Imperative: A Quinn Larson Quest (2 page)

I told him what I saw earlier and waited while he faded in and out. I assumed he was checking with sources, or referring to a diary or something. Who knows what ghosts get up to?

He returned to the circle. “There have been other instances. One of my new assistants was a… well victim might be the right word.”

I waited, knowing he had more but wanted to get something before he gave me the rest. Testing if what I had was worth the value of his information.

Minutes later his curiosity won out and he inflated his image in a ghostly sigh. “Okay, I forget how patient you are. She says a great looking guy came on to her in a bar and the next thing she knows she’s looking down at her body. It was all contorted like she had been broken and dropped on the ground. Then the guy shimmered and turned into a skinny kid. Well, now she knows. It was a Wheat fairy.”

He paused again. I was running out of patience for his coy act. “Lucas, just tell me what you have. I’m not giving you anything until you do. You know you can trust me.” I was starting to worry that he didn’t have any decent information.

He did the ghost sigh again and rolled his eyes. “Okay, she heard the fairy thank someone and say ‘we will be safe now’ and that’s it. I can’t get any more details, because she’s wispy, not much of her spirit was left when she passed. And, someone is keeping a hard lid on the fairies.”

I believed him and I figured it was the Sidhe keeping everything tied down. It was time to pay for what he’d given me. “Okay, I found out that your opponent, or ex opponent, had been keeping company with a lady of the evening.”

“Oh, is that all?” Lucas shook his head, clearly disappointed. “I want juice that will end his career. A dalliance with a hooker is almost accepted as part of the life now.”

“I would never bring you here for something so minor.” I liked to draw out the drama for Lucas. He didn’t have much to excite him now that he was dead. “How are you going to make this work in your favor if I give you the rest of the information?”

“Simple. I have an arrangement with a medium. I give her some information and she spreads it to the right people. In exchange I find out a few choice details about her clients so she seems credible when she reads their fortune.”

“If she can talk to you, she should be credible as a medium without help.”

Lucas chuckled. “Well, yes, that would be true except I keep the other spirits away.”

I appreciated the deviousness of the plan, Lucas would land on his feet wherever he went, and he knew that his current location could be temporary. I gave him the rest of the gossip. “The hooker isn’t the whole story. He shares her with a couple of contractors, ones who seem to get a lot of city contracts.”

“Thank you, Quinn.” Lucas clapped his hands, but since he was a ghost, it was very Zen - the sound of one ghost clapping. He shimmered in and out then said. “If I find anything else out, it’s yours for free.”

After Lucas faded, I cleansed the circle and broke it.

It wasn’t a total waste of time. I hated the bastard who won Lucas’ seat. I may be a wizard but I have to pay property taxes and I wanted the money to be spent on the right things; the new guy had different ideas.

It was almost dawn and I had no idea what I could do to solve the fairy problem. Despite agreeing to wait until moon dark to try the new spell, I couldn’t stop wondering about it. The result was supposed to be changing cheap wine into a great vintage. I decided to just read it over once and see if there was anything we could get set up in advance.

The trick seemed to be pouring the cheap stuff from a high enough point to allow the spell time to work. I was scratching out some possible distances to test when I heard something tapping on the south window. It had to be a Real Folk, because no human would make it through my wards – they would just change their mind about coming in. I put the paper and pen away before I approached the window. As usual, the basement windows were covered with tight blackout blinds and a layer of spelled paper. It keeps me safe from observation but allows me to hear anyone who tries to get through.

I removed the paper and held a protective spell ready to go before I lifted the blind. A pixie dressed in strips of foil and pink embroidery thread was tapping on the glass with a five inch bobbin.

My stomach clenched. “Why should I trust your information? The last time we talked you caused a fight with a bear spirit and left me to resolve it.”

“Don’t whine it’s not attractive, you did survive after all. Look, wizard I have information that will save the humans. You know I have an interest in protecting the humans, right?”

Olan had run afoul of the Pacific Coast Real Folk before I was born. “Yeah, I know the story. Is it true you caused the death of an entire village?”

“No, it was not that bad. And it was an accident.” He winced at the memory. “But I did have to accept Raven’s punishment. Now I have to protect the humans for another four bloody centuries.” He climbed up the side of my favorite easy chair and sat on the arm. Preening his pink hair he asked, “Would you have any thistle tea?”

I put the kettle on and looked around for a suitable cup. I found a screw top on the back of the counter and rinsed it under the hot water tap. “Okay, how do I know I can trust you? I did survive the last trick you played, but barely.”

He shrugged. “How do you know anyone be trustworthy?”

“Yes, but not everyone has your history.” I didn’t want to add to my problems, but Olan was right. He did have an interest in humans; maybe he was more afraid of Raven than interested in playing games. “What about the time you made Mark’s beer turn red and smell like blood?”

“It was just a joke. It was still beer after all. Besides it was a very long time ago.”

The kettle boiled and I made a mug of tea, pouring some into the twist top before passing it to Olan. “What is your information?” I figured it was worth hearing him out. It was up to me to decide whether I trusted it or not.

“I was in the park and overhead two iris fairies. There’s a problem with their breeding. Well the problem is they aren’t breeding.” Olan cocked his head and looked at my bookshelf. “That’s rather attractive.” He pointed to the top shelf where I kept a few trinkets that held my protection spells. “It would be nice to get one of those as a present.”

“I’m sure it would. Is that all you have to tell me.” I could make a replacement charm but I had a feeling Olan wouldn’t bother coming here just to tell me that fairies couldn’t have babies.

He looked at the charm again and I saw a bit of lust light up his green eyes. Then he shrugged and looked back at me. “It seems that it just started happening, or not happening if you get my drift. Some of the clans are almost gone.”

“Shit.” Having clans of the Real Folk die out is bad for everyone. It’s like they take their share of the power with them. When the Vamps were killed, we all lost a little bit of our ability. “So what does this have to do with killing humans?”

Olan sipped his tea. “I really like that pretty charm, Quinn.”

There was something desperate in his tone. “Why do you need a protection charm, Olan? You are a pretty powerful being. Who have you pissed off now?”

“Well, thank you Quinn. I am a powerful creature and I think a mighty handsome one. I have a bit of a problem with the Irish bird.”

“You pissed off The Morrigan? Man, I thought you were supposed to be smart.” Olan was probably stronger than The Morrigan all around, but she was focused on death and war and sex. Pull your power from three essential aspects and you get what the economists call ‘a multiplier’.

“It was more a prank that she took offense to. I forgot she has no sense of humor.”

Despite myself I laughed. “And you should develop a sense of danger. Jeez. Do you have any more information before you go? I don’t want that crow attacking my place to get to you.”

“No, I don’t have any details. I was thinking we could work together. Between us we could save the day, so to speak.” Olan jumped up and walked along the arm of the chair.

“Yeah, and I suppose you thought I could protect you from the crow.” I sighed, but Olan knew he’d won. We both had Irish problems, and maybe it would make sense to team up.

I went back down to my workroom and found the potion I’d made yesterday to refresh my charms. I dipped Olan’s in the pot and dragged a fine silver chain behind it.

After Olan left I crawled into bed. We’d agreed to gather information and get back together later. First I needed to restore my own power. Sleep is the great provider of energy and I’d had too little lately.

After too short a nap I headed out. I figured the fairies themselves would be the best source of information and Stanley Park, only a few blocks away, was full of fairy clans. I took a bottle of water and some sour candies and sat on a bench in the sun.

This was the tricky part. I needed to obligate the fairy so he had to give me information, but I needed to know if he had what I wanted. If I gave the candy and he only had information about how to plant bulbs for the best flowers, I was stuck with that. If I told him what I needed, he might decide the price wasn’t good enough.

“The Irish ones are doing something.” I watched his eyes shift from my hand to flick around the park.

He licked his lips. “No.”

I felt sorry for him. He looked like he hadn’t eaten for a while, but I couldn’t give him anything for free or the other fairies would think I was a sucker and I’d never get anything out of them at a reasonable price.

I waited, sipping some of the water. There was a pleasant buzz floating around adding a drowsy quality to the air. I felt my eyelids droop and my head jerk.

“I told you,” a voice squeaked next to my left elbow, Tulip. He pulled on my pant leg. “Okay here is Bob. He will tell. He owes me.”

I looked at Bob who was taller than Tulip and had a bush of brown hair topping a skinny frame. He was a bulrush fairy. Bob did not look like he wanted to tell me anything. “Are you passing me the obligation?” I asked.

Tulip nodded and held his hand out for payment. I considered holding on to his candy until I was sure Bob was going to give me the goods, but he looked so hungry I dropped an extra candy in his grubby palm. Tulip turned his big fairy eyes on me and split his face in a grin. I knew it meant the same thing as when I smile, but fairies have pointy teeth set wide in their faces, so it looked more like he was thinking of taking a bite out of me.

Tulip raced to the shade of an oak tree, putting the extra candy at the root. I liked the fact that he gave an offering to the park spirit even though he was hungry.

“Yes.” I took a handful out of the bag. “You can have this if you tell me what you know. I will add more if it is good information.”

Bob’s eyes flickered from the candy in my hand to my face. With this much sugar he could attract a lot of females. Most fairies liked to have multiple partners and to breed with as many others as possible even though they formed lifelong partnerships with one mate. Bob gave a little smile and I could see he was counting the females in his mind. Then the smile dropped and he frowned. He must have remembered that they weren’t breeding any more.

His shoulders dropped. “Why do you want this information?”

“I want to know why humans are being murdered. You know that will bring trouble eventually.”

He sighed. “Yes. Human trouble
may
be bad. Sidhe trouble
is
bad.”