Bonedust

from the stars. He glanced down at the numbers scrawled on his arm, back to the booth. His heart thumped—no. No. He couldn’t hire Urban. Jeremie would kill the Shifter faster than either of them could blink. The thought of Urban dropping lifeless to the ground, his throat a mess of bloody ribbons, blood smeared on Jeremie’s mouth… His stomach churned.
    But Urban was a hunter. Maybe he knew of another man, a man who could do the job. Goose bumps prickled on his flesh as he took one step, then another towards the call booth. It was a lot to ask of a man he barely knew. Hell, he already owed Urban his life.
    Somehow he ended up secure in the call booth, his fingers tracing the numbers on his arm. He eyed the keypad, nerves fluttering in his heart like butterflies. Goddess, it was just a call. He wasn’t asking the man to marry him, for Halcion’s sake! Still, he felt like a jittery teenage girl—or how he assumed a jittery teenage girl would feel—as he punched in the numbers.
    The call went through with two clicks, then a ring. Each ring made blood rush in his head, making him dizzy. He leaned against the side of the booth, gripping the phone in a vice.
    Urban answered on the third ring, sounding groggy. Sounding so blissfully there. Gabriel could see him in his mind’s eye, lying sprawled in bed, wearing nothing but the little black earpiece that allowed him to receive calls.
    Gabriel’s lungs gasped for air. His heart thumped a staccato beat. He took a breath in.
    “Hello?” Urban’s voice, confused, annoyed.
    “Hey. It’s Gabriel.”
    A pause. Then, with a grin in his voice, “Holyshit, babe. I didn’t think you were ever gonna call.”

Chapter Seven

    Pandora sat in the center of the kitchen, stock still, staring two envy-green holes into his skull as he crouched in front of the fridge, tossing out anything perishable. The rest of it went in his bag. He’d already emptied his food closet and both cupboards. He wasn’t sure how long he’d be gone, or if he would even come back here at all. Even if he did, he wouldn’t have the same apartment building. Things changed. That was life. Life was constantly moving, and he had to either move with it, or get caught up in the aftermath.
    “Just wait,” he murmured, glancing over the top of the bag to where the dirgehound sat. She seemed to heave a sigh of ‘Goddess, this is taking forever!’ as she slid down on the tile to stretch out on her side. She didn’t close her eyes, though. Her paws and tail twitched every so often. Urban knew she’d be happy on the road again, at least. She was always happy when she ran. She probably wouldn’t enjoy the bus ride to Battery, though.
    His clothes were already packed, sitting in the hall in a duffle bag. Finishing up with the food, he dumped the rest in a trash bag and tied the mouth in a knot. He set it outside the back door and plopped the bag full of goodies beside his clothing.
    Then he meandered slowly over to the shelf on the wall over the TV. Little snake charms hung from a silver cord, along with several carved ivory knickknacks. His eyes slid to the two photographs, his mother’s face behind a sheet of glass and his daughter’s bright smile. He picked up the picture of Annabelle—the little girl he hadn’t seen since she was a baby—and frowned. He should tell Cinthi where he was headed.
    He stashed the pictures in his clothes bag, then hauled both bag straps over his shoulders. Key in hand, he jingled it, casting one final look around the apartment with mixed feelings. In one hand, it was the place he’d come to know as home. On the other hand, it was just a place he stayed between jobs. Home was where the heart was, after all, and as long as he had Pannie at his side, he was home. At least that’s what he told himself as he locked the door behind him, Pandora skirting ahead with a joyous yip. He found the landlady’s office and the bell chimed as he opened the door.
    Margarette Shady was four-seven with a frame that couldn’t have been more than eighty pounds soaking wet. She had bluing silver hair, but Urban knew not to let that fool him—her eyes and mind were sharp. She peered out from behind round glasses as he slid the key and an envelope of money towards her. “I was just about to close. You leaving?”
    “Yeah. I may be back. May not. I dunno, it’s up in the air.”
    “Hell, Urban. I’ll have to rent out your place. Can’t keep it open an undetermined amount of time,