Birthright, page 1
Birthright
By E.J. Stevens
Birthright
E.J. Stevens
Published by Sacred Oaks Press
Copyright 2015 E.J. Stevens
All rights reserved
Publisher’s Note
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
Ebook Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Pronunciation Guide
Pronunciations are given phonetically for names and races found in the Ivy Granger series. Alternate names and nicknames have been provided in parentheses. In some cases, the original folklore has been changed to suit the city of Harborsmouth and its environs.
Ailinn: ah-lynn
Aleya: uh-LEE-yuh
Arachne: uh-RAK-nee
Athame: ah-thaw-may
Banshee: ban-shee (Bean Sidhe, Bean Sìth)
Barguest: BAR-guyst (Bargheist, Black Dog)
Bean Tighe: ban tig
Béchuille: beh-huh-IL (Bé Chuille)
Bema: BEE-muh
Bheur: ver (like air)
Blaosc: BLEE-usk
Bogey: BOH-gee
Boggart: BOG-ert
Boitata: boy-TAH-ta
Brollachan: broll-ach-HAWN
Brownie: BROW-nee (Bwca, Urisk, Hearth Faerie, Domestic Hobgoblin)
Bugbear: BUG-bayr (Bug-a-boo, Boggle-bo)
Bwca: BOO-kuh (see Brownie)
The Cailleach: kall-ahk (The Blue Hag, Cailleach Bheur, Queen of Winter, Crone, Veiled One, Winter Hag)
Cat Sidhe: KAT shee or kayth shee (Faerie Cat, Cait Shith, Cait Sith)
Ceffyl Dŵr: keff-EEL dore (Kelpie King, Ceff)
Chir batti: CHEER bhut-TEA
Clurichaun: kloor-ih-kon (clobhair)
Cu Sith: KOO shee
Daeva: DAY-va
Demon: DEE-mun
Djinn: JIN
Draugr: DROW-ger
Duergar: doER-gar
Each Uisge: erk OOSH-kuh (Water Horse)
Elphame: EL-faym
Emain Ablach: EH-van ah-BLAH
Faerie: FAIR-ee (Fairy, Sidhe, Fane, Wee Folk, The Gentry, People of Peace, Themselves, Sidhe, Fae, Fay, Good Folk)
Fear Dearg: far DAR-rig (The Red Man)
Fionn mac Cumhaill: FIN mac COO-will
Forneus: FOR-nee-us (Demon, Great Marquis of Hell)
Fragarach: FRAG ah roch
Fuath: FOO-ah
Gaius Aurelius: GUY-us aw-REE-lee-us
Galliel: GAL-ee-el (Unicorn)
Ghoul: GOOL (Revenant)
Glaistig: GLASS-tig (The Green Lady)
Gnome: NOHM
Goblin: GOB-lin
Griffin: GRIF-fin (Gryphon, Griffon)
Grindylow: GRIN-dee-loh
Gwarwyn-a-throt: GWAR-win-uh-THROT
Hamadryad: ha-ma-DRY-ad (Tree Nymph)
Harborsmouth: HAR-bers-MOUTH
Henkie: HEN-kee
Hippocampus: hip-po-CAM-pus
Hob-o-Waggle HOB-oh-WAG-gul (Brownie, son of Wag-at-the-Wa)
Hy Brasil: HY bra-ZIL
Ignus fatuus: IG-nus FATCH-you-us
Inari: i-NAH-ree
Jenny Greenteeth: JEN-nee GREEN-teeth (Water Hag)
Kelpie: KEL-pee (Water Horse, Nyaggle)
Lamia: LAY-me-uh
Leanansídhe: lan-awn-shee (Lhiannan Sidhe, Leanhaun Shee, Leannan Sìth, Fairy Mistress)
Leprechaun: le-pre-khan (leipreachán)
Loup garou: LOOP guh-ROO
Mab: MAB (Unseelie Queen)
Manannán mac Lir: MAH-nah-nahn mac leer
Mauthe doog: MOW-thee DOO
Melusine: MEL-oo-seen
Mermaid: MER-mayd (male Merman)
Merry Dancer: MER-ree DAN-ser (Fir Chlis)
Murúch: mer-ook (Merrow, Moruadh, Murúghach)
Nixie: NIX-ee
Nuckelavees: NOOK-uh-LAY-veez
Oberon: OH-ber-on (Seelie King)
Peg Powler: PEG POW-ler (Peg Powler of the Trees, Water Hag)
Peri: PER-ee
Pixie: PIK-see (Pisgie)
Pooka: POO-kuh (Phooka, Pouka, Púca, Pwca)
Redcap: RED-kap (red cap)
Roca Barraidh: ROH-ka BAR-rah
Saytr: SAY-ter
Selkie: SEL-kee
Shellycoat: SHEL-lee-cote
Sidhe: SHEE (see Faerie)
Succubus: SUK-you-bus (male Incubus)
Tech Duinn: tek DOON
Tezcatlipocan: tehs-cah-tlee-poh-cahn
Tir na nOg: TEER na NOHG
Tir Tairngire: TEER TEARN-geer
Titania: ti-TAY-nee-uh (Seelie Queen)
Troll: TROHL
Tuatha Dé Danann: tootha DAY da-NAN
Tylwyth Teg: TILL-with TEEG (Seelie Court)
Unicorn: YOU-ni-korn
Unseelie: un-SEE-lee
Vampire: VAM-pyr (Undead)
Will-o’-the-Wisp: WIL-oh-tha-wisp (Gyl Burnt Tayle, Jack o’ Lantern, Wisp, Ghost Light, Friar’s Lantern, Corpse Candle, Hobbledy, Aleya, Hobby Lantern, Chir Batti, Faerie Fire, Spunkies, Min Min Light, Luz Mala, Pinket, Ellylldan, Spook Light, Ignus Gatuus, Orbs, Boitatá, and Hinkypunk)
Ynis Afallon: un-NIS AH-fuhl-on
Yue Fei: yweh-fay
Introduction
Welcome to Harborsmouth, where monsters walk the streets unseen by humans…except those with second sight.
Whether visiting our modern business district or exploring the cobblestone lanes of the Old Port quarter, please enjoy your stay. When you return home, do tell your friends about our wonderful city—just leave out any supernatural details.
Don’t worry—most of our guests never experience anything unusual. Otherworlders, such as faeries, vampires, and ghouls, are quite adept at hiding within the shadows. Many are also skilled at erasing memories. You may wake in the night screaming, but you won’t recall why. Be glad that you don’t remember—you are one of the fortunate ones.
If you do encounter something unnatural, well, you are currently out of luck. Normally, we would recommend the services of Ivy Granger, Psychic Detective. Unfortunately for you, Miss Granger is recently deceased.
Perhaps, we can interest you in local real estate. With Miss Granger dead, it is likely you may become one of our permanent residents. We kindly direct you to Harborsmouth Cemetery Realty. It’s never too early to contact them, since we have a booming “housing” market. Demand is quite high for a local plot—there are always people dying for a place to stay.
Chapter 1
I grimaced at the noodles currently taunting me with their salty broth and rubbery texture, and pushed the steaming bowl away with gloved hands. My stomach growled, but I ignored its rumbling and grabbed a mug of coffee instead.
“Girl, if you keep drinking that sludge without any food in your stomach, you’re just asking for total coffee rot gut,” Jinx said, leaning a hip against the counter and pointing a red lacquered fingernail my way. “Eat your dinner.”
Jinx wasn’t my mother, but sometimes she acted like it. Normally, I put up with her bossiness without too much grumbling. Well, maybe some grumbling, but when it came to eating, I usually did what she said. Jinx was my best friend, which was why we were roommates and business partners.
Until recently, Jinx was also the only person in my life who cared if I lived or breathed—or so I’d thought. So when she fussed over me, I secretly felt all warm and fuzzy inside. I wasn’t a touchy feely person, being saddled with the curse of psychometry made sure of that. Over time, objects, including people, collect psychic residue and all of those strong emotions—mostly traumatic—sit there just waiting for someone like me to reach out and make contact.
So normally, that meant I ate what Jinx put in front of me, no questions asked. Not today. If I had to eat one more bowl of ramen or plate of Mac n’ cheese, I’d puke.
“I’d rather wrestle with a smelly, pulsating jincan queen,” I muttered.
“Well, you won’t be wrestling with the fae anytime soon,” she said. “Not with you being dead and all.”
I sighed, and glared the bowl of ramen noodle, but ignoring Jinx didn’t make what she said any less true. As far as the fae were concerned, I was dead. Last month, the faerie courts sent their assassins, the Moordenaar, to terminate me as my punishment for crimes against the fae. It was against fae law to go around letting the general public know about the existence of Otherworlders.
Faeries are immortal, but they can still be killed if the human masses became aware of the monsters in their midst and decide to take up arms against them. It was why the ability to glamour ourselves was so important.
So when it came to the faerie courts attention that I was breaking their
Humphrey was one of the reasons my assassins hadn’t waited to witness my death, and therefore weren’t around when my friends force fed me a magic apple that brought me back to life. I’d have to thank him for that someday, though I didn’t like the idea of being in a gargoyle’s debt. Talk about a rock and a hard place.
“Fine, I’ll make you a box of Mac n’ cheese,” she said, rolling her eyes. “But just so you know, we’re out of milk and butter. It’s probably going to taste nasty.”
“No, don’t waste it,” I said. “I’ll eat the Mac n’ cheese tomorrow.”
I had no intention of eating another box of the stuff tomorrow, or ever, but Jinx didn’t know that. Mab’s bones, I’d rather starve.
“I have a protein bar in my bedroom,” I said with a one armed shrug.
“That’s not dinner,” she said, eyes narrowing.
“Neither is this,” I said, pushing the bowl further away. “You want it?”
Jinx stared at the bowl, lip twitching.
“Hells to the no,” she said.
I snorted, and shook my head. Jinx had been oohing and ahhing over her meals all week, but she was just as sick of Ramen as I was. My best friend was tricksy like that.
“Sparky!” I yelled. “You hungry?”
The little demon came tearing out of our bathroom, streaming toilet paper from his long ears, and climbed the rungs of the bar stool beside me. With a gleeful squeak, he hopped onto the counter and danced a squirmy little jig.
“Yes, yes, yes, yes!” he sang.
I reached for the package of plastic cutlery we kept on hand for Ceff—my boyfriend the local kelpie king—but Jinx shook her head.
“Wait,” she said. She narrowed her eyes, and aimed a ladle at Sparky. “What have you been up to? Have you been playing in the toilet again?”
Forneus claimed that Sparky would someday grow to become a massive demon lord, but that was hard to believe. The little guy was the size of a potbellied Chihuahua and got into just as much mischief. Last week he’d started tossing “treasures” into the toilet to be salvaged by Sparky the great spelunking explorer. Unfortunately, one of those treasures was Jinx’s toothbrush.
“Nooooo,” he said.
He blushed and gave Jinx a shy smile.
“Then how did you get toilet paper strung up in your ears like garland?” she asked, reaching over to pluck the paper from his ears.
“No toilet, silly,” he said. “Trash can!”
I rubbed a gloved hand over my face, and tried not to laugh. Sparky had found the wonders of the bathroom trash can. Oberon save us all.
“Oh my God, ewww!” Jinx squeaked, dropping the toilet paper as if it scorched her fingers.
“Ewww!” Sparky yelled, smiling as he parroted Jinx.
“If it’s anything like his game with the toilet, he was probably putting the toilet paper into the trash can, not the other way around,” I said. “The toilet paper is most likely clean.”
It also meant that he’d probably been adventuring inside the trash can, sifting through who knows what with his bare hands. Apparently, Jinx had come to the same conclusion.
“Go wash your hands,” she said, pointing to the bar sink. “And no more playing in the bathroom.”
“Then food?” he asked.
“Then you can eat Ivy’s Ramen noodles,” she said. “Now hurry up, before they get cold.”
Sparky skipped over to the sink. He leaned out to turn on the faucet and pretty soon he was playing under the running water as if running through a lawn sprinkler. Jinx scowled at the mess the demon was making of her kitchen, but I shook my head and smiled.
“Let him have his fun,” I said. “We can always heat the Ramen up again later.”
“You shouldn’t feed him all that salt,” she said. “If he were a dog, he’d have hypertension by now.”
I shrugged. The kid looked fine, not that I could tell if he had high blood pressure or not. His skin was always tinged red.
“He’s a demon,” I said. “That food will probably kill us before it does anything to him.”
I eyed the bowl of Ramen as if it were about to reach out its noodle tentacles and attack.
“If you want to eat real food again, we have to start making some money,” she said. “Either that, or we dip into the emergency fund. Oh wait, we can’t do that. Someone already spent it.”
I sighed. She wasn’t entirely wrong to be angry with me, but I hadn’t had a choice.
“You know I have to find my father,” I said. “He’s the only hope I have of gaining control over my wisp powers and clearing my name with the faerie council.”
Until I could prove that I wasn’t a walking menace to fae society, I had to remain dead. Something we soon discovered meant a huge blow to our income. It’s hard to work cases when you’re supposed to be six feet under the ground.
“Let me start taking cases,” Jinx said. “I can do the leg work, and you can consult from home. If I need your magic touch, I know where to find you.”
I shook my head, and waved my hands.
“No way,” I said.
“Look, I’ll just meet with the clients and get the deets on the job,” she said. “If I wear faerie ointment, I’ll be able to see if they’re not human.”
The ingredients to make faerie ointment were expensive. If Jinx was willing to use up the last of her ointment, I knew she was serious about landing a job. That made arguing with her that much more difficult.
Not that I was willing to give up yet. What Jinx didn’t know, what I was forbidden to tell any human, was that I had a key to one of the secret gates to Faerie. The only pathway to that gate revealed itself on the summer solstice—a date that was fast approaching. If we took a job now, I’d only be able to help work the case for a few more days. After that, Jinx might be without backup, permanently.
“Faerie ointment doesn’t work on the undead,” I said.
Vampires have their own glamour, one that faerie ointment doesn’t penetrate. I let out a deep, gratifying sigh. I was sure to win this fight.
“I’ll only do business during the day,” she said.
Crap. I hadn’t thought of that. I cleared my throat, trying to think of another reason my best friend shouldn’t put herself at risk. I was pretty sure that telling her “food is highly overrated” wouldn’t work.
“It’s dangerous,” I said.
She lifted her chin, eyes shining, and shoulders back and leaned toward me, her palms spread out on the counter.
“Let me do this,” she said. “Please.”
Damn it. I slumped forward, and put my head in my hands. It was the “please” that did it. Over the past month, Jinx had been trying to prove that she was the same tough-as-nails woman she was before her attack. The fact that she’d show any sign of weakness now, proved how much this meant to her.
“Okay, fine,” I said. “But I’m not letting you do this alone. No meeting with clients without me.”
We’d have to work overtime to meet my solstice deadline, but it wasn’t like I hadn’t worked a case round-the-clock before. So long as Jinx kept pumping me full of coffee, we might wrap up a job before I did my disappearing act.
“You can’t come to the office,” she said with a frown. “It’s too dangerous.”
“Then I guess, I’ll just have to make sure nobody sees me,” I said.
Chapter 2
I elbowed myself in the kidney and winced. I’d insisted on accompanying Jinx to Private Eye for her meeting with a client. Too bad our office was small and there weren’t many places to hide. I shifted my weight, catching my ass on a loose screw that protruded from the wall of the cupboard I was currently crouching in. I frowned, hoping the sharp metal hadn’t snagged my jeans. The last thing I needed right now was to be dragged down into a vision.
I sighed. I should have thought this through a bit more. I was wedged in here so tight, I already had a crick in my neck and my legs were going numb. Another twenty minutes of this and I wouldn’t be able to move at all, which meant that if some big, bad supernatural nasty came striding into our office, I wouldn’t be much help. Maybe the cupboard wasn’t the only thing with a screw loose.
