by Viola Grace
She grinned and applied the sauce to her tacos.
Neekil slid onto the bench across from her. “I thought you would be done by now.”
Hannah chuckled. “I had to make sure I got the right sauce.”
He grinned. “I know that most wouldn’t consider this a date, but you aren’t most.”
“No, I am not most. How many dark elf females are currently running around under the sun?”
He poured sauce on the tacos. “That answer would be... none.”
She paused. “What?”
“None. Our families are raised underground. My brothers and I share a mother, but all have different fathers.”
Her eyes bugged out. “What?”
He wrinkled his nose at her. “You didn’t know that now, did you. The women can only have one child from one male in their lifetime. If they want more kids, they find another lover, often with their original mate’s encouragement. My parents are still together, but there are four uncles who visit our home frequently to see their sons.”
“Oh. Wow.” She bit into the first taco and clenched her fist as fire ran through her. When she could speak again, she muttered, “That explains the staring. I am rarer than a unicorn around here.”
“Yeah, it is also because you are stunning. So, no problems this morning?”
“Nope. She fired me. I have to make a complaint to the hospital for one of their nurses gossiping about patients, but I have it in writing. Sealed and locked.”
He snorted. “You are the only person I know of who gets fired and then has their employer sign a declaration of the fact that it just happened.”
“I don’t want any confusion with timelines. I let Leonora know right after, and she called Mrs. Northrup and removed their contract from the agency. The Grunwald mansion is now officially my listing.” She got the rest of the taco down in four bites, and then, she had to have a sip of the cider.
She flexed her neck and went in for the second taco. Her stomach was burning, and her blood was humming in her veins.
Neekil put his hands on the table as he fought his way through his own burn. She giggled, and he grimaced.
“I am glad to know that I am not the only one feeling the burn.”
He took her left hand with his right. She gave him a curious look.
“I just like to touch you when you are near.”
Dem-rah walked up with his hands rubbing together. All four of them. “Ah, Ar-Thuat, it seems you have gained the focus of our little Hannah.”
“Good day, Dem-rah. Thanks for coming out to say hello.” Hannah smiled.
“You are looking far more attractive than normal. That pale skin didn’t suit you. Your family must be pleased.”
She smiled. “They are at peace with the way things have worked out.”
“Good. Blood hair, midnight eyes, and skin of shadows. All of the night dwellers will be at your door.” He smiled, showing rows of deadly teeth.
Hannah grinned. “Then, I will greet them accordingly and send them off without their teeth... and anything else I can get hold of. I am not seeking courtship. I already have the one that I want.”
Neekil’s hand spasmed around hers.
She smiled at him. “You don’t have to try so hard. I am not going to shop for anyone else, nor will I accept them if they show up at my doorstep.”
Dem-rah smiled. “Well, just as single-minded as always then, Hannah? Good to know. I will discourage any who mention you unkindly.”
“Thank you. It is appreciated.”
He turned to Neekil. “So, how did you manage to catch her. There are humans that have been pursuing her for years.”
“Ah, I jumped into her mind and then possessed her body. After that, we had a connection that transcended association.”
She sipped her cider. “And we both have a mental inventory of my underwear drawer.”
Dem-rah shrieked with laughter. “Well, come by often. I enjoy your company, and your new appearance is a pleasure to look at.”
She inclined her head.
“Keep wearing your hair down, it suits you.” He winked and returned to the truck. A line of over forty patrons had accumulated, and the counter clerk was freaking out.
Hannah looked at Neekil and then at the waves of hair on her shoulder. “When did you unpin it?”
“While you were in line. You need to be more wary around strange men.” He winked.
She ate her taco calmly and then worked on her final one.
He asked, “Can I try it? I just want to know what your heat level is.”
She smiled slightly and handed him the remains of her final taco.
He took the bite, his eyes widened, and he ate one of his own tacos to flush the heat. “How did you eat that?”
She wiggled her eyebrows. “Practice. I have lived my life around guys who are just as competitive as the folks in the XIA. We may not do hot sauce shooters, but we can definitely hold the heat.”
She sipped at her cider and then moved to the water to clear the burn from everything she had consumed.
He finished his own food like he was trying to remove the hex of her taco. “So, what are you up to this afternoon?”
“I am going to take a look at the property I was perusing yesterday. I think it is a good starting point.”
“You aren’t afraid of ghosts?”
She shook her head. “I have seen them before. As long as there aren’t any unnamed gods lingering in the building, I should be fine.”
“May I come with you?”
She laughed. “Sure. I am gathering that you were able to access some of your possessions? I can’t really see those shorts and that shirt being in a locker at the XIA.”
“Oh, you would be surprised at what we wear when we are off duty. Would you prefer a suit?”
Her heart tripped like a hammer at the thought of him in a suit.
He lifted his hand to her lips and smiled. “I can see that that thought has gotten your attention. I will have to make an effort to dress up for you.”
She felt her face get hot but was happy that it didn’t show.
They gathered the remains of their meal and tossed them in the trash bin. It rumbled and rocked, but they hadn’t fed it more than paper.
The humans who had been in line staggered up the moment that they were done. They were pale and sweating. The garbage beast got a decent meal, and the humans learned a lesson.
Neekil walked her back to the car, and he got into the passenger seat after holding her door for her.
She brought the address up on her navigation system, and they were on their way. It was time to strike out on her next professional venture, rehabbing uninhabitable houses.
Chapter Six
Hannah pulled up at what would have been a charming house if it had been in good repair. The houses to either side had for-sale signs that had seen better days. Whoever was trying to sell couldn’t find buyers.
Hannah got the number for the lockbox and turned off her car. “This looks fun.”
Neekil snorted. “Sure, it does. What is your first line of defense?”
“Identification. My dad sent me on a course for it. It helped keep my end of the family business up.” She grabbed a bag out of the back of her SUV. “Spirit identification is a weirdly specific skill, but it is one I am good at. It was initially why the Northrups hired me.”
She hoisted the bag on her shoulder and walked up the weed-choked sidewalk. She felt the push on her immediately.
“Neekil, do you feel that?”
“I do. Be careful. It feels hostile.”
“No, it feels angry. That is a different thing entirely.”
He grunted.
She walked up to the charming Victorian with the lovely scrollwork. It was a house that needed a family to live in and to love.
The interior was surprisingly neat, but there was something in the air. She walked down the hall and settled
in a drawing-room.
Neekil was with her. “What are you looking for?”
“I am in the center of the house. I am going to identify the type of occupant we are dealing with.”
She dropped her bag and pulled out her toolkit with the variety of powders in small vials. She pulled out a bowl and put a pinch of each vial in the wooden receptacle.
“What are those?”
A new voice said, “Luminescing powders. She is trying to determine what I am.” A young woman was leaning against the doorframe leading into the drawing-room. Her skin glowed in the afternoon light. “Hello, and what are you doing in my house?”
“We have been asked to investigate and renovate it to get it back into circulation.” Hannah was smiling.
“That’s great. I look forward to new friends, but I am not going to leave. What the hell are you, by the way?”
Hannah shrugged. “I am a human that was transformed into a dark elf.”
“Like a pet or a mistress?”
Neekil snorted. “Since she wears her original hair and eye colour, that means she was transformed into a war companion.”
“What’s that?”
“Something dangerous.”
Hannah asked, “What is your name?”
The woman shrugged. “I don’t remember. They killed me and painted this house with my blood. I am in every room and on every wall. I can’t get out.”
Hannah asked, “Do you want to stay here?”
The woman shrugged. “I don’t know who I am, so this is the only place I have. It is mine, and I will defend it.”
“Would you interfere if I sent some landscapers here?”
She snorted. “Good luck. No one comes here. No one has come here for years.”
“How long have you been alone?” Neekil asked.
“Four years. I was dead for three years before that, but Mable Johanson was a good companion. It was sad when she left. She exited this life and left this realm for the next. After they took her body away, they wanted to strip the house and flip it. I didn’t like that. When they started work on the areas with crumbling plaster... it hurt.”
Hannah sat on the floor. “Well, shit.”
Neekil crouched next to her. “What is wrong?”
“The house isn’t possessed.”
Both Neekil and the young woman said, “What?”
“She is the house. It is an old spell, very old. They initially started by putting cats in the walls and boarding them up in certain cultures. The dead cat in the walls was considered lucky. The idea was that it would keep away rodents and insects, guarding the house. She’s the guard.” Hannah pointed at the ghost.
“I am the what?”
“The cat in the walls. They put you in here and wanted you to act in a guard-dog capacity. The problem is, why?”
The ghost shrugged. “I don’t know. No one has talked to me before, but I think I woke up later than they wanted.”
“So, what do you do to those who come in?”
The ghost smiled. “I push them out. No one stays unless I want them to.”
Hannah looked at her. “So, why did you let us in?”
“You look interesting. I haven’t seen anyone interesting in a long time.”
Hannah smiled at her from her seat on the floor. “Can I try and find out who you are and come back?”
“Sure. Nothing changes for me. I just get stronger as time goes by.”
Hannah nodded, and Neekil helped her to her feet. “Well, I am going to look into what you are, but may I indulge in the powders? I have them out already.”
The ghost inclined her head. “Please do. I like the colours.”
Hannah lifted her wooden bowl, and with a controlled exhalation, she slowly turned in a circle and blew the powder into the walls.
The powders flew around the room and stuck to the woman. Hannah blinked and whistled. “That is new.”
Neekil asked, “What does that mean?”
Hannah sighed. “It means she’s complicated. So, let’s find out who she is.”
Neekil cocked his head. “You want to go to the XIA?”
“And the mage guild. And my laptop. I have some archives to raid. And, I have to call in a spectral consultant to take a look. I also need a landscaper.” She sighed. “I have a lot of calls to make.”
The glittering ghost cocked her head. “Why is it important to landscape?
“To improve the look of the house. The mayor has just contracted me to get these houses saleable so that they can be occupied by the living again. Having this house sit empty and abandoned is destroying the neighbourhood, like a rotting infection. Nothing gets better, and no one feels comfortable. Homes are for the living.”
The ghost sighed. “I know, I just don’t like the ones who keep trying to get inside.” She chuckled. “To be fair, they don’t like me either.”
Hannah could imagine the impact of a ghost on drug dealers when she shoved them out of her domain.
“Right, well, I am glad to have met you. I am going to find out who you are, and from there, we might get some of your memories back.”
Neekil frowned. “That is it?”
“It is all we can do. I will send the landscapers by once I find one, and then, I will know what we are working with. Your neighbours will certainly be less freaked out.”
The ghost smiled. “Thanks. You are surprisingly helpful.”
“You are welcome. I want everyone to get what they want here, and that starts with your identity.” Hannah smiled. “Come on, Neekil. We will come back another day.”
The ghost moved forward. “But you will come back.”
Hannah nodded. “We will. Hopefully, with more information and a few options for you.”
“Have a good evening. I look forward to your return.” The ghost bowed.
Hannah looked at Neekil, and they left. When they got to her car, she calmly got into the driver’s seat and put the vehicle in gear.
“Hannah? Are you all right?”
She smiled tightly. “When I took the course on clearing houses and releasing ghosts, they mentioned this sort of situation. She’s a ghost and a spectre and a poltergeist and a living house. That isn’t a good combination.”
“So, her bones just need to be cleansed, and she will be free.”
Hannah raised a hand, and she exhaled. “There may be a problem with that. I need to find something first.”
“Where are we going?”
“Home. Thankfully, I have a subscription to the library archives for just this purpose. I have a lot of research to do before your brothers finish up at the mansion. I can meet you for dinner or pick a few of you up, but I need to find this.”
“Fine. I will be with you until I feel them coming through the shadows. Can I help?”
She glanced at him, and she smiled. “You can. I am going to read out locations for phenomena, and you need to mark them on a map. We know she’s female and between fifteen and thirty based on her energy signature. We can reduce it to a single woman based on her lack of attachment to anyone else. If she had a lover or child, she would have dispersed by now.”
“So, what is she?”
“I am going to gather what information I can and bring it to Imara, and then, I am going to ask her what she thinks. She knows spectres, and I am sure that she knows more than I do about ghosts.”
“You already know more than most humans I have run into over my time in the XIA.”
She chuckled and drove automatically, heading home. “Thanks, but I know what I need to know. It is necessity, not personal inclination. I like working with houses.”
“Well, we were in a talking house today, so you are combining necessity and interest.”
She snorted, and five minutes later, they got out of the car, and she gathered her paperwork to head inside. She had her armloads of items, and Neekil stood next to her.
“Hand them over. You are the on
e with the house key.”
Hannah sighed. “Thanks. This went from a good day to a strange one in just a few seconds.”
“You do your research, I will get a map. I can also look up stuff on my laptop if it has finished updating five years’ worth of software by now.”
She smiled and opened the door. “You want coffee? Tea? Cocoa?”
She kicked off her shoes and hauled her purse to the living room. Her laptop was on its shelf, and she opened it up.
“I will get us some tea. You get to work.”
She nodded and smiled. “I will head upstairs and change. I hate wearing business clothes when I don’t have to.”
Neekil headed into the kitchen to boil the water while she sprinted upstairs to get into comfortable clothing before she settled in for the long haul.
Exercise tights and a long tunic seemed right up her alley, but she opted for a crop top. She was feeling rather warm of late.
When she got downstairs, the kettle was chortling as it neared boiling. She turned on the printer, sat at the table, and started her searches.
“What are you looking for?”
“Missing women in Redbird City over three years ago, going back ten years.”
Neekil nodded. “I have my XIA access back. Do you have any physical description?”
“No. You were there. She was white and glowy. She could be from any racial grouping.”
“Fair enough. Wide search.”
It took her ninety minutes, but she scrolled through her data and found the dry commentary regarding a woman named Sable Winters. She was of African descent, long braided hair, single, and had been reported missing by her employer at a data consulting firm.
She asked Neekil, “Can you look this over? Sable Winters. Disappeared in September seven years ago. Her boss reported it and said she was a good intern and a nice person. That was it. She was someone that everyone knew but no one missed.”
He tapped at his keyboard, and he whistled. “Seventeen when she disappeared. Her body has never been found.”
Hannah wanted to cry. With no one to push the investigation, everyone had stopped looking for her. It was time to try again.