Chapter 13
MORNING ARRIVED, AND with it a note from Aegis. What happened? Why did you leave so abruptly last night?
I had arrived home and gone to bed without waiting up for him. When he tiptoed into my room an hour or so later, I pretended to be asleep. I didn’t feel like talking to him, and I wanted to smack Sid for being so rude to Sylvia. If he didn’t watch himself, he’d be sans family and she’d be running home to the Summer Court with the kids in tow.
I showered and headed downstairs to check how things were going with our guests. Everybody was at breakfast for a change, and I chatted with them, making sure they were happy. Delia’s cousins turned out to be a nightmare of demands, but I addressed all their needs. Cera and her husband Mason—the newlyweds were leaving that afternoon, and they thanked both Kelson and me and told us they had found a house on the south side of the island.
By the time I finished entering the bookings for the coming week and making notes for Kelson, it was almost nine-thirty. I leaned back in my chair, letting out a long sigh.
I couldn’t blow off Aegis tonight. We’d have to talk. I wasn’t even sure what to tell him. I was happy for the band, but I could see some potentially ugly situations arising from the issues surrounding Sid and Sylvia. And my own insecurities were up in alarm.
I was going through my bank balance when Franny startled me by poking her head right through the wall above my desk. I jumped, spilling my latte on me. It was hot, and I was not only covered in steamed milk, coffee, caramel syrup, and whipped cream, but I barely managed to avoid a bad burn.
“Ouch, damn it! Don’t do that! One of these days you’ll give somebody a heart attack. I could have been burned badly.” I gingerly set the cup down as Kelson came running.
“Are you all right?”
I gauged the level of the redness on my thigh, then nodded. “Yeah, but I have a really nasty hot spot, thanks to Franny here. Would you bring me a wet paper towel, a fresh latte—make it iced this time, and some ice for my leg.” I stared forlornly at the skirt of my new sundress. I was wearing a cute little rockabilly number with a cinched waist, a halter top, and a flaring skirt, in blue gingham, and a matching headband. The stain had spread across the skirt and I’d have to change. With a sigh, I turned to Franny, who was now hovering just above the floor to my left.
“I’m sorry, Maddy.” She stared at the floor.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, don’t mope.” A little less sharply, I said, “Please, try to curb the habit, all right? I don’t want my guests suing me for reckless endangerment.” I frowned at her until she gave me a little nod. “What’s going on?”
“I wanted to tell you about something I saw last night. I’m not sure what it was, and you were asleep, so I didn’t want to wake you. It didn’t seem dangerous. Aegis was in, but he seemed like he was in a bad mood and I was leery of talking to him.”
At least she wasn’t calling him “that vampire” anymore.
“What did you see?”
“I was in the library. I was reading and I remember hearing the clock chime four. I glanced up at the window and thought I saw a swirl of light outside. It was like…sparkling lights that were dancing around. I went over to check it out, but they disappeared as I approached the window.” She frowned. “Should I have woken you up? It would mean coming into your bedroom and you forbade me to do that.”
She wasn’t about to let me forget that little fact.
I cleared my throat. “What did the lights look like?”
“They were…oh…blue and white, some yellow and a couple green and pink. I don’t know. Like sparkles of dust in the air, only bright.”
I nodded. There could be a lot of things at the source—will-o’-the-wisps, or other Fae, perhaps. “Well, if you see it again, come wake me, unless Aegis and I are having sex. Then just call through the door. And don’t tell me you can’t tell because I’m loud and I know it. And Aegis isn’t all that quiet either.”
She blushed—it was still funny seeing a ghost blush—and vanished.
I looked at Kelson. “Have you noticed anything going on? Franny’s usually pretty observant, I’ll give her that.”
Kelson frowned. “Not really. I’ve been so busy with the guests that I haven’t paid much attention, though. By the way, the newlyweds gave me a substantial tip when they left after breakfast. I felt rather odd accepting it without telling you.”
I blinked. “How substantial?”
“Five hundred dollars. I have the feeling they’re quite well set.”
“Well, you work hard and you made them happy. Enjoy it.” I flashed her a wide smile. Some inn owners got snippy if the help received large tips without sharing. I wasn’t one of them. Kelson earned her paycheck and more, and I made certain she was well compensated for all of the work she did. If a guest thought she had earned a five-hundred-dollar tip, then chances were she had earned it.
She let out a satisfied sigh. “Thanks. My car needs new tires and I’ve been putting it off for a while because they aren’t cheap. Now I can take care of that.” She motioned for me to move the ice pack. “Let’s see.”
I shifted the ice away from my knee. The burn was red, all right, and a little puffy, and it would probably hurt like hell for a couple days, but the heat was down. “I’ll stop by McGee’s Apothecary. He’ll probably have a good salve for this.”
My phone chimed and I picked it up. I had a text from Delia.
problem downtown. looks like another one of sandy’s dreams. i’m not sure what to do about this one. you have to see for yourself. can you come? i’m by the blue jinn.
“Hell, I have to go,” I told Kelson. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. I’m waiting for two important phone calls. If Garret James or Gillymack calls for me on the home line, tell them to call my cell, would you?” I jumped up, wincing as the blister around my knee stretched.
“Will do. Did you eat?”
“No, I’ll grab something on the way—along with a fresh latte. Bye!” I grabbed my purse and keys and, still wearing the stained sundress, headed out the door.
DELIA WAS PARKED on the other side of the street from the restaurant. I eased into the spot behind her and cautiously got out of the car. I had been sitting for a good fifteen minutes and I was pretty sure that the blister had managed to fill with pus. The skin around it was tight and when I straightened my leg, it hurt again. Bad. Maybe I should drop by the doctor’s on the way home rather than McGee’s.
But for now, I limped over to where Delia was standing against her patrol car. She was staring across the street at the parking lot of the Blue Jinn. When she saw me, she perked up.
“I’m glad you’re here. I have no clue what to do in this case. The owner of the Blue Jinn called me, so it’s not some promotional stunt she’s up to.”
I followed her gaze. There, filling the parking lot, were about thirty maniacal-looking clowns, only instead of painted smiles, they had wide mouths with sharp, jagged teeth.
“Holy fuck,” I whispered. Clowns were freaky. I didn’t like clowns. Neither did Sandy. “Nightmare. She’s afraid of clowns.”
“Well, I don’t blame her, if they look like this. I was going to send my deputies in to round them up, but then thought—if they are from her dreams, they may not just be regular clowns. What if they’re some sort of freaky monsters? I can’t turn my boys loose into a parking lot full of monsters. Luckily, the restaurant wasn’t open yet—they open at eleven for lunch—and it’s just the owner and a few workers trapped inside. They can get out through an emergency exit in the back if it comes to that, but what the hell are we going to do?”
The clowns were putting on quite the show. Some were riding unicycles, one was making balloon animals, still others were juggling—what were they juggling? I held out my hand to Delia.
“You have binoculars?”
“Here.” She opened the trunk and handed me a pair.
I brought them up and immediately felt a wash of fear race over me. “Crap. You know what they’re juggling?” I handed her the scope. “Look.”
Delia held them up to her eyes and then slowly lowered them. “Those look like arms. Tell me they aren’t juggling arms?”
“Looks like it, bloody stumps and all.” I wasn’t about to take on a parking lot full of clowns who found fun in juggling actual body parts. “Let’s hope those arms appeared with them and aren’t the result of some wacked-out murder spree in the town.”
“I think we would have gotten word if that had happened,” Delia said slowly. After a few minutes she punched in a number on her phone. “George? Can you get me—hold on.”
A tremor shook the ground beneath our feet. I grabbed hold of her car to steady myself as it happened again. The noise reverberated through the air, but it wasn’t an earthquake. Or at least, I didn’t think it was. Another thump, and more shaking. And a third.
There was a patch of dense woods behind the Blue Jinn and suddenly, a couple of the trees gave way as a very large dinosaur broke through them.
“Oh no,” Delia said. “We have more company.”
“I guess Sandy’s subconscious couldn’t handle the clowns.” I stared at the dinosaur as it waded into the midst of the clowns and started ripping at them, tossing them into the air. Lovely, just lovely. “Seems to me that she’s been watching a couple movies lately. Namely, IT and Jurassic Park, you think? That thing looks like a giant velociraptor from the movie, even though raptors weren’t that size.”
Delia clutched my arm. “I hate to break into your scientific commentary, but we can’t let that thing get loose. The clowns are scary enough, but if that dinosaur gets loose in the town, we’re going to be counting bodies fast.”
“I think we’re already doing that. At least in clowns.” I straightened my shoulders, reminding myself this wasn’t a TV show. We weren’t just watching what was going on in Sandy’s dreams. Those clowns and that raptor could seriously put a dent in what had been, before now, a lovely morning. “Get your men out here—have them bring the big guns. Anything that can take down that raptor. Elephant gun if you have it.”
She was back on the phone in seconds. Meanwhile, the raptor was raising havoc with the clowns, who were racing around the parking lot screaming. Oddly enough, none of them had crossed into the streets. I blinked, then squinted. There was a faint blue veil walling off the parking lot. It was almost invisible, but I could see it when I blurred my focus. Some sort of force field. Question was, who had erected it? I phoned the Blue Jinn and the owner answered.
Malita’s voice was just a little bit frantic. “What’s going on out there?” I sent my workers home through the emergency exit, but I decided to stay just in case my restaurant gets trashed.”
“The killer clowns are being chased by a dinosaur. Say, did anybody on your staff erect a force field to keep the clowns in the parking lot?”
“Yes. Tristan Jones—he’s from your coven. He set up a force field before he left because I was worried about the freaks getting loose and me being blamed.”
“Thank gods for Tristan. I don’t know that it will hold back that velociraptor, but help is on the way. I think we’re all right as long as it still has clowns to go after.” I told her to stay put and we’d get back to her, then hung up and turned to Delia. “There’s a force field preventing the clowns from escaping, but I doubt it will hold the dinosaur. Tristan’s magic is good, but it’s not that good.”
“Jax is on the way. He’s got a couple guns that should be able to take down the raptor. He’ll be here in less than five minutes.” She shivered, watching the clown carnage. “You know, I want to be sympathetic but damn, those clowns were juggling body parts.”
“Yeah, it’s hard to muster up sympathy. The raptor’s pretty good at catching them. There are only ten left, it looks like.” I paused. “Who’s Jax? New deputy?”
Delia blushed. “New beau.”
“You’re kidding? Delia Waters has a beau? As I live and breathe, I never thought I’d see the day!” I grinned. Delia had been so focused on work over the years that she had never bothered with much of a personal life, as far as I knew. At least one that included romance.
“We met about a month ago. He’s…easy to hang with. He doesn’t require more attention than I have to give and he’s cool with me having a career that some men can’t handle. Most werewolves—the men—are so alpha they couldn’t deal with me being a sheriff. But Jax isn’t a werewolf.” She blushed again. “He’s Fae. And he has a full life of his own.”
I decided to give her a break and not tease her too hard. She was new to romance, and I didn’t want to make her self-conscious. “That’s great. Oh, that’s pretty.” I groaned as the velociraptor decided to stop for a snack. One of the clowns was now headless.
Delia winced. “Ugh. Jax collects guns. He doesn’t use them a lot, though. Oh, he’s a deadly shot, but he’s not into hunting. He just likes having a private armory.” She paused as a black Tesla X pulled up.
I whistled. “If that’s Jax, your boyfriend has one hell of an expensive car.”
“He inherited a lot of money. He’s rich, which doesn’t hurt anything,” she said, a smile escaping the corner of her lips.
“Yeah, I’d say so. As long as he brings the guns.”
He jumped out of the driver’s seat. He was tall and thin, with very Fae-like features. He was pretty, in a rugged sort of way, and his hair was brunet, falling to the edge of his collar. He had a nose ring. He seemed so incongruous with Delia’s more sturdy, solid werewolf nature, but opposites had a way of attracting, and I reminded myself not to judge by looks. Delia was pretty, but seemed too grounded to date a member of the Fae. But like she said, the male werewolves were very alpha, and Fae tended to be much more liberal in their gender roles.
He blew her a kiss, then opened the back door of the Tesla and pulled out a long gun case. Carrying it over, he went down on one knee, unlocking the case and readying what looked like one hell of a big-assed gun. I wasn’t sure exactly what kind it was, but it should be able to take care of the dinosaur. I hoped.
Jax handed Delia a pair of headphones. He had a pair for himself and one for me, as well. “Put these on.”
I had shot a gun or two in my time, and knew better than leave my ears unprotected. I fitted them on immediately. If that gun went off, it could deafen all of us. Delia donned hers as well. Jax fit his own pair on, then lifted the gun to his shoulder, steadying himself.
Before he could take aim, I shouted, “Stop.”
He paused, looking at me.
“Will the bullet pass through the force field, or is that going to rebound on you?” I had a sudden vision of that massively powerful blast hitting Delia, or me, or somebody passing on the street. Even though Delia had cordoned off the area, you never knew who might take it into their head to go wandering by.
Jax frowned, then shrugged. “I can’t tell unless I get closer.” He handed Delia the gun. “Keep that trained on the dinosaur. If all hell breaks loose while I’m there, shoot it. Brace hard, because the kickback is unreal.” He dashed across the street before we could stop him.
As Jax approached the force field, the velociraptor turned, charging toward him. Jax jumped out of the way as it crashed through the force field. Delia didn’t waste a second. She steadied herself and brought the gun to bear, taking aim on the charging raptor. A loud explosion rocked the air as she pulled the trigger once, then a second time.
The bullets blazed toward the dinosaur, one landing in its chest while the other impacted its head. The raptor let out a screech that sounded all too like a bird. Another moment, and it collapsed, vanishing as it hit the ground. The clowns had vanished too—all of them, dead or alive. The force field had been disrupted and we were staring at an empty parking lot.
Jax jogged back to us. “Thank gods you’re a good shot, or I would have been mincemeat.” He briefly touched her arm, but that was the only display of affection that he gave.
Delia was smiling, but her expression was strained. “Sandy’s dreams are getting worse. Are you any closer to figuring out what to do?”
I nodded. “Yeah, but it’s not easy.” I paused, then told her what I had found out about the cure to Sandy’s coma. “I’m waiting for Garret to get back to me.”
“For everybody’s sake, I hope he hurries.” Delia handed Jax the gun. “Thank you. Without that baby, we would have had a real problem on our hands.”
“My pleasure,” he said. “I’ll talk to you later.”
She waved and he blew her a quick kiss before taking off again.
“Well, nobody can say he’s not handy in a pinch,” I said. My phone rang right then. It was Garret. “Hold on, let me take this.” I moved to one side and answered. “Hey, any luck so far? I really hope you have some good news.”
He cleared his throat. “Yeah, I do. I think. Irena said she’ll give you the herb you need, but you have to go to her. Underwater. Is there any way you can manage it? Can you scuba or breathe underwater by some miraculous luck?”
“I’ll figure out a way. When did she say I could come?”
“Tomorrow. So you’d better figure out how by then. You do swim, don’t you?”
“Like a fish. But how the hell will she be able to talk to me if we’re underwater?” I had no clue as to how the merfolk—or sirens—communicated while under the waves.
“Leave that to her. Trust me, she’ll be able to. I’ll call you later with more details. Just find a way and find it quick.” He hung up.
I turned to Delia. “I can’t scuba dive because it makes me feel claustrophobic. Wearing a mask on my eyes is hard enough, but breathing canned air? Not so easy. Do you know anybody who has a good spell for breathing underwater? I need one by tomorrow night.”
She frowned, then shook her head. “I don’t know, but I’ll ask around. Why don’t you go ask Auntie Tautau. If anybody knows, she would.”
Auntie Tautau. I shivered. The group of women known as the Aunties were incredibly powerful. They were witches, unaligned to any coven or group, and were quite often likened to the Fates. How they came to be was a mystery, but they were good at making what seemed impossible happen. Nobody could push or goad them into helping, though. They had to decide on their own, and nobody could ever predict what route they would take.
“Good idea.” I sucked in a deep breath. Might as well go to the top instead of starting at the bottom. “I’ll head over there now and hope that she’s home. I’d call but I don’t think that does much good. If she doesn’t want to pick up, she won’t.”
I waved to Delia, who was headed in to talk to Malita, then I slipped back into my car and headed for the outskirts of town. Time for a talk with Auntie Tautau. I could only hope she would prove helpful and that it wouldn’t cost me too much.
THE COTTAGE WAS usually hidden by a wide tangle of vegetation, and the summer made it only more so. Set off from the road on a tidy patch of land, the house was well kept, with a wraparound porch. Ivy grew up the walls, and bushes and shrubs obscured the walkway.
A thousand flowers of all kinds covered the lawn, which never seemed to grow higher than a few inches, and the fragrance from roses and zinnias and mums filled the air with a heady spice. I found a stick at the head of the sidewalk and used it to dissuade the spiders who had spun their webs from one side to the other. The webs were so thick that I had knocked down twenty of them by the time I reached the house. I wondered if Auntie Tautau did this every day, but then decided she probably was able to walk right through them.
As I set foot on the first porch step, the door opened and Auntie Tautau peeked out. She was wearing a new dress—surprise, surprise. Instead of a muumuu, she had on a tidy floral housedress, over which she had belted an apron with wide pockets. The dress was a swirl of red and green flowers on a white background, and the apron was lemon yellow. She was still wearing the hat that never failed to catch my eye. A wide, stiff, straw hat, the crown was adorned with a pink ribbon and a crow. The crow was very much alive. Auntie Tautau herself was a benign-looking grandma type. Her hair hung down her back in a long gray braid.
“Why, Maudlin, how good to see you. Come in.” Her Irish accent matched the interior of her house—it was all lace curtains and heather, and filled to the brim with knickknacks. She escorted me into the living room and motioned to the sofa. “I’ll fetch tea.”
I knew better than say no. Never, ever say no to an Auntie. While they looked domestic and loving, they could dispatch any of their enemies with ease. If not with their magic, then with whatever muscle they could summon up.
“I’d love some,” I said, settling back against the cushions. I didn’t offer to help. She wouldn’t have accepted the offer.
Auntie Tautau motioned to the fan that was blowing a cool air through the house, and it turned toward me without the slightest sign of effort. “There you go, it’s a bit stuffy today.” She vanished into the kitchen and a few moments later returned with two glasses of iced tea and a plate of sugar cookies. “Light fare for a warm day.”
“Thank you,” I murmured, accepting a glass and taking two of the cookies. “Do you know why I’m here?” Sometimes it seemed like the Aunties could read minds.
“No, dear. Not this time. I haven’t been playing with my spy glass today.”
I paused, uncertain whether she was joking or not. But I decided it wouldn’t be polite to ask. I took a sip of the tea and ate one of the cookies before diving into the conversation.
“Auntie Tautau, I need help and I’m not sure where to go. I need to breathe underwater for a while so I can talk to a siren, and I don’t handle scuba gear very well.”
“Well then, you do have a problem. So, you need to speak to a siren?”
“I don’t even know how sirens or merfolk communicate underwater. I’ve never thought about it.” I paused, then decided to tell her everything. I explained about the merfolk and the beach, and Sandy’s restaurant and the hit-and-run, and the ghost snail. “So you see, we have to bring her out of the moriatis. And to gather the last herb for the antidote, Irena insists I come to her.”
Auntie Tautau listened quietly, not saying a word until I was done. Then she popped into the kitchen and returned with the pitcher of tea, refilling my glass. I realized I had drained the first. I ate another cookie and waited patiently. With the Aunties, either you waited until they were ready, or you might as well hit the road.
After a few minutes, she walked over to the desk and sat down, withdrawing a piece of what looked like a blank sheet of parchment from the drawer. She dipped a quill pen into an inkwell and began to write. The crow on her hat turned its head to stare at me. I stared back, unsure of whether to talk to it or not.
Auntie Tautau paused. “You can say hello to Merriweather. He’s a friendly sort, once he gets to know you.”
I laughed. “Well, then, since I know his name I feel a bit more comfortable addressing him. Hello, Merriweather.”
Merriweather suddenly flew off of her hat—the first time I had seen him in flight—and came over to perch on my shoulder. He tilted his head to the side, cawing in my face before leaning over to gently poke my nose with his beak.
“She’s coming back,” he said, startling me. Then he flew off into the kitchen without another word.
“I had no idea crows could talk.”
“Crows can mimic human speech, yes. But Merriweather is a raven. And Merriweather actually talks.” She didn’t even look over her shoulder. “Merriweather is a very special friend of mine.” And with that, she went back to writing whatever it was she was writing.
Another five minutes and she pushed her chair back, blowing on the page to dry the ink. She waited another moment, then rolled it up and tied it with a blue ribbon, then handed it to me.
“This, once you read it, will allow you to breathe underwater within a twelve-hour period. The effects will be negated temporarily when you surface, but if you go back under during that period, will work fine. Once twelve hours have passed, it will vanish as if it never had been.”
I took the scroll. It tingled in my hand. “Is there a price?”
“Oh child,” she said, rocking back on her heels. “There’s always a price. You have already paid it, though you don’t realize it yet. You’ll know, when the time comes, what that price has set into motion. Now, another cookie and then, off with you. I’ve my garden to tend.”
I ate another cookie, then took the scroll and left, thanking her again.
She walked me out to my car. “You might not thank me, once you’ve seen what this brings to fruition. But you need the help, and I can only give it as I do.” And with that, she left me at the curb and went back into her house.