Craning my neck, I could just see Jinx sitting at her desk. She was chewing on a pen and looking down at something in front of her. Maybe she was alone? If they had taken a break for the night, then she might just be wrapping things up. I could head inside and help her close up the office, then catch up on the day’s events over a cup of tea. I would even skip my bath.
Movement to her right, made Jinx look up and an angry look crossed her face. Crap, she wasn’t alone and she obviously didn’t like whoever she was now talking to. Even at this distance, I could see her nostrils flare. She was definitely angry at the person, and I was betting it was Forneus.
I tiptoed forward, heart hammering in my chest. A handsome man in an expensive suit stood glaring down his nose at Jinx. His posture was pure confidence and if I were standing closer, I knew that I’d be able to see the goat slitted pupils of his eyes. I was right, it was Forneus.
I clenched my hands into fists to still the shaking from fear or exhaustion, take your pick. Inching past the bag shop with tapestry totes hanging forlornly in the darkened window, I froze as I heard a strange humming come from my left. Demon magic? I jumped forward as a lamp flickered to life at the corner. A squeak did not slip past my lips—it was totally a mouse, I swear.
From my new vantage point, I could see Father Michael joining the argument, his birdlike movements quick with obvious agitation. I did not want to get trapped in that office right now. Oberon’s eyes, I was tired. I was jumping at street lamps and ready to hit the dirt over the tiniest movement. I needed to get to bed before I gave myself a heart attack.
With a momentary pang of guilt, and a silent apology to Jinx, I crab walked speedily to the apartment door. The key slid home, and with a quick turn of the knob, I ran inside. I clicked the door shut, flipped the lock, and sprinkled a line of salt and protection herbs across the threshold. I finally let out the breath I’d been holding and breathed in the stale odors of past tenants.
Climbing the flight of stairs was like the ascent up Mt. Everest, without the blessed cold, but eventually I dragged myself to our apartment. I swung the door wide and smiled at the aroma of old coffee and wet dog. The wet dog smell was coming from a colorful woven tapestry that Jinx made when she took a crafting class, the heat and humidity bringing out the pungent oils of the wool. The loft was hot and stuffy, but at that moment I wouldn’t have changed a thing. It was home.
I started toward my room, but hesitated. Sleep isn’t an escape for me, and it hasn’t been for a long, long time. I considered waiting up for Jinx and working through the events of the day, trying to make sense of my vision, but changed my mind. I knew, from experience, that if I stayed awake for too long, I’d become completely useless. I was already having difficulty stringing more than two words together and my eyes were blurry and unfocused. Soon, even my second sight would become unreliable.
No, I didn’t want to reach that point. The resulting double vision was disorienting and this day had been baffling enough. I needed to get some rest while I could. I continued walking to my bedroom.
It didn’t take me long to shrug out of my soiled clothes, tossing them on the floor, and crawl into bed. The sheets were cool and clean against my skin, but sleep didn’t come right away.
Something had been weird about Kaye’s behavior today, but I was too exhausted to figure out what exactly. I tried to forget about it, I mean, come on, we had some serious faerie crap hitting the fan, but the feeling that something was out of whack with our relationship nagged at me like a toothache. I felt like I had come close to figuring it out once, but every time my mind started to form a theory, it fragmented and slid away. It was like grasping at reflections on the surface of a pond.
Had I done something to anger her while I was having my vision, or suffering the screaming aftermath? Somehow that didn’t seem right. Kaye had started acting strangely when I first arrived. Oberon’s eyes, I was getting nowhere. Something was discordant about my friend’s behavior and as soon as we both had a free moment, there were some tough questions I needed to ask.
I rolled over, pulling my blanket up under my chin and fell into the shadowy world of sleep. My nightmares were waiting for me in the dark. They’re always lurking nearby, biding their time knowing that they’ll get their chance to torment me again. Sleep always comes, no matter how hard I try to fight it.
Chapter 9
I woke to the heavenly smell of coffee. Too bad it was being held by a demon. Okay, not really a demon. Forneus hadn’t found a way past our wards and into the loft, but Jinx was doing a damned fine imitation. Her red lacquered nails were tapping a staccato against the porcelain mug while her other hand rested on a curvaceous hip. She looked pissed.
“Sorry,” I said.
It came out like, “shmorffrree” from beneath the tangle of blankets. I must have been battling my bedding in my sleep. If my sheets were the each uisge army, the war would be over by now. I had wrung all of the life from them. Go me.
“Get the hell up,” Jinx said.
“Just a minute,” I said.
I tried to disentangle myself from the sheets and blankets, but gave up, pushing them all onto the floor. There, I was free. Now if I could just find some clean clothes. I know there was a basket with clean laundry around here somewhere…
“No, Ivy,” Jinx said. “You don’t have a minute. Get your ass in the kitchen, now.”
Mab’s bones. She was well and truly ticked at me. Well this day was starting off just peachy.
“Okay,” I said, pulling on a hooded sweatshirt and yoga pants. It was too hot for the sweatshirt, but I wasn’t going to take the time to look for something more weather appropriate and risk making Jinx any madder than she already was.
Jinx stormed to the kitchen, her mary jane pumps clacking against the floor with each angry step. I followed, hands in my pockets, feeling like a little kid awaiting punishment. This was so unfair. My head was pounding with each strike of Jinx’s heels on the hard tile. It was enough to make me wish we had wall to wall shag carpeting.
With a wince, I shuffled to the opposite side of the bar that divides the kitchen from the living room, and pulled myself onto one of the retro soda fountain stools. I felt safer knowing there was a counter between us. Jinx looked ready to pounce.
“You left me with those jerks all freaking day,” Jinx said. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
“Sorry?” I asked.
Oops, wrong answer. Jinx slapped a hand down on the counter, making me jump. I hoped her tantrum would wind down soon. My head was ready to split open.
“All day, Ivy,” Jinx said. “You left me with bird man and horn dog, all day and most of the night.”
“What can I do to make it up to you?” I asked.
I sighed, knowing that my bank account was going to take a sucker punch. A little maneuvering might keep my checks from bouncing, but it had been a tough month.
“These,” Jinx said. “I want these.”
Jinx slammed her hand down on an open magazine. She tapped her finger against a page displaying a pair of pricey platform sandals, circled in black marker. The cherry pattern on the fabric and red bows were cute, but the price nearly made me throw up. Unfortunately, Jinx had a point. I owed her, big time.
“Sure,” I said. “If you can wait until the money from this job comes in, they’re yours.”
“Really?” Jinx asked.
“Yes, they’ll look amazing on you,” I said.
I meant it too. She was the only person I knew who could pull off wearing those shoes without looking cheesy. And Jinx loves shoes. She has an entire wall of shelves in her room devoted to them. Me? I have one pair of black Doc Martens boots and an old pair of cross trainers. It was amazing that Jinx and I were friends. We were total opposites.
Thankfully her bad temper doesn’t last long, especially when she gets her way. A smile broke out on her face, shifting her features from dangerous to cute, in a flash.
“I know, right?” Jinx said
. “I have the perfect dress to wear them with. They’d be perfect for the Old Port Festival.”
“So long as the each uisge don’t eat us first,” I said. Jinx blanched and I immediately felt guilty about opening my big mouth. “Sorry, I’m feeling grumpy. I’m still recovering from yesterday, and haven’t had any coffee yet.”
“Oh, right,” Jinx said, looking chagrined. She poured a mug of coffee and slid it over to my side of the counter. “I keep blocking out the whole being eaten by monster water horses thing. So, how did it go at Kaye’s? Get any leads?”
I decided not to go into any more detail about my vision induced breakdown. It was nothing Jinx hadn’t seen before and I didn’t want to make her worry. I added cream to my coffee and focused, instead, on the positive.
“Yes, I learned a lot about kelpies and each uisge from the books in Kaye’s library,” I said, nodding. “And we got a lead from my vision. There was a witness to Ceffyl Dŵr’s abduction, a friend of Kaye’s.”
“Wow!” Jinx exclaimed. “That’s awesome news.”
“I’m actually supposed to meet our witness at Kaye’s this morning,” I said, squinting at the hands on our Felix the Cat clock. “I should probably go change and get going. I don’t want to end up on Kaye’s bad side. I think she’s already a little peeved with me.”
“For what?” Jinx asked.
“I have no idea,” I said.
With a shrug, I went to prepare for my meeting with Kaye and Marvin. I wasn’t sure who I wanted to see less. Kaye’s weird behavior was making me feel awkward, like I didn’t know where we stood anymore, and I was dreading talking to Marvin about his attack.
I walked past my bed and let out a heavy sigh. Even with the blankets strewn on the floor, my mattress looked awfully tempting. I suddenly wished this day was already over with. The feeling grew stronger when I found my one basket of clean laundry.
In this heat, there was no getting away with wearing something more than once, not unless you wanted to be arrested by the stink police, and my clothing selection had dwindled to a short black skirt, spaghetti strap cami, and gray long-sleeved top. I wasn’t even sure if the skirt was mine, so I steeled myself for a vision when I pulled it from the basket. When nothing happened, I blinked at the black fabric in my hands and felt my shoulders ease.
The mystery garment was either mine or something Jinx wore without incident. Time to see if it fit. I shimmied into the skirt, zipping it up with a satisfied grin. I wouldn’t have to run around town in yoga pants and a sweatshirt after all. I passed over the cami and grabbed the gray shirt. I was already showing more leg than I was used to. I didn’t need to show off everything else as well. Plus, bare skin meant a higher probability of accidental visions. Gray top it is.
“Heading to the skate park for a few,” Jinx hollered from the living room. “I’ll be at the office by nine. I want to warn some of the guys to stay away from the docks. They like to do rail slides on the north end stairs and sometimes they party down at the pier.”
Oberon’s eyes, I hadn’t even thought about the pier. A lot of kids hang out down there, especially now that the heat of the city was so oppressive.
“Good idea,” I said. “What reason are you going to give?”
It’s not like she could tell the truth. “Dude, don’t hang out on the docks, the water’s infested with flesh eating faerie horses,” doesn’t sound plausible, no matter what you’re smoking, and there were rules about talking to civilians. I didn’t always follow the rules established for hunters and magic users that Kaye had told me about, but they were created for a reason. You don’t cause panic among the ignorant masses, even if some of them were cute guys that Jinx likes to flirt with.
The sound of Jinx’s shoes on tile preceded her leaning in to peek around my doorway.
“I’ll tell them that we’re working on a case investigating a rise in hepatitis around the docks and pier,” Jinx said. “They knew that guy who was hospitalized when he stepped on a needle last year. I’ll tell them that someone’s dumping medical waste again and dirty needles are washing up on the beach. Storm tides sometimes push the surf up over the pier and sections of the wharf, so if they think the water’s contaminated, they won’t skate down there.”
She was right. Those guys are always covered in cuts and bruises from skating and if what she was saying was true, it would only take a scratch to get infected.
“Wow, that might actually work,” I said. “Ollie will probably think the reports of shark attacks are all part of a conspiracy to cover up the waste dumping.”
Our friend Oliver, or Ollie, was majorly into conspiracy theories. If he could wear a tin foil hat while skating, he totally would.
“He’ll probably be disappointed it doesn’t match his original theory,” Jinx said, giggling.
“Which was?” I asked.
“Sharks with frikken laser beams…” Jinx said, laughing. “…on their heads! He said it was part of a military experiment.”
“Of course, he said that,” I said, rolling my eyes. “He thinks sea monkeys are part of a military experiment.”
“Too bad I can’t tell him about the mutant shark-like faerie horses,” Jinx said. “He’d totally freak.”
“Yes, that’s the problem,” I said, sighing. “Everyone will freak and then there’ll be rioting in the streets.”
“I know,” Jinx said. “Don’t worry, my lips are sealed.” She mimed locking her lips and throwing away the key.
I flashed Jinx the universal thumbs up sign and a smile. She waved, sashaying to the door, her ponytail and the pleats of her halter dress swinging in time to the song she was humming.
*****
Shutting the door on my messy bedroom, I surveyed the loft. I was way behind on my share of roommate duties, but saving the city would have to come first. Maybe I could get Hob to stop by and tidy up the place. He could keep anything shiny he found in my room and all of the couch change that he could carry. I tossed a bottle of water in my bag and grabbed a piece of cold toast from where Jinx had left it for me—right next to the shoe catalog.
I sighed around the toast in my mouth, Jinx wasn’t subtle and she was never going to give up on those shoes. I brushed crumbs off my shirt and headed for the door. I needed to get across town before rush hour traffic had angry drivers trying to use Wharf Street as a short cut. It wasn’t, but there were always a few drivers desperate enough to brave the narrow cobbled streets. If I wanted to avoid my fellow pedestrians by walking down the middle of the street, then I needed to hustle.
I made good time and managed to avoid the throngs of people that gathered at the coffee cart on the corner of Water Street and Baker’s Row, but bumped into a kid as I rounded onto Wharf Street. It wasn’t my fault. The “kid” had run headlong into me, probably due to the red hat pulled down low over his eyes.
He hit my hip, knocking him to the ground and spinning me to the side. I braced myself for a vision that didn’t come. Realizing that he had only hit the fabric of my skirt and top, not any exposed skin, I breathed a sigh of relief and turned to tell him to watch where he was going. He was, after all, lucky that I wasn’t a cyclist. A bike courier would have sent him to the hospital.
He was glaring at me from beneath his hat and one thing was certain—he was no kid. No, the thing flashing pointy, razor sharp teeth at me was a redcap. Redcaps are fae who get their name from the unsavory habit of dying their hat red with the blood of their victims. Kaye once told me that every redcap is on a continuous murder spree, because if they let the blood on their hat dry out, they weaken and eventually die. Judging by the eager gleam in this one’s eyes, I’d say that she was right.
The redcap slid a tiny black blade from its belt and crouched low, hissing at me. Dwarflike, he stood with a wide stance, his short legs shod in heavy boots the tops of which nearly reached the bottom of his dark wool coat. A warm breeze shifted toward me and I nearly gagged at the carrion and slaughterhouse smells the redcap wore around him like a c
loak. I tried breathing through my mouth, wishing that I could lather vapor rub cream on my upper lip to block the smell. Not that I had a free hand, vapor cream, or time.
I watched the small fae warily, knowing that his diminutive size didn’t mean he wasn’t deadly. But what the heck was he doing here?
Redcaps are nocturnal, residing in ruins and stone towers during the day. Abandoned forts and lighthouses that dot the coastline provide ample living quarters for the vermin. Usually, they don’t travel far from their nest in their quest for blood, preferring the easy kill of vagrants and hikers. Sometimes, when fresh meat doesn’t come to them with enough frequency, they turn on each other.
But here was a lone redcap walking the city streets in broad daylight. Something was very wrong with this picture.
The redcap sneered and lunged forward, snapping me out of my thoughts. I skipped to my left and stole a look around the street. People walked by, looking wilted in their business casual attire. A few even stubbornly wore suits, though moisture already ringed their armpits and collars.
I wouldn’t get any help from passerby. They would only see a kid in a red hat playing around. His knife probably looked like a Gameboy, or a lollipop. Damn faerie glamour.
A heavy boot stomped on my foot, sending a flash of agony to my brain that stole the air from my lungs. I tried to limp out of knife range, and catch my breath, but my injured foot slowed me down. The evil little black blade lashed out, grazing my arm.
I stumbled to one knee, clutching my arm where red liquid, warm and wet, spread across my shirt like a flower seen blooming with time lapse photography. The blade bit through skin, triggering a tirade of visions that vied for my attention. Each vision was more gruesome than the last—and the common element in these little vignettes of terror? Blood, an endless sea of blood.
I gasped for breath, blinking against the visions to see the redcap grin and run his tongue along his blade, tasting my blood. Fighting the urge to vomit, I fumbled with the small pouch stuffed inside my boot. The pouch, containing salt and iron shavings, had slid out of range of my fingers, but I felt the loop of the string that held it together. One more second…