Realms of Mirrors and Demons

by J. S. Malcom

  Probably hoping to save my life, Cade calls out, “Okay, people, thank you very much! I’m sure Cassie appreciates your hospitality, but it’s time to call it a day.”

  At which point, I look around to realize that by day he means night. Outside the windows, it’s now very dark. Wait, how the hell did that happen? I pull my phone from my pocket to check the time and see a string of zeros. I’m buzzed enough that I actually squint and bring the phone closer to my face.

  I hear Cade chuckling and look up to see his raised eyebrow. He says, “Really?”

  “Whatever,” I say. “Get some cell towers already. What time is it?”

  “Not that late,” Cade says. “I just figured they wouldn’t mind if I closed early.”

  He gestures toward the now departing crowd, many of whom keep singing parts of Bohemian Rhapsody as they stagger out the door. Yeah, Cade’s right. They don’t seem bothered.

  Dabria’s parents have their coats on, as does Dabria and her brother. They each give me another hug before leaving.

  “We’ll see you at home,” Dabria says, giving Cade a kiss on the cheek.

  They leave and Cade locks the front door behind them. He joins me at the bar. I don’t have to ask to see that he’s happy. It shows in his eyes. I gesture toward the door through which Dabria and her family just left. “Dabria said we’ll see you at home. Did you guys have a baby?”

  The corner of Cade’s mouth lifts in a smile. “Dude, it’s been a month.”

  “What? I don’t know. Maybe it’s a fae thing.”

  Cade laughs. “We’re fae, not marsupials. Besides, the fae have longer gestation periods than humans. Remember? On top of that, I’m half-fae. Anyway, what she meant was that her family lives downstairs in our apartment building.”

  I raise an eyebrow. “How’s that working out for you?”

  Cade’s face turns red. “Um, sometimes I wish the walls were a bit thicker. And the floor.”

  I snort out a laugh. “Sounds like you still have to practice some stealth from time to time.”

  “Such is my fate,” Cade says. He spins a coaster my way and points at the logo. “Speaking of which, do you like the name?”

  I takes me a moment to make the connection. The Gem and Bandit. How did I miss that? “I take it you’re the bandit.”

  Cade laughs, but his eyes glow with warmth. “I’m definitely not the gem. That’s Dabria.”

  My cheeks flush with happiness for my half-blood thief of a friend. My scamper. In the end, he stole a heart, the most valuable treasure of all.

  CHAPTER 22

  We chat for a while more as we linger in the bar, mostly about how things are going for Cade and Dabria, their new business and their plans for the future. Now that everyone is gone, I keep expecting him to tell me something that will explain what I heard those two men talking about. But if anything strange is happening in Faerie, Cade doesn’t mention it. I start to wonder if maybe I heard wrong before. Whatever it was probably had nothing to do with what’s been happening back in my realm. Ultimately, I decide not to go there. If something was wrong, Cade would tell me.

  When the time seems right, I get to my feet and say, “Well, it’s been nice. One last hug and I’m out of here.”

  The problem being, that when I step toward Cade, I sort of lurch sideways. Not a full-on stagger, but I spaz out enough that Cade says, “No way you’re driving.”

  I give him a smirk. “Said like a true bar owner, but thankfully my other car is a portal.”

  Cade just shakes his head. “That’s exactly what I mean. Do you really think you’re in any shape to realm-slip?”

  I have to admit, he has a point. I’ve never even thought about portal popping with a buzz. God knows where I might end up.

  Before I have a chance to weigh my options further, Cade says, “Come on, let’s take a walk. I’ll show you our new place.”

  I know he’s just humoring me, but it’s a good idea. Thankfully, my magical metabolic boost burned off a lot of the booze. Otherwise, I’d have face-planted a while ago. But if I take a walk, get some air, and kill another hour, hopefully I’ll be good to go. “Lead the way,” I say.

  As it turns out, Cade’s place is only a mile away. Soon, we’re climbing the stairs inside his building. Lord knows, that building was probably falling apart not long ago, but it’s nice now. The carpets look new and the paint fresh. As we reach the landing to the second floor, Cade points to a door and whispers, “The in-laws.”

  Suddenly, we hear Gylth on the other side of that same door. “That you, Cade?”

  Cade winces and says, “Yep, just getting back. Gylth.” We keep climbing the stairs and Cade lowers his voice to a whisper again. “Gylth tends to be a little protective.”

  I can’t help but grin at Cade’s in-law proximity predicament. Still, it makes sense that Gylth would be protective. He and his family have faced a lot of dangers over the years. It might be a while before he finally lets his guard down.

  We reach the next landing and Cade points to the door corresponding to the exact same location downstairs. “And our place,” he says.

  I have to laugh. “I get what you mean about the floors.”

  “Tell me about it. We’re literally directly above them.”

  We enter Cade’s and Dabria’s apartment to hear voices from the kitchen. Two women, one of them Dabria and the other definitely Revlen. Then a man says something and my heart all but stops.

  Dabria calls out, “Is that you, Cade? I hope you brought Cassie with you!”

  I look at Cade with wide eyes, shaking my head, but what’s he going to do?

  “She’s right here,” Cade says.

  “Well, get her in here,” Revlen says, in her usual brusque manner. “We’ve been waiting almost an hour.”

  Cade grabs hold of my arm and all but drags me across the floor. He lets go at the last moment, and I manage to compose myself before we enter the kitchen. Just barely.

  Thankfully, Revlen buys me a little more time. She’s not exactly the most emotional person, so it comes as a surprise when she gets up to squeeze me. “Damn, it’s good to see you,” she says. “I wondered when you’d be back.”

  “I tried telling her from the start,” Cade says. “Faerie and Silvermist are addictive. Once they get in your blood, it’s all over.”

  “Especially when they were in your blood to begin with.” Esras’s eyes meet mine as he says it, his smile warm. He too is on his feet, waiting for Revlen to let go of me.

  I tell myself I’m not ready for this, that I made a mistake in coming here. A moment later proves me right, not that I care. As soon as Esras wraps me in his arms, a soothing vibration ripples through my body. I try not to shudder with pleasure, and just barely pull it off.

  I step back and try to collect myself. I look between Revlen and Esras. “What are you guys doing here?”

  Something tells me that it can’t be a coincidence, and I’m right.

  “Did you forget how this place works?” Revlen says. “Nothing happens here that I don’t hear about.”

  If anyone else said it, I’d figure she was exaggerating. In Revlen’s case, I don’t doubt it.

  “Thankfully, she keeps me informed,” Esras says. His dark eyes linger on mine again, crinkling at the corners as he grins. “Otherwise, who knows what I might miss?”

  The rest he leaves unspoken, but his gaze delivers the message. I made an attempt at sneaking around in Faerie, which means that obviously I wasn’t going to tell him I was here. At the same time, something compelled me to visit. Something I couldn’t resist.

  “Please, sit,” Dabria says. “I made tea, and I have dupple rings in the oven.”

  Oh my God, she made dupple rings.

  “I also brought some trellberry wine,” Esras says. “But if you’ve already had—”

  “Yes, please,” I say. As it turns out, I can think of something better than tea and dupple rings. Good thing I just walked off all that booze. Okay, maybe not
entirely, but whatever. We’re talking trellberry wine. I’ll deal with the consequences.

  We chat for a while as we eat and drink, keeping things casual. It’s been the same all evening, I’ve noticed. No talk of politics, no talk of any problems. And the few times we come close to discussing any areas of concern, someone changes the subject. A few times, I could swear I’ve caught moments of meaningful eye contact between Esras and Revlen. Suddenly, something occurs to me. Are they trying to spare me?

  Even in my buzzed state, I get a ping on that one. One of those psychic pings Julia has taught me never to ignore. Still, I think, Don’t ask. You’re probably better off not knowing.

  So, of course, I ask. “You’d tell me if anything was wrong, right?”

  My question is met with silence. Glances are volleyed around the table. I look to Cade, then Revlen, and then Esras, who closes his eyes as he rubs the bridge of his nose. Dabria, bless her heart, suddenly blushes and can’t look at me. Beside me, Cade sighs.

  I lock in on Cade. I know he’ll fold first. “What is it?”

  He hesitates, and then says, “Probably nothing. Seriously, I wouldn’t—”

  I narrow my eyes. “Cade?”

  Cade’s face starts turning red under the pressure. “We all agreed, if you ever did show up again, that we wouldn’t drag you into it.”

  “You’ve already done enough,” Esras says. “More than enough.”

  My pulse ratchets up, possibly even more than when I invoked that bit of metabolic magic before. “I overheard two men in the bar. They were talking about demons.”

  Okay, they didn’t exactly say that, but I’m bluffing.

  Sure enough, Esras shrugs, signaling defeat. “There have been signs,” he admits. “Similar to what we hear has been happening in your realm. We’re not sure what they mean yet, but we can’t rule out demons.”

  So they do know about what we’ve been experiencing. I wondered if at least Cade would have heard something. “What kind of signs?”

  “We have reason to believe there have been incursions.”

  “Incursions,” I say. “Can you be a little more specific?”

  Possibly to get Esras out of the hot seat, Revlen fields the question. “Energy disruptions,” she says. “As well as exchanges, some of them destructive. Anomalies indicating that, quite possibly, ours is not the only magic being used in this realm.”

  “After all, to breach the realm requires magic,” Cade adds.

  Which is exactly what I’m wondering about. The magic was just stabilized here, the ley line freed from subjugation after hundreds of years. There’s only one person I can think of who’d want to change that.

  “It’s Vintain, isn’t it? Is that what you’ve been trying not to tell me?”

  I brace myself for the worst possible news, as I try to keep my heart from pounding out of my chest. I feel like I’m seeing the world through a tunnel.

  From what feels like a mile away, I hear Revlen say, “That’s not possible. You know that, Cassie.”

  My eyes go from her to Esras.

  He keeps his gaze on mine, as he nods reassuringly. “Vintain is in prison. There’s nothing to worry about.”

  Obviously, Esras is telling the truth. He’d never lie about something like that. All the same, a chill ripples down my spine. Because, despite what they’re telling me, I can’t get past the feeling that Vintain is somehow behind what’s going on.

  CHAPTER 23

  As Esras and I walk through the night, I can’t help but wonder if this was my plan all along. That maybe the rest was just me lying to myself. Did I really think I’d just take a little stroll through Faerie and then go home again? Was it ever about just spending a little time without casting a glamour? That seems kind of hard to believe now and, if I ran that one past Autumn, I’m sure she’d return a very skeptical look. Also, after a month of being strong, isn’t the timing strange that I’m here again so soon after seeing Phoenix? Because I have to wonder if I’m making sure I made the right choice. Or, perhaps more accurately, if maybe I haven’t yet truly chosen.

  “Doing okay?”

  I look over at Esras, happy to be near him again. At the same time, wasn’t I happy to be with Phoenix too the other night?

  “Pretty good,” I say, “all things considered.”

  Esras sighs. “Try not to worry. We’ll work it out.”

  For a moment, I wonder if he read my mind. Then I realize he’s talking about the magical incursions. Just like that, my mind flips back to that topic of concern. “It’s demons, isn’t it?” I say. “I mean, it has to be.”

  “As I said, we’re just not sure.”

  “Yeah, well I am. I keep seeing those fuckers lately. But how the hell are they getting in?”

  By which I really mean, where could a new veil witch have suddenly come from? And how could she be powerful enough to mess with the veil both in the human realm and in Faerie?

  As always, Esras remains calm. “We just don’t know. But remember, under the old regime, Faerie remained open to other types of supernatural beings. Vampires, the Vamanec P’yrin and others were allowed to come and go.”

  I remember Cade telling me about this aspect of Faerie. Ironically, at the time it was only the half-blood fae who were barred from the realm. In fact, they could be killed on sight. “Did that also apply to demons?”

  Esras nods as we keep walking. “High demons, yes. They too were welcome.”

  “I keep hearing about that high demon versus low demon thing. What’s the difference?”

  “Well, the species of all realms differ, of course,” Esras says. “The best analogy in this case would be to think of the high demons being to their realm what we are to Faerie, or what humans are to the human realm. Although, there are far fewer high demons than low. Theirs is something of a hive mind, controlled by the more sophisticated and powerful few.”

  At the mention of hive minds, images of swarming insects pop into my brain. “Sounds lovely. But Cade told me that none of the other supernatural beings maintained their powers when they came here. That they posed no threat.”

  “That's true. Only the power of Faerie’s ley line could be used for magic. All other sources were blocked.”

  “Let me guess, by the High Mage.”

  “Exactly.”

  I decide to take another stab at it. “But theoretically it could have been possible to use other kinds of magic here. If the High Mage wanted to allow it.”

  “Right again,” Esras says. “The High Mage had a way of either blocking or allowing the flow of that magic. Obviously, blocking it was to his advantage at the time...”

  Esras lets his words trail off, but I get his meaning. “But it wouldn’t necessarily be to his advantage now.”

  Esras shrugs. “True. If he could somehow gain access to that other realm’s magic.”

  I stop and wheel on him, raising my voice. “Come on, that has to be it! Somehow that son of a bitch has opened the gates!”

  Esras stops walking too as we face each other in the street. Moonlight reflects in his dark eyes. “I’m sure he would if he could, but—”

  “Right, I know,” I cut in. “He’s in prison.”

  Esras shrugs. “Well, he is,” he says, his tone reasonable.

  I shake my head as my blood starts to boil, both with my memories of Vintain and my frustration at my current situation. Magic surges within me again, an automatic defense mechanism for when I get angry. Great, my nerves were already jangled and now I feel like I plugged myself into a light socket.

  I grit my teeth and say, “He’s doing it somehow. I know he is.”

  I hold my hands out. Sure enough, jagged little arcs of power spark between my fingertips. A fiery greenish-blue orb blooms to life in my open palms. Magically, I’m all dressed up with nowhere to go.

  Esras watches me. “What are you going to do with that thing?”

  “Not sure. Do you need any buildings demolished?”

  “Not at the mom
ent.”

  “Then I guess I’ll save it for later.” I take a deep breath and suck the energy back into myself. The ball of light flickers out, but I feel like I just swallowed a volcano.

  Esras frowns, his expression a mixture of concern and amusement. Okay, I’m drunk. I know I am. But still.

  “Doing okay?” he says.

  “Got any more trellberry wine?”

  Esras chuckles. “Not on me.”

  “Then let’s find some.”

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Maybe we should just—”

  “Well, how’s that for luck?” I point down the block, even as I pick up my pace. “I hope you still have a key. Otherwise, I’m bringing the fireball back out again.”

  I beeline my way toward the front door of the Gilded Gargoyle. Esras catches up a minute later.

  “Are you sure?” he says.

  “Never been more sure about anything. Open the door, big guy.”

  Part of me knows I’m a million miles from sober, but the other part doesn’t give a damn. So far this week, I’ve experienced a truly epic gamut of emotions. I keep bumping into demons. My magic bailed twice. I discovered that one of my best friends became trapped in a mirror. I finally saw my ex-boyfriend again. Apparently, I joined some sort of witch team mentored by a bitchy flying dwarf. I attempted a covert visit to Faerie, where I ended up feeling like an inductee to the Witchcraft Hall of Fame. Now, I’m with the only person who’s ever made me consider relocating to a different realm. Meanwhile, I can’t get past the feeling that we’re somehow being magically duped big time. Why the hell would I want to get sober?

  Okay, sure, maybe as a supernatural being I should be more responsible. After all, it falls on people like me to keep everyone else safe. I can see where someone would think I don’t have the right to let my guard down. Whatever. Screw that too. I’m a human being, not a cartoon superhero.

  We go inside, Esras turns the lights on low, and we go to the bar. Gracious as always, I plunk my ass down on a barstool while Esras remains standing. “Should I look for trellberry wine?” he says.