Chapter 6

6

H ades dropped the puppet to the ground and turned to face the thieves as they swarmed into the pub. Suddenly, there was what can only be described as a huge swell of water gushing past the broken windows of the pub, and on it crested a huge wooden sailing ship.

"Now there's something you don't see every day," Olivia muttered.

Moments later, the door burst open again, and a man in clothing similar to Ali Baba's and brandishing a long, curved sword stood in the threshold, surrounded by salty-looking sailors.

"SINBAD!" Ali Baba roared, then lunged forward.

Tables overturned and customers shrieked and screamed as thieves and sailors smashed into chairs and walls amid the clash of steel. Olivia ducked as a beer bottle hurtled past her head and crashed against the wall behind the bar.

"What do we do?" Roni yelped as one of the thieves rushed her. Snatching a nearby drinks tray, she cracked him sharplyon the head.

"I haven't a clue." Olivia yanked Roni out of the way, watching as the thief Roni had just knocked out crumpled to the floor. "Hades?"

"Don't look at me." He picked up his glass and leaned elegantly against the bar, then took a slow sip and surveyed the carnage. "I'm not supposed to interfere with the mortal realms, remember? But might I suggest you find the root cause?"

"You interfere plenty when it suits you," Olivia snapped as she watched Theo wrestle one of Sinbad's sailors.

"The perks of being a god." He smiled as he drank.

"Watch out!" Olivia dragged the semi-conscious Sleeping Beauty from her bar stool and hauled her out of the way right when a thief and sailor banged into the bar and rolled over the top of it in a mad tangle of limbs while trying to punch each other viciously.

Olivia looked over andsaw a familiar face. "Oh, hey, Dom." She smiled at the small man sitting at the end of the bar as she propped the sleeping woman against the wall.

"Olivia." He grinned with a perverse delight at the fairy-tale brawl. "Always a pleasure to be back in Mercy."

Dominik Savage was a notoriously hard-to-please travel blogger who'd visited Mercy the previous winter to debunk its claims of witchcraft and prove it was nothing but a poor man's Salem.

However, his visit had coincided with the veil between life and death disappearing inside the pub and the subsequent spirit infestation. Needless to say, he'd had somewhat of a baptism of fire and was now not only a full-on believer but also a more or less permanent fixture in the town since he'd become best friends with Jackson.

"Friend of yours?" Dom's brow rose as he peered down at the unconscious woman propped beside his bar stool.

"Fairy-tale creature," Olivia replied.

"Never a dull moment." He smirked.

"You're telling me," Olivia murmured, noticing the sailor behind the bar rise to his feet. Having obviously bested his opponent, his menacing gaze locked onto the four-foot-tall man sitting comfortably on a bar stool and sipping a bourbon.

"You!" he hissed, pointing his wickedly curved blade at Dom. "What are you? An evil imp?"

Dom stared at him flatly and flipped him the finger. Before the sailor could lunge at him, the man's eyes rolled back in his head. For a second, Olivia could've sworn the guy had little Tweety-Pies flapping around his head before he dropped to the floor.

Jackson stepped over the unconscious sailor, a baseball bat propped comfortably on one shoulder and a bottle of Jim Beam in his hand.

"Olivia?" He lifted the bottle.

"No thanks, Jackson."

"Refill, Dom?"

"Don't mind if I do." Dom held out his glass. "I like what you've done with the place."

"Thanks." Jackson lifted a bowl of snacks off the bar as one of the thieves was sent skidding along it to crash into the wall at the other end. "The seats have been re-upholstered and we've added some new art to the walls." Jackson poured himself a drink.

"Theo's work?" Dom remarked politely and ducked as another bottle smashed against the wall.

"Aye." Jackson clinked his glass against Dom's and they both drank deeply.

"Olivia!" Theo tossed one of the sailors out the window and into the street, then called out to his wife.

"Yeah, I'm here." She stepped over a couple of unconscious bodies on the floor, heading toward him, and was met halfway by Roni and Hades.

"Okay, Hades." She took the drink from his hand and slammed it on a nearby table. "How do we stop this?"

"I have no idea." He shrugged. "But you can't put them back until you know where they came from. Retrace your steps back throughout the day. There must have been a point when you first noticed something wasn't right."

"Olivia?" Theo drew her attention.

"Yeah?" She turned to find him staring at the ground between the bodies rolling around.

"Look familiar?"

Her gaze focused on where he was pointing. Suddenly she saw it: child-sized, glittery footprints, just like the ones they'd seen in the pumpkin patch.

Olivia and Theo stared at each other.

"The goblin," they both uttered.

"You have a goblin?" Hades' brow lifted slightly.

"You think he caused all this?" Olivia asked.

"I couldn't say." Hades mused. "They are known for causing mischief and chaos wherever they go, however."

"So, how do we get rid of him?" Roni asked.

Olivia frowned. "From what I read briefly earlier, I think they can be banished by forcing them to wear clothes."

"Weird," Roni replied, "but okay."

Olivia shook her head. "We need to find him first."

"That's simple. We just follow the footprints," Theo answered. "It's how we found him the first time."

Olivia glanced up at the ceiling with worry, thinking about the private apartment above them.

"I don't know that it's such a good idea leaving the children here while all this is going on."

"They'll be fine," Hades replied easily. "I'll make sure no harm comes to them."

"But you're not supposed to interfere, remember?" She cocked one brow and he shrugged. "I swear you make the rules up as you go along." She sighed.

"Get going." He gave her a nudge toward the door.

"Fine." She rose up on tiptoes and kissed Hades'cheek. "Thank you."

"Go," he repeated, the corner of his mouth twitching in amusement.

"Alright." Olivia turned toward the door. "Theo? Roni? Let's go goblin-hunting."