Elemental Shadows

by Phaedra Weldon

  "Because they all have the same telling features." The browser windows shifted until a web page dedicated to Shadow People popped up. "There are at least five known types of Shadow People. And these local stories are specific to the tall ones with the hats, and the shorter, mischievous ones."

  I stopped looking at the screen and refocused on Ivan. "So what are they?"

  "No one knows. But all the stories point to them being malevolent."

  Of course they are. I placed the thumb and middle finger of my right hand on my temples and squeezed. "Yeah well…I'm not seeing anything that links this with the Elder deaths or anything relevant to what we have to do to appease the Clerics."

  Ivan put a hand on my forearm and leaned in close to whisper. "If you want," he said in a low voice. "I can make something that would work. It would fool them—owwhatthefuck?!”

  I jerked back just as Ivan did the same. He put a hand to his cheek and glared at my shoulder. “What?”

  He pointed. “What the hell is that tucked in your hair?”

  Tucked in my…oh crap. I directed a curious thought at the Slyph still hiding there and dismissed him with a thank you. “Sorry. I needed a witness.”

  “The little shit bit me.”

  I snickered as I redirected us back to the important offer he’d just made. "No…" He was thinking of uploading the book again and copying the information to make a new book, a perfect copy, to give to the Clerics. I put my hand on his shoulder as he leaned down again and I could see a tiny little bead of blood on his cheek. Yeah, that Slyph had taken a bite out of him. "You're a doll, Ivan. But we’re not sure if your uploading and downloading is doing something else to you. These headaches worry me. And we don't have a witch doctor I can take you to who could diagnose if they're magic related or just physical stress."

  He shrugged. "I say both. But I'm okay with trying it, just in case we have to."

  Kyle put the receiver back in its cradle before he turned to us as I lowered my hand from Ivan's shoulder. "Sam, these Shadow People things may not have anything to do with what's happening with my aunt, but those articles Ivan found aren't an anomaly. I just jotted down information from ten messages."

  "Ten?" Ivan whistled. "There were only three when I called in."

  "Talk to me," I focused on Kyle.

  "I wrote down the three Ivan mentioned, plus five more that all have the same ring to them."

  "That only makes eight. What about the other two?"

  "The other two are call backs from this particular message." He pointed to the paper in his hand. "This is a woman in the Garden District, not far from Ina's house. She said something flew out of the TV last night and attacked her dog. On her second call, she said her dog was acting funny. On the third call, her dog tried to kill her."

  Oh shit. "Call her back. Get more information."

  "You want to take this case?" Kyle picked up the receiver.

  "What you just described sounds like a routine possession. Maybe a Fetch or a Daemon. It's something we can—"

  All three of us jumped when someone banged heavily on the front door.

  Arden Vervain, looking very southern stylish in her black couture suit and long leather coat, stood outside. She cupped her hands and pressed them to the window. Spotting us standing around the computer at the register, she waved. And yelled. "Hey! Kyle! Come on shugar and let me in. It's cold out here."

  Ivan and Kyle looked at me. "You two go check out that lady's story. Call her back on your way there. If it is a possession—" I moved away from the counter and headed to the door.

  "I'll kick it out on its ass," Kyle said.

  "Go on! I need to talk to Arden."

  "Got it," Kyle grabbed the edge of Ivan's hoodie. "Come on, Google boy. Let's go check this out and see if it's a possession. I’ll drive.”

  Once they were safely through the door to the back, I unlocked the shop's front door and stood back. "Come in, Miss Vervain. It's been a while."

  "Two weeks or so," Arden said as she entered the room. Arden Vervain didn't just walk into anything. She liked to make an entrance. "And I said to call me Arden."

  I shut the door behind her. "Okay, Arden. I got a visit this morning."

  "I'm sure you did. I got one too. So has everyone in the Elder Committee." She continued past the counter and into the back. I spotted Ivan's truck through the front windows as it moved down Bourbon Street toward St. Philip.

  Arden was filing up the electric kettle when I came in. Grey sat on her big wolfie pillow by the door up to my apartment. The pillow was the kind they sold in pet stores for large dogs. Worked for her. As long as I kept it clean. "I like your wolf."

  "What the hell, Arden?"

  She glanced at me. Arden Vervain's age was a mystery to most people in New Orleans. She looked like she was in her mid-thirties, with raven hair that cascaded down broad but delicate shoulders. Her figure was something only seen in fashion magazines, as was her wardrobe. She was an Elder Witch, though she didn't possess three Dianic Gifts. Only one. But that one was a very unique and rare Gift. Her Element was Water, which made sense when I thought of the swamp property she owned. And as a Dianic extra, Arden was a Seer.

  And a very good one. She had an eighty-nine percent fruition rate. Best average in the country. The kicker was she didn't like using the Gift.

  But it wasn't just her magic, or the fact she was a billionaire that made people afraid of her. It was the control of her power that kept a lot of her enemies at bay. I'd seen Arden at work when she wanted to wield magic. Offensive or defensive—she had complete control. Most Witches had spells go wild, bend the wrong way and sometimes they just failed.

  But not Arden.

  She also had the power that comes with wealth. She really was the rich bitch who could get away with anything. And now the Clerics believed she murdered some people and they wanted her head.

  I did not envy any of them in this situation.

  The kettle started its boiling process as she lifted the tray with the sugar, cream and artificial sweetener to the table.

  "Tea's in the cabinet."

  "I know." Arden grabbed all seven boxes and put those on the table too. She set two large mugs beside the boxes and then stood by the kettle to wait on it. I think, in retrospect, that was the most mundane thing I'd ever seen her do. "Sam, I didn't kill those Elders."

  "I honestly don't think you did." I pulled out a chair and sat. I figured if Arden Vervain was going to make me tea, I might as well enjoy it. Grey got up and came to sit beside me again and rested her head in my lap. I stroked her neck. "I don't see you as…"

  "That stupid?" Arden waved her hand. "Those pricks do. I think sometimes they choose the most disreputable of us and give them the office of Cleric just to get them off the streets."

  "Could be." At least where Fred was concerned.

  The kettle finished. Arden poured hot water into the two empty mugs and finally took a seat to my right. She picked out Earl Grey. I chose plain English Breakfast and we steeped our bags. When it looked like Arden wasn't going to volunteer information, I prompted her. "Arden…they're going to submit a warlock ceremony to Parliament."

  She pulled her tea bag up, and then let it go. "I know. I was informed of this myself. I'm being framed and I've never been framed for anything, or falsely accused."

  "You're feeling helpless."

  Now her dark eyes found mine. "Yes, I am. And I don't like it. This is not a state of being I wish to continue. The three Elders who died…I spoke with them on Sunday."

  "At different times?"

  "No. We had a meeting over at Ray's Cafe."

  If I remembered correctly, that place had cameras. And I was pretty sure the cops already had surveillance. That is, if the NOPD knew about Arden. "That's not good."

  "No. It's not. Witnesses. My card bill because I paid for it."

  "Why did you meet?"

  "It was a pitch session for me. I want the Grand Master position. I'm not going to deny t
hat. And those three Witches were instrumental in getting me elected as long as they bowed out of the race themselves."

  "So everyone in the committee is up for election."

  "Yes. Though a few have publicly said they didn't want the job. It's not a matter of choosing to run. As an Elder you have a responsibility."

  I removed my tea bag and tossed it onto the condiments tray. The tray was an old classic Coca-Cola tin tray I found at a garage sale a few years back. The image was pretty much scratched off, but I liked the antique feel of it. "So you convinced them that you would be the best candidate." That was my assumption from their response on the emails.

  "Nope." Arden did the same with her teabag and then dumped two heaping tablespoons of sugar into it, stirred, and filled it to the brim with milk.

  "You didn't convince them?"

  "No. I was pretty much dismissed. We had a lovely meal and then they left. I sat there for a long time, imagining in my mind how each of them would meet their doom, but I didn't carry out anything."

  I sipped my tea. "Do you know what the evidence against you is?"

  "No." That got her attention. "Did they show you?"

  "All three of the victims had typed out an email to you, agreeing you were the best candidate."

  Her eyes widened and for a second, Arden looked like a teenager who just learned her boyfriend was a woman. "All three of them…were typing out emails?"

  "Weird, huh?"

  "Yeah shugar, it is. Why would they do that?"

  I shook my head. "I have no idea. The Clerics are also convinced you have the Hammer."

  Arden snorted. "They wished I had it. Damn old timers lost the thing and they want to blame me."

  "You went into Higgins's house looking for it."

  "I did."

  "Twice."

  Now she looked sheepish. "I wanted to make sure I had exhausted all my avenues."

  "Arden," I sipped my tea again. "Is it possible Higgins hid the Hammer off campus?"

  "Off campus?"

  "Yeah. Like, not in his home?" The question was a total set up for me. I'd been thinking about Ivan's suggestion ever since he left, about making a copy of the book for the Clerics. I didn't want to put him through that again, but if they had their own copy, one that would fool a so-called Hammer expert, then it might be worth it. So putting the idea the Hammer could be somewhere in the city could give me the out I would need later.

  At least if they had some copy of the damn thing they'd leave me the hell alone. Or that was where my thoughts were going.

  "I guess it's possible. If he believed it wouldn't be safe in his own home."

  "Did you ever organize a search of the city?"

  Arden sipped her tea. Then she took several large swallows. I assumed she was getting that sugar rush. "Not a very large search. But I can remedy that."

  "Good. Now, let's get back to someone framing you and why." I leaned back in the chair as it creaked beneath me. Grey huffed and flopped down on the floor in a very good imitation of being bored. "I'm pretty sure if I told you to make a list of your enemies…"

  "We'd be here for a year. Someone in my position always has enemies. My enemies have enemies because they're my enemies."

  "You really need to learn to play well with others."

  Arden shook her head. One short, curt shake. "It will never happen. And I've been racking my brain and yelling at my assistants all morning, trying to come up with someone that would love to see me not only incarcerated in the Cowen world, but in our world."

  "They're the same world, Arden. Jail's jail."

  "Not if you're warlocked."

  True dat. "I don't know about DNA or the usual physical forensic anomalies that were found in their homes. But whoever did this knew the right evidence to leave. An email addressed to you in mid-creation works for the NOPD and the Clerics," I leaned my head onto my right shoulder. "Have the police come to question you?"

  "Not yet. But I've left my assistants instructions to call me as soon as they show up. At either residence."

  The fact the NOPD hadn't brought her in for questioning seemed odd to me.

  My phone rang and vibrated in my back pocket. I leaned over just as Grey jumped up and loped into the front room.

  My phone displayed the caller's face. Male, looked to be in his mid to late twenties, possible early thirties. Chiseled features. Full lower lip on a mouth forever pulled to the side in a smirk. Long black lashes framed unusual amber red eyes. A thick shock of sandy brown hair flopped over his face, crowning shaved sides and back.

  Detective Crwys Holliard.

  My silent partner, former lover, and unknown species.

  "Yeah? Rent's not due for another two weeks."

  Crwys laughed in my ear, but I could hear the tightness in his voice. "Miss Arden Vervain in there?"

  "How did you guess?"

  "This big-ass white limousine taking up half of Bourbon Street was my first clue," he sighed. "Come unlock the front door, Sam. I got a warrant for her arrest."

  So much for odd.

  Arden stepped into the front retail shop with me and remained by the counter as I unlocked the door. Crwys stepped in, squeezed my upper arm as he passed by. Lt. Levi Tulouse, Crwys’s partner, came in as well. Levi was rocking another of his crisp suits while Crwys wore his standard uniform of jeans, boots, t-shirt and leather jacket.

  What I said earlier about Crwys being an unknown species wasn't a joke. I had a spell I called a dex, like a Pokédex, that would magically scan the Spirit of the person I directed it at and tell me what they were. Human, Fetch, Daemon, Revenant, Lamia, and I recently added in Leviathan parameters.

  When I used it on Crwys, and I used it a lot, it came up with no results. Not even a guess. I didn't know what he was, and he wasn't going to tell me. What I did know about him was that he was sexy as hell. My magic loved something about him and sometimes snapped me to him like a rubber band, and he could set people, places and things on fire.

  Instantly. Poof. Gone. I’d recently watched him crispy-critter eleven ghouls.

  Levi, on the other hand, showed up with brilliant flares on my dex. Revenant. In other words, vampire. But he seemed like a good guy. He caught the bad guys, and his demon, the thing in him that made him a vampire, was named Ashur.

  I know it gets confusing. But if you hang in there as long as I have, it starts to make a sort of chaotic sense.

  Levi gave me a fist bump as he looked around the place. "Looks good in here, Sam."

  I realized Levi hadn't been in since Dionysus' mad ninja ghouls trashed the place. I wondered if he knew Crwys was one of my silent partners. I wouldn't be surprised if he did. He and Levi had been together a long time. A lot longer than playing cops and robbers as partners on the streets.

  "Well, well, well, Detectives What and Vague. So nice to see you again."

  Again? I looked at Crwys. He shrugged at me before he faced Arden. "You're not going to give us any trouble are you? 'Cause you know I love using my Witch mojo on you."

  "That, shugar, could be misconstrued as a lewd and lascivious comment," she reached out and ran her long, red lacquered nail under his lightly bearded chin. "Do it again."

  I didn't like her touching him.

  Crwys wasn't mine. We weren't even a thing anymore. I was seeing Robin. Robin was mine.

  But I still didn't like her touching Crwys. "So," I ventured and put a hand on Crwys's upper arm. That gesture disengaged his stare-down with Arden. "You’re here to arrest Arden."

  Arden's frown echoed my own. She moved her finger from Crwys's chin and pressed it against her own chest, just above her very visible cleavage. "Me? What can I do for you boys?"

  Crwys's smile was a bit creepy. "You can turn around and put your hands behind your back." He held up a pair of handcuffs.

  "Wait…you really are arresting her?" I looked from Crwys to Levi and back again. "Why?"

  "Murder," Levi held up three fingers. "Three of them. Old white dudes. Not su
re what she killed them with, but from the looks on their faces, it wasn't pretty."

  Arden took a step back. I half expected her to summon a smoke cloud and do a classic disappearing act while she ran out the door and into her waiting car. When she didn't, I was a little proud of her.

  A little.

  "I haven't murdered anyone. I told you that yesterday."

  "Turn around," Crwys took her upper arm and forced Arden to turn. "Hands behind your back."

  Arden complied as Crwys slapped cuffs on her and Levi read her her rights. When they were done, I held up my hand. "Okay, so wait a minute. This has to do with the three dead Elders."

  Crwys smiled at me. "I figured you'd know about that already."

  "She only knows because I told her," Arden said. She turned to face us.

  Crap. Even handcuffed Arden looked sexy. Having her hands pinned behind her just made her boobs stick out.

  More.

  "You might want to remain silent," Crwys warned.

  "I told you. I had a meeting with them on Sunday. I did not kill them."

  "DNA evidence says otherwise."

  I blinked. "You got DNA evidence back—that fast? That's unbelievable."

  "Not really," Levi said. "One of the stiffs is a friend of the Chef of Detectives. He's mad as hell the guy's dead so he's on the warpath."

  "And next year is an election year," I muttered. "So you're arresting her on DNA evidence. What kind?"

  "Sorry, Sam." Crwys took Arden's upper arm and sort of handed her off to Levi. "I think Frank's outside with a black and white. Just turn her over to him. Need to speak to Sam."

  Levi looked suspicious, but he nodded.

  Arden locked eyes with me and I nodded. "I'll look into it. I promise."

  She mouthed the words 'thank you' before Levi took her out the front of the shop.

  "That was a pretty lousy way to do that. The tourists out there will see her."

  Crwys was still watching the door as he shrugged. "Arden'll spin it to her own advantage. More publicity for her," he turned to face me. "Is Ivan around?"

  "No. He and Kyle are out. Why do you need Ivan?"

  "Got some questions to ask him, given his particular Gift." He took my arm and led me to a corner of the store as far away from the computer as possible and lowered his voice. "Do you guys know if he's the only one of his kind?"