As I entered my office, my personal phone rang. I kept the ringtones on my work phone distinctly separate from those of my personal cell, so that I immediately knew which one to answer. I glanced at the caller ID screen and a smile flickered across my lips.
“Hey, Raven. What’s up?”
Raven BoneTalker was one of the Ante-Fae who had started out a client and become a friend. Not only was she Ante-Fae, but she was also a bone witch, which meant she dealt with spirits and death and other delightful subjects like that. Unlike most of the Ante-Fae, she actually interacted with both members of the SubCult and humans alike.
“Yo, Ember. I wondered if you and Angel could come hang out Saturday night. I have a favor to ask you guys, but I want to do it in person. I’ll make spaghetti, if you want to bring the wine.” Her voice was husky, smooth in a lounge singer sort of way.
I pulled out my calendar and glanced at the week. “I’m good. I think Angel’s free, but you might want to call her. I’d love to stay and chat, but I have interviews to conduct, and I need to get a move on.”
“Pencil me in, then. I’ll call Angel. See you later, babe.” Raven signed off, again with a tinkle of laughter, one I was glad to hear. She had lost her fiancé to a killer recently, and she hadn’t smiled or laughed all that much since we had known her.
I slid into my chair and brought up the Pages Directory, which gave address listings for everybody in the general vicinity. It was a little tool that Yutani had created, mashing up data from several sites that he had managed to hack into. It gave us a leg up, and as long as nobody realized that we were using it, we couldn’t be accused of stealing data. Herne had no problem with the little hacks that Yutani pulled together—they helped us solve cases, and we never disseminated the private information we had at our fingertips.
I typed in Amanda Skellig’s name and sure enough, her address popped up. Then, realizing that we had forgotten to ask for her mother’s name, I called her—making sure I used my work phone. Herne was very strict about keeping our private lives out of the cases as much as possible.
“Amanda, we’d like to come over and talk to you this afternoon. I also need your mother’s name and contact information.”
“Let me text you her number. Her name is Molly Skellig.” She sounded sleepy.
“Did I wake you? I’m sorry.”
“Not a problem. I slept for an hour or so, but I need to take a bath and then try to eat something. I’m not hungry, but I get low blood sugar episodes if I don’t eat regularly.” She sounded so forlorn that it felt like a punch to the gut.
“Do you mind if my coworker and I come over?” We needed to talk to her but I wanted it to be her idea, so we wouldn’t feel like intruders.
“No, please, anything to help. Herne said you’d need to.” She paused, then added, “The house is a mess. I haven’t done anything since…”
“That’s fine. Don’t worry about it. We’ll be there within the hour. Meanwhile, you eat something and make some tea for yourself.”
After I finished texting the names, numbers, and addresses of Amanda and Molly to Yutani, I made sure I had everything I would need for the afternoon. Phone, tablet, notebook, it all went into my tote bag. For a while, I had carried everything in my purse, but it made it hard to dig through to find my wallet or brush or anything else I needed, so I had bought an all-weather tote with black polka dots on a cobalt blue background. I had come to love it.
By the time I was ready, Yutani peeked into my office. “Good to go?”
I nodded. “Come on. I’m driving.”
We waved at Angel as we headed toward the elevator.
“I’ll be back to pick you up when I’m done,” I called to her. We had driven into work together that morning.
“Don’t you dare forget me, or I’ll go on strike in the kitchen!” Angel shouted after me. She was my roommate as well as my best friend.
“Trust me, with that threat, you know I’m not about to forget.” As the elevator doors closed, I shook my head, thinking it seemed like forever since we had started working for the Wild Hunt, even though it had only been about six months.
So, I’m Ember Kearney, and I’m thirty years old.
To others in the Fae Courts, I’m generally known as a tralaeth—an epithet meaning half-breed, and usually followed by some oh so witty adjective like slut, or bitch. I’ve reclaimed the term and wear it as a badge of honor in memory of my parents’ love. Neither gave a fuck about proper custom when they fell in love—my mother from the Light Court and my father from the Dark Court. All they knew was they wanted to spend their lives together and they weren’t going to let anybody stop them.
And nobody did. At least not for sixteen years. At age fifteen, I came home one day to find them murdered, blood everywhere on the floor. They had been stabbed multiple times—talk about overkill. My paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother had been responsible for sending the assassins after them, which I had suspected, but only found out for sure this year. They would have killed me if I had been there, that much I also knew.
So I moved in with my best friend, Angel, and her mother—Mama J. I left three years later, and Angel followed me to college where we roomed again, but she had to drop out to get a job and help out at home.
Now, Mama J. was dead. About eighteen months ago, a drunk driver had slammed into her, leaving Angel and her little brother DJ orphaned. Angel took care of DJ as best as she could for a while, but now he was living with a foster family, and Angel had once again become my roommate.
Until this past May, Angel had worked at a dead-end job, while I worked as a freelance investigator, solving problems for the SubCult. I went after sub-Fae who were causing havoc—like goblins raiding hen houses, and so forth. There were a lot of sub-Fae skulking around Seattle, though they weren’t officially allowed within city limits. But the laws weren’t enforced and there were a lot of places to hide, so they managed to eke out a living through petty thievery and pilfering from the urban farmers who lived around the area.
Then DJ went missing, and Angel called me, begging me to find him. That had led to meeting Herne, and that led to both Angel and me working for the Wild Hunt. And that’s when I ended up as a god’s girlfriend. A convoluted story, but that’s life for you. At least we can say our lives aren’t boring. Although sometimes, boring would be a nice change of pace.
Yutani rode shotgun as I eased out of the parking garage and we headed for the West Seattle area to talk to Amanda. Over the years, the area had gone from a gangsta neighborhood to the shifter-suburbs. Oh, the houses were still somewhat rundown, and there was a lot of petty crime, but the hoods had moved out of the hood, so to speak, and West Seattle now mostly housed low-to moderate-income shifters and their families.
“You think we’re going to find this girl?” Yutani asked.
As I eased the car to a crawl, I stared out the window at the reminder signs to slow down near schools. Recess appeared to be in session at an elementary school as we passed by, with children running around on the playground. The kids all looked so young, and so fragile.
“I don’t know. I really don’t. I don’t want to even speculate on it, because I don’t want my mind going into the dark places I know exist out there. I can tell you this. Amanda’s devastated. Angel felt the fear and heartache rolling off her, and I could smell it. Wolf pheromones,” I said, giving him a grin. “You have them too, but they’re slightly different given you’re a coyote shifter, and you control yours better than any other shifter I’ve met. How do you manage that?”
“I had to learn early, given my childhood and upbringing. To say I was unwelcome among my village is an understatement.” He pressed his lips together, glancing at the house numbers. When we arrived at Amanda’s house, I eased into the driveway.
“I guess we’d better go in. I’m not looking forward to it. I don’t deal well with crying women. I never know what to do or say.”
“Sometimes, saying ‘I’m sorry’ is the best you can do.�
�� I unbuckled my seat belt. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to interviewing victims and their families. It’s all so raw.”
“You never will, if you’re lucky. Get too used to this and you lose your heart. The only thing you can hope for is to be able to put on a mask when you’re talking to them, because the last thing they need is your pain on top of theirs.” With that, he headed up the sidewalk and I followed along behind.
Chapter Three
If Amanda’s home was cluttered by her standards, I wondered what she considered spotless. Oh, there were a few piles of clutter here and there—toys and books, an unfinished knitting project in a basket next to the recliner. But there was no sign of dirt or squalor anywhere.
As Yutani and I sat down at the kitchen table, she carried in a tray holding a teapot, cups and saucers, and a sugar bowl and creamer.
“Would you like a cup of tea?” she asked.
I nodded. I didn’t like tea all that much, but by accepting, it would put her at ease. Yutani also accepted a cup. I could smell the lavender wafting off the dark brew.
“I’m glad you got some sleep,” I said, breathing in the floral scented steam from the teacup. Behind the notes of lavender were the subtle fragrances of lemon, and the smell of the tea itself. “Have you talked to a doctor who might be able to give you an aid to help you rest?”
Amanda shook her head. “I keep thinking, if I fall asleep, I’m betraying her. Because what kind of a mother can sleep when her baby is missing?” The pain in her voice was palpable.
“You need to be clear headed to help her. You can’t help her if you’re exhausted and foggy.” I leaned forward, shaking my head. “Promise me you’ll talk to your doctor about this?”
She sniffed, wiping her eyes again. “All right.”
Yutani cleared his throat. “What we’d like to do is go over this list of people who’ve been in your house lately, and talk to you about them. The list you gave to Angel. We’d also like to look in Eleanor’s room, just in case there’s anything there that either you or the police missed.”
“That’s fine. I want my daughter back. I’ll help in whatever way I can.” Amanda rubbed her brow, propping her head in her hands as she leaned her elbows on the table. “Lani is the only thing that makes my life worth living.”
I glanced around. There were the usual pictures on the walls—a few landscape paintings, which shifters had a tendency to like, family photos, a wedding photo showing a beaming Amanda with a handsome young man who had his arms around her.
Yutani handed me a copy of the list. “So, your mother and cousin are here a lot?”
Amanda nodded. “They both help me with Lani. Alberta is the same age as I am, and she has two children. We get them together for play dates.”
I skimmed over the list. It was pretty standard. Relatives, a couple friends. “The cable repairman was here? Did he have a badge with him?”
Amanda nodded. “I always check for badges. He was legit, or if he wasn’t, his badge sure looked it. He fixed the cable without saying much. I remember his name was Chris…something. He was tall and thin, with short, dark hair and he wore glasses with round lenses. He seemed nice, and Lani wasn’t home when he arrived. She was at my cousin’s on a play date. We exchange play dates so that we each get a little free time. She’s a single mother, too.”
“Did he say anything about…oh, your family pictures?” I pointed to the pictures of Eleanor that littered the coffee table.
She thought for a moment, then shook her head. “No, he didn’t. He just told me that the cable box had given out and replaced it.”
I went back to the list. There didn’t seem to be anybody else who might be suspicious on it. Amanda apparently either didn’t have many friends, or she didn’t entertain much.
“What about your friends? Are they old friends? Long term, I mean?” Yutani asked.
“Suze has been my friend since we were little, and Tawny, I’ve known for about seven months. I met her in…” She paused, pressing her lips together.
Both Yutani and I frowned, watching her.
“Yes?” Yutani said.
Amanda hesitated another moment, then let out a deep sigh. “Please don’t tell her I told you this—we’re not supposed to give out private information. I met Tawny at AN.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“AlkaNon, a group for recovering alcoholics,” Yutani said.
Amanda nodded. “He’s right. Tawny and I are support buddies. You know, when we feel the urge to drink, we call each other and talk each other down from the cravings. Things like that.”
Yutani glanced at me, and I knew his expressions well enough to read that he wanted me to take over the questioning. I might be a tad too direct at times, but Yutani could be downright rude without meaning to and he fully acknowledged the tendency.
“So you’re…” I wasn’t sure how to put it without sounding rude.
“Yeah, I’m an alcoholic. I always liked my wine, probably too much. But I had it under control until Ken died. The day I got the news he had been killed, though, everything spiraled. I began to sneak-drink. I just wanted to forget. Before long, I was drinking from the moment I woke up until I went to bed. My business was starting to suffer.”
“What made you stop?”
She shrugged. “My mother. She stepped in and slapped me silly. She got it through my head that I was putting my daughter in danger. And then she told me she would take Lani away if I didn’t shape up. That day, I joined AN and started going to the meetings. I quit drinking. I’ve been sober for six months as of last week. You don’t know what it’s taking for me to steer clear of the booze right now. Tawny’s coming over this afternoon. She’ll stay with me for a few days.” Amanda covered her face. “I’m so embarrassed. But I wasn’t drunk when Lani was abducted—I promise you, I was sober.”
“I believe you.” I glanced around. “May we take a look around, especially in Lani’s room?”
Amanda nodded, leading us down the hall to a room fit for any little princess. It was painted purple and blue. The bed looked slept in and I glanced back at Amanda, who was leaning against the door.
“I took a nap in her bed. I can smell her on the covers, and it makes me feel closer to her.” Her voice held a hollow ache.
Yutani and I sorted through the room, looking through the toys. There didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary, and each item we asked about, either Amanda or her mother had bought for Eleanor. There was nothing hidden under the bed, or in the closet. Just the toys and clothes of a very small girl, lost in a very big world.
“Thank you. We appreciate your help. Please remember, you need to sleep. When Tawny gets here, she can keep watch for you while you rest,” I added.
Amanda nodded as she saw us out the door, whispering a “Thank you” that I could barely hear.
Back in the car, I turned to Yutani. “What do you think?”
“I think she’s spiraling down, and I hope to hell we can find her kid or she’s going to bottom out. I’ve seen it a dozen times.” He pulled out his phone. “Her mother lives about ten minutes from here.”
The visit to Molly Skellig wasn’t very helpful. The woman was obviously a matriarch of the Pack, but she was also friendly. She, too, was broken-hearted. She didn’t say much about her husband, but I got the distinct impression he was a quiet man who was more interested in his work than his family. But we were able to confirm everything Amanda had told us.
On the way back to the office, Yutani said, “Amanda isn’t the first person to be sucked into an alcoholic spiral by grief. I saw it a lot through my travels around the country, especially among my people. The reservations took a high toll. They’re a little better now, but it took a lot of work to get them out of the dark hole from which they were first conceived.”
“The Fae aren’t as affected by alcohol as shifters or humans. Rather, we aren’t pulled into the addiction as easy. But among my people, both Courts, there is a predilectio
n toward addiction of certain drugs.”
After a few moments, Yutani heaved out a sigh. “I don’t know if Herne told you, but a dozen years ago or so, I had a close call. I had been working for the Wild Hunt for about thirty years when I ended up in a really bad relationship. I don’t want to talk about it, but after she left me, I went off the rails. I left the agency and ended up living in a tent city. I started hitting the bottle. While I never quite made it to the point of being an alcoholic, I was coming close. I have Herne to thank for pulling me out of it. He tracked me down and dragged me back to his place. He sobered me up, made me talk to a counselor and get my shit straight. Then I came back to work. Now, I’ll drink a bottle of beer or a glass of wine, but I limit it. I also avoid hard liquor.”
I cleared my throat. Viktor had actually been the one to tell me, so I could honestly say, “Herne never said a word to me about that.” I wasn’t sure whether to thank him for trusting me with the information, or just let it rest.
“I understand Amanda’s grief, though mine came on from other causes. That’s why my aunt Celia comes up once a year. She loves me, yes, but she comes to make sure I’m still walking the talk. She practically worships Herne for helping me. Which, I suppose, makes sense since he’s a god.” He let out a sigh. “The rest of my family turned their back on me when I accidentally burned down the village. They sent me away and not one of them has ever contacted me. It’s not easy to carry memories like that around.”
I nodded. Yutani seldom opened up. I felt almost like he was talking to a sounding board, and if I said something he’d fall into silence again.
He glanced at me as I changed lanes, into a turn lane, then came to a stop at a red light. “I notice things. You’ve never asked about my life, though you talk to Viktor quite openly.”
I licked my lips, turning left when the light changed. “You seem very…reticent. And I’m not one to pry unless it’s necessary. I try to respect boundaries.”
The Hallowed Hunt Page 4