I was soundless as I crept across the loft. When the crooked official scurried under the hay chute I was positioned at, I dropped down, landing directly behind him.
“Mortem.” I breathed the name of my dagger. Its blade glowed a golden yellow color, and before the official even knew I was there, I stabbed him in the back of the neck.
The magic in the blade made it a simple thing to cut through bone and sever his spinal cord, resulting in a near instantaneous death.
All of the air in his lungs left with a gasp, and he collapsed to the ground, dead before I stepped back from the body.
I wiped my dagger off on his shirt then felt for a pulse, confirming his death. A few moments later I left the stables, keeping to the shadows where my magic and my dark gray clothes would cloak me.
I mentally mapped out my plans to contact the fae lady from the Autumn Court and begin tracking the night mares.
Killing had very little impact on me—I was just as much a villain as the fae I murdered.
But this game of power and dominance had been in existence for centuries. No one could escape it. It dragged us all down eventually.
Chapter Three
Leila
My phone blasted my ringtone so loudly I jumped. I’d picked out a Lord of the Rings ringtone because I loved those movies, but it was pretty startling to have the Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack blast out of your butt pocket at a volume loud enough to wake the barn cats.
I fumbled with the phone for a moment before I managed to swipe and accept the call. “Hey, Mom!”
“Hi Leila. I’ll be home soon—I’m leaving the store right now. Would you tell Paul? I tried to call him, but he didn’t pick up.”
“Yeah, I think he’s in his workshop. I’ll let him know.”
“Thanks. How has your day been?”
I grimaced. “I heard back from the marketing firm. They went with a different applicant.”
“Oh, honey, I’m sorry. I know you said you really liked them when you interviewed with them.”
“Yeah, but it’s okay. There are a few online positions I can apply for. Otherwise I saw there was one at the Curia Cloisters.”
I’d normally avoid the Curia Cloisters—it was basically the town hall for the supernatural community here in Magiford, which was pretty big since Magiford was considered the supernatural capital of the Midwest region.
It’s not that I was against working for supernaturals, it just didn’t mesh well with my goal of living like a human and remaining out-of-sight/out-of-mind to the fae community. They didn’t usually let anyone with fae blood waltz around free, so I had to be pretty purposeful about where I lived and worked.
But I started looking for a full-time job in February when I was still in college. Now it wasMay,I’d finished my classes, and Istillhadn’t gotten a job. I was getting a lot less picky these days.
“That’s a nice idea.” She sounded kind of flat—which was pretty unusual for her.
“What, you’re not going to tell me ‘I told you so’?” I joked, trying to break the moment. “You told me last winter I should apply for something at the Curia Cloisters—in between times when you were showing me pictures of your friends’ sons and trying to set me up on dates.”
That got a weak chuckle out of her. “Wherever you end up, I know you’ll be fine. I willalwaysbelieve in you, Leila.”
I briefly pulled the phone away from my ear so I could frown at it.
Mom was normally pretty sentimental, but not usually on the phone when she was driving home from the grocery store.
“Oops,” Mom said. “I should go—I see Mrs. Brown out at her farm stand—I want to ask when the strawberry season will start.”
“Okay—see you soon!” I ended the call and stared at my phone for an extra moment or two.
Mom has been acting off for the past few days.
My mom was always a super warm and sweet parent. But recently she’d been hugging me a lot more, and watching me with sad eyes whenever she thought I didn’t notice.
