Faerie Dust Dead (The Luna Devere Series Book 2) (12 page)

“If I remember correctly, I met
the land owner when I first moved to town. I don’t recollect his name, but he
attended the council meeting when I proposed my business venture. I needed
approval to open this shop and had the architectural plans to show everyone. He
was very interested in the fact that I wanted to keep the grounds natural or change
as little space as possible of the surrounding sides and rear of the building.”

I smiled, reflecting on our
conversation after the license had been approved. “We spoke while everyone left
the meeting. He murmured something about faeries, and I grinned like a fool. He
gave me a knowing look, and said he’d heard I was a believer. That’s why he’d
agreed to allow me to open this business.
Imagine that?
He knew just by
looking at me.”

“That doesn’t explain why this
man, Calis, has been making a nuisance of himself. And, what’s going on with
Arianna? She was always a bit strange, you know. I don’t think she has all her
eggs in one bowl, you know what I mean? Even as a child, she was odd. The kids
always said she was a witch and treated her as though she’d turn them into
frogs if they crossed her. The town was smaller then, and parents were more involved
with what their children did. Still,” Annie shrugged, “kids are cruel and
Arianna bore the brunt of that.”

Knowing what Annie was getting
at, I felt sorry for Arianna. She and I had more in common than I’d thought,
though I wasn’t quite as weird as she was. At least, I didn’t think so.

“Maybe we should learn who
Calis really is and what he’s all about. Why don’t you talk to Dilly and see
what she can find out.” I put my hands up when Annie shook her head. “We’ll
take her information with a grain of salt. There’s always a nugget of truth in
what she tells us, but also a lot of crap. It’s simply a matter of having to
dig to find the bit of gold. In the meantime, I’ll ask Stephanie what she knows
about the property and toss Calis’s name in for good measure. I can’t wait to
hear what she says.”

“If you think poking around is
a good idea, then I’m in. You be careful, Luna. It wouldn’t do for you to come
to any harm because we’ve acted on impulse,” Annie warned.

I mentioned my proposed visit
to Devin this weekend and said, “William and Ida have settled into their new
home. Devin’s been working hard to make it the gorgeous place they both want,
and I wondered if you’d take care of Riddles for me? I’ll be back home by Sunday
evening.”

“Sure thing. I hope you’ll tell
Devin what’s going on. He’ll give you sound advice, I just know it. By the way,
when do you plan to get married?”

I shrugged. “We’ll discuss that
while I’m there. He hadn’t planned on being away this long.” Wistful – I
couldn’t help being lonely without my handsome man nearby and in my bed.

“I’m glad you’ve told me what’s
been happening. I was mighty worried about you. Dilly wouldn’t stop asking me
about you and your plans, even for a second, either.” Annie’s gaze swept the
room. “Let’s get this mess cleaned up before I go on my way.”

“Nah, you go ahead home,” I
insisted. “I’ll get things put to rights, and stock the shelves. It’s been a
long day for you and the others. I can’t begin to tell you how much I
appreciate all the hard work you’ve put in here at the Junction.”

Annie nodded, gave my shoulder
a squeeze, and let herself out. I locked the front and side doors, allowed
Riddles to have run of the place and started to clean. An hour or so later, I’d
finished up and took time to sit on the rear porch with a cup of tea in hand
and a sandwich for supper. I laughed as Riddles feebly attempted to catch
faeries, or anything else that moved, including leaves that fluttered in the
cool, autumn breeze. Happily, I munched my cheese and tomato sandwich, enjoying
the taste of wholesome food, rather than the sweetness of faerie cakes.

A blue faerie perched on the
porch railing. Her lovely wings folded and tucked behind her. Almond shaped
eyes viewed me as she smiled.

“Happy, you seem,” she said in
a lilting voice.

“I am. May I ask you a
question, sweet faerie?” I murmured softly.

She dipped her head and waited.

“My friend Arianna has been
using faerie dust in her art work. She claims she has an agreement with the
faeries. Is that true?”

“Untrue, it is.”

Surprised at the answer, I
said, “I’ve been told that some faeries have died from losing too much dust.
I’m worried.”

Her wings fluttered a bit and
then settled against her back once more. With wide eyes, the blue faerie
assured me, “We die not. Lies, you’ve been told. Wily and beguiling, we are.
Fear not, Luna.”

“Calis believes you’re being
drained of dust and then die due to the lack of it,” I said softly.

“Lose much dust, we can. Die,
we won’t.”

“I saw dust on rocks and shrubs
in the forest. Where did it come from, dear faerie?”

She shrugged one tiny shoulder.
“Two faeries, a disagreement they had. Foolish, they are.”

The blue faerie balanced on the
rail with her wings stretched outward. Suddenly, she lifted into the air.

“Before you go, may I ask one
more thing?” I had a ton of questions, but knew better than to press the faerie
for all of them.

She inclined her head, while
she drifted gently on the breeze.

“Who is Dona DeMaie?”

“Trickster faerie, she is.” The
faerie glanced to the left and sang, “Beware, Luna. Comes this way, he does.”

My eyes slid to the left, I
studied the grounds and trees. Calis stepped from behind tall bushes and walked
toward me. Riddles stood just behind the post at the top step, his fur puffed
and electrified, his claws at the ready with his ears flattened against his
head.

When Calis reached the stairs,
Riddles launched forward onto the front of Calis’s jacket. Growling deep in his
throat, the cat hung haphazardly as his claws sank ever deeper in the fabric,
all the while Calis tried to free himself of the beast and jumped around as
though someone pulled marionette strings. If I’d not been horrified by Riddles
behavior, I would have burst out laughing. Instead, I hid my grin and hurried
down the steps to remove the animal from the front of Calis’s jacket.

Once Riddles had withdrawn his
sharp claws from the cloth, I scolded him gently and put him in the house. He
was better off behind closed doors and away from Calis. When I returned, my
grin wider than it had been, I watched Calis brush cat hair from his clothing,
and murmured, “Sorry about that. He just doesn’t seem to like you for some
reason. Any idea why?”

“He’s a beast, and if you’re
not careful, someone will call the animal control people and he’ll be put down
for his actions,” Calis said huffily.

“You seem to be the only person
who evokes that reaction from him. He’s never reacted in such a manner toward
anyone else,” I remarked. With a sly glance, I continued, “It’s well-known that
animals instinctively know whether a person is good or bad – so which are you,
Calis?”

He stared and then smiled. It
wasn’t a mean smile, or snarky, but cold, real cold. “I’d have thought you’d
know the answer to that by now.” On that note, he turned and walked around the
side of the building.

I heard a car engine rev and
tires screech as he drove from the parking lot. Instantly, I went inside,
locked up and picked up the phone. Stephanie answered the police dispatchers’
line, asked for my name and the problem.

“Steph, it’s me, Luna. I have a
favor to ask.”

“What can I help you with?” she
asked with a note of curiosity in her voice.

It took some innovation on my
part to explain exactly what I wanted without telling her of faeries, pixies,
monsters and such. When I mentioned Calis and Arianna, I heard her sharp intake
of breath.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

“You’d do well to steer clear
of Arianna. I’ll dig around and find out what I can about the old guy who
passed on and what he wanted done with the property. Do you have his son’s
name?” Stephanie asked.

“Unfortunately not. I didn’t
really know his father, I’d met him briefly when I first moved to town and I’ve
never even seen his son.”

“No problem, Luna. I’ll ask the
guys on shift when they come in. They’ll know better than I would about what’s
going on around town. It’s department policy to do community policing by way of
showing up at schools to chat with teachers and kids, visit businesses, and
keeping an eye on properties that lay empty. I’ll get back to you.”

“Great, thanks. Your mother was
extremely helpful today, she’s going to work out well.”

Her chuckle crossed the line
before Stephanie murmured, “She enjoyed herself, and that’s the best thing that
could happen to her right now. Again, stay away from the woods, Luna, and as
far away from Arianna as you can. I’m serious.”

“Sure thing; good advice.
Thanks again,” I said and rang off.

Pensive, I mulled over the
advice to stay out of the woodland and away from Arianna, advice given by so
many. I still had the phone in my hand and immediately dialed Devin’s cell
phone number. He answered on the first ring.

“Hello, beautiful. What’s going
on?” he asked.

“I have some questions and this
time I want answers. No fooling around, Devin, I’m serious about this.”

His hesitation was frustrating,
and I worked at tamping the my disappointment down. When he agreed to answer
whatever I asked, I shot him the first question about Arianna.

“Why do you keep advising to me
steer clear of Ari?” I asked.

“She was implicated in the
murder of Stephanie Jones’s father, but before that, there was speculation that
she had something to do with my wife’s accident. Even as a kid, she was never
right, you know what I mean? She always talked about magic and acted bizarre.
It wasn’t just that she was creepy about the faeries, it was as though she
stepped from a Stephen King novel. That’s the kind of bizarre I’m talking
about.”

“I see. Was she ever given any
help, I mean by way of mental health help?” I asked.

“I don’t think her parents did
a thing for her. They were fairly eccentric, as well. They died in a house fire
when she was around twenty. She had another house built on the same spot after
the insurance company paid up. That’s when she became more peculiar. My wife
felt bad for Arianna and befriended her.”

“How long after they became
friends did your wife die?” I did the math to figure out how old Ari was
compared to me. Since I was younger that either Devin or his wife would be now,
I realized Ari was in her thirties.

“About two years, if I remember
correctly. Why all these questions, Luna?”

“I’ve been told over and over
to keep Ari at a distance and that the woods between our properties are
dangerous. There have been some incidents that have scared me, and I’m
unwilling to let them slide anymore.”

“What kind of incidents are you
talking about? More serious than the break-in you had?” Devin asked.

I explained the series of
events that took place on the wooded path, the faerie who’d told me about the trickster
faerie, and then I mentioned Calis.

“Calis?
Calis who?” he
demanded to know.

“Some mysterious guy walked
into the shop one day and began telling me about faerie dust theft being the
cause of faerie deaths – I’ve explained all that already. He shows up around
closing time – Annie thinks he’s a stalker, and the cat attacked him earlier.
He’s petrified of Riddles, and I guess he should be.” I snickered at the memory
of Riddles clinging to Calis’s jacket.

“That name sounds familiar to
me. Are you sure he’s not from town?” Devin asked.

“I have no idea. He could be.
But though the town is small, there are people living here that I’ve never met
unless they’ve come into the Junction. As you know, I don’t get out much. I did
ask Calis his last name and he refused to tell me. I think he was being
cryptic, but I never pressed him about it. I’m having difficulty keeping up
with all that’s happening and running the business, too. Anyway, Stephanie
Jones is looking into him and Arianna for me.”

“You’re sure you’ve never met
Calis before?” Devin persisted.

“Not until the day he intruded
upon my life. If you were here, you’d have made short work of him, especially
after what I went through last summer. When will you be back?” I asked
hopefully.

“Soon, very soon. Count on it.
I’ve put my foot down on more and more changes to the house. Not that I don’t
adore my former mother-in-law, but enough is enough, and you sound as though
you could use some help right about now. Hang in there and I’ll see you by
mid-week, okay?”

Blissful, I sighed, my heart
swelled, and I nearly jumped for joy. “Wonderful news. I can hardly wait.”

“Take care, and remember, I
love you.”

“I needed to hear that, Devin.
I worried that you’d insist we close the Junction and move away. I really didn’t
want to and hoped you wouldn’t force me to make a decision that would surely
change our lives. Come home soon and I’ll be careful in the meantime, I
promise.” I hung up and danced gleefully around the room before adding
finishing touches to the tables. The intended surprise of popping in to see
Devin, William and Ida no longer needed consideration. Though I’d longed to see
them, the drive to and from their home was long and chores at the Junction
would have had to wait.

Riddles pranced across the
room, watched me from a window ledge he’d wiggled his fat butt onto, and then
turned his gaze toward the outdoors. His hackles rose, he crouched as best he
could on the thin ledge while a low growl mounted in his throat.

Street lamps glowed eerily over
the landscape as I peered through the window and gently stroked the cat’s fur.
I saw nothing but shadows in the darkness.