I walked inside, locking the door behind me. No one was at the counter, but with the shop closed for the day that was no surprise. Heck, half the time Kaye just used her magic to mind the store. It’s not like a person could steal anything. The place was warded against theft and Kaye had more than one nasty spell in place to keep her customers in line—and keep herself amused. If someone ever came in with the intent to rob the place, they’d be in for a world of hurt.
Not that I really wanted to think about how powerful and temperamental the witch was. I was, after all, the sucker who’d been sent to take her life. Mab’s bones, how had I ended up a faerie’s freakin’ hitman? My life was seriously screwed up.
“Kaye?” I called out. “You in here?”
I made my way to the back of the occult shop. I gave the witch’s black cat a two fingered salute as I unlocked the hinge on the rear display case, but still no sign of Kaye. Heart in my throat, I reached the hallway marked “employees only” and took a deep breath.
“First things first,” I muttered to myself.
I’d check on how Jinx was doing and then face the reality of my misguided faerie bargain. I gave a quick rap on the door and gingerly pushed it open.
Someone was inside the spell circle, hovering over Jinx’s prone form, but it wasn’t Kaye. Judging from the purple hair, Arachne was the one with Jinx. Had Kaye retreated to her office to consult one of the many books in her arcane library?
I hesitated, wavering between the urge to see Jinx and the need to consult with Kaye. My ties to the sleeping rockabilly beauty won out. I walked toward the spell circle, careful not to touch the ring of silver that was set deep into the floor.
Disrupting a witch’s circle while she worked was never a good idea. Circles were built as a means of protection for when a witch was at their most vulnerable. It made sense. It also meant that if my boot scraped the ring of silver from this side of the circle, I’d probably end up the way I liked my vampires—extra crispy.
This spell circle kept both bad things out and the nasty effects of miscast spells in. If Kaye or Arachne blew something up, it would only destroy the area of the kitchen within the spell circle. Watching my friend lying there defenseless didn’t make that particular piece of knowledge all that comforting.
“Arachne?” I whispered. “It’s me, Ivy. Got a minute?”
I kept my voice low. If the young witch-in-training was deep in a casting, I didn’t want to disturb her. I also didn’t want to startle her into thinking I was a threat. It was a bit like talking to a bugbear cub—“hey, kiddo, please don’t eat my face off”—except with a witch I could end up like that guy from the Indiana Jones movie who opened the Ark. I really didn’t want to be turned into a pair of eyeballs in a pile of melted skin.
Arachne’s eyes flew open, gaze unfocused. I waited, giving her a moment to ground herself. She blinked rapidly and turned toward me, an embarrassed flush to her cheeks.
“Hey, Ivy,” she said. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.”
“That’s okay,” I said. “Where’s Kaye?”
“I don’t know, she just said it was important and took off,” she said, frowning. “She’s been going out a lot lately, but she never tells me why or for how long.”
Sneaking off to consult her Hunters’ Guild friends perhaps? Kaye was embroiled in some kind of battle preparations while I still had no idea what kind of war was coming. Did it have anything to do with the glaistig’s request for me to kill the witch? I didn’t like that line of thought, not one bit.
“Don’t worry, Ivy, I can do this,” Arachne said, misreading my expression.
My attention returned to the teenager standing there, hovering over Jinx. Arachne chewed on a piece of purple hair while she shifted side to side in her matching Chuck Taylors.
“Wait,” I said, the reality of the situation making tingles of anxiety dance along my skin. “You’re in charge of watching Jinx?”
No offense to the kid, but her cauldron still had training wheels.
“I’ve learned a lot and, unlike Kaye, I actually like Jinx,” she said, pushing her hair behind her ear. “I want to see her get better.”
I suppose, put like that, she had a point.
I turned my attention to Jinx, though still careful not to disturb the spell circle.
“How’s she doing?” I asked.
“The same,” she said, frowning.
“And that means…?” I asked.
“She’s, like, stuck, you know?” she asked, lifting her hands in frustration.
“If I understood any of this, I wouldn’t be asking,” I said.
I tried to soften my expression, but my voice was hard. The kid was trying, I’d give her that.
“Okay, it’s like this incubus, or whatever, cast a spell on Jinx,” she said. “Except, it’s not like witch magic, so we can’t just create some counter spell to fix her. Faerie magic is complicated, like algebra complicated, so the best we can do right now is keep her stable.”
“Hence the circle?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said. “Think of it like a force field. It’s like Jinx is superman and the connection to the incubus is kryptonite. The spell circle keeps her from getting any weaker, but she’s already been drained of a lot of energy.”
“And the second she steps outside that circle, she dies, right?” I said, swallowing hard. “Kaye didn’t just put her under a sleeping spell to get better, did she? It’s to keep her from doing something stupid—like trying to leave the circle.”
Arachne nodded, still chewing her hair.
“So is there any benefit to her sleeping?” I asked.
Oberon’s eyes, I’d hoped she was getting better. Please say she was regaining her strength.
“Um, it helps a little,” she said. “And I’m trying every healing spell I can think of, just in case.”
“Okay,” I said, rubbing a gloved hand down my face. I wanted to talk to my friend and shake her in equal parts, but I’d have to settle for leaving her under Arachne’s care. I sure hoped the kid knew what she was doing. “You keep watch and continue your efforts to heal Sleeping Beauty over there. I’ll deal with the creep who’s got his hooks into her.”
The kid stood up straight and gave a curt nod. I knew I could trust her to do her best. I just hoped that her best was enough. I returned her nod and turned to leave.
“Ivy?” she asked. “I’m glad you’re okay. There’ve been sirens wailing past the shop all day. I was starting to think you might have gotten yourself into real trouble this time.”
“Nope,” I said, holding up my hands to show my wrists. “No cuffs or IVs. The sirens were due to all the fires that broke out along the harbor.”
I felt a pang of worry for Ceff, but tamped it down. He could take care of himself and when he tried to be a hero his elite guard would keep him safe.
“Fires?” she squeaked.
“Yeah,” I said. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. You focus on Jinx.”
“B-b-but…” she stuttered.
“No buts,” I said. “Do what you can for Jinx, and if you hear from Kaye, let me know. She and I need to have a chat.”
I wasn’t looking forward to that conversation. Oh, hey, by the way, I just signed up to take your life. Yeah, that was going to go over well.
I’d rather play grab ass with an eight-armed goblin spider, but if I couldn’t find another way to take down the glaistig’s pet incubus, then Jinx would be trapped inside that spell circle forever. One way or another, Kaye and I were going to have to have that chat.
Some girls just have all the luck.
Chapter 12
Thick, black smoke stung my eyes and left an acrid taste in the back of my throat. The flames may have been extinguished, but Harborsmouth hadn’t escaped the morning’s fires unscathed. I clenched my fists. Someone was going to pay for the damage to my city.
I remembered the fleeting glimpse I’d caught this morning of a fire imp dancing in the flames by
the waterfront. If it hadn’t been for the current situation with Jinx, and the added matter of my bargain with The Green Lady, I’d be out hunting the little bastards right now.
Too bad my hunting partner had been exiled halfway around the planet, my best friend was stuck inside a magic hamster ball to keep from dying, and my mentor in all things paranormal had gone missing. Oh yeah, and when she returned, we’d have to address the small matter of me being pledged to kill her.
I blinked hard against the smoke filled air and stomped toward Private Eye, the detective agency I ran with Jinx, and the adjacent loft apartment we both shared. The loft was situated on the floor above our office, but I hesitated before reaching out for the door that led to a flight of stairs and the promise of a shower. Someone, or something, was hunched in our office doorway.
I hadn’t been into the office today, but I’d heard Jinx clearing our schedule before walking to Kaye’s earlier today. Had that really only been this morning? She’d sent out calls, emails, and text messages to our clients, so who was lurking on our doorstep?
With the philosophy that it was better to be prepared than dead, I flicked my wrist to release one of my throwing knives from its sheath and with the other hand slid a holy water dipped stake to rest along my thigh. I really wasn’t in the mood for vamp games or fae politics and there was no way I’d take on a new case right now. Whoever it was needed to leave…or face the consequences of a very grumpy wisp princess.
I stalked forward, careful to keep my weight balanced, ready to strike or dodge as need be. Thankfully, I wouldn’t need my blades, this time.
Ceff sat there waiting on my doorstep, a smudge of soot on his face. His eyes fluttered open and he waved me off.
“What…?” I gasped. “Are you okay?”
Wincing, he pulled himself upright. He wobbled, unsteady on his feet, and I hurried forward. I reached out to steady him, but he took a step away.
“I am uninjured, just…tired,” he said. “No need to risk a vision. Unless, of course, you would like to join me in a shower? I seem to have acquired an inordinate amount of filth while fulfilling your wish to extinguish fires throughout the city.”
His dark eyes gleamed and warmth spread through me and tightened my belly. God, Ceff was gorgeous when he smiled. The smudge of soot did nothing to mar the chiseled features of his face. In fact, it made me want to touch him all the more. Sharing a shower? Yeah, that sounded like a grand idea. Too bad this was neither the place or the time.
I shook my head and took a step back, putting more distance between us, struggling to keep my hands to myself. If I touched Ceff now, it would be awhile before I could stop, and I didn’t just mean sex.
Coming into contact meant experiencing visions of every significant, emotionally charged moment in the immortal kelpie king’s life. We’d shared those visions before. It was a necessary part of our relationship, one that had brought us surprisingly close, but it did have a downside. There was no such thing as a quickie where Ceff and I were concerned, and right now I didn’t have time to play in the shower. We could go horizontal when everything else in my life stopped going sideways.
“Come on, we can talk upstairs,” I said. “And I do mean talk. It’s been one hell of a day.”
“Of course,” he said.
Ceff waited patiently for me to lower the wards and unlock the door before crossing our threshold and mounting the stairs to the loft. My human blood, as well as the door ward’s custom design, allowed me to enter, but Ceff was a pureblooded faerie. He could only enter if Jinx or I let him in. Which was…awkward.
The fact that my supernatural security system kept the good guys out left a sour taste in my mouth, not unlike the acrid tang of soot that currently coated the back of my throat. Just a few months ago, I’d have been happy that my home was protected against the fae—every damn one of them.
Until last summer, the only faerie I’d considered a friend was a churlish brownie who would just as soon pix you as sweep his own hearth. It’s funny how a battle to protect the city could change so much in such a short span of time. Since then, I’d learned that being fae didn’t necessarily make you an enemy. Hell, we’d even allied with vamps—dusty old blood suckers. War makes strange metaphorical bedfellows and if Kaye was right, there was another war brewing, which was just freaking ducky.
In the past few months I’d gained some amazing fae friends and was literally sharing my bed with a kelpie king whose ancestors ate humans for breakfast. I’d also learned the secret of my own fae lineage—something I was obviously still struggling with. After years of thinking of the glamoured beings who walked the city streets as monsters, it was hard to resist the urge to stab first and ask questions later.
And don’t get me started on demons. My city was being vandalized by pyromaniacal hellspawn and I was wondering when Forneus would call with an update on Jinx. Since when had my hopes hung on a demon?
Everything I’d thought I’d known was turned on its head in such a way that even setting my door wards made me feel guilty. Mab’s bones, this was messed up. It also didn’t go over my head that the very wards and charms protecting my home were created by the witch that the glaistig had ordered me to kill.
I brushed salt and herbs from my gloves and followed Ceff up the stairs. Oh well, if I was having a crisis of conscience, I might as well enjoy the view. Yeah, I was going to Hell, but at least I’d go happy.
Chapter 13
Ceff went to the kitchen where he started opening cupboards, pulling down packages of food, and setting a pan on the stove. It wasn’t the first time he’d cooked for me, but today the sight of Ceff wearing Jinx’s apron felt wrong. My roommate usually cooked my meals. She’d made it her mission to make sure I didn’t forget to eat, something I had a bad habit of doing, especially when I was wrapped up in a case. I swallowed hard and dropped onto a tall stool, watching Ceff as he found his way around the small kitchen.
“How is Jinx?” he asked.
He kept his attention on the food, which was now simmering on the stove, giving me a chance to regain my composure. I took a deep breath, waiting until I could speak without breaking out into big, ugly sobs. My skin began to glow and I bit the inside of my cheek. When it came to Jinx, I could be such a wuss.
“For the moment, she’s being kept inside a spell circle at The Emporium,” I said. “An incubus fed on her. He’s one of the carnival fae, and if I want to save Jinx, I have to either kill the bastard or convince him to relinquish his hold on her.”
Ceff’s hand paused as he reached for a kitchen knife. I could read his emotions by the tension in his shoulders and the way he worked his jaw, but when he spoke, his voice was calm, controlled, the voice of a king.
“When you called for my help with the fires, you were going to speak with The Green Lady?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said.
He slowly turned off the stove, and carefully set the pan aside.
“And did she punish her subject, this incubus who attacked your vassal?” he asked.
“Punish him?” I snorted. “Nope, she’s the one who ordered him to make contact with Jinx in some freaking Machiavellian attempt to get my ass down to the carnival and pay up on one of my bargains. A ploy which worked, by the way.”
Ceff spun around so fast that my half human eyes couldn’t follow the movement. One second he was staring at the cooling food on the stove and the next he was facing me across the counter. His dark green eyes bled to black and I stifled a chill. Ceff was pissed and giving off his king of the sea vibe. Or maybe it was his, “I’m going to drown your ass and pick your bones” vibe. Sometimes I just can’t tell the difference.
Thankfully, his anger wasn’t directed at me.
“What does The Green Lady want of you?” he asked.
He started to pace and I suddenly wished we’d splurged on a larger apartment. Ceff may have been in his human form, but the energy coming off him was that of a wild stallion—and yeah, he was still giving off that
drag you down and feast on your bones kind of feeling.
“Look, you sure you want to know any of this?” I asked. “Cause I understand if you don’t want to get involved. She’s a faerie queen and you’re a faerie king. I’m guessing that means that things could get messy if you join team Ivy on this one.”
I wanted him by my side so bad it set my teeth on edge, but I didn’t want anyone else I cared about getting hurt. My human mother still couldn’t write her own name after she’d tried to help give me answers about my real father. Jinx was on her deathbed because of me, spell circle or no spell circle, and if the glaistig got her way, Kaye would be next. If I could save my friends, I would. The least I could do was give Ceff the choice, no strings attached.
“As you would say, I am all in,” he said. “Now what does she want?”
“She wants me to kill Kaye,” I said.
Just saying the words was like taking a punch to the gut. Judging from the way Ceff’s face paled, he felt the same.
“The Green Lady, queen of the carnival fae, has asked you to take the life of the most powerful witch on the entire eastern seaboard?” he asked. “The same witch who came to your aid on more than one occasion, who has fought to save this very city…the witch you call your friend?”
“Yes, the one and only,” I said.
“You agreed to such a thing?” he asked, incredulous.
“Yes, but, in my defense, I didn’t know what I was agreeing to at the time,” I said. “And she was holding Jinx’s life as bait.”
“You owe The Green Lady a boon,” he said with a sigh. “In all likelihood, there was not much that you could have done.” Ceff shook his head and returned to his cooking, lighting the flame and placing the frying pan back on the burner. “So what are the terms of this agreement, be as precise as you can.”