by Kimbra Swain
“Winnie.”
“Yeah?”
“You are being stupid.” I slapped him on the shoulder. “Ow! I did what you said!”
I laughed, then kissed him on the cheek. “I know. Thank you.”
While we waited for Nick to return, we sat and listened to Ruby explain politics in the Summer realm. To be honest, I didn’t give a fuck, but we had nothing else to do. Colton seemed to be very interested. In Ruby.
He couldn’t help himself. She was an auburn-headed goddess. Long, slender legs and a trim waist. She always wore revealing clothes, because she’d bloomed giant boobs before any of the rest of us. Mine were okay, but she was killin’ it in the boob department.
I sipped on a glass of red wine while sitting in Kyrie’s lap. Ruby and Colton sat on the couch. He was completely enthralled by her. Kat and Cat appeared at the window, and I got up to let them inside.
“Oh, wonderful. You restocked your wine,” Kat said.
“Did that cat just talk?” Colton asked.
“Yes. Colton Walker, please meet Kat and Cat,” I said. Kat jumped up in his lap, waiting for him to pet her.
“Go ahead. Stroke me,” she said.
“Yeah, stroke the kitty,” Kyrie teased. Colton blushed a deep red, and Ruby’s eye shined when he did. Perhaps she found him just as attractive as he did her. I hadn’t really looked at him that way, but he was handsome. I knew he was a changeling, so his natural body form included muscles he didn’t have to work for and a chiseled jaw indicative of his fairy father.
“Colton, why isn’t your last name Karis?” I asked.
“Just an added layer of protection. Walker was my mother’s last name,” he said. The ‘was’ part didn’t slip past me. I decided to leave it alone.
“I need pets, too,” Cat complained.
“Kyrie is open,” I said. Kyrie patted his knee, and Cat reluctantly jumped into his lap taking my seat. Instead, I decided to refill my glass.
A storm had been brewing since we got back to the apartment. The rolling thunder became louder and louder. The lights flickered in the old building several times. When I looked up after the last flicker, I saw a form at the open window. Without hesitation, I threw a fireball at it. The form dodged, and everyone rolled into a battle position. Cat and Kat scampered off to my bedroom, and Ruby threw Colton behind her. The lights went out completely, and the figure rose to her feet. I could see her delicate curves, and knew it was a woman. I lit the room with a fireball which hovered over my hand.
“Careful with that, Princess,” she said.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?” I demanded. She didn’t seem poised to attack, even though she held a dagger in her hand.
“I was summoned here by Dominick Meyer.”
“Catrina?”
She whispered a word, and light ignited over her body. She turned her back to me as the sugar skull tattoo on her back glowed like neon.
“Stand down,” Kyrie said to me and Ruby.
“You shouldn’t leave your window open,” she chided.
“I can handle it,” I return.
“Orgullo precede a la caída,” she said in Spanish. I didn’t know Spanish.
“Pride comes before a fall,” Ruby said.
“How do you know Spanish?” I asked.
“I know twelve human languages,” she said.
“Of course, you do.” I rolled my eyes and tuned my attention back to Catrina. “He should have been back by now.”
“Who is the target?” Catrina asked.
“We aren’t killing anyone,” I said.
“Then, why did he call an assassin?” Catrina asked.
“You are a tracker,” I said.
“I track to kill.” She was blunt and humorless.
“We need to find Soraya and Rory, the Summer Prince. It seems we might need to find Nick, too,” I said while dialing Nick’s cell. No answer.
“Give me a target, Fire Child,” Catrina said.
“Look! I’m not a child. Don’t make me prove it to you,” I growled. Kyrie stepped in front of me. I saw the look in his eyes. Once again, he wanted to say something, but didn’t. I cocked my head sideways at him. “Am I being stupid again?”
“No, but maybe a little extra feisty,” he said with his signature smirk.
“Who do we send her after?” I asked. “Nick or Reyna?”
“If it’s a contract, I say Reyna,” Kyrie said.
“I agree. I want my brother back. In fact, I contract you to find the person who kidnapped my brother,” Ruby said.
“And payment?” Catrina asked.
“Payment?” I echoed.
“I don’t work for free.” I wasn’t sure I’d ever met anyone so dry and humorless. Perhaps she found it necessary to complete her contracts. Either way, I didn’t like it.
“You will be paid in gold via the Summer Court,” Ruby said.
Colton stood behind Ruby silently, but his eyes widened when she mentioned the gold.
“We are going with you,” I said.
“I work alone,” Catrina said.
“Then you won’t work in my town,” I said.
“I don’t follow fairy rules. I’m human,” she spat back at me.
“And? You are a member of this community. Just like Colton.” I pointed at him, and he ducked further behind Ruby.
Catrina held her dagger up, showing us the black blade. I’d seen ones like it before. My mother died after being wounded by one in the Battle of Shady Grove when she took over the rule of Winter. She returned to us, but it was an ordeal. I was still a child, and I’d already had two parents die. I shook off the bad memory. We watched as Catrina knelt in my living room floor. She sat the blade down on the hardwood floor. Cat and Kat peeked around the corner of the bedroom.
Black smoke swirled around the blade, and Catrina began to chant. I closed my hand dousing the flame I’d held in my hand for light. Her chant was in Spanish. I looked to Ruby to translate.
“Death blade, hear my request. Lead me to those who deserve thy wrath,” Ruby said.
“Damn,” I muttered.
The smoke around the blade increased, floating up around Catrina and igniting her tattoo. The darkness sank into her skin, and the bright light died out.
“For someone with no magic, that was hella magical,” Kyrie said.
“The blade and tattoo are magic. I am not,” she said as she stood.
“She’s little Miss Sunshine,” I commented. She shot me a look, but I knew she only killed on contract. She wasn’t going to harm me.
“The tattoo is leading me to my mark. Shall we?” she said, motioning toward the door.
“What about Colton?” I asked.
“I’m going with y’all. You aren’t leaving me here,” he said.
“I don’t think that is wise,” I said.
“Has that ever stopped you before?” he asked.
I wanted to protest that he didn’t know me, but he’d hit it on the nail. I laughed, and Kyrie held back a chuckle.
“I’ll keep him safe,” Ruby said.
“Okay then,” I said.
“We are going, too.” The feline voice came from my bedroom.
I looked at Cat and Kat who sat next to each other in the doorway to my bedroom. I’d already lost one protest, and who knew, they might come in handy.
“Sure. Why not?”
We hurried down the stairs to Kyrie’s vehicle. Catrina mounted a motorcycle, and we pulled out of the parking place to follow her. She headed straight for the docks. The moon above us was nothing but a small crescent. Thin clouds shrouded the stars. I tried Nick’s phone again. Still no answer. Then, I made the phone call I hated to make.
Uncle Levi’s voice sounded worried even before I spoke. “Winnie, what’s going on?”
“Hey, I’m not sure what happened to Nick, Malphas, and Echo. They went after the Sanhedrin who have Rory and Raya but didn’t come back. Catrina is here, and we are following her to find them. She’s been
contracted by Ruby to find her brother. Or rather find the person who kidnapped Rory. I haven’t seen Aydan or Callum since we came back from meeting Professor Karis this afternoon. We have his son with us, and…”
“Wynonna, calm down. You are rattling off a bunch of stuff that doesn’t make sense to me. Callum and Aydan came home earlier today with Isabella. They are both in Winter with your mother. I was heading there myself. Do you need me?” he asked. I hesitated. “It’s not a failure to ask for help.”
“We might need help,” I said.
“I’m on my way with reinforcements. See you soon. Be careful.” He disconnected the call.
“It was the right thing to do,” Kyrie said as he drove over the speed limit to keep up with Catrina. She pulled her motorcycle next to a warehouse near the boat we had stalked earlier in the week.
The hull of the Orefeo could be seen just beyond the building. The Sanhedrin were holding Rory and Raya here? I jumped out of the vehicle and ran to Catrina.
“They are here?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“This is the trafficking boat,” I said.
She shrugged. “My tattoo does not lie.”
Kyrie grabbed me from behind. “Are the Sanhedrin trafficking?”
“To what end?” I asked.
“Hell, I don’t know. It doesn’t make any sense,” Kyrie said.
“There’s only one way we are going to find out,” Ruby said with Colton, standing behind her.
We followed Catrina through the shadows. Her body seemed to darken as she passed from one shadow to the next. I looked at her through my sight, and her power radiated on the surface of her skin, but nothing dipped further. She had no aura that I could see. She was completely human.
My mother had a tattoo with powers, and I knew that Catrina’s tattoo had a similar origin. The ink was used by the Sanhedrin to track fairies with contracts. We were walking straight to the Sanhedrin.
“Wait!” I hissed.
Catrina stopped to look at me. Her eyes flared with anger. “What is it?”
“Your tattoo, is it Sanhedrin ink?” I asked.
“Yes,” she replied.
“They can track you,” I said.
“No, my ink is the reverse. It allows me to track my enemy. Any ties linked to them were erased by my boss several years ago,” she said to reassure me. I felt humored.
“Tennyson,” I said.
She had worked for Tennyson Schuyler during his mob days. Even though he didn’t participate much in the fairy happenings now, he used to be very involved. Catrina was just one of his many tools to complete whatever task he deemed necessary. He’d built an empire, then gave it all to Uncle Levi.
Kat and Cat ran ahead of us and up the gangplank. It was too late for me to stop them. They blended into the shadows.
“You all cannot follow me,” Catrina said.
“I’m going,” I said. I saw the look in Kyrie’s eyes. He wanted to go with me, but I doubted we could convince Ruby to stay behind.
“I’ll take Colton up,” he said.
“Up?” Colton said. His voice trembled.
Kyrie kissed me boldly in front of the others. We’d never merged that deep into PDA territory. Ruby cleared her throat, and he pulled away.
“I’ll be waiting for you,” he said, then took Colton’s hand. They shot up into the sky. A dark puffy cloud formed then others joined it, as Kyrie built a platform for them to stand and look down on us.
“Well, won’t Mark be surprised to hear how serious things are between you and Starboy,” Ruby said.
“This isn’t any of your business,” I growled at her.
“Not now. We don’t have time for juvenile bullshit,” Catrina said.
She darted out of the shadows toward the gangplank. Rushing up it, she was on the boat within seconds. Ruby conjured a spell beside me, and I felt her magic drift around us. She’d concealed us. Together we ran up and onto the boat.
Crouching beside a container, I waited for Catrina to make a move. Kat scared the shit out of me by jumping from the box down to me.
“They are here,” she said.
“They who?” I asked.
“Ruby and Rory,” she replied.
“Who is with them? Reyna?” I asked.
“There is no sparkling kitty litter here,” she said.
Catrina looked puzzled. “No Sanhedrin,” I said.
She nodded, then moved toward a stairway that led to the second level of the ship. We followed her still under Ruby’s concealment.
“I can feel him,” Ruby said behind me.
“Feel him?” I asked.
“He’s my twin. He can feel me, and I can feel him,” she said.
“Can you talk to him? Like I talk to my mom?” I asked, hoping they shared some sort of telepathic bond.
“Yes, of course. He’s here and he’s tied up. Soraya is with him. They are in a wooden box,” she said.
My mind flashed back to the box that we’d found with Ren inside it. They were going to sell my friends.
Catrina began to climb another level.
“Wait! He’s not up there,” Ruby said.
“I’m not looking for him remember. I’m looking for the people who kidnapped him,” Catrina replied.
“You go. I’ll go with her to find them,” I said.
“All the better for me, juera,” she said, then dashed away.
“Lead the way,” I told Ruby. She went into a doorway. We moved quickly but quietly down the hallway to a door. When she opened it, a stairway led down into a dark room. Cat and Kat followed us, then I shut the door. “Is Nick here?”
“Rory doesn’t know,” Ruby said.
“The wolf is not here,” Cat said.
“He followed the Sanhedrin, and they aren’t here,” I said.
“One thing at a time,” Ruby said.
“No shit,” I snapped at her. I wished I had a link to Kyrie. I could send him to find Nick. It would have to wait.
“We need some light,” Ruby said.
I lifted my hand and formed a small ball of fire. It illuminated the room full of wooden crates. My mouth fell open at the massive number of boxes. Looking through my sight, I couldn’t see inside of them. I didn’t see any magic keeping me out, but I couldn’t tell if they were inhabited or not.
Ruby led us down the edge of the wall to a third row of boxes. These were larger like the one we’d intercepted earlier in the week. She ran between the boxes to one. She knocked on the outside, and I heard muffled voices inside. Looking through my sight again, I still saw no evidence of fairy auras.
I helped Ruby wedge the box open. Inside, Rory blocked Soraya from us. She peeked over his shoulder. They were both a gagged and tied with a strange rope. I saw their auras now, and the power in the rope.
“Can you get it off?” I asked.
“I think it has an alarm attached to it,” Ruby said, as she pulled the cloth from Rory’s mouth.
“Yes! It will alarm them if you take it off,” he said, breathing hard.
I shoved him to the side and hugged my friend. Quickly, I removed her gag. She coughed, then smiled at me.
“Took you long enough, Wildfire,” she said, looking down at my hand.
“All this wood, I gotta be careful. As much as I’d like to burn it down, there are a lot of crates here,” I said.
“They aren’t all full,” Rory informed us. “We can’t get them all open right now.”
“I’m not leaving anyone behind,” I hissed.
“We can smell them,” Kat offered.
“You can smell the fairies?” I asked.
“Of course,” Cat replied as if I’d hurt her feelings.
“I’ll buy you each a bottle of wine if you can tell me which boxes have fairies inside,” I said.
“We are not doing this,” Ruby protested.
Gunshots echoed through the boat. “Catrina,” I said.
“The assassin is here?” Soraya asked.
�
��Ruby hired her to hunt down Rory’s kidnapper,” I said.
Gunfire erupted again, then fell silent.
“I’m not staying behind. You do whatever you want,” Ruby said, as she removed the ropes from Rory. He tried to jerk away from her, but he didn’t have far to move. The box was barely big enough for him and Soraya.
“Well, fuck it,” I said, pulling the ropes off of Raya. She wrapped her arms around me in a huge hug.
“We can save some of them,” she said.
I nodded, then motioned to Kat and Cat. They ran from box to box, skipping more than stopping. When they found one that was inhabited, they scratched on the outside. Raya and I pried the first one open and found a faun, cowering in the back of the box.
“I’m Wynonna Riggs, daughter of Gloriana. Come with us,” I said, holding my hand out to him. His hooves clip-clopped as he walked out of the large box. His eyes landed on Ruby and Rory, and he fell to his knees. I pleaded with Rory. He rushed to me and helped the faun up.
“No need for that now. Let’s find the others,” he said.
“Cat and Kat, split up. Rory will go with one of you. Raya and I will go with the other,” I ordered. We opened the crates finding pixies, brownies, hobgoblins, and even a mid-sized troll.
Catrina appeared when we opened the last box on our route.
“The job is done,” she said.
“Who did you kill?” I asked.
“There were five on the deck, then three in the engine room. There are more here though,” she said. “You don’t have time to do this.”
“We are finished on our end,” I said. “Follow me.” The fairies we’d found followed us up the stairs. Rory joined us with his group. There were two high Winter fairies and a centaur among other small ones with him.
When we reached the top of the stairs, I looked through the hole to see if anyone was in the hallway. I didn’t see anyone, so I ran out ahead of the group. They followed close on my heels. I pulled my power to my fists which began to glow brightly. I rounded the corner and slammed into a big body.
I lifted my eyes to see the hulking man before me. He had to be a troll or ogre. I balled my fist and slammed him in the stomach. He howled in pain and teetered back on his heels. Rory rounded the corner behind me and hit him with another magically powered fist. The man flew backward over the railing to the main deck of the ship. He yelled the whole way down alerting the crew to our presence.