Children of the First

I pasted a copy of the hiatus announcement post into the forums over at the WFG, and the lovely
Kyt Dotson was kind enough to send me a short piece from her story, Mill Avenue Vexations. It's pretty cool, even out of context (maybe especially out of context--woo, ambiguity!), and hopefully it'll tide you over at least until chapter 10.  While you wait for me to get my act together, why not saunter over to Mill Avenue Vexations, or to the Web Fiction Guide for bunches of other stuff.

"So, how is it that Vex has a car thief in her employ," Megan asked, coughing politely. It was polite to start a conversation, she told herself. It wasn't Edward creeping her out, really, it was the silence in the car.

The car they had just broken into-with a crowbar.

"I'm not a car thief," he said under his breath-the first five words he'd said to her all evening. On their initial entry he'd jammed a screw driver into the ignition, but when that didn't start the car he'd gone to more extreme measures. Bits of plastic sat on the carpet around the pedals where he'd smashed the case of the steering column, and multicolored wires hung down like rubber viscera. "It just comes with the territory."

As far as Megan could tell, Edward was totally non-magickal. His entire take on the subject of sorcery seemed to be one of extreme disinterest. His motions were economical, disciplined, as if he planned everything ahead-the only people she knew who tended to move like that were wizards. And, from what she'd learned about him from others, also assassins.

"You kill people?"

With his head stuffed into the compartment beneath the steering wheel, his shrug looked more like a convulsion in his back.

"It's a job," he said, then paused. "Damn anti-theft system." A loud crack resounded from the shadowy depression and the entire car shook with the force of it. "They think they're so clever."

Megan put one foot on the other and rolled slightly in the seat, trying to watch. Even the smell of him was dangerous-spicy and sharp in these close quarters. He slithered out from beneath the steering column with a handful of foam and a few more wires.

"Hold this," he said and shoved the mass into her hands. She nearly jumped at his snapping tone, but didn't drop the bundle. He removed a folding knife from his pocket and took a few of the wires from her. Soon he had them stripped down to the copper.

"How did you start working for her?"

"You know Vex," Edward said. "She's charismatic. Convincing in fact. Let's just say-she made me an offer I couldn't refuse."

"But... what did you do before?"

He took the wires back from her and cut a few with the knife. Licking his fingers, he twisted two together here, two together there, and then bound the entire mess with a black twisty tie. After a few seconds of work, he let them all drop to the floor and gazed back at her.

"I was a serial killer."

"A s-serial killer?" Megan said, one clammy hand trying to find the handle to the door. The moment her skin felt the metal of the release, she heard the crunk of the locks; Edward had flipped the switch in his door.

"Don't worry," he said. "That's behind me now. Anyway, my victims were always cab drivers."

Megan stared at him, frozen and uncertain as he reached over her. She cringed as his shadow eclipsed the streetlight outside the window. He pulled the seatbelt over her with a gentle motion and clicked it in; then, as if to give himself a reason to linger an inch away, he tugged at it to make sure it was snug.

"And now you know how I met Vex."

He turned the screwdriver in the ignition and the car roared to life.

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