Ghost Light

I stepped forward slowly, Ceff meeting me partway.  We stopped within inches of each other, his hands in his pockets.  Perhaps to keep them from straying?  The weight of them pushed his pants lower on his hips and it was all I could do not to reach out myself.  I drew in a calming breath and smiled at the peculiar mix of salt brine and cool skin that was Ceff’s personal scent.

Tension eased from my shoulders and I sighed.  Ceff’s presence was calming, though I slid my gloved hands into my pockets as well.

“Thanks for coming,” I said.  “I know you just left.”

Ceff traveled like the tides.  He spent time here on land with me, but inevitably returned to the water and his people.  Currently, we were trying a schedule of one day on land followed by six days at sea.  It worked well for both of us.  I was used to being on my own, and work kept me busy.  Plus, Ceff had his royal duties as king.

Speaking of royal duties…

“I will always come when you call,” he said.

Yep, I was melting—big puddle of sappy goo over here.  Ceff had that effect on me.  But I did have questions which only he may be uniquely qualified to answer.  I tried to decide where to begin.  Focusing on my current problems helped to pull me back on track, and feel less like a love-struck puppy.

I nodded and took a deep breath.

“I met a cat sidhe today who may know something about my father,” I said.  Ceff raised an eyebrow, but I pushed onward.  “Kaye believes the cat to be Sir Torn, Lord of the local cat sidhe.  If it’s the same cat, he holds court at a place called Club Nexus.  But getting inside the club will be tricky.”

“Cat sidhe,” he said, wrinkling his nose.  “I do not trust the shadow-walkers.”

Right, cats and fish probably weren’t the best of friends.

“I don’t trust him either,” I said.  “But I need to learn how to control my wisp abilities, and that means finding my father.”

“Why did you not ask this cat sidhe earlier?” he asked.

I sighed.  This was the part of the conversation I’d been dreading.  I turned toward the harbor, but continued to watch Ceff from the corner of my eye.

“I ran into him while I was chasing after a perceived threat, someone from your past,” I said.  I cleared my throat, swallowing hard.  “Melusine is in Harborsmouth.  I’m so sorry.”

Ceff’s face paled and he slumped forward as if the words struck a blow.  But when he looked up again his face was flushed, eyes dark with fury.  He thrust his shoulders back and held a clenched fist to his lips.

“Did she threaten you?” he said.  “If so, she will pay.”

“Not…exactly,” I said.  I thought back to the encounter.  Ceff’s ex had looked like she wanted to rip my body to shreds and eat me.  But since none of that actually happened, I didn’t bother to mention it.  “She started to rush toward me through heavy traffic, but once I got Jinx to safety and stepped out to meet her, Melusine had disappeared.”

He didn’t ask how I had known it was Melusine.  He knew I’d shared in his memories of his ex-wife when riding the visions from his bridle.  I’d recognize the crazy bitch anywhere.

It wasn’t like lamias typically slithered the city streets of the north eastern US.  There were two types of serpent fae, desert dwellers and ocean dwellers.  Melusine was the latter, a half-woman half-sea serpent who normally spent her time in water.  A lamia should not have been seen coiled and ready to strike on the busy, non-desert, non-ocean streets of Harborsmouth.  The woman really was crazy, or I was chasing ghosts.

Crap.  Where the hell was my brain?  The cat sidhe had mentioned ghosts, and I’d been too keyed up to ask the right kinds of questions.  I needed to get Melusine out of town.  Being able to think quick on my feet and problem solve under pressure was what made me a good detective.  But now I was making foolish mistakes because my head wasn’t in the game.  Having that bitch in my city was too much of a distraction.

Not only had I missed an opportunity to ask Torn about my father and the ghost sightings, but I’d also forgotten to mention the ghosts to Kaye during my late night visit.  I’d have to remedy that soon, but it could wait until morning—which was fast approaching.  I wasn’t risking the witch’s wrath again in one night.

“Melusine ran, but you remain unharmed?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said.  “I’m fine, really.  But seeing Melusine stressed me out enough to kick-start my wisp powers.  I…I started glowing on a busy city street, in front of a crowd of humans, and a cop.  If it wasn’t for the fog, and the cat sidhe, I’d be in deep trouble right now.”

Ceff knew all about fae law and the implications of my skin glowing unglamoured.  He grew restless, running a hand through damp hair, bare feet shifting on the wet sidewalk.  I froze, waiting for his reply.

As kelpie king he had a duty to uphold fae law.  I held my breath while myriad emotions shifted across his handsome face.  This time Ceff held my fate in his hands.