The Good Elf – Book the Second

Available on Amazon.com

Hannah Ladd is a Washington, D.C. resident and business owner. Practical and down-to-Earth. She was clueless that magic even existed. That was before she accepted an invitation for a dinner date with a tall, dark, and handsome man named “G” she met at a Sci-Fi/Fantasy convention. He not only tells her that both of her business partners are witches but that he is a dark elf. He thinks she might be a white elf.

She could accept that now.

Join Hannah and her friends as they again venture into the magical realm. Circumstance forces her to sit on the Glorious Throne, symbol of the white elves’ power, to visit and battle dark elves, to ride her first unicorn, and to deal with possibly treacherous and very definitely, rude faeries.

An Unlikely Elf — Chapter 6

Last night was a night of revelations and bullying, accompanied by wine, snacks, and after G and I retired to his bedroom, brandy poured from his magic decanter that was always two-thirds full. But you know, it was all good. As an elf or whatever I am, I don’t suffer hangovers. I do regret the bullying — you see, I was the bully. I don’t think that label could have ever been applied to me before last night. I don’t want it to ever be applicable again. Yes, many people will tell you bullying is never justified. I’m one of those people. I did it anyway. It had been a rough day all around.

This morning we had the same players for breakfast — Dad and Jessie, Kimmie and H, G and me. Three couples and my mother. Dad and Jessie weren’t supposed to be a couple but clearly they were. The weather was behaving, so we served out on the deck. Everyone had a comfortable deck chair and a small table with adequate room for a plate, a mug of coffee, and a book or magazine. No one was reading.

H and Kimmie got up before the rest of us and took a portal to his penthouse in Atlanta. They came back levitating their armor cases, mine as well, a suitcase, and two large bags of fresh breakfast items. We had croissants, assorted muffins, and Beignets. If you don’t know what a Beignet is, you can think donuts. Beignets really are considered a French donut made from a sweetened dough, cut into squares, and deep fried. What comes out is light and airy pastry. These were lightly dusted with powdered sugar. So good! To be honest, I didn’t know any of that either and had to ask H what they were.

On seeing the three cases of armor, G, who owned the almost-mansion we were all staying at, asked his brother, “So, are you moving in?”

H smiled, shrugged, and replied, “Maybe for a few days. The fact is, G, this isn’t over yet. Whether I’m in Atlanta, here, or at Kimmie’s condo, I want my armor nearby.”

G nodded. “You know you’re always welcome.” Once everyone had coffee and several pastries on their plates, G said, “Well, let’s call this meeting to order. Hannah?”

I sighed. I didn’t like being in charge. Circumstances had other ideas and kept shoving me forward. I gave G a weak smile. He knew how I felt. “OK, our first order of business is Jessie.” Jessie was looking better than she had last night when I terrorized the shit out of her. And like I said, I regretted that. She was still, well, let’s be blunt, my slave. There’s no way of sugar-coating that. The binding I put on her not only prevented her from using any magic, it forced her to do whatever I told her do. Damn, I felt like such an ogre. Oops. In this new world of elves and witches, ogre’s just might exist and maybe they’re sweet ogres, like Shrek. I’m not sure how well it would go to have an ogre trying to help an old lady across M Street downtown but I can’t rule out that maybe it could happen.

It occurred to me that maybe Jessie was looking better because she probably had sex with my honorary father last night after the uproar. Maybe before. Elves have incredible stamina so, maybe, both before and after. I shifted my gaze to him. His mild-mannered accountant glamour gazed innocently back at me. “Did you do anything to alter her bindings, Dad?”

He grimaced. “We didn’t try to cover up sleeping together last night, Hannah so, no, I didn’t. I tried though. I think saying ‘of course, I tried’ is appropriate. I don’t know why the hell you did this to her, but I don’t think she needs to be trussed like she is. I’m certain I can remove it but, damn girl, I don’t think there would be any survivors. Where did you say we are? Bethesda? The blast would erase it from the map.”

“Really?” That was shocking coming from him. As far as magical crap goes, he is the most powerful being I’ve met so far. “I had no idea.” I turned to Kimmie. “Kimmie, what do you think.”

Kimmie carefully set her plate down on the table next to her, got up and walked to stand over Jessie. Looking down at her, she said, “I didn’t get much sleep last night, Jessie.” She smiled. “Not solely because H was doing interesting things to me. We also talked about you.” Her hand flew through the air and smacked Jessie across the face in an open-handed slap that left a mark. She took a deep breath. “I forgive you. For killing me. I know we were both set up and believe you didn’t mean to do it.” Then she resumed her seat and took another bite of Beignet as though nothing happened.

Jessie was rubbing the side of her face but looking at Kimmie with a hopeful expression on her face. “Jessie,” I asked, “any more information you want to give us?”

She shook her head. “No, Hannah. To use the word you applied to me last night, I’ve been the minion of a powerful fae for years. I wasn’t bound like I am now. I was just afraid of what he would do to me if I failed him. Sometimes he hurt me, punishing me. He never forced sex with me. Mostly, I was just a spy. Kimmie, I’m so sorry about what I did to you. Truly.”

She wasn’t lying about that either. We had the lie-detector app on G’s cell phone running.

Dad spoke up. “I can vouch for her. We didn’t go to sleep immediately after last night’s excitement, either. She’s a devious dark elf, there’s no disputing that. But she has been controlled by someone else.” He grinned, somewhat wryly. “I know you don’t entirely trust me either. There’s wisdom in that. Eventually, you’re going to start wondering if I could get out of Bili’s binding and be the one controlling Jessie. Rest assured, it wasn’t me. For what it’s worth, I do believe it was one of my kind.”

“Another demon?” Kimmie asked. “Why do you think that?”

“Yes, I think so. Based on Jessie’s description, the being’s magic seems stronger than what should be available to a dark elf.”

“Any idea who?” I asked. With a grim expression on his face, he shook his head. “OK, then,” I said, “does anyone have any questions for her?”

“I do,” G said. “How many curses did you release in Hannah’s apartment?”

Jessie looked surprised. “Just the two. One, I was instructed to place on the eye drops. And the other I installed in Kimmie.” Her gaze shifted from G to Kimmie. “Again, I’m sorry I hurt you Kimmie.”

I know I had an expression on my face as I looked at G. I hoped I looked thoughtful rather than horny. It was always risky looking at him, because, yes, looking at him made me horny. Maybe we should glamour him to appear as a middle-aged accountant? “We found a second bug,” I said to Jessie.

G must have realized not everyone knew what I meant by that. “What Hannah is referring to is the spell Jessie installed, as she phrased it, in Kimmie. Describe it, Hannah.”

“It had the appearance of a bright red caterpillar. The body was armored and segmented with lots of tiny legs. There were barbs holding it in place. Oh, and it had two little beady eyes. When I destroyed it, it released poisons in Kimmie’s body. I managed to neutralize them before they did any damage. When we went back to my apartment a couple of days later, we found a second one waiting on my pillow.”

“She trapped it in a pickle jar,” Kimmie added with a laugh.

“I didn’t put a second one in there,” Jessie protested. “You must have had another visitor.”

Or not. There was another possibility. “What did you do with it, G?” I asked.

“It’s still upstairs in my lab. Why don’t I bring it down while you get everyone more coffee, Hannah? I’ll be right back.”

An Unlikely Elf is available on Amazon.com