Earthbound: An Otherworld Novella (9 page)

By late afternoon, we had actually made a tidy sum. The novelty of having a visitor from Otherworld own a bookshop seemed to pay off. In fact, at one point, Erin Mathews—the owner of the Scarlet Harlot, a lingerie shop—popped into introduce herself and ask if we could host a chapter of the Faerie Watchers Book Club, a group dedicated to the study of the world of Fae and all that was connected to it, both in fiction and real-life.

“We might be able to do that,” I said, staring at her business card. “So you own a lingerie shop?” I was a fiend for lingerie, and anything that hugged my curves.

“I have some things that would look absolutely stunning on you.” Erin was probably in her late forties to early fifties. She had short hair, was somewhat stout and wearing blue jeans and a flannel shirt, and had a winning smile.

“I’ll drop by tomorrow at some point. Meanwhile, bring me the information on the club and we’ll see what we can set up. This would be a good way to network with the community.”

Her eyes glittered. She looked as though she had just won a prize. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then. We can talk more about the club, and I’ll bring in some information for you to read.” She paid for three books and strolled out of the shop.

Iris glanced at me. “You do realize that you’re about to become very well known in Seattle, right?”

I glanced at her. “I doubt that will happen. But it might be kind of fun if it did.”

“Be careful what you ask for.” And Iris went back to re-shelving some of the books.

I wasn’t sure how she had done it, but Iris managed to commandeer a town car. Delilah and I sat in back, Iris in the front, and we headed for home in style.

“What did you do all day?” I hadn’t seen Delilah at all.

“Oh, Chase kept me busy learning regulations and rules. Then we started the tedious project of assembling a massive amount of data on the Supes and Fae living in the area. We decided to add vampires to the mix, because apparently, there are several organizations whose goal it is to help vamps acclimate to human society.”

“True, if we project a unified front, it will make it harder for the hate groups to infiltrate and divide us.” I leaned my head against the seat.

“Right. And I thought that perhaps Seattle could use something like a community action council for the Supe community. But the amount of work it would take to begin pulling such a project together? I can’t even imagine how hard it would be.”

She seemed so enthusiastic that I was glad I’d asked her to do the job.

The important thing was that we integrate ourselves into the community rather than standing apart from it. That was one thing my father had impressed on me before we left.

“Camille,” he had said. “The more you hold yourself separate from the native community, the less you’re going to learn, and the more difficult your job will be. You have to create a connection. Obviously, you won’t ever fully belong to the Earthside world, but you can set up contacts and networking. That’s the only way I’ve managed all the missions that I’ve had over there. While I don’t stay long, I do have a network of friends and associates who are always willing to help. Do what you can to integrate.”

I turned to Delilah. “Keep that thought in mind. By the way Iris knows what we we were facing last night. We’ll explain when we get home, after Menolly wakes up. And Iris knows how to try and find it.”

We arrived home about half an hour before sunset. I glanced in the refrigerator, which was mainly full of bottled blood.

“What are we going to eat for dinner? We forgot to get food. Should we call a cab?”

Iris let out an exasperated sigh. “You have to learn how to drive. You can’t rely on taxis the rest of the time you’re here. And I don’t recommend springing for a chauffeur. They’re expensive. I’ll talk to Chase about it the morning and we’ll set you on an accelerated course in driving. All three of you, so no complaining, Delilah.”

“Fine,” Delilah said. “But what do we do in the meantime? I’m hungry.”

One of the things we had noticed since we moved over here was that our appetites had increased. Either that or human food didn’t satisfy us as much. Delilah and I ate like fiends. Of course Menolly only drank blood, but even she seemed to need more than she did over in Otherworld.

“We do what any red blooded American would do. We order takeout. For delivery. What do you want? Mexican? Chinese? Chicken?”

We stared at her blankly.

“I’m sorry, I should realize you haven’t made the distinction between types of fast food yet. I’ll order what I think you’d like. Meanwhile, I suggest you begin planning some sort of renovation to close off the doorway leading to Menolly’s basement apartment. If any wannabe vampire hunters get in here, it won’t take them long to find her with the door in plain sight.”

While we were waiting for Menolly to wake up and for the food to arrive, Delilah poked through the cupboards. She pulled out a bag of brilliantly colored snacks that looks like tiny orange clubs.

“What are these?
Cheetos?
” She opened the bag and a puff of orange dust poofed out, covering her nose.

Iris let out a snort. “Junk food. It’s a corn-based snack covered with a powdered cheesy topping. You’re much better off eating an apple.”

Delilah stuffed several of them in her mouth, and her eyes lit up in a way that I hadn’t seen since she discovered the family of mice living under the laundry. Had she been in Tabby form, they would have been doomed, but she happened to find them while carrying laundry out for the maid, who hurt her back.

Delilah had taken the mice into her menagerie, fed them, and pretty soon we were overrun with the rodents. But they were good, given the knowledge that she could dive in and attack them at any time, and Mother Mouse kept her children out of the house, and out of the storerooms in an unspoken agreement.

“These are so good!” Delilah sputtered, cheesy bits flying every which way.

I gingerly popped one of the puffs into my mouth and bit down. My mouth was instantly filled with the sensation of grease and salt and some other flavor that really didn’t taste like cheese. But after a second bite, I had to admit they were tasty. However, I couldn’t see myself stuffing them in like Delilah was.

“You’re going to make yourself sick. You’re not used to this kind of food.”

Delilah shook her head. “I have just found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Now if I could meet Jerry Springer I’d be a happy woman.”

“Somehow I think that’s highly unlikely.” Iris reached out to take the bag away from her. Delilah clutched it to her chest.

“Fine, eat yourself sick. But for your information, Jerry Springer is a celebrity. Over here that means that he’s going to be swamped with people wherever he goes, and he’s not likely to want to meet anybody…Well, I don’t know what he would think if he knew you wanted to meet him. I have no clue what he thinks of the Fae.”

“Maybe we could be on his show?”

I put my foot down. “Never. We’re not going to show where people wear fish taped to their bodies. I refuse. So don’t even bring it up again.”

“You can’t stop me from thinking about it,” she said with a giggle.

At that moment the door to the basement opened and Menolly emerged. “Good evening. So what’s going on?” She stretched and yawned. Even though she didn’t need to breathe, yawn, or even catch her breath, she once told me that occasionally she deliberately forced herself to breathe in order to feel like she was still alive.

I hadn’t said anything. What
can
you say to something like that?

“Well, Iris knows what we were facing last night. And I had a good day in the shop. Delilah helped Chase out today and she’s discovered the pot at the end of the rainbow is filled with Cheetos. Actually, they
do
taste pretty good, but it’s like eating food dipped in a dye pot.”

“Oh lovely. What a
delightful
image.” She hopped up to sit on the counter, swinging her legs. “So fill me in. What are we facing?”

Iris repeated what she had told me about kerakals. “By the way, that bone? Destroy it. Menolly, take it outside and smash it to bits.”

Menolly cocked her head to one side, but obliged. When she returned, she said, “It’s so much bone dust now. Why did you want me to do that?”

“Because it acts like a beacon to other kerakals, calling them in to form a community.”

“Ugh. All right, it’s gone. But, since we can’t touch iron, what
can
we use that it’s not going to like?”

“Well, my magic is out. The kerakals just fuel up on it.”

“Sword, if you’ve got one. Clubs are good, too. In other words: brute force. They’re tougher than they look, so don’t be surprised when it doesn’t go down on the first hit. It’s going to take a while, and meanwhile those teeth are pretty nasty. And the creatures are as strong as a horse, if one gets hold of you, you’re going to have a hard time getting away.”

“After dinner, we’ll go hunting down weapons. We are well armed. At least the OIA didn’t stand us on that.”

And that was true enough. Our store room contained a variety of weapons, from swords to daggers, to a few clubs and axes. I could work a dagger, and we had all been given sword lessons, although I didn’t trust myself with a blade that big. I wasn’t really worried about missing my opponents much as I was worried about hurting anybody who was fighting alongside me.

The doorbell rang, and Iris answered, returning with a bag full of food. “We have tacos, potato wedges, salad, and taquitos.” She spread out the food on the table. “Dig in.”

I was surprised by how good it tasted, even though some of it was a little spicy. Delilah scarfed down her share, still eating the Cheetos. Iris managed a few tacos, and Menolly pulled out a bottle of blood from refrigerator and drank it down.

When we were finished, we armed ourselves and headed out along the trail toward the pond. Iris took the lead, given her ability to track down the kerakal. Along the way, she pointed out some of the common bushes and plants endemic to the area.

“That’s skunk cabbage, the flower I was telling you about. In spring and summer it will have bright yellow flowers. And over there? That’s a huckleberry bush. The birds have been at this one. There are no berries left. They make wonderful jam so if you want to get a head start, next year be here just as the berries ripen, because the birds and bears will take their share.”

She also pointed out various trees. “The tall ones are firs. They can grow hundreds of feet tall, and unfortunately in high winds, they can and do topple. They’ve got a shallow root system and the ground around here gets saturated during the rains. We have an intense rainy season from September until late spring. Those with the broad flat leaves? They’re maple. And cedar trees right next to them.”

“We have all of these in Otherworld, though we know them by different names. But I see a number of plants that I’ve never seen before.”

As we headed down the trail, every so often Iris would stop, raising her nose to catch the wind. She inhaled deeply, held her breath for a moment, then slowly exhaled. We had just about reached the point where we’d been ambushed when she stopped.

“I can smell the residue. Kerakal all right. The question is, why is it here? They don’t usually come this far south. And they’re a lot more rare over here in the U.S. than in northern Europe. Let’s see if we can track it to its burrow. They dig deep in the ground, usually into the side of a hill or cliff.”

As we moved further into the woods, I tensed. For a moment, the thought crossed my mind that we should have contacted Chase. I mentioned it, but Iris shook her head.

“Chase’s officers are competent, but most of them are Earthside Fae. And most of them haven’t seen much battle time. He’s recruited them, but they haven’t been put to the test, yet. It’s not his fault. Devins, his boss, is a horrible man, who makes Chase’s life miserable. He takes all the credit, while Chase does all the work. But Chase doesn’t complain. He’s a team player. He’s more concerned about doing the job right than getting the credit he deserves.”

Remembering what he said about his childhood, I agreed. “He’s a good officer, who really gives a damn about the world and the people in it. And he’s proud of the job he does. I think our father would like him, to be honest.”

As we turned a bend in the road, Iris paused, holding up her hand. I inhaled deeply. There it was, faint on the wind. The smell of skunk. And I could hear the rush of water, lapping in the wind.

“The kerakal?” I glanced down at her.

She nodded, turning first this way, then that to catch the trail of scent. After a moment she pointed to the left, and we began traipsing through the undergrowth.

“The kerakal is probably awake, so keep your eyes and ears open. By the way, there’s a weak spot right beneath its mouth. If you aim for that area, you’ll do more damage. That’s where its heart is located. If the kerakal gets its teeth on you, you’re going to take a massive amount of damage, not counting the fact that it has a venom in its bite that can paralyze. It’s a temporary condition, but lasts long enough to put you out of commission for a while. Certainly long enough for it to start eating you. So be careful.”

“What are you using for a weapon?” Delilah asked.

Iris glanced up at her. “I have my magic. I work with the magic of ice and snow and mists. I can do a lot of damage if I want to, even now.”

Again I had the sense that she was leaving out part of her story. And once again, a voice inside said
Leave it alone. She’ll tell you in her own time
.

“But it eats magic.” I was confused.

“Ah, but it can’t eat the magic that I cast
around it
instead of
at it
. And I can cause a localized ice storm that will slow it down.” She winked at me. “It’s sort of like causing a fire storm rather than trying to set something on fire.”

Made sense to me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do the same.

I was clutching a dagger, hoping to hell I could remember my training. It had been a while since I had actually been in a skirmish. Lathe had kept me close to the office, in hopes of catching me off guard at some point. In fact, ever since I had brought in a deadly serial killer—shortly before Menolly had been turned—he had been an ass. A man named Trillian helped me collar the freak. I sighed.
Trillian.
He had been the love of my life. And I was still desperately trying to forget him.