Filled with trepidation, I asked, “The w-woods? I don’t think Leslie will have time to wander through there. Why would she be interested in doing so?”
“My father was attacked between your house and Arianna Gentile’s. Arianna was a suspect for a while, but there was no evidence to support suspicion of her involvement.”
“What was the extent of his injuries, Stephanie?” I shivered, and put it down to the crisp autumn breeze.
Hesitant, Stephanie said, “He was bashed about the head and then sprinkled with a sparkly substance. The police couldn’t make head nor tail of it, found not one lead, and forensics couldn’t figure it out either.” She sighed, rubbed the back of her neck with her hand, and continued, “I’ll drop Mom off and pick her up after she’s finished working each day until she gets used to the routine. That should take care of my worries for now.”
For a brief moment, I wondered if I’d been smart to offer Leslie the job. Then, with a mental head slap, I knew I’d been wise to do so. My hunches were usually solid and my job offer felt right to me.
“I’ll do my best to keep an eye on her, but honestly, we’re so overwhelmed during the hours she’ll work, I doubt your mother will have time to breathe, let alone take to the woods,” I said in an effort to reassure her.
“Great, I’ll have her here on time. I’m sure she’ll tell me everything once we get in the car. Thanks, Luna,” Stephanie said with a smile and then she walked toward the front of the wrap-around porch to meet her mother.
I returned to the dining room, listened to the din of voices, and wondered where the time had gone. Calis was absent, or so I thought. He strolled through the arched doorway from the gift shop into the dining room, a teacup in one hand and a faerie in the other. He scanned the room. When he saw me, he beckoned me to join him. I took a deep breath, checked on the help, and then scooted across the room to where Calis stood sipping tea.
“I have better things to do than hang around with you all day, Calis,” I said, taking his arm and leading him away from onlookers. From the stares the women gave the man, I figured they must see more in him than I did. He was well built, and strangely handsome, but when compared to Devin, Calis didn’t make the cut.
Calis shoved the faerie into my hand and said, “You can put this back. I find it disgusting that a believer such as you would stoop to using them for profit.”
I drew him back into the gift shop and snapped, “I beg your pardon? You’re accusing me of using the faeries?” In a snit, I said, “I think not. As a matter of fact, humans, and that’s not a category you might fit into by the way, adore fae creatures. They are magical and mysterious to us, and we can’t get enough of them. They appeal to our artistic senses. You and I know how mischievous they can be, but most people have no inkling when it comes to that. The most that folks know about faeries is from Disney’s Tinker Bell,” I remarked.
“Don’t get huffy, it was a comment, not a judgment,” Calis murmured. He edged closer as I set the statue back in place. I felt the heat from his body – electricity fairly sparked from him, and filled me with unease.
“Must you get so close?” I asked.
“Do I make you nervous, Luna?” Calis asked.
With my face an inch or so from his, I remarked dryly, “Not in the least. I simply don’t like my personal space invaded.”
His eyes, warmer than they had been, seemed to lighten when he smiled and darkened when he grew discontented. I studied his features, taking in every bit of them as I put some space between us. Calis was more than handsome, but in an otherworldly way. What world? I didn’t know and wasn’t sure I ever wanted to find out.
Calis studied me. “You hired that woman to work here, did you not?”
“I did. Though, it’s no concern of yours,” I answered.
“Are you sure? Her husband died in the woods, am I right?” he asked.
“Uh, huh.”
“You must take care with her then. She may become a liability rather than the asset you so richly deserve. Keep track of her, Luna, for your sake as much as hers.” Calis opened the side door and left me standing alone in the gift shop with my mouth agape.
My curiosity had reached immeasurable dimensions, as had my lack of patience with people who wouldn’t tell me more than they thought I should know. Calis fit the bill, and I was miffed over the fact that he remained cryptic rather than forthcoming. I figured he’d be back around five or six in the evening to taunt, or haunt me some more.
Chapter 7
Six o’clock on the dot, Calis rattled the door handle to signify he wanted entry. I flipped the lock and flung the door wide open. Why I’d bothered to lock up after the help left was another mystery to me. He sauntered across the room, checked to make sure we were alone and then said, “Your beast isn’t about, is he?”
A snort was all I could give him for an answer. It surprised and tickled me to no end to think he feared Riddles.
“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of my cat?” I asked.
“Not at all, I merely wondered if he was around,” Calis denied.
“Right. He’s upstairs in the loft. If you miss him, I’ll happily let him loose,” I teased with a snicker. My words seemed to annoy him, which made me laugh out loud.
Piqued, Calis remarked, “Then let’s get down to business, shall we?” He pulled a chair away from a table and pointed to it. “Take a seat, I’ll fetch you some tea.”
His gracious offer of tea from my own kitchen left me uncertain whether I should take him seriously, or just ride his wave of secrecy until it crashed against the rocks. Either way, I was in for a surprise – I could feel it in my marrow.
Not only was there a pot of tea, two teacups and a variety of cupcakes on the tray, but Calis served as if he’d been brought up educated to the finer details of the high life. I waited until he set the pot down and then sipped the Earl Grey he’d poured for me. Fortifying as Earl Grey is, I couldn’t help but wish I had a sandwich, or something more than a cupcake, to go with it.
“Have you eaten at all today?” Calis asked.
“Do you really care?” I countered.
He offered a slight shrug and said, “No. It’s just that you’re not as perky as you were earlier in the day, and I wondered if it was due to a need for sustenance.”
With a narrowed glare, I marched into the kitchen and retrieved my lonely sandwich from the top shelf of the fridge.
Seated at the table once more, it didn’t take long to make short work of the light fare while Calis waited patiently.
“If you’re done stuffing your face, can we talk about what you learned today?” he asked.
“Sure, I learned that Mr. Jones was bashed about the head and sprinkled with faerie dust. Satisfied?” I said after I gulped my tea.
His eyes brightened. “Interesting. Was there a suspect?”
“Arianna was questioned, but nothing was proven. I don’t think she killed him, and she’d never use faerie dust in that manner anyway. We need to look in a different direction. Besides, what does Mr. Jones’s death have to do with what we’re looking into now? He died a year ago.”
“Trouble has been brewing in other locations, not just here, Luna. There’s been a couple incidents elsewhere of late. A string of events are beginning to take place all over the area. The one with Mr. Jones was a part of them.”
“What kind of trouble are you talking about?” I asked.
“Faerie dust has been linked to several other deaths. The worst of it is the death of faeries themselves. I think a troll or pixie might be to blame, but if that’s the case, we’ll have a hell of a time proving it and finding the exact culprit. Trolls and pixies tend to resemble one another when seen by those unused to them. In the mountains, trolls are larger and meaner than they are here, though pixies have darker magic. Here in the glen, both tend to be less fearsome, though this present dilemma proves otherwise.” Calis sighed, leaned back in the chair and stretched his arms, linking his hands behind his head.<
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Dressed in jeans and a dark sweater, Calis almost looked human. I knew he wasn’t quite of this world, but figured others might not be able to tell the difference.
“Do you always look this way, or have you altered your appearance to fit in?” I asked him curiously.
“What you see is what you get, Luna.” His smile wasn’t warm, but not exactly cold either. I was troubled to think I couldn’t read him as easily as I read other people.
“Tell me about the journals. Or better yet, show them to me,” Calis commanded.
It would do no good to refuse, so I gave in. “Wait here, I’ll get them.”
The stack of books I brought downstairs filled my arms. Riddles lay asleep on the bed and hadn’t flicked an eyelash when I entered the loft and left again. His all-day outing must have taken its toll. I smiled over his inertia and plopped the books on the table in front of Calis. “Here you go. I don’t know exactly what to look for, so maybe we can find it together.”
Page after page, illustration on top of illustration, Calis moved through the books on a mission to find what only he knew was important. He sat back and glanced up at me while I watched him closely, looking for a sign of his thoughts. A useless effort on my part, for sure, the only way I could read him was by his eyes. At the moment, they were neither dark nor light, but somewhere in between. Anybody’s guess was as good as mine. Then he stilled.
“What is it?” I asked.
He flipped the open book toward me so I could see what had his attention.
“See these pixies? They’re the ones I described to you earlier. Wily, mean spirited, and darkly powerful.” Calis flipped to another set of pages he had marked with a napkin from the table. “This troll is from the valley, not the mountain. Your father was mistaken in his assessment.”
“What does that mean?”
Calis studied me for a moment. “Did he wander into the mountains where you lived as a child? Was he fearful when he returned?”
“He would trek deep into the woods occasionally. My mother never liked that he did so. She refused to admit why she worried, but said she preferred it when my father didn’t go so far off on his own.” I thought for a minute as memories flooded back. “I remember once when he returned from a jaunt up the mountainside, he was quite bedraggled and covered with scrapes and bruises. My mother told me to stay in my room while she dealt with him.”
“What happened?” Calis asked.
I shrugged. “We lived in an old Victorian house. I stood behind the banister on the second landing listening to their conversation. I couldn’t see my parents, but my father said he’d been chased down the mountain side by something. I can’t remember what chased him, but I know it almost caught him. He didn’t return there after that, but from then on he remained in the valley, studying flora, faeries, pixies and the lot.”
“Have you ever seen a troll in these woods?”
I glanced at the illustration in the journal and then at Calis. “No, never. Have you?”
He shook his head. “No, I haven’t. That doesn’t mean they’re not in this area. Even so, I’m sure you’d have known by now if there were any. It’s likely they wouldn’t allow you to travel the woodland in safety.”
I shook off the chill as it traveled up my spine and I forced a smile. “You’re not serious, are you? I’ve walked these woods for nearly two years.”
He slanted a glance my way, snapped the journal shut, and stood up.
“I’ll be by late in the day tomorrow. If you must go to Arianna’s travel by car.”
“Just like that? I should stay out of the woods and off the beaten path because you think there’s a bogeyman in there? Give me a break…”
He leaned in fast and was an inch or so away from my face, his hands flat on the petite table. “Listen to me, you’d be smart to stay away from whatever is in there. How you’ve managed to get by this long is beyond me. Frankly, you’re about as foolish a woman as I’ve ever encountered.”
I jumped from the chair, knocking it backwards. I stretched my arm out and pointed to the nearest exit. “And you’re a pain in my butt. Now get out.” Who did this man – or something posing as one – think he was? Hadn’t I gone through enough in the past few years? I’d been married to a nutcase who psychologically and verbally abused me, used me to try and get hold of my inheritance, and then had shown up in town to take my business away from me by using my land in a scheme of sorts. When he was murdered, I’d become the chief suspect.
I may have been foolish when I was young and naïve, but no one could call me that now – not and get away with it, anyway. I stopped to wonder how many women he’d met. If he wasn’t quite of this world, then he probably didn’t have many occasions to meet real women.
He’d strode to the door without as much as a backward glance. I didn’t believe for a moment that he took my angry words as a threat, or that he’d taken them seriously at all. Assured he would return when he promised, I was curious as to where he’d be all day long.
The door closed with a brisk snap – not a slam, mind you, but darn close to it. I heaved a mighty sigh, slumped in the chair, and wished I’d never been a faerie seer and that my father hadn’t been one of those people who thought it necessary to investigate their world. It was now my burden to carry. Thanks, Dad.
I scrubbed the Junction clean, stocked shelves, readied kitchen supplies for the next day, and headed to the basement after I’d left the loft door open for Riddles. He joined me while I was hard at work at the creation station. Several trays, lined with waxed paper were ready for marzipan creations I had in mind as cupcake embellishments.
With Halloween closer than ever, chunky pumpkins would adorn spiced cupcakes. I made bats for cakes that would be covered with a heavy white glaze. For chocolate cakes I formed yellow marzipan moons to sit within a cluster of chocolate sprinkles. I’d recently taken to making filled cupcakes and considered using various creamy whipped frostings for their center fillings.
The conversation I’d had with Calis ran over and over in my mind while I worked. Riddles sat on a nearby stool and watched from a distance. He’d been sprayed so often with water from the squirt gun I kept handy, due to his efforts to place his fat butt square and center on my work station, that now he feared it. When he looked as though he’d jump onto the counter, I merely brandished the plastic toy and watched him scurry off in a huff. Lately, Riddles stayed seated on the stool and kept me company, rather than interfering in things that didn’t concern him.
I smiled at the humongous beast and said, “I refuse to listen to what Calis says about trolls and that lot. He could have an agenda of his own, right?” The cat didn’t answer – but then that was nothing new. I finished up, put the cake toppers in the refrigerator and began to clean frosting bowls and gather marzipan scraps, when the upstairs phone rang.
I took the steps two at a time and answered the call. Devin was on the line.
“Hello gorgeous, you sound winded.”
“I just ran up the stairs,” I said with a laugh.
“It’s good to hear your voice. My time here is growing longer and longer and I miss you. Won’t you join me just for a day or two?” Devin asked on a pleading note.
“We’ve had this conversation before. I can’t take off at the drop of a hat, Devin. With a new helper beginning tomorrow, I can’t think of leaving,” I said with finality. It was then I realized something. “What aren’t you telling me?”
He hesitated for so long, I worried that we’d been disconnected. “Hello, are you there?” I asked.
Devin chuckled. “I’m here, Luna. I’ve found a great spot to build a house that isn’t far from William and Ida’s home. Would you consider moving your business? Once you see the location…?”
I interrupted him. “Not funny. I have a business here that’s flourishing, and it’s just what I want. I don’t plan to move anywhere,” I snapped.
“Have you had a bad day? You sound out of sorts,” Devin remarked.
Did he think of me as dimwitted, too? To ask me to move my life and livelihood to the western reaches of Massachusetts, was more than I could take after the past few stress-filled days.
I counted to ten, took a deep breath and asked, “Where is this coming from, Devin? You were supposed to work on William and Ida’s house for a week or two and then return home to me. Now you find you want to stay forever and expect me to drop everything and join you? And what about our engagement?”
“We’ll get married here; no worries,” Devin exclaimed.
I tapped my fingers against the glass cupcake case. “We’ll discuss this at another time, when I have less on my mind. Right now, the faeries are being murdered by someone who’s draining them of dust, which leaves them vulnerable. On top of that, I made the mistake of hiring Stephanie Jones’s mother, whose husband was killed in the wood last year, and that’s just for starters. There are other things here that need dealing with, too.” Still unwilling to mention Calis, I waited to hear Devin’s ideas on the faerie situation.
“I’m sure you can manage all of that and still visit me for at least a day,” Devin insisted.
Was I speaking a foreign language? Wasn’t he listening to what I said? Heaven help me. I held the phone close to my mouth and yelled, “Somebody is killing the faeries, Devin.”
When I pressed the phone back against my ear, I heard him say, “I heard you the first time. There are faeries here, Luna, if leaving the ones there bothers you. I saw a couple of them in the valley the other day.”
Angered beyond reason at his disinterest in what was happening around me and our life in this area, I cut him short. “Look, I have to get back to work. I’ll talk to you soon, I promise.”
“Think about my invitation, Luna. You’d really like it here. I know you would.”
“Right.” I hung up and muttered to the empty room, “What planet is he on?” I shook my head, returned to the creation station and stopped dead at the bottom of the staircase. Riddles sat atop the stool, marzipan scraps stuck to his fur, and frosting on his whiskers. He gazed at me with the innocence of a newborn babe. I couldn’t help it, I laughed until I cried while summoning the beasty to me. “You really are a bad boy,” I said softly.
Faerie Dust Dead (The Luna Devere Series Book 2) Page 7
