Tiddly Jinx (26 page)

We nodded.

“Why? What happened?” she asked.

We should have better prepared for this and came up with a story beforehand. I failed to take into account any resentment she would be feeling. I didn’t want to share with them about Tahlik yet. If any of them were involved I wasn’t ready to tip them off on our plans.

“Corbin,” Sebastian said. “he has given us a report on Frost, and Cheney doesn’t trust that he isn’t working his own angle. We would like an unbiased opinion.”

She waited so long to reply that it seemed inevitable that she would say no, but slowly she put both feet on the ground and stood up. “Where is Selene?”

“With the wedding planner. She doesn’t know we’re talking to Corbin. She trusts him.”

Jessica cracked her knuckles on her left hand. “Well, then I do, too. Find someone else to be your lie detector.”

She started to sit, but Katrina pushed her. “Stop being a bitch and help them, Jessica! I’ll come with.”

Jessica narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips, but she followed Sebastian out the door. I gently touched Katrina’s arm to hold her back with the rest of the women. “How is she really? Does she seem like herself?”

“As opposed to what?” Katrina asked.

“She’s been quiet more than anything,” Devin said. “It’s hard to know how people will react to traumatic situations. I really couldn’t say if she is acting like herself for sure, but I think she is.”

Leslie pressed her lips together but didn’t say anything or make eye contact.

“What do you know?” I asked her.

She shook her head. “My ability doesn’t work all that well on the other members of the coven. I just know that she is putting up some major walls around herself, but as Devin said, you don’t know how people will react to things. Jessica is probably just protecting herself.”

“Okay. Please let me know if you notice anything at all that could send up a warning flag. There is a lot on the line tonight and, well…things just need to go well.”

They all nodded agreement as Katrina and I left, catching up with Jessica and Sebastian.

“What kept you?” Jessica asked.

“Last-minute wedding details,” Katrina said. “You know that dress Devin found in the attic? She is going to get Selene to wear it. You know how Devin gets when she starts talking about weddings.”

“Isn't it bad luck to show the groom the dress before the wedding?” Jessica asked, inspecting us.

“I didn’t see anything. They just wanted to know if they could use it,” I said, still not convinced she was back to normal.

A window in the front of Corbin’s house was shattered, and shards of glass scattered over the grass were catching the sun. The house was small and rundown, but it was a quiet neighborhood without a lot of prying eyes. Perfect for a creature of the night.

Sebastian knocked and we waited, but Corbin didn’t come.

“Uh, don’t vampires sleep during the day?” Jessica asked.

“They avoid the sun. Sleep isn’t necessary,” Sebastian told her, then knocked again.

“Then I don’t think he’s home,” Katrina said. “Judging by this house, he hasn’t been home in about twenty years.”

I reached between them and found the door was unlocked. “Wait with them,” I told Sebastian as I went through.

The broken window let more light into the living room than before. A large crack split the wooden floor that wasn’t there last time. In fact, I had seen cracks like this before. What had Corbin done to make her this mad? “Corbin,” I shouted.

Nothing. Not even a rattle or a creak in the house. I started down the hallway, all natural light fading into blackness. As the darkness took the majority of my sight my ears sharpened and my muscles readied for attack. Though there was no physical proof of it, I wasn’t alone. Something was with me, hiding just beyond sight. An ever-so-slight creak in the floor a few feet in front of me stilled my feet.

“I know you’re here,” I said. “If you have betrayed us, Corbin, I won’t give you the release of death. I’ll personally send you back to purgatory and make sure you never get back here. You will suffer for the rest of eternity.”

“Empty threats, elf.” Corbin’s voice came from closer than I anticipated.

“Who have you been talking to, vampire?” I felt the air break and moved to the right, narrowly missing Corbin’s hand, but he still hit me with his shoulder and shoved my back to the wall.

“You come to my home and make accusations—” he growled.

I transported behind him, slamming his head against the wall. “Threaten my family and I will do more than make accusations. Selene is mine.”

He spun, his fist snapping a rib as it smashed into me as my elbow cracked his nose and I spun out of the reach of his next hit. He lunged at me again. We traded punches and injuries, neither one getting the upper hand for very long.

“Why would you tell her father of all people?” I asked again, breathing hard.

“I haven’t told anyone anything,” he growled as he swung and missed.

“Why did Selene attack you?” I connected with his side.

“Ask her yourself.” He knocked me back, but didn’t come at me again. “Enough. We’re not enemies this day. I will allow you to walk away today, elf, but come into my house uninvited again and you will be carried out.”

“One of us will be.”

I turned and went back outside where Jessica looked bored and Katrina’s nervous chatter stopped when I came to the door and she gasped. “What happened?”

“We had a discussion,” I said, wiping a trickle of blood from my nose. “Frost is next on the list.”

“So you don’t need me?” Jessica asked. “I can’t touch the necromancer, and if I can’t touch her then I can’t tell you if she’s lying.”

“What exactly is happening?” Katrina asked. “You didn’t even take us in to see Corbin. You went in and engaged in some fisticuffs then came back out here with a plan B. What’s the deal? You aren’t fooling anyone you hot, pointy-eared bastard.”

Jessica snorted and her hand darted to her mouth to cover a laugh—finally showing a glimmer of her former self—soothing my trepidation.

“Someone has been talking about Selene bringing back the Pole to her father.” I massaged my jaw. “Not that it matters now. What’s done is done, but it would make me feel better to know who it was before tonight, and we’re running out of time.” My phone rang.

I held up a finger and answered.

“Tahlik. He’s dead,” Sy said.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN my father is dead?” I asked, looking between Sy and Cheney and not exactly sure how to feel. “He was a little beat up, but fine hours ago.”

“I was following him, and one moment he was fine and the next he was lying dead in the street,” Sy said. “I didn’t touch him and I didn’t notice the jinni following him touch him, either. He didn’t argue with anyone or even talk to anyone else. I haven’t got a clue what happened.”

I rolled my head back and stared at the ceiling. Murphy’s Law seemed to be the major sponsor of my life. “What do we do next? Do I still need to confess?”

“Absolutely not,” Sy said at the same time Cheney sighed.

“He said he had a contingency,” I reminded them. It wasn’t that I necessarily wanted to reveal all of my bad decisions to the world, but if doing so eased a few of our staggering amount of problems, I would do so in a second. Worrying about whether or not people liked me was a thing of the past. I simply didn’t care anymore.

“Everyone says that,” Sy said. “Only like, ten percent actually do.”

“Now you are just making things up,” Sebastian said. “You can’t possibly have statistics on that.”

Cheney had that particular thoughtful expression on his battered face where he stared out into nothing and simply listened to his thoughts. I hadn’t had the chance to find out how his face had gotten that way—that seemed like the least of our worries at the moment.

“Look, if Sy is right and he doesn’t really have a plan, then there is no reason to confess anything. But Sebastian is also right that we can’t know for sure.” Cheney ran his hand through his hair and glanced at his watch. “I think this matter will hold. Let’s just worry about getting through tonight. If we go in distracted then mistakes will be made, and we can’t afford it. If we succeed in getting the Pole back and somehow getting it back to the underworld, then even if you are forced to confess, that confession will come with a solution. There is no reason to rush or make a rash decision.”

“Did you find out who told him? If we should stop the leak now then it might not become a problem later,” Sy said, stretching his arms overhead.

Cheney shook his head. “I’ve only really spoken with one person so far.”

“Who was that?” I asked.

“Corbin,” he said, his eyes locking to mine. “I don’t think he did it.”

Well, that would explain the bruises. My chest tightened a little as Cheney held my gaze. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. What did Corbin say to him to start the fight? Cheney wouldn’t have gone looking for trouble, but there was plenty Corbin could tell him that would push him over the edge. “Oh,” was all I managed to say. I cleared my throat and broke eye contact before I spoke again. “Who else do we need to talk to?”

“Well, not many people know exactly what happened. Besides for those of us in the room you have: Corbin, the coven, Frost, and Edith—and Lily knows quite a bit, too. Is there anyone else?” Sebastian asked.

“Well, obviously no one else in this room did it, right?” The guys nodded. “Cheney eliminated Corbin, I will vouch for the coven—it’s not like they know anyone besides the people you just named to talk to.”

“Lily knows some of what happened but not everything. Plus she has been more than willing to help us,” Cheney said. “And your grandma, well…”

“After everything I don’t think she would betray me again.”

“I agree,” he said. “That leaves the necromancer…or Alanna. She said something about having spies. Perhaps her spies overheard enough to have done this.”

I took a deep breath. “I’ll talk to Frost. I have a few things I want to say to her before tonight anyway.”

I found Frost roaming around the grounds alone. I watched her for a moment before I approached. She strolled through the gardens, occasionally grazing her hand over a plant only to watch it wither and die almost immediately. I put myself in her path and let her approach me. She slowed as I came into sight and eased to a stop ten feet away from me.

“What?” she finally asked.

“Why do you hate me?” I asked bluntly.

She rolled her eyes. “That’s rich coming from you. I’m not the one plotting your death.” She smiled a little. “Or am I?”

The plan with Corbin had been a mistake. All it managed to do was alienate her further. “I’m not planning to kill you.”

“Yeah right.”

“Look. I know what Corbin told you. I told him to tell you that. I just wanted to make sure you were okay and on board, and you wouldn’t talk to me.”

“Why do you care? I’m helping you. You’re getting your way. Soon you will have your perfect fairytale life back and get manicures or whatever it is people like you do.”

“People like me?”

Her lip curled up with disdain. “Yeah. Spoiled little princesses who expect everyone to love them and never take care of their own problems.”

“So that’s why you betrayed me? You think I’m entitled? You want to punish me?”