“True,” Ronnie said in a distant voice, her eyes having gone soft as if she were picturing the news cast. “Well, don’t go charging off on your own, okay? Please let me know before you do anything…” Her voice trailed off, but I knew what word she wanted to use.
“I’ll try, but we’re dealing with the immortals here,” I said, giving up my search for the stones, realizing I had in fact given all of them to Whelan. “Pretty much anything is gonna seem kinda stupid.”
“Probably right,” she sighed, bending over to retrieve her purse. “Just try to be careful at least.”
“I will,” I said. Just as I turned for the door, there was a knock and then a muttered curse behind the door. Ronnie and I shared a look before I walked carefully to the door. I could hear the grumbling through the wood. I lifted up on my toes and pressed my eye to the peephole.
“Who is it?” I demanded. There were two men outside, both very tall and thin. One had shoulder length sandy blond hair shot through with white highlights and the other had waist length, jet black hair – he was the one cursing, staring at his balled up fist. At my words, they both looked up, as though they could see me through the door. Their bright eyes gave them away as fae more than anything else.
“A delivery from the Lord and Lady of Dunhallow,” Blondie said, holding up an envelope with my name scrawled in red lettering across the front, just like the first envelope, and a brown leather pouch. My shoulders sagged at the sight of it. Had they really thought to pay me in gold or jewels? Really? That was such a pain to convert.
“Wonderful,” I muttered, falling back to my heels and turning the locks before I opened the door. The black-haired one was glaring at me, holding one hand close to his chest. The knuckles were blistered and bleeding.
“Ironwood?” Blondie asked, tilting his head toward his friend.
“No,” I said, pointing at the doorframe and the haphazard pattern of iron nails. “Nails.”
“Thanks for the bloody warning,” the injured one said. If he could have cut me down with a look, I would have died on the spot.
“Hey, I didn’t know you guys would come knocking. Last time, someone just slipped an envelope under the door and took off,” I said, placing one hand on my hip while holding the door with the other.
“Well, we couldn’t really slip this under the door,” Blondie said, jiggling the pouch in his hand, making the contents clink against each other. It sounded like the shifting of gold coins.
“Yeah, about that,” I said, nodding toward the pouch. “What’s in there?”
“Your retainer.”
“No, I got that; I mean, what’s the currency?”
“Fairy gold,” Blondie said, making my eyebrows shoot up. Fairy gold was very, very valuable, more valuable than the gold found in our world, but it was also very susceptible to charms and enchantments. I could take that pouch of gold, accept it as a valid payment, and then wake up in the evening and have every piece disappear while I was asleep. Or, worse yet, take the gold to the bank to convert to paper money and watch as it evaporated as I tried to walk out with the human money. And of course, then, my ass would be collared and in jail before I could blink.
“That’s just peachy,” I said, “but no.” I shook my head, refusing to reach out for the pouch.
“No?” The injured one blinked at me.
“No,” I repeated. “I want human currency. Not gold, not gems, and certainly not fairy gold from two pissed off royals.”
“You dirty little—” the injured one started, leaning toward me and dangerously close to the barrier created by the iron nails, but Blondie placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
“Very well,” Blondie said as he pulled his friend back. The very tips of his black hair swung too close to the barrier and sizzled, filling the air with the acrid scent of burning hair. That made him jump back, slapping at his hair, curses flying from his mouth. Blondie shared a look with me, and we both had to look away lest we burst out into laughter.
“Enough!” he said, turned on one booted heel, and stormed off down the hall for the elevator. I glanced up at Blondie again and shrugged.
“You’ll have to excuse him, he’s not used to being sent on errands and he doesn’t like to leave the Hill,” Blondie whispered to me.
“It’s fine,” I said with a wave of my hand.
“Well then, human currency, if you’re sure?”
“I am.”
“It may be a few days before the payment is delivered,” he warned me, tilting his head to the side as he eyed me.
“That’s fine, so long as I have your word that the payment will be delivered in the currency I’ve requested,” I said, choosing my words carefully.
“You have my word, Ms. Kavanagh,” he said, placing one hand to his chest just over his heart before bowing his head.
“Good enough for me then,” I said. “Sorry about your friend’s hand.”
He glanced down the hall, watching his friend tap his foot impatiently as he held the elevator door open. “He’ll live,” he said, rolling his eyes.
“Well, good night,” I said, taking a step to start to close the door. Blondie gave me one last nod, the light reflecting in his eyes until they looked like liquid gold. He bid me good night, and I found it difficult to close the door, but somehow I managed it.
“Wowza,” Ronnie said behind me, reminding me of her presence. “Can I answer the door next time?”
“I know, right?” I laughed, trying to catch my breath. I held up a finger for her to wait and pressed my ear to the door, listening until I heard the elevator bing before it started its shaky descent to the lobby.
“Coast clear?” Ronnie asked, and I nodded. “Remember what I said, okay? Please be careful.”
“I will,” I said, holding up three fingers on my right hand. “Witches honor.” Ronnie looked like she wanted to say something, but she clenched her jaw together and kept whatever else she might’ve said to herself. I was more than a little grateful for that because it had been a craptasticly horribly long night and I just didn’t have anything left in me to argue with. Ronnie gave me a tight hug and turned for the door.
With a sad look on her face, Ronnie went out the front door. I followed behind her and threw the many locks, setting freezing spells into each of them before I squatted down to place my fingers on the line of iron nails. I closed my eyes and whispered the incantation, feeling them grow warm under my fingers as the spell took. After I’d done the same to the all the windows, I finally gave over to the bone deep weariness, stumbled into my bedroom, and threw myself onto the bed. It wasn’t more than a minute before I fell into the sweet, black abyss.
***
When I woke, it was dark again, making me a little confused. I grabbed my phone to check the time and saw I’d missed two more calls from Joey. She still hadn’t left a voicemail though.
“Afraid to give him the potion, huh?” I asked as I cleared the notifications. Satisfied it really was seven o’clock at night, I rolled out of bed. After I’d showered and put myself together, I found Artemis waiting for me, tail twitching impatiently behind him. Once he was fed and plied with fresh cream, he let me leave without protest.
I grabbed my coat and a scarf since it was raining, knowing it would be much colder tonight than it had been lately. Frankie didn’t even spare me a glance as I walked through the lobby, but I would take her cool indifference to my existence than having those hard eyes turned on me. The full moon was tomorrow night, and I didn’t want to take any chances of pissing her off, so I didn’t even bother to wave at her before I rushed down the stairs and hit the door to the street.
Roane’s ring was going to take another five hours of steeping before I could pull it out of the teacup, but I didn’t want to just sit around my apartment and wait. Even if any customers came by, I would be too terrified to open the door in case they were vampire or fairy emissaries. The rain wasn’t substantial enough for an umbrella to make a difference. The moisture just
hung in the air, clinging to the mascara on my eyelashes and making my hair feel heavy. But thank the gods I’d decided to wear jeans and boots; otherwise I might have caught my death of cold.
I was headed for The Brownie’s Bite. If anyone could help me find Theo’s lair, it was Fin; she knew everything and everyone supernatural in this town. A man held the door open for me as I approached, letting me keep my hands jammed in my jacket pockets. Smiling my thanks, I slipped inside, breathing a little easier as the warm air scented with roasting meat and fried foods surrounded me.
Scanning the restaurant, I wasn’t surprised to see it already crammed full of bodies, most eating their first meal of the evening. I made my way over to the counter and took a stool, catching Fin’s eye at the end of the counter. She nodded in my direction, letting me know she’d be with me in a minute. I peeled my gloves off and shoved them into my pocket, deciding not to strip my jacket or scarf off just yet.
I was scanning the menu when Fin ambled up to me. Her yellow brown eyes were almost lost in the crinkle of her smile as she slid a coffee cup in front of me and filled it from the carafe she was carrying.
“On your own tonight?” Fin asked by way of greeting.
“Yeah,” I nodded, tearing into a couple of sugar packets to add to the cup followed by an ample amount of cream.
“What’ll it be?”
“Pancakes with sausage,” I said. “And I wanted to bend your ear if you have a minute.” Fin had started to turn away, but stopped short, turning to look over her shoulder at me. She had no eyebrows, but I imagine she would’ve arched one at me if she could have.
“Oh?” she said, turning to face me again. “What about, might I ask?”
I leaned forward on my forearms on the counter to get closer to her and whispered, “I’m looking for Theodora’s lair. Thought maybe you could tell me where to find it.”
“You did, did you?” Fin replied, squinting at me as she considered my words. I bit my lip and watched her face, afraid that if I talked too much, she’d change her mind and keep her mouth shut; earthen fairies were a fickle bunch. She clicked her pen closed on the pad she’d written my order on only to click it open again.
“Link or patty?” Fin asked, confusing me for a second.
“What?”
“Your sausage.”
“Oh, right. Link.” She made a note on the pad and turned away from me. She tore off the order slip and stuck it in the kitchen window, hitting the bell and calling out for the cook’s attention. I slid back onto my chair, letting my shoulders fall. I wasn’t sure if she’d already decided against helping me, but I wasn’t exactly betting on it.
Cupping my coffee mug in my hands, I slid it across the counter, closer to me. The heat of the ceramic seeped into my fingers, turning my pale skin red. Fin came back over after refilling a few cups of coffee at the counter and gave me a squinty-eyed look. I stared back at her, unblinking.
“You have any idea what it would mean if someone found out I told someone else where to find vamps while they slept?” Fin asked, setting the steaming carafe on the counter before crossing her thin arms over her boney chest.
“Yes,” I said with a nod.
“Say I knew this information and say I told someone and then tomorrow night we’re all watching the news about a staking in the neighborhood.” She squinted harder, tilting her head toward me. “Imagine what that would do for business.”
“Fin,” I said, shaking my head, “I don’t want to stake anyone.” I’d dropped my voice to a whisper, though with so many supernaturals in the joint, it didn’t make much of a difference. I just had to hope no one was paying any attention to us.
“Then what?” she asked.
“Roane of Dunhallow has gone missing,” I said in the same hushed tone and watched as the skin on her forehead wrinkled in surprise. Fin took a step closer to the counter and leaned on it to hear me better. “The Dunhallows have taken Owen, Theo’s favorite.”
“And your ex,” Fin said pointedly.
“Yes,” I said through gritted teeth, “and my ex. Anyway, the fairies have Owen, and I think maybe the vamps have Roane. If I can find Roane, the Dunhallows will let Owen go.”
“If the fairies are holding a vamp in exchange for a fairy, don’t you think Theo would give up Roane?” Fin asked, pushing back away from the counter.
“Yes, I do, which is why I don’t think Theo knows that they have Owen. If I can find her lair, talk to her, I can tell her what a mistake she’s making.” I watched Fin as she weighed my words, deciding whether or not I was lying to her. She was right. If I was just trying to find Theo so I could act out some sort of scorned woman revenge and people found out Fin had been the one to lead me to Theo’s lair, she’d be the next target. Fin would be in the same sticky web I’d gotten myself into when I agreed to help Jimmy.
The cook hit the bell behind Fin, calling out my order. Fin turned away from me and grabbed the oblong plate. She slid it in front of me and fetched a small ceramic pitcher of warm maple syrup. When she set it in front of me, she said, “I’m not going to tell you where to find the lair.” My whole body deflated. “But you might still find out where to find it.”
“How?” I asked, perking up immediately like someone had pulled my strings.
“There.” She nodded her head to the booth in the far corner. I sat up on the stool, bracing my feet on the rungs to lift up a few inches. Craning my neck, I finally saw the booth full of pale-faced, darkly dressed vampires. They looked like teenagers and freshly turned, like they were still acting out their Hollywood fantasy of what vampires looked like.
“Oh, I see,” I said, sinking back down onto my seat.
“They’re young,” Fin said, and I nodded. “Persuadable,” she said with a tilt of her head.
“Yeah, I get you,” I said. I poured the syrup over my plate before placing one sausage link on a pancake. I rolled the pancake around the sausage like a taco, picked it up, and took a bite, staring down the way at the darkened booth. They were very obviously young, but I wasn’t stupid enough not to also realize just how dangerous they still were. Licking the syrup from my fingers, I pushed my plate away before slipping from the stool.
Walking through the crowded restaurant, I tried to think of a reason to approach them; telling them I wanted to find Theo’s lair wasn’t going to cut it. As soon as they knew I was looking for their master, they’d be on me like ants on a melting lollipop. I shook my head, trying to get that visual out of my mind before I got to the table. I had no idea what kinds of powers these vamps would have, but I didn’t want to stumble upon a mind reader and give them any tasty ideas.
Chewing my lip, I stood back a few feet, realizing I had let my imagination get away from me and hadn’t come up with a feasible excuse to approach the group of blood suckers. Go me.
“Can we help you?” one of the boys at the end of the curved bench seat asked. I blinked at him, feeling heat rush to my pale cheeks, making the two girls in the booth titter at my embarrassment. The boy who’d spoken to me arched one brown brow at me. He had warm honey brown eyes. The light of life hadn’t gone out of them yet – it probably wouldn’t for another fifty years or so of being undead. He had a kind face, his cheekbones were soft and curvy, not sharp and dangerous like you expected of a vampire dressed head to toe in black. At least he wasn’t wearing eyeliner.
“I, uh,” I stammered, still having no idea how to go about this.
“Looks like we’ve got ourselves another groupie,” one of the tittering girls said. She appeared to be the youngest turned of the group. She’d spray painted her hair a fire engine red, which made her pale blond eyebrows nearly disappear on her tiny face. She’d applied so much black eye shadow and eyeliner that it looked like she’d rubbed charcoal on her face. Rather than making her look dark and alluring like she hoped it would, it made her eyes seem tiny and beady like a rat’s. Her black lips were curled in a sneer and that made it easier to ignore her snide comments.
; “Not a groupie, no,” I said, finally finding my voice.
“Then what’s up?” the first boy pressed. When I looked at him, the stitch that had formed in my chest eased and I was sure I could talk to him, that he’d be the one to listen.
“I’m looking for a friend of mine,” I said, the lie coming easily to my lips. “She went missing a few days ago and I think maybe she…” I made a small wave in their direction, letting them fill in the blanks.
“Went on a picnic?” the second girl asked, making her cohort burst out laughing.
“Yeah, went on a picnic,” I shot back with an eye roll before turning my attention back to Brown Eyes. “Anyway, I thought maybe you could help me?”
“Why would we do that?” This came from the boy closest to me, who was facing Brown Eyes. He had a high forehead and a prominent nose, and I wondered if in another life, he had been a bird. His blond hair was almost white and was slicked back, nearly plastered to his head. His eyes were a piercing grey and something told me it would be less than fifty years before the spark of life faded in them. There was just something about him that said he was always meant to be part of the undead.
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly with a shrug. “But I figured it didn’t hurt to ask.”
“It might hurt,” Charcoal said, leaning toward the table as if she would intimidate me.
“Enough, Georgie,” Brown Eyes said with a small hand motion, pushing her back into her seat. I couldn’t help my smirk at her name; it wasn’t exactly what you expected a vampire to be named. Georgie caught my smirk and I saw the flicker of hate blossom in her beady little eyes. Brown Eyes turned his attention back to me. “What’s your name?”
“Mattie,” I said, figuring it would be stupid to lie about that.
“Well, Mattie,” Brown Eyes said, sliding out of the booth to stand and hold his hand out to me, “I’m Fletcher.”
Wytchcraft: A Matilda Kavanagh Novel Page 8
