I shook my head and turned my attention to The Hill and its inhabitants. I took a quick double-step forward to bring myself alongside Ceff. Walking behind him, and his gorgeous butt, was a distraction I couldn’t afford.
We both scanned the streets for clues and any sign of Melusine, wisps, or the cat sidhe. To passersby we probably looked like a couple out trolling for fun before hitting the bars.
I let my arms hang loose, alert to any threats. My leather jacket covered the throwing knives strapped to my wrists and the stakes tucked into my belt. I had additional anti-fae charms securely stashed in my pockets and an iron dagger in my right boot.
Ceff was also armed. Before leaving the loft, I’d asked for a closer look at the weapon he had strapped to his leg. He’d pulled up his pant leg and slid the weapon from an ankle sheath that looked suspiciously like it had been crafted from thick seaweed.
I’d been correct earlier. Ceff’s weapon was a trident, a deadly three-pronged spear. With a flick of Ceff’s wrist, the piercing end had shot out from a telescoping handle. The weapon, like the man, was impressive.
Now Ceff walked the street with sinuous grace, his weapon and the speed of a race horse at the ready. I pulled my phone from my jacket pocket and double-checked the map. We were close to the first home on our list.
“This way,” I said. I nodded to the street approaching on our right. “Two kids were taken from homes on Baker’s Row—a bean-tighe and a nixie.”
I started to turn down Baker’s Row, the smell of bread and sweets making my mouth water, when I realized that Ceff was no longer at my side. I turned to see him halt mid-stride, an incredulous look on his face.
“A nixie, here?” he asked.
Nixies weren’t known for city living, especially not high atop a hill away from any bodies of water. Nixies, a type of water nymph, typically lived in freshwater streams, brooks, or rivers. Joysen Hill was an unusual location for any water fae, but one of the families who called in a missing child had reported their address as the water fountain on Baker’s Row.
“Yes,” I said. “I think they live in the water fountain at Merrion Square.”
We came to Merrion Square first. Narrow Baker’s Row widened where it intersected with Grant Street, opening onto a small park. Parks were rare for this part of town and shoppers took advantage of the space. Every bench was taken, filled with people sitting with coffees and baked goods or shifty eyed men making dubious business deals. The fountain sat directly ahead at the park’s center.
“Might as well take a look around,” I said.
I sighed and walked the park’s perimeter. It was doubtful we’d find anything helpful. Too many people had passed through the area since the kidnapping. When the perimeter search turned up nothing, I started pacing the park, working in a classic grid pattern. Aside from discarded paper cups, condoms, and cigarette butts, I found nothing.
I joined Ceff beside the fountain where he spoke in burbling whistles and trills to a beautiful, naked woman. Long, green hair hung artfully around her body like waves, partially covering her breasts. I tilted my head, letting my own hair fall to cover my face. I could feel my cheeks and ears burn red.
In other circumstances I might have been jealous, but the blue skinned, green haired woman was crying and wringing her hands. We had found our nixie family.
No one batted an eye at the naked woman standing in the fountain. I stole a glance from the corner of my eye and confirmed what I’d suspected. The nixie was hiding behind a glamour that only Ceff and I could see through. To passersby, the nixie was just a foamy spray of water from the fountain.
Ceff speaking to thin air in the trilling, nixie language was bound to look strange, but maybe people just thought he was making bird calls. Then again, we were on Joysen Hill. It probably didn’t matter what people thought. Even during the day, people tended to mind their own business.
“She says that her child was safely beneath the water when she went to sleep last night, but this morning when she awoke, the child was gone,” he said.
I nodded.
“That matches what our other clients have reported,” I said. “Ask if she’s noticed any suspicious activity lately around the park.”
Ceff trilled the question and the nixie flapped her hands, pointing to groups of men who were obviously up to no good. When she finished, she tugged at her hair and moaned.
“She said that the humans here always act suspicious, but she thought her family was safe since they were carefully hidden behind a glamour,” he said. “No human would have been able to steal her child, and the fae who live on this part of The Hill tend to keep to themselves. She wasn’t aware of any danger. She thought the child was safe.”
“Tell her that we’ll do our best to bring her child home,” I said.
My chest tightened as I walked away. I had promised to bring these kids home, but so far, I had no helpful leads, only questions. I checked the angle of the sun and sighed. The day was passing much too quickly.
Ceff drew up beside me, matching my stride as I hurried to the next address on our list. I wasn’t running away from the crying nixie, really. Maybe if I kept telling myself that, I might even start to believe it.
“Did you find anything?” he asked.
“No,” I said shaking my head. “This place is too public. If the kidnappers did leave any clues, they’re long gone.”
Searching the park and questioning the mother had been a bust.
“We must find the children,” he said. He clenched his fists at his sides, eyes filled with emotion.
“Let’s take a look at the bean-tighe residence,” I said. I blinked rapidly and pulled out my phone to check the address. I already knew the address by heart, but it gave me an excuse to look away. Meeting Ceff’s gaze hurt too damn much. He had suffered the loss of his own children and I was feeling guilty for not claiming the wisp throne in time to stop these kidnappings. “This way.”
We walked the next two blocks in silence, which was fine by me. I used the time to practice the breathing exercises Jenna had taught me. Whether battling monsters or my own emotions, the series of inhalations and exhalations helped to focus my mind and calm my racing pulse. I couldn’t afford the complication of glowing skin right now. I managed to escape unnoticed yesterday, but I didn’t expect my luck to hold.
I turned into the mouth of an alley that ran perpendicular to Baker’s Row. Unlike most alleys on The Hill, this one was swept clean and smelled like strawberries. This was definitely the place.
The bean-tighe family lived on the third floor in a small, efficiency apartment accessed by a fire escape bolted to the brick wall. I was pretty sure that having a fire escape as the only entrance or exit was against code, which meant the building was probably owned by vampires. Vamps are prolific landlords on The Hill and their rental properties tended to be just as cold, dusty, and decayed as their owners.
The one thing vampire landlords care about is bleeding their tenants dry. The bloodsuckers didn’t bother to keep their buildings up to code. If renters fall to their deaths due to a shortage of safety features, the vamps are quick to sweep the incident under the rug—and feed the body to one of their pet ghouls.
If vamps were keeping tabs on the property, it was possible that a vamp saw something the night of the kidnappings. One more question for the vampire council. Of course, if a vamp was behind the abductions, the council wasn’t likely to pass along any helpful witness accounts. Vampires were experts at pulling strings and making problems disappear. Their Machiavellian machinations were legendary. I’d have to use caution when it was time to question the vamps, or they may decide to make me disappear.