Page 6 of The Fairy Hunter
“Can we see more of what you’re working on?” Olivia asks with a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes.
“Of course!” the fairy exclaims and hurries for the stairs.
I follow directly behind the fairy, letting one of my hands hover over my dagger. Olivia moves more slowly, and I give a few loud coughs to cover up the sound of her breaking a small potion at the bottom of the stairs.
We reach the next floor, and I’m ready for an attack… but there’s nothing obvious. One end of the room is covered by tarps, and there’s a painting in progress on a little stand, with paint buckets all around it and brushes in a line beside them. Other paintings are stacked along the walls like forgotten garbage… paintings actually done by our Tamara.
Rubbing at the spot above my heart, trying to ease the pain blossoming there, I attempt to force a smile when the fairy takes us to her painting in progress and begins to explain her inspiration. My eyes sting, and I look out at the road through the huge windows, hoping to see a car parked in the shadows, waiting to back us up, but I see nothing. A pang of worry strikes me, but I try to reassure myself that they’ll be here. That we aren’t just walking stupidly into a trap.
“You’re so… creative,” Olivia says a little too loudly, and I realize she’s trying to get me to focus.
I drop my hand from my chest and smile too. “Seriously, Tamara, this is amazing, although I am a little surprised by how much your style has changed.”
The fairy wrinkles its nose and gestures toward the impressionistic paintings. “That stuff? Ugh, no. My skills have improved since then.”
I’m going to enjoy killing this fairy. Slowly.
My smile widens at the thought. “We can’t wait to see what else you’ve come up with.”
“Actually,” she stretches out the word. “I have something really special I’m working on upstairs. You guys want to be the first to see it?”
It’s physically hard not to look at Olivia, because I know we’re both thinking the same thing. Up those stairs is trouble. Up those stairs is danger. But we need to walk into that danger if we have any hope of figuring this thing out.
“Sure,” I manage.
Again, I follow Tamara up the stairs. I cough more this time, causing Tamara to look back at me.
“Allergies,” I manage.
She gives a tight nod, and then we keep going, while I cough some more. I don’t actually hear Olivia shatter the glass spell on the stairs, but I trust her enough to know she’s done it. Without those spells, we’re completely screwed.
When I come to the top of the stairs, I take a few steps forward to allow Olivia to come in behind me even though every instinct tells me to stop immediately and assess the situation. But once I look around, my stomach drops.
Everything in the room has been pushed back against the walls, and there’s a rune carved into the floor. It definitely has the harsh lines of a demonic ritual, but teamed with curly symbols that could only be the work of a fairy. In the center of it, our friends are tied up and gagged. The four of them look frightened. Brenda has a cut on her cheek. Hyun is breathing a little harder than she should be. And Bethany and Shanice look pissed.
There are also seven people around the circle, all staring in our direction, looks of anticipation on their faces. Familiar faces that send my heart racing.
This is worse than I imagined. Much worse.
“Mailman Jeff?” Olivia asks behind me in shock.
Oh, right. One of the people standing around the circle is Jeff. Another is Betty from the bakery. There’s Joe, a cop in town. The PE teacher, Mr. Gary, still wearing his basketball shorts. The others I recognize, but don’t know nearly as well. Still, seeing them here is unsettling.
Our bound friends? Not so much.
The fairy moves toward Mailman Jeff and gives him a big kiss with a smile on her face. “We’re not exactly what you think we are. Or who you think we are…”
I can see she’s about to start the classic villain speech, so I interrupt. “You’re a fairy who killed our friend to use her blood to get into our vault, then you glamoured yourself to look like her so we wouldn’t suspect it.”
Its mouth falls open, but I continue.
“He’s… I’m guessing one of the random spirits that got released when that idiot used the spell to open a portal into the afterlife. And I’m guessing he’s also an ex-lover who needed a body, so took Jeff’s. The rest of them,” I let my gaze run over them, “are more spirits occupying bodies around town. Am I right?”
The fairy closes her mouth, then glares. “Well, yes.”
I sigh and inspect my nails like I’m bored. I need to buy our backup as much time as possible. “And I’m guessing we’re all here to help in your twisted plot to give them permanent bodies?”
The fairy’s glare deepens. “Yes. These spirits are too powerful to occupy their human hosts for long. Besides the fact that the host didn’t agree to this willingly, so they’re still battling them for control.”
