Night and Fae Read online

  Night and Fae

  A Vegas Fae story

  By

  Tom Keller

  Also by Tom Keller

  Return of the High Fae

  Of Gods and Fae

  Twist of Fae

  Not Just Another Fae

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved.

  Book Cover design by Creative Paramita

  Edited by Alan Tobin

  Kindle Edition © 2016 Tom Keller

  Las Vegas, NV USA

  Acknowledgements

  As usual, I'd like to thank everyone that helped make this book possible, especially my wife, Karen. Without her support this book would never have been written. Thanks to Al Tobin for offering to play editor and Phil Hershey, Dee and Scott, and the rest of my beta readers for their advice and support.

  I'd especially like to thank you, the reader. Without you, Robert would never be able to continue his adventures, and where would the fun be in that?

  A special thanks to all those Facebook fans that liked my author page and kept those comments coming in. Knowing that you are out there really made a difference in getting the manuscript finished and the book published.

  Dedication

  To Karen, for always being there.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Acknowledgements

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  About the Author

  Books by Tom Keller

  Chapter 1

  Being a P.I. is not always what it's cracked up to be, but at least the magic side of my life keeps it interesting. Case in point, I was sitting behind the counter of a convenience store at Charleston and Maryland Parkway at 11:00 p.m., doing a favor for an old friend. Bob Mitchell had run this store since I was a kid. Before all the chains started moving in, this was the place to go after a movie or a show at the theatre down the street. In those days, this was prime real estate. Nowadays, not so much. Which is why he asked for my help.

  I usually stay away from these kind of cases, but when I'd gone over the surveillance video he'd given me, I knew he wasn't being shaken down by just any local gang. These guys were something different. Not that I'd told Bob what they were, just that I'd handle it. Besides, I doubt he would have believed me if I had told him they were Goblins. I hadn't heard of any of them running a protection racket lately, especially one involving humans. But I guess there's a first time for everything.

  It'd be so much easier just to fit them all for a body bag then to have to find out who was behind it. But what was I gonna do? Like the Fae before them, the others had started to trickle into Vegas because of the magic, and not all of them were bad. Hell, the Goblins had already made an informal alliance with the local Were pack. Who knew that Goblins and Weres could be friends? Okay, so they're not the type I normally invite over for a Saturday BBQ, but as long as they're not to trying to kill me on a regular basis, I usually don’t mind dealing with them. Not that they make it easy. But you can’t judge a being by what he is in my world, and actions speak louder than words. Unfortunately, these two were going to be on my naughty list, so all bets were off.

  Bob told me they were coming back tonight, but so far they hadn't shown. I was almost ready to turn the surveillance system back on and call it a night when I heard the front door open. Two males came into the store. One hung back by the door, the other came up to the counter. Both were young looking, early 20's at best, wearing dark sweatshirts with hoodies to hide their faces. Too bad it didn't work with me.

  "Where's the old man?" the closest one asked.

  "Bob's off tonight," I replied, acting like nothing was out of the ordinary. "I'm Robert, can I help you?"

  "He owes us two grand," the kid said, glancing back to his partner who remained motionless. "We'll take it now."

  "No one told me," I replied, still playing dumb.

  "That's too bad, grandpa," he said. "Someone's gotta pay. Now!" When he said now, he pulled a rod out of his back pocket and slammed it down on the counter. The few products displayed were tossed into the air as it came into contact with the counter.

  "I think it's time you both leave," I said, acting as if nothing had happened. I'd expected something like that, and despite the fight I was about to get in, I was enjoying the stupid look on the kid's face when he hadn’t got a reaction.

  "He's mine," the Goblin in the back said, speaking up for the first time. He took a step forward, then did something unexpected, allowing his face to change as I watched. He had blue skin and red eyes, with fangs and funky winged ears, typical of his kind. Switching back, he smiled as he began to walk toward me. See what I mean? Definitely not on the nice list.

  The number one rule we live by is to never, ever, let humans know that magic exists. Not that it doesn’t happen. Hey, I've done it once or twice myself. But a little magic here and there is not the same as showing your true self to scare someone. That's a can of worms, especially if someone has to go back and try and fix it. It takes a real potion master to erase memory. If it isn’t done right they can forget all the way back to the womb, or worse. So for this idiot to flash his blue skin and red eyes meant that either he was really stupid, or that he just didn’t care. I wasn't sure which was worse, but then a sword materialized in his hand. I guess it didn’t really matter.

  I aimed a force of magic against the one at the counter that sent him spiraling across the room into the shelves. Cans bounced and fell to the floor as he hit. At the same time, I willed a command to Sendy and the lights went out. Sendy was a sky Fae, an Aurae to be precise, and could move with the wind.

  I knew the Goblin could see as well as I could in the dark, but I still had to worry about passersby looking through the front glass door and window, so I had her drop the blinds as well. I pulled my own sword and willed the blade to extend, the blue arcs dancing as I jumped over the counter to face my opponent.

  I didn’t even glance at the other one when I heard him try to get up. There was a loud crash and a growl as Sendy dropped Charlie, my Fae hunting dog, onto his lap. He wasted no time covering my back as I faced the other Goblin.

  There was a moment of hesitation as he eyed my sword. He hadn’t expected a fight, but he wasn't afraid of one and came at me, swinging the blade like an axe. I blocked the attack and our swords met, electricity sparking. Whatever he was carrying was not what I expected. Although I had blocked his swing, the blade held firm. What in the hell was this?

  He pulled back and swung at me again, no real tactics to his swordplay. Bending backwards like a reed, the blade swooshed past as it missed. Amateur or not, that sword was dangerous. I went offensive, twirling and knocking his feet out from underneath him. He crashed to the floor. I jumped up and pointed my sword at him, offering him a chance to surrender.

  He pushed himself up and tried to skewer me. He had balls, I'll give him that. But it was the wrong move. I was faster, twisting to the side and slicing him across the throat before he could recover from the thrust, sending him back to whatever version of Hell his kind had c
ome from. As he fell, I kicked the sword away. Bending over, I made sure he was dead before looking back to see how Charlie was doing.

  The other one was still on the ground, his neck firmly held between the big dog's jaws. "Please," he croaked, his eyes pleading as they met mine.

  "I got him." I put a knee on his back as Charlie released his neck. Pulling out a pair of handcuffs from a back pocket, I restrained his hands and rolled him over, lifting him to a sitting position. "If he talks, or tries to move, you can eat him," I said as the kid's eyes went wide.

  Charlie growled menacingly.

  I made sure the front door was locked and then picked up the sword his partner had carried. I examined it closely. I could feel the magic within it. It was a Fae blade of a type I'd never seen before. I wasn't an expert, but I'd handled a few, and this one was different. First off, it was new. While I knew that there were still a few Fae out there that could forge such a blade, even they couldn’t match the power of the old world swords. This one was close, not quite as powerful as some in my armory back in Fae, but stronger than anything I'd expected from a Goblin. Few of the old swords remained after The Fall, the end of the Fae Gods in myths and legends, and those that did were closely held. For another thing, the shape was all wrong.

  Ancient Fae blades looked like… Well, they looked a little like a human long sword, with a pommel, or at least a mark on the hilt, identifying the maker or owner. This one was almost katana shaped, with a smaller guard and shorter grip, allowing it to be used one handed. There were no identifying marks or engravings anywhere on the thing. Like mine, the blade could disappear at will, allowing it to be concealed.

  I reached down and put a finger in the pool of blood that remained from the dead Goblin. As a High Fae, blood could tell me a lot about a being. Unfortunately, it works best when they're still alive, once dead, magic dissipates quickly. I probably should have done this earlier but I hadn’t really thought about it at the time. I got a vision of back alleys and a shitty lifestyle, but there was nothing about the sword. That meant one of two things. Either that part of the memory had already leaked away, or as I most feared, whoever had given it to him knew how to clear their tracks. I walked back to the other Goblin and held it up to his eyes.

  "Where'd this come from?"

  "I don't know," the kid replied.

  I'm not usually such an asshole, but I'd been bored lately, and since his partner had tried to kill me, I wasn't in the mood to play nice. "I'm going to ask you once more," I said, grabbing his face in my hand. "If you lie to me, I'm gonna let Charlie here have you for a midnight snack. Tell me the truth, and you just might get out of this alive."

  Charlie gave a long, low growl to emphasize that I wasn't kidding.

  "I swear man! I don’t know," the kid blubbered. "He just showed up with it the other day. He didn’t tell me where it came from."

  I could sense that he was telling the truth, at least partially, but why let him know that? Then he got stupid.

  "This is bullshit man. You Fae are always f..."

  I punched him in the face. Hard. His head snapped back and he was silent, out like a light.

  Charlie just looked at me, the growling had all been an act, he wouldn’t really have eaten him.

  "What?" I asked. "I didn't kill him." I collapsed the sword and pulled out my phone, speed dialing a number to the Neptune, the hotel and casino owned by Eddie Milagre and his mother, Meredith. She was the Queen of the Nereid and the Neptune was my point of contact for everything Fae.

  "Operations," the voice answered.

  "It's Hoskins," I said as I gave them the address. "I need a clean-up team. The place is owned by humans; none were involved but make it fast. There's one dead Goblin. Oh, and have Michael call me." I hung up. A minute later, my cellphone rang.

  "Can't leave you alone for a second," Michael said as I answered. "What'd you get into this time?"

  "I thought it was just a couple of rogue Goblins trying to extort a human friend of mine," I replied. "But there's something more going on here. One of them was carrying a Fae sword."

  "A Fae sword? Where did a Goblin get his hands on one of those?"

  "Beats the shit out of me. But I've never seen one like it, and it's new. As in it looks like it was forged after The Fall."

  "What is it? Something one of Walter's relatives made?"

  Walter was a direct descendant of Vulcan, the God of Fire. He was also the closest thing to a weapons expert, and would know if anything like this sword had shown up anywhere else in town.

  "No," I replied, suspecting the Dwarves, but having no proof. "That's just it. This one is the real deal. Oh, it's not as powerful as some I've seen, but there's more magic in it than anything any of Walter's family can pull from the earth."

  "Bring it by. Siegfried will want to see it."

  "In the morning. It's late, and I still have to wait for the clean-up." I looked down at my sleeping Goblin. "I think I'm going to take the other one to Al and let him deal with him."

  Al Toblin was the closest thing to a spokesman the Goblins had. I'd chatted with him a few times over the last year and I knew he'd meet with me on short notice. He wouldn’t be happy about it, but then again, this wasn't going to be a social call anyway.

  "Wait? The other one?" Michael asked. "Don't tell me you actually left one alive."

  "Yeah, well," I replied with a chuckle. "I get tired of everyone bitching that I never leave anything for them. Let someone else clean up the mess for a change."

  "What about the sword?"

  "I took it from the one I killed. I don’t think this one knows where it came from."

  "And you believe him?" Michael said with a laugh. "Okay, I'll let him know you'll be by in the morning.

  "Fine," I replied. "See if you can get Walter there as well. Let's make it at 9:00 a.m."

  By the time the clean-up team was finished the place looked like nothing had happened. The dead Goblin would be returned to his kind after an examination by a Fae healer. Gotta keep things tidy, even in the magical world.

  When they were gone, I called Bob and let him know the problem was handled. As I expected, he didn’t ask how, just said thank you and asked me to lock the place up. Before they'd left, I'd put a sleeping spell on my still living Goblin. I wasn't great with spells, but this was one I'd been taught by a Fae healer, and I seemed to have gotten the hang of using it. I bent down and removed the cuffs, then picked him up and hiked him over my shoulder before turning to Charlie.

  "Want to go visit some more Goblins?" I asked.

  "As long as I don’t have to bite another one," he replied. "They taste worse than Harpies."

  As if that's possible, I thought to myself. I told Sendy she was free for now and then dumped my sleeping charge in the trunk before locking up the place. Bob would find it exactly how he left it when he opened up in the morning. Then we got in the car and pulled out onto Charleston. Even this time of night, it was a good twenty-minute drive to my next destination.

  Back when I was a kid, Boulder Highway had been a major thoroughfare. The main road between Las Vegas and Arizona, as well as parts of Southern California. Those had been better days. Like the cottonwood trees that surrounded this place, the building that housed the bar appeared ancient and run down. But looks can be deceiving, especially when there's magic involved.

  Like I said, there weren't a lot of Goblins in Vegas, but those that were could usually be found here. Like the neighborhood around it, the place had been built in the 50s or 60s and still had a steady clientele. Not necessarily my usual crowd, but hey, everyone needs a place to unwind.

  I pulled my car off the highway and onto the crumbling asphalt, then made my way around the few parked cars and into the rear. Getting out, I walked toward the back entrance, Charlie beside me. I was halfway through the alley when the door opened and a bouncer appeared. He was in human form, but that couldn’t hide what he was, at least not from me.

  "Bar's closed," the bouncer sa
id, crossing his arms and blocking the entrance.

  "We're here to see Al."

  "No one by that name here." His head moved but his eyes never strayed from mine. He stared at me for a moment and then spit onto the ground. "No dogs allowed."

  Playing the tough guy. Not that I really blamed him, of course. Since I was a High Fae, he couldn’t sense my magic, so he probably just thought I was just some crazy human with a dog. If it had been anyone else, I might have played nice, but sometimes you have to make an impression.

  Before his spittle could reach the pavement I switched into my Fae persona, drew my sword, and pushed the blade toward him. The blue arcs of electricity flowing up and down sparked against his neck as it hung motionless before his eyes. His mouth opened, but he didn't utter a sound.

  "Let's try this again," I said. He was smart enough not to move, recognizing what was at his throat. "Tell your boss that Robert's here."

  I slowly pulled the blade back, then withdrew it into the hilt and willed it away. He back stepped and retreated inside. I almost laughed when I heard his mumbled curses. A moment later he returned.

  "He's in the back office," he said, pushing the door open without waiting for me to reply. He stepped back out of the way.

  Charlie growled as he entered and the Goblin eyed him warily, probably still wondering who, or what, we were.

  I stepped through the doorway and looked to where he was pointing. Okay, maybe I was wrong, even with magic the place looked like a dump. The kitchen was deserted, but I could see Al sitting in an adjacent office behind a cluttered desk. He barely glanced up as we walked in. I plopped down on the chair in front of him as Charlie sat down beside me. He put down the paper he'd been reading and glanced at me, then reached down and opened a drawer. Taking out two glasses and setting them on the papers, he pulled out a clear bottle with a dark liquid in it. Removing the cork, he filled them both, pushing one towards me and then glanced at Charlie.