Lost in Mist and Shadow: A Between the Worlds Novel (10 page)

Salarius had so far managed to convince Ferinyth to move slowly by reminding him that they would likely only have one chance to take the girl. This had not pleased the headstrong elf, nor would he ever admit to listening to the advice of an elf barely old enough to be called an adult, but he was too afraid of failing to risk haste. That suited Salarius very well; he hoped he could delay for as long as possible. He was enjoying the experience too much to want to go back to hovering in his father’s shadow at home.

So while Ferinyth scouted around the town and secured them a place to stay – far more boring activities to Sal’s mind – he settled in to observe the girl’s patterns and habits. The key to victory over any enemy, his father always said, was to understand their strengths and weaknesses and how best to exploit them. Unexpectedly he found himself forgetting sometimes what his ultimate purpose was, caught up in the fascinating comings and goings of all the different people…The subtle pull of magic within the store drew his attention back and he leaned forward slightly. He was too far away to see anything but the three figures standing in the back; if they were doing anything interesting he could not tell. He strained his senses carefully and eventually distinguished the pattern of a geis, a type of binding spell, being woven around the three. Curiosity piqued he tried to edge closer, but didn’t dare break his cover, not with the Elven Guard around.
What is going on?
he wondered
what could they possibly need a geis for? Is she binding them to something? Protecting her perhaps? Or are they binding her?

Mortal earth – or at least this Bordertown which was as close as Sal had ever gotten to mortal earth – was an endlessly interesting place…

***********************************

Dinner with her roommates later that night was surreal. It was the first time since before Syndra’s death that everyone in the house had sat down for a meal together and Allie felt completely off balance seeing Shawn sitting at the table when Syndra wasn’t. When Liz had said she was showing Syndra’s room to someone Allie hadn’t expected her to have the new person moved in within a day. It was dizzyingly fast for Allie who usually didn’t like things changing at all. She already felt as if too much had happened in the last few months without an instantaneous new roommate.

Jason was unusually subdued and kept staring at Shawn uncertainly. Of course, his out of character quietness might have been partially due to the fact that Shawn and Liz monopolized the entire meal with an animated conversation about rehearsal at the theater. No one else could have gotten a word in if they had tried, not that anyone else was trying. Allie and Bleidd ate side by side in silence, focusing on eating with an elven single mindedness. Only once did Allie crack a smile, when it occurred to her that the way she and Bleidd were eating was the height of perfect elven manners, something that had never occurred before. Her amusement was short lived though as that reminded her of how badly she had handled the situation with Jess and Brynneth earlier. She was woefully out of practice when it came to proper manners and she often only remembered the right thing to do after she hadn’t done it. Jess seemed endlessly forgiving of her boorishness and Brynneth was kind enough to overlook her bad manners, but if she wasn’t careful she’d get herself in trouble one of these days. She wasn’t a child anymore who would be forgiven for making a mistake and she didn’t fancy the idea of being challenged to a duel because she sat when she should have stood or didn’t say hello at the right time.

The problem, of course, was that she had left Fairy when she was only a child and while her grasp of the language was good her memory of proper manners wasn’t. It didn’t help that she had spent decades passing as human and doing her best to act like someone with only a basic knowledge of Fairy customs, something that could be explained by her living in Ashwood where most humans had at least some idea of simple Fairy manners.

As soon as she was finished eating she got up and brought her dishes over to the sink, deep in thought. It startled her to feel a hand on her lower back and she turned to find Bleidd leaning in close behind her. She edged back, hitting her hip on the counter hard enough to bruise later. He ignored her reaction – her mind automatically reminded her stepping away was rude. In elven culture, which he had of course just spent a month immersed in, personal space was basically non-existent and insistence on not being touched was a grave insult. Before she could form an apology he said, “Allie, Jason and I are going to watch a movie, would you like to join us?”

She relaxed slightly, immediately agreeing, “Sure, what movie?”

He inclined his head in the elven equivalent of a shrug. “Whatever we’re all in the mood for.”

Allie was slightly disappointed when Liz and Shawn followed the group out of the kitchen. She didn’t dislike Shawn, exactly, but she still wasn’t entirely sure what to think about him. He seemed overeager about
everything
.

When the old Victorian had been new the room had been a formal dining room; now it was used for recreation. Restyled as a den the room was filled by a large, overstuffed, sectional couch which ran the length of two walls. A huge television – too big in Allie’s opinion – and entertainment center dominated the corner opposite the couch. Two small end tables hovered at either side of the couch and a narrow coffee table sat on an old throw rug. The room had been decorated in pieces over the years so that nothing matched, from the brown and tan patterned throw rug that covered the hardwood floor to the mint green couch, but the whole room had a comfortable feel.

Allie grabbed her favorite spot on the couch, by one of the arms, leaning over the soft cushioned arm as she watched Bleidd and Jason debate what to watch. She’d expected the theater duo to have some input but Liz and Shawn were busy trying to decide where to sit, doing an awkward shuffle around each other. By the time they managed to work it out, Liz giggling nervously, Bleidd and Jason had chosen a recent release about a man on a quest to rescue his family from a dragon. Despite the serious premise the movie was billed as a comedy and Allie had wanted to see it when it first came out but hadn’t had the time.

Jason went to set the movie up and Bleidd flipped off the light switch. To Allie’s surprise he sat down next to her and draped his arm across her shoulders pulling her in against his side. She shifted uncomfortably and he tightened his grip slightly, clearly not planning to let her squirm away that easily. Liz was watching her closely and Allie hesitated suddenly unsure what to do. A month ago she wouldn’t have minded the physical closeness, in fact she would have enjoyed it, but a month ago she thought of Bleidd strictly as a friend. Now he was in this terrible gray area and she was solidly with someone else. Shawn glanced over too and in that painfully cheerful voice that Allie was starting to dread hearing, asked, “Hey are you guys dating?”

She said no at the exact same time that Bleidd said yes and she watched Shawn’s eyes dart between them. Flustered she clarified, “Elves don’t date.”

Bleidd made an amused noise, not quite a laugh, in the back of his throat, but Shawn looked embarrassed. “Really? Um, well. I mean I’d heard that elves,” he blushed furiously and Allie had little doubt what exactly he’d heard, “I mean, not anything bad, just that, you know, elves are very free, I mean not free, but they…”

“Elves don’t date as humans do,” Bleidd cut in, either taking pity on the newest roommate or getting tired of the babbling, “But we have a concept that is somewhat similar. In English you would call it courting.”

“Oh, really?” Shawn asked looking relieved.

“Sounds fascinating,” Liz said, “so you and Allie are, um, courting now? That’s a new development.”

Her tone was neutral but Allie could feel the conflicting emotions rolling off of her. That was unexpected; given how much Liz didn’t like Jess Allie would have thought Liz would be happy about this. Then again maybe she was upset she hadn’t already known about it. Jason had started the movie and was walking over to the couch, keeping his expression carefully blank, but from him too Allie felt a mixed reaction. Belatedly she tried to strengthen her shields, realizing she was reading everyone without trying, but found that it was a struggle to get even a basic shield up. It was so frustrating she wanted to pound the couch with her fist, but of course she couldn’t let anyone know how much she trouble she was having.

“Not new actually, just not something we’ve explored yet.” Bleidd said smoothly. Allie fought the urge to smack him. Why did he have to stir this all up?

Now Liz was radiating disapproval. “Allie don’t you already have a boyfriend?”

Allie swallowed hard, focusing on watching the previews.

“Courting isn’t exactly like dating, Liz,” she dodged the question, not wanting to try to explain that while Jess was her lover she hadn’t been willing to completely turn Bleidd down when he’d confessed his feelings to her. When he’d offered his court too, she’d been unable to tell him no, but she also felt too much loyalty to Jess to do anything with anyone else. Her feelings for Bleidd though were a tangle that she couldn’t begin to sort out. She loved Jess. But she felt like Bleidd needed her. She was caught between the two of them, in many ways just as she was caught between the two sides of her own heritage.
If I could just get over this ingrained monogamy thing
she thought, tired of feeling like she was disappointing everyone,
I wouldn’t even have this problem at all. I could just be with both of them.
That thought made her feel odd. Did she really want to be with Bleidd? Sitting next to him felt good, but not
right
in the same way that being with Jess felt.

“Maybe you should try to do things the human way and stop trying to be something you aren’t,” Liz said stiffly. Everyone turned and looked at her. Liz wasn’t backing down this time. “You aren’t an elf Allie. That’s never going to change. I don’t know why you keep trying to act like you can really be part of that world.”

Bleidd tensed next to her, and she heard him drawing a breath. She realized she really didn’t want to know what he would say. “Yeah Liz, I’m not an elf. But Jess is and so is Bleidd. So it’s not just a simple thing, and it’s not an all one or the other thing either.”

“Yeah,” Jason said from his position in the middle of the couch, trying to relieve the tension,” These cross-species romances are complicated. Like brain surgery but with less surgery. I assume anyway, but hopefully not with less brain”

Allie and Shawn both laughed and Bleidd relaxed. Liz still looked annoyed, but the moment had passed and everyone turned to watch as the opening scene of the movie finally came on.

Allie found herself wondering though, as she sat tucked up against Bleidd’s side, why she couldn’t just tell him no when she knew her heart was somewhere else. Or at least she was fairly certain it was.

The sky was low and threatening Wednesday, reflecting Allie’s bad mood back at her. Today was the day that Jess was supposed to be coming back with whatever official paperwork he’d come up with for her to help the Elven Guard find Jenny. She should have been looking forward to seeing him, but she wasn't. She would have to tell him that Bleidd was back, and that he was pushing her on her agreement to court him too - and that she couldn’t seem to tell him no, even though she had been trying. Every time she worked up the nerve to talk to him about keeping things platonic he would bring up how much he relied on having her in his life and talk about how much he loved her. And his overwhelming need for her, like a whirlpool that sucked her in through her empathy, would totally derail what she had meant to say until she found herself comforting and reassuring him. Yet as soon as she was away from him she remembered Jess and his talk of jealousy. She ended up feeling like a horrible person, even though she hadn’t actually done anything, because she could feel the potential for something to happen lurking just beneath the surface.

She managed to get to Between the Worlds early, her mind on what she would say to Jess and more importantly how she would say it. Walking through the dark store she tried out and discarded a half dozen different possibilities, finding that they all either sounded like she was trying to hide something or were too blunt.

She flipped the sign to open and unlocked the front door, and then decided despite the threatening clouds and probable rain to open the front door and let in some fresh air. The door swung open and she had started to turn away when she looked down.

Laying on the doorstep was a dead cat.

Allie felt her mouth go dry. Automatically she glanced around the street but there was nothing obviously out of place. Traffic was light this time of day. She could see a small line in front of the coffee shop down the street. Directly across from her store was a small alley that led to another side street. To one side was an office building, its bland windows staring at the street. To the other side was Curious Curios, an antique shop owned by a pixie; it was closed. Not surprising since Lei kept whatever hours she felt like keeping and had no set opening and closing. The entrance to the store was recessed, so it was unlikely anyone she couldn’t see from here would have seen anything suspicious either, or for that matter that anyone walking past would have noticed the cat unless they made a point of looking in to the doorway.

Taking a deep breath Allie closed the door and turned the sign in the window back to closed. Slowly she walked back behind the counter and with hands that only shook a little she picked up the phone and dialed the police department.

Her voice was completely calm, almost flat, as she explained to the dispatcher that she needed an officer to come out and why.

The patrol car pulled in fifteen minutes later, and Allie was waiting on the sidewalk for it. The store was late opening by then but Allie didn’t care. She wasn’t going to touch that cat, not for anything. The officer, whose name tag said O’Donnell, looked less than pleased to be there. Unconsciously Allie reached out to the other woman’s emotions and felt a mix of annoyance and distaste.

“What seems to be the problem?” O’Donnell asked briskly. Mutely Allie pointed to the cat’s body. The officer’s eyes flicked to the dead animal and back to Allie. “Miss, the police department has better things to do than come clean up dead animals for you. Why didn’t you call animal control?”

“This is the third one,” Allie said. “I called animal control the first time. The second time I just thought, I don’t know what I thought. But three in less than a week? This is intentional.”

The cop gave her a glassy stare. “Why would you think it’s intentional?”

“Three dead animals left on my doorstep?” Allie asked incredulous. “How can that not be intentional?”

“What would you like me to do about it?” now there was a trace of belligerence in her voice.

Allie started to get angry too but held it in check. “I’d like you to open a case on it, please, and investigate.”

O’Donnell stared her down for several long seconds and Allie was starting to think that the other woman was going to refuse, but then she did pull out her notebook. “Fine, name?”

“Allie McCarthy.”

O’Donnell stopped, pen poised above paper, and Allie swore silently
. She recognizes my name
Allie thought, her nerves screaming at the other woman’s hesitation. Finally the cop wrote quickly, barely looking at what she was doing.

“Fine, got it. If I need anything else I’ll contact you.”

Allie stood open mouthed as the officer turned to go. “Wait! Is that it? You, you don’t need anything else?”

“I just told you if I do I’ll contact you,” O’Donnell said coldly.

“But what should I do?” Allie asked, frustrated.

“About the cat? Not my problem. Maybe if you don’t want people leaving dead animals by your place you wouldn’t be involved in witchcraft to begin with.” This time the cop was walking away resolutely.

“That’s not…witchcraft isn’t…” Allie sputtered.

“Or maybe,” O’Donnell said as she slid back into her squad car, “Someone’s just letting you know they don’t believe that smear job you and the elves pulled on a good detective.”

The car pulled away in a squeal of tires leaving Allie standing frozen on the sidewalk. She felt like she’d been slapped. Numbly she turned and looked at the cat still lying cold and lifeless by her front door. She pulled her cell phone out and tried to call Jason, but he didn’t answer. Allie couldn’t remember when he was working today; the fire department rotated shifts and she could never keep track of his schedule. She thought of calling Jess but it seemed ridiculous to call him over a dead cat. Finally she went back in and got a cardboard shipping box, managing to maneuver the body into it despite the nauseating way its head rolled. Somehow she got the box into the dumpster behind the building, locked the front door, and made it to the bathroom before the panic attack hit.

She spent nearly an hour on the bathroom floor.

************************

“You worry too much,” the woman said dismissively.

“He’s a loose cannon,” the other woman said, her hands working nervously, shifting clothes around in piles “he’s not keeping in touch with you like he promised he would.”

“Let me worry about that,” the first woman said, completely unfazed. “He’s doing exactly what we need him to do, and so far he’s doing it completely under the radar.”

“Walters was the better choice.”

“Yes, and that’s why he was chosen first but he failed us,” the woman said, thinking of how hard her group had worked, how many years they had put into the effort. To be so close now and fail was simply unacceptable. “He lacked focus. Jeremiah has that. He knows that his mission is the only thing that matters. He won’t go off making deals with filthy elves and ruining everything.”

“Well, yes, but,” the other woman hesitated, “Jerry’s also got a history. He enjoys what he does to the girls, that doesn’t seem right. We’re doing it because it’s necessary, not for fun.”

“There’s nothing wrong with him enjoying his work,” and then seeing the other woman’s appalled expression, “Don’t worry sweetie, he knows
she’s
off limits. I’ve made it very clear. We won’t have a repeat of what Walters did.”

“Well, good, but can we trust him?”

“I understand after what happened before why it’s so hard to put this in his hands. God knows it would be better if we could do it ourselves, but the ritual is specific that it has to be a man forcing one of them, one of the mixed blooded women. So we have to put it in the best hands we have. Unless you want your partner doing it?” she smirked as the other woman blanched.

“No! No. Of course not.”

“Well, we don’t have that many men to choose from that are skilled enough to perform a ritual at this level,” satisfied that she’d proven her point, the woman switched topics. “Speaking of her though, are you keeping her distracted?”

“I’m doing my best. It just seems so cruel. She’s already so fragile,” the other woman frowned.

“Oh don’t underestimate her. I know it’s hard to see her upset, but if you want her to be safe you need to keep her away from what we’re doing. And that’s going to mean keeping her off balance.”

“I know that,” she said stiffly.

“We all have to sacrifice for the cause. You think the others aren’t doing their part? Do you know how hard it is to set all these fires, to keep the police busy, without anyone getting caught?” the woman asked, her voice reproving. “And you know I care about her too - which is why I’m leaving dealing with her in your hands. I know you can manage to keep her out of things
safely
but if not I’ll have to leave it up to someone else.”

There was just the barest hint of a threat in the last statement.

“No, I can handle it. It’s only a couple more months anyway, and then it will be over,” the other woman said it with confidence, pushing her hair behind her ears.
Whatever it takes to fix this world,
she thought, reciting the group’s mantra,
but I can do it and keep Allie safe too
.

***********************

Allie felt him coming in a roil of misery and anger and something deeper before he actually arrived and so was halfway to the door when Jason walked in. “What’s wrong?”

He looked at her blankly for a moment, then said “Nothing.”

“Jason, you are projecting upset emotions so bad I bet non-empaths can sense it, never mind me. Are you okay? Are you hurt?” she pressed. His jangle of upset emotions grated on her own raw emotional state like salt on a fresh wound.

He wavered for a second then gave in, shoulders slumping. “I’m on paid leave.”

“What? What happened?”

“I broke a direct order and went back into a burning house because there were kids trapped inside, even though the roof was starting to go. They said I almost got myself killed,” he said tightly, looking at the wall to avoid her eyes. “And so I’m on paid leave and might lose my job.”

“Are you okay?” she asked again, worried that he was hurt.

“Physically I’m fine,” he answered. “But it was…it was terrible Allie. We went in and dragged one person out but they were so badly burned they died before we could get ‘em on the ambulance. They took ‘em anyway but it wasn’t any good,” he laughed, a stiff unnatural sound, “I don’t even know if it was a man or a woman and Gods I don’t think I’ll ever get that smell out of my mouth. Horrible. Just horrible. And we knew the kids were still in there and the captain said stay back because the structure was going and I went in anyway.”

“Did you – did you find the kids?”

“Yeah, I did. Hiding in a closet. I think the girl will live but the boy was pretty bad. Smoke inhalation. I just barely got back out before the whole thing came down,” he shook his head. “And then they put me on leave, just like that in front of everybody, right at the scene.”

“I am so sorry Jason.”

“Don’t be, I did it to myself,” he flopped down into a chair his expression brooding. “I was just driving around, going nowhere and decided I’d come here. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course not! I’m glad you came here. Make yourself comfortable,” she said, meaning it.

“Right,” he made a face. “So how’s your day?”

She couldn’t control a nervous laugh. “Crappy.”

“What’s up? Please feel free to distract me from the way I totally wrecked my life.”

“Well I found a dead cat on my door when I opened today and had an epic panic attack,” she said making a face.

“You had a panic attack about a dead cat?”

“It’s the third dead animal on my doorstep in the last six days,” she said flatly.

“Are you kidding?” he asked sitting up straighter. “Allie you need to call the police.”

“Oh, believe me, I did. Suffice to say the cop who came out made it clear I won’t be getting any help. And then I had the panic attack.”

“What? Why?” he seemed so genuinely shocked she looked away.

“Jason…” she took a deep breath. “A lot of people don’t like me right now. Because the papers outed me as being not-all-human when I’d been pretty much flying under the radar passing as one. Because they think I had something to do with the murders. Because some people think Detective Walters was framed in some kind of elvish conspiracy to discredit human cops.”

He looked outraged, “That’s ridiculous! How can people believe that garbage?”

“Why should people believe that a human cop was killing people as part of some weird ritual? And that he was caught by the elven police? The whole thing is just so sensational people want to see conspiracies in it,” she said feeling suddenly tired.

He shifted uncomfortably, and tried to change the subject, “So did the cleansing work at least? Are things going better in here?”

“Meh, I think I should have used something stronger,” she said heading back behind the counter to finish unpacking the box she’d been working in when Jason had arrived.

“No improvement?”

“Well someone stole a pretty expensive book from me the other day, so I’d have to say no,” she replied wryly.