Burning Bright (Ivy Granger)

by E.J. Stevens

  I yawned and dragged myself up the stone steps. My hand shook as I reached for the door, not a good sign. Ceff said that the longer I delayed in fulfilling The Green Lady’s bargain, the worse I’d feel. My human blood might give me a little extra time, but apparently, it wasn’t enough to completely block the energy drain.

  I steadied my hand and said a silent prayer that Father Michael knew where I could find Kaye. I needed to find the witch, sooner rather than later. Otherwise Jinx wouldn’t be the only one doing a Sleeping Beauty impersonation, and then who’d save the city when the vamps and fae turned Harborsmouth into their very own sandbox?

  The Hunters’ Guild claims to be the protectors of humans against rogue paranormals, but what will the Hunters do if the entire paranormal community goes rogue? Would the Hunters’ Guild stick around and fight if the vampires and fae went savage? I swallowed hard, thinking about the family and friends who called Harborsmouth their home.

  I ignored the fatigue that had been slowly chipping away at me and headed into the church, suddenly determined to keep this city, and everyone in it, safe. I had to find a way to survive in order to protect them all. I couldn’t count on anyone else to do that for me. I wasn’t willing to take that risk.

  Chapter 22

  “So there’s nothing in there that can help Jinx and we’re no closer to finding Kaye,” I said, scowling at the priest.

  “We’ve only done a cursory search,” Father Michael said. He blinked, giving me an owlish look from behind his reading glasses, and waved his long, thin hands over the books and scrolls stacked on his desk. “With time, I’m sure I can learn of a way to break the connection between this incubus and your friend Jinx.”

  We were seated in his cramped office in the back of the church. At the priest’s suggestion we’d called The Emporium, but there was still no word from Kaye. That little tidbit set my teeth on edge, but I tried not to grump at Arachne over speakerphone. It’s not like it was the kid’s fault that Kaye had gone missing.

  With no leads on Kaye, we’d moved on to Jinx’s incubus problem. Father Michael had been eager to pull out a pile of dusty tomes relating to incubi behavior, but none of the books gave any hint as to how to break the incubus’ hold on my friend. The priest wanted more time to pour over the books in his extensive library, but I shook my head.

  “Sorry, padre, time isn’t a luxury we have,” I said, holding up my phone.

  Jinx had forced me to upgrade to a new smartphone a few months ago. I was still getting used to all the new features, but one thing I knew how to do was check the news. While Father Michael had clucked over ancient manuscripts, I’d scanned the local headlines—and it wasn’t pretty.

  According to the news, fires were springing up all over Harborsmouth. There must be dozens of the demons at large to cause this much chaos. It was obvious that the fire imps were no longer content with a little public vandalism, and they were moving into residential neighborhoods where damage could equate to lives lost.

  So far most of the fires were small, but the damage was escalating and at this rate things could get out of hand fast. Something as trivial as a sea breeze coming off the harbor could turn a contained fire into an uncontrollable blaze, destroying homes, taking lives, and giving the vampire master of the city a reason to bleed me dry.

  The priest read the headline, let out a chirp of surprise, and crossed himself.

  “We must save the city,” he said.

  I ground my teeth and let out a frustrated growl. The fire imps had to be stopped, but first we needed a plan. Otherwise we’d be chasing our tails.

  I tilted my head back to stare at the ceiling. I knew from past visits that the wooden beams that arched above me were carved with a pattern of flowers and vines, but today my eyes stared up unseeing. My attention turned inward as I mulled over the problem of how to control the fire imps who were setting fire to the city. Each time I felt close to a solution, it slipped just out of my reach.

  “There’s two damned many of them,” I said. “No offense, Father.”

  “No offense taken,” he said benevolently.

  Apparently, the priest was feeling gracious. Last time I swore inside his church, he threatened to have Galliel dunk me in the baptismal font.

  I stroked Galliel’s head in my lap, struggling to come up with a workable plan to take down the fire imps. Usually the unicorn’s presence brought me a great sense of peace and happiness, but I was too keyed up with worry. I bit the inside of my cheek, stifling a scream of frustration. It had been bad enough when the imps were targeting businesses down on the waterfront, but now they were burning down people’s homes.

  “If only we could get them all in one place,” I said.

  I jumped as Arachne’s voice came through the desk phone’s speakers. I’d forgotten she was still there. Thankfully, the unicorn in my lap kept me from toppling over backward.

  “Um, I might know a way to get the fire imps to gather together,” Arachne said.

  “How?” Father Michael and I asked in unison.

  Ceff leaned forward and Galliel lifted his head. I gently bit my lip and held my breath. Mab’s bones, we needed a break in this case. Please, please, please be something we could use.

  Arachne spoke rapidly, reminding me that we were hanging our hopes on a teenage kid.

  “There’s this artifact and it holds demons, or at least it did, and I think it could again…” she said.

  “How do we acquire this artifact?” Ceff asked.

  Yeah, that was a damn good question. I’d already sucked down an entire carafe of coffee that I’d nabbed from the church’s kitchen, but the caffeine wasn’t working its usual magic. The more time that went by without fulfilling my end of the faerie bargain, the worse it would get. A long journey to retrieve a lost artifact, no matter how useful, was definitely off the menu.

  “It’s, um, here,” she said.

  “Are you saying that you actually have it, there at the shop?” I asked.

  “Well, yeah, duh,” she said. I could almost hear the kid rolling her eyes. “That’s why I brought it up in the first place.”

  I exchanged a look with Ceff and Father Michael. The priest sat on the edge of his chair, licking his lips. Ceff just scratched his jaw and shrugged.

  “And Kaye just left this thing out for the taking?” I asked.

  Because that didn’t sound like the witch I knew. The Emporium may look like the holy smorgasbord of occult objects, but most of the stuff for sale in the shop was harmless trinkets. The real arcane items were locked up in the cupboards of Kaye’s spell kitchen or secreted away behind her office door. Last I knew, that office was off limits to Arachne, and for good reason—there was some powerful shit in there.

  “It’s a l-l-long story,” she said.

  “Yeah, I’ll bet,” I said.

  I wanted to tell the kid to spill the beans—she was obviously hiding something—but I didn’t want to risk an argument over the phone. Like it or not, Arachne was the one maintaining the spell circle around Jinx—the circle that was keeping my friend alive. I’d get my answers from the young witch, that was for damn sure, but it would just have to wait until we were face to face. I couldn’t risk her storming out of The Emporium and leaving Jinx on her own.

  I wished, not for the first time today, that Kaye would return from who knows where. I’d come to rely on the crafty, old witch.

  “I would like to see this artifact,” Father Michael said, fingers twitching greedily.

  Yeah, of course he would. The guy was obsessed with arcane lore and anything related to demons was like porn to the priest.

  “I can send a pic to Ivy’s phone,” Arachne said.

  “A pick?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.

  “A picture,” I said.

  “Ah, I will never live long enough to understand the lingo these days,” he said.

  “Neither will I,” Ceff muttered.

  I grinned, that last comment striking me as funny, see
ing as it came from the lips of an immortal.

  “Here,” I said, holding out my phone so the priest could see the screen. I narrowed my eyes at his fingers darting toward my phone. “Just don’t touch it.”

  The priest held his hands to his chest and nodded, eyes already glued to the picture that Arachne had sent. The artifact was small, about the size of a tea cup—a proper tea cup, not the head-sized troughs I drank my coffee out of—and resembled a gold censer, the kind of incense burner used in church services.

  “But even with the ability to lure the foul creatures to one location, where could we possibly send them?” Ceff asked. “It is not as though we can set the creatures loose on one neighborhood. An entire city block could burn to the ground if the imps were brought together.”

  “Do not plan evil against your neighbor, who dwells trustingly beside you,” Father Michael said, quoting the bible.

  “Yes, not even the grindylow deserve such a plague of pests,” Ceff said, nodding. “I would not wish those imps on any of my neighbors, would you?”

  A grin tugged at my lips, the beginnings of a plan forming. Warmth radiated through my body and I let out an evil laugh.

  “Oh yeah, I would,” I said.

  In fact, I could think of more than one neighbor I’d like to sick the nasty, little pyromaniacal demons on. Let the fire fiends burn up a nest of dusty vamps? Yeah, that was tempting. But there was the problem of getting past my bargain with Gaius. Thankfully, I didn’t even have to worry about circumventing my agreement with the master of the city. The vamps wouldn’t be the target, not this time.

  I had an even better idea.

  If my ruse of only temporarily killing Kaye worked (and, granted, that was a big IF), then I’d be back in The Green Lady’s favor—and able to enter her territory. But I had a bad feeling that the glaistig would find a way to retain control over Jinx, and thus me. I needed a backup plan, and figured that a horde of fire imps would come in handy when she double-crossed me.

  If I wanted to be sure of Jinx’s safety, I’d have to find a way to convince the incubus to break his hold on my friend, one way or another. But I wasn’t naïve enough to think that I could just waltz onto the carnival grounds and strike up a chat with the incubus. We needed a distraction capable of keeping The Green Lady busy long enough to make contact with her incubus.

  That’s where the fire imps come in. I’d enter The Green Lady’s territory, bringing Arachne’s magic artifact with me. If the artifact worked the way it should, the fire imps would follow, giving the incubus and I time for a little chat.

  Of course, it wasn’t a perfect plan. I’d be relying on a lot of shit to go my way, but just knowing there was a possibility of success sent a jolt of energy though my body.

  “You would send those fire fiends to one of your neighbors?” Father Michael asked, recoiling.

  “Yes, I would,” I said. “They’ll be a gift to The Green Lady, a reminder not to mess with my friends.”

  “You publicly claimed Jinx as your vassal,” Ceff said, nodding. “You are within your rights to fight for her safety, and to seek recompense.”

  “Cool, kick that faerie queen’s ass!” Arachne piped in.

  Galliel chuffed into my hand. I guess we were all in agreement, all except for the priest. Father Michael’s fingers danced over the documents on his desk, his head bobbing nervously.

  I stayed quiet, waiting for the priest to work it out. It couldn’t be easy for the man. He may have a loose interpretation of some church doctrine, or he never would have stolen all those artifacts and documents from the Vatican archives, but that didn’t mean he was morally bankrupt. He believed in turning the other cheek and loving your enemies. Thankfully, he loved his parishioners more.

  “I will not watch my flock burn,” he said. “I will do what I can to help, but on one condition.”

  I nodded.

  “You will not lead the demon spawn onto carnival grounds during opening hours,” he said.

  “Agreed,” I said.

  I felt the bargain settle onto my shoulders, but that was one promise I wouldn’t have to worry about trying to break. There was no way I’d pick a fight with The Green Lady when the amusement park was open for business. I may act like a cold hearted bitch, but I wasn’t okay with collateral damage.

  A battle when the carnival grounds were filled with innocent human families was just asking for casualties. I’d wait until after hours to strike. In fact, I hoped that I could keep most of the carnival fae themselves from getting hurt. If we led the fire imps to The Green Lady’s pavilion, and away from the worker’s sleeping quarters, then maybe we could pull this off in a way that I could live with. Saving the day without accumulating a shit ton of guilt would be nice for a change.

  “Ceff, do you think some of your people would be willing to help keep the fires from spreading to the tents where the carnival fae live?” I asked.

  “My people cannot cross into The Green Lady’s territory,” he said, rubbing his chin. “But yes, we could help. Direct magic would be blocked, I’m certain of that, but we could remain outside her territory and send water in the direction of the tents.”

  “Good, then that’s settled,” I said.

  I turned back to Father Michael. I knew he preferred a world of black and white, but he’d spent enough time in our world to know that nothing involving the fae was that simple. It was all shades of grey. Those of us good guys had to try to keep shit from getting too dark—it was the best we could do. I just hoped the priest saw it that way. I bit my lip and held my breath.

  “I will continue my research,” he said grudgingly. He looked longingly at the artifact on my cell phone’s screen until I picked up the phone and put it away. Research was the priest’s strong suit, but I knew he’d rather be chasing demons and getting his grubby mitts on that artifact. Yeah, it was all about shades of grey—even the priest’s soul wasn’t lily white. “I will let you know if I discover anything that will help you save your friend.”

  “Thank you, Father,” I said.

  Reluctantly, I pushed Galliel’s head from my lap and stood.

  “I’ll see you later,” I said, ruffling the unicorn’s mane. “You too, Arachne.”

  A squeak escaped the phone on Father Michael’s desk. Yeah, I hadn’t forgotten about paying the kid a visit.

  “Bye!” Arachne said, and hung up.

  Father Michael replaced the phone on the cradle and sighed. His gaunt face looked pale, paler than usual, all hard lines and angles in the low light of his desk lamp. He remained stooped over his desk, but his eyes came up to meet my gaze, and I didn’t like what I saw there. Not one bit.

  “What is it now, padre?” I asked. “I’m kinda in a hurry.”

  I didn’t have time for any more problems. In fact, I was already sorting my mental to-do list and it was giving me a headache. I’d need to retrieve the artifact from Arachne soon, but first I had to find Kaye.

  He rubbed a hand down his rumpled pants, fidgeting with his white clerical collar with the other.

  “There is still the matter of how the fire imps entered the city,” he said. “I know that dealing with the ones that are here now is the priority.” He raised his hands as if to hold back an argument. “But we must consider the possibility that we are dealing with a gate.”

  “A gate?” I asked.

  “A portal to Hell,” he said. “It is likely the portal links to one of the outer rings, if the type of demons that we’re seeing are any indication.”

  “Wait, you’re saying there could be an open gate to Hell, here, in Harborsmouth?” I asked.

  “As I said, it is a possibility,” he said, head bobbing. “And if you encounter one, you must promise to contact me immediately. You will need my help to hold back the demons and close the gate.”

  Mab’s bloody freaking bones, Hell gates? As if the day wasn’t bad enough.

  “What other demons reside in this ring of Hell?” Ceff asked.

  Good quest
ion. Fire imps were a nuisance, but one that we had more than a snowball’s chance in Hell of defeating. But a horde of badass demons? Not so much.

  Father Michael paced excitedly in front of his bookshelves until he found the book he was looking for. With a flourish, he set a heavy, leather-bound tome on the desk and opened it to an illustration that would give Hieronymus Bosch nightmares.

  “You have got to be kidding me,” I said.

  I swallowed hard, rooted to the spot. Most of the demons in the illustration were tiny imps, yeah sure, but the master demons who apparently ruled over them all were huge. Like brick shithouse huge. If those dudes—and yes they were male, the illustration made that painfully clear—ended up in Harborsmouth, we could kiss the city and its human inhabitants goodbye.

  “If those demons come through the portal, if such a portal exists, then we are all well and truly FUBARed,” Ceff said.

  I snorted, but it came out more like the cry of a strangled cat. Normally I’d celebrate the fact that Ceff had used modern slang correctly—and he was correct, we’d be well and truly fucked up beyond all recognition—but I was too busy trying not to piss my pants.

  Chapter 23

  I promised to contact Father Michael if we encountered anything that resembled a portal to Hell—not that I was sure what one would look like. The priest had tossed a few books onto the desk, but the illustrations for Hell gates weren’t exactly helpful. Apparently, these portals could be anything from a shimmering rift in the air, like a tear in the fabric of reality, to an ornate hand mirror. Since I couldn’t go confiscating every damn mirror in the city, I focused on what I did know.

  I knew where I wanted to direct the horde of fire imps, and more or less how to go about it. Now I just needed to find Kaye and get this faerie bargain off my back. Yes, I was simplifying. Yes, I was deflecting from the very real possibility of huge, nasty demons entering the city. But I had to focus on the things I had some control over, like getting rid of the faerie bargain before it drained me dry, or I’d be nuttier than a rabid squirrel.