"Gabriella. Her name was Gabriella." I had never mentioned her name to Tressa, but I didn't like her being spoken of as if she didn't even have one. I felt uncomfortable talking about her while lying next to Tressa. I moved to the edge of the bed, turning my back to her to make it easier.
"Walter Reed had just released me after this," I said, lifting my arm and staring at my scarred and wasted hand. Memories flooded back from the days surrounding my injury, and I shook my head to safely pack them away. "I stayed in Bethesda to do some outpatient physical therapy. I was lonely there by myself, and discouraged by the prognosis the doctors had given me.
"That's when I met her. I was sitting in a local coffee shop when she came through the door. The sun was setting behind her at the perfect angle to backlight her, and she literally seemed to glow. I can't say if she was anything other than human, but she remained a shining light of hope for me during the brief time we had together."
I took a deep breath and turned toward Tressa, wary of what I would see. Her expression showed only compassion, encouraging me to continue.
"I didn't have 'gut feelings' with her the way I do with you. I never sensed that she was in trouble the day she died. Perhaps if I'd had a warning…" Tressa reached out and I grasped her hand like a lifeline.
"You couldn't have saved her."
"Maybe not." I closed my eyes and told myself for the millionth time that the car accident wasn't my fault. I opened them again and searched Tressa's face. "She helped me through the worst time in my life, and she gave me Sophia. I will always love her for that."
Tressa tugged on my hand and I returned to sit beside her. She nudged me until I lifted my arm and she cuddled up against me.
"That is as it should be. But Xander, I can't help but believe she is the key to understanding why Sophia is so special."
I ran my fingers through her long waves, marveling as always over the softness of her metallic hair. Everything about her was a perfect fit for me: her beauty, her sweetness, her devotion to my daughter. Sophia's quirks didn't matter to me. I didn't want to look back and analyze the past. Only the future mattered: my future with my new bride and our new family.
CHAPTER NINE
"One of the cameras in this area went down last night," Matt said, pointing to a spot on a map of the estate. It was a location along the perimeter on the opposite side from the camp. "I'll go out and replace it today."
We were in the room Matt called 'Security Central,' the hub of the electronic security he'd installed around the estate. Monitors hung on the wall above the desk where the map lay. The screens carried live feed from the numerous cameras set up around the cultivated areas of the property. "That's the only lapse in surveillance since the camp was formed. I turned off the motion sensors about two weeks ago; the cameras have run constantly since then.
"It's interesting how hard it is to tell the difference between humans and Sidhe with the black and white pictures, unless you get a good view of their ears," he mused. He glanced at me and, seeing my stern expression, continued with his report. "The wards haven't discharged any reaction that would signal an Unseelie trying to get onto the property."
I nodded as I absorbed this information. With an unidentified fae in the area, we had to be on top of security. The fact that the stranger didn't join the camp made it even more likely that Deaglan Mór, the Unseelie prince who wanted Tressa dead, had sent him.
"Is the camp itself beyond the scope of our security?" I asked.
"No. We added cameras in that area and Shamus warded it, so it's well covered. If any of the Unseelie are around, the wards will alert us that they tried to cross them and stop them from entering the camp."
"Too bad the wards can't stop arrows," I said. "Do you have the footage from the first Leprechaun attack? Maybe we'll find something useful in it."
"I'll run the videos for you. I watched them once already, but I didn't notice anything important."
Someone knocked on the front door before letting themselves in and calling out, "Matt?" He grinned and went to the landing at the top of the steps.
"Shhh, there's a baby sleeping up here," he stage whispered, his big smile still in place.
"Oh good, I hope he wasn't too much trouble!" Holly jogged up the stairs and hurried to the spare bedroom. Trayce, who had been sleeping in a travel bed, opened his eyes when he heard his mother's voice.
"You didn't have to drive all the way out here. I could have brought him to you," Matt said.
"Yeah, but I missed him." She kissed the top of her son's head before glancing up at us sheepishly. "Anyway, you two have already done enough for me. I'm so sorry about last night; I don't know what got into me."
"Alcohol, I would say."
"Is that what it was?" Holly laughed. Matt's playfulness had put her back at ease.
"You look good, considering the condition I left you in," I said.
"Yeah, well, most of the alcohol didn't stay down." She closed her eyes and made a gruesome face. "It wasn't pleasant. This morning I stopped at the Manor House first—I thought Trayce was there—and Shamus gave me some kind of concoction that took away my hangover."
Holly followed us back to Security Central, clucking over the baby and covering him with kisses.
Matt sat back down at his computer and pulled up three camera views, each showing a different aspect of the camp. We watched in silence as Tressa took the stage to sing. One video captured her performance; the others were focused at different angles of the crowd.
"Is this the night of the attack?" Holly asked. Matt and I nodded.
"Xander, here's you leaning against a tree," Matt said, pointing to one of the screens. "Someone's behind you, just like Tressa said, but I can't see a face."
"He's tall. At least as tall as me," I commented.
"Who says it has to be a man? Couldn't it just as easily be a woman?" asked Holly.
We looked at her, surprised. Neither of us had considered this idea.
"Look, there's the Leprechaun," Holly said, bringing our attention back to the screens. He stood only half the height of everyone surrounding him, making him hard to pick out. But he was there, speaking with one of the Sidhe who nodded and pointed to the makeshift stage. "It looks like he was trying to find Tressa."
Tressa left the stage, and chaos soon erupted. Tressa disappeared from the image as the crowds scuffled around her.
"Did anyone see the arrow?" I asked. Matt reversed the video by thirty seconds and ran it again, this time slowing the speed.
"I think this is it," Matt said, pointing to a blur. "It's moving so fast the camera isn't really catching it. The angle looks right for it to have come from that perch we found, which is outside the bounds of our security. It could easily be an Unseelie."
"On the other hand, it doesn't exclude the hooded man—or woman—behind me. He's in the camp, so not an Unseelie, but he disappears before Tressa finishes her song. I didn't see Ronan in the video. Where was he?" Matt shrugged and shook his head; he didn't know either. I thought over everything we'd concluded about the shooter, looking for something we missed.
"What about the photographs you took? Did you get any information from them?"
"The shoe print is about it, as far as identifying the shooter. That will only help if we have something to compare it to."
Matt and I exchanged a grim glance. Our extensive security, established to keep out the Unseelie, hadn't helped us at all to prevent this attack or identify the killer.
TRESSA
I relaxed into the chair at my workstation, allowing the energy radiating from the gemstones stored there to seep in and restore my strength. All things in nature have their own energy: stones, plants, the earth and the sun. Each has its own essence which, if they choose to share it, can have healing powers. I had been born sensitive to this energy, which enabled me to use it to work powerful cures, along with my essence and incantations. The plant or stone gives of itself just as I give of myself, asking for celestial interve
ntion. This giving of my essence—my soul—is what makes healing work so draining.
A few customers milled around the store. Linda, our clerk, finished ringing up a sale and went to help a young couple looking at the Galway crystal stemware. Holly played with Trayce in her work area across the hall from me, praising his gibberish.
Satisfied that all was as it should be in the shop, I pulled a teardrop aquamarine stone from my supply and laid it down on my workspace. I stared at it for a moment, deciding what to do with it. I would keep it simple, of course, but that didn't mean it couldn't be pretty. I gathered the rest of my materials and got to work.
Brenna lounged the porch of a dollhouse that sat on a shelf in my office. She lay with her hands behind her head, humming to herself. Her tiny voice serenaded me as I put the necklace together.
I was about to attach the clasp on the necklace, the finishing touch, when Holly came in with Trayce on her hip. A Pixie named Peter, who had inexplicably shown up the day Trayce was born, lay curled up on her shoulder, lightly snoring. Despite Holly's condition the night before, she looked bright-eyed and alert. I had never known her to appear in public without her makeup and a stylish outfit, and today was no exception.
"I could have brought Trayce in with me and saved you a trip out to the estate."
"Matt said the same thing this morning, but I couldn't wait a minute longer to see this little guy." She glowed as she kissed her son's cheek.
"You look grand, considering the amount of alcohol you drank."
"Tressa, I'm so, so sorry. I should never have gotten so drunk—and at a party to celebrate your engagement!"
The bells above the shop door jingled. I ignored them at first, until someone in the showroom gasped and a piece of crystal crashed to the floor. Holly and I both turned to see what had happened. Two Sidhe girls had entered the shop, giggling and talking loudly. They were probably in their late twenties, though they would look like teenagers to humans. Lyle came in behind them.
Something was wrong; however I didn't figure out what it was until I saw the humans staring at them. They weren't using their glamour. I hurried into the showroom, cursing under my breath.
"Your shop is exactly how your friends described it. Very charming," Lyle said as I approached. "I met these exotic young ladies on my way here and invited them to come along. They said you're a friend." The girls, caught in a lie, flushed with embarrassment.
"Aye. Umm, they're from a theater group… at the local high school. The costumes look wonderful, girls. Why don't you wait for me in the back?" I hastily ushered them through the door to the private rooms in the rear of the store. "Stay there till I come back for you," I hissed before returning to see to Lyle.
"Isn't it amazing what they can do with makeup these days?" I said, making sure to speak loud enough for the other customers and Linda to hear.
Holly rushed into the showroom, hands now free of the baby, a tense smile plastered on her face. Peter had stayed with Trayce, but Brenna flew in beside her.
"Tressa, why don't I help this gentleman while you go talk to your students?"
"Pix, let me introduce you to Lyle, a friend of Mattie's and Xander's." She shook his gloved hand while Brenna buzzed around his head, looking at him from all angles.
"Are soldiers allowed to be so small?" Brenna asked, hovering above him.
"Not so much a friend as an acquaintance," Lyle said with a grimace didn't coincide with his words. "I came to thank you, Tressa. It was very nice of you to welcome me into your party last night."
"Sure, and it was good to have you," I said, struggling not to react to Brenna.
"You were at JR's?" Holly's smile grew uncomfortable.
"Yes, I stumbled in during a rather awkward moment. Matt and Allison were arguing on the sidewalk and I mistakenly got in the middle of it. What a mess."
"Matt didn't tell me they argued. What about?"
"I gathered it was something about another girl he's spending too much time with."
Horrified to think she'd been the cause of their disagreement, Holly looked at me from the corner of her eye for confirmation. I nodded distractedly, looking toward the door that hid the Sidhe teenagers.
"Thanks for stopping by, Lyle. I really must go attend to those girls." Holly continued to chat with him as she gave him a tour of the store. I rushed into the back, Brenna flying beside me.
"What were you thinking, leaving the camp without your glamour in place?" I said, glaring at the girls as I handed each of them a stone pendent. Brenna flew back and forth in front of them, waving a scolding finger. "Use these as an anchor until you get back. As a matter of fact, you should always have your glamour up while in the Human World. You never know who might wander into the camp."
"We just wanted to see what a human village looks like," one of them said with a pout.
"Ronan is such a tyrant, acting like he's in charge of everyone. He won't let anyone come into town," said the second.
"And for good reason, if this is the result!" I snapped in my frustration. "If you don't understand how important it is not to expose the Sidhe, I cannot allow you to roam around without supervision."
"Yes ma'am," they both mumbled, losing their defiant tone.
Holly poked her head in as I led the girls out through the back door and instructed them to flit straight back to camp.
"The fae just keep on coming," she said with a smirk. "Gobban is here." She grabbed the broom and dustpan, and I followed her into the showroom. So much for a relaxing morning.
Holly swept up the pieces of the crystal goblet that had smashed to the floor while I looked around for Lyle, but the shop had completely cleared out. Not even Linda was in sight. On break, I assumed.
Gobban struggled to hoist himself onto a stool on the store side of my work station. I sat on a second stool and waited patiently for him to get settled. I knew better than to help him.
"Dagnabbit, why do you need such high stools?" he snapped as he righted himself on the seat.
"The idea is for people to see what I'm doing when I—" I cut myself short when he rolled his eyes. My patience was wearing thin. "What can I do for you, Gobban?"
He drummed his fingertips on the counter and glanced around the inside of my workroom. His gaze fell on the shelf with the dollhouse, a miniature thatched roof cottage. He squinted at it as if trying to convince himself that the two Pixies lounging on its porch were real. Pixies rarely went inside a building.
"Gobban?"
"Hmm?" he said as he turned back to me, fingers still tapping. "I came to find out if you'd found the Leprechaun you mentioned the other day."
I bit my lip, silently scolding myself for not telling him sooner. The Leprechaun was his kinsman, after all.
"Aye, but not really… That is, I may have," I said, stumbling over my words, not wanting to deliver the bad news. I sighed and started again. "A Leprechaun came to the camp that same night. I didn't get to ask if he had been the one looking for me, though. Gobban, I'm so sorry… Someone killed him." The small man went pale, his fingers freezing mid tap.
"Killed how?"
He stared at me intently as I recounted the entire story. When I finished, he slid off the stool, using his shillelagh to keep him steady. He began to pace, his nervous energy leaving his fingers and landing in his feet. His reaction confused me; it wasn't the mournful sorrow I expected for the death of one of his kinsman.
"What did the Leprechaun look like?"
"Umm, dark red hair, hooked nose," I said, struggling to come up with distinguishing features. Then something popped into my mind. "He had a small tattoo on his chest. A—"
"Harp?" he interrupted me, his agitation growing. "Have you seen any other strange fae in the area?"
"Other than the Sidhe? Keelin mentioned that one of the Treefolk has taken up in the woods, but no one has seen him. No mention of any more Leprechauns, if that's what you're asking." I leaned back against the edge of the counter, running the past few days through my m
ind. "Oh, I almost forgot. Someone has been playing a harp in the woods. I assumed it was a Sidhe. Do you think it could have been this guy?"
He stopped pacing and stared at me for a minute. He had just opened his mouth to speak when Linda came pushing through the door and interrupted him.
"I'm sorry that took so long," she said, "but I have cookies from the bakery to make up for it!" She held up a bag to show off her loot.
Gobban, with the help of his shillelagh, abruptly turned away from me and headed toward the door.
"Where are you going?"
"I have things to do. I don't have time to waste chatting the day away." He leaned against the door using his body to open it.
"Gobban, wait! Who was the Leprechaun? Do you know why he was here?" He walked away, ignoring my questions. My mouth gaped open as I stared after him. I just couldn't believe he left like that.
CHAPTER TEN
With my visitors gone, it took less than five minutes to finish the aquamarine pendant. Kyla's sisters hadn't sent any distressing messages, but an urgency grew inside me to check on her. I left the shop as soon as I had completed the necklace.
A light rain was falling, so I stopped home first to change into a more practical hooded rain slicker and boots before flitting to the campground. I arrived in a mud puddle in the middle of the footpath that ran through the camp.
The encampment was quiet, most of the inhabitants still asleep—the Sidhe are generally night owls—and the rest relaxing in their canopied dwellings, protected from the rain. A deep, debilitating cough came from the direction of Kyla's tent. I hurried towards the sound, concerned by its intensity, zigzagging around puddles as I went.
I found Kyla sitting up on her cot, leaning against several pillows and sipping tea. Her aura still had the look of illness. Her breathing had a light wheeze to it, and she still had a small cough, but the belabored sounds that had caused me to dash down the path were coming instead from the dwelling before hers.
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