirmed.
Reaching into a drawer of his desk he pulled out a blue velvet
jewelry box to place it, lid closed, between them on the desk.
The man was prepared for anything Grace thought as she looked
over the box. She never got her ears pierced because she didn’t see herself as
that “girlie.” She didn’t want to bother dealing with earrings each time she
went on the job with the force. The latter was no longer relevant, and the
former, it appeared, would be adjusted to fit the circumstances.
“Do I need both pierced with ‘segno di famiglia,’ like Sophie?
Or can I do the one?” she asked.
Eli sat for a while, thinking through her suggestion.
“By tradition, the male Paranorms will receive a single segno di
famiglia, while the female Paranorms will get two segno di famiglia.”
Seeing her obvious disappointment, he continued in a playful
tone.
“Well, Mon Chéri. Seeing how you are defying tradition by being
both an Aperto Rotto and having multiple abilities? We can break the rules this
one time, if that is what you want.”
Grace sighed with relief. One earring she could handle without
having to shift her self-image too much.
“Which ear should it go
in, then? Left or right?”
Eli’s smile was mischievous.
“It should be the right, no? Males on the left. Yours on the
right.”
Again, Grace felt there was some subtext she was missing. But
she decided not to be concerned about why Eli was pleased with the idea. Better
to get it done and get out there to deal with the Glamour and the second
Paranorm; starting with the warehouse cleanup and reading the Glamour’s knife.
“Ok. Let’s do it now.”
Eli stood and moved to her right side.
“Close
your eyes, and it will be over quickly. It will only sting the tiniest bit.”
http://www.gracebishopnovels.com/
http://booklaunch.io/dbossarte/gracebishopnovel-glamorous
https://www.facebook.com/gracebishopnovels
http://gracebishopnovels.blogspot.com/
https://www.pinterest.com/gracebnovels/
No comments:
Post a Comment