by Paige Orr
“Look Morpheus, I know that we don’t get along, but right now there are more important things to concern ourselves with. I’m looking for Zaphyr. There is a rather sensitive subject Cailean needs to speak with him about but before that, one aide to another, have any of your people gone missing.”
He studies me for a few moments as I await his answer, and I can feel the patience that I’m known so well for slipping the longer he doesn’t answer me. When I throw a growl his way, he chuckles at me before finally answering.
“Chill out, would you? Yeah, some of our people have turned up missing that’s why we came here tonight. Zaphyr went off a while ago to do something, but I’m sure he’ll be back any second then you can take us to Cailean so we can get this over with. None of us want to work together but since you asked I’m guessing some of your people are missing too.”
I rub my hands down my face, swearing under my breath. I had a feeling we weren’t the only ones that had this issue, but having it confirmed only raises more questions. Who the fuck could be targeting us and why?
“While we wait, have you found anything on who could be behind this because we don’t have a fucking clue and it’s driving me crazy.”
Mischief lights in Morpheus’s eyes and I know that nothing he tells me will be welcome. He never could help himself from acting childish, even at the most serious of times.
“Aww, don’t tell me the great Elias is stumped. Here I thought that you were the best of the best, wasn’t that the very thing you told me last time we spoke. I bet it irks you having to ask someone who’s so beneath you for help.”
I close my eyes, taking a deep breath and ask Danu to give me the strength to deal with this fool. For once, I wish he would stop acting like a fucking clown.
“Do you think this shit is appropriate right now, as much as I wish I didn’t have to even look at you, for the sake of both of our people, take something seriously for once? This is exactly why I said you were a fool the last we spoke. There isn't a problem with finding the little things to enjoy in life, but when people’s lives are at stake, you should try not acting like an idiot!”
His smile falls from his face as he straightens to his full height. All signs of the happy-go-lucky moron from moments ago are gone, and a bitter smile tugs at the corner of my lips. It may not be the smartest way to make him take this seriously, but I don't have time to baby him through this shit.
“Listen you Seelie bastard, I might not constantly walk around with a stick up my ass but that doesn’t mean I’m not taking this seriously. I’ve been hunting for weeks for any clue on the bastard who’s doing this, but they leave nothing behind that I can use to trace them.”
“That’s better. The reason you always piss me off so much is I know how good you could be if you stopped acting so stupid for five minutes. It seems like we’re both in the same boat, so why don’t we find your Prince and do something about this fucker.”
Malice radiates from Morpheus as a cruel grin crosses his face and he motions to the other side of the room where I finally notice Zaphyr standing against the wall studying us.
“After you pretty boy, brace yourself because shits about to get ugly.”
I drop my bubble, walking back towards Cailean’s office, and Zaphyr meets us halfway there. I nod my head at him respectfully before leading him through the corridors. We walk together in silence; the tension thickening the air, and as we turn down the corridor that leads to the office shouting reaches our ears.
I quicken my steps, getting to the door in a matter of seconds before knocking and waiting to be invited in. We wait for a few moments as Cailean finishes up what he’s doing before he calls us in. When we walk through the door, I quickly make my way around the desk to stand at Cailean’s side as the others sit across from us.
The two Princes stare each other down as I crouch down, opening the top drawer of the desk, removing the glamour that’s concealing the files on the disappearances and pulling them out and placing them on the desk.
“Since you two are too busy having a pissing contest and me and Morpheus have already discussed the issue, why don’t we get straight down to business. Each of these files is on one of our people who have gone missing. All in, twenty of our people have gone missing in the last month with no trace left behind, we have had our strongest trackers trying to find them but it’s like they never even existed. From what Morpheus said, I’m guessing it’s not much better on your end. We need to find all of the missing Fae before it’s too late.”
Zaphyr studies me for a few moments, seeming to think over how much to tell us. He gets comfortable in his chair, leaving us waiting, I swear these fuckers just love pushing our buttons. Once he’s got himself comfortable, he holds his hand out to Morpheus, waiting for him to hand something over. Morpheus reaches inside his jacket, pulling out a piece of paper before handing it over to Zaphyr, who throws it onto the table to join our files.
“Who could have the balls big enough to take twenty Seelie and twenty Unseelie. So far neither of us have found anything, which in itself is fucking annoying. Luckily for us though, I’ve found the perfect little helper who I plan to fill in on the situation tomorrow.”
As he was speaking, Zaphyr pulled a business card from his pocket, twirling it between his fingers with a grin on his face. I don’t give a fuck who he plans on bringing in to help him out, the only thing that matters is if he will work with us.
“Are both of you willing to put your differences aside as me and Morpheus have already agreed to so that we can find this fucker and make him pay? Because if not, I can see us all chasing our fucking tails trying to catch the bastard while he watches on with a smile on his face, and that means I’m willing to work with whoever it takes to get the job done.”
Cailean and Zaphyr get to their feet and I hold my breath, waiting for what they are going to do. When a smile covers both of their faces and they reach their hands out to shake, the breath rushes out of me in relief. Whoever this fucker is, he’s going to wish that he never fucked with the Fae because together we make one lethal team.
Chapter Seven
Melissa
I close my apartment door behind me, leaning against it and trying to catch my breath. I can’t believe how fucking close I was to being caught tonight, if it wasn’t for my dark stranger I would have been well and truly fucked. That doesn’t mean that I’m exactly excited about working for him, but I just have to hope that this job will lead to bigger and better ones in the future.
I make my way through to the bedroom, stopping at the painting hanging on my wall that conceals my safe. I trust Nika’s magic, but I still want to double-check that the necklace is in there and in one piece before I contact my client. Swinging the painting to the side, scanning my wrist in front of the safe before I enter the safe’s pin and wait for the telltale click to say that it’s safe to open.
When I first had the safe installed, I thought I would make it to the big leagues and be getting the best of cases. So I had Nika ward the safe so that only I could open it. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have to take certain precautions before opening it though, because if I mess the sequence up, even the slightest little bit, then I end up being shocked with seven and a half million volts of electricity. A nasty little precaution, but one that I thought was necessary if I was going to be handling rare or expensive shit.
I press the hidden button on the handle of the safe and watch as it swings open, revealing an almost empty safe, apart from a velvet bag sitting at the very bottom. Pulling the bag out, I untie the drawstrings, opening it and pouring the contents into my hand. I can’t help but let out a sigh of relief when I look at the necklace, which made it without a scratch before sliding it back into the bag and replacing it in the safe.
I lock everything back up, moving the picture back over the safe, and throw myself down onto my bed. I run over everything that happened tonight in my head, trying to figure out how it could have gone so wrong so quickly. I was so s
ure that no one had seen me slip away from the party, and everything was going so well.
These thoughts bring me back to the picture of the handsome stranger leaning against the wall, watching my every move. The confusing thing about it all is him not seeming to care about the fact that I was stealing from a Prince. The only reason I can think of why he was so unperturbed over finding me there is that he wasn't a Seelie Fae. That just raises more questions though, about why an Unseelie was wandering around freely inside the Seelie Prince’s home.
It was obvious that the man knew the Prince on a personal level, but whatever happened between them couldn't have been good with the disdain that filled the man's face when he spoke of him. I release a frustrated breath knowing that there’s no point trying to figure all of this out. Either I’ll get some answers when he comes to tell me what he needs me to do or I won’t. Either way, I’m not going to spend any more time thinking about him.
I reach for my clutch, which I threw onto the bed when I came into the room, and grab my phone. Usually, the first person I would call after finishing a job would be my client, but I know if I don’t call Nika first, she’ll never help me again. So pulling up her name on my phone, I press call and hold my breath waiting for her to answer. When she does pick up, I have to pull the phone away from my ear with the way she screams at me.
“Bitch, if you made it out of that shit alive then I’m going to kill you myself. How did you get yourself caught after we went over how not to get caught?”
“If you’re quite finished threatening my life, I’ll do my best to fill you in. but to be perfectly honest, I don’t understand what happened myself.”
“Alright, I’m sorry. I’ve been sitting here going crazy, worried about what whoever caught you was going to do with you. I mean, why the fuck didn’t he hand you over to the Prince. Not that I’m unhappy that you’re home safe.”
I take a deep breath trying to decide how much to tell her, but if I know Nika like I think I do, then she’ll be able to see through any bullshit I fob her off with so I’m better off just telling her everything. Well, everything apart from my non-corporeal stalkers help.
“Well, everything was going exactly how we planned earlier. I got into the party with no fuss and slipped away without being seen, or so I thought. But while I was slipping the necklace into my pocket, I noticed a shadow out of the side of my eye, who just so happened to be our mystery savior.”
“What do you mean savior, don’t tell me something else happened after I got off the phone because the last I heard he was kind of holding you hostage? That doesn’t sound like a fucking savior to me!”
I can’t stop the chuckle that slips out at the indignation in her voice. At least I know she will always keep me straight and she will always call me on my shit. A true friend won’t let you make too much of a fool of yourself.
“Well, if you would let me finish the story, you would find out what happened after our little phone call. We kind of came to an agreement that I would do a job for him and he would make sure that I got out with no one else finding me.”
“So you're telling me that someone found you stealing from their Prince and just let you go. That doesn’t even make sense, Mel. Why would he agree to let you go?”
“That’s the thing, I don’t think he was Seelie. But what I don’t get is why there would be Unseelie Fae there, it doesn’t add up. It’s only a guess that he’s Unseelie, but he used shadow magic, so it’s the closest guess I have. Could you do me a favor and check over the quest list and find out if there was any Unseelie invited for me?”
“Sure I can chicka, just give me a few minutes to get into their system.”
I can hear Nika’s fingers flying over her keyboard as she hacks into the Seelie Prince's security with bated breath, and I can't help but replay my conversation with the mysterious stranger after he got us out of the house.
Once the shadows drop away from us, the stranger grabs my hands pulling me through the hallways. When we get to the corridor leading back into the room filled with the party guests, he pulls me down the opposite corridor. After a few minutes, I can feel myself getting more nervous that we haven’t come to an exit.
I know he said that as long as I did a job for him he would help me escape, but what if it was all just a ruse to make me trust him so that he can hand me over to security without me fighting him?
I don’t have long to worry though as finally; we turn into a kitchen and he pulls me outside through the back door. The door slams behind us causing me to nearly jump out of my skin. I turn to the man with my arms crossed over my chest and look at him expectantly.
“No need to worry little songbird, I’m sure I’ll be able to find your office for you to uphold your part of our deal. You can expect me tomorrow since this issue is rather time-sensitive. Now run along, we don't want you to be caught when you're still needed.”
In the next moment, I blink, finding that the man is gone, leaving nothing behind but a trail of shadow that quickly disappears. I don’t wait around to see if the Prince has realized that the necklace is gone, I just turn on my heel and run towards where I left my car. I just have to hope that I really can trust the stranger, otherwise, I’m fucked.
I’m snapped out of the memories when I hear Nika calling my name, and I clear my throat before letting her know I’m still on the line.
“Well chicka, you have royally fucked up. The only Unseelie that was on the list was the Prince who was standing in for his father. The tales that I’ve heard of Prince Zaphyr aren’t pretty. All you can hope for now is that he thinks you could be useful for something because without this job that he wants you to do, I don’t think he would have been so lenient.”
“Fuck! He didn’t exactly give me much information when he was dragging me from the house. He told me to expect him tomorrow so hopefully, then I’ll have more information. I’m going to go so I can contact my client, but as soon as I know more information tomorrow I’ll be in touch, I doubt whatever it is will be easy so I’ll more than likely need your help.”
“Alright, if I don’t hear from you before three pm tomorrow then I’ll be round to your office to kick some royal ass. I doubt I could win but I’ve got your back girl, Love ya.”
“Love you too, you crazy bitch, speak to you tomorrow.”
With that, I hang up the call and get to my feet, pulling the now completely knotted wig from my head, groaning at the relief of finally taking it off. Removing a wig is almost as pleasing as taking off your bra at the end of the day, and that’s saying something. I walk over to my wardrobe, pulling out a pair of sweats and a baggy t-shirt before finally slipping out of my heels and taking the dress off.
I seriously hate dolling myself up and if it wasn’t for my job, then I never would, but needs must. Once I’ve stripped down to nothing but my underwear, I throw on my comfy clothes and walk towards my vanity, picking up my phone from the bed on the way past. Sitting down at the vanity, I begin removing my makeup as I dial Mr. Sullivan’s number.
When he finally picks up the phone, I’m halfway through removing the makeup, and his agitated voice sets my nerves on edge.
“Who the hell is ringing me at this time of night!”
I grit my teeth at his tone of voice and take a quick breath to calm myself before replying to him.
“I apologize, Mr. Sullivan, It’s Melissa Greene from Crimson Investigations. I’m just calling to let you know that I have your item and It’s ready to be picked up at your convenience.”
There’s a long pause, as if Mr. Sullivan can’t believe his ears. Not that that’s much of a surprise since he’s been searching for the necklace for years. Unfortunately for him though, he didn’t have the help of the most amazing seer and a Witchy best friend.
“Oh, Miss Greene. That’s wonderful news, however, did you find it so quickly?"
“I’m sorry Mr. Sullivan, but those are trade secrets. What I can tell you though is that I’ve had it confirmed to be the real deal
before getting in touch with you. So whenever you can come and collect it would be great. I’m afraid that the job turned out to be more dangerous than I thought, so I would really like to hand it over as soon as possible.”
"Oh yes, that’s no bother at all. I can be at your office tomorrow at ten am sharp. Once I arrive, we can do the final transfer for the rest of your fee.”
“Thank you, Mr. Sullivan. I will let you go now to enjoy the rest of your evening.”
I hang up the phone, throwing it on top of the vanity. Releasing a deep sigh, I rub my hands down my face. Sure, things could have gone worse tonight, but they sure as hell would have gone better too. I just have to hope now that there will not be any other problems popping up.
As far as I can tell, I won’t be a suspect for the necklace's disappearance, what with my disguise and Zaphyr’s help in getting out of there. I still can’t believe that I just so happened to bump into one Prince as I robbed from another. Nika was right in that regard. If this turns into any more of a shit show then I’m royally fucked.
I let out a groan as I remove the last of my makeup before dragging my feet over to my bed and throwing myself down onto it. I have absolutely no energy after tonight’s fiasco, but as I close my eyes to go to sleep Casper the friendly fucking ghost decides to pop up and add even more bullshit to an already terrible night. I seriously have the fucking worst luck ever!
Chapter Eight
Morpheus
I study Zaph as he drives us further and further from Cailean’s house and I can tell that something is on his mind. Sure, he’s not a man of many words, but usually, he would at least laugh with me after ruffling those Seelie bastards' feathers. But with everything that's been happening, I guess he’s just not in the mood.
