Midnight Starling: An Urban Fantasy Romance Series

by Rhiannon Lee

  She leaned forward. “So, your stubborn streak has kicked in and now you refuse to give up? Do you even have any decent leads?”

  She had a point. After three days of nothing, I had moved from just trying to solve the case, to a level of determination that wasn’t just about the missing person. The notion of running across town to interrogate another known associate of Vincent or Thain made me queasy. But this entire case was not just wearing on my pride, it was hitting me in heart as well. I had to keep looking. A man’s life was in jeopardy.

  “Bea, you’re an excellent PI. If anyone can find him, it’s you. At least let me help you,” she offered. I appreciated her worry, but honestly, I wished she would stop pestering me. It was distracting. She had never been this concerned over my work before, except maybe with the rare off handed comment about how she hoped I would pick a different job. With a roll of my shoulders, I struggled to concentrate.

  With a huff of defeat, I scooted my chair back and went to the kitchen. I was down to my last soda. I left it in the fridge and grabbed a glass of water instead. As I turned the faucet off, I heard the distinct boom of a fist pounding on my door.

  “Hold on!” I yelled when they thumped on it again. A person could only walk so fast, geesh.

  Poppy beat me there. “What!” she yelled as she tugged the door open.

  A towering, dark-haired man with an olive complexion grinned and tilted his head. “Thain wishes to see Bea.”

  “Who the heck are you?” she challenged.

  His smile intensified. “Don’t you recognize me, Bea?” he asked, staring past her at me.

  There was a familiarity about him, almost as if I’d seen those eyes somewhere before, but for the life of me I couldn’t place him.

  “It is I, Victor,” he announced.

  “Victor…” I said with an open mouth. “So, this is what a werewolf looks like without his coat? Huh,” I added after I forced myself to outwardly recover.

  “A werewolf?” Poppy snorted in my direction.

  “Mimic, werewolf, same difference,” I said, flipping my palm back and forth.

  Poppy raised an eyebrow.

  I shrugged. “Well, it is. Pretty much.”

  “What do you want, werewolf?” she quipped at Victor with a glower.

  Crap. She was still in mother hen mode.

  “Tsk, tsk, tsk, I am not a werewolf silly, I’m a Mimic. But that is a lesson for another day. Bea and I need to be off to meet with Thain before he becomes frustrated. He does not like to wait.”

  “I don’t think so, werewolf!” she snapped. Poppy shut the door in his face, then shifted her attention back to me. “You do not answer to that man. Not now, never. Do you understand?”

  I glanced from the door to her and back again. My fingers tapped my thigh. “Yes?”

  Poppy’s expression rolled through a series of emotions. Too swiftly for me to single out any of them.

  I took a step in her direction. “Am I missing something here?”

  She sighed and tugged the door back open. “No. It’s just… if anything happened to you…”

  “Oh Poppy, I promise to be careful. And besides, you were the one that said I could trust him, remember? It will be fine,” I added when I saw tears nearly breaking through her tough visage.

  She stood up straighter and locked eyes with mine. “Take your gun.”

  “What? No.” My words made her blanch, and I immediately felt like a jerk. I had vowed I would after what had happened, but I just couldn’t go through with it. I only kept it for home protection. That, and extraordinary situations. Plus, the holster was uncomfortable, and I had never become used to carrying it. “I’m sorry,” I said.

  She hauled me into a hug and pressed one palm against the back of my head to hold me close. I folded my arms around her in return. It had been a long while since I last saw her so shaken. Motherly, always, but not generally this emotional over my safety. Poppy had always stressed my autonomy, even when I was young. After she finally pulled away, she lifted her chin in resolve.

  She opened the door again. Victor hadn’t moved. He ignored her and looked in my direction with the same grin he had before. “Can we go now?”

  I shook my head at the fact that he was so unbothered by having a door slammed in his face.

  He had the slightest hint of an accent that I could not recognize. What was apparent was that he had spent a long time in the states working to rid himself of it. But more importantly, Victor was a Mimic. And if I wanted to learn more about what it meant, being around one seemed to be the simplest way to do that.

  “Okay, fine. I’m coming,” I answered and shoved my feet into my shoes.

  Poppy stood in the same spot, glaring between the both of us the entire time. I realized she was hoping I’d make a different decision, but I let Victor lead me outside. Once we were in the parking lot, he steered me to an overly expensive BMW. I only knew this because I had a sweet spot for race cars and had been window shopping for them since I was a little girl. This one wasn’t on the spectrum of some super-fast models they produced, but it could get up there and was decidedly nothing to scoff at. And it was probably faster than my 1976 Camaro, but not by much. My car was a graduation gift to myself and I had been treasuring it ever since, even if I occasionally drove it like a maniac.

  “Can I drive?” I teased.

  He held his hand out. Sitting on his palm was a single key. “I don’t see why not.”

  My heart skipped in my chest from excitement as I snatched the key and sprinted to the seductive, sleek machine. When I popped the door handle, my breath hitched at the elegance of the exquisite leather interior. I said a silent thank you to the gods above as I slipped down into the driver’s seat. I had never been so exhilarated in my life.

  I marveled at the view while passing my hand over the polished interior. First the steering wheel, all the way down to the chrome topped gear shift. Someone had made modifications to this baby.

  “Shall we go?” Victor asked as he got in and closed his door.

  I put the key into the ignition and turned. My face light up into a Cheshire grin in response to the engine firing up. This baby was ready to eat pavement. I pressed my foot to the clutch, shifted into first, and stepped on the gas. The car was in third by the time we left the lot. Victor yanked his seat belt into place just before we hit the road. Glancing over, I caught a line of perspiration forming on his brow.

  “Do you know where you’re going?” he asked through shallow breaths.

  “Not really,” I answered. We could have been going to the moon for all I cared. I just wanted to drive.

  “Turn left up here,” he directed with an outstretched finger.

  I did as he asked, but I fishtailed the back end while doing it. His face morphed into an odd combination of scared and amused.

  After a series of turns directed by pointing, we arrived at our destination. I threw the car into neutral and killed the engine. Victor climbed out of the passenger seat in a rush. Once he was standing, he brushed himself off like he had been doing something filthy.

  “That was very enlightening. Nowhere in your file did it suggest you were suicidal,” he huffed. It was virtually the same noise he made when he was a wolf.

  I let out a less than feminine snort. “That’s because I’m not.”

  “Well anyway, shall we?” He indicated toward the main entrance with a flourish of his hand.

  I returned the gesture and let Victor take the lead while I kept close behind. We didn’t have to go far before I saw Franklin, which was when Victor motioned to a door. Man, that butler is creepy.

  “Finally!” Thain exclaimed as we walked into his office.

  I shuffled to his desk. He flung out a hand toward the seat in front of me. I lifted an eyebrow at his greeting but sat down patiently. He was wringing his hands restlessly. The aggravated look on his face wasn’t very comforting either. The term evil villain replayed through my mind as I waited for him to proceed.
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  “Your services are no longer required,” he declared in a clipped fashion.

  I sat forward to hold his preoccupied gaze. “Did you find your accountant?”

  He pressed his index finger and thumb into his forehead. “Yes. He’s dead.”

  “Oh no, I’m sorry.”

  “I bet. That’s a lot of money to miss out on.”

  His venomous comment caused me to sit up straight. “What?”

  “I’m not even sure why I thought you could find him to begin with,” he uttered, then added, “That will be all Miss Voronin.” With that, he waved toward the exit.

  I rushed to my feet.

  “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to find him in time, I sincerely am, but you’re the one that kidnapped me, remember? I didn’t show up offering my services to you. And I’m darn good at what I do, thank you very much.”

  He stood up, face red with fury. “Just go.”

  “Fine!” I shrieked. Spinning on my heel, I marched out. Roughly throwing the exit open, I stomped my way out into the setting sunlight. The orange of the sky glowed like a visual depiction of my mood. Screw that guy, why should I even care what he thinks?

  I was across the parking lot and panting into the cooling air when it suddenly struck me—I had returned the key to Victor, so I was going to have to walk. I thought about calling Poppy to come get me instead, but I couldn’t handle dealing with the fact that she had been correct all along. I never should have become involved. The indignation made my stomach churn. That arrogant man! Who did he think he was, kidnapping women and then insulting them?

  With clenched fists, I took a deep breath before letting out a growling scream into the roadway. Body shaking, I stomped off toward my apartment.

  Chapter 8

  Poppy

  “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” I told Bea as I headed out the door. She had been distraught since her interaction with Thain. I hated that it ended badly, but I was also glad he cut her loose. She had half-heartedly tried to talk to me more about Mimics, and what Thain had told her about their existence, but I feigned disinterest each time and changed the subject. I wanted to sit down with her when I had enough time to explain that she was really a Godkin and everything that meant. I was tired of half-truths because of her guise. I just hoped she wouldn’t be too upset at me for keeping more secrets.

  She waved me off. “I’ll be fine,” she responded, not looking up from her computer.

  As much as I wanted to stay with her, I had more pressing concerns. I sighed and headed out into the night.

  I made it to the nursery boundary, my steps light on the dry ground. I frowned as I entered through the glass door and into the interior of the greenhouse. My stomach sank as I saw my worst fear. The spell I had worked wasn’t holding. The once strong leaves of the plants were wilting faster, their stems leaning toward the earth over their pots. A few had already given up the fight and were completely withered. These seedlings were magic spun, but if this kept up, the rest of the flora that covered this area would fail as well. I had to figure out why this was happening, and fast.

  My mind turned to Matt and his new Godkin. I plucked one of the seedlings from the table and cradled its pot and made my way outside and down to his space. The glow from outside was duller than usual. Dread welled up inside me.

  “Yoo-hoo! Matt!” I yelled as I walked inside. Nothing but silence answered me. I stepped carefully around the tables and sporadically placed gardening equipment until I found the table holding the golden Godkin orbs. They were faring better than my younglings, but not by much.

  “Matt! It’s Poppy! Where are you?” I yelled again. I didn’t want to be here uninvited since he closely guarded the place.

  Maybe he had gone to get something. It would be better to wait outside anyway, I thought as I made my way back toward the entry. I was nearly at the door when something caught my leg. Startled, I looked down to see a hand wrapped around my ankle. But my fear faded quickly as I realized who it belonged to.

  I squatted down, set the flowerpot on the ground beside me, and placed my hand over his. “Matt,” I breathed. “What happened? Are you okay?”

  His eyes fluttered open, then closed again. The hand on my leg went limp and fell away from me.

  “Matt!” I cried, louder.

  He forced his lids open again. “I tried. They’re still dying. Oh, Poppy.”

  Leaning down further, I hooked my arms under his and pulled him out from under the table where he seemed to have crawled after collapsing.

  “Shh, my friend. I’m here now.”

  Once he was out in the dim light of the orbs, I could see his lips were chapped. No, not just chapped, they were cracked and raw.

  “How long have you been spelling?” I asked.

  He tilted his head up. He got halfway into a smile and cringed. “Since you left. I had to—”

  “I know. You had to do everything you could,” I interrupted. It hurt my heart to see him this way. “Let me get you some water, hold on.” I gently propped him up against a wooden crate. He tried to help, but his weak arms couldn’t bear his weight.

  “I won’t be but a moment,” I promised. Quickly, I ran to the well outside the rows of greenhouses.

  The old metal spout and handle was an ever-present reminder of the past—a dependable constant that never failed, even when there were issues with the public water lines. I grabbed one of the aluminum cups sitting beside it for our use, then pumped the handle until a stream was flowing. Reaching down, I used my other hand to hold the cup while I lifted and pushed the handle down one more time.

  By the time I made it back, Matt’s eyes had drooped closed again. I placed my hand on his face to let him know I had returned. His eyelids fluttered back open, and I tipped the cup to his mouth. The cool water streamed over his lips. A small trickle ran down his chin, so I tilted the cup up to pause the flow a bit.

  He eagerly gulped the water, gratitude shining on his relaxing features.

  “Thank you,” he whispered, out of breath from the long drink. “I can do no more for them. Can you help?”

  I nodded. “Yes, but I’m afraid I can only stay for a little while.”

  “What could be more important than this?” he challenged.

  I suddenly felt like the problems happening in my life were minute in comparison. “I’ll stay as long as I can.”

  Matt smiled weakly. “Thank you.”

  “Always.”

  “The Ouphes wish magic to fall,” Matt muttered, changing gears. He pulled the cup from my hands and helped himself to the rest of the water. It was encouraging that he was gaining his strength so quickly.

  “That is nothing more than an old story. There is no truth to it,” I argued. The strain was making his delusions even worse. I couldn’t figure out why he was so fixated on the Ouphes. “There had to be another explanation.”

  The last thing the Ouphes would want was to draw attention to themselves. It had taken them decades to rebuild their communities and their population. So few of them had survived the war.

  He let the empty cup fall from his hand. “No. You must listen to me. There have been rumors. I am not talking about a tale from a book, but of a new leader who has risen through the ranks and plans to make the tale a thing of truth.”

  I couldn’t keep going along with this. It was clear his mind needed to be steered back toward reality before he lost hold completely. “But how would an Ouphe have the power to do this? They can barely hold their human forms, much less pull magic from the very soil we are standing on.”

  “Not–” he began until a cough overtook him. I sat down beside him and waited for it to pass. “This one is clever. He is bridging their magics, joining them into one greater power to do his evil.”

  “Evil? That’s a big word for a people like the Ouphes,” I countered. “Besides, they don’t have the power it takes to work that sort of spell, even if they wanted to.”

  “Anyone can be evil Poppy; it doesn’t
matter who they are or where they are from. There are evil humans, and even Godkin. All it takes is one broken mind to attract susceptible and trusting people to their cause, especially if they are clever enough.”

  I stopped trying to argue because it was getting me nowhere with him. Besides, at this point, he was right. Everyone was suspect until we found the cause of the problem: humans, Godkin, Ouphes and Mimics. I also wasn’t ruling out more ordinary explanations that weren’t so farfetched. For all we knew, it could have something to do with industrialization. I had known magic to be affected by metal production in the past. Lead and steel were terrible repellants of natural energy flows.

  “I hope you are wrong, but I will look into it.” I moved to stand, but Matt grabbed my arm.

  “Before you go,” he said and motioned toward the waning orbs.

  “Of course. I will do what I can to keep them alight for now.”

  His now pliable lips pulled up into a full smile. His bottom lip, however, was still cracked by small lines, and one pulled free, which let blood ooze from his mouth. He didn’t seem to notice.

  He was a vision of sadness, but also resilience. If he didn’t temper his spell work, it would eventually kill him. But he knew the risks.

  I gave his shoulder a squeeze and went to work. My lips formed an O as I whistled the song that would hopefully give the Godkin enough time, for now. I pushed the spell out until my lips ached. Matt was back on his feet when I turned to leave, his hand outstretched in my direction.

  “You need that more than I do,” I said, hesitating.

  He pushed his hand and the vile in my direction again. Energy elixirs were difficult to make and scarce. Even I didn’t have the power to craft them, and I had tried many times.

  “I have more, this one is for you.”

  I plucked a delicate vial from his hand and nodded my thanks. I pocketed the potion, then wrapped my arms around my middle as I stepped outside. The night had grown chillier while I cared for the orbs. I must have been at it for longer than I thought.