Lapidary

The next morning, I was up before everyone else. I folded my blankets neatly and left the house wearing the same clothes as the day before. The streets were relatively empty because fae were night creatures and slept most of the day. Despite getting enough sleep, I was tired, and I bought coffee the first chance I got.

I sat at a café on Rimetide, overlooking Centre Canal, and used my phone to search for places to live. Everything on Ocelos was way too expensive, so I started looking at places to stay in The Twins. They would be cheaper and closer to work.

I finally found one that looked nice – but too cheap for what I was getting. What could be wrong with it? It was a small cottage, built on the beach at the edge of the island, away from the casino, close to several bars and clubs. In the photos it was painted a cream color, with big windows overlooking a sandy garden.

I dialed the number. “Hello, is this Sachiel Skylight?”

“Yes.” The speaker’s voice sounded surprisingly old.

“I am interested in renting your cottage. I was hoping I could come look at it sometime today.”

“Just show up when you feel like it,” she said, and the line went quiet.

For a moment, I wondered if the line had been cut, but when I thought about her impatient tone, I decided she had certainly hung up. I drank my last coffee before walking up Rimetide and crossing the bridge next to Heaven’s Window. When I looked up, I saw the three stone gargoyles that had been built to protect Heaven’s Window after The Shaking. I was too far away to discern their features properly. What had Duras felt when he stood there, right before he jumped? Right before he fell, so high and so far.

Like Ryker.

My chest tightened, and I pushed aside those thoughts. I could see Swordfish Chain from where I was standing and signaled a taxi. The mermaid pulled over, and I got in. It was a ten-minute ride before I paid her and left. I found the cottage easily and realized it overlooked Shark Bay Prison.

In the garden was a hammock and a stone bench. I saw big brown wings and grey hair. I’d never seen an angel with grey hair before, but then again, I’d never seen an old angel before. And this angel was old. Her skin was paper thin and wrinkly, her hair short and her lips mushy.

“What do you want?” she snapped, and I realized I had been staring.

“To live here,” I said quickly. I let go of my suitcase and approached her, my hand extended. She eyed my hand before shaking it.

“Take a look around and let me know what you think,” she said.

I had been expecting a tour, but she remained seated on the stone bench, watching the waves. I did as she asked and explored the cottage. It had a comfortable living room with a woven grass mat at the front door. Shells dangled in front of the windows, like curtains, and the one bedroom was attached to a bathroom. There was a kitchen, and at the back of the house was a smaller room which I assumed was for a maid. The place was perfect but still too cheap for what I was getting.

I returned to Sachiel. “What’s wrong with it?”

“What do you mean?” she wondered.

“Why is it so cheap?” I asked.

She grinned. “Because it comes with me.”

“Excuse me?” I asked.

She coughed – as if she were mortal. “I will stay in the maid’s room, in the back, should you decide to move in.”

I arched an eyebrow but didn’t ask why she would do that. It really was none of my business. This place was better than I thought I’d get, better than what I’d had in New Peace.

“I’ll take it,” I said. “When can I move in?”

“When do you want to?”

“Today,” I tried, although I expected her to laugh at me.

“I’ll start moving my things as soon as you pay me the deposit,” she said

I pulled out my phone, she gave me her banking details, and watched as I pressed several buttons. “Done.”

Slowly, she got to her feet and went inside the cottage. This was my chance to go shopping for food, so I walked to the nearest store. I checked the prices and bought only the cheapest things, so that by the time I returned, Sachiel had removed her personal belongings from the cottage.

The first thing I did was sleep. I couldn’t get enough sleep now-a-days, and I woke up at 3pm, when my alarm sounded. I silenced it and reminded myself that I had to go to My Nights Habit, as I now had a job, and I wanted to find Lakelyn, so that I could find out what happened to Ryker. For him, I’d get out of bed.

I didn’t know what I should wear, so I chose my outfit based on previous bartending experience. I put on a knee-high, skin-tight dress that left my arms bare but covered my throat, making me feel slightly suffocated. I stretched the fabric to loosen it up a bit and put on stilettos and my black gloves. When I checked myself in the mirror, I realized I was far from pretty – underweight and with hardly any breasts left. I ate a power bar as I straightened my light brown hair – something I hadn’t done for a while. Then I plastered concealer all over my face, as if I could hide the broken, sad woman I had become. I put glitter on my eyes with a little too much eyeliner and a nude lipstick. I sighed. This was as good as I was possibly going to look.

I hid my gold coins in my bedside cabinet and took my shoulder purse with me. Once I was out of the cottage, my heels sank in the sand, and I wished I was as graceful as the fae. I pulled out my phone and searched for My Night Habit and discovered that it was a fifteen-minute walk from the cottage.

On my way there, I considered Devton Embers and wondered why I felt nervous about seeing him. There was something about him that was attractive. I was like a moth, being drawn to a flame, and if I got too close, I’d get burnt.

My Night Habit had big glass doors that were closed, but not locked. Above the door was a neon sign with the name, but the lights were still off. I entered a hall with a small window where I assumed someone would sit to take entrance fees. Once I was inside, I looked around. To my left was a bar and several high tables, as well as the VIP area. In front of me was an island bar, surrounded by chairs, and inside were two bartenders. Across from the island was the dance floor with a stage, where a fawn was readying his equipment. To my right were three waitresses setting up tables and chairs.

“We’re closed,” a bartender said to me.

“I work here now,” I said.

Before I could explain, someone spoke from behind me. “I didn’t believe Mister Embers when he told me he employed a human.”

I spun around to face a yellow-eyed daimon. Just like angels’ wing color determined their power level, daimons’ eyes did the same. Black-eyed daimons were full-blooded daimons, but they had all died during The Shaking, and only half-daimons remained. Yellow eyes belonged to normal daimons, capable of possessing humans. Red eyes were the equivalent of brown wings – lowers daimons. Golden eyes were the most powerful and rare among half-breeds. My hand went to the feather hidden under my dress, between my breasts. Those yellow eyes followed my hand, and the daimon grinned dirtily, misreading the situation. Fuck. I was truly crazy for coming here. I forced down my fear and kept my face blank.

“Are you going to tell me how this works or shall I start by wiping the drool of your chin?” I asked.

The bartenders snickered.

The daimon’s smile faltered. “I’m your manager, Istrag Guglonnuch.”

I didn’t know why my heart dropped when I realized he would walk me through my work, and not Devton. Had I really been foolish enough to think a member of The Risen would spend his time training a waitress? How did The Risen spend their time?

“Do you have experience as a waitress or bartender?” Istrag asked.

“I have experience as both,” I answered but did not tell him I couldn’t hold down a job. I certainly didn’t mention my drinking problem.

“Good.” He snapped his fingers, and a dress appeared out of nowhere and floated in the air in front of me. It was much shorter than the one I was wearing, and it was a bright pink, like the other waitresses’ dresses. I took it out of the air.

“The bathroom is next to the entrance,” he said. “Go change and be here every Thursday to Saturday at 4pm. We open at five.”

I nodded.

“You’re responsible for the VIP tables, so don’t fuck it up. And if you run into any trouble, I suggest you sort it out yourself.”

Had he given me the VIP tables on my first night in hope that I would fuck it up so that he could fire me? His yellow eyes met my eyes, and I shivered to think what he’d do to difficult customers. He didn’t look like someone whose top priority was customer service. Rather, he looked like someone who would possess a customer and make them kill themselves, just because they looked at him the wrong way.

“No drinking on the job. I expect you to be professional,” he continued. “Any questions?”

“I got it,” I responded.

He dismissed me with a nod, and I headed to the bathroom where I changed into my neon pink dress. I didn’t like it. There was nothing classy about the garment, and it revealed more than necessary. If I leaned forward, the feather between my breasts was slightly visible.

I stuffed my dress into my handbag before placing it in a cupboard under the bar. I was about to go help the waitresses when one of the barmen flicked his finger down in the air, and the light switch on the other side of the room flicked off. Nice. He was a telepath, which fell under the wizard category. His nametag read Teglon, and I introduced myself to him and the other bartender, Bergas, a fae, before joining the waitresses to help set up the tables.

In my previous jobs, I had tried to keep my head down, mostly so that I wouldn’t be noticed when I stole a drink. I hadn’t made an effort and hadn’t made any friends. But this time it was different. The more people I knew, the bigger my chance was of finding Lakelyn and discovering where the White Crystal was.

“Hello, ladies,” I said. “I’m Nat – I’ll be helping you from here on.”

“I’m Sorciz. I’ll be waiting in the VIP area with you this week,” one of the waitresses said. She had a white-tipped tail and furry ears with ginger hair. She was a shifter, and judging from her hair color, she shifted into a fox.

“Zara,” the other waitress said. Her eyes were cat-like, and I realized that she was also a shifter.

The third girl didn’t answer me, didn’t even look at me, but from her pointy teeth I could tell she was a vamp. Did she crave my blood? I had heard many stories about vampires becoming blood addicts.

The night started out smoothly, and the club was slow to fill up. But by twelve, loud music was playing, everyone was dancing and getting drunk, and I was struggling to keep up with all my work. I didn’t know anyone at the table and was unable to tell if any were merfolk.

I was the only human in the club, and several predators’ eyes followed me wherever I went. Unfortunately, this included my manager. I pretended not to notice but wondered if he was eyeing me because I was a skinny human he thought couldn’t defend herself. Clearly, he didn’t know of all the self-defense lessons I had taken ever since I was little. I knew how to shoot and disarm an opponent; how to wield a knife, sword, bow, and arrows, and I could make a weapon out of almost anything; and the weaknesses of different magical creatures, like salt for daimons – unless they had a unicorn’s horn – a dead person’s blood for vampires, or a stake to the heart.

When I was a kid, my family had been too poor to pay for self-defense lessons. But after I had gotten my ass handed to me once or twice in the street, I had showed up for the training anyway. The security had escorted me out multiple times, but I had kept coming back. Eventually, the teacher, Darfin, had caved and said I could stay. She had thought that if she picked on me in class and gave me difficult tasks I would quit. She had underestimated my stubbornness. By the time I had left, I was the best student she had, and there was nothing else she could teach me.

The club closed at 4am, but by 2am my feet were sore, and I was exhausted. I wanted nothing more than to go sleep, but I pushed through my tiredness.

For Ryker, I’d stay awake.

I took one bathroom break and walked in on two fawns fucking and ended up leaving without relieving myself. I stepped outside the club for a moment because I desperately needed fresh air. That was when I heard a familiar voice and looked toward it.

And then I saw my sister.