I dropped, coming up into a tight roll. Nobody fucked me over like that, nobody. I launched myself at her again, but she had the door half open.

  “Drop!” Yutani shouted.

  I obeyed without hesitation, crouching as his whip went whistling over my head to land against her arm where it left a long red weal, splitting the skin.

  Melinda shrieked. “You. Die!” She grabbed a long wand off a nearby dresser and pointed it at him. A thin stream of green light shot out, striking Yutani in the chest. It knocked him back on his ass. She looked confused when he began to pick himself up again.

  I was on my feet again, and I swung one foot around, catching her ankle. I yanked hard, throwing her off balance. She tried to catch herself, but I shoved her into the glass door. She hit hard and the glass cracked, spiderwebbing across the surface.

  Yutani was back up and he pulled out a pair of handcuffs from his pocket. When I saw what he was doing I threw myself on Melinda, holding her down by the shoulders. I leaned in and caught hold of her chi, sucking out enough to make her dizzy.

  “Back off, you don’t want to kill her,” Yutani ordered. He knelt beside me as I rolled off of the witch, and we turned her over, cuffing her hands behind her. Then, he pulled out another odd-looking implement. It was like a half-metal glove that went over her fingers up to her main knuckle. The metal restraint locked so she couldn’t move her fingers and they were kept spread apart.

  “What’s that?”

  “Special design—Herne made them. Some witches can work magic with just their fingers. This prevents it.” Just to make sure, he wound a scarf around her face, gagging her. As I watched him work, I realized that Yutani had an efficiency with knots and restraints that seemed to go further than just on-the-job training.

  I helped him stand her up and we dragged her over to the bed, sitting her down on it. I examined her head. She had hit hard against the glass and had a knot on her scalp, but there was no blood.

  “Well, she’s definitely not cooperative,” he said. “Nice throwdown, by the way.”

  “I had to learn how to defend myself against Kilnakarn’s guards,” I said. “They didn’t dare complain, given I was considered his, but that didn’t stop them from trying to rape me.” I shook my head. “I learned all too quickly how to disable a horny wingnut.”

  “Good on you,” Yutani said. “Okay, let’s secure her and then start looking for the pixies. I hope to hell the reports are right or we’ll have a lot of ruffled feathers to smooth over.”

  After securing her to a kitchen chair, we began to search the house. It seemed like a normal house, with a lot of magical charms, until we made our way into the basement.

  “I thought most houses in Seattle don’t have basements, due to the potential for urban flooding,” I said, clinging to the railing as I tried to avoid the spiders that wove their webs across the ceiling and over the stairwell that led down into the basement. Luckily, there was a light at the top of the stairs, but the steps were still rickety and nerve-racking.

  Yutani brushed a spider away from his hand. “A lot of them don’t, and a lot that do, end up with water damage.” He led the way down, motioning for me to follow him.

  When we entered the basement, the mood shifted from creepy to what the fuck within a few steps. One wall was covered with small cages—each about the size of a cat carrier. The light down here was dim, but I saw another switch and flipped it, illuminating the entire room with a bright LED glow. In the cages, we saw small winged creatures who stared at us, fear on their faces. There were at least a dozen pixies here, and they looked ragged and bruised.

  “Crap…they’re in rough shape. I can’t just free them—they’ll never make it. Take pictures, would you? Get pictures of the basement, of every pixie, of the cages. Look around for bottles of pixie dust, if you would. I’m going to call Herne.” Yutani moved to one side, looking for a cell signal.

  I began to take pictures. We didn’t need the pixie traps, apparently. As I began to take pictures of the workbench and the walls, I noticed that there were questionable instruments scattered around, and a few of them had blood on them. They were small—pixie size—which led me to believe that Melinda had more than a sadistic bone in her body. And then I saw a book. I took a picture of it, grimacing.

  The volume was thick, and its title made the contents clear: Cryptobiology and Vulnerabilities. I flipped through the pages and sure enough, it was a treatise on how to torture any number of creatures who were considered cryptos to increase output of whatever commodity they produced.

  “Fuck,” I whispered. “I hope she gets shoved in a fucking tiny cell and gets poked and jabbed all over.”

  Yutani returned to where I was standing. “Herne’s showing up with a few of his guards in a few minutes. They’ll bring her in and take care of the pixies for us. I found a stash of receipts that show she’s been selling the dust on the UnderWyre—the Dark Web. Our witch here has a long history of providing illicit items and I feel like we just tapped into the tip of an iceberg.”

  I winced. I’d heard of the UnderWyre and its companion sites all too often. Kilnakarn threatened on a regular basis to sell me on UnderSurf—a slavery site that specialized in sex slaves and other forms of human trafficking.

  Yutani was watching me carefully. “You okay?”

  I shook my head. “Not really. If she’s trading flesh on the black market, I want a piece of her.”

  He nodded, then pointed around the room. “Gather any journals, computer equipment, receipts, and letters that you can find. I’m going to make sure she’s still trussed up.” He headed for the stairs as I opened a large sack that I found in the room and began tossing anything resembling information into it that I could find. As I found a hidden niche of notebooks, one in particular caught my eye. It was a dusty journal that looked fairly old.

  I opened it, not sure what I was looking for. The very first page was a receipt of release taped into the front of the book. It was a bill of sale, verifying that Melinda Krupts had paid off her service fee to her owner.

  Startled, I began flipping through the pages. The diary was clear: Melinda had been sold on the UnderSurf, and she had managed somehow to pay off her servitude. From what I read, she had been used as an energy source by a sorcerer for about twenty years. Back in 2003, she had managed to save enough from her percentage of the money that she brought in to pay the cost of her freight, so to speak.

  I sighed, sinking down into a crouch. The pixies were clustered at the front of their cages, staring at me.

  “How could she keep you captive, when she was a prisoner herself?” I shook my head. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, leaning closer to them. I wanted to stick my finger through the cages, to gently offer them hope, but I knew they could easily bite the tip off and might, if they were hungry enough.

  I found a chair and sat down, staring at the journals. You’d think people would rebel against the crimes committed at them, not turn around and repeat it with others. I thought about summoning Morgana, but really, now it was Ember I should be calling on.

  Yutani appeared again, Herne in tow. Several guards traveled behind him.

  I silently handed the open notebook to Yutani. He read, Herne peeking over his shoulder.

  “Crap. We’ve got a mess here. All right, let me handle this,” Herne said. “I want you to destroy all records indicating the Wild Hunt reacted to this case.”

  “Why? What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “You didn’t read far enough, but I’ll tell you later. Meanwhile, Yutani, call Akron and get him over here.”

  As Yutani moved to follow orders, Herne turned back to me. “Akron is a raven shifter. He heads up the crew we use to clean up after crime scenes, and he runs an underground medical examiner’s unit.”

  I nodded. “That makes sense. The humans know about most of us, but they can’t always take care of our issues.”

  “True enough.” He was still leafing through the book. “We’re onto the tip of an iceberg,” he muttered, glancing up. “My father needs to see this, and so do the Fae Queens, Saílle and Névé.”

  I took a deep breath. “I take it there’s more going on than just pixie dust.”

  He slowly nodded, slipping the book in his jacket. “I want every scrap of paper gathered up, every single piece—regardless of how innocuous it looks,” he said, handing me a large sack. “Finish the desk, and then move on to whatever else you find. But if there’s anything that indicates that the Wild Hunt was involved, get rid of it.”

  “Akron and his team are on their way over,” Yutani said, returning from the other side of the room. He took one look at Herne’s face. “You found more.”

  “Oh, I found more. Yes. Help Lyrical—gather up everything. Every scrap of paper, every handwritten journal and ledger. Take her computer. If it’s on, change the password before you disconnect it. I know you can hack in, but we want easy access.”

  My stomach lurched as I swept handfuls of paper into the sack. Melinda had kept handwritten journals and ledgers, and there was so much paper it made me want to sneeze. After we emptied the desk, Herne bade us to search the rest of the house and—once again—anything resembling a piece of paper was fair game.

  We hadn’t finished when the doorbell rang and Herne answered, leading Akron and his team in behind him. Akron was tall and thin, with alabaster skin and long dark hair. He looked almost bloodless. Herne introduced us, then gave them quick, abrupt directions.

  “Call me after you’re done. I have a crew coming in to gather the pixies and take them back to my father. They’ll need treatment. Anybody find her keys?” Herne asked.

  I held up a keyring with at least a dozen keys on it. “I found this.”

  “Give them to Akron,” he said.

  As I tossed the keys to Akron, Yutani finished messing with Melinda’s computer and we stowed the evidence in the back of the Expedition. Then Yutani shoved Melinda into the back seat and Herne sat beside her, as we headed back to the bridge and across the lake.

  CHAPTER NINE

  All the way across the bridge, Herne talked on the phone. I tried not to pay attention—it wasn’t really my business, but I had the feeling he was on a conference call. Instead, I focused on the water. I was full Water Fae, and I felt the energy of the lake in my bones. It called to me. I’d spent a long time way from the edge of the water because I didn’t know if there were any Kelpies in the area and I was too afraid of attracting unwanted attention. Now, my blood urged me on.

  “You all right?” Yutani said, as I pressed my face against the window.

  “I haven’t been near the water in a while—not since Morgana rescued me. I can feel the pull from here.” I gazed longingly at the water. Lake Washington was an oddity—where the mile-long floating bridge carved its way over the water, both sides of the lake were easy to see. One side was calm, the other frothing, and it was disconcerting to see high foaming waves on our side, and smooth, glassy water on the other.

  “Why’s the water like that?” I asked.

  Yutani glanced at me, then back at the road. “It’s because of the wind. The wind blows the waves toward the bridge on one side, where they crash against the bridge. The bridge acts as a barrier to the wind on the other side.” He slowed as a gust swept a massive wave up and tossed it across our lane.

  “At least with the new bridge, it can withstand stronger winds than the old one. But it’s still dicey driving in it.” He skirted a puddle of standing water, veering into the next lane. But traffic was light and there was nobody beside us.

  I glanced at Melinda through the rearview mirror. She was stewing—her eyes were glassy and colder than any look I’d seen in quite a while. What were we going to do with her? She had done some pretty crappy things, but it didn’t look like we were turning her over to the police. I didn’t want to ask in front of her, though, and I was fairly certain I wouldn’t get an answer.

  So I settled in, watching the water as it called out to me, zoning as the van ate up the miles.

  We arrived back at the house by noon, and when we entered, Cernunnos, Morgana, and Ember were there, waiting for us. I dipped my knee before them, and stood to one side as Herne trundled Melinda in. Yutani asked Talia and Wendy to bring in the sacks of evidence and they hurried out to the car.

  Feeling uncertain of what to do or say, I stepped out of the way as Herne forced Melinda—still bound and gagged—into a chair at the table. I stood near the entrance to the kitchen and leaned against the wall. Ember joined me.

  “Feeling out of place?” she asked.

  I nodded, biting my lip. “I don’t know what to say or do.”

  “That will pass. When I first joined the agency, I was clueless. But you’ve got a good group of people around you, and you can count on them.” She paused, then added, “Talia’s always got a good head on her shoulders. Yutani’s a little chaotic, but he’s devoted to his work. Wendy—I haven’t had the pleasure of working with her—when I was here she worked at Ginty’s and we had Viktor for the brawn. But I do know that she’s as fierce as her name and loyal. And Wager was a friend of my friend Raven’s—she’s the owner of this house. And Wager’s brilliant.”

  I flashed her a grateful smile. Even that little rundown told me more than I knew. “Thank you,” I said, feeling shy. “So, do you think I should pledge to you? Tell me the truth and I’ll believe you. I just don’t know if I feel worthy—”

  “Worthy? What does that even mean? Remember, until recently I was a mortal—half Leannan Sidhe and half Autumn’s Bane. I was branded with the mantle of shame, thanks to the archaic traditions of the Fae culture. But I refused to let anybody disparage me for my birth. We’re more than who we’re born, Lyrical. We’re more than the monsters make us out to be. You’re no more nor less worthy of being my priestess than Wendy is, or Talia. But it’s not their path—and I truly do believe it’s yours.” She pressed her hand on my arm. Her fingers tingled. “I think you’ll be as helpful to me as I will be to you.” Pausing, she motioned for me to sit down next to her. “Come, Cernunnos wants to talk.”

  I sat down with Ember on one side, Yutani on the other, and Morgana sitting across from me. I shifted uncomfortably. Melinda was in the living room, bound and gagged, with earplugs in. Apparently she was a big-enough threat to make even the gods wary.

  “So, what are we facing?” Morgana asked.

  “We first thought it was a simple case of a rogue witch, capturing pixies and selling their dust on the black market. But it’s much worse than that.” Herne held up the ledger. “She’s been capturing pixies, draining their dust, and selling it on the UnderWyre. But in leafing through the rest of this ledger, I began to see references to UnderShot.”

  Ember grimaced. “I hate the world sometimes.”

  “So do I,” Herne said. “Anyway, it turns out that Melinda was held captive by a sorcerer for twenty-some years, and it’s my guess he forced her to work for her board and food. She doesn’t go into detail, though it looks like she kept a secret count of how many times he forced her to write scrolls for him. And if the ledger is accurate, she specialized in death and invisibility scrolls.”

  “Do you think she might want to switch sides?” Talia stirred her coffee. “We could use a good double agent out on the Dark Web.”

  “That would be a good idea, except she’s so chaotic and fueled by…well, whatever that sorcerer did to her, it seems to have twisted her morals,” Herne said. “We’ll take her back to Annwn with us and lock her up until we see if she has any redeemable qualities. After that, we’ll decide what to do with her. Meanwhile, Yutani, do what you can to search through her computer. Also, sort out all these documents you found and write up a report for us. It’s not top priority, but if you could finish in the next few weeks, so much the better.”

  “Will do,” Yutani said.

  “Akron will contact you by tomorrow,” Herne said. “If there’s anything pressing, get in touch with me.” He paused. “What else do you have on the docket?”

  Yutani cleared his throat. “Vixen asked us for help. Three Light Fae clients of their club have been killed outside their club. There have also been a few other slayings of Light Fae around Seattle, and the cops have contacted us.”

  “Oh good gods,” Ember said. “I wonder if Saílle is up to her old tricks. Well, look into it. By the way, Raven and Kipa are coming in for a visit on Sunday. Since you’re using her place for the agency, they’ll take over my house.” She paused, then added, “I miss living here.”

  “It might not be much longer, love,” Herne said, reaching for her hand.

  “Are you moving back?” Talia asked, her eyes widening.

  “We’re not sure. I rather doubt it, given a new development, but we haven’t made up our mind.” He turned back to Ember. “Just hold on for a few more months.”

  “I will,” she said, gently blowing him a kiss. She paused, holding his gaze, and he nodded. “We have an announcement,” she said, turning back to the rest of us.

  “I think we’re all pretty aware of what you’re about to say,” Talia said. “You can’t hide news like that for long.”

  “Then you all know?” She asked. “That I’m pregnant?”

  A shout went up from the table and everyone cheered as she colored.

  “Do you know whether it’s a girl or boy?” Talia asked, her eyes twinkling.

  Ember nodded. “Yes, we’re having triplets! Three girls!”

  The meeting quickly devolved into a makeshift party, but Cernunnos, after some good-natured teasing about becoming “Grandpa,” stepped to the side. He was watching Melinda, a worried expression on his face.

  I walked over, feeling on the outside of the goings-on. “Your Lordship—”

  “Just ‘Cernunnos’ will do. What is it?” He towered over me.