by Lily Silver
Faces became confused, startled and almost despondent as they glanced about where their vision of the famous Green Fairy had been.
Tara was still standing there but she appeared to be a normal human again.
Gisele was still looking at her a little oddly. Tara stepped close to her, and took her hand.
“Are you really the Green Fairy?” The woman’s warbly voice betrayed her fear.
“No, Gisele. I am just plain Tara, your friend.”
The lovely woman looked relieved, but still a little wary. “But are you a fairy?”
“I am. But that must remain between us.”
Gisele’s head bobbed, as one does when agreeing with something too incredible to comprehend. She squeezed Tara’s hand. “I am so fortunate you are my friend.”
The English speaking men were still talking in murmured whispers about the visitation from the Green Lady. Those who spoke French were being told what Tara said before her magical aura vanished. Suddenly, glasses of Absinthe were being passed around as they toasted their good fortune in actually seeing the patroness of their enchanted dreams.
Tara squeezed through the crowd inch by inch and stalked up to the table holding the drinks. Glasses of brandy, wine, and the ever popular Absinthe were in neat rows for the patrons to help themselves to the bounty. The Absinthe row was nearly empty, with just a few glasses left as the exuberant men toasted their muse.
Gisele hovered by her side, appearing a frightened pup following its owner through a crowd. She didn’t touch Tara again, but stuck so close Tara could feel her heat and smell her perfume beneath the warm chandeliers. It was hot in here. An empty bottle of Absinthe moved past at eye level on a silver tray as the waiter took the remnant away. Tara grabbed it and lifted it from the tray as he passed. It wasn’t Lune Nuit, it was Pernod fils.
“Mademoiselle, would you like me to bring you a glass from a freshly opened bottle?” The waiter had turned, noting the difference in weight of his serving tray. “I will be right back.”
“We’ll be in the garden.” Gisele seemed to have recovered her tongue. “Could you bring my friend an unopened bottle of Absinthe and a glass of champagne for me, Luc?”
“Is this the only brand your club serves?” Tara wanted to be certain she brought Riley back a full sample from the local cabaret to test with the others he had, and if there were several brands, she’d need a sample of each brand for him to test.
Luc smiled at her and nodded. “Oui, ma cher, Pernod fils is the finest label and we serve only the best here. Our patrons expect it. Gisele, you should come to the back with me to talk to Mr. Le Beau. He might give you your position back. I think he regrets letting you go. A little coaxing on your part would bend his will.” He winked at Gisele, coyly implying she might seduce the man to recover her job.
Tara was about to open her mouth to tell the waiter where to go with that idea when Gisele spoke up.
“No. I am getting married,” Gisele informed the waiter. “I have met a wonderful man.”
He appeared shocked by her announcement. Gisele snatched up a glass of brandy and lifted it to her lips, still regarding Luc with a saucy, satisfied look.
“Who would,” Luc faltered, quickly recovering his faux pas without finishing that dreaded sentence; who would marry you? His young cheeks reddened and he looked away. He rolled his lips, and shifted the silver tray he was holding up in one hand to his other hand. “Who is the lucky man? Do I know him?”
Tara waited with baited breath. She had a feeling she might know the answer.
“He is a sweet man, a true gentleman, from America.”
After Luc left them to obtain their drinks, Gisele led Tara out to the back garden. It was like a private little party. Strings of lights hung above them and the heady scent of blooming flowers embraced them. Lilac bushes framed the perimeter, along with wisteria and other fragrant shrubs. Couples sat at intimate tables beneath the lights, laughing, flirting, holding hands without shame as they would feel on a public boulevard or in a cafe. The night sky above them was dotted with glittering stars. The night was warm, on the cusp of summer. Several couples were dancing in the middle of the garden, away from the tables.
Tara realized the piano inside was now being played again. This time, instead of jaunty music it was more restrained, true dance music for those wishing for a late night waltz.
Gisele was searching the crowd for the man she knew who handled the permits in Paris for all businesses, industries and factories.
Luc found them and presented the bottle of Absinthe for Tara and a glass of champagne to Gisele. “Did you hear, mademoiselles? The Green Fairy made an appearance here tonight. Sixty men claim to have seen her. It is not amazing?”
“Yes, it is.” Tara took the items from his tray and looked at Gisele.
When their eyes met, Gisele giggled. Tara couldn’t help joining in. It had been fun.
Luc went back inside to continue his duties. Gisele sipped her drink, but Tara kept the unopened bottle clutched against her arm.
“Do you see him?”
“Oui, Etienne is in the corner near that statue.” Gisele led the way through the swirling dancers, all the while keeping her coveted glass of champagne high and safe from the inebriated couples whirling about in wild circles. “Etienne, there is someone I wish you to meet!”
The fellow was handsome. A blond man with a curved moustache and mutton chop sideburns. He looked to be a serious type, but once Gisele was at his side, his countenance brightened. He spoke to her in French and she answered him in kind. His arm went about her, and she gestured for Tara to come near.
Another string of French between them, and then they switched to English, as Gisele must have explained that Tara was an American.
A little small talk, and they moved to an open table. Etienne pushed the empty glasses out of the way and held the chair for each of them as they sat down.
Tara wasn’t feeling the desire to linger. She wanted to get the information quickly and return home. Gisele was very vivacious, charming the man, yet when she confessed her upcoming marriage he didn’t seem as happy about it as she was.
Finally, after the discussion of American businessmen and their penchant for creating wealth from nothing, Tara interrupted the two of them. “Kind sir, I need your assistance.” She concentrated on Mr. Etienne, giving him a full, direct look so their eyes met beneath the strings of blue hued lights. “Can you help me find a certain distillery, a newer one? My father, a wealthy American,” she added for emphasis, “would like to invest in this new and exciting brand. Gisele tells me you are in charge of permits for businesses here in Paris?”
Tara trudged up the stairs with Gisele. When they reached Mick and Riley’s apartment, and she led the way inside. Riley was preoccupied with his science kit. She handed him the new bottle with a slight explanation, and then crossed the hall to beard the lion in his den.
“Where have you been?” Adrian shot out of his chair at the table. His gun was out, he was cleaning it. “Your elder brother is out looking for you. He told the rest of us to stay inside the building until dawn.”
Dan emerged from his bedroom. “You two scared the devil out of us.”
Adrian came to Tara’s side. He hugged her and then scowled down at her. “You can’t go off like this. It’s too dangerous after today’s events. Why did you storm off again?”
“I didn’t storm off, I had an idea and followed a lead.”
Gisele kept looking at Dan, as if expecting him to scold her as Adrian had Tara, or to notice her in some way akin to romantic affection.
Dan paced around Tara and Adrian, his mood dark. “Why the hell did you go out alone?” He was scolding Tara, not his intended. He was treating her like a real daughter. “You could have been harmed, kidnapped again, or worse. Damn it, girl, don’t you have any frickin’ sense?”
Much as it irritated Tara, it was also one of those rare moments she would always cherish. She never knew her father, and her
heart tingled with warmth as she quietly endured her adopted father’s wrath.
At last, Dan finished venting his anger and fell silent. Tara stepped away from Adrian and embraced him. She smiled up at Dan, “while you were playing heavy metal warriors, debating about which element to use to create weapons I decided to use my brain and save us all a lot of time. Your fiancée is well connected. She knows a lot of important government officials.”
Dan made a gruff face at Gisele. “And you, I should warm your backside for going out alone like this without me to protect you.”
Gisele’s cheeks flamed at his words. But her eyes reflected pleasure, not anger. “Your daughter asked me for help. And I could not let her go out alone. You know as well as I that she would go alone if I did not accompany her, mon cher.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Mick arrived at the apartment in a fury. His skin was turning blue.
“I gave specific orders that you should stay inside for your own protection. Yet you deliberately went against my command.”
“You’re starting to get to know me, dear brother.” Tara was done being bullied by the man. She held his potent gaze. “I don’t respond well to men ordering me about.”
“You could have been harmed.” His anger wavered slightly and something in his eyes changed. “Sweet sister, you could have been kidnapped by the dark ones. What happens to those who love you if you rush out to embrace danger as you just did? Adrian would not survive your death, little one. It would devastate him, and us. We, all of us, need you.”
Nothing could have prepared her for that speech. Tara bit back the smart retort she’d been about to thrust his way. Her throat burned. She honestly had not thought of that scenario.
They stared at each other, unable to speak as something frightening rose between them—a powerful emotional bond that softened her anger. Mick cared for her. All that bossing around was not just Mick being an arrogant jerk. It was a shock as she’d grown up entirely alone, without the love and support of a family. Looking about the room at the angry faces, she realized she now had a family and they all cared for her in their own peculiar way.
“This bottle is different.” Riley burst through the door holding a thin, steaming vial of the dried green goo in a pair of pincers. “This is pure, no poison.”
“Which bottle?” Tara asked, hoping to ease the confusion. “The one I just brought home twenty minutes ago?”
“Yes, the Pernod Fils is normal Absinthe. The one you retrieved from Bellow’s apartment earlier today is the poisoned brew. If we knew where the distillery is, we could destroy it.”
“We do,” Tara smiled at the men.
They stared at her with amazement.
“Yeah, the testosterone only club was getting to me. So I went down the street and used my feminine wiles to obtain the information on the location of the still while you boys were busy planning your little war.”
As her big brothers stared at her with something akin to amazement, she explained how Gisele had connections with certain city officials due to her career and how the very man who handled new business permits and inspections was a frequent patron of the Coq Bleu every night around this time.
“Well then,” Mick said at last. “We’ve work to do. We’ll have to blow up their warehouse and the factory, and by doing so, it will draw the dark ones out. We must prepare for the confrontation ahead.”
“What do I do?” she couldn’t resist the sarcastic barb, “sit by the fire and knit booties?”
“No, you’ll practice tossing about those lightning bolts. You need to be able to defend yourself if attacked. Come,” Mick tugged at her wrist. “We’ll set up a firing range for you.”
That was a change. Tara grew giddy at the prospect of target practice.
Mick briefly conferred with the men regarding obtaining a sample at the expo to see if it was tainted like the bottle given to Bellows. Dan agreed to take Gisele to the booth the next day. Two humans would not be recognized as easily as Tara or the fey men. Mick also instructed the men to garner weapons to defend themselves against the dark fey. Adrian was glowing at the prospect of being on a mission again as Captain Midnight. He kissed Tara briefly on the cheek and then Mick led her to the door with a gentle hand on her elbow.
The basement was dark and creepy. A stone foundation, with spider webs, rat droppings and a few discarded crates. Empty wine bottles and tinned cans were scattered about the earthen floor. The coal room was separate from the main basement area, a fortunate occurrence as they did not wish to start a fire with their lightning balls. Mick just wanted her to get used to firing them at will, without needing to be prompted by anger as had happened the first time.
They spent the next few hours playing a game that was sort of like trap shooting as he tossed bottles in the air and challenged her to hit them with her energy balls and scatter empty tin cans he set up in a row on the stone ledge. Three of the cans melted in front of her, so she knew she was producing serious heat along with electrical energy.
Little by little, it became easier. Her aim increased as the hours went by. Tara was astonished to learn she could really bring up the energy on command when her brother shouted ‘fire’.
She accidently killed a rat with an energy ball. It shrieked and the basement was filled with the scent of burnt hair and charred flesh.
And that was when they noted dawn creeping in beneath the heavy wooden door.
Adrian and Dan went to gather supplies as soon as the shops were open.
He purchased a pair of modern revolvers after yesterday’s encounter, feeling it was imperative to have more than one shot when confronting their enemy. Dan bought some ammunition and a long rifle.
As they walked home with their new weapons, Dan stopped at the base of Montmartre Hill to scrutinize Adrian. “You’re not using your cane.”
Adrian looked down at his feet, and shrugged. “I’ve been a little preoccupied of late.”
“Good, it means you don’t need it, then. It’s become a mental crutch, you don’t use it when you are distracted. I suspected as much all along.”
They arrived home and shared a quick lunch with Tara and Gisele.
Once Dan and Gisele left to go to the expo, Adrian walked to the end of the cobblestone streets, toward the country. He recalled seeing a blacksmith’s forge when they came trudging through the rain on that first day. Once there, he set a heavy pouch of hoarded coins on the anvil between the blacksmith and himself, and bought the man’s services for the rest of the day.
Dan helped his darling down from the omnibus as they arrived at the gates of the fairgrounds. Gisele didn’t know what was truly going on with the dark fey. Dan wanted to keep it that way, for now. It was all just too much for a reasonable woman to take in. Riley had done something to her last night to make her forget that the trio of siblings were actually fey born. They allowed her to believe Dan and Adrian were international spies trying to stop a ring of smugglers from dispersing a toxic product to the masses. It was a shaky story, but since Tara already planted the idea of spies in the woman’s head, it seemed best to continue that lie and embellish it rather than start anew with an equally preposterous one.
The Frenchwoman bought it, as only one who has been mesmerized by a fairy could.
“So, we must bring home a small sample for the doctor to test?” Gisele’s soft voice ruffled over his senses, bringing an inebriation that had nothing to do with chemicals.
“Yes, my pet. It might be a good idea to not drink it. Just pretend to sip it.” Dan escorted her to the Palace of Diverse Industries with a sense of pride as other men gazed longingly at the woman holding her gloved hand on his forearm. “I have an empty whiskey flask in my pocket. Sit close to me and we’ll pour your drink little by little into the flask.”
Dan took a table near the entrance when they entered the cafe and sat with his back to the counter lest the dark thing that had observed him that early morn in Montmartre recognize him. He hunched over a little
to minimize his size, something he’d not done since high school when he’d been coldly compared to the ‘Jolly Green Giant’ from a vegetable can commercial.
Gisele went to the counter and ordered two samples. The cafe was quiet as it was barely noon. Dan could hear her flirting harmlessly with the attendant. He resisted the urge to turn about. Instead, he snatched up a discarded newspaper from the table beside him and pretended to read it to shield his face from any dark ones lingering about who might recognize him from that morning when he’d been attacked. His smart new bowler hat was slung low over his brow. Damn. The paper was in French. Still, it worked as a camouflage.
Once Gisele joined him with the small shot glasses they leaned close and they behaved like lovers. They were trying to appear distracted. It was a bit of a thrill, like being secret agents sent to scope out a cafe with orders not to engage the enemy, just observe.
She giggled and squeezed his hand. She leaned in to whisper sweet nothings in his ear, making it appear they were just out for a romantic stroll through the expo grounds as she talked on about what exhibits she’d like to see. She was very good at acting.
He felt a pang of worry. Hopefully she wasn’t pretending to have feelings for him.
Dan had the metal flask tucked between his legs. Riley provided them with a very small tin funnel to ease the process. As he kept his arm on the table and leaned in, his jacket covered the flask. He pretended to drink his sample and then lowered his hand to pour it into the opened flask. Gisele made a show of sipping her drink and pressing close to whisper in his ear.
It didn’t take long. They ‘finished’ their drinks and were out of the booth within twenty minutes. Once they were free of the main pavilion, Dan took her hand and hurried her down the main walkway toward the tower. They held hands, and exchanged conspiratorial grins as they jaunted down the sidewalk.