Ghosted, p.12
Ghosted, page 12
part #4 of Girl's Guide to Voodoo Bounty Hunting Series
“Talk. I wish to talk with him. Understand his actions. Oliver was always the most level-headed of us. Advising moderation, not excess. To murder someone for their soul, how could he even access such magic?”
“People change,” her father said, reminding Nessa he was still here. “You guys have been around over twelve, thirteen hundred years?”
“Time does not pass in Fae as it does in this world.”
“Obviously not. Nevertheless, I don’t think someone can force you to become a Soul Eater.”
“Maybe he’s in love with the princess,” Nessa said having a sudden idea. “She didn’t have to force him.”
Roland looked like he wanted to say something. Instead, he closed his mouth, clenching his jaw tightly.
“What?” she asked. “Is he gay?”
Roland tilted his head. “Under normal circumstances? I would not say gay, more even-tempered.”
“Not gay as in happy, stupid. Gay as in he prefers men over women.”
Roland’s eyebrows shot up. “Ah. Oh. Honestly, I do not know. He was always very chaste.”
Her dad snorted, “I bet unicorns followed him around.”
“Why would unicorns follow Oliver?” Roland asked in all seriousness.
Her dad looked ready to launch into an explanation of unicorns and virgins. Nessa held her hand up. “Not relevant.” She looked at Roland. “Let’s go someplace less public so we can talk. Dad, do you have your car?”
“Yes,” he pointed at the parking lot on the other side of the police tape.
Roland drew a glamour over himself, turning into nothing more than a shadow.
Other people were leaving the hospital as well. The policeman lifted the tape without any objection.
Pim kept shooting Nessa looks as if to say, ‘What’s going on?’
“Keys,” she said holding out her hand as they reached the Volvo.
Her dad knew better than to ask why. He’d trained her.
She opened the trunk saying to Roland, “We are not cooperating, are we?”
“I do not wish to turn him over to the Queen of Fire.”
“Understood,” Nessa said evenly. “I guess it’s every supernatural for themselves. Tsukamaete!” she yelled tossing the Fudo Cord.
It had been wriggling and jumping since Roland had joined them. Now it flew to the Paladin gleefully wrapping around him like a boa constrictor, head to toe. His eyes bulged out from between folds of the rope. He struggled to speak but the cord knew its stuff. No words, no hand motions, nothing to access magic. Unless he was telekinetic, the Paladin was trapped.
“Help me find the camera. I bet he has it on him.”
Together they patted him down. Not the easiest task with the rope wrapped so tightly. The Fudo Cord seemed almost prescient, moving away from their hands as they looked for a bulge.
They couldn’t find it.
“He summoned the wind to fly here,” she said thinking out loud. “Maybe he stashed it at the cemetery.”
Roland wriggled harder.
“No time to go back now.” Nessa opened the trunk.
“Help me,” she said to her dad.
Together they heaved the struggling Paladin into the trunk.
“Now what?” Her dad was smiling. Dad loved a good caper.
“Cover him with a tarp. Pim and I will follow.”
The police cars and fire trucks still crowded the driveway around the hospital. “We need some place quieter than this.”
“You have a plan,” her dad said with a sly smile.
“I have a plan,” she nodded.
With Pim on her heels, Nessa ran to her scooter. She shifted her backpack around, moving the Fae crown to a front pocket within easy reach and put the cursed camera inside.
“Not sure if it’s a good plan,” she told Pim at his questioning meow.
Turning the key, she zoomed after her dad.
“But it’s all I’ve got.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
In a secluded corner of the Redondo Beach parking garage, they dragged Roland out of the Volvo’s trunk.
It was going on eight o’clock on a weekday. The top floor was deserted.
Thanks to an unfortunate incendiary run-in with a Firebug here in the garage, Nessa knew the only cameras were at the entrance and exit.
Roland wriggled for all he was worth. With the cord in his mouth, all he could do was mumble incoherently. The emotion behind the mumbles came through loud and clear. He was thoroughly pissed off.
Too bad. Nessa was not letting anyone stand in the way of saving her taco-loving fairies.
Nessa checked for the end of the Fudo Cord, rehearsing the words to make it return to her just to make sure. Speed was part of her plan. Under her hands the cord was soft and pliant, warm to the touch.
She pulled out her little silver knife. “Help me cut his clothes off.”
“Because?” asked her dad, reaching into his ankle holster for his blade.
“I need to see if he has any magical objects on him. Like a bracelet or necklace. Ring. You know, something that could be disguised as a Portal Key.”
Dad knew all about Portal Keys. The Inferni Coin he’d exploited was only the size of a silver dollar. Coin in hand, the user could walk through any mirror into the Inferni World.
It was sweaty and stupidly hard work trying to get Roland’s clothes off while he was tied up. There was a little blood as well. Finally, he was nearly naked beneath the coils of rope
He wasn’t wearing any jewelry they could find. Nor was there anything suspicious inside his clothing.
“Could it be a tattoo or something under the skin?”
Her dad stood, looking over their prisoner.
“Boots,” he said finally. “We haven’t thoroughly checked his boots.”
Roland had on soft walking boots, brown suede with leather souls.
“Pim, help me look,” Nessa said grabbing one.
She reached her hand in as Pim sniffed and batted at the outside of the boot.
Nothing.
Pim joined her dad, sniffing the other boot. In seconds he meowed an alert.
Pim placed a paw on the outside seam near where the ankle would be.
Roland stopped struggling. He must have figured out part of Nessa’s plan.
Her dad began working on the leather with his knife. Between the inside and outside seams was a slim silver glyph sewn into the lining.
Her dad ran his fingers over the symbol. It sparkled, buzzing with quiet energy.
“Probably activated by a word.”
“Excellent,” sighed Nessa. “Let’s put this stuff in the car.”
If looks could kill, Roland would have dropped her on the spot.
She almost apologized then stopped herself. What did she have to be sorry for? His pal had murdered four people so far and was looking to make it five. Screw explanations. He deserved to be caught.
They were gathering the shreds of clothing when Nessa heard a car engine. Headlights came up the ramp.
She swore under her breath.
“Come on, help me,” her dad said grabbing Roland’s feet. They had just dragged him to the side of the car when another auto rolled up. The lights were in their eyes. Too bright to see around. If it was security, they were so screwed.
Nessa felt Pim transform into his werecat form. He ran behind the vehicle, ready to spring at whoever emerged.
The car door opened but all Nessa could see was a pair of sturdy legs, the bright headlights reduced everything to an unfocused blur.
“Are you hiding a body?” said a man’s voice?
The figure stepped forward just as Pim jumped.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“God damn it, Nessa,” Jun Hee moaned. “Your cat is a menace.”
“Your jacket…” Nessa started to say.
“Where, what?” shouted Jun Hee, craning his neck. “Ow, ow.”
“He sliced through the leather.”
Jun Hee was wearing a Sherpa-lined leather bomber jacket. Pim’s claws had ripped through the thick material like a sheet of paper.
“Help me,” said Jun Hee wincing as he shrugged out of it. His tone changed from angry to something else. Fear?
She grabbed a sleeve sliding it off as gently as she could.
He raised his arms, “Ow, ow, ow.”
Blood had soaked the thin cotton tee underneath.
“Jeez, Jun Hee. I’m so sorry. Dad!”
“On it,” he said jogging to the car. In a second, he was back, a first-aid kit in hand. Dad was a man prepared for emergencies. With a daughter under a curse from a Fallen Angel, he’d had to be.
“Hurry,” said Jun Hee, an almost panicked note in his voice. “I need you to look.”
And look she did. Jun Hee was six foot three of gorgeous Korean American GQ-worthy man. That wasn’t news. What was surprising were the black spirals, pentagrams, sigils, and what looked like stylized Chinese characters tattooed over his back and chest.
Her dad whistled. “You have a lot of ink.”
Some of the ink was smeared with blood from Pim’s claws.
Nessa dabbed at the injuries with an oversized gauze pad her dad handed her. He was standing next to her, almost too near. Her Dad was excellent at sensing danger. She got a vibe he was sensing it big time.
“Are any of the tattoos broken? Any of them!” Jun Hee’s voice almost broke on the last words.
“Yes.”
“Oh shit, shit, shit.” Jun Hee chanted. “Stupid cat. Stupid cat. Take your dead body and get out of here.”
“He’s not dead,” Nessa said. “And I’m sorry but I didn’t recognize this,” she pointed at the black SUV. “You always drive the dark green CRV with Colorado plates. The lights were in our eyes, then you got out holding a ball of battle magic.
He squirmed under her hand. “The Tahoe is a loaner. My car is in the shop. I was worried.”
“About me? You don’t even like me.”
Jun Hee snorted.
Pim jumped to attention, his back arched, hissing.
“What…” she started to say. Then she saw it.
A dense black shadow was crawling up the ramp from the floor below.
Jun Hee sucked in a breath. “You need to run.”
“It’s coming for us?”
“Me. Us. Moot point right now.”
She grabbed his arm, jerking him with a strength born of panic. “Dad, to me!”
They ran behind her father’s car, the silver crown already in her other hand. “Hold Roland with one hand and me with the other. Jun Hee, be ready. Pim!”
But Pim was already at her feet, morphing back to his feline form.
She slipped the Faerie Crown on, picturing the field of sunflowers she’d seen the first time she crossed the Portal.
The crown was her legacy from the Queen of Air. A Portal Key to anywhere in Faerie. The problem was it could only open to a place she’d seen. And she’d only been in the field of sunflowers and the Queen of Air’s palace. That was a limited geography.
The doorway opened and the scent of faerie washed over them.
Jun Hee tried to back away. “Oh, no, no, no. Not there!”
“Yes, here.” She kicked him through the gate unceremoniously with a foot to his butt.
He lurched through.
The shadow was almost upon them as her father hauled Roland and himself across.
What was inside the shadow? Demons? Monsters?
She fell more than jumped through, Pim waiting until the last possible moment to guard her back.
As the Portal phased into nothing, she saw a woman’s face. The eyes almost as black as her own, the woman’s mouth wide as she screamed like a banshee. A wild nest of white hair stuck out on all sides. Her hands were reaching, the nails long and knotted like a corpse.
And suddenly it was sunshine and sunflowers. The smell of Christmas: pine, cinnamon, ginger.
Her dad looked around. “Where are we?”
“Fairie.”
He made a face. “I thought a Portal to Faerie would be much cooler.”
“Jeezus, Dad,” Nessa moaned. “I’m not Dr. Strange!”
Jun Hee banged the ground with one fist. “We’re in Faerie aren’t we.” He didn’t wait for an answer. The smell alone gave it away. “I hate this place.”
Nessa pointed to where the Portal had been. “Wanna’ go back?’
He didn’t answer, settling for an venomous glare.
“What were you even doing at the garage? How could you find me?” Nessa had a sudden flashback to last week. “Oh my God, Jun Hee, did you put another tracker in my backpack?”
He looked defensive. “No…yes…maybe.”
“Jun Hee!”
“Tracker?” Her dad closed the distance between them. “Tracker?” he said more stridently.”Is this jerk stalking you? Are you stalking my daughter?”
Jun Hee put up both hands. “No, no. No way.
“Pim!” her dad shouted. “Claws!”
Pim somersaulted into his werecat form. He slunk between Jun Hee and her dad, his long tail lashing. He didn’t need much encouragement. Pim did not like Jun Hee.
Jun Hee eyed the werecat warily. “Not a stalker. No how. No way.”
“But you did put a tracker in my backpack!” Nessa pointed out, waggling a finger at him.
Last week she and Jun Hee had been working the cursed sword case, trying to find Tommy Baptiste a. Nessa had been up to her eyeballs in zombies and warlocks and Jun Hee had suddenly shown up out of the blue. Nessa had gotten him to admit he’d planted a miniature location tracker on her.
“The sword was bad news. Bodies getting turning d up all over the South Bay. I was worried, I told you. And what was the thanks I got? You dumped me in Faerie, tied up like a side of beef.”
He looked at Roland who had given up struggling and was lying quietly, his eyes darting back and forth between them.
His eyes widened. “Oh my god, you’re doing it again, aren’t you? What did this poor guy do? And just who are you,” he demanded, pointing at her dad. “Why are you helping Nessa kidnap this man.”
Her dad looked down his nose at Jun Hee. The bounty hunter was still kneeling in the dirt. “Exactly what a stalker would ask.”
Jun Hee was getting red in the face. “I’m not a stalker.”
Her father waggled a finger at him. “That’s what they all say.”
Nessa turned her backpack upside down, emptying everything out. Jun Hee reached to snatch a little black ball as it fell, tucking it in his pocket.
“God damn it, Jun Hee you don’t even like me. What’s the real reason you’re following me and my cat?”
Pim growled and Jun Hee flinched. Werecat Pim had a scary growl.
When he didn’t answer Nessa rolled her eyes. “You know what? I don’t care. I need to dump this guy and get back to the real world. Who was the shadow woman and is she going to be there when I go back?”
Jun Hee sneered at her. “Nothing would have happened if your stupid cat hadn’t broken one of the amulets.”
“The amulets are embedded inside the tattoos? Wow. Who are the amulets hiding you from?” Nessa had a lot of experience with amulets as well as hiding.
“A shaman taken over by a demon. It’s a Korean thing. Not really your business.”
Nessa put her hands on her hips. “It is when you Korean thing attacks us.”
Her dad adopted the same pose. “Are you saying if we go back to the garage, the thing won’t be waiting for us?”
Jun Hee frowned. “Give it a few minutes. She’s not looking for you anyway.”
“Why is this particular shaman looking for you?”
“Not relevant,” he said in a tone signaling the conversation was at an end.
Roland gave a muffled choking sound.
Nessa had forgotten all about him. Dang. Her plan hadn’t included all of them ending up in Fairie. Shrugging out of her backpack, she dropped to the ground scrounging inside.
“We just have to close your amulet again, right?”
Still looking grumpy, Jun Hee nodded.
She held up the black Sharpie. “Will this work?”
Her dad shot her a wide smile, “That's my girl, always thinking on her feet.”
“It should,” Jun Hee agreed. “I need to say the spell as you close the sigil.”
Her dad had brought the first aid kit as well. She spread the anti-bacterial ointment over the deep tears in his skin, adding sticky bandages like butterfly stitches to the parts of the tattoo she didn’t have to mend.
As she worked, her dad walked up the wide, dirt path to the ornate Portal gate stood in the middle of the road between the vast fields of sunflowers.
“Pim, stay with him,” she asked the cat.
He growled. No doubt saying, “Your dad is on his own.”
“Please, Pim? Dad,” she called.
He turned.
“This is my fairies’ land. With them gone, who knows what’s prowling around. Be alert.”
“Watch out for the giant kangaroo rats!” Jun Hee hollered shooting Nessa an evil glare.
Nessa flushed. She’d stashed Jun Hee in Faerie to keep him from interfering in her secret plan to hand over the Sword of Eternal Blood to Baron Samedi instead of returning it. The sword, she’d learned, might be able to break the curse tying her to Frank, the Fallen Angel. Before giving it to the Loa of the Dead, she’d had her fairies put a tracking spell on it. While stuck here, Jun Hee encountered the evil kangaroo rats. A whole gang of them.
Dad gave her a cheerful wave. If only she had a house or knew where the fairies lived her dad could hide out from Belencourt here. The demon would never think of searching Faerie.
Jun Hee craned his head around trying to see the damage to his back. “Am I going to need stitches?”
She looked at his back critically, “No. Good thing you were wearing this leather bomber jacket otherwise…”
“I like this jacket. Stupid cat.”
They heard Pim s hiss all the way from where her dad was walking.
“Better watch what you say about my cat.”
The first aid kit had a tube of super glue. Fast-drying glue was a good emergency tool for closing wounds quickly. Nessa would be able to close the tears fully before re-drawing the tattoo. Positioning the glue carefully she squeezed it over his skin.
