Realms of Mist and Ash: Fae Witch Chronicles Book 2

by J. S. Malcom

  I pick up another pretzel. If he starts giving me another supernatural history lesson, I’m going for the fae ear ring toss. “Try to simplify,” I say.

  Cade nods. “Sorry. I kind of ramble sometimes. It gets on peoples’ nerves.”

  Tell me about it. I once jumped into someone else’s body and stayed for fifteen years. I just say, “You’re fine.”

  “Cool. Okay, the short version is that only half-bloods can come to both Silvermist and Faerie. That’s because—”

  I hold my hand up.

  “Right, sorry,” Cade says. “Silvermist is where we are right now. The half-realm. Another term for it is pocket dimension, but we can go into that some other time.”

  “Okay, good. Let’s save that one. It will give me something to look forward to.”

  Cade’s face colors a little, but he pushes on. “Only we can come and go from here and Faerie. Same for here and the human realm. Otherwise known as Earth.” Seeing my expression, he adds. “I know, it’s insane. I really am trying to make this simple. It just isn’t easy. Still with me?”

  My beer is now empty, but Melanie hasn’t seemed to notice. And I’m sure as hell not asking the pixie. What was her name again? I could swear Jerome told me. “Still with you,” I say. “I should stay on Earth. That’s kind of what I always assumed.”

  Cade smiles. He has a really nice smile too, actually. Shit. How strong is the beer in Silvermist?

  “Exactly. You shouldn’t be able to visit Silvermist, or Faerie. But especially not Faerie, and definitely not without using an existing rift. No one comes and goes from Faerie without using one.”

  I think back to the times I’ve crossed over. In each instance, it happened in a different place, with no seeming rhyme or reason.

  “And I did that,” I say.

  Cade’s expression remains serious, and very curious. “Yeah. I saw you do it. More than once. I figured you couldn’t be a half-blood, or I would have seen you around. Silvermist is a pretty tight community. In the scheme of things, there just aren’t that many of us. A few thousand at the most.”

  I do a double-take at that one. “Hang on. You know a few thousand people?”

  Cade thinks for a moment. “Half-bloods tend to live a long time. You get to know people after a while.”

  “Your Facebook page must be insane.”

  Cade shrugs. “I’ll friend you later. Anyway, there’s no way you’re fae, obviously, so you had to be something else.”

  “You guys having another one?”

  It’s about time Melanie showed up. Oh great. She has the pixie with her again. Wait. Desdemona! That’s her name. It’s been bugging the crap out of me. The pixie narrows her eyes, as if reading my mind, but I try to ignore her. “This one’s on me,” I say.

  Cade shakes his head. “Doesn’t work that way. Not here. But thanks.” He shifts his attention back to Melanie. “Sure, two more. Thanks, Melanie.”

  Melanie grabs our glasses, the pixie flips me off, and we try to pick up the thread.

  “Where were we?” I say.

  “Oh, right. You’re not fae, obviously, and there you were coming and going from Faerie.”

  Which brings us full circle to what I’ve been meaning to ask all along. “And you just happened to be there when that happened.” Which, by the way, is becoming an increasingly uncomfortable theme in my life. Take Grayson, for example.

  “The first time, yes,” Cade says. “Not too many of us go to Faerie. Believe me, there’s a reason for that, but to keep things on track, I was about to use a rift when you showed up out of thin air. Like I said, that doesn’t happen. Not in five-hundred years, at least, and that’s just including written records. Sure, you were close to where the ley line allows for a rift, but clearly you weren’t playing by those rules. It was like you were creating your own. I got curious, set up a couple of boundary charms, and when they got pinged I checked them out. Needless to say, you were the one who pinged them.”

  I drink some of my beer while I think about what Cade just said. Damn, this beer is crazy good. “Wait, did you set up one of your pinging charms near my building?”

  Cade’s eyes toggle back and forth. “Yeah. Kind of creepy, I know. But you kept landing in pretty much that same location. And, if you were opening your own rifts—and that seemed like it might be the case—I started thinking there must be a reason why you could. Does that make sense?”

  I shake my head. “No.”

  But in a way it does, if I’m being honest with myself. That shimmering seam between realms has kept getting closer to home, whereas before I thought it was random. Have I been doing that? And, if so, has my veil witch magic been guiding me for a reason? Part of me thinks I know the answer to that one too.

  Cade nods, seeing the growing realization on my face. “Okay, sure. Magic works that way. It chooses the person, and not the other way around. For some reason, this particular magic chose you. And now someone wants you dead. The way I see it, that can’t possibly be a coincidence. By the way, what are you? You must be a witch of some kind, right?”

  I lift my head proudly. “I’m a veil witch.”

  Cade’s brow furrows. “A veil witch? I thought you guys didn’t even exist.”

  This, from a half-faerie in Silvermist, but I guess eventually I’ll get used to it.

  CHAPTER 9

  We talk for a while longer, but it isn’t long before Melanie announces that the Rowan and Thistle is about to close. Evidently, there’s no last call in Silvermist. Which makes sense, when you think about it. If you need to be reminded to have one more, you probably don’t need it.

  We finish our beers, and Cade gets up to leave.

  Melanie appears in front of us. “Whoa, hang on,” she says, this time staring at Cade rather than me. Behind her, however, Desdemona hovers and glowers in my direction. She even does one of those deals where she points two fingers at her own eyes, and then points them at mine.

  “What’s up?” Cade says, his manner genial.

  Melanie doesn’t quite buy his casual routine, and the feeling I get is that she knows him well. “I told you last time, you only had one more time,” she says. “Meaning, pay up or deal with her.”

  Finally, Desdemona takes her eyes off me and fixes her glare on Cade. She shows her tiny fangs. What this means, I’m not sure, but the suggestion seems to be that the Rowan and Thistle keeps a four-inch tall enforcer on staff.

  Cade pretends not to notice. “Come on, Melanie. You know I’m good for it.”

  Melanie levels him with a flat stare, and then whistles softly. Desdemona swoops in to land on Cade’s shoulder. She starts walking toward his neck, her mouth open wide. Cade winces as tiny high-heeled feet stab into him.

  “Okay, sure,” Cade says. “Tell her to back off.”

  “Show me,” Melanie says.

  Cade wipes the sheen from his forehead, then reaches into his coat pocket. He spreads a gleaming assortment of coins, rings and bracelets onto the bar. They glimmer gold in the flickering candlelight. “Take your pick,” he says.

  In one swift move, Melanie swipes the entire pile into her other palm and shoves it into her apron. She steps back and whistles softly again. Desdemona takes to the air and goes back to hovering behind the bar. Does she set her eyes upon me again? Yes, she does. I’m seriously going to kill Jerome and Bobby.

  “That takes care of half of it,” Melanie says.

  “Half?” Cade says. “Are you freaking kid—”

  “Half, maybe,” Melanie says. “Should I reevaluate? Maybe I didn’t look closely enough.”

  Cade holds his hands up and smiles. “Half is good. We should probably get going now.”

  “Have a good night, sweetie.” Melanie’s smile appears on her lips just as quickly as a scowl took over her face moments ago. The girl is nothing if not emotionally agile. She turns to me and adds, “Nice meeting you, Cassie. Good luck with, well, you know. We’ll be keeping an eye on things.”

  She doesn’t
wait for a response. Instead, she snaps her fingers. On the walls around us, torches flare to life with a blinding glare. Apparently they don’t mess around when it comes to closing time in Silvermist.

  Maybe everyone in the bar is drunk now, or they just got used to me, but I receive fewer stares as we all file out into the night. We get outside and start walking along the sidewalk.

  “What did Melanie mean by that last part?”

  “What last part?”

  I can’t help but notice that Cade doesn’t look over at me. “Seriously?”

  “Sorry, I guess I must have spaced out for a moment. I mean, come on, that ring alone should have taken care of my tab. Granted, it’s been three months, but that thing was full-on Seelie reserve. You could see that at a glance.”

  I have absolutely no idea what he’s talking about. Which, so far, is perfectly in keeping with everything that’s happened tonight.

  “What she said about keeping an eye on things.”

  “Oh, that’s what we do here,” Cade says. “Like I said, Silvermist is a tight community. When someone new comes along, people notice, obviously. I’m sure that’s all she meant.”

  No, I don’t buy that at all, but only a moment passes before Cade points to the sky.

  “Check it out.”

  I look up to see that bright moon again, just as a shadow passes across its surface—a shadow with broad scalloped outstretched wings.

  I break into a cold sweat. “Should we run?”

  Cade shakes his head. “No worries, it’s different here. Dragons aren’t mean by nature. They have to be made that way. A few get rescued and brought to this side. Not enough, definitely. By the way, seeing one is a good omen.”

  I continue staring up until the dragon vanishes into the inky sky where stars glitter like diamonds. We continue to walk, the crowd dispersing through the streets as people continue to laugh and talk. Some, I notice, suddenly vanish, often as groups while holding hands.

  “Rift?” I say.

  “Exactly,” Cade says. “We all know where they are. It’s part of coming here.”

  We walk for a few minutes without talking, along sidewalks that are now mostly empty. Eventually, the obvious occurs to me. “Wait. Why didn’t we just use that rift?”

  “Oh, I just figured we’d head to my place.”

  Huh? I come to an abrupt stop. “Whoa, dude. No offense, but—”

  Cade stops too. “Oh, shit. Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I just figured you wouldn’t want to go back. Not tonight anyway.”

  He has a point, definitely. Somehow, I managed to forget what happened. One of the strange aspects of being a veil witch is not being sure if you can die. There’s a window of time during which we can’t. I’d find that hard to believe, but my sister is living testament to it being true. She absolutely should have died at least twice, and she said she even travelled toward the iconic white light. Each time, though, she got bounced back and her body rapidly repaired itself. What that means is that I can’t be sure if the guy who’d been waiting for me could have killed me. At the same time, getting stabbed wouldn’t feel good. Plus, there are worse things than dying.

  “Where do you live?”

  “Well, I have two places. Silvermist isn’t my full-time home. But I rent a place right there.”

  He points toward a Victorian apartment building on the corner at the end of the street. And it really is the end of the street, as in past that corner I see only darkness. Cade seems to know what I’m thinking.

  “Right,” he says. “The end of the half-realm. Beyond that point Silvermist ceases to exist.”

  “And from there?”

  “From there, Faerie. Which can be handy if you’re in a hurry.”

  “As in you’re being chased,” I say, thinking about that pile of loot he had in his pocket.

  Cade opens the front door, and I follow him into the downstairs hall of the apartment building. “Exactly,” he says. “You know those signs that say, ‘If you lived here, you’d be home already?’ That’s what I was looking for. Plus, the rent’s cheap.”

  He gestures toward an apartment door, which both unlocks with an audible click and swings open. He gestures again and the lights come on inside. Which reminds me of those torches blazing to life at the snap of Melanie’s fingers. Until now, I couldn’t be sure if the bar might be rigged with an especially nifty sensor system.

  “I gather half-bloods have magic,” I say, checking out Cade’s apartment. It’s pretty much what I expected for a guy his age. As we step inside, I see an old sofa and chair that look like they might have been picked up at a garage sale, a bicycle leaning against the wall, a couple of movie posters and a few books scattered about. Evidently, Silvermist has pizza delivery too, since there’s an empty box on the scuffed-up old coffee table. Weirdly, I don’t spot any electronics.

  “Here, we have magic,” Cade says. “The only magic we have in the human realm is the ability to cast glamours. No one knows why, exactly. Maybe it’s some sort of survival mechanism so we don’t stand out. But magic is one of the main reasons we come to Sivermist. Well, that and to be with our own kind. What about you?”

  “What about me?”

  “What made you start crossing over to Faerie? I mean, I’m assuming you must have wanted to.”

  I can’t answer the question. I came because the door opened, as doors do for me. Although, very rarely, are they the doors I want to step through. Those doors keep slamming closed in my face. Or maybe I’m the one slamming them. No, those feelings from earlier haven’t entirely lifted, and I try not to think about Phoenix. Inside, I’m still a mess. Right now, I need to think about Julia. She’s the only one who matters.

  Cade must have a knack for reading me, or people in general. The feeling I get is that it’s the latter. “It’s fine. You don’t know me,” he says, “But from my experience people either cross over to Faerie to steal, or because they’ve had something stolen. Or someone.”

  I fight off the tears I feel suddenly pricking at my eyes. I just don’t know if I should trust him. Still, I say, “Someone.”

  A moment passes while Cade considers. “That’s what I figured. It’s what the fae do. They take people.”

  I drop onto the sofa and run my hand through my hair. “Why?”

  Cade settles into the chair across from me. “Unfortunately, there are lots of reasons. It’s been going on for centuries. Sometimes, they want the person. On that front, let’s just say their motives aren’t pure. Just as often, though, they want a set of eyes in the other realm.”

  His meaning sinks in. “By ‘set of eyes,’ I take it you mean a changeling.”

  Cade nods. “Remember what I said about how humans shouldn’t be able to travel between realms? That goes for the fae too. They’re locked in.”

  I sit up straighter. “As in, they can’t leave Faerie?”

  “Ever since they were outcast. And, believe me, they’re not happy about it. In fact, they’ve been pissed off for a very long time. The only way they can observe what’s happening in the human realm—and the only way they can have any influence—is through changelings. Lately, it seems like more and more have been popping up. Have you noticed that?”

  Again, I hesitate. I only just met the guy. On the other hand, there’s been no one else to talk to, and definitely no one who’d have any answers. “Yeah, I’ve noticed. Is it happening everywhere?”

  Part of me almost hopes that’s the case, that the sudden changeling infestation is widespread. I hate to think what it might mean otherwise.

  Cade shrugs. “Hard to be sure, but it’s definitely happening in Richmond. The feeling I get is that they’ve been looking for something.”

  I have a hard time maintaining eye contact, since the feeling I got from Grayson was that the something might be me. If what Cade says is true, that other humans can’t come and go from their realm, I guess that might factor in. How, though, I can’t imagine. Why would it even matter? Obviously, Cade
and his kind can visit Faerie.

  Then something else occurs to me, sending a chill down my spine. “What about here in Silvermist? Are there changelings here?”

  Thankfully, Cade shakes his head, relief rippling through me. “No. This realm is for half-bloods only.” He hesitates and adds, “Well, until now, anyway.”

  My mind reels, as other questions keep coming at me. If humans can’t visit Faerie, and the fae can’t leave, how do half-bloods happen? How did the fae get locked out of our realm to begin with? Who was trying to kill me, and why is Cade helping me? At the same time, the exhaustion I felt earlier now comes back with a vengeance. I’m fading fast. Right now, I’m too tired to deal and I suppose I’ll get my answers sooner or later.

  Cade too suddenly yawns, stretching as he gets up. He leaves the room and comes back with a blanket and pillow. “Yeah, it’s late,” he says. “We should get some sleep. By the way, if you hear something outside, it’s probably just the hellhound. I’ll deal with him in the morning.”

  CHAPTER 10

  I’m not sure how long I sleep, but I definitely sleep hard. When I first wake up, I have no idea where I am. Then it comes back to me. Right, I’m in Silvermist, at Cade’s place. Why I feel so mellow about that, I’m not entirely sure. Not what I expected from crashing on a stranger’s couch in some sort of half realm, but okay. I guess it’s not surprising. After all, yesterday held a few tiring twists and turns, almost being murdered at the top of the list.

  At the same time, I feel weirdly relaxed, and I even consider closing my eyes again. I have to force myself to sit up and stretch. Once again, I wonder what it is about this place that makes me feel so comfortable. If anything, I should be freaking out right now. I don’t even know where I am, really. Not to mention, how I could get—

  Suddenly, I jump up and grab my phone from the coffee table. Shit! I told Autumn I’d let her know when I got home last night. Yes, she noticed me being tired and out of sorts, and we’d also been drinking. I fire off a text, and immediately learn that I have no service. Oh, come on. Silvermist has bars and pizza delivery. Could they really have no cell towers?