Page 86 of Beauty At Stake
“I am from here,” he said.
I chuckled. “Fair enough. I'll drop the Lion Clan issue.”
“Thank you.” Then he noticed what I was doing. “Why are you excavating?”
“To get at the Fey remains.”
“There are more here?” Mekha growled. “Damn that . . . wait. What's that?” He pointed.
The rest of us followed his finger to the wreckage. I had just apportated a piece of the floor and revealed the mostly intact basement. What a blessing that was. It meant we could retrieve the remains with little effort. But Mekha wasn't pointing at the remains. He was pointing at a metal case.
A metal case with words engraved into the side.
“Holy shit,” I whispered, then apportated the case into my hands.
The three men gathered around me as I set the case on the ground. It was a large case, wider than most briefcases, with sharp corners instead of rounded ones. But the corners didn't concern me.
“Naning Industries,” I read the engraving.
“On it.” Teagan pulled out his cell phone.
I opened the case. Inside, tucked into cushioned recesses, were several jars of differing sizes. I removed one and inspected it. Opaque white with the weight of glass, it felt expensive as far as jars go. On the side was a label. I was hoping it would be a brand logo—the one Losuc had seen. It wasn't. Instead, a simple sticker had a lot number typed onto it. I pulled out another and found something similar but with a different number.
“Samples of some kind.” Star picked up a jar and opened it. “It's a cream.” He sniffed it, then shrugged. “Smells pleasant.”
I opened the jar I was holding and brought it up to my face. It smelled slightly floral. Then I looked at the thick, white cream. Really looked.
“What the hell?!” I hissed.
“I'd make a joke about Hell, but I'm too curious,” Star drawled. “What's wrong with the cream?”
“There's magic in it. Can't you sense it?”
Star frowned and stared at the jar. “No. I get nothing from that.”
“Because that's Fey magic.” Teagan pointed at the jar. “I see it, Ambassador. Clear as day. I think you've discovered what the sorceress has been doing with all those Fey remains.”
I looked from Teagan to the jars as goose flesh rose on my arms. “No. I don't think so.”
“What else could it be?” Mekha asked.
“I don't think she used the remains for this.” I looked over at Star and met his stare. I saw he was already moving toward the same conclusion. “This is what she wants the Bite Witches for.”
“They have less magic than Fairies.” Star set his jar back in the case. “Why bother with them when she obviously has a supplier of Fey parts?”
“I don't know.” I put the lid back on my jar and replaced it. “But we're going to find out.”
“The support team is here.” Teagan nodded toward the road.
I glanced over, then did a double-take. Because hanging out of the window of a black SUV, waving at me, was a dear friend of mine.
“Here I am to save the day! Councilman Karmen with a K!” Councilman Karmen Dinello belted out as the SUV came to a stop. He jumped out, did his Peter Pan pose with his fists on his hips, and grinned. Then he saw the house. “Well, shit. If you didn't like the architecture, you could have just sold the place. This is completely unnecessary.” He waggled his finger at me and added, “You're such a drama queen, Seren.”
“Karmen?” I stood up. “What are you doing here?
Karmen strode forward as several vans parked beside his SUV and council members from the local house poured out, some of them sporting metal cases similar to the one at my feet. “I told you about visiting India, right? Where I learned to meditate?”
“Yes.”
