Allie laughed, “I am not male, so I couldn’t do it even if I wanted to, which I don’t. It’s an appalling thing from start to finish, and quite frankly I don’t know how anyone can do it. But that aside I think the idea of separating the worlds from each other with some ritual murders is so inherently flawed that I don’t know how anyone could ever believe in it enough to do it.”
Jess admired Allie’s genuineness all the more after she spoke. Anyone else would have been offended, but Allie took the question at face value and gave an honest answer, and one that even Mariniessa would be hard pressed to find fault with. He looked at her, standing there looking so human and so fragile, and yet knowing how much depth and strength she held and he felt an overwhelming love for her. If only I could make my family understand how unique she is, how everything she does makes me feel this amazing sense of wonder, then they would see why I have to be with her, why no one else compares to her. If only, he thought I could make her see how much I need her, and convince her to come away with me…
Allie was looking at him now, her expression soft. He realized that she must be picking up on what he was feeling and that pleased him. He tried to refocus on the business at hand, finding it hard not to let himself get caught up in thoughts of her. “The fact remains that outside of Allie no one should know how to do what is being done, and yet it is being done. Zarethyn is certain that more energy has been added at the ritual site, and that can only have happened if the ritual in its entirety was performed.”
“I was afraid of that,” Allie said. “And that means that someone else is left who knows how to do what Walters was doing.”
Mariniessa tilted her head to one side, regarding Allie intently, “You believe he had an acolyte?”
“If we are lucky he had an acolyte. If we aren’t lucky then this involves more than just one person,” Allie said grimly. “It’s already worse than it was before.”
“How so?” Jess asked, bracing himself. Whether she realized it or not Allie had an uncanny ability to both perceive the synchronicity moving in events and also to put herself into a pivotal position within them. He trusted her perceptions even when she didn’t trust them herself.
“Walters was a killer but he was…unemotional about it,” Allie said, “Well that’s not exactly true, he was angry, but he wasn’t doing what he was doing because of that exactly. Emotion didn’t drive him, and I think maybe that’s why I never really got anything strong off of him, or picked up on him the way I do this other one…although my gift was also not nearly as open as it is now either, but I digress….my point is this new killer, he’s driven by emotion. And I mean driven by it. He’s doing what he’s doing, I think, to carry on what Walters started but he also enjoys it. He wanted to hurt those girls, and liked hurting them very much. And I think that makes him far, far more dangerous than Walters was.”
Mariniessa was nodding, “A cold blooded killer versus a passionate one. We may find some advantage in fighting the latter though as he is much more likely to make a mistake being driven by these emotions than the former was.”
“You may be right,” Allie agreed, “But where Walters was methodical in who he killed and how, this one is not going to be. That third girl for example. There was no reason for her to die, not for the ritual, but he killed her because he wanted to. He won’t be limited to one a month; he’ll kill as often as he thinks he can get away with it.”
“Then we must stop him as quickly as possible,” Jess said firmly. Even Bleidd was nodding, surprising Jess who would have assumed that the former Outcast was unconcerned by such things.
“And meanwhile we still don’t know where Jenny is,” Allie sighed.
“You have no doubt that the same person took her and killed the other girls?” Mariniessa asked.
“No doubt,” Allie said.
“Then let us return to the site the girl disappeared and I will use my magic to try to see a glimpse of the moment the girl was taken, and you may use your ability to try to pick up anything else in the area you can,” Mariniessa said. Jess gritted his teeth, irked that she said it as if it were her decision to make instead of asking him, as the ranking officer, if that is what they should do or offering it as a suggestion.
“Indeed,” he said dryly, “Let us return to the site and you both can use your skills to find out whatever can be found out. Allie can close her store and then we will leave – I will drive and Allie will ride in the front.”
He saw Mariniessa’s eyes tighten at that, knowing that being relegated to the rear seat was a punishment for her rude behavior but unable to question him on it. He turned to Bleidd, “I will bring Allie back to the house when we are finished.”
Bleidd nodded slightly, “Good luck to you, may you find your quarry quickly. Mariniessa it was a pleasure to meet you, perhaps we will see each other again soon?”
The elven mage dimpled at the other elf, “Perhaps I can accompany Jessilaen and Aliaine when we are finished tonight back to your home and we can get to know each other better?”
With his eyes fixed on Allie, Bleidd nodded, “I would enjoy that very much.”
********************************
“Allie I don’t think this is a good idea,” Jason said, as she turned the key to unlock the front door of Between the Worlds.
“I’ll be really quick, I promise,” Allie said, ducking into the dark store and jogging as quickly as she could back to the counter. Her eyes searched the area and she felt grateful to her mixed heritage that she could see in the near-black store. It took only a few seconds for her to find her cellphone sitting next to the receipt book. She snatched it up and shoved it in her pocket, turning on her heel and jogging back out as quickly as she’d come in.
“See? I told you, quick,” Allie said triumphantly, turning and relocking the store and raising the wards back up.
“I don’t see why this couldn’t have waited until tomorrow,” he complained, his eyes looking up and down the street nervously.
“Because with my luck something would happen that I’d need my cell for, or Jess or one of the other Guard, or even the human police would try to call me and not reach me and freak out,” Allie said reasonably. She felt a thrill of triumph despite her fear and wiped her sweaty hands on her jeans. She would show everyone she wasn’t in any real danger. The feeling was almost euphoric.
“Your boyfriend doesn’t need a cellphone to call you,” Jason pointed out.
“Whatever. The point stands for everyone else. What would you do if you tried to call me and I didn’t answer?”
“I’d assume you’d run your phone over in the driveway, or dropped it in a toilet,” Jason said, grinning.
Allie smacked him lightly in the shoulder. “Dork. Fine well you did me a favor bringing me out to pick up my phone…”
“Because you were threatening to hotwire my truck if I didn’t.”
“…so let’s walk down to the coffee shop and I’ll buy you a drink and a late night snack,” she finished, ignoring his interruption. Jess hadn’t been able to stay the night but Mariniessa had and Allie wanted nothing more than to be away from the house, preferably for as long as possible. The evening had been long and fruitless; even with Mariniessa’s spells they had not discovered anything new. Trying to sleep alone in her room while Bleidd was below her in his getting it on with anyone was not how she wanted to spend the night, especially since she had seriously underestimated how aware of the emotional currents she would be. Or how much it really did bother her to be faced with the reality of him sleeping with someone else. Remembering she’d left her cell phone at the store had been a relief.
“Hmmmm. I’m always up for gourmet coffee and muffins, but let’s drive,” he said.
“Drive?” she scoffed. “It’s less than two blocks. Come on, Jason, let’s walk. It’s perfectly safe.” And it’ll take longer she thought.
He hesitated, glancing up and down the quiet street. “Well….alright. I guess it is silly to drive when we’re a
lready parked here.”
“Excellent,” Allie started walking towards the coffee shop forcing him to catch up. “It’s nice to do one thing that feels remotely normal.”
“Nothing about your life is normal,” Jason teased.
“It used to be,” she sighed.
“Hey, I was just teasing. I think it’s pretty cool what you’re doing,” he said.
“Really? You don’t think it’s, I don’t know, freaky?”
“Well, yeah, it’s a little freaky, but look at all the good you’re doing. If it wasn’t for you they never would have found the bodies, for one thing,” he said, putting an arm around her shoulders as they walked.
“I don’t know I think they would have eventually.”
“Maybe. But how many more people would have been killed first?” he pointed out.
“I still haven’t found Jenny though, and the killer is still out there somewhere,” she said, frowning.
“You are way too hard on yourself. With everything going on, with all the craziness, and some asshole harassing you, or stalking you, or whatever, you’re doing the best you can,” he said.
“I just feel like it should be more,” she whispered.
“Next thing you’re going to whip out a cape and announce that you’re starting a new career as a superhero,” he said.
She pushed him and he staggered slightly, laughing. She tried not to laugh too, “Not funny, Takada.”
He pushed her back gently, barely moving her. “Lighten up, McCarthy.”
They both started at the sound of tires screeching down the street and turned. Jason reached out and grabbed Allie’s arm, pushing her partially behind him as a car came around the corner too fast. This late at night the street was quiet and there was no other traffic.
The car was dark, the headlights off, and moving so fast it seemed unreal. She heard Jason yell something but it wasn’t until the car was almost on them that she saw the flames licking at the front of Lei’s store halfway down the block. Her attention was fixed on that as the car passed so she never saw one of the passengers throw the second lit bottle at the spot where she and Jason were standing. Jason saw it coming and shoved Allie roughly away. She landed on the sidewalk turning towards him as she fell, and only then seeing the fire spinning through the air in their direction.
She felt a helpless sense of horror as the flaming bottle hit the ground in front of Jason, before she could even begin to think of a spell to protect him, and burst. The fire surged up like a living thing, flaring brightly around him and she winced back instinctively from the heat, throwing her hands up to protect her face. Her heart in her mouth time seemed to stop as she waited for him to start screaming, writhing, as the fire caught his clothes – but that’s not what happened. Like dry earth soaking up water he absorbed the fire; within a breath the light disappeared. Blinking in the sudden darkness Allie could only stare dumbfounded at her friend. There had been no stirring of magic, no spell, no triggered enchantment that had protected him, which could mean only one thing. He turned slowly to face her. The car had disappeared.
She looked at Jason, wide eyed, and he stared back. Her mind raced trying to process the implications, but she felt completely blank. “Allie,” he said, then stopped.
“Are you okay?” she asked softly, because it seemed to be the thing to say.
He winced. “Yeah. Are you okay?”
“That’s a loaded question,” she murmured. “Physically I think I’ll live. Scraped my hands and twisted my bad ankle but nothing dire. Mentally…let me get back to you on that one.”
He looked pained. “I’m sorry Allie.”
“Why? You just saved my life.”
“For not being honest with you. It’s not that I didn’t trust you, it’s just that…no one could know. No one does know. Except I guess you do now,” he said.
She breathed in sharply, “All this time….you being afraid of elves, that wasn’t because you were afraid of them it was because you were afraid they’d figure out what you really were…”
He winced again. “I entered this country as a human, all my paperwork says that’s what I am. Do you know what will happen if the elves find out I’m not?”
“So you, uh….aren’t?” she was stunned by the revelation.
He looked away. “My mother is human. My father isn’t. But my mother…when we left Japan she lied on all my paperwork, because it’s really hard to get permission as a member of Fairy to move from one country to another. So she lied. And I’ve lied ever since.”
“But, I just don’t understand. I mean why?” she mumbled, not even sure what she was asking. And how? How can you lie? she thought, truly disturbed by the possibility. No being of Fairy lied, it was so deeply ingrained in the culture that it was unthinkable.
“Do you know what would happen if I get caught now?”
She shook her head slowly, realizing that the entire idea of any Fairy being lying on paperwork was so foreign to Fairy culture that it would simply never happen. Except it had.
“I’d be deported if I was lucky. Really lucky. If I wasn’t…I don’t know. Maybe they’d kill me,” he said.
“Jason!” she said, shocked.
“Maybe they would Allie. Why not? They could think I’m a spy, or a traitor or criminal to my own people. And even if they didn’t – I can’t go back. I can’t. You don’t understand. I don’t have any magic,” he said, as if he were admitting some terrible sin.
“So? You’re not a mage, but you obviously have some abilities-“
“But I don’t. That’s the problem. I can handle fire, because that’s part of my nature, but I can’t do anything, not even the basic stuff children can do. I can’t call fire, or direct it, or speak to it, or anything. For all intents and purposes I may as well be human, except I’m not…entirely.”
“But, the fire department, the kids in that building – you saved them,” she said, sensing a flaw somewhere. And maybe that’s why he can lie, because he is really more human than anything else she thought. That also seemed off somehow, since they were both half-human the same rules should apply and she couldn’t lie, but it helped her deal with the cognitive dissonance he was presenting.
“If I were a real Kechibi I could have stopped the fire or commanded it to pull back,” he said bitterly. “But I’m not. I ran in there thinking I could get to them before the building collapsed and crushed us all….”
“Why…why would you live here, in a Bordertown? The chance of getting caught..,” she trailed off shaking her head.
He shook his head too. “I tried living completely on earth but after a while I just couldn’t. I started…losing my sense of self, and that’s a really bad thing for me. But I don’t want to live completely in their world either. Coming here seemed like a good compromise and it’s been perfect. I love it here. This is my home”
“But…but you and Brynneth,” she said her mind racing, jumping from one topic to another. “Why would you take that chance?”
“What do you want me to say Allie? I don’t always make smart choices. He wanted to sleep with me, he’s gorgeous, Tony and I weren’t getting along, I was lonely…”
His voice trailed off and Allie looked away, unsure what else to say. Only then did she see that the building down the street, across from her store, was burning. She swore loudly, climbing clumsily to her feet and starting to run towards it, but Jason grabbed her again, holding her. “Don’t. Call 911 and get the fire department. I’ll go.”
She opened her mouth to argue and then closed it with a snap. Of course, if he was any kind of fire spirit it was perfectly safe for him to go investigate; fire couldn’t hurt him, even if he couldn’t magically stop it or effect it. She watched him jog down the sidewalk, her feelings a whirlpool of inexpressible things, and pulled out her phone.
“Jess, I don’t want you to worry, I’m okay, but something happened,” she thought to him, not sure how to tell him what was going on but sure he would want to know.
His fear twisted at her and she struggled to push it away, and then felt it being replaced by her own as she tried to answer without betraying Jason’s secret. Jess, no matter how much he loved Allie or liked her friend, was first and foremost a Commander in the Elven Guard – wasn’t that how Allie had ended up with a badge of her own? – and she could not risk telling him about Jason and seeing her friend suffer for it. “I’m fine. I’m with Jason. We were near my store outside, and someone drove by and threw something, some kind of bottle that was on fire. One of the buildings is burning. I’m calling the fire department and Jason’s going to see how bad it is.”
“Are you safe?” he asked, his mental voice still afraid.
“Yes. The car is long gone, and I’m about a half block from the fire,” she answered, trying to project reassurance.
“Allie, why are you out there at this time of night?” his thoughts were still tinged with worry but there was something else in there now, something close to anger. She winced, limping down the sidewalk back towards her store, watching the flames dance in the darkness as they gathered strength.
“I forgot my cell phone at the store when I left today, and I didn’t think it was a good idea to just leave it there, in case anything happened. I asked Jason to bring me here to pick it up,” she struggled to keep her thoughts even and not feel like a child being criticized for making a bad decision.
He was silent for a moment, and when he did speak again his voice was subdued, “I cannot stand how much danger you seem to be in my love. I fear greatly for you. Somehow you always manage to be at the center of these things when they happen, and if anything were to happen to you I do not know what I would do.”
Lost in Mist and Shadow: A Between the Worlds Novel Page 25
