by Lyra Evans
“May I ask what this is regarding?” the woman who let them in said. Niko turned back to her.
“We’re investigating a murder,” he said without preamble. Her face paled significantly, her eyes wide. From down the hall, Niko heard some shuffling and stumbling, followed by half-repressed gasps. “We believe the victim was killed on this property two nights ago. We’d like to ask you all a few questions, if that’s all right.”
The woman seemed much more uncomfortable than a moment prior. Her body language shifted to defensive, bracing as though Niko and Cobalt might attack her. She glanced at the door she’d just closed several times, clearly regretting her decision to let them in and block off her own avenue of escape. Cobalt touched Niko gently at the base of his back, eliciting a surge of something in Niko. When he turned, however, Cobalt was motioning down the hall to the others. They seemed anxious but somewhat defiant, their jaws set in preparation for something to go down.
Niko held up his hands. “Please, I don’t mean to alarm you. We’re not here for anything else but information on this murder. We just want to find out what happened. The truth. No matter what that is.”
“We don’t know anything about no murder,” a voice came from the doorway. It was forceful but high-pitched. Niko found the origin of it—a young girl with tightly curled black hair pulled up in buns, her skin the colour of rosewood, and an expression of pure determination on her face. Her ears were not pointed, and the string of tiny jeweled beads around her wrist told him she was a Witch.
Niko nodded. “Okay. I’m just here to find out what I can. What’s your name?” he asked.
She pulled back, crossing her arms. Standing in the hall now, in front of her cohorts like a first line of defense, she shook her head. “I don’t need to tell you.”
Niko’s lips twitched to a small smile. “You’re right,” he said. His eyes travelled from her to each of her cohorts in time, then back to the woman who opened the door. “None of you have any obligation to help us. But a young man was killed—brutally—and something very important was stolen from him. It doesn’t have any monetary value,”—which Niko could not confirm—“but it means a lot to his family and his friends. Without it, they can’t put him to rest. And I have a sneaking suspicion that the people who own this property might have had something to do with it. Now you may not like me or my friend here,” he said, gesturing to Cobalt, “but I have a feeling you don’t care much to protect your employers either.”
The young Witch’s stance softened somewhat, her eyes still bearing that distrust, but her arms fell to her sides. The others glanced at one another, and the woman from the door stepped forward.
“We had to sign an agreement,” she said quietly. “I’m not sure what we can tell you.”
Niko relaxed his stance as well, hoping to appear less intimidating, less like authority. He picked at his nails with one hands, seeming to fidget.
“Well, let’s start simple, who was here two nights ago?”
The woman looked around at the people gathered, as though counting heads. “Most of us were,” she said. “Twila and Berhane were not, though.”
“We were at the new manor,” Twila, the youngest girl said. She was Fae. “Helping prepare for the move.”
“Were the rest of you working in the manor that night?” Niko asked. At once, they shook their heads. Niko paused. “Not one of you?”
“We were all told to stay clear of the manor that night,” the woman said.
“I’m sorry, Miss…” Niko started.
“Whetu,” she filled in for him. “My name is Whetu.”
“Whetu, thank you,” he replied. “So, no one was working that night?”
She shook her head. “None of the household were working,” she said. “But there were staff that night. They brought in servers and cooks from some company. We saw them coming out of a bus before the party began.”
Cobalt tilted his head slightly. “Party? What exactly was going on that night?”
Whetu shrugged. “I don’t know, exactly. We were not allowed near it, like I said. But many people arrived in black cars. The lights in the formal dining room were on. It seemed much of the manor was being used.”
Niko pulled out his small notebook and scrawled down the details. If there was some kind of event, that might explain how Indigo got in. Perhaps he was invited. Perhaps he had no choice.
“Do you know what the purpose of the party was? Or did you recognize any in attendance?”
The young Witch pursed her lips, then with some reluctance, said, “Lots of rich folks. Not all of them Fae. People from the other Courts, too.” She seemed to be avoiding Whetu’s surprised gaze. “I snuck up and looked in the window. I couldn’t help it!” She crossed her arms again, then anticipating Niko’s question, she added, “My name’s Pauline.”
Niko smiled at her more fully. “Okay, Pauline. So who did you see? Did you notice what they were doing?”
She grew meeker with the question, shyness taking her. Niko wondered why.
“I don’t know. Just lots of people in fancy dresses and suits. Lots of shiny jewels and stuff. Just showing off how much money they have.” She paused, biting the inside of her cheek. “And there were lots of people wearing almost no clothes at all.”
Niko’s eyebrows jumped skyward. “With the other guests?”
Pauline nodded. “Some of them had these bands around their necks attached to sticks or strings the rich people were holding, like leashes. Some of them were on their hands and knees the whole time. Others had masks over their eyes so they couldn’t see.” Her face went dark, her eyes unfocused as she remembered. Niko saw the shudder run down her spine because she visibly shook. Niko’s mind went one place at her description—pleasure parties could certainly wander the route of dominance and submission—but the alarm on Pauline’s face spoke to something much more unsettling.
“Have you ever seen anything like that before?” Niko asked, his own desires recoiling inside him. Memories flashed in his mind, though he tried to fight them, and he wondered at the horror someone else might have felt witnessing that.
But Pauline shook her head. “Not like that,” she said. “I’ve seen Fae in leather and bindings and whipping each other,” she said, and Niko blinked in surprise, “but this was different. The naked people… they didn’t look right.”
“How do you mean?” Niko asked.
She was playing with the hem of her denim shorts. “They didn’t have much emotion,” she said. “Like they didn’t react to things. I saw one of the rich people slap this naked man across the face. He didn’t react. Just turned his head back to staring straight forward. His cheek was really red.”
Niko noted it down, but he didn’t know what to make of it. Cobalt stepped carefully toward her. He unbuttoned his shirt and pulled one sleeve off to reveal his shoulder and chest to her.
“Did any of the people you saw have marks like these? Or a Stone like this?” he asked, gesturing to his tattooed collar and Soul Stone.
For a moment, everything was quiet. Pauline and the others all stared in wonder directly into Cobalt’s Soul Stone. The whirling colours of it were beautiful, lighted from within, and easy to get lost in. Niko had to force himself to look at their faces rather than the source of their awe.
After a moment, Pauline came back to herself. “They had marks like this, but nothing like this pretty stone,” she said, moving as if to touch it. But she kept her hand back. “They had marks on their skin there though. Like empty shapes. All different.”
Cobalt replaced his shirt and buttoned it, turning to Niko with a knowing look. Selkies. They were definitely present at the event. Some of them, at least.
“How many did you see like that?” Niko asked.
Pauline shrugged. “Not sure. Maybe five. But there were lots of people in different rooms.”
“And could you see anything they were doing?”
Pauline sucked on the inside of her cheek again. She brought one ha
nd to play with the beaded jewels on her bracelet. Niko thought he saw emerald, quartz, and alexandrite stones. The emerald and alexandrite were tiny, their colour slightly off. They were likely poor quality, but Niko was no expert.
“The ones I could see were eating and drinking and stuff,” she said. But she shifted her feet in a way that told Niko ‘and stuff’ meant something.
“Stuff like?” he asked, trying not to push too hard.
“You know,” she said, glancing around. “Stuff. Sex stuff.”
Some of the others behind her made faces, and Whetu bit her lips. Niko noted it down.
“Anything weird?” he asked, and she gave him such a deadpan look he almost laughed aloud. “Like, weird for Maeve’s Court.”
Rolling her eyes, she shrugged. “They were eating off people. Naked ones. And like using food for stuff. But… I guess,” she said, thinking back with increasing discomfort. “I saw this one man pour out the boiling cheese from a fondue pot…” She hesitated. “He poured it out onto one of the naked people. They seemed like they screamed, but I couldn’t hear anything. The runes block sound.”
Niko’s stomach clenched at the thought, trying not to imagine the feel of the burning. But Niko had been burned before, so it took little effort to recall that sensation.
“Then what?”
Pauline made a face as though to indicate she had not signed up to see that. “I came running back to the guesthouse. Didn’t go back out that night.”
Hating himself for feeling disappointed, Niko tried to get back on track. “And no one remembers seeing anyone out on the terrace late that night?”
They all shook their heads. “We stayed in, blinds and curtains closed for the whole night,” Whetu said. “When we get orders, we keep to them or—” She stopped speaking, but her mouth kept moving. Niko considered what was happening, then with alarm, realized the truth.
“They made deals,” he said. “With each of you.” Whetu nodded. It was illegal to force anyone into a deal, and employment deals were extremely specific in what was legal and what was not. By the sounds of what Whetu was trying to say, the details of their punishments were blocked by the deal. Which was very, very illegal. Blood running hot as boiling oil, Niko forced his thoughts on that aside. He had to word his question carefully. “Did anything else weird happen that night? Something you can’t explain?”
The group of them shared glances and looks, each searching their minds. Whetu’s eyes bore a glimmer of something just as Pauline looked up sharply.
“There was that sound,” Pauline said.
“Sound?” Cobalt asked.
Whetu nodded. “It was like a screech? Or a cry? I’m not sure how to describe it. But it was loud. Painfully so.”
“How?” Cobalt asked, his gaze intent.
“It hurt my ears,” Pauline said. “Even when I covered them with a pillow and my hands. It sounded like it was in my head. But then it just stopped. My ears were ringing for a while after.” Some of the others nodded along in agreement.
“Any idea what made the sound?” Niko asked.
Whetu shook her head. “It wasn’t the kind of sound a living creature can make,” she said. “And when we went back to work the next morning, to clean up for the open house, the windows of the solarium were shattered.”
Niko stopped scribbling notes, his eyes rising to find Cobalt’s crystal gaze. That explained why the replacement windows had been installed with such urgency.
“No other evidence on the terrace?” He was hoping for a bloodstain, of course, but that might have been aiming too high.
“Not on the terrace,” Whetu said. “There was…” Again, she stopped talking, though it seemed as though she was weighing her words. “There was lots of cleaning to be done. Particularly in the servants’ quarters. Which is unusual.” She bit her lips. “We aren’t used to cleaning that sort of stain. We needed to get special solutions for it.”
She gave Niko a pointed look, and he nodded. The blood from the bathroom. Whether it was Indigo’s blood or not remained to be seen, but several people had bled down there. And Whetu’s statement confirmed it was not normal.
“Thank you all,” Niko said. “I’d ask for details about the owners of the property, but I suspect that falls under the deals you made.” They nodded slowly to him, and their faces spoke of resigned acceptance. If the owners were not involved in the murder, they were definitely doing other illegal shit. Niko made a note to have them investigated properly when this was over. “Oh, one last thing. If you can answer, what time did the party seem to end?”
Pauline and Whetu shared a look. “Hard to say,” Whetu answered. “All we know is the manor was deserted by the time we got to work the next morning. That was around seven. We weren’t supposed to work until the next day, but we got called in first thing.”
Niko nodded, thanking them again, and he led Cobalt out the door back into the heat of the day. There was much going on that he didn’t yet understand, but at least they had a crime scene now. They knew that Indigo had to have been here, based on the residual magic. And so were several of the other Selkies. It was a step in the right direction, though they still had no idea what might create a sound like Whetu described with the power Dr. Aspen detailed.
As Niko and Cobalt made their way to the edge of the trees that blocked off the guesthouse from the main manor, someone called out behind them.
“Wait!” Niko turned to see Pauline running after them. She stopped a few feet short of them, shielding herself behind a tree.
“Was there something else?” Niko asked.
She glanced outward toward the house briefly, shrinking herself down to blend in better with the trees. “There is a creature that could make a sound like what we heard,” she whispered, as though afraid someone might overhear.
“What is it? Did you see it?”
She looked more nervous than ever, as though the woods around the guesthouse might hold untold spies and dangers. “I know I shouldn’t have, but I—I did look out the window after I heard the sound. I saw…” She stopped again, and it took all of Niko’s self-control not to urge her on. She had to come to it in her own time. “I saw someone running across the grounds toward the ocean. Didn’t get a good look, but they had long hair like light. It was shining in the dark.” Hesitating again, while Niko jotted down the details, she added, “I know not everyone believes in them, but there is a creature I’ve ever heard of that screeches so loud it can hurt you. Even kill you.” She swallowed hard, her skin covered in goosebumps despite the heat and humidity. “A Banshee.”
Chapter 16
Pulling up to the medical examiner’s office, Niko turned off the car and sat back in his seat, staring out the windshield. Cobalt waited in similar pensive silence, a state that hung over them since leaving the Shady Cove manor. They had waited for forensics technicians and support officers to arrive to secure the scene, then made their way back toward the precinct when Niko got a message from Dr. Aspen. Apparently, Indigo’s autopsy was complete, and the body was ready for release.
But as they sat in the parking lot, Niko noticed it was rather more full than usual. A number of vans were parked at intervals, along with some non-descript cars. On closer inspection, Niko saw the channel logos on the vans and grimaced. The press was there. Which was almost certainly bad news.
As the main doors opened, a group of people stumbled backward out into the lot. Some carried cameras and microphones, others held their cellphones aloft, probably recording whatever was said. Most of them were dressed professionally enough, wearing suit separates or television-appropriate dresses and such. A few were dressed more casually, but they generally either held the cameras or the cellphones. No on-camera reporting for them. Dr. Aspen was the one shooing them out the door, her hair in a distinctly unintentionally messy bun and her face rather red.
Niko opened the door of his car just a crack in time to hear her shout, “For the last time, we have no comment on any ongoing investigations!
”
The reporters surged to launch more questions at her, but she was already closing the door in their faces. The cacophony of questions made it difficult to pick out exactly what they were asking about, but a few did meet Niko’s ears.
“Is it true Selkies are real and your office has a specimen under analysis?”
“How long have MCPD been working with Selkies to solve crimes?”
“Are Selkies anything like we’ve learned in legends? Do they pose a threat to Maeve’s Court citizens?”
“Is their physiology different than Fae or Wizard physiology? How do we recognize them if we were to encounter one?”
“Pleasant,” Cobalt said under his breath. Niko pulled the door back, not closing it fully.
“You might want to get down. Or shield your face somehow,” he said, seeing the turn in the group. They were about to notice Niko and Cobalt, and given their clear desperation for information, it wouldn’t take much for them to conclude Cobalt was precisely what they were looking for.
Cobalt looked around himself. His size made it difficult to hide in Niko’s small car. There was nowhere he could go within the confines of the vehicle where they wouldn’t somehow spot him. And hiding him would certainly be more suspicious.
“I’m open to ideas regarding how I might do that,” Cobalt said flatly.
Not wanting to be the source of a leak, Niko edged on panic and held out his hand to Cobalt, who looked at it dubiously. “I can do something. If you trust me,” he said.
Cobalt’s eyes met Niko’s, something passing between them Niko couldn’t quite quantify, then without speaking Cobalt took Niko’s outstretched hand.
In an instant, Niko made the deal, trading light for darkness and colour for clarity. When he released Cobalt’s hand, it was as if Cobalt had disappeared. He was still there, of course, just as he had been, but the visual inputs his body emit to anyone looking had changed. Instead of a dark-skinned man with white hair and a devastatingly gorgeous physique, anyone looking into the car would see—a passenger seat. And the door. And the ground. But it would look strange. Not quite right. As if the air rippled the way it did when heat rose from asphalt.
