“Yeah, me too. I wonder if there’s anything left behind. Speaking of which, Talia hasn’t called with any news on Kamaria.” Regardless of what Herne said, I felt terribly guilty for exposing the medium to the creature.
“I’ll give her a call, then I’ll contact Morgana for you.” Herne somberly walked away from the table and pulled out his phone.
I took a bite of the sandwich. The molten goodness oozed in my mouth and I let out a satisfied sigh. Not only had Angel used sharp cheddar, but a creamy provolone as well. The bread was sourdough, and altogether, the sandwich was simple and yet, perfection. The soup was a rich tomato with just a bite of spice behind it.
Angel and I locked gazes.
“Do you think that thing was there when he murdered the girl and her grandmother?”
I thought about her question. “I think it could have spurred on the murders. Or maybe it just grew out of them. Astral demons don’t usually just show up out of the blue. There’s almost always some factor that opens the gate for them.”
“How do we keep it from coming back?”
I dipped my sandwich in the soup. “I don’t know, but we can ask Herne to find us someone to help.”
Herne returned to the table at that point. He didn’t look happy.
“How’s Kamaria?”
“Physically beat-up but stable. But she’s still unresponsive. I gave them the name of a shaman to call in. One of the best. He can retrieve her soul. She’s disconnected from her body and unless we return her to her body, she’ll sink into a permanent coma.”
He must have noticed my expression because he reached out to place a hand over my wrist. “I told you, it’s not your fault, Ember. She took the risk. She’s taken a lot of risks over the years on the spiritual realm. Kamaria has always felt it’s her mission to help people. This could have happened in numerous other cases. She just managed to beat the odds…until now.”
I stirred my soup with my spoon. “I know, but I still feel responsible.”
“Don’t go down that route. Hell, if you want to play the blame game, Talia and I were the ones to suggest her.” He paused, then shrugged. “There’s nothing we can achieve by regrets. I put in a call to my mother. She should get back to us soon.”
We ate in a silence punctuated only by the clink of our spoons on the china. When we were done, I crossed to the sofa where Mr. Rumblebutt was waiting, purring up a storm. He began to knead my chest, licking my face, and I gathered him into my arms, kissing his head.
“It’s been a rough day, Mr. R.,” I whispered.
In return, he rubbed my chin with the top of his head and leaned against me, making biscuits on my chest. In another moment, he had dozed off in my arms. I gently kissed his nose and then deposited him on the sofa beside me.
Angel sat cross-legged on the wide ottoman, and Herne stretched out on the floor, on his back. He crossed his arms over his face and we sat in the comfortable silence, each wrapped up within our own thoughts. Ten minutes later, his phone rang and we all jumped. Mr. Rumblebutt was so startled that he dashed off the sofa, shaking his head and glaring at Herne as though he held him personally accountable for the disruption.
“Hello? Yes, she’s here with me.” He held out the phone to me. “Morgana.”
I took it, still wondering over the fact that the gods had taken to cell phones and technology. The next thing you knew, they’d be setting up websites. In fact, they probably had.
“Hi, this is Ember,” I said as I took the phone and held it to my ear.
“We need to talk. In person.” Morgana wasn’t much for chitchat, apparently. “I want to see you tomorrow morning. Around ten-thirty.”
“All right.” I hesitated, not wanting to sound stupid. “Um, how do I get to you?”
When she had claimed me, she had come to me, at the Wild Hunt Agency. But I didn’t expect her to show up at the office every time.
“Herne knows the way. Tell him to drop you at the portal on my dock. He’ll know what I’m talking about.” And with that, she hung up.
I handed his phone back to him, relaying her message. “Do all of the gods have portals around here that most of us never notice?”
“Yeah, I’d say that’s pretty much the way of things. Tomorrow we’ll head out there from the office. It’s not far.” Herne glanced at the clock. “It’s late. You and Angel need to sleep.”
I walked over to him, leaning against his chest as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
“Will you stay?” I asked softly.
He kissed my forehead. “I’d love to, but I need to get home. I have some work I have to attend to for my father.”
I reached up, placed my lips against his and lingered in a long, leisurely kiss. As he wrapped his arms around me, gently massaging the small of my waist, I rested my head on his shoulder and we stood for a moment, in silence. Then, with another kiss, he pulled away and tilted my chin up. His gaze locked onto me, burning a hole through my heart.
“I love you, Ember,” he said, placing two fingers over my lips when I began to answer. “Shush, love. You’re tired. Rest.”
And then, he headed for the door, bidding good night to Angel.
MORNING ARRIVED AND with it, I felt much better. A hot bath and a cup of chamomile tea the night before had left me tired enough to fall into a—thankfully—dreamless sleep. I woke stiff, but a long shower seemed to put me to rights, and I lingered over my wardrobe, trying to decide what would be dressy enough to meet Morgana, yet active enough for work. I finally decided on a pair of black jeans that had enough stretch in them that I could run easily, along with a bustier that zipped up the front. It had a built-in bra that was stiff enough to hold up the girls, and while it had leather strips on the sides, it breathed for summer.
The sun was glinting through the bedroom window. The weather forecast called for a hot day in the mid-eighties, so I chose a pair of sneakers over ankle boots, and brushed my hair back into a high ponytail. After putting on my makeup—I did more than my usual slap-and-dash—I joined Angel in the kitchen. She had whipped up a pan of blueberry muffins, and sliced some gouda and cheddar.
“I hope you don’t mind a quick breakfast, but I had to drag myself out of bed.” She yawned, sipping her tea. “Last night really took it out of me.”
“I think last night made all of us her bitch. Muffins and cheese are fine—in fact, better than fine. The muffins smell heavenly, and you know my love affair with cheese.” I bit into one of the muffins and the taste explosion filled my mouth. “Bag some up for snacks?” I asked, speaking around the crumbs.
“Already ahead of you.” She pointed to a box, where I saw that she had packed a dozen for the office. “You look dressed up today.”
“Remember? I get to talk to Morgana today. This will be the first time I’ve seen her face-to-face since the day she claimed me. No way am I going to show up looking piecemeal.” I stuffed my phones—both work and personal—and tablet into my bag. “I had no clue I could channel water elementals. I wonder what else I can do. My magic is growing, Angel. And I admit, I’m a little bit afraid.” I glanced at Mr. Rumblebutt’s dish. “Thanks for feeding him.”
“He was stomping on my feet while I was baking, trying to convince me that we’ve been starving him. So I decided to bribe him to keep his fur out of the batter.” She paused, then asked, “How far do you think you’ll go with the magic? How much is she going to expect from you?”
“I don’t know,” I answered. “I suppose I’m hoping to find that out today. While I’ve adjusted to working with the Wild Hunt, you have to admit that both our lives have changed drastically since Beltane. Since we met Herne. I feel like we hopped on a merry-go-round and it turned into some wild Tilt-a-Whirl ride.”
“What do you want to happen? Or do you even know?” She picked up the box with the muffins as I slung my purse over my shoulder and opened the door for her.
As I closed the door, I thought over her qu
estion. What did I want? Where did I expect to go on a magical level? But the answers eluded me as we headed toward the car.
BY THE TIME we arrived at work, Herne was in the break room, and we went directly there instead of stopping at our respective desks.
Talia was first to report in. “Kamaria’s stable as far as her physical condition goes, but she’s sinking deeper into a coma.”
“I’ve called in a shaman who specializes in soul retrieval and he’ll arrive today. He’s coming here first, so we can give him the rundown on what we were fighting. He should be here within the hour.” Herne tugged on his collar, looking uncomfortable.
“What’s his name?” I asked.
“Kuippana. He’s Finnish by blood.”
“He’s coming all the way from Finland?” That seemed like a long way to travel for one patient.
“No,” Herne said. “He’s coming from Camano Island, where he runs a woodland retreat. He moved over here from Finland a long time ago.” He fell silent, and I recognized the signs that he didn’t want to talk about it anymore.
I blinked, trying once more. “That’s all?”
Herne ignored my question. “When he gets here, Ember, I want you to fill him in on what went down last night. You’ll have to be brief since you have an appointment with my mother at ten-thirty. Viktor will drive you down to the pier.” He consulted his notes. “Yutani, you’re next. Bring us up to speed on what you’ve found.”
“This morning I came in early and put in a few hours. I’ve managed to identify the waiter who was manning the ginger chicken station on Fae Day. His name is Nigel Henderson. The catering company said that he was a late fill-in for one of their regulars who was in a freak accident. Nigel was recommended by some day-labor company, supposedly, but I can’t find any record of them in the books. FMR Labor, but they don’t show up anywhere. The owner of the catering company—Marie Shill—was pushed to the wall with everything going on and apparently didn’t check the referral. She assumed he was vetted.”
“Do we have an address for Nigel?” Angel asked.
“Yes, we do. I phoned but there was no answer. I left a message asking him to return the call. Meanwhile, I’ve started looking into him, but he’s been very good at hiding his tracks. I did, however, discover that he rooms with a vampire named Charlie Darren.”
“A vamp? Is Nigel also a vampire?” Viktor asked, but then answered himself. “No, he couldn’t be if he was out in broad daylight. Right?”
“Right. The event was outside. No, as far as I can tell, Nigel is a run of the mill human. I tried searching on FMR Labor, but I’ve come up with squat. Nothing—not even a whisper.” He shook his head. “In this day and age, a company that doesn’t have a website is a company geared to fail, not to mention, setting off red flags. I’ll check with licensing and see if they have a business license.”
“They don’t even have a website? That’s odd. And you say the catering company never used them before?” Herne asked.
“Nope. As I said, she was pushed to the wall and when her regular called in sick, she apparently hired the first person who showed up. I have the caterer’s number and address, in case you want to talk to her later on.”
“All right,” Herne said, scribbling down notes. “We might just do that. Also, check on the regular waiter—what kind of freak accident? It seems a little too coincidental to me. The waiter who was supposed to man the station was injured right before the event? I wonder if he had some help.”
“That’s a good point,” I said. “Anybody know how they’re doing out at TirNaNog and Navane?” Thinking about the meeting with the Fae Queens made my stomach tense, bringing up visions of my grandfather again. I was still pissed.
“Yeah,” Herne said, a gloomy look washing over his face. “Three more deaths in Navane this morning, four more ill. TirNaNog has two more deaths and five more ill. So it is spreading somehow. There have been absolutely no reports of anybody with blood other than Fae coming down with the disease.”
“What about those who aren’t full blood? I know that neither side wants to admit their existence, but there are half-Fae around.” Talia tapped away on the keyboard.
Herne’s phone beeped and he glanced at it. “Kuippana just texted me. He’s on his way up. Angel, can you unlock the elevator?”
She nodded. “Should I just open up shop now, or do you still need me here?”
“Go ahead. We’re almost done.” As she headed out of the room, Herne continued. “In terms of half-Fae, we don’t know. None of them live in TirNaNog and Navane, and neither side will claim them so we have no clue if anybody attended Fae Day who was half-Fae. Yutani, why don’t you alert the hospitals to let us know if there’s anybody coming in with symptoms that match the disease? Don’t even specify race—while this appears to be limited to the Fae, we have no clue of how this illness could progress.”
As we began to clear up our notes, Angel returned, a tall man following her. With skin that was finely tanned to a light golden brown, and eyes so dark that I found myself falling into them at a single glance, he was striking. His hair brushed his shoulders and he had a full beard and mustache, all a rich brunette. His lips were full, and he wore a V-neck sweater in forest green, and a pair of camo pants. Both his ears were banded with earrings—at least four on each side, and the center of his lower lip was adorned with two silver rings, side by side, looped around his lip and through—a dolphin bite piercing. Herne was a beautiful specimen of masculinity, but he had his match in this man.
“Kuippana,” Angel said, her eyes lingering on him as she spoke.
Herne held out his hand. “Kuippana, thank you for coming,” he said quietly.
Kuippana inclined his head. “I answer when needed.” He paused, then added, “Do you mind me working the case?”
Herne shook his head. “I wouldn’t have contacted you if I did. Bygones and water under the bridge. As long as you remember this is my team.”
“I’ll be on my best,” Kuippana said.
I detected a slight smirk behind the words. I was beginning to get the feeling that the pair had some baggage behind them.
“Allow me to introduce my team, then. Talia, our resident researcher. Ember, one of my investigators.” Herne paused, then added, “She’s also my girlfriend. Understand?”
Kuippana’s eyes twinkled. “I believe I do.”
“Our receptionist, Angel, who brought you in.” He pointed to Yutani, “Yutani, our IT specialist and an investigator. And then there’s Viktor, another investigator.” Herne’s gaze never left Kuippana’s face.
“Pleased to meet all of you. Please, call me Kipa, it’s my nickname, and easier to pronounce.” Kuippana motioned to the table. “May I sit down?”
“Please do. Would you like some coffee?” Angel hovered by his side.
I glanced at her. She looked smitten. I could see it in her face. I glanced back at Kipa. He was absolutely gorgeous, but like Herne, there was a darker edge behind the smile, and I wondered just how much we could trust him.
As Angel poured him some coffee and pushed the box of muffins over to him, Herne cleared his throat, glancing at me for a moment.
“Ember will brief you on what we were fighting last night, then Talia will take you to the hospital.” He paused, looking uncertain. “Ember, can I speak to you in my office for a moment?”
“Of course. Angel, keep Kipa company, would you?”
I wasn’t sure whether it was a good idea to encourage her or not, but then again, nothing could happen with Viktor and the others there. As I followed Herne into his office and shut the door behind us, he turned to me, a serious look on his face.
“I want you to be cautious around Kipa. Seriously.”
“What’s wrong? Is he dangerous?”
Herne blinked. “We’re all dangerous, love. Regardless of our nature. But I want you to be cautious of him because, in the scheme of things—you might consider him my distant cousi
n. Except he’s got light fingers. Not only did he steal my girlfriend, but he was thrown out of Mielikki’s Arrow. He crossed paths with Tapio when he tried to seduce Mielikki. Kipa is the Lord of the Wolves, and to say he’s a wolf himself would be an understatement.”
Chapter 8
I STARED AT Herne, not quite registering what he was saying. Then it hit me.
“Kipa is a god? Like you?”
He shook his head. “Not quite. He lives outside of time. He’s one of the elemental forest spirits. He is Lord of the Wolves, the Packmaster. He’s a trickster, much like Coyote, except sometimes he spins out his games for fun, rather than for a lesson.”
I stared at the door, thinking of how much havoc someone like that could cause. “Should we trust him?”
“You can always trust him, to be exactly who he is.” Herne paused, twisting his lips. After a moment he said, “Ember, one thing to accept about the gods—you can never fully trust any of us, not if you’re looking for safety. We move outside of the range of safety and security. We don’t operate like people do, or even the Fae. But most of us do our best to keep to our words. Kipa…he has good intentions, until something distracts him and he forgets. As I said, he’s a distant cousin, in the sense that we are joined by the forests, but would I trust him around you? Absolutely not. He’ll try to seduce you—wait and see. And when he does, I’ll beat the crap out of him.”
I laughed at that. “You’ll have to go through me first. But don’t worry about me. I’m not interested in him, even though he’s a very pretty man.”
Herne frowned, but said nothing.
“Can we trust him with Kamaria? Will he help her?”
The frown slipped away and Herne nodded. “Of that, I am absolutely certain. Kipa is the best at what he does, and he will do what he can to save her, having given his promise.”
As we turned toward the door, I asked one more question. “Did Talia suggest bringing him here, or did you?”
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