by Ellie Margot
Bark sat back, crossed his arms, and grunted again softer.
“You know I love you and Barry.”
Barry cuddled her hand again. She touched the top part of his fur and felt a ridge growing underneath of it.
“Is that? You’re growing a horn there? What in the fuck?”
Barry beep squeaked again and rubbed against her.
“I’m not even going to think about this for a second longer. You all play, do what you want, but you hear the doorknob, and you all are ghosts. Clear?”
Barry bit her finger, and she tried to assume that was a yes.
Her head hit the pillow, and despite the imminent danger that she knew for a fact she was in, she slept like she was getting paid handsomely to do it.
Hours later when the door finally creaked open, it did so with a clunk against the wall and the sound of a stumbling step.
Riette sat up, and a ball of fire appeared in her hand as if it were another part of her that was waiting at the ready.
She saw the darkness of his hair before she registered anything else.
“Cassian?”
A grunt was all she was given as a reply.
“Say your name before you become an over-baked cookie.”
“Yes, okay? My head. I can’t—”
“As you were.”
“I’m too tired right now to tell you how ridiculous you sound saying it that way.”
“Yeah, uh huh.”
She had pushed all of the other stuff aside when she saw the state he was coming into the room with.
The light of her flames highlighted the darkness under her eyes, and she tried not to smile at the karma involved in the whole process, the balance of things.
It wasn’t until another hour into her sleep that she realized that Guy wasn’t with Cassian.
And Guy being by himself would never be a good idea.
Riette sat up in bed and found a candle to light. She knew that she couldn’t leave him to his own devices in a place that harvested magic, among other things from the Elves who were in Ella’s employ.
Riette righted herself and put on her shoes. She looked down at the bag on the bed and wondered whether or not to take it with her.
She glanced at Cassian’s snoring form on the opposite bed. There was a good chance that he wouldn’t wake up and notice it there, but there was also a good chance that Bark and Barry could wake up, get out of the bag, and ravage parts of Cassian’s face while he was slumbering.
Riette knew if that did happen, it would be mostly thanks to Barry, but Bark might help the little monkey if it came to it.
They weren’t evil or anything, not that she could really confirm, but maybe they would get bored and find Cassian’s face to be an adequate way to spend their newly found free time.
She took the bag and slipped it over her shoulders. Immediately, Bark’s little wooden talons jabbed her ribs, and she knew she might not have made the right decision.
She made a mental promise to make sure that she stole enough time away to give them more free time, once the chaos of finding the book was over and once she righted the wrongs that Ella had founded here.
She knew she couldn’t leave things as she had found it.
Not with the look that she had seen on the girl with Frank and not with the bad aura that surrounded this place.
Riette slipped out of the room and into the quiet darkness of the hallway. There were candle sconces on the walls to light her way.
She paused and listened before moving forward, but nothing could be heard. In a world of noise with her company, Riette almost didn’t know what to do with the silence once she had it.
She walked down the main hallway toward the steps. If she was a betting person, and she wasn’t usually, she would have bet that Guy was in the bar, doing something or someone that he shouldn’t be.
The steps were also lit but this time from the moon streaming in through the front windows of the inn.
None of the windows were closed, and for a place that could house so many, she wondered how the place could be that quiet and still.
The seclusion of the rooms was the answer, she guessed, and she walked the path she was already too familiar with over to the hallway where she found the bar and saw Frank.
When she passed by Frank’s room, a chill ran over her skin. She didn’t think he was in there. She walked to the end of the hall and opened the door that led to the bar.
The room was quiet. There was still music playing, but the band was absent. The bar was still lit up, but there was no one at the stools. For a moment, Riette thought the place was empty, and then she heard it.
The soft noise of people talking just out of the realm of what she could currently see.
Riette took another few steps into the room. She adjusted the bag on her shoulders and continued to walk around the perimeter edge of the bar.
When she got to the far side, she was in the part of the room that was tucked away from what she could see from the door.
And that was where she saw them. Trinity and Guy on a couch they shared in a secluded area. There were other couches around them, but they were sharing the one.
They didn’t notice when she got closer, so Riette had a second to assess.
Guy’s arm was across the back of the couch, and Trinity’s head was close to his as they leaned in to have their conversation quietly.
Why they needed to be quiet when the room belonged to only them was unknown to Riette, but she intended to find out. Riette took another step and cleared her throat.
Trinity turned toward her on the couch. She didn’t jump like she had been caught, but Riette saw her bite the inside of her cheek all the same.
“Room for another?” Riette asked.
“Sure, why not?” said Guy, but his words were belied by the tone he used.
Riette knew he was pissed that she was there, but she didn’t know how to leave now that she had seen them together, so she opted to stay.
“I was actually needing to go to bed anyway,” said Trinity.
“Don’t leave on my account,” said Riette. She took a seat on the couch across from them and settled on the edge of it.
“No, I was just telling him that the bed was calling my name.”
“No, that was me,” said Guy, and Trinity playfully hit him on the chest.
Trinity cleared her throat when she looked at Riette and then tucked her red hair behind her ears.
“I’ll leave you all to it,” Trinity said. She stood and smoothed out her clothes all in one motion.
“But I was trying to see what ‘it’ was,” said Riette.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” said Trinity, and she turned to walk out, but after a few steps, she turned back to Riette. “For what it’s worth, I don’t agree with how my grandmother is treating you about the book. I want you to know that.” She bit her lip and then turned and walked away before Riette could respond to her.
When Trinity had fully left, closing the door behind her, Riette settled farther back into the couch, careful not to crush the bag in the process.
She raised an eyebrow at Guy, and Guy met her expression with one of his own. He lifted his legs and sat them on the coffee table in front of him.
“Should I apologize for interrupting?”
“That’s pretty typical procedure in a time like this.”
“But I don’t know what I’m interrupting,” said Riette.
“And you keep on thinking I’m going to enlighten you,” said Guy. He ran a hand through his hair and then laid his head back on the couch.
“Guy.”
“Don’t ‘Guy’ me. I’m allowed to talk to someone.”
“Of course you are.”
“Okay, then what’s the problem?” He closed his eyes, and his brow was pinched.
Riette sat forward and rested her hand underneath her chin. She tapped her foot.
“I’m not telling you to give me a play by play—”
“I pref
er the term blow by blow.”
“Are you saying—”
“No,” Guy said. “I just like to fuck with you. You know that.” He opened one of his eyes to look at Riette but then closed them again. “Besides, she’s too classy for me.”
“Aren’t most people?”
“Ha fucking ha. You’re hilarious. That’s why I keep you around.”
“I keep you around, hotshot.”
“Oh, Sparky, Sparky, Sparky,” Guy said, shaking his head. He looked at her through half closed eyes.
Riette didn’t know if she was about to lose him to sleep or to an assisted coma.
“Do I need to warn you too? You saw me give Cassian the speech on trusting people, and then I find you in cahoots—”
“Don’t worry, Ri Ri. It’s strictly dick-ly for me, okay? No cause for alarm.”
“You being the one who’s calming me is more than enough cause for alarm,” Riette said, and her head felt too heavy to lift. She slipped the bag off and placed it next to her before laying back to rest her back against the back of the couch.
She knew better than to sleep there, but it was tempting.
Chapter 13
Riette lifted the bucket of soapy water again before setting it down in a new location and placing her hand in to root for the sponge.
They were in one of the meeting rooms. The night before had ended in Riette and Guy stumbling upstairs after a cat’s nap worth of time, and a scant couple of hours later, Billy greeted her with orders for her first assignment.
Mekhi and Corin were with her. Guy and Cassian had been put to work outside.
Riette closed her eyes for a breath before opening them. Every version of herself that she had imagined before getting here did not align with the vision she was currently living.
She wanted to burn down the place, but she needed the book. She wanted to find every Elf in there and free them from the prison of Ella’s design, but she didn’t know enough to know if it was a true prison or her imagination forming one.
The only reason Riette hadn’t confronted Ella was because she needed a plan before she acted, and if she had to clean while she figured it out, she would.
It would help her be able to assess the place more and have opportunities to find the book on her own, although she doubted Ella would be dumb enough to let her truly have free rein.
They were in one of the meeting rooms nearby the one Frank had occupied. Riette stood there taking it all in with Corin beside her, and Mekhi had his hands on his hips. His long reddish-brown hair almost touched his shoulders as he did.
“Yes,” said Mekhi with a nod.
“Yes, what?” asked Corin. There was a sneer on her face as she surveyed the room.
“If someone asked me if this was the most disgusting place I had ever been to, I could answer yes.”
“That’s how you start the conversation?” asked Riette. She dropped the sponge back into the bucket.
“As long as the conversation is being had, there’s a million ways to start it,” said Mekhi. His hands hadn’t left his hips. It looked like he was gearing up to fight someone, not clean a toilet.
“Remind me how you deal with him?” Riette asked Corin.
“Well, he does this thing—”
“Why do people feel inclined to share too much with me?”
“It’s something about your face,” said Mekhi, looking over his shoulder at her. “You have a ‘make me uncomfortable for fun’ sign branded on your forehead.”
“I would not be surprised at this point,” said Riette.
“Well, I would be surprised if I don’t find one more questionable spot on the rug.”
“Can we not talk about the spots?” Corin asked. “Talking about them makes it worse.”
Mekhi turned toward her. He placed his hands on his arm. “It doesn’t get worse, honey. This is Demura. We have found it.”
“Now you sound like a diva,” said Riette. She picked up the sponge again and got down on her knees to start.
“No, I get the pleasure of dealing with the spots. You all clean something that isn’t rippling with layers of magic induced grossness.”
“Mekhi—” Riette started.
“I’ve got this. We shouldn’t all be subjected to it, and I have a method now for getting out the gross shit.” He looked at both of them after dropping to his knees and taking the sponge from Riette. “See? You channel all of your rage about this fucked-up situation into the stain in a circular motion. The circular part is very important.”
“I’m sure,” said Corin.
“I’m serious. You channel your rage into a counterclockwise motion instead of clockwise or, Etherean forbid, a zigzag pattern? You’ll end up with inset stains and a need for serious therapy.”
“You need therapy,” said Riette, but she laughed saying it.
“You all aren’t listening. I do it clockwise so therapy is something I’d do for fun. It’s not required, you understand?”
“I could have had it totally cleaned up by now,” said Corin. “Honestly. The talking time alone—”
“I’m not going to have my promised one elbow-deep in—”
“I’m your promised one?” Corin asked, clasping her hands together.
“Of course you are,” Mekhi said looking up at her from his scrubbing position. “You think I would scour the ends of the earth for just anybody?”
Corin’s eyes started to tear up. She leaned down to kiss him, and they did kiss, right above the stain in question.
“Guys?” Riette asked, but they didn’t hear her.
“Uh, hello? Not to ruin the moment but—”
“What?” asked Mekhi, barely breaking the kiss to acknowledge her.
“Your knee is in the goo now,” said Riette.
Mekhi jumped up, and Corin stood slowly and more gracefully.
“Shit. It’s soaking into my clothes.”
“Ugh,” said Riette, shaking her head.
“I think I can feel them moving,” said Mekhi. He turned to Corin. “You still love me.”
Corin rolled her eyes, still smiling. “Of course.”
“Even if something grows out of the deposit I just squatted in?”
“Yep.”
“What if I grow another dick out of my knee?”
“Like anyone needs that visual,” said Riette.
“Even then,” said Corin.
“You all are the grossest—”
“And cutest,” said Mekhi.
“Couple that I have ever had the pleasure of cleaning up with,” said Riette. “But if I have to watch it soak into your pants more, I might throw up.”
“Yeah, I’ll be right back,” said Mekhi. He walked past Riette and kissed Corin on the forehead before leaving the room to change.
“I think I’ll keep him,” said Corin.
“Good, because he’d go ape shit trying to find someone else who digs his weirdness like you do.”
“He is something isn’t he?”
“I’ve known him since diapers. He’s all right, I guess. But don’t tell him I said that.”
“I can still hear you,” yelled Mekhi from down the hall. “These walls are shit for noise control.”
Riette rolled her eyes.
Mekhi returned quickly, and they finished up that room and the next before moving to a sitting room in the front part of the house.
There were less stains there, and they had found their rhythm. Corin did the dusting and straightening, Riette moved the furniture and swept, and Mekhi tackled anything else that needed to be done, including wiping things down, though Riette suspected that was mostly so he could follow after Corin.
They were fully in their process when Trinity and Ella appeared at the entryway.
“It looks like you all were made for this line of work,” said Ella.
Riette’s tattoo burned at just the sound of her voice, let alone her words, and she turned and stood, dropping the rag that she had been holding in her hand.
/> “Ella, Trinity,” said Riette. She nodded her head in greeting.
Trinity was wearing blue today, a dress that touched the floor when she walked. It was a saturated blue like the sky in the midst of a summer storm, and it had a neckline that nearly came down to her sternum in the front.
Ella was also overly dressed. She was wearing a suit of sorts, all in cream. She stood taller as she watched Riette assess her, and there was a small smile on her lips.
“You need us?” Riette asked. She fought to keep it civil, but her distaste colored the tone of her words.
“I wanted to see if you were fulfilling your end of the bargain.”
“I always do,” Riette said. She didn’t touch her shoulder, but she wanted to. She spent her energy concentrating on not having her hands erupt in flames.
“But you’ll recall that I’m not paying you to cut corners,” said Ella.
“You’re not paying us at all.”
“And it’s a good thing too. Shoddy work won’t get you what you want.”
“And I promise you that fucking with me won’t either.”
Ella laughed. “You know your grandmother never spoke like that.”
“Things are different. Didn’t you say that?”
Trinity stepped forward. “It’s not hard. Really.” She grabbed the rag that Riette had dropped and walked to the closest countertop. She rubbed the rag over it and then back again in a z-shaped motion.
“See? It’s really that simple.” There was a full smile on Trinity’s lips. “The first time—”
“No one wants to hear the tired stories of a little broken girl,” said Ella. “Really, Trinity.”
Trinity’s face fell, and she handed the rag to Riette.
Riette’s tattoo burned again, bright enough to be seen through her shirt. “You don’t have to talk to her like that.”
“And you don’t have to be here. The world is full of options.” Ella turned to leave but looked over her shoulder. “I expect to see you all at dinner, preferably not looking like the help.”
“Well, since the last one was such a pleasure,” said Riette quietly, and Mekhi snickered under his breath.
Ella raised an eyebrow. “Come, Trinity. Leave them to it. They have more than enough to keep them busy. If they decide to do it right.”