by Lexi Blake
“How much are we talking?” Lefty asked.
“What exactly are ya looking for, darling?” Righty wanted to know.
“It’s a stone.” I made a circle with my thumb and forefinger, showing them the approximate size. “About this big. When the sun hits it, it looks like blood.”
All three faces fell and I knew I’d lost them.
“Never heard of it,” the leprechauns said in unison.
I looked at Tully, giving him a disbelieving glare. He shrugged. “We only accept coin. Right, boys?”
The little men shook their heads. “Cash only, that’s the way.”
Daniel took lefty off Lee’s hands and brought him up to eye level. “I don’t believe you.”
“We know you took the Blood Stone from a woman named Hildie,” I stated flatly.
“Never heard of her.” Tully’s expression never changed. He was a cool customer.
I was going to have to play a little rough. Luckily, I had just the tools I needed. I looked over at Neil and nodded. He brought over my cell phone. I hadn’t brought it to make a call. There were no cell towers in Faery. No, I had a different use for it here. I’d brought it for entertainment, but it was about to come in handy. Neil plugged it into the portable speakers. “Danny, you should let the boys down now.”
Daniel looked at Lee, who set his leprechaun down beside Daniel’s. “Don’t take your eyes off them. Don’t even blink.”
Lee watched both of them, his eyes never wavering.
The leprechauns moved closer together, obviously wary of what we were going to do next.
“What’s that thing?” one of them asked.
“That’s for me to know and you to find out.” The menu popped up and I scrolled down until I found what I was looking for. “Just consider it an addition to your party.”
I hit play and a thumping beat started.
It’s a well-known fact about the wee people that they love a good party. Give a leprechaun a cold brew, some good grub, and couple of hot chicks and they are happy campers. But if you turn on some music, you get real entertainment. Once a leprechaun starts to dance, they can’t stop until the music is done. And the minute the music starts, a leprechaun can’t help but dance.
“What is this?” one of them asked as their feet began to move of their own volition.
Neil and I bopped along with the heavy thrum of the drums.
I looked over at Lee. “You can blink now,” I told him. “They’re stuck until I hit stop. I should warn you, boys, I got like eight hours of music on that sucker.”
“Is it all this bad?” one of the dancers asked.
“This ain’t music,” the other said. “I don’t know why I’m moving.”
Daniel shook his head. “I’m with the wee folk on this one. I thought we agreed on AC/DC. I hate the Black Eyed Peas.”
“Only because you don’t dance,” I said, wiggling around. He wouldn’t even dance with me at Ether. He claimed vampires didn’t have a sense of rhythm, but I’d seen plenty of vampires make idiots of themselves on the dance floor. The good news was Dev moved like a dance-floor god.
“I don’t know what your problem is. I like it,” Tully said cheerfully. “I especially like the way it makes her jiggle.”
“I’m getting cranky again, Z.” Daniel glared at the faery.
“Yes,” Lee said, putting a tankard to his lips. “It’s beer. Nice.”
“Ya bastard,” Lefty said, or maybe he was Righty. I had trouble because they were dancing around each other. “That’s me ale.”
Lee took a long swallow. “You should try it, Zoey. It’s some good stuff.”
A good ten minutes passed in sociable music and dancing. I gave the beer a try and pronounced it delicious. Tully sat down with a tankard of his own, still swearing he had no idea what we were talking about.
“Three wishes,” one of them said.
Both of the leprechauns looked like they were tiring. The music I’d put together for the occasion was all dance music, with fast beats. They didn’t have the option of waiting for a nice slow song. Their legs would go until they fell off.
“Not a chance.” I hoisted the tankard to my lips.
It was an old ploy. When the leprechaun got caught, he offered his captor three wishes to set him free. But they liked to play fast and loose with their wishes. It always seemed like a good deal, but it would go bad in the end. For example, if you requested a nice chicken sandwich you would probably find yourself with a case of salmonella poisoning. It wouldn’t hit until the leprechauns were long gone, but they were little cons to the end.
“Come on,” the other pled. “There has to be something you want.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “I want the Blood Stone.”
“God.” Daniel groaned from where he sat on a tree stump. “Please just give her what she wants. I think Beyoncé is next. I can’t handle Beyoncé.”
“I’m with Donovan,” Lee injected. “This is cruel. We should just kill them. I’ll get a good scent trail on them and we’ll find their hiding place. It might take longer, but anything’s better than having to listen to whatever the hell is coming out of that stereo.”
“They’ll never break,” Tully said surely. He looked at his cohorts. “Stay strong, boys. I know these human machines. It will run out of power soon.”
“Easy for you to say, Tully,” one of them panted, his legs moving.
Neil danced around and put his hands up because he considered himself a single lady until someone put a ring on it. He pulled out my spare, fully charged battery pack. We planned for all contingencies. “Three more hours! We haven’t even gotten to Lady Gaga yet, Z. I can’t wait to take a ride on her disco stick.”
Daniel went paler than usual. “Please, just let me beat them until they talk. I didn’t do anything wrong. Why are you torturing me, baby?”
“I give up,” one of them said.
“Oh, thank the goddess,” the other cried.
Tully cursed, but accepted it with a rueful shake of his head. My hand hovered over the pause button. Daniel and Lee each caught a dancing leprechaun and then the forest was quiet again.
“I miss Ether,” Neil pouted.
“I know you do.” I sympathized. I looked at the little cons. “Spit it out or I’ll bring out the big guns. I have show tunes on this puppy. Who wants to listen to Legally Blonde, The Musical?”
Daniel pulled his leprechaun up and gave him a full view of his fangs. “If you make me listen to musicals, I’ll kill you myself.”
“It’s in a cave on the mountain closest to the door between the sitheins,” the one Danny was holding spat out.
“There goes two damn years of work.” Tully cursed into his ale. He looked bitterly up at me. “I was going straight. I was. I was getting out of the game with that money.”
“Sure you were,” I said sarcastically. Once a con…
He grinned. “Nah, I wasn’t. I was gonna steal it myself. You’re probably saving me a ton of trouble. They can be right mean when you cross them.”
Neil frowned at our talking leprechaun. “A mountain is a big place.”
“It’s in a cave,” he said. “About halfway up on the Seelie side of the mountain. It’s in the cave at the back. We hide all our profits there.”
“If you’re lying…” Daniel started.
“Yeah, yeah,” the one in Lee’s hand said. “You’ll track us down and kill us with those fangs of yours.”
“Nope,” Daniel said with a ferocious smile. “I’ll let her have you.”
I smiled brightly and waved.
“Couldn’t ya kill me instead?”
I pulled out one of several bags of coins Declan had been gracious enough to put in our gear. It was what the leprechauns loved—gold. “For your trouble, gentlemen. This is more than the stone is worth. And I have no intention of taking anything but the Blood Stone, so you’re coming out on the heavy end of this particular deal. Good luck.”
Danny and Lee let the wee folk go. They imme
diately went to the table and started counting coin.
“You’re a generous lady,” one said, giving me a wink.
At least I wouldn’t have to worry about revenge. If they were satisfied with our bargain, they would leave us alone. We turned to leave.
“But you’re the one who’s gonna be needing the luck,” the other said in an “I know something you don’t know” voice.
When I looked back, the leprechauns were gone. Tully sighed and took another drink. It seemed like it wasn’t the first time he’d been left behind.
“Come on, Z,” Danny said, and I could see he was wary of what the leprechaun had said. “Let’s get our gear. We can make it to the mountain before dawn and then get some sleep.”
I followed my husband and hoped our luck would hold.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“I’m gonna kill those fuckers,” Daniel said, his head all the way back as he looked up at the ridiculously imposing mountain. It made Everest look like a baby hill. Someone might have mentioned that fact to us.
“How do they get up there?” Neil’s eyes were wide, his head thrown back as he looked up.
“They must be part goat,” Lee commented.
I shivered because it was damn cold. The wind whipped around something fierce. “At least goats have a nice coat of fur.”
I wrapped my arms around my chest and wished Declan had thought to put some parkas in the gear. I’d managed to sleep some during the day with Daniel’s arms around me, but I missed Dev’s warm heat mightily. He was like a furnace in bed sometimes, and Daniel and I both were missing his warmth.
“Here, baby, take my coat.” Danny took off the light jacket he was wearing and wrapped it around me. “I don’t even feel this.”
I knew he did but not as much as I did, so I accepted the gesture. The truth was even if he felt every degree of the cold, he would insist I take his coat. The wolves didn’t mind the cold at all.
Daniel looked up the mountain and made his decision. “I’m going to try to fly up. It would be a hell of a lot easier than climbing. Come on, Z.”
He hooked his arm under my knees and held me close to his chest. He took off faster than he normally would and I wove my fingers together around his neck so I had the tightest hold possible without choking him. I’d gotten somewhat used to flying with Daniel, but I still got a rush of adrenaline any time he launched us into the sky. The moon was almost full as he climbed higher and higher. I needed that parka now as the higher we went, the colder we got.
“Do you see it?” Daniel shouted the question because the winds were loud as we got closer to our destination. He nodded toward the mountain. Sure enough, there was the opening to a cave in the middle of the rocky face of the mountain. It wasn’t small, either. We would have no trouble getting in and out. Given that we were dealing with leprechauns, I’d been worried about small spaces.
“Let’s go,” I yelled. “We can check it out and you can go back and get the wolves if we need them.”
I was hoping we wouldn’t. We would only need Lee and Neil if there was some serious security. The leprechauns had chosen this site because the mountain was a security measure in and of itself. It was difficult to get to and unless you were up as high as Danny and I were, you couldn’t see the cave. It wasn’t visible from the ground. Someone would have to be looking for it to find it. Even if the leprechauns had locked their treasure in a chest, there wasn’t much Danny couldn’t get through.
Looking over Daniel’s shoulder, I noted that there was a castle in the distance. It was a pale ivory, much like the palace, but it looked even more medieval. There was a wall around what looked like a large village just outside the castle. Even from this distance, I could see the activities going on in the walled city. Like the palace, they were preparing for war.
Daniel’s arms tightened around me the higher we went, and I realized he was trying to stay in control. The wind whipped around us in a violent wave that sent my stomach flipping, and Danny had to correct his course three times before a mighty gust sent us flying back down. Daniel lost control and we tumbled through the air, twisting like an out-of-control kite. I saw the ground suddenly coming up at an alarming rate of speed. I clung to Daniel, my heart in my throat. I couldn’t scream, couldn’t do anything but hold on to Daniel and pray that the end was quick. I closed my eyes, waiting for impact.
Daniel pulled up at the last second, and I felt the ground just scrape my back as I was jerked up like I was riding a bungee cord. Daniel swore as he righted us and managed to float us lightly back to the ground.
My heart did a weird skippy thing, and I just managed to avoid vomiting.
“Jeez, Z, are you okay?” Neil asked, hurrying forward.
“What the hell happened?” Lee put his hands on his hips, staring up at the mountain as though he could see the threat.
Daniel ran his hands along my back, making sure I hadn’t taken any damage. “God, baby, I lost control. Those winds were hellacious. I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” My voice was shaky and my legs even shakier. “I think I’ll walk from now on. Like forever.”
“I’m going to try again. Maybe I can handle it better without a passenger.” Daniel handed me off to Lee, who made sure I could stand up. “You rest, Z. I’ll be right back.”
I nodded and Neil sank down on a log, pulling me with him. I sat beside Neil and leaned into his warmth. Lee kept his eyes on the sky, watching as Daniel tried to break through that wall of wind.
Neil put his arm around me as I shivered. I’m not a cold-weather girl. I felt that cold in every damn bone. “I saw a castle while we were up there.”
“We’re close to the door between the sitheins,” Neil pointed out. “We’re on that duke person’s land.”
“The Duke of Ain?”
“Yes.” Lee cocked his head to keep his eye on Daniel. “His castle is supposedly well fortified since he’s so close to the Unseelie sithein. I overheard Declan talking about it. It’s the first line of defense. From what I overheard, the queen spends a lot of money making sure this part of the sithein has the best defenses.”
In the end, whenever you want to know who’s behind anything, whether it is an assassination plot, a theft, or who stuck gum in the lock on your locker, it’s necessary to ask one all-important question. Who profits most? At the heart of almost every crime is a dollar sign of some sort.
At first I’d thought someone was trying to start a war because they hated the other side. What if someone wanted to start a war for a much more mundane reason? Wars are profitable.
Daniel hit the ground with a resounding thud, leaving a crater in the dirt.
“Shit, that hurt,” he said, pushing himself up.
“So flying is a no-go.” Lee pointed out the obvious.
“Unless everyone wants to end up like that.” Daniel pointed to the indention in the ground.
“Pass,” Neil said.
Daniel sat down on the other side of me, and his big body did a wonderful job of shielding me from the wind. I moved my head from Neil’s shoulder to my husband’s and his arm went around me.
“Z, why don’t you stay in the tent? The wolves and I can take care of this,” Danny said. I gave him the look I always gave him when he said stupid stuff. “All right, baby. I was just trying to keep you warm. I’ll give you a minute and then we’ll go.”
“Danny,” I started as Lee came around and sat at my back. I was warming up rapidly now. “What do you know about the Duke of Ain?”
A long, slow smile spread across Daniel’s face. “I know that if I had a shred of evidence against him I would rip his throat out.”
“I couldn’t get Dev or Declan to listen to me.” They didn’t want to look past the obvious villain.
Daniel regarded me seriously. “I tried, too. I especially tried after I found out that the Duke of Ain makes all the war machines the Seelies use. His province is also known for their candles.”
“How is that not
evidence?” Lee asked in a low growl. He’d wanted to kill something or someone for a long time now.
“Almost every province makes candles, Lee,” Daniel explained. “I got the whole lecture when I came in. Padric took me on a tour and gave me the rundown on who did what and how the economy works.”
I frowned up at him. “I was shown to the bedroom where I could fuck Dev.”
Danny laughed. “They’re not the most liberated of thinkers when it comes to women. I think Padric would tell you that’s your job. The Seelie women won’t be fighting in this war, not even the queen. She’ll be there but kept well away from the fight. In these times, she cedes her power to Padric or Declan, now that he’s of age to rule.”
Yet another reason I was happy to live on the Earth plane. “That’s shitty. I wouldn’t ever cede my power.”
“We know you wouldn’t, Z” Neil said as Daniel stood again.
Danny reached down and helped me up. “We’re climbing.”
I groaned but got my butt off the log. I looked down at my Nikes. They were good for running and supposedly something called cross training, but I doubted that included complex mountain climbing. I’d also noted the snow started about halfway up to where we needed to go. I doubted my jeans were going to prove a good barrier against that frigid white powder.
I was more of an urban thief.
Lee was already taking off his shirt and he gave me a frown. I turned around so I wouldn’t see anything I’d already seen in action. Neil didn’t care. He passed me his polo to fold and then his jeans. He never bothered with anything as silly as underwear. When he was ready, he smiled and waved and changed in the blink of an eye, his transition from man to wolf a smooth slide. He barked cheerfully and ran to Lee, whose brown wolf was enormous. Lee’s wolf seemed larger than his human body. When in wolf form, Lee could give the black dogs a run for their money.
“Go on ahead,” Daniel said. “We’ll wait for you on top of the first ridge then we’ll continue together.” Danny picked me up again. He started to float and I hung on. “I can at least spare us the first leg.”
He made it to the ridge quickly and set me down. We waited, watching the wolves make their way up the rocky incline. Daniel hugged me to him, but his body didn’t provide the warmth that a human’s would. Still, I huddled close.
