Bone has lost some unexpected years to the Marines; and on returning to Pittsburgh, he has to deal with the fact that he’s lost Paul, a long-time mentor & friend as well. Something that happens when you have “monster hunting” as a vocation. Now Bone and Paul’s wife, Mary, need to put grief aside and make sure that they continue Paul’s job of protecting the city.
What follows is a fragment from “Gone Fishing”, available in the anthology Street Magic from Camden Park Press.
She shook her head. “Syn... she tried. Did a good job, too. Mostly.”
Bone’s throat got tight. “Mostly? It got someone else?”
“The guy from Cleveland was named Greg Bellan,” Mary said, her voice flat. “The kids were Terry Durst and Aaron O’Dell. Out for a midnight walk, a couple with eyes only for each other. And that thing took them both.”
“Mary...”
She shook her head violently, and when she spoke, her voice was tight. Fierce with anger. “No. No! They deserve this. They deserve to be remembered, even if it’s just by a crazy lady.”
She looked down. Her hand in Bone’s was trembling.
“Paul and Greg and Terry and Aaron.” She looked up. “Those are the ones Syn knows about.”
Bone was still. “That she knows about?”
Mary’s voice was a whisper. “There was one more. A kid. A runaway. Went missing at the end of March. Amanda Porior.”
“Jesus,” Bone breathed. “How did Syn...”
Mary gripped his hand hard. “She doesn’t know. I didn’t tell her.” She raised her head, looked into his eyes. “And you won’t either, Daniel Romero. She doesn’t deserve that burden. So you won’t lay it on her, you hear? Swear it to me. By your name.”
Bone hesitated, then squeezed her hand. “So be it,” he whispered. “I will not tell her, I swear. On my Name, through my Name, and upon my Name.”
As he finished, a gust of wind came and swirled around them.
Mary smiled, then patted his hand. “Your Name still has teeth. Good.” She looked down at her pizza, but something had changed. Bone couldn’t put his finger on it, but it felt as if Mary had laid aside her mourning. She picked up her pizza and took a bite.
“So,” she said as she chewed. “How are we going to kill this damn Fae beastie?”