Page 32 of Soulbound Shadows: Part 1

Cardamom pouted perfect lips. “No fun, no fun. So lovely to look at, but no fun at all to play with. Boring, pretty people.”

“Why do you keep calling us that?” Gabriel asked.

“Because you’re both so pretty!” Cardamom exclaimed. They clapped their hands, and a burst of sparkles rippled across the water. “Don’t you think she’s pretty, Morpgus?”

“Morpgus?” Gabriel repeated, baffled.

“You said I could call you anything,” Cardamom said. “And I’m going to have fun with names one way or the other. Morpgus. Pissly. Trevor. Now, stop avoiding the question.”

“The—” Gabriel cut himself off with a sigh. “I… Yes. I do think she’s… pretty.”

“All right,” I muttered. “Don’t strain yourself. You look like you’re about to rupture something.”

“Now wait a moment. Wait. Everybody wait!” Cardamom said, striding through the water. Their shape changed fluidly as they moved, sometimes tall, sometimes short. Sometimes there were scales or the suggestion of feathers, or just smooth, flawless skin. When they stood in front of us, they were about my height, covered with a scattering of fish scales that looked like glittering freckles, and bald-headed, with dark blue skin and silver eyes that matched their scales.

“I know you,” Cardamom said, leaning in close to my face. They smelled like honey and decay. “You’re the detective! Yes, yes, the detective who stole my baby!” They cheered, clapping their hands.

“I didn’t—” I glanced at Gabriel, who looked absolutely shocked. “I didn’t steal your baby. You stole the baby, and I got her back.”

“You returned my poor darling baby to her dreadful, miserable, boring parents. They never took her anywhere interesting, you know,” Cardamom said with a sniff.

“She was a newborn,” I huffed. “They don’t need to get out much.”

“Still,” the fairy said with a dismissive wave of their hand. “That awful nursery. So many matte surfaces. And pastels! Can you even imagine?” Cardamom shook their head, becoming short and willowy, with curly gray hair that reached the ground, long spiraling horns that dripped with jewelry, and darkly kohled eyes with startlingly golden irises. “Are you here to steal something else from me, Detective?” A tiny lightning bolt flashed in their cloud of hair.

“We aren’t here to take anything from you,” Gabriel said, quiet but firm. “We’re just passing through. As soon as we find a path to the top of the cliff, we’ll be out of your way.”

“A path that my friend and I can take safely, without being changed in any way,” I added. I knew from first-hand experience how easily the fair folk could twist your words.

Cardamom tapped their chin, gazing into space. “I might know a way. But can you afford the price?”

I reached into the bottomless tote, hoping something Marcus had left in there would be useful. The bag’s magic pushed three things into my hands. Perfect. Fairies loved doing things in threes.

“I can offer you three gifts in payment for safe passage for the two of us,” I said, trying to make my voice dramatic and tempting. Fae enjoyed that sort of thing, which was why so many who lived in the city were involved in the theater. I pulled the items out of the bag and laid them one by one on the mossy ground between the three of us.

First was a small camping radio, the sort with built-in solar panels. “This can play music for you. And it’s waterproof, so you don’t have to worry about, you know…” I waved a hand at the waterfall.

“This is to, uh, accentuate your beauty,” I said, laying down a sheet of the same type of plastic stick-on gem earrings I’d gotten at the mall when I was five.

Cardamom gasped delightedly and clapped their hands.

“And this,” I added gravely, laying down the last thing the bag had given me, “is a banana slicer.” Why the hell did Marcus have a banana slicer? I’d ask him when I got back to town.

“All right, all right, you’ve convinced me,” Cardamom said, making grabby hands at the banana slicer. “There’s a ladder in the cave behind the falls. Now, get out of here. Can’t you see that I’m busy?” They started putting the plastic gems on their face, losing all interest in us completely.

The cave behind the waterfall was small and absolutely full to bursting. It looked like a magpie and an insane aristocrat hoarder had decided to move in together, and then they’d robbed a Claire’s. There were glittery baubles and scraps of fabric everywhere I looked covering the walls, hanging from the ceiling, piled on the floor. Of to one side was a row of old ladder rungs set into the stone. They’d been wrapped in faded silk scarves, dried flowers, and something that looked like a cobweb made out of tiny pearls. One of the rungs had a wind chime made of broken CDs hanging from it.

I climbed up, and Gabriel followed. When we reached the top, I pushed open an old metal hatch and clambered out into the late-afternoon sunlight. I walked over to the cliff’s edge and looked down. Gabriel closed the hatch behind himself and padded after me. Cardamom was dancing wildly in the middle of the river, cradling the radio to their chest. I couldn’t hear what they were listening to over the roar of the water.

“They seem happy with their haul,” I said.

“I’ve never seen someone so excited about…” Gabriel cocked his head and closed his eyes for a moment, listening. “The traffic report.”

We stared down at the dancing fairy for a moment. Eventually, Gabriel turned to me, looking puzzled.

“A banana slicer?” he asked.

I couldn’t help it. I burst into giggles.

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