Fairy, Neat (Fairy Files Book 6) Read online

  Friya sneered. “I’ve known a whole village of elves. Grew up right next to them and they were all the same, heartless, thieving, lazy good-for-nothings. I can teach her nothing.”

  “And fairies are vainglorious, sanctimonious, narcissistic creatures who can murder an entire village of elves or trolls, or whatever species it most suits them to exterminate on any given day, and feel no remorse,” Pally said, her face red with anger. I’d never seen Pally angry before.

  Friya took in Pally’s words and her expression softened, her ire dissipated. “You are not wrong, child. But I don’t support the actions of my kind. I joined the rebellion as soon as I was old enough to fight and I’ve sacrificed much to the cause of ending the unjust rule of the fairies. Tell me, how are you unlike your kind?”

  Pally too seemed to let go of her anger. “I matured in an isolated, modest village in the North of Rubalia. A year ago, the fairies declared my people rebels. They slaughtered the entire village. To my knowledge, I’m the sole survivor. I fled Rubalia and I will never return. My home is here. I will always be an elf, but I’ve become friends with Chloe and I will offer no animadversion about her for what was done to my relations and compatriots.”

  I wiped at a surprise tear and resisted the urge to pull Pally in for a hug. I’d never been a hugger or emotional until I’d fallen in love with Frost. Love had made me soft.

  Friya, too, seemed touched by Pally’s story. “I will test you. If you give me any cause not to trust you, I will kill you.”

  Pally looked at me, her expression sad. “Maybe I’m not the aptest person for this occupation.”

  “If you can learn to do this, you’ll have the potential to help a lot of people, to save lives,” I said.

  Pally straightened her shoulders. “I desire the opportunity to assist others and I wish to earn a sufficient amount of money to support myself and be a burden to none. I aspire to have an occupation at which I have exceptional skill.”

  I turned to Friya. “I vouch for Pally. If you have any problems with her, you come to me.” I didn’t mention that I was going to be in Rubalia for the foreseeable future. I was going there to try and send the nightmares, who had taken over and were killing and enslaving Rubalians, back to the nightmare realm.

  “Fine,” Friya said. “Fine, fine. Come with me, elf, and I will test you.”

  Friya shuffled toward the dark hall that led away from the living room. “My appellation is Pally.” Friya ignored her, and Pally sighed and followed her.

  I didn’t want to sit or lean against anything, didn’t want to pick up the dirt and dust and filth of that place, so I stood and rocked on my heels and waited. I wasn’t very good at waiting. I wasn’t very patient and, lately, whenever I had quiet time to myself, my thoughts turned to my mother. My mother who’d been killed by the empress of the nightmares, Ludwiggia. My mother, who’d been difficult and hard and not particularly kind, was gone and I missed her. I felt guilty, because I also didn’t miss her. I didn’t miss her criticism and difficult temperament and it was a relief not to wonder what she’d do next, what new method she’d use to try and manipulate me into doing what she wanted. And I felt guilty for not having known how much trouble she was in with the nightmares. For not being able to save her. The empress Ludwiggia, who had killed my mother, who had destroyed her will and broken her, would pay. I would send her and her nightmares back to the nightmare realm, even if it killed me.

  Pally re-emerged, Friya trailing behind her. “She might just have the ability,” Friya said. “I will work with her and attempt to train her. She will start tomorrow at seven and she will work with me every day until she understands and can do it herself.”

  “Seven? In the morning?” Pally asked with a gulp. “Every day?”

  “I am older than I look, elf,” Friya said. “We must work together every day or there won’t be time for you to learn the craft before I die.”

  “I will be on your doorstep promptly at seven,” Pally said.

  Friya nodded. “Good. You may leave.”

  “One more thing,” I said. I reached into my large purse and pulled out the book I’d found that morning. It was a paperback copy of Anne of Green Gables, its cover torn and its pages yellowed. “The last time we were here, you told me that when you read a book, you can see the lives of the people who’ve read it. Can you tell me what you see when you read this book?”

  Friya reached for the book and I handed it to her. It was difficult to let go, I wanted to cling to it. “It is in terrible shape,” she said. “You should replace it.”

  “My father read it to me every night. I’ll keep it until it disintegrates.”

  She shook her head and scowled, like my sentimentality was silly. “This will take time,” she said.

  “How long?”

  “If you want to know the whole story, I will have to read the whole book. It may take an hour, it may take a day. It depends on how much the book has to tell me.”

  I looked at Pally, my eyebrows high, and she nodded. “We’ll wait,” I said. “If we need to leave, I’ll come back tomorrow.”

  Friya sat at her dining room table and opened the book. Her eyes moved over the words for just a few seconds, before they stilled, like she was watching a movie or in a trance. The pages of the book turned slowly of their own accord.

  I looked away, feeling like it was somehow wrong to watch her, and texted Jared to let him know we’d be a while. He told me to take as long as we needed, he was in no hurry to meet his new ‘douche-in-law.’

  I led Pally into the kitchen. The counter tops were surprisingly clean and there were no dirty dishes in the sink. There was a layer of grime on the floor and the fridge looked like it hadn’t been cleaned since it was purchased, probably in the 1980s. “What do you think?” I asked Pally.

  “This dwelling is revolting,” Pally said. “She should be in a home for the elderly.”

  “Probably. But don’t tell her that. She’s easily offended and, according to rumor, she eats those who offend her.”

  “Don’t wander from absolute veracity out of concern that you might petrify me into relinquishing the job before I’ve begun.”

  “Are you scared off?”

  “No,” Pally said. “I’ve got adequate interpersonal skills. I can handle her and I…There are individuals I’d like to attempt to locate, to at least ascertain if they’re still breathing, to determine whether I really am the only one from my village who survived.”

  “I hope you get some answers.”

  Pally and I chatted about the plans for that evening’s Christmas party. She would be there, as well as Lilith and Ransom, Indigo and Rube, Sapphire and Knuffington, and Brace and Sandra. My other friends wanted to spend time with their families, but might stop by later.

  Jared was getting antsy, texting me every two minutes, and I was beginning to think we should return the next day, when Friya walked into the kitchen, my book in her hand. She gave it to me with a sad smile. “How much do you want to know, child?”

  “I want…I need to know it all. The good and the bad. I need to know the truth.”

  “The truth is slippery, and I only saw a slice of your lives, but I will tell you what I saw.” She gestured for us to follow.

  “I’ll wait here,” Pally said.

  I nodded my thanks and followed Friya to the living room, where she sat in a chair at the book-covered table. She waved at the chair next to her. It looked relatively clean, and I didn’t want to offend her before I got my answers, so I pulled it out and sat. I slipped the book back into my bag.

  “Your father loved you very much, Clarinda. I saw you two together, laughing and playing silly games. He was home every night and he read to you, no matter how hard he’d worked or how tired he was. He loved your mother, too, but he was a social creature and he needed…He needed something your mother couldn’t give him. She loved him as best she could, but she…I saw less of her than him, because it was the two of you that read the book together.
But I saw him fighting with her. She didn’t trust him, no matter how many promises he made. She refused to participate in the games he wanted to play with her, to laugh with him. He accused her of being scared and soon…He made other friends and he spent time with them rather than with her.”

  “Other women?” I asked. “You don’t need to sugarcoat it.”

  Friya’s brows pinched together. “That is what your mother accused him of, but I saw no evidence that he ever strayed. I couldn’t see his thoughts, but I got a sense of his integrity, his loyalty. The book allowed me to see him when he was reading to you, but to also see moments before and after he read, moments that were important to his story. I saw only him, but from what I did see I believe that when he went out, he spent time with friends, dancing and drinking too much. He was hurting, you know, because he loved your mother and she wouldn’t open herself up to him, she wouldn’t really let him in.”

  My heart ached for my mother and for my father. I could picture it. My father, the fun-loving faun, feeling caged by a woman he loved who couldn’t share the joys of life with him. And I could picture my mother, a woman who’d been raised by a cold, unloving father to be a tool for royalty and political advancement. She couldn’t open herself to my father because she didn’t know how to love or how to trust. At least that’s what I assumed, because I was like her in so many ways. And Frost…I’d tried to shut him out, once, to keep myself safe, to protect myself. Luckily, he’d made me see how much that hurt him and I’d let go of my fear and my doubt. I’d let go, but I still had my moments of doubt and fear. I promised myself to banish those moments and never let them rule me. Never again.

  “Are you sure,” I said. “There were no other women?”

  “Not that I could see,” Friya said. “The fauns are loyal to their matches. Your father understood that your mother had initially seduced him for political reasons, but he’d fallen in love with her and he considered her his life-mate, his life-match. He hated the way they fought and he left to escape, but also to protect you from their fights. Until he died.”

  “In a bar fight,” I said. “Caught in the cross-fire, so to speak, trying to help a friend.”

  “He didn’t want to leave you, Clarinda. Clearest of all was how dearly he loved you.”

  A sob burst from me and I swallowed hard not to weep. All those years I’d believed the lies my mother had told me about my father, that he was a cheater, that he hadn’t loved us. I understood that she told those lies because she wanted to protect me and keep me by her side, and I forgave her for them. I felt, like Friya had given my father back to me, had returned to me all the good memories of him that my mother had tainted.

  “Thank you,” I said. I reached into my bag, digging for my wallet, my eyes blurred by unshed tears. “How much do I owe you?”

  Friya patted my knee. “Nothing, child. Just destroy the nightmares and save our people.”

  I stared at her for a long moment, shocked that she knew what was going on. “I’ll do my best.”

  She kissed my cheek. “That’s all anyone can expect. Don’t try to assuage your guilt by becoming a martyr. You are a good child. You do your best and you come home.”

  Her words made the tears I’d been holding back spill down my cheeks. She patted my hand and gave me a fond smile. “I feel I’ve watched you grow from baby to child. You are like one of my own now.”

  ***

  “Nope,” Jared said when I slid into the car next to him. “Get out. I’ll sit next to the one with dry eyes.”

  I thought I’d done a good job of pulling myself together, but Jared must have possessed a sixth sense for tears. I didn’t blame him. I didn’t like crying people either. I got out and let Pally slide in first.

  “Where am I taking you now?” Jared asked.

  “To the club. We need to get ready for the Christmas party you aren’t attending.”

  Jared gave instructions to the driver and leaned back in his seat. “Believe me, I’d much rather be going to your Christmas party than my sister’s wedding.”

  The driver got us to Ephemeral in record time. “Merry Christmas, Jared,” I said. “I hope the wedding goes well. Try not to kill anyone.” I pushed open the car door.

  “Let Pally out,” Jared said. “I have something to say to you.”

  His serious tone made me nervous, but I let Pally out and watched her disappear through the door and into my club. We’d removed the neon sign that hung over the door of the stucco building, and painted the door ash gray to match the outer walls. We’d spread the word that Ephemeral was going out of business. We planned to re-open as a clandestine bar that catered exclusively to the fae after we’d fixed the damage done by the nightmares.

  I sat. “Merry Christmas, sweetheart.” Jared placed a sealed envelope in my hand.

  I just stared at it, until he chuckled. “It’s not going to bite. We have a truce, remember?”

  So, I opened the envelope and found a glitter-covered holiday card. Inside was a check for five thousand dollars and an invitation to a gala to welcome the fae to Sarsaparilla.

  “I don’t understand.”

  He rolled his eyes. “I’ve never known you to be dense, Chloe. The check is to be spent renovating your club and getting it back to what it was before the lizards destroyed it. The invitation is to the gala I promised I’d host. I figured I’d better give you what money I could before my friendship with you bankrupts me.” Jared and I had been feuding because he’d said, on camera, that he didn’t consider me a friend. He claimed he’d been trying to protect his business interests, as I was not exactly popular in the city at the moment. He’d only recently agreed to stop pretending he didn’t know me, but he was convinced our friendship would end his career.

  Tears welled in my eyes. “This is so…But it’s too much, I can’t…”

  “You can and you will. Now, go throw a kick-ass Christmas party and then kick ass in fairy land. I expect you back here by New Year’s.”

  I nodded. “I got you a gift, too. It’s at Letty’s.”

  “I think I can live without it.”

  “You can’t,” I said. “Trust me. Just knock on Letty’s door and she’ll give it to you. She probably won’t even speak to you.” I may or may not have left Jared’s gift at Letty’s in an attempt to get them both to quit being idiots and admit they actually liked each other, but I’d never tell them that. I was sticking to the story that I hadn’t been sure I’d see Jared before we left and I knew Letty would be in town to make sure he got his gift.

  He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a hug. It was Jared, so it was a side-hug, a one-armed hug, a hug that lasted only three seconds, but it was enough of a rarity from him to be meaningful. “I’ll see you when I get back,” I said.

  I climbed out of the car, shut the door, and waved as he rode away. A strange lump was stuck in my throat. I swallowed hard and shook off the moment of melancholy.

  I turned, pushed the door open and stepped into my club. Sandra and Pierson were chatting behind the bar while she helped him unpack boxes of glasses. Pierson laughed easily, his handsome face lighting up. It was good to see him smile, since there hadn’t been much for him to smile about in a long time. My beautiful club had been wrecked by a combination of fae-hating vandals and kidnapping nightmares, but Pierson, my employees, Frost’s checkbook, and I had been busy over the past few days and we’d gotten a fresh coat of primer up to cover the red the vandals had splashed on the walls, and we’d replaced a few of the necessaries we’d need behind the bar. We had card tables and folding chairs that had been borrowed from friends and neighbors set out for the party. As it turned out, Brace loved to cook and had volunteered to fix the food for our Friemily Christmas party. Friemily was a word coined by Sapphire to mean friends who were family.

  Pierson had never loved that Ephemeral offered fantasies to women, the harsh scar on his face a constant reminder of what could happen when a woman couldn’t accept that the attention she’d been
receiving wasn’t going to lead to more. Since we’d decided to change the focus and purpose of the club, Pierson had seemed happier and looser. The club was as dear to him as it was to me, and it was clear he was excited about the changes.

  I stuffed Jared’s card and invitation into my purse and slammed the check he’d given me on the bar top. “Something to keep you busy while we’re in Rubalia.”

  Pierson stopped mid-sentence and faced me. He put down the glass in his hand and walked over to look at what I’d just put on his bar. “Did you rob a bank?”

  I smiled. “Nope. This is just a little Christmas present from Jared. Guess he feels bad about slandering me to the press.”

  Pierson let out an uncharacteristic whoop. I was glad I was on the other side of the bar because he looked like he wanted to hug me. Pierson did not understand the rules of hugging. He liked to hold on tight and not let go until I begged for mercy. Instead, he grabbed Sandra, hugged her and spun her around. “We’re rich,” he shouted in mock sincerity. “The club is saved.”

  And he might not be exaggerating. The sooner we got the club back in working and tidy order, the sooner we could open our doors to the fae and start turning a profit. Assuming we could attract enough fae with money to spend. It would be a challenge, because human alcohol didn’t get fae drunk, but Rube had been talking to the fae while he collected taxes and had gotten a few drink recipes his sources promised would be well-loved. It would be a learning experience and might take a while to be profitable, but I felt good about it. Indigo could help the fae acclimate to the Non and I could give them a place they felt at home again.

  ***

  Knuffington and Sapphire showed up just as Pally, Lilith, and I finished hanging Christmas lights from the rafters. Lilith, who wore a flowing maxi dress that covered her harpy wings and taloned feet, went to the stage to warm up with her boyfriend, Ransom. They were providing the music for the night. I hugged Knuffington and Sapphire. Knuffington was a faun who’d worked in the court of my grandfather the faun king. Knuffington was as formal and serious as he’d been when I’d first met him, but he was happier, his expression softening with love every time he looked at Sapphire. Sapphire, who was a little bit river nymph and a lot human, had once been my roommate, but she was forever my best friend and foremost lover of kitsch. Her dark skin glowed with happiness, her pregnant belly adorable in a rose-patterned dress, her blue hair up in an intricately braided bun. “What is this?” I asked, gesturing to the three bags they held between them, all filled with wrapped gifts. “I thought we’d agreed we wouldn’t be exchanging gifts.”