“Nothing, I’m just getting a weird feeling about all this,” Fox said as she sat down on an empty computer chair. “I mean Yanka was the scariest bitch to ever walk the Earth and was a world of trouble when she did. Maybe we are doing the wrong thing.”
“I don’t know what is going to happen, but either way we can’t let the Illumination keep torturing her. They are supposed to be the ones that help stop this kind of thing from happening.”
“They tricked the world into her believing she was dead, maybe it was for our own good. I think this obsession of the Álfr isn’t going to bode well for any of us,” Fox said as her frowned deepened. “That’s another thing. I have been doing some checking and there is barely anything relating to Álfr still walking the Earth. How can they keep it such a big secret? I mean they are freaking Álfr. Vampires, werewolves, witches and shifters I can believe easily. They have a ridiculous amount of lore on them to back them up. These Álfr have nothing. Nothing solid.”
“What about all the stories and legends of the Faerie? Such things don’t just come about. For whatever reasons, they have pulled themselves back from the world. The good news is that you’ll have a chance to ask one as many questions as you like,” Harley smiled big and white to try to cheer her up. Fox scowled.
“He isn’t going to let me in on any of their secrets. They have hidden themselves for a reason.”
“You never know. Isabelle said he is approachable.”
“How would they know it isn’t some Álfr trick?”
“Give him a chance, Foxy. You would be crazy not to. You’ll never get another opportunity to talk to a real full blown Álfr.”
“I thought I had no more surprises like this, Harley. I thought nothing could pop up and really surprise me.” Harley went back to the fridge and pulled out some beers. She handed one to Fox.
“Here, I think you need this more than Red Bull. Have you been sleeping at all?” Fox swigged silently from her beer. “I take that as a very solid no. I’m going to make you hang out with me tonight. I’m going over to Mama’s and you are coming. She has been asking after you again. She knows when you’re not sleeping.”
“Tell her to stop peering into her gumbo on my behalf.”
“You know it doesn’t work like that. She is going to baby you because you need it.”
“Is Blue Jay coming?”
“No, girl’s night.”
“I don’t want to be messing with your love life.”
“Nothing has really changed,” Harley said thoughtfully. “He doesn’t demand anything of me, least of all my time.”
“Have you guys…?”
Harley blushed awkwardly. They hadn’t really gone much further than the night they were left at the shop. They didn’t really talk about it.
“I take it from your resonating silence that you haven’t.”
“It’s complicated.” Harley spared a glance over to where Blue Jay was assembling an engine. He was sweaty and dirty, the way she liked it. As if sensing that he was being watched he glanced over his shoulder and grinned at them.
“Well, that’s decided it. You are a lesbian,” Fox teased. “If a man that gorgeous grinned at me like that it would be on.”
“It’s a bit different for us. I don’t want him to feel like a dirty uncle or something.”
“Does it make you feel like that when you kiss him?” Fox asked bluntly.
“No, it doesn’t. It feels almost too natural. Like it should be wrong that my lady parts are tingling.” Fox laughed big and loud and Harley breathed a sigh of relief. Fox could fall deep into the dark at times and Harley tried to keep an eye to make sure she always came out of it. She was glad they were going to Mama Lya’s. It would be a good thing to get some space from Blue Jay and try to think how next to proceed.
“You girls might as well go. I will close up,” Blue Jay said as he finally joined them. “Besides, if you sit around here any longer you will both be too drunk to drive.”
“That is a very valid point. I will meet you outside, Harls.” Fox walked out of the shop whistling a very high-pitch irritating tune. The way Fox could whistle made you want to tear your ears off.
“What’s that about?” Blue Jay asked as they watched her go.
“Nothing, she is teasing me,” Harley said as she walked towards her office. She saw Blue Jay following. When he reached the door, she pulled him inside and wrapped her arms around his neck before kissing him. No creepy uncle feeling? Check. Tingling in her lady parts? Double check. All was still right in the world.
“What did I do to deserve that?” he asked.
“Nothing, I’m going to Mama’s tonight and I wanted to give you a goodnight kiss.”
“You’re such a tease.”
“Yeah, I know. What can you do?” Blue Jay pushed her up against a wall, smearing it with the grease that was on the back of her shorts and kissed with as much fervour as he pressed tightly against her.
“I can do that.”
“And you say I’m the tease.”
Blue Jay’s eyes were a deep melting blue as he looked down at her. “I guess carrying you upstairs like a cave man would be out of the question?”
“Right now? Yes. I have to get going and you have a shop to close.”
“You are a mean boss.”
“I am. Think about how good the perks are.”
“Such as death by the Illumination or the Darkness or The Conseil Neutres, death by flying tools or death by scary grandmother who will kill me and torture my soul for all eternity if I do wrong by her granddaughter? Are you talking about those kind of perks?”
“You’re welcome to leave.”
“Oh, am I now? Is that what you like me to do?”
“Could you shut the shop first?”
“You can be a real shit.” He pulled her close again and kissed her softly under her ear. “Go and have fun with Fox or I will change my mind about the cave man move.”
Harley climbed into the drivers’ seat five minutes later. Fox was sitting in the passenger seat watching her.
“That is a shit eating grin if I ever saw one. I hope you’re playing nice.”
“Depends what you call nice.”
“You are such a brat.”
“He loves it.”
“He’s got no choice.”
“Very true.”
Mama Lya knew they were coming and she had cold beer poured in frosted glasses. She stood waiting for them on the porch in a simple white cotton dress and a hibiscus flower pinned in her white hair.
“I’m so glad that you decided to come visit me, Miss Fox,” she greeted. “Sitting in front of computers all day is gonna rot your mind and your soul.”
“It’s a good thing I haven’t got much of either.” Fox kissed her brown cheek.
“Don’t you get snippy with me, girl. You ain’t quick enough to get away from me yet.”
“Aww, Mama, don’t pick on her,” Harley said as she gathered her in a fierce hug. Mama Lya was smiling when they pulled apart.
“I see you have taken my advice with Blue Jay. I can smell him on you.”
“Don’t start, Mama, we are taking things slow. Letting things happen naturally.” Mama Lya gave her a long, disbelieving stare.
“You wasting time doing that,” Mama said. Harley rolled her eyes and walked inside. She inhaled the scents of her childhood as she moved through the house on her way to the kitchen. She could smell the oil used on the furniture, beeswax candles, flowers, fresh linen and spices. Some would probably question being brought up by a voodoo practicing grandmother, even a well-respected one, but not Harley. She had had the most interesting of childhoods. Some kids grew up being afraid of the things in the dark. Harley grew up casting the things in dark out of the house so she could go back to sleep. Mama Lya had taught her not to be afraid.
She had helped find the ones responsible when Harley was ready to take her revenge on her father’s killer. Isabelle had sought her out afterward and helped to te
ach her in the things she needed to know about killing supernaturals.
“What did you make me for dinner?” Harley asked as she reached the warm kitchen.
“Nothing in here. Come on, I set it outside.” They kept walking out the back kitchen door and into the garden. Mama’s white timber table setting had been set up under the trees. As per usual, she had made enough food to feed a small army. There were red beans with pork and rice, cornbread, fruit and sweet potato pie. They were all of Harley’s favourite Friday night food.
“I wanna see your plate piled extra high, Miss Fox,” Mama Lya said in a voice that you really shouldn’t try to argue with.
“Are you trying to fatten me up or something?” Fox said as she reached for the cornbread.
“Lord knows you need it. Men don’t like skinny women. They may say they do but they’re lying.”
“What is it with you and playing matchmaker all of a sudden?” Harley asked with her mouth full.
“What’s so wrong with wanting to see my girls happy?”
“Who’s to say we are not happy without men?” retorted Harley. She looked at Fox to back her up. Fox put food in her mouth quickly. She knew better than to get in an argument with Mama Lya.
“Honey child, if I had to choose between going to bed with Blue Jay or going to bed by myself, I know which one I would choose. Hoo-ee!” Mama Lya cackled. Harley blushed and hated it. Fox laughed as loudly as Mama Lya did.
“Isabelle is turning up in the next few days,” Harley changed the subject. “She is bringing the whole tribe with her.”
“Yanka’s granddaughter too?” Mama asked thoughtfully.
“Anya will be there. It’s gonna be nice to put names to faces,” said Harley. “There will be a lot of them.”
“They are even bringing a token Álfr.” Fox grunted as she drank her beer. Mama Lya stopped chewing.
“Are you playing with me?” she asked sharply.
“Nope, his name is Aramis.” Mama Lya was starting to look angry.
“I can’t find anything about them. I didn’t even know they existed,” Fox continued, the bitter edge back in her voice.
“That’s because they aren’t meant to be here,” Mama Lya said coldly.
“What do you know about them?”
“I know that you girls will be in shit up to your eye balls if you get involved with them. I thought you getting messed up with Isabelle was bad enough. If I knew an Álfr was involved I would’ve stopped the whole thing!”
“If Isabelle trusts him then that’s good enough for me,” Harley said stubbornly. Mama Lya sipped her rum.
“What else do you know?” Fox asked hopefully.
“That you need to shut up and start eating,” snapped Mama.
Mama Lya was more than angry about the Álfr. She was scared. She had pretended to ignore the girls and they eventually cleared up the dishes and went inside to watch a movie. Mama still sat under the trees, drinking her rum quietly. Álfr were bad, bad business. Her own mother had told about the shining ones and warned her to stay away from them. To run the opposite way. That they wouldn’t try to steal your soul because you would just give it to them.
The sun was setting and the garden was growing long with shadows. Mama Lya got up and walked through the garden, her bottle of rum tucked under one arm. In the far corner of the garden, surrounded by trees was where her altar was tucked away.
There were candles, pictures, and statues of saints, offerings of fruit and flowers, cigars and rum. Mama poured what was left of her bottle over it. She reached for a large jar and tipped out a layer of cornmeal. Sticking her finger in the cornmeal, she traced the vever for Papa Legba. He was a keeper of the keys to the spirit world and she needed some guidance.
She had wanted a vision, something to show her what they were going to be in for in the next few months and if the Álfr was going to be any trouble.
What she got was a vision of a man. He was dressed all in black, running from demons. They slit up his back and then there was a woman trying to help him, standing in between him and all the hordes of hell, protecting him.
Mama Lya woke frightened and alone on the damp grass. She didn’t know how long she had been there. Her body was aching and she cursed old age. Her head was pounding. She managed to get to her feet and hobble to the house. She could hear the girls laughing. The sound helped ground her a little more.
Mama Lya got a large glass of water and some aspirin. She was feeling shaky from the power that had touched her. It was something she hadn’t experienced in a very long time. She sat down on one of the stools at the bench, picked up the phone and dialled a number. She looked around as it rang, watching out for Harley or Fox on a trip to the fridge. A gravelly voice answered on the other end of the line.
“Abélard,” Mama Lya sighed with relief. She was worried he might have been away and she would’ve had to deal with what she knew all by herself.
“What’s wrong, cher? You sound upset.”
“I am. I had a vision and it’s…” Mama Lya broke off. She was supposed to be unshakable.
“What’d you see?”
Mama Lya took a deep breath. Out of anyone in the whole world, Abélard would understand. “Demons.”
Harley woke to the smell of frying bacon and hot coffee. Both were the best smells in the world to wake up to. She climbed out of bed and went downstairs to the kitchen where a thin, elegant looking black man sat at the table.
“Abélard!” she jumped in surprise.
“Hey there, Miss Harley, you get over here and give an old man a kiss,” he demanded. He had a deep husky voice that was warm and welcome. He hadn’t changed since she was a little girl. He still had a pencil thin white moustache and not a hair on his head. He wore a light summer button up shirt and smelt of aftershave and the thin black cigars he smoked.
“It’s been too long between visits,” Harley said as she placed a loud kiss on his cheek. She felt a slight ripple of power under his skin.
“Your grandma was kind enough to offer me some breakfast so how could I refuse?” Harley sat down next to him and Mama Lya placed a plate in front her loaded with bacon, eggs, fried ham and tomatoes.
“I take it Fox isn’t awake yet,” Mama Lya commented as she put three steaming mugs of black coffee on the table.
“She is still snoring her head off. I could hear her through the wall.”
“Good! That girl needs some rest. She tired body and soul.” Harley was smiling at Abélard. She had missed him and his classy, gentleman-like manners. She had never seen him out of well-pressed dress pants and button up shirt. At Mardi Gras time, he often dressed as the Baron in top hat, tails and shiny cane, his face painted as a skull. He ran an antique bookshop and sold fake voodoo charms and wares to the tourists and real voodoo to the people who knew what they were getting into.
“I’m surprised to see you out of the blue like this, Abé. I’m glad about it though.”
“You know when Lya calls I gotta come,” he chuckled as he lit one of his thin black cigars. Mama had enough foresight to place a crystal ashtray in front of him.
“You don’t gotta come, you know that life will be easier if you do.” Abélard laughed and flashed his straight white teeth.
“Oh, I know it is. You’re heading off to work today?”
“Soon as I have finished eating. I got two bikes to finish before I can go gallivanting around with Isabelle.”
“And the business is good then? Lya told me about the attack on the place. Bastards are getting quite bold aren’t they?”
“They won’t be for long. Isabelle is coming and she is bringing some very trigger-happy friends. Katya will want to hunt while she is here and I think they were going to try to bring another hunter from Budapest. He is freakishly good at killing demons.”
“You never told me that,” Mama Lya commented as she sipped her coffee.
“I forgot about it in the excitement. They were unsure on whether he would come or not. His name’
s Mychal and he is really anti-social. He’s friends with Aleksandra.” Mama Lya and Abélard shared a look. It happened so quickly that Harley almost didn’t believe it happened.
“What now?” she said exasperated.
“Nothing, I’m curious to meet a proper demon hunter. There is few left in the world. Let’s have a barbecue for everyone when they get here. I wanna meet all these people you keep talking about,” Mama Lya said, “and that Miss Isabelle owes me visit.” Harley chewed up the last piece of her bacon, and then got up to put the plate in the sink.
“That sounds like a good idea. I have to go. Tell Fox when she wakes up not to come in. Keep her here. Make her rest.” Harley wrapped her arms around Abélard’s shoulders and kissed his cheek. “You come to the barbecue too.”
“I’ll be there. Like I said before, I know better than to say no to you women.”
Mama Lya turned to Abélard as soon as the sounds of Harley’s truck had left the street.
“You thinking it might be the man you saw in the vision?” he asked her.
“I don’t know. She said he killed demons and was good at it. I don’t know anyone dumb enough to try that, let alone live long enough to get good at it.”
“If he has been anything like the others before him he will have no idea who he is. We should tell him, Lya.”
“That is if he even comes to New Orleans. Having something like that in the city is going to stir up trouble.”
“He will be in more trouble not knowing who he is. You said in your vision he had already been bloodied up by demons.”
“I want to know who the woman is,” Mama Lya said as she poured them more coffee.
“There is always a woman in this story,” Abélard pointed out.
“I don’t really know much about it. That’s why I called you. I remember you telling me stories about it when we were young. I thought you were making it up except for that vision I had. It scared the bejesus out of me.”
“You sounded pretty shook up.”
“I remember drawing the vever for Legba. I was hit with that vision like a ton of bricks.”
“The only thing we can do is wait to see if he shows up.”
Ashes of the Firebird (The Firebird Fairytales Book 2) Page 25