Ghost Light

Chapter 12

I tried calling Kaye, but my witch friend was working in her spell kitchen and couldn’t be disturbed. I left a message with Arachne to have Kaye get back to me and ended the call. My phone displayed the current time as forty-five minutes past six o’clock. Crap, it was later than I thought. Sunset came early during the month of March. I couldn’t just wait around for Kaye to call me back. We were running out of daylight.

I had a feeling that the mysterious piper was the key to solving the case, but I’d have to look elsewhere for answers. I jumped down from the fire escape, checked that my weapons were still in place, and hurried up Baker’s Row. Half a block away, Ceff caught up with me.

“Are you going to tell me what happened back there?” he asked. “You were in that alley for nearly an hour.”

Oberon’s eyes. My chest tightened and I swallowed hard. I’d been in the alley for an hour? That explained how it got so late. Lost time was a problem with visions, one of many.

Ceff looked cool and relaxed, thumbs in his pants pockets as he strode next to me with fluid grace, but a muscle jumped in his cheek as he clenched his jaw. I shrugged and looked away.

“I had a vision,” I said. “No big deal.”

I snuck a glance at Ceff as he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He was trying to remain calm, but a vein twitched on his forehead, matching the muscle in his cheek.

“What did you see?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” I said.

Unlike pureblood fae, I can tell a boldfaced lie, but neither my human nor fae blood helped to prevent the sinking feeling in my stomach. I didn’t like lying to Ceff, but I wanted to protect him from the truth of Melusine’s involvement as long as possible. If she was just a casual observer in the bean-tighe’s abduction, then there’d be no reason to tell Ceff at all. Why dredge up old pain unnecessarily?

I bit my lip and kept my eyes on the street, looking for clues and potential threats. Ceff rushed me from the side and I barely had time to slide right and spin to face him. Ceff kept coming, his eyes a green so dark they looked black. I stepped away only to have my back hit a solid brick wall.

I was so busy looking for threats in the shadowed doorways and dark alleys that I missed the one walking beside me. Ceff raised muscled arms and placed his hands flat against the wall to either side of my head.

I was trapped.

“You’re upset,” he said. He leaned in, his breath brushing my face. “Tell me.”

We were standing so close, yet not touching. It was a near thing. I could feel the chill of Ceff’s kelpie skin like a balm against the burning heat emanating from my own. When had it gotten so hot?

A bead of sweat trickled down my back, but I held perfectly still. If I moved a muscle, we’d be touching. In fact, if I shifted my hips, we’d be indecent. I blushed and Ceff’s eyes began to glow.

“W…wh…at?” I asked.

Ceff raised an eyebrow, a slow smile building. I licked my lips and tried to think. He had asked me something important, but I was too dizzy and light-headed to focus on the words. How could I possibly concentrate with Ceff standing so close?

Ceff dipped his head to my ear and whispered. His breath against my neck sent shivers down my spine.

“Now that I have your attention,” he said. “Tell me what you saw in your vision.” Ceff took one step back and lowered his arms. I gasped, trying hard not to shake. My feet didn’t know if they should run away or propel me into his arms. Fear and desire waged a war within me, rooting me in place. “I can’t help you if you don’t let me in.” I gazed into eyes that no longer glowed, but radiated concern. “You don’t have to do this alone. Not anymore.”

I held up my hands, palms out.

“Okay, fine,” I said. “You win. But you’re not going to like it.”

I slid down the wall and sat cross-legged, patting the ground beside me. It was a long story, might as well get comfortable.

We sat on the sidewalk, oblivious to people walking by, as I filled Ceff in on the details of my vision. When I mentioned Melusine’s suspected involvement, he placed his head in his hands. I pretended not to notice. Discovering your murderous ex was in town is bad enough. Learning that she might have a hand in the abduction of dozens of fae children was a slap in the face. If Ceff needed some time to digest the information, then that was fine by me.

I slid my phone from my pocket and checked for messages. There was nothing yet from Jinx or Kaye. I looked up to see Ceff staring at me intently. Dark rings circled his eyes, which made the skin looked bruised, but he didn’t look away.

“If Melusine is involved, we must find the children,” he said. “She is capable of…she…”

“I know,” I said softly. “We’ll find the kids. Come on. It’s time to ask a friend for some answers.”

I stood and offered Ceff my hand. I was wearing thick leather gloves, but for me, it was more than a hand up. I was trying to bridge the gap between us. Ceff’s past and my allergy to intimacy didn’t have to ruin things.

He accepted my hand, tilting his head to the side and flashing a wan smile. I lifted my chin high and smiled in return. If Melusine really was our enemy, it wouldn’t be easy. But together we could face anything, even Ceff’s evil ex.