“I can answer part of that. I didn’t see the third man, but there was one there, DJ said. They found DJ’s wallet and…damn it, I didn’t think to pick it up when we left. Let me tell you what happened. DJ didn’t mention the stag, but I’m not surprised because he was so shaken.”
I told her everything, including how the silver stag had come to our rescue. “I have no idea what that creature was, but I can tell you this, he wasn’t from this world. Or if he was, he’s some species I’ve never encountered before. I’m thinking I should go back and see if the bodies are still there. If they are, I’d better dispose of them somehow.”
“You can’t go. If this Sasha is still there, he’ll be waiting for you.” She shivered. “I’m afraid to stay here. The third man will find DJ’s wallet… Maybe he has already. He’ll know where we live.” Angel nervously paced over to the door, peeking out the front window. “I don’t want to stay here tonight.”
“Should I call the police?” I already knew the answer to that one, but it felt like something that I should say.
She shook her head. Angel might be human, but she understood all too well the nuances in politics concerning interspecies relations. “They aren’t going to help us. For one thing, we know that there are Cryptos on the police force. If any are secret agents for Névé, then you’d be toast and so would DJ and me. I don’t think we can chance talking to any of the authorities.”
“Yeah, and I can’t plead our case before Névé, because she wouldn’t allow me to come before the throne. I’m half-breed, caught between Light and Dark, anathema to both.” To say I was carrying a bitter streak against both sides of the Fae world was putting it mildly. I kept out of their machinations, preferring the company of other Cryptos and humans.
Angel frowned. “Even if we did call the cops, they would just find some way to blame DJ. He’s a young black boy and that pretty much seals his fate with the authorities.”
I nodded, all too aware that racism still ran deep against anybody who wasn’t white and rich in the country.
“Come back to my place for the night. We can figure out what to do tomorrow. I suppose by then, it might be safe for me to return to the ravine to see if the bodies are there. Maybe I can call a friend to help me.” But when I thought about it, I really didn’t have many friends. Angel was my bestie, of course, and I had a few other buddies, but when it came down to it, I really didn’t hang out with people very much. Angel was my go-to girl, and that was about it.
“I’m going to call in sick to work tomorrow. I don’t know what else to do.”
“After DJ finishes his bath, get him dressed. Pack a bag for a couple days. I’m pretty sure that if this Sasha saw me, he wouldn’t know who I was. They have your address, but there’s no way they’ll know to come over to my apartment. We can figure things out when our heads are clear and we’re not so tired.”
While Angel packed for herself and DJ, I raided her refrigerator for anything perishable. We could take the food with us so it wouldn’t go to waste. Once DJ was dressed, Angel and I carried the bags out to my car.
“You should leave your car here. I just feel you’ll be safer if you ride with me.”
“As long as you drive me back for it tomorrow. Then I suppose we can tell if anybody has been in the house. I wish I was a witch—I could cast a spell to booby-trap the place.”
“Well, I can work some magic, but nothing along those lines. I suggest that you lock every window, and when we lock the doors, leave a piece of paper between the door and the door jamb so that if the door opens, the paper will fall. Put it down low enough and make it small enough and an intruder probably won’t notice it.” It was the only thing I could think of at the moment.
It was dark out by the time we packed the bags into my car and took off for my condo. For the first mile or two, I kept a close eye behind us, looking for any sign that we were being followed. But the only cars on the road seemed to be intent on their own destinations, and by the time we were over the bridge to Seattle, I was breathing easier.
We reached my building without any problems, and as we headed up the elevator, I was doing my best to figure out who to call to ask for help. In a metro area of over three million people, I was suddenly feeling very alone.
I TUCKED DJ into my bed, and he fell asleep immediately with Mr. Rumblebutt watching over him on the foot of the bed. As I looked out of the window, over Puget Sound, I was suddenly grateful that I lived on the fifteenth floor. Nobody could come sneaking in, unless they were a vampire. And vampires were the last thing we were worried about.
When I returned to the front room, Angel was in my kitchenette, making grilled cheese sandwiches for us. The cupcake had only whetted my appetite, and while she sliced cheese and buttered the bread, I found a bag of potato chips in the cupboard. I also dug out a bottle of brandy and poured us a couple of drinks. Handing one to Angel, I held up my snifter.
“Here’s to a long life and good health,” I said, sipping the fiery liqueur. “The gods know, I needed this.”
“You and me both. Once again, I can’t thank you enough for saving DJ. I almost lost him, Ember. I don’t know what I would have done without you. You saved his life.” She paused, then staring down at the toasting sandwiches, said, “What the hell are we going to do? We can’t go to the cops.”
I shrugged, not sure of the answer myself. “First, we have to be very careful mentioning this to anybody. You know how capricious the Fae courts are.”
“Thalacious? Really? I can’t believe they were gathering that. I thought it was illegal. Couldn’t we use that against them?” She flipped the sandwiches as I poured the potato chips into a large bowl.
“I doubt it. The poison may be illegal but it’s in use by both the Light and Dark courts. Nobody’s going to do anything about it.”
I paused, thinking about my childhood. “My father was going to teach me how to distill it, you know. He thought one day I might need to know. But the Fae courts got to my parents before he could teach me that.” I paused.
“I’m sorry, Ember. I know it still hurts.” Angel flipped the sandwiches.
I shrugged. “Nothing I can do about it. How my mother and father ever managed to get together, let alone spawn me, I have no clue. But their love got them both killed.”
My mother and father fled both TirNaNog and Navane because of their forbidden love. They had tried to live among the rest of the Cryptos and humans. Unfortunately, my mother was fairly high placed in the Light Court, and her family didn’t take well to her defection. When I was fifteen, I had come home after school one day to find her and my father brutally murdered on the kitchen floor. If I had been home, they would have killed me as well.
I had recognized the daggers still in their hearts as Fae made.
When I had called in Mama J.—Angel’s mother—for help, she had read the cards and told me Light had done the deed. But if they hadn’t, the Dark would have come along sooner or later to finish the job. Mama J. was a witch woman, a tarot reader of incredible ability as well as the best damned cook in Seattle. Angel had inherited her psychic abilities from her mother. Unfortunately, Mama J. had ended up on the wrong side of a drunk driver.
“I think we should just try to fly under the radar.”
“But we can’t do that. One escaped, and he’ll find DJ’s wallet and track us down. Also, can’t the Fae call in one of the Morte Seers? If they can, you’re in danger just as much as we are.” Angel handed me a plate with two sandwiches on it. She had fixed one for herself. She knew that I had a bigger appetite than she did. We carried our plates over to the kitchen table.