Love washed through him and he leaned in, captured her mouth with a kiss, and prayed to any higher power who may have been bored enough to listen that his plan of spending the evening in bed with her would come to fruition. “I plead the sixth.”
“The fifth?” she corrected mildly, rubbing his back for a moment before taking a step back.
“That too. Hell, I plead the fourth, fifth, tenth, any number-eth that will get you naked.”
“You don’t need the law to get me naked, darling. We do need a car, though. I had our bags taken to a hotel, but we’ll need to get them before we leave.”
“Way ahead of you,” Finn said, showing her his phone and the little picture of a car moving slowly across the map toward their location. “I couldn’t remember which hotel it was, so I just picked a random Marriot.”
“It was a Hilton, but I’m sure a course correction is easily made.”
“Blast,” Finn mumbled, wondering how he’d gotten that so wrong. He gave it a beat, before asking the obvious question. “So, what now?”
“We do as asked: go see this Slater character and hope to god it’s that simple.”
“Do you think it will be?”
“Not in the least.”
“Then why go along at all?”
“Didn’t you hear her? She’s threatened me, you, Donald, everyone I love.”
“You’ve got the Prince of Hell at your back, though. Why not go to him, explain what’s going on and have him put us all in some sort of witness protection program? He’s got a load of demons under his thumb. They’ve got to be good for something. She said she knows where the banshee is, let them duke it out.”
“I can’t risk it,” Veruca said, her shoulders slumping. “I can’t risk that she’s telling the truth about the very king and queen of Fairy possibly getting involved. I don’t know what their deal is, or even if they truly exist, but this… Ankyati was at least as powerful as Belial himself. They both … their power lies beyond what I can read. If she’s on the same level, and the Fairies she’s scared of are real, the consequences could be devastating.”
“Why haven’t they come after him, then? If he’s such a problem? Don’t you think if they actually existed and had a problem with him they’d have done something already?”
“You’re asking questions I can’t answer,” Veruca admitted. Finn could hear the worry in her tone and he regretted taking part in creating it. “I just know I’m nervous and that, right now, this seems like the best course of action. If something changes, who knows how I’ll feel. Right now, I think it’s best to see what this Leo has to say, and we’ll go from there. Good?”
“I trust you,” Finn said, squeezing her close and catching sight of their ride turning down the street across the parking lot. “Always, with everything.”
“I know, darling,” Veruca said, sounding sadder than Finn felt was warranted.
****
“You’re whole? Unhurt? You’re definitely you,” Veruca said as she embraced Donald, hugging him close and then running her hands across his body quickly in a shameless attempt to find out if he was fibbing and he’d been left with bruises or cuts.
Donald chuckled as she did, lifting his arms as if he was being aggressively frisked. “You want to do a strip-search next? I’ll at least need a more private venue.”
“I’m sorry,” Veruca said, pulling back, but not letting go. She held onto his hips, looking up into his dark eyes, trying to let go of the anxiety she was barely containing in the back of her throat. “I just can’t believe they did this to you.”
“I can,” Donald said, lowering his arms and taking her hands. “But I’ve worked with fae before. This was tame, believe me. Now, are we ready to board?”
“Yes, yes, sorry. You’re sure you don’t need anything?”
“Maybe a cocktail once we’re aboard? I don’t like to fly much.”
“You?” Finn asked, following him up the steps as they ascended into Veruca’s small but fancy private plane. “You’re fearless.”
“Hardly,” Donald said, nodding thank you at the attendant who took his coat and moved to stash it in the back. “Spiders and flying, my two weaknesses.”
“Ah, spiders are harmless,” Finn said. “If you’re not a bug, they don’t have any interest in you. It’s mosquitoes you’ve gotta worry about.”
“Don’t like them much either,” Donald admitted, taking a seat in the plush chair offered to him by another attendant.
Veruca let him settle in and order a drink, allowing Finn to keep him busy through the take-off. She waited until they were a few minutes into the actual flight before she brought up the uncomfortable problem at hand. “We were told you know where we’re going? That you’ll show us to this Slater person and his store.”
“Leo Slater?” Donald asked, brows knitting. “You’ve never met him?”
“No, I’ve never heard of him before all this. What’s he do?”
“He’s an … agent of Fairy. Not like I was, not as loosely defined. He—uh, there are shops all over, little markets that cater to all of Fairy and anyone who might need strange items. Harpy talons, vampire fangs, all the way to spells or incantations. Because it’s meant to be for anyone, it’s run by a human—a pure human, not someone like us, someone not beholden to any one part of Fairy. It wouldn’t do to have a water fae running the place and giving special treatment to other water creatures. It’s sort of like the Coliseum, only not awful,” Donald said, after a moment of thought.
Veruca glanced at Finn, sure he was unhappy with the mention of the place.
“The Coliseum sprung up illegitimately,” Donald continued. “Started as an underground sort of thing and became so popular no one’s willing to go against it. These shops, though, were supposedly started by the king himself as a neutral spot for trade and information. Many of the spell books and scrolls in these shops aren’t to leave the premises at all and there’s a great penalty should someone try. Leo’s pure human, just the latest in the line of them running the Vancouver shop. I don’t know how he got the job, I’ve never asked. He started around the time I got out of the business.”
“What sort of business, again?” Finn asked, sipping his third cocktail since they’d boarded. Veruca was sure he could handle himself, but figured she’d let the attendants know to cut him off after he finished the one in his hand.
“Clean up, mainly,” Donald explained with a shrug. “Lots of messes happen when fae and humans come together, even if it’s a positive joining. My empathy always drew me toward new and strange creatures. One day I stumbled on a werewolf—awful experience, by the way—and some other fae spawn cleaning up some mess at a pet shop. I was more curious than scared, so the guy running things slipped me his card, told me that my empathy could be of use. The rest is history.”
“He knew you were an empath?” Veruca asked, lifting a brow. From what she knew, few fae spawn could accurately read the powers of others, that even many soul fae fell short of such specifics.
“Mind reader,” Donald explained simply.
“So you cleaned up feelings and such?” Finn asked, quirking his lip as if his joke was maybe too funny and he wasn’t sure anyone else would get it.
Donald chuckled, but Veruca could tell he was just humoring him. “Sometimes. It came in handy in other ways. It’s useful being able to shoot a living target without actually having to see it, for instance. Or keeping a hysterical human calm in the face of something that should scar him for life, stuff like that.”
“So, Slater…” Veruca interrupted gently, not wanting to stay off topic. Finn and Donald could talk shop later, over proper drinks and dinner. “He’s completely human? Not sensitive in the least?”
“Nope, just human. Like I said, any inclination to side with one part of Fairy means you’re unqualified. He’s got—well, the shop’s got a Fairy on premises, a Red Cap whose entire job is to make sure Leo and the shop stay in serving shape. It’s not to say Leo doesn’t have to kee
p himself in check, since the Red Cap won’t intervene if he’s not in real danger of death or total dismemberment, but he’s a pretty good deterrent most of the time.”
“Deterrent to what?” Veruca asked, already dreading stepping foot in the place. She’d heard of Red Caps only in passing and wasn’t entirely sure what they were or how scared she should be of the concept of meeting one.
“Anything untoward. Leo decides what’s fair in terms of payment, and sometimes patrons don’t exactly agree. The Red Cap is there to make sure no one gets out of line. He protects the library, as well. If Leo says no to someone reading a book, the Red Cap makes sure the person interested doesn’t try to take it anyway.”
“Should we be nervous?” Veruca asked.
Donald thought on it for a moment, took a sip of his drink, and then shook his head. “You’re not unreasonable, so I wouldn’t assume so. I’d steer clear of threats, though. I’ve never seen the Red Cap myself, but I’ve heard tale he’s pretty terrifying. He’s … a handful empathically, too. Not werewolf-level unpleasant, but he makes my spine itch. I’d make nice with Leo, and just ignore what a slimy worm he is.”
“That pleasant, eh?” Veruca asked, leaning back in her chair.
“He’s … a character,” Donald said. “You’re diplomatic, you’ll do fine.”
“If nothing else, I’m sure I can charm him into whatever it is we need,” Finn said, before his smile crumbled. “What’s it we need?”
“Your equipment, remember?” Veruca asked, reaching out and patting his hand. “Evidently it’s inferior.”
“Didn’t appreciate that,” Finn said with a scowl. “Anyone knows me understands my equipment’s unmatched.”
“Is this a private discussion?” Donald asked. “Should I leave you two alone?”
“You’re saying you’re not interested in my equipment, Donny?” Finn asked, feigning insult. “I took you for a much more open-minded man than that.”
“Please god, let me leave you two alone,” Donald said, making Veruca laugh.
“From the sound of it, Finn wants me to leave the two of you alone. Not that there’s much chance of that in here. I could close my eyes, plug my ears?”
“I may need another drink,” Donald said, sucking down the last of his cocktail.
“Hear, hear,” Finn said, waving down an attendant. “More drinks all around!”
“He’s gonna show you his equipment one way or another,” Veruca said, leaning in as if warning Donald of unpleasant things to come. “In my experience it’s best to just smile and nod. He’ll wander off eventually.”
Chapter Six
“There it is, you see?” Donald said, pointing to a small store in a long line of them stretching down a Vancouver street. “Looks like a record store?”
“They still have those?” Finn asked as they drove right by looking for parking. “Who even owns a record player anymore?”
“We own three, darling.”
“Hunh.” Finn grunted thoughtfully, likely having never noticed anything in the house that wasn’t related to food, movies, or Veruca. His simple tastes and lack of interest in material items were part of what she loved so much about him. He was a conman at heart, but it had never been just for the pursuit of riches or power. He’d developed the skill—or perhaps cultivated what he’d been born with—as a survival mechanism, and it had never dragged him down into the muck and made him greedy or selfish.
“What happens if someone wanders in wanting some old Sinatra LP?” Finn asked as Donald backed into a spot on the street that only a skilled parallel parker could make in such a smooth move. “Ah, nice one. Thought for sure you’d take the bumper off.”
“No one wanders in looking for anything,” Donald said, ignoring Finn’s presumptions about his driving. “It’s warded against wandering. You can see it and be interested, but the second you try to actually interact with it—look it up, call in, go through the front door—you’ll be on to some other pursuit unless you know exactly what’s in there.”
“Makes sense,” Veruca said. “You want to make sure anyone going in to a magic shop knows about magic in the first place.”
“Exactly. To even grab the handle, you have to know where you’re going and what you want.” Donald leaned in to whisper in Veruca’s ear. “If we tried to send Finn in alone, he’d probably end up in Gastown before he even realized why he was walking so fast in the opposite direction.”
“I’m not sure I’d know how I got there even if the place wasn’t warded,” Finn said casually, making it clear he’d heard Donald’s whisper. “Now, lead the way. I’m lost already.”
Veruca hooked her arm into his and they followed Donald up the street and around the corner. She hadn’t spent much time in Vancouver recently, but the place looked much the same as she remembered it. Maybe a new storefront here or there, but nothing drastic. She’d certainly never noticed the so-called record store before, and when Donald had to grab her arm and pull her back toward it after she and Finn had strolled right by, she understood why.
“Intention, remember?” Donald asked them both. “Think about exactly what you’re doing and for what reason, and then follow—on second thought, I’ll follow you. If you get distracted, you could both end up somewhere I can’t find you.”
Veruca did as he said, taking a deep breath and looking at the door, thinking intently on what Ankyati had said to do. It wasn’t completely clear what it was to be, but it had to start with her speaking to Leo Slater, so that’s what she was going to do.
“We’re going inside to speak to Leo Slater, right Finn?”
“Sure!” Finn said.
Veruca snorted out a laugh, only slightly bothered by his flippancy. “Say it with me, all right? We’re going inside to speak to Leo Slater.” Then, without hesitation as she and Finn spoke their intention in unison, she grabbed the handle and pushed inside.
“This doesn’t look like a record store,” Finn said, looking around the place with his mouth agape.
“Never heard that one before,” said a man from behind the counter. He looked, to Veruca, exactly how a Leo Slater should look. He had a loan shark quality to him, a little greasy with a narrow face, a beak of a nose, and sandy hair. His suit was tailored but ugly, and Veruca wondered if he’d chosen it himself or if it was some sort of required uniform picked out by Fairies who didn’t really know what constituted style for humans.
“It wasn’t a joke,” Finn said, still agape at the shelves of jars and boxes.
“It never is,” Leo said with a sigh, getting to his feet and jerking his chin toward Donald. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”
“I’m surprised you remember me. Donald,” he said, crossing the deep store and holding out his hand politely.
“Yeah, sounds about right.” Leo gave it a disinterested shake, and then gestured loosely about. “What’re you in the market for? I’ve got a few different venoms in if you’re still in the clean up game.”
“I’m out of the game for the most part. I actually just came as an escort to my friends, here.”
“Veruca.” Offering her own hand as Donald had, Veruca stepped up to the counter, shaking Leo’s hand, and then gesturing back. “Finn. We were sent here by Ankyati. She said you’d have something for us.”
“Ah, yes. Gimme a second, I got what you need in the back. Don’t touch anything. Especially that one.”
“Me?” Finn asked innocently.
Leo shook his head. “Don’t think I can’t smell a shoplifter a mile away,” he called as he turned and went through the door behind the desk.
“He’s got you pegged, darling,” Veruca said, patting his arm.
Finn scowled a bit but didn’t argue.
“Don’t mind the attitude,” Donald said, leaning against the counter. “He’s used to dealing mainly with fae.”
“That’s no excuse for rudeness,” Finn said, making Veruca smile.
“I’m sure it’s less an excuse and more a reason why he’s lo
st his social skills.”
“Why’d he offer you venom?” Finn asked after a few moments, before his expression went suspicious. “Were you known for poisoning people?”
“No, but some creatures in Fairy have such caustic excretions or venom that they can dissolve bodies. Occasionally it’s a necessary evil.”
Finn went quiet, a look of horror spreading across his pretty features.
Veruca felt a little sorry for him, but Leo came back through the door before she could offer soothing words.
“Which one of you gets the equipment—the rings?”
“Ah, that’d be me,” Finn said. “Hopefully they fit.”
“That’s what they do,” Leo said, tugging open a small, velvet pouch and pulling out five silver rings. “Ankyati sent over some string and said to have it fused in with each one. As you’ll see, there’s a bit of each peeking out on the inside, where it’ll still touch your skin. I had a thought about that, though, and did you one better.” Excitement sparkled in Leo’s eyes as he produced another velvet sack, reaching delicately into bag and pulling out a little pin that bent and looped at the top so that it resembled a T. “Got you a couple dozen of these made out of the same silver—no iron filler here, as it can interfere with the magic. Quicker, less fragile. What do you think?”
“What’re they for?” Finn asked, inspecting the pin Leo had offered him.
Veruca wondered if he’d bite it like someone trying to determine the authenticity of gold.
“The eyeballs. They’ll slide right in, and they’re slim enough that you could tuck it under or to the side of the iris, that way they don’t ruin your depth perception.”
Finn dropped the needle in an instant, jerking back so fast he almost yanked Veruca off her feet.
She sighed, wishing she’d seen his disgust coming and let go of him. “He’ll most likely stick with the string, but I appreciate the ingenuity.”
“Don’t stick with the string. What a waste. Look, here.” Leo reached out, grabbing for Finn’s hand, and sliding one of the rings over his index finger. “You see?”
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