A band of tykes was being led along in a line, clapping their hands, by a woman who I pegged to be somewhere between her late thirties and early forties. She had the skin and dark features that could have marked her ancestry as coming from somewhere in Southeast Asia. Her dark hair had been braided into a neat and out-of-the-way tail that hung past her shoulders. She was dressed comfortably in a pair of slacks, loose-fitting shirt, and well-worn sneakers.
Her eyes widened when she saw me.
Bingo. When someone reacts like that to a body I’m borrowing, there’s usually a good reason why. And I decided to go find out what that was.
A boy, likely no older than six, tugged on the woman’s pants just below the waistline. I drew closer as the lady bent to listen to him.
“Miss Chaudhry, can we take the ball and play?” The kid gestured to another child behind him who held a purple rubber ball.It was the kind of thing that would have packed a wallop whether kicked or thrown. “And do you know when Andy will be back?”
She frowned before putting on a forced smile. Miss Chaudhry ushered the kid forward, saying something I couldn’t catch but had to take as an affirmative. The boy burst with delight and ran off shrieking with the enthusiasm only someone his age could muster. The rest of the kids broke out of the line and followed behind.
“Miss Chaudhry.” I inclined my head before turning to watch the kids punting the ball back and forth.
“Curtis...” The pause lingered for a bit longer than I would have expected. That told me something.
I let the silence drag out until it weighed on the pair of us. “You looked surprised to see me.”
She gave me a thin, strained smile. “I am.”
“Didn’t expect to see me, then.” It wasn’t a question. I watched her, waiting to see her reaction.
Miss Chaudhry sniffed. “No. And since none of the missing children have returned, I don’t know how you could have either?”
I blinked. That meant she knew Curtis had gone looking for them, which meant she had an idea of what was going on. And that was a damn sight more than me. I matched her thin smile from moments ago. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.”
She gave me a level look. “You’re not Curtis, are you?” It came off more as an accusation than a question.
I matched her stare. “You ever hear of the name Vincent Graves?”
Her body stiffened like an icy rod had gone through her spine. She licked her lips before speaking. “Some of us have... the supernatural, I mean. The spirit, bouncing around solving murders, killing some of us.”
Some of us. Meaning she was walking on the monster side of things. Question was, what was she?
Sometimes the best thing you can do is just ask. So I did.
“And I’m here to put another monster down. Which brings me to this: are you the one I’m looking for? If you’re not, then you might want to tell me what you are and why I shouldn’t find a way to gank you.”
She didn’t miss a beat. “Yaksha.” Miss Chaudhry waved a hand to the widespread thicket of trees at the edge of the park. “I preside over this small bit of nature. I’m the local luck spirit,tryingto do what I can to look after the little ones.” She gave the kids playing ball an affectionate look.
I hadn’t expected that. Yaksha were nature spirits that could manipulate luck on a small scale, granting it or taking it away. They weren’t known for being malicious unless provoked. But minor spirits across many religions were usually tied to some small chunk of land they couldn’t leave without giving up serious bits of their power, meaning she couldn’t interfere or help. Some lore argued that yaksha had a soft spot for kids.
And nothing’s got more luck than a child’s luck.They’re innocent, pure, and damn near magical as anything can get. Which meant...
“I’m going to ask you something, and I’d like you to answer honestly.” I didn’t give her a moment to consider anything else. “Do you know what is taking the children? And is it after their luck?” I thought back to the odd happenings in the town concerning twists of fortune. There wouldn’t be any more obvious reason to go after the kids, and sometimes the supernatural are just that damn simple.
She bowed her head in a silent yes.
“What is it? Where is it?” I may have taken an unnecessarystep toward her and lowered my voice to a growl. It wasn’t intentional, but when kids are involved, I see red easier.
Miss Chaudhry pointed at an angle to the sky.
I followed the gesture to a pair of rainbows arcing from the parking lot of the daycare center back toward the strip mall. “Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
Leprechauns. Freaking leprechauns.
Lots of their lore got twisted over the ages—perverted, but some bits were true. The meddlesome monsters were definitely lucky, and they could play with luck too, for good or bad. But it came with a cost.
Fortune always does. Never forget that.
