Skye looked around the dingy basement and sighed. The job would be perfect if it wasn’t for Glenna. But she could put up with her black moodiness.
An odd humming noise caught Skye’s attention. She stilled and listened. The sounds were like the faint droning of insects, possibly bees. She walked further in the back, trying to find the source. The humming volume increased and drew closer, buzzing near her ears. Mosquitoes? But summer was over, even in the Deep South. She didn’t see anything, but it was darker here further in the back. She sniffed and the aroma seemed linked to some childhood memory . . . but at the edge of her awareness, like trying to recall a dream. The more you tried to remember, the further it receded into some gray nether-region.
Chapter 2
Warm Vanilla Sparkles
“Skye?” Claribel’s voice drifted downstairs. The humming noise stopped at once. “Time to lock up. No sense staying until closing tonight. After the game, everyone will be heading out to eat and drink. Spiritual matters will be the last thing on their minds.” Claribel did a quick scan of the room. “You got a lot done in a short amount of time.”
“I’m weird, I know. But whenever business is slow, I’d like to come down here and finish the job.”
“You don’t find it a little creepy in here? It’s dark and messy. Most people avoid this room.”
Skye opened her mouth to mention the strange noises, then snapped it shut. Like Michael said, she was only hypersensitive and imaginative sometimes.
“Don’t worry about cleaning the basement,” said Claribel. “I plan to hire a crew to come sort it out eventually. Probably best if you only come when you have to get supplies.”
Skye dutifully followed her boss up the steps, watching the fairy wands-as-barrettes wobble precariously in Claribel’s bun. The hem of her skirt was frayed and another loose thread dangled, but Skye wasn’t about to scare her with the scissors again.
Glenna was already pulling on her coat and scarf in the break room when Skye walked in. “Trying to earn brownie points with the boss?” she whispered fiercely, careful for Claribel not to overhear.
“You’re being ridiculous.” Skye put on her jacket and dug car keys out of her purse.
“Just remember, I’ve worked here a whole year almost. Claribel depends on me, not you.”
Skye rolled her eyes. “Fine. You’re the A+, number-one employee in this vast corporate empire. Lighten up for a change.” Glenna flounced out, Skye behind her.
“‘Night, girls,” Claribel poked her head out of an office door, the one she used for tarot readings. Skye saw a shadow in the room; someone had stopped by after all. “Be careful going home. Traffic’s murder now the game’s over. Oh, wait a minute.” The door closed for a moment and Claribel came out, shutting it quickly behind her. Skye caught only a glimpse of a man sitting in a chair, his legs clad in dark suit trousers.
Claribel waved a fairy streamer in their direction. It looked like something a five-year-old girl would buy in a toy store, with long cascades of pastel-colored ribbons tied to the end of a white stick —or wand, as Claribel called it.
“May the Wee Ones flitter around you, and keep your spirits bright,
May they cast their protection on you this night.”
“Thank you, Our Lady of the Fairy Dust and High Priestess of the Sparkly,” Glenna muttered.
Skye elbowed her into silence and they walked into the dark coldness, where Glenna immediately vanished in the throng of fans leaving the stadium and swarming the streets. The mood was ecstatic with people screaming ‘Roll Tide’ and the marching band still playing in the background. The few Tennessee fans, conspicuously clad in bright orange, kept their heads down, hurrying to their cars.
She kept up a steady walking pace. Normally she drove to work, but with the game crowd, walking was less of a hassle than maneuvering MacFarland Boulevard.
The slightly creepy feeling she had earlier in the storage room returned, stronger. Someone was following her. Skye stopped abruptly and looked around. No one was paying her the slightest attention. Probably her imagination in overdrive again. Maybe it was an after effect of being around Gloomy Glenna, a self-proclaimed psychic, and with Claribel who was convinced fairies surrounded her.
She continued on, walking past the Tutwiler freshman dorm for women. She’d been lucky to find a small garage apartment another block away. She’d flirted with the idea of dorm life, but years of being the mystic misfit in her hometown high school soured her to the idea. She wasn’t exactly the sorority girl type.