This was prime time.
I answered on the eighth buzz. “Hello, Ursula, what you got for me?”
Chapter Two
Ursula, my Magiguard boss, was waiting for me outside Lumiers, the only coffee shop in Necro City that catered solely to outliers.
Supernatural beings, like shifters, fae, witches, warlocks, and everyone in between, came here for coffee and cake, and Leana, the fae owner, catered to them all. There was only one rule—no fuckery—and she made doubly sure of it by placing wards all over the building. Outlier abilities were muted inside the building, and anyone attempting to engage in a rumble got knocked on their ass.
Stood to reason it was a popular hangout for those looking for a little downtime or for rival factions wanting to powwow. There was only one breed of creature you wouldn’t find here, and that was humans. Lumiers had a lookaway spell on it that kept them at bay.
Humans, in general, were oblivious to the outlier world. Well, aside from being aware of ghosts and the existence of Reapers. The rest was kept under wraps by the likes of the Magiguard, who made sure the veil between the outlier world and the human world was kept intact. And for the last few months, I’d helped them do just that.
It was the middle of November, and we were headed into winter. There was a bite in the air, and Ursula was dressed to ward off the chill in boots, a calf-length jacket, and a woolly hat that sat snug on her head.
She raised a hand in greeting as I crossed the road to reach her.
“Thanks for coming,” she said.
“You pay me, and I’m there.”
She grinned. “Of course. It’s not like you love this gig.”
I grinned back. “Oh, I love it all right, but if you must know, I’ve been on a date.”
She winced. “Yeah, I know. Keith came back to HQ spooked as fuck.”
Now I looked like a dick. “He said he could handle it. I guess he’s all biceps, warm smiles, and no spine.”
Okay, so maybe that was a little cruel, but fuck it. I’d warned him about Jasper. Heck, I’d tried to warn him off, but he’d insisted on a date anyway.
Ursula looked at me with pity.
Hell, no. “Do you want me to claw your eyes out?”
She shook her head. “There is a guy out there for you, Cora. One who’ll be able to take on Jasper.”
I nodded and smiled thinly because, as much as I wanted to believe it, experience was piling on evidence to suggest otherwise. Keith wasn’t the first guy claiming to be up to the Jasper challenge then running for the hills.
A face came to mind—chiseled, handsome, and kind. His name was Dean, a Loup Garou. A shifter and a beta. He’d wanted me.
Until he hadn’t.
Fuck it. Morose thoughts were for late nights with a bottle of whiskey and a pizza. “What we working with tonight, Urs?”
She rolled her eyes. “How many times have I asked you not to call me Urs? It sounds like—”
“Arse. I know.” I shot her a wicked smile.
“I hate you.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Fine, I don’t.” She glanced over my shoulder, and I registered the purr of an engine. “Our ride’s here.”
An unremarkable Ford idled across the road. Magiguard issue driven by a low-level employee.
“Are you going to tell me what the gig is?”
“It’ll be easier if I show you.”
Color me intrigued.
The red brick primary school sat dark and deserted across the asphalt playground that was surrounded by iron bars. Schools always reminded me of prisons, with the bars and the timed outdoor activities and pee breaks, but the fact we were here meant there was something causing danger to these children.
“What’s messing with the kids, Urs?”
This time she didn’t pull me up on the use of her nickname. “Three children went missing from the kindergarten two days ago. A search party was set up, and the whole area was combed for hours. Then a janitor went in to clean the classroom and found them sitting in the dark. The parents are ecstatic to have them back, of course, but their teacher is an independent witch and noticed some strange things about them over the last two days.”
“Go on.”
“They refused to eat anything at lunch, but she caught one of them eating a beetle at recess and another munching on flowers.”
“Don’t human kids do shit like that?”
Ursula nodded. “Of course, but our contact said that when she tried to stop them, they hissed at her and their eyes bled to black.”
“Okay, now that isn’t normal.”
“No.”
“So, what are we dealing with? What did you need to show me?”
Ursula unlocked the passenger side door and stepped out. “This way.”
I trailed her toward the gate then fell into step beside her as we followed the barrier around the building toward the back where a field was visible.
“The teacher in question had a suspicion as to what we might be dealing with,” Ursula said. “The children went missing after lunchtime play, which happens on this field. So, she went to investigate.”
The field was also gated off from the road, just like the asphalt playground up front. But there was a woman waiting for us on the other side of this gate. She wrung her hands nervously, huge eyes staring at us from behind thick lenses.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re here.” She hopped from foot to foot. “It’s a waxing moon,” she said. “Not good to be out alone when the moon is so close to full.”
It was a common misconception that shifters were dangerous. I mean, they could rip you to shreds if they wanted, but they didn’t hunt people. They also didn’t need it to be close to a full moon to shift. They could shift anytime.
“They won’t hurt you.”
“Huh?”
“The Loup. They don’t hunt people.”
She blinked at me. “Oh, my dear, I wasn’t referring to the Loup.”
Okay… “Then what?”
She pulled open the gate and ushered us through. “The other folk,” she said in a hushed tone. “The other folk that frolic in the woods.” She jerked her head toward the tree line in the distance.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“She means fae folk,” Ursula said.
Fae? The fae were few and far between, a dying race, and one that didn’t venture into the human world very often. “You think fae have something to do with the children?”
“Have you heard of changelings?” she asked.
“Isn’t that where fae take a human baby and leave one of their own in its place?”
“Yes, that’s it.”
“These kids are what? Three or four years old? Hardly babies.”
“I know,” the teacher said. “But I also know what I saw. The children that returned aren’t human. I can show you. Follow me.”
We trudged across the moonlit field toward the tree line, and despite my bravado, a prickle skittered across my skin, my sixth sense warning me something was afoot. The shadows crawled toward us the closer we got to the woods.
The teacher stopped and pointed. “Look, do you see it?” she asked.