Ghost Light (2 page)

Their union, an arranged marriage based on fae politics, may not have been based on love, but Ceff hadn’t been a bad husband.  He was attentive to his wife and lavished her with gifts befitting a queen.  But his true love was reserved for his sons.  Unfortunately, that love would spell their doom.

Melusine became so filled with jealousy that she began scheming how to remove her eldest son from his prized role as heir to the kelpie throne.  She framed him as a traitor—a crime punishable by death under kelpie law—and watched with glee as her husband meted out the punishment.  But her eldest son’s public execution was not enough.

Melusine wanted Ceff’s love and undivided attention, but even in his grief, Ceff didn’t turn to his wife.  Instead he shone his affections on his youngest son who was then still just a babe.

Melusine seethed with envy for the love she felt was rightfully hers.  What kind of child steals a parent’s love from the other?  Enraged, she dangled the child over a pit of flames and watched as Ceff struggled to save him.  His attempts to plead with her, for the sake of their child, only maddened her further.  She threw their baby into the fire and, with a flick of her serpent tail, disappeared into the sea.

I had hoped that the bitch had been eaten by a shark, or run over by a motor boat.  Maybe she’d remarried some other poor guy and was making big with the crazy in his ocean.  I didn’t care, though I was fond of the shark scenario, so long as Melusine was out of the picture.

Too bad she didn’t stay that way.

Have you ever taken pictures with friends and everyone is smiling, but when you see the photos later they are dotted with white orbs?  Okay, sometimes those are my people, wisps, but more often they appear like ghosts haunting the picture’s inhabitants and making the smiles seem grotesque rather than cheerful.

Melusine was like one of those photographic ghosts.  She was back in the picture, haunting me and tainting the near-perfect relationship that Ceff and I had with painful memories and the threat of violence.  The honeymoon was over before it began—and that really pissed me off.

I’ll be turning twenty-five soon and I have never dated anyone until now.  I’ve also never been intimate with anyone.  The closest I’ve come to intimacy was one magical night with Ceff during the winter solstice.  Jinx thinks I’m nuts for cuddling on the couch all night when I had the chance for something more, but for me being held was a huge first step.  Nearly twenty-five and never been kissed.  But I was getting closer to achieving that with Ceff, until his ex-wife showed up.

She better hope she had a leprechaun somewhere in her family tree, because that bitch was going to pay.

Chapter 2

F
og rolled in off the harbor to smother the Old Port and strangle The Hill with its embrace.  I trudged through the chill mist beside Jinx, lamenting the shopping bags filled with shoes hanging from every gloved finger.  I hate shopping.  The threat of getting an unwanted vision without the reward of a payday was too high, but my roommate and business partner wanted to celebrate our newfound success and I was a sucker for tears.

Now I was acting as a shopaholic’s Sherpa while Jinx scaled Joysen Hill in six inch platform pumps.  I figured carrying the bags was slightly better than having to carry an injured BFF.  Jinx was the most accident prone person I’d ever met.  Just watching her teeter on those shoes, while tripping over cobblestones, made my ankles hurt and teeth ache.

I tried to rub my jaw with my shoulder, but gave up with a grunt.  My neck and shoulders were tight and I’d likely pull a muscle.  Walking around Joysen Hill always made me tense, even during daylight.  The oppressive gloom of the incoming fog made my ears itch, as if I were being watched.

I spun on the balls of my feet, suddenly sure that someone was approaching from the gloom, but when I scanned the street behind us I saw only harmless shoppers out on a chilly spring afternoon.  I peered through the pea soup fog further down the hill, my gaze darting into shadowed doorways and alleys, but couldn’t spot the source of my unease.

The alarm bells going off in my head could be good old-fashioned paranoia, but worrying about being hunted in this part of the city wasn’t necessarily my imagination.  The big baddies of Harborsmouth, both supernatural and human, have holed up in the warrens of Joysen Hill for decades.  It’s a fact of life in Harborsmouth that bad things happen daily on The Hill.  Vampire slumlords suck their tenants dry, djinn provide favors for those who…rub their lamps, and carnivorous fae find creative ways to bait humans into their lair.

That was the other reason why I had agreed to go shopping.  Jinx had access to faerie ointment which allowed her to see through a basic faerie glamour, but the stuff was expensive.  She’d rather spend her money on shoes than on the potions my witch friend brewed.  So I tagged along to make sure Jinx stayed out of trouble.  Jinx may only be able to see shopkeepers hocking their wares, but I could see the fangs and mandibles behind the glossy smiles.

I steered Jinx away from a display of pottery bowls, that beneath a shimmering glamour were actually hollowed out skulls, and into the shop next door.  The smell of leather filled the air and a hiccup erupted from behind the till.  I smiled and let the tension ooze out of my neck and shoulders.  We had entered a clurichaun’s leather goods shop.

My hands were currently sheathed in a pair of clurichaun crafted gloves, a Christmas gift from Marvin.  I smiled and flexed my fingers, trying not to drop the bags I was holding.  Marvin had gone to a lot of trouble to bargain with one of the perpetually inebriated faeries, but I was glad that he did.  The gloves were beautiful, fit me perfectly, and hadn’t given me terrifying visions.

Clurichauns, cousins to the infamous cobbler faeries, maintain a constant state of intoxication.  In other words, the little drunkards are too merry and their minds too unfocused to pass along unpleasant visions.  Marvin had found the perfect gift for me.  I smiled thinking how lucky I was to have had the young troll stumble into my life.  I’d have to buy the kid some honey before heading home.

I shifted my bags and the clurichaun behind the counter snorted and fell off his stool with a crash.  Jinx gasped and I hurried forward to take a look.  The red-nosed faerie stumbled to his feet, shook his head, rubbed his face, and grinned from ear to oversized ear.  I wondered, not for the first time, how the bleary-eyed creature could craft such beautiful leather goods.  I shrugged a shoulder.  It was just another faerie mystery.

Jinx, no longer concerned about the shopkeeper, rifled through a bin of leather belts.

“This one is gorgeous,” she said, holding a red belt aloft.  “Do you have shoes to match?”

Jinx turned to the man behind the counter and I winced.  Leprechauns make shoes, clurichauns make everything else.  It was a sore point between the two faerie races.

The red of the clurichaun’s nose spread across his face and down his neck.  I half expected steam to come out of his ears.  Of course, that was silly.  He wasn’t a phoenix.

The clurichaun stumbled out from around the counter shaking his fist.

“Now, I’ll tell you…” he said.

The little man stopped in front of Jinx, mouth falling open.  His silly grin returned and the heat rising in his face shifted to his rosy cheeks.  Clurichauns don’t stay mad for long and this one was obviously smitten at the sight of my roommate.  Of course, at his height, he was looking up her skirt.

“Clurichauns are master tailors and leather craftsmen, not cobblers,” I said, filling the uncomfortable silence.  I reached for the belt in Jinx’s hand and pulled her away from the enthralled faerie.

“No shoes?” she asked.

“Nope, no shoes,” I said.

Jinx sighed and released the belt, letting it drop into the display bin.  With dangerously weaving steps, the clurichaun carried over a burgundy leather halter top.  I tuned out the conversation as the faerie tried to pour on the charm.  The clurichaun was using the merchandise as an excuse to look at my roommate’s chest.  Jinx leaned in and started haggling over the price.

I rolled my shoulders, shifting bags and boxes, and turned to look out onto the street.  There, beside a lamppost on the opposite sidewalk, Melusine stood upright on her coiled serpent’s tail.  Here on dry land I could see that her lower half was covered in snake skin, not the fish scales I had assumed when I observed the lamia in my vision.

She was staring right at me.

Hatred burned in Melusine’s eyes and a forked tongue shot in and out of her mouth.  Fangs lengthened as she thrashed from side to side in a weaving motion and stared daggers at me between passing cars.

I gasped, dropped Jinx’s bags, and ran for the door.  An enraged sea serpent was not something I wanted to tangle with, but my chances of survival would increase if I had room to move.  If Melusine crashed through the shop window, we’d be like fish in a barrel.

“Keep her safe,” I shouted over my shoulder.  I dug into my pockets and tossed a wad of cash and our business card at the tipsy shopkeeper.  “Glamour my friend and take her to your bolt-hole until I return.  Do this and I will owe you a debt.  Private Eye detective agency will work one case of your choosing, free of charge.”

As far as faerie bargains went, it wasn’t that solid, but it was the best I could do on the run.  I just hoped I’d live to regret any loopholes I had left in the agreement.

The clurichaun snatched up the items and eyed our card curiously.  The money disappeared into one of his many pockets.

“Agreed,” he said with a nod.

I staggered, dizziness blurring my vision as the debt between us settled onto my soul.  Faerie oaths were binding, especially between fae.  My wisp blood was responding to the agreement, and the weight of the multiple debts I’d accrued.  I probably shouldn’t be so quick to ask another faerie for help.  Too bad I didn’t have any other options.

I shook my head, clearing my vision.  Seeing double was something I was used to, but this was more than catching a glimpse of glamour draped over a monster’s true form.  I blinked rapidly, trying to regain my sight, and lunged for the door.

I fought down nausea and ran outside, keeping my eyes on the lamia.  Melusine’s fanged face swam before me once more.  The dizziness passed and my vision cleared as the faerie bargain nestled in for the ride.  What I saw wasn’t much of an improvement.  Melusine looked pissed.

At least as the image solidified, the lamia now only had the one head.   Thank Mab for small favors.  Too bad I didn’t have time to relax and enjoy the improved view.

Melusine leapt off the sidewalk and slithered at blinding speed into the street, rush hour traffic the only thing between me and her dripping fangs.  I ran to the edge of the sidewalk and dug a glass vial filled with iron shavings from one of my many pockets.

It was time to see how the bitch liked our local weather.  My lip lifted in a sneer.  I was going to bring a rain of iron down on Melusine’s head.  I raised my arm, ready to throw the vial as soon as I caught a break between vehicles.

I edged down to the pavement, but a city bus honked twice, horn blaring dangerously close to my ear.  I jumped back a step, narrowly avoiding a future as a road pancake.  My boot heels hit the concrete sidewalk, but I never took my eyes off Melusine as she waited for her chance to strike.  With a rush of heated air and diesel exhaust, the bus drove past just inches from my face.  Gripping the vial tightly in my gloved fist, I blinked against the swirl of debris.

I stepped forward as soon as the bus passed, but Melusine was gone.

A car swerved around me, but the driver’s curses were lost beneath the roaring in my ears.  My heart tried to pound its way out of my chest and into my throat.

Where the hell was Melusine?

I spun in a circle, but there was no sign of the lamia.  My arm shook with the strain of holding the vial aloft while I scrambled for my target.  It shouldn’t be hard to spot a sea serpent on a busy city street, but Melusine had completely disappeared into the growing fog.

Tendrils of mist snaked around my feet and choked the mouths of nearby alleyways.  Could the lamia have called up the fog to cover her escape?  It seemed like more than an unhappy coincidence.

But why would she have run?  If Melusine had returned with some grudge against me for dating her husband, why not have her revenge?  I’d been alone and lightly armed mere yards away from her crushing grasp.  I took a deep breath and sighed.  All I had were more questions.

I lowered my arm and shoved the vial of iron shavings back into my pocket.  None of this made any sense.  I stepped up onto the sidewalk and turned to face the clurichaun’s shop.  It was then that I noticed the wall of people whispering and pointing.  I looked over my shoulder, half expecting Melusine to materialize out of the mist, but traffic continued to flow past.  A cold ball of ice settled in my stomach as I turned to face the crowd.  They weren’t gawking at something in the street.

They were all staring at me.

I winced and hunched my shoulders, ready to walk away into the fog and wait until the crowd dispersed.  I could double back for Jinx after I made my escape.  I took a step to my right, avoiding a lamp post, but the sidewalk was blocked by a wall of curious shoppers.

Unfortunately, the afternoon shoppers weren’t alone.  A man in uniform scowled at me from beneath his navy blue hat.  Great, I had attracted the attention of the Harborsmouth police.  Could this day get any worse?

Stupid question, of course it could.  My chest tightened and I took a shaky breath.  More than a dozen sets of eyes stared at me, making my skin burn hot.  I wanted nothing more than to run and hide from their disapproving looks.  Would I make it across the road in one piece if I dove into the traffic rushing at my back?

A slight shake of the cop’s head answered that question.  My desire for escape must have been written all over my face.  His hand shifted to his hip where a baton and handgun hung from his belt.  Running away was definitely not an option.