Bewitched, Blooded and Bewildered (8 page)

“Where was it?” I asked.

Emily crossed to the foot of the king-sized bed and pointed at a spot on the hardwood floor. I followed and sniffed the air. Blood was still the strongest scent, though there wasn’t any visible in the room. The bedding was disheveled, but that was the extent of the damage. I caught the papery smell of librarian that saturated the house, and I knelt and sniffed the floor.

“Brimstone,” I announced with a wrinkled nose.

“I don’t smell anything,” Marie said skeptically.

“You wouldn’t. It’s not actual brimstone. It’s magical residue,” I replied.

“You can smell magic?” Michael asked, quirking a brow. “That’s remarkable.”

Oops.
If I hadn’t been so frazzled I wouldn’t have let that slip, but considering that Lex and Zach both knew of my special power, it wasn’t exactly a big secret anymore.

“We’d appreciate if you didn’t share that with anyone,” Lex said. “Was it a demon or a summoner?”

“A demon,” Emily confirmed. “It subdued the father, and the humans took him away.”

“Shit,” I muttered. There had been demons involved when we rescued Anthony from the hunters, but we weren’t sure what their role was. They just seemed to pop up out of nowhere to keep us from escaping. Maybe the Prometheans flipped a summoner who was supplying them with demon reinforcements. It wouldn’t take much for a summoner to sell out the rest of us. They weren’t nice people.

We followed Emily through the other bedrooms as she related the story of what had happened. Much to everyone’s dismay, she couldn’t see where the family had been taken. I was impressed by what she’d managed to uncover, and the bit about the fact that the hunters were specifically interested in children was very important. And terrifying.

Marie stayed behind to wait for representatives from the librarian council to arrive and take the body of the mother away. We all thanked Emily profusely, and she hugged me before we parted ways. The drive home was silent—what could we say, really? Then my phone vibrated in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see Zach’s number glowing on the display. I scowled, but I answered it.

“Now what?”

“Did you learn anything from your investigation?” Zach asked.

“They’re after kids now. It’s a whole new world of bad. And there was a demon involved, like in Oak Glen.” He swore, and I silently agreed with the sentiment. “Have you been talking to the shifters lately?”

“Yes, I have.”

“Do they have any new leads on a possible base? We have to get those kids out.”

“Agreed. I will speak with them again tonight…this would be easier if we could speak in person,” he suggested.

“No,” I replied without hesitation.

“If we want to solve this problem, we all need to work together.”

“Uh huh. How ’bout you work on getting all the councils in one room, if you’re looking for an activity.”

“It would be easier with your help.”

“Yeah right, because I’m just Mrs. Popularity right now. Listen, if you find something, let me know,” I said, preparing to hang up on him.

“Wait! I would still like to speak with you. We need to discuss tactics for the next gathering.”

Oh no, we don’t, buddy. You won’t be my problem anymore then.
I hoped he hadn’t overheard that. “Not tonight, we don’t. Go snack on a bimbo or something.”

“I’d rather snack on you,” he said suggestively. I snarled like an angry dog and hung up on him.

“Problem?” Lex asked. He tried to keep the question light, but his knuckles were white where they gripped the wheel.

“Not for much longer. We’re going to meet with Patience tomorrow, right?”

“Right,” he said.

I smiled at him, but then the car disappeared from around us, and Lex and I found ourselves standing in an echoing audience chamber, staring at the faerie council.

Chapter Five

“Kitty!” Portia squealed. She threw her arms around me as though she hadn’t seen me in a year, when really it had only been three days. You’d think an immortal race would have a better memory than a goldfish.

“Hi. This isn’t a good time for Titania drama. Can we do whatever this is later?” I asked. The room wasn’t familiar. An earth faerie clan, maybe, judging by the browns and reds of the surrounding marble walls and floor.

“No, the council says this has to be now,” Portia replied.

“What does?” Lex asked. His arms were folded across his chest, and from his frown it looked like he was ready for a fight. I hoped a fight wasn’t on the schedule.

A loud clanging noise sounded from behind us, and we all turned to see a ginormous set of wooden doors ponderously swinging open into the room. Two figures walked through them, a man and a woman. It took me a few moments to recognize them as Jeremiah Galestrom and Riley O’Driscoll. He was tall and lanky, a blond, pretty boy in faded jeans and a plain white T-shirt. Where Jeremiah was light, Riley was dark. Her black hair was braided into two sleek pigtails. She wore high-heeled, black shoes and a little black dress, and she looked confident and defiant. The pair of them moved with the easy, liquid grace only shapeshifters can manage. Like dancers, except these dancers might leap on you and try to claw your face off at any moment. I wondered if she saw the change in herself. Riley hadn’t been furry for long. I assumed that was why she hadn’t had the good sense to bow out of challenging my position yet. She didn’t understand that she was a pariah now.

Two faeries followed behind them. Though I’d met Jeremiah and Riley—briefly, after a throwdown with a roomful of hunters and a few demons—I hadn’t met their faerie relatives. The female was some sort of tree faerie, probably from the Emerald Willow clan from the droopy, green look of her. The male was harder to place, but considering Jeremiah’s name, I assumed he was a Galestrom. That made him a wind faerie—blustery and unpredictable.

The group stopped a few feet to our right, and we all focused our attention on the faerie council. As always, Cecelia of the Silver Crescent sat in the center chair, quiet and serene, her silvery wings moving languidly behind her. Horatio, an earth faerie, sat to her right, and the fire faerie Laertes to her left.

“Greetings,” Cecelia said with a very faint smile. “Since the inception of Faerie, conflicts between our two worlds have been mediated by our liaisons, who became known as Titania or Oberon. In all that time, a situation such as this one has not arisen. As such, we were uncertain how to proceed.”

Great, our little Titania drama had stumped the faerie council. I wondered if we’d get a prize for that. At least a T-shirt.

“It is the decision of the council that Riley and Jeremiah will be put through three tests, just as Catherine and Alexander underwent. Should the challengers pass all three tests, then a final test will occur with all four of you.”

“Lady Cecelia, we were told that Riley would have a year to challenge for the position,” the Emerald Willow spoke up.

“Under normal circumstances, yes, she would have a year from the death of the former Titania. However, due to current…difficulties, this matter must be decided as soon as possible,” Cecelia explained.

“What difficulties?” Lex asked, and I nodded in curious agreement.

“The problem of the hunters. Magicians have not been hunted on this scale in many years, and all the clans are upset at the loss of their blooded children. Our children are all we have.” Cecelia sighed, and though I may have been imagining it, I thought I saw her slender hands shaking where they were folded in her lap. Had she lost someone? A few someones? Portia patted my arm, and I glanced at her. There was deep sadness in her eyes, and I wondered if she was thinking about Tybalt.

“We’re doing the best we can,” I said.

“I know, and we understand that. This is not a criticism of your performance, but rather a need to resolve this situation. We cannot function while so divided.”

“‘A house divided cannot stand’?” I quoted, and she nodded.

“Precisely. That is why Riley and Jeremiah must begin the process now.”

“Both of them?” I asked, confused. Riley’s claim was through blood—Maureen was her grandmother. Jeremiah was just her boyfriend.

“Yes, both of them, because they are soul mates,” Cecelia replied.

I blinked, and then glanced at them. I was expecting…something. I’m not sure what. Hearts? Flowers? A swelling of dramatic music? Though judging by their expressions they, too, were surprised by the information, they merely took each other’s hand and stood together, a unified front. I turned back to Lex and elbowed him in the ribs. Big jerk. If he’d been that accepting when our soul-mate bombshell was dropped, we wouldn’t have had a fight, I wouldn’t have been alone when Faust came calling, and I wouldn’t have my Harrison problem.

“If they don’t win, how many times do we have to go through this? Maureen had a ton of grandkids,” I pointed out.

“The others won’t be challenging,” Riley replied. “They don’t know that they’re magicians. I’m not going to tell them until they’re ready to hear it.”

Cecelia nodded at Riley. “Very well. Your first test will begin now.”

The pair vanished, leaving their faerie companions alone. I wondered what Riley and Jeremiah would face. Another dragon? I almost felt sorry for the dragon. Who knew what shapeshifters would do with a dragon? Eat it?

“Okay, say by some miracle they do manage to win our jobs. How can they function as Oberon and Titania? They’re shifters,” I pointed out.

“One wonders how
you
function as Titania, being a master necromancer’s pet,” the male faerie countered.

“I’m
not
a
pet,
and we almost have that problem solved. And I’m not infected with a contagious disease. They are.”

“Wild magic is not a disease,” he spat.

“Yeah, it kinda is, unless you’re an animal. No magician in their right mind is going to want to work with them and risk being infected.” Especially considering that after the wild magic takes over, a magician loses control of her old abilities and is left with the instincts of a growly animal. Not a future I’d want to sign up for.

The faerie scowled and took a step in my direction, and Cecelia rose from her seat.

“That’s enough,” she intoned. “That matter can be resolved should they succeed.”

“Resolved? Are you going to cure them?” I asked.

“They aren’t sick. They don’t need to be cured,” the faerie argued.

Sounded like he had a soft spot for them. Maybe he was closely related to Jeremiah. If so, you’d think he’d want the guy cured. I shrugged, and decided to drop the subject for now.

“We will keep you updated on the progress of the challengers. Good evening.” Cecelia nodded, and we were blinked out of the room and into our living room, Portia included. The faerie shrieked with delight as Bubba and Cesár bounded up to her and almost knocked her over with canine enthusiasm.

“You think Marie’s back yet?” I asked Lex after my eardrums recovered.

“You check for Marie. I’m gonna check and make sure the council remembered to port the car,” he replied.

“Good idea.”

The faeries had yanked us out of the car once, but luckily we were parked at the grocery store at the time and only ended up losing some melted ice cream when we eventually got back to it. I hoped they’d ported the car back too. It’d be hard to explain to the state police how our car ended up crashing into a barrier on the expressway without anyone in it.

Marie wasn’t in her room, and presumably was still out cleaning up the mess the hunters had left. I found Lex back in the living room again, and from his relieved expression I assumed the car was fine.

“Haven’t seen you in a while. What have you been up to?” I asked Portia, who was being licked to death by the dogs. Maybe frost faeries taste like vanilla, who knows.

“I’ve been busy,” she answered evasively.

“Do I even want to know?”

“I’ve been meeting with some old friends, having tea. Nothing you need to worry about,” she said. I suspected “having tea” was a euphemism for vampire hunting. It was her new favorite pastime.

“We located a ritual that’ll undo Cat’s bond,” Lex said.

“That’s wonderful! Where is it?”

“The shadow realm,” he replied. Her shimmering wings drooped.

“Oh. That’s not wonderful. What are you going to do?”

Lex shrugged. “We’re going to hire a guide and go get it.”

Portia nodded. “I wish I could help you, but faeries can’t travel there.”

“We’ll be okay. We’ll keep you posted. But it’s been a long day, and I think we’re going to sleep, so you’ll have to play with the dogs another time,” I told her.

“Can I take them with me? I’ll return them tomorrow.”

I looked to Lex for permission, because, really, they were his pets and not mine, and he nodded.

“Sure, but don’t let them eat too much. Bubba’s startin’ to get fat,” he warned.

Portia clapped her hands giddily, and she and the dogs disappeared from the room.

“Maybe she’ll wear them out,” I said.

“Or she’ll get them even more riled,” he countered.

“I guess she’ll be the fun auntie,” I said, smiling dryly. For a moment I indulged in the happy thought of Lex and me having kids, but then the image soured as I remembered the empty high chair and nursery from the librarian’s house.