Crimson Veil

Delilah sighed. “Speaking of our to-do list…”

“Please don’t and say we did.” Camille laughed, but there was a raw edge to her voice. We were all nerve-racked.

I cleared my throat. “You know, with all the chaos, I guess we should start having daily meetings to figure out where the hell we are in all of this. We can’t afford to slip up on anything.”

“Right.” Morio motioned to Hanna. “Fuel us with tea and cookies. We’re about to have a brainstorming session.”

“More like a bull session,” Camille grumbled. But she let out a long sigh. “Delilah, do you have our notes?”

Delilah jumped up. “I’ll get them. Meanwhile, fill up my plate with cookies and pour me a glass of milk.” She ran off into the living room, to retrieve her laptop.

“So where does this leave us?” Camille frowned at her cookie. It was piping hot and I could tell she was trying to decide how quickly she could dig into it without burning her mouth.

Delilah didn’t exercise as much restraint. She took a huge bite and immediately began fanning her mouth. “Hot! Hot!”

I snorted. “If you weren’t so impatient, you wouldn’t burn yourself.” I stared at the laptop’s screen, frowning. “You know, we are having one hell of a time prying information out of the cracks about Lowestar Radcliffe. We know he’s a daemon, we know he bought the Farantino Building, and we know he’s been involved with the Farantino family for a couple of hundred years, it looks like. But it’s not like we can just waltz in there and say, Excuse me, would you have a moment to answer some of our questions? Oh—and by the way, fucking get your ass out of Seattle, please.”

“So we need to go in under the radar.” Camille handed Delilah a napkin and began eating her own cookie, which had cooled down enough now so that it didn’t seem to leave a lasting impression.

“Right. And what’s the best way to find out about an organization? From the inside.” I glanced up at her.

Camille shook her head. “Oh no, not again! I was the guinea pig to ferret out Gulakah and I ended up locking heads with him in the Netherworld. I don’t want to go through that again.”

“I wasn’t suggesting it be you.” I frowned, looking over the list of facts we’d managed to accrue. “Violet used the Supernatural Matchups website, didn’t she?”

Delilah nodded, wiping her mouth and taking another cookie. “Right.”

“Then… suppose we create a fake persona? We go on there, see if we can get Lowestar’s notice, and then we… well… when he wants to meet, or his crony—the one who looks like they nabbed Violet—we send someone in undercover. We can worry about who that will be later.” The idea made sense to me. When you wanted to go fishing, you had to use bait, and if you were after a particular kind of fish, you used the bait they liked best.

Delilah and Camille stared at me. At first, I thought they were entertaining the idea.

But then Camille sputtered. “That’s fucking insane. He’d recognize us and no fucking way are we using anybody else for bait. And he’d know you, since we’re pretty sure he tried to buy you out and then kill you.”

Nerissa bit her lip. “I’ll do it.”

Horrified, I jumped up, hands on my hips. “Oh no you fucking won’t. You’re my wife and I won’t put you in danger like that.” I was deadly serious. There was no way I was going to allow Nerissa to get near that goddamn place.

She let out a snort. “Vampire or not, you’re not telling me what to do. I love you, but I want to contribute, and this, this I can do. All you’re going to do is use my picture, right? And I might have to go meet somebody, in which case, you’d be following me—I know that without a doubt. I have the condo still, and nobody’s living there right now. I can use that address so it won’t lead them back here. I will use a fake name. Still going to argue with me?”

Everybody was staring at us. We didn’t argue often, and when we did, it was usually in private. And it was usually Nerissa reading me the riot act for some stupid stunt I’d pulled or attitude I’d copped. Frankly, I was amazed the woman loved me enough to marry me.

I paused. How the hell was I going to deal with this? If I pushed, I knew Nerissa would push back. “What if you did this and they caught you? How would you cope with it? How do you think I’d be able to live with myself?”

“Remember, I was trained by Venus the Moon Child. I can withstand a lot more pain than you know.”

Before he moved to Otherworld and took on the mantle of the Keraastar Knights, the wily shaman emeritus of the Rainier Puma Pride had put Nerissa through her paces in learning how to control pain and channel it through pleasure, and how to heal with her sexuality. He’d also helped her develop her inner strength. When my wife set her mind to something, there was no stopping her.

Camille caught my eye and cleared her throat. “Why don’t we wait for a little bit and talk about it later? We don’t have to decide anything tonight.”

Sometimes she could actually be a good diplomat. Grateful, I nodded. “I’ll agree to that. Nerissa?”

“Fine. But this isn’t over.”

I arched one eyebrow. “I never said it was.” Leaning back in my chair, I shook my head. My cornrows clicked as the ivory beads threaded into them clinked lightly. I was the shortest one of the group—five-one if I was an inch, and I was petite. And my hair was burnished copper, unlike anybody in the family. We never had figured out where that recessive gene came from.

“I do appreciate you volunteering. I’m not saying you can’t do the job right—I’m just frightened for you.” I slaked my gaze over my wife. She would certainly catch Lowestar’s eye, no doubt about it. And that was the problem.

Nerissa let out a loud sigh. “I wouldn’t have offered if I hadn’t meant it. I’m part of this family, too. I want to pull my weight like the rest of you. It’s not like I’m human. I’m stronger, faster, and far more dangerous than any FBH. Ask Chase. He’s thrilled to have me on the job.”

Chase was our friend—a detective and leader of the Faerie-Human Crime Scene Investigation team, or the FH-CSI—who was currently living on our land with his newborn daughter.

“We’ll talk again tomorrow night. If—and that’s a big if—you do this, I want to be here when you create that profile. Speaking of FBHs, where is Chase tonight?” I had half expected to find him hanging out up here at the main house.

“He’s at Iris’s, learning how to be a father. I think he and Bruce are going to be doing a lot of bonding over their mutual experience in fatherhood.” Delilah smiled softly. “I just wish Sharah could be here with him. I hope she’s okay.”

“Everyone back in Otherworld is in danger. Elqaneve is under siege from the goblins right now. Svartalfheim is gearing up for the sentient storm that destroyed the Elfin City. I wonder… if King Vodox’s defenses can’t destroy it, where will sorcerers send it next?” Camille looked at me bleakly.

I knew where the next target would be, and so did she. And so did Delilah. We weren’t kidding ourselves over that one. Nobody wanted to say it out loud. So I decided to be the one to call out the white elephant in the room.

“Y’Elestrial. Where else?”

As a hush fell through the room, a soft chiming sounded from the living room. The Whispering Mirror, summoning us. Which meant we had incoming news. I just hoped that whatever it was, it wasn’t another emergency.

Chapter 3

As we crowded around the mirror, Camille took her place in front of it. She was the one who understood it the most. I couldn’t see my reflection, of course—that part about vampires is true. And anybody looking through from the other side wouldn’t be able to see me, though they could hear me if I spoke.

We waited for the fog in the silver-framed mirror to clear. It was like having our own private Skype program hooked up to Otherworld, only the video portion was always on and we didn’t need headphones and the mirror was the magical computer.

A moment later, Trenyth appeared. He was advisor to Queen Sharah—the new Elfin Queen. Until a few days ago, she had been a medic at the FH-CSI and Chase’s very pregnant girlfriend.

Trenyth looked weary, beyond tired. I wondered how long he’d gone without sleep now.

He didn’t waste any time on chitchat. “Girls, we found your father’s body. I’m sorry. Sephreh was killed when a collapsing piece of wood… it…” Here he paused, looking down at the table in front of him.

“Just… please tell us.” Delilah’s voice quavered and she bit her lip. “We need to know the truth.”

I gave a sharp nod, even though Trenyth couldn’t see me. “She’s right. Tell us. No gory details, but the facts.”

Trenyth started a bit. “I never get used to the fact that I can’t see you through the mirror, Menolly.” He sighed, and met Camille’s eyes. She was our anchor and rock—every time there was bad news, it somehow found its way to her first, even when the rest of us were there in the room.

“Your father was impaled by a broken beam that fell from the ceiling. We found him beneath two cross beams that had held up some of the debris. We have his body. What do you want us to do?”

Camille looked over her shoulder at Delilah and me. “I’ll make the arrangements.” Her face was drawn but the fact that she needed to do this was apparent in her expression.

Delilah must have seen it, too. “We’ll do whatever you need us to.”

“What she said.” I nodded toward Delilah. “Whatever you decide is fine with us.”

Camille turned back to Trenyth. “Right now the war there is too dangerous for us to come get him. But if Smoky, Trillian, and Roz could bring his body back with them, we can have our ceremony here on Samhain. Then when it’s safe, we will take him home to Otherworld and lay him to rest near Mother. Which reminds me, now that we know for sure that he’s dead, we have to notify Aunt Rythwar.”

“I have a spare messenger. I will send word to her.” Trenyth’s eyes were kind, and I wished to hell that his world hadn’t been torn to shreds. Not only had he lost the love of his life—Queen Asteria—but he’d been forced to take on a new Queen who needed him more than anyone probably ever had in his life. Sharah was ill equipped to handle running a kingdom.

“Thank you.” Camille shuddered lightly, then shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. “How goes the war, or should we even ask?”

“The storm is nearing Svartalfheim. King Vodox and his mages are waiting for it. We still don’t know where the sorcerers who are controlling it are hiding, but they can’t be that far away. Meanwhile, the goblin hordes—and they aren’t just goblins, but trolls and Sawberry Fae and bogies and their ilk—they continue to enter Elqaneve thick and furious. As many as we mow down, still others take their place. But the legion of soldiers from Nebulveori are almost here and the dwarves are mighty fighters. They will help roust the enemy from the lands.” At that, Trenyth actually smiled.

“What about the Cryptos and the others?”

“The Dahnsburg Unicorns are sending a contingent of their warriors—unicorns and ogres and all who answer to King Uppala-Dahns. King Vodox sent soldiers to help their lighter brethren even though they, themselves, are under siege. And you know that your own city-state, Y’Elestrial, immediately dispatched a legion of soldiers. They are fighting alongside our warriors.”

“And the dark moon priestesses?” Camille looked uncomfortable. She’d only just recently found out some daunting news about her order.

“Derisa, the High Priestess, is sending them even as we speak. As far as the rest of Otherworld… they are waiting… and watching. Ceredream will still not take sides. Aladril is sequestered in debate over the matter now.”

Delilah cleared her throat. “How’s Sharah doing?”

Trenyth pressed his lips together. “As well as we can expect. The medications the healers have given her have dried up her milk, and her hormones are in a drastic flux as they return to normal.” At Delilah’s soft growl, he held up his hands. “If there had been another way, you know I would have taken it. But there wasn’t… we needed Sharah to step up to the crown. She has been rallying our people—what there are left of us.”

With that last statement, the finality of this mess hit home. The look on his face said it all. Kelvashan had been destroyed. The Elfin race was decimated. What had been a thriving culture now stood in smoking ruins, and the survivors were fighting for their lives.

“Can you bring the survivors—the women and children—over here?” Camille asked. “They’d be safe then.”

“But would they? How long do you think Earthside has? If Telazhar continues to wreak his havoc across this land, you are not safe either. The storm Telazhar’s sorcerers have conjured up can rip a mountain apart. Destroy a palace—you saw that firsthand, Camille. You know how deadly and devastating this creature is. I don’t know how they created it, it truly is a construct of some sorts, but the storm has consciousness and will, and malevolent thought. If they can do that… what else can they do?”

At that moment, a familiar face appeared behind him. Smoky!

Camille let out a little cry. “My love!”

Smoky, her dragon husband, was six foot four, and his silver hair coiled down around his ankles. He was dressed in white, as always, and his piercing eyes were frosty and glimmered with the light of his heritage.