by Joyce Lavene
“I would not.” Aine left the window and sat in a chair by the desk. “How shall we lure the other shifters into a trap for the harpy?”
Sunshine went along with the abrupt change in conversation. “We’ll have Jane find their addresses and bring them here for their own good.”
“Here? There could be catastrophic damage to your home.”
“It’s the safest place I know. I can start working on new protection spells right away. Once we get the harpy here, we should be able to deal with her—one way or another.”
“Please tell me you do not believe you can talk to this creature and win her over in your favor?”
“I don’t see why not.” Sunshine glanced at her email as she spoke. “People have feared many types of creatures, and yet now we know they mostly live among us without incident.”
Aine shook her head. “It is your plan, but be prepared to use more than spells and good wishes to keep her from killing you. We should acquire modern weaponry as well if we hope to prevail.”
Jane knocked at the door. “O’Neill is here. Do you want me to tell him that you’re in a meeting?”
Sunshine heaved a heavy sigh. “You can’t ask me that with him standing right behind you.” She waved to O’Neill. “It’s all right. Come on in. We were actually just talking about you.”
O’Neill had showered and changed clothes too. Aine sniffed the artificial scents both he and Sunshine wore. It reminded her of how different—how not human—she was. She turned her face away from him in shame as she remembered her moment of weakness when she’d felt something else about her charge. She couldn’t let that happen again.
And yet she couldn’t quite forget the firm pressure of his lips on hers.
“Would you like some coffee, O’Neill?” Jane asked sweetly as he walked into the room.
“Thanks, Jane,” he said with a smile. “I could probably use another cup.”
“I’d like another cup of tea,” Sunshine said. She glanced at Aine but didn’t bother her about it. “Did you learn anything from Marcus Fletcher’s death?”
O’Neill took a seat. “Good morning, Aine.”
When she didn’t reply or even look at him, he moved on to the question Sunshine had asked. “Not really. Nothing new anyway. We know he was killed by the same method that killed the other men. We even found another feather. My assistant medical examiner says that the feather is artificial. He says it doesn’t come from a real bird and has nothing to do with the case even though this is the second time we’ve found one.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.” Sunshine took her cup of tea from Jane with a thank you. “People want to ignore things they fear or don’t understand. Trust me. I’ve had a lifetime of experience with it.”
“So what’s on the agenda for today?” He thanked Jane for the coffee. “I figure I might as well shadow the two of you since you seem to be at the heart of it all.”
He stared at Aine as he spoke, but she still gave no acknowledgement that he was there.
“Excuse me.” Sunshine smiled. “I need more honey for my tea. I’ll be right back.”
As soon as she was gone—taking Jane with her—O’Neill put down his coffee.
“Are you all right?” he questioned Aine. “I thought about you all night. It’s difficult for me to understand any of this with it coming at me so quickly. I know you’re here to warn me of my death and help me after I die. I even found a few other aspects to the beane sidhe on Google. I’ve been doing a lot more reading since I met you.”
Aine shook her head. “The magic box is a curse.”
“A lot of people think so.”
“I am ready to answer any questions you might have. It is part of my service to your family to see that you are properly educated.”
“I get that.” He stood up and cornered her, managing to make her face him. “What about last night? I can’t find anything about beane sidhes having romantic feelings toward the people they serve. Does that always happen?”
She immediately became the tattered crone, black eye sockets staring into his. “Do not mention it again, O’Neill.”
He moved away from her quickly, shuddering despite himself. “I guess this is the harbinger of death mode you go into. What about the sweet, young woman in green? Where is she?”
“Leave it be, boy.” Her coarse voice was filled with the terrors of the grave, shaking the room around them. “Do not mock me.”
Sunshine had purposely left the two alone since they were obviously having difficulties. She hurried back when she realized those difficulties could involve wrecking her office.
“Plenty of honey now,” she said nervously as she took her seat. “Shall we take a look at the board?” She snapped her fingers, and the clear board became visible.
O’Neill wasn’t quite prepared for that. He was still stunned by Aine’s warning. Confronting a magic suspect board was nearly his undoing. He rapidly sat down and clutched his coffee cup.
“Oh. Sorry. I’ve gotten so used to you being here.” Sunshine patted his hand. “I forget that some of these things are new to you.”
“Yeah.” He dared a peek at Aine.
Sunshine laughed and got up to point out the faces on the board. “These are the last three shifters that we think are being targeted by the harpy.”
He stopped writing in his notebook. “Shifters?”
“You know—all of them might be cat shifters of one kind or another. I think John mentioned that Tom Knox shifts into a lion, but don’t quote me on that.”
“And what did John Lancaster shift into?” O’Neill picked up on the pattern.
“John was a werewolf, like Marcus Fletcher. A shifter of sorts,” Sunshine explained. “Except that he only became the wolf when the moon was full. Most shifters are like Jane and can change whenever they like.”
O’Neill clutched his coffee cup again. “Jane? What does she shift into?”
“A mouse. Well, actually she’s a mouse who shifts into a woman. Would you like to see?” Sunshine offered, ready to call her assistant.
“No. Not really.” He cleared his throat. “Let’s stay focused. What are you thinking about these…shifters?”
“We were thinking about bringing them here so the harpy has to come to us instead of her randomly picking them off on the street. Doesn’t that sound like a good idea?”
Chapter Nineteen
“Maybe it would be better if Malto and I bring them in for questioning,” O’Neill suggested. “That way we’ll have the entire police department backing us.”
“Except for one small detail,” Sunshine said. “The harpy can’t be killed by normal weapons, nor can she be killed with magic alone. We’re going to have to combine our strengths if we want to get rid of her. That would be better done here, without Malto and the rest of the police department.”
She wanted to slap Aine. The beane sidhe was sitting there like a lump in her black gown and cape. At least she wasn’t going all dead crone on them, but this was her idea too. She was supposed to help with it. What was wrong with her anyway? She’d caught a little of their conversation but not enough to know what was going on, though she had her suspicions.
“I suppose that makes sense,” he agreed. “I’d rather Malto not know about all this. I don’t think she’d take it well. What can I do to help?”
“What’s the biggest gun you can lay your hands on?”
He thought it over. “Probably an assault rifle. A friend of mine has a grenade launcher, but I don’t think you’d want to use that here.”
Sunshine’s blue eyes got wide. “No. I definitely wouldn’t want to use a grenade launcher here. But thanks for asking. I guess an assault rifle will have to do. The first thing is to find the three shifters. Once we get them all under one roof then we can proceed with our plan for the harpy.”
“Sounds like you’ve got it all figured out.” O’Neill nodded. “I could bring in one or two of the shifters.”
“That might be dang
erous for you.” Sunshine didn’t want to discourage his participation, but an angry shifter could kill him which would fulfill Aine’s death prophecy and set off a chain reaction that none of them wanted. “Why don’t you let us handle that? You bring the rifle when I tell you. Is that okay?”
“Why don’t you let me come with you?” he proposed. “That way I don’t feel like a woman in a dress with violets on it is doing my job. I promise to stay back away from claws and teeth, unless you need me.”
Sunshine looked at Aine for input. How would she feel about endangering O’Neill’s life? “Does that work for you?”
“You know my feelings on the subject.” Aine didn’t look up, her words muttered from beneath her hood. “O’Neill’s life must be safeguarded.”
“Wait a minute,” he protested. “This is part of my job. We talked about this. There’s some danger to being a police detective. It goes with the territory.”
“If ‘twould be simpler for you,” Aine offered, “I could lock ye in a cellar somewhere.”
O’Neill got to his feet, ready to confront her.
Sunshine got between them. “Why don’t we plan on you helping us? Get the rifle you need and come back. We’ll wait for you. Aine and I will talk this over while you’re gone.”
“I’m not hiding out somewhere because my beane sidhe doesn’t want me to die.” He glared at Aine. “I’m doing this. You might as well get used to it.”
Aine opened her mouth, and Sunshine put her hand over it. “All right. See you later.”
“How dare you touch me in such a way?” Aine rose to her feet and glared at her after O’Neill had left them.
“You didn’t give me much choice. You sit there not talking, not helping at all, and just bother to open your mouth to scare O’Neill and shake the building. You know I’m not impressed by that.” Sunshine tossed her hair. “Well, I was the first time, but I’ve seen it now. So sit down and tell me what’s really wrong.”
Sunshine wasn’t sure if Aine would comply. She certainly couldn’t make her do it. She was glad when Aine finally sat back down.
“I kissed O’Neill.”
“What? No. Wait. I need more tea, and Jane needs to be in here. You don’t want to repeat the story, do you?”
Aine hung her head and didn’t speak until the other women were in the office. “I kissed O’Neill.”
Jane laughed and then put her hand to her lips. “Where?”
“At the park last night, with the stench of dead wolf and harpy in the air. It was a disgrace, but I could not entirely control it.”
“But where did you kiss him?” Jane continued. “Cheek? Forehead? Lips?”
With a heavy sigh Aine shook her head. “His lips. I kissed his lips, damn you!”
“But how did it happen?” Sunshine kept pouring honey into her tea until it was too sweet, but she gulped it down anyway. “Were you two talking about something romantic, even though you were close to the wolf kill? Or were you—?”
“Do the pair of you have nothing better to do than to hear my story?” Aine’s voice was anguished. “I made a mistake. I don’t know what came over me.”
“Let me tell you ‘bout this thing called love,” Jane started singing in a sweet, high-pitched voice.
“Silence mouse!”
Jane stopped singing but glanced across the room at Sunshine.
“No. We want to hear it all, Aine,” Sunshine said. “You started it. Now you have to finish. It’ll be good for you.”
“Why did you kiss him?” Jane asked as she stuffed uncooked popcorn into her mouth from her pockets.
“I do not know,” Aine admitted. “It simply happened.”
“He touched you, didn’t he?” Sunshine asked with a knowing expression on her face. “You two have a thing. Maybe you don’t like it, but there it is.”
“They have a thing,” Jane whispered as she nodded.
“How can I guide him and protect him with this between us?” Aine demanded. “It’s not possible. I must right this wrong. Perhaps if I ignore him and frighten him, our relationship will become more normal.”
“Nah,” Jane said. “I watch soap operas every day. The more you ignore him, the more he’s gonna want you. That’s the way it is. I’m not sure about scaring him.”
“She’s right. And it works for men being frightened of you too. Once, before I met John, there was this shifter—” Sunshine put aside her tepid tea and looked up at them. “No. We don’t need to talk about that.”
“Sunshine!” Jane pleaded.
“We have bigger problems right now.” She backed out of the corner she’d put herself in. “We have to find those three shifters, hopefully still alive, and get them in here.”
“I already know where they live,” Jane said. “I pulled up neighborhood maps for each of them. I can send those to your phone. That should help you find them.”
“Great.” Sunshine checked the first map. “All we have to do is convince them to come with us because their lives are in danger. And you’re right, Aine. If we could keep O’Neill out of this part, it would be good. But we need him for the rifle part. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never fired any kind of weapon.”
“There were no such things in my day, though I have observed their use.” The beane sidhe raised herself to her full height. “I am quite skilled with other weapons, including the bow and the javelin.”
“Good,” Sunshine said. “I didn’t know a javelin was a weapon. I thought it was more a sports thing, but we’re on the same page. We need our magic and O’Neill’s rifle to subdue the harpy.”
“What are you going to do with her once she’s subdued?” Jane asked.
“Good question, my dear Watson.” Sunshine smiled at her assistant. Both women looked blankly at her, with no idea what she was talking about. “Forget it. I don’t know right now. Let’s get the shifters in here first, and then we’ll handle the rest.”
Aine and Sunshine left to find the first shifter on the map that Jane had sent. He was only a few blocks from the detective agency. Sunshine decided not to drive since she was worried about having to force the shifter to accompany them. He might damage the upholstery in her convertible.
“Surely we do not have to walk these crowded streets,” Aine said as they started down the sidewalk. Several people walked into her as she stalked down the concrete.
“It’s a beautiful day,” Sunshine said. “Why not walk? The exercise is good for you.”
Aine lifted her brows at that suggestion.
“It’s good for me,” Sunshine decided. “You can fly over there with the wind, if you like. I enjoy an occasional stroll.”
Her pronouncement was met with silence, but Aine continued to walk beside her. She never moved to the side for any pedestrians. If they walked into her and considered asking her pardon, glancing up into her face changed their minds.
“Does the harpy’s scratch pain you?”
Sunshine moved her hand away from the mark. “Only a little. It didn’t hurt at all last night. This morning it started.”
“Fortunate that you are powerful or you would most certainly lie dead. Most do not survive the harpy’s attack.”
“As soon as this is over I’ll head down to visit my family and they’ll know what to do. I’ve tried every healing spell I know. It still looks disgusting. I’m glad I’m not dating. Otherwise I’d have to go through the whole invisibility spell to keep him from seeing it.”
“I have told you that you are fortunate to be alive, and all you can consider is your beauty?” Aine shook her head in disgust. “You are most vain.”
“Let’s talk about that.” Sunshine nudged her with an elbow. “When you were about to kiss O’Neill, did you turn into the ratty, old crone, or did you become the pretty, young queen?”
“It did not happen that way.” Aine growled at a man who walked into her. He quickly got out of her way. “He touched me, and I became my youthful self. Then I kissed him.”
“Oh. F
orgive me, Your Majesty.” Sunshine bowed to her. “I didn’t mean to mess with your timeline.”
“You mock me.”
“Yes. I do. But only because you said I was vain. And here we are. See how a little mocking helps the time go by faster? Let’s talk to the shifter.”
Tom Knox was hiding in his apartment. After the death of two of his friends and the men at Tattoo Hell, he was smart in considering that he could be next. He remembered Sunshine’s name and let her come upstairs, glancing around the hall as he opened his door to her.
Tom was every inch a tawny lion shifter. He had a huge mane of blond hair and brown eyes that could melt snow. His body rippled when he moved wearing thin, cropped shirt and shorts that barely covered him. He was taller and broader than Aine, with large feet and hands.
Sunshine took a moment to gawk—cat shifters were always so beautiful. She was barely able to keep herself from touching him.
But he was also terrified.
“I had no idea any of this was coming at me,” he said after double bolting his door behind them. “I mean, I knew something was wrong when John was killed. I didn’t know what it was until the tattoo dudes were killed too. I still don’t understand it.”
“Do you have any idea why the harpy wants to kill you?” Sunshine asked him. “Or some idea who she serves?”
“No! I don’t know. I can’t think of anything we did to deserve this. John was a good guy. So was Marcus. Amos too. We hung out together, which some people think is wrong because like should stay with like, but murder us for it? Come on. This is the twenty-ish century.”
“Twenty-first century,” Sunshine corrected. Okay. He wasn’t very bright, but he was gorgeous.
She wished she could get a grasp on who was sending the harpy. Maybe it was someone who hated handsome shifters. Maybe it was, as Tom suggested, someone who thought the shifters were too friendly with the wolves. She’d heard some nonsense like it before, but not in a long time.