by Ann Denton
I watch him take a deep breath and attempt to slow his heart rate. That’s what he does to dull the flames in his eyes and push down his shifter instinct to go dragon and shield me with his wings. Or what he used to do, anyway.
He walks up slowly, and I can’t blink. I’m trapped. Captivated by his gaze. Emotion floods me. I feel a cocoon of warmth—or is that his body heat? He’s close now, within touching distance. He cares. He really does care. And it’s so sweet it makes my heart ache.
Flowers and Seena are kind enough to move aside and give us a moment. But then, once we have the moment, I’m not exactly sure what to do with it.
“Rain!” My mother pushes past Bennett so she can clasp Rain in a hug. The moment evaporates.
“What happened?” Bennett asks.
Seena jumps in and I’m grateful. “We came inside to get gloves for the trash and …” he gestures toward the inferno outside.
Flowers gets on the phone and calls the fire department.
Ben turns to me. “Why didn’t you just use your pow—”
I shake my head. I do not want to discuss my chicken leg right now.
“You missed Lyon’s dip in the kraken tank,” Rain points out.
Bennett’s gaze hardens. “What?”
I shrink underneath the anger in his glare. My voice gets soft. “We asked a couple staff members for some supplies for the trash cans. And Seena got a call. I was waiting for one of them to get me gloves when someone pushed me in.”
“The kraken didn’t attempt to eat you?” my mother breaks apart from Rain to stare down her nose at me.
“Rain saved me.” I turn to my sister and look her in the eyes. “Thank you.”
Our eyes meet, and she gives a brief nod. Whatever our differences, however much she might hate me right now, she’s still my big sister.
My mother’s guilt spell wallops me in the ribs.
“You! You sent the cops over to question Jackson! For murder! After you poisoned him? What is wrong with you?”
I fall to my knees and my hands are covered in slime. She shoves more guilt at me and I have to fight to keep my forehead off the floor.
Bennett takes a step forward. “Ms. Sky, Lyon did not send our office on over. We had information leading us to believe—”
“Oh, that’s manure, and you know it. I know it. My daughter would go to the ends of the earth to make me miserable, it seems.”
To my surprise, it’s Flowers who speaks up. “I think you have an overinflated opinion of your importance, Ms. Sky.”
My mother’s shock lifts the guilt spell a little, and I crane my neck to look up at her face.
She is livid. The spiraling emerald jewels in her cheek glow, turning her blue eyes turquoise. She lets go of Rain and her fingertips crackle with lightning.
Bennett takes up the mantle. “No one would commit a crime just to embarrass you. Our department would not waste resources questioning someone on a whim.”
Flowers takes a step forward and helps me to my feet. It’s a struggle (the guilt still has a hold on me). “I happen to have an update on the supposed poisoning.”
He looks to Bennett for a nod of approval before continuing.
I tense. “How bad is it?”
“While Bennett spoke with Jackson Rock, I visited the lab. Results are in. Those cookies both had Uglify in them. Not illegal. Not poison. Mostly a stupid prank spell.”
My stomach and jaw drop. I’m shocked. The guilt spell falls off me. I’m pretty sure my mom is shocked too.
“Are you sure?” Rain asks.
I shake my head. “That can’t be right. Danny—”
“Apparently Danny’s allergic to ugly. That’s why his reaction was so severe.”
“Allergic?”
“Yup.”
I want to laugh-cry. JR would love that. Danny’s allergic to ugly. Hopefully, I’ll get to tell her soon. Hopefully, she won’t be so mad at me once she realizes it was a prank.
That thought makes my stomach whirl. A prank. Not an attempt to murder me? Luke’s face pops into my head. What does that mean? A prank? A prank? Was he trying to be funny?
A tiny bit of hope bubbles up.
But what about the Crypt’s symbol? That’s not funny. That’s scary as shit. If it was a prank, it was a mean prank. Which begs the question, why would he be mean to me?
Unless he wouldn’t. He said he didn’t know about it. And Bennett said that Cookie Gonzalez is known to send cookies.
Luke knows her. I saw them together. If the cookies are from her, I’m still in the same position I was in before. In danger.
Because maybe she gave me a warning. Maybe she didn’t like Luke talking to a cop. Even one who’s just in training.
And if Cookie gives you a warning, you damn well better listen.
Flowers keeps talking, of course. He can’t resist when there’s the opportunity for a ‘learning moment.’ He ignores the bombshell he just dropped on my personal life.
“Uglify is a spell designed for humans. Fae are closer to humans than most other creatures. In DNA structure at least. Danny’s satyr keeps him half-animal at all times. So, it makes sense that his reaction is worse. His magic’s different.”
I nod, only half-listening.
Rain and my mom are talking to one side.
Bennett and Seena are discussing the case in hushed tones. I take a step closer to them and Flowers shuts up.
“What did you learn from questioning Jackson?”
Bennett sighs. “You might wanna go home for the day, Fox. You’ve had a lot happen.”
“Yeah, I have. But someone is out there killing fae. I happen to have two fae staying with me. And I don’t think I want them killed. So, Jackson?”
“Rock has been pushing for the board to approve some kind of activity for the vampires. He’s been working with Mayor Honeycutt because he didn’t want a riot to break out. The two deceased members wouldn’t budge. That’s what he claims they were arguing about that afternoon, anyway.”
I nod. “Well, maybe he can be set aside on the suspect list then.” I feel a sense of relief. I don’t want my sister to be dating a murderer. And I don’t want my mom to hate me forever either.
Bennett sighs and takes another step away from my family. “I’m having his statement verified, so he’s not completely off the hook.”
“But, someone tried to kill me. While you were up there with him. He couldn’t have done it.”
“If he was working alone, no,” Bennett agrees.
“Someone didn’t want us digging through the trash.” Seena shakes his head in disbelief. “I mean, I thought that was a long shot to start with. Looking for a soda can. But it looks like someone was definitely hiding something in there. Do you think Mr. Rock could have had someone come set the fire once he knew you were there?”
“It’s possible,” Bennett sighs. “The nurse came in for a moment and I had to step out.”
Intuition tingles down my spine.
“Which nurse?”
“Tall, redhead. Grumpy amazon type.”
The tingle becomes a chill. I turn to Flowers. “That’s Nurse Nasty. She was here, on the first floor, helping move the kraken. She heard me talk about searching the trash.”
Flowers gives a half-grin. “I was right. Fox, what have you found out about selkies?”
I groan. With everything going on, I haven’t even thought about her.
I think I’m destined to end up on everyone’s shit-list.
“Seals are grey?” I try, weakly.
His grin drops.
“Follow me, rookie.”
Ah, crap.
Chapter 14
Flowers leads us all up to the fourth floor.
In the elevator, I protest. “Look, isn’t there a working theory that whoever stole this power can use it? If that’s true, they have fire power. That means they could have been anywhere and set that trash on fire. Not just on the first floor. It could be someone else, right?”
Flower shakes his head, “That theory gives the murderer a lotta credit. Darrell’s been around five thousand years and he wasn’t even sure about whether that’s possible. It’s a lot simpler to think that the suspect had access to you and the trash on the first floor.”
I wring my hands.
“Relax, Fox. This will be fun.”
I don’t think Flower’s definition of fun and mine will ever be the same. Even in a parallel universe. He’s crazy.
He spots Nurse Nancy and beelines for her. Knots form in my stomach. I do not see this going down well. Hopefully, Flowers will ask her to come down to the station to make a statement, so she won’t make a scene.
Does he do that?
Of course not.
He asks her to find an empty room so we can chat. How would you feel if four cops came wandering up to you and wanted to ‘chat?’
Nancy’s hackles rise. “What the hell for?” she booms.
“Well, ma’am, you happen to be the charge nurse on a floor where patients keep dying.” Flowers is not intimidated by her at all. Good for him. If I hadn’t already peed myself over the whole kraken business, I might pee now.
Nasty is scary. Her eyes narrow to slits and she stands at her full height, before leaning into Flower’s personal space. “I’m working. If you don’t want any other patients on this floor to unnecessarily die because you’re keeping me from treating them—”
“Don’t you have any confidence in your staff?” Flowers keeps his tone conversational. “Melanie seemed quite—”
“She’s an idiot. Not even been on the floor six months and still pukes every time she has to cut off an extra arm.”
I exchange a look with Seena. Shudder.
Flowers checks the staff room. “Why don’t we slip in here to talk?” he gestures like he’s some gracious host.
Nancy snorts, but follows. She goes right to the door at the back that says, ‘Privacy Room’ and bangs on it. “Get out,” she bellows.
A fox with swollen teats comes out, glaring at Nancy. “This is my break.”
Nancy gestures at our group. “Unless you want these cops to hear you, I suggest you take it up a floor.”
The fox eyes us and rolls her eyes. She yips and four cubs spill out of the room behind her. One bites her tail. Another tries to suckle in public. She bats him off.
“Come on, kids.” She trots off without a backward glance, her kits tripping and wrestling as they follow.
Nasty takes a seat at one of the plastic lunch tables. The chair creaks under her weight.
“I don’t have anything to tell you fools. I schedule the nurses. Oversee the floor for major issues—”
I jump in. I probably shouldn’t. But I do. “How’d the kraken move go?” I ask it just to see how she reacts.
She just raises an eyebrow at me. Either she deserves an Emmy, or I suck at reading faces. It’s probably the latter. “That shit head nearly broke the elevator. That’s how that went.”
“Who put him in the tank?”
“There was a whole team.”
“Were you on that team?”
“Of course.”
“Didn’t check to see if someone was in the tank first?”
Nancy stands. “No one was in there!”
Bennett leans against the far wall, behind Nancy. He shakes his head at me. “She’s lying,” he mouths.
I crinkle my eyebrows.
He taps his nose. Oh, he can smell fear. I wish I had a dragon nose.
Flowers again takes the lead. “Nancy, can I ask, why are you so afraid?”
Her lips thin. Her hands form fists the size of softballs.
“You think it’s me that killed those fae, don’t you?”
Flowers holds up a hand, “We just want to get information from you. Did you know the deceased—”
“You already know the answer to that question if you’re asking it!” she yells. Nancy’s breathing hard, like a bull about to charge.
Whoa Nelly! I take a step back.
“You did. You knew them,” Bennett pushes off the wall and takes a step forward. He puts a hand on Nancy’s shoulder. “Please, sit back down.”
Nancy recoils at his touch. “Don’t.” But she follows his instruction and sits.
“Tell us. It’ll be better if you’re honest.”
She puts her face into her hands. “Zanno kept me from getting fired a couple years back. He has some friends on the board here, I guess.”
Flowers and I exchange a look. I’m guessing she’s referring to that patient she dropped.
“And…” Bennett prompts.
“And, in exchange, he made me give him my coat,” she stares listlessly at the table.
We wait. I’ve learned this waiting thing is a very common cop technique. Seena almost blows it, opening his mouth, but Flowers puts a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
Eventually, Nancy sighs. I watch the fight drain out of her. “I was just about to escape him. I was this close,” she holds up two fingers almost touching.
“So, you and Zanno have had a relationship all these years?” Bennett asks. “There wasn’t any evidence of a girlfriend at his place.”
A bitter chuckle escapes Nancy. “Of course not! Have you seen me? A fae would never stoop to dating me.” She shakes her head. “Zanno was using me to negotiate with Zealandia. A lot of ley lines run through the submerged continent. He wanted to negotiate a fey treaty. Make his name. I was just the translator. They liked me because they didn’t trust that bastard. They wanted me to tell them what he really intended.”
“Did you?”
“Yup.”
Flowers tilts his head. “He find out about it?”
“Nope.”
I glance to Bennett. He shakes his head. Looks like selkie is afraid again.
Ben clears his throat. “I’m gonna need you to call someone to come cover your shift. We need to go to the station to talk further.”
“No! I can’t leave!” The chair falls to the floor as Nancy stands.
Flowers blocks the door. “You need to cooperate, ma’am. This is a murder investigation.”
“I can’t leave! I can’t!” Nancy slams a fist into the table and cracks it.
A second later, Ben’s in dragon form and Seena’s squished between a massive dragon hip and the counter. Ben ducks so he doesn’t punch a hole in the ceiling with his head. His scales flutter and he opens his mouth to reveal a set of six-inch-long fangs. A fireball dances on his tongue, just waiting to be released.
The sight of him makes Nancy sag in defeat. I don’t blame her. He’d scare me, too.
Ben restrains Nancy’s arms while Flowers cuffs her.
“I can’t leave! Please don’t make me leave,” she begs.
Ben turns to me, smoke drifting out his nostrils. “Fox, go home. Mostafavipour, get to the station.” He finally realizes Seena’s squished. He tries to shuffle backward, but there’s no space. I reach through the gap and help Seena climb onto the counter top, so he can get out.
Ben continues as if nothing happened. He eyes Seena, “Look up everything you can on Nancy. Find a link between her and Alvin. I want the report on my desk in forty minutes.”
He turns and together he and Flowers wrangle the giant, writhing red-head out the door. She’s still sobbing and crying out, “No!” as they disappear down the hall.
“That is not how I expected this to go,” Seena says.
“Me either.”
“Guess we still have a lot to learn.”
“Guess so.”
I don’t want to find Rain and my mother. But I do.
They’re in the waiting room near Jackson’s hospital room. His door is closed, and I hear voices, so I guess a nurse must be in there with him.
I stop about twenty feet away, waiting for my mother to acknowledge me. She takes her time. That was a common put-you-in-your-place technique growing up. Wait to speak until you’re acknowledged.
Finally, I’ve had enough of waiti
ng. She’s pissed. I get it. But I’m starving.
“Would you like to go to dinner?” I grit my teeth as I ask. I never got to eat while I was out with Bennett. And it’s payday, so for once my account isn’t riding the edge of non-existence. And it is their holiday. And they are family. Plus, maybe some small part of me feels guilty about Jackson. Even though he barged into my room and ate my cookies without asking. (I said a small part.)
My mother does one of those deep, disapproving nose breaths. “If Rain can clean you up a bit,” she eyes my orange slimed pants with disgust, “I suppose we could grab a sandwich and go eat by a ley line. Away from the crowds, of course.”
“Of course.”
Rain cleans me up and we tromp outside in silence. Once we’re in the open air, they flutter their wings and hover.
I pull out the Broomer app. “I’ll meet you at the Sandman Fountain. I’ll grab food on the way.”
They flutter off, and as my Broomer arrives, I can’t help but appreciate the temporary reprieve.
I have my witch fly to Wendel’s since they have a pickup counter. I try to put in the order on my phone as we fly, but the sky’s crowded tonight. Fae flutter all over the place, ignoring the yellow hinkypunk lights floated up by the city planners to control traffic. Extra bats swoop around as shape-shifting vampires go to pre-Halloween parties. Teenage witches blunder around on their new brooms, practicing for their first coven flight tomorrow night. I get frozen a couple times by a ghost lurching out of the way of giant cobwebs tossed into the air by some giggling pre-teen demon boys.
By the time we get to Wendel’s I just order whatever’s behind the bakery glass pre-made. I toss a few gold coins on the counter top and hurry to the fountain. I don’t need mom mad at me for being late.
Sandman Fountain is on the edge of Woodlawn Park, and it’s just beautiful. I think it is, anyway. It’s a three-story fountain with stone giants, elves, fae, trolls, and various woodland creatures dancing. The artist was a master spell worker, because even though glowing golden sand pours down their cheeks, or out their ears, or spills over their hands, the statues are not worn down. They’re still perfect. Pristine.
Watching the bottom of the fountain, the miniature dunes move so swiftly they look like waves. The wind can never whip up a sandstorm here. I’ve never seen it rain by this fountain; never seen the effect ruined by mud. It’s always peaceful. I’ve never thought about it before, but maybe there’s a peace spell in this part of the park that prevents such violent weather. After all, it’s the dreaming fountain.