Three Rings of Chaos: An Abigail Everlaine Mystery

by Candra Kylar

  It wasn’t the best idea, but it was one that would work for the time crunch we were on. If Voldini caught wind that Dimples had friends looking for her, then he’d find a way to hide her and deny everything. The Council or any law enforcement would be doubtful of any testimony from a drunk talking fox. I pushed myself up and paced the kitchen as I formulated the best plan I could go forward with. Braeden wouldn’t like it, Tip wouldn’t like it, my mother may absolutely hate it. Either way, it was a lead and we couldn’t risk screwing up. I knew exactly who to go to for the next part.

  Well before dawn hit and deep into the sleeping hour, I knocked on the door of Elizar Andros with a pleading look in my eyes he just wouldn’t be able to resist. As he swung the door open and leaned on the doorframe, I looked over his shirtless upper half. Some intricately designed tribal tattoos that matched his jacket were etched in a dark ink. I wanted to trace them but remembered that Braeden stood behind me, begrudgingly, holding Tip in his arms who was fanboying hardcore. I would have a lot to explain. Even the groggy workaholic warlock would require a bit of backtracking on my part. I jabbed my thumb behind me.

  “I have a familiar that’s a talking fox. Cecilia sold him to me for 500 gold because he ran away from the circus that took Dimples hostage. Braeden will shift into wolf form to create a distraction and I’ll find where the circus owner, who’s crazy, is keeping Dimples”, I took in a deep breath, “but I need you to entertain him as a potential investor because he’ll recognize your social standing and know you could be a legitimate funding source to his circus. Which you won’t do but you’ll pretend to do to keep his eyes off of us.”

  Elizar whistled low, “Guess I’ll start smoking again after all.”

  I leaned forward and whispered, “I’m so sorry to bring this to your doorstep but I need your help. I know I was...harsh...earlier when you offered another investigator.”

  “You became quite irritated with the extended help of my services, yes”, he elaborated.

  “Unreasonably so and definitely about my wounded ego”, I relented, “but we can smooth that over later.”

  “Over dinner once we save Dimples?”, he asked warmly.

  I felt the blush tinge my cheeks, “It’s a date.”

  “Well in that case”, he snapped his fingers and materialized that set of magical dice he toyed with, “let’s get to work. Fill me in about this Voldini and how he managed to get that powerful stone built caster under his spell. It’s time that we make a little noise.”

  Braeden growled lightly and Elizar took no notice of him. They would continually snarl at each other by looks and actions because of their feelings towards me. The thing was, Braeden and I had broken up months ago and we were only friends now. Nothing had come even close to romance with us once the air was cleared. I wasn’t his bonded mate and there would be no future binding between us. He had every reason to just shrug off my romantic future. The fact that it was Elizar, who always seemed to outdo him, was just out of spite. Men could be so childish when it came to a woman. I scooped up Tip from Braeden and went inside of the house I had become quite familiar with. A caster’s mansion atop a hill overlooking the beautiful distillery below.

  Tip took it all in too and his ears perked up. He sniffed the air and loved whatever candle was burning in the late hour. Braeden checked it out curiously, annoyed enough that I refused to let him bring his motorcycle at this hour of the night, his big body awkwardly turning around. The house was well adorned with expensive pieces of art that neither of us could afford if they were damaged. I had come to find comfort here at Elizar’s place, with his bath, with how comfortable the bed in the guest bedroom had felt. I would be seeing that guest bed more if my mother planned a more extended stay. Tip looked like he would enjoy a bit of luxury himself. He practically squirmed in my arms to be let down.

  “I need to buy us tickets for the next performance which I’m hoping will be soon”, I said as I walked toward his living room, “and we should go separately. If I show up on your arm, then Voldini will be suspicious. I’m sure he’s seen me on the news at some point and will know my connection to Dimples.”

  “And here I was looking forward to buying you an expensive dress and being the proud gentleman by your side for the evening”, Elizar stretch out languidly on the arm chair, “I supposed Braeden will turn me down on the offer.”

  “You’re damn right I will. Already have my plate full playing substitute father. The last thing I need is to be added to your To Be Fucked list”, the werewolf mender growled out.

  “Don’t worry, you’re not my type anyway”, Elizar teased, “I’ve had a...singular...focus this past year. Turns out nothing is impossible after all.”

  I ignored the reference, “Dimples has some kind of amulet stone on her. Voldini uses it to keep his acts in their place so they don’t escape. Tip here got out because this Seer, Rynna, learned the undoing spell behind it. Thing is, each stone has its own spell.”

  “Which I doubt Voldini keeps written down anywhere. You don’t get rich on a con by being stupid”, Elizar gloated.

  “If I keep my head low then I could question this Seer myself”, I said casually, “do the whole investigator think which used to be my gig until I hit the slump.”

  “The Council has changed hands and Elder Fae magic is back to threaten us. Everyone is on edge and staying in the shadows. Your time will come again and you’ll be rolling in the gold”, Elizar promised.

  “I’ll have to tell my mom about the plan because she’ll stick her nose into it anyway. She lives with me until she gets a new place and a job”, I confided.

  “Holly got kicked out of the Everlaine mansion? I figured that would be the case with the way your father has been playing things”, Elizar rubbed along his jaw, “especially after the stunt she pulled months back. She may have found your sister but she certainly rubbed salt in your father’s wounds during campaign season.”

  “Something I recall you BOTH doing”, I jabbed.

  Elizar smiled wide, “I can be an instigator if the cause is just.”

  “So you’ll go along with the guise of an investor? You can talk him up, maybe learn about some of his other investors, and keep his eyes away from the red head asking too many questions”, I pressed.

  “You didn’t need to worry about my answer, Abbie. For you, it will always be a yes”, he said, “and having a date with to celebrate our victory just sweetens the deal. No drama, no vampires watching our every move, nothing we have to fight our way out of. Just a date. Like normal people.”

  “No one is normal”, Braeden said from his uncomfortable vantage point on the sofa.

  “Cheers to that”, Elizar summoned a bottle of champagne from the void, “care to celebrate a heist on a circus?”

  Braeden grabbed the bottle, “Don’t need to ask me twice. Abbie drove over here and you know how well she handles that with her wolf reflexes.”

  The two shared a rare laugh at my expense which I couldn’t even feel slighted by. Since my transformation a year ago, I had started to see the wolf side of me seep into other aspects of my human form. I had faster reflexes and quick response times. That generally was a blessing in disguise. Sometimes, while driving, it could cause me to stomp on the brake a little too fast or turn at the last second. No one but Dimples liked to ride to me. She likened it to a roller coaster she was saw from an amusement park out west, bumping and taking sharp turns, every ride a thrilling experience. Always the silver lining with her. The thought of her being caged up at a circus, under the scrutiny of Voldini was unsettling. It was a punch in the gut. I wrapped my arms around myself to make the feeling go away, if only for a moment.

  As we were about to leave, Elizar pulled me to the side. I could tell by his icy blue gaze that he had something to say and it made him nervous. It couldn’t be about the date. Flirting was a skill he was prime in and had practiced on me for many hours of our friendship. He had asked me out before and I had declined him because it had never be
en the right time. Now, with something new on the horizon, maybe it was. He leaned forward and pressed a thin, metallic card into my palm. I knew what it was and instantly pushed it back to him. No way was I taking charity when he had already done so much for me.

  “Let’s not have an argument before our first date”, he practically purred into my ear, “I know that 500 gold you paid to the acidic blonde came straight out of your savings. Neither one of your businesses are paying up lately and you have bills.”

  “I have bills which are my responsibility to pay.”

  “And I want to help you because I have extra”, he went on, “which is something you would do if I were in your shoes. I wouldn’t be, by the way, because heels aren’t my thing and I don’t have your legs.”

  “El…”, my voice faltered.

  “I know this isn’t permanent. You’ll get right back to being the successful Abigail Everlaine again when mysteries pick up”, he pressed the card back into my hand, “but for now, let me have one less thing to worry about. I want to go to bed at night knowing my favorite girl is eating well and has her rent covered.”

  I felt the card my hand and knew this was a lifeline that would keep me out of debt. Still, I didn’t want Elizar to feel like he always had to save me. That he always had to take care of me. I had gotten by just fine with being generally ignored by any man in life, my well being put on the back burner and forgotten. This wasn’t something that had come easy to me or settled comfortably. I wasn’t some cheap sugar baby trying to milk Elizar of his money. In fact, I often felt uncomfortable with how freely he would spend gold on me. I wasn’t entitled to a single piece of it but he wouldn’t let it go. He wouldn’t just let me climb out of my own mess if he had a chance to help me.

  As my body stayed close to him, that card in my hand and my fingers on his chest, I realized something had happened to me along the way. I had fallen in love with Elizar Andros. Whether it happened months ago or was always under the surface waiting to bloom, what I had with him was honest and raw. It was the realest thing I had. So I brought my lips up to him and, for a fraction of a second, it was just the two of us standing there kissing. His lips brushed against mine, he kissed right back, and I knew it took all of his willpower not to pull me inside. Whether he was dreary or not from the late night wake up call, he was fully awake now. I pulled myself away from his mouth and held up the card.

  “I’m only going to use this if I have to live in my car.”

  He shook his head, “Invisible Gods forbid someone take care of you, Abbie.”

  I took in a deep breath, “For right now, we have to take care of Dimples. As you said, let’s find this circus and burn it to the ground.”

  Five

  This was definitely the place. The small town of Sand Hill, which had that learning annex everyone raved about constantly, was the setting for the biggest advertising campaign I had ever seen involving a circus. The only one I had ever actually seen. Posters just like the ones torn down in Crestwood displayed the arrival of “Voldini’s Circus: The Greatest Spectacle In Iverli!” I had a few comments about that sordid claim. People were still buying into it and raved about how spectacular the show was going to be. Real live remnants of the Elder Fae taint bleeding right into their very own town! It was like a freak show that made them all feel superior, safe now that these dangerous outcasts had a place to be caged. I had to hold back the vomit and the disdain on my face.

  “You know it might be an entertaining show”, my mother encouraged from my left.

  “I don’t care how riveting it is”, I said loudly as a challenge, “there are people being held against their will. They can’t help how they were born.”

  Braeden nudged me with his elbow, “Not so loud, Abbie. Some of these fuckers have excellent hearing and I want to hold the fist fights off until after the show.”

  “Right. The plan”, my mother practically skipped, “I’ve never been part of such an operation before. Is this the wild and fast life that you experience at work?”

  “My biggest case since Ethan was a witch in the woods supposedly making teens disappear when they went in to film her. Turns out, she was just baking for them and teaching them the basics of witchcraft”, I concluded.

  “You did that fun thing with the human who kept seeing fire sprites”, my mother interjected, “helping him communicate with them to become a better fire serviceman.”

  “And the wolf on my territory that kept stealing panties from our elderly for his own sick amusement”, Braeden said.

  I fought a groan, “But those days have been on pause for too long now. I’m afraid I’ll have to go back to enchanting after this. The sweet taste of solving a mystery will just be a fading memory to warm me at night.”

  “Not if Elizar has anything to say about that nightly warmth”, my mother joked.

  Braeden growled and I shot my mother a glare. The last thing we needed was Holly Everlaine tagging along to stir the pot. She was very good at sending barbed jabs with her words, showdowns at parties, friendships that were poison at their heart. That was the world I came from and had quickly let go of when I became a hybrid. My mother was still trying to cling to it. Sure she had Frankie as a friend, who had also gotten a ticket and planned to meet us at the circus, but that didn’t ground her very much. Holly the fabulous blonde with the winning smile that made many warlocks in the land melt for her. She could have married any of them but still somehow had chosen my father. I wanted the story behind how that happened.

  Sand Hill was slightly larger than Crestwood and had a downtown that veered off in several directions. Small little shops brought an inviting air to the place that made it arts and crafty. On another day and in another mood, I would want to go shopping. We settled for an early dinner at one of the small bistros, where Braeden looked uncomfortable in his leather jacket and biker boots, then waited for the text from Elizar. He had gone ahead to meet Voldini and start the staged negotiations to become an investor. I had full faith in him that he would get any extra information we would need to incriminate the circus owner. I needed all of the ammunition I could find. My phone beeped and I felt a pang of disappointment. It was a text from Trent.

  “Livia caught in mall parking lot slinging Portal Dust, Lysander bailed her out and taking care of legal fees. She’s back on court territory but her boyfriend came looking for her. Get me an insider to figure out Talan? He’s got a hold on them.”

  That’s right...the vampire drug investigation I was helping with. I wasn’t getting paid for it but I would be earning a favor. Now that I knew Dimples’ location, I didn’t need Trent to have his friends in the force look out for her. I would need to cash that favor in for something else at a later date. The problem was, I had my hands tied and needed to focus on saving Dimples. Livia was safe with Lysander, even though she was probably bored to untold levels of teenage angst, and it was now time for clean up work. A thought came to me and I felt all too clever from it, wicked as it was. I turned to my mother and put a cheery expression on my face. Casual interest was never something I could fake well.

  “I know you were hoping that Amaris and I could spend more time together”, I started, “and I actually need her help on something. She can really sink her spirit hungry teeth into it.”

  “Oh, I bet she’d love to work on a case with you!”, my mother brimmed with excitement.

  “This is a tough one and will require all of her...personality”, I showed her the text, “a vampire controlling a bunch of confused teens into selling a fabricated drug. It doesn’t involve communing with the dead but I could never do it without her help.”

  My mother already had her phone out, “Let me text her the details! Tell me everything that you know. My two daughters working a case together? Maybe she can move closer to Crestwood and we can make it a family thing.”

  Sure, I felt a little guilty at misleading my mother like this. Amaris and I would never go into business together or live within the same vicinity. Everlaines
weren’t close. I shouldn’t have given her the hope that this would be anything more than a one time deal. Braeden gave me that stare which was all judgment and saw through the veil I put up. He knew me well enough to guess that something was in it for me. Some habits were too hard to break. I gave my mother the details on Talan, his general appearance, and location from what Trent told me. I also added in that Amaris should be careful because she’ll be in serious danger. It may be out of her skill range. That would really stick it to my older sister.

  “She sent a text back! That was quick”, my mother read it, “she said...oh, well that wasn’t very friendly. She’ll help but, um, she isn’t interested in making it a top priority. She’ll get around to it. Soon, I bet.”

  “Always enthusiastic”, I moaned.

  “Glad that I’m an only child”, Braeden pushed a smile onto his face, “now let’s get heading towards the circus. Not a fan of this hokey town and want to be home before it gets too late. We can order some takeout and celebrate with Dimples.”

  “It might not be that easy”, I said grimly.

  It likely wouldn’t be. Just because we found Dimples and would get the chance to talk to her, I doubted that learning the undoing spell would be a simple matter. Voldini would have to trust Elizar and that would take time. I hated that there wasn’t a more direct way to free my friend from harm. She would be too valuable to Voldini, too big of an act to just let go with some ransom money lining his pocket. A talking garden gnome that could cast all sorts of spells with little effort...people had heard about her, maybe seen glimpses of her, but never experienced her magic first hand. They would be eager for more. It would satiate Voldini’s endless greed.

  We filed into the line that led to a foreboding set of circus tents, all weaves together, strung through with lights against the graying sky. It was dismal and depressing. The music that piped out of the event area was too high pitched and melancholy, as if to mock the people waiting for the show to begin. I wondered if Voldini had replaced Tip as the opening act. There had to be other mysteries to exploit for his own financial gain and I was instantly glad that I had taken Tip in, taken him away from this awful place. I couldn’t wait to do the same for Dimples. Braeden bristled next to me and looked at the more excited guests with open contempt. He and I had a good understanding as fellow wolves and I knew that he was doing everything he could to not shift and tear some of them apart.