by C C Sommerly
“It’s a lot, but we’ve had overflowing plates before and can handle it again,” said Sterling.
“When I saw him outside, he was surrounded in shadows. They swam around him. He also has those moving runes.”
“Maybe the Sisters know about them since they had their own shadow-like creatures,” said Zander.
“It’s as good a place as any to start. I’ve never heard of a shadow realm or sentient shadows. Except for those at the Sisterhood as Zander mentioned,” I said.
“We need to have a chat with the Sisters,” said Lochlan.
“Add that to the never ending to do list,” I said.
The Sisterhood was actually the Sisterhood of the Seers, and the headquarters for the seers. You couldn’t find a crazier bunch of women.
“There isn’t a choice and that ripple has the potential to effect more people than just us. We need to divide up these tasks, or we won’t get anything done,” said Lochlan.
“Marty, I’m calling in Roc,” said Sterling.
“Why do we need to bring Roc in?” asked Lochlan.
“He’s extra security for Marty,” said Sterling.
“I don’t need —”
“Don’t bother finishing. I don’t think there’s a person here that would argue about the danger you’re in. Unless you want to be confined to the house like Zander, you’ll partner with Roc.”
“I can’t and won’t argue with you on this one, but I’d rather be her partner. Unfortunately, I have cases to work,” said Lochlan.
He sounded truly sorry that he couldn’t partner with me. A part of me was also disappointed. In a short time, the fae was growing on me.
“If I have Roc with me, I’ll never make progress on any cases. He’ll scare all of the witnesses,” I complained.
“I’d prefer having him here. I’ll indulge you just this once. If at any point there are any more threats, then Roc becomes your newest partner,” said Sterling.
“Aside from requiring extra protection, when are you going to explain about the kid?” asked Lochlan.
Zander glared at him.
“This is as good a time as any, son,” Lochlan added.
“I’m not your son or even a boy,” said Zander. “I’m older than any of you.”
“I doubt that. I have several centuries on you,” said Lochlan.
“And you’re right, I owe you my story, every one of you, all of us are at risk if they find me,” said Zander.
“If you’re in hiding, then you’re right, we need to know who may come looking for you,” said Lochlan.
“I’m in hiding for a very good reason,” said Zander.
At his statement, Jennica reached over and started awkwardly patting Zander’s hand. He blushed at the contact, but didn’t pull away.
“My full name is Alexander Croft.”
“You’re kidding?” asked Lochlan. He turned to me, “This is a joke, right?”
“He’s not joking,” I said.
“But Alexander Croft disappeared suddenly three years ago.”
“Yes, I disappeared. I made a foolish mistake and it cost me everything. Prior to my withdrawal from society, I found a cursed object that transformed me into a child. I’ve been unable to age or access my magic since then,” he said.
“And you’ve made a lot of enemies in the time you’ve been around,” said Lochlan. “You literally can’t leave the house, but we need someone around here when one of us can’t be.”
“I’m here,” said Jennica. “And so is Callie,” she added.
“No offense intended, but I need to know someone is here that can fight. Can any of you fight or use magic?” asked Lochlan.
Neither of them answered.
“So, I’m calling in someone that is nearly as capable as I am and who is also a highly skilled warrior. I’ll need to be gone for a bit, but I’m sure I can convince him to stay with us temporarily.”
Lochlan threw down a charm and was gone.
“What about the window?” I shouted after him.
6
Guess it was the old-fashioned way of repairing broken things — lots of sweat and back breaking labor. All of us dug through Lochlan’s shed to find tools to patch up the wall.
“Why can’t you just ask the trees to move?” asked Jennica.
“None of us can talk to trees,” said Sterling. “And, it’s not something most people do unless you’re a fae.”
“This is fae lands, is it not?” she asked.
“We are in fae lands?” I asked.
“I thought you all knew that. It’s the outer reaches of it, but it’s still fae land,” said Jennica.
“How do you know this?” asked Sterling.
“Because I can feel it. Even a demi-fae, like me, recognizes their homeland. And, I can hear the land — the trees, animals, and other creatures. It’s the magic of this place.”
“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” I asked.
We’d been here two days, she had ample time to say something. Lochlan and I needed to chat when we got back. He had us staying in the fae lands and didn’t think to tell us. Nothing was the same here and it was infinitely more dangerous than the earthly realm. It may be even worse than the demon realm. Here even the land tried to kill you. Flowers, plants, animals and most of the fae were deadly and if a person was lucky, they only got poisoned, maimed, or imprisoned.
“I don’t know. I meant to say something,” said Jennica in a quiet voice.
“Quit badgering her. She’s doesn’t deserve to get interrogated,” said Zander, who was now standing at Jennica’s side. His arm was draped across her delicate shoulders.
“Calm down, no one is interrogating her. This is just a shock for all of us. Shocking moments are happening more and more frequently these days,” said Sterling.
“So you can communicate with the trees?” I asked.
“Why does everyone keep questioning me about this? Is it because I don’t have magic? You all think I can’t do anything special?” raged Jennica, her face reddening and spit flying from her mouth.
In all the years I’d known her, I’d never heard her raise her voice or known her to even get mad. She was literally spitting mad, daring us to take her bait and say something. Nope, that was one trap I wouldn’t be stepping into.
Since she’d come back, Jennica did her best to avoid me. She’d wrapped herself up in an ironclad protection, keeping me and everyone else at a distance. I didn’t know how to bridge that gaping divide between us. The only exception was Zander. She let him close to her.
“Magic doesn’t define a person,” I said.
“Easy for you to say. Most of you have it,” said Jennica.
“If this is about the trees, we believe you. If Sterling can transform into a bear and my magic eats through anything, then why can’t plants be communicated with?” I said.
“You don’t have to make fun of me, Marty.”
This wasn’t going well. Jennica’s hurt ran far deeper than I imagined. So much had changed for the worse. Jennica was one of the few people that instilled in me a touchy feeling attitude. On principle, I wasn’t a hands-on person, but she put my protective instincts into overdrive. She was of those people that were truly good and kind. Her hating me was slowly killing me.
“Please help us with this. We aren’t safe, especially in fae lands. We need to restore that wall,” said Sterling.
“Very well. But I don’t need an audience,” she said.
“No one goes anywhere alone here,” said Sterling.
“Fine, Zander can come with me.”
When Sterling went to object, I placed my hand on his arm and shook my head. The situation didn’t need to escalate, and we truly needed that wall repaired.
When none of us objected, Jennica and Zander left to commune with the trees.
“Can things get any more complicated?” I asked, plopping down on the couch.
“I’m not sure they can, but I certainly hope I’m not proven wrong,” said
Sterling.
“What now? Who is going to deal with the shadows and my father?” I asked.
“We have cases to work. Just because we no longer have the Agency, doesn’t mean we’re on vacation. When Lochlan gets back, we can talk. I have some thoughts about that.”
“I still have that missing person’s case and the cheating spouse.”
Sterling grimaced. Neither of us liked those kinds of cases. More times than not, a cheating spouse case didn’t end well. It was one thing to suspect your spouse of infidelity and another to have proof of it. And missing people had a way of staying gone or returning in a different condition than when they left.
“I’ll speak to Reginald about the Agency. I’m not sure how I can smooth over leveling the building.”
“About that –”
“If you apologize again, I’m docking your pay.”
“Well, there’s no reason why I can’t work my cases and stop by the Sisterhood. Are you okay with me taking that on? One of us should find out about their shadows and see if they know about what we saw. Is Betty still at the Agency?”
“I left her with Rufus.”
I’d need to stop by the Pawn Shop on the way.
“Do you know how to get back to the earthly realm?”
We’d both temporarily forgotten that small, but crucial detail. Sterling swore.
“Guess we have no choice except to wait on Lochlan,” he said.
By the time Lochlan returned, it was hours later, and I was steaming mad. We’d lost a whole day. None of the lengthy list of things we needed to do had gotten done, let alone started. If Jennica hadn’t been able to talk with the trees, we’d still have a gaping hole in the living room wall. She managed to get them to uproot and move into a living wall, their branches intertwined tightly together – forming a barrier.
Lochlan brought him another fae with. The stranger’s hair was shaved on the side and the rest was bunched into long dreadlocks. The dreads were decorated with pieces of silver and leather bands woven into them. He was as tall as Lochlan. He also had an angry-looking, jagged scar across his eye, adding a savageness to his baby blues, which were the only things soft about him.
There were runes tattooed over every exposed inch of his skin. And even without seeing the runes, even a non-magic user could feel the magic pouring out of him. This was a man that you couldn’t help but notice. He wasn’t handsome so much as he was what I’d consider magnetic. He drew you in and you wanted to bask in his presence.
“This is Elon. He’s the fae I mentioned before. He’ll stay with us and help with security,” said Lochlan.
Elon stood ramrod straight and carried himself like a warrior – with an economy of movement and poised wariness. I had no doubt that he could spring to action in our defense within seconds. He examined the rest of us with his hard and dead eyes. Lochlan brought a killer to us.
“He will also train Callie, Zander, and Jennica.”
“Who said we want to be trained?” asked Zander.
“It’s not optional. You’re trespassing on fae land. It’s only a matter of time before you are found out by the Seelie,” said Elon.
“I have every intention of securing the approval,” said Lochlan.
“Are you saying that we’ve been in fae lands for two days and we don’t have permission to be here. What the hell? I can understand to some degree not telling us where we are, but you said this was a safe place. Why didn’t you make sure it was okay for us to be here?” I asked.
“I’ll fix it,” said Lochlan.
He turned to me, his eyes pleading for understanding. I stared into his slate-colored eyes. They reminded me of the sky before a storm. Flashing beautiful eyes my way isn’t going to get him out of trouble. It was beyond sloppy and downright dangerous to be here without him getting it properly authorized and approved.
“I see the demi fixed the wall,” said Elon, who pointed to the makeshift wall.
“So, you told him that I’m a demi?” asked Callie.
“That’s obvious and you managed to tap into fae land’s magic to fix it, so there may be some hope for you. We start training in the morning,” said Elon in a tone of voice that allowed for no arguing. It was a stern command. With his arms crossed and a frown on his face, none of his future trainees were going to argue.
They were in for a world of pain. Elon looked like a harsh task master and would put them through the paces during training.
“I don’t work for you,” said Jennica, who tried to sound brave, but failed. She trembled and appeared to be on the edge of tears. She pointed to Sterling, “And I don’t work for him, so can I be excluded?”
“That may be true, but if you leave the safety of this house, you’ll be killed or worse. If that is your wish, the door is that way,” said Elon.
Jennica sputtered, but didn’t say another word. Part of me wanted to laugh, but the other part wanted to fight him for talking to her like that.
“So it’s all settled then. Elon let me show you to your room,” said Lochlan.
We stayed quiet until Lochlan and Elon went upstairs.
Lochlan came back down.
“We have a conversation to finish. I know I disappeared, but if I didn’t think all of you could handle fixing a wall, then I wouldn’t have left,” said Lochlan.
“This conversation should have happened hours ago, but we were in fae lands with no way of leaving,” I said.
“So, you’d have left Zander and Callie?”
“No, yes, I don’t mean it the way it sounds. Sterling would have been here and kept them safe.”
“The best solution was getting extra help. You refused Sterling’s offer. I wasn’t going to let you have a chance to refuse the extra security I could get.”
“It’s fine. We were safe and I’d have smelled the Crimson Fiend if he was near,” said Sterling. “But I think I have a solution for how we can divide up these tasks.”
“Let’s hear it,” said Lochlan.
“Marty should work her cases. I will look into the ripple and shadows.”
“I can still visit the Sisterhood.”
“Marty, I’d prefer you stay away from anything dealing with your father, including the shadows,” said Sterling.
“I can handle myself.”
“I don’t want you hurt and if we need to bring you in, we can. For now, your cases are enough to keep you busy. I also need to see about getting the Agency back up and running,” he added.
“You don’t even know whether Reginald will agree to let us rebuild the Agency,” I said. “But I don’t see how we can accept clients if we aren’t even on earth.”
“Regardless, we need money. So, you’re going to resume your cases and expedite finishing them,” said Sterling.
“There’s no rush in getting your Agency fixed. As you see, I’ve more than enough space and the means to keep you all here for a while.”
“While that’s appreciated, we do need these cases worked. One of Marty’s is a missing teen that was cancelled and then reopened.”
“Why aren’t the enforcers handing it?” Lochlan asked.
“I’m not sure, but that’s what I intend to find out. It’s been weird from the start. They hired us, then the girl came back, so they cancelled their contract. Several days after, then they re-hired us for the same reason because she was gone again.”
“That does sound unusual and may still be better handled by the enforcers.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you aren’t my boss then.”
“Easy Marty. I didn’t suggest the enforcers because I thought you couldn’t handle it, but because this sounds like a complicated case when you already have a lot going on,” said Sterling, who looked confused at my aggression. To be honest, I was a tad confused about it as well. “Sterling, I’d like to help you with the ripple and the shadows. While, I have cases, in between I can help,” Lochlan added.
“You’re going to let him help and not me?” I asked.
�
��Yes, I am.”
7
The next morning, I left a grumbling Zander, Callie, and Jennica to start their training with Elon. Lochlan was graciously escorting Muffin and me to the gate to transport us back to the Earthly Realm.
Although, I’d have preferred Elon’s company to his because he was a major distraction when I needed to be focused. Lochlan was so hard to understand and I was still so attracted and drawn to him. He claimed to want to help and protect us, but not telling us we were in fae lands was an important detail that impacted that our safety. It was foolish to trespass on any supernatural creature’s realm without permission. That is the kind of thing that can get you tortured or killed.
The entire walk to the gate, I ignored his attempts at conversation, which made me feel better; but didn’t fix anything. My stupid dog seemed to like him and weaved back and forth between us. Muffin managed to only trip me. Traitor dog.
The walk to the gate was the longest thirty-minute trip ever. It was much closer to us than I was comfortable with. Anyone traveling back and forth could easily detour and find his house and encounter one of us. I’d need to be especially careful as I traveled back and forth between the realms – at least until we had proper authority to be in the fae realm.
“How am I going to get back?” I asked.
“So you are going to talk to me? I wondered how long your silent treatment would last.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means exactly what I said. I’ll give you a charm that allows you the access to come and go.”
He stopped and pulled out a metallic disc on a string of leather.
“Wear this and you’ll be able to come and go. I suggest you don’t linger when using the gate. Even with this charm, not being fae, you’re a target.”
“I became a target when you brought us here without disclosing where you were taking us.”
“I wondered when you’d bring that up.”
“Did you? So why didn’t you tell us? We trusted you. I trusted you.”
His expression softened and some unidentifiable emotion passed over his face. He reached for me and I moved back.
