by Charley Case
“Remmy?” he asked. Not having seen the little goblin with a concealment spell before, he wasn’t entirely sure it was her.
She smiled even bigger, her sharp nose wrinkling at the bridge. “Yep. Good to see you again, My Lord.”
Finn had saved the goblin’s life a few weeks before while going to meet with a Naga to gather components for the favor he’d subsequently given to Mila. The little goblin and her tribe had then made a deal with the Naga for mutual protection in the dangerous underworld below Denver’s streets.
“What did I say about that ‘My Lord’ shit?” Finn frowned down at her.
She blushed slightly. “Sorry, Finn,” she grumbled, climbing up onto the stool next to his.
She slid a brown paper wrapped package onto the table and snatched a small handful of peanuts from the bowl with Penny in it, stuffing them into her mouth before Penny could stop her. She then giggled at the face Penny made, her mischievous goblin nature coming out in full.
“I didn’t realize you came up top,” Finn said, getting Remmy back on track. “Not that it isn’t nice to see you.”
“I come up when the pay is good.” She smirked. “Deliveries pay pretty well, especially when I get tipped.” She raised an eyebrow at him.
He chuckled and pulled a small wad of cash from his back pocket. “I take it this is my order from the leathersmith?”
Remmy’s eyes were locked on the wad of bills, but she nodded. “He said you would be here, so I waited outside till I saw you come in.” She slid the box closer to him.
Finn slipped a couple of twenties from the wad. “What do you use money for, out of curiosity? Don't you spend most of your time hunting in the caverns?”
“Yeah, but my tribe likes to have some luxuries from up top.” She gave a shrug. “It’s not like we’re sized properly to form a permanent community up here.”
Finn cocked his head in thought. All the goblins he had ever met preferred to live underground like their ancestors. Or so he’d thought. “Are you saying that you and your people don’t want to be underground anymore?”
Remmy bobbed her shoulders up and down a few times as she thought about it. “I mean, it would just be nice to be able to come out sometimes. Maybe have a nice farm or something. Plus, some reliable internet would be awesome.”
Finn frowned and handed Remmy the whole stack of bills. “Here, take it and get you and your people something nice.”
Her already large eyes went wide. “Really? Thank you, sir!”
Finn gave her a hard look and slowly reached for the stack of bills.
Remmy jerked the bills out of his reach. “I mean, thank you, Finn.”
He smiled. “That’s better.”
She slid off the stool and waved. “Thanks. I’ll talk to you later, Finn. I hope she likes it.” She slipped between two patrons and was out the front door in a few seconds.
Danica and Mila were finishing up the song, holding their mics and singing into one another’s faces, smiles so big they could hardly get the words out.
Penny eyed the package as Finn slid it to the space in front of Mila’s stool. “Chi shi?”
He smiled. “You’ll have to wait for her to open it.”
She huffed but didn’t argue. Instead, she slid deeper into the peanuts and shoved a handful in her mouth.
The girls finished up, and Finn joined the rest of the bar in applause as they made their way back to the table.
“Well done.” He was all smiles as they took their seats. “Whoever wrote that song must have had you two in mind.”
Danica laughed. “It was Queen. And I’m pretty sure they had something else in mind at the time.”
“Queen who?” Finn knit his brows. He didn’t think there were so many monarchs on Earth that one of them would also be a singer.
“Just Queen. What’s in the box?” Mila asked, lifting the brown paper package and looking for a label of some kind.
Finn was still not sure what land this queen ruled, but he let it go, his excitement over the gift winning out.
“It’s a present for you. A thank-you if you will, but also something I think you’ll need if you’re going to continue working with Penny and me.”
Mila smiled and tore into the paper like it was Christmas morning. Danica nearly bounced with excitement, waiting to see what it was. Mila got the paper off and opened the box. Her face froze in a half-smile as she stared inside.
Danica noticed the change immediately and became concerned. “Are you okay? What is it?”
Mila slowly looked up and met Finn’s eyes, her cheeks nearly glowing red with embarrassment. “I didn’t think you would be so forward, but if this is the kind of stuff you’re into, I guess I can go with it. I mean, it’s really nice quality, but I just never thought…” She trailed off, unable to find the words.
Finn was completely baffled by her response. He wondered if the leathersmith had messed up the order, but before he could inspect it, Danica lost her patience and slid the box over to take a look for herself.
“Holy shit, Finn.” Danica slid a finger over the tight stitching. “You are not messing around. This is top-quality workmanship.”
She reached into the package and lifted out a black leather corset. It wasn’t a traditional corset with boning, but it was shaped like one and had a zipper running up the front, hidden by a flap. The detail work was intricate on the edges, but the main panels were smooth and shone slightly in the bar lights.
Mila went an even deeper shade of red and peered around to see if anyone was looking. “Why would you get me lingerie?”
Danica and Finn both looked at her like she was insane, and Penny rolled from side to side in her bowl, holding her stomach and laughing.
“It’s not lingerie, dummy.” Danica shook her head. “It’s a battle harness. Like what Finn wears. See, look here on the back.”
She laid the corset down and began to point out the incorporated pockets with flaps that snapped shut with magnets sewn into the supple leather.
“There are slots for healing potions, and this looks like a holster for Gram.” She pointed out a hard leather band that would sit at the small of her back where the golden sword would fit. “This is a masterpiece. I’m not going to lie; I’m super jealous.”
The red had started to fade from Mila’s cheeks as she realized what she was looking at. She picked it up and examined it more closely.
“Okay, now that I know what it is, it’s pretty badass. But why does it have to be leather? I’ll look like a dominatrix.” She blushed again.
“Well, you already have the Mithril armor, so I didn’t need to get you a material that would protect you,” Finn explained, trying to guess what a dominatrix was. “But I also knew that it would probably take quite a bit of damage. If you look along the edges, that scrollwork is not just for decoration; it’s a runic spell script that will allow the leather to grow back if it gets damaged. That kind of spell works best on organic material, so I went with leather.”
“Plus, it’s super sexy,” Danica said with a sly smile.
That made Mila flush once again.
Chapter Twelve
They spent the rest of the night singing Karaoke, drinking, and having a good time. Finn was starting to realize just how important spending time with friends was. In his previous life, before crash-landing on this strange and wondrous world, he had spent all his time with Penny, as they wound up in a different place every few days. They never put down any roots or made friends that were more than just a means to an end for their current hunt.
A part of himself had longed for companionship, and Penny filled a lot of that need, which allowed him to lie to himself and say everything was all right. Now that he had Mila and Danica in his life, he was beginning to realize what a sour old jackass he used to be. Even Penny was doing better now that she had a shoulder to sit on that wasn’t always his.
She was bonding with Mila in a way Finn had never seen from the faerie dragon in all the years th
ey had been together. Sometimes he would come out into the living room to see the two of them napping together on the couch, and it would always make him smile.
They headed home late that night, the girls each hanging onto one of his arms to keep their balance as their heads swam in a warm, drunken haze. They sang Queen songs the entire three-block walk that took a little longer than usual, as they took a few minutes to dance under the streetlights and belt out power ballads. Finn smiled and let them sing, and he and Penny would laugh when one or the other messed up the lyrics and had to start over.
By three in the morning, he had put the two women to bed, not arguing when they both insisted on sleeping in Mila’s room. He gave each of them some ibuprofen and a big glass of water, which he made them drink before letting them fall into bed fully clothed. He took a few minutes to remove their boots and cover them up with a spare blanket from the cedar chest at the foot of Mila’s bed. Then he watched the two of them cuddle up and begin snoring immediately before he went out into the living room and cracked open another beer from the fridge.
He flipped the TV on to finish watching McLintock!, to Penny’s annoyance. She would much rather watch the finale to Survivor, but Finn just couldn’t make himself watch it; there was no story there. She resigned herself to more of the Duke and curled up beside him.
“I like it here, Penny,” he mused as he watched the Duke brawl at the mine. “I feel like we finally made it home, you know?”
Penny looked up at him, her face serious as she thought about that. Finally, she gave a single nod. “Squee shir.” A single ring of smoke puffed from her nostril, and she laid her head back down to watch the movie.
Finn nodded. “Yeah, Mila is the main reason, but we have a purpose here. Out there, when we were finding treasures, it was fun, but that was it. There was no real goal for me. Here, we have a goal, a job to protect this great ship from the ravages of powerful dwarven artifacts. It’s a good feeling knowing that what we do here makes a difference.”
“Shiri cheesh. Sqeuee chi rich.” She shrugged.
Finn thought about that. “Well, I guess protecting Earth isn’t the only goal. We do still have to find you a hoard so you can finally lay your eggs.”
A smile crossed her lips, but she didn’t say anything else.
Finn sighed in frustration. “Look, the deal between us was that I would help you find a hoard, and I understand that your kind are very secretive, but I need a hint here. I’m pretty dense, but not so dense that I haven’t figured out that you’re not looking for precious metals and jewels. We’ve had plenty of those over the years. So, what is it that you need to gather? Just a hint.”
She lifted her head and gave him a narrow gaze as if trying to decide something. “Shnick,” she said finally, shaking her head before turning back to the movie.
“Fine. Keep your secrets.” He took another sip of beer. “But at least let me know if we’re getting close.”
She reached out and patted his leg. “Chi chi.”
They fell asleep on the couch. The movie ended, and the streaming service logo bounced around on the screen.
Finn came awake suddenly as if no time had passed at all, but the room was now full of early morning light. The banging sound of furniture being moved came through the wall, and Becky’s voice shouted for someone to be careful.
Finn got up, stretching after sleeping in a sitting position all night, and began making breakfast. By the time the coffee was done and the bacon was frying, Mila and Danica came stumbling out of Mila’s room.
“Good morning,” Finn said, flipping the frying meat, and dropping a dollop of pancake batter into another skillet. “How do you two feel?”
“Like I was hit by a truck,” Mila said, and Danica groaned in agreement, pulling two mugs from the cupboard and pouring herself and Mila some coffee.
“I think we should get over to Peter’s house this morning and wrap this whole thing up. How long do you think you’ll need to get ready?”
Mila slumped onto a stool at the kitchen island and sipped on her coffee. “Not until I’ve had at least three of these. And a shower. And some pancakes.”
Over the course of the morning, Danica recovered faster than Mila, partly because she was an elf, but mostly because she was a lot taller and bigger. After breakfast, Danica went and changed into her work clothes and waved goodbye to everyone as she slipped out the door, back to her normal, chipper self.
“I hate how she can do that,” Mila complained, still looking like death warmed over.
“You could just take a healing potion,” Finn suggested.
Mila blinked a few times, letting that sink in. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
She got up and went to the safe where they kept their valuables and punched in the code. A second later, she was holding a red vial, working the stopper. She downed the contents in one long gulp, tilting her head back to be sure she got it all, then smacked her lips a few times.
She walked back to the island, a look of euphoria on her face, and plopped back down on the stool.
The healing potions took a few minutes to work fully, making them nearly useless in combat, but the effects when a little time could be afforded were extraordinary. Within two minutes, she looked like she’d had a full night’s sleep, the bags gone from under her eyes, and she sat up straighter.
She sucked in a refreshing breath. “Holy shit, that’s some good stuff.”
Finn chuckled. “Yeah, they work like a charm, but they’re a little expensive for an everyday hangover cure.”
“Oh god, I didn’t even think about that! Well, that’s one way to spend a grand or so. Good thing we’re operating a gold mine.” She laughed and winked. “I’m going to get ready.”
Finn decided he needed a shower as well and used Danica’s while Mila got ready in her room. When Mila emerged, Finn was happy to see that she had worn the corset and that it fit her like a glove. She didn’t comment, but he could see that she had stored Gram and a few potions in the leather pockets designed for the slim, test tube-style bottles. She had thrown her short black jacket on over the corset, and the leather matched perfectly. Finn had to admit she looked like a proper badass.
Thirty minutes after breakfast, they were in the Hellcat and pulling onto the freeway. Mila pulled up the address on Peter’s phone and put it into the navigation system on her own phone, then punched the gas and rocketed into the fast lane with a guttural growl from all eight cylinders.
Finn took the time on the short drive to scroll through the messages on Peter’s phone, seeing if there was anything of importance. There were text threads with each of the four saved contacts, but it seemed like they were talking in code. He couldn’t make heads or tails of most of it. But when he got to the texts from J, he started to understand a little better.
It looked like this J was his main contact about the hounds. There was talk of money changing hands for the pups, and timeframes that could have been in months or days but were only mentioned in numbers.
“Interesting,” Finn commented, scrolling through the texts. Penny sat on his shoulder, reading along with him.
“What’s interesting?” Mila changed lanes and passed a box truck that was hogging the left lane.
“It looks like this J person was paying Peter a hundred grand to deliver the hound, but Peter wanted more.” He scrolled down and kept going, his eyes getting wide. “Holy shit, they had a falling out, and J called it off, then about two weeks ago, Peter contacted J again and said that he would take the original offer, but J would have to take the hound pups as well. The last text was received two days ago. J told Peter they would come pick up the hounds, but that he had better not try anything.”
“Sounds like they had a strained relationship at best.” Mila took the next exit, slowing down for the backed-up traffic. “Does that mean the hounds will be gone?”
Finn shrugged. “If they are, then they were gone last night too. Not much we can do about it until we get there and
check.”
They pulled onto the main drag and went about a mile until the navigation had them turn into a residential area. It was one of those cookie-cutter neighborhoods that had sprung up during the fifties; small houses packed in tight, but with backyards and little driveways.
Mila wove her way through the old streets, turning down a dead-end street that ran straight into a set of train tracks that cut through the neighborhood. She pulled into the drive of the last house on the left and turned the car off.
The house was a faded pastel blue, with metal awnings over the windows that looked about thirty years out of date. The house was a small one-story thing that couldn’t have been much more than a thousand square feet and was in dire need of some updates. A one-car garage was attached, with a chain-link fence around the backyard, which was backed up against some dead-looking trees.
“Doesn’t really scream ‘master thief,’ does it?” She raised an eyebrow at the police tape crossing the front door. One of the yellow ribbons had come loose and was waving in the wind. “I didn’t think about the police being here. What if they already found the hound?”
Finn shook his head. “Not a chance. Those things are magically shielded, or Preston would have found them right away. I’m betting there’s some kind of concealment spell on them. But there’s only one way to find out.”
He climbed out of the car, Mila following him. As soon as he was outside, he could smell a strong odor of lilacs and something a little more earthy, like a mushroom or root vegetable of some kind, a sure sign that some sort of magic was in play.
“Can you smell anything?” he asked Penny, who closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.
After a second, she nodded and pointed. “Shirir chi chi.”
“She says she can smell the ring coming from around back.” Finn led the way around the garage and through the gate in the chain-link fence. “That’s a good sign that the hound is still here.”
“You guys can just smell magic?” Mila asked, closing the gate behind herself.