Excerpt: Landing Hard

“Got anything to drink around here?”

“Communion wine,” he offered.

“Wouldn't that be sacreligious, Father?” I quirked an eyebrow at him.

“I suppose. I could make a pot of tea- oh, and please call me Sam. It's weird to hear you say Sam in your head, and Father out loud. Although I've no idea why you would call me Sam.” He moved into the kitchen.

“I hate the name Samuel, actually. Sam sounds much better to me.” I followed him, watching as he set up the kettle for a pot of tea. “So, um... how're you doing? About the house?” I carefully extended my awareness towards him.

He sighed. “It was... slightly horrific, Ginger.” His fingers shook as he opened the canister of tea, still slightly numb with shock. “I've never seen so many people quite that dead before. I mean, I've done funerals, but they weren't... violent deaths.”

I nodded sympathetically. “Yeah, I threw up after my first battle. It was pretty messy.”

“On the other hand...” His smile was tight and pained. “I don't think I should get used to the sight of so much death. Even if those men were evil, they were humans.”

I shrugged. “I'll take care of the killing, then. You just... do your thing.” I smiled. “Trust me, I understand how you feel... after the first time I killed someone, I wanted to run away and never come back. But I was too good at it to do that.”

He looked at me with a pity I tried hard to ignore. I didn't want any of that- I didn't feel sorry for myself and neither should anyone else. “Trust me, Father, with a name like Ginger, my other option was sex work,” I chuckled. “I'm fine. Besides, what happened happened, and it's not like the Ginger here has a different career.”

“I suppose that's a good point.” We both pulled our shields back up and he made the tea. “I do wish... well, that things could be different.”

“That's because you're a good guy. Us morally ambiguous types don't have time for that, we're too busy trying not to get our asses killed.” I took a sip of my tea. It was good- something strong. I didn't really want to sleep tonight, so I liked that.

He laughed- I figured he was faking it, trying not to freak out... I've never been the best comforter so I thought it would be good to stay casual. I mean, what the hell do I say to someone who's just seen human brains outside the skull for the first time?

We sat in silence, sipping the tea. I watched him covertly, watching him stare at his tea between taking sips, his mind obviously elsewhere. “Sam, don't think about it too much. You'll probably have nightmares, but you'll get over it- remember, it was necessary. These people were trying to interfere with God's work, right? That's sort of the kind of thing you disapprove of?”

He shook his head, smiling a bit. “Yes, I know... but still. Ten men, Ginger.”

My automatic reaction was 'I've killed more', but I managed to suppress it. I nodded slowly. “Yeah. Ten men who could have hurt or killed Luke, and were at least keeping him away from us. And he was bitten. By a vampire.”

“A vampire? That confirms our suspicions on who kidnapped him, but...”

I bit my lip. “If it was Adrian who bit him- and I bet it was- he might be able to control him. I know Luke is immune to most magic, but I don't know if he's immune to that. I hope so. We'll have to ask him.”

“When he wakes up. If he wakes up.” He shook his head suddenly. “Sorry, I'm being unnecessarily gloomy.”

I barked a laugh. “Understandable, but yeah, you are. Cheer up, Sam. If you want, I can leave you out of this from now on.”

“No, I want to help you.” He frowned at me. “But... could you try to clean up the crime scenes a little?”

I shrugged. “Sure. I'll give it a shot, unless it's urgent- oh, and you're not allowed to argue with me if I give you orders when it comes to fighting. We can discuss other things, but you're- no offense, seriously- not qualified to deal with the violent end of things.”

He nodded. “Of course. I'll stay out of your way when it comes to that side of things. But I hope I can be useful in other ways.”

“You're a telepath. I'm pretty sure you'll be freakin' useful.”