by N. P. Martin
"What?"
"Then one day it felt like I didn’t belong at all. Sorcha was doing her thing as the new Queen. Everyone was doing their thing, playing their part, and I was just…" She trailed off again for a moment. "I was a spare part that didn’t fit in anywhere. I feel the same way here too. I’m not human anymore, I’m not fully Fae…I don’t know what I am. An abomination probably."
It killed me to see her so sad. Putting my arm around her, I pulled her in tight to me. "You’ve been through a lot lately. It’s normal to have these kinds of existential crises after suffering trauma. You just need to get back in the game again, that’s all."
"Back in the game?" She shook her head. "I don’t think I was ever in the game to begin with. I swear, Corvin, if I didn’t have you around, I’d probably have killed myself by now."
"Don’t say that, D."
"It’s true, you’re the only person in the world I have any kind of connection with."
"Monty loves you."
"Monty is Monty."
I suppressed a laugh. "True."
"I don’t know," she sighed. "Sometimes I just feel like there’s nothing for me here or anywhere else."
"What about Davey? You’re supposed to be his apprentice now. He likes you. In fact, he told me you were perfect for the job, more than anyone else. You’re the only one he wants to pass his knowledge and skills to."
She looked at me as though I were just saying it to make her feel better. "He said all that?"
I nodded. "Yes, he did. You need to go and see him, start your apprenticeship properly. You want a reason to exist, that’s as good a reason as any."
Puffing her cheeks out, she seemed to shutter slightly. "I don’t normally experience all these messy emotions. I don’t know her they’re coming from."
"Nearly dying might have something to do with it."
"You nearly died as well, more than once, and you seem fine."
I shook my head. "I wouldn’t say that exactly."
"Why?"
"I don’t know, it just feels like I’m on this path toward something, though I don’t know what, and I feel like the journey is changing me."
"For better or worse?"
"The jury is still out on that one," I said smiling, trying to make it seem less serious than it was.
"You could never get worse," Dalia said, touching her head against my shoulder. "You have your mother’s moral compass. It will always keep you right."
I stared out over the rooftops as clouds formed over far off buildings. "I guess we’ll see, won’t we."
"Well," she said, standing up and offering me her hand. "I’ll always be here to nag the shit out of you at least."
We both laughed at that as she pulled me to my feet. "That’s a comforting thought, D, cheers."
Which it was. More than she knew.
"Come on," she said, still holding my hand. "Let’s go and get my ring back."
Chapter 5
As always when I walked into Hacknet’s pawn shop, he didn’t see all that pleased to see me. Clearly I was trouble as far as he was concerned, and walking in there meant I was bringing some new form of trouble with me. A young guy who looked like he hadn’t had a good meal in weeks was standing by the counter, a pile of jewellery on the surface in front of him, which Hacknet was in the process of sorting through. "There’s boun' ter be a gran' dare at laest," the young guy said, who was dressed in faded black jeans and a grubby white T-shirt. Even before I noticed the track marks in his arms, I knew he was one of Dublin’s many heroin addicts and that he was here to fence the jewelry he had obviously stolen from somewhere.
"A grand?" Hacknet said like the guy was crazy. "You must be joking. Half of this is fake."
"Is it feck!" The junky lifted up a gold necklace and bit it with his yellowed teeth. "That’s feckin’ solid gauld dare!"
Hacknet shook his head like he’d heard it all before. "Solid shite more like."
The junky shook his head. "You’re gonna rip me aff again, aren’t yer, yer bastard?"
"I’ll give you two hundred for the lot. Take it or leave it."
I shook my head. Even I could see the jewellery was worth more than that.
The junky stood scratching his arms in frustration, knowing he didn’t have a choice but to accept what Hacknet was offering. If he didn’t, there would be no next fix, which is what it always came down to with addicts. "Gimme me fecking nicker," he said eventually, then turned around and scowled at me and Dalia for no reason, as if it was our fault he was over a barrel full of heroin. When he got his money, he turned and stomped toward the door, off to score no doubt.
"See you again soon," Hacknet called after him, a slightly wicked smile on his face.
"Ripping off the junky’s again, Hacknet?" I said by way of greeting.
"The dirty bastards should be grateful," he said. "They wouldn’t get anything if it weren’t for me buying their shit." He scraped all the jewellery the junky had brought off the counter and into a box, presumably to sort out later and put on display. "What are you doing in here, Chance? Come to shake me down again, have you?"
"Shake you down?" I said offended. "I plucked the thorn from your side when I got rid of Iolas. You should be thanking me."
He stared at me deadpan. "I’ll be sure to send you a Christmas card this year." His eyes then went to Dalia. "Why is your girlfriend sniffing the clothes?"
I turned to see Dalia inhaling the scents from the leather jackets hanging on a rack. "She has a thing for smells, she can tell things from them, about the people they belonged to. It’s a Demifay thing."
"Demifay." Hacknet shook his head as if that explained everything. "Bloody weirdos the lot of them."
"We’re all weird in some way, Hacknet. I dread to think what you do in secret, when no one is around to see you."
Hacknet looked away for a second. "Wise up. What is it you want, Chance? I’ve a business to run here."
Dalia came walking over at that point. "We’re here about a ring," she said.
"A ring?" Hacknet said. "I have plenty of those. Take a look."
"Not just any ring," I said. "It was sold to you a few days ago by a Demifay guy with blond hair and hamster cheeks."
"What kind of ring?"
"A silver band with a ruby set into it," Dalia said. "It belonged to my grandmother. It was stolen from me and I want it back."
Hacknet thought for a moment, or at least pretended to, for I knew he knew exactly what ring we were talking about. "Ah yes, I remember now. It wasn’t worth very much, I only gave the guy a couple of hundred for it."
Dalia looked incensed as she approached the counter. "Not worth very much? That ruby is a Burmese unheated stone. It’s worth a small fortune!"
Shaking his head, Hacknet looked at me and then at Dalia. "I think you’re mistaken there, that stone is—"
That was as far as he got before released her dark energy from her hand and allowed it to wrap around Hacknet’s thick neck, pulling him into the counter.
Not this again, I thought shaking my head.
"Dalia," I said, trying to calm her. "There’s no need for that. Hacknet will sort us out, won’t you Hacknet?"
"Just let me go…" he choked out.
Dalia released her grip on the Goblin then, and Hacknet staggered back away from her. "Keep her on bloody leash!"
"A leash?" Dalia said. "I’ll put you on a leash if you don’t—"
"Okay!" I said in a raised voice, moving Dalia back from the counter slightly. "Let’s all calm down here, right?"
"I was calm until you walked in here with your…whatever she is," Hacknet said. "What is it with and violent femmes anyway?"
I smiled slightly I shrugged. "I like a little feistiness, Hacknet, what can I say?"
"Well, I’m getting a bit sick of being abused by your girlfriends, Chance," he said, looking at Dalia again like he was afraid she was going to attack once more.
"I apologize. The ring just means a lot to her, that�
�s all. It was her grandmothers."
"Yeah, she said."
"So where is it then?" Dalia asked, seeming slightly calmer now. "You better not have sold it or—"
Hacknet held a hand out as if to fend off her next attack. "Don’t worry, I have it here."
"So go and get it so we can be on our way then."
"I…don’t think so."
"What?"
"I said I don’t think so."
Dalia looked at me in astonishment, as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Stepping in front of her, I said to Hacknet, "What do you mean you don’t think so? I’ll buy it back from you."
Hacknet smiled and shook his head slightly. "Given what it’s really worth, I doubt you have that kind of cash, Chance."
"I’ll just take it then," Dalia said, and went to jump over the counter until I stopped her.
"Hold on now," I said. "Just wait a minute." I turned to Hacknet. "We must be able to work something out here between us, before Dalia here rips you a new one."
"Well, now that you mention it…"
Dalia shook her head in disgust. "He’s playing us for fools, Corvin."
"Look," I said to her. "He acquired the ring in good faith. We can’t just take it off him."
"Of course we friggin’ can!" she said. "And I can take his fat head off at the same time!"
"All right, Hacknet," I said. "Tell us the deal before she follows through on her threat."
He smiled slightly, knowing he had won. "I’ll give you the ring back if you do something for me first."
"This a joke," Dalia said.
"Do what exactly?" I said to Hacknet.
"I’m glad you asked," he said, rubbing his hands together slightly. "There’s a particular artifact I’ve been wanting to acquire for quite a while now, but unfortunately it’s in the hands of someone else. If you can acquire this artifact for me, I’ll gladly give you the ring in return. I can’t say fairer than that."
"This is bullshit," Dalia said shaking her head. "He’s playing us."
"Fine," I said to Hacknet. "We’ll get you your artifact in return for the ring."
"Corvin!" Dalia said, her eyes wide as she stared at me.
"Just relax, Dalia," I said and then looked at Hacknet. "I want something else as well, a weapon that will kill a vampire, a higher vampire that is."
Hacknet stared at me a moment, then shook his head slightly. "Picking another fight, are we?"
"Do you have something or not? If you don’t, I’ll just let Dalia here take the ring from you anyway and you’ll end up with nothing. Up to you."
"You think you’re being clever, Chance, squeezing me like this?"
"As clever as you thought you were being."
He shook his head. "Okay, fine. I’ll get you something, don’t worry."
I smiled. "Glad to hear it. Now tell us about this artifact…"
"I can’t believe you made a deal with that smarmy goblin!" Dalia was furious as we left the pawn shop and started heading back to the car, so much so that when a young girl accidentally bumped her on the way past, Dalia spun around and shouted, "Watch it bitch!" The young girl turned to look at Dalia, ready for an argument until she saw the look on Dalia’s face. The girl quickly turned and walked away.
"Calm down, will you?" I said. "You’ll get you ring back, don’t worry."
"You’re damn right I will."
When we got into the car, Dalia gripped the dash for a moment as she struggled to contain her rage, which to me was out of proportion to the situation. "Are you all right, D?" I asked her tentatively, for fear that she might bite my head off.
After taking a few deep breaths, she sat back inner seat. "All these emotions lately. I don’t know what to do with them. I just feel like…lashing out at everyone."
I nodded. "I can see that. Why do you think that is?"
She snapped her head around at me. "What, are you my shrink now or something?"
Puffing my cheeks out in exasperation, I shook my head slightly. "No, I’m just concerned, D, that’s all."
Dalia nodded as she seemed to calm down a bit. "I know, I’m just upset over the ring. I don’t even like it that much, but it’s about the only thing I have left from old life, you know? It’s a reminder of who I used to be. I know I should just move on, but sometimes I can’t. It’s hard to explain…" She shook her head in frustration.
"I understand," I said. "And if it’s any consolation, you’re still the same person to me. You’re still the Dalia I’ve always known and loved."
She reached over and took my hand. "You keep me grounded, Corvin. I’d be lost without you."
I smiled and squeezed her hand back. "Look, here’s what’s going to happen. We’re going to get this artifact for Hacknet and he’s going give us the ring. After that, you’re going to see Davey and you’re going to get to work. You need something to focus on besides yourself."
She snorted. "So I’m a narcissus now, am I?"
"I think the Fae in you gets the better of you sometimes, that’s all."
"You’re probably right, as always."
"Of course I’m right."
"Who’s the narcissus now?"
I shook my head as I started the car up. "Let’s go and get this artifact before you end up killing someone."
"Good idea," she said. "Onward Jeeves…"
Chapter 6
We waited until nightfall before heading to Dalkey, one of the most affluent suburbs of Dublin and about ten miles from the city center. The house we were going to actually wasn’t that far from Iolas Tasar’s mansion, now in Amelia’s hands of course. I didn’t mention it to Dalia, but I thought we could stop by and see Amelia on the way back, if Dalia was amenable to the suggestion, which I couldn’t see why she wouldn’t be, given what Amelia had done for her in Cork.
The small seaside town of Dalkey which we were now driving through was a former Viking settlement before it became an active port in the Middle Ages. And indeed, according to some sources, the port was one of the main ports through which the plague entered Ireland in the 14th Century. Today, the place is a seaside suburb, and has been home to a number of writers and celebrities for years now, including Bono, if such trivia floats your boat, which it doesn’t mine.
Speaking of ports, the house we were headed to had its own fully operational port at the back. It was owned by the man we were going to steal from, Edward Delaney, whom Hacknet described as "a crabby old bastard in his sixties who would sell his own mother to get whatever artifact he had his eye on". Delaney lived alone according to Hacknet, which would make things easier for us.
"I haven’t been here for years," Dalia said as she looked out at the small town, most of which was deserted at this time of night except for a few pubs and shops. "My parents took me here when I was a kid. I remember loving it."
"You still miss them," I stated bluntly.
She looked at me and then nodded. "I may have changed, but they’re still my parents."
"Doesn’t it bother you, that other you living your old life, thinking she’s really you?"
Dalia shrugged. "Sometimes. I’m over it. Mostly. Maybe one day…"
I knew what she was going to say before she trailed off. Both of us knew it would never happen, so she didn’t say it, preferring to sit in silence until we reached the house we had come to burgle, parking just down the road from it. It was a huge castellated mansion with other grand mansions at either side of it. From our position we could see a few lights on inside. The front lawn was also partially lit. According to Hacknet, Delaney kept his treasures in the upper floor of the mansion, in the highest, turreted part of the house.
"What do you think?" I said to Dalia. "Back or front?"
She stared out the window at the house for a moment before answering. "Doesn’t really matter, does it? As long as we stay invisible, no one will see us, then we can levitate up to the highest room where the artifacts are. It’ll be a piece of cake."
I smiled. "You’re enj
oying this."
"It’s always fun when we do things together."
"Indeed. Let’s have some fun then."
Before getting out of the car, I turned myself invisible after making sure there was no one around to see us first. It was quite late, so the local residents seemed to be indoors with the curtains drawn. Beside me, Dalia transformed herself into pure shadow and then moved silently out the door without opening it. Outside, we both stood by the back of the car for a moment, Dalia’s features now all but gone as the deep shadows moved around her face. "I have to say," I told her quietly. "Your abilities are much cooler than mine. What’s it like being pure shadow?"
"Freeing," she said. "I can go anywhere, including through you if I wanted to."
"Yeah…don’t do that."
She laughed and then we headed toward the house, unseen in the dark of night, Dalia blending seamlessly with the shadows as she moved silently along. The house was surrounded by a high stone wall, and security gates blocked the entrance to the driveway. Dalia merely floated up and over the wall, while I had to cast a spell to turn myself to vapor so I could pass through the stone. Once we were in the garden, we stood in the shadows for a few moments as we surveyed the house.
"How does someone afford a place like this?" Dalia whispered. "My old house would fit in one of the rooms of this place."
I shrugged slightly as I took in the huge Victorian house and Italianate gardens with the stone statues standing guard in certain places. "I’d say ten million wouldn’t buy this place."
"All this for one old guy to live in. It’s obscene."
"I wouldn’t turn it down."
"Maybe we should just kill the guy and live in his house then."
I had to look at her to see if she was serous, but I couldn’t make out her face. "We’re already stealing from him. Let’s not kill him as well."
"I was just kidding."
"Sometimes I can’t tell with you."
We kept to the edge of the garden, walking along the perimeter of the stone wall until we reached the gable of the house. At the back of the house was another large area that led to the private harbor. The waves crashed against the harbor wall and the wind carried the salty air into our nostrils, immediately reminding me of my experience with Manannán mac Lir, and I actually thought I could feel my wrist tingling as if it still held the sensation of being severed from my hand.
