by Brey Willows
“If you’re done staring…” Kody murmured and reached into the back of the cart to grab the bags before she turned and faced the woman in the doorway. “Di, you’re looking good enough to eat. Great to see you again.”
The woman pushed away from the doorway and sauntered over to them, swaying like a birch tree in a breeze. Maggie felt every grain of road dust and every wrinkle in her T-shirt. The sling was just the cherry on top. Still, she didn’t look away from the woman’s curious gaze.
“I’d heard the rumors, and I figured you’d come this way at some point. I’m glad to know it was true.” She reached out and fingered a piece of Maggie’s hair. “They never do look like much, do they?” With a shrug, she turned to Kody and pressed against her. “How many rooms do you need?”
Maggie gritted her teeth, yanked her bag from Kody’s hand, and started toward the door. She didn’t need to watch the sex Barbie making her move.
“Two rooms, four beds. And introduce yourself properly, you swamp wench. Stop stirring the pot.”
Maggie stopped and looked over her shoulder. “Don’t feel the need to babysit.” She didn’t bother to hide the bite in her tone, but Kody just rolled her eyes and gave her that smirk she’d come to know well.
The woman pouted attractively but turned away from Kody and moved to Maggie. “I’m Meridiana, the current owner of the Key Keepers. Everyone calls me Di. Welcome.” She turned away, her perfunctory role finished. “I’ve always got rooms for you. I suggest you come up the back way, though. News of your arrival back in the Celtic sector has spread fast, and plenty of people are interested in your whereabouts.”
She went ahead of them, and Maggie waited for Kody to catch up. “If that’s true, can we trust her?”
Kody took Maggie’s bag back and hoisted it over her shoulder, but before she could respond, Brenda spoke up.
“Di can be a bit much to take at first, but it’s all an act. When you get to know her, she’s a great person and smart as a whip.” Brenda took Maggie’s hand and tugged her toward the door. “I think I can speak for all of us when I say we can trust her.”
Maggie looked at Kody and Shamus, who both nodded agreement.
“Fine. We’ll stay under sex Barbie’s roof. Hopefully, this won’t take long.”
Brenda giggled and even Shamus sounded like he was laughing. Maggie followed them inside and was glad to feel Kody’s solid presence behind her. They went up a wide set of stone stairs just to the left of the doorway. Two doors at the end of a row stood open across from one another. Sex Barbie stood with her arms out, pointing to each one.
“The beds are bigger in that one, but there’s a bathtub in that one, instead of just a shower. Your choice.” She dropped her arms and sashayed back to Kody. “When you’re settled in, come to my private area so we can talk. I’ll have dinner brought up.”
She leaned in and gave Kody a lingering kiss. Maggie huffed and roughly shouldered past them and into the room with bigger beds. She didn’t want more sleepless nights like she had when sleeping on the Puca’s too-small beds. Two large beds were pushed against each side wall in an impressively large room. A dining table and chairs sat in what looked like a little breakfast nook, complete with a small fridge. She opened it and found bottles of orange juice and a little loaf of bread.
“Fresh squeezed and homemade Slipper bread. You should try it.” Kody dropped the bags and flung herself backward onto the bed.
“How is it you can have a fridge but not cars? Never mind. What is she?” Maggie asked, her hands on her hips. “Why is she so…so…that?”
“A succubus,” Kody replied with her eyes closed, as though she were saying grass was green.
Maggie stared at her and then kicked at Kody’s boot, hanging over the bed. “A sex demon? You had sex with a sex demon?”
Kody raised herself up on her elbows and sighed. “Wouldn’t you, given the chance? I know you felt the pull. Everyone does.” When Maggie just glared at her, she shook her head and flopped back onto the bed. “You’d have gone there if you’d been raised here. And like I said, I haven’t been here in a very long time. You can’t hold my past against me, Mags.”
Words of any coherence that didn’t include swearing failed her, so Maggie grabbed her bag and closed herself in the bathroom. Quickly reminded of her sore shoulder, she had to slow down to strip off her clothes, but once she was under the hot water, she took deep breaths and forced herself to calm down.
Logically, it was true. Holding Kody’s past against her was juvenile and unfair in a variety of ways. Maggie wasn’t her girlfriend or love interest. She wasn’t even dating material. They were coworkers, people brought together by some kind of historical, genetic destiny. Nothing more. Who Kody had been with didn’t matter. Nor did it matter who she was with now.
Maggie winced at that thought. She didn’t want it to matter. But if she were honest with herself, it did. The very thought of Kody sliding into the sex demon’s bed and then walking around the market with Maggie the next day was enough to make the bile rise at the back of her throat. But Kody had that right, and Maggie had absolutely no call to ask her not to. That meant that the less she knew about Kody’s active personal life outside their working relationship, the better. They were friends, but friendship didn’t mean having to know every detail.
She scrubbed herself until her skin was squeaking and pink. Damned if she’d go to dinner with a sex demon with a smudge of dirt on her skin. Once she was out and dry, she chose her favorite jeans and a simple T-shirt she’d always loved. No way was she going to play a game of come fuck me clothes with someone who had far greater skill. There was no need.
She ignored the little voice that wished Kody would find her some kind of sexy, whatever kind it might be.
Calm and feeling back in control, she left the bathroom and found Kody on her side, fast asleep. After taking a moment to steal a look at the detailed tattoos on Kody’s forearms, she gently tapped her shoulder. When Kody opened her eyes Maggie could see how tired she was and felt guilty for giving her a hard time when they’d arrived.
“Shower is free, unless you want to go to sleep?”
Kody shook her head and pushed herself off the bed with a grunt. “I need to wash off all this dust. I swear I smell like the horses.” She took her bag into the bathroom.
Maggie took the time to make sure the pouch containing the key and hag stone was still safely tucked against the jar of marbles in her bag before she sat on the bed and rested her head against the wall. A knock on the door startled her out of a light doze, and she opened it cautiously.
“Can I come in?”
Maggie opened the door to the sex demon and watched her warily as she closed the door behind her. But when she looked closer, she saw what she hadn’t seen before. Light lines framed her pretty eyes, and there were strands of silver in the silky hair of her braid. The skin over her collarbone was stretched tight and looked leathery. This didn’t look at all like the seductress who had met them outside.
“Sorry for that little demonstration out there. Walls have both eyes and ears in this place, and even though I’m pretty sure it’s secure back here, I didn’t want to take any chances. I have a reputation and appearances to keep up, and if anyone did see us, they’d assume I was just up to my usual shallow games, which is safer for everyone.” She looked at Maggie expectantly.
“Um. Okay.” Maggie liked this version of her much better and could see what Brenda had been talking about. “Nice to meet you.”
Di’s smile was genuine. “Likewise. You have no idea what it means to have a spinner and a shepherd back in the lands. People are going wild.” She moved back toward the door and tugged on Maggie’s T-shirt as she passed. “That’s a great shirt. I wanted to ask if you’re a vegetarian or whatever? I can do pretty much anything.”
Maggie shook her head, her thoughts in a whirl. Sex Barbie was really nice. “No, thanks. Nothing specific. I could definitely use a drink, though.”
Di
laughed. “I can imagine. Come to my room when you’re ready, and I’ll have all kinds of stuff for you to eat and drink.”
She left and Maggie was alone with her thoughts. She’d judged someone she didn’t know based on her looks. Well, that and her general level of bitchiness. Granted, it was her looks and the sexual pull of her powers, which, like Kody said, she’d certainly felt and wasn’t necessarily Di’s fault. Jealousy had also led her into mean girl territory, and it wasn’t a place she wanted to spend any time. It was a humbling thought and one she’d pay attention to as the rest of the journey unfolded. She couldn’t let this new life turn her into something, or someone, she wasn’t.
Kody came out looking refreshed but still tired. Maggie held up her sling. “Would you mind helping me get this back on?”
Kody put her bag on her bed and turned to Maggie. She put her hands on both sides of Maggie’s shoulder to lift and rotate it. Maggie let out a small sound of pain but liked the way Kody’s hands felt as they manipulated her injury.
“I think you should probably leave it off for tonight. We can put it on before we go out tomorrow, but you should let it move freely for a while so it doesn’t stiffen up.” She didn’t step back, and instead looked into Maggie’s eyes. “You okay?”
Maggie rested her head against Kody’s chest and was glad when her arms went around her. “I’m tired. I’m out of sorts. I just saw some amazing things, and I’ve learned that I can be a judgmental asshat. I’m ready for sleep, but Di said she’s got food and drinks for us when we’re ready, and I get the feeling we need to hear whatever she has to say.” She held back the tears that threatened. “I think I’m overwhelmed.”
Kody’s chin rested on the top of Maggie’s head. “How could you not be, Mags? You’ve been dropped into a whole new world, and you have all kinds of crazy things going on within it. If you weren’t so strong, you’d be in a mental hospital instead of here, getting ready to do battle with fairy tale villains.”
They stood that way, entwined, for several more minutes before Maggie sighed and pulled away. “Thank you. You always seem to know what to say.”
Kody reached into Maggie’s bag and pulled out the pouch with the hag stone and key. “I won’t always know, but I’m glad it helps. I feel like you should have this with you at all times. Want me to carry it?”
Maggie pointed to the cargo pockets of Kody’s pants. “I think you’ve got more room for it, if you don’t mind.” She didn’t miss the way Kody looked over what she was wearing, and it made her skin tingle.
“True.” She slid the pouch into the thigh-side pocket. “Shall we go see what our hostess has to say?”
Maggie took Kody’s offered arm, and they made their way to Di’s room. When the thought rose at how many times Kody had been there before, Maggie squashed it with a mental fly swatter. No more. Kody is here with me. That’s what matters.
When Kody flexed her bicep under Maggie’s hand, she smiled.
Chapter Twenty
Di’s room was nothing like Maggie had expected it to be. She’d pictured lots of things in red, with tassels and animal prints, and maybe an array of sex toys. What she found was an almost Spartan room, tastefully decorated in neutral tones. The biggest feature was a large desk replete with piles of documents and a chair that looked suspiciously like something from Maggie’s world. The other world. Whatever.
She followed Kody to a room off to the side of the bedroom, through a door that looked more like a closet than something that led to another room. It turned out to be a dining room, and Shamus and Brenda were already seated and eating.
Di waved them in from her place at the head of the table. She sat sideways in the chair, her legs hanging over the arm. “About time. Grab some food.” She held up her silver cup. “And drink. Maggie, that purple one is for you.”
Kody’s eyebrow raised but she didn’t say anything, instead concentrating on piling a plate with food. Maggie picked up the purple drink and made a sound of appreciation at the strong fruity flavor. “I don’t even care what it is. Thank you.”
Di inclined her head as Maggie and Kody sat and started to eat.
“So, you guys eat, and I’ll start talking. Stop me if you have any questions or answers.” Di’s legs swung as she talked. “A cottage keeper has gone missing. An orphan came to take her place. A tale spinner has reunited with a shepherd, and they’re both back in the land of stories. The bad guys seem to know about the issue of the cottage keeper, and there’s already a bounty out for a certain returned hero’s head. But the hopes of the population are rising with every new rumor of a spinner sighting. Word has it they even stayed with the Puca and drank the Queen’s Red, which means it’s all so very true.” She stopped to take a sip of her drink, and her gaze when she met Maggie’s was shrewd. “There are dank whispers that suggest anyone caught helping the spinner and her shepherd will find themselves lost in the dungeons of whatever villain is running the show nearby.”
Kody wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and took a drink of a dark amber liquid. “And what do they say about villains?”
Di’s eyes narrowed. “Ah, that’s a messy tale, isn’t it? Legend has it that when the Red Guard took out the last of the spinners, it left a gaping hole for the ignorant and vile to slither through. But one of them didn’t crawl; he walked right in. No one knew that he’d been planning for this moment for years, and he’d slowly amassed items of extreme value to the royal houses and major villains. So when the time came, he had something that could destroy each of them. But instead of destroying them, he used it as leverage. Now, they get to run their sectors, but a hefty sum goes back to him. Not so much money as magical items he can use later.”
The pieces fell into place. Maggie hadn’t been able to figure out why villains would take orders from other villains. But destruction was a good reason. “That makes him extremely clever. And patient.”
Di nodded. “And yet, no one knows exactly who he is. If it’s a he. Could be a she. Or a they. Whoever it is sends messages through magical parchment tied to an ostrich’s neck. There’s no one to question and no way to know where they came from.”
Maggie stared at Di. “Ostrich. He uses enormous chickens as messengers.”
Di’s laugh was like a violin on a summer night. “Indeed. They’re smarter than you think, and fast. Though they do tend to stick their heads in the ground if they get scared. Which isn’t very useful if the ground happens to be cement or some such thing, and they knock themselves out. But even if they do, the message they’re carrying is spelled so no one else can touch it but the person it’s meant for.”
Maggie could easily picture an ostrich knocked out cold with a lump on its head. Ludicrous, but funny nonetheless. “And the villains in my world? Where do they fit in?”
Di’s eyes narrowed, and she swung her legs back to the front. “Your world?”
Kody raised her fork to cut Di off. “She’s still getting used to it. And you can’t blame her for thinking that way.”
Di stared at Kody contemplatively before settling back in her chair. “Of course.” She picked up her drink and drained the cup, letting the last drop fall visibly to her tongue. “The ones who went over were lowlife villains here. Not a lot of power, not a lot of ethics. The heads of the sectors were told to send them over and have them begin to work on taking over certain areas there. No one knows why. There’s a strong black market trade now between our world and yours…” Di’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. “For things magical, and for things that would make our life here a little easier. Like fridges that we have to power through magical means rather than electrical.”
Well, that answered that question. They didn’t know a lot more than they already did, but the picture was becoming clearer. If it were a painting, Maggie’s cottage would be at the bottom, and above it would be whatever villains had escaped into the other world. At the top was a silhouette, someone pulling the strings. The sooner they got rid of that person, the faster the line o
f dominoes would fall, and she and Kody could begin to restore order. Brenda engaged Di in a conversation about the sexual prowess of a fuath as compared to the gancanagh, whatever those were, and Maggie pondered the puzzle. In some ways it was incredibly clear. Find bad guy number one, and the whole thing would crumble. But it wouldn’t be that easy. People in power didn’t just give up that power when the regime above them changed. They usually waited until they knew which way the wind was blowing and then made a move. That likely meant that after they found and discharged the main bad guy, there would be a little time to figure out their next steps. That was reassuring, in a way. They wouldn’t have to charge in all at once like some kind of comic book crew doing battle on an epic scale.
She finished eating and enjoyed the last of her purple drink. When she looked up, Di was watching her.
“Want another?”
Kody sat back and sighed. “No. We need to be up early, and she’ll be facedown in a puddle every time I turn around if she has another one.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Maggie stuck her tongue out at Kody and only then realized she was pretty tipsy. “Okay, maybe something with less kick? Like water?”
Di grinned. “Whatever you say, princess.” She shook a little bell, and an incredibly beautiful woman came in wearing a see-through white dress much like the black one Di had worn earlier. “Bring a few pitchers of water, please.”
The woman inclined her head, and Maggie didn’t miss the way her eyes quickly traveled over the group before she left the room. It left Maggie unsettled, and she looked at Di. “Can we trust your staff not to turn us in? Especially if there’s a bounty out for us?”
