Earthbound Read online

  A couple minutes later, the jingle of the shop bell caught my attention and I headed toward the counter. And there he was: Henry Jeffries, with a huge smile on his face and a bouquet of flowers in a crystal vase.

  “I thought these might brighten the shop for you.” He handed them to me, looking around. “Is Miss Iris here? I thought perhaps she could recommend a few books to me.” The sparkle told me everything I had suspected was true. He had a crush on her.

  I had a feeling Iris wouldn’t be quite so enthusiastic.

  “She’ll be back in a few minutes. Feel free to look around. We have a new seating area over there,” I nodded toward the front of the store. Iris’s seating area was in front of the bay window on the left side of the shop, and she had positioned a sofa and a couple of recliners into a comfortable arrangement.

  Henry headed toward the stacks.

  I carried the vase over to the counter. As I moved behind the glass case, I spotted a pad of paper and a pencil. I decided I might as well try to draw the creature that we had seen last night, since we had found no usable information on the net.

  I sketched away, doing my best to capture the image. A few minutes later the door opened and Iris came in, a bag in one hand, and a drink tray in the other. She handed me an iced triple cherry chocolate latte. Her own drink was a caramel macchiato.

  “Anybody around?”

  I nodded toward Henry, who was standing in front of the science fiction section, raptly staring at the wall of books. Iris let out a little groan, then hushed herself before he heard.

  “Wonderful. Who the flowers from?”

  “From Henry. He asked about you,” I said with a smile.

  “What are you doing?” She leaned over the counter to look at what I was drawing. “When did you see a kerakal? I haven’t seen one in years, thank the gods.”

  “You know what this is?” I stared at her.

  “Of course. It’s a Germanic forest spirit, and boy is let me tell you, do those critters have nasty tempers. So, why are you sketching one?”

  “Because last night one attacked me and my sisters out in the woods in back of our house. We were on our way down to Birchwater pond when the thing came out of the woods and jumped us. It knocked me into a briar patch, and I’ve got nasty little scabs all over my thighs and butt. We had no clue what the thing was. Can you tell me about it?”

  “Kerakals are dangerous. They’re always hungry and always on the lookout for fresh meat. Some people get them mixed up with kobolds, but the fact is they’re an entirely different species of Fae. Not only are they nasty tempered, but they’re cunning, and they eat magic. If you’ve got one on your land you’re going to have to find it dispatch it because it won’t go away by itself.”

  “It vanished right in front of our eyes.”

  “What happened right before it vanished? And that’s a trademark—they can phase in and out, but they cannot do so quickly. If you catch it right after it phases in, it’s not going to be able to disappear for a while. I can’t recall how long the waiting time is.”

  “The kerakal caught sight of Menolly’s fangs. Then it vanished.”

  “That makes sense. They’re terrified of vampires and kelpies. I’m not entirely sure what the commonality between the two is, though. Kerakals make their burrows near freshwater ponds and lakes, which would make sense given you were on the way to the pond. I know how to sniff them out,” she said. “I was trained to do so because they are thick not only in Finland, but in the Northlands.”

  “You spent time in the Northlands?” That meant that she was used to rough terrain and harsh conditions.

  She nodded. “Tell me, did you happen to find any sort of bone magic there? Runes written on a bone?”

  “Yes, actually. Chase said it was a metacarpus. It had runes all over it.”

  “Then that means they are looking to establish a colony. It’s a beacon to others of their kind—kind of like a magical radar.” At my blank look she shook her head. “Never mind, but you have to destroy that charm or you’ll be overrun with an infestation of them.”

  I sighed. “Lovely. Can you come over after work to help sniff the thing out? And how do you dispatch them?”

  “Well, iron would be the best way, but we probably should forego that, given it affects all of us. Or at least, I think it affects you? I know you’re half human.”

  “Cast-iron and wrought iron burns our skin, but we can touch steel without a problem.”

  “I have no problem with steel, either. Somehow the blend of metals seems to temper out some of the effects. I’d be happy to come over, but you need to be aware that kerakals tend to wander around at night more. Although, if it’s out and about, that means we’ll have a better chance of tracking down its lair. They have peculiar smell, mossy and mildew and bitter orange and skunk cabbage. But since autumn isn’t the season for skunk cabbage, if we smell it then we can be pretty sure that the kerakal is around somewhere.”

  “What skunk cabbage? Sounds horrible.”

  “A flower, actually. But it smells like skunk.”

  Just then, Henry wandered up and I motioned for Iris to go help him. She shot me a nasty glance, but did as I asked.

  By late afternoon, we had actually made a tidy sum. The novelty of having a visitor from Otherworld own a bookshop seemed to pay off. In fact, at one point, Erin Mathews—the owner of the Scarlet Harlot, a lingerie shop—popped into introduce herself and ask if we could host a chapter of the Faerie Watchers Book Club, a group dedicated to the study of the world of Fae and all that was connected to it, both in fiction and real-life.

  “We might be able to do that,” I said, staring at her business card. “So you own a lingerie shop?” I was a fiend for lingerie, and anything that hugged my curves.

  “I have some things that would look absolutely stunning on you.” Erin was probably in her late forties to early fifties. She had short hair, was somewhat stout and wearing blue jeans and a flannel shirt, and had a winning smile.

  “I’ll drop by tomorrow at some point. Meanwhile, bring me the information on the club and we’ll see what we can set up. This would be a good way to network with the community.”

  Her eyes glittered. She looked as though she had just won a prize. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then. We can talk more about the club, and I’ll bring in some information for you to read.” She paid for three books and strolled out of the shop.

  Iris glanced at me. “You do realize that you’re about to become very well known in Seattle, right?”

  I glanced at her. “I doubt that will happen. But it might be kind of fun if it did.”

  “Be careful what you ask for.” And Iris went back to re-shelving some of the books.

  I wasn’t sure how she had done it, but Iris managed to commandeer a town car. Delilah and I sat in back, Iris in the front, and we headed for home in style.

  “What did you do all day?” I hadn’t seen Delilah at all.

  “Oh, Chase kept me busy learning regulations and rules. Then we started the tedious project of assembling a massive amount of data on the Supes and Fae living in the area. We decided to add vampires to the mix, because apparently, there are several organizations whose goal it is to help vamps acclimate to human society.”

  “True, if we project a unified front, it will make it harder for the hate groups to infiltrate and divide us.” I leaned my head against the seat.

  “Right. And I thought that perhaps Seattle could use something like a community action council for the Supe community. But the amount of work it would take to begin pulling such a project together? I can’t even imagine how hard it would be.”

  She seemed so enthusiastic that I was glad I’d asked her to do the job.

  The important thing was that we integrate ourselves into the community rather than standing apart from it. That was one thing my father had impressed on me before we left.

  “Camille,” he had said. “The more you hold you
rself separate from the native community, the less you’re going to learn, and the more difficult your job will be. You have to create a connection. Obviously, you won’t ever fully belong to the Earthside world, but you can set up contacts and networking. That’s the only way I’ve managed all the missions that I’ve had over there. While I don’t stay long, I do have a network of friends and associates who are always willing to help. Do what you can to integrate.”

  I turned to Delilah. “Keep that thought in mind. By the way Iris knows what we we were facing last night. We’ll explain when we get home, after Menolly wakes up. And Iris knows how to try and find it.”

  We arrived home about half an hour before sunset. I glanced in the refrigerator, which was mainly full of bottled blood.

  “What are we going to eat for dinner? We forgot to get food. Should we call a cab?”

  Iris let out an exasperated sigh. “You have to learn how to drive. You can’t rely on taxis the rest of the time you’re here. And I don’t recommend springing for a chauffeur. They’re expensive. I’ll talk to Chase about it the morning and we’ll set you on an accelerated course in driving. All three of you, so no complaining, Delilah.”

  “Fine,” Delilah said. “But what do we do in the meantime? I’m hungry.”

  One of the things we had noticed since we moved over here was that our appetites had increased. Either that or human food didn’t satisfy us as much. Delilah and I ate like fiends. Of course Menolly only drank blood, but even she seemed to need more than she did over in Otherworld.

  “We do what any red blooded American would do. We order takeout. For delivery. What do you want? Mexican? Chinese? Chicken?”

  We stared at her blankly.

  “I’m sorry, I should realize you haven’t made the distinction between types of fast food yet. I’ll order what I think you’d like. Meanwhile, I suggest you begin planning some sort of renovation to close off the doorway leading to Menolly’s basement apartment. If any wannabe vampire hunters get in here, it won’t take them long to find her with the door in plain sight.”

  While we were waiting for Menolly to wake up and for the food to arrive, Delilah poked through the cupboards. She pulled out a bag of brilliantly colored snacks that looks like tiny orange clubs.

  “What are these? Cheetos?” She opened the bag and a puff of orange dust poofed out, covering her nose.

  Iris let out a snort. “Junk food. It’s a corn-based snack covered with a powdered cheesy topping. You’re much better off eating an apple.”

  Delilah stuffed several of them in her mouth, and her eyes lit up in a way that I hadn’t seen since she discovered the family of mice living under the laundry. Had she been in Tabby form, they would have been doomed, but she happened to find them while carrying laundry out for the maid, who hurt her back.

  Delilah had taken the mice into her menagerie, fed them, and pretty soon we were overrun with the rodents. But they were good, given the knowledge that she could dive in and attack them at any time, and Mother Mouse kept her children out of the house, and out of the storerooms in an unspoken agreement.

  “These are so good!” Delilah sputtered, cheesy bits flying every which way.

  I gingerly popped one of the puffs into my mouth and bit down. My mouth was instantly filled with the sensation of grease and salt and some other flavor that really didn’t taste like cheese. But after a second bite, I had to admit they were tasty. However, I couldn’t see myself stuffing them in like Delilah was.

  “You’re going to make yourself sick. You’re not used to this kind of food.”

  Delilah shook her head. “I have just found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Now if I could meet Jerry Springer I’d be a happy woman.”

  “Somehow I think that’s highly unlikely.” Iris reached out to take the bag away from her. Delilah clutched it to her chest.

  “Fine, eat yourself sick. But for your information, Jerry Springer is a celebrity. Over here that means that he’s going to be swamped with people wherever he goes, and he’s not likely to want to meet anybody…Well, I don’t know what he would think if he knew you wanted to meet him. I have no clue what he thinks of the Fae.”

  “Maybe we could be on his show?”

  I put my foot down. “Never. We’re not going to show where people wear fish taped to their bodies. I refuse. So don’t even bring it up again.”

  “You can’t stop me from thinking about it,” she said with a giggle.

  At that moment the door to the basement opened and Menolly emerged. “Good evening. So what’s going on?” She stretched and yawned. Even though she didn’t need to breathe, yawn, or even catch her breath, she once told me that occasionally she deliberately forced herself to breathe in order to feel like she was still alive.

  I hadn’t said anything. What can you say to something like that?

  “Well, Iris knows what we were facing last night. And I had a good day in the shop. Delilah helped Chase out today and she’s discovered the pot at the end of the rainbow is filled with Cheetos. Actually, they do taste pretty good, but it’s like eating food dipped in a dye pot.”

  “Oh lovely. What a delightful image.” She hopped up to sit on the counter, swinging her legs. “So fill me in. What are we facing?”

  Iris repeated what she had told me about kerakals. “By the way, that bone? Destroy it. Menolly, take it outside and smash it to bits.”

  Menolly cocked her head to one side, but obliged. When she returned, she said, “It’s so much bone dust now. Why did you want me to do that?”

  “Because it acts like a beacon to other kerakals, calling them in to form a community.”

  “Ugh. All right, it’s gone. But, since we can’t touch iron, what can we use that it’s not going to like?”

  “Well, my magic is out. The kerakals just fuel up on it.”

  “Sword, if you’ve got one. Clubs are good, too. In other words: brute force. They’re tougher than they look, so don’t be surprised when it doesn’t go down on the first hit. It’s going to take a while, and meanwhile those teeth are pretty nasty. And the creatures are as strong as a horse, if one gets hold of you, you’re going to have a hard time getting away.”

  “After dinner, we’ll go hunting down weapons. We are well armed. At least the OIA didn’t stand us on that.”

  And that was true enough. Our store room contained a variety of weapons, from swords to daggers, to a few clubs and axes. I could work a dagger, and we had all been given sword lessons, although I didn’t trust myself with a blade that big. I wasn’t really worried about missing my opponents much as I was worried about hurting anybody who was fighting alongside me.

  The doorbell rang, and Iris answered, returning with a bag full of food. “We have tacos, potato wedges, salad, and taquitos.” She spread out the food on the table. “Dig in.”

  I was surprised by how good it tasted, even though some of it was a little spicy. Delilah scarfed down her share, still eating the Cheetos. Iris managed a few tacos, and Menolly pulled out a bottle of blood from refrigerator and drank it down.

  When we were finished, we armed ourselves and headed out along the trail toward the pond. Iris took the lead, given her ability to track down the kerakal. Along the way, she pointed out some of the common bushes and plants endemic to the area.

  “That’s skunk cabbage, the flower I was telling you about. In spring and summer it will have bright yellow flowers. And over there? That’s a huckleberry bush. The birds have been at this one. There are no berries left. They make wonderful jam so if you want to get a head start, next year be here just as the berries ripen, because the birds and bears will take their share.”

  She also pointed out various trees. “The tall ones are firs. They can grow hundreds of feet tall, and unfortunately in high winds, they can and do topple. They’ve got a shallow root system and the ground around here gets saturated during the rains. We have an intense rainy season from September until late spring. Those
with the broad flat leaves? They’re maple. And cedar trees right next to them.”

  “We have all of these in Otherworld, though we know them by different names. But I see a number of plants that I’ve never seen before.”

  As we headed down the trail, every so often Iris would stop, raising her nose to catch the wind. She inhaled deeply, held her breath for a moment, then slowly exhaled. We had just about reached the point where we’d been ambushed when she stopped.

  “I can smell the residue. Kerakal all right. The question is, why is it here? They don’t usually come this far south. And they’re a lot more rare over here in the U.S. than in northern Europe. Let’s see if we can track it to its burrow. They dig deep in the ground, usually into the side of a hill or cliff.”

  As we moved further into the woods, I tensed. For a moment, the thought crossed my mind that we should have contacted Chase. I mentioned it, but Iris shook her head.

  “Chase’s officers are competent, but most of them are Earthside Fae. And most of them haven’t seen much battle time. He’s recruited them, but they haven’t been put to the test, yet. It’s not his fault. Devins, his boss, is a horrible man, who makes Chase’s life miserable. He takes all the credit, while Chase does all the work. But Chase doesn’t complain. He’s a team player. He’s more concerned about doing the job right than getting the credit he deserves.”

  Remembering what he said about his childhood, I agreed. “He’s a good officer, who really gives a damn about the world and the people in it. And he’s proud of the job he does. I think our father would like him, to be honest.”

  As we turned a bend in the road, Iris paused, holding up her hand. I inhaled deeply. There it was, faint on the wind. The smell of skunk. And I could hear the rush of water, lapping in the wind.

  “The kerakal?” I glanced down at her.

  She nodded, turning first this way, then that to catch the trail of scent. After a moment she pointed to the left, and we began traipsing through the undergrowth.