by Idella Breen
Her lover shrugged. “Maybe, but maybe not. You can never know with a goblin, but I will say that it might be difficult to search for another employee in Seattle, or get stuck trying to convince and bribe the guards to the bank once we find it.”
Snow turned to the tengu who had been quiet. “Do you have any suggestions on how to approach finding the ring?”
Beck was thoughtful for a moment before he nodded. “I believe that we should be able to come up with a solution that will allow us to complete this task as well as find Grangor in time.”
She glanced down at her hands, making a fist, she nodded resolutely. This seemed to be the most logical choice of action. Turning around, the trio walked back into the house. The goblin was tapping his foot impatiently and sneered when they entered. “About time! What did you decide?”
Snow nodded. “We will help.”
Tanger studied her for a moment then smirked. “Then I’ll leave you to it. My house is the third one down on this side of the street. It has the red roof. Come find me once you retrieve the ring. I’ll be waiting.
The brunette watched the goblin leave a little thrown off by his sudden change in attitude. Shaking her head, she turned to Cait. “So, what now?”
The werewolf rubbed her nose as if holding back a sneeze. “My nose is useless here but I have good eyesight though Beck’s is much better.”
Snow turned back to the mess. It was impossible to maneuver around it and quite possibly dangerous to attempt to. Looking down at the closest box, she saw it was bursting at the seams filled with old and broken watches. Glancing back up she noticed that there seemed to be a small path but it was surrounded by towering piles of junk that threatened to fall at the slightest bump. “I don’t really want to just dive in. I might get buried alive.”
Cait shook her head. “No, we need to approach this from a different angle.”
“What?”
Her wife shrugged. “I’ll wait outside while you think of something.”
Cait tapped her chin then walked out of the house. Beck was still studying what he could of the mess, leaving Snow to her own thoughts. What they needed right now, was a miracle, and she wasn’t sure they were going to get one.
Chapter 6
Snow left the house after speaking with Beck. He was still trying to come up with the best options for finding the proverbial needle in the haystack. Leaving the house, she had to shield her eyes from the setting sun. They had gotten a late start on the day but it was the best they could manage with the deadline they were beginning to brush up against.
She found her wife sitting on a stone wall that acted as a divider from the goblin house and the neighbor. The brunette made her way over and sat down surprised mildly at the coolness of the stone despite the heat of the day. She sighed.
“How are you?” Cait asked.
Snow shrugged. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Hmm.” Her wife hummed.
Snow pulled out her cell phone and scrolled down to her mother’s number. Her thumb hovered over the digits for a moment, before she gave into the temptation and tapped it. Holding it up to her ear, she listened to the dial tone. Her mother picked up on the second ring.
“Oh, daughter of mine! How may I be of service?”
“Can I speak with Elena?”
There was a moment’s pause then her daughter’s cheerful voice replaced her mother’s. “Mama? Are you there?”
The brunette couldn’t help the grin that spread across her lips at the welcome sound of her daughter’s voice. “Elena! How are you, sweetheart? Are you being good for grandma?”
“Yep! Grandpa gave me a lollipop after I killed the dragon!”
Snow listened as Elena went on and told the events of her day. A tear trailed down her cheek, and she smiled when Cait rubbed her thumb under her eye, catching it. Elena’s voice brought her back to the conversation. “When are you coming home?”
“Soon. Just keep being good for grandma, okay?”
“I will. Are you going to bring me back a present?”
“Of course I will.”
“I love you, Mama.”
“I love you too baby. Can you put grandma back on the phone?”
There was the sound of shuffling on the other end of the phone quickly followed by her mother’s laugh. “How are you doing Snow?”
She sighed. “Your friend gave me a very annoying task.”
“Did he now?” Snow frowned at the tone her mother used. It was the same tone she used when she was homeschooling her, and Snow was stuck on a difficult problem. Her mother would look at her with a small smirk and tell her, in a very condescending tone, that she simply wasn’t thinking along the right lines and that she needed to start making her own lines to think along. It took the brunette a very long time before she really understood what her mother was trying to teach her. Snow gasped and looked over meeting the electric blues of her wife.
She frowned.“Hey!”
Cait’s eyebrows rose in question. “Yes?”
The brunette jumped up and pointed a finger accusingly at her wife. “You!”
The werewolf crossed her arms across her chest. “Me?”
“Both of you. All of you!”
Snow heard her mother laugh and in her irritation, she hung up her cell phone and pointed it accusingly at her wife. “How could you!”
Cait suddenly laughed shaking her head. “Beck she figured it out. Come on over here.”
The tengu walked out of the house and came to stand next to the two women. “You’re right, Captain. She caught on more quickly than I expected.”
“This was a test!” the brunette yelled.
Beck nodded. “Yes. But, now that I have confirmed this fact do you have a solution to this task?”
“My mother came up with this, didn’t she? Is that why neither of you have made any suggestions?”
They both nodded but Cait answered, “Think of it as a lesson in innovation and creativity.”
Sighing, Snow crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her wife. “You’re not going to help?”
Cait shook her head. “I won’t give you an answer but I will offer my assistance once you’ve made a plan of action.”
Snow smirked. “So, if I told you to start digging through all the rooms in that house, you would?”
The werewolf shrugged. “I would, but you won’t order that because it will make us late.”
She frowned. “I should just do it to torture you.”
“You would do that to your poor wife? Snow, I never thought you were such a woman!”
Waving a hand absently off to the side, Snow frowned. “Whatever. So, I take it that in this test I need to come up with a viable solution?”
Beck nodded. “As well as a time efficient one.”
“Do I get any hints?”
The tengu and werewolf shared a look before shaking their heads. “We’ve offered all the advice allowed. All we can offer now is our services.”
Snow sighed. “Fine! I’ll figure it out for myself.”
She threw up her hands and slowly made her way back into the house. Her wife and Beck followed close behind but offered no advice. Surveying the different antiques mixed among other piles of miscellaneous junk, Snow tried to fight off the feeling of being overwhelmed. It felt as if the walls were closing in on her. The clock was ticking and the day was almost over. She was quickly running out of time the longer she tried to come up with a solution.
It might have been better to have started digging through the piles as soon as they got there. At least then they would have accomplished something. But she knew that would have been pointless. That plan would have relied too much on luck and any plan that relied solely on something so fickle was bound to fail. So, what should they do? How was one supposed to tackle such a daunting task? What was this exercise supposed to teach her, anyway? Beck mentioned creativity. How was one supposed to get creative with a problem like this?
To think outside th
e box, or as her mother would always say, to start drawing her own lines, she mused. The house had two stories with several rooms all filled to bursting with the possessions of Tanger’s late father. What was he even going to do with all this stuff anyway, she wondered?
The brunette sighed as her shoulders sagged. “I wish I could just burn it all to the ground.”
Snow paused as her wistful words replayed over in her mind. Jerking up to meet the smirking face of her wife she asked, “Tanger said his father had passed away, right?”
Cait nodded. “He did.”
“And he said that the only thing he wanted us to find was the golden ring.”
Beck nodded. “That is correct.”
Snow pinched the bridge of her nose. “He didn’t seem too concerned with the rest of the possessions within the house either. Would it be safe to assume that all he values within this house is the ring and nothing else?”
Beck broke her pondering. “Should I call to confirm?”
She nodded. “Please do.”
The tengu pulled out his cell phone from somewhere within his feathers. One day, Snow was going to figure out how he stored things in there. “Hello, Mr. Tanger? Yes, this is Beck. I am calling on the behalf of Snow. No, sir. We are not giving up. My mistress would just like to confirm something. I’m handing the phone over to her now.”
Beck held out the device and Snow took it quickly. “Tanger?”
“Yes. Have you found the ring?” came the grumpy voice of the goblin.
“Not yet, sir. I just wished to confirm one thing.”
“And what is that?”
“What would you say if I told you I was going to burn your father’s house down?”
The goblin on the other end of the line was silent for a moment before he gave a long drawn out sigh. “I would say that you are indeed Integra Bennett’s daughter.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“As you would. Do you have a way to enact your plan safely? I don’t want an out of control fire in my neighborhood.”
“My wife is an expert at such a thing.”
“A salamander?”
“No, sir. Something better left unsaid.”
“Fair enough. Fine! You may do as you wish as all I value in that house is the ring and nothing more. I was planning on having it knocked down afterward anyway. It is a reminded of a time I wish to forget. Burn it down. You have my permission. I will deal with any trouble you run into.”
Snow nodded. “Thank you. I will have your ring by the end of the day.”
“You better.” he said gruffly then hung up.
She handed Beck back his cell phone and turned to her wife. “You handle the flame and I’ll handle the ice barrier to prevent it from burning anything besides the house?”
Cait smirked. “I knew there was a reason I married you.”
“Because I’m beautiful and smart?”
The werewolf leaned forward and touched her wife’s lips with her own before pulling back and smiling softly. “Because you’re amazing.”
Snow blushed but smiled. The moment was broken when Beck loudly cleared his throat. “I suggest we get a move on it. We need to get back on the road as soon as possible.”
The brunette’s blush deepened as she tucked a few strands of hair, that had fallen forward, behind her ear. “Of course.”
“What’s the plan, snowflake?”
The brunette smirked and led them outside and out into the front yard. Spinning around, she held up both of her hands, palms facing the house and glanced over at her wife. “Which do you think is stronger, your fire or my ice?”
Cait smirked and held out a hand as well. “Shall we find out?”
Snow smiled. “I’ll make a shield. Go ahead and insert your flame inside but make sure to control it.”
The redhead nodded. “Let’s begin then.”
Snow furrowed her brow in concentration before two blasts of white power shot out of her hands. A trail of ice covered the ground around her leading up to the house where the ice then formed into a half sphere. On their side the sphere was open, and after a nod from her wife, Cait pursed her lips and shouted, “Tine!”
Fire burst from her palm with a wild passion that Snow had known existed beneath her wife’s easy going exterior. The flames bloomed once they were within the barrier and engulfed the house. For a moment, everything seemed to be going as planned, but soon Snow began to sweat. It started at her neck and soon her brow was drenched. Cait’s fire was more intense than she had imagined. The heat was bumping up against her ice barrier and she had to keep incrementally increasing the power used but the flames were still beginning to melt the half sphere.
Snow knew she wasn’t in any real danger of being hurt by her wife’s flame as she was impervious to it due to the nature of the flame and their bond, but that curtsey didn’t extend to everything else. She knew that if her barrier broke the whole neighborhood would be up in flames as her wife’s fire was a strong flame and much harder to put out than your average fire. She pushed more of her power out of her hands.
Snow had never thought about it before but fire was the natural aggressor of ice while water was the extinguisher of fire. Her element was fighting against its natural weakness, and despite her wife’s care to control it, the flame was eating away at Snow’s powers. “Cait!”
“Just hang in there!” the werewolf responded.
The house burned even faster and the intensity of the flame increased. “Cait!”
“Just hang in there Snow!”
Her arms began to ache and she could feel heat licking at her heart. “It’s too much!”
“Snow! Don’t give up. You have to hold on.”
She was drenched in sweat as her body worked to regulate the cold and she kept pushing more power into her barrier. It hurt. It was hot. She wasn’t going to make it. “Cait! I can’t — ”
Heat exploded in her senses and she cried out at its intensity. She’d never felt something so hot! Snow pushed more ice power out of her body to fight back the heat but it was too intense. She fell to her knees. She couldn’t do this. It was too much. Just as she was about to give into the pressure, it disappeared. A chill filled her like a breath of fresh air and she fell to her hands, panting.
Suddenly, she was in hot hands and warm lips were touching her forehead. “You did good, babe.”
A chill bit at her knees that were still touching the concrete and Snow belatedly realized that her eyes were closed. With an effort, she pushed them open only to see gray skies and snow falling from them. “That was a lot harder than I thought,” she whispered.
Cait chuckled and her smiling face came into her vision. “I guess I was too hot to handle.”
Snow puffed out air blowing away a strand of her hair that was sticking to her drenched face. “You’re not funny.”
The werewolf frowned. “I’m a hoot.”
“No, you’re corny”
“Babe, I’m a riot.”
“No, you’re lame.”
“Snowflake, I’m the main act.”
“Cait — ”
“Might I suggest we unearth the ring before it’s covered in snow.” Beck’s humored tone cut through their banter.
Snow glanced over to the tengu who was smiling down at them. “You didn’t even do anything.” She frowned.
“I had a very important job.”
“What was that?”
He held up his cell phone and wiggled it. “To call the fire department if anything happened.”
Smirking, Cait helped her wife to her feet. “I told you she could handle it.”
“It was a precaution, Captain. I didn’t doubt your words.”
Snow shook her head before walking towards the burnt rubble. “How do we find it?”
Beck nodded and jumped into the air, transforming into his crow form. As a large bird, he circled around overhead for a few minutes before diving down towards the wreckage and swooping an inch from the grou
nd only to pluck something out of the rubble and toss it into the grass. Snow walked over and bent down to find a small golden ring. She reached out only to pull back with a gasp. It was hot. She pushed some of her power into her hand and reached for it again, this time she was able to grab it without burning herself. Turning back to her wife and Beck who had transformed back, she smiled. “Guess we better turn this in then.”
Chapter 7
An hour later, Snow was holding the slightly smoking but still cooling golden band in her hand out for Tanger to carefully pick up with pliers.
“This is it,” he said softly and placed the heated gold on a metal block. Snow was shocked when he wiped at his eyes roughly to erase the evidence of tears. Tanger reached into his pocket and produced a black bracelet. He held it out to her.
“This is your payment as requested by your mother.”
“Payment?” Snow asked as she took the bracelet to inspect it closer.
Tanger nodded. “Integra mentioned that you have a mithril sword that you are carrying around.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, this bracelet was also crafted by elves and is enchanted with their magic. Do you see the small chain?”
Snow gingerly traced the chain that hung loosely from the strange clasp on the front of the leather strap. Tanger pointed to it. “Touch the chain to your blade and say, ‘seal’. It will activate the magic and bind your sword to the bracelet, shrinking it down to a few inches, so that you may carry it around easily. Once the blade shrinks, it will hang on the end of the chain where you can then place it within the clasp to keep it out of the way. When you wish to use the blade, simply pull it from the clasp and say, ‘break’, and the blade will grow to its original size as well as become unhinged from the bracelet so you may use it. This way you can keep your sword on hand at all times.”
Snow studied the simple dark leather bracelet in awe before meeting Tanger’s gaze and smiling. “Thank you.”
“Thank your mother. I may have owned the item but she was the one to request it. Now, onto other matters. I’m to the understanding that the three of you are hoping to enter one of the special banks. Am I correct?”