Midlife Fairy Hunter: The Forty Proof Series, Book 2

by Mayer, Shannon

  Her lips twisted upward. “We?”

  I nodded. “We.”

  “So you fancy yourself a guardian of Savannah now?” One of her eyebrows twitched upward. Curse her—of course, she could pull off that trick.

  Suzy stood beside me. “I’m with Breena. We are guardians of Savannah now.”

  “How many?” I asked again. “I’m making this easy for you. All you have to do is give me a number, no names.”

  I held the book out to her and she put her hands on it, but I didn’t let go. Her eyes locked with mine. “You are a fool.”

  “Why, because I’m giving you this leather-bound book?” I asked.

  “Because you are not what your grandmother believed. You are a mutt with blood that is too diluted to be anything more than a thorn in my side.” She tried to pull the book from me, but I held it tight.

  “True enough, but I stopped Hattie with nothing but a pair of knives and my wits, so maybe I’m not like you. Maybe I don’t need magic to survive in the shadow world.”

  She hissed at me, freaking hissed. “There are five that battle for Savannah, and you killed a pair who made one of them.”

  Four baddies left then. Damn.

  I let the book go, and she stumbled backward with a glare. Tucking the book under her arm, she left the cemetery.

  Eammon stepped in front of me, watching her go. “Terrible idea, lass.”

  “Probably one of my best, actually,” I said. “She might not have given me any truly useful information, but then again, I didn’t give her a terribly useful spell book.”

  Eammon whipped around to look at me. “What did you give her?”

  I smiled. “A little switcheroo. Spells for Beginners is about as thick as my gran’s book. Take pages out of one, stuff it with the pages of the other. And I of course signed it over to her.”

  All the best with your casting of spells. I hope this helps as I thought it fitting to your skill level. Love B.

  Louis and Tom looked at me as though I’d been speaking in tongues. But Louis had a strange, assessing look on his face. It was Louis who was really looking at me. “You . . . I watched your spirit float above your body. Who were you talking to?”

  Right. “Well, that’s Robert. I still don’t get why you can’t see him. He’s very nice.” From the corner of my eye, I could see Robert swaying on his feet, a skeleton once more.

  “Friend.”

  The mentors didn’t seem to know what to do. They sent the remaining three trainees home, and then they all looked at me. I looked back. “What?”

  “What are you going to do next?” Eammon asked softly. “You need to be dealing with Karissa yet. My fault, that one. Damn spell made me weak to her again!”

  Karissa. I’d sent Feish to her to keep her busy, because I knew that if all the players showed up at once, the shit show would have been beyond any sort of control. But that Feish hadn’t come back—her job had been to deliver a message and then return—meant things had gone very sideways.

  “Hells bells, I gotta go!” I turned to Crash. “You good? The mark is gone?”

  He bowed at the waist. “It is gone. With my thanks.” Very formal, but whatever, I didn’t have time to figure out what was going on with him.

  I’d left Feish with Karissa long enough.

  “Skeletor!” I yelled for my horse and the mentors laughed. Until he pulled himself from the ground. They all stumbled back.

  “What in the world is that?” Louis breathed out, shock making his French accent heavier than normal.

  “Oh, so you can see him but not Robert?” I pulled myself up onto Skeletor’s back and patted his neck, noticing that his flesh was indeed firmer. Plus, he’d been invisible to other people before. He was changing, although I didn’t understand how. Maybe it was because of me and my near-death experience? I shook my head, not knowing, and at the moment not needing to know. Later. I would figure it out later.

  Louis put his hands in the air like he was doing the Y in YMCA, his eyes wide and brows high. “C’est quoi ce bordel?”

  I blinked and looked to Eammon for an explanation, but it was Crash who translated. “What the duck?”

  Yeah, he didn’t say duck, and I gotta say, hearing him drop an f-bomb sent a rather strong shiver through me. “Look, I gotta go. I’ve got to deal with Karissa. Suzy, you get back to Eric, and lock down the house till I’m back.”

  Suzy gave me a quick nod and took off running.

  Crash stiffened. “I should come with you. I can help you deal with Karissa.”

  I snorted and Skel—see, shortening it already—scuttled sideways. I clamped my legs tight around the horse’s middle. “Yeah, because your ex-wife is going to be easier to deal with while you’re there? Every other man here knows that’s a terrible idea, Crash.”

  All the other men nodded in unison. “She’s not wrong,” Eammon said. “I should never have encouraged her to help Karissa.” He rubbed at his head. “She’s always been a weak spot for me, but I thought I’d put her behind me.” His weak spot. So, I’d been right, the spell O’Sean had put on the Hollows had latched on to their weaknesses and amplified them.

  But wait, if Karissa was Eammon’s weak spot . . . I had to blink a few times before the meaning sunk in. “WAIT. You and Karissa?”

  Eammon winked up at me and touched his nose. Holy hot damn.

  And just like that, the animosity between him and Crash made total and complete sense. It didn’t matter which of them had come first—Eammon was still pissed that she’d picked Crash at some point.

  Crash growled something under his breath, but I was done with the drama. I turned Skel, and Robert scrambled up behind me. “Okay, enough of the gossip, fun as it is. I’ve got to wrap this day up.” Fatigue was biting at me, and the ache in my low back was throbbing.

  A hand settled on my calf, and I looked down to see Corb there. “Look, you should take someone with you. You . . . you were dead just a few minutes ago, Bree.” His concern was touching.

  “You want to help? Find out who Alan is connected to in the shadow world. He used magic to claim the house, and he tried to steal my gran’s book from me.” I dug my heels into Skel’s sides and the horse leapt forward. This time I was a little more ready for the rapid motion as we raced away from the Hollows.

  “We need to get to Forsyth Park, to the entryway to Faerie!” I yelled into the wind.

  Skel turned to the left, just a little, hooves making no sound as he led us through city square after city square. Still, there were no humans that noticed us, the few that were out. Some of the squares we passed through felt dark, like the entities bound to them would reach out and take your soul if you let them, and others felt light as a feather.

  But all had restless dead in them. That much I knew. I shook my head at the fancy that rolled through me. “Robert, lots of dead here.”

  “Friend. Not dead.”

  “No, not dead, not today.” I smiled as the wind pulled at my hair. “And we have to save one more friend before we can go home and get some whiskey.”

  He let out a soft sigh. “Whiskey.”

  “Yeah, whiskey.” I’d pick up my own bottle, see if I could get some good Canadian Rye. Smoother than my usual, I could use smooth at that point.

  Skel plunged through a waist-high line of deep green foliage, and then we were there in Forsyth Park, heading straight for the fountain.

  I leaned over Skel’s neck. “Slow down!” Only the horse didn’t slow down. Skel leapt over the fountain edge and did a dive straight for the opening I’d passed through before. Even so, I wasn’t totally prepared.

  Eyes closed, breath held, I felt the water pass over me, and then I was dry and the wind around us was blowing. I opened my eyes. Skel danced underneath me and I considered getting off, but it would feel unsafe to touch the ground here in the night. To walk through those long grasses that could conceal so much.

  “Okay, well, let’s go find Karissa,” I said.

  “Not friend
,” Robert whispered.

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m worried about,” I muttered as Skel picked up speed until we were bouncing along through the grass. The night here was clear, the moon high, and the light from it cast long shadows across both the land and the glittering sea out to my left.

  I will say that part of Faerie called to me. In that moment, I just wanted to stand around and look at things. To wonder at the strange beauty of it. I turned away from the sea and, like before, there was the wood calling to me, the viewing pool, and the queen of the fae standing next to it.

  No more pantsuit this time. She was dressed in a flowing red dress that split up one side, showing off a long, pale leg. The top was loose, and it hung to just above her nipples. My first thought was how in the hell was she keeping the dress up? My next was to wonder if she and J-Lo were related what with the impossible dresses that no mortal woman could pull off.

  I shook my head. “Where is Feish?”

  “That slave? She is here.” Karissa waved her hand to the left and Feish stepped out of the circle. Her bulbous eyes were wide, and I saw the fear in them as clear as day. Karissa ignored her. “You have the fairy cross?”

  I opened my mouth and a buzzing like an oversized mosquito thrummed up behind me. Kinkly landed on my back, right in the middle where Karissa couldn’t see her. “Ask for payment first. Or you’ll have no chance of getting anything. If you can get her to hand it over first, then you can make a run for it.”

  In other words, I needed to find my opening to make that happen, and that meant talking to Karissa, in order to find that opening.

  I cleared my throat. “Where is my payment?”

  Karissa’s face didn’t so much as twitch, yet I knew in my gut she was peeved I’d asked for the payment upfront.

  “How many nights did you watch again?” she asked softly.

  I smiled. “Actually, it doesn’t matter how many nights. You agreed to pay me double what you would have paid for the entire ten days, regardless of how many nights I was there. And of course, Feish will come with me.”

  Now her face did tighten, just at the corners of her mouth and around her eyes. “I would like to see the fairy cross.”

  I kept on smiling, although I felt the negotiations sliding in an undesirable direction. “And I’d like to see the payment first.”

  Really, it was a matter of who could hold out longer. As much as I needed this payday, I’d walk away from our negotiations if I had to in order to keep me and Feish safe. “And Feish can come on over this way.”

  “The filthy river maid stays here,” Karissa snapped, her façade breaking. “She has kept me occupied and I would like to know why.”

  My own smile shifted until I was baring my teeth at her. Skel snorted and stomped a foot, and Robert tapped my shoulder. “Not friend.”

  “Feish is coming with me. And she kept you occupied so you would stay the duck out of my way.” I slid off the saddle and landed on my feet without so much as a wobble. Mind you, I was mad as a wet hen and about as ready to peck her eyes out for trying to keep Feish.

  I stood there, fingers brushing lightly against the handles of the knives. “I suggest you send her over, or you can kiss these negotiations goodbye.”

  Karissa blinked. “You would throw away your payment for a slave? You are no better than Crash.”

  “For a friend,” I said. “No amount of money is worth her life.”

  Feish’s big lips bobbled and a tear slid down her yellow-green skin. I looked back to Karissa, who was watching me.

  Kinkly tugged at my shirt again. “She won’t give you payment. I think . . . I think she might try to kill you and take the fairy cross.”

  “Bless your heart,” I said softly, a part of what I’d read about dealing with the fae coming up from my memory banks. I just had to get to Feish and get back to Skel and Robert. Easy peasy, right? “You think you can keep my friend, the fairy cross, and all the payment you owe me?”

  Karissa smiled wide, her beauty still there, but I suddenly knew why she and Crash hadn’t worked out. She really was not very nice.

  “I’m quite sure I can. This is my place of power, and you came willingly,” Karissa said softly. “You can’t escape now unless I give you free passage.”

  I was within about ten feet of her now, and Feish was just to the left of her. “You know that thing about making deals with the fae?” I asked.

  Karissa laughed. “Yes, you didn’t put it in writing, you foolish child.”

  I laughed right back at her. “Right, which means I don’t owe you shit. The fairy cross is mine, and by all rights, I don’t have to give it to you.”

  Her face flashed with shock first and then anger as she processed the double-edged sword. The no contract thing worked in my favor too. She locked eyes with me with an intensity that made me think she had to poop. “You will give me the fairy cross.”

  “That’s a no from me.” I took a step to the left, closer to Feish, as I pulled one knife clear of its sheath. “I mean, a really large no, if you want to be exact. You were never going to pay me, were you?”

  I was within distance of Feish so I reached out and pulled her hard behind me. Karissa just gave me that same poop stare as though she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “Give me the cross!”

  “Nope.” I kept my eyes on her and pushed Feish behind me toward Skel and Robert. “Also, you can get a great laxative to fix the constipation. I think my ex used one with a purple cap.”

  She threw her head back and a scream of pure rage erupted out of her mouth. I shoved Feish up onto Skel’s back, not caring if she could see the beast or not, and climbed on after her.

  “Go. Go! Back to Forsyth Park!” I yelled, and Skel leapt forward. Feish bounced along in front of me, Robert behind, and Kinkly clinging to my shoulder.

  “You have to hurry! She’ll close the opening!” Kinkly yelped.

  “Can we slow her down?” I yelled back.

  I twisted to see Karissa headed our way on the back of a large stag, her hair swept out behind her and a literal storm cloud in her wake. There was no way we’d make it all the way to the gateway if we didn’t do something. If I didn’t do something.

  “Get them home, Kinkly!” I yelled and pushed myself off the saddle. I tucked myself into a ball, rolling with the fall but feeling every bounce in my bones.

  This was really going to be a bitch tomorrow.

  23

  I didn’t bother to pull both knives. Her power was pretty obvious, and I knew I couldn’t fight her and win. But I could buy my friends the time they needed to get out.

  “You know,” I said as she slowed to a stop in front of me, “I thought you were pretty cool when we met. But you’re just another mean girl, aren’t you?”

  The stag lowered his head as if he would impale me and I took a step back. “Look, you don’t have to be like this.”

  Karissa held a hand out and bands of air wrapped around me, pinning my arms to my sides. “You are causing me no amount of grief.”

  I didn’t panic, didn’t attempt to escape from the hold she had on me but instead went limp. “You don’t seem to understand. I am looking out for my friends, and for Savannah. That’s my job.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “I want to hate you.”

  “Why?” I spluttered. “I did nothing but try and help you until it became apparent you were a two-faced liar.”

  Her jaw jutted out. “Because.”

  I blinked up at her. “That’s a child’s answer.” Okay, in retrospect, perhaps that wasn’t the smartest thing to say given I was already in a boa constrictor’s hold of air bands I couldn’t see. She tightened her hold and I squeaked. “Are you one of the four baddies?”

  Her hold on me loosened. “What?”

  I sucked in a deep breath, and I’m not sure why I asked the next question, only that it seemed like a why-the-hell-not kind of moment. “Four, there are four more assholes who want to do damage to Savannah. I’ve killed the O’Seans,
so that takes one off the list. Are you one of the remaining asswipes?”

  Her eyes cleared of some of the anger. “You really think you are protecting Savannah? That you are like Celia? And the O’Seans are dead?”

  The bands loosened, and I drew another good breath. “Look, I don’t know why you wanted that fairy cross. I can’t believe you really intended to give it to the O’Seans in the first place!”

  “To keep it from Crash,” she said softly. “The O’Seans wanted him to make a crucible for a ceremony, and I told them I would retrieve the cross for them, but I fully intended to give them a fake.”

  “I hid it,” I said.

  The bands relaxed completely. She slid off the stag and walked toward me. “Why did you not give it to Crash then? Was he not able to woo you?”

  I snorted. “Same reason you weren’t going to give it to O’Sean. I didn’t want them to be able to do whatever it was they planned on doing. Because I doubt very much it was going to be anything good.”

  A sigh slid from her. “I really want to hate you.”

  I laughed. “Why?”

  Her lips pursed. “You are the first one Crash has had real interest in since our marriage ended.”

  And how would she know that if she weren’t spying on me? Kinkly seemed to pick up my thoughts.

  “Sorry, I had to tell her,” she whispered.

  A snort escaped me before I could catch it. “Please. You should have seen him with a girl under each arm in the go between I stumbled into.”

  Her eyebrows went up. “You went into a go between?”

  “Some idiots in black were chasing us.” I held up my hands. “Look, I suspect Crash is using me, okay? I think—” Gawd in heaven, I did not want to say this out loud, especially to her.

  “—that he knows I have a crush on him, and he’s using it. But I’m aware. Okay?”

  She lifted a hand and put it on my shoulder. “You will keep the fairy cross hidden somewhere safe?”

  “I will,” I said. My mind was already putting pieces together, and I knew that what I was about to ask next might not go over well. “But . . . I think you should let Kinkly stay with me. She could report back to you if you like.”