AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"'S okay," Nerissa said, kissing her on the cheek. "I need a nap anyway, if we're going out late, clubbing. You help Delilah, and I'l catch a couple hours of shut-eye." She hugged Iris, then grabbed a couple pieces of cornbread. "If you don't mind, I'l eat these while I'm jumping into my jammies. Is it okay if I sleep in your playroom again, Delilah?"
When she was staying here and needed to sleep, I loaned her my playroom on the third floor, where I kept everything that I needed to make my not-so-inner tabby happy.
Since Nerissa had started staying over on a regular basis, we'd fixed up a sofa bed there for her, and for Menol y when they wanted to spend the night together. Menol y wasn't secure enough about her self-control to take Nerissa down to her lair, and nobody chided her for it. With vampires there was always the chance of slipping into the predator without realizing it, and if something during sex set Menol y off, at least this way there'd be a chance we could step in and protect Nerissa.
"No problem--go for it." I waved her up the stairs. Turning back, I looked over at Camil e, who was stil snuggled in the rocking chair. She looked a little better, but damn, the Wolf Briar had real y hit her hard. "You going to be okay?"
"Yeah, but I stil feel like death warmed over." She nodded. "We need to find out who's making it and put a stop to them. It's dangerous to far more than just werewolves. If I'd taken a bigger blast of it, I could stil be paralyzed."
Smoky growled. He was sitting by her side, and now he looked over at me. "You have my help if you want it. There is dark magic, and then there is this.
And if you find out who planted the blast that hit Camil e, I'l remove them from this world."
"I'm sure you wil . Who would know about sorcery shops in town?" I leaned forward, playing with a piece of the cornbread. "Any ideas?"
"Wilbur." Morio slowly raised his head. "Wilbur would know. Somebody care to go escort him up here? And make sure he leaves Martin at home."
I groaned. Wilbur, our neighbor, wasn't my favorite person in the world. A necromancer, he walked on the shady side of gray, but he'd helped us more than once, and we managed to form an uneasy truce with him after Menol y broke Martin's neck and almost pul ed his head off.
Martin was Wilbur's ghoul. Martin was long dead but wel -preserved, and looked like a ghoulish accountant and wore a suit. Wilbur and Martin had a master-servant relationship that I wasn't entirely comfortable contemplating, because at times it seemed a little too chummy, but I wasn't about to ask awkward questions that might tel me more than I wanted to know.
Menol y grumbled. "I suppose I'l go. You guys always send me because you know Wilbur wants to fuck a vampire, and he keeps hoping he'l get lucky."
She stood and stretched. "If he gets grabby, I can backhand him from here to Hel. I'l be back in a few with the cavalry." She excused herself and headed out the back door.
I finished my meal and carried the dishes to the sink. As I rinsed them off, there was a knock on the front door. Morio went to answer it and returned with Trenyth--the elfin assistant to Queen Asteria--in tow. Drenched from the downpour between Grandmother Coyote's portal and our house, Trenyth barely smiled, and I knew something was up.
"Something's wrong. Is Father okay?" I motioned for him to take a seat.
Trenyth glanced around the table. "Everyone's here. Good. Wait--where's your sister? Menol y?"
"She'l be back in a few minutes. Is it Father?" Camil e leaned forward in the chair, her pale face even whiter.
The emissary sighed. "He's not hurt, so calm yourself with regards to that. But yes, the message is . . . from him." He looked sad, and I wondered what the hel was up. Trenyth had been on the periphery of our lives since we first wiped the floor with Bad-Ass Luke and Shadow Wing's first Degath Squad.
We'd developed a friendly though professional rapport with the ancient elf. He was Queen Asteria's right hand, and I had the feeling she'd be lost without him.
We settled him in with a cup of tea and dessert--cookies--which he politely munched on, though I had the feeling they weren't to his liking at al .
"How's Her Majesty doing?" I asked to make conversation.
"Queen Asteria is in good health. She's . . ." he paused, then let out a long sigh, as if he'd been about to say something.
"What is it?" I pushed. Camil e sat up, eyeing him cautiously. She glanced over at me and gave a slight shake of the head.
"Nothing. Nothing--just not al plans are going as hoped. But leave it be. I can say no more on the subject." He took a sip of his tea and stared into the steaming cup, once again quiet.
Ten minutes passed, and the back door opened, Menol y leading Wilbur into the room. The guy looked like a front man for ZZ Top, with a streaming beard, long ratty hair pul ed back in a ponytail, and shades on even though the light was long gone. He was big and burly, dressed like a mountain man, but there was a tingle about him that signaled magic. Magic and an overdose of testosterone.
"Now that you're home, I'd like to talk to the three of you alone, please. Then I'l be off. This wil just take a few minutes." Trenyth motioned to Smoky and the rest, including Iris. "Please, give us some privacy." The elf's presence was commanding enough that everyone automatical y vacated the kitchen.
We waited. Obviously, this was big, or he would have talked to us in front of the others. Final y, after an uncomfortable pause, he pinched the bridge of his nose and winced.
"I hate this." He looked up at us, a stricken expression crossing his face. "I've come to know and respect you girls over the past year. I like the three of you. Please know that. I real y do. And that makes this even harder."
Uh-oh. Any announcement starting out with I hate this couldn't be good. "What's up?" I said quietly.
He sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly, then pul ed a parchment scrol out of his pocket and showed us the seal. Queen Tanaquar. Shit. But why was the elfin ambassador delivering one of the Fae Queen's official documents?
