Fae MisFortunes

by T K Eldridge

  “How do you know that?” I asked.

  “The lady that was keeping us here. She told me. She was waiting for him to come get us so she could make him stay, too.”

  “Huh. Well, we don’t know that for sure yet, but we suspected it. If we figure out who he is, we’ll ask him to go see you. Sound okay?” I said.

  Daren nodded. “Sounds good. I’m hungry. Can we eat now?”

  Sett laughed and reached for his hand. “Sure thing. We’ll stop and get some breakfast on the way to the station.” She turned to me then and arched a brow. “Think you can handle taking Ethan home? Tell Mira we’ll come by later to wrap things up.”

  I blushed. I could feel my cheeks heat up as I nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I can do that.”

  I turned to Ethan. “Hey, Ethan. Would you like to go for a ride with me so I can get you to your Mom?”

  The solemn little guy nodded and reached out to me with both hands, one still clutching the toy. I picked him up and held him close. He sighed, lay his head on my shoulder, and closed his eyes. Sid took the keys from my hand and led the way to the SUV. We hadn’t thought to grab a child seat, so I sat in back with Ethan in my arms and Sid drove carefully to Mira’s house. We parked out front and I dialed her number. A sleepy voice answered and I said “Ms. Langlois, it’s Sinclair Boudreau. Could you open your front door, please?”

  I heard her answer in the affirmative, then the sounds as she moved to the front door. I hung up as the door opened and got out of the SUV with Ethan in my arms.

  Mira let out a soft cry and dropped her phone on the porch. Her robe flew out around her, bare feet on grass as she raced toward me and her son. Ethan heard her cry and turned in my arms, face lit up like a beacon.

  “Mama,” Ethan called out, arms outstretched.

  Mira pulled him out of my arms and into her own. “My boy, Mama’s been so worried about you.”

  Sid stayed in the driver’s seat and pulled out her phone so I could handle this on my own.

  “Ms. Langlois. Mira. Ethan was checked out and is fine. Let’s get him inside?” I said as I put my phone away.

  Ethan clung to his mother and Mira nodded as she turned back to the house. I moved a few steps ahead and picked up her phone, then got the door for her. Once she was through, I followed her inside.

  Mira was barefoot, clad in a tank top and sleep shorts and her robe that reached just below her knees. She paused in the hallway and looked at me. “Could you stay for a while? I want to bathe Ethan and get him settled, but I need some answers.”

  “I can stay, or I can come back tomorrow. It’s up to you.”

  Mira thought about it for a moment, then asked, “Are we safe?”

  “Yes. The woman that took him is under arrest. She had Ethan and another boy, Daren Simmons. Both were unharmed. Patrols will still be going by on a regular basis. If you like, I will check the house and lock up behind myself, then come back later today or tomorrow. It’s up to you.”

  Mira nodded. “Okay, please check the house and lock up, and I’d like you to come by later today. Maybe around two? That will give Ethan and I time to sleep in and have a lazy day together.”

  “I’ll see you then. You go get his bath started and I’ll do a walk-through.” I handed her her phone. “Keep this in your pocket, just in case?”

  Mira took the phone, slid it into her robe pocket and turned for the bathroom. I watched for a long minute before I checked the house. Door locks, window locks, all secure.

  “I’m headed out,” I called out near the bathroom door. “I’ll lock the door, but you need to do the deadbolt.”

  Mira called back. “I’ll be right behind you to do that. Thank you, Officer Boudreau. See you later.”

  “See you later,” I said, and left the house. I waited on the porch until I heard the deadbolt click, then went and got into the SUV.

  “All good?” Sid asked.

  “I’m coming by around two this afternoon. She wants some answers.”

  “And you want some Mira-time,” Sid said with a laugh.

  “Smartass,” I muttered, but the grin wouldn’t leave my face.

  Chapter Four

  Sid

  Both teams had got the morning off to catch up on sleep, and Sin was already dressed and headed to Mira’s. Grandma had packed a basket for him to take to her, and included a few witchy potions that would help ease sleep if she and Ethan had any problems in that regard. Fresh herbs, flowers, fruit and some baked goods were packed up and sent off with my brother. Another basket, well, cardboard box of fruit and baked goodies was packed up for me to bring to Sett and the crew at the station. Hey, one was a gift, one was a reward.

  I dropped the box off in the break room and went to find my great-grandfather. I had a very strong feeling there was something he had been holding back on this case and it bugged me. A lot. I brought a plate of baked goods and fruit and my own coffee to his office. “Commander, you got a minute?” I called out. His door was cracked a few inches and it didn’t sound like he was on the phone.

  “Come on in, Sid,” he said

  I nudged the door open with my hip and then shut it behind me with my foot. “I brought some of Grandma’s baked goodies and fresh fruit. She sent a box in with me for everyone.”

  “Ahh, Alicia’s baking is bound to make any day better. Thank you,” he said and reached for the plate to set it in a clear spot on the corner of his desk.

  I settled into a chair at the side of his desk and took a sip of my coffee. “I needed to spend a little time with you, Grampa,” I said. “See, I think there’s a part of this whole case that you’re holding close to the chest and I want to hear it.”

  A muffin was placed on a napkin and he rose to refill his coffee cup from a pot on the bookshelves behind the desk. “You’re too perceptive for your own good sometimes, Siddie. You’re correct in that there is a part of this case that I’ve kept quiet.”

  “And you’re going to share it with me, yes?” I said as I plucked a couple of grapes from the plate.

  “It’s not wholly my story to tell, Siddie, but I’ll tell my part.”

  Now that was intriguing. “Okay, so spill.”

  “This goes back a bit. To the 1880’s,” Grampa said. “I was married, a father – and we had a nice brick house over on Hill Hollow road. It’s part of the Academy now, but that house was one of the nicest in town. I was the acting Constable for the town – yes, I was in law enforcement even then. Kids going missing back then weren’t the crisis we know today. Children, particularly farm kids, had a lot more freedom and responsibility in those days. No one would think twice of a ten year old taking a bow and arrows or black powder rifle out into the woods to hunt, or taking a canoe out onto the lake with their poles and fish for a whole day. They put in a full day and often schooling was done sporadically and at home. So, to have a kid go missing for a day or so? Not an issue. Get to two or three days? Yeah, then it’s a problem. Could be hurt or stuck or any number of things.”

  “Okay, why are you telling me all of this?”

  “Because you need to know how we got blindsided so badly. We didn’t stop them until they went after the last four kids – and I didn’t even stop them. The parents of the last girl did. They shot all but one of the kidnappers, and that one got away. We never found him.”

  I could hear the anger and frustration in his voice. I put a hand on his arm. “Grampa, they shot them?” I had to redirect his focus and calm him down a little.

  “Well, shot two of them. Arrows. The third one was taken out by sword. The idiots made the mistake of trying to steal a little girl from a farm where the parents were a little more than just a local farmer and housewife. That farmer and I became very good friends after all of this. We later started the Academy together.”

  I sucked in a breath and stared at my Grampa. “You’re talking about Marcel Fortin. Was the little girl my Grandma?”

  “I told you, not all of this was my story. I can’t tell you all of it.”<
br />
  “So what else can you tell me?”

  “Well, there were nine children total that they were trying to take. We never found the other five kids.”

  “Were they all taken from this area?”

  “There weren’t as many people out here, even in the 1880’s. To have five children disappear and never be found was a wound the community didn’t handle well at all. However, every single child was taken from Belle Cove. None were taken from Sorcière Village, now Sorsyville. That’s why I was surprised to find that two were from Sorsyville this time.”

  “A second case, with that much time between incidents could have any number of variances, Grampa.”

  “This is the fourth one I’ve been involved in,” he said.

  “Fourth? Good gods, Grampa. How long has this been going on?”

  “As far as I can tell, roughly every fifty years. Somehow the 1883 attack was out of sync, but I think that’s because of the chaos after the Civil War years. There were attacks in 1920, 1970, and then this year. I’ve managed to disrupt the others, but they keep trying.”

  “Why do they keep trying to take kids, do you know?”

  “I think it has something to do with the Veil and the number of Fae that have crossed over and interbred with witches and others. It might have weakened something on the other side. That’s the best idea I can come up with. That they have to bring some of the kids back over to keep things over there from collapsing or something. It’s a theory, anyway.”

  “So what’s the story with the woman that took Daren and Ethan?”

  “Oh, that’s an interesting one. She had had sex with our Finn and didn’t get pregnant. He visited her twice, and she didn’t catch either time. So she took the boys to try and lure their father to her. She’s going to be in a psych ward for a good long time.”

  “How does that work for a supernatural?”

  “What, psych care? Well, there’s a place run by a sect of witches that have amazing gifts as healers. The mind and the body need to be addressed together. Miss Jessica Oman will be sent there and if she ever is judged healed, she will be set up somewhere far from here to have a life. She has no family that we could find in the area, so there’s no reason to bring her back here. Having her set up far from here would keep any triggers from causing her issues. If she gets to that point.”

  “That’s a big if, isn’t it?” I said and finished up the grapes. I’d been eating a bit of this and that while he talked. “I know Sin’s very happy that we found Ethan safe. There’s a chance Mira is his Chosen.”

  “Ohh, now that’s something. How do you feel about that?”

  “Well, I’m happy for him, but I’m also a little jealous. How rare is that?”

  “Rare that you’re jealous?” Grampa teased and then patted my hand. “It’s not that rare, darling girl. My Bridie was my Chosen. Your parents were Chosen.”

  “They were? Even though they weren’t the same species?”

  “Well, let’s see. Your Mom is witch and fae and your Dad is shifter and mythic. The rules kind of get tossed out the window when you mix things up that much.”

  We both laughed and I sighed. “What do you know about Mira?”

  “Not much, but I’ll do some digging and see what we can learn.”

  “Don’t let Sin know we’re checking into her. We can leave it be if there’s nothing to know, and if there’s something to know, we can tell him then. Agreed?”

  “Agreed, Siddie. Sounds smart.” He picked up a piece of coffee cake and took a bite. “Oh, this is so good. I love Alicia’s cooking. I’ve enjoyed spending time with her of late.”

  “Aren’t you a bit older than her?”

  “You really think it matters when you can live five hundred years or so, if there’s fifty years between us? That’d be like me being ten years older than my human partner.”

  “I guess, when you put it that way.” I really didn’t care if they got together. Both of them could use someone in their lives.

  “You’re just giving me a hard time, aren’t you?” he laughed. “Smartass little punk.”

  I laughed with him and put down my coffee cup. “I love you, Grampa. Thanks for telling me the story.”

  “Siddie? Be careful. Jessica Oman is not the only actor out there. Those other three kids are still missing.”

  “And we still need to find them,” I said.

  “I’m not letting the Veil take any more kids. It’s time to stop this.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Chapter Five

  Sin

  I stood on Mira’s porch, a huge basket in my hands, and waited for her to open the door. It was ten minutes before two, but I had already waited in the car for fifteen and couldn’t wait to see her any longer.

  I felt like an idiot.

  When she opened the door, her smile hit me and I felt like the sun had just broke through the clouds.

  I had it bad.

  “Hello, Officer Boudreau,” she said and opened the door wider.

  “Call me Sin, please. You say Officer Boudreau and I start looking for my Dad.”

  “Oh, your father is in the SPD too?”

  I stepped inside behind her and Ethan ran to me. “Peese-man,” he said and hugged my leg. I handed the basket to Mira and reached down to Ethan who held up his arms to be lifted up.

  “Hey little man. How’re you doing today?”

  “Good. I’m good. I’m the bestest boy,” Ethan said.

  Mira made a noise and I looked over at her. “This thing weighs a ton,” she said.

  “Set it on the table and I’ll explain some of what’s in it. My grandma sent it over. I added a few things to it.”

  I shifted Ethan to my hip and tickled him before we sat on the couch. I tucked him between Mira and I and reached over to pull the wrapper open. A stuffed, floppy bunny and a police car toy were on top. I handed those to Ethan. “These are for you.”

  Ethan squealed happily and hugged the bunny with one arm and the car with the other. “Fank you,” he lisped.

  I tousled his hair, then turned to Mira. “There are two bottles in there, wrapped and labeled. Potions to help with sleep. One for you, one for Ethan. My grandma owns the Fortin Farms and is one of the best potion witches out there.”

  “Oh, that’s really wonderful of her. We had a little trouble last night, but this might help. Thank you,” Mira said.

  “There’s some baked goods, herbs, fruit, honey, and a bunch of flowers,” I said.

  “It’s awful generous of your family. Thank you, so much.” Mira reached over and rested her hand on my bare arm.

  The touch of her hand on my skin made me suck in a breath.

  “Oh, so you feel it too,” Mira whispered.

  I turned to her and nodded. “I do feel it.”

  Ethan bounced up between us. “I feels it too.”

  Yeah, that made us laugh and shifted the mood.

  “Okay, little man,” I said. “How would you like to play with the car?”

  “Okayyy,” Ethan yelled and slid off the couch and he began racing the car around on the carpet.

  I leaned back to talk to Mira. “He doesn’t seem to have much in the way of negative impact.”

  “No, I think it’s because you found him so quickly.”

  “Do you want to know about the woman that took him?”

  “I do and I don’t.”

  “Jessica Oman is thirty-eight, single, and has had two miscarriages in the past year. Seems she was visited by Finn twice in the past and didn’t get pregnant either time. So she went out and slept with other guys – got pregnant, and lost them. Twice. Somehow, she figured out which children were Finn’s, and took Ethan and Daren.”

  “Oh, that poor woman,” Mira whispered. “No wonder she snapped.”

  I looked at her in surprise. The woman stole her son, and she felt bad for her?

  “Daren’s the one I feel badly for,” I said. “His father found out that Daren wasn’t his biological son and
stabbed his mother, and she shot him in return. They’re both dead. He’s going to be staying with an aunt for now.”

  “That’s awful. And he’s truly Ethan’s brother?”

  “DNA proves it, yes.”

  Mira turned to watch Ethan play with the car, then shook her head. “I don’t know what would have happened to me if he didn’t come home. Sure, it’s hard being a single parent, but he’s my world.”

  “Daren knew his parents were gone, when we got him. He said his mother’s ghost visited him.”

  “Wow, he’s going to be powerful. Is his aunt Fae?”

  “I have no idea, but there will be people keeping an eye on him to make sure he gets the support and training he needs as he grows.” Then I made sure to catch her eye and have her look at me as I spoke. “Mira, you need to keep your wards up. Keep them strong. Now that Ethan’s been shown to be of a valuable heritage, others may come looking.” I saw the flash of fear in her beautiful, turquoise eyes, then a steely determination settled there.

  “No one will touch my son again,” she said.

  “I believe you,” I said and took her hand. “And I’ll be around to help, if you’ll let me.”

  Her hand curled around my fingers and I saw a genuine smile bloom on her face. “I’d like that, Sinclair, thank you.”

  I wanted to kiss her until she forgot what day it was, but with Ethan playing nearby, now was not the time. Instead, I lifted her hand and kissed the back of her fingers. “I’m so sorry Ethan was taken and you had to deal with all of this – but I’m glad that we met. Is that a horrible thing to say?”

  Mira laughed and my heart stuttered.

  “It’s not horrible. I understand exactly what you mean,” she said, then kissed the back of my hand before she rested her cheek against it. “I’d heard stories of Chosen, but never believed. Not until you.”

  “I’d heard about it too, like a fairy tale, but didn’t think it was real. Until I touched you and everything became clear.”

  “Clear?” Mira laughed.

  “Okay, not exactly clear. But I got it. I understood. Then I realized I had to find Ethan in order for us to have any chance. Now that we’ve found him and he’s home safe, the hard part starts. Now I have to court you,” I said, and squeezed her hand.