Be My Banshee (Purple Door Detective Agency Book 1) (18 page)

“How dare you touch me in such a way?” Aine rose to her feet and glared at her after O’Neill had left them.

“You didn’t give me much choice. You sit there not talking, not helping at all, and just bother to open your mouth to scare O’Neill and shake the building. You know I’m not impressed by that.” Sunshine tossed her hair. “Well, I was the first time, but I’ve seen it now. So sit down and tell me what’s really wrong.”

Sunshine wasn’t sure if Aine would comply. She certainly couldn’t make her do it. She was glad when Aine finally sat back down.

“I kissed O’Neill.”

“What? No. Wait. I need more tea, and Jane needs to be in here. You don’t want to repeat the story, do you?”

Aine hung her head and didn’t speak until the other women were in the office. “I kissed O’Neill.”

Jane laughed and then put her hand to her lips. “Where?”

“At the park last night, with the stench of dead wolf and harpy in the air. It was a disgrace, but I could not entirely control it.”

“But
where
did you kiss him?” Jane continued. “Cheek? Forehead? Lips?”

With a heavy sigh Aine shook her head. “His lips. I kissed his lips, damn you!”

“But how did it happen?” Sunshine kept pouring honey into her tea until it was too sweet, but she gulped it down anyway. “Were you two talking about something romantic, even though you were close to the wolf kill? Or were you—?”

“Do the pair of you have nothing better to do than to hear my story?” Aine’s voice was anguished. “I made a mistake. I don’t know what came over me.”

“
Let me tell you ‘bout this thing called love
,” Jane started singing in a sweet, high-pitched voice.

“Silence mouse!”

Jane stopped singing but glanced across the room at Sunshine.

“No. We want to hear it all, Aine,” Sunshine said. “You started it. Now you have to finish. It’ll be good for you.”

“Why did you kiss him?” Jane asked as she stuffed uncooked popcorn into her mouth from her pockets.

“I do not know,” Aine admitted. “It simply happened.”

“He touched you, didn’t he?” Sunshine asked with a knowing expression on her face. “You two have a thing. Maybe you don’t like it, but there it is.”

“They have a thing,” Jane whispered as she nodded.

“How can I guide him and protect him with this between us?” Aine demanded. “It’s not possible. I must right this wrong. Perhaps if I ignore him and frighten him, our relationship will become more normal.”

“Nah,” Jane said. “I watch soap operas every day. The more you ignore him, the more he’s gonna want you. That’s the way it is. I’m not sure about scaring him.”

“She’s right. And it works for men being frightened of you too. Once, before I met John, there was this shifter—” Sunshine put aside her tepid tea and looked up at them. “No. We don’t need to talk about that.”

“Sunshine!” Jane pleaded.

“We have bigger problems right now.” She backed out of the corner she’d put herself in. “We have to find those three shifters, hopefully still alive, and get them in here.”

“I already know where they live,” Jane said. “I pulled up neighborhood maps for each of them. I can send those to your phone. That should help you find them.”

“Great.” Sunshine checked the first map. “All we have to do is convince them to come with us because their lives are in danger. And you’re right, Aine. If we could keep O’Neill out of this part, it would be good. But we need him for the rifle part. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never fired any kind of weapon.”

“There were no such things in my day, though I have observed their use.” The
beane sidhe
raised herself to her full height. “I am quite skilled with other weapons, including the bow and the javelin.”

“Good,” Sunshine said. “I didn’t know a javelin was a weapon. I thought it was more a sports thing, but we’re on the same page. We need our magic and O’Neill’s rifle to subdue the harpy.”

“What are you going to do with her once she’s subdued?” Jane asked.

“Good question, my dear Watson.” Sunshine smiled at her assistant. Both women looked blankly at her, with no idea what she was talking about. “Forget it. I don’t know right now. Let’s get the shifters in here first, and then we’ll handle the rest.”

Aine and Sunshine left to find the first shifter on the map that Jane had sent. He was only a few blocks from the detective agency. Sunshine decided not to drive since she was worried about having to force the shifter to accompany them. He might damage the upholstery in her convertible.

“Surely we do not have to walk these crowded streets,” Aine said as they started down the sidewalk. Several people walked into her as she stalked down the concrete.

“It’s a beautiful day,” Sunshine said. “Why not walk? The exercise is good for you.”

Aine lifted her brows at that suggestion.

“It’s good for me,” Sunshine decided. “You can fly over there with the wind, if you like. I enjoy an occasional stroll.”

Her pronouncement was met with silence, but Aine continued to walk beside her. She never moved to the side for any pedestrians. If they walked into her and considered asking her pardon, glancing up into her face changed their minds.

“Does the harpy’s scratch pain you?”

Sunshine moved her hand away from the mark. “Only a little. It didn’t hurt at all last night. This morning it started.”

“Fortunate that you are powerful or you would most certainly lie dead. Most do not survive the harpy’s attack.”

“As soon as this is over I’ll head down to visit my family and they’ll know what to do. I’ve tried every healing spell I know. It still looks disgusting. I’m glad I’m not dating. Otherwise I’d have to go through the whole invisibility spell to keep him from seeing it.”

“I have told you that you are fortunate to be alive, and all you can consider is your beauty?” Aine shook her head in disgust. “You are most vain.”

“Let’s talk about that.” Sunshine nudged her with an elbow. “When you were about to kiss O’Neill, did you turn into the ratty, old crone, or did you become the pretty, young queen?”

“It did not happen that way.” Aine growled at a man who walked into her. He quickly got out of her way. “He touched me, and I became my youthful self. Then I kissed him.”

“Oh. Forgive me, Your Majesty.” Sunshine bowed to her. “I didn’t mean to mess with your timeline.”

“You mock me.”

“Yes. I do. But only because you said I was vain. And here we are. See how a little mocking helps the time go by faster? Let’s talk to the shifter.”

Tom Knox was hiding in his apartment. After the death of two of his friends and the men at
Tattoo Hell
, he was smart in considering that he could be next. He remembered Sunshine’s name and let her come upstairs, glancing around the hall as he opened his door to her.

Tom was every inch a tawny lion shifter. He had a huge mane of blond hair and brown eyes that could melt snow. His body rippled when he moved wearing thin, cropped shirt and shorts that barely covered him. He was taller and broader than Aine, with large feet and hands.

Sunshine took a moment to gawk—cat shifters were always so beautiful. She was barely able to keep herself from touching him.

 But he was also terrified.

“I had no idea any of this was coming at me,” he said after double bolting his door behind them. “I mean, I knew something was wrong when John was killed. I didn’t know what it was until the tattoo dudes were killed too. I still don’t understand it.”

“Do you have any idea why the harpy wants to kill you?” Sunshine asked him. “Or some idea who she serves?”

“No! I don’t know. I can’t think of anything we did to deserve this. John was a good guy. So was Marcus. Amos too. We hung out together, which some people think is wrong because like should stay with like, but murder us for it? Come on. This is the twenty-ish century.”

“Twenty-first century,” Sunshine corrected. Okay. He wasn’t very bright, but he was gorgeous.

She wished she could get a grasp on who was sending the harpy. Maybe it was someone who hated handsome shifters. Maybe it was, as Tom suggested, someone who thought the shifters were too friendly with the wolves. She’d heard some nonsense like it before, but not in a long time.

Was there some offense done by the group of shifters that seemed slight to them but a big deal to someone else? It could be anything—women, territory, or money.

Without finding the harpy first to locate the person who was using her to exact revenge, they might never know. That scared Sunshine. She didn’t want to get caught up in a war between magical creatures. And yet it seemed that she already was.

“Come with us,” she encouraged Tom. “We can keep you safe until we figure it out.”

“And we can use you to lure the harpy to her death,” Aine added.

Tom might have considered Sunshine’s more pleasant sounding offer but not with Aine’s addition. “I’m not sticking out my neck so you can figure what’s going on. I’ll just wait here until it’s over. Thanks anyway.”

Aine faced him fearlessly. “You are vital to our plan. Therefore you will accompany us back to the agency. I do not care if you are willing.”

He growled loudly at her, showing his enlarged teeth as he partially changed enough to warn her. “I’m not going anywhere with you, lady. You both better leave now. You don’t want to see me when I’m angry.”

“Trust me.” Sunshine stepped between them. “You don’t want to see her when she’s angry. And she’s already dead, so threatening her doesn’t mean anything. Come along peacefully. There’s a good lion. We’ll send out for pizza. We know how to take care of you.”

Tom didn’t seem ready to back down from the challenge. He growled again and exposed his razor sharp claws. “I’m not going anywhere.” His voice ended in a deep growl.

Aine immediately changed to the crone. Her voice drove him to his knees, hands clapped over his ears as he begged her to stop.

“Okay. Okay.” He glanced up at her terrifying face. “What the hell are you anyway?”

“I am the O’Neill
beane sidhe
,” she declared. “You will come with us as we require, or I shall drag you to the underworld.”

“All right. I get it.” Tom got to his feet—minus claws and fangs. “Let’s go, but be careful. That harpy thing took Amos right out on the street and shredded him in front of everyone.”

“Not to worry.” Sunshine grasped his hand. “We move with the breeze, shifter. Hold on.”

They arrived back at the agency in an instant. Sunshine made sure Tom was comfortable with TV, video games, and plenty of snacks. Jane refused to go near with the scent of cat on him. She hid in Sunshine’s office, staring at the computer.

“One down,” Sunshine told Aine. “Two to go. Although it occurs to me that we only need one of them to attract the harpy. Maybe we should let the other two stay where they are.”

“We have no way of knowing which of the three she will come for first,” Aine reminded her. “If she kills the other two, your conscience will bother you.”

“What about your conscience?” Sunshine demanded.

“I have none. I had very little when I was alive. Dead, nothing I do bothers me if it means I may achieve my ends.”

“And it’s just not right,” Jane added. “If you can save them, you should. Even if they are cats.”

“Yeah. I know. I was just joking.” Sunshine looked at her phone for the second address. “I guess this one we’ll get in the car. It’s a good day for a drive.”

“What about the destruction of your car?” Aine questioned.

“This one was probably the worst. I’m sure none of them will want to stay where they are when we offer them shelter—especially the way you do it.” She checked her hair, which had rearranged itself despite the wound on her face. “By the way, can you really drag someone to the underworld if you want to? Is that a real thing? Because while that is an awesome threat, it would be a better reality.”

“Come along.” The expression on Aine’s face approached that of a smile. “It’s best you don’t know all I am capable of.”

“That sounds like a challenge.” Sunshine grinned. “Women with hair like mine never back down from a challenge.”

“Are you gonna call for pizza for reals?” Tom’s voice whined into the smaller office. “I’m getting real hungry here.”

“Time for us to go,” Sunshine recommended. “Call for pizza delivery, Jane. Make sure there is plenty of it.”

“You got it.” Jane nibbled on her nails as she picked up the phone.

“Let’s find Ms. Godfrey,” Sunshine said to Aine. “Be ready with that dragging-someone-to-

hell line.”

Aine insisted that the underworld was not the hell of Christian mythology as they drove to pick up Irene Godfrey.

Sunshine argued that it didn’t matter—calling it hell sounded more dramatic and people threatened with it would be more afraid. “Not to mention that the underworld sounds more like a club.”

“I believe I am sufficiently fearful enough to accomplish our goals.”

“It never hurts to be scarier. You just never know what someone’s tolerance for being scared is. Some people are terrified of spiders. Some people probably aren’t afraid of you, though I can’t imagine why.”

“I understand. I shall endeavor to be as frightening as I am able. I don’t believe the god of the underworld will care if I misname his home for a good purpose.”

“God of the underworld?” Sunshine laughed at that. “Really? Is there such a thing?”

“You more than most should know the answer to that question.”

“You mean because I’m a witch and know lots of secret stuff? I’ve just never heard of the god of the underworld—unless you mean that old myth of Satan in Hell. Or are you talking about older times? Greek or Roman? Maybe Egyptian? What were their names? Did you know any of them?”

Sunshine threw out the questions as she guided the convertible through traffic on Princess Anne Boulevard in the heart of the city. She didn’t see the body falling from the blue sky above her until it was too late. She swerved sharply to the right, hitting another vehicle. But the bloody corpse still came down squarely on the hood of her car.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!”

Chapter Twenty