Page 52 of Mayhem and Ember

“I’m the most indecent man you’ll ever meet.”

Her pheromones flared at my words, the intoxicating scents of campfire and sandalwood making my mouth water. She cleared her throat. “No kidding.”

“Their methods are evolving, but I don’t believe organizing is the right word.” Chaos laid his fork and knife on his empty plate. “If it were the greater fae horde behind the attack, they’d have struck in full force by now.”

“I see your point.” I drummed my fingers on the table. “It must be a smaller faction. Someone who has fallen out of favor with the king. Doesn’t Argon have a half-brother?”

Chaos nodded. “Ignacus. He was never afforded the training of a true fae prince, and this invasion reeks of inexperience, especially his choice of Salem. The veil may be thinnest here, but the coven is the strongest.”

“Indeed it does. And he is unaware that two of the three Princes of Hell currently reside in the town he has chosen to invade.” I couldn’t fault Ignacus for trying. Though born of royal blood, his mother was a mere servant, so the king had never taken him seriously. Invading another land to claim it as his own was a logical move.

“How do you know so much about the fae?” Ember asked.

“The same way you learned about demons,” Chaos said. “With research and experience.”

Ash rubbed her forehead. “So there’s not going to be a full-scale invasion?”

“It depends on how many followers he was able to amass.” I laid my napkin across my plate, putting my exploding lunch to rest.

Ember shoved her plate away. “Are we talking twenty? Two hundred? Two thousand?”

“Could be,” I said.

“Which?”

“Any or all.”

“Hey, y’all.” Stacey stood before our table, clasping her hands. “I’ll get these plates out of your way, and I was wondering if you’d mind closing out. My shift is over, and I’ve got to get to class.”

“Yeah. Of course.” Ember handed her a card, and she tugged a machine from her belt, tapping the plastic rectangle against it before handing both to Ember.

“Thanks for coming in.”

“Thank you.” Ember handed the machine to Stacey and slid off the bench. “Let’s continue this chat at home. I have even more questions now.”

18

EMBER

Way too many tourists milled about the streets for us to continue our conversation outside, so we walked most of the way home in silence. Ash slowed down as we passed an antique shop, but I kept going full speed ahead. One of her jobs in the coven was perusing the local shops and confiscating any artifacts that contained real magic.

“Ember,” she shouted, but I kept walking.

“We don’t have time for that now,” I said over my shoulder before returning my gaze to the pair of demons in front of me.

“Ember!” she nearly screeched, stopping me mid-stride.

I whirled toward her as she jutted her thumb toward the window and mouthed there’s a gnome.

“Oh for Hecate’s sake.” I started to call for the guys, but what good would they do? Gnomes were a breed all their own, not demonic, not fae or vampire either. They were just venomous little pests who lived amongst the elves across the veil, tending to their gardens, but digging up ours every chance they got.

Ash disappeared into the shop, and I followed right behind. The dim lighting inside starkly contrasted the bright afternoon. I blinked, trying to force my eyes to adjust, when a two-foot-tall ball of fur and blubber darted past me and headed down the book aisle.

Ash linked arms with Betty, the shop owner with soft pink hair and more laugh lines than I could count, and led her toward the back corner, far away from me and the annoying little bugger chewing on the corner of a children’s book.

He spat out the paper, wiping his tongue with his grubby hands in disgust, and I reached beneath my jacket for my knife. Gripping the handle, I scanned the ceiling and corners, making sure Betty hadn’t invested in security cameras since the last time I was here. She hadn’t, so I crept toward the gnome, doing my best not to startle him.

The door opened, making a bell chime, and Chaos called, “Ash?”

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