by K E O'Connor
He rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“How about I treat you to a steak dinner afterward?”
He tilted his head from side to side before swallowing his mouthful. “You’re on. But it needs to be the largest rump steak you have in the kitchen.”
“It will be the smallest steak. You look like you’ve already eaten several plates of dinner. You wobble when you move.”
“I was sampling the menu. It’s important the chef gets an expert opinion so our customers aren’t disappointed.”
“You eat anything.”
“Some things I turn my nose up at. I’m not overly keen on fruit. And I’ve never figured out what cauliflower is good for. Well, it’s great for one thing. It puffs you up with gas. I can light up the whole street when I—”
“No more talk about your gas issues.” I shook my head. “Come on, Suki. Let’s go to the forest.”
Suki led the way as we entered the forest. She strode confidently along invisible paths as she led us into the deeper parts of the wood.
“There are several small caves around here,” she said. “Maybe he’s in one of those.”
“Why would Rhett be hiding out?”
“Is somebody after him?” Suki asked. “He could be keeping a low profile until the coast is clear.”
“I’d wondered that, but he can look after himself. Besides, it’s not like Rhett to run from a fight. If someone is after him, he’d stand up to them and chase them out of Willow Tree Falls.”
“Halt! Who goes there?” A high-pitched voice bellowed from above our heads.
“It’s only me, Fallon,” Suki called.
A three-foot, chestnut brown wood nymph hurtled from the branches over our head and landed in a crouched position on the ground. She was dressed in forest-green, her black hair similarly dreadlocked like Suki’s. Her sharp black eyes glared at me and Wiggles. “What are you doing in my forest?”
“Now, Fallon, we’ve talked about avoiding a confrontational tone when you meet people in the forest.” Suki’s eyes were full of apology as she glanced at me. “Fallon is very good at her job. She’s fiercely protective of the trees and everything here.”
I smiled, remembering what Suki had been like when we’d first met. She was the same as Fallon when it came to protecting the forest, just a lot bigger.
“That’s what I’m here to do.” Fallon jammed her fists on her hips. “State your purpose.”
“We’re looking for someone,” Suki said.
“Hey, is that a small pony?” Fallon jabbed a finger at Wiggles.
“I’m no one’s pony, short stuff. I’m a hellhound.” Wiggles glared at her.
“Oooohhh! A pony who talks.” Fallon approached Wiggles cautiously. “Have you got a saddle?”
“Wood nymph, I don’t know what your problem is, but you need to look up a picture of a pony.” Wiggles took a step closer to me.
“You look like a pony. Well, an ugly pony. Where’s your mane?”
“I am not a pony.” Wiggles crouched, and his eyes flared red. “Don’t even think about riding me.”
“Fallon, we need your help,” Suki said. “This is Tempest Crypt. She’s looking for a friend.”
“I know who she is,” Fallon said, her gaze still on Wiggles. “She’s that witch who has a demon inside her.”
I shrugged. “Now we’ve been formally introduced, I’m looking for Rhett Blackthorn. Have you seen him in here today?”
“Nope, not seen him since yesterday.” Fallon clicked her fingers. “Come here, ugly pony.”
Wiggles growled and backed away.
“Are you sure?” Suki asked. “Nobody has seen Rhett, and we’re worried about him.”
“What’s to worry about? That guy has moves. He’s got serious magic on him. A fallen angel can look after himself.”
Although everybody kept telling me that, I needed to make sure Rhett was okay. I needed to look him in the eye and ask him why he thought it was okay to stand me up for breakfast. Not that I was obsessing over that fact, but it was a small issue I needed clearing up.
“When was the last time you saw Rhett?” I asked.
Fallon’s button nose scrunched. “He was around when that cursed guy was discovered in the shallow grave.”
“That was Serath,” Suki said.
“Whatever his name was. Anyway, Rhett was around then. He found the body.” She edged toward Wiggles. “I have carrots. Ponies love carrots.”
“Fallon, you must focus,” Suki said. “We talked about this. You get distracted too easily.”
Fallon sighed and stopped stalking Wiggles. “What do you want to know?”
Suki glanced at me and nodded.
“Did you see any unusual activity in the forest last night?” I asked.
“Sure. The forest is full of weird things.”
“Something relating to Rhett. What about his biker gang? They were looking for him last night.”
“If you mean that group of leather-clad muscle-bound idiots who zoom around on those noisy bikes, then yes, there were plenty of them in the forest last night.”
“They were looking for Rhett?”
“That’s the name they were yelling out. They searched for hours before giving up.”
“But they didn’t find him?” Suki asked.
“I reckon not. They were here until the early hours of the morning.”
“Anything else?” I asked.
Fallon scrubbed at her chin. “There was someone poking around in the forest. They did not want to be spotted.”
“What makes you say that?” Suki asked.
“They used cloaking magic. I got a sniff of them just before midnight. They were skulking around, making noise and digging holes before moving off.”
“Did they stay cloaked the whole time they were here?” I asked.
“They did. I followed the sound of footsteps to make sure they weren’t causing harm to the forest.”
“Were they looking for magical items?” Suki asked. “We bury a number of the important ones to make them harder to find.”
“There was no pattern to their search,” Fallon said. “It was like they were looking for easy ground to dig.”
My heart sped up. “Soft ground that would be easy to dig a large hole in? The sort of hole large enough to put a body in?”
Fallon sniffed. “I reckon so.”
“Did you see them dig a big hole?” I asked.
“They might have. I tracked them to the swamp but lost them. It was a good thing they gave up. It was long past my naptime.”
“The edge of the swamp is where Serath was found,” I said. “Whoever was hidden under that magic could have been looking for somewhere to put another body.”
Suki stared at me with large eyes. “You don’t think they’ve got Rhett, do you? They’re not trying to hide his body?”
I ignored the panic spiraling through me. “They’d better not have him. Can you take us to the last place you saw this magic user?” I asked Fallon.
“Does a bear poop in the woods?”
“I guess so.”
“Wrong! Not in these woods. If I catch any giant furry beast using my forest as their own personal bathroom, I chase them out.” Fallon’s gaze cut to Wiggles.
“So, you can’t take us to the site?” I asked, lost in her riddle.
Fallon tutted. “I can show you on one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“You let me ride your little pony.”
Wiggles bared his teeth. “For the last time, I’m not a pony.”
“Let me ride him,” Fallon said. “We’ll get there much quicker if I do. I’ve only got little legs, and I tire easily.”
I glanced at Wiggles, but the glare on his face warned me not to even suggest he let Fallon ride on his back. “Maybe another time.”
Suki rested a hand on Fallon’s shoulder. “Show us where you last saw the cloaked magic user. We must ensure the forest remains safe, and they could have been trying to harm i
t.”
Fallon scowled at her. “We can’t have that. This way.” She stomped away at a surprisingly fast speed, and we all followed her.
“Don’t let her anywhere near me,” Wiggles grumbled. “I do not like the look in that wood nymph’s eyes. She wants to saddle me and whip me like I’m a dumb beast.”
“She thinks you’re cute,” I said. “You should let her ride you.”
“I’m nobody’s free ride,” Wiggles said. “I’m giving myself permission to bite her if she makes any sudden movements in my direction.”
“I’m rescinding that permission. Fallon does a good job. You don’t want to get on the wrong side of her. She knows where a lot of dangerous magic is hidden.”
“If she gets on my back, she’ll be on the wrong side of me, and then between my jaws when I take a big bite out of her.”
After twenty minutes of walking, we headed across increasingly soft ground.
Fallon slowed and pointed in front of her. “This is the site. I heard them cursing and muttering, so they might have gotten too near and been gifted a boot full of swamp slime. It was after that, that I lost sight of them. They must have given up the hunt.”
“Or found exactly what they were looking for. Anyone would be able to dig a hole in this ground.” I lifted my black boot out of an inch of soft mud.
Wiggles sniffed the air, and his nose wrinkled. “Although I’m picking up odor of swamp, there’s something else around here.”
“What can you smell?”
“It smells like that curse Serath had on him when he was discovered.”
“Hunt around, Wiggles. Sniff out the source of that smell.” I stayed close by him as he stuck his nose to the ground and searched.
It didn’t take Wiggles many minutes before he stopped beside a heap of disturbed earth.
“Is this it?”
He backed up and nodded. “It smells worse than the trash when you haven’t taken it out for a week. You’ll find someone under there.”
Fallon grabbed a stick and prodded it into the mud. “Your ugly pony is right. There’s something there.”
“Scrape back the mud.” My heart thundered in my chest. I really didn’t want to see Rhett staring up at me.
“Maybe we should call in the angels,” Suki said. “I’m not a fan, but they need to know if there’s a body in this swamp.”
“Let’s see what we’re dealing with before we get the angels involved,” I said. “Go on, Fallon. See what’s under there.”
Fallon grumbled under her breath, something about not being a slave to some jumped-up witch, as she scraped away the mud.
I peered over her shoulder, and my eyes widened as she revealed a pale hand.
I let out a sigh. “Okay, I’ve seen enough.” I could tell by the manicured nails that it wasn’t Rhett.
“Who is it?” Suki whispered.
“I can’t be certain, but I think we’ve found Dewey Lavern.”
Chapter 13
It was getting dusk as the angels descended from the sky in a cloud of white feathers and pompous self-righteousness.
Dazielle strode over, her wings ruffling behind her. “What have you got?”
“We haven’t uncovered the body, but I’m pretty sure you’ll find Dewey Lavern in that mud.”
“Puddles’ nephew?” Dazielle squinted at the ground, not looking convinced. “He’s not back yet?”
“He’s not coming back from this,” I said. “Can you smell the magic?”
Dazielle sniffed the air and frowned. “It’s the same curse.”
“Whoever killed Serath also got to Dewey.”
Dazielle flapped around as she set her angels to work securing the area. She knelt by the exposed hand and carefully scraped away more mud. It didn’t take long before she revealed the frozen, terrified looking face of Dewey.
“You’re right.” She looked up at me. “How did you know he’d be here?”
“I didn’t. I wasn’t even looking for him. I’m still on the hunt for Rhett.” I glanced at Suki, who stood looking nervous as the angels hurried around her. “Suki suggested we try the forest. We learned that someone had been lurking around last night. We followed the trail, and Wiggles did the rest.”
Wiggles lifted his nose. “I’ll take payment in fairy cakes.”
Dazielle snorted and shook her head, her attention turning to Fallon. “What’s your involvement?”
“I tracked the killer as they looked for a place to dispose of the body.” She slid a foot toward Wiggles. “We should set up our own crack task force. You can be my faithful pony, hunting out dead bodies, and I will solve the crimes.”
Wiggles turned his back and cocked his leg up a tree.
“Fallon and Wiggles the Wonder Pony,” Fallon continued. “Solving the crimes the angels have no clue about. We’re bound to be busy.”
Dazielle glared at Fallon. “Move out of the way and let my team get to work. I want to know everything you saw last night.”
“We’ve already told you what we know.” I did not like the accusation lacing through Dazielle’s words.
“Tell me again. Who led you here?” Dazielle asked.
I sighed. “Fallon most of the way. Wiggles sniffed out the body.”
Dazielle turned on Fallon, who studied Wiggles with an unhealthily obsessive look in her eye. “Why didn’t you report this yesterday when you discovered someone in the forest?”
Fallon picked something out of her hair and inspected it. “There are always odd bods skulking around my forest. If I reported them all, you’d spend your whole time in here, and I don’t want that.”
“What made you suspicious of this particular individual?”
Fallon shrugged. “They used cloaking magic. You don’t walk around hidden in this forest without me knowing about it. They were up to something dubious.”
“You didn’t see them with the body? It wouldn’t be easy to transport a body through the forest,” Dazielle said.
“They could have come back during my naptime,” Fallon said. “A wood nymph needs her beauty sleep. When I lost sight of them, I headed to my dwelling. I had a half-hour nap and continued on my rounds. I wasn’t alerted to anything unusual.”
Dazielle’s shoulders slumped. “This is bad news. We could have a magic using serial killer on our hands. Someone has gotten a liking for using dark curses to bump off their enemies.”
“Who did Serath and Dewey have as a common enemy?” I asked. “There must be someone in Willow Tree Falls who hates them enough to do this.”
“Is he here?” Puddles bustled through the trees, her blue hair flying out behind her and bright spots of color on her cheeks.
I groaned. “How does she know about this?”
“You know Puddles. She must have seen us flying here and given chase,” Dazielle said. She strode over and stopped Puddles from getting too close. “It’s best you don’t see this.”
“Is it my Dewey? Tell me it’s not. I knew something dreadful had happened.” Puddles clapped her hands on either side of her cheeks as she peered around the trees.
Dazielle tried to lead her away, but Puddles refused to budge. “You don’t need to be here. When we have more information, we’ll come to speak to you.”
“Just tell me, is it Dewey?”
I gritted my teeth. Puddles wasn’t going to go until she knew the truth. She did seem to care for her nephew. I felt a bit sorry for Puddles. It was a horrible way to lose a loved one.
I walked over and stood next to Dazielle. “I’m really sorry, Puddles. We’ve found Dewey.”
Tears filled her eyes. “And how is he? Is he hurt?”
“He’s not good. Dewey is dead.”
Her hand flew to her mouth. “I sensed it in my waters. I knew when he didn’t come back last night that someone had gotten to him. How did he die?”
“We’re not certain yet,” Dazielle said. “We’ve only just found him. Give us time to investigate, and we can let you have more information.�
�
Puddles dodged past Dazielle. She froze to the spot and gasped when she saw the mud-splattered body of Dewey. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she fainted.
We both stared at her as she collapsed face down in the mud.
I repressed a sigh. “We need to talk to her,” I said to Dazielle. “Puddles might be playing the grieving auntie, but we can’t rule out the possibility her dark side has returned. What’s to say this isn’t an act?”
Dazielle moved back a few steps. “You handle her better than I do. You talk to her.”
“She could be a magic using serial killer! I’m not qualified to handle that sort of thing.” I also didn’t want to babysit Puddles in her current state.
“When she wakes up, take her to Cloven Hoof and talk to her.” Dazielle continued to back away. “We’ll make it unofficial for now. If she thinks we’re suspicious of her involvement, she might shut down and stop talking.”
I glowered a Dazielle. She was passing the buck. The blue-haired, hysterical, flapping buck, who never stopped talking unless she was unconscious.
Dazielle raised her hands, palms up. “I’ll make it worth your while.”
“Hold on. If there’s a deal to be made, I need to be involved.” Wiggles trotted over. “What are we talking?”
Dazielle pursed her lips. “Fairy cakes for a week?”
I snorted a laugh. “That deal will only work on Wiggles.”
“How about I let you off that noise violation from last month?”
I shrugged. “I was planning on protesting, anyway.”
Dazielle’s wings fluttered behind her. “How about that and fairy cakes for a month?”
“And you take down that unfair sign,” Wiggles said.
Dazielle tilted her head. “What sign?”
“The one on your building that says no hellhounds allowed. I’m the only hellhound in Willow Tree Falls. You’re persecuting a minority.”
Dazielle scowled. “You steal our food, and you break wind all the time. It’s not sanitary.”
“It’s still discrimination. And I can’t help it if I have an irritable bowel. My stomach is sensitive.”
“You wouldn’t have an irritable bowel if you didn’t eat so much junk,” I said.
“Whose side are you on?” Wiggles asked.
