“Hello, Ms. Doris, how are you today?” I said, recognizing one of our regulars.
“I’ve been better,” she grumbled. “Took you long enough.”
“I know, Ms. Doris, but we’re short staffed and I’m pulling double duty.” I turned to look through our current tickets, recalling seeing her pant suit that she often had dry-cleaned here. “Just give me a second while I grab your dry-cleaning.”
“That’s not why I’m here.”
“Oh, no, then what brings you here today?”
“This.” She slammed a garment bag onto the counter. “You ruined my dress.”
“I’m so sorry.” I peeled back the garment bag to inspect the dress. It was a deep red belted dress, but I couldn’t find one thing wrong with it. “Um, was it stained?”
“Of course it was.” She jabbed a finger past my face, making me blink. Any closer and I might have lost an eye. “It’s right there.”
I inched forward for a better look at the imaginary stain to which she was referring. Usually I accommodated her, but there was nothing wrong with the dress. “It’s a lovely dress. I don’t see the stain.”
“Nonsense. It’s right there.”
“Okay.”
“Well, don’t just stand there. I want a refund. Now.”
“I would be happy to compensate you for damage if there was any, but there is nothing wrong with this dress. Now, just give me a second and I’ll grab your dry-cleaning.”
“Don’t you walk away from me, Karen.”
I pivoted slowly and leveled my gaze at her. Two years of taking care of her dry-cleaning and she still didn’t know my name. “Keri,” I managed to say without gritting it out.
“Keri,” she muttered, saying my name like it was inconsequential. “I won’t be ignored. I want a refund or I’ll go over your head.”
Please, Walter owned the shop, but he didn’t know one thing about the business. He’d be up a creek without me, but that was beside the point.
“Walter is out of town and he left me in charge.”
“I want to speak to Walter right—”
I moved in closer to her and ran my hand across her forearm. It startled her, making her gasp. “Young lady—”
“It’s been a long day, hasn’t it Ms. D?” I said, ignoring her complaint.
Her brow softened and a smile pulled at her taut lips. “It has been a terribly long day.”
“And all you want to do is brew a pot of tea and run a hot bath.”
“That does sound nice.” She continued to nod, her eyes never deviating away from my steady gaze.
“In fact, you want to go home right now and forget this unpleasant business here. You made a mistake. Your dress is quite lovely and we delivered superb service as usual despite your nasty attitude.”
“Yes, despite my nasty attitude.”
I smirked, my persuasion was working too well. I had to make sure it didn’t stretch too far from something she’d actually say. “You will pay your bill in full and refrain from stopping by any time soon and if Walter calls you, you’ll say the service was wonderful and you’ve just been too busy to drop off any more clothes.”
“Yes, I’ll tell him I was too busy.”
Chapter Three
Keri
Jasper breezed past Ms. Doris as she left the shop in a daze. He tutted. “I thought our ways were beneath you—that it was wrong to use our ability on an unsuspecting public.”
“Will you keep your voice down?” I chided, waving him over.
“Hold your horses, cous,” he teased, moseying over to join me at his own leisure, “and here I always thought you were the patient one in our family.”
“What do you want?”
“Well, I see you’re not denying the fact that you just influenced that nice business lady that just left not too long ago.”
“Believe me she had it coming.”
“Oh, so it’s okay for you to use it when you feel like it, but, if I were to use it, then it’s a problem.”
“That’s different.”
“Really. How?”
“I don’t use it to hurt anyone, for one thing.”
“Neither do I.”
“Right. You just use it to steal things.”
“I didn’t see you complaining when it kept food in your mouth and a roof over your head.”
“That was before I knew where the money was coming from and you know it.”
“Calm down. I remember why you left”—he surveyed the shop—“and decided to make your own way. Honestly, I respect it.”
“Gee, now, my day is complete now that I have your approval.”
He smirked. “I love you, too, cous.”
“Look, I have work to do if you don’t mind.”
“I do actually. This wasn’t a social visit.” He glanced outside as he approached me, his usual jovial tone waning. “It’s about Shana.”
“What’s wrong?”
“She’s not doing well.”
I felt a twinge of guilt because when I decided to move out on my own, I left my younger cousin behind. There wasn’t much they could do about me since I was nineteen, but Shana was only seventeen. It wasn’t my place to take her with me. My uncle wouldn’t allow it. Still, I knew she wasn’t meant for that life either.
“What did the doctors say?”
“Now, come on, Keri. You know better than that. This is beyond human medicine and what she needs is going to come at a cost.”
I gestured at my low wage employment. “Well, I don’t have it. This barely covers my rent.”
“I know that but I’m not here to ask for money.”
I sighed. “You want me to do a job with you to come up with the payment?”
Chapter Four
Gavin
I wrapped a towel around my waist, feeling more like myself after a long shower. Mekhi sat on one of the beds in our motel room, studying the map.
“I hope you have good news. The sooner we can leave, the better.”
“Always so anxious to leave,” Mekhi said, not looking up from the map.
“Aren’t you?”
“Don’t get me wrong…home has its advantages but this world isn’t so terrible.”
“Then you can stay. I’ll get what we came for and go home.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. It was our responsibility to ensure Prince Aurelio received the parcel. We can’t return without it and I won’t let you take the blame alone.”
“Who says I’d take any blame? I fully intend on retrieving it prior to returning to our realm.”
“You underestimate me, Mekhi. I figured out how to operate a car and that should be sufficient.”
“How did you manage that—what did you do?”
“You’re not the only one who has access to a witch.” I glanced outside at the cars that lined the street. “He casted a spell on me so that I could drive one.”
“Clever. Unless you have a spell for every conceivable scenario we’ll encounter in this realm, you won’t last long on your own.”
I grinned at his candor. “Your confidence in me is overwhelming.”
“You know I mean well. This world is vast and without Zayne here to guide us, you won’t get very far without me.”
I sighed, knowing he was right. “Where is he? He should have arrived by now?”
“I don’t know. He probably got delayed by Prince Aurelio’s request. He’ll join us as soon as he’s able to get away.” He stood, setting the map aside. “We should start searching again. The distance has increased since we came here.”
I laughed. “So you think we shouldn’t have stopped at a motel to get cleaned up?”
He tilted his head to the side. “No, just merely pointing out that we’ll need to acquire a mode of transportation if we stay any longer. It keeps moving.”
“Well, that’s a good thing, isn’t it?” I pulled on a fresh shirt and a pair of slacks. “It means someone did take it.”
“How is that a good thing
?”
“Because we can explain that when we get back to the Fae Realm if it comes to that.”
“I’m not sure that will make a difference.”
“I still don’t understand how it ended up here in the first place.”
“You think our prince will care about that? The only thing that will stand out to him will be the fact that it was our responsibility and we lost it while on our way to the palace.”
Zayne had been carrying the parcel when it disappeared from his satchel. Thankfully, the witch, Astrid, tracked it to the Human Realm and ascertained that there was a glitch with the magic used to send it to the Fae Realm. Somehow the magic malfunctioned and returned it to the Human Realm.
We’d acquired the gift early, giving us a short window of time to retrieve it. Zayne could only stall for so long. We had a day. Two, at best. Then, they would come after us.
“You’re right.” I ran a hand over my hair, drying it in an instant. “Then, we should go back out there.”
Chapter Five
Keri
“That’s right,” Jasper replied.
I walked away from him and organized the new orders.
“Oh, come on,” he said. “You know if there was any other way I would have done it by now.”
“I don’t know that.”
“Okay, I deserve that but this isn’t about me. It’s Shana. Are you really going to turn your back on her?”
I exhaled a breath, locking the drawers. “Of course not. Do you have a mark?”
“As a matter of fact I do have one.”
“When do you plan on executing this plan?”
He smirked which made me nervous. “You want to do it tonight?” I asked.
“Shana can’t wait much longer.”
“Shit.”
“You in or out?”
“Fine. Just let me get changed out of my uniform first. I’m thinking the bright blue is far too conspicuous.”
“You’re not wrong.”
“Then, I’ll have to stop home.”
He took off his backpack and pulled a pair of black spandex and a black top out of it and tossed it to me. “Got you covered.”
“Where did you get this?”
“Janie is about your size, so I figured it would fit.”
“Oh, so she hasn’t left your ass yet?”
“What do you mean?” He chuckled, holding a hand to his chest like he was wounded. “That woman loves me to death.”
“She’s crazy to put up with you. I’ll be back.” I ducked into the back to change, knowing that her clothes would fit. We used to borrow each other’s clothes all the time. I pulled back on my black tennis shoes and went back out to the front where Jasper was waiting for me.
“Ready?”
I started turning off all the lights and locked the front door. “Yes, but let’s use the back door. I don’t want anyone asking me why I’m dressed like this.”
“Good point.”
I took in his apparel. He had on a plaid shirt, a pair of pale blue jeans, and a cowboy hat that tamed his blond hair. “That’s what you’re wearing?”
“No, I have a change of clothes in here too. Mind pointing me to the restroom?”
“Seriously? You could have changed while I was changing into my clothes.”
“Oh, no, I wasn’t going to take it upon myself to roam around your store without your permission.” He quirked a brow. “Especially given your low opinion of me.”
“Just hurry up, Jasper. The bathroom is that way.”
He tipped his hat to me before removing it and setting it on the counter, then headed to the restroom.
I took the opportunity to pull my red mop of hair into a bun. I reached into my purse for a hairpin and that’s when I saw it. A silver bracelet with a centerpiece in the shape of a butterfly. A sapphire served as its thorax with tiny jewels interspersed along the veins of its wings.
When I held it in my hand, it whispered to me in a language I didn’t understand. Yet I somehow felt a connection to it, like it was mine. I shrugged away the thought. Of course, it wasn’t mine. I’d never seen this before in my life.
“Where did you come from?”
It was beautiful and expensive by the looks of it. Yes, its owner would definitely miss this. It had to have fallen out of an article of clothing, but it was inside my purse which was nowhere near the array of clothing hanging from the racks.
I looked around to see where I had my purse sitting for the bulk of the day. I always kept it in the cupboard up front, but today I’d had it open on the counter in the back. I’d been rummaging through it when a customer rang the bell and I’d forgotten it was back here.
“Okay, let’s go,” Jasper said, walking towards the back entrance.
I folded the bracelet up in a silk scarf, placed it back in my purse, and followed him out of the store.
He drove since I always walked to work. I only drove when I had to since everything was within walking distance and money was tight.
I slid in the front seat of his rusty brown truck. My phone chirped with a new message from my friend Tasha. Still coming out tonight?
I tapped out a quick reply. Can’t something came up.
Minutes later, her reply came in. Seriously, it’s Halloween. You work too hard.
I know. I’ll make it up to you. Promise.
“Who’s that?” Jasper asked, pulling out of the parking lot.
“Nobody.”
“Uh-huh. Who is it—a boyfriend you don’t want me to know about?”
I just gave him a look, since I knew he was only speculating to be annoying. He’d never say it, but I knew he was mad that I stepped away from the family.
“That’s okay. As long as you’re happy that’s all I care about.” He turned down a road that I recognized from my childhood. As a little girl, Grandma always told me not to walk down this road—Drake Road—to get home. I never understood why until I learned what my family did to provide for us. In her way, she tried to keep me away from it for as long as she could.
He pulled into a driveway. “Let me just make one stop.”
“You’re doing a drop now?”
“Hell yeah. I’d be screwed if I got caught with all this loot on me.”
I shook my head. “Did you do the job alone?”
“Naw. Derek and Les were with me, but they had another job lined up. So I said I’d make the drop and see about getting you to change your mind for family sake.”
“Well, this is a one time thing. I’m only doing this for Shana. Nothing more.”
He turned off the headlights, but left the engine running. “I know. I heard you the first time. Just give me a few minutes and I’ll be right back.”
I leaned back and watched him saunter across the lawn. This was so not what I had in mind for tonight. I hated this. I didn’t want to do a job with my cousin nor did I want to deal with the lowlifes who commissioned the work. But Shana needed me and I wouldn’t let her down.
Guilt weighed heavily on me as I thought of her. I should have kept in touch with her to make sure she was okay. Maybe if I had been in communication with her, I could have helped her sooner.
I pulled out my phone and called her. It rang a few times before she answered.
“Hello? Keri?”
“Yeah, it’s me. How are you feeling?”
“I’m good. I miss you.”
“I miss you, too.” My shoulders relaxed at the sound of her voice. Even though she was sick, she still sounded like her normal bubbly self.
“I want to hang out; when can I see you? Can you come to a party tonight?”
“A party?” I sat up straight. “Honey, you shouldn’t be on your feet.”
“It’s Halloween. There’s no way I’m staying home tonight.”
I glared out the window when Jasper came into view inside of the house. Money exchanged hands, he waved, and headed towards the exit, but stopped when the clerk called him back. I didn’t have much time. He’d come
back outside soon.
“Shana, aren’t you sick?”
“Ugh, not you too.” I could actually envision her rolling her eyes by the tone of her voice. “It was just a little cold, but I’m fine now. Besides, that was, like, a few weeks ago.”
Jasper jogged down the steps and back to the car.
“Are you coming or what, Keri?”
“Not tonight. I gotta go.”
I slid over to the driver side and flicked on the headlights, causing Jasper to cover his eyes.
“Haha,” he deadpanned, moving out of the spotlight. “I see you still have your sense of humor.”
“Never lost it.” I shifted the gear into reverse and he scowled once he realized I was leaving him.
“Hey!” Jasper shouted.
Served him right for lying. He’d no doubt have some excuse ready, but I wasn’t interested in listening to him spin this story. It was low to lie about our cousin. If he was trying to get me to come back to the family, this sure as hell wasn’t the way to do it.
“This isn’t funny, Keri.”
“I don’t know,” I said, putting the car in drive. “It’s pretty funny from where I’m sitting. See ya.”
Chapter Six
Mekhi
“This is the place,” I said, pointing to the house with red cups on the lawn.
“Are you sure?” Gavin asked.
“Come on. This is quite common amongst humans this age. Some sort of rite of passage.”
“From what?”
“Hmm, I think Zayne said it’s what the humans do when they go to the university.” He still looked perplexed, so I further explained, “To drink ale. Humans are prohibited from drinking it until they are a certain age.”
“What? That’s ridiculous.”
“I know but it is their way.” I started walking towards the house when a group of humans staggered out the door and down the porch steps.
“Hi, there, sexy,” the woman slurred.
“Okay, that’s enough of that, Kel,” her friend said, holding her up while walking her to the car.
Another group of guys rough housed on the lawn arguing about something unintelligible.
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