Page 7 of Wake the Dream

Upon closer inspection, he saw those colors offset by a vivid and intense ring of silver around her pupils. He thought she’d added glitter to her makeup regimen, too. Leaning closer, Kieran realized that, no, her face glowed without the need for makeup. Which could only mean one thing.

She wasn’t human.

He wanted to slap himself. The report said Fae. He knew that, of course, but in the instant he’d seen her, everything left his head in a whoosh.

It was her hair that first captured his attention. Each strand glimmered beneath the setting sun, an odd shade like someone had stolen the light of the moon and given it physical form. All in all, the woman had been blessed with attractive features. She needed no cosmetics to enhance what were easily extraordinary assets.

“Are you going to stare at me or are you going to come inside so we can find my sister?”

The lyrical tones of the woman’s voice snapped him back to reality. Though she spoke English flawlessly, her accent was lovely, a soft and rolling purr.

She stood waiting on him, wearing a forest-green dress designed to accent her curves, a pair of dangly earrings, and a cagey expression.

“Sorry, I...” He stopped to clear his throat. “I’m Detective Kieran Shanahan. May I come in?”

“I’d say it’s a pleasure, but honestly I’d rather I never had to meet you. Under these conditions, at least.” She eyed him head to toe and held the door wider to allow him entry, his shoulders brushing against the door frame.

The inside of her house looked like a tornado blew apart the furniture.

“You have a break-and-enter?” He tried to remember if he’d seen the information in his report. “Someone sure did a lot of damage.”

“No, it was me,” the woman said under her breath. Then placed a hand on her hip. “I got a little angry when I couldn’t find Yelena and I decided that taking it out on the furniture was better than any of the alternatives. Come on, there’s a place we can sit down in the kitchen.”

Kieran followed her down the hallway and let his fingertips slide across the grooved surface of an entry table saved from her devastation. She’d left most of the pictures and paintings mounted on the wall. He took in one photograph of the two sisters smiling. Ah, the missing person he’d come here to find. The gods could not have created two more different creatures sharing the same blood. Yelena smiled into the camera with her whole heart, while her sister...

His sneaker scuffed across the floor as he continued into an outdated kitchen stuck in the early nineties, too much wood and too little countertop space. Clear glass containers lined the counter in neat rows, their contents visible from the doorway. Herbs, spices, coffee, sugar. And other things he couldn’t identify with ease.

“What, ah, what do you have in there?” Kieran asked, staring through the glass.

“Poisons for my enemies.”

His eyes went saucer-wide and her laugh tingled down his spine when it came in low and smoky.

“Relax, dude. I’m making a joke. It’s how I calm down because otherwise the alternative isn’t pleasant.”

He noticed the way her fingers trembled, saw the bruise-like circles beneath her eyes. “I’m sorry. I know this must be a trying time for you.”

“Yeah, you could say that,” she replied with a shrug. “Let’s get down to business. You’re human, right?”

The question took him off guard. “You’re not.”

“As far as you’re concerned, I’m just Illaria. It doesn’t matterwhatI am.” But she nodded anyway, closed her eyes, and he watched a pair of translucent wings burst from the back of her dress, spreading to touch the cabinets on the opposite walls.

He scrambled back and dropped the folder in the process, his heart nearly exploding inside of his chest.

“I don’t do this to freak you out, but to make sure we are both on the same page. I need to know where you stand. You’re part of the police force so you obviously know how to deal with supernaturals like me.” Her wings disappeared in a cloud of smoke and sparks. When she turned to him, her face held the weight of her worry, her lips drawn. “I need to know you can get stuff done for me and cross the finish line.”

Her voice had hardened. Kieran didn’t need the Sight to know she meant business. This tiny, petite Fae had enough oomph inside of her to have him wishing he hadn’t eaten the burger beforehand. It settled a little too heavy in his stomach.

“I can get the job done,” he replied with equal toughness. Straightening his spine and trying to make like she hadn’t scared the shit out of him, he bent to retrieve the folder. “Trust me.”

Illaria set her shoulders. “The dickwads on the phone didn’t want to take me seriously. I assume that’s why they sent you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t seem like the type who traditionally deals with missing persons. You look more like an undercover gun for hire.” She pointed, drawing a circle in the air to encompass him. “You know, the jacket and the surly expression.

He didn’t want to take it personally. “I’ll turn that around into a compliment,” he told her. “They sent me because I’m the best.”

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