Shadow Moon, page 8
I looked around to see if we were drawing a crowd.
Teagan flashed his scary smile. “No worries, little miss. You and himself are the only ones enjoying my company.” He settled into Dennis’s chair. “I’m following orders, that’s all. If I could be anyplace else besides this soul-suckin’ world, trust me, I would be. I’m to keep an eye on the pair of you. Not an easy job, I might add.”
Mike said, “Whose orders?”
Teagan blinked at us. “Ya mean ya don’t know?” The kitten began batting at a loose strand of Teagan’s white-blond hair. “Stop that, ya little bugger!”
I made a disgusted sound. “Quit playing games and tell us.”
Teagan ignored me and looked at Mike, shaking his head in mock sorrow. “Man, you’re Tuatha, dontcha know? You and your girl here. Ya shoulda figured that out when you were in Dublin.”
“Yes, I know all that,” Mike said. “So what?”
“So what?” Teagan shot out of his chair. He glared down at us, his eyes flashing angrily. The kitten bristled up and hissed, its sharp, pointy teeth a miniature version of Teagan’s.
“I’ll tell you ‘so what,’” He extended a long, thin finger and jabbed it at Mike’s chest. “You!” The finger moved in an arc until it pointed to me. “And you, little miss, are descended from a strain of the Tuatha who have built up an immunity to iron. This lets ya move freely in Boundland. That ability is greatly valued by my people, the Tuatha.” His voice was hushed. Soft, eerie and somehow threatening. The hair on the back of my neck prickled.
Mike’s forehead was wrinkled in confusion. “Boundland?”
Teagan’s spiky grin appeared. He leaned across the table and waggled a finger in my face. “Such a bad girl! Did ya forget to tell Daddy about your little adventure in Boundless?”
“You know about that?” My voice squeaked like a frightened cartoon mouse. Very embarrassing.
“Of course I know. Why, you were all the talk at High Council.”
After a blur of movement, he was sitting next to me. I glanced over at Mike. His gaze darted back and forth between Teagan and me. Now, it was Mike who was suffering from information overload. There was so much he didn’t know.
I spoke to my father. “Boundless is faeryland. Boundland is the mortal world.”
Turning to Teagan, I said, “What’s the High Council?”
Teagan lifted the kitten from his shoulder and gave it a toss. I gasped in surprise as it morphed into crow form, flew to the chair next to Mike and perched on the back, cocking its head as if trying to understand the human tongue.
“Once a year, all the Seelie in Boundless gather together. There are many factions, including the Tuatha who, of course, are far superior to the others.”
I glanced over at Mike and rolled my eyes in disbelief at the faery’s conceit.
Teagan waved a hand in my direction. “Your grandmother’s band of forest faeries was also in attendance under the protection of Queen Luminata.” He paused and heaved a sigh. “I’m afraid you are of mixed faery blood, little miss. Tuatha on your father’s side, forest faery from your mother.
Mike raised a hand. “Hold it! The two of you know all the players. I don’t. Grandmother? Forest faeries? Queen Luminata?”
“Faye’s mother is called Melia. She’s the leader of the forest faeries” I said. “Boundless is home to both good and bad faeries, Seelie and Unseelie. Luminata is the Seelie queen. Melia and her band of forest faeries are part of the Seelie Court.”
“Oh, man,” Mike muttered, shaking his head.
My trip back in time evoked a flood of memories, some good, some terrible, some . . . well, not so terrible. Before I could stop myself, I blurted, “Was there a boy in Luminata’s court who can change into a hawk? I knew him as Ryker Matheson.”
Teagan chuckled. “Ah, yes. The Seelie prince. He believes you are his betrothed.”
My cheeks warmed up. “Well, yeah, that’s what Ryker believes. Not me. Now, tell me what happened at the High Council.”
“A regular donnybrook, that’s what. The Tuatha want the freedom to move in and out of your world. Luminata does not agree. Many of her folk cannot tolerate the iron in Boundland. Also, they fear persecution if mortals discover faeries among them.”
“And that concerns me . . . how?”
Teagan pursed his lips in disgust. “Girl, do you not know why Luminata bound you to her eight years hence?”
Mike’s lips compressed into a narrow white line. I reached across the table and patted his hand. “I promise I’ll tell you the whole story later.”
I spoke to Teagan, “She said I was to take her place in the Seelie Court, that she wanted to prepare me.”
“Bull pucky!” Teagan exclaimed. “She did it to keep you from the Tuatha who want you for their own. You and your father.”
Mike’s eyes went wide.
“What do you want us for?” I said.
Teagan flashed his shark’s grin. “Girl, what did I just tell you? We want access to your world. You and your father are the last living Tuatha in Boundland. As such, you are required to assist us.”
Mike opened his mouth but nothing came out.
“Required?” I whispered to keep from shouting. “Says who? You know what? I’ve got enough on my plate right now. The last thing I need is to be a pawn in some freaking faery war.”
Teagan looked at me and smiled. “Girl, if you don’t listen . . . , it’s a pawn you’re certain to be.”
Out of questions, I tried to collate the data in my overflowing brain. The silence grew.
Mike finally found his voice. “Why did you show up today?”
“Word of warning,” Teagan said. “Time is running out. There is much to be done before you return to the land where the Mizzlemyst is but a thin veil of vapor.”
Mizzlemyst? Mike and I looked at each other in confusion.
Teagan spoke to the crow. “Why am I always given the dummies?” He heaved an enormous sigh. “I’m referring to the land you know as Ireland. Mizzlemyst is the boundary between our two worlds.”
Frantically, my mind processed and connected the dots. “Are you talking about the summer solstice and the dark fae coming through the portal?”
“Bingo,” Teagan said.
My pulse kicked up a notch. Was it possible Teagan knew the exact location? “So, you’re saying it will happen in Ireland?”
Teagan lifted his palms. “Our best guess, that’s all. Where else could it be but where the veil is thinnest? The Mizzlemyst.”
Oh, great. He didn’t know. My heart sank.
“You said there is much to be done. Like what?” Mike asked.
Teagan stabbed a finger in my direction. “She knows. Another little miss must be found.” He stood. The crow flew to his shoulder. “Mind you, stay out of trouble. Even though I am blessed with great and wonderful abilities, I cannot be two places at the same time.”
He vanished as quickly as he’d appeared, leaving Mike and me staring at each other in stunned silence. We walked slowly from the restaurant, and I gave Mike the condensed version of my trip to Boundless. A muscle in his jaw began to twitch but he listened attentively. When I finished, he managed a smile. “At least we got the scoop on Teagan. Sort of a double-edged sword, though. He may be looking out for us, but he has his own agenda.”
I remembered Junior’s words and grinned up at my dad. “Yep, we’ve got our own scary faery.”
Mike still looked a little peaked and said, “Wow, this is all a little much for me.”
I wasn’t as freaked out by Teagan as Mike, probably because I was used to dealing with Trilby, my so-called guardian angel. Trilby dropped into my life every now and again, to deliver a message she always managed to screw up.
I put a hand on Mike’s arm. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out. Let’s go. Dennis is probably through with that phone call.”
The color returned to Mike’s face. He managed a smile. “You’re one amazing kid, Allie.”
His words made me unaccountably happy. I ducked my head and murmured, “Thanks.”
He threw an arm around my shoulder and we walked to the car together. My dad and me. It was a nice feeling. I was almost willing to forgive him for the whole dumping-pregnant-Faye-at-age-seventeen thing. Almost.
On the way home from the restaurant, we cruised through the small town of Peacock Flats. Multicolored flyers were tacked to every available flat surface, flyers that shouted in bold, black letters, “ARE YOU ON THE ROAD TO HELL?” Remembering Jessie’s fanatic look as he removed the falcon eye from Kizzy’s gate, the words gave me an uneasy feeling.
Dennis and Mike dropped me off at the trailer with the familiar words, “Be careful. Call if you need something. We’ll be in touch.”
Like always, I nodded in agreement. But I’d heard the words so often, they’d almost become meaningless. Think about it. Mike and Dennis were 150 miles away. We had a mountain pass between us. A snowy mountain pass. Bottom line: I’d take care of myself.
Once inside the trailer, I saw the blinking message light on the phone. I punched it. Faye’s voice. “Allie, we need you to fill in for Billy the dishwasher. He didn’t show up for work.” She lowered her voice and whispered, “Hung over, if you ask me. So, get in here as soon as you can.”
I’d planned to check out the Friday night Jessie and Carmel sideshow. Like they say, keep your friends close, your enemies closer. But with Christmas coming up, I could use the money I’d get from working at the diner. Easy decision. The revival would have to wait.
Chapter Thirteen
As it turned out, dishwasher Billy remained among the missing, which meant I worked all weekend and every day after school for the next week. I’d get home around nine p.m. and tackle my school work. Most nights I didn’t get to bed until after midnight. By Friday I was a zombie, yawning through my classes and breaking dishes at the diner. When Billy turned up on Friday and begged for his job back, Bea eyeballed her dwindling stack of dinner plates and relented. So, because every minute of my life had been scheduled for an entire week, I didn’t have time to see what was going on with Carmel and Jessie Krieger.
Saturday morning I got a phone call from Nicole Bradford, twin sister to my former boyfriend, Beck. I was surprised to hear from her. Nicole and I had a complicated relationship. We’d been thrown together a year ago when, along with Beck, we’d been the target of a Trimark attack. We knew each other’s secrets, and although I’d kept Nicole’s secrets to myself, she hadn’t done the same. It had caused a rift between us.
Nicole didn’t waste time with chit chat. “Do you know who Pete Prather is?”
“I’ve heard the name. Why?”
“Well, duh, he’s only the richest guy in the entire valley. Prather Farms. They grow hops for all the major beer companies.”
I yawned and stretched before saying, “So what?” I was beginning to wonder if this conversation would lead to Beck. She loved to tell me when he had a new girlfriend.
She sighed like I was too stupid to live. “Did you hear about the revival last night?”
“Huh? I thought we were talking about a guy named Pete Prather.”
“Stay with me. My friend, Lexie, went to the revival with her parents last night. Mr. Prather was there.”
“Why would a rich, important guy like Prather go to some rinky-dink revival in Peacock Flats? Doesn’t make sense.”
Another heavy sigh. “Exactly why I’m calling you. Lexie said Prather is weird. His daughter ran off, joined a cult and won’t speak to him. Anyway, he showed up at the revival because he saw the flyers. You know the ones . . . ARE YOU ON THE ROAD TO HELL?”
“Yeah, I saw them. So, does this Prather guy think his daughter’s going to hell?”
Nicole said, “According to Lexie, he stood up and started ranting about his daughter. He believes his daughter was lured into a cult by, um, by . . . ” Her voice trailed off. I heard a choking sound, like she couldn’t bring herself to say the word.
After a few seconds of silence, it hit me. I knew why Nicole was so freaked out. “By demons?”
Nicole exhaled loudly. “Yeah. Demons. Devils. Witches.”
Beck and Nicole were half-demon, half-human. Their mother, Melissa, had been studying to become a nun when a lust demon had started visiting her at night. She’d left the convent when she’d found she was pregnant. Now she made sure Beck and Nicole spent a lot of time on their knees at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. I guess she’s been trying to pray the demon out of them. Is it working? The jury’s still out.
“Don’t worry about it, Nicole. If Lexie said Prather is weird, everybody else probably thinks the same thing.”
Nicole recovered rapidly. She yelled into the phone. “No, you don’t get it!”
“What don’t I get?”
Her voice rose to a painful screech. “Wake up, Allie! Prather has tons of money, and now he’s found some stupid, hateful preacher he can influence. He’s rented the civic center in Vista Valley. Turn on the TV, and you’ll see what I’m talking about. He’s giving out free hot dogs, chips and soda. It’s going to be huge.”
A little buzz of alarm jolted my sleepy brain. This wasn’t about Nicole being a drama queen. The panic in her voice was unmistakable. But, since Nicole was in a panic, I needed to stay calm.
“Okay, let’s think this through. It’s not like we’re in Salem and people are looking for witches to burn. Nobody knows about you and Beck. Don’t worry about it. They’ll be gone in a couple of days.” I really hoped I was right.
Nicole drew a shaky breath. “Lexie said that preacher really got people going.”
“Like jumping up and down and speaking in tongues?”
“She said when he looks in your eyes, you can’t look away.”
“That’s crap! I met him at Kizzy’s house. Jessie and Carmel were there, asking Kizzy for money. I had no problem breaking eye contact with him.” Okay, that was sort of a lie. I should have said I had no problem when he was in human form. As freaked out as Nicole was, she didn’t need to know that right now.
What kind of a game was Jessie Krieger was playing? The thought of seeing him again turned my blood to ice. I bit my lip and shook my head, realizing I’d been using work and school as excuses to avoid thinking about him. Time to face your fears, Allie.
“My car or yours?” I said.
“I’ll pick you up at six.”
I hung up before either of us could change our minds.
I punched in Kizzy’s number. When she picked up the phone, I said, “Did you hear what happened at the revival?”
“Oh, Allie, I’m so glad you called. I heard about Pete Prather. I’ve known him for years. His daughter ran off because she fell in love with a Mexican boy, and Pete went ballistic.”
“I thought she joined a cult.”
“That’s what he’s telling everybody, but it’s a lie.”
I thought about my relationship with Junior Martinez and felt a wave of pity for Prather’s daughter. “So, what do you think will happen tonight?”
“Carmel said Jessie and Prather talked for hours after the service last night. She says Prather thinks Krieger has a great message and wants to back him financially. She’s over the moon.”
“Nicole Bradford just called,” I said. “She’s freaked out. Prather said demons were responsible for luring his daughter into a cult.”
After a stunned silence, Kizzy swore a blue streak. My mouth fell open in surprise. I had no clue she even knew those words. Before I could react, she said, “Sorry for the outburst, but this does not bode well for any of us, dear. Pete Prather not only has the money, he has the influence to start a panic. I simply cannot believe my daughter is involved in this spectacle.”
When Kizzy had first moved to Peacock Flats, people whispered about her, calling her a witch. Lately, the gossip had died down. Now, with Prather stirring up the crowd, she could become a target again.
“Try not to worry, okay? Nicole and I are checking it out tonight. I’ll keep you posted.”
Kizzy didn’t think that was such a good idea. Actually, I didn’t either, but knowledge is power . . . right?
Nicole peered through her tinted eyeglasses as we cruised through Vista Valley Civic Center’s jammed parking lot, looking for an empty slot. Both Nicole and Beck had to wear special glasses at night because their eyes glowed.
“So, what’s our plan?”
Nicole was wound so tight she practically bit my head off. “My plan is to park the damn car!”
“The lot’s full. We’ll have to park across the street.”
“Are you nuts?” she said. “These boots have three-inch heels.”
Stay calm, Allie. Remember, she’s in a panic. “Pull up in front. I’ll go park the car.”
“You want me to stand there all by myself and wait for you? What if somebody says something to me?”
I sighed. “Like what? ‘Hey, aren’t you that half-demon girl?’ Trust me; it’s not going to happen.”
“Oh, never mind. I’ll walk.”
Nicole, walking in three-inch heels, meant I had to listen to her bitch and moan about her feet hurting. I went, “Uh huh,” a lot and fought the urge to wrap my fingers around her neck and squeeze. Thankfully, once we passed through the open doors of the civic center, she slammed her mouth shut.
The cavernous room was filled with folding chairs and divided down the middle by a wide aisle. A giant screen behind a portable stage dominated the front. The words, ARE YOU ON THE ROAD TO HELL, were centered in the middle of the screen.
Nicole and I slipped into the back row. The only open seats were next to the aisle. Okay with me, in case we needed to get out fast. A couple of burly guys wearing shirts labeled, “Security” were positioned around the room.
I nudged Nicole with an elbow. “Why do they need security guys at a church service?”
She shrugged. “Too many people, not enough hot dogs?”
I snickered, relieved that Nicole was over her panic attack. My laughter faded quickly. Maybe Nicole’s anxiety was contagious. Maybe I was on the ragged edge due to extreme fatigue. Whatever the cause, the moment I’d stepped into the building, I’d felt like I couldn’t catch my breath. It was like a dark presence had sucked the oxygen out of the air, and I couldn’t help but wonder which Jessie Krieger I would see tonight. The face he presented to the world, or the one under the mask?
