London Harmony: Doghouse (16 page)

Then Zilrita put her hand on her ear and I could see the tiny little ear bud there as she giggled a little and said to the air, “Fine, let her in Jen.”

She turned to me with a grin.  “Your girl showed up right after you did, she's been insisting on seeing you for moral support, but Jen told her you were already in the meeting.”

My girl?  The door opened and Amarissa stepped quickly through the door.  I stood and she came instantly to my side and grasped my hand tightly as she looked up at me with a shy smile. “I couldn't wait at the Ponsonby.  I had to know.”

Then she looked at the other women and said, “I don't care who you are, or that you are my friends.  She apologized for lifting June's bloody pocketbook.  I won't let anybody punish...”

They were all grinning like loons at her as I silently shushed her and interrupted.  “Umm hey pipsqueak, they offered me a recording contract – and a partnership.”

She looked at me wide eyed then checked the lanyard to make sure she was wearing her glasses as she put on a super toothy grin that she turned on the three women.  “Ummm... hi?”

They all burst out into giggles and chuckles.

Zil was in giggly tears as she stood and hugged my embarrassed girl.  “Amy to the rescue.”

Then Amy said, “Sorry... I love her.”

God damn annoying little runt.  I kissed her, I didn't care who saw that I loved the pixie right back.  She looked to be floating on air when I broke the kiss and blushed.  The fire she ignited in me was torture.  I needed her.

June was fanning her face as she grabbed Vanessa's hand.  “We won't keep you from your savior, Eliza.  We'll be in touch.”

Zil walked us to the conference room door and said under her breath as she looked back to June, who was leading Vanessa playfully back to the office.  “I expect you will be hearing from the Factory sooner rather than later.  There really isn't much June can't do once she sets her mind to it.”

I heard a tone of pride and admiration in her voice as she made sure I had all the paperwork.

Then my girl walked backward, clasping my hands as she lead me out of the most mind-boggling meeting of my life.  Promises of passion glittering in her eyes.  Damn if she wasn't supermurgitroid.

Fran was nagging me, “Come on Amy!  We're going to be late!”

I checked myself in the mirror again.  I wanted to look good for my cowgirl.  I still can't believe how lucky I was to find my Liza.

Max chimed in as she tilted her head at me, “You look beyond adorable woman, get a bloody move on you silly bird.”

I exhaled and smiled at them.  Now where did my glasses wander off to?  Oh wait, I reached up and lovingly rolled the lanyard between my fingers and followed them down to my eyeglasses, I put them on and was able to focus easier without closing one eye.

“Gleep!”  I squeaked as Max grabbed my hand and dragged me out the door behind Fran and Tasha.  I was barely able to grab my purse on the way out.

Frannie drove us since I was way too nervous to drive.  I stared out the window as we went, with Liza on my mind.  Then before I knew it, Max was shaking my shoulder lightly, knocking me out of my thinking.  She said with a tinge of humor, “She's just daydreaming about her princess charming again.”

The others chuckled as she said, “We're here.”

I smiled at them bashfully then looked out to see the huge line that wrapped the building.  I looked up at the stylized sign on the building that looked like it stepped out of an old time movie.  Walker's.  My smile grew.

We stepped out and I looked at my companions, looking ever so sexy in their period dresses.  They went all out for the grand opening of the club.  They looked as if they stepped out of the roaring twenties.  I looked down at myself, I looked like a flapper too, just like in the movies.  I hoped Liza would like it.

I blinked at the mix of people in line, it was pretty amazing, the eclectic mix.  There were no reservations taken at the club and it was open to all.  There were punk rockers next to men in tuxes.  We passed some of the most influential people in the London music scene.

We stepped up to the velvet rope on the side that said VIP, and I recognized the bloke there.  Skeeze cleaned up nicely.  He saw us coming and shot a stunning smile.  He was quite a fine specimen of man, I could see why Ronnie hooked up with him.

Fran inclined her head to him as he opened the velvet rope for us.  “Steven.”

He replied in the same tone, “Francine.”

They both chuckled and they hugged.  The other girls followed suit.  Max almost purred at him.  Then I gave him a hug.

He whispered, “You're a vision tonight Amarissa.  Your lady doesn't stand a chance.”

I blushed and scurried after the others.

We sat in the front by the stage, in a roped off area.  June, Vanessa, Jen, and Zilrita were there with us.  We all exchanged smiles as a waitress arrived like magic to place drinks in front of us.  I cocked an eyebrow since it was what I would have ordered.  I suspected Liza in that.

Then before we could chat, the lights dimmed.  I looked around, it was standing room only with that huge line still outside.  The crowd quieted as Ronnie Marx took the stage.  I could hear a familiar thrumming of a bass being tuned behind him in the dark somewhere.  There is no other sound on this Earth like Audrey.  She was my second love after Liza.

Ronnie looked like he was torn from the pages of a twenties magazine.  His signature three-day stubble giving him a rakish look.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I'm your host, Ronnie Marx.  I'd like to welcome you to the grand opening of Walker's jazz club.”

There were applause, whistles, and cat calls.

He grinned as he looked around, then said, “Before we get to the jazz portion of the evening, we have a variety of up and coming artists in various music genres to showcase for you.  This is what Walker's is all about!”

More cheering ensued.

Then he said, “And without further ado, we'd like to start a new tradition with one of our owners, and international jazz sensation, Eliza, Lil' Walker, Montrose, and her bass, Audrey... playing a Jazz classic by the legendary, Walker Evans!”

Everyone cheered as the spotlight disappeared and another spotlight hit center stage.  There was my Eliza, my cowgirl, in her eloquent sequined black dress, her hair up in a bun, holding Audrey.

Her eyes focused on mine with laser intensity as she said, “This is for the woman I love.”  Then a heartbeat later she added, “Even if she is annoying.”  The crowd chuckled as I blushed when she winked at me.  Brash Yank... my brash Yank.

The backup band consisting mostly of musicians who had played with her uncle at one time or another started up.  I had to grin at Father Mike on the clarinet. That was what he wanted to speak to my girl about, the chance to play with her on occasion.

Then I closed my eyes when my impossible girl started plucking Audrey's strings. It was like she was plucking strings that resonated in my heart and soul.  When she started to sing, with a voice that could only be described as pure emotion, I swayed with the music, knowing the love I felt in her words were for me.

I felt a happy tear roll down my cheek as I knew that my girl and I had, impossibly, found our happily ever after.

The End

Books in the Music of the Soul universe...

(All books are standalone and can be read in any order)

Music of the Soul

A Deafening Whisper

Dating Game

Karaoke Queen

Silent Bob

Five Feet or Less

Broken Song

Syncopated Rhythm

Progeny

Girl Next Door

Lightning Strikes Twice

June

Dead Shot

Music of the Soul Shorts...

(All short stories are standalone and can be read in any order)

Misadventures of Victoria Davenport: Operation Matchmaker

Wallflower

Accidental Date

Books in the London Harmony series...

(All books are standalone and can be read in any order)

Water Gypsy

Feel the Beat

Roctoberfest

Small Fry

Doghouse

Books in the Urban Fairytales series...

Red Hood: The Hunt

Snow: The White Crow

Ella: Cinders and Ash

Rose: Briar's Thorn

Books in the Techromancy Scrolls series...

Adept

Books in the Drakon series...

Awakening

Dragonfall

Books in the Bridge series...

Trolls

Traitor

Unbroken (Winter 2015)

Books I collaborated with in the Bridge ~ Inner City series...

Gargoyles

Books in the Valkyrie Chronicles series...

Return of the Asgard

Bloodlines

Folkvangr

Seventy Two Hours

Titans

Books in the Fracture series...

Divergence

Sample Chapter from The Bridge: Unbroken...

Prologue

It had started as a quiet night on the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge with a new moon like that there was usually one or two bigger Fae that tried to come through the Under-Veil and into Cincinnati without paying their toll.  I always hated new moons since I became shadow-bound to my bridge.

During new moons, the barrier, or veil between the realm of the Fae and the mortal world was at it's weakest since the moon didn't reflect any sunlight down on the Earth.  The closer to All Hallows Eve it got in the year, the easier stronger Fae of ill intent could breach the Under-Veil.

I didn't mind the peaceful or mischievous Fae, who paid their tolls and went on their way to have a good time in the mortal realm in Cincinnati for the night.  They were much less drama than the troublemakers and outright evil Fae.

It was late September so I had expected at least a little trouble.  Though Veldshee didn't have enough energy to cross over yet after I had drained his power and banished him, he has still made my life difficult the past couple years, by sending minions to harass me as often as possible.

It was getting close to sunrise. Rupert, the Gnome, who had befriended me when I first found I had been bound to the Roebling against my will, as its new troll, when the previous protector died.   The gnome has fought by my side since that day.  He was a loyal friend and companion, even if he did have a slight gambling problem.  Well fine, a huge gambling problem.

Rupert had to go and open his big mouth.  “Well, this was an easy night.”

He should know better than to jinx us like that.  It was then that two huge Minotaurs stepped through the Under-Veil.  The effort of pushing that much power through the gateway, actually stretched the fabric of space.

I could feel their presence on me... I mean in the deck of my bridge, the moment they stepped through.  Did they realize that the sun would be up in just a couple minutes?  When it came, they wouldn't be able to retreat back through the gateway as the sun strengthened the Under-Veil and stripped them of half their power?

I shook my head at my compact companion. “You just had to go and open your big mouth didn't you?”  I slapped his shoulder as he squinted to the south side of the bridge.

He gave what he saw a sour look then glanced up at me apologetically. “Sorry Kane.”

I grinned at him as he tightened his grip on the section of pipe in his hands that were his weapon of choice.  He wouldn't be much use in this fight except as a distraction.  I could only take on one of these powerful Fae at once.  Don't get me wrong, he was an adept fighter, but not very powerful.  If it weren't for the fact that gnomes were damn near indestructible, I'd have him making a run for it.

Then he chuckled. “A lady like you needs to keep in shape.”

I snorted at the smartass then rolled my neck. I could hear my vertebrae grinding and popping, then I clenched my fists experimentally as we started striding forward.  My knuckles popped.  “If things hit the fan and one gets past me, fall back and get some goyles over here fast to run interference for me until I can get to him.”

He nodded then glanced up to the top of the South tower, where Kyla, his girlfriend and my best friend was waiting for us to go for breakfast after sunrise.

I smirked and said, “Maybe thy are friendly and will pay their toll.”

He snorted and looked to be physically restraining his laughter.

I whined, “What?  It isn't unheard of.  There's Joreen in the warehouse district.”

He shrugged.

I know, I know.  It was just wishful thinking.  Joreen was an oddity, most Minotaurs craved power and to corrupt people.  They fed off the chaos that corruption caused.

I worried that the Fae returning after a night in the mortal realm would be in danger, I'm sure they'd rather spend another day in the city rather than try to get past a fight between a Troll and a couple walking hamburgers.

As we got close to the approaching Fae, a car whizzed past, not many on the bridge this early, that would change as people woke up and started their morning commute.  The Minotaurs ignored the car as it drove between them, the driver oblivious to them.  Most humans were veil-blind like that, not seeing what they couldn't understand.  Or if they did, they would only see the human glamour the Fae wore to blend in.

Rupert paused, laying a hand on my arm to slow us as he hissed out under his breath to me, “Gold and silver!  Evie, those are guards of the crimson court!”

That sounded familiar to me.  I remember Sharee telling me stories of the hierarchy in the land of Fae.

They were ruled by two high courts that worked together.  One was the Crimson Court, which was ruled by the Fae with ill intent.  Evil if you will.  Then there was the Amber Court, which ruled the peaceful Fae.  It took both to find a balance in the land of Fae.   The Dragon Court, which was ruled by the dragons, which were not Fae, but something else, was called upon to make final decisions on rulings if the two courts could not come to a mutual agreement.

Hellstones and fire, just what were guards of the Crimson Court doing here?

They stopped in front of me, not saying anything as they looked down at me and examined me.  They didn't even seem to acknowledge Rupert.  This was different.  They didn't attack.  I squared my shoulders and said, “I am Evangeline Kane, Troll of this Bridge! Either pay the toll, bind yourself to do no harm or be gone.”

That smirked in unison and one of them pulled out a glowing coin of gold.  I blinked, they actually had the toll.  He huffed, hot air escaping from his bull's nose, steaming the air in front of his nostrils.  He smiled and it turned into a sneer.  His voice was booming, not that he tried to do that, he was just so huge, maybe seven or seven and a half feet tall, that he couldn't help it.  “We know who you are... Shadow-Kin,”  he said it like it was distasteful.

Yes, I was Shadow-Kin.  The only Shadow-Kin Troll.  I wasn't True-Born like all the others.  I was something less, something akin to a mutt in the supernatural world.  My mother was a magic using True-Born and my father was a Straight, a human with no magic potential.  I hadn't known about my mother, who died in childbirth until I became bound to my bridge as its troll.

He deftly walked the gold coin along the back of his huge, knobby knuckles.  “And we have our coins, but you will have to take them from us.”

I could see the red fires in his eyes flare a bit at the challenge.

I brought my hands up and shifted into a fighting stance and said, “Fine by me beefsteak.”

That's how I wound up skipping and tumbling across the bridge deck like this.  I slammed into the railing of the pedestrian walkway.  The concrete barrier exploding into rubble and the railing tearing like spaghetti.

Hellstones!  I haven't been hit like that since Veldshee!  I was glad I had the presence of mind to pull the metal of the deck into myself before hitting the barrier.  I still winced in pain at the impact.  The damage to my bridge felt like a blow to my own body.  The bridge was just an extension of me.

As I pulled myself out of the wreckage, I laid my hands on the damage and willed a bit of power that repaired the railing and concrete.  With the screech of metal on metal, I wiped my nose and looked at the fresh blood on the back of my metallic blue hand.

I cracked my neck again and narrowed my eyes.  The other Minotaur was holding Rupert off the ground with one arm as the gnome repeatedly struck the bull's arm ineffectually with the pipe.  They weren't trying to get past me.  So what was going on?

At that thought, I felt dozens, four to be exact, of Fae running onto my north deck.  They were coming fast.  There was a large explosion just off the bridge and I heard the bellow of the Custodian, my Sharee, that was her battle cry!  What was...  I was flying back toward the south end near the gateway.  The damn side of beef sucker punched me in my distraction.

I rolled to my feet and charged him. “Alright Bessie, you asked for it.”

He lowered his massive horns, and huffed out some steam and bellowed like a bull and charged back.  My fist collided with his bony skull with a crunch and I think we were both a little stunned when we canceled each other out and both wound up falling back on our asses.

I could feel it when Sharee stepped onto my deck, the raw power she radiated made my suspension cables thrum.  There were shouts and sounds of battle and I could feel less and less Fae on my bridge.  They didn't stand a chance against her or the ten Gargoyles I felt arriving, then dozens of more hesitant Fae steps.  What was going on?

I chanced a look, as the mob passed the south tower on their way toward the gateway.  Dozens of Goblins and those rat-looking Muridae heading toward us.  All carrying squirming bundles in black bags on their shoulders.

I saw a flash of white hair billowing behind one goblin, and it's head was suddenly detached from his shoulders and the woman behind him tore the bag from the falling body and opened it to reveal another goblin.  The Custodian looked to be a specter of vengeance and fury.  She looked toward me where I was busy trading a fury of blows with the walking rib eye.

She yelled in a barely human voice, “They have Felicia!”

My blood ran cold as the swarm reached us.  Felicia?  Hellstones and fire!  They ran past toward the gateway.  I realized that the friendly Fae of the city was in pursuit of the mob with the Gargoyles.  Felicia was our Woodland Imp was well loved and respected in the supernatural community.  The gentle fox woman wouldn't hurt a flea unless you threatened the people she loved.

I had to split my concentration between my fight and the gateway as I thrust my hand forward at it and channeled the power inside my foundations, in the wind blowing through my cables and the river current splitting to move around my towers.  I used all that I was, all that my bridge was, to solidify the  Under-Veil.  It was excruciating, especially with the beating I was now taking from the Crimson Guard.  But not even a Fae amoeba would be able to escape through the gateway now.

Sharee reached me as the mob of Goblins and Muridae tried in vain to push through the Under-Veil and escape.  She was spinning in the air, white magical energy coursing through her sword reflected off her stark white hair.  The beef patty had to turn to block her, leaving me free to concentrate on the gateway.

Her blade sparked on his red gauntlet.  It must have been spelled because energy exploded outward.  He kept his arm, but one horn was sliced clean through by her sweeping blow.  She seemed to dance and spiral away out of his reach and under his strikes.

The Gargoyles and Fae met the mob in a clash of blades and teeth and slashing claws.  Then the first sunbeams streaked out over the horizon and washed over the bridge.  I could feel it like a huge gong sounding out in my stone foundations.  It was over.  They couldn't escape now, and I could see part of the Minotaurs power stripped away from them like sparkling dust in an irresistible current.

They wouldn't have the power to cross over now even if it were night and the gateway was weakened.  All the goblins and rat fae backed up to the gateway that was like a solid wall to them now and the other goblins wriggled out of the bags as we surrounded them all.  The Minotaurs backed up with them with shit-eating grins on their faces as one pulled a bag off of a goblin's shoulder and pulled it down to reveal a fox woman, in a nightshirt, who was bound and gagged.

It was Felicia!  Her eyes were wide as she struggled.  I said, “Release her and we will show mercy.  Felicia is our Imp.”

The  Minotaur laughed. “No, the Unbroken is ours.  And we will take our leave now.”

Was the dude mental?  They were trapped. There was no way...

Rupert suddenly blurted out, “Their coins!”

Hellstones!  I started lunging forward when the bull pressed a coin against Felicia and I stumbled as a shooting pain lanced through me as a hole was physically torn in space and Felicia just vanished.  Then all of the others pulled out their coins as we dove at them and in a flash as I screamed in agony, they were all gone.  Escaping through the Under-Veil using the one thing that was meant as a deterrent.  They had used the toll system against us.

I just stared at empty space as Rupert and Sharee helped me to my feet where I had fallen when the Fae did their mass transport.

My voice sounded small and far away as I whispered, “Felicia?”