Autumn Whispers (An Otherworld Novel) (14 page)

But as far as keeping our Earthside livelihoods intact, we were batting a thousand, it seemed.

We stared at the entrance. I was tempted to go in, to find something to salvage in order to give Menolly a little comfort but Camille was right. The building, the bar . . . all of that would hurt, of course. But the people . . . their deaths would haunt Menolly for years unless we could prove to her that it hadn’t been somehow her fault.

I glanced over at Derrick. “What are you going to do?”

“I’ll wait here. The others will be here soon. We’re going to dive in and start making some sense of this so that by the time Menolly gets here tomorrow night, it’s not so horrifying. She’s a great boss and we want to help out however we can.” He gave us a two-fingered salute as we slowly returned to the car.

Shade was the first to speak once we were buckled in and back on the road. “If there’s a question of money, not to worry. Between Smoky and me, we can make this happen. We talked about it this morning before the two of you woke up.”

I glanced over my shoulder. “Love, you are so wonderful. And Smoky. But what we really need is for the fire marshal to find the evidence pointing to arson. We need the physical proof for Menolly’s sake.”

Camille frowned. “That’s going to be difficult, especially if the fire marshal is on the fence about it. But . . . all right. If the fire started in a locked room, I guess our first question to ask is: Who had a key to that room? Who could have gotten in there? Could the lock have been picked? Was it an easy target? Considering it’s a hotel room, essentially, I hope the answer to the latter two questions is
no.
Because having unsecured guest rooms? Not so good for business and you know the rumor mill would fly.”

“I guess we ask Menolly who had the keys. Then, we ask whoever had a copy if they still have it. Maybe somebody stole one and it wasn’t noticed.” I pulled out my notepad and jotted stuff down. I loved my laptop but didn’t trust my phone to capture the notes I was making. Camille, on the other hand, now used her phone for everything. I think she even slept with it near the bed, though I wouldn’t put it past one of her husbands to turn the damned thing off when she wasn’t looking.

“What next?” Shade looked around. “I don’t think there’s much more we can do here, at least not right now.”

Slowly, I agreed. “You’re right.” Part of me was loath to leave the bar. It seemed callous to turn our backs and walk away, but what would we accomplish by staying? I tucked my notepad away and let out a long sigh. “Okay, it’s off to the FH-CSI.”

With a wave to Derrick, we turned, and left the burned out shell behind us.

• • •

The bustle was loud and noisy at the FH-CSI. Chase gave us a wave as we passed his office; he looked like he was in a meeting with some bigwig in a suit. He peeked around his office door.

“See you tonight, guys. I promised Nerissa that I’ll gather all the information I can about the Wayfarer then, but right now but this meeting’s one I have to take.”

We waved him back into his office and headed for the medic unit. There, Sharah was bandaging up one of the officers, who looked like he’d been bitten by a dog. Blonde and timidly pretty, the elfin medic was ready to pop any day, like Iris, and looked harried and tired. She was also the niece to Queen Asteria, back in Elqaneve. She brushed away a stray lock of hair and flashed us a genuine smile as we entered the room, then slapped the officer on the knee.

“You’re good to go. Just watch it next time, Dan. Dog bites can be dangerous, and it’s worse when a hellhound is involved.”

Camille winced. She’d been wounded by a hellhound before, and the acid in its bite had left quite a tidy scar on her. The cop merely nodded his thanks, pulled down his pants leg, and headed out without even glancing our way.

“You want me to check that hand?” Sharah asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, if you’ve got the time. You hear what happened last night?”

“Chase said that you were bitten by some sort of Fae, and then of course, all the commotion with the Wayfarer.” Sobering, she motioned for me to take a seat. “I’m sorry about Chrysandra. She was a good person. Real class act.”

“Yeah, she was. Menolly took it hard. Chrysandra was there from the start—from when Menolly first went to work at the Wayfarer.” As I sat down, Camille and Shade headed out to the waiting room, giving us space.

Sharah and Chase made a good couple, and I had let go of any lingering sense of regret. They fit together. Shade and I fit together. Chase and I had not done so well and we made far better friends than lovers.

For a while, Sharah had been leery of my continued friendship with the detective, but it had been her pregnancy hormones talking, and she’d managed to get them under control. We’d had dinner out a few times—both couples together—and things felt like they were back to normal. Or rather, we were at a new normal—a comfortable one.

She unwrapped my dressings and winced. “Oh Delilah, this is a nasty bite. Must hurt like hell.” Probing gently around the edges, she finally rose to fetch a jar of salve off the shelf. She motioned me over to the sink, where she used a cleaning solution and antibacterial soap to irrigate the wound.

“Well, it isn’t spreading. It
is
necrotic in origin, but you caught it soon enough and the salve is doing its job. We seem to have neutralized the venom and all we have to do now is to keep the wound clean and bandaged and it will heal over. You will have a scar and there’s going to be an indentation right here where the flesh is gone. I imagine it will fill in a little as it heals, but there’s nothing that can really put that chunk of missing flesh back. Somehow, your attacker missed major arteries. The nerve endings might be a little dulled, but I don’t think it will impede the use of your hand.”

I winced as she dried it. “I feel like a jerk for even saying this, after seeing what Chrysandra was going through last night. But truth is? Great gods, this hurts.”

“Don’t even compare the two. Pain is pain. Yes, she was in agony but that doesn’t mean this wound doesn’t hurt, either. People make that mistake all the time—negating their own problems because somebody else has it worse. Now, if you said that directly to her? Yes, then it would be crass.”

She sighed, pressing her hands against her back as she gently stretched. “We all have our trials. I’m afraid this will hurt for a long time—not as bad as it does now, but it’s going to ache. While we can negate the toxin, we can’t do anything for the pain without doping you up and I don’t think you want that.” She finished bandaging it and stood back with a sigh.

I gingerly rubbed my wrist, above the wound. “No, that’s the last thing I need right now.” Flashing her a rueful grin, I added, “Are you ready for tonight? You haven’t been home in a while, have you?”

Sharah’s expression crumbled and she sank into a chair, looking both uncomfortable and frightened. “No, I haven’t. Thing is . . . I haven’t told my aunt about the baby.”

Okay, so I hadn’t expected to hear that, but I understood her reasoning. If anybody knew how bad things were for half-breeds, especially among Otherworld nobility, it was my sisters and me. We had been teased unmercifully by a number of children in the Court back in Y’Elestrial, constantly called Windwalkers—a derogatory term for those of half blood among the Fae. I wasn’t sure what the equivalent term was for elves, but it was probably just as mean.

“How will the trip through the portal affect you? Are you sure it’s safe for you to travel right now? You say Queen Asteria doesn’t know you’re pregnant. If she knew, would she insist that you return home right now?” It occurred to me that if Queen Asteria knew the truth of the matter, she might give Sharah some leeway. I knew the portal probably would be safe enough, but if there was any doubt . . .

Sharah shrugged. “The portals shouldn’t bother me. Honestly, while they feel like they rip you apart and stick you back together again, they don’t. It may not be comfortable, but it’s not like
Star Trek
. You know that.” She grinned at me then. “But thanks for trying to give me an out.”

I smiled back. “Yeah, true. And your aunt knows all about the mechanics of how they work. Seriously, do you think that word hasn’t leaked back? Could Mallen have told her?”

She paled—and elves were naturally pale. “I never thought about that. He’s my friend. He wouldn’t rat me out.”

Grinning, I said, “You’ve been over here long enough that you’re starting to pick up the slang. Well, she’s never mentioned it to us, but your aunt seems to be privy to a lot of secrets and it wouldn’t surprise me that she’s got operatives over here whom
none
of us know about. Whatever the case, you know that my sisters and I will stand behind you and Chase, even if Queen Asteria gets pissed.”

With a nod, Sharah let out a long sigh. “See, the problem is this: I’m expected to eventually return home and marry into the Court. I’m her niece, and I’m close enough to the throne for things like marriage and breeding to matter. There aren’t that many relatives left who are standing in line. But show up with a half-blood child? I have no idea what kind of reception I’ll get. And the fact that Chase has a little elf blood in his lineage, well, that’s not going to make all that much difference.”

“Are things bad for half-breeds in the elfin court? When Camille, Menolly, and I were growing up, we were teased without mercy. Camille used to beat up on the kids who made fun of us, she tried to protect Menolly and me, but it never stopped.” Visions of our childhood flashed through my mind, and I shook my head. Kids could be so damned cruel. For a long time the memories had haunted me, but lately, I found I could shake them away without the sting they once held.

Sharah caught my gaze and held it. “It’s worse among the elves. Lineage means so much to my people.”

“I didn’t know that, but now that you mention it, yeah, I guess I can see how that is.” The elves were proper and there was a sense of decorum about them that I could easily visualize verging into sanctimonious territory.

“Well, I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?” She gave me a rueful smile. “Thanks for backing us up, Delilah. Especially you. I know that it must feel odd with Chase and me being together but . . .”

“Not anymore. You two are much better suited to one another. At first, yes, it did feel a little awkward, but I’m happy for you, Sharah. And I love Shade. We’re a matched pair. And I want Chase to be happy—and you make him happy, and so does the fact that he’s going to be a father.” I paused, not sure how far I should push, but in for a penny, in for a pound. “You know he would love to marry you.”

“I know.” She paused. “He’s asked, and I was pretty sure that he told you I said no. I just . . . I don’t want to tie him down to something he may regret. He’s just barely beginning to discover his own powers. The Nectar of Life changed him, and there’s no getting around the fact that he’ll be going through this transformation for years maybe. It’s impossible to predict just where he’s going to end up.”

“I know that.” I leaned forward. “But one thing I’ve discovered over the years here is that humans—FBH’s, if you will—they live uncertain and short lives. They are used to taking chances and risks because if they don’t, they may face the end of their lives wondering what would have happened if they’d gone for the gold ring, if they’d jumped at this chance, or that opportunity. They don’t have the luxury to stroll through life. And even though Chase’s life span is now drastically extended, I think his mind is still caught up in that thought process. It’s all he’s ever known.”

I’d never really thought it through before, but now that the words were out of my mouth it made so much sense. “Sharah, if the marriage doesn’t work out, it’s not permanent. Over here, Earthside, there really isn’t any sense of permanence. If you guys find out that you aren’t really meant for each other, you can separate.”

Sharah bit her lip. “I hadn’t thought about that. Back home, in Elqaneve, marriages are for life. Yes, they are usually marriages based on politics, and taking a lover is a common practice—though not quite as common as among your people—but I am expected to marry into the Court and produce children of my bloodline, and unless there is obvious abuse, I’m stuck with my husband for life. Somehow, I don’t think this little one is going to be accepted.” She rubbed her stomach. Tears welled up and she hung her head. “My aunt is going to say I disgraced my name. I know it.”

Life back in Otherworld could be just as harsh as life Earthside. So many people had always thought of the Fae and elves as happy, peaceful creatures who lived simple lives, but that was a long way from the truth. We didn’t flit around flowers, and even those who were woodland Fae, connected to the forests, were often ruthless and dangerous.

I leaned forward and rested my hand on her hers. “Fuck ’em then. I don’t use that word often, like Camille and Menolly do, but fuck them and the horse they rode in on. If they don’t accept you, too bad. You’ve got Chase here, you’ve got us, and you’ve got friends. You’re not alone, Sharah.”

She lifted her head and I wiped the tears off her face.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “That means so much to me.”

“It’s true.” I sighed. “But I’d better get a move on. We have things to do before leaving for Otherworld tonight. See you this evening . . . and—whatever happens—we’ll be there for you.”

As I left, she began to disinfect the table on which I’d rested my arm. I paused, watching the elf for a moment, then headed to the waiting room. Camille and Shade were sitting patiently, Camille was reading a book—a mystery by J. A. Jance. Shade was writing down something in a small notebook. They both looked up as I entered the room. I motioned to them and they stood, following me out the doors.