Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

I honestly didn't know where the Nucklevee had been planning to go.

The door to the backroom was closed, and knobs weren't exactly designed with hooves in mind. And it wasn't as though he had time to change back into his humanoid shape, because Lorcan was right on his heels, and Maverick already had another spell readied and writhing between his hands. There was no way the Nucklevee was going to escape.

But then, he was Fae.

And that meant his options had just increased. Maybe he possessed magic that would allow him to simply create a doorway, something that would allow him to slip into the realms of Faerie. Or maybe he was panicking and just wasn't thinking clearly at all. Goddess knew people did stupid things when they were freaking out.

Whatever the reason, whatever the plan, he was running.

Over the clatter of hooves, I heard Taliyah give a long, tired, drawn-out sigh. And then the air went cold and diamond bright as frost crawled over the piles of junk and shattered wood in the small space. Ice snaked across the floor, and when the Nucklevee's front hooves came down, they skidded out from under him.

He panicked, legs flailing as he tried to regain his balance. His hindquarters slid to the side and took out a scooter as his back legs went out from under him.

Looking back, I wasn't sure why I did it. There were probably a lot of factors involved, if I really wanted to dig into it. Factors like: I was tired. I was frustrated. I was still annoyed by the fact that Lorcan had forgotten what I was starting to realize was a pretty important date to me. The traces of a nasty curse were clinging to my arms… There was also the not harmless fact that the Nucklevee's enormous body was threatening to flatten me and Mr. Hughes against the wall. That was, in a word: motivating.

In the end, I think I was just done. Done with the fight, done with the evening, just done with it all. So, when the Nucklevee skidded around towards me, I took the cursed mirror in both hands, the shadows pouring down my arms to coat the glass in night, and I swung it like it was a baseball bat and I was aiming for the outfield.

There was a weird not-sound. Kind of an implosion. One second, enormous faerie horse, the next a pop of displaced air, and empty space. Everyone froze, staring. Carefully, I turned the mirror just far enough to see into the darkened glass.

Inside the frame was a perfect reflection of the store, with its destroyed shelves and chaos. There was also a Nucklevee having whatever the equine equivalent of a tantrum was, bucking and rearing and kicking at anything that came within reach of his hooves. It was kind of funny to watch, all of it in silence.

"Well, I guess that's that," I said, and then yawned.

Lorcan snorted a laugh. Taliyah looked extremely unimpressed, but then I'd been expecting that. Maverick just rolled his eyes and shook off the spell that was clinging to his arms.

The rain overhead was still drumming on the roof, but at least the thunder wasn't trying to shake the building apart any longer. But then, my cousin was always over the top in everything and anything he did, the dramatic weirdo.

I held the mirror out to Taliyah, ignoring the way my arms shook with the weight. "Beddow had been cursing Hughes' stock for a while now, trying to drive him out of business." I gave the mirror an awkward waggle. "So. There you go. He's all yours, now. Maverick can spring him, when you're ready and then do with him whatever you want to. My work here is done."

Taliyah was glaring at me, a muscle in the corner of her jaw ticking slightly while she ground her teeth together. It wasn't a great response, I could admit that much. I didn't think she would actually throw a spell at me, or anything like that, but she could make my life difficult if she wanted to. Which would be really ungrateful, since I did most of the work and caught the bad guy on her case for her.

Some people, I guess.

I refused to let the awkwardness show and tossed my head to shake my hair back over my shoulder. "I can see to Mr. Hughes," I continued, because it seemed like Taliyah was so angry that she still couldn't form words. "But if you could tell some of our more burly and helpful members of the Council to come and maybe help tidy up this mess?" Then I motioned to the ruined store around us.

Yes, it looked bad now, but Roy could easily haul the shelves back into place, and Fifi and Poppy were exactly the type to help a poor old man who was the victim of supernatural attack to clean up his gross pawnshop. Maverick could go ahead and remove Hughes' memories so he wouldn't have to live with the fact that he'd been imprisoned in a mirror before getting attacked by a horse.

Yes, I could have removed his memories, but I was spent.

Another few seconds ticked by and Taliyah's glare just got colder. It did give me a moment's worry, but the Nucklevee actually had moved from attacker to pretty good hostage. If I hurled the mirror at Taliyah, she would have to catch it before it broke, giving me the chance to book it out the back door. Sure, I'd have to face her at some later date, but for now I just wanted to get home and pour myself a strong drink.

Finally, Taliyah pinched her nose and sighed. She didn't say anything for a moment, but I got the distinct impression she was counting backwards from ten.

"Give it here," she snapped, holding out her hands for the mirror. "Mr. Beddow and I need to have a talkabout why we do not go around cursing mundanes."

"Good idea," I said as I handed the mirror to her.

Once the mirror was in her hands, Taliyah pinned me with an icy look. "I'll deal with you later."

I flapped a hand, keeping my smile pinned in place. "It's alright, there's no need to thank me."

Well, I thought, feeling the pinch of glass still embedded in my knees, maybe a little bit of thanks would be nice, instead of someone trying to call me to task like a teenager throwing a house party.

Especially from a woman almost a century my junior.

Taliyah didn't look impressed at my attempt at levity, but she spun on her heel and marched for the door. Maverick fell into step behind her after giving me a look with one raised brow. Before they even hit the door, I heard Taliyah launching into her lecture. And before I'd even finished letting out the aggrieved sigh that, of course, was going to follow, Lorcan was at my side. His hand fluttered up to the side of my face, hesitant, like he was worried that he might hurt me just by touching me.

It coaxed a reluctant smile to my face. The sap.

"Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?"

Mr. Hughes' plaintive voice cut through what was shaping up to be a pretty sweet moment, and I turned to glare at him.

"You! Right, let's get this over with," I said on another sigh. "I need a hot bath, a massage, and a bottle of wine, yesterday."

I stalked across the floor towards the elderly pawnshop owner, and whatever expression I was making had him scrambling up to his feet and trying to slink down the wall towards the backroom, like he was going to attempt to escape.

"Don't make me chase you," grunted. "You've already caused me enough trouble tonight."

Hughes started stammering something about calling the police, as if their Chief hadn't just walked out of his shop to secure a mirror in the back of her car.

I rolled my eyes. "Listen. Relax, and this will go easy." Then I rolled my eyes a second time. "Leave it to Maverick to take off and leave me to deal with you," I continued, shaking my head. "As if I haven't played the part of hero all night." Then I sighed and gave Hughes a look. "Be a pain in my rear, and I'm not going to wipe your memories at all."

Of course, that wasn't true.

"Wipe my memories?" he started, staring at me in utter confusion. But it made him hold still long enough for me to work the memory charm on him.

I was still a little tempted to give him some ridiculous, or embarrassing cover memory just because he was a pain in my very shapely ass. But I was already on thin ice with Taliyah, pun completely intended, and I didn't want to push it.

There'd be time for that later.

***

With Hughes sleeping off his rearranged memory on the broken-down couch in the pawnshop's backroom, I finally felt like I could take a breath. This had been a disaster and a half, and after all the trouble the idiot and his horse-faced rival had caused me, I hoped the broken spring in the couch left a permanent imprint on his spine. If Lorcan hadn't been here to do the heavy lifting, I would have left the fool to sleep it off on the floor, surrounded by the truly impressive wreckage of his store.

I still couldn't believe Taliyah was annoyed with me about all this. She was annoyed with me! I'd done half the investigating, and I'd found the culprit! I'd figured out the mystery, and I was the one who'd not only freed Hughes from the mirror, but I'd also incarcerated the perp! Frankly, at the very least Taliyah owed me a fruit basket.

And a drink. An expensive one.

The gentle brush of Lorcan's hand on my back pulled me out of my increasingly foul mood. When he saw he had my attention, he pulled me further into the curve of his body in a loose-limbed embrace.

"Wanda, Sweetling, are you alright?"

There were those butterfly fingers again, ghosting over the line of my jaw, over my cheek. It should have been annoying, being treated like porcelain, but instead I turned my face into his palm with a small sigh as some of the tension of the last few days eased out of me. "I'm fine. Just tired. And annoyed."

He hesitated, and then I felt his nose brush against the fine hairs at my temple. "You're bleeding, Sweetling. Are you sure you don't need to go to the hospital?"

As soon as he mentioned it, my lacerated knees decided to remind me of their presence, and I grimaced. "Nothing that some tweezers and gauze won't fix. I don't think the same can be said about my pants, though. Ugh, I should have made sure to alter Hughes' memory, so he knew he owed me a replacement pair."

Lorcan hummed, the sound edged in laughter.

"Do you think the Police Department would reimburse me if I pointed out to Taliyah that I was injured pursuing one of her cases?"

Lips pressed against my temple, a barely there kiss. "If you ask like that, she might just freeze you solid."

It was late, and I was hurting, and more tired than I wanted to admit.

I wasn't eighty anymore, sliding around on the floor, fighting with Fae—those things were a young witch's game. My hip ached something fierce, and I couldn't even remember landing on it at any point. It was all enough that I let myself fold against Lorcan's chest, and his arms tightened around me, strong and safe. I could allow myself that much. There wasn't anyone to see, after all.

Something rustled in the debris, and I jumped. Almost before I could react, Lorcan had swept me behind him, his fangs out in a threat. The undead raccoon pawing through the trash on the ground didn't seem particularly impressed.

"Oh. Son of a witch, I forgot about them." Where were the other three taxidermy zombies I'd raised? Had they left the store? That could be a problem. The guinea pig had proven surprisingly vicious, and the idea of what an undead parrot could get into was actually more terrifying than any Fae alive.

They were probably close, though. Libby had been clingy as heck once I'd raised her. At least I didn't feel bad about putting some sawdust stuffed animals back where I'd found them.