Page 74 of Into The Green

"Where's our shit?"

"Right to it then," he said, exhaling as he went back into his apartment, leaving the door open for me to follow. I did, but only a foot, keeping one of my feet firmly planted outside of the door. "Miss the old days when I could just keep the shit and market the apartment as furnished. Not that anyone would want to move in with all that hippie shit all over," he said as he shuffled through a pile of papers on his dining table. "Ah, here. I didn't have anyone to call for blondie. But you had your work listed. Your work gave me your emergency contact and..."

Fucking Corbin.

Of course.

Because that was my life.

"Did he actually come and pick it up?"

"Sure did in that fancy car of his. Asked a lot of questions about when I'd seen you last and whatnot. Told him to take your shit and fuck off with his questions."

"First kind thing you've probably ever done in your life," I said with an eye roll. I looked around for a second, trying to steel my nerve to visit the asshole ex. "Hey," I said, my eyes landing on a collection of Jade's figurines she made. "You stole those, you dick."

"Prove it," Jo challenged.

"Tell you what," I said, charging toward them and grabbing one. "I'm taking this one. You can keep the rest if you give me twenty for them. Jade sold them for thirty a piece and you have eight here. It's fair." And I needed bus money to get to Corbin's.

"Why the fuck would I give you..."

"Listen you slimy son of a bitch," I said, charging at him. "I've had a hell of a couple of..." Days, but that wasn't right in the human realm. "Months. I don't have time to deal with you haggling over this shit. Give me twenty or I'll call the cops in and you go ahead and try to explain to them why you are in possession of things belonging to a missing person. Because before I took off, I reported Jade missing. Don't you think that would look a tad bit incriminating? Sure, you didn't do anything to Jade. But you know cops... sometimes they really just want to close cases and, while I'm no expert, you really seem like the kind of shit who would make your pretty young tenants disappear."

"I liked fucking blondie better," he grumbled, moving over to the table beside his door, reaching in his wallet, and pulling out the twenty.

"Me too," I said, snatching it and turning back into the hallway.

So all that nice shit I said about people? Yeah, fuck that.

And 'fuck that' was a great mood to be in to go confront my ex.

SEVENTEEN

Cece

Things moved fast even though the days stretched long. I went to Corbin who actually did have all my crap in boxes in his spare room. I grabbed what I could carry, which wasn't much, gave him a final fuck you, and tried to figure out my next move. I dug out my IDs and went to the bank, taking out a hunk of cash.

It was leaving the bank when I swore, I swore down to my soul that I saw one. One of the Dark fae from the woods, from my nightmares, my memories. Everything in me went cold, my stomach clenching hard. What the hell was I supposed to do? I couldn't go back into The Green alone and clueless. But in the human world, I was helpless. If they were after me...

"Shit," I said, tucking my money into my old purse and doing the only thing I could think of. I went to the freaking new age store that Jade liked to go to to get more of her gemstones and smudge sticks and whatnot.

"That is one dark aura," the store owner, a thin-as-a-rake man in his late thirties with thinning brown hair, brown eyes, and oversize rasta hoodie and hemp pants, greeted me.

He was sweet, but I really didn't have time for his snail-paced speeches or his questions about when the last time I went to a moon circle was. "I need every single book you have about the fae," I demanded and he started a moment at the sharpness in my tone but moved toward his bookshelves to fetch the books. "Every last one. I want your whole stock," I added in case I hadn't been clear enough.

"Sure, sure thing," he said a little distractedly as he piled the tomes into his skinny arms.

"And jasper," I added, looking at the tiny crystal bowls of gemstones.

"What about jasper?"

"I want every last stone of jasper you have."

"Well we have some right out there. Red, leopard, blue snake..."

"I'm taking it all. Along with whatever stock of it you have out back. And crystal quartz too."

"Are you being spiritually attacked?" he asked, deadly serious.