by Alicia Wolfe
“Crazy or not,” I said. “That’s where we’re going.”
“A brothel! Really?”
I rolled my shoulders. I was once more in my (dead sexy) cat-burglar outfit, complete with my utility belt full of spellgredients. They were all cleaned and pressed.
“That’s where Moody Maria works,” I explained, “and our would-be assassin obviously sees her regularly. Enough to have a huge tattoo of her face etched over his liver. It’s not his heart, I’ll grant you, but I bet he used his liver more than he ever did his heart.”
Davril let out an annoyed breath. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this. No Fae Knight should be caught dead in such a place.”
I threw my legs on the dashboard and laced my fingers behind my head. “That’s why you hired me, though, isn’t it? Because I’m not a Fae Knight and I wouldn’t do the sorts of things Fae Knights do.”
“We didn’t hire you. You’re a felon, or close enough. And get your legs off my dash.”
“Our dash,” I said, but obeyed. It wasn’t worth causing a fight over, even if I did enjoy watching his face turn, just subtly, red. “We’re partners, remember?”
“We’re not exactly partners,” he grumbled.
“No?”
“Partnership implies equality, and we are not equal.”
I put my hand over my mouth, pretending to yawn. “I know, I know. You cop, me robber. Here, turn right.”
He muttered something under his breath but complied…with a little more alacrity than necessary. I resisted a curse as the car banked too swiftly, then righted itself. Davril and Ruby had a similar sense of humor, evidently.
Thinking of my sister again, I stared out the window. Morning sunlight stroked the wings of two griffons to the right, and the policemen on their mounts nodded once to Davril—he nodded back—then flew off. Two sets of law enforcement officers acknowledging each other. All I could think of was Ruby.
Be safe, Sis, I thought. Be well and be safe. I had to believe she was alive and okay. It was the only way I could get through this.
When would Skull-Face contact me again? He’d said it would be soon and that I’d better have the antler by then. I started to ask Davril what he thought about the situation, then remembered I couldn’t tell him. He shouldn’t know our enemies were using Ruby against me. Then he’d know he and I might not be on the same side, after all.
“You never did tell me your secret,” he said suddenly, and I jumped.
Trying not to look guilty, I muttered, “What?”
“About how your fire got stolen—your dragonfire. How you lost the ability to shift. You told me you would tell me the whole story. Well, what is it?”
“Are you ready to tell me your secrets?”
He said nothing, which disturbed me. His silence seemed to imply that he did have secrets. What could they be? Thinking about it made me frown. I’d just said that to nettle him, but I seemed to have touched on something real.
“I meant your kind,” I elaborated. “Why you fled the Fae Lands. Just what dark power drove you out of them?”
He seemed to relax. It was subtle, but I noticed it. All his expressions were subtle. But he did have them. Knowing he had emotions was empowering somehow. He wasn’t some alien, remote god. He was human, too, in his own way.
“I’m afraid some of that is a state secret,” he said.
“Turn right,” I said.
He banked the wheel.
“Now left,” I told him two blocks later, and he obeyed. Slowly, I said, “But not all of it is secret? What part isn’t?” When he remained silent, I pressed, “You said you’d tell me.”
His jaws bunched. “I will. In time. First, you tell me yours.”
I laughed. “I show you mine and you show me yours?”
“I don’t understand.”
He probably didn’t. I resisted a sigh.
“Go down,” I said, and pointed to a line of brownstones. “That’s where we’re going. Last one on the right.”
He set Lady Kay down along the curb, and we emerged into the bright morning. Warm sunlight stroked my skin, and I inhaled deeply, loving the smell of the tall trees that lined the road. Augmented by sorcerers, their flowers gave off a scent like vanilla.
“That smells awesome, doesn’t it?” I said.
Davril scanned the street, then the brownstones. “Is that the one?”
No small talk, then.
“That’s the one,” I said.
Going up the stairs, we passed a man heading the other way. He looked drained but happy, and he was buttoning his shirt as he went. Davril suppressed his own discomfort, and I tried not to look too smug. Pushing through the doors, we came into a foyer in which three men sat on a couch. The room was ornate and old-fashioned, with a hanging chandelier and Persian rug, all rather fancy for a foyer, really. But I knew that this was the only room in the house…other than the small guardroom that stood off to the left, where guards would watch TV and thumb through magazines. When they weren’t surfing porn.
Currently, two bare-chested and very hot male guards stood beside the grand, lacquered door that stood opposite the entranceway.
“Maria has good taste in guards, doesn’t she?” I asked Davril, but he only gave me an annoyed look.
Striding up to the guards, he said, “Allow us entry. We wish to speak to Maria.”
“I don’t think so,” said one of the guards, a tall man with deep brown eyes. “You’re not on the list for today.”
“We’re on the business of Queen Calista.”
“Even so.”
Davril’s hand strayed to the handle of his sword, which was currently invisible but which was about to become all too clear as soon as he touched it.
Acting quickly, I sidled past him and put on my biggest smile. Tracing a finger up the guard’s firm bicep, I said, “James, you remember me, don’t you?”
He looked me up and down. “Yeah. You’re one of those McClaren sisters, aren’t you? Ruby and Jade?”
“She’s Jade,” said the other guard, giving me an approving leer, which was both creepy and complimentary. “Can’t you tell the difference?”
“I’m a friend of Maria’s,” I told James. “Mind letting us in, just for a moment? We have a quick question to ask her.”
James and Bobby, the other guard, exchanged glances, then James said, “I’ll ask Madam, but I know what she’s going to say. You will be able to go in,” he said to me, then flicked his eyes to Davril. “You’ll have to stay out here. She doesn’t want cops in her private place.”
“This is my investigation,” Davril said, “and I will go where I will.”
James flexed his big hands. When he did, the golden bracelets he wore on his wrists shimmered. They were magical and would give him superhuman speed and strength. Bobby wore them, too. Maria outfitted all her guards with them—just in case. It meant they could give Davril a run for his money if they wanted. The bands also made the guards look super hot.
“Easy, boys,” I said. “Easy. We’re all friends here.”
“I highly doubt that,” Davril said. His fingers had curled around the hilt of his sword, which was now visible.
The three johns on the couches were glancing from the ensuing scuffle to the exit, perhaps wondering if they should make a break for it. Such were the charms of Maria, though, that none of them did. At least, not yet.
To James, I said, “Why don’t you contact Maria and let her know I’m here…with Davril?” Thinking quick, I said, “Tell her he’s smokin’.”
“I will not,” James said, puffing out his chest, and even Davril looked unsure at this new stratagem. He wanted to pass the threshold under his own authority, not his good looks. But he would have to learn that one used what one had.
Tracing my finger down James’s seriously hard abs, I batted my eyelashes. “Please?”
At last, he relaxed. “Oh, alright.”
We had to wait until Maria signaled James that she was ready for t
he next client, which wasn’t long—after all, we’d just seen the last one leave. James opened the door, revealing strong sunlight, but Bobby was the one who ushered Davril and me through it. Davril mashed his eyes against the sun.
“I don’t understand,” he said as we stepped through. “Is it a magical sun? It’s almost like we’re…”
“Outside?” I said, and swept my arms before us. As my eyes adjusted, I could see that we stood in the desert sands before a sprawling green oasis filled with waving palm trees, luscious grass, and a lovely pool the same shade as the crystal blue sky.
The door slammed behind us.
Spinning, we could see that it had vanished. We were now trapped in the desert, somewhere other than New York. Far from New York.
“Ah,” Davril said, nodding. “The door was a magical portal. Clever.”
I surveyed the oasis, noting the seashell path leading into the heart of the palms.
“I think that’s where we’re supposed to go.” I started down the path. After a moment, Davril followed. Just for something to say, I told him, “We can only return when Maria lets us. If she lets us. So be nice. It’s a long walk back to Manhattan.”
“How long has she located her services here?”
“Not long,” I said. “She changes it all the time. Last time, it was on a mountaintop in the Alps.” I mock shivered. “Very cold. This is much better.” But even as I spoke, sweat welled up from my pores and beaded my skin. I turned to Davril to see him looking just the slightest bit flushed, too. It was hot.
We began to hear noises ahead—at first, I wasn’t sure what to make of them, but as we pushed forward through the dense palms, the noises resolved into the unmistakable sounds of combat: the ringing of metal, the thump of flesh, and someone crying out.
“Shit,” I said.
I sprinted forward. I may have lost my crossbow back at Hawthorne’s penthouse, but I still had my spellgredients, and even as I ran, I was mentally preparing to use a spell. I wasn’t sure which one would be called for, so I cycled through the options in my head.
“Jade, wait,” Davril called, and I heard him running after me. I might be a lowly criminal in his eyes, but that didn’t mean he would let me go to my death. That might have warmed me, but I knew he just saw me as a tool to help his queen. She was the one who had his loyalty, not me.
The path opened up ahead. Breathless, I ran out into a clearing near the lagoon. At first, I wasn’t sure what I was looking at. In the middle of the space was a patio mounted with a cute table laden with wine bottles and what looked like wine bottles in a basket, while to the side hunched a huge four-poster bed. Or at least that was what I thought I should be seeing; instead, the table was broken, the wine bottles smashed, and the bed in ruins.
Two bodies sprawled on the cobbles of the patio: two handsome, swarthy men with bare chests and pantaloons. Definitely Maria’s servants.
They had apparently been struck down by the creature advancing on Maria.
The lady herself, no mere damsel in distress, had grabbed one of the fallen guards’ guns and was even then taking aim at the creature that loomed above her. It looked like another troll of the same sort that had attacked the Queen last night, huge and brutish, with knotted muscles and a drooling mouth crammed full of uneven brown teeth. As I entered the clearing, Maria fired the pistol. A spurt of red appeared on the troll’s chest, but it didn’t pause in its attack.
“Livecta,” I shouted, hurling a pinch of dust from one of my pouches at the monster’s feet. Instantly, the feet turned to ice. The troll tried to take another step forward, clearly meaning to kill Maria, but its legs snapped off and it plummeted to the ground.
Maria screamed and jumped out of the way, having to dive to the ground to avoid being squashed. The troll landed hard, fortunately avoiding the two downed guards.
Groaning, drooling, it dragged itself toward Maria with one hand, the other hand reaching toward her…
Davril sprang out from the palm trees, sword flashing, and drove his blade through the monster’s temple into its brain. The beast groaned again, shuddered, then, just like last night, shifted shapes, shrinking to become a normal-sized man. Davril’s sword clattered to the ground. He picked it up, wiped it off, and replaced it in his scabbard, never taking his eyes off what had been the creature.
“Are you okay?” I asked Maria as I helped her up.
“I-I’m fine,” she said, and dusted herself off. She cleared her throat, obviously gathering herself, then crouched beside the nearest fallen servant. He had a bit of blood on his head but looked otherwise unharmed. She slapped him lightly on the face. “Taru, wake up! Taru!”
He murmured something.
“Taru,” she repeated.
His eyelids flickered, then parted to reveal beautiful dark eyes fringed with long lashes.
“Mistress, are you all right?” he said.
She let out a deep breath. “Thank the goddess,” she said, then helped him up. Together, they checked on the other man. After a few moments, they were able to wake him, too. Only then did Maria approach Davril and me. We’d gathered over the body of the dead assassin and were searching him for clues, just like last night. So far, nada.
“Thank you so much, Jade,” Maria said, and hugged me. She was an attractive woman with dark hair, dressed like a harem girl, complete with silks, veil, and tiara. She might charge her clients a small fortune, but she sure put on a show for them. I mean, an oasis, really?
“It was nothing,” I said, but my heart was still jackhammering.
“You saved my life!” Maria glared down at the body. “Who was he?”
“We were hoping you could tell us,” Davril said.
I tried not to roll my eyes. Davril was all business, all the time.
“Me?” Maria said.
“Never mind him,” I said. “He’s Davril Stormguard, Fae Knight and asshole. He can’t help it; it’s genetic, I think.”
Maria giggled, her eyes darting from me to Davril, then back. Her smile seemed a little too knowing for my taste.
“Anyway,” I said, eager to change the subject. “A guy like that attacked Qu—”
“Attacked someone important,” Davril said. Clearly, he didn’t want to admit his queen had been endangered. It would make the Fae Court look weak, and he couldn’t allow that.
“Um, yeah, someone important,” I said, then showed her the picture I’d taken of the assassin from last night with my phone. “He had a tattoo of you—see?”
“Goddess,” Maria said, putting a hand to her chest. “That’s Marko!”
“Marko?”
“Do you have a last name?” Davril said.
Maria shook her head, looking disturbed. “No, but he was into some bad stuff. He’s been coming to me for a while, but lately…well, I always knew he ran with a rough lot, but in the last few months, he’s seemed especially stressed and…excited.” She shook her head again. “I can’t explain it. When he came to visit me yesterday, I just knew something was wrong.”
“He came yesterday?” I said. “But that would be right before…”
Maria’s eyes strayed sadly to the body, as if imagining Marko lying there.
“He must have wanted a last night in heaven, just in case,” Maria said.
Davril arched an eyebrow, something I couldn’t do. “Heaven?”
Maria didn’t answer, but I said, “Trust me. From what I’ve heard, she ain’t joking.”
“Did he tell you who was employing him?” Davril asked. Back to business again. Couldn’t he give her five minutes to get herself together? For Pete’s sake, she was still holding the pistol, her hand trembling. I was half afraid it would go off again at any moment. Too bad those bottles of wine were broken.
Maria tapped her chin. She didn’t say anything for a long moment, and I enjoyed the sound of the wind sighing through the palms. I didn’t enjoy the smell of sand and blood mixing in my nostrils to create a cloying perfume.
“He didn’t
say who he worked for, no,” Maria said.
Davril shot me a look as if to say This was all for nothing.
Then she added, “But he did say that if he saw tomorrow—I guess that would be today—that he might regret it.”
“He knew the mission to kill the…person…might get him killed,” I mused. “But he thought there might be a chance of survival. I mean, he was changed, after all—a monster. Maybe he thought he could do the deed and escape. But you’re saying that even if he did that, he’d still be in danger?”
Maria nodded. Tears glimmered in her eyes. Somewhat to my surprise, I realized the tears were for Marko. The man Davril had killed yesterday. The man who had tried to murder the Queen. But he’d still been human, at least most of the time, and evidently his time with Maria had meant something to her, even if he’d had to pay for it.
“He said the Voris Cemetery was his worst nightmare,” Maria said, then turned away from the new corpse with a last sniff.
“Voris Cemetery?” I said. “That’s where he thought he was going? I’ve never heard of it.”
“I have,” Davril said, and there was a dark tone to his voice. His gaze raked the forest of palms all around us. “Let me scout the area. If this man traveled here the long way, he might have a vehicle. Those same witches from yesterday might have helped him. They could still be around.”
“I’m coming with you,” I said.
While Maria and her guards saw to the body and began straightening things up, Davril and I prowled the oasis for witches and winged steeds, but we turned up nothing. Maria didn’t know anything else, so we thanked her and returned to the magical portal leading out.
“Why would they send someone to attack Maria?” I said.
Davril didn’t hesitate. “Obviously to silence her.”
“But that would mean they knew what we found last night. They knew about the tattoo…”
Davril and I stopped in our tracks and stared at each other.
“They have a mole in the palace,” Davril said, and his voice thrummed with anger.