Lost in Mist and Shadow: A Between the Worlds Novel (18 page)

Jason was off the phone but had tactfully melted into the shelves.
Of course
Allie thought wryly
he doesn’t understand what we’re saying, he thinks I’m just helping another customer, nothing unusual. But you are unusual aren’t you?

The young elf switched his appraisal to Allie in a way that made her eyebrows go up caught between skepticism and grudging respect. He smiled wolfishly at her, “I’m not sure. Perhaps you can. I’ve never been in a store like this before.”

“No offense intended, but you don’t look as if you’ve been out of Fairy at all before,” she said carefully as he continued to run his gaze over her as if he liked what he saw.

He laughed, “Very observant. I haven’t. So I’d like to make the most of this opportunity if you know what I mean.”

He stepped forward as he said the last so that they were standing close enough if he leaned forward he could kiss her. Allie had to admire the kid’s moxie – young as he was she doubted most of the adults around him, which would be almost everyone all the time, ever treated him as anything but a child. On the other hand the idea of getting hit on by the Fey equivalent of a teenager made her want to giggle.
How do I tell someone three times my age that he’s too young for me
? Allie wondered, not wanting to hurt his feelings. She decided to intentionally misunderstand his meaning, “Of course. If this is your first trip to a Bordertown there’s a lot to see and do. Usually when I get tourists in here it’s humans looking for unusual books, so I may not have much that would interest you. You might try across the street though. Curious Curios has a very unusual selection.”

He smiled slightly. This close she couldn’t totally block him out even with her shields up and she felt his respect at her response. It made her wonder if he was used to less polite rejection. “You speak Elvish very well.”

“So do you,” Allie replied dryly, earning a slight laugh from the strange boy.

“Fair enough. My name is Sal. I’m here staying with a friend, but I find the staying part a bit too sedentary. I thought it was time to liven things up a bit,” his smile widened as if that were a private joke.

Sal
? Allie thought fighting not to show how intrigued she really was.
He’s giving me his nickname right off? That’s a huge breach of etiquette
….She nodded slightly, “My name is Allie, I own this place or perhaps you could say it owns me. I gather your friend has no idea you are here right now?”

That surprised him into a full laugh, a sound like bells ringing. It reminded Allie of the way her ward-bells hadn’t rung properly when he’d come in. “Oh no. He has no idea. He would not approve at all of me wandering around going into stores by myself.”

“It sounds like he’s worried about your welfare.”

“I’m not as young as all that,” the boy said, smirking, “and I think he’s more worried about my father’s reaction if I get into any trouble.”

“I can understand that. I am glad to have met you Sal, but unfortunately I have other things to attend to now. If you have any questions or need any help finding anything here just ask,” Allie said, suddenly wanting some space to think about this odd encounter.

His look turned measuring, but his voice stayed pleasant. “Of course, I don’t mean to monopolize your time. I have very much enjoyed meeting you as well Allie. I’m certain we will talk again.”

Something about the way he said the last bit felt like a threat and it gave Allie pause. She didn’t feel anything dangerous from him, in fact his emotions were a mix of happiness and excitement about on par with what she’d expect from any teenager who had slipped the adult leash and snuck off to have an adventure. And yet…she watched him wander over to the first row of books and begin browsing, looking like any other shopper.

She went back to the counter and found Jason waiting for her looking as curious as she felt. When he spoke at least he was smart enough to keep his voice to a whisper. “What was that about?”

“He says he just wants to browse,” Allie whispered back.

“Really? He looks so young. I’ve never seen an elf that young before.”

“You won’t, outside of Fairy Holdings,” she said, feeling perplexed all over again. He hadn’t lied to her, she knew that, and yet even if it was entirely true his story was still somehow a story. Allie couldn’t quite figure it out.

“Weird,” Jason murmured, and they both watched the boy idly flip through a paperback novel.

While they were standing there the bell over the door rang again and this time when Allie looked up she did a double take.

“Liz!” she cried out, startling the browsing elf into jerking backwards. He turned and looked at her wide eyed, but she ignored him, for once not caring about good customer service. She could count the number of times Liz had come into the store
ever
on one hand. She limped around the counter as quickly as she could as Jason wisely stepped back out of the way.

Allie’s cousin was standing uncertainly in the doorway and a moment later Allie recognized the woman standing slightly behind her as well, “Candice! Oh my Gods, I can’t believe it. I haven’t seen you in forever. How are you?”

Liz’s best friend since childhood, Candice, smiled at Allie’s enthusiasm. Candice Reed was tall and stately, her blond hair carefully arranged in a bun, her slacks and blouse tastefully casual. Everything about her made it clear she had style and class and Allie always felt like a dumpy little pony next to Candice’s sleek presence. Luckily Candice had always had a soft spot for Allie, because Allie had grown up adoring the older girl, who had seemed to effortlessly succeed at everything she did. Now Candice turned a benevolent and slightly amused look on Allie as her friend’s cousin wrapped her up in a hug.

“It’s so good to see you. What are you doing here? Come in, come in, don’t just stand in the doorway. Did you need something? Or did you just stop by?” Allie said quickly going from one subject to another.

“Oh, ummm, just stopped by. Wow this place hasn’t changed at all has it?” Liz said as Allie grabbed her arm and all but dragged her up to the counter with Candice trailing behind. Liz blinked hard when she saw Jason, “Hey Jason, I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Hey Liz. I’m just keeping Allie company for a bit. She’s been having some bad luck lately and I thought, since I don’t have anything else to do, I’d hang around here,” Jason said with his usual cheer.

“Bad luck? Really?” Liz sounded interested, but Allie sensed nervousness, not concern from her cousin. Then again Liz had not handled the drama last month well and Allie could understand why she might be gun shy around anything reminiscent of that.

“Jason this is Candice, Candice our roommate Jason. I don’t think you guys have ever met before but if I’m spacing then just ignore me,” Allie said, as Jason and Candice exchanged polite nods. Despite her close friendship with Liz Candice rarely came to the house and Allie was fairly sure she’d never met Jason before. Then switching topics before Liz could bring it back up, “It’s okay Liz, just some random bad luck, nothing dire. Someone broke the front windows-“

“What? That’s horrible,” Liz meant it this time and Allie relaxed a little bit. “Did you call the police?”

“Yes, they’re looking into it,” Allie said watching out of the corner of her eye as the young elf slipped out of the store. The bells gave the same muffled chime when he left, but Allie didn’t have time to think about it.

“Well I hope they catch whoever did it.” Liz said, and again Allie got a strange mix of nervousness and tension from her cousin.

“I’m not going to hold my breath, but at least if whoever did it comes back the cameras will be fixed. Well, hopefully they’ll be fixed first,” Allie said.

Liz’s eyes went blank, and Allie felt a surge of fear from Liz. Realizing it was probably rude to be reading the other woman, family or not, she tried to cut off the emotional input and to reassure her. “I’m sorry Liz I forgot you didn’t know. Something’s wrong with the cameras. They haven’t been working so I’m – well we’re, Jason’s helping – anyway we’re trying to get someone out to fix them.”

“Oh, right, speaking of that, “Jason said, “I talked to a friend at an IT company in Berville. He does some freelance stuff once in a while for security companies and he said he’d be happy to come out today and take a look. Since you’re a friend he’ll give you an estimate and if it’s easy get it sorted today and bill you. If it’s not an easy fix he said he can at least tell you what’s wrong and what it’ll take to fix it.”

“Jason I owe you one,” Allie said.

He smiled but waved her off, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll feel better knowing the system’s back up.”

“Yeah you and everyone else apparently,” Allie sighed.

“You can’t blame people for worrying about you,” he shot back.

“Who’s worried? What’s going on Allie, I thought you said it was nothing?” Liz managed to sound disapproving and put out all at once.

“It is nothing Liz. Just some petty harassment stuff. It’s been upsetting me but it’s nothing for you to worry about,” Allie tried to project reassurance, even though projecting wasn’t something she was good at.

“I’m your cousin, if anyone is going to be worried about you it’ll be me,” stern disapproval had been replaced with an odd possessiveness that Allie wasn’t familiar with.

“No one needs to worry about me Liz, I’m fine. It’s all just getting blown out of proportion. Really. Jason and Bleidd just don’t want me alone here until the cameras get fixed, but that should be today, so no worries there. And now that I’m helping the Guard…”

“Wait, back up. Since when are you helping the Elven Guard?” Liz cut in frowning fiercely.

At the same time Candice, her voice disapproving, said, “You’re helping the Elven Guard?”

Allie bit back a sigh, wishing Liz wouldn’t always overreact to everything involving elves or the elven police. “They asked me to help them as a kind of inter-cultural translator. They’re working a missing person’s case and having some trouble questioning humans. So I’m helping. It’s not a big deal.”

Liz gave her a long look that made it clear she didn’t agree, but to Allie surprise Jason stood up for her, “It’s okay Liz. Allie knows how to handle dealing with elves, and she’s being smart about it this time. She’s getting paid in trade for one thing.”

“Paid what?” Liz asked grudgingly.

“I traded for healing work,” Allie said, and she saw the shock on Liz’s face before she managed to conceal it.

“What do you need healing for? You’re fine now, aren’t you?” Liz was really worried and Allie wasn’t sure what to say in response to this awkward turn, but before she could think of anything Candice was redirecting the conversation for her.

“A missing person case?” she sounded skeptical. “Why would the elves need to question humans about that? Surely they don’t think anyone in Ashwood would be involved in a Fairy crime.”

“It’s kind of complicated Candice,” Allie said, not sure how to explain.

“I’m pretty smart Allie, I’m sure I can follow,” Candice said gently, smiling to take the sting out of the words.

Allie flushed anyway, “I know you are Candice. Basically there’s a local girl who’s missing and the Guard is investigating. They needed some help dealing with the non-Fairy witnesses and such so they asked me if I’d be willing to help.”

“Why you?” Liz said, sounding tired. She reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose as if her head hurt.

“Why not her Liz?” Jason asked. “She’s fluent in English and Elvish, she knows both cultures. She’s worked with the Guard and the police before, in a way at least. It’s not like there are that many people with those qualifications running around.”

“I realize that, of course,” Liz said stiffly. “But I don’t want us getting dragged back into another situation like last time.”

“Don’t worry Liz, this is totally different. Completely. Just helping find a missing girl, that’s all. There’s no reason it should put me, or anyone else in danger,” Allie said soothingly.

Liz opened her mouth as if she were going to argue, but Candice reached out and put a hand on her arm. “Liz I’m sure Allie’s right. And it’s nice of her to want to help.”

Liz looked down as if she were embarrassed, which Allie found puzzling – but then again Liz had always hated losing arguments in public. That was one of the things that made her so successful on the debate team in school, and made her such a great manager for the theater.

“Well,” Liz said, recovering herself and putting on a cheerful face that didn’t match her feelings, “I hate to pop in and visit and then run, but we were going to get lunch at the Tiger. We should probably go before it gets too crowded.”

Jason looked amused, but Candice frowned slightly, giving Liz an inscrutable look. “If you think so Liz. I would like to get some shopping in after lunch before I have to get back to the office.”

“Well it was great seeing you both, feel free to stop in any time,” Allie said, giving each woman a big hug.

Candice reached up, smoothing Allie’s hair back the way she had hundreds of times throughout the years. “Great seeing you Allie. You haven’t changed a bit – I swear you look exactly the same as you did last time I saw you,” she laughed slightly, “For that matter you look pretty much the same way you did in high school.”