Fae in L.A. – Chapter 3

Chapter Three

At this rate, L.A. traffic was bound to kill my target. Time was of the essence. The longer I took, the fewer my chances of getting her back alive. And my client paid me way too much to fail.

I’d left my carry-on at Kasten’s apartment so I didn’t have to worry about dragging it along with me, but I brought along my purse, which had all the emergency supplies I might need.

I also rented a nice dress along the way. A small black thing which cost almost as much as a regular detective job. It matched my purse nicely. My purse was a lot bigger on the inside than the outside and cost me twice as much as my dress. But it was worth it. Having access to supplies and tricks could be the difference between life and death.

I got in the back of the line to the night club and checked the time. Almost eight. Early enough that the line moved quickly, but not early enough to draw attention. I hit the sweet spot.

Once inside, I needed to find a Fae to pump for information. Subtly. There wouldn’t be any Changelings I could bribe in there. Then I’d pray my target was still in this world, and bargain with whoever had her to get her back. I had some items in my purse which could interest a low-ranking Fae, and some extra special surprises for high-ranking Fae.

I reached the entrance, and wordlessly handed my I.D. to the bouncer. A low-ranking Fae. All the employees here were bound to be low-ranking Fae. I just needed to find one willing to bargain with me.

I was let inside without much fuss. The lights were dim, and I could see a few people out on the dance floor. A DJ was at the front, doing his best to keep the party going. But the majority of people were at the bar, getting drunk in preparation of hitting the mosh pit. I joined them, sliding in on an empty stool.

The bartender shot me a charming smile. Hm. Unusual. Just watching him, I wanted to call him a Fae, but the way he interacted with people was unusually human. Half-Fae? An unusual sight in a nightclub like this. He must be the son of someone important. That was the only way he could get a job in a prestigious Fae establishment.

Plus, just inside his collared shirt, I could see a lily tattoo. He might not be the person who took Marilyn, but he certainly knew the person who did. Now I just needed to get the information I needed without arousing his suspicion.

First, I needed to act a little tipsy. I gave him a smile and ordered a fruity drink. Something with a citrus twist. Then I people watched as I sipped.

Fae mingled with humans in the crowd. There was an unspoken rule in nightclubs like this. Fae wouldn’t take any relationships here seriously. If a human and a Fae got a room together, the human would wake up then be allowed to go about their life without any repercussions. So this nightclub was a popular place to hook up and “live dangerously”.

This place was also the main hangout for several Summer Court Fae. They tended to be surrounded by entourages of lower-ranked Fae and were the priority for servers in the lounge area. They surveyed the crowd much as I did, looking over their domain.

As for the DJ, he was a Changeling. He probably knew how to work with Fae, this was a regular gig for him. A specialty if you will, much like how most of my jobs involved working with the Other. It took a certain skillset to deal with the Other and not end up dead, brain dead, or a baby.

I finished my drink, then smiled again at the bartender, adding a little flutter to my eyelashes to complete the act. “Hey, can I get another one of these? And maybe a bit of conversation to go along with it?”

He chuckled. “Well, it’s slow tonight, so why not? What brings you here on a weeknight?”

I waved my hand in nonchalance. “Just broke up with my boyfriend, so I’m looking for a rebound. I heard this is a good place to hook up.”

“Well, you’d be right. Just don’t go looking for your next boyfriend here.” He shot me a wink. “Can I have your name please?”

Hmm. A tricky question. Misconstrued, I could accidentally end up giving him my identity. I was surprised he was so predatory. A sign of desperation?

I chuckled, “Sunny, or you can call me whatever you like. Say, do they ever have live music here? I like DJs, but my friends prefer live singers and bands. I might bring them the next time if there’s live music.”

A brief frown, before he eased back into his effortless smile. “Well, we don’t have live music often, and when we do, it’ll knock your socks off. We have some of the best music from undiscovered talent in the city.”

“Really? Anyone good recently? Maybe I’ll follow them.”

He paused, which let me know I was on the right track. This was technically hush-hush information, but he didn’t see the harm in telling a clueless human like me. Particularly if it kept the conversation going and gave him more chances to take advantage of me.

“Well, yesterday, we had a singer that was fairly good. But she only stayed for a few hours before the owner took her somewhere. I don’t think she’s going anywhere in this town though, so I wouldn’t bother.”

“Really. Her name wouldn’t happen to be… Marilyn Goodwin, would it?” His eyes sharpened and met mine which were laser focused on him. Time to drop the act.

“How do you know that? Who are you?”

“Someone interested in finding her. Now you can tell me who took her, or I can let the police know this nightclub was her last known location so they can shut it down while they investigate.”

“You’re lying. The police wouldn’t shut down this nightclub to find some girl. Especially if she left with someone of her own volition.”

“They will if she’s the daughter of someone with money, and on the recommendation of someone who’s an expert in the Other. Or we can skip all that and the trouble you’ll be in for letting vital information slip if you tell me who the girl left with.”

If only it could be that easy. But the way the man’s eyes flicked back and forth through the room made it clear he wasn’t going down without a fight.

“That would be a problem if you could make it out of here. But since you’re not, I suppose I don’t have to worry all that much.”

I shrugged, as if his threats meant nothing to me. “And I’m surprised you supposed I would come in here without a backup plan. If I go missing, there are certain people… and Fae who will notice.” Being able to outright lie was a handy skill when dealing with Fae.

His eyes flicked through the room again, this time far more uncertain. “Then we seem to be at an impasse. How do you suggest we solve it?”

I reached into my impossible purse and pulled out a pack of cards. “Well, I know I’m rather partial to a game of chance when the mood strikes me.”

“Cards?” He gave me a wicked grin. “I should warn you, that’s one of my specialties.”

“Then we have an agreement. You may deal. How about five rounds of Higher or Lower? If I win three rounds you tell me who Marilyn Goodwin left with. If I lose three rounds, I leave and tell no one of where Marilyn was last seen.”

“Agreed. Hand over the cards.” He quickly pulled out the deck and began shuffling. He had a deft hand. He wasn’t lying when he said he enjoyed cards. I reached into my purse and pulled out a pair of glasses.

“I’m afraid I have trouble seeing up close. Is it alright if I use my glasses?” He shrugged, far too focused on the cards. Maybe he wasn’t as much as an expert on cards as he claimed.

I put on the glasses, and the hidden markings on the cards became visible to me. Was I cheating? Yes, obviously. I wasn’t going to bet the life of an eighteen-year-old girl on a game of chance. Cheating as expected in these kinds of games. I could see him stacking the cards against me.

He finished and took two cards off the top of the deck and laid them before me. He flipped on up. Eight. He was starting me off with and easy one. The other was a seven.

“Higher or Lower?”

“Lower.” As expected, the seven was lower. But he was throwing me off the scent. He’d give me two easy wins but make the last three impossible.

I needed to be careful that I didn’t get caught cheating. His way of cheating was a lot harder to prove than mine, I needed to make him think I had his cheating method figured out. That meant careful watching his hands as he shuffled again and laid two more cards on the table.

Hmm. Perhaps he wasn’t as simple as I thought. The card was a three. The instinct would be to go higher, but the other number was a two. I suppose he’d simply call it bad luck. If I went lower here, he’d instantly know I was cheating. I had to take the loss to throw him off.

“Higher.”

One card turned over. “Oooh. Bad luck.” One shuffle later and two cards were laid before me.

He turned up a Queen. The other card was lower. I made the right call. Onto the fourth round.

I was winning right now. But he wasn’t going to make it that easy for me.

Another impossible call. A jack. Anyone sensible would go lower. I could tell this was a test from the way he pretended not to watch me. I went lower. A king turned up and I lost my second round.

It all came down to this last round. One more shuffle. Two more cards. He flipped the left one up.

It was a two.

“Well, this doesn’t look very good for me now does it?” He joked. Indeed. The play was clearly to say higher.

But I could tell the other card was an ace. In Higher or Lower, the only card an ace wasn’t higher than was a two. A special exception. I suppose the man before me had a flair for the dramatic.

“Lower.” His smile faltered.

“Lower? Are you sure about that?”

“Call it a certain hunch. Lower.” I smiled smugly at him, allowing my eyes to flick to his hands. He knew that I knew he was cheating. Of course, I should go lower on the last round to win. A smarter Fae would’ve purposely gone higher to try and trip me up.

He gritted his teeth then overturned the ace. Finally, he swept all the cards back into the pack and handed it over. I shoved the glasses and the cards deep into my purse, praying he wouldn’t ask to look at them closely. Let him think I outsmarted him rather than pulled a trick of my own.

He sighed. “I suppose I should have seen this coming. Fine. The one who took Marilyn Goodwin was my mother, Lady Alexandra. She took her as a gift to present to my grandmother, Marquess Lillith of House Raine.”

As in, Marilyn was currently on the Otherside, in the clutches of a high-ranking and powerful Fae. Essentially my nightmare scenario. Getting her back was going to be close to impossible. Did I even have anything that could interest a Marquess? Much less traversing the Otherside.

“Of course, I don’t believe you’ll have to worry about that.” Huh? Ah, right.

I was surrounded.