Stood to reason it was a popular hangout for those looking for a little downtime or for rival factions wanting to powwow. There was only one breed of creature you wouldn’t find here, and that was humans. Lumiers had a lookaway spell on it that kept them at bay.
Humans, in general, were oblivious to the outlier world. Well, aside from being aware of ghosts and the existence of Reapers. The rest was kept under wraps by the likes of the Magiguard, who made sure the veil between the outlier world and the human world was kept intact. And for the last few months, I’d helped them do just that.
It was the middle of November, and we were headed into winter. There was a bite in the air, and Ursula was dressed to ward off the chill in boots, a calf-length jacket, and a woolly hat that sat snug on her head.
She raised a hand in greeting as I crossed the road to reach her.
“Thanks for coming,” she said.
“You pay me, and I’m there.”
She grinned. “Of course. It’s not like you love this gig.”
I grinned back. “Oh, I love it all right, but if you must know, I’ve been on a date.”
She winced. “Yeah, I know. Keith came back to HQ spooked as fuck.”
Now I looked like a dick. “He said he could handle it. I guess he’s all biceps, warm smiles, and no spine.”
Okay, so maybe that was a little cruel, but fuck it. I’d warned him about Jasper. Heck, I’d tried to warn him off, but he’d insisted on a date anyway.
Ursula looked at me with pity.
Hell, no. “Do you want me to claw your eyes out?”
She shook her head. “There is a guy out there for you, Cora. One who’ll be able to take on Jasper.”
I nodded and smiled thinly because, as much as I wanted to believe it, experience was piling on evidence to suggest otherwise. Keith wasn’t the first guy claiming to be up to the Jasper challenge then running for the hills.
A face came to mind—chiseled, handsome, and kind. His name was Dean, a Loup Garou. A shifter and a beta. He’d wanted me.
Until he hadn’t.
Fuck it. Morose thoughts were for late nights with a bottle of whiskey and a pizza. “What we working with tonight, Urs?”
She rolled her eyes. “How many times have I asked you not to call me Urs? It sounds like—”
“Arse. I know.” I shot her a wicked smile.
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Fine, I don’t.” She glanced over my shoulder, and I registered the purr of an engine. “Our ride’s here.”
An unremarkable Ford idled across the road. Magiguard issue driven by a low-level employee.
“Are you going to tell me what the gig is?”
“It’ll be easier if I show you.”
Color me intrigued.
* * *
The red brick primary school sat dark and deserted across the asphalt playground that was surrounded by iron bars. Schools always reminded me of prisons, with the bars and the timed outdoor activities and pee breaks, but the fact we were here meant there was something causing danger to these children.
“What’s messing with the kids, Urs?”
This time she didn’t pull me up on the use of her nickname. “Three children went missing from the kindergarten two days ago. A search party was set up, and the whole area was combed for hours. Then a janitor went in to clean the classroom and found them sitting in the dark. The parents are ecstatic to have them back, of course, but their teacher is an independent witch and noticed some strange things about them over the last two days.”
“Go on.”
“They refused to eat anything at lunch, but she caught one of them eating a beetle at recess and another munching on flowers.”
“Don’t human kids do shit like that?”
Ursula nodded. “Of course, but our contact said that when she tried to stop them, they hissed at her and their eyes bled to black.”
“Okay, now that isn’t normal.”
“No.”
“So, what are we dealing with? What did you need to show me?”
Ursula unlocked the passenger side door and stepped out. “This way.”
I trailed her toward the gate then fell into step beside her as we followed the barrier around the building toward the back where a field was visible.
“The teacher in question had a suspicion as to what we might be dealing with,” Ursula said. “The children went missing after lunchtime play, which happens on this field. So, she went to investigate.”
The field was also gated off from the road, just like the asphalt playground up front. But there was a woman waiting for us on the other side of this gate. She wrung her hands nervously, huge eyes staring at us from behind thick lenses.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re here.” She hopped from foot to foot. “It’s a waxing moon,” she said. “Not good to be out alone when the moon is so close to full.”
It was a common misconception that shifters were dangerous. I mean, they could rip you to shreds if they wanted, but they didn’t hunt people. They also didn’t need it to be close to a full moon to shift. They could shift anytime.
“They won’t hurt you.”
“Huh?”
“The Loup. They don’t hunt people.”
She blinked at me. “Oh, my dear, I wasn’t referring to the Loup.”
Okay… “Then what?”
She pulled open the gate and ushered us through. “The other folk,” she said in a hushed tone. “The other folk that frolic in the woods.” She jerked her head toward the tree line in the distance.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“She means fae folk,” Ursula said.
Fae? The fae were few and far between, a dying race, and one that didn’t venture into the human world very often. “You think fae have something to do with the children?”
“Have you heard of changelings?” she asked.
“Isn’t that where fae take a human baby and leave one of their own in its place?”
“Yes, that’s it.”
“These kids are what? Three or four years old? Hardly babies.”
“I know,” the teacher said. “But I also know what I saw. The children that returned aren’t human. I can show you. Follow me.”
We trudged across the moonlit field toward the tree line, and despite my bravado, a prickle skittered across my skin, my sixth sense warning me something was afoot. The shadows crawled toward us the closer we got to the woods.
The teacher stopped and pointed. “Look, do you see it?” she asked.
I scanned the gloom between the trees seeing nothing but…gloom. “Um, Ursula…?” And then I spotted it, a slender sliver of light cutting a vertical path through the air.
“You see it, don’t you?” The witch asked.
Yeah, I saw it. “What is that?”
“A rift,” Ursula said. “We believe it leads to the fae realm and the missing human children.”
“It’s a wild and dangerous place,” the witch said. “A dangerous place. Not for the likes of us.” She shook her head quickly. “Witches are defenseless over there.” She looked warily at the rift and shuddered. “Those poor children. They must be so scared.”
A fresh prickle ran over my skin, and an icy hand gripped the back of my neck. I looked to Ursula. “You want us to go through there, don’t you?”
Ursula winced. “Actually, I need you to go through. Alone.”
* * *
Now, I was no coward, but I also wasn’t a fool. “You want me to go into a wild, dangerous place where I’ll be defenseless, alone?”
Ursula gripped my hands and looked at me earnestly. “Do you honestly think I’d ask you to do this if I thought you’d be defenseless?”
“Okay, either I’m hearing things, or you’re chatting shit.”
“Witches can’t use their magic in the fae realm,” Ursula said. “Regular, normal witches…” She gave me a pointed look. “You’re no normal witch, Cora. I’ve seen you bypass wards, a
nd your access to miasma needs no coven bond.”
The teacher’s gaze flicked up to mine in shock.
Yep, my existence wasn’t common knowledge. Neither were my abilities. Only a select few knew, and it looked like this independent witch was now amongst that number. Thanks, Urs.
“You’ll be able to use your power,” Ursula said. “I know you will.”
Yeah, I would, but not for the reasons she believed. My power didn’t have the same restrictions as theirs because it didn’t all come from miasma. The majority came from somewhere else, somewhere that only a handful of witches had access to. But I didn’t want to dwell on that, or the responsibilities that came along with it. I’d made a decision not to go down that road months ago.
“That isn’t normal,” the witch said.
Yeah, I was no normal anything. I was a tulpa with access to the miasma that witches used and something more. I was a witch created, not born. I was an anomaly, and there were children at risk that needed saving.
Time to don the cape.
I unclasped the amulet from around my neck and handed it to Ursula. I couldn’t afford for my power to be muted in the fae realm. “Keep this safe until I get back.”
It was time to head into the creepy rift.
Chapter Three
The rift winked at me, taunting me to come take a look-see, and the logistics of the task ran through my head.
“How big is this place, and how will I find the children?” I turned to Ursula. “I mean, it’s been two days. Whoever took them has a huge head start.”
“Time used to run faster in their realm,” Ursula said. “But something’s broken, and now their time runs parallel to ours. The children won’t have been taken too far. They’ll need time to adjust to the fae realm, so they’re probably camping out close to the rift.”
“Adjust?”
“They take babies and children because the young are mutable. The fae realm can literally alter them, but some reject the change, and in those cases, they’re returned to this side, mutated and unrecognizable.”
“You clear up the mess?”
“We haven’t had to for decades,” she said. “I mean, there was no way for us to save the children—not until now.”
Not until me. “I don’t understand why they’d take human children if they’re going to alter them anyway?”
“I don’t know,” Ursula said. “The fae realm has been a mystery to us for the longest time, and the fae that move to our world are pretty closed lipped about it.”
I knew what she meant. I’d tried talking to Leana about it a couple of times and bam, shut down. “And yet you seem to know a hell of a lot about it.”
She blushed. “I have a source.”
Wait. “Are you dating a fae?”
Ursula pulled a pouch from her pocket. “Drop one of these every few meters to mark your path and lead you back to the rift.”
I peered into the pouch at the white seeds inside. “Breadcrumbs?”
“Better. These won’t get eaten. Trust me, Solaris swears by them.”
“Solaris, huh? And when do I get to meet him?”
“Her,” she said. “And soon.”
I gripped the pouch, gave Ursula a jaunty salute, then strode into the rift.
* * *
I’d gone through a rift before, into an awful evil place called the Eye. It was the reason I’d bonded with Jasper. I’d needed him for that trip, but this, I could do alone. Heck, not like I had a choice.
My skin pricked like a thousand needles were having a stab, and then I was in a dark forest, not much different from the one I’d left, except the air here was sickly sweet, like gone off fruit, and it felt thicker as it navigated my lungs.
My boots were planted firmly on a dirt track, a path hewn by obvious foot traffic, and yep, there were three pairs of tiny shoe prints pressed into the earth and another set of barefoot prints with large, splayed toes. I bet it was a bitch to find boots that fit those feet.
But this was a bingo moment for me.
A nice little trail to follow.
I dropped a seed and looked over my shoulder at the silver slash in the world.
I’ll be back, Way Out. “Okay, fae fuckers, where are you?”
I set off along the path, eyes flicking from the footprints to the edge of the track where shit could be lurking, waiting to pounce. This place looked normal, but it felt whacked out and off. My gut squirmed, and it took everything in me to keep moving forward. Six seed drops later, the sound of music drifted through trees to my left, and sure enough, the shoe prints veered off that way.
Was this another call for a bingo? I was about to find out.
I dove into the brush, leaving the path behind. Branches tried to scratch my face, but I batted them away, following the strange, haunting melody that left an ache in my belly. The silvery rays of moonlight that had been lighting my way were blocked by the leafy canopy above. I dropped another seed and then another as the music grew louder. Light flickered up ahead between the trees—the flames from a campfire.
This had to be a bingo, surely.
The urge to make a jump and shift into the clearing up ahead was an itch at the base of my skull, but my instincts warned me to minimize the use of my power here, to only employ it if absolutely necessary.
The music and the crackle and pop of the fire masked the sounds of my approach, then the clearing was visible through the trees. Three small shapes sat huddled together, eyes heavy with sleep. The human children. They looked so tiny and fragile, and kind of eerie with firelight dancing across their cherubic faces.
Another figure sat across from them with its back to me, but I caught sight of long gray hair and a green flat-cap. He prodded the flames periodically, making them jump and dance.
I couldn’t see any musical instrument. Where was the melody coming from?
I stepped to one side to get a better look at the clearing and check how many other fae creatures were holding the kids’ hostage.
Nope, the gray-haired fae was alone and—
What was that, a wooden cage? There was something inside. Small and furry with round ears. It looked like a teddy bear. An odd-looking teddy bear that had its eyes closed and…Fuck, the melody was coming from its mouth. It was singing.
My gaze flicked from the creature to the children, then back again. Wait, was the melody making them drowsy? Was it keeping them compliant?
It had no effect on me, so it must have been targeted to the little ones somehow.
“Mummy.” One of the kids opened her eyes and stared at the creature across from her in confusion. “Who are you? Where’s my mummy?”
The gray-haired creature swung his stick toward the cage and smacked it hard. The teddy bear creature within jumped, but it didn’t open its eyes. It sang louder, though.
The little girl’s eyelids drooped. She sighed and fell silent.
A soft chuckle drifted to my ears. “You keeps singing, you hear. Keeps singing and I won’t hurt ya.”
The creature in the cage trembled and opened one eye. Its gaze tracked over the gray-haired fae’s head and locked on me. Both its eyes popped open, and then it shook its head slightly as if in warning.
Or maybe I was imagining shit. It was an animal, like a cat or a dog, or whatever equivalent the fae had.
As far as I was concerned, the coast was clear, with only one fae to take on. I could do this.
I stepped into the clearing, boots crunching on bracken, ready to confront the creepy little gray-haired fucker. The first indication that I may have made an error in judgment came from the fact that the abductor didn’t even flinch at my presence.
Instead, he poked the fire and raised his rheumy eyes to look up at me. I bit back a gasp at the sight of his mottled, sagging face. It looked like moldy cheese. I mean, I wasn’t into facials and all that shit, but this guy could definitely do with a deep cleanse and a huge injection of collagen.
The second indication, and the nail in my metaph
orical coffin, was the toothy, plaque-coated smile he gave me—as if he’d been expecting me. As if he’d been waiting for me.
The urge to hurl was real. I swallowed bile and flexed my hands in preparation for a fight. Not a fistfight, cos there was no way I was touching his moldy ass, but I’d happily fry it with a shot of lightning from my fingertips.
“I was wonderin’ when you’d make yourself known,” he said. “Smelled you a way off. Gots my knife all sharp and ready.” He pulled a blade from the folds of his jacket and held it up in the firelight. “Human skin comes off nice and bloody, and the flesh beneath…” He licked his lips with a slimy black tongue. “Delicious.”
“Or…” I held up a finger. “I could fry your ass.” I flicked my wrist, and power crackled and wove between my fingers. “And take back what doesn’t belong to you.”
I caught movement behind him—the thing in the cage shaking its head frantically—but the fae was still smiling. My stomach knotted, and then a hand closed around my nape and I was lifted off my feet.
What the fuck?
The creepy fucker grinned. “Nice weight. You’ll make a nice meal.”
Weight? “Cheeky fucker.”
I grabbed at the thing holding my neck, hands lighting up with a sizzle. The fae screamed and I was free, hitting the ground in a crouch, Trixie already out of my boot holster, her hilt snug in my hand. I spun, looking for the other attacker. Nothing.
The crunch of bracken had me whipping back to focus on Moldy Face, but he hadn’t moved. What the fuck attacked me?
“Don’t make me cut you.” I held the blade at an angle, ready to attack as my eyes scanned the shadows around us. “Who else is here? Show yourself.”
“Ain’t no one here but you and old Merkle.” The fae said.
Then he leaped at my face, dirty hands and moldy fingers reaching for me. I sliced the air with my blade expecting to snag flesh but met only thin air. The fucker was gone.
Laughter bubbled up behind me. I spun to face him again, my heart pounding because this fucker was wilier than he looked. Time to employ some chat, get close, and take a stab.
Witch Unexpected: The Thirteenth Sign Book 1 Page 2