“No, I think I’ll head back to the office and keep working on a spell to narrow down what area of the city this stupid bottle is in,” she said from somewhere on the other side of Desmond. “The tracking charm actually picked up a lead for about an hour today, but I lost it before I got far. I’m going to keep watching it and try a few more things.”
I nodded, wishing I could thank her. She was struggling with her own case and here she was playing chauffeur to me. It wasn’t even like I’d been that great a friend lately. Everything was work and then home to the castle. I silently vowed that once this case was done, I’d have a girls’ night out with Rianna, Holly, and Tamara. Also, tomorrow, if I ended up blind after wherever the case took me with Briar, I’d call a taxi. It didn’t matter how much metal the vehicle contained.
I waved good-bye and headed inside. I glanced toward the stairs of my old apartment. It would be smart to set up my computer and do some more research. I’d had no luck looking for anything having to do with humans walking around after death, but the creatures in the clearing had been very different from the human corpses.
I didn’t go upstairs. I was tired and hungry, and I didn’t really want to be alone. I’d do it later. Instead I headed to the castle.
Unfortunately, it was the middle of the day, so the castle was empty as well.
I collected PC from my rooms and a sandwich from the kitchen, and then I headed to one of the gardens I hadn’t explored yet. Usually I kept PC on a leash, but this particular garden was completely enclosed, so I let him run. Despite the fact that it was November, roses were in bloom all along the perfectly manicured path. They filled the air with a soft scent that seemed to swirl around me, making me think of sunshine and spring.
I stopped by one of the bushes to admire the flowers. Each deep red bloom was full and perfect, the petals velvety soft. Not one black or yellow mark marred the bush, which had to be magic in and of itself. My father had always had rosebushes around his estate when I was growing up, and his gardeners were forever battling black spot because of our humid southern weather.
PC ran up to me and dropped the ball he’d grabbed before we left my room. I tossed it and the dog scampered after it. I kept walking. He wasn’t likely to bring it back until he got tired of playing on his own.
In the center of the garden was a small reflecting pool. I sat down at the edge so I could watch PC bark menacingly—if the yip of a six-pound dog could be considered menacing—at his ball and then lunge at it and toss it in the air before starting the ritual all over again. PC had just decided it was time to actually bring the ball back to me when I heard voices behind me. After the day I’d had, I jumped, twisting around so fast I nearly hurtled myself into the reflecting pool.
On the other side of the garden, Roy and Icelynne walked arm in arm. They noticed me about the same time I whirled around. Roy smiled, using an entire arm in his enthusiastic wave. Icelynne didn’t smile. It wasn’t that she didn’t like me, or I her; I think she just hadn’t figured out her place yet, and I confused her. Not intentionally, of course, but she was very stuck in her world views, and I didn’t fit.
Icelynne began to curtsy but then caught herself halfway and seemed to get stuck, unsure how to proceed. She knew I didn’t like it when she curtsied, but she’d been a very old fae at her death and had spent her entire life in the Faerie courts. Not being a very powerful fae, she’d survived those centuries by deferring to those who’d had more power or better position, and in most of the courts, the Sleagh Maith were the nobility. I hadn’t grown up in Faerie, though, and I was just me.
“Hey, Roy, Icelynne,” I said, trying to defuse the situation and free her from the awkward moment she’d gotten stuck in. “How are things?”
“Good evening, Lady,” Icelynne replied, totally missing the lifeline I’d thrown her.
Roy hurried over, all but dragging the smaller ghost along with him. She stood only about four feet tall and couldn’t keep up with Roy’s much longer stride, so she eventually unfurled her wings, flying to keep up.
Roy didn’t stop until he was right in front of me. “Hey, Al. So Icelynne and I have been talking and we thought it would be great if the castle had a winter garden.”
“It’s really nothing to bother Lady Alex with,” Icelynne said, stepping back and visibly trying to reclaim her hand.
Roy, oblivious and ever eager, just frowned at her. “What are you talking about? Of course it is something we should talk to Alex about.” He turned back to me. “Lynne’s a frost sprite, but the castle seems to be caught in perpetual spring. She’d feel much more at home if there was a little more winter here. Just one garden would be fine.”
Icelynne jerked her hand from Roy and held both out in front of her, palms facing me as if in surrender. “It’s fine, really, Lady. The gardens are beautiful. We meant no disrespect.”
It was my turn to frown at her. “Icelynne, it’s okay, calm down.” I almost told her to chill, but that would be too ironic. Besides, the little frost sprite likely wouldn’t have understood. “I think it’s a reasonable request. We can ask the garden gnome if it’s possible.” Or more likely Ms. B, who could talk to the elusive gnome.
Icelynne blinked, her large inhuman eyes going first wide in surprise, and then narrowing. “That is very kind, Lady. What will I owe you for this boon?”
“It’s not a boon, it’s a courtesy. You’re my guest here.” Not an intentionally invited one perhaps, but I seemed to be collecting strays these days. She couldn’t return to Faerie—there was no land of the dead for her to exist in there—and it wasn’t like ghosts took up a whole lot of space. “Guest” best described her role in the castle. “That said, I don’t know if it’s possible for the weather in just one garden to change, but I can ask.”
“It’s your domain, Lady. These grounds, this castle, and everything are an extension of your will.”
Riiiight. “Trust me, if this castle did what I wanted, the banquet table would be filled with pizza once in a while.”
Icelynne cocked her head, her very alien features pinched, searching, as if I’d mystified her again. Roy smiled.
“Thanks, Al. You’re the best,” he blurted out, the debt opening between us before I even processed his careless thank-you. Then he hooked his arm through Icelynne’s again. “Well, we’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing,” he said, meaning what he actually wanted was to get back to his alone time with the other ghost.
I smiled and waved to them as they meandered back the way they’d come. It wasn’t until they’d rounded the corner that I realized I’d never thrown the ball again for PC. I looked around for the little dog and found him pushing the small ball up to the base of a roughly carved statue half obscured by a rosebush. He took a few steps back, tail wagging as he waited. When the ball just sat at the little wood figure’s feet, PC let out a demanding yip.
What is he—