Callie paced across the living room floor for the umpteenth time, watching where her bare feet stepped as she went. More than one piece of candy corn had been squished into the seams of the polished wood, and she was tired of scraping them up. She didn’t know where the boy was, and it was killing her. If she had any hair left by the time he came back it would be a miracle.

Enrique hadn’t talked about the night of his father’s arrest since she had brought him to her home. He was mostly quiet and withdrawn, making special appearances every now and then. Callie couldn’t blame him; she had never spoken of her father’s death, nor the bloody tiled floor she found her mother lying on. They were simply things best left alone. Time would obscure them until they were nothing more than a dull pain in the depths of the soul.

Alejandra slept crookedly, leaning against the arm of the couch, the frilly skirt she wore over her miniature jeans pulled up high, her tiny mouth decorated with melted chocolate. Callie had dressed her up as an undead fairy for the holiday, and although the face paint had taken an hour to put on, it had endured no more then fifteen minutes on her face afterwards. Enrique had disappeared earlier in the day, and Callie hadn’t thought of asking him where he was going. She had been his age when Magali trained her to kill, and if he wasn’t as bad as she had been then, she figured he was all right. With his continued absence, she was beginning to have second thoughts. Parenting, it turned out, wasn’t as easy as she had originally thought. She was perfectly aware that children rubbed her the wrong way, but with Eddie in jail and Mariana in the grave she had thought she could handle it for a while-- at least until Zero returned and figured something else out.

Alejandra complained and pulled the sleeve of her costume down over her hand. With the weather as unseasonably cold as it was, Callie had over-dressed her a bit. And after finding that Enrique hadn’t come back, she had forgotten to peel the layers off the toddler, simply letting her eat her way through her candy bag while she ranted over the boy. It was a guaranteed stomachache for the morning, and Callie had developed one just from watching the little girl greedily devour all the sugar.

The door to the loft was made of metal, and every knock created a sound reverberation that echoed way back into the garden. Alejandra whined and rubbed her eyes at the noise, and Callie tried to shush her back to sleep before answering the door.

Little shit probably forgot the keys I made for him again. "Run, you little fuck, ‘cause I’m gonna kill ya!" she yelled, realizing too late that it would only further wake the toddler. "Aw, shit, see what ya made me do?" she protested, and stomped to the front door. "Where the fuck have you been?" she screamed, swinging the heavy door open.

"Having woman problems, Callie?" Magali asked, looking at her breath in the cold night air.

"Zee! Oh, thank God you’re back." Callie waved her in and was closing the door when the taller woman stopped her and opened it back up to pull Casey in. Callie gave her a once over and frowned. "I see you found her."

"Be nice, Callie. I’m not in the mood."

"Mood? Mood? The whole fuckin’ world’s gone nuts, and you’re not in the mood? Ain’t that some shit. You go off after this—"

Magali hated to do it in front of Casey, but if she allowed Callie too much free rein she would quickly become dangerous, and her hands were already shaking slightly. She was careful not to slap her with too much of her strength. Callie stopped yelling and palmed her cheek, swallowing hard and looking away from Casey.

"Now. Are you going to stop acting stupid and get your head on?"

"Gaga, bad," Alex gurgled sleepily, pointing at Magali.

Her heart sank down to her knees, then stopped beating altogether, as Magali stooped to pick up the little girl and hold her close. She turned to gaze at Callie, angry and hurt.

"What’s she doing here, Callie?" she hissed, then looking at the little girl smiled. "We were just playing, wild one, go back to sleep." Alejandra laid her head on Magali’s shoulder and played with her hair.

"It’s a crazy story, you got some time?"

Her tone had changed, it was distant and calm. Magali recognized it for the cover up it was and nodded. Callie took the toddler from her and climbed the steps to put the babe to sleep. "I’ll be right back down. Sit where you like."

"Gali, that’s Alejandra. What’s she doing here?" Casey asked, putting her arms around Magali’s waist, warming herself against her Black Velvet. It was much colder than it had been in L.A, and they weren’t properly dressed.

"I don’t know, but I don’t like it." The pangs in her stomach were getting harder to overlook, but she was grateful they weren’t the kind that sent her screaming. They were more like the discomfort of hunger unsatisfied. She hugged Casey to her and thought of other things, guiding her Saint to the leather couch decorated with candy wrappers.

"Would you look at this? I’m surprised the kid can sleep at all," Casey exclaimed, trying to ease the strain showing on Magali’s face.

"If she’s anything like her parents, she’d be able to sleep in a night club while it’s open, and wake up at the sound of a pin dropping."

"Really? Eddie does that?" Casey played dumb, something she wasn’t particularly good at, and sat on the couch with her hands between her thighs.

Magali twiddled her thumbs; her shoes were suddenly an interest point. "No…I do. She’s…she’s mine, Casey."

The smaller woman smiled and threw her arms around her lover, nuzzling her neck as she did. "I knew already, Gali. I got it out of Jesse. I was just waiting for you to tell me."

Magali crossed her arms and raised her brow. "And how did she know?"

"Figured it out when she saw her one night. Why do you hide her…besides the obvious reasons? I mean…I know she’d become a target…but…"

"I could have protected her from my enemies." Magali shrugged, wringing her hands in an attempt to rid herself of the tension she was succumbing to. "But, I wouldn’t be able to stop her from following in my footsteps, directed to by either her own will or…another’s. I didn’t want that for her. Besides, what kind of a parent would I make? Think about it…about my life, and how I live it…or lived it," she added as an after thought, smirking at Casey.

Callie took the steps quickly and, slumping into the armchair, threw her leg over its arm. No one could ever accuse her of being a lady. She had brought a bottle of tequila with her, and before offering it to Magali, took a swallow from it.

"Have some, Zee. Ya look like ya need it, and if ya don’t…you will."

She took the bottle by the neck and gulped down a good shot. The liquid burned on the way down, but it was the expensive kind, an añejo, that left the smooth taste of agave behind. Briefly, she closed her eyes and breathed air that cooled her throat, the liquid killing some of the craving in her chest. When she put the bottle down on the coffee table, her hand quivered, and Callie gave her a suspicious glance.

"You’ve got the need, Zee."

"It’s nothing. Tell me what the fuck’s going on already."

Callie leant forward, bracing her elbows on her knees and dropping her head.

"Anthony came around looking for money…" Callie twitched in places along the tale she spun, her face contorting with anger when she came upon an occasion where she wished she had used her skills but hadn’t. With about as much accuracy and detail as she could muster, Callie relayed the events of the past weeks. How she and Eddie had spent countless hours looking for the wealth of money Magali used to pay everything off, emphasizing how the numbers never changed; she could rattle them off by memory alone. She explained how Eddie had paid Anthony, but couldn’t pay off the low-level cops who patrolled the streets and worked ‘buy and bust’ operations without starving the workers. She described how the ‘spots’ fell to raids one after another, leaving vacuums of power that were quickly snatched up by others, and the secessions of boroughs and then cities, until the empire had dwindled away to where it had originally begun. "Then they went after Eddie-- cops and dealers. When I found out what was gonna go down, I tried to get there first, but I was too late. If the cops hadn’t raided his house, Eddie would probably be dead, but they arrested him and drag away the body of that sonofabitch that was gonna blow him. I tried calling but there was no answer and by the time I got there, they were putting him in a car. I hung around for a little while watching what was going on, and then I pretended to be Eddie’s sister…so I could get the kids before social services did."

"Why would—" She didn’t get to finish the question, dreading the only answer that made sense.

"They killed Mariana…the cops. Enrique saw the whole thing go down; Alex was in the bedroom. So…I brought them here."

"Shit." Mariana had been a part of their lives virtually since they had started. She had been the light in Eddie’s eye, the root that grounded him, and Magali knew with no uncertain terms that her death would kill him slowly. "That was good thinking, Callie. Thank you, for looking after them."

Bajo Zero rarely gave her thanks, and Callie soaked in her appreciation as if it were diamonds from heaven.

"What now?" her assassin, and erstwhile babysitter asked, pushing back her hair.

Casey was next to her, creeping closer as she had listened to Callie’s story until she was nearly sitting on top of her. "I can’t stay in the city, not without an army around me, and it doesn’t sound like I have one right now." She smiled and leaned back on the cushions, the spark of planning that was Bajo Zero’s alone shining, in her eyes. "We’ll get it all back. One fuckin’ block at a time," she sneered.

"What about the kids?" Callie questioned, knitting her brow.

Magali glanced at her Saint pressing her lips together tightly, and Casey gave her a nod. "We’ll take them. But you’ll have to leave, too. They won’t leave you standing for long."

"They will as long as they think I’m for hire."

"Are you?" she asked arching an eyebrow.

"Have to make a living somehow, Zee. And with these motherfuckers playing like they’re another you, they’re all trying to take each other out. I don’t mind putting it to them either, back-stabbing-bastards."

"Keep as low as you can," she said nodding. "I’ll get everything going, and then I’ll call for you."

Callie grinned, wide and evil. "And I’ll come running."

"You better," Magali threatened jokingly. Some small part of her had changed in the time she had been away; she wasn’t sure what it was, but it was comically alarming Callie. "Hand me the phone; I need to get some wheels, and then we’re off. Pack up any of the kid’s shit you got and get Enrique up," she instructed, her mind working at the scheme slowly forming in her mind.

"He’s not here, Zee."

"Not here? Where the fuck is he then? I thought you had them both?"

"I do. But that little shit’s been hanging out, and he just waltzes in here whenever he fuckin’ feels like. I’m tellin’ you I’m this close to just…" she complained, pinching her thumb and index finger together.

"If he’s not here by the time I’m ready to go…I’ll find him. Have any idea of where he could be?"

Callie nodded, rubbing her hands together in anticipation of the reaming Enrique would receive at Magali’s hands. "Two blocks up, probably."

"Good. Get me the phone."

Casey dozed off on the couch watching Magali furiously rant on the phone—first, in Chinese and then Spanish. She wasn’t sure who she was talking to, but the set of her jaw and the cold in her eyes told her things she wasn’t sure she wanted to know. After thinking Magali dead for so long, agonizing and mourning over her, she was thankful just to be by her side. It gave her an unwarranted serenity she couldn’t explain, given the circumstances. The last thing she saw before her eyes closed was Callie lighting a joint and Magali snatching it away from her.

"Alex is upstairs," she growled, then continued with her conversation. Callie pouted and turned on the TV.

They were both sleeping, Casey on the couch and Callie in the armchair. Magali shot brief glances at them both and sighed, envying their peace. Wu would supply her with the weapons she needed, money was on its way by the cartload, and her father, who had greeted her with a loud reprimand, was glad of her returnm if only because he wanted his share. Her last instruction had been to hike up the price of supplies her people brought in from Latin America-- the price would rise on the street, and dealers would be forced to cut the number of people they had working for them. It would choke their business and leave them weak; they would be ripe for the picking. That was the secret Eddie and Callie had not been able to find, the key being that the numbers never changed year after year: it was her supply, her profit, and she controlled the expenses.

It was near morning, and Enrique hadn’t returned. She expected a car at first light; Wu would send a man with it, efficient as always. He was furious at the turn of events; the war had begun to filter into his backyard, and it seemed that he was a step away from sending out his own troops when she called. His market in human smuggling was in peril, and it set him into fits of rage uncommon for the usually stoic, older man. The balance was in chaos, and it landed on Magali’s shoulders to manipulate all of the pieces back into their proper dirty places.

She wiped her hands on her pants and stretched; she had been sitting in the same position for too long and her lower back was cramping. Casey sighed in her sleep, and Magali brushed away some of the hair that had fallen across her face and laid a soft kiss on her cheek. Dreamlike, she gazed at her Saint, coming to terms with her presence in her life once again. Her hands had stopped shaking at some point; she wasn’t positive when but was content with the reprieve.

Magali was on her knees, aiming her gun at the door, and sheltering Casey’s body before it was fully open. Callie had hit the floor just behind her, lying on her stomach; it was always best to stay out of Bajo Zero’s way. Enrique had pulled the hood from the sweatshirt he wore under his black bubble jacket over his head, and was trying to quietly sneak in. It had never been successful before, Callie always heard him, but he couldn’t help but try. When he saw her pointing the gun at him and grinning a warm stream crawled down the side of his leg and he blushed.

"Some thug, hanging at all night, pees on himself at the sight of a gun," Magali grinned, standing to her feet.

"I think he peed ‘cause it was you, Zee." Callie chuckled, brushing herself off; it was a habit from having to do the same type of maneuver on the street.

Magali smirked, and in her long stride, walked up to the boy and grabbed him by the ear. "Who said you could come and go as you please, runt?" He was tall, like his father, with the same brown eyes and the same spiky black hair. Thirteen--around the age when Magali had killed for the first time, but although the depthless creep had started in his eyes, Magali knew him to still be an innocent. Still salvageable, more so than she had been.

"No…body…tells me what to do," the boy stuttered defiantly, as Magali dragged him into the living room area of the loft.

"Really?" she crooned. "Well, guess what? I tell you to breathe and you do, I tell you not to and you don’t, tough guy."

"I’m not my father…I don’t follow your orders. And you’re not my mother…she’s dead," he yelled, pulling away from her.

"No…I’m not your mother…I’m your godmother; that means I’m all you’ve got right now. And your father…that’s the whole point, Enrique, for you not to be like him. That’s what he always wanted, that’s what your mother always wanted."

"I know what you are…I know what he was, they told me, my friends…and nobody’s scared of you Zero…nobody!" he screamed, tears starting in his eyes.

He swallowed when she lunged at him, putting her face inches away from his. "You better be…you better be very afraid. And to you…it’s Magali, got that?"

Her lover badly needed training in dealing with children. Casey had heard them laughing, then the yelling, and it was what had awoken her. She hugged the boy to her, separating him from Magali who looked as if she were about to spit fire. "It’s okay, kid. She was just worried about you," Casey whispered in his ear, making a face at Magali as she did.

"Who the hell are you?" he spat, and was quickly pulled by Casey out of range of Magali’s hand.

"Think of me as your guardian angel, okay?"

"My guardian angel? Then where were you when they killed my mother? Where was she?" he cried, pointing at Magali. His tears had started in earnest, leaving light colored paths down his cheeks where they ran and cleaned off the soot of the street.

"If I could have been there, Enrique, I would have laid down my life to stop your mother from dying." Magali’s jaw clenched. "But I wasn’t, and there’s nothing I can do about it now, except make sure that you and your sister live the way she wanted you to." She crossed her arms, and any sentiment that was on her face faded. "Now get your things, we’re leaving."

Casey walked with him and helped him put what meager clothing he and his sister had brought with them into a duffel bag Callie supplied. She shuddered to think of what could have occupied it at one time. When the car arrived, she was dressing a sleepy, grumpy, Alejandra, who was a bit green around the gills. Magali called up to them from the ground floor and, with Alejandra in her arms and Enrique carrying their bags, they bade their farewells to Callie. The vehicle that waited for them couldn’t have been a safer model, a fully armored, black Hum-Vee, with tinted windows and bulletproof glass--life with Magali Guerrero.

**************************************************************

Click, clack, scrape, click…one glided into the other, clean and oiled, as Magali fit the pieces of her .45 back together in a practiced cadence that boiled in her blood. Casey rested peacefully behind her, Devi stretched out over her ankles, with the sheets and rabbit fur blanket half covering her body the other half falling to the floor. Sleep had been elusive. Even after her Saint had drenched her body and sent her quivering into the darkness she had lain awake watching the night stroll by-- listening, calculating, planning. Her refuge, solitary up to the day Casey exploded into her life with fearless devotion and unmotivated care, was suddenly teeming with a life long forgotten and sorrowfully conceived. Eddie, her closest friend, suffered alone in misery separated from the world by concrete and steel, while her fortunes turned, benefiting from his calamity. It tore through her and exposed the raw anger hibernating just under the surface.

Alejandra sighed in her sleep and rolled over, her little arm landing over Casey’s shoulder. The girl had taken up residence in the middle of the bed just before dawn. Magali reached out to brush an errant curl away from her cheek, but withdrew her hand at its slight shaking and, instead, stared at the trembling. It was there; no matter what she focused on, the gnawing hunger begging for attention clawed at her mercilessly. Blue stained and heavy, the gun in her other hand quivered with the involuntary moving of her fingers. She doubted whether she could shoot straight if the occasion called for it.

Slipping the loaded cartridge into its place, she carefully rose from the bed, carrying the gun loosely in her hand. Through the window she could see a great distance away between the autumn stripped trees. There was nothing for miles around, and any intruder would have difficulty approaching stealthily; the home was safe from the outside. Devi opened her eyes and flicked her cropped ears towards her mistress, but didn’t move. Something was wrong with the tall woman, an edginess the animal could sense. Faint, like a light breeze rippling over long blades of grass. Magali ran her fingers through her short hair, gripping a bunch of the curls in a tight fist at the back of her head. Her throat felt constricted, and swallowing the invisible obstruction in it made her jaw clench. A panic in her chest sent her breathing into high gear; she pinched the bridge of her nose and, closing her eyes, violently shook her head attempting to cast away the images rushing through her mind.

Blood splattered brick walls and concrete steps; shards of glass sliced through her skin and embedded themselves with jagged points. Her knuckles were raw and bleeding from fighting; the fallen lay around her moaning in pain and crying for a god that had learned his lesson the first time he ventured down to earth. Laughter, her own, rumbled in her ears. Her body was sore with fatigue and wounds not given time to heal. When she opened her eyes the visions were gone, but the need to feel the power of destruction clung to every fiber of her being. It roared in her depths and ignited waves of fury that pushed the desire to punch the walls until her hands were swollen with pain and scraped bloody. To rip the boards from the walls and fling them across the room, kick the doors of the cabin down, stab and rip at the furniture with her favorite knife; annihilate. She glared out into the wide open spaces and the scream that ripped upwards out of her soul died on her lips. She wanted it, needed the agony, wanted it all to end, was anxious for its beginning. Her knees felt weak, the burning in her flaring, her control slipping. Her focus eluding her; and creeping away in the face of her craving. Plunged into the darkness she grimaced, waiting for her wailing to start, uncontrolled, unreasonable.

Magali padded over to her jacket and searched the pockets, laying her gun flat on the low dresser. She had frowned at Callie the previous night when the woman had stuffed the tiny bag into her hand, but she hadn’t refused it. There wasn’t much. "Just enough to stop you from sweatin’," she had said. In the golden light of the morning Magali inspected the crystalline clump flattened into a corner of the clear bag. She would need more than half of what there was just to get her hands to stay still. A quick look over to the bed to make sure Casey was asleep, and she was closing the bathroom door behind her.

This is temporary…just for now, she thought.

********************************************************************

Outside, the last leaves of autumn hung heavy in their bright colors near the bedroom window. Large oak trees surrounded the house and sheltered it, their branches lightly scraping the exterior walls in the wind. The cabin was warm, and the fragrance of seasoned wood burning in the fireplace perfumed the room. Theirs was a large loft bedroom on the second floor. It had its own bathroom and fireplace, and Magali had put in a door at the top of the stairs to give them privacy. She always needed a project to keep busy during the lulls in planning over the phone and on the net. The first floor had a guestroom that Magali quickly furnished for the children, a spacious living room, and an open kitchen separated from the rest of the floor by a long wooden counter. The cabin was one of Magali’s secrets, a place she had bought two years after her release from prison when she had spent time incarcerated for the murder of her youngest brother. It wasn’t the ostentatious dwelling one would think a drug lord would own, and Casey was finding that the woman had many such secrets.

At night they would lay in bed, wrapped up in each other and the country quilts Magali favored. She would listen again and again to stories about the places surrounding the plantation Magali owned, the sights she wanted to show her, local dishes whose name’s were foreign but imagined tastes welcome. Their touches would grow intimate, and the world would pause for them. By morning Casey would find her long comfortable pillow had been snatched away by Alejandra. The little girl would sneak into the room somewhere just before dawn and sprawl herself over Magali’s chest. When she had asked her lover if it didn’t make her uncomfortable, she had simply said she had grown used to it. During the weekdays Magali drove Enrique and Alejandra to the end of the road where a bus picked him up and the car pool whisked Alejandra away, taking them to the local school a few miles away. When she returned she set herself to the tasks of organizing numbers, sometimes leaving Casey alone for a day or two while she went off ‘to take care of business.’ Casey kept busy entertaining little Alex and looking over Enrique’s schoolwork. The boy was bitter, but every now and then he would talk to her of his mother, and his eyes would smile.

Devi followed her into the bathroom, as she had every other morning and alternate night for the past week, the animal’s nails scratching against the wooden floor behind her. She was amazed that Magali never woke when she took her trips, perhaps grumbling and rolling over once or twice. Casey was glad she didn’t; the light-headedness that overtook her with unpredictability had her dodging for the toilet and spewing anything that was in her stomach at the time. Her throat ached with the force of it, and she tried to stifle the cough that followed. Devi whined next to her, sitting on her haunches and begging for attention by pawing at her.

"You’re disgusting, Devi. Really."

She felt the running water with her hand before splashing it on her face; it was cool enough to relieve some of the nausea without making her fingers freeze. A long shadow scared her and she jumped, clutching her chest as she did. Magali leaned against the doorframe, clad in the black T-shirt and baggy boxers she had slept in. Her hair had grown enough that it fell to her shoulders in wild ringlets and waves, and with some cajoling Casey had managed to make some of her weight return as well, though not as much as she thought should have.

"You alright, vida mia?"

"Yeah, I just…must have eaten something that didn’t agree with me. That’s all," Casey replied, drying her face and hands on a small towel hanging near the sink.

Magali narrowed her eyes and raised an eyebrow wiping at her nose with the back of her hand and roughly sniffing back. "Must have been something you ate last week then," she said with sarcasm. "Did one of the kids give ya a virus or somethin’?"

Casey paled. She had hoped that Magali hadn’t noticed, had wished it true that the woman was sleeping while she was sick. She had denied it to herself the previous month when her cycle didn’t come, dismissing it as a simple effect of stress. It had been known to happen. But with the onset of the dizziness, the vomiting, and faint feeling she would get throughout the day, she was fighting off the fear of it and tossing over it at night. "Maybe, who knows what they’ve brought back besides all those construction-paper Christmas ornaments." Casey smiled and put her arms around the lean waist; Magali’s lips were sleep warm against her forehead.

"I have to go into town. I can bring you back somethin’. Maybe some Imodium?"

"That could work," Casey nodded, her cheek rubbing on the cotton of Magali’s shirt. She loved her scent, a mixture of soap and mountain air. Nothing’s going to help, not with this. God, this can’t be happening…please, just let it be nerves. I can’t do this. She’s going to go crazy. I don’t have to go through with it…She doesn’t have to find out. I’m not ready for this…I’m not ready to tell her. She thinks it was just Julia, she doesn’t think I had a choice. But God, Gali, I did…and I fucked up. Would you still look at me that way if you knew? Used goods, that’s what Julia said…you don’t know how right she was.

"Casey? Baby? Hey, where did you go?" she asked, looking down at her.

"I just love the way you smell."

"You’re nuts." She smiled then and embraced her tightly. "Let me get in the shower. The faster I get everything done this morning, the quicker I can get back to you. Maybe we can go for a walk with the kids?"

"Sure. Except I doubt you’re going to get Enrique away from that new Play-Station game you bought him."

"Oh, yeah. Remind me to beat the crap out of him on that. Little shit thinks he can shoot better than me," Magali laughed, drawing back the sliding door of the shower and turning the water on.

"In his dreams," Casey giggled, smacking Magali’s bottom as she undressed.

"Hands off, lady. Don’t start something we can’t finish right now." Magali pointed an implicating finger at her and stepped back into the shower.

"What was I thinking?" What was I thinking?

One of man’s stupidest inventions had to be soap-on-a-rope. What exactly is the fuckin’ rope for anyway? And why do I have one? It was a mundane thought, far from the nuances of weaponry and map details that engrossed her mind the rest of the time. Callie was busy laying out who was who for her, and Wu was waiting patiently for the shipment of armaments he had promised her. Her father had finally quieted when he received his monthly allowance from her overseas investments. It was the least she could do as tribute to him and his tutoring, and it kept him from being a constant nagging presence in her life. Eddie refused help from her. Blinded by his hate and grief, he preferred bars to freedom; apparently convinced that his son was lost as well and there would be no better guide for him than Bajo Zero. She continued to work on the problem without his knowing.

She had sent a telegram to Martina, giving her instructions as to what to do with her bike, and wiring her more money. She didn’t dare chance a direct phone call and implicate the family further than she already had. They had given her a glimpse of what could be, and the good graces had gifted her with what she had never realized was missing. Family, lost once--transformed into the forms of Casey, Alejandra and Enrique--gave her tranquility and a will to overcome that transcended the darkness she dwelt in.

She turned on the red heat bulb, nestled into the ceiling of the bathroom. She was always cold now, the feeling clung to her the way frost covered windows in the early morning. From the medicine cabinet above the sink she took a slender metal nail file and knelt on the floor just beside the toilet. Behind the porcelain bowl, a loose, concealed tile on the wall hid her wares: a small plastic bag of crystalline hell and a tiny golden spoon no bigger than a hairpin. Although it would have been better, more efficient to inject the stuff, it would leave marks on her body her lover would be sure to see. Magali grinned, there wasn’t an inch of her skin Casey wasn’t exposed to, and with that in mind she sniffed her daily dose.

"Chocolate covered cherries," she heard Casey call out from the bedroom.

"What?" Magali asked, stalling for time to re-conceal the drug, but she could hear Casey’s approach, and stuck the package into the pocket of her robe instead.

"Chocolate covered cherries. Can you bring me back some?" Casey repeated from the doorway.

"Ummm…yeah, sure. Whatever you want, vida," she said, wiping her nostrils with her thumb and index finger. The dose was working--quickly as ever, and it brought back the heat to her body.

The incongruity of her situation suddenly struck her as amusing. Dios mio, I’m in a flannel bathrobe and there are two kids playing around downstairs, she smiled. Who would believe it? Ooh, big, bad drug dealer, killer. She wiped the moisture from the mirror and took a look at her reflection. Yup, that’s me. What did Scarface say again, ‘Make room for the bad guy, bad guy coming through!’ Yeah that’s it.

She could hear the beeps and alarms of the video game Enrique was playing, and Alejandra screaming at him for her turn, when she opened the bathroom door. Casey was lying on her side, facing the window, the sheet drawn up to her neck. There was no mistaking the sniffle and the rapid swipe of her hand over her face. Magali padded over to her and sat at the edge of the bed, worry making creases on her forehead.

"What’s wrong?" she queried, rubbing Casey’s back. "Does your stomach hurt?"

"No."

"You must really be sick, if you’re crying."

Casey pulled the sheet over her head and mumbled into the pillow.

"I couldn’t hear, baby. What’d you say?"

Casey rolled over and uncovering her face, sat up, pushing the pillows up behind her to support her back. Magali laid a hand on her leg and waited.

It had been a small incident that brought Casey to this moment of indecision. The day before, she had walked Alex downstairs and had poured the little girl a bowl of cereal. And when she spilled it and blamed it on her brother, Casey felt obligated to tell her it ‘wasn’t right to lie.’ The echo of that had been ringing in her ears ever since. Their secrets had torn them apart once before, lies ripped at the very fabric of their relationship and they weighed down on her now. "There’s something I need to talk to you about. But you have to promise me not to break anything, or scream, because you’ll scare the kids."

Shit. Busted. She knows. She found the stash, or she heard me doing it. She’ll understand, she has to…she’s almost a doctor, right? "Okay, I promise."

"I…umm…I think I’m pregnant."

Her first thought was one of relief. Not the drugs… Then the full import of what Casey had said registered and Magali withdrew her hand, her eyes darkening and her face turning to stone. Then she smiled and laughed and pointed at her. "Very funny. I’m good, but I’m not that good!"

"Gali, I’m not playing. I don’t have a virus, I have morning sickness!"

Her heart lurched as possessiveness and jealousy reared up. "Stop joking around, Casey. That’s not funny."

Casey flinched; Magali’s expression had reverted to impenetrability, her body sending signals that yelled "stay away." The stark reality that it had been more than Julia who had touched her was darkening Magali’s eyes and chilling her features. Cinching the robe tighter around her waist she walked to the window and turned her back. Through clenched teeth she ground out, "Do you know whose it is?"

The pain lanced her heart—her lover’s pain and her own--and her reply stuck in her throat. Oh, God…I deserved that, I know I did. I should have told her that first night. She thinks I was whoring…I was. "Daniel’s," she finally whispered to the rigid figure.

It looked thicker than what it really was because Magali’s fist pierced through the pane of the window as if it were nothing more than paper. "Who the fuck’s Daniel?" she yelled. Devi scurried under the bed. Drops of blood from her hand sprinkled the floor, as a trickling rivulet ran down her forearm.

Afraid to approach, to offer help, Casey still felt that she had to make some effort to keep their exchange from alarming the children. "Gali, you promised."

"I lied!" she screamed, the veins in her neck bulging.

Her eyes riveted on the escaping lifeblood, trying to assess the severity of the wound without getting closer, Casey paled. "Gali, you’re scaring me," Casey’s voice pleaded, wrapping her arms around her mid-section to give them something to do.

"You’re scared!" the injured woman yelled, pointing a sanguine finger at her. "You let that sniveling little fuck touch you, make love to you, and now you’re scared of me?" She took a step closer. "I swear Casey…." With a supreme effort of will she stopped her advance on her frightened partner and stood stock still once more.

Casey pushed herself off the bed, her legs weakened by the anger that was showing on Magali’s face, and she was glad Daniel was on the other side of the country. "Gali," she whispered gently, "let me look at your hand, please," she pleaded, slowly reaching for Magali; blood was staining the floor, and the robe she wore.

"Don’t touch me, Casey," she spat pulling away from her. "Just…don’t fuckin’ touch me," Magali commanded backing away from her and throwing her hands to her sides. "You thought I was fuckin’ dead, so you threw yourself at him, just like that…How grief stricken were you exactly?"

I died with you; he only used a body that was a shell. It was always you; but I don’t know how to make you understand. "Gali…"

Alejandra sucked her thumb at the top of the stairs, staring at the two women trapped in each other’s glares. "Gaga, gotta booboo," the little girl cried out, her curls in disarray atop her head, her bottom lip quivering.

"It’s okay, wild one. Gaga’s okay," Casey said, using Magali’s pet name for the girl and picking her up to give her a bounce. "I’m going to take care of her right now, aren’t I, Gali?" She turned back to where her lover had stood, but the room was empty. "Gali?"

Magali was gone, and the bathroom door was closed behind her. She had left a drawer open, and a few of the shirts in it were hanging from its edge. Casey could hear her slamming things as she got dressed.

"Go on, downstairs, Alex. And tell Enrique to give you a turn on the game he’s playing." The little girl obeyed, her thumb back in her mouth as she descended the stairs. Casey laid her hand on the wood surface of the bathroom door. It wasn’t locked, but in the state her lover was in she didn’t want to intrude on her ‘space.’ "Gali?"

"Casey, just leave me alone right now…God damn it!" she yelled through the door as something fell to the floor. "I need to think, okay? I…I…have shit to do. I can’t deal right now, alright?"

"Okay, Honey," she acquiesced, and stepped away from the door. There was nothing she could do while the woman’s temper was flaring. Not even bandage the gash. Magali would deal with it herself, she knew. Alone. She sat on the edge of the bed and put her hands between her lap, her head hung in regret. Magali emerged, fully dressed in her leather pants and black button down shirt, her leather holster firmly fastened around her shoulders. She stomped to the closet and pulled out her boots and leather blazer, putting them on furiously and in silence.

"That won’t keep you warm, Honey," Casey ventured gently, also eyeing the stripped pieces of towel with which her lover had bandaged her hand.

"Like hell it won’t," Magali hissed. "Don’t worry. What I’ve got running around in my head will."

She was quick at leaving, it was one of her many talents, and Casey could do little to stop her. "Be careful, Gali. Please."

"That’s advice you should have taken yourself."

Alex’s tiny fingers struggled to get the remote away from Enrique’s larger hands, but the boy simply held the console above his head to keep it away from her while he pressed at the buttons. Magali walked past them and opened the refrigerator, swigging a draught of orange juice from the carton. Casey had followed her downstairs and gave Enrique a stern look, biting her tongue as she did to keep from reprimanding her lover.

"Enrique, give her a turn…and I’ll make brownies," Casey bargained.

Magali grumbled, low, but loud enough for Casey to hear her. On her way to the door she snatched the console from the boy and deposited it into Alex’s hands, then ruffed up his hair.

"Behave," she ordered, and slammed the door behind her.

For its speed, she chose the metallic silver Turbo 911 Porsche she had ordered customized for her a week prior. Its black leather interior reflected her mood, and she increased the volume from the sound system to ear-blowing magnitudes. An hour and a half later she was skirting the corners of Chinatown’s dingiest streets, and double parking in front of Wu’s restaurant.

People crowded the narrow streets carrying wrapped packages of meat and fish they bought from local vendors, who counted off the prices in Chinese and threw their produce into large steel pans for weighing. The odor of garbage floated on the wind, mingling with the scents of frying foods from corner vendors.

Magali shut the door to the car and shrugged her shoulders to settle the harness carrying her gun, then pushed her sunglasses further up the bridge of her nose. She cast brief glances up both sides of the street and took one last pull from her cigarette before flicking it away. The black clad guard at the front door to the restaurant gave her a nod, and she tossed him her keys. He opened the door for her, and she stepped into the lobby’s red lighted glow. Another guard there patted her down, but when he reached for her gun and she grabbed his wrist, he only smiled and waved her in. Bajo Zero was safer if she was armed; otherwise, anything around her became an instant weapon.

Wu was playing the friendly patron, greeting and conversing with a few stray tourists who had found their way into his place thinking they had discovered an authentic Chinatown attraction. They had, but exactly what it was they would never know. She made her way past them, not giving them a second look, and entered Wu’s back room office. It was empty, and the light from his exotic fish tank with its eclectic collection of rare fish lit the room. The water cast shimmering waves on the red velvet, wallpapered walls. When Wu found her she was sitting in the dark on his couch, her head back while she gazed unblinkingly at the ceiling.

His eyes flicked to the injury on her hand, but as courtesy dictated, he did not question its origin. "What troubles you, Zero?" he asked, his Chinese slow although he knew she would understand him at any speed.

"Business, grandfather," she said, sitting up and bowing her head momentarily.

"Patience, young one. You’ve lost much in your absence…possessions that took years to accumulate. You can not expect to gather them up all at once. It will take time."

"Time, grandfather, is something I have very little of." She spoke gently, though her emotions were running rampant and her control was skating on thin ice.

"Are you still running your life as if you will die at any moment, Zero?" He fed his fish bloodworms from a canister sitting at the side of the tank, and took a seat behind his desk, turning on the stained glass shaded lamp waiting there.

It was impolite to disagree with elders, and statements were sometimes better formed as questions. "We can all die at any moment, that’s just the way things are, no?"

He played with a small paper umbrella then set it down, smoothing out his jacket and leaning back in his chair. Mild colors from the lamp shone on his face; he had gone grayer in her absence. "Is that something you learned from my niece, Zero?"

They had never spoken of it. Mei had simply disappeared one day, deported, or so she had been told. Though that meant that her uncle had sent her back to Hong Kong for whatever reasons he deemed compelling at the time. Magali had always thought it was because he had found out about them, and her life had been spared only because of the control she held over Alphabet City. That control was now forfeit, and she stiffened inwardly waiting for a cord to suddenly drop around her neck. "No, grandfather. That’s just something I’ve come to learn on my own."

"Do you miss her, Zero?" He sat with his hands folded over his stomach; the Chinese were impeccable at hiding their feelings, she had learned well from them.

"Mei?" She cradled the name, one she had not voiced in years, the single syllable last spoken in the throes of passion. "She was a childhood friend, grandfather. Important then, a fond memory now, nothing more."

A soft knock on the door preceded a humble waiter carrying a tray. Bowing deeply he set a small cup of tea on the desk, handed Magali another, then quickly left. "She’s grown into a fine woman, honorable, powerful…married. She’s brought the family much honor in Hong Kong. I, too, have missed her…As to our business, Zero…it is on the water."

She drank down the tea as custom demanded; it burned her tongue, but she ignored that inconsequential pain. "Then…I am glad for your good fortune…and mine, as well. Respectfully, grandfather, I take my leave," she said, bowing her head once again.

"As always…a pleasure." He continued sipping his tea, not bothering to follow her with his eyes as she left.

Outside the sidewalks remained the same, crammed and filled with fragrances, not all pleasant. She started the car, half expecting to have it blow up when she turned the key, and lit another cigarette. Brooklyn wasn’t far away, a few minutes ride through traffic and over a bridge. She dialed Callie’s number and before the woman could give her a proper greeting, told her she was on her way and hung up. In the light the neighborhood looked like an area only fit for overseas cargo warehousing, and those who walked the sidewalks belonged in Central Park exhibiting their paintings along the cobbled paths.

Callie waited for her at the door, wearing only a white T-shirt and a pair of blue thong underwear. Her assassin had little modesty.

"Hey, Zee. What’s up?" she asked grinning at the new, metallic gray car. "Nice. I should get me one of those."

"You? Get off your bike? I’ll believe that when I grow a motherfuckin’ conscience."

Burgundy sheets half covered the black leather sofa, and partially covered the nude form of one of Callie’s newest conquests. The young woman sat up wrapping the sheets around her and gave Magali a tentative smile.

"Zee, Day…Day, Zee. She was just leaving. Weren’t ya, baby?"

She had dark straight hair that fell down her back and caressed her shoulders. Deep gray eyes gave her a ghostly gaze, and Magali sat down next to her patting her bare leg. "No, she doesn’t have to. Stay."

Callie’s eyebrows shot up, and she gave the young woman a quick nod of her head, motioning her to stay as she was. Her girlfriends were always obedient.

"Can I get ya anything, Zee?"

Magali took a deep breath and leaned forward, pulling off her blazer and unbuttoning a sleeve, which she rolled up to her biceps. "You can hook me up."

Callie’s smile dropped away, replaced by a somber expression of defeat. "Zee, you—"

"Shut up and do what I say," Magali barked. The girl next to her jumped and she rubbed her leg, giving her a wink. "She’s difficult sometimes, Day. Keep that in mind, alright?" The young woman nodded obediently.

The case wasn’t far, and Callie removed and prepared its contents expertly. She handed Magali the beige rubber tubing and watched as her savior tied it to her arm and held one end between her teeth. When the concoction was ready, she passed her the needle, staring as it punctured Magali’s skin and the tube filled with blood. When the red liquid disappeared back into her vein, Magali threw her head back and pulled the syringe out. It slipped through Magali’s fingers and dropped to the floor, where Callie quietly picked it up. She was near enough to her to take a good look at the gashes that were peeking out from the hasty bandages Magali had wrapped her hand with, and Callie frowned. She looked to the phone, thinking briefly of giving Casey a call, then decided that the price she would pay for it later was too dear: Zero would be angry.

Casey picked up the pieces of brownie that had fallen from Alejandra’s hands. The little girl was asleep on her lap, the sticky cake crusted on her fingertips and around her mouth. Digital Cable made it easy to find an appropriate movie they could all watch, and though Enrique complained about it being ‘too kiddy,’ he had watched with as much enthusiasm as Alex had. She’d had trouble all night ignoring Alex’s blue eyes, so much like her mother’s that it hurt to look at them. Enrique flicked through the channels, looking for something other than kids’ shows to watch, and she pulled a quilt up over her legs to cover her feet and Alex’s little body. The girl snuggled into her when she did.

Her outward calm belied the inner turmoil that was tearing her apart. Where the hell is she? She hasn’t even called. She always calls. Fuck…I shouldn’t have told her, I should have kept it to myself. Casey closed her eyes, and burrowed into the cushions of the couch; she was bored with watching the channels surf by.

Magali sat on the couch and let the drug take her. She told me…She could have lied, she could have kept it a secret…My hands are really cool, amazin’. Callie had vanished, and Magali didn’t really care where to. She had swaddled her girlfriend in the sheets and left, leaving her alone in the loft’s living area. Awww, shit…I’m being stupid again. So what she might be pregnant? She might be…having a baby…Three kids? Fuck. What the hell am I going to do with…Three kids? This is crazy…Any day now I’ll be shootin’ up all of New York…all of New York is gonna be shootin’ at me. And if I don’t…I go to prison? Daly kills me? And I care because…? Because of Casey, because of the kids…because it’s not just about me any more, is it, Zee? A family…I have one…and it might be getting bigger…and I’m being a complete asshole. What did I do when I thought I lost her? I fucked her out of my mind in someone else’s arms…anyone’s arms. At least she was more selective. And now there might be a little Casey. And what did I do? Walk out like a shit head. The euphoria was lifting, and she could feel her heart pace, hear it thrumming in her ears. She needs me now. I have to get home.

The cabin was a quiet place, peaceful that is until the phone rang. Enrique was asleep on the floor, the Playboy Channel playing at a low volume on the set. Casey frowned and plucked the remote from his fingers, then turned the TV off while she picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Caught you sleeping?"

She had hoped it would be Magali, but the deep male voice that spoke from the other end was far from being who she wanted it to be.

"She’s not here, Daly."

"Oh? Where the hell is she then? I keep trying her cell, and she doesn’t pick up."

Casey hadn’t tried to call her, figuring instead that when the woman had cooled down she would get in touch. "She’s doesn’t?" Her pulse picked up, and the fear that lurked just outside the door suddenly invaded her new home. "I don’t know what to tell you. She was kinda…pissed when she left here. Maybe she turned it off or something." She was making it up as she went, grasping at straws. Magali rarely turned off her phone, a device she despised.

"Pissed? How pissed? She didn’t seem…out of control, did she?" His words rushed together as his anxiety overrode his earlier disgruntlement. If anything happened to Zero, all of his plans would go up in smoke, and so would New York City. "You know, after that stunt she pulled in LA I get a little spooked when she gets wacky. If I hadn’t been there—"

Casey could hear his concern, and the fact that it was uncharacteristic spread his alarm to her. "What stunt?" she interrupted.

"She didn’t tell you?"

"No." Casey sat up, sure that she didn’t like the tone in his voice.

"When she got arrested, she nearly got herself killed, I swear she was doing it on purpose. You have to be nuts to hold a gun on a cop in a police station. Might as well sign your own death warrant. I’m telling you, if I hadn’t been there—"

Oh Gali…"Daly, I really don’t want to talk about this, okay? Call later," she finished hastily, hanging up the phone and chewing on her nail. Shit, shit…she was going to hit me, she could have hit me, but she put her fist through the window instead. She won’t hurt me…but she’ll hurt herself. Damn it! Suddenly Casey became frightened, frantic to know where Magali was, that she was all right. Unconsciously Casey started at her thoughts, and Alejandra woke up from the mild jostling. She cradled Magali’s child against her chest and tried to shush her back to sleep, but she only sucked her thumb and put her head down. Casey stroked the dark hair and wished it was Alejandro’s mother lying there beneath her soothing touch. Rising, Casey shook Enrique’s shoulder and told him to go to bed; the boy grumbled but marched sleepily into his room. There was no use in putting Alex into her bed, the little girl would only find her way into their bedroom eventually, and there was no telling when Magali would return.

Casey’s hands shook as she put the babe down on the bed, Devi immediately curling up next to the toddler. She padded to the window and squinted through the darkness, looking in vain for any sign of headlights down the dirt road of the cabin. She heard the pitter-patter of little feet on the floor followed by the scratching of Devi’s nails; Alex was heading to the bathroom. At least she had been spared the ordeal of potty training, she thought, and glanced down at her stomach. Laying a soft hand just over her belly button, she grimaced.

Devi was growling, and Alex scolded her. Casey dismissed it, but it caught her attention when a crash from the bathroom punctuated the argument. She walked over, confused as to why the animal would growl at her little companion in the first place. Alex was sitting in a corner on Magali’s robe, her small hands tugging at something in Devi’s mouth, and Casey stepped in to take a closer look at what the disputed possession could be. Dangling from a corner, between Devi’s fangs, hung a clear bag partly filled with white powder. Casey’s eyes widened and she snatched for it; Devi dutifully let go and stepped away panting.

"Oh my God, Alex, where did you get this from?"

"Gaga’s, robe," she explained, pointing at the flannel cloth under her.

"Okay, sweetheart, come on, let’s get you into bed," Casey breathed, holding back tears of frustration. Though a potential disaster had been averted, her thoughts now were for her lover, and the pain she must be in. Please don’t let this be what I think it is. Please. She laid the bag on the dresser and curled up next to Alex, stroking her soft hair and waiting for the girl to fall asleep.

Gravel under tires crunched in the stillness, Casey wanted to leap from the bed, but she didn’t dare wake Alex up again. Carefully, she removed her arm from under the girl’s head, and sneaked away from her. As quietly as she could, she crossed to the dresser and took the bag, then tiptoed down the stairs.

Magali was slinking away from the closing door, her hair sticking to her face and neck. She was sweat-soaked, looking as if she had run a marathon, but when she saw Casey standing at the bottom of the steps, she stood up straight, her stance wavering.

"You drove in that condition?" Casey hissed, vacillating between anger and fear.

"Casey…I needed to…I’m an asshole."

Casey held up the plastic bag and it shook with her emotions. "You swore to me, Gali. You swore you would never use this again," she whispered infuriated. "Cocaine, Gali? It’s going to kill you. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

Magali grimaced. She had practiced various reconciliation scenarios in her mind during the entire drive back, but she hadn’t expected to be greeted with this newest drama. Her less-than-sensitive response showed that this was a contingency she had not prepared to deal with. "That’s not cocaine," she shrugged, her step faltering as she walked towards the couch. "It’s heroin."

"Heroin? But you…that day in LA, you got some of it in you, but you said…you would be all right? You haven’t been high, Gali, I would have been able to tell," she protested almost to herself.

Magali dropped heavily to the couch. "I’ve been taking just enough to keep me from getting sick. I couldn’t just stop, I have things to get done…Look at all the shit that’s happened, I just can’t let things go and focus on what’s wrong with me. I just needed to get through…I needed…" I needed a crutch, something to lean on, to chase away the pain. Fuck…just like you did. The realization and admission, even to herself, only added to the weight of her guilt.

"You’re sick now, aren’t you?" It hurt her, to watch Magali in the condition she was in and know that her lover was helpless against the demands of her own body.

Magali nodded and put her face in her hands. "Yeah." Her head hurt; a banging in her temples that struck her vision and blurred it. She rubbed the sides of her head, her stomach churning. "God, Baby, it just hurts so much. I can’t do it…not again."

Casey’s face softened, and she stroked her lover’s hair away from her face. "You don’t have to, Gali. We can do it. I won’t leave you alone," she whispered sitting close and taking the chance that Magali would accept her embrace, Casey pulled her in. Her lover crumpled in her arms. "I’m sorry you didn’t think I could be there for you, Honey."

She wanted to cry, to melt into her Saint and fade away. "Don’t…don’t take the blame for this. I’m the one…it’s my fault, I should have told you…I should have just admitted that I couldn’t handle this on my own," she cried, her voice hoarse; she gripped her lover for dear life.

Casey cradled her; the invincible Bajo Zero was falling to pieces in her arms. "You have to quit, Gali." She knew her lover hardly ever did anything for herself, it was always for someone else, whether she was laying her life on the line or destroying someone else’s, and she pondered whether to tell her about the incident with Alex. "This isn’t just hurting you, Honey. It’s killing me and…I didn’t find the bag…Alex did."

Magali was silent, her body tensing and shaking. "Alex?" she whispered. Casey felt her grasp tighten, and the dark head shook in denial, as if that would make it go away.

This will either kill or cure you, and I just have to make sure it’s the cure…"I’ll do whatever I have to do to help you, Gali. I love you, Honey," she spoke to her softly, near her ear. "I know I hurt you…I’m so sorry, and I’m not going to keep it, Gali. We don’t need to deal with this right now, and—"

"No!" Magali exclaimed, sitting up and swiping at her face. "That won’t solve anything, Baby. I was being stupid, as usual, before and I over reacted. I know that’s not what you really want to do. And, I love every part of you, every part of you. I’m sorry for what I said before…about you not even missing me. I’m just as bad…I…I…" she sputtered, a low rumble started deep in her throat and erupted in incongruous laughter. "I fucked up, too," she sniggered. "Casey, I…I wasn’t exactly…faithful to you."

"Excuse me?" It was Casey’s turn to be angry, and with the emotional tightrope she had been walking for several hours, it wasn’t much of a leap.

"I slept with other women…I thought…I thought you didn’t want to be with me, and…" a chortle escaped her then, and she rubbed the back of her neck ruefully, "And you thought I was dead."

"You…you…" She caught herself doing what Magali would have, stopped and grinned. "Can I get away with slapping you twice?"

"Baby, you can get away with doing anything twice and then some. Can we just…start all over?"

Casey put her arms around her and drew her in, kissing and biting her lips. "What exactly do you want to start, lover?"

"With you…anything."

"How about if we begin by getting you out of these clothes, and…" she said lightly scolding, "taking care of this hand for you?"

Magali nodded, smiling sheepishly. "That’s a good idea."

Their mouths met, lips touching softly and grinning until Casey pulled away.

"Let’s get upstairs, huh?"

Casey tucked her arm under Magali’s; she could feel the weakness in her body as they stood. A step at a time they climbed the stairs, Magali grimacing with every other step. Alex was sound asleep, Casey knew that Gali would be carefully controlling her actions since she had seen the baby in the room. When Magali entered the bathroom to change, Casey carefully ran down the stairs with the sleeping toddler to put the child in her own bed and dispose of the drugs that held her lover’s mind and body in thrall. Running water in the kitchen sink quickly washed the poison away. Casey sighed. If only it were that easy. By the time she was done and returned upstairs. Magali was stumbling towards the bed, and she arrived just in time to keep her from falling.

"Careful, Gali. If you hit the floor now, you’ll wake everyone up."

Magali laughed and lay on her side. Casey pulled the sheets and blankets over her, kissing her forehead. "Don’t go anywhere, Magali Guerrero. I’ll be right back."

Casey found her lover’s clothes piled in the corner of the bathroom. It was the only way she was messy, everything else about her was immaculate. She rummaged through them, looking for her gun, and when she didn’t find it, stepped into the doorway and cleared her throat. "Where is it, Gali?"

"Heh. How’d I know you were going to look for it?" she chuckled, pointing to the space between the bed and the night table.

"I’ll be taking that," Casey demanded. Magail thought to protest that she might need it for the protection of the family, but understood that this was necessary for her Saint’s peace of mind. She reached for it and handed it over butt first.

"I wouldn’t hurt you, Baby."

"I know you wouldn’t, Honey." But you just might use it on yourself, I can’t believe I didn’t see it before--passive suicide. "But the kids could get to it there. Thank you, sweetheart," she said, rewarding her with a kiss. Casey hid the gun, promising herself to move it to another location in the morning. It would be difficult to keep it away from her Black Velvet, but if she didn’t…there was no telling what she might do when things got bad. Casey crawled into bed, the events of the day finally catching up to her. Magali had dressed in sweats, but still she shivered. It was going to be a long night. Her Black Velvet nestled into her, resting her face against her shoulder and her hand on her stomach.

"We’ll figure it out, vida. Together." But I’m still gonna kill him. Casey nodded and rubbed noses with her, their moment interrupted by the ringing of the phone. Reluctantly Casey eased her hold on Magali to allow her enough room to reach for the offending instrument.

"Yeah."

"The shipment is here…Yun-Fo." The endearment hadn’t changed and neither had Mei’s voice, and Magali gulped down the shock from hearing it.

"Then it begins," she stated flatly, wishing she knew what Casey had done with the lethal powder.

***************************************************************

Yes this is the end of this story, and the end to the first "book" in Dark Sacraments. However, it’s not the end of the girls, nor of the series…there’s much more to tell. I give thanks to my betas. To Dawn, whose infinite patience and questioning helped refine this story and keep me on track. To Day, who’s own marvelous bard talents have greatly contributed to the structure and impact of this tale. Of course, without my partner Dee, my ultimate inspiration for all that is beautiful, none of it would have materialized. Big ups, to Midget and Mary D and Bill for housing these scribbling notes. (Sorry, I think that was Devi talking.) For all you readers who sent me feedback on the first two pieces, my deepest thanks, those responses helped pull me through tough spots. By the way, the Spanish used in this series is correct, though I played with the translations of it a bit in certain places. Literal translation being what it is. Hope you all enjoyed the ride…if it ain’t rough it ain’t right…and I’ll ‘see’ you all on the next round. Any and all comments are more than welcome, you can email me at Pitipup@aol.com with them. Laterz. --Morrig

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