“Thanks, brah,” Angel said, then she paused, turning back to them. “How old are you? For real? And what’s your handle?”
“I be Toby.” He shrugged uncomfortably. “I’m sixteen, mebbee. Jozey, here, he’s my little bro—he’s fourteen. And Sha-Na, he’s almost seventeen.”
They were just kids. The three of them suddenly took on a reality bigger than just being streeps.
“When’s the last time you had a really good meal?” Angel cocked her head, and I could see Mama J. reflected in her eyes. Angel’s mother had run a soup kitchen once a week out of her diner, and she had never turned people away who were hungry. The streeps had known her and guarded her restaurant from any looters, and they swept around her like a cloak around a queen.
Toby shuffled a moment, then shrugged. “I dunno. A week, two. I take care of Jozey and Sha-Na.” He motioned for the two others to stay where they were and moved closer to us, lowering his voice. “Sha-Na, he’s not quite right. He doesn’t learn very quickly. I watch out for him and for my brother. Sha-Na’s our cousin.”
“Where are your parents?” I couldn’t help but ask.
Again, Toby shrugged. “I don’t know. My mother comes home once a month or so, if that. I don’t remember my dad, and we dunno who Jozey’s dad is. Sha-Na’s parents kicked him out because they have too many other kids to feed.” He paused, then his eyes flickered over me. “You’re one of the Fae, right?”
I nodded. “And you and your cousin…”
“We’re savines, but Sha-Na, I think he’s half-blood.”
That answered the question as to their ability to sing and dance. Savines were land-based sirens, but they weren’t usually as nasty tempered as their aquatic cousins. They had a natural ability to charm, but tended to be more reclusive.
Herne joined us right then. I pulled him aside and told him about the boys.
“They need help, I think.”
“So do a lot of people nowadays, but bring them with us. I’ll talk to my mother. If anybody can figure out something to help, they can.” He just shook his head and headed for the building.
“Hey guys, we might have some chores you can do to earn some money,” I said. “And we have sandwiches—or we can make them. Come on.”
The boys brightened up, and like a flock of lost ducklings, followed us into the building.
Chapter 3
THE WILD HUNT was housed in a five-story brick building, across the street from an array of fetish brothels. The brothels didn’t start jumping till later in the evening, usually after we had left for the day. We took up the entire fourth floor, while an urgent care clinic was on the first floor, a daycare and preschool was on the second, and the third floor housed a yoga and dance studio. The fifth floor was still empty. The landlord was having a hard time finding anybody to rent it.
We got the boys settled in the break room and Angel was fixing them sandwiches, when Herne’s phone rang. As he took the call, I headed to my desk and began to sort through the last of the paperwork that I needed to tie up. From the day we started work until about two weeks ago, Angel and I had been run ragged. The Wild Hunt had been swamped with cases, mostly private. Although there had been a few incidents we had had to quash regarding the Fae. Now, I was on the last-gasp efforts to tie up the loose paperwork still floating around and I hoped things would die down for a week or two.
I had just started to process a few of the remaining forms when Herne popped his head into my office. “Break room. Immediately. Tell Angel to find another place for those kids. We have a code red from Cernunnos.”
Fuck. Code red was bad. Code red meant emergency.
I dropped the file folder I was holding on my desk. “Where should I tell Angel to put them? They don’t have any home, it sounds like. And one of them is special needs.”
Herne groaned and waved me off. “I don’t have time to find shelter for them right now. Tell Angel to rent them a cheap hotel room for a few days and we’ll figure it out later. But right now, break room—stat.” He vanished around the corner and I heard him talking to Viktor.
I left everything in a pile on my desk and grabbed my tablet, a notepad, and a pen, then dashed down the hall to the break room where Angel was talking to Sha-Na.
“Angel, we have an emergency.” I motioned for her to join me in the hall.
“What is it?” She glanced back through the door at the boys. “I’m worried. I think Sha-Na has a respiratory infection.”
“Herne wants you to clear them out of the break room now. He said for you to go ahead and rent them a hotel room, but we’ve got a code red.”
She froze, staring at me. Neither one of us had worked on a code red situation since the first case we had been assigned.
“Uh oh. All right.” She looked around. “Will Herne want me at the meeting?”
“I’m pretty sure that will be a big ‘yes.’” I paused. “What about the urgent care clinic on the first floor? Send them there and ask the nurses if they can watch after them for us until the meeting is done. Pay for their exams, or something. That should take some time. If Sha-Na is sick, the others might be as well.” I was pretty sure Herne wouldn’t quibble over the doctor bills and if he did, then I’d pay for them myself.
Angel nodded. “Good thinking. I’ll take them down there right now.” She headed back into the break room, gathered the boys, quickly whispering to Toby, and then led them out of the room, over to the elevator.
A moment later, Herne exited Yutani and Talia’s office, followed by the pair. Viktor trailed behind. I poured myself a cup of coffee and set out another box of doughnuts. The boys had eaten their way through the first one.
As we gathered around the table, Angel came dashing in.
“All set. The boys are getting exams.” She paused as Herne gave her a puzzled look.
“Never mind,” I said. “We’ll tell you later. What’s going on?”
Herne cleared his throat, focusing on his tablet again. “I just talked to my father and Morgana. We have a serious problem on our hands.”
“What are they doing this time, and which Fae Court?” I knew it was snarky but it was par for the course. Code reds didn’t usually happen with private cases.
“That’s just it,” Herne said, setting his tablet on the table. “This time, it’s the Fae who are in some sort of trouble. This morning, Morgana received a plea from both Saílle and Névé. It seems that there are Fae in both courts coming down with a serious disease and it looks like it’s spreading. It hits hard and fast, and Morgana’s afraid it may turn into a plague.”
I winced, my smirk vanishing. While my people were usually a bunch of assholes, even they didn’t deserve this. “Why are they calling us in? We’re not doctors or healers,” I said.
Herne leaned forward, clasping his hands on the table. “It’s still too early to tell, but the healers in both courts agree that they’ve never seen anything like this. It started a couple weeks ago, and it seems to be spreading. There have been twenty-five deaths in TirNaNog, and eighteen in Navane. And there are at least a dozen or more sick in each city.”
“Forty-three deaths in less than two weeks?” Angel asked, her eyes wide. “Very few diseases ever spread that fast, at least among the human community. What are their symptoms?”
Herne glanced at his notes. “It seems to start with abdominal pain and a rapid heart rate. Within a couple hours of complaining, the victims were beginning to vomit blood, and their throats were blistered. By the time of death, they had blisters breaking out on their hands and faces, bleeding ulcers, and they were going into seizure.”
None of us said anything for a moment, then Yutani broke the silence.
“Does this appear to be Fae-specific? Has anybody else been infected?”
“I don’t know but I think not.” Herne shrugged. “The fact is, the healers didn’t realize until a day or so ago that the cases were spreading throughout both Courts. But when they couldn?
??t come up with a solution and people started dying, the medics went to Saílle and Névé, who immediately went to Morgana. That’s when they realized it was happening in both Courts.”
I felt dutifully chastised. My snark had crept away to hide under the floorboards. I scratched my head. “How long between contact and death?”
“That’s still being determined. TirNaNog has the time from first symptoms to death pegged at between four to five days. Navane, three to six days. So I am thinking it looks to be somewhere between three to six days, which gives us a median of a little over four days.” Herne leaned back in his chair, staring glumly at the table.
“Why do they think we can help?” Talia asked. “This seems like a medical issue, not one we can do anything about.”
“That would make sense except for a couple of things. One, the healers can’t find any source of infection. It just seems to have spontaneously erupted. That’s not normal. Two, the deaths run across the gamut—elderly, young, thin, fat, patients who were in good health to begin with, to victims who were sick as a dog to start with. The only common denominator is that everybody who got it is Fae. Full-blooded Fae. As to where we come in, Morgana is wondering if there’s some concentrated effort to target the Fae communities, since they’re the only ones getting sick. So far, no humans, shifters, half-blood Fae, or anybody else seems to be coming down with whatever they’re catching. At least, not that they’ve picked up through the medical grapevine.”
“So you think someone planted the disease to target the Fae?” It seemed plausible. There were plenty of hate groups and they weren’t all made up of stupid dogwoods—the dumb good ole boys who clung to the past. But once again, there didn’t seem to be much we could do about stopping a plague.
Herne nodded. “Yes, that seems to be the general consensus at this point. Morgana wants us to find out who started it and take care of them. We know it’s not from either Court. The Fae may be petty but they’re not stupid.”
Viktor drummed his fingers on the table. “Where do we even start?”
“Névé and Saílle have agreed to meet with us at ten-thirty this morning. They’ll have their healers there to answer questions, so we don’t have much time to prepare.” Herne paused, glancing at me. “We’ll meet with them in an authorized way station. They refuse to come here, and they sure as hell won’t visit the other’s Court.”
When I realized what he was saying, I shook my head. “No. I’m not going. For one thing, I’m Fae blood. I can be infected by whatever this is. For another, neither will welcome me in their Court. So you have to let me off the hook.”
A pained expression slid across his face. “I’d agree with you, normally.”
“But…?” I could hear the word all but falling off his tongue.
“But Morgana and Cernunnos have asked that you attend. Except instead of asking, it was more of an order. Morgana specifically instructed me that you are to accompany us.” He looked like he’d rather be doing anything else in the world rather than giving me that piece of information.
I groaned, rubbing my forehead. “I suddenly have a horrendous headache.”
“That won’t get you out of it, I’m afraid. When my mother calls—”
“I know that.” I cut him off, irritated. I wasn’t pissed at Herne, but at the situation. “All right, I’ll go. But don’t expect me to be nice.”
He let out a sigh. “My mother expects you to behave. Which means you will curtsey to the Fae Queens, and you will be diplomatic and polite. I’m sorry, Ember, but as a member of the Wild Hunt, you represent us.”
I stared at him. “You want me to be diplomatic with people who killed my parents?”
“I’m not the one making the rules here.” He paused, taking a deep breath before he lowered his voice. “Morgana specifically gave me instructions. If you don’t like them, you take it up with her. You’re her acolyte, not mine.”
And that was enough to shut me up. I crossed my arms, feeling churlish and powerless. And yet, he was right. I was pledged to Morgana, just as my mother had been before me, and when the gods ordered you to obey, they expected loyalty. That she was Herne’s mother was beside the point. It wasn’t his fault. I knew he would spare me this if he could.
He wavered, eyeing me cautiously. “Are we good to continue?”
“Yeah,” I muttered. “Go on.”
“All right. We’ll head over to the Eastside to meet with the Queens—”
“Whoa, hold on. You mean the pair are actually going to be in the same room together? Should we take a contingent of armed guards to stave off open warfare?” Yutani asked.
I couldn’t help but grin. Yutani caught my gaze, winking at me. Feeling mollified, I uncrossed my arms and straightened up. Like it or not, I needed to act like an adult.
Herne snorted. “You’d think, wouldn’t you? They’ve agreed to act on a temporary truce…treaty…whatever you want to call it. There won’t be bloodshed today, at least not at the meeting. If things get too tense, we’ll call it off.”
Viktor gave him a long look. “If those two get into it, we’ll run like hell. Dude, they won’t listen to us. They can’t hurt us, given the covenant, and especially not when they called us in, but they can go at each other for blood.”
The thought of the two Fae Queens rolling around in a wrestling ring flashed through my head and I began to laugh. I leaned forward, tears pouring down my cheeks, but I couldn’t stop. The others stared at me, except for Angel, who wrapped her arms around my shoulders. When the laughter finally settled, I hiccupped and tried to mop my eyes. Talia handed me a box of tissue, and gratefully, I took it. My eyeliner had taken a beating, even though it was waterproof.
Finally, I let out one last hiccup and looked around. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why that seemed so funny. I couldn’t stop.”
“I know why,” Angel said. “Tension. You haven’t had to deal with the Fae except when you chose to. Today, you have to face them and you aren’t ready.” She glared at Herne. “How can you force her to go? She’s still suffering from PTSD.”
Herne looked distinctly unhappy at being challenged. “I told you it’s not my call. You want to take it up with my mother, be my guest. But I know better than argue.” He shook his head when she started to scold him again. “Stop. Angel, I appreciate you standing up for Ember, but Morgana will do as she sees fit. If she thinks Ember needs to be there, my mother has her reasons. I’ve learned to keep my mouth shut. Once either of my parents gets a bee in their bonnet, you might as well just knuckle under and accept the inevitable.”
I held up my hand for peace. “Angel, thanks, but don’t bother. Herne’s right. I am pledged to Morgana and so far she’s been easy on me, but I think that’s about to change. I owe her my obedience. I’ll cope with this. Anyway, if I can face the Queens of Light and Darkness, then maybe I can face my grandparents and tell them what I think of them.”
I didn’t want Angel angry at Herne. While I wasn’t looking forward to this, I knew full well that he would have kept me out of the meeting if at all possible.
“If we can move on, then? We have to leave in a few minutes.” Herne was quickly losing patience. I could hear it in his voice. We didn’t argue often, but when we had, the impatient grumpiness had thrust itself forward.
“Please do,” I said.
“Where are we meeting them? What way station is willing to host a meeting so fraught with the possibility of imploding?” Talia asked.
“All Waystations are required to host parleys when asked, but I think this will work well. Ginty’s, on the Eastside, will be the meeting point. Both Névé and Saílle agreed. That’s why we have to leave in a few minutes.”
“Ginty’s? Oh hell, yes. He can keep them in check if anybody can,” Viktor said, laughing.
“Who’s Ginty?” I asked. I vaguely knew about Waystations but never had reason to go into one.
“Ginty is a dwarf. As in Lord of the Rings, the Nors
e Eddas type of dwarf. The bar doesn’t allow the use of magic inside, so when we go in there, no spells, no tricks. Got it?”
That made me laugh. “You mean to tell me that Névé and Saílle are going to show up at a bar named Ginty’s that’s run by a dwarf? That boggles the mind.” I had never laid eyes on either of the Fae Queens, but the idea seemed preposterous. It was like hearing that the Queen of England was going to pop in at the local neighborhood pub. It just didn’t track.
“Ginty is…how can I put this? He’s instrumental in the history of the Fae. Though dwarves aren’t Fae and they generally don’t get along with either the Fae or the Elves, they’re definitely one of the more important players in the SubCult realms. You just don’t hear about them much because they act behind the scenes. Like the vampires, they have their fingers in a lot of financial pies, though unlike the vamps, they don’t look for power through money. They’re more about the actual wealth than the power that goes with it. They factor into a lot of the old-money businesses, and are fiscally conservative.”
Angel and I looked at each other, blinking. I knew there were dwarves, just like I had known about ogres, but for most of my adult life I had avoided a good share of the SubCult realm except for those who hired me, and most of them were shifters. I was beginning to realize just how sheltered I had been, given my circumstances.
“Do we have to dress up?” Angel asked.
Talia laughed. “No, but don’t show up with a grubby face, either.”
“Angel, you’ll stay here to mind the shop.” Herne glanced at the clock. “Everybody else, let’s go. I suggest we take two cars. Yutani, you and Viktor take your car. Talia and Ember can ride with me.”
We scattered then, Angel looking visibly relieved. As I brushed my hair and touched up my makeup, she leaned against my office door.
“Will you be okay? I wish I could be there with you, but I’m kind of glad I’m off the hook.”