Open-Haunted-House

by Viola Grace

  “Hannah, you are in real estate?”

  She quirked her lips. “I am. I was literally in it for a few hours a couple of weeks ago; now, I am just rehabilitating a few homes here and there.”

  The golden elf in formal wear was pretty, but she preferred Neekil’s brooding looks. She retrieved her hand with a slight jerk.

  Neekil smiled. “His wife, public defender Kiita, is over with Morith, apparently checking the fit of his trousers.”

  Morith looked both intrigued and alarmed.

  Hannah smiled. “Please, excuse me, I am going to rescue my brother.”

  She walked toward Morith, and she fought the overt sexuality that Kiita was putting out with her own. The shadows won; they just got stronger in the light.

  “Morith, please, introduce me to your playmate.”

  Morith’s look of relief was telling. “Hannah, this is Kiita. Kiita, this is my sister, Hannah.”

  She took a step toward the elf, and Kiita smiled vacantly. “You are stunning, Hannah.”

  Hannah took in the woman’s pale gold skin, the heavy waves of dark gold hair, and the leaf green dress. “You are lovely as well, Kiita. Are you having a nice time?”

  She smoothly linked arms with the smaller elf and walked her back toward the larger portion of the gathering. “Have you seen the mantlepiece?”

  “There was a crowd around it when we entered. I hear it is spectacular.”

  “It is and fused to the very foundation of the mansion. It is now part of Redbird City.” She walked slowly with the other woman, and the crowd melted from their path.

  She led Kiita directly toward the mantlepiece, and folks who were examining it backed away. Hannah wasn’t trying to hold in her aura tonight. Tonight was definitely the night to let things loose.

  When the mantlepiece was clear, Kiita surged toward it and ran her fingers over it with a gasp. “Such detail. It’s stunning.”

  Hannah remained with her, occasionally being caught in the flash of a camera.

  Kiita reached the center of the piece, and she said, “Hannah, is this you?”

  Hannah would have blushed if she could. The image was that of a woman with blood-colored hair, and her thighs wrapped around a dark elf with a distinctive set to his expression. As they were both naked, it was obvious what they were doing.

  “It is a depiction of me, I suppose.” She knew better than that; Aberan had done it and bragged about it smugly.

  “Why is your colouration so different from the others?”

  “I am a war companion, not an elf bride. The fact that I choose to fuck an elf is my own business.” She grinned.

  Kiita paused and then laughed. “That it is. You could have any male here, but you choose him?”

  “He chooses me every time, so it is an even trade. That is why we are companions first and lovers second. And third, and fourth, if we have enough time before work.”

  Kiita giggled, an enchanted sound that grated on Hannah’s nerves, but she kept her smile fixed. Kiita’s eyes were canny. “You aren’t susceptible to me.”

  “No, but you can always flatter me and buy me dinner, the old-fashioned way.” Hannah grinned. “It won’t work, but I do enjoy a nice meal.”

  Kiita chuckled. “Fair enough.”

  Hannah was going to say something else when Nylki began singing outside.

  She excused herself and walked to watch Nylki singing. Her eyes were nearly closed, and she focused on the song that floated out over those gathered.

  Mrs. Northrup’s voice brought Hannah out of her stupor. “Oh, Hannah, I didn’t think I would see you here.”

  “Why not?”

  “I would have thought that the memories of what happened here were too traumatic.”

  “Oh. That. No. I am fine.”

  She looked Mrs. Northrup in the eye and smiled slowly. “Do you know what this event is for?”

  The realtor shook her head. “I assumed that it was as described on the invitation, a grand reopening for the Grunwald mansion.”

  “That’s correct. Enjoy the entertainment, it is going to be a fantastic night.”

  She walked through the crowd and saw some of the best and brightest in the city, as well as some that were stunned to get the invitation.

  Nylki sang a few songs, took a break, and then she resumed. Her voice was actually magical.

  It was nearly eleven when Benko clapped his hands, and all heads turned toward him.

  He held up his wineglass, where he stood next to a pillar of fabric concealing something tall.

  “Several years ago, my brother was knocked into a coma in this very building. Three years before that, a young woman went missing. Tonight, we honour the location of the bones of Sable Winter, murdered far too young. This is her monument.”

  He grasped the fabric and whisked it away from the statue of Sable in an evening gown, half her braids arranged in a twist and the rest cascading over her left shoulder. She was carved of granite, lapis, and a core of lava rock for weight. Hannah had watched her come together.

  “To Sable Winter. May she rest until the first dance.” Benko lifted his glass.

  The rest of those who had glasses raised them up and toasted her.

  The statue glowed, and to even Benko’s surprise, she looked around.

  “On this spot, my throat was slit, and I was drained of blood to help get assistance from a demon. A group of seven gathered and summoned Yomra using me. Fortunately, they are here tonight, so I can speak to them personally.”

  She lifted the hem of her skirt and stepped off her stone support. Several couples tried to make a run for it, but Benny and her guys, as well as Imara’s Argus and his team, were there with several other XIA teams and a representative from the mage guild.

  Sable stepped forward and grabbed those who had participated in her murder.

  Benny snorted and held Mrs. Northrup while she spluttered. “It was me that you were trying to kill that day, and Yomra can’t help you anymore. I killed him, too.”

  Mr. Northrup snorted. “You can’t kill a demon king.”

  Benny turned her head, and a huge rack of stag horns was visible on her head, her skin turned golden, and here eyes were acid green and serpentine. “You can if you are one.” She shook her head again and resumed her human-seeming with fey eyes.

  The gathered demon worshippers muttered and panicked. The XIA gathered them up and hauled them away.

  Sable sighed. “Is that it?”

  The mage representative shrugged. “It is all for now. They have to be processed, interrogated, bail assessed—which they are not eligible for demon magic—and then the hearings. We will bring seers and transcriptionists to you for your testimony.”

  “Thank you. I don’t know how much I weigh, but I think it is more than most vehicles would be comfortable with.”

  Benko walked up behind her. “You weigh three hundred pounds.”

  Hannah winced. “Benko, you don’t discuss a lady’s weight.”

  Sable smiled. “Thanks for calling me a lady, Hannah. It means a lot to be treated like I am human.”

  “You sort of are. More so than me right now.”

  Sable chuckled. “I like your dress.”

  “Thank you. Yours is nice as well.”

  “Mine is built in.” Sable grinned.

  “Get Benko to carve you a naked body, and then, you can choose your own clothing.”

  Sable’s eyes glowed. “There is a thought. But would he?”

  Hannah sighed. “He is standing right next to you. Ask him.”

  Sable looked at Benko, and he looked down at her.

  Hannah tiptoed away, and Neekil caught her with a hand on her naked back. “Are you matchmaking between my brother and a ghost?”

  “No, that would be highly inappropriate. I just want them to speak to each other. She needs a friend, and he needs to be needed.”

  He nodded, and Nylki started to sing a
ballad that was soft and slow. Neekil led Hannah to the dance floor and took her in his arms. “Now, if you are done meddling in the affairs of others for the night...”

  “Almost. Aberan needs someone to hook up with. He’s just about silent right now, and that isn’t good.”

  “He’s having sex in the woods with a dryad right now.”

  She beamed. “Then, my work for the evening is done.”

  “Good, now spend time with me.”

  She rocked with him slowly, and she sighed. “I am not that great at dancing.”

  “I have noticed.”

  She slapped his arm hard enough for the building to pick up the echo.

  As they danced, others joined them. Benko was dancing with Sable, Morith was dancing with one of the party planner’s assistants, a young woman named Wella. She looked intensely uncomfortable at being seen in work clothing on a formal dance floor, but it was difficult to refuse a dark elf.

  Hannah looked over and saw Andrea with her clipboard staying in the shadows and making sure that everything was constantly refilled and the musicians and singers got their regular breaks.

  It was a rough job, but Andrea was doing it well. Even the fairy lights in the trees and on the house were perfect.

  “Stop staring at your surroundings and let me see the same look you gave me earlier. It did wonders for my ego.”

  She focused on her partner and smiled. “Don’t worry. I see you in this suit when I close my eyes now, that memory isn’t going anywhere.”

  He grinned. “Thank you. These things are damned awkward.”

  “And my dress keeps threatening to slip from my shoulders, but...”

  “It is worth it.” He murmured as he moved to the music. “You are the most striking creature at this party.”

  She chuckled and swayed with him. “You are just saying that because we are not both dripping with gremlin slime. That tends to change a relationship.”

  “Ah, watching you go all psycho on those biting bastards was hilarious. The expression on your face when they started exploding under the hammer was a memory I cherish.” He grinned. “These are the things that bond a couple according to relationship magazines.”

  She laughed. “So that is why my past dating never took off. I was missing an important ingredient.”

  “Oh, it is the little things that slip past us in the early days. It’s a good thing that we have both managed to get past those early learning days.” He spun her through the crowd that contained every manner of extranatural, a spectral entity, and a few mages. The party was just getting into gear.

  * * * *

  Imara stepped away from the party and transported to an emergency guild meeting.

  She stared at the elders, and they stared back. The speaker said, “What do you know about the new elf bride?”

  Imara tilted her head. “She isn’t an elf bride, she’s a war companion, and there is absolutely no reason to pursue her.”

  The mages snorted.

  The speaker said, “We have to stamp out the abomination before she can breed into the dark elf line.”

  Imara shook her head. “Stupid. She’s not just someone with basic level mage training, she will fight you, and she will win.”

  The speaker smiled. “We have already sent guild assassins. They will take her out quickly and cleanly. She will be forgotten in a bright blast of magic.”

  Imara pressed her fingers to her forehead. “You have dispatched assassins?”

  “Correct.”

  “To the party? To the party where the mayor, half the XIA brass, and twenty members of the press have already sent images of Hannah around the world.” Imara glared at them. “You fucking idiot.”

  The men and women began to look unwell.

  “And besides, she isn’t just a mage she’s—”

  * * * *

  Morith’s dance partner’s head came up, looking toward the woods. Hannah stepped away from the dance floor as ordered by the dozen men holding weapons on the party. She stood in an open space and summoned her hammers. Thunder roared, and lightning flashed as she called the power.

  * * * *

  Imara sighed. “—descended from a god who is paying a debt. She is outside of your purview, and your assassins are either dead or under arrest. Prepare to be arrested or, at the very least, relieved of your positions in the morning. This is a complete shit show. Excuse me, I have to get back to the party to help my friends. You decide what your punishment should be for attempting to assassinate a mage in good standing in front of the most powerful witnesses this side of the continent. Do your fucking homework before you act next time, and pray to whatever you worship that the dark elves don’t declare war over this. You wouldn’t stand a chance.”

  She returned to the gathering, pulled the spectres of the assassins out just far enough to knock them out, and she called the XIA and the mage guild offices.

  Hannah was still crackling with lightning and fury. “What the actual hell, Imara?”

  “They were trying to fulfill a four-thousand-year-old order to kill any and all war companions.” Imara sighed. “I have explained the error of their ways. There should either be a mass resignation of the elders, a public apology to you, or there is going to be a declaration of war by the dark elves at some point. Either way, things are going to get complicated for a while.”

  Imara walked toward her, disregarding the lightning. “Are you okay?”

  Neekil wrapped his arms around his mate. “She will be. She will become stronger, more focused over time. We will protect her.”

  Hannah smiled and patted his arm. Her hammers were gone as swiftly as they came. “I will protect myself, honey bunch.”

  Imara snickered while holding the assassins’ spectres.

  Neekil chuckled at the pet name, but his eyes were blazing crimson, and shadows snapped around him. He was pissed.

  “I have alerted the council to their colossal error in judgment. As there are plenty of witnesses here, it will be difficult for them to claim innocence on this matter.”

  The mayor walked up to them. “The entire council put a hit out on one of my citizens, in my city? This is going to take some explaining and a lot of grovelling.”

  Imara nodded. “I should say so. I will contact my mother and see if she can contact others who can engage in some kind of smooth transfer of power.”

  Mr. E remained on her shoulder, his eyes glowing. His presence made it so much easier to hold the spectres of twelve men at once.

  Hannah cocked her head. “Would it be better if I spoke to them?”

  A woman who was familiar to Hannah and the dark elves came forward; her blood-red hair was strikingly similar to the war companion’s. “I will have a chat with them.”

  Imara felt a tremendous surge of power, and then, the woman in the black gown was gone.

  Hannah chuckled weakly. “What are you going to do with Grandma?”

  * * * *

  The elder council of the mage guild was murmuring to themselves when she walked in. “Ladies and gentlemen, I hear that you have put a hit out on my newest granddaughter, and that is something I can’t abide.”

  She poured herself a glass of wine and stood in the center of the room. The dozen shocked faces must have never seen one of her kind before; they looked shocked and confused.

  “Now, I have spent thousands of years tending to my line. So, for you to try and wipe out my newest and most promising child just as she comes into her power, I want to know the reasoning for this.”

  She sat on the central table and hunkered forward, waiting.

  Someone blurted out, “Dark elves are dangerous.”

  She nodded. “You are right. They are, but the modern world and other species have caught up to them. A modern dark elf is less dangerous than a lesser dragon.”

  “Our books and tomes say that they are dangerous.”

  The woman waved her hand. “They are stagnant.
They breed for physical characteristics, not for power. The ancients were upset with losing wives and daughters to them, so they crafted this fiction based in fact.”

  She leaned back. “Isn’t it better that you anchor them in society and help them to flourish and create attachments? The split in ancient societies and the dark elves’ avoidance of light made them mythical and dangerous. Now, you can see them as they are. Just an elf with a predilection for rocks.”

  “You would give one of your own bloodline to them?”

  She laughed. “I did promise it, and Hannah was swept into it. So, her will is her will. I honour her decision, and I am enjoying her grasp of power. It will be an excellent defense for the city and continent if anything rises.”

  She rose to her feet. “Let me be clear. With her mate a dark elf, she has one chance at an heir. The odds are against it being a girl, but my grandchild is going to come into this world, or I will destroy your children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, cousins, uncles, aunts, and then, I will reach back through time and make your family lines one thin thread and return to this moment. If you destroy my line, I will destroy yours, and every bastard, accident, and by-blow will not be spared. Whether there is a new council or not, I will come for you and yours.”

  She turned and walked out of the room. “Have a nice night.”

  Lightning struck and collapsed the hallway that led to the council chamber. That should have gotten their attention.

  * * * *

  The party resumed in a slightly subdued manner. The XIA arrested the mages, bound them with spell-restricting cuffs, and then took them into custody. When they were cuffed, Imara let their spectres fully back into their bodies. They collapsed unconscious and were carted away.

  Hannah and Neekil stood near the mayor and the commissioner. Nylki was still singing, and Benko and Sable were still dancing. Morith had disappeared with his companion, and Aberan was nearby, all of them available if they were needed.

  “So, they jumped the wrong party.” She murmured it with Neekil’s arms around her.