Ghost Light

I stepped out into our loft apartment and stopped dead in my tracks.  While I’d been in the shower, Jinx had transformed.  I may be the faerie princess, but I looked like a thug in my jeans and leathers.  Jinx, my totally human best friend, was just missing a crown.

Jinx stood in a short, sequin-covered shift that reflected and caught the light in hundreds of sparkling rainbows.  Her black hair was held up with wooden hair sticks that could double as stakes and she’d abandoned the matching sequined clutch for a velvet bag which she’d slung over one shoulder.  The bag was large enough to carry a crossbow and a hip quiver packed with iron bolts.

Jinx had foregone matching accessories for weapons?  That could only mean one thing.  Jinx was going with us to Club Nexus.

My heart did a flip-flop of joy and fear.  I was secretly pleased that my friend was willing to go with me, but she was only human.  I didn’t know what would happen to her once we stepped inside the club, or if they would even let her through the doors.  I started to shake my head, but Jinx raised a hand and put the other firmly on her hip.

“I’m going with you,” she said.

“But…” I said.

“No,” she said, shaking a finger at me.  “There is no way you’re leaving me behind on this one.  I am not missing my best friend’s introduction to fae society.”

I flicked my eyes at Ceff, who had the sense to take a step back.

“I am sorry,” he said.  “I thought Jinx should know where we were going, in case she needed to contact us.  I didn’t realize that she would wish to attend your coming out ceremony.”

I narrowed my eyes.  Ceff was so busted.  Jinx would never miss a party.  I was pretty sure that my boyfriend was well aware of that, but had told her where we were going anyway.  Thing was, I had no idea why.

That made me more nervous than the thought of battling Melusine or The Piper.  If Ceff thought I needed Jinx along for backup, then maybe there was more to this faerie royalty thing than I realized.  But what other choice did I have?

The children were still out there somewhere.  I had to find those kids tonight, but there were too many graveyards and cemeteries where The Piper could be hiding.  We had to narrow down the search.

And I needed leads on Will-o’-the-Wisp.  I had to track down my father if I wanted to continue taking any cases that involved leaving my apartment.  I’d been lucky so far, but I didn’t expect that luck to hold out.  If I didn’t find a way to control my wisp powers and learn to create a concealing glamour, the faerie courts would have me executed for treason—whether I was a princess or not.

I sighed.

“Okay, but I can’t guarantee they’ll let you inside the club,” I said.

“Yes!” Jinx exclaimed.

She squeezed her eyes shut and did a little happy dance.  Even her eye makeup looked fit for a princess.  Jinx had applied faerie ointment so that she would have the ability to see through most faerie glamour.

Unlike Jenna who usually slathers the stuff on like petroleum jelly, Jinx uses a makeup brush.  Jinx normally adds a bit of dark pigment to the ointment and uses it to line her eyes, but tonight she was going for a more dramatic look—one that would allow her see and be seen.  She’d added glitter to the dark pigment and ointment, and brushed it onto her entire eyelid in bold strokes.

The smell of clover was strong as she blinked away happy tears, showing off eyelids that looked like a starry midnight sky.  I clutched the door casing, overcome by dizziness.

* * *

I sank into the memory of a long forgotten night, the heady smell of clover in my nose and my eyes on the stars.  I was lying on a bed of clover, staring up at the star filled night sky.  My father, Will-o’-the-Wisp, leaned over me into my line of sight.

I smiled, reaching my arms up for a hug.  He lifted me into strong arms and kissed my forehead, then set me on his shoulders where I grabbed at the glowing fireflies dancing around his head.  He carried me across the lawn and toward the house.  It was the same house I’d grown up in with my mother and stepfather, but it looked brighter, cleaner, and larger than I remembered.  Even beneath the night sky, flowers surrounded the house in full bloom.

We met my mother on the porch and I squealed as father pulled me from his shoulders.  He pretended I was flying as he lowered me down to the freshly painted porch.

The house wasn’t the only thing to look refreshed.  My mother was fully transformed.  Until now, I hadn’t remembered her ever looking so happy.  The perpetual lines in her forehead were gone and her eyes crinkled at the corners.  For once my mother wasn’t frowning.  Her smile was radiant.

Her face, and my father’s, began to blur.  I tried to hold on, to make the memory last just a bit longer, but the happy moment was replaced by a second memory.  This new memory was from a different day entirely.

“Please don’t leave,” my mother sobbed.