Page 60 of Deadly Lineage
My fingers danced along the steering wheel as a song I loved played on the radio. Yeah, call me crazy, but I still preferred listening to the radio. Momma streamed her music. Pops didn’t care. I liked the unpredictability of the radio.
“Human music is interesting.”
My heart jumped, but thankfully the rest of me stayed seated. Adrenaline rushed through my veins, turning my hands clammy and sending a bead of sweat down my back. I really needed to make do on my threat and put a bell on Aurelia.
Ignoring the fact that she’d just popped up on the passenger’s seat, I asked, “How so?”
“It has many facets. I find it interesting that so many different sounds can be created.” When a chanced a glance her direction, Aurelia’s typically blank face was pulled into a thoughtful frown. “It has the ability to impart many different feelings.”
“That’s what makes it so amazing,” I agreed easily.
“It is one of humanity’s better accomplishments. None of the other species are so artfully prolific. Humans truly are a conundrum.”
“Yeah. I wouldn’t waste your time contemplating it much. You’ll just give yourself a headache.” I grinned, hoping she’d find me amusing.
Instead, all Aurelia answered was, “I do not get headaches.”
I rolled my eyes. “It was a figure of speech.”
I’m not sure if Aurelia understood or not. Evidently bored with the conversation, she said, “Peaches asked me to speak with you and I agreed to do so.” This seemed very important to Aurelia, that it was her choice.
“That was kind of you.”
“Was it?” Aurelia sounded genuinely curious. “I had not thought of it in those terms.”
I hoped that wasn’t a deterrent now. Moving on, I asked, “What does he have to say?” And why hadn’t he just picked up the phone and called? Maybe Peaches wanted to give Aurelia something to do. Or maybe he was testing her agreeable waters. That sounded more like something King Moony would do, not Peaches.
“Peaches asked me to relay that he and Lucroy have spoken with the fairies, brownies, warlocks, witches, werewolves, dwarves, and other pixies. None of them believe one of their species could do what you asked.”
I sighed. “Shred a soul?” I asked, simply for clarification. With Aurelia, that was often necessary.
“Indeed,” she answered easily. “As with Warlock Holland, Warlock Kines said he might be able to do it, but would need the assistance of a necromancer to do so. Wendall also spoke with the fairy queen.”
“Queen Silvidia?” I’m not sure why I asked. As far as I knew, there was only one fairy queen, and given that Wendall was her nephew, it made sense that she would be the one Aurelia spoke of.
“Yes. Queen Silvidia did not understand the meaning of the question. It is still uncertain if she could do such a thing, only that she said doing so would be meaningless and therefore pointless.”
“In other words, she didn’t do it.”
“Peaches and Lucroy deemed that true.”
I turned left and onto my street. Three houses down and my driveway came into view. I slowed to turn into my drive and noticed the graffiti on the sidewalk, just outside Pops’s wards.Filthy Necromancer,Abomination, andDiefinished off the well-wishes.
My shoulders automatically rounded as I pulled into the drive. Shivers wracked my body and my heart hammered within my chest. I sat in my car, the engine running and the radio playing. I couldn’t have said what song was currently on. My mind was filled with static. Aurelia was no longer in the car beside me. It was an errant thought, there and gone, just like the djinn.
Eyes squeezed closed, I tried to erase the image from my mind. No one had ever done something like that and they would have had to have done it in broad daylight. Those words certainly weren’t there when Franklin had picked me up this morning. Suddenly, that time seemed so very far away.
I needed to get out of my car. I needed to photograph the images. I needed to call Franklin. I needed… Gaia, I wasn’t sure what I needed.
“Breathe, Erasmus. Breathe,” I commanded my body and prayed it obeyed. Counting, I inhaled, held it, and then exhaled. I could do this. I could get out of my car and do what needed doing. There was a good chance the douchebag responsible was hiding somewhere, just waiting to see what my reaction would be. Well, if they were expecting histrionics, then they were about to be sadly disappointed.
With calculated calm, I stepped from my car and closed the door, careful not to slam it. I wasn’t about to give these fuckers the satisfaction of knowing they’d gotten to me. Purposefully walking down the drive, I found Aurelia already standing on the street, staring at the poisonous words. I wasn’t sure if she currently allowed others to see her or not.
Walking up beside her, I casually took out my phone and took a few pictures. Each one was like a stone sitting in my gut. I hated placing the images into my phone log.
“I do not understand,” Aurelia stated, voice devoid of emotion. “What is the purpose of this?” She waved a hand at the spray-painted words.
“The point is to hurt me,” I answered.
