Author: Kalayna Price

“As in you need a ride?”

Well, yeah. But more than that, I was a little freakedout right now. I’d feel a hell of a lot better with him there than Holly or even Caleb. I winced a little. “Please?”

———

We pulled into Sleepy Knoll Cemetery fourteen minutes late. A large green sedan was parked in the visitor lot, and a young couple stood near the gates.

“That must be the Feegans,” I said, nodding to the couple. But I didn’t get out of the car. Get it together, Alex. Your clients shouldn’t see you shaking. I took a deep breath. Let it out.

Falin killed the ignition, but he didn’t open his door.

Instead, he watched me as if he was waiting for me to take the lead. Which was good. I was raising a shade.

This was my territory.

I was still shaking. Dammit. I channeled magic into my meditation charm.

My mind went blank, instantly clear, calm.

“Alex?” Falin shook my shoulder.

The bubble broke, and my head snapped up, but I was calmer now. I could do this. I smiled at him and reached for my door. I stopped halfway out of the car.

“Who do I tell them you are?”

“I don’t care.” He frowned at me. “Make something up.”

Right. I walked across the grass toward my clients with Falin at my heels. I hoped he didn’t scare them.

They introduced themselves as Ann and Frank Feegan, and then looked expectantly at Falin.

“This is Falin Andrews. He’s my …” Bodyguard?

Manager? Boyfriend? “… associate. He’ll just be observing today.”

Ann nodded, her dark hair falling over her shoulders as she smiled at him. Frank held out a hand.

After going through the obligatory speech the OMIH forced me to recite, Ann wrote me a check, and we were ready to go talk to the dead. I let them lead the way to the grave. A couple of ghosts flitted along the path, so faded they barely existed. Not one was as powerful as Roy. I ignored them, letting them carry out whatever tasks kept them here in peace.

“This is it,” Ann said, stopping before a double headstone with a fresh sprig of daisies in front of it.

I nodded, bowing my head for a moment of silence.

Families tended to like a little reverence for their dead.

“If everyone can stand over by that grave, I’ll draw my circle so we can get started.”

The Feegans obediently walked over to the right, but Falin headed in the other direction. He hung back a couple of rows. I frowned at him but didn’t say anything.

It didn’t matter where he stood, as long as he was out of the way of my circle.

Opening my bag, I dug for my ceramic knife. For indoor rituals, I always used my wax chalk, but that didn’t work so well in dirt and grass. Outside I actually had to cut my circle. Which was why I always carried the knife.

Except I couldn’t find it. Frowning, I dug to the bottom of my purse and found a small claim stub. Crap. I never got it back from the guard last Tuesday.

“You’re going to cast a circle?” Frank asked, and I couldn’t tell if his uncertainty was on why I was casting it or if.

I smiled at him, trying not to let my nerves show.“Yes, I never work without one.” Unless there is a bunch of big nasty spells around and I’m with Death. I masked my grimace by looking in my purse again. “Don’t worry. It won’t hinder your ability to speak with the shades.”

What am I going to do without a knife? Actually, I did have a knife. I had the enchanted dagger in my boot.

That will have to do. I didn’t draw the circle yet, but dropped my purse by the headstone and let my awareness stretch out a little.

The bodies below me were little more than bone and dust, but I felt a small spark in them. Enough that I was reasonably confident that I could raise their shades. The couple’s bodies weren’t center with the headstone, but that was common. Of course, that also meant the graves around them weren’t arranged quite correctly, either. I sent my awareness a little farther and plotted my path, walking the circle before drawing it. I didn’t want to trap any of the other corpses in my circle. As I walked I left a small trail of power in my wake.The power would dissipate quickly, but it would help me guide my knife.

When I reached the start of the trail I’d dropped, I stopped and looked around. More oval than circle. It would suffice. Kneeling, I drew the enchanted dagger and went to work.The dagger liked to be drawn. It liked to be used. It did not like to be dragged through the dirt.

I ignored the feel of its displeasure in the back of my head and finished tracing my circle. Then I stood, centered myself, and activated it. A blue barrier of power sprang up around me.

“I’m going to raise the shades now,” I told the couple.

They were looking at each other, creases of concern written across their faces. I smiled, trying to look reassuring.

Then I reached for the grave essence. It came easily, sliding along my skin like a cold but familiar lover, and I pushed it into the ground under me. I meant to raise the woman first, but I could feel both the bodies and the power moved through me, more than enough.Two shades sat up, out of the ground, their forms strong and crisp.

Well, okay. That works. I tried to keep the stunned look off my face as I looked up. Any chance of controlling my face failed when I caught sight of the young couple.

“What’s wrong?” Ann asked.

Through the patina of grave-sight, her smiling face was now a vastly different shape.The soft human woman was gone, replaced with a sharper, much more dangerous being. Her engorged black pupils left no whites or irises, and her hair was a snare of briars hanging to her knees. At her waist, Frank’s fingers stroked her hollow belly. Thorn fae.

I looked at Frank. He had also transformed. No longer was he a small, homely man; his face had spread, flattened. His mouth was too wide, with thick calloused lips around pointed teeth. His small eyes were too close to the center of his face, and his large ears contained the only hair on his head. His body was bent, his knees bowed. I had no idea what type of fae he was, but I was guessing something in the goblin family.

He smiled, flashing his pointed teeth, and I winced.

Crap. What now?

I glanced back over my shoulder. In my grave-sight, Falin was standing in dead grass, staring down at the crumbled headstones. His hair was even paler than normal, like glistening snow. I ripped my gaze away from him and focused on the fae Falin was oblivious to.

Not all fae are bad, I reminded myself.After all, Caleb and Falin were fae.

But Caleb was my friend, and he hadn’t deceived me.

And Falin … well, I was still figuring Falin out. But he seemed to be one of the good guys. The Feegans—or whoever they really were—had brought me here under false pretenses.The two shades I’d raised were definitely human, not fae. I took a deep breath. I’m inside a circle.

I’m okay. I just hoped everything stayed that way. I tapped into my ring and reinforced my barrier.

“Is there something wrong, Miss Craft?” Frank asked.

I shook my head. “You can question them now.” My voice came out shaky. Maybe they’ll think it has something do with using my magic.

The way they were both watching me, I didn’t think they bought my bravado.

“You were staring,” Frank said.

I tried to smile, knowing it came out weak. “Bad eyes.”

“What’s going on?” Falin asked.

Finally. I turned back to him and mouthed the word “fae.” His eyes widened, and his hand moved to his gun.

“We hired the witch for a service,” Ann snapped, watching his movement.

“Then ask your questions and be done with it,” Falin told her.

The two fae frowned at each other.

“Do you See, Miss Craft?” Frank asked, emphasizing “see” the same way Death had.

I gulped. See. As in see through glamour. I didn’t answer. Folklore was full of stories about people who had lost their eyes because they could see through fae glamour.

Again they looked at each other.Then Frank nodded.

Ann stepped forward, her briars rustling with the movement.

She walked all the way to my circle, and I stumbled back. I reached the back edge of the circle before forcing myself to stop. If I stepped through the circle or touched the barrier, it would snap. Then there would be nothing between the fae and me.

Falin pulled his gun and leveled it on the thorn fae.

She ignored him.

Her fingers danced along the edge of my circle, sending flares of bright magic lacing through the blue barrier.

“The Shadow Girl sends a warning,” she said. “A ghost girl of blood is worth treasure in silver chains, and if she is a fool, by commands she’ll know my pains. She who sees knows the eyes’ empty look, and seven times she’ll know what it is he took. Blood Moon rises over my sorrow, and the Golden Halls are ruled by a nightmare on the morrow.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

The thorn fae only smiled. “Here is my advice. Run away, Alex Craft. Change your name. Change your face. Run fast.”

Then she turned, and as if taking her advice, the two fae ran.

———

“You can’t just decide you’re staying at my house!”

Falin’s mouth crooked, a hint of a smile. “I can. I am. In the past twenty-four hours you’ve trespassed on a crime scene, been caught smuggling a gray spellbook into Central Precinct, broken into the statehouse, been shot at, and decided to accept a couple of fae as clients. You’re a danger to yourself when left alone.” He closed the door behind him.

“That’s not true.” Or, at least, it wasn’t completely true. I was quite obviously a danger to people with me as well. PC ran figure eights between our legs, and I scooped him up. “I’m not going out again tonight. I’ll be fine.”

“You’re also chilled to the bone again.”

Which meant he was also inviting himself into my bed.

“Just think of it as police protection.” He gave me a full smile.