She'd seen me at my best.
Crwys had come that day, bringing Ivan and Kyle with him. "Kathy, please tell me."
"It's not exactly a nice thing to remember. I know he's in pain, but he's not letting me feel it. I just hear him crying. And that made me sad. Sammie, we can't let the evil queen hurt the Dragon."
I blinked. "Evil queen?"
"Yes. He's prisoner in her castle and no one can touch him. He's got a stick in his chest right here," she said before she pulled her hands from mine and pointed to the center of her chest. "It's hurting him real bad."
This was starting to sound a lot like a kid's fantasy book. Dragons and queens and castles. It faltered my belief she could mean Crwys. I licked my lips. "Kathy, don't you mean the princess is prisoner in the evil queen's castle and the prince slays the dragon to rescue the princess?"
She arched a dark brow at me and folded her arms over her chest. "That's a baby's book, Sammie. And that's not what's happening in this story. In this one the dragon is in trouble and the princess has to save him," Kathy smiled and lowered her arms before she put her hand to my cheek. "You're the princess, Sammie. You have to save him."
Was it possible this was exactly what I hoped it would be? It just seemed so out of reach. A child telling me I had to save a Dragon minutes after I finally figured out that was exactly what Crwys might be?
The shop door opened, the bell announcing a new customer. I put my hands on my thighs and stood, ready to tell them the shop was closed when I spotted a familiar face.
Detective Levi Tulose. Crwys's partner. He was the last person I spoke to about Crwys that night, Valentine's Day evening, when I was feeling really, really bummed out. I'd told him to tell Crwys not to bother coming back.
Levi was dressed in his usual suit, nice shoes and sunglasses. He was a Revenant, a Vampire, and a bit sensitive to light. His usual café au last skin looked a bit ashy and I figured it was the sun. He was a handsome man, reminding me of the actor Michael Ealy. The clock over the shop door said it was after noon, closing in on one o'clock. He spotted me and held out his hand as he removed his shades. His usual gorgeous eyes were black from pupil to iris. This told me the demon inside of him was driving the bus, so to speak.
"Sam—don't kick me out. I've been trying to call you for two days. I just need you to listen to me." His voice had a dual tone to it. It was both the demon's voice and the host's.
"Levi—"
"Crwys is missing. Now, I know you're mad at him and I was too for the first twenty-four hours. But I can't find him anywhere. He hasn't been to work, his apartment is cleaned out and his car hasn't been spotted anywhere on any camera."
Kathy grabbed my fingers. "See?"
I squeezed her hand. "Levi, I'm not going to kick you out. But you have to answer something," I straightened my shoulders and took a deep breath. "Is Crwys a Dragon?"
Levi, or his demon, should never play poker. "You know the truth? I thought he never told you."
"He didn't. I've been hit in the head with the possibility several times since I got back in town. Apparently my Elementals knew, Mom knew and," I said as I nodded to Kathy. "Someone else does."
Levi came further inside the store and his eyes cleared, as if seeing the all black color might be frightening. His voice dropped the lower base tones of his demon as he spoke. "She knows where he is?"
I told him about the dream Kathy had, and she filled in where I left off. Levi knelt down in front of Kathy and smiled. "Can you tell me what the stick looks like? The one in his chest?"
Kathy shrugged. If Levi's presence bothered her, she didn't show it. Maybe she couldn't sense he wasn't human. "It was gold. That's all I can see. It's kinda fuzzy. But the walls are black."
"Black?" I said and shook my head. "I don't know where she's talking about."
Levi straightened. "Using the word queen makes me think of the Faerie."
"Yeah, me too. But…why? Why would he be with the Faeries? He's been around when I've called