Rage took over in every sense of the word after I got the message from Owen. Our control snapped, and my precious car paid the price. Bits and pieces of metal and chrome laid shattered in the wake of our collective fury and despair. Jade and Owen were all that mattered now, not the car I spent time polishing, and surely not The Guard’s rules about staying out of the limelight. Rage flew us out of the destroyed hillbilly hovel, and I didn’t care who saw.

We’re out in the middle of nowhere, Rage reminded me.

“Yeah, I know. But a giant flying something-or-other might be difficult for The Guard to explain away.”

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No, it’s Rage, the flying gargoyle.

“Stop fucking around!” I was anxious to get to Jade and Owen.

Fucking around? Look down, asshole! The car is right there.

“What?” It seemed like we were only in the air for a few seconds. I looked down at Owen’s empty car. “Shit! And in a fucking parking lot! I told him not to leave the safe house!” I could feel my anger building, but I pushed it down. I needed to get down there, and find out what the fuck happened.

Save them first, then kill them for disobeying later.

Methodically, I scanned the parking lot for nosy onlookers. At least, the car was parked far enough away from the entrance that we might be able to get to it undetected. Maybe if I wished in one hand and hopped on one foot, or some other stupid superstisous bullshit.

Rage settled atop a brick wall, and we waited for a young mother to fasten her screaming kid into the grocery cart and walk towards the store.

“We’re gonna have to wait her out.”

Rage grumbled in agreement.

I imagined seeing a naked man in the parking lot would cause a louder ruckus than the woman’s wailing kid, so I waited in gargoyle form, along with several other statues.

“We’re good here. No one notices stone gargoyles anymore.”

Fuck you! We’re majestic and beautiful creatures.

“You’re fucking stone! An inanimate piece of fucking rock that doesn’t move and doesn’t give a shit!”

No, that’s you! You’ve blocked everything and everyone out since losing Alexander. You’ve turned to fucking stone. Trust me, I know.

“Fuck.” The damn gargoyle was right. My heart had turned to stone. I could sense what Rage would say next.

“Don’t even fucking say it, Rage!”

I felt an “I told you so,” coming, and shut him down before he had the chance. I didn’t have time for internal drama. I needed action. But, this infuriating woman was taking forever.

I cared. I cared about Jade and Owen, but I had pushed my feelings away in order to feel sorry for myself. I’m a fucking moron, and now I’ve lost them!

“It’s too late! It’s too fucking late!”

Now who’s being a nihilist? That’s my job. It’s Rage the Destroyer and Tobin the Terrible, not the other way around, asshole.

“Fuck! Hurry up woman!” I ground my fist into the brick, crushing it underhand. I needed to get to Owen’s car, fast, and find out what happened. But I couldn’t, not as long as this bitch was still dawdling around.

There was so much for me to make up for, years of being a total ass. I was willing to grovel for forgiveness. They were worth it. They were my family.

Look, she's moving! Rage yelled in my head.

I watched the woman push the buggy away, chittering about dinner and reading a long grocery list aloud. “Finally!”

I hopped down from the wall, and seamlessly slid into human form while confidently walking between the cars. Confidence was key. If someone’s skulking around with hunched shoulders, acting like they’re embarrassed to be naked in the middle of a parking lot, about to break into a vehicle, then people see them as a naked weirdo breaking into cars. I’m just someone enjoying the sunshine free of restrictive clothing. Besides, I wasn’t breaking into the car, there was a spare key hidden under the fender.

Where the hell are they?

I ran my hand against the inside of the wheel well feeling for the magnetic box, and smiled when my fingers closed around the device. A quick slip of the lid, a click of the button on the key fob, and the doors unlocked. I slid into the backseat, and proceeded to rummage through the bag of clothes I kept in Owen’s car. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary in the backseat while I was getting dressed. It was a bit tight, but that was normal. I’ve had to maneuver in awkward spaces before.

Raising the zipper of my fly, I felt the hairs on my arms stand up, and the telltale tingle of magic prickled my skin. I recognized the aftermath of a large magical disturbance. Normal people might feel an odd sensation. Things could feel off or weird, but they wouldn’t recognize it as magic. That word meant illusion and trickery to them. It wasn’t real. Their poor brains wouldn’t allow them to understand what was right in front of them. Magic was everywhere, and something big happened right here.

I scoured the backseat looking for any clue as to what happened to Jade and Owen. Nothing.

I moved to the front, sitting in the passenger seat where Jade would have sat. The air conditioning vents caught my attention. They were closed. I never sat in the passenger seat, but I was pretty sure all the AC vents would be open in the summer. I couldn’t imagine anyone sweating in the heat without using the AC. I flicked the nearest vent open, pondering the meaning.

Frustrated that I was getting nowhere and the car was becoming uncomfortably hot, I reached over the console to turn on the ignition. My hand shimmered, and disappeared up to the elbow.

Look! A Veil! Rage trumpeted triumphantly.

“Fuck yeah!” I followed my disappearing limb and crossed the veil to see Owen laying on the ground, passed out. The old me would’ve made a limp dick joke.

“Owen, wake up Dammit!” I grabbed his shoulders, and shook him roughly. His head lolled back and forth like a human bobble head.

“Wake up, gods dammit, or I’ll kill you!” I yelled with another round of rough shaking. My heart hammered in my chest.

Give him a minute, asshole!

Flickering of lashes, and a winced brow eased my mania, and I immediately felt sorry for being a dick and shaking the shit out of him.

“Oowww.” Owen’s eyes opened slowly.

“Owen! You’re alive!” I hugged the shit out of him, crushing his face against my chest.

Of course he is! He’s been working on shadow walking for awhile.

“Shadow walking! How come I didn’t know that?”

Because you’ve been a stone hearted asshole that couldn’t see past yourself?

“Fuck off Rage!” I yelled at the gargoyle, but knew he was right. I had been too busy being an insufferable ass to notice.

“Kmpf beef.” Owen mumbled and struggled in my grip.

“What? Canned beef?” I squeezed him harder, confused but happy that he was alive.

“Kmpf beeeeef.”

“Yeah, whatever buddy, we can go shopping later.”

Owen pushed against my chest breaking free of my hold. Coughing and sputtering he croaked, “No! I can’t breathe, asshole” while landing a weak punch to my shoulder. “You almost suffocated me.”

“Fuck, Owen. Sorry.” I smiled at him, relieved he was okay. “What the fuck happened?”

What, we’re not going shopping? I want canned beef.

Owen looked around pensively, “They took her, Tobin.” he whispered the words. “They took Jade.”

Rage roared in my head, making it hard to maintain the composure I needed. “Just start from the beginning,” I said between gritted teeth.

“Jade needed clothes. You know she didn’t have much after her apartment was trashed.” Owen’s argument was weak. He tried to explain that he told her no, and how she sweet talked him into taking her shopping against his better judgement.

“That’s fucking bullshit, and you know it!” I stifled the urge to strangle him for the moment, if only to get more information.

You’d give in to her, too. Rage added from the peanut gallery.

Fuck it, he’s right. We all would.

I unclenched my jaw, and my fists for that matter. “Ok, then what happened?”

“We were making a list when the car was swarmed by fucking beetles.”

Beetles? Rage was as perplexed as I was.

“They were coming from everywhere.” Owen shook his body, as if he were shaking the beetles off, before continuing.

“We tried closing the vents, but some of them got inside and bit us. By then it was too late…” He trailed off, visibly disturbed by the ordeal.

I remembered the closed vents, and nodded. “And then…”

“Then, I brought us here.” He gestured around with his hand. “I knew our only chance of surviving the poison was to create a veil and walk in the shadows. I put us in a deep meditative state, and—”

“Fuck! I didn’t know you could do that.”

“The guys that took Jade…” His voice got stronger. “They reached through the veil, and yanked her away from me. They knew we were there, even after I shielded us.”

Magic bugs. That’s crazy Guard shit!

I had to agree with Rage. I’ve heard of stupid powers like that in training. The bite of Death Scarabs was supposed to be fatal, if I remembered correctly. Fucking hell! Owen will need an antidote as soon as he crosses the veil.

“I know.” Owen seemed to read my mind. “They gave Jade one before driving away.”

“They gave Jade what? You saw them? Who?” I struggled to keep from shaking him again.

“I saw them inject Jade with something before throwing her in a white van and driving away.” Owen choked back a sob. “I assume it was an antidote.”

“Fucking hell!” The image was too much for me to process. “At least, we know they want her alive.” That knowledge did very little to soothe the fact that Jade was taken, but hopefully it comforted Owen. The guy looked like shit, and I could tell he was blaming himself. I wanted to kill him for putting Jade in danger but, like Rage said, we all would’ve caved to her. It could’ve been any of us.

“I’ll make some calls, and track down an antidote. You gonna be okay while I drive?” Owen’s coloring looked off, and I was worried about him.

“I’ll be fine.” He nodded weakly.

Anxious to get moving, I crossed the veil and slid into the driver’s seat. Owen’s car wasn’t as nice as mine, but I pushed it just the same, slamming through the gears in a hurry to get out of the parking lot. As soon as we drove away from the shopping center, I dialed up a trusted contact.

“Thanks Travis, I owe you one.” I pushed the disconnect button on the screen, ending the call, and turned at the intersection leading home.

Travis was a purveyor of oddities and a fount of information. A black market tradesmen dealing in everything supernatural, including information. He had an antidote in stock he thought would work, and was having it couriered over immediately. I sighed in relief when the car pulled up to the security gates of the safe house. A brown package sat off to the side, nearly shielded by the surrounding brush.

“Trusty Travis.” I was pretty sure that wasn’t his moniker but, for the moment, that’s what I was calling him. I retrieved the package, and drove through the gates.

“Hold on, Owen.” I called out, hoping he could hear me through the veil.

I tore open the package to find a syringe wrapped in a piece of paper with hand scribbled instructions. I almost threw them out thinking I don’t need no damn instructions, but decided to look, just in case. With my man card tightly clutched in one hand, I smoothed the folded paper out to read. It wasn’t instructions at all, but a delivery manifest for the exact same antidote dated a week earlier. I recognized the address. It was Guard Headquarters.

Fucking hell. This is bad.

I stabbed the needle into Owen’s thigh and depressed the plunger, releasing the antidote.

Owen opened his eyes, and swallowed hard. His voice cracked when he said, “We have to go after her.”

I nodded in agreement, “We’re going after our girl!”

“You know where she is?” A weak smile lifted the corners of his mouth in hope.

“Yup! We’re going to Hell!”

Owen’s smile plummeted. “Ohhhh, shit!”