Obsidian Curse (A Stacy Justice Mystery Book Five) Read online

“You mean the Leanan Sidhe? You’re kidding me.”

  “Did that look like a joke to you?” Birdie snapped.

  “No, but…well, what do you mean by that? Are there hordes of fairy mistresses roaming around Amethyst searching for fresh blood?”

  Fiona said, “Let’s take this downstairs before Sleeping Beauty wakes up.”

  She nodded to the spare bedroom door across the hall. My guess was that’s where Monique was sleeping off the sedative.

  Birdie said, “I’ll call the coven.” She looked at me pointedly. “We’re going to need them.”

  Lolly, Fiona, and I went downstairs into the kitchen, where Cinnamon and Thor were waiting.

  Thor ran up to me and showered me with doggie licks.

  “Hey, buddy. Did you have a good day with Auntie Cinnamon?” I ruffled up his ears.

  Cin said, “I told you not to call me that.” Then she greeted each of the aunts with a hug.

  Birdie fluttered into the kitchen a few moments later, the Blessed Book in her hands. Excellent. She had a plan. I needed a new plan right about now. Several, in fact.

  Cinnamon looked at the book and said, “Um, Stacy, did you get to what we talked about?” She flashed her eyes to the book and then back to me.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t have time yet, but I’ll get to that, I swear.”

  As soon as I save Chance from a vampire, Blade from whoever wanted him to stop searching for his parents’ murderer, and Pickle from the fairy cartel.

  “Okay, thanks.”

  Cinnamon poured herself some water and Fiona asked how she was doing.

  My cousin rubbed her belly. “Well, I can’t see my feet, but other than that, I’m fine.” She sent me a look, warning me to keep my mouth shut. I held my gaze, hoping she understood that I wouldn’t tell them what was going on with her and her cargo.

  At least for now. But if I felt even a smidgen of danger waft off her, all bets were off.

  The bell chimed and Birdie said, “Cinnamon, dear, would you please see who’s at the door?”

  Cinnamon set her water down, sighed, and pointed to the book. “I get it. Official witch business. No problem.”

  She squeezed my shoulder on the way out of the room.

  Birdie quickly locked the door behind her. She turned, had another thought, then twisted around to bolt the chain.

  “Okay.” She slapped her hands together. “Here’s what we know.” She paced the floor, her sisters’ eyes upon her. “It appears the Leanan Sidhe has followers in this realm.”

  “How is that possible?” I asked.

  Fiona said, “When the Tuatha Dé Danaan and the humans struck a deal all that time ago, some Fae refused to leave this plane. Most agreed that it was best for all that the magical creatures melt into the Otherworld and to leave the humans this realm, but a small pocket opposed the plan.”

  “A war was waged. Many Fae lives were lost until, finally, Danu had had enough and left the defectors behind,” Birdie said. “Of course when they heard what a paradise she had created in the Otherworld, they wanted to join her kingdom again.”

  “But goddesses being goddesses, Danu decided it was too late. She refused entry to any of the rebels,” said Lolly, a tumbler of Jameson now in her hand.

  “So you think that’s who the Leanan Sidhe has recruited for her army?” I asked. “The rebels who waged a war against Danu?”

  “It would appear that way,” Birdie said. “The fairy blast used on Pickle could only have been constructed by an ancient Fae form.”

  “But why would they side with the Leanan if they want to get back to the Otherworld? Why wouldn’t they try to capture her? Fight for the cause?”

  Fiona said, “Never underestimate the length of a grudge held by the Irish.”

  Birdie explained. “Since Danu refused them entry into the Otherworld and the Leanan Sidhe herself wants to keep out of it, for it has become her prison, it would stand to reason that both the Leanan and the rebels would forge an alliance against Danu and her subjects no matter what the cause.”

  “But why would the fairy mistress even need an army?” I asked.

  Lolly said, “The Fae don’t need a reason to fight. They act on emotion. And their emotions tell them that Danu has betrayed them and that humans have ruined their realm.”

  “But as for the Leanan herself, I can only think of one reason she would want an army.” Birdie gave me a hard look. “You.”

  “Me? Why?”

  My grandmother smiled. “She must know of your power, your role as the Seeker. That alone would tell her she’d have a serious fight on her hands if she resisted capture.”

  She had that right. Because I planned to take this to hell and back and there was a good chance that one of us wouldn’t come out alive.

  “How many rebels are there?”

  “I have no idea; all I know, all that was written in the Blessed Book, is that over time, they’ve shrunken to miniature size. They won’t look like Pickle.”

  “What do they look like?”

  Birdie opened the book to a page that showed various drawings of what looked to me like trolls, gnomes, and really tiny people.

  I lifted my eyes to meet her. “So I’m supposed to battle the townsfolk of Lilliput?”

  She shrugged. “Something like that.”

  “With one broken fairy.”

  “Well, he’s fixed now, dear,” Fiona said.

  Good grief.

  I got a text from Derek then.

  Do you know where Monique is? The fire department is at her place. They just called here.

  Someone must have complained about the smell, but there had been no time to deal with the wreckage at Monique’s place.

  I debated on what to tell him for a second, decided that I’d deal with the consequences later, and texted back: No idea.

  K. See you at the signing.

  It was five-thirty then and the book signing was at six.

  “Okay, so were you able to find anything in the book on how to locate and bind the fairy mistress?”

  Birdie said, “Nothing on how to find her, but the book had a few suggestions on how to bind.”

  She flipped through the book to a page she had marked. There was a slip of paper tucked inside and she handed it to me. “I wrote them down for you.”

  I took the piece of paper and put it in my pocket. “Thank you.”

  Cinnamon tried to come back through the door and I heard an “oof.”

  “Hey, Birdie. There’s a horde of women out here with broomsticks and suitcases.”

  “The coven!” Fiona clapped her hands.

  Reinforcements, I thought. Thank the Goddess.

  Lolly and Fiona opened the door and Birdie was about to rush out behind them.

  “Birdie, wait,” I said. “I need to talk to you about something.”

  Birdie hung back and looked at me. “What is it?”

  Cinnamon slipped around the corner and into the restroom.

  “It’s about Blade Knight. His real name is Joseph Conrad.” I waited for a sign of recognition, but none came.

  “Well, many writers use pen names.”

  “That name doesn’t ring a bell for you? Uncle Deck never talked about him with you?”

  Birdie rolled her eyes. “Your uncle didn’t talk about much with me. It was your grandfather who he confided in.”

  I chewed my lip.

  Birdie touched my arm. “What’s bothering you, Stacy? Have you gotten a signal from the man? Is something amiss?”

  I unloaded the entire story on her. When I was finished, I asked, “So is there anything in the Council archives, anything in history, about an ancient script or an artifact, regarding skulls, that you learned about?”

  Birdie tapped her lip, flipping through her mental files. “Not
that I can recall. But I’ll call the Council tonight. Perhaps Tallulah or one of the other board members has some information.”

  I thanked Birdie just as Cinnamon came back through the door, carrying the excited chatter of a room full of women with her.

  She thumbed behind her. “Who’s the weirdo in the Star Trek hat? He licked my hand, so I punched him, and he burst into tears. He’s rolling around on the carpet like a newborn who can’t turn over.”

  “I’ll fix this,” Birdie said to me. She left to greet her guests, and Cinnamon sat down at the table, flipping through the Blessed Book.

  Thor parked in front of the refrigerator and howled.

  I went to sift through it, looking for something to feed him, and asked Cin if she had found her father’s files.

  “Stacy, I tore that house apart, but it’s the damndest thing, I couldn’t find them. I don’t know if we lost them in the move or what. I’m sorry. Is it important?”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  I found some leftover meatloaf, heated it up, and fed it to Thor along with some green beans and olive oil.

  When I turned around, Cinnamon was still turning the pages, a look of concern on her face.

  “Don’t suppose you have time to go through this now?” she asked miserably.

  The locket was tucked beneath my sweater. The Seeker before me had told me that it would “do anything I wanted it to do.”

  Well, at that moment, I wanted it to help my cousin. I sat down next to her at the apothecary table.

  “I can, but you have to promise not to freak out at what I’m about to do,” I said.

  Cin rolled her eyes. “Twenty-six years in this family, girl, nothing shocks me.”

  “Okay.” I removed the locket and held it tightly in both hands. Eyes squeezed shut, I concentrated on the power of the talisman, sent it an image of Cinnamon, then dangled it by the chain from my left hand and floated it over the book.

  The coppery piece twirled, twisted, and twined itself around my hand, then floated over the book in an infinity pattern, gaining speed with each loop until finally, it came to rest. I clicked open the clasp and pointed the face of the piece down at the closed leather cover. The tome rustled, its spine blew out puffs of smoke, until eventually, the pages flipped and fluttered back and forth before settling on a passage near the end of the book.

  I tucked the locket away and Cinnamon and I both bent over the page.

  In Meagan’s swirling script, the passage read:

  The Seeker shall never be alone in the New World, for another child will join her. Together, the pair will battle inner and outer demons, loss, and tragedies great and small. This child, born of two ancient families, will carry a great burden. For the child holds the key to—

  I flipped the page to find a list of herbal remedies, recipes, and crystal enchantment spells.

  Cinnamon flipped the page back and forth.

  “That’s it? What’s the burden? What’s the key? And what does it unlock? And is the child me or the baby?” Cin asked, frantically.

  I scratched my head, flipping back and forth between the pages.

  Then I stopped, ran my fingers along where the pages met.

  “There’s a page missing.” I looked at Cinnamon. “Someone cut it out.”

  Chapter 25

  I heard a loud, screeching voice coming from the back hallway. “Where the hell am I? And why the hell am I dressed like this?”

  Cinnamon fired a look at me. “Please tell me that’s a guest who’s lost her way.”

  “Afraid not. Witchy business. I can’t explain it all right now, but I have to keep an eye on Monique. She’s in danger.”

  Cin narrowed her eyes. “She’s going to be in danger if she pushes my buttons.” She closed the book and shoved it in a cabinet. “What kind of danger?”

  “The kind that would lead to trouble for all of us if I don’t stop it.”

  “Yeah, well, good luck with that.” She started to walk out of the kitchen.

  I grabbed her by her shirt and said, “Don’t leave me with her. I need to think of something to tell her so she stays here. Besides, I ruined her apartment and her business and I kind of feel bad about that.”

  Cin turned around, a smirk on her face. “You did what?”

  “Oh, didn’t I mention that part? Her place is trashed. Pipes exploded. It was ugly. So she’s staying here.”

  “Jesus, that sounds about as fun as a dinner with a cannibal.” My cousin smiled and said, “I hope Ben Smalls is her insurance agent.”

  Ben Smalls was the beady-eyed little weasel who had accused my cousin of burning her bar down for the insurance money last February.

  “Bite your tongue, because he’d have to come here, and I don’t want to see that smarmy toad.”

  Monique eventually found her way down the back steps. Her hair was twisted into a lovely chignon, her makeup was done simply, with just a streak of eyeliner and a swipe of mascara, and she was wearing a Grace Kelly–style swing dress with black flats. She actually looked quite nice.

  She stopped when she saw us. “Of course. Laverne and Shirley. I should have known.”

  Cinnamon and I exchanged a glance, trying to figure out which one of us was Laverne and which one was Shirley.

  “Hey, Monique. How are you feeling?” I asked.

  “Like I partied with Charlie Sheen. What the hell happened?”

  She rubbed her head where it had hit the steering wheel earlier today. Aunt Lolly had done a beautiful job covering up the bruise.

  “A pipe burst in your place. Don’t you remember?” I asked, trying to gauge what she recalled.

  “Dammit. That’s right. But why am I here?” She eyed me suspiciously.

  I said, “You needed a place to stay, so my grandmother offered you a room. Free of charge.”

  She looked around the kitchen. “This is the guesthouse?”

  “Yes.”

  She shook her head. “Oh no. No way. I’m not staying here. I’ve heard the rumors. Those women are lunatics.”

  She searched the room. “Where are my clothes? Where’s my phone? I need to call Tony to see if my car is fixed.”

  Cinnamon piped up. “He was pretty swamped today. Won’t be fixed until tomorrow, maybe the next day.” She pressed her lips together, clearly trying not to laugh.

  “It’s a flat tire, how freaking long can it take?” Monique’s agitation was pulsating through the pearly white buttons of her frock.

  Cinnamon just shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

  “Fine,” Monique grumbled. “Where’s the land line?”

  “They don’t have one,” I said.

  She rolled her eyes. “Of course they don’t. What about your phone?” she asked me.

  “Battery’s dead.”

  Monique tapped her foot, her mouth straining. Like she was trying not to spit on me. “Whatever.”

  She started for the back door and I snapped my fingers. Thor trotted over to it and stood in front of the door, staring at Monique.

  “Out of my way, Marmaduke,” she said.

  Thor, who absolutely hated to be called Marmaduke, growled. Monique backed up.

  “Where are you going to go?” I asked. The woman didn’t have any friends that I knew of. Just barflies looking for cheap drinks and free Viagra on Thursdays.

  “I’ll call Derek. I can stay at his place.”

  “He’s having it fumigated. Termites,” I said.

  She glared at me. “Then I’ll stay at a hotel.”

  Cinnamon said, “They’re all booked. Halloween, the reunion. Busy week.”

  Birdie came through the door, Lolly and Fiona behind her.

  “Oh, excellent, you’re awake,” Birdie said.

  Fiona asked Monique, “How are you feeling, dear?�
��

  Monique licked her lips. Her left leg started to tremble and her eyes darted this way and that like a rat trapped in a spiraling drain. “I’m fine.” She inched back toward the counter.

  “So then, Stacy explained everything to you?” Birdie asked.

  “Um, Birdie—”

  Monique shot me a nervous look. “Explained what?” Another step back.

  “About the vampire.” Birdie looked at me. “Didn’t you tell her?” As if it would be as easy as explaining a grocery list.

  Lolly said, “You were right, Stacy, she cleaned up just fine.” Lolly had donned her ritual cape. She had the hood up and everything.

  Fiona smiled warmly at my coworker. “You look beautiful, dear.”

  Monique swung her head around, spotted the butcher block, and grabbed a carving knife. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on here with the Addams Family, but I’m out of here. You people are batshit crazy.” She waved the knife around.

  “Nice going, Birdie,” I said.

  “Well, I thought you would have explained things.”

  Thor took a step forward, lowered his head, and let out the low growl of a mama bear protecting her cub. His hackles were standing up so high, he seemed to grow another foot taller.

  “Monique, for God’s sake, put the knife down,” Cinnamon snapped.

  Monique was crouched forward in a wrestling stance, her eyes darting wildly from one to the other of us.

  “You better put it down, Monique,” I said. “Thor doesn’t take kindly to threats. Just relax. I’ll explain everything.”

  “No!” she shouted, hysteria starting to settle in. Her eyes took on the look of a rabid raccoon and she grabbed another knife. “Just let me go.”

  There were two options at this point. I decided to take the one least likely to get anyone hurt.

  “Fine, Monique. Have it your way. Thor, heel,” I said.

  The dog gave me a look like, You sure? Because I think I can take her.

  I nodded and he trotted over to me.

  “Okay. Now all of you take a step back,” Monique ordered.

  We did.

  She headed for the back door.

  “Um, Monique, you want to leave the knives here, please?” I asked.