by Viola Grace
It was decided. They got in the car and returned to the haunted house. Once they were inside, Sable walked toward them. Imara kept herself on standby, and when Sable touched the bones, there was silence for an entire minute while they waited. A bright blue spirit emerged and stood over her body. “So, that is all that I am.”
Imara blinked and smiled. “That is not all you are, but it is the remains of your physical body. Those that sacrificed you will be searched for, and we will work on gaining justice for you.”
Sable laughed harshly. “Sure, you will.”
Hannah sighed. “I was sent here by the mayor. He knows what my work entails. When I clear a property, I clear it. I don’t want to force you, but I wish to offer you a memorial near the place where you were murdered.”
Benko stepped forward. “I will carve your likeness on the memorial. You will be remembered, and you will have a place to anchor yourself and speak from.”
Her glowing form walked up to Benko and stared up at him. “Why would you do that for me?”
“Because your story is regretful, and your soul is bright.” Benko smiled. “And I enjoy a challenge.”
Sable put her hands on her hips and glared up at him. “I am not a challenge.”
“No, but your memorial will be. Your bones are in danger now that they have been collected. I know of a very safe place for them.”
Sable beckoned to him. “Tell me.”
Benko whispered next to her ear, and when he finished, she smiled.
“If you can pull that off, I will be impressed.”
He grinned. “But will you save me a dance?”
She paused and nodded. “I will.”
Hannah smiled. “Well, then, Sable, if you will accept the memorial at the Grunwald mansion, we can be on our way.”
Sable nodded and looked around. “My home for years. I am going to be happy to see the end of it. Right. Let’s go.”
She turned into a pool of light and settled on her bones.
With that resounding endorsement, they went.
Chapter Eleven
Benko carried Sable to the rear of the house, into the center of the ornamental garden. He was moving with purpose.
Imara shrugged. “She wants to be here.”
Benko came marching back with the basin, and he put it at the scarred base of a tree. He grimaced. “She wants to be where she died.”
Hannah smiled at how besotted he seemed with a dead woman. Well, different strokes for different folks.
She exhaled. There was still blood in the walls at the other house, but it wasn’t anything that couldn’t be solved with sandblasting and new drywall.
Neekil wrapped his arms around her. “One problem solved and another rearing up.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, the woman that Benko seems to have focused on will never carry the next generation.”
She looked up at him. “If you are saying that finding a mate is all about procreation, I am going to cut you off.”
“You mean you are going to stop me, right?”
She snorted and looked at Benko as he fetched stones to shape a protective, seamless case over the bones. They stood by until he finished, watching the bones being silently interred. The brothers brought stone after stone, and Benko built a fey-locked box that could only be opened by one of his own kind.
The spirit of Sable emerged and sat on the box, looking down at Benko. “What are you doing?”
He smiled and kept working. “Applying layers of seals. I don’t want anyone coming for you.”
Imara smiled and checked her watch. “Dang. I need to get back to the office.”
Benny offered, “We can drive you as long as you don’t mind sharing the back seat with me and one of the guys.”
Hannah shook her head. “I picked up Nylki and Imara; I will take them home.”
Krisfel cleared his throat. “I will walk Nylki home through the shadows if she doesn’t mind.”
The young woman smiled and nodded. “That would be fine. In that case, I could stay a little longer.”
Imara grinned. “Excellent. Yeah, Benny, I will take you up on that lift. Hannah, call me any time. I might not answer right away, but I will call you back.”
Hannah clasped her hand and inclined her head to Mr. E. “I look forward to calling on you again in the future. I breathlessly look forward to the bill.”
Imara chuckled.
The XIA and the spectral consultant left the mansion.
Hannah looked at Nylki and smiled. “Doing okay with the dark elves?”
The woman nodded her head. “They are different from the others I have met. They keep their lust contained. It is... relaxing.”
Neekil followed Hannah and wrapped his arms around her. “We choose our focuses with deliberation. It is not something to be engaged in at a whim.”
Morith grinned. “Casual sex is casual sex, but even then, lust has a focus. We live close together; we can’t get sloppy.”
Nylki nodded.
Hannah asked quietly, “Is your brother a child of Psyche as well?”
She nodded again. “He is. Choosing jobs that favour our needs is easier now than it has been previously.”
Hannah nodded. “I see.”
Nylki looked hesitant, but then, she asked, “Can I speak with you for a minute?”
Hannah nodded, and they walked into the maze. Nylki looked at her with huge eyes. “Can I feed from you?”
Hannah blinked.
“I just need a little, and I am afraid that one of the others won’t stop.”
“Oh. Um, sure. I am not really in control right now.”
“I know.” Nylki stepped toward her and touched her cheek. “Please?”
Hannah leaned forward and kissed her. There was a tug at her soul; the rush of restraint that she had been wearing most of the day broke free. The close-lipped kiss was quick, but it knocked Nylki on her butt.
Hannah reached out and helped the woman to her feet.
Sable’s voice was amused. “For such a little peck, that kiss packed a punch. The guys are all trying to get themselves under control so they won’t freak Nylki out.”
Hannah walked back toward the tables and chairs, and the dark figures were standing still with their eyes closed. She walked up to Neekil and wrapped her arms around his waist. “So, you look stressed.”
He opened glowing crimson eyes. “That was quite the rush.”
“Yeah, I am guessing that Nylki wasn’t able to catch it all. You seem tense.” She was amused as hell.
“I want to fling you over my shoulder and haul you into the woods.”
“Shocking the squirrels?”
“I think they would be long gone before they were shocked.” He was amused. His body relaxed slightly.
The other two near the table were also markedly less tense if you kept your gaze above their groins.
Benko was bent over with his head pressed to the growing obelisk.
Nylki slowly and timidly emerged from the maze with Sable at her side. She looked stronger, much stronger, and her sweatshirt and jeans had been traded for the dress at some point while Hannah had been gone.
Krisfel walked up to her and bent over to whisper in her ear. She put a hand on his arm and spoke just as quietly.
Hannah glanced at Neekil, and he was staring at the two, so she distracted him with the most reliable method she had discovered. She kissed him. She immediately had his full attention.
When she surfaced from the ferocity, he was holding her, her thighs were around his hips, and he had a hand threaded through her hair.
She felt the pulse through her lips and elsewhere. “So, do I have your full attention now?”
He chuckled and stroked her cheek. “You always have it.”
Sable commented from nearby. “That was... intense. Hannah, do you think I can have an interment ceremony? I mean, since I am not buried at a cem
etery or anything, and I don’t have any family to contact.”
Hannah smiled. “Certainly. We can even have a proper service with appropriate music and everything.”
Sable shook her head, braids flying. “I want a party. A big-ass party. I am going to figure out how to dress up instead of just being glowy in the clothes I was killed in, and I want to dance.”
Neekil was still holding her while Hannah asked for her colour and size preferences.
When she finally slid to the ground, he didn’t let her go far. He kept his arms around her.
She sighed and looked up at him. “I am sorry, but I really need to hit something. I am going to head home and look at the files.”
He smiled, and shadows wrapped around him. Them. They were standing in the kitchen, and the stack of files was neatly on the table. She grabbed the armful and stepped back to his embrace. He took the files and set them on the counter. “Would you care to enjoy this moment of privacy?”
She grabbed the files and glared at him. “I really want to punch something right now, and if you want to be that something, I do warn you that I will be using the hammer.”
He blinked. “That bad, huh?”
“I am still adapting, and I am getting much stronger. My regular gym doesn’t have equipment for extranaturals, so picking up large rocks is beginning to have some appeal.”
He wrapped her in his arms, and they returned to the mansion.
After a few moments, Nylki smiled and said, “I thought you would be longer, considering that kiss.”
Hannah tucked the files under her arm and walked over to a fieldstone tucked against a tree; she looked to Benko, “Do you need this?”
He shook his head.
Hannah flexed her fingers, and the rock shattered. The sound that the dark elves made wasn’t quite a gasp; it was far more strangled than that.
Nylki looked at Hannah’s empty hand and whispered. “Oh. Right.”
Neekil stepped to Hannah’s side. “So, you wanted to hit something?”
She smiled. “I think a few of these will fit the bill, but I might be doing some property damage at the same time. It’s going to be an entertaining evening.”
She walked to the table and flipped through the files, setting four of them aside. She pinned them down with a finger. “These are simple hauntings. The rest of these all involve some kind of magically enhanced creatures getting into trouble. That was what I want to play with tonight. Sorry, Neekil.”
He shrugged. “I am not worried about it. As long as I get to watch your back, I am fine.”
Hannah grinned. “Good.”
Morith smiled. “When you come back, please bring phones, computers, or anything else you can think of to help us catch up with the modern world.”
Neekil chuckled. “I will place orders for the items, and you will probably have them tomorrow.”
He pulled out his cell phone and tapped at it with this thumb for a minute while she read the files. She had a pretty good idea of what each of the chronic extranatural interferences could be.
She smiled to herself as she flipped through the documents. She was definitely wanting to punch something. Her body’s physical strength had jumped that afternoon, and she didn’t have an outlet.
Changes were to be expected, but being able to crush rock with her hands was definitely something that no one had advertised as a side effect of her transformation.
When Neekil finished tapping away, he nodded. “We will set up the phones tomorrow. I will pick them up at the store.”
He looked at her with a smile. “Ready?”
She nodded. “Yes. I am going to go smash some gremlins.”
Nylki looked at her curiously. “Smash?”
Hannah manifested her smaller hammer and tapped it into the other palm. Thunder rumbled in the clear sky. “Yeah, smash.”
Nylki’s eyes widened. “Oh. Right. Got it.”
Hannah grinned. “Yeah, everybody changes, I just wasn’t anticipating everything happening at once. You are still good for Krisfel to take you home?”
She nodded. “Thanks, though. You do what you have to.”
Neekil snorted. “Come on, Hannah. I promise to let you hit things until you are tired.”
Hannah nodded. “Fine, but you know that if I don’t manage to exhaust myself, I am coming for you next, and I am shaky on how to throw a punch.”
He walked with her to where she had parked her car. They got in, and when they were buckled up, she smiled. “Why do you want to come with me?”
“Gremlins bite.”
She laughed and drove through the city streets to a grocery store, followed by a run to the first of the houses. The property was huge. It was an old farmstead, and the house had a reputation for hostility so great that the recommendation for razing the house had been mentioned in the file.
She parked and got out of the car with the honey and a loaf of bread.
Neekil had already clued in. “So, you aren’t going to use the hammer?”
“Not if I can just ask it to leave.” She walked up the porch steps.
“You are hoping that it fights.” He was amused.
She opened the lockbox and took the key. She glanced over her shoulder. “You know me so well.”
He muttered, “Not yet, but I am working on it.”
She grinned as she put her shoulder against the door and pushed. The scent of an empty house was unmistakable, old carpet, paint, and a tremendous amount of dust.
She found the kitchen and pulled out a plate, setting a chunk of bread on it before covering it with honey.
Hannah left the bread and honey and left the room. When she heard the imperceptible sound, she looked and said, “Greetings of the day, kobold.”
He looked at her in surprise. “Are you the new owner of this home?”
“No, I am a broker attempting to sell it. I hear that you are hostile toward those viewing the home.”
The house spirit looked confused. “I have always been here. They are trespassing.”
Hannah sighed. “The Yarrow family is gone. The last member passed twenty years ago. Did no one tell you?”
He shook his head. “The last Yarrow that I remember was Zemir. Did he die?”
“He did. He was on a tropical vacation and suffered a drowning accident. He never came home.”
The kobold nodded. “He didn’t say farewell, either.”
Hannah felt his pain. “Right. Well, it is hard to occupy a house with a kobold attached. Will you leave?”
He frowned. “I have nowhere else to go.”
She groaned. “What would you have done if Zemir had said farewell, or you knew for sure he was dead?”
“I served the family. I would have died when it was announced. I would have faded into the woodwork.”
Hannah blinked. “What will you do now?”
“I suppose I will begin the process. It will take ten years, but the house will take me in once again.”
She groaned and tried to think of an out that didn’t involve what she was about to say. “We will try to find you a new family. What is your name?”
“Abert.”
“Abert. Glad to meet you. I am Hannah Lee. I am the realtor.”
He looked behind her and smiled. “Do other realtors travel with dark elves?”
She chuckled. “No, that is a new service.”
He snorted. “Of course, it is, and you aren’t wearing an armoured glamour.”
She looked down, and sure enough, she had defaulted to her human appearance.
His ears were perking up from the low droop they had been at when she had arrived, and his eyes were sparkling. “I like you, Hannah Lee.”
She smiled. “I am glad to hear it, Abert. How are the neighbours?”
“Over a mile away. This property is on five hundred acres, has powered outbuildings, and about fifty acres of the land is cleared. The rest is heavy trees and an aband
oned mine.”
Hannah lifted her head. “What kind of mine?”
“Silver. It was played out, but it still exists.”
She chuckled and let her glamour fade. “You should have my job.”
Abert flexed his ears. “Tempting, but I don’t think I could fuck the elf.”
She smiled. “If I give you another serving of food, can you manage a quick dusting by tomorrow?”
Abert nodded. “Of course, Madam. Anything else?”
“Just what you are comfortable with. This is your house, and we want to show it to the best advantage to get you a bright new family.” Hannah sighed. “If not, I will help you pass swiftly. Deal?”
He nodded. “Deal.”
She prepared the food for him, and he devoured it, prompting an additional dose.
Household kobolds could only eat what was given to them, and they loved honey.
“Abert, do you have bees on the property?”
He nodded. “I am allowed to serve myself.”
“Good. I might not be back for a few days.”
“Your generosity will keep me fuelled for a month. Thank you for taking the time with me instead of destroying me.”
Hannah felt her face heat. “It was an option of last resort.”
Neekil murmured, “I would like to look around.”
Abert nodded. “Please, enjoy a look around. The mine has been blocked, but it is in the northeast corner of the property.”
Neekil smiled. “I will return in a moment, Hannah.”
He dissolved into shadow and left the farmhouse.
Hannah looked at Abert. “Can you give me a tour?”
Abert nodded. “Certainly. The features that I offered have faded over the years, but for the right family, I could rebuild my skills.”
Hannah looked toward the house. “Perhaps you can show me.”
Abert finished his bread and honey surprisingly neatly. “My pleasure, Miss.”
They walked into the family room, and it got bigger as they stood inside it. Abert smiled. “I can increase the available space as needed. At my best, I had eighteen bedrooms. I keep the walls clear so that temporal scans are impossible without the homeowner’s cooperation. This place is safe for a family if you and your elf are interested.”
