Page 44 of Brimstone and Broomsticks
Chapter 15
Lucien
When Cassie had said the troll lived under a bridge, I’d thought…I don’t know, maybe something like one of those homeless tent-cities between the concrete supports of a highway overpass? I hadn’t expected an adorable stone bungalow tucked in beside a creek. There was indeed a bridge that went over the back part of the roof and over the creek before winding through the woods on the other side, but it looked as if it rarely saw any traffic.
“My favorite color is blue,” Cassie shouted as she knocked on the door. I must have given her a perplexed look because she turned to me with a grin and told me it was from a movie.
Alberta opened the door, clearly nervous.
Cassie held out the bead. “You broke the wards, Alberta.”
The troll squirmed. “There’s lots of people that have beads like that,” she countered.
“I did a spell. It’s yours.”
I shot Cassie an appreciative glance. She’d lied.
Alberta clearly didn’t know that. She looked down at her feet. “It’s not against the rules for me to leave the town. I can come and go as I please. Not my fault the wards broke. They do that sometimes with fae.”
“With fae who are in the middle of casting a spell, or carrying a fae-enchanted object that’s been activated,” Cassie countered. “What were you doing Alberta?”
“None of your business.” The troll tried to close the door and I stuck my foot in to block it.
“Does it have something to do with this?” I showed her my coin.
Her eyes widened. “I didn’t steal it. I promise I didn’t steal it. I found it and it’s mine. I was taking it to my special place. That’s why I crossed the wards. I didn’t steal. And I get to come and go whenever I please. I did nothing wrong.”
Cagey. Defensive. One didn’t have to be a demon to know that this troll had been up to something she really didn’t want Cassie knowing about. And I got the feeling it wasn’t about my coin either.
“I don’t want people to find my treasures, you know?” Alberta continued. “Especially the fairies. They think I keep everything here under my bridge, and I know sometimes they search for stuff, so I have a secret hiding place.”
Cassie got an unreadable, carefully blank expression on her face that I was certain worked in the courtroom. It definitely worked on me. “Why have your treasure place outside the town limits? On the other side of the wards?”
Alberta squirmed. “No one looks there. And my magic is full-force outside the wards, so I can safeguard my special place and the wards don’t interfere with that.”
I assumed that meant it would be hard for anyone to find outside of a witch casting a divination spell. Even another fae would most likely struggle to see through a troll’s glamour.
“Where is Clinton Dickskin?” I asked the troll, taking the sort of tone I used when interrogating, punishing actually, souls in hell.
Both women flinched. Alberta whimpered, then seemed to get control of herself.
“Clinton is missing? When did he go missing?”
Fae. They couldn’t lie, but they could dance around the truth like nobody’s business. One of the reasons I avoided them like the plague.
“Did you put Clinton’s blood into Lucien’s hotel room?” Cassie took over. Again I imagined her questioning witnesses in the courtroom, setting her ex’s pants on fire. This needed to wrap up and soon so I could get her back home and into bed.
“No, I didn’t put Clinton’s blood into Lucien’s hotel room,” Alberta squeaked.
“Were you there when someone else put Clinton’s blood into Lucien’s hotel room?”
“No.”
“Do you know who put Clinton’s blood into Lucien’s hotel room?”
“No. I wasn’t there. I don’t know who did that. Check with Dallas, or someone in his pack. I was there last night outside the tavern when Lucien and Clinton fought. When they all scattered, I picked up the coin Lucien dropped.” She shot the demon a nervous glance. “It wasn’t stealing. When you lose something, it’s fair game.”
I didn’t care. The damned thing didn’t seem to be working, and it wasn’t like I was in a hurry to return to hell any time in the near future. I was more curious how it had gotten out of my pocket without my removing it.
