Page 45 of Lux

Body parts for this insane, demented lost one to chop to her heart’s content.

She catches me staring. Winces. “I don’t like this one. Everyone out. Out!”

“We will leave soon, my dearest. Just as soon as you tell us one more thing.”

Ginni shakes her head, nearly sending her glasses flying off her nose. “Don’t want to. Don’t want! Don’t!”

“Careful now, darling one. Listen to me carefully. I need you to use your contacts now. For me. Ask them about a fae. A frail-looking creature, long, dark hair. Pale and gaunt. Beady little eyes?—”

“Beautiful,” I snap. “Niamh is beautiful.”

Altaris waves the material he once held to his nose dismissively. “In any case, Ginni dear, we need to find her soon. Remember how we don’t like it when the boneys show up on our doorstep?”

Ginni shudders. “Nosey boneys! Pestering. They take my bones and bits away. All my bloodied bits!”

“Yes, my darling.” Altaris nods. “They also confiscate our very important blood supply. If we don’t find this fae creature before they do, there will be dozens upon dozens of boneys on our doorsteps, dear one. They will shut us down for weeks, if that. No new supply of blood for our darling housemates. They may close down our operation entirely and we don’t need that, do we?”

Ginni cringes, horrified. “No! No!”

“Good. So go into your quiet place and ask those contacts of yours about a fae.”

“Oh!” Ginni reaches up, grasping fistfuls of her hair. Then she nods. “Yes. Yes. A moment, please.” She scurries to a door at the back of the room. It leads to a closet. She clambers inside and slams the door in her wake.

“It won’t be long now,” Altaris says, unfazed. “Scythe, darling, why don’t you go out and scout a path for us? Make sure there are no unsavory characters about.”

The blue-haired one nods and fades into the shadows.

“And you, Caspian…” Altaris eyes me warily, his gaze unreadable. “We need to discuss that girl of yours, you and I. She is dangerous. I have told you that. Her mind is a warped little hive. There are ways to free yourself from her, should you choose. You merely have to ask?—”

“Noises!” Ginni shrieks from behind the door of her closet. “Noises! Noises! I require silence!”

With another sigh, Altaris presses a finger to his mouth.

For what seems like hours, we stand and fucking wait.

Finally, the door to the closet opens. Ginni reappears, tugging at her hair with trembling fingers. “My contacts are restless, yes,” she says gravely. Her eyes gleam behind her glasses as she looks up. She is ecstatic. “So many naughty thoughts on the wind. So much impending murder. So many new bodies to chop and chop!” She rubs her hands together and spins in a gleeful circle.

“Ah-hem.” Altaris clears his throat. “Ginni, darling…”

“Ah, yes. The fae one is here, nearby. A circus of freaks and sideshows. Somewhere on the outskirts of town. You should find her soon,” she adds, smiling longingly, staring at nothing. “So very many want to chop her up. They’ve seen her, yes.”

“Boneys?” Altaris questions.

Ginni shakes her head. “Oh no. Worse. Far, far worse. Oh dear! An ancient being--like you. He is very naughty.” She giggles and squeals like a fucking child craving a delicious sweet. She is odd. Disturbing. The way she smiles while surrounded by death and decay is disturbing.

Yet… So did I once.

“There are other monsters on the prowl,” she declares happily. “So very many. They seek to take and eat and loom in her shadow. You must find her quickly now. Or don’t. How I would love to have a fae to chop and chop?—”

“Thank you, darling.” Altaris stands tall and tucks his fabric scrap into his pocket. “It seems as though we should be on our way.”

“Yes, yes,” Ginni says, appearing behind him. With her tiny hands, she practically shoves him toward the door. “It is almost business hours. Opening time. Sunset is opening time, the start of business time. You promised. No bothering me then. It is a rule.”

“Yes, dear one,” the older vamryre says gently. He lets her push him from her room as I follow. Not because she threatens me. It would be easy for me to break her and rip those delicate limbs off one by one.

She is creepy, though. Something is wrong with that one, a brokenness in her brain.

It makes her strange. Dangerous in a way that Cassiopeia and I never were.

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