Grave Dance (Alex Craft, #2)(21)

Malik shook his head. “There were no bodies. Just the feet. They floated down the river al at once, like a fleet of toy boats—”

Lovely image.

“—I thought I’d gathered al of them, but obviously I missed a few in the flooding. I should have made the nixies help. They are sil y, frivolous little things, but they know every disturbance in the water. They could tel if a fly hit the water in their territory.”

I’d taken a course on fae races during academy and I vaguely remembered reading about nixies being some sort of water nymph. “Would you be able to arrange for me to question the nixies? If they are that attuned to the water, they might be able to point me to where the feet were they might be able to point me to where the feet were dumped. The police are stil searching for a primary crime scene and the dump site might shed some clues.”

Malik’s shoulders sagged, his head dipping. “There wil be no questioning them unless you want to sneak into the queen’s dungeons. My poor dears. The FIB brutes went after the nixies first. Everyone knows they’re harmless, but that Agent Nori chained them in iron and dragged them away.”

Great.

“What about the kelpie?” Caleb asked.

Malik cocked his head to the side. “Maybe,” he said, running one long finger down the length of his nose. “If those brutes haven’t grabbed her as wel .”

I glanced from one to the other of them. “A kelpie? As in a carnivorous water horse?”

Malik nodded. “She has a . . . hungry disposition, but she claims the track of the Sionan River from north of the city down to the edge of the floodplain. She might not be as attuned to the river as my poor nixies, but if you can bargain with her, she might be able to point you toward a general area.”

“That’s miles of river. How do I find her?”

“She frequents the banks below the city. You know the old stone bridge?” Caleb asked, and I nodded.

The bridge, a forty-minute drive past the warehouse district south of the city, was a thing of mystery and rumor.

After the Magical Awakening, when the spaces between began to unfold and the perceivable world grew, Nekros had unfolded between Georgia and Alabama. The first settlers in what would quickly grow into Nekros City noted that the stone bridge was already there, and that it was already old.

“Wel ,” he said, “if you head out toward the bridge, the riverbanks in that area are your best bet. She’s often spotted there.”

Okay, questioning the kelpie would be a good starting Okay, questioning the kelpie would be a good starting point. Hopeful y she’d know something. I could ask a few questions, poke around a bit, and hand off what I learned to John. This was legwork, the equivalent of knocking on doors. Except I’m going to be searching the banks for a carnivorous horse. I sighed and pushed myself off my bed.

“If I go looking for the kelpie, what kind of precautions should I take? I mean, according to folklore, kelpies drown their victims, then tear them to pieces to eat them. Is that accurate?”

“I definitely wouldn’t suggest taking up equestrianism,”

Caleb said with a grin. “But as long as you don’t climb on her back, you should be safe.”

“If you have any trouble, you can use this.” Malik pul ed a leather harness from under his coat.

No, not a harness. A bridle. I cocked an eyebrow. My father had sent my sister and me to camp one summer and we’d learned to ride and care for horses. Cleaning hooves had convinced Casey she didn’t want a pony after al , but it was the bridling and saddling that had gotten to me—the mare I picked wasn’t cooperative. I imagined struggling with a fae would be incalculably worse.

Malik read the skepticism on my face and shrugged. “If you bridle a kelpie, it’s obliged to grant you a request in exchange for its freedom. This particular bridle is enchanted. Toss it over her head and she’l be caught.”

Wel , that changed things. I held out my hand, but Malik frowned. He gripped the leather tighter.

“This is hard for me, Miss Craft. Speaking so freely and giving away treasures—it is not in my nature.”

Even though he was the one who wanted to hire me? “I’l return it.”

He perked up. “Twice-fold?”

Twice-fold? Like what, two enchanted bridles? “No, oncefold.”

He frowned. “I could help you look for the kelpie.”

“That would be fine.” Appreciated even, but I couldn’t say

“That would be fine.” Appreciated even, but I couldn’t say as much—I didn’t want him twisting this around so he was helping me instead of vice versa.

Malik hesitated a moment more. Then, turning his head away as if he couldn’t bear to look, he handed over the bridle.

I smiled. “Wel , Malik, looks like you’re Tongues for the Dead’s newest client.”

It took another hour to work out a contract for the case—

and only a verbal one at that. Wording and phrasing were important with the fae. I’d known that. What I hadn’t realized was how difficult it could be to agree on a contract for hire.

A normal contract of service was a type of trade: I performed a service in exchange for payment for my time.

“That won’t work,” Malik told me. “It is my nature to get the better deal in any trade and then I’l stil try to trick you out of what you’ve earned.” He inclined his head. “It is who I am.”