Page 6 of Nelson & MacIlwraith II

“Oh.” Nox was extremely keen to talk to Julian, regardless of his motives. “I’ll be fine. We need to see him as soon as we’re done in New Castle.”

“I don’t know…” Nelson shook his head, looking uncertain. “Letting him stew has worked so far and I don’t like giving him any kind of control over you.”

“Ah. I see!” Nox nodded as they went around to his side and Nelson got the door for him. “A tactical delay.”

“That’s right,” Nelson said as Nox sat, then closed the door and strode around to the front. He was pensive as he hung his coat on the hook in the back, then ducked behind the wheel. “It couldn’t have been urgent, whatever Julian has to say or he wouldn’t have waited this long. I had questions about the timing before, but now I really don’t like it.”

“We don’t have a choice now,” Nox replied as Nelson started the engine.

“That’s what Felton said.”

“No wonder you’re in such a bad mood.”

Nelson chuckled, a dry, weak rumble as he sneered at the windshield. “He said the honeymoon was over and it feels like we’re headed back to hell.”

“It does feel that way. But it is Imbolc Eve and that has to be a good omen,” Nox offered helpfully. He briefly explained that Imbolc was the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox and a celebration of the goddess Bríd1 and the return of the sun.

Spring was showing signs of its arrival and Nox looked forward to the healing that would come as the sun graced them with warmer, brighter days. But he had cherished the longer, darker winter evenings they had spent huddled under the covers watching movies and making out like a normal couple.

The holiday season had even been cozy and romantic. Nox had stubbornly ignored all the pagan elements, preferring to focus on the cornier, secular American traditions with Nelson. They had fun making new traditions of their own after Nox learned that Nelson’s parents had been rather casual in their approach to the holidays. Neither were particularly religious and Nelson’s father had usually worked on Thanksgiving and Christmas so his mother was rarely home, leaving him in the care of various housekeepers throughout the years.

With Merlin’s and Clancy’s help—separately, of course—Nox managed to give Nelson a quiet but loving first Christmas as part of their strange little clan. It had been the happiest holiday season for Nox since they had lost his mother and the quietest he could remember from Merlin and Clancy. Both had been on their best behavior and stayed in their corners, honoring an unspoken truce for Nox and Nelson’s sake, it had seemed.

Spring was indeed upon them. The scenery outside the window revealed softer earth and waking trees, stretching and budding new branches and leaves. Nox saw signs of healing and rebirth as they got away from the city and the suburbs and he settled in for the long drive.

Nature could be cruel, though, and brutally unpredictable. Nox was mindful of that as he pondered Ma MacCrory’s fate. There was finally a break in the investigation, but Nox suspected an old woman’s death was just the first in a series of awful revelations awaiting them in New Castle.

1 Bríd (Breej) An important Irish goddess and member of the Tuatha Dé Danann. The pagan festival Imbolc (Im-blk) is celebrated in her honor.

Three

Nox was caught somewhere between a nightmare and a fever dream when he touched down in the grassy lot in front of the MacCrorys’ rumpled, lopsided trailer. The rest of the ride down to New Castle had been a long, quiet blur, as Nox listened and absorbed what little Nelson had gleaned from the deputy director.

“I’m not mad,” Nox had promised after Nelson apologized again for waiting to tell him about Julian. Their last meeting had ended with Julian making several cryptic threats and hinting that someone was out to get Nox. And there was no denying that Nox got a little…weird about the case. In Nox’s defense, it had been frustrating to see the investigation hit a wall after ol’ Colin’s arrest. “I get why you let Julian stew for a few days. Total power move,” he said.

But Ma MacCrory’s death was a game changer and Nox felt a similar desire to protect Nelson. He still had nightmares about what he saw in the MacCrorys’ barn and what had transpired during the rave in the woods outside of New Castle. Not that Nox blamed Nelson. Seeing your new boyfriend levitate and possibly channel a god was disturbing stuff.

Nox was experiencing his own terrible déjà vu as he turned and counted the paces between him and the barn. The faded triskelion and horns painted onto the side were even more surreal up close. He swung toward the field, with its curls of glittering concertina wire, searching for the gap in the trees on the other side where he’d waited for Nelson months earlier. The yards stretched until they looked like miles and Nox gave his head a shake, momentarily disoriented when he heard a harp strumming and saw himself, but with antlers, watching them through the trees.

Why do I have antlers?

“You okay?” Nelson asked, staring at Nox over the roof of the Continental.

Nox nodded as he held up a thumb. “Yeah. I’m fine.” He pointed at the ME’s van parked next to the sheriff’s SUV. “The gang’s all here.”

“Can’t wait. At least we’ll have reinforcements this time,” Nelson said just as a small convoy of vans crawled around the bend. A team of techs and cadets would cover every square foot of the property and gather any evidence Nelson and Bixby deemed necessary. After his last visit to the MacCrorys’ compound, Nelson came prepared to dismantle the hoarders’ den.

“Think they’ll remember us?” Nox looked back at the woods as he followed Nelson around to the trailer porch’s front steps. They carefully climbed, avoiding the broken planks and Nelson nodded in greeting when Deputy Chip Duncan opened the door for them. The screen’s warped metal frame let out a loud groan, announcing their arrival.

“Gentlemen,” Chip said, bowing his head at Nelson, and then Nox, deferentially.

“Where’s the dog?” Nelson asked quietly, his steely eyes scanning the dark, dusty interior of the trailer. Fumes from rotting food and backed-up plumbing wafted from around the kitchen wall and the short hallway on their left. Nox could make out a sofa and a beat-up recliner amidst the mountains of trash bags and boxes. All were stuffed with clothing, damaged household goods, and electronic odds and ends.

They had visited once, briefly, to interview Ma after Julian’s arrest. She wouldn’t let them in and had threatened to shoot and turn the dog loose. Nox was sad to note that the smell had actually improved since their last visit.

Chip’s cheeks puffed out and he shook his head in disbelief. “Uncle Woody had Little Keith come around with his trailer and they were able to trap that beast with some chili dogs from the Quick Mart.”

“Good,” Nelson said, nodding as he took out his notepad. “Where did you find her?”

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