Richelle Mead - Iron Crowned

“The war wasn’t my choice either,” I said at last, after refusing to respond for several minutes.

“Stopping it wasn’t exactly out of your control either.”

“So what are you saying? That I should just stop now and surrender?”

“No.” His calmness was annoying. “But there must be a peaceful way to end it. To negotiate something.”

“Don’t you think we’ve tried?” I exclaimed. “How bloodthirsty do you think I am? Every diplomat we send is either given unreasonable demands or met with death threats.”

“I like the use of ‘we.’ I wonder how seriously Dorian is taking the peace process.”

I could see the parking lot through the trees ahead. Good. I needed to be away from Kiyo. His presence was stifling. It stirred up too many feelings, too many feelings I didn’t want to deal with.

“Dorian isn’t running this by himself. We’re in it together, and we have tried to settle with Katrice.”

“And as that’s failed, you’re now going to march in with your allies and take her land with overwhelming force, expanding your empire.”

We reached the gravel lot, and I turned on Kiyo in full anger, hands on my hips. “We don’t have any allies. And I don’t want another kingdom! I sure as hell don’t want an empire!”

He shrugged. “Say whatever you want, but everyone knows you’re looking for people to join up with you.”

“And Katrice is doing the same,” I said smoothly. “I hear she’s visited the Willow Land quite a bit.”

Ah, that broke him. Kiyo’s smug, cool façade faltered. “Nothing’s decided,” he said stiffly.

“But your girlfriend’s no fan of Dorian and me. She’s afraid of us. How long, Kiyo? How long until she—and you—fight against us?” I was gaining ground; he was on the defensive. He and Maiwenn the Willow Queen had once been lovers; they’d even had a daughter together. I’d never believed their “just friends” claims since our breakup.

Kiyo took a step forward, leaning toward me and fixing me with that dark, dark gaze. “She’s not my girlfriend. And we’re staying neutral.”

I gave a shrug as masterfully casual as the one he’d given me earlier. “If you say so. And I like your use of ‘we.’ Except, you don’t really have an equal share in it, do you? You just run along and follow her orders.”

“Damn it, Eugenie!” He clenched his fists. “Why do you have to be so—”

He couldn’t finish, and as we stood there, so close, I became aware once more of his body and the memories of our time together. I remembered what that body could do in bed. I remembered the way we’d laughed, how easily we’d connected. The Otherworld consumed so much of my time lately, but I was still half human. The human part of me called to other humans.

And as he looked down at me, the anger softening a little, I had a feeling he was thinking the same thing. If he had any lingering attraction, the animal attributes in him would make this doubly awkward. My physical appearance would trigger sexual attraction that much more quickly. Even my scent could arouse him.

He looked away. “Well. None of that matters. You should go home. You’re freezing.”

“I’m fine,” I said automatically, like I wasn’t shivering and covered in goose bumps.

“Of course you are.” He glanced back at me, a small, wry smile on his face. “Be careful, Eugenie.”

“With what exactly?” I asked.

“Everything.”

With that, he shape-shifted back into a fox—a smaller, normal one—and scampered off through the trees. Naturally, he was too hard-core to have driven up here. Suddenly feeling drained, I got out Tim’s keys and turned toward the car. I’d done what I needed to, that was what counted. I didn’t want to think about Kiyo or war or anything like that. I wanted to go home and rest before the next job.

A tingling along my spine made me drop the keys as I felt an Otherworldly presence appear behind me. I spun around, pulling my wand back out as I did. There, before me, was a ghost. It was female, looking like she’d died in her midthirties. Her translucent form washed out any color, but her hair was curly and shoulder-length, her clothing casual. Seeing a ghost outdoors was rare; they tended to be attracted to material things. Still, location didn’t matter. They were dangerous. I pointed my wand at her, banishing words upon my lips.

“Wait, don’t!” she cried, holding up her hands.

Pleading ghosts weren’t uncommon. “Sorry. This isn’t your world. You need to move on. It’s for the best.”

“Please. Not yet. I need to talk to you, Eugenie Markham.”

I frowned, wand still poised and ready. “How do you know my name?”

“Because I’ve come to ask for your help. I need you to find out who killed me.”

Distracting your enemies by saying shocking things is a classic way to get an attack in. If this ghost had wanted to catch me off guard and move in, this would have been her chance. Instead, she just hung there in the air, staring at me. I forced my jaw closed and kind of wished Kiyo had stuck around to hear this bizarre development.

Finally, I said, “That’s not what I do. And anyway … I mean, wouldn’t you kind of know? Wouldn’t you have seen it?”

“No,” she said mournfully. “Whoever did it shot me in the head before I could see. They made it look like a suicide.”

I grimaced. Weak ghosts often appeared in their final state, as they’d looked at the time of death. This one was strong and able to appear as she remembered herself, for which I was grateful. I wouldn’t have wanted to see her after that gunshot.

“Well, I’m sorry for your … loss,” I told her, wondering why I hadn’t already banished her. “But private detective work isn’t my thing.”

“I can’t go to one!” she cried. “Or the police. Only you can see me. All the other ghosts said you were the one to go to.”

“All the other—what, do you guys have a country club or something?”

“Please, Miss Markham,” she begged. Her eyes were so, so sad. “I have to find out. If someone dangerous is walking around, I have to know. My family has to know.”

From what I knew, family was usually behind most homicides. “Look, you’re obviously strong. You have to be in order to move around like you do and come outside. It makes sense. If you’re this upset about what happened, then you’re bound strongly to this world while the, um, murder’s unsettled. So, the odds are, you probably could appear to someone else. Wouldn’t work on most humans, but you might get someone close to you to see you and hear you.”

“But would they believe me?” she asked bitterly. “They’d think they were imagining things. You’re the only one who knows this is real.”

I shook my head. “Sorry. I don’t investigate this stuff. Certainly not for ghosts. You’re getting my best offer here. Otherwise …” I held up the wand. “You move on to peace.”

She scowled and disappeared. Yes, a very strong ghost, one who should have already been in the Underworld right then and there. I shouldn’t have stopped to talk.

But what was one more ghost when I was already letting so many slide by? Kiyo’s accusatory words came back to me. I felt like I was doing a half-ass job in both worlds, too divided to give either my full attention.

Nonetheless, I made the most of my day in Tucson. I knocked off three more jobs for Lara, much to her relief. Jobs meant money, meaning both of us got paid. She’d hinted in the past that our drop in work was creating financial problems, enough that she might need a second job. That made me uneasy because a second job could easily turn into her only job. Finding an administrative assistant who could schedule and bill supernatural appointments wasn’t that easy.