by Holley Trent
“Some do. Some don’t,” Simone said. “Caryl and Daryn miss their family a lot. Perry gets homesick, too, but besides Matt, he’s the youngest, so that’s expected. Perry’s only got his grandmother out here, and she’s staying with the Afótama for the time being. Gareth is glad to be away from his family. They sold him to Rhiannon.”
Dasha’s jaw dropped.
“Yeah, but look at how that’s backfiring on them now,” Simone said. “Gareth is such a loner that he’s more or less ambivalent about the estrangement.”
“What about Ethan?”
Simone’s smile was soft as she swirled her drink. “I think…them being safe and unaffected by his actions are important to him. He’s motivated to get them out. He doesn’t get to see them, obviously. Has to rely on secondhand word to know how they are.”
Dasha twiddled the ends of her scarf and stared at the cracks in her whiskey’s ice. “You should find some kind of messenger. Someone who’s not detectable who can go there and pass word.”
“The messenger would have to be someone who doesn’t have fairy magic.”
“Yeah. That’s the hard part, I guess.”
Simone nodded slowly and took a long sip of her drink. “Anyway, Siobhan’s been trying to get her hands on that northern lot so we can get some residential housing erected. Condos or apartments. She hasn’t decided which yet, but I think she’s leaning toward the units being accessible by shared breezeways.”
“The lot is large enough for like, townhouses, though. Can probably get eight or ten of them around a cul-de-sac and still have sufficient distance between the construction and the water.”
“Plans hinge on what we get zoning approval for, but I like the idea of townhouses better, too. On the other side where that gas station currently is, Siobhan wants to wrap around the building of suites that’s on the Hearth’s lot now into an L on that property so we can enclose the lot a bit.”
“What about the original motel building?”
“Still renovating and refreshing. Those would keep on being the non-suite rooms. Lower cost lodging for singles and budget-minded couples.”
“What about dining? If you add that many new rooms, you’ve got to have dining on site.”
“That’d be in the new stem of the L along with the fitness center.” Simone snorted and rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe I stumbled into the hospitality business like this. I never planned on being a hotelier.”
“There’s good money to be made, if you’re careful. And if you market the right way.” Dasha waggled her eyebrows.
“You’re a mess.”
“Just trying to help you out. A girl’s gotta keep herself busy.”
“I would have thought you’d have plenty of ways to keep busy. You’ve got a demanding job.”
“But it’s not fun anymore.”
“You never told me that.”
Dasha sighed. “I didn’t want to sound like I as being petty or lazy, but that’s the truth. There are too many memories of Ben there, and plus, the passion I had five years ago dried up. The money isn’t enough to keep me there.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“Take a leave of absence. Help you out for a while, maybe. Get my head straight.”
Simone nodded sagely. “Right. And you think you can do that with Ethan around?”
“I…” Don’t know. Dasha didn’t know what to do with Ethan in general, but she knew she wasn’t going to keep running from him when doing so was contrary to everything else she wanted to be doing at the moment.
Yes, he lived at the Hearth. So did Simone. Dasha wasn’t going to avoid the place simply because he was there and she wasn’t ready to commit. She was going to find a way to deal, and that meant getting a handle on him. There was no reason she couldn’t talk to him—to see if he was worthy of friendship. She could do that without leading him on. She just needed to get past the fear of trying.
Eldora glided back into the room wearing a grin and with a young woman on her arm. “I figured finding her myself would be easier and faster.”
The family resemblance was there. The pale hair—though the younger woman’s casual, high ponytail had a bit of a purple tinge—the silver eyes, and seemingly iridescent skin. If Dasha hadn’t been clued in about supernatural genetics, she would have assumed they were mother and daughter. If a person didn’t look closely, they wouldn’t see the subtle signs of aging, but Eldora had said “granddaughter.”
Dasha scoffed with jealousy. Elves age damn well.
“Kori, this is Princess Simone of the Sídhe and her friend Dasha Maurice.”
Kori closed one eye and scrunched her nose. “No. Wait. Siobhan is Heath’s sister, right?”
“That’s right.”
Kori turned her hands over in apology. “I’m bad with names sometimes, but that’s to be expected. I spent most of the last ten years hold up in a suite of dorms, so yay!”
Oh, another weirdo.
Kori plopped into the armchair at the short end of the table across from Simone and pulled her legs beneath her. She was dressed far more casually than her grandmother, but warmly enough. Her baggy cable-knit sweater fell at mid-thigh, and though her leggings had a couple of holes in them, Dasha suspected the placement was strategic and “fashionable.”
Eldora had a seat on the sofa with Simone. “Kori acts as Gillian’s aide when Gillian is around, so I hope you don’t mind if she relays anything of import to her.”
“I don’t see why that would be a problem,” Simone said.
“Well, good. Now, you said you had some questions about geography?”
“I do. As you know by now, the magic realm is collapsing, and apparently I’ve been tasked with relocating its denizens. Personally, I don’t see how we could possibly integrate so many people who’ve never lived among humans into society.”
“Complete integration may not be immediately possible. Some will need acclimatization. Others may never suitably merge. You have to be prepared to keep them sequestered.”
“But how and where? There’s a finite amount of habitable land on this planet that isn’t already claimed and occupied. We can’t just drop them into the middle of the Australian outback and expect them to thrive. The group that’s there now has been there for ages, and I don’t know if they can absorb many people so soon. The infrastructure isn’t ready.”
“No. You certainly can’t expect that, any more than we expect elves to prosper here on this frozen tundra.”
“But you’ve made this place habitable,” Dasha interjected. “When we exited the portal, we didn’t feel like we were going to get frostbite if we stood still for too long.”
“That’s because the palace is a structure that has its own magic and it generates some warmth that spreads outward.”
Kori turned her head to the side and muttered, “The heat inside is what we have problems with.”
“What’s wrong with your heat?” Simone asked.
Eldora sighed. “Nicholas will remedy the mechanical issues when he returns, I’m certain. We’ve had some problems upgrading the old heating methods to modern ones. The furnace isn’t working properly.”
“That’s because the thing runs on magic instead of renewable fuel,” Kori said.
“At the moment, the furnace isn’t equipped for that, dear.”
“Can’t we get someone to do an upgrade? I’m tired of waking up with numb lips.”
“Wait,” Dasha said. “You’re running this palace on magic? There’s one person in particular who’s responsible for the climate control?” That sounded a lot to her like how Fergus used to light the Sídhe tunnels. His magic used to charge them…until he had a charge of his own that backfired and burned him badly.
“Well, three. They take shifts. They do a good enough job with the equipment they’re given, but unfortunately the equipment is inadequate for our purposes.”
“What do you need to do an upgrade?” Simone asked.
“Time and skilled labor,” Kori said. �
�We can get folks to do the time, in theory, but there’s no one here skilled in engineering, and obviously you understand why we wouldn’t be able to contract an outsider.”
Dasha cut a look to Simone. Simone sipped her whiskey and nodded at Dasha. They were probably thinking the same thing.
“What if I could get you someone to take a look at your heating system?” Simone asked.
“You know of such a person?”
“Possibly. One of the guys in Heath’s crew is very handy. He’s got a good brain for machines, and of course, being a fairy, he knows a little something about magic.”
“You would spare him for the job?”
“Hey, the guys can come and go as they please. If he wants to volunteer, no one’s going to stop him. You just have to promise to take care of him while he’s here.”
“We will certainly try our hardest to see that no harm comes to him. Allowing him to be harassed would be such a terrible way to repay a boon.”
“I’ll talk to Gareth when we get back to the motel, then.”
Kori crinkled her nose again. “Motel?”
Dasha chuckled and set her empty glass on the table. “Long story short, Simone owns and lives at a beach motel. It’s swarmed by fairies.”
“At the beach?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I bet the beach is warm this time of year.” Kori cut her grandmother the side-eye, but Eldora seemed blissfully oblivious.
“If you’re going to do us such a favor, we should certainly try to do one for you. We’ll do what we can to help you find new homes for your people. You could send some to us if you think they’ll be able to stand the climate.”
“Thank you. I think many would stand the cold just fine. Some were born in northern climes, so the idea of snow doesn’t intimidate them. If you give me a number of how many you’d be able to take, we’ll figure out who’s best suited.”
Eldora clasped her hands. “Splendid. I’ll discuss the agreement with Nicholas when he comes home.”
“We could use a fresh infusion of DNA around here, too,” Kori muttered.
Eldora sighed.
“There’s just…one teensy problem.” Simone held her thumb and index finger a millimeter apart to illustrate the size of the said problem. “As you might know, Heath doesn’t have easy travel through the realm at the moment because there’s a bounty out on him, and…hell. Most of us, at last check, were wanted for questioning and worse things. We might be able to get out a handful of folks here and there when Rhiannon’s got her back turned, but we might be cutting the relocation stuff close. You might have a big surge of refugees on your hands, and I don’t want our friendship to strain at the stress.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll be ready. We have a very good staff here and I’m certain Gillian will get them shipshape in short order.”
“Well, good. I feel like we’ve accomplished something today. Surprising that any referral of Hestia’s ended productively. She’s generally so coy.”
Eldora rolled her shoulders in an elegant shrug. “She likely has to be, given the company she keeps. Will you stay for dinner?”
“Mm.” Simone chugged down the rest of her whiskey and got to the feet. “Sorry. We can’t. My mother tossed the portal for me and it has a looming expiration. All the short ones go away quickly. The portal will collapse soon, and we don’t want to be in the middle when that happens.”
“What would happen?” Dasha asked, fear tingeing her tone. Gonna have a talk with this chick later about holding out on me.
Simone gave her a placating pat on the shoulder. “Let’s not find out, okay? Can’t be anything good.”
“Geez.”
Kori scrambled to her feet and followed them to the door with Eldora on her heels. “I’ll walk you down. A couple of our guards are standing around the portal and scratching their heads.”
“Elves don’t use portal tunnels?”
“Nah. We don’t have anyone who can make them. If we want to get around fast, we can teleport, but there are only a handful of folks who can do that without magic objects. Uncle Nick is one of them, but there’s a limit to how many times he’ll use the energy in a day.”
“Same with me and making portals,” Simone said. “I only have so much energy to draw on. The more I have, the better and shorter my tunnels are and the longer they last. My grandfather is much better at making tunnels that last. Magic strengthens with age.”
“Won’t you give Fergus my regards?” Eldora asked.
“Of course. As soon as I see him.”
They took leave of Eldora, and as she’d stated, Kori led Simone and Dasha down to the ground floor and through the drafty front hall.
“So…” Kori drawled out. “You’re gonna send us a guy?”
“A heat guy. Yep.”
“’Kay. So…when do you think that’s going to happen?”
“As soon as I run the plan past Heath.”
“Cool. And, uh…you’ll just send him by tunnel?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Great. So…” Kori waved a hand at the pair of guards blocking the front door. They got out of the way, mumbling their apologies.
Dasha laughed, and when they were out of earshot of the guards, she said to Kori, “Come on. Spit it out.”
“Ugh. Fine.” Kori stopped on the stone path, put her hands on her hips, and spun around to face them. “What are the chances of you hosting a couple of frozen elven nymphs for the tiniest of beach vacations?”
“Well, you just asked, so I can’t tell you no,” Simone said with a shrug.
“Huh?”
“Ignore her.” Dasha got them moving toward the tunnel again. Maybe she wasn’t going to get frostbite anytime soon, but her nipples were hard enough to cut glass. “Just let us know when you’re ready, and we’ll figure out how to get you there.”
“Yay! I can’t wait. If I could just go three days without wearing fur-lined boots, I’ll be happy.”
“Poor baby.”
“I know, right?”
Dasha and Simone stepped into the tunnel and waved goodbye as the portal closed behind them.
Then they hauled ass.
Simone was right. Dasha didn’t want to find out what would happen to them if they were still inside that thing when it collapsed.
I’m way too young to die.
Knight in Leather is available now.
COPYRIGHT AND CREDITS
UNWRAPPING MR. ROTH
Copyright © 2015 by Holley Trent
The first edition of this story was titled Mrs. Roth’s Merry Christmas and was issued by Musa Publishing in 2012. This revised second edition was published in November 2015 in the Naughty, Nice, and Paranormal anthology. This re-released version is almost identical to the anthology inclusion.
Excerpt KNIGHT IN LEATHER © 2016 by Holley Trent
Cover art © Fiona Jayde Media
All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part of this book in any format, except for reviewing purposes, is allowed only with prior consent of the author.
UNWRAPPING MR ROTH is a work of fiction. Names, places, entities, and scenarios in this book are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously.
