Page 22 of Wake the Dream

“And how did you know I’d be here?” she murmured in response.

Kieran gave a lazy shrug and glanced away. “Lucky guess.”

“It must mean you’re here for something we don’t offer during operating hours.” Shula sidled closer and his gaze dropped to the low knotted gold belt wrapped around her midsection. Designed to emphasize her tiny waist, the color offset the red of her nearly sheer top which hung from slender shoulders, draping down to just below her hips.

Fire elemental, indeed. He’d recognized the heat coming off of her long before she touched him.

She knew her worth, and she knew her impact. Yet at the touch of her palm on his chest, his mind zoomed inexplicably to Illaria and her wealth of moonlight-colored hair. A cool and balmy breeze in comparison.

Kieran cleared his throat and removed his hand from his pocket at last, his badge gripped between his fingers. “I’m sorry. I have a few questions for you.”

Shula leapt away from him as though she’d been physically burned by the symbol and he watched a gate snap closed on her face. “I’m not sure I have anything to tell you.” She started to walk away, shooting him a wave over her shoulder. “I got nothing to say to cops.”

“It’s about Yelena.”

That stopped her. A half-smile broke out on the other woman’s face. “That girl? She’s crazy.”

Okay, maybe it wasn’t what he wanted to hear, but it was a start. He needed to get her attention focused while equally putting her at ease. It wouldn’t be easy. “She was here with you two nights ago.” Kieran made it less a question, less an interrogation, and more curiosity.

Shula responded to the tone, stopping to gnaw on her lip and size him up. “Maybe.” Whatever she saw had her continuing to speak. “Yeah, we hung out for a little bit. Said she was stopping by on her way out of town. We had a couple of drinks.”

“No better place to get them.”

“You’re telling me.” Shula gestured for him to follow her and made her way behind the bar.

Kieran swiveled around to face her, watching as she poured herself a drink. A little early for it, by his standards, but he refused to tell her how to run her business. Hopefully, he could manage to put her enough at ease to tell him what he wanted to know.

“When did she meet you here?” He didn’t want to accept the shot she slid his way and knew if he did not, any sort of tenuous trust they’d built would crumble to ash. He grimaced, slugging it back, hissing out a breath when a stream of liquid fire burned a hole in his esophagus. “Did she drive her own car?”

Shula still regarded him with palpable skepticism and tapped her red-tipped nails on the countertop. “Around nine. And yeah, she did. She got here right when the band started to play, so probably nine, although I’m not sure, I wasn’t exactly paying attention. I was supposed to be on the clock.”

Kieran gave her a mental push, knowing it wouldn’t work but determined to try. He sent his gift out to will her to drop her guard, to trust him, to tell him whatever he needed to know. Then dove into the interview with his pen and paper in hand, jotting down the minimal details given to him. They painted a picture of a wild young woman who went through life unconcerned with how her actions affected other people. Chasing the next high, heedless of who she had to step on to get her way.

The picture appeared drastically different from the one Illaria spoke into existence. She spoke of her sister in the kindest ways. A bit flighty, perhaps, but never intentionally harmful. Shula made the young Fae sound capricious.

Could Yelena have a secret side? A secret motivation? Something dark she tried to hide from Illaria but showed to her closest confidantes?

There was no way to know until he found her.

He snapped his notebook closed at the clear end of the conversation. Shula had said her piece and unless he gave blood, he would get no more out of her.

Kieran sent her a wide smile he hoped looked open, mentally drawing his gift back to him. Whether it had really worked or not, he couldn’t tell, but at least it had given him a good bit of information from Shula. Perhaps, like some, she wanted to unburden herself of the knowledge. She certainly hadn’t done it to help the police force with their case.

“Thank you for your time. I appreciate your willingness to talk to me this afternoon.”

She stared at him and nibbled her bottom lip. Considering him again. “Are you sure you need to run off so quick? I still have a few hours before my shift starts.” Her finger twirled and traced the patterns of her gold belt to draw his attention lower.

“I’m sorry, duty calls.”Looking for your missing friend, he thought and tipped his fingers to his temple in a mock salute. He’d been aware of the heat coming off of her. Knew it to be an invitation. But once again his thoughts shifted back to cool moonlight. “I’ll be in touch if I think of anything else.”

Her gaze followed him out the front door like a lick of flame on his backside, like standing too close to a fireplace hearth and letting the heat singe you through your clothes. Fighting to put one foot in front of the other, he pushed outside and into the light so at odds with the inside of the club.

Retinas screeching, Kieran swallowed his disappointment on the way to the car. He now had a rather different vision of the missing woman he sought, but otherwise no concrete leads. Yelena hadn’t told Shula where she was going after leaving the club. Besides the one picture sent to Daniel, she also hadn’t been on her phone during their time together. According to the fire spirit, Yelena drank her weight in tequila, complained about Daniel, and disappeared during Shula’s break.

And she hadn’t mentioned her plans to Illaria at all.

Which meant Yelena had purposely kept them hidden and left her house despite knowing the sisters were supposed to have dinner.

Out of town, Shula had offered by way of explanation. If so...where the hell had she gone?

---