Pixie Noir (Pixie for Hire Book 1)

by Cedar Sanderson

  “What is the plan?” I looked at Tex, who’d sat in a chair and was quietly contemplating us. I was going to have to talk to him, but I didn’t need to make this op any messier than it already was. Min had no need to know we had been attacked by a Troll and a Roc in the last 24 hours.

  “Uncle said that you two need to get to the Lower 48, and flying wasn’t an option. I have tickets for you to board the ferry in two hours, and I’m going to take you to breakfast before I put you on the ship to Seattle.” She finished by turning toward the door, and I understood there was no arguing with this woman.

  “I’ll be right behind you two.” Sometimes you just can’t clear all of the Alaskan wilderness for your charge, and Min looked like she could hold her own, too. I needed to talk to Tex before we left.

  He was looking a bit shocky. I stood in front of him, and he focused on me.

  “You going to be all right?”

  He nodded. I frowned at him. “You can’t talk about this, you know.”

  “No one would believe me.” He buried his face in his hands. “I’m not sure I believe me.”

  I sighed. An emotional Texan was not something I needed right now. I pulled out my wallet and fished a card out of it.

  “Look, we will be out of communication for a while. There’re no cell towers where we are going. But I can check my voicemail from time to time. If you need me, give me a call. And when you get back to Tok,” I added on a whim, as it occurred to me. “Get in touch with Bella’s Uncle.”

  He looked at me. We were eye to eye, him seated, me standing. “Her Uncle Ray?”

  So that was what Raven went by in this modern world. I nodded. He reached out and took the card. “Thanks.”

  He stood up, like a scarecrow unfolding, and offered me a massive hand. It swallowed mine when I shook it.

  “Better hurry, Min’s a force of nature.” He smiled, a return to his normal self beginning already. The human mind is a resilient thing.

  I took his advice and hurried. I could believe that about Bella’s aunt. I left the airport building wondering what Tex would do. I was trusting a man I barely knew with a lot of sensitive information, and that trust was largely based on her unblinking trust in him. Min’s truck was idling at the door, and I climbed into the back jumpseat before Bella took the passenger side.

  “We’ll have a hearty meal at the Fireweed Restaurant, then I’ll get you on the boat.” Min reminded me cheerfully while we pulled onto the road. I was looking out the window. There was a lot more snow here, close to the ocean, than there had been in the interior. As we got into town, I could see the ocean, the small chop sparkling in the morning sun like a field full of moving jewels. The beauty was lost on me, I was wondering how I was going to keep us safe on a ferry.

  “How long will it take us to get to Seattle?” I asked.

  Min answered without taking her eyes off the road. “About three days, and it’s Bellingham, just north of Seattle.”

  “Slow boat ride.” I frowned at the pretty scenery outside.

  “Well, if you can’t fly...” She responded tartly.

  Bella spoke up. “Aunt Min, enough. It’s not his fault. We can’t talk about it, so can you just trust me? We can’t risk going out of, or flying into, any big airports right now.”

  I could see Min’s frown as she looked at Bella. Bella went on, “Lom will take good care of me. He’s stronger than he looks.”

  I was fighting to keep my face straight, but neither of them looked back at me.

  Min sighed. “All right. I know you’d tell me if you could. Just know, all you have to do is call.” I couldn’t see what she did, but I think she reached her hand out to Bella and Bella took it, as she answered.

  “I know.”

  We were all silent until we walked into the kitschy restaurant. My stomach growled at the smell. Min chuckled, “Never send a man off to face the unknown on an empty stomach.”

  A man came out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a cloth. His clean white apron strained over his belly.

  “Min! Who’d you drag in with you?” He seized her in a bear hug that had her inches off the floor.

  “Oof! Gary, put me down!”

  When he did, she shrugged out of her jacket, and we followed her lead. “Gary, this is my niece Bella, and her friend Lom. They need breakfast before they catch the ferry.”

  “Ah! We haven’t much time, then.” He gave us a mock bow and vanished back into the kitchen.

  “Booth, or table?” Min asked, indicating the dining room.

  “Bathroom?” Bella responded and Min laughed, pointed the way, and both Bella and I made haste for the necessary room.

  When we came out, Min was seated at a table reading a newspaper.

  “I ordered for you, I’m afraid.” She didn’t sound sorry, but I found myself smiling at her. She was impossible to hold a grudge against.

  “What are we having, then?” I sat facing the entrance.

  “Crab omelettes. Fresh king crab, and Gary does a fabulous omelette. I’d put him up against the best chefs in the Lower 48.”

  A waitress, young, pretty, and obviously Aleut, brought us coffee with a broad smile. She wasn’t much taller than I.

  “Leave the pot, please?” I asked her.

  She wrinkled her nose in thought, and I guessed she was about sixteen. I beseeched her, playfully.

  “I need the black ichor of the gods to sustain me before I brave the Old Ones of the Deep.” I pressed one hand to my heart.

  She responded to my sally with a laugh. “Cthulhu’d freeze in the Gulf.”

  She took me by surprise, and Min must have caught that, because as the girl disappeared back into the kitchen, the pot safely in my possession, she told me, “It’s a long winter. Everyone reads a lot.”

  I nodded, “I approve of that.” We smiled at one another, and I went on, “Lovecraft doesn’t do it for me, but some of the modern re-interpretations, like Correia, are fun to read.” She could have no idea of why I enjoyed reading about monster hunters, of course. She shook her head.

  “Never heard of him. I prefer mystery, myself.”

  Bella rolled her eyes at us, but I ignored her, and talked authors with Min until Gary appeared with two plates, his pert waitress on his heels with the third. He served us with a flourish, and stood back with a beaming smile.

  “Gary, it smells wonderful.” Bella told him.

  I took a bite. “Tastes as good as it smells. Asparagus?”

  “Works well with the crab.” Satisfied at the praise, he left us to it. None of us talked much until we had finished.

  “Ah...” I leaned back with a sigh. “Min, you can order for me anytime.”

  “I’ll remember that,” she laughed. “Ready?”

  “Not really, but we had better go, I suppose.” Bella answered her quietly.

  Gary came back out for a hug from Min, and handshakes from Bella and I, along with promises to return. As we walked to the ferry terminal, the ocean breeze nipping at my cheeks, I wondered about that. Bella was special. Once Underhill, that certain something might lead to her stay becoming permanent. She didn’t understand that, and I was coming to understand that she had a family who would come looking for her.

  Of course, before that danger, I had to keep her alive and whole until the coronation. Something that did not look like an easy task.

  The ferry was a very big boat. Cruise ship sized. I sighed, remembering a certain Brownie family and a cruise ship. All had been well until the first mate had put a stop to the housekeepers leaving little plates of food out for them...

  Min stopped. “Either of you need dramamine?” She pointed to a little shop that obviously catered to ferry passengers. I shook my head and looked at Bella.

  “I’m fine. I spent some time in Japan counting seals during college, remember?”

  “That’s right.” Her aunt frowned, “I guess this is goodbye, then.”

  Bella hugged her. “Goodbye, I love you.”

  Mi
n sounded choked up as she told the younger woman,”love you too, Bell.”

  Min turned to me, her eyes very bright. “You take care of her.”

  “I promise. Dan scares me.” I was serious.

  That made her laugh, and we shook hands. Bella waved me onward, impatient, and I understood that she hated goodbyes. Once aboard, I was surprised to learn we were sharing a small stateroom.

  “Sorry,” Bella looked at me out of the corner of her eye. “I guess Aunt Min misinterpreted ‘friend.’”

  “I suspect Raven had a wingfeather in this, actually.”

  “Really? Why?”

  “Because I can best protect you if we are always together.” And I was rather flattered that he saw me as capable of that, and not harming her.

  “What if I don’t want you around all the time?” she protested. “I need my privacy.”

  “Tough, princess.” I told her bluntly.

  She looked disgusted at that.

  I soothed her a little by offering her a treat. “Besides, this means I can begin teaching you.”

  She brightened. “Magic?”

  “Among other things.”

  “When can we start?”

  “Let’s go up on deck.” I stepped out into the hall and looked both ways, then held up my hand to stop her while I closed my eyes and opened my Sight as wide as I could. The ferry was too large for me to scan entirely, but if there were Folke aboard, they weren’t radiating. Which did not mean they were not there. I opened my eyes slowly.

  “All clear. You’ll have to get used to that.”

  “I will try to remember. Do you really expect to find... something... onboard?”

  “No, but I didn’t expect the Roc, either,” I told her ruefully. “And it’s good practice.”

  She shivered, and I didn’t think it was from the cold Arctic wind as we left the enclosed cabin area.

  “When will I be safe again, Lom?”

  She stopped very close to me and looked down into my eyes. I could read the concern, even fear, in hers.

  “After coronation.” I admitted.

  “And when is that?”

  I sighed, and admitted, “there is no set date. Once the King chooses his Consort.”

  “His... consort?” She faltered and looked utterly horrified.

  “Not what you’re thinking. The King and the Queen aren’t necessarily married, although many of them have been. It’s a political alliance, not one for love or sex.”

  She sighed deeply. “Whew. I am glad I don’t have to jump overboard and try to swim ashore.”

  I was pleased to hear her humor come back, at least a little. I hoped she was joking about that. I couldn’t have let her jump, of course, and it might have been awkward to keep her in the cabin the rest of the trip; humans frown on kidnapping. The wind bit my cheeks, reminding me why I had brought her out here, and putting me back on track to finish this quickly.

  “Want to learn some magic?”

  “Will it take long?” She looked around at the empty deck and huddled into her jacket. I didn’t blame her.

  “It shouldn’t, but I needed the wind, that’s why I brought you up here.”

  I led her near the bow. “Spread out your arms. Catch the wind.” I told her. She did so, looking at me and waiting for the next command. I let her stand there for a moment. Then I asked, “feel the pressure?”

  “Yes, I feel... warm.” She dropped her arms and looked amazed. “What was that?”

  “That’s your air magic kicking in. Spells will take a while to learn, but your body already uses just a little to protect you; in this case, keeping you warm. Now, let’s go in. I don’t have that magic to use right now.”

  She nodded and followed me to the door. Back inside the hall, I rubbed my cheeks to try and get feeling back in them. “Whew. Next lesson I think waits until warmer weather.”

  “That was magic? I still have trouble believing it actually exists, much less that I have it. How?”

  “Let’s get back to the cabin.”

  She fell silent and followed me. As we reached our door, she spoke again. “I thought bodyguards followed their principal.”

  I unlocked the cabin and looked in - it wasn’t large enough to need more than that to see no-one had entered in our absence. “Go ahead, Princess. Now I’ll follow you.”

  She gave me a dirty look as she slipped past me. I closed the door and locked it behind me. “There will be times I’ll lurk. But unless I’m expecting a stern chase, I want to walk into trouble first. So get used to it.”

  “You keep telling me that.”

  I shrugged, acknowledging her wounded pride. “It’s that or get used to being dead.”

  She flopped into the sole chair, leaving me the bed. “I’m still getting used to that, too.”

  “I know this is hard on you.” I sat cross-legged on the bed facing her, even though she had her eyes closed and was no doubt trying to will herself back to a time when I didn’t exist and her life was normal. “But this is the new reality, and unless you learn how to act and react, you won’t live long.”

  She sat up straight and looked at me. “What’s in it for you? Why are you not only protecting me, but teaching me?”

  “Teaching you is protecting you. When we are Underhill, there will be times I won’t be able to be right there. You need to be able to tap into your magic for both defense and some offense.”

  “Well, we have a couple days stuck on a boat. I suppose I’d better cram, then, Teacher.” She cocked her head a little to one side. “You didn’t answer the ‘why’ part of my question.”

  “You won’t like the answer.”

  “I’m a big girl, if you hadn’t noticed.”

  Yes, I had, and sharing a room with her for two nights was going to be a challenge. I fed that frustration into a little snarl as I answered her as unpleasantly as I could. “It’s my job. To get you there in one piece, Princess.”

  “Stop calling me that,” she shot back.

  “It’s your title, get used to it.”

  She closed her eyes again. I guessed that because she couldn’t leave the room, that was her equivalent of walking out and slamming the door behind her. I stood up, and she kept them closed.

  “Stay here. I’m going to go get us some lunch, and when I get back, lessons.”

  “What if I don’t stay here?”

  “Then I will have to find you.”

  “How do I know I can trust you?” She had opened her eyes again and was looking intently at me.

  “You don’t.”

  I left the room, locking the door behind me. It wouldn’t keep her in, she had a key, but it might slow a monster down. And she needed a little space to digest what I had just said to her. Sure, I had saved her life back on the bridge with the Troll. But that didn’t automatically make me the man with the white hat. In my experience, there was no such guy, and she needed to learn that, fast. This was lesson one. Trust no-one.

  Lunch was sodas and pre-packaged sandwiches. Nothing like the crab omelette we’d enjoyed early that morning. But it would keep body and soul together, which was all we needed for now. She was sitting cross-legged on the chair with her laptop when I came back in the room. Her eyes were closed.

  “You didn’t challenge me?” I asked her curiously.

  “Well, you have a key, and I was watching you.”

  “You figured out how to use your Sight.” I grinned, suddenly seeing how a smart student could be a real asset.

  “I think so. I’d seen you this way that first morning at the cabin, so I figured I’d recognize you again.”

  She opened her eyes, then winced and blinked rapidly. “Ow. Now I’m seeing double.”

  I put the food on the tiny table and came to stand in front of her. “Switching back and forth between Sight and real vision isn’t a fast process. That’s why you have to be cautious about relying on it.”

  She tried to focus on me, tears in her eyes. “Does it get better with practice?”<
br />
  “Yes,” I held out my hands toward her. “May I?”

  “Ok.” She closed her eyes again and I gently touched her temples, rubbing the taut muscles.

  Her skin was soft, and the scent of it, as she bowed her head almost into my chest, was overwhelming. I stepped back quickly. “Better?”

  “Yes, thank you.” she opened her eyes, and I could tell she was seeing clearer. “Lom?”

  “Yes?” I didn’t like this. This was a messy situation rapidly becoming more difficult, and I was afraid what she was going to ask me.

  “Can we not fight? I know I shouldn’t trust you, but I have to trust someone, and I have a feeling you are...” She trailed off.

  “I’m no good guy.” She was echoing my thoughts from earlier, in a way.

  She grinned suddenly. “Fine, a rogue, a scoundrel, but MY bad guy, then.”

  I stepped back slightly and swept into a low bow, trying not to hit either the bed behind me, or her, in the limited space. “Your very own ethically-challenged henchman, Princess.”

  That made her laugh. “I suppose if I must be a princess, I at least have a henchman. Is that food?”

  Now I laughed. Magical use made her hungry, too. I’d expected it, and had brought her two sandwiches. She made appreciative noises as she tore into the first one.

  “I’m glad you aren’t a picky eater, at least.”

  “Not a fairy-tale princess,” she insisted. “I’ll eat almost anything, once, and I know enough to not ask ‘what is it?’ in a foreign country.”

  “You said you spent some time in Japan?” I prompted.

  She didn’t need more encouragement to talk about that, around bites of her sandwich. She might not be a fairy-tale princess, but she was a tidy eater, I was pleased to see. There would be no need to teach her deportment before presenting her in Court. Now, some of the Court might shock and repulse her, but that was not my concern.

  My princess had manners, and style. And she was tough. The girl might have a fighting chance. I refused to think about what would happen were she crowned Queen. The evil of the day was sufficient to worry about. We had a long path to walk before I even presented her at Court - and wasn’t that a peculiar thing, to be her guard and sponsor. Her family had almost no connections left Underhill. Lavendar had been the last of her line, and although she had been unusually prolific for an elf in the mortal world, there still were few of her bloodline remaining.