changeling chronicles 03 - faerie realm (12 page)

Holy shit.

I could see the Grey Vale.

Unable to stop myself, I glanced to the side, and saw the other necromancers watching the circle with almost reverent expressions. Surely they didn’t see what I did.

No. I had the Sight, and faerie magic to go with it. Enough to see through Death itself, into their realm.

I couldn’t move. My legs locked in place, and I swore I smelled the distant scent of roses, and heard sinister laughter—

A loud shout interrupted. Lord Evander bellowed something in possibly-Latin, and the smoke dissipated like he’d scared it away. My legs unlocked, wobbling like they might collapse underneath me. My hands and feet had gone numb. I moved from one foot to the other, turning to face the necromancer leader.

“Ivy Lane,” snarled Lord Evander. “You’ve overstepped your boundaries.”

“What? You clearly weren’t gonna tell the guy. He had to know eventually.”

“It’s not for you to decide,” said the necromancer. “And what was that about faeries?”

“A confidential matter between myself and my client,” I said smoothly—I’d used the same line to get out of questionable situations a dozen times. Like absolute hell was I telling him what was really going on.

Unfortunately, Lord Evander was unimpressed. “Are you bringing more faeries over the veil?”

My mouth dropped open. “No. I’m not an idiot. Besides, I can’t.”

Or can I?
Jesus. I
really
needed someone to explain this crap to me, asap, before I accidentally did something irreversible.

Lord Evander snorted. “I don’t believe a word you say. Ivy Lane, I’m holding you in custody here until you tell me exactly what you’re planning.”

“What? I’m solving a murder. I’m certain a faerie did it.”

I was also pretty sure I knew who. Though
why
was a total mystery.

“I won’t have the veil exposed to the faeries again. The energy levels have hardly been stable since you started poking into matters that don’t concern you, Ivy Lane.”

“You aren’t the centre of the universe,” I exploded. “First the shifters, now you. I wanted your services, and if you don’t mind, I’d like to use the information I gathered to stop more people from being murdered.”

“Don’t talk to me like that. You aren’t a mage, and you’re speaking above your station.” He moved closer, and a chill passed over me. Not like when Vance was around, but more like an icy, soul-sucking coldness that sucked at my bones and leached every last vestige of warmth from my body. His eyes were cold and dark as the grave.

“I’ll call the Mage Lord, and see what he thinks.”

“That won’t be necessary. I already left him a message. He’s a busy man.”

Whatever he was doing, it damn well better be urgent. I didn’t like the idea of Vance bailing us out of this either, but it wasn’t fair to Isabel to let my stupid pride get in the way.

Lord Evander hissed out a breath. “The man is a fool to ally with the faeries.”

“Nobody’s allied with the faeries,” I said. “In case you didn’t hear me the first time, they killed someone. Blasted them to pieces. And I have it on good authority that they might be hiding right here, on the Ley Line. You might be next.”

“Don’t you dare threaten me—”

“I’m giving you a warning, you absolute fuckwit,” I exploded. “Not a threat. There’s a difference. Besides, you’re the one who threatened me first.”

Lord Evander’s face darkened to purple. “You—how dare you speak to me like that.” The words tripped over each other on the way out, like I’d shocked him. I used the opportunity to slide my phone from my pocket and saw I’d had two missed calls from Vance already. I skimmed my finger over the call button.

“Ivy Lane—”

Too late. “Hey, Vance,” I said brightly. “I’m at the Necromancy Guild and Lord Evander is insisting on keeping me in custody on false allegations. I’m sure you’d be happy to come and explain to him that I’m here investigating a murder.”

My heart thudded in the silence following my words. Five seconds passed. Ten. Crap. Maybe I’d finally tipped him over the edge.

Twenty seconds. “I’ll be there.”

The phone clicked off. Lord Evander stared at me, his eyes bulging from their sockets. “The impertinence,” he hissed. “Ivy Lane, if I ever see you near this place again—”

“You’ll use my intestines to hang laundry on. I get it.”

“Get
out.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to speak to the Mage Lord?”

“Out. Both of you.”

Isabel shot him a guilty look as she hurried alongside me. Neither of us needed any encouragement to get outside.

Once the door closed—or rather, slammed—I turned to see Vance walking up to the entrance. Here we go.

“What did you do this time?” he asked.

No apologies for last night, then. Maybe he thought the necromancers were listening in. Actually, it wouldn’t surprise me if they were lurking behind the fence. Creeps.

“I called him a fuckwit after he accused me of working with the faeries. That’s why he was so wound up. He was going to call you anyway, so…”

Isabel kept her distance, wisely, as Vance and I walked down the street. “You really couldn’t hold your tongue?” he asked. His eyes were underscored with dark shadows like he hadn’t slept, and stubble shadowed his jawline.

“He’s a dick.”

Vance grunted. “Why did you even come here?” He glared at the gates to the cemetery like they’d mortally offended him. “I didn’t think any of your clients worked with the necromancers.”

“Didn’t you get my voicemail message? Someone else died—right by shifter territory. Outside their gates.”

He stopped walking. “Another death?”

“Yes. Henry wanted to hire me independently, keeping the Mage Lords out of it. The other shifters are furious.”

“That doesn’t surprise me in the slightest,” Vance said. “I take it you came here to question the ghost. Did you learn anything?”

Well. He was taking this calmer than I’d expected. “No. But I got a clue. The amount of magic he was hit with… it’s got to be the person carrying the sword. The talisman.”

Vance’s eyes flashed light grey, like the sky before a thunderstorm. “The killer must have struck early this morning. I had people watching the gates most of the night, disguised using witch spells.”

“What, when you were running after those shifters? Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you took enough risks yesterday.”

“There’s a murderer on the loose blasting people into bloody pieces.” The rest of the words choked me. Did he really not understand? I wasn’t exactly thrilled at the idea of those shifters getting away with what they did to me, but Vance had some nerve lecturing me about taking risks and then doing something like that. “At least tell me before you decide to fight my battles for me next time. How do you think I’d have felt if I’d woken up to news of
your
murder this morning?”

Vance resumed walking again. “I didn’t know about the second death. The first had been cleared up by the time the mages I sent there reached the alley.” He paused. “You’re right. I didn’t think before I left you last night.”

“That’s better.” Where the hell was the guy who’d delivered a dozen cacti to my doorstep? “Because as gratifying as it is to think of you kicking those asshats, I’d rather you’d have spent the evening with me instead.”

“I apologise for that,” he said, not looking at me. “The shift’s stronger than usual. I think the energy surge when the veil was lifted is affecting people with shifter blood. It’s not just me. Shifters are prone to emotional outbursts, but the two who attacked you yesterday were entirely irrational even in human form. Your neighbour, too.”

Wait. Was that why everyone was blowing up at one another so easily?

“I wanted to check to see if they were drugged,” he explained. “They weren’t, but something’s definitely wrong in shifter territory. Their leaders refused to speak to me in any case, so it’s probably for the best that I incapacitated their best fighters.”

“They wouldn’t speak to you? Why? Because they hate your uncle?”

“Essentially,” said Vance. “That aside, didn’t you see your neighbour’s eyes change? That’s not supposed to happen when shifters are in human form, even on nights of the shift.”

“It isn’t?” The image of a dozen flashing eyes replayed in my head. “Crap. The same happened with all the shifters who’d gone to check out their dead buddy. I mean, they had a good reason to be pissed off anyway, so I didn’t think anything of it.”

“Shifters generally need to remain in control of their emotions,” he said. “That they aren’t—even given the circumstances—suggests the energy levels aren’t back to normal.”

“The necromancer guy said they were.” Oops. Crap. I hoped he’d think I meant Lord Evander, not the dead guy.

“Shifters are sensitive to energy levels no other species are. Just as faeries are sensitive to the balance of magic, and necromancers to the veil, and witches to the Ley Line.”

“And mages…” I began, genuinely curious.

“To their own weaknesses,” Vance said in answer. “Mages and shifters don’t mix, for a good reason. Shifting removes inhibitions, and using magic as a mage requires absolute control.”

Oh.
“Really? So it’s like being super-uptight and in control… twice over.” Which explained a
lot
about Vance, actually.

“Essentially. I’ve managed the change for twenty years. I barely notice the difference in shift season. This month, it’s different. I think the energy levels are out of sync. But whether it’s to do with what happened to the veil, or due to another cause, I can’t say.”

“Nor me. Does that mean you are going to try not to get pissy with me?”

“Yes, if you stop to think before you act.”

“I’ll take it into consideration the next time I get kidnapped,” I said. Before he could object, I added, “As for you, if I so much as hear a rumour you’re wandering around shifter territory without telling me first, I’ll trap you in a spell circle and set Isabel’s glitter spell on you.”

His eyes widened a little in disbelief, then he smirked. “Is that how it is?”

“I keep my word. What now?” I asked. “I didn’t interrupt anything important, did I?”

“No. I left Wanda in charge. I’ve also ordered Chieftain Taive to conduct an investigation into Calder’s possible allies.”

“I—what?” I’d all but forgotten my original theory, what with the murders. “Calder?”

“Calder’s allies might have brought the talisman over from Faerie when the veil opened. You thought so yourself, didn’t you?”

“I guess. I forgot. The killer’s using Summer magic, though. But… I don’t know the link with the shifters.” Here, near necromancer territory, anything might be hiding in the shadows, listening in. “I’ll drop by the manor later, if you aren’t busy.”

The question,
what about our date?
hovered on the tip of my tongue.

“Come in an hour,” said Vance. “I have some things I need to take care of first.”

Before I could respond, he’d gone. Like smoke on the wind.

CHAPTER TEN

I caught up to Isabel at the flat, thoroughly pissed at the universe in general. “Right,” I said. “I’m heading off again.”

“Where?”

“To see the bloody Lady of the bloody Tree.”

“Didn’t she try to kill you last time?” Isabel turned to face me, frowning. “You can’t go there alone.”

“She needs my help to find this missing talisman.”

She also might be the murderer we were looking for. It’d be just like a word-twisting faerie to hire me to find a missing object she’d stolen herself. But I didn’t want Isabel within a mile of her. After last time, I’d take no chances. I wished I’d written down every word she’d said so I could pick it apart later and figure out how she might have duped me. She’d cleverly avoided using any references to a specific time, as far as I remembered. She hadn’t specifically said the talisman had been stolen when Calder had screwed up the veil. I’d just assumed that’s what she meant.

Then again, maybe I was letting my grudge against her cloud my judgement. She hated humans, yes, but so did every faerie this side of the veil. If she’d murdered the shifters, drawing my attention right beforehand by invoking the vow wasn’t a wise move. Why risk me finding out the truth, especially if she already had the talisman?

She left her sanity behind in Faerie.
Hmm. She’d struck me as the type who had at least some sense of self-preservation, considering she’d survived in the mortal world for twenty years. She wouldn’t throw her own safety away over a talisman that was probably too strong for a faerie on her level to handle—if I was to believe the Chief. Right?

Checking I had all my protective spells and weapons in place, I said goodbye to Isabel. “I’ll call you in an hour. If not, tell Vance. You have his number, right?”

“Yeah. Be careful, Ivy.”

Her worried expression followed me out the door.
All right.
If I turned out to be wrong, and someone else was the killer, I’d leave the espionage to the mages and work on finding the damned talisman instead.

One quick walk later and I’d reached the park where the Lady of the Tree kept her lair. I’d forgotten how sinister the path through the forest was, and alone, every noise seemed twenty times as ominous. I gritted my teeth and marched forward, Irene in my hands. I wouldn’t give in and flee from Faerie again, no matter how it tried to mess with my head. The forest appeared as drab as ever, the ground carpeted in fallen leaves and a thin line of weak sunlight painting shadows on the path.

Far sooner than I expected, I reached the clearing with the giant oak tree resting in the centre. For a moment, I stared at it. Had the forest shrunk, or was some weird magic at work? Vance and I had walked for at least fifteen minutes the first time we’d come here. Not five.