Free Whiskey and Water by Elizabeth Bear Page A

red-piped navy down jacket
zipped over his belly and barrel chest when things grew cooler. But today in
honor of the holiday, his grizzled beard decorated a silver silk shirt and
neat black jeans tapered over black Frye boots.
    A few strands of cut grass had dried onto
the heels; Autumn's house had a deep, sloped, narrow backyard with a grove of
white pine at the bottom. They'd raked the earth between the trees bare for the
bonfire — legal as long as it was "primarily a cooking fire," so
they'd roasted marshmallows, and apples and onions in tinfoil with maple syrup,
and the sharp garlic sausages that Gyp made himself—and held circle until
sunrise.
    There were smudges under Gyp's eyes,
blue-black as bruises. Staying up all night wasn't as easy as it used to be,
although he comforted himself that they were all tired. Tired, but anticipating
a Denny's break-last once the ritual tools were packed away. Enough grease
could make up for a sleepless night. And Autumn made very good coffee.
    First," Jason said to Gypsy, without
looking up from his cards, "become a lesbian." He rode the chuckles
with a half-hidden smile, black ponytail sliding over his shoulder as full of
rainbows as a raven's wing. He had a Jewish nose in a Grecian profile, and wore
his hair pulled back sharply because strangers asked if he was American Indian
when he did.
    He was using the Thoth deck, bladed lines
and smoky colors, and Michael leaned forward to see the cards better. Straight
dark locks drifted in feathers across her cheek, but she kept her hands folded behind
her back, and her hair clipped clean at the nape of her neck revealed shoulder
blades moving like wings under her Trogdor the Burninator T-shirt. "What's
this one?" she said, with a bob of her pointed chin."The Ace of
Wands." Jason touched and straightened a corner of the card. "It
represents you in this case, and indicates a fiery youth, full of spirit and
passion. A generative, creative force. Also, you have a lot of court cards and
Major Arcana."
    She watched his hands as he caressed the
cards. "Is that unusual? It's handy how they have the names or the little
. . . summaries on the bottom."
    "One of the many nice things about
this deck." He touched an antelope-faced card, slick and webbed with
vein-blue symbols on a background the color of flesh. Ponderous horns spiraled
from the animal's head to the upper corners of the card. "The
Devil," Jason said. "And here's the Queen of Swords, the Queen of
Cups, the Empress, the Universe ..." He grinned and looked up, catching
her eye. "The Lovers."
    Moira chuckled. "Going to bring him
by sometime, Michael?"
    Michael blushed and leaned back, and
Rumpelstiltskin leaped up on the coffee table, scattering the cards. "And
sometimes the spirits of the house demand their due," Jason said wryly,
and stroked the cat's big wedge-shaped head before bending to pick a bent card
off the rug. It was the Magus, and he smoothed it before he swept the deck
together again. "Gyp, you hungry yet?"
    Gypsy tied the last bundle of cloth and
crystals, and slipped it into his pouch. "Ready to eat," he admitted,
and pushed his chair back from the card table as he stood. "Pity Lily
couldn't make it."
    "Halloween is a high Goth holiday
too," Michael said. "She does have other friends." She scrambled
up, crossed legs untangling with coltish speed, and turned to grab her
Windbreaker from the corner by the radiator.
    Moira kicked Jason lightly on the thigh
with a green suede boot, and said to Michael. "Don't let him get under
your skin. He just likes to get a rise out of people."
    Michael put her back in the corner and
slid her hand down the silky Thinsulate-lined tunnel of her sleeve. She
shrugged it across her shoulders and slipped her left hand into the other
sleeve. When she looked up, Christian was staring at her directly, silently,
sharing one of his half-grown smiles. It looked like an invitation, and so did
the lean angle of his body as he propped one elbow on the