Lost in Mist and Shadow: A Between the Worlds Novel (30 page)

He hesitated, glancing up and down the quiet street. “Well….alright. I guess it is silly to drive when we’re already parked here.”

“Excellent,” Allie started walking towards the coffee shop forcing him to catch up. “It’s nice to do one thing that feels remotely normal.”

“Nothing about your life is normal,” Jason teased.

“It used to be,” she sighed.

“Hey, I was just teasing. I think it’s pretty cool what you’re doing,” he said.

“Really? You don’t think it’s, I don’t know, freaky?”

“Well, yeah, it’s a little freaky, but look at all the good you’re doing. If it wasn’t for you they never would have found the bodies, for one thing,” he said, putting an arm around her shoulders as they walked.

“I don’t know I think they would have eventually.”

“Maybe. But how many more people would have been killed first?” he pointed out.

“I still haven’t found Jenny though, and the killer is still out there somewhere,” she said, frowning.

“You are way too hard on yourself. With everything going on, with all the craziness, and some asshole harassing you, or stalking you, or whatever, you’re doing the best you can,” he said.

“I just feel like it should be more,” she whispered.

“Next thing you’re going to whip out a cape and announce that you’re starting a new career as a superhero,” he said.

She pushed him and he staggered slightly, laughing. She tried not to laugh too, “Not funny, Takada.”

He pushed her back gently, barely moving her. “Lighten up, McCarthy.”

They both started at the sound of tires screeching down the street and turned. Jason reached out and grabbed Allie’s arm, pushing her partially behind him as a car came around the corner too fast. This late at night the street was quiet and there was no other traffic.

The car was dark, the headlights off, and moving so fast it seemed unreal. She heard Jason yell something but it wasn’t until the car was almost on them that she saw the flames licking at the front of Lei’s store halfway down the block. Her attention was fixed on that as the car passed so she never saw one of the passengers throw the second lit bottle at the spot where she and Jason were standing. Jason saw it coming and shoved Allie roughly away. She landed on the sidewalk turning towards him as she fell, and only then seeing the fire spinning through the air in their direction.

She felt a helpless sense of horror as the flaming bottle hit the ground in front of Jason, before she could even begin to think of a spell to protect him, and burst. The fire surged up like a living thing, flaring brightly around him and she winced back instinctively from the heat, throwing her hands up to protect her face. Her heart in her mouth time seemed to stop as she waited for him to start screaming, writhing, as the fire caught his clothes – but that’s not what happened. Like dry earth soaking up water he absorbed the fire; within a breath the light disappeared. Blinking in the sudden darkness Allie could only stare dumbfounded at her friend. There had been no stirring of magic, no spell, no triggered enchantment that had protected him, which could mean only one thing. He turned slowly to face her. The car had disappeared.

She looked at Jason, wide eyed, and he stared back. Her mind raced trying to process the implications, but she felt completely blank. “Allie,” he said, then stopped.

“Are you okay?” she asked softly, because it seemed to be the thing to say.

He winced. “Yeah. Are
you
okay?”

“That’s a loaded question,” she murmured. “Physically I think I’ll live. Scraped my hands and twisted my bad ankle but nothing dire. Mentally…let me get back to you on that one.”

He looked pained. “I’m sorry Allie.”

“Why? You just saved my life.”

“For not being honest with you. It’s not that I didn’t trust you, it’s just that…no one could know. No one does know. Except I guess you do now,” he said.

She breathed in sharply, “All this time….you being afraid of elves, that wasn’t because you were afraid of
them
it was because you were afraid they’d figure out what you really were…”

He winced again. “I entered this country as a human, all my paperwork says that’s what I am. Do you know what will happen if the elves find out I’m not?”

“So you, uh….aren’t?” she was stunned by the revelation.

He looked away. “My mother is human. My father isn’t. But my mother…when we left Japan she lied on all my paperwork, because it’s really hard to get permission as a member of Fairy to move from one country to another. So she lied. And I’ve lied ever since.”

“But, I just don’t understand. I mean why?” she mumbled, not even sure what she was asking.
And how? How can you lie?
she thought, truly disturbed by the possibility. No being of Fairy lied, it was so deeply ingrained in the culture that it was unthinkable.

“Do you know what would happen if I get caught now?”

She shook her head slowly, realizing that the entire idea of any Fairy being lying on paperwork was so foreign to Fairy culture that it would simply never happen. Except it had.

“I’d be deported if I was lucky. Really lucky. If I wasn’t…I don’t know. Maybe they’d kill me,” he said.

“Jason!” she said, shocked.

“Maybe they would Allie. Why not? They could think I’m a spy, or a traitor or criminal to my own people. And even if they didn’t – I can’t go back. I can’t. You don’t understand. I don’t have any magic,” he said, as if he were admitting some terrible sin.

“So? You’re not a mage, but you obviously have some abilities-“

“But I don’t. That’s the problem. I can handle fire, because that’s part of my nature, but I can’t
do
anything, not even the basic stuff children can do. I can’t call fire, or direct it, or speak to it, or anything. For all intents and purposes I may as well be human, except I’m not…entirely.”

“But, the fire department, the kids in that building – you saved them,” she said, sensing a flaw somewhere.
And maybe that’s why he can lie, because he is really more human than anything else
she thought. That also seemed off somehow, since they were both half-human the same rules should apply and she couldn’t lie, but it helped her deal with the cognitive dissonance he was presenting.

“If I were a real Kechibi I could have stopped the fire or commanded it to pull back,” he said bitterly. “But I’m not. I ran in there thinking I could get to them before the building collapsed and crushed us all….”

“Why…why would you live here, in a Bordertown? The chance of getting caught..,” she trailed off shaking her head.

He shook his head too. “I tried living completely on earth but after a while I just couldn’t. I started…losing my sense of self, and that’s a really bad thing for me. But I don’t want to live completely in their world either. Coming here seemed like a good compromise and it’s been perfect. I love it here. This is my home”

“But…but you and Brynneth,” she said her mind racing, jumping from one topic to another. “Why would you take that chance?”

“What do you want me to say Allie? I don’t always make smart choices. He wanted to sleep with me, he’s gorgeous, Tony and I weren’t getting along, I was lonely…”

His voice trailed off and Allie looked away, unsure what else to say. Only then did she see that the building down the street, across from her store, was burning. She swore loudly, climbing clumsily to her feet and starting to run towards it, but Jason grabbed her again, holding her. “Don’t. Call 911 and get the fire department. I’ll go.”

She opened her mouth to argue and then closed it with a snap. Of course, if he was any kind of fire spirit it was perfectly safe for him to go investigate; fire couldn’t hurt him, even if he couldn’t magically stop it or effect it. She watched him jog down the sidewalk, her feelings a whirlpool of inexpressible things, and pulled out her phone.

“
Jess, I don’t want you to worry, I’m okay, but something happened
,” she thought to him, not sure how to tell him what was going on but sure he would want to know.

“
Allie what is wrong? Are you in danger
?” his mental voice was immediately concerned and she was annoyed that he assumed she must be in danger until she remembered that she did have a habit of only reaching out to him in situations like this. She sighed out loud.

His fear twisted at her and she struggled to push it away, and then felt it being replaced by her own as she tried to answer without betraying Jason’s secret. Jess, no matter how much he loved Allie or liked her friend, was first and foremost a Commander in the Elven Guard – wasn’t that how Allie had ended up with a badge of her own? – and she could not risk telling him about Jason and seeing her friend suffer for it. “
I’m fine. I’m with Jason. We were near my store outside, and someone drove by and threw something, some kind of bottle that was on fire. One of the buildings is burning. I’m calling the fire department and Jason’s going to see how bad it is
.”

“
Are you safe
?” he asked, his mental voice still afraid.

“
Yes. The car is long gone, and I’m about a half block from the fire
,” she answered, trying to project reassurance.

“
Allie, why are you out there at this time of night
?” his thoughts were still tinged with worry but there was something else in there now, something close to anger. She winced, limping down the sidewalk back towards her store, watching the flames dance in the darkness as they gathered strength.

“
I forgot my cell phone at the store when I left today, and I didn’t think it was a good idea to just leave it there, in case anything happened. I asked Jason to bring me here to pick it up
,” she struggled to keep her thoughts even and not feel like a child being criticized for making a bad decision.

He was silent for a moment, and when he did speak again his voice was subdued, “
I cannot stand how much danger you seem to be in my love. I fear greatly for you. Somehow you always manage to be at the center of these things when they happen, and if anything were to happen to you I do not know what I would do
.”

“
I am fine. I am safe. All is well here, I swear to you. We were just bystanders – we saw it happen. I don’t think it had anything to do with me or us or anything we are doing. We just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time
,” she said, soothingly, she had reached the corner of her own building and could see that both the office building across the street from her store and Lei’s store were burning. She closed her eyes in horrified sympathy for her pixy friend.

“
Allie, are you sure you are safe
?” he asked again and she reminded herself that he was worried not nagging. At least not nagging on purpose.

“
Really I’m fine. I’m just upset. I know the pixie who owns the store that’s burning and she’d always been kind to me. I don’t know what she’s going to do now
,” Allie thought to him, letting him feel some of her sadness.

“
The building that is burning is owned by a pixie
?”

“
Yes, Curious Curios. And the building next to it also on fire, I think that’s just an office building though, I don’t know who owns it
,” she thought back feeling tired.

“
I am on my way
,” he thought, “
Stay where you are
.”

“
Jess, no, I don’t want you to get in trouble
-“

“
If the victim is a member of Fairy then it is the business of the Guard to investigate
” he said. “
Someone will be sent out anyway, and it matters little if I come with them to supervise.
”

Allie wasn’t so sure about that logic, but she sighed and dialed 911 to report the fire. There was no point arguing with him when he got like this. Aloud she said to herself “You could have stayed home and dealt with the emotional fallout of your friend getting laid but no you had to find an excuse to go out. Way to go Allie. You have officially become a crime magnet.”

Allie stumbled down to the kitchen yawning. She found Shawn sitting at the table eating pancakes. A quick glance showed Jason at the stove, a pile of pancakes on a plate next to him. She felt a twinge of awkwardness. Tonight was his disciplinary hearing, but they had barely spoken since the night of the fire. She knew he had to be nervous, and that had probably motivated this mid-week big breakfast, but she wasn’t sure what to say to him.

She grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down at the table, nodding to Shawn.

“Good morning Allie,” he said.

“Morning Shawn,” and then feeling like she should, “Morning Jason.”

“Hey Allie,” Jason said from the stove, not turning around. Allie took a big gulp of coffee to cover her unease and tried to ignore the feeling of worry coming from Jason.

“So how are things going?” Shawn asked, between mouthfuls of his breakfast.

“Oh, ummm. Fine I guess. Quiet,” Allie said. And it was true, in the two days since the fire things had been quiet, almost eerily so, particularly after the initial dust settled. She and Jason were treating each other with kid gloves, which made her feel sad. Whenever she was near him she sensed his worry and unease around
her
, and she kept struggling with her own divided loyalties about his secret. For all intents and purposes he was human; except that technically he wasn’t entirely. She went back and forth about what should matter more: what Jason himself was or what his ancestry was. And he felt nervous around her which made her feel nervous, and that quickly became a very circular situation.

Bleidd had been furious when he found out that she’d gone out after he and his guest had retreated to his room and had gotten into a huge fight with Jason, who he blamed for everything that subsequently happened. That was especially awkward for both Allie and Jason who couldn’t tell him what Jason had done to save Allie’s life. Curious Curios and the office building had burnt to the ground and Allie had been up until nearly dawn giving her statement, repeatedly, to the police who seemed to think the people she and Jason had seen were the arsonists who had been hitting different locations around town. At work Allie was forced to stare out at the burned out hulk of the buildings, which was depressing. She still hadn’t seen Lei. And the missing person-cum-murder investigation with the Guard had stalled while the police and Elven Guard argued over who had jurisdiction, as the police were insisting it was a copycat killer and DNA had proven him to be fully human, while the elves insisted it was tied to the previous ritual murders and the current missing girl case.

“I don’t know how you do it. Me, I’d be hiding under my bed,” Shawn smiled harder when he said it, but Allie shifted in her seat, feeling even more awkward. What was it about Shawn that always made her feel so off balance?

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Well, you know, finding bodies, watching someone burn a building down, that’s pretty crazy stuff. I’d be afraid just from seeing stuff like that, you know. It’s really intense. But you just keep getting up and going to work. That’s pretty brave,” he said gesturing with his fork for emphasis.

“Ah, well, I don’t know about brave…” she said, flustered.

“You are brave Allie,” Jason said suddenly, still not turning from the stove.

“Well I have some good friends watching my back,” she said quietly.

“Yeah,” Shawn piped in breaking the almost-moment before it could fully form, “I guess having a boyfriend who’s a cop, Fairy police, I don’t know what the term for that is, but you know what I mean, and another one who’s good with magic would be reassuring.”

Allie felt herself blushing, “I only have one boyfriend.”

Shawn looked perplexed, “Oh, maybe I got confused I thought you were dating the guy who stays over here sometimes and, um, Bleidd.”

Allie took another bracing gulp from her cup, “I’m dating Jessilaen yes. I am not dating Bleidd. We’re just good friends, although he would like it to be more than that.”

Seeing the confusion on Shawn’s face she sighed, “It’s kind of complicated Shawn. Elves don’t date the way humans do.”

“Yeah, I remember you saying that before. I guess I don’t get it,” he said.

“Elves don’t date, in general. Their culture is polyamorous and they don’t usually have long term relationships,” she said, trying to choose her words carefully.

“Oh. So they don’t have marriage?” he said, struggling to wrap his head around the idea.

“No they do, but marriage is all about uniting family lines to have heirs or to join families for political reasons. It’s not much about emotions,” she said.

As she spoke Jason set a plate down in front of her heaped with pancakes and bacon. She looked up at him quizzically, but he avoided her eyes, muttering, “Coffee is not breakfast.”

“Thanks,” she murmured, wishing she knew how to breach this weirdness between them.

Shawn, oblivious to the interplay between his two roommates, stayed focus on the conversation, “Not to sound crude but doesn’t that make it hard on kids born out of marriage? I mean if they’re, ummm, you know hooking up with all sorts of different people, I mean how do you figure out who the dad is? Or do elves use DNA testing?”

For a moment Allie looked at him blankly, the question so bizarre from an elven point of view she wasn’t sure how to process it. Then her human upbringing kicked in and translated. “It doesn’t work that way for them, although there is a spell that works kind of like a DNA test in identifying who a child’s father is, but it isn’t a big deal.”

“Why not?” he sounded fascinated, and even Jason who had joined them at the table with his own breakfast looked interested.

“Elves are matriarchal and matrilineal,” she said simply. “A child’s mother is the one who the child inherits from, if the child is a girl.”

“What about boys?” Shawn asked.

“Boys don’t inherit unless there are no daughters, and even then usually it passes to a granddaughter, although that gets tricky,” she said.

“Why?” he had stopped eating now and was fully absorbed in the discussion.

“Because a granddaughter of someone who only has sons is clearly someone else’s daughter. They belong to her clan, not the grandmother’s – because what clan you belong to depends on what clan your mother belonged to – and you don’t inherit across clans, only within.”

Shawn blinked slowly, trying to process all of that. “Okay. But, umm, what about the dads? Do they just not matter?”

“Oh, no, of course the father matters, just not from a legal point of view and the legal stuff is the big deal. A child belongs to it’s mother, but obviously the father is involved in the child’s life too.”

“That seems so weird,” Shawn said, looking fascinated.

Allie shrugged, “That’s about how elves feel about the way human’s do things.”

“Wait, I’m confused again,” Shawn said. “You’re last name is McCarthy though, right? Isn’t that a human name?”

“Yeah, it was my father’s last name. Elves don’t use surnames so it’s just easier for me to use his,” Allie said thinking
and my grandmother wouldn’t have had it any other way
.

“So what would your name be in, ummm, you know, among elves?”

“Ahhh, well it’d just be my name and my clan,” Allie said, caught off guard.

“How’s that work? I mean what’s yours for example?” Shawn pressed.

Allie licked her lips. “Uhhh. My clan? Draighean.”

“Drine?” he repeated clumsily.

She tried again more slowly, “Dray-een. So my name would be Aliaine of clan Draighean.”

The words felt strange on her tongue after so many years. She couldn’t even remember the last time she’d discussed her clan – possibly never since coming to live with her grandmother. Even with the elves she encountered in Ashwood, including Jess, she used her human name. She picked up the fork on her plate and started picking at her food, which was getting cold.

“So if you had kids,” Shawn said, still working to get what Allie had been saying so far, “they’d be part of that clan too, not the clan of whoever their dad was?”

“Right,” Allie said around a mouthful of food. “Unless it was contracted that way.” And then anticipating his next question as he opened his mouth she went on. “Like I said before marriages are very contractual deals, so it can be written into a marriage contract that one condition is that a child belong to the father’s clan instead of the mothers, but that’s really uncommon.”

“Right,” he said frowning,” and without a contract, er, marriage, the dad has no legal claim at all, it’s just the mom’s child.”

Allie shrugged, chewing some bacon. “I guess you could look at it that way, although you can kind of say the same thing about unwed humans. And like I said the father is still involved, he just doesn’t have the same kind of claim on the child.”

“Huh,” Shawn smiled, “I guess I’m glad I’m human, our way seems easier.”

Allie shrugged again. “They both have their flaws, in my opinion. The human way favors men too much and…”

“What do you mean?” he interrupted.

“Well children have their father’s name, not their mothers don’t they? Usually?” Allie said.

“I guess,” he was frowning now, but she pushed on.

“And men want sons to carry on their family name don’t they?”

“Well, yeah,” he said. At the other end of the table Jason smirked, seeing where she was going and enjoying it.

“And so some people prefer sons to daughters, and favor boys, and boys in general are seen differently – as the head of the household, the breadwinner, the dominant partner, and all that right?” she said, eating another mouthful of pancakes.

“Ahhh, well, yeah I guess,” he looked uncertain now.

“Well for elves it’s all reversed to favor girls that way. Women lead clans, women lead family units, lines of succession pass through women so daughters are preferred to sons, and so on. It’s just different slants to the same approach,” she said.

“But there are Fairy Kings aren’t there?”

“Sure, just like ancient earth had queens – if there are no daughters to inherit it passes to a son until he has a daughter or granddaughter.”

“Huh,” Shawn nodded. “That’s a lot to wrap your head around.”

“The polyamory part is nice,” Jason said, still smirking.

Shawn actually blushed, “I don’t know if I could handle more than one woman at once.”

“Woman or man,” Allie couldn’t resist saying, “Elves also don’t really have a concept of sexual preference.”

Shawn blushed scarlet, “Oh, really? I mean, I’d heard, I mean people say things, but I didn’t…ummm, I think I’m all set with my girlfriend.”

“You have a girlfriend?” Jason asked, in real surprise.

“Yeah, why?” Shawn sounded nervous now.

“It’s okay, we just kind of thought….I mean you sort of flirt a lot with Liz,” Allie said trying to be diplomatic.

Shawn looked down, then cleared his throat, “Well it’s just…she’s my boss, you know? And I really, really need this room. I was kind of sleeping in my car until she said she had this room open and so I just…it’s just important that she’s happy with me being here.”

Allie felt a surge of unexpected sympathy for him. “It’s okay Shawn. Liz is pretty cool. You’ll get settled in here and you don’t need to worry about getting people to like you.”

“Yeah,” Jason agreed. “She doesn’t have to be your best friend to rent you a room.”

“I know, I just worry about not having a place to stay. I guess maybe I over compensate. I mean you guys are all so tight and you’ve known each other for so long and you’re all so, I dunno, interesting, you know? Really. I guess I just feel like the new kid in school.”

“I guess I understand that,” Jason said, while Allie finished her cold breakfast, “I remember when I first moved in, it was a little intimidating. But once you get settled you’ll see it’s all pretty boring and relaxed.”

“As long as I’m here long enough to settle in,” Shawn said, smiling. It was the first genuine smile Allie had seen from him. He got up and brought his plate over to the sink, washing it quickly.

Jason turned to Allie the awkwardness back in full force. “Ummm. Bleidd asked me to go with you today, since he has to work.”

Allie nodded, “Okay. I’ll be ready in about half an hour.”

Jason nodded and headed back over to the stove to clean up without another word. Allie sighed. It was going to be a long day.

***********************************

Once at the store Jason had grabbed a novel off one of the shelves, claimed his favorite chair, and hadn’t said a word to Allie. For her part she kept focused on busy work when she didn’t have customers.

Midafternoon that strange young elf, Sal, came back in but she had a big group of tourists and didn’t have time to talk to him. She would have loved to find out why he was still in town and if he was still ducking his adult supervision, but by the time she cleared up the other customers he had gone. She heard the bells clang in that oddly muffled way as he slipped out.

Shortly afterwards it quieted down so Allie, in a desperate bid to keep busy while Jason read, dug out her feather duster and started dusting the shelves. She was back in the rare book section when she heard the bells ringing again and a familiar voice asking for her. She limped quickly out to find detectives Riordan and Smythe standing near the door.