Courting Trouble (Chapter 8) (Patreon)

       Index
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6  
Chapter 7 

Chapter 8

As the cab pulled away, I looked up at the stretching profile of one of the taller, more expensive, hotels in the city. Stepping out on to the curb, I turned to view the loop, constantly subjected to a stream of vehicles, pulling in and out, picking up and dropping off passengers. I paid the driver and watched him pull away, along with a gaggle of other taxis.

“This can’t be right…” I whispered as I walked through the front entrance, sliding around a few attendants helping some folks with their luggage. The overall air of the interior was one of clean, orderly comfort and didn’t seem to fit with the fact that it supposedly acted as headquarters for a group of supernatural beings. At least the old brownstone building held a certain air of age and tradition, but the hotel was very modern and very trendy.

Sliding the instructions out of the envelope, I made my way to the elevator as instructed. The script on the paper made clear the elevator had to be clear when I entered and it took at least 10 minutes before I had an opportunity for an unmanned elevator. Tipping the envelope, I caught the object within - a silver key. I made my way into the box and glanced over the panel. My finger ghosted up each number until it reached the button for the fourteenth floor, the thirteenth floor absent. I jabbed the fourteenth floor button and felt the elevator move, deep in my belly.

Following the letter I jabbed the key into the lock on the panel, reserved for maintenance workers, and twisted it. Almost instantly I felt the hair on the back of my neck rise up and my fingers spasmed, clamping on to the metal end of the key, like I had just suffered an electric shock. The feeling in my stomach grew intensely uncomfortable, constantly falling through my feet and then rising up into my throat.

I don’t know how long it took but when my fingers loosened the elevator pinged, the doors sliding open. Looking up, I saw the LED panel blazing with a scarlet thirteen.

Stumbling, I made my way out of the elevator into a scene not out of place at a botanical garden. Plants of all sorts grew in planters and pots, filling my nose with the scent of ferns and wildflowers. Rich, warm hardwood stretched out in all directions beneath my feet and entire sections were raised in tiers and platforms that overlooked the ground floor. The entire place felt open air, despite being indoors, and I swore I could hear birds chirping somewhere in the distance.

“And who are you?” A feminine voice spoke behind me, causing me to twitch.

With the air of calm and surety now clearly dispersed, I turned and beheld a female elf built in contrasts with Nemue. While both had pale skin, this elf’s was more akin to pale cream, rather than cold snow. Wheat gold hair flowed from her head in great cascades that fell to her hips and her eyes were gold, like that of a big cat. Her cheekbones were high and sharp, giving her an exaggerated Nordic appearance. She wore a sundress of pale green and gold, standing still and straight, hands behind her back.

“Er…” I answered, goddess of wit that I was.

“I repeat, human. Who are you?” And with the last word she gestured with one, long fingered hand. At an instant I heard the ominous sound of several guns being cocked, click-clack, above me.

Rather than tempt fate and glance up, I answered immediately. “Elena Nott, I come with Argidlawv’s blessing. I seek an audience with Miss Aeval of the Ljosalfar.” As proof I held out the letter he had penned for me.

There was a tense moment, where I looked into those gold, cold eyes, and thought she might order me shot anyway. It passed as she reached out and took the letter, swept her gaze over it in for an instant and then gestured me to follow. “Come.”

Aeval was apparently at the far side of the room, in a raised platform, walled off rows of hedges. As I went up the spiraling steps to meet her, I felt the intense gaze of numerous individuals but couldn’t find their source. I was painfully aware that several weapons could still be trained on me at that very moment so I took extreme care not to move suddenly and to keep my hands visible. “Who are you?” I asked the woman cautiously.

She didn’t answer me and, instead, opened a wooden gate at the top of the steps and motioned for me the come inside. I did and she followed behind me, the feeling of many eyes on me fading and replaced with the singular, knife-like gaze of my escort.

Beyond the gate was like a small garden, sealed off from the rest of the massive, open aired floor by the hedges. Birds chirped around me, flowers were at my feet and I heard something scamper by, only catching the sight of the fluffy brown tail of a rabbit as it disappeared in some undergrowth.

The leader of the Ljosalfar, Lady Aeval of the Eastern Shore, sat stewn across an oaken, high backed, leather cushioned chair. She was draped in silks of green, gold and whites, like something out of feudal Asia. I felt, more than saw, her turn her attention to me and I immediately felt like a fawn before a mountain lion.

She was something straight of myth and fable. The first thing I noticed were her eyes, like the other elf’s, yellow and cold, and there was a hunger in them that I couldn’t exactly explain. Her hair was the starkest white and braided with pins of gold, live wildflowers and emeralds. Her face was full, not quite as sharp as the other elves I’ve seen, and her nose was long, straight and narrow, lips plush and pink.

I felt my escort brush beside me and saw her lean down to whisper into the lady’s ear. Aeval nodded and something in her bearing shifted imperceptibly. “My seneschal, Madje, tells me you come at Argidlawv’s behest. Speak.”

“I come in the matter of Nemue and the deaths of both your and her kind,” I responded swiftly. Already I felt extremely uncomfortable, unable to shake the feeling of menace. I wanted to be out there as soon as possible.

“Where is she?” the elf leader demanded and I felt the tension ratchet up even higher. “Where is the gutter rat that dared kill one of my folk?”

I swallowed and responded. “I don’t know. Argidlawv has sent me here to offer you my opinion and findin-“

“Don’t lie to me.” She snarled and it came out backed by a rumbling in her throat, a near sub audible growl. “Do not dare think you smarter than us, human. I will not stand by as my folk are killed by those filth.” The last word was said with such disgust that it nearly rocked me back a step.

And as she spoke she leaned forward and I heard straining wood. Her fingers were clenching the armrests so hard they were creaking under her long fingers, nails sunk in almost half an inch.

I fumbled for a few seconds, suddenly feeling as if I was caged with some massive predator. “I… admit that we have had contact. But she only sent me to Argidlawv and I haven’t seen her since. I ha-”

Again, I was cut off. But this time not by words. In the span of a breath Aeval’s hand was around my throat. I didn’t even register that she had moved until my airway was cut off.

The fairy noble was tall, so tall she had to bent at the knees and waist to be face to face with me. Her height and strength were the only things I could note as my brain panicked and screamed for air, my hands fumbling dully with her wrist. 

Despite the pounding of my heart in my ears I could still hear her words, whispered between snarling lips. “Argidlawv dares send an ape to speak with me? Human, know that his word is the only thing protecting you at the moment.” And then she started to straighten, pulling me up by the neck until my toes were the only thing touching the floor. “But if I find you have deceived me today, no matter how slight, that protection will not save you. If I discover you have lied to me, I will visit such pain and suffering upon your body that you will thank me when I let you die.”

She released me and I fell in a crumpled heap upon the floor. I don’t know how long I stayed there, gasping for air, trying to see through tears in my eyes. 

Eventually, I managed to look up. Aeval had retreated back to her chair, sitting regally upon it once more. I tried to stand but my body fought me and fear robbed me of strength. She could’ve killed me and I couldn’t have done anything to stop it.

Lady Aeval stared down at me, at my face which I knew probably held a mix of terror, dread and panic. I knew my cheeks were wet with tears and I couldn’t move from my knees. She smiled, something dark and cruel, and those alien eyes glittered with some sort of joy I couldn’t identify. “I’m glad you understand your position now, human,” she said, tone satisfied. “You may speak, but speak truth.”

It took several seconds for me to answer and when I did my voice came out croaky. “In my investigation, I feel like it is the vampires who are killing your folk.” I felt my voice quaver once before steadying. “They may be using Nemue as a scapegoat.”

The elf noble turned her attention from me, dismissing me from her perceptions as she beckoned her handmaiden to her. “Madje, the human may be lying but I do not put it past the parasites to try and weaken us while the rat hides.”

Madje stepped forward and leaned in, murmuring something to her mistress. Aeval nodded slowly and she took a moment to consider her words. “I’m glad you have thought that a possibility. But I must be sure. Priority is still to find the little rodent, but I will be ordering surveillance on the vampires in the meantime.”

Madje nodded and turned her gaze to me. “I will show the human out.”

During the exchange I had finally managed to get to my feet and steady myself. “Lady Aeval, please,” I implored. “The vampires-”

Once again I was interrupted. This time it was Madje. “My lady has been more than generous with her time, especially toward one of your kin.” She took two long steps toward me and grabbed my shoulder in an iron grip. “We will no longer tolerate you disrupting our home.”

I felt her turn me about and practically marched me out of the little glen. I turned my head to glance back at the noble, who was staring, eyes narrowed. It was only for a moment before she disappeared, blocked from view by a hedge.

Madje accompanied me down the elevator in steely silence. She had produced a gold key, much like the silver one I had used, and pressed the ground floor button. The entire way the elf’s eyes stared into mine with a disconcerting amount of disgust and hatred and her lips were thinned into a line, jaw working behind them as if she was chewing on words to spit at me.

The elevator stopped but the doors did not open. There was a tense moment where I genuinely thought my chaperone was going to pull out a weapon, shoot me and dump my body into the lobby. Instead, she spoke firmly, harshly. “If you return, human, to pester my mistress again, to speak lies to her, I will have you killed. Before you may even lay eyes upon her. Is that understood?”

Madje did not have the same kind of menace as Aeval did. But I had an intuition about her that she wasn’t as direct as the sidhe noble and that exposing my back to her was probably not the best idea. She worked in the background and advised, that was what she did. If she wanted me dead, she’d make a phone call and have me shot in the street, rather than do it herself.

“Yeah, I got it,” I quipped sourly, keeping my guard up, “because that’s something I want to experience again. She’s such a swell hostess.”

The elf twisted the key in the socket once and the doors chimed and parted to reveal the hotel’s parking garage, empty of any potential witnesses. I left cautiously, facing her until I was outside the elevator.

Before the doors shut there was a buzzing sound and the elf produced a cell phone, putting it to her ear. I heard her make an noise in the affirmative and saw her nod, smiling. Her eyes turned to mine and her lips twist a little more. Before I could react, the elevator closed, leaving me with that image of Madje smiling burned into my vision.

A pang of fear went through my belly at that look, that smug satisfaction on Madje’s face. The digital display over the call button started the count upward toward the non-existent floor 13, leaving me alone in the semi darkness with that knot in my stomach.

I left the hotel as quick as I could. No gunmen executed me as I exited the garage, thankfully. But all the same, that phone call at the end of the elevator ride was unnerving and I knew the topic from the way she looked at me: Nemue.

The taxi ride back was uncharacteristically fast; no traffic, almost no stop lights and I’m pretty sure the driver was going above the speed limit regardless. Still, that drive felt like an eternity as I worried for my client.

I felt Neumue was innocent, that she was being framed. And Argidlawv was certainly correct in estimating the high elf reaction to my theory. The difference between the two elf nobles was striking and I had no doubt that if the Ljosalfar caught Nemue before I could prove her innocence they’d make her suffer in ways I couldn’t imagine.

The idea that the vampires were attempting to start a civil war was starting to fill out, especially after seeing Aeval’s behavior in person. The clear hatred in her voice when she spoke about Argidlawv and Nemue, when she spoke to me, was palpable. It wouldn’t be hard to make her think she was being insulted and, from there, push her into seeking bloody retribution.

In that moment, I felt somewhat comforted the dark elves were the ones in power. The high elves didn’t seem much better than the vampires. I shuddered, thinking what it would be like to have someone like Aeval or Helena in charge of the city. But that just threw into sharper focus what was at stake. If a civil war broke out, something dangerous could take hold instead.

I knew the situation was bigger than just Nemue, but the fate of some supernatural power game was too far out of my scope for the moment. One thing mattered right now and that was the job. I needed to prove Nemue’s innocence.

In the back seat of the cab, I counted out bills, ready for when we reached my apartment. I practically shoved them into his waiting hand and told him to keep the change as I hurried inside to collect Nemue.

A few minutes later I slammed my key into the lock and opened my door, speaking before I’d even cross the threshold. “We have to go! Now!”

Nemue appeared at the far end of the apartment, through the entrance to my bedroom, dressed in her street clothes. The fear had returned to her eyes at my tone and I could see her posture shift into something a bit more twitchy, something ready to act at a moment’s notice.

She hurried up to me and I grabbed her wrist, practically hauling her out into the hall. “What happened?” I heard her ask behind me as I used my key to relock the door.

“I’m pretty sure the high elves knew I was lying to them. They probably know you’re here. We have to get you to a safe place.” I turned and was met with those massive eyes, set into her terrified face. “Come with me.”