Page 19 of Kick the Candle (Knight Games 2)
"Holy crow! What the hell is going on?"
Rick cleared his throat and muttered a spell under his breath, sending the other two into oblivion. "It is the fae enchantment on this room. The magic picks up on your fantasies and provides, what you might call, virtual reality. They're not real and they can't hurt you, but the experience is very... intense. You can imagine why the Maison is so popular."
"Uh, yeah." I smoothed imaginary wrinkles from my shirt. "We are definitely coming back here," I mumbled under my breath.
A low rumble vibrated against me, Rick's laugh. Of course, he'd heard me. He had super hearing and eyesight. I stood and straightened my clothes again.
"Well, I guess it's no secret that I'd like to stay here and continue to test the room's charms, but I want to meet this investigator and see if he has any idea why a finfolk and troll would be willing to risk their lives to travel this far into the city."
Rick nodded his head and held open the door.
Calling in the Dogs
Detective Silas Flynn had a firm handshake and an intense, focused gaze that made my intuition do a swing step on my gut. With a toothy grin, he brought my hand to his face, presumably to kiss the back of it. Instead, at the last second, he flipped my forearm over and ran his nose up the inside of my wrist, smelling me. I laughed a little, more from the strangeness than the tickle of his breath.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Hecate."
"Please, call me Grateful." I never did like being called by the name the supernaturals had for my station. Hecate was the goddess of the dead. I was not her, but as rumor had it, a piece of my soul, the eternal piece, was related to her. You might call me a chip off the old block...er...deity. I preferred to think of myself as a witch, although, strictly speaking, normal witches couldn't judge the dead or the damned like I could.
"Only if you call me Silas." His green eyes twinkled from beneath bushy caramel colored eyebrows.
I nodded as we progressed into the alley. Rick had stayed inside to interview the Madam about the incident. Apparently, she was an old friend. I ignored the pang of jealousy that bit of news cost me.
Police tape stretched across the mouth of the alley, and I noticed human faces ogling the scene from the sidewalk. I frowned.
"Don't worry. The Do Not Cross tape has been enchanted. All they're seeing is a typical murder scene, grizzly by the looks on their faces." He chuckled.
"Peachy." A man passing by clutched his stomach and hurried across the street. "So what do you make of Stella's uninvited visitors?"
He gestured with his head for me to follow him over to the body of the pig-faced troll and pointed his pen at the hammy wrist. "See that?
A massive bracelet of white stones was visible through the hair. On further inspection, they weren't stones. "Are those teeth?"
"Yes. These are the baby teeth of his children. This is an Appalachian mountain troll. They live in tight family units and never venture far from home. In fact, this is the first time I've seen one in the city."
The baby teeth of his children. I immediately felt guilty for slaying the troll, even though logically it would have killed me if I hadn't. "So why was it here?"
"That's a mystery, but a big clue has to do with this guy." He strolled over to the body of the finfolk. "How much do you know about finfolk?"
"Next to nothing."
"Good, then I won't feel bad about regurgitating the basics." He took a deep breath. "I hate to stereotype supers, but finfolk have a penchant for the dark side. They never live peaceably among humans like fae or werewolves." He pressed a hand into his chest when he said werewolves, and I finally had my question answered as to what he was. "They're known for luring humans to the water's edge and forcibly abducting them."
"Count themselves as baddies, do they?" I kicked the crumpled skin of the finfolk with my toe. It had already begun to stiffen to the consistency of beef jerky. When the stranger had shrugged out of his skin, he was, in fact, skinning himself. The flesh beneath where the coat had been was all muscle, fat and tendon. Apparently, a finfolk's skin was a living thing until it was removed.
"Yeah. And we've noticed an increase in vampiric activity here the last couple of weeks, too. Streets have been swarming with them."
"Vampires also have a penchant for the dark side." This I knew from personal experience.
"Exactly. Something is luring them to come here and mix with humans."
"Rick and I found a vampire coven living in Carlton City a couple of months ago. They're organized, led by a vamp named-"
"-Julius?" Silas rubbed his chin.
"Yeah. You've heard of him?"
"Yep. Our department has a long history with Julius and his coven. Seems like he's always on the fringes of the crimes we investigate. Can't pin anything on him though. Slippery."
