by H A Titus
"Beautiful." The cat-sidhé licked his lips. "Pale skin, long black hair with turquoise stripes in it. Her eyes were purple—they looked delicious. Like grapes."
My stomach churned.
"You're sick," Banshee growled.
My heart lurched. Larae. I snapped the lid to the jewelry box closed and walked over to the goblin's side, crouched down, looked into its eyes. "Was she with the Lucht Leanuna? What did Shaughnessy tell her?"
The goblin cringed back. "I don't know. They were talking about some relic—it sounded important—but they stopped when I walked into the room. She never introduced herself to me."
My phone buzzed against my leg. I stood, pulled it from my pocket, and glanced at the screen. Just talked to Shaughnessy. You should get here.
"Banshee!" I said, turning away. "Time to go."
Banshee nodded, pulled her gun from her pocket, and pressed the muzzle against the goblin's temple. The creature cringed and shut its eyes. I barely had time to look away before the gunshot echoed in the small apartment. I forced himself to not look at the goblin, to keep my eyes on the floor as I walked out of the apartment, my stomach churning. Good news was, I no longer felt anything other than sickened by Banshee. Out of all the problems that came with working with her, this was my least favorite. I waited on the stairs as she came out the door and locked it.
"That wasn't necessary," I muttered.
"You'd rather he called Shaughnessy and told him to run?"
"I'm just sayin', Banshee—"
She started down the steps. "I don't remember you being such a lagrachán. Fás píere, already."
I ground my teeth, shoved the jewelry box into my pocket and followed her, mind spinning. Larae had been in contact with Galen Shaughnessy. And they'd been talking about a relic. An important one, too important to talk about in front of a mere flunky.
It had to be another pathstone.
CHAPTER 15
JOSH
The Blue Fire would open its doors at 8 PM, so by 7:45, the parking lot had started to fill up. Tadhg and I moved the SUV several blocks away, then walked back. We found a good place to watch from, in an alley across the street. It was dark, flanked by a couple of rundown stores that were closed, and smelled like wet cardboard. Ten minutes later, Adam joined us, and we watched a long line form on the sidewalk.
Soon enough, the lights turned on, and two tall bouncers in suits came out front and began checking IDs and letting people in.
"Do you have someone covering the back entrance?" I asked Tadhg.
"Obviously," Tadhg said.
"You think you worried Shaughnessy?" Adam asked me.
I had absolutely no idea, but I wasn't about to let them know that. "Don't know. He didn't seem rattled." I leaned against the brick and squeezed the handle of the knife at my side. If Shaughnessy ran, would Keelin try to make us chase Shaughnessy down? Could we afford to spend time on that? Right now all I wanted was him in custody so we could get back to Springfield and talk to Aileen.
"Tadhg, what's stu-wer mean?" I asked.
Tadhg tilted his head a bit. "Why?"
I shrugged and tried to look like the idiot he thought I was. "I recently saw it somewhere and was curious."
From the narrowing in Tadhg's eyes, he didn't quite buy it, but he answered my question. "Guiding. Like you'd guide a ship."
Well, that didn't bode well.
I went back to watching the front of the club. Before long, Banshee and Eliaster pulled into the parking lot. Tadhg walked over to them as Eliaster got out of the car. As they spoke in low voices, I scanned Eliaster's face. He looked fine, his eyes their normal bright green, his reactions showing attentiveness to Tadhg's voice. Maybe his and Banshee's mission had gone all right.
After a moment, Tadhg nodded and motioned for me to join them. As I did, Banshee stepped out of the car.
I paused and took her in. Instead of her all-black, jeans-and-leather ensemble, she now wore a short, curve-hugging black dress and high heels. I glanced over at Eliaster and noticed that he'd changed at some point too, into dark slim-fitting pants, a green button-down, and a black sports coat instead of his usual ratty, baggy jeans and T-shirt.
I sighed. "Crap. We're going in there after him, aren't we?"
Banshee laughed and tossed me a plastic shopping bag. "Go change."
I glanced around the parking lot and raised an eyebrow. "Where?"
"Behind a dumpster in the alley." Banshee winked. "I won't peek."
Despite myself, I could feel my face reddening. I glanced over at Tadhg and Eliaster. "Seriously, I don't think this is a good idea. He might recognize me. He'll run."
Tadhg scoffed.
"Why do you think that?" Eliaster asked.
"He knows I saw his relic," I said.
"There's another section of the club," Banshee said.
I nodded. "Right, the loft."
"That's a VIP section. As an owner, he'll be up there. So he won't be able to see you right away. By the time he does, it won't matter."
"Okay, but how—"
She grinned. "Trust me, I have ways."
I groaned.
Tadhg shrugged. "It's the best option."
I glanced over my shoulder. "He's going to be long gone by the time we get in there."
Eliaster rolled his eyes. "Just go change already."
I sighed again and trekked into the alley, ducking behind one of the big dumpsters so I was out of their sight. Was I mad about the plan? No. But irritation itched at the back of my neck. No one had even wanted to hear my opinion. Once again, the fae had swept me aside, acting as if I was a dumb human rather than an intelligent person.
"Stupid fae," I muttered under my breath, yanking open the shopping bag. It held slim-fit gray chinos and a dark blue button-up shirt, almost the exact color as one of my favorite T-shirts at home. It all fit me as if it had been tailor-made. Banshee had a good eye. As uncomfortable as it made me, I realized it was likely because she'd done this before. I recalled what Eliaster had said—that he and Banshee used to work together a lot—and wondered how many times they'd sneaked into VIP areas of clubs and dinner parties in order to track down something. Or someone.
I quickly put my phone, wallet, and keys into the pockets of my new pants—at least they'd left me my sneakers—stuffed my jeans and T-shirt into the bag, and went back to the parking lot.
I tossed the bag into Tadhg's car and faced everyone, my arms crossed. "If we're gonna do go after Shaughnessy this way, we have to watch out for everyone else in the club. He might try to take a hostage if he feels threatened."
Banshee smirked. "Don't worry, I'll keep him distracted while you guys move in."
Of course she would. Greeeeeat. I sighed. "Okay. Let's get moving, then."
We stepped down into the street. Halfway across, I could already hear the faint bass line of the music inside the club. Instead of joining the line at the back, Eliaster marched right up to the bouncer, hands in pockets, stride quick and purposeful. The sidhé glared at him, showing off yellowy-brown eyes. Very unusual. I blinked hard, wondering if the guy was able to put up a really good glamour—ever since I'd started seeing through glamour, I'd yet to meet a fae who could trick me with it. I blinked again. Nope, still no ghosting or fuzzing around the edges of his face. So what kind of sidhé was he?
"Line starts at the back, friend," he growled.
Funny how the sidhé all made the word "friend" sound so menacing. I backed up a step.
"Sure, I know where the line starts. Just wanted to introduce myself. Eliaster Tyrone."
The sidhé immediately dropped his gaze and bowed his head. "Your father is well-known in our circles. Welcome."
Well, that part was easy at least.
He moved aside and pulled the door open for us. The music that had so far been mostly bass now blasted out of the door. I felt like I'd been slapped in the face by a soundwave. A headache bloomed above my eyes as I stepped in after Eliaster.
Bright colored lights swirle
d over the dance floor, painting bodies neon blue and pink and purple. A quick glance revealed that the ratio of fae to humans looked pretty even.
"What was that about?" I yelled to Eliaster.
He grinned. "You just met your first faoladh."
First werewolf. At a nightclub. Yeah, that didn't scramble my brain circuits at all.
I pulled off my glasses and rubbed my eyes, half-expecting Eliaster to be gone by the time I opened them again. But he still stood at my side, casually looking around the dim, blue-lit room. I glanced at the bar, wondering if that area would be a little more quiet and secluded, but no. The back of the bar was lit by a wall of electric blue, turning the liquor in the bottles a bunch of weird colors.
Banshee stepped up behind us, brushed her fingers against Eliaster's shoulder. "Keep an eye out."
"Got it."
She passed us and strode around the dance floor, heading toward the staircase, which was now cordoned off by an LED rope light. My gaze followed the glowing stairs upward until they disappeared into a dimly lit space above the back booths.
"Why do you think Shaughnessy is still here?"
"He never went back to the apartment—either he's here, or he ran, and I don't think he had enough warning to run." Eliaster nudged me toward the bar. "Keep moving. The upstairs area is a loft—it overlooks the dance floor and I don't want to chance him spotting us."
"What's Banshee doing?" I asked.
"Just give it a minute." Eliaster scanned the crowd, hands still tucked into his pockets.
We ordered from the bar. So far, no one seemed to recognize us. I started to relax a little and fiddled with my bracelet as I waited for my drink. "So what's the game plan? She's gonna try to get him outside? How does she expect to even get up to the VIP section in the first place?"
"She's Banshee. She's really good at suggesting ideas and making them sound like your ideas. She'll be fine. We just need to be ready to move when she does."
I turned, leaning my elbow on the bar, and studied him. "You seem a lot more comfortable with this than you did earlier today."
His jaw tensed. "I've … accepted this. Besides, at least Banshee's not an unknown quantity."
"You sure she didn't just make her idea sound like your idea?"
Eliaster rolled his eyes.
Banshee meandered around the VIP area, always keeping in the bouncer's blind spot. A few people—one or two small groups, and a few singles—passed by her, and Banshee's eyes tracked their every move. Oh great. I had a good idea of what she was planning. Sure enough, as soon as a group of eight—with several single guys—approached the VIP area, she slid seamlessly into their group, taking the arm of a guy and smiling at him. He didn't seem to mind.
The bartender—a different guy than the one I'd seen earlier, thank goodness—nudged my elbow and set our drinks on the counter. As I picked mine up, a flick of color caught the corner of my vision. I glanced up. Glamour flickered above me, a lightshow more mesmerizing than the dance floor. I squinted, watching the rainbow of colors swirl overhead. It was weirdly pretty. As far as I could tell, it wasn't attached to anything or anyone, just free-floating glamour that the fae in the club had released to be a mini Northern Lights. I felt myself relax a little as I watched it, the tension loosening from my limbs.
Eliaster nudged me in the side, hard. "Snap out of it."
I swore and straightened. "What?"
Eliaster nodded upward. "That's mesmer. Look at the humans in the crowd."
I looked, seeking out faces that didn't have glamour ghosts flickering over them, that didn't have pointed ears and pinwheeling colors in their eyes. Every single human had a sloppy smile and slack features, and every single one of them was staring at the ceiling as they danced or drank, enthralled by the colors.
Eliaster's eyes flicked over the crowd. "There are some feeders here."
"Feeders? Like vampires?"
"Maybe, but I doubt it. Marraighs, more likely. This feels like them. They feed off human emotion." His lips tightened into a thin line. "I hate feeders."
"So, like sluaghs."
"Yeah, except instead of sucking out your soul, they'll drain you of their particular type of poison—love, joy, whatever kind of human emotion you can think of, there's probably a marraigh out there who feeds on it."
Lovely. I kept my eyes down.
After a moment, Eliaster started shuffling. "Where is she?" he muttered, glancing at his watch. "C'mon, Banshee, it shouldn't be taking—"
Shaughnessy pounded down the stairs at a full run. I glanced at the stairs, but didn't see Banshee. Crap, he's gonna get away! I practically threw my glass back on the bar and took off across the room towards Shaughnessy, Eliaster right behind me.
Banshee dashed down the stairs, somehow staying upright despite the high heels.
Shaughnessy bolted for the emergency exit. I tried to squeeze through a crowd of chatting people.
Banshee caught up and grabbed Shaughnessy's wrist, twisted his arm to the side. Shaughnessy stumbled and lashed out at her with his foot, hitting her ankle. Banshee shrieked and toppled.
I ran after Shaughnessy. He slammed through the emergency exit, and a blaring alarm sounded out over the music. I hesitated, looking over my shoulder for Banshee and Eliaster.
She waved me forward. Eliaster was already right behind me. We burst out into the street behind the club.
I paused, glancing up and down the street. My heart hammered in the base of my throat. Where was he? We couldn't lose him.
"This way." Eliaster tugged on my jacket sleeve, and we dashed down the street.
Shaughnessy was fifty feet ahead of us, running as fast as he could down the sidewalk, his unbuttoned blazer flapping behind him.
"Hey!" Eliaster shouted.
Shaughnessy glanced over his shoulder, and his eyes widened. He ducked his head forward, pushing himself to run even harder.
Eliaster growled and sped his pace. A few months ago, I wouldn't have been able to keep up. Tonight, I stayed right on Eliaster's heels. We were gaining on Shaughnessy when he skidded and scrambled into an alley.
We took the corner, and I promptly tripped over an overturned garbage can. My chin cracked into the pavement. My tongue and teeth started throbbing. Stars burst in my vision, and I rolled off the can, groaning and holding my chin. Blood filled my mouth.
"Crap! Crap, crap, crap!" Eliaster grabbed my arm and hauled me to my feet. "Are you okay?"
I spit out a mouthful of blood and nodded.
"Then c'mon." He skipped a few feet away from me, then sped into a full-out run.
I wobbled after him, doing my best to ignore the ache in my jaw. Shaughnessy wove through the alleys of what I'd guessed had been the old downtown industrial area, now filled with abandoned warehouses and rundown factories. I didn't see Shaughnessy. With the pain in my face, it was all I could do to keep Eliaster in sight. I followed after my friend, trying to focus my mind back on task.
Something metallic jingled ahead of us, like Shaughnessy had climbed a chain-link fence. Eliaster suddenly slowed as we got out from between the narrow buildings, stepping down onto a cracked street with faded markings. Flickering street lights barely illuminated the area. I stopped and leaned over, putting my hands on my knees.
"Did you lose him?" I panted.
"No." Eliaster nodded to the building in front of us. "He ran in there."
I straightened and eyed the huge place. It looked like an old factory, complete with a crumbling smokestack poking from the roof. A chain link fence with warning signs posted all over it surrounded the building. When Eliaster rattled the fence, an entire section crashed to the ground.
"Convenient," I muttered. "Doesn't look very inviting."
"I don't think his intention was to invite us to tea." Eliaster's shoulders hitched in a deep breath.
Something crackled in my ear, and I realized that even with crashing to the ground, I hadn't lost the headset. I pressed the earbud back in place in time to hea
r Tadhg yelling, "Eliaster! Josh! Answer me already! What's going on?"
Eliaster yanked the earbud out of place, rolling his eyes. "He's been screeching at me the entire time, I just haven't had time to answer."
I nodded. "Tadhg? Can you hear me?"
"Buíochas le Dia," Adam said. "Yeah, we can hear you."
"What happened?" Tadhg demanded. "Is Eliaster offline as well?"
Eliaster placed his finger to his lips.
I rolled my eyes. "We've been chasing Shaughnessy."
"Where are you guys?" Adam asked.
I looked for street signs. "Looks like … Fifth and North. Don't know the address, but you can't miss it. It's an old factory made of red brick, partially painted white. Part of the chain link fence around it has been cut. Eliaster said Shaughnessy went inside."
"Okay. Is Banshee with you guys?"
I looked around and realized that no, Banshee wasn't with us. I tried to think back to the last time I'd seen her. "She's not with you?"
"No."
"Maybe we lost her."
"If we could be so lucky," Eliaster muttered.
"Maybe. Well, you guys just stay outside. Wait for us."
"Got it."
Eliaster motioned for me to pull out my earbud.
I removed the device and clenched it in my hand. "He said to—"
"I heard him." Eliaster tucked his hands in his jacket pockets.
"You're not actually going to do that, are you?"
Eliaster's jaw clenched. "Shaughnessy is dansearach. We know for sure that he has at least one relic, maybe more. So yeah, I'm absolutely going to wait for backup."
My breathing quickened, and I glanced at the abandoned building. "But … but what if he slips out another way? What if we lose him?"
"Then we'll pick up his trail somewhere else."
"Eliaster—"
He shot me a disbelieving look. "Are you kidding me? No. This is how Iain and Emily got killed. We're waiting, Josh."
I clenched my hands, feeling a burning panic in my chest … and more. Anger. Where did he get off, ordering me around? I knew just as much about this situation as he did. Maybe more, since I'd been the one pushing for it. He hadn't wanted to fully commit until Keelin and Banshee had pushed him into it.