The Law of Nines

His new gallery might want to get in touch with him, especially if they sold one of his paintings, but in light of all that had happened that wasn’t important for the time being. He had new concerns. He had a new life, it seemed. He wondered how short that life might be.

Alex glanced down the hall, toward the restrooms. He had already finished washing up. Jax was still in the ladies’ room. An outlet mall was not the best place to clean up, but it was better than nothing.

They’d already had a breakfast of sausage and egg sandwiches in the food court. Jax had devoured three.

Remembering that she hadn’t been able to open the door of the Jeep on her own, he had carefully explained the faucets and toilets to her, just in case she didn’t know how to use them. She’d listened with interest, like a student paying attention to a lecture in a course she needed to pass.

The morning had dawned with bright blue skies, but it was windy, a remnant of the violent storms that had passed through the night before. At least the rain had moved on. Seeing the bright blue skies as they had emerged from the cargo area of the Cherokee had made the night before—the lightning and thunder, the desperate fights, the killing, the blood—seem like a distant nightmare.

The next time he glanced down the hall, he saw Jax coming. She smiled when she saw him. It was a smile that sparkled in her warm brown eyes and lifted his heart. After the night before they both knew that they only had each other to depend on. They had a bond of purpose.

Surprisingly enough, she looked for the most part to be back to her normal self. He didn’t know how she had accomplished such a feat after how soaked they had been, and after sleeping in the cramped quarters of the Jeep, but she had. He smiled to himself when the thought crossed his mind that it seemed like she had to have used magic to restore her lush fall of blond hair to full glory.

The only problem with the way Jax looked was that she looked too good. In Regent Center she fit in. In an outlet mall near the casinos, where fancy dress was too-short skirts or muffin-top jeans, a tank top, and flip-flops, she stood out.

With most of the men in the mall looking her over from top to bottom, he didn’t know how to tell if Jax was being watched by someone from another world or not. Alex was eager to get her something else to wear so that she wouldn’t draw quite so much attention.

“You look very nice,” he said as she joined him.

“Yes, I know what you mean. Let’s get me some other clothes so that I don’t look so very nice.”

Alex wondered if such a thing was even possible. He was sure, though, that different clothes would at least draw less attention. Jax was apparently well aware of how different her attire looked from that of other people in the mall. Being a target as she was, she had to worry about standing out.

“Did you have any trouble using the faucets or anything?”

“No, but a thin girl in the washing room was a little too curious about me.”

“Why? What did she say?”

“She said, ‘So, like, are you a supermodel or something?’ ” Jax quoted, mimicking the adolescent voice. “I wasn’t entirely sure what she meant, but I think I got the idea. When I told her no, she said, ‘So, like, what do you do, then? Like, for a living.’ ”

Alex smiled at the story, and the predicament Jax had found herself in.

“What did you tell her?”

“I told her that I killed people for a living.”

Alex lost a step. “You told her what?”

“That I kill people. I’m not familiar enough with your world to come up with a credible lie, so I told her the truth.” Jax flicked her hand, dismissing the alarm on his face. “People usually don’t believe the truth. They’d rather hear a good lie.”

“What did the girl say when you told her that you kill people?”

“She said, ‘Like for real? That’s so cool.’ ”

“Good. I thought for a moment you might have scared her.”

“No, she seemed rather preoccupied with death. Her fingernails and lips were painted black. What’s the purpose of trying to resemble a corpse?”

“I think it’s a phase some girls go through,” Alex said. “Didn’t you ever, I don’t know . . . rebel against adults when you were young? Want to be different?”

Jax frowned up at him. “No. Why would I do such a thing?”

Alex sighed. “I guess you really are from another world. What did you do, then, when you were her age?”

“I studied and practiced.”

Alex frowned over at her as they walked among the scattering of people all looking at them on the way by. “What did you study and practice?”

A little smile curved one side of her mouth. “How to kill people.”

He watched her for a moment. “Is that one of those truth tricks of yours, or a lie you think I might believe?”

“Both,” she said.

“What does that mean?”

She smiled to herself. “I studied languages. I speak a lot of the languages in my world. Feel better?”