Mixed Feelings (Empathy in the PPNW Book 1) Page 6

  Noticing I was staring, Chloe stepped forward, holding out a hand.

  “Hi, we’re here for Merrin?” She made it a question, curiosity pumping off of her. I wondered suddenly if Merrin had moved since Chloe had seen her and we were in the wrong place. The woman continued to watch me watching her and I noticed then that she wasn’t human. The hair and the skin should have given it away immediately, but I’d been more preoccupied by the way she looked than the way she felt. I swallowed hard, shooting a sidelong look at Chloe. My assistant was still smiling pleasantly, waiting for an answer or a handshake.

  The woman’s interest in us waned, washing off of me like the tide receding from the frozen shores of Antarctica. She stalked back into the apartment, leaving the door open. Chloe looked at me, gave a half-shrug, and strolled in boldly.

  Everything in the apartment looked basically the same but with a few small changes; blue and black throw pillows had been added to the sagging couch and piled on the floor. Stylish, sharply-angled chairs that looked to be the seating equivalent to runway high-fashion faced the couch like an audience. Things looked cleaner, too, as if Merrin had dusted. This struck me as odd, since the girl barely remembered to brush her hair.

  I took a breath, feeling out the apartment to see where she was. Excitement, nervousness, and concentration pulsed from the pantry. I glanced at Chloe and we headed into the tiny kitchen. I pulled open the pantry door and found it empty except for Merrin, who was hunched on the floor below the barren shelves, hands fluttering between a bunch of cards set out in a deliberate pattern. I squatted down and put my hand on her shoulder. She didn’t notice me.

  “Merrin?” I asked. She mumbled and leaned forward. Her auburn hair fell over her shoulder, trailing to the floor. Her locks looked brushed and conditioned, instead of frizzy and unkempt like usual. Merrin hummed something quietly and turned over a card from her stack. Her clothes looked new, though not quite fashionable; her hippie ren faire style held strong, but something about it looked deliberate now, instead of being the product of shopping at thrift stores on a small budget. I brushed her hair back from her face and glanced up at Chloe. She shrugged and we both looked back at the little witch.

  “Sweetie?” I ventured. Merrin turned to look at me but there was no recognition in her vacant eyes. I went to grab her hand but got shocked less than a finger's width away. I yelped and pulled back, rubbing my fingers on my skirt. I sometimes forget that Merrin’s abilities are not only way more powerful than mine, but can also be legitimately, physically dangerous.

  After waiting another minute, I looked down at her cards, trying to make sense of them. They didn’t look like any tarot cards I recognized but they were quite pretty. Merrin started mumbling again before reaching out to take my wrist; when I didn’t get shocked again, I let her close her fingers around me.

  “You don’t have to worry; Izzy likes you,” she murmured. Her eyes were unfocused, her gaze sitting somewhere in the middle distance between her and my chin. I had no idea what she was talking about. I nodded, made a vague sound of interest, and switched my grip to hold her fingers. The action made her blink, her eyes clearing as she straightened her body minutely. “Gwen, hi. How are you?”

  “I’m good.” Letting go of her hand, I watched as she held it hovering, as if I was still supporting it. “What about you? Can we get out of this closet? This isn’t the most comfortable position.” I stood and took her hand again, but she remained still a second before standing.

  “Oh. Okay.” She stood up carefully, hopping out of the closet in a way that guaranteed she didn't disturb her cards. She shut the door silently and then tip-toed away like she’d left a baby sleeping. Chloe and I followed her into the living area, where she sat on the edge of the coffee table.

  “Merrin? Can we ask you some questions?”

  She nodded once, her eyes fixed on some point mid-ceiling, and said, “About the fairies.”

  “Fairies?” I asked, worried we were having two entirely different conversations. Merrin remained robotic in her detachment.

  “Spider fingers, tusks like an elephant.” Merrin moved her hands to her face to mime a mixture of the two, pressing her knuckles to her lips as she wiggled her fingers.

  I exchanged a glance with Chloe, who nodded encouragingly. “Yeah, I guess.” The existence of fairies had never really been something I’d considered, but I had a werewolf hitting on me several times a week, so I couldn’t really argue with the idea. Though under any other circumstances, I probably would have been happy to pick a fight. Who thinks of something like my monster employers when the word “fairy” is uttered? I was willing to bet no one. “Two… fairies… came to my office last night and asked for help. Do you know anything about that?”

  “They don’t want your help, they want her help. She refuses.” Merrin’s gaze slid from the ceiling to the door of her tiny pantry and her brows furrowed. “The future has drifted. Dark times. You will make the wrong choices.”

  I had no idea what she was talking about, but the latter half of the premonition came as no surprise. My choice was usually to eat copious amounts of junk food and watch reality TV; of course I was going to make the wrong one.

  “Whose help do they want?” I asked, stepping into her view. This put her gaze at roughly my belly button, but I figured it was better than nothing. “Who do they think I am?”

  “Another child will soon go missing. You can stop it. But you cannot stop her descent.”

  “Whose descent? The child’s?”

  “The child is a boy. You must reach his home.” Her eyes rolled upward slowly, like balloons being filled with helium. “Tonight. Eight o’clock.”

  “Where does he live? What’s his name?” Was she serious? Did I have the power to keep this kid safe? You could never quite tell with Merrin. Instead of answering me, she snapped her gaze to my face, her body going slightly stiff.

  “Gwen, hello.” Blinking, she turned to Chloe. “I didn’t know you two were here. How are you?” Her expression went soft as she reached a hand toward Chloe. I could feel distress in Chloe, but she hid it perfectly, keeping her smile warm as she moved to take Merrin’s hand.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m well. Evadne keeps me.” Still holding Chloe’s hand, she turned to peer into the bedroom where the other woman lounged. Was she a fairy, too? I could tell by the pattern of her emotions that she certainly wasn’t a werewolf, but past that I wasn’t sure. I was going to just figure her a fairy unless she told me otherwise. Hell, I decided then and there that Madeline was a fairy, too. No one ever got hurt by generalizations, am I right?

  “She’s very kind,” Merrin finished after a few moments.

  I had nothing to say to that that wouldn’t probably get the beautiful fairy mad at me, so I cleared my throat, stepping around to put myself between Merrin and Evadne to ensure she was looking at me again.

  “Sweetie, you were telling me about a child being taken tonight. Do you remember?”

  “Eight tonight.” She looked distracted, like she was listening to something disturbing. “I see flowers. Oh.” Her face fell and she turned to me. “I’m so sorry. I’ll bring you something to help with that.”

  Despite the fact that I didn’t know what she was talking about, I took a step back to let her get up and pass. She didn’t move, just continued to watch me with pity and worry, as if I were detailing my injuries from a bad accident. After a second, Chloe dropped Merrin’s hand to close in and elbow me. I caught up, realizing that Merrin had no intention of getting me anything at the moment. Swallowing, I nodded.

  “I would appreciate that, thank you. Can you tell me more about where to find this child? How I can save him?”

  “You haven’t yet?” Merrin looked perplexed, her eyes widening as she tipped her head. “I’ll find out for you.”

  This time she did stand, drifting toward the bedroom on bare feet. I frowned, lifting my hands to my hips. When she didn’t reappear for over a minute, I
turned to Chloe.

  “What now?”

  “Now you go,” Evadne said, startling me. She sauntered toward us and held out a hand. “I understand you provide payment for services rendered?”

  “Uh.” I nodded, turning to Chloe. She’d been the one to get cash. Without hesitation, Chloe slid a small stack of twenties out of her bag, handing them to Evadne.

  “I will contact you when she has what you’re requesting.” Still watching Chloe intently, she flicked her gaze to me almost faster than I could see before tipping her head ever so slightly toward Chloe.

  “Pleasure.”

  Nervous energy slithered like an electric eel through Chloe and I jerked. I was definitely ready to get the hell out of there.

  Chapter Six

  We discussed the oddity of Merrin having a spectacularly gorgeous otherworldly roommate on the way back to the office, pausing occasionally to try to decipher all the things Merrin had said to us. We failed miserably but decided that if Evadne did in fact contact us with the location of the next kidnapping attempt, it hadn’t been a wasted trip at all.

  The rest of the day passed quickly; my last two Monday clients are nothing compared to the agony of spending an hour with Mrs. Q. Four-thirty rolled around and I was only too happy to shut down my computer and start getting ready to head home.

  We chatted as I locked up, bantered as we rode the elevator down to street level, and said our goodbyes. The snow that had been tickling my office window glittered in my hair as I unlocked my car and tossed my bag into the back seat. My eyes flitted to my steering wheel as I slid into my seat and I sighed.

  “Again?”

  There was a pink sticky note in the center of the steering wheel. It said, “Put up your shields!”

  I stared at it grumpily as I turned the car on and blasted the heater. Just as I was about to crumple the note and toss it in my little garbage bag, the passenger door opened and Mel slid his finely sculpted ass into my car. I was briefly stunned into silence as I did what the note had suggested and fortified my psychic wall. As at The Internets, it only helped so much. My muscles twinged, my skin protested and insisted I was pressing a hot iron against each and every nerve. Luckily, I wasn’t the only one in pain, at least for a few seconds.

  Mel grunted in discomfort as he realized what a mistake it had been to cram himself in without looking. Chloe must’ve adjusted the seat for herself earlier that day, so at least I got a chuckle watching Mel fold himself in where her small body had been so comfortable earlier. He was able to manage, but it required pressing his knees to his chest.

  After some fumbling between his legs—and, of course, an obnoxious kissing sound directed at me as he did so—the seat shot back and he stretched out. I frowned at him and turned off the car to make it clear that I was not taking him anywhere.

  “Hey, Jeeves, where we going?” Mel asked, his eyes roaming to watch my hand as I tucked the note into my jacket pocket.

  “You’re going to get out. I’m going home.”

  “I’ll join you; we can warm the place up.”

  I sighed. “Mel.”

  He grinned at me and gave an amiable shrug. Turning my rearview mirror so he could poke at his Fillion-esque hair, he explained.

  “I’ve got news. There are indeed children missing. While that’s, unfortunately, not atypical, this batch has the cops scratching their heads. Three children, two girls and a boy, have been taken in the last few weeks. What makes these particular kidnappings interesting is that the police have no leads. Zilch. Nada.”

  “That’s all you found out?”

  “Let me finish before you run your mouth,” Mel said. My eyelid gave a hearty spasm and I felt like smacking him. “All three children were removed from locked homes, where they should have been safe. First little girl was in bed and then she wasn’t. Second was in the backyard; Mom swears she stepped inside just long enough to grab a pair of gloves off the counter. The little boy was home sick from school with his mother.”

  “No breaking and entering?”

  “Nothing of the sort. If these aren’t the kidnappings you’re supposed to solve, I’ll take a vow of celibacy.”

  “Oh, don’t make this a choice between your abject misery and the safety of small children. I can’t make that decision.”

  Mel snorted, rolling his eyes good-naturedly. “What about you? You’re the one they hired; I’d better not be doing all the legwork here.”

  “Chloe and I went to see Merrin today. She spouted the usual foreboding nonsense, said she’d make me something, claimed we could stop a kidnapping—we’re hoping to get a call about that sooner rather than later—and we gave her some cash.”

  Mel made a small, thoughtful sound before jerking his chin. “How’s she doing?”

  Despite Mel being, well, Mel, I wasn’t surprised by his concern. Something about our little witch friend made her the only woman that Mel didn’t shamelessly flirt with. I’d seen him hit on girls who had turned eighteen mere seconds before and also on women in their sixties. Merrin, however, had only gotten a pat on the shoulder and Mel’s suggestion that she eat a nutritious dinner; he’d even offered to buy her the meal.

  “She’s… living with someone? Or someone’s living with her. It was a not-person-someone, far as I can tell. Super hot, but off. I think she was a fairy.”

  “Ooh,” Mel hissed, his face contorting like he’d been burned. “Super-hot fairies are generally bad news. Well, most are bad news, but the lookers you really don’t wanna fuck with.”

  “Even you don’t wanna fuck with them?” I asked, amused by the nervous frustration jangling through him like a can of pennies, even as I winced against the clamorous experience of being so close to it.

  “Even I wouldn’t risk it.”

  “Then it must be serious. I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “Don’t go getting your pretty little head ripped off,” Mel suggested, reaching out to ruffle my hair.

  “Okay,” was all I could get out. His fingers tugged my hair lightly as he pulled away; lust flared up from his core and I jerked my head back to lessen the contact. “Anything else?”

  “I’m going to see if I can get the parents to talk to me, offer my private eye services. Nothing seemed off to Julia—one of my hotter cop friends—but she doesn’t exactly have our radar, does she?”

  “How’d you pitch this, by the way?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, I’m assuming you didn’t just walk up to said hot cop and announce that you’re a werewolf with an empath acquaintance who’s been hired by two monsters to find kids. That wouldn’t really fly, would it?”

  “Some people pick up on what’s going on around the spooky side of things, actually. Occasionally they’re like you, with some mild power. Sometimes they’re a few shades weaker than you, but still aware. Sensitives who get a tingle in the back of their mind when the phone’s about to ring, or who just have a really well-developed lizard brain. Julia’s the latter. She’s been around enough conflicting eyewitness accounts of something hinky going down that she trusts me when I say something hinky's going down. Plus, it’s tough not to believe me when I’ve made you see god.” Mel winked, leaning forward with a predatory smile. “Interested?”

  “Back off, Fido,” I growled, pressing myself against my door. “It ain’t happening.” Mel watched me for a few moments before shrugging and sitting back. I took a deep breath, fought off the nausea he’d caused, and got back on track. “Look, if it’s possible, I’d like to go with you when you meet the parents.”

  “In your capacity as Super Therapist?”

  I ignored the dig. “Laurel and Hardy were scouts, right? They said their job is to check on kids with powers, to see if they’re a threat. I’d like to go and see if the parents have any extra… oomph. If one or both of each pair have…” I waggled my hands in front of me, unsure of how to describe it.

  “A tendency toward dance?” Mel finished for me. I blinked and lowered my hand
s.

  “Powers. See if any of them have any sort of abilities, even as mild as mine. We may have some sort of a zealot on our hands, someone who’s learned that not everyone is a boring, useless human and that he—or she—has a problem with this. Someone with that overdeveloped lizard brain you mentioned, maybe. These kids could be in danger for being too powerful. Or maybe they’re just sensitive, but this guy thinks they can bend reality or start fires with their hands, so he’s killing them.”

  “You know, technically everyone can start fires with their hands,” Mel observed. “You just need matches or a lighter, maybe some sticks to rub together.”

  My eye twitched again and I grunted at him. “Don’t be pedantic.”

  “Alternately, we could rub our body parts together and see what heats up.”

  “Please shut up,” I said, touching the jolt in my cheek.

  Mel took a moment to enjoy my discomfort and annoyance before continuing. “You really gave this some thought.”

  “Should I not have?”

  “I'm just not used to you thinking is all.”

  “I think all the time,” I protested. “Usually about how I hope your testicles get mangled in some sort of industrial accident.”

  “You think about my testicles all the time?”

  A fit of irritation and outrage ran through the entire right side of my face in a spasm and I reached up to press my hand to my cheek as if I could squelch my hatred of Mel if I squeezed hard enough. Mel laughed at me but got back to the real problem.

  “What other theories did you generate while trying to fight your natural urge to picture me naked? You think he might go after someone like Merrin, who can actually do damage?”

  The quake in my face died away and I waved him off. “I don't know. It’s just a thought at this point. For all I know, this guy’s just an asshole who likes hurting people and kids are the easiest targets. The fact that the fairies are after them means that they think these kids have powers, but I don’t know how they determine that. Maybe they check the kids of parents with powers but not all kids get the powers. I really don’t know.”