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She shrugged. "I have no idea. I hope he doesn't get fired."
Menolly sat down on the top step and leaned back on her elbows. "You headed out to Smoky's today?"
I nodded. "Later on, though. I have to talk to Morgaine. But first, we'd better check out the leads on that demon." Frustrated, I tripped down the stairs and knelt in the dew-laden grass, plucking at a handful of scant weeds who'd dared to make their home amongst the irises. "There's just too much… too much to do, and all of it too scattered to see how the puzzle fits together. Where do you think the third seal is?"
"It could be anywhere, considering the locations of the first two," Delilah said, joining me, still in her pajamas. We weeded together, the dirt wet and loamy against our hands. The pungent smell filtered up with the faint scent of mildew, rich and sour and promising new growth, "If we only had some other clue…"
Menolly cleared her throat. "Well, I did find out something at work last night, but I don't know how useful it will be." She joined us but merely watched as we yanked out the beginnings of dandelions and clover. Vampires weren't terribly good with growing things, and she'd never taken an interest in gardening like Delilah and I had.
"What?" I glanced up at her. "Any news is welcome right now." I didn't add that I wanted to hear anything that might keep my mind off Trillian returning to OW, but I could see in her eyes that she understood.
She glanced at the sky again. "I've got about an hour left before I have to be inside," she said. "Okay, here's the deal."
She plopped on the ground beside us, crossing her legs and picking a long spray of grass to play with as she spoke.
"While I tended bar last night, Luke was waiting tables because Chrysandra's on vacation. He stopped by a booth, and when he brought me the order, he told me that the customer had been asking questions about me. I asked Luke what she wanted, and he told me that she'd been asking if he knew where I live, and when I got off duty."
"That doesn't sound good." I tugged at one particularly stubborn thistle root, and it came sliding out of the ground. I tossed it on the pile. "What did he say?"
"Well, of course, he didn't tell her anything, but I did a little bit of snooping. Genehsys was there. You know, the folk singer who occasionally performs at the Wayfarer? Anyway, she's Fae and gifted with the ability to divine magical beings. I asked her to scope out the woman."
"What did she find out?" Delilah stopped to pick up a branch covered in lady bugs. She carried them over to one of the nearby rosebushes and gently shook them onto the leaves. "We've got aphids," she said. "They'll help control the pests."
Menolly raised her eyebrow. "Go, lady bugs. Anyway, Genehsys said that the woman appears to be a djinn."
"Djinn? Shit." Delilah whirled around. "We don't need to tangle with a djinn."
I frowned. "Do djinns and Raksasas hang around together?"
Menolly shrugged. "I don't know, but you might want to find out. I followed her after she left. I asked Luke to mind the bar. She entered a door next to a Persian rug shop. There are apartments above the shop. Want to bet she lives there?"
"Persian rug shop? Some Raksasas are Persian." I frowned. "If she is working with the demon, he probably knows about us, considering he's been around Seattle for awhile. If not… then who is she, and what does she want?"
Just then a whinny interrupted us. Feddrah-Dahns had woken and was standing near enough for me to feel his breath on my shoulder. "You three are awake early," he said. "Are we ready to go in search of Mistletoe?"
Delilah shook her head. "Not quite. Menolly, did you find out anything about pixies running wild before your shift was over?"
She grinned and pulled out a slip of paper. "That's the best part. I was going to leave this for you to find at breakfast. A couple of elves at the bar were griping about a wayward pixie who doesn't belong around the area. He seems to have made himself at home in their garden. I got their address and promised that we'd have a look. They said fine, as long as we convince him to move on."
Elves and pixies were often at odds, more so than the Sidhe and pixies. Nobody really knew why, but the schism had been around since before the Great Divide.
I wiped my hands on the grass and stood. "Then I suppose we should get busy. We've got to check out both the pixie sighting and the djinn. Menolly, you won't be able to help us. You should be getting into your lair shortly."
"Not so fast," came a voice from the top of the porch steps. Iris was standing there, holding Maggie, who yawned sleepily. "What are you all doing out here this time of morning?"
As Delilah hurried up the stairs to explain, I took Maggie and carried her down to the ground. The gargoyle would remain in babyhood for a long, long time yet. I set her down, and she teetered around, trying desperately to balance using her tail. She couldn't fly yet—her wings were far too small still and far too weak—but she had managed to get the hang of walking without always falling over on her nose.
Now she toddled to a patch of dirt that we kept especially for her and gave me a look as if to say, "Are you really going to watch?"
I grinned at her. "Sorry, Maggie. I'll turn around."
"Mooph," came the soft reply as she squatted to piddle and poop.
I turned away, giving her privacy. Maggie was an integral part of our family now. We'd saved her from a demon, a harpy to be precise, and Maggie had become both our pet and our littlest sister. Menolly spent a lot of time with her, helping her learn to crawl and walk, showing infinite patience that she never showed with anybody else except, perhaps, Delilah—her Kitten.
Maggie let out another mooph to let me know she was done. I turned back and checked under her tail to make sure nothing untoward had stuck to her wispy, silken fur. She reached up, and I hoisted her back into my arms, bracing her against my hip as she clasped her hands around my arm, resting her head on my shoulder.
As I stroked her downy fur and kissed her gently on the head, Iris clattered down the steps and eyed the weeding we'd done. "Good start. I'll finish it this afternoon. Now come in for breakfast and tell me what's going on."
