Death Rite Genie: An Urban Fantasy Folly

by AE McKenna

  The fae and Hun-Hunahpu spoke in that lyrical language once more. I didn’t care. Mal still held me in his arms; his heartbeat slowed down one thump at a time, and mine matched his. Mom approached us, her face a mask of confusion, fear, and delight, then she surprised us both by wrapping her arms around us.

  “Wow, honeybee, you always manage to amaze me,” Mom whispered.

  I shrugged a little. How else was I supposed to respond to that? My feelings toward her were mixed, a little muddied, and under-proofed.

  “Are those people from the bureau?” I unscrewed the bottle and took a large gulp of ice-cold water. I’d never tasted anything so good. Then held the bottle to my forehead. I leaned against him, my legs as weak as a kitten’s.

  Mal released a long breath. He shifted his arms to wrap one firmly around my shoulders, keeping me upright. “Yes, they’re from the bureau.” He shot Mom an unreadable look.

  Her face pinched in the way that she was trying to appear bright and open, but she was holding something back. Dark, warm brown eyes that almost always seem to laugh were sad. “Honeybee, I’m sorry.”

  “This can’t be good,” I muttered.

  Mal squeezed my shoulder. “Play nice.”

  Mom waved her hand. “It’s okay. I do have a track record, don’t I?”

  I exchanged glances with Mal, then watched Mom.

  She peeked over her shoulder, licked her lips, and tucked sweat-damp hair behind my ear. “I’m turning myself in.”

  I blinked. “What? No. Mama, I need you.”

  “Oh, honeybee.” She hugged me. “You need me to stay away from you. I’m not… good for you. Not right now.”

  I clutched her tighter. I couldn’t deny that either. “But I love you.”

  “I love you, too. I promise, this will… Smoke and mirrors, I don’t know what will happen, but maybe this is for the best, you know?” She pulled back and wiped her cheeks. “I was willing to raise your father, something he wouldn’t have been happy about.”

  “You have a point.”

  Mal wrapped an arm around my shoulders again. “She said she’ll only go in if I arrested her.”

  My heart dropped. I angled toward him. He seemed upset, worried, and not at all pleased with himself. “Why?”

  Mom grabbed my free hand. “Because he’ll make sure I’m safe.”

  I faced him, searching his eyes. “Really?”

  He nodded. “Really.”

  “Agent Tanaka!” the white-haired djinni yelled. “Come away from there.”

  We picked our way across the root bridge. As soon as we cleared it, Hun-Hunahpu waved his hand, and the tree melted into the lava.

  “Tanaka. What are you doing here? You are on personal leave.” The man narrowed his eyes. “Are you the reason the ancient was woken?”

  “No,” Mal said. “I was pursuing Penny Avalon.”

  Mom trilled her fingers.

  “Arrest her!” the man shouted shrilly.

  A few djinnis started forward.

  “I’ve already been arrested by Tanaka.” Mom shrugged. “Really, boys, I’m only going in with him.”

  The man’s lips compressed into a line. “Very well.” He glared at me. “And her? Who is she? What happened to her face?”

  I covered my eye, getting my first taste of a question I was sure to be asked a lot.

  “Whoa, whoa.” Mal waved his arms, nudging me behind him. “She’s my girlfriend. She has nothing to do with this. She was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  “The melltith deliwr will assist my endeavors of weighing the Iron Realm. Leave her to her task,” Hun-Hunahpu said. “I will observe the fearann dùthchasach from this place you call the Lantern.”

  The fae and djinnis all paled as one and stiffly faced the ancient.

  “You wish to stay within the Lantern?” the fae asked. “I am certain that one of your descendants would welcome you in their ménage, ancient. You need not sully yourself in the fifth court.”

  “Ew.” Hun-Hunahpu winked at me, then hefted his broad shoulders. “No.”

  I scowled.

  “V-very well. The Fae bureau of Investigation headquarters will happily accommodate you.” He turned back to Mal and wiggled his fingers at Mom. “Whenever you’re ready, Agent Tanaka.”

  Mom and I stared at each other. I wanted to hug her, and I was pretty sure she did too. But it’d be suspicious to the fae and djinnis here, and I didn’t want them looking too closely at me.

  “Good luck, Lucy.” Mom lowered her voice further. “I’m proud of you.”

  Mal bound Mom’s hands behind her back. Then he met my eyes, his expression questioning.

  “Call me when you get back.” I lifted my fist.

  He bumped mine with his. “I promise.”

  The fae opened portals and I watched djinnis and fae leave through them. Mal ushered Mom ahead of him. They both took one last look at me before they crossed over. I wouldn’t leave that way. I’d hitch a ride in the clouds. Hun-Hunahpu seemed to understand that I was waiting.

  “Melltith deliwr, do not dawdle here. Time passes much slower in this place, and you owe me the Mayan codices.”

  I nodded. “Understood. Hey—what does that mean? ‘Melltith deliwr?’”

  “My codices.” Hun-Hunahpu stepped through the portal.

  “Of course, don’t answer my question. That’s fine. Sure. Great to do business with you.” I kicked a rock, and my bottle popped into my hands. “What a jerk, right, Diane?”

  The compass popped into my hand.

  “Okay, okay. I get the point. Let’s go.”

  The clouds were just rolling out and I had to sprint to catch them. When I washed up on the shore of Chicabal Lake, the air was frigid compared to the magma cavern. It was over, and I was on my own, sopping wet and covered in sand, but it was over. I really hoped Mom behaved for Mal, and I hoped he kept her safe. I just wished he hadn’t had to arrest her for that to happen.

  Chapter 25

  I escorted Penny down the long hallway of the Fae Bureau of Investigation headquarters. Barren, budding, leafy green, and autumn trees crowded the hallway, the branches of the Fae Courts stretching to the enchanted ceiling. The djinnis and fae who’d barged into the Chicabal Volcano cavern walked behind us. Doors opened, and lightlighters stepped out to watch her walk of shame.

  “Traitor,” one hissed.

  “Betrayer.” Another slashed his hand through the air.

  Someone spat. “Turncoat.”

  Penny’s shoulders stiffened, but she kept her eyes forward. Maybe if she met the gazes of her once-fellow agents, she’d lose it. But the usual bravado she exuded had vanished.

  “Why’re they letting her walk alone?”

  “Who brought her in?”

  “Smokin’ hell, is that Tanaka?”

  A derisive laugh. “If he caught her, it was probably because she didn’t see him coming.”

  Taking a page from Penny, I didn’t react either. Sure, my powers weren’t seen as something important, something useful, and sometimes activated when I was irritated, but it didn’t make me any less capable than them. And who had Penny demanded to bring her in? Me. I wasn’t sure if I should be proud of that, but it is what it is.

  A door opened ahead and my supervisor, Dean, stepped out. “Bring her in here for processing.”

  I nodded, and he caught my eye. He was suspicious. I couldn’t blame him for that. I would be, too. But he also seemed curious. About what, I wasn’t sure, but it couldn’t be good. I nudged Penny through the door and followed her into a monochrome room. Gray walls, gray floors, and gray furniture.

  Penny licked her lips. “Can I have a moment alone?”

  “Generally,” Dean slowly said, “we don’t leave you alone until we finish the processing. You know how this goes, Penny Avalon.”

  We both did. Processing was a polite way of saying a form would be filled out and a bottle would be corked. So far, the corker wasn’t here.

  “I jus
t want a private word with Tanaka,” Penny said. “There’s an observation room, right? Watch from there.”

  “You can have the room until the corker arrives.” Dean backed out and shut the door.

  I sighed and raked a hand through my hair. “Don’t try to convince me to help you get out of here. We’re past that.”

  “I—I know.” She swallowed heavily. “This might be good for me, you know? I’ve been so focused on the curse and then Frankie… Being forced to face what’s happened might help me.”

  “I don’t know how long your sentencing will be. You realize your bottle will be corked for quite some time.” I clenched my teeth. “I can’t help you with that.”

  She nodded.

  “Then what did you want to talk to me about?”

  Penny glanced at the window, then shifted her back to it. “Lucy.”

  Smoke and mirrors. This woman was determined to give me ulcers. I didn’t trust where this conversation was headed, and I didn’t know how to protect Lucy or if I should. I took a deep breath, trying to will the stiffness from my shoulders. “What about her?”

  “I set up half-a-dozen trust funds for her.” Paper appeared in her hands and she gripped mine, slipping it to me. She snorted. “Wipe that look off your face, Tanaka. I’m a fortune djinni. I’ve always given Lucy clean money. Just tell her to leave a couple of those accounts alone, okay?”

  I blinked, not expecting this from her. “Okay.”

  “There’s really only one thing I’m good at, and I don’t want her to worry about money. It might be the only thing I can do for her.”

  I pulled my hands free and stuffed them in my pockets. “Yeah, no problem.”

  “Do you think I’ll get visitors?” She turned from me and approached a gray chair. “You think she could visit?”

  “I think she’d like to, eventually.”

  “Right. She’s pissed at me right now.” Penny laughed softly; it was sad. “But it would probably be suspicious, huh?” She wasn’t giving me a chance to respond with her nervous babbling. “But you could visit. Talk to me about her.”

  “That… could happen after your trial. I won’t hide it from her.”

  The door behind me opened and a fae with white-blond hair and green eyes walked in. She breezed past me without noticing me and went straight to the table.

  “They left you here alone?” the fae asked as she placed a double lever hand corker on the table with gold foils.

  Penny’s eyes slid to me and she smirked. “They trust me. I was surprised, too.”

  The fae unfurled a scroll and cleared her throat. “Penny Avalon, you are hereby placed under cork for the following crimes: Racketeering. Collusion with known felon Keats, Sigvald Strause, and others to be named at your trial. Illegally draining lucky charms belonging to Selussa of the Spring Court and others to be named at your trial. Fae Trickery. Grand larceny of charms such as Lafaran’s dragon spike, Juan Luna’s paintbrush, etcetera. All to be named at your trial. Do you submit?”

  The humor had drained with the blood from her face at the listing of her charges. She nodded, bowing her head.

  I left the room and joined Dean in the observation room. I needed to make sure nothing untoward happened to Penny. Luce may have been upset with her mother, but she still loved her. And if something awful happened, well… our relationship was already strained. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that Lucy might not want to continue seeing me. Not after I arrested her mother. Could we go back to being friends? What if she never wanted to see me again?

  Dean turned toward me. “Well, I suppose your personal leave is over?”

  I rubbed the back of my neck. “Yeah, uhm. My friend found her grandmother.”

  “Oh, I’m glad to hear it,” he said. “Was the girl who was with you and the ancient the friend who needed your help?”

  “Yes.”

  The door to the observation room opened and Ganger, my old supervisor from the Crimes Against Djinnis Division, stepped in. His tanned skin was at odds with his white hair. His gaze zeroed on me. “Oh, you actually came here instead of abandoning your duties and frolicking across the world this time?”

  Someone’s bitter. The decision to transfer from the CADD for the AD had felt right. I gestured to the room. The fae measured Penny’s bottle for the right-sized cork. The color had faded from Penny’s face. I think she finally realized it was happening, that justice had finally caught up to her—even if her reasons were to protect Lucy because of a curse placed on her by a fae years before she was born. It was a shame that she’d felt she had to take this route to protect her daughter. Maybe there was a flaw in the system, but it didn’t detract from the good the bureau upheld.

  Ganger scowled. “How did you bring her in?”

  It was the potential of losing her daughter’s love, a daughter no one knows about.

  I shrugged. “I think waking an ancient who threatened to erase humanity with a volcano forced her to examine her life choices.”

  “And you just happened to be there?” Ganger asked.

  Dean stepped between me and Ganger. Perhaps he was blocking me from him, or maybe he was taking Ganger’s view of distrusting me. I didn’t know.

  Ganger watched the fae fit a cork to the corking device. “How did you find Penny Avalon’s trail?”

  “Well, it started with the Blarney Stone,” I said. “My friend’s grandmother was last seen in that area, and we found her, but it also helped me locate Penny. Once I found out where she was going, I couldn’t wait. I had a lead, she had to be apprehended, and I went after her.”

  “Yes,” Ganger said, “I understand, but how did you find Ray? He was kidnapped from Realty Lane.”

  “That surprised me, too.” I pursed my lips, thinking quickly. “I don’t know exactly what happened to him, just that he ended up acting as a dapifer for Sythradiafol. And when Penny’s trail led me there, he explained to me what she planned on doing and where to go.”

  “It was Ray who alerted the FBI there was a problem at the volcano,” Dean said.

  Ganger sucked his teeth, then crossed his arms. “It’s funny how this happens to you, Tanaka. First, you abandoned your position in the Pit Boss’s inner circle to chase after Sigvald Strause all over the world for Rasputin’s bones.”

  “Yes, but—”

  “And while on personal leave, you find Penny Avalon, who has a dedicated team already searching for her, and you just happen to arrest her?” Ganger shook his head. “I looked the other way the first time, but twice is suspicious.”

  “Why is it suspicious when I brought her in?”

  “Just wondering how long you’ve known her whereabouts, is all.”

  I’d only known for a few months, and I sure as hell wouldn’t admit that. I shook my head. “I saw the problem, and I took the initiative. There wasn’t time to wait for the team to come get her. The bureau didn’t arrive in time to save the day today.”

  “That’s because the portal to Hun-Hunahpu’s bailiwick is a once-a-day occurrence! It took us three days to get there.”

  I blinked, stunned. “Three days?”

  Dean nodded. “Time moves slower in those pocket realms, some more significantly than others.”

  I stared at my hands; burns and blisters covered them and my swollen fingers, but they’d healed. Three days explained why I had so many.

  Ganger jerked a thumb at me while he spoke to Dean. “We should strip his badge, interrogate him, and sentence him accordingly.”

  My jaw swung open. Too stunned to reply.

  “Don’t be hasty.” Dean placed a hand on my shoulder. “Malware showed great initiative. We need people like him who can recognize a situation and act on it before it’s too late. How many times have we lost the Avalons, for example, because of lightlighters following strict rules? It takes time for some fae to approve movement, and by then, it was too late. Malware acted. And look”—he tilted his head at the observation window—“at Penny Avalon finally answering
for her crimes.”

  Penny shifted to money-green smoke and entered her bottle. The fae gripped the neck in the device and fitted it with a cork. Then she sealed the top with gold foil. I wasn’t sure how I felt right now. Glad someone who had betrayed the institution I believed in was finally beneath a cork, but also sad for Lucy losing her mother all over again.

  Ganger snorted. “Just luck. I still think an investigation into Tanaka’s personal—”

  “Yes, but Malware works for me, and I decide what his behavior deserves.” Dean lifted his brows. “And right now, I’m pleased with his performance.”

  “Oh!” I summoned my bottle and retrieved the Blarney Stone. “You were right. She had it.”

  He took it from me and smirked at Ganger. “We’ll return this to the castle. And now… everything that has a place is in its place. Wouldn’t you say so?”

  Ganger sighed and left us.

  My shoulders sagged. I glanced at Dean, hoping what he’d said about my initiative was true. “Sir, I apologize for not contacting you earlier about these events.”

  “I remember being a knight like you, back when we were called knights.” Dean tucked the Blarney Stone under his arm, then gestured for me to follow him out. “We observed, and when we saw an injustice, we acted. Today there is too much—what do the humans call it? Red tape?”

  I nodded.

  “And while I think they are right to have some of those processes, it also enabled people like the Avalons or the Curator to get away with their crimes for far too long.”

  We walked along the tree-line hallway to the Antiquities Division.

  “What happens now?” I asked.

  “You give me a report, then you return to your duties.”

  “Just like that?”

  “Yes.”

  “What about Ganger?”