Ghost Light

Even after making repairs to the office, we had money to spend.  Jinx had been frugal with our expenses lately and the case we were going out to celebrate had brought us a big payday.  Gone were the days of celebrating a closed case with an extra cup of ramen noodles.  We could afford to take the night off and live a little.

Plus, I couldn’t let Jinx down.  She was on the rebound from Hans and I had been spending nearly all of my free time with Ceff.  It was high time for a girls night.

“So, we going out tonight?” Jinx asked.

I wiped sweat from my brow and gulped down the bottle of water.

“Yeah, where to?” I asked.  “Your choice.”

“Really?” she asked.  “Pinky swear.  No take backs.”

“I swear,” I said.

I smiled, but didn’t offer my pinky.  Jinx didn’t seem to mind.

I might be getting better at dealing with Ceff’s visions, but that didn’t mean I wanted to go around touching everybody.  The thought left my mouth dry.  I tipped the bottle back and finished off the last sip.  No, I didn’t want to live through everyone’s painful memories.  I had enough of my own.  Plus, I owed my friend some privacy.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” she said.  Jinx placed a hand on her hip and winked.  “There’s a club I’ve been dying to get back into, but it seems I’m not on the guest list.”  Jinx pushed her full, red lips into a pout.  “You really should do something about that.  I’m sure Nexus would allow a human vassal through the doors if you put me on the list.”

Oberon’s eyes on a stick, Jinx wanted carte blanche access to Club Nexus.  And she wanted to go there tonight.  The room filled with the hollow, rapid-fire sound of my gloved hand crushing the empty, plastic water bottle.

“You’re kidding, right?” I asked.

“How much trouble can I get into anyway?” she asked.  “As your human vassal, I’m protected.  Plus, there were so many hotties there the other night.”

“You want to go out with a faerie?” I asked.  “That’s insane.”

“What, think I’m not good enough for your kind?” she asked.  Her chin trembled and she caught her lip between her teeth.

“No,” I said, shaking my head.  “Mab knows you’re better than all the guys in that club combined.  I’m just worried what they might do to you.  The fae aren’t known for their good behavior toward humans.”

“They can’t be much worse than the human creeps I’ve dated lately,” she said.

Jinx had a point.  Hans was moody and violent and her other boyfriends had routinely cheated on her.  And I’d be a hypocrite to claim that all supernaturals were bad.  I was a half-breed dating a full-blooded kelpie and I was friends with a powerful witch, a hearth brownie, and a bridge troll.  Maybe Jinx was right.

“Okay,” I said.  “We’ll go to Nexus tonight.”  Jinx started vibrating with excitement and I held up a hand.  “But I’m not promising to sign you onto the guest list yet.  Consider this a reconnaissance mission, a trial run to test security and club safety.  If they don’t enforce the protection of human vassals, there’s no way I’m leaving you there unprotected.”

In her crop top, overalls, and bandana, Jinx reminded me of the girl in the WWII propaganda posters with the slogan, “We can do it!”  She was like a rockabilly Rosie the Riveter.  I knew that my friend had come a long way and could take care of herself in most situations, but there was no way I was leaving her unprotected in a fae club.  If I didn’t like what I saw tonight, I wasn’t adding her to the guest list.  But that didn’t mean we couldn’t have fun in the meantime.

“Sure, yeah, that sounds great,” she said.  Jinx pulled the kerchief from her head and hurried to gather up her things. “Thanks Ivy.  You won’t regret it.  Scout’s honor.”

Jinx had never been a Girl Scout in her life, but I smiled.  Her excitement was contagious.  She fluttered around the room, turning off lights and grabbing her purse.

I opened my desk drawer and lifted out a vial of iron shavings and a handful of wooden stakes.  If we were partying at a supernatural club tonight, I’d best be prepared for anything.  I opened my jacket and slid the iron into an inner pocket and shoved the extra stakes into the belt at my waist.

I had a bad feeling about this.

Chapter 39

Humans have a difficult time getting into Nexus, but for tonight, Jinx was my plus one.  Her eyes were lined with faerie ointment and she wore a crossbow slung across her back and a dagger strapped to her thigh.  In the short, sleeveless dress that clung to her body like cling-wrap, the weapons were on display for all to see.  I hoped that would be enough to keep straying hands, paws, and tentacles away from my friend.