Chapter 3
1119 Words
3
I yelped again and spun around to find Eric standing behind the door. There was a twinkle in his eyes as he closed the door behind me.
I clutched my hand over my pounding heart and glared at him. “Do I need to put a bell on you?”
He smiled as he strolled over to stand between me and his collection. “A few have tried.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “And?”
He gestured to his bare throat. “The results. But to what do I owe the honor of your visit?” I reached into my pocket and drew out Alejo’s card which I handed to him. Eric studied the card a moment before a frown creased his lips. He looked up at me. “What happened?”
I sighed. “It’s a bit of a long story.”
He swept his arm toward the western wing doors. “Then we can sit, and you can tell your story.”
Eric led me into a large parlor made smaller by the crowded contents. There was even a suit of armor tucked into one corner and a buffet near the doors held a wide assortment of alcohol. Most of them were half empty. The only source of light was a small fire in the fireplace opposite the door. He guided me over to a chair by the large hearth and after I sat he took a place beside the soft fire that crackled at his feet.
I took a deep breath and recounted the night’s events. When I had finished a dark cloud had settled on his brow. He stared at a small clock on the mantel that showed the hour to be nearing ten. “I see. You’ve had quite an adventure.”
I snorted. “If that’s an adventure then give me boredom any day.”
“Do the police suspect you?”
I shrugged. “I’m not really sure, but if they suspect anyone, I’m number one on the list.”
He draped one arm across the mantel and rubbed a finger across his lower lip. His eyes examined the clock, but there was a faraway look in them. “Rabbit…” He paused and frowned. “What is it, Jenkins?”
“There’s something funny, sir.”
I jumped at the reply and whipped my head around to find the strange old fellow from the gate standing in the doorway. His coat dripped on the carpet, and he gripped the edges in a futile attempt to keep the water from pouring off of him.
Eric turned his full attention to the man and lifted an eyebrow. “What’s funny?”
Jenkins jerked his head in the direction of the front door. “Out there, sir. The shadows ain’t moving right, and I’ll be damned if I’ve felt as cold a rain as what’s out there now.”
Eric pursed his lips. “I see. In that case, you can take the rest of the night off. Get yourself dry.”
Jenkins nodded. “Thank you, sir.” He bowed his head and slipped out of sight.
I returned my gaze to Eric who once more had a pensive expression on his face. “Who’s that?”
Eric leaned his back against the mantel to face me and folded his arms one over the other. “An old friend. I met him when he was a boy. A banshee had injured his leg, and he was about to feel the wrath of her voice when I happened to come along to save him.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “And how old is he now?”
“Some eighty years old, if I recall,” Eric mused as he lifted his eyes to the ceiling. A sharp look slipped into those brilliant orbs as he studied every shadow. “You’re not supposed to show yourself to others.”
The shadows on the ceiling shifted and formed themselves into a huge outline of the wolf god’s upper body. “The disturbance is none of my doing.”
Eric frowned. “Then who’s is-” He stiffened and whipped his head to face the doorway.
I twisted around and followed his gaze. I expected to find Jenkins again, so my heart skipped a beat when I beheld a tall, gaunt gentleman standing in the entrance. He wore an elegant evening suit complete with a top hat and white scarf around his pale throat. The man had the complexion of a vampire, but there was something strange about the texture of his skin. It almost appeared to be plastic stretched over bone and sinew.
The man removed his hat and bowed his head to us. “My sincerest apologies for intruding, but the matter is most urgent.”
Eric’s face was slightly tense as he returned the compliment of the bow. “Good evening, Lord of Eternity.”
The elegant stranger wrinkled his pale nose. “There is nothing good with this night, Haldor, otherwise I would not be forced to take on your flesh to converse with you.”
Eric gestured to the assortment of alcohol on the buffet. “Then on this rare occasion let’s celebrate with a drink.”
The man scoffed as he removed his black gloves and strode over to stand in front of the companion chair to mine. “Neither is there anything to celebrate, for I come to you on a most urgent business.”
He plopped himself in the seat and crossed one leg over the other, wherein he set his folded hands in his lap. Those horribly dark eyes looked at Eric without blinking. Hell, he looked at everything without blinking.
“Where are my manners?” Eric scolded himself as he looked to me and gestured at the stranger. “Adi, I’d like to introduce you to Death.”
My heart skipped a beat and my mouth dropped open. “Death? The Death?”
The stranger rolled his eyes. “Really, Haldor, must you always be this childish?”
Eric folded his arms over his chest and grinned at his guest. “It’s not everyone who can say they have a personal acquaintance with you without also having been one of your ‘clients.’”
Death eyed him with a sharp, almost vengeful look before he turned his nose up. “Keep your humor to yourself, Haldor. As I said before, I have come on business. A most precious and dangerous item has been stolen from me, and I require your unique ‘skills’ to retrieve it.”
Eric lifted an eyebrow. “What was taken?”
“Someone has stolen my rabbit.”
- Writer
