Beneath the gleaming skyscrapers and picturesque facade of the City of Redemption lies another city; a community of dark and ancient magic populated by creatures of the night.
Strephon Bellman, a semi-immortal half-fae, has been commissioned by the Queen of Faerie to investigate fae activity in the city. He has quarreled with Cassandra True, a mortal who is unaware of his true nature and to whom he finds himself increasingly drawn.
Dark Redemption is an Urban Gothic Fantasy which will be running in weekly installments Wednesday evenings. Previous installments can be found linked at the Dark Redemption Index.
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Chapter 20: My Favorite Bathtime Gurgles
In Which Devon shows up at an inopportune moment and Miss True’s Roommate indulges in some armchair psychology
Strephon sighed as he lowered himself into the warm, soothing water of his bathtub. Had he a mortal pair of lungs and upper respiratory system he would probably have developed pneumonia by now. As it was, his ancient legs ached and made him doubly grateful for the blessed warmth of the tub.
Some of the steam from the tub wafted away from the tub and began to curl into a recognizable shape. Strephon frowned. "Devon?"
The mist resolved itself into a human shape. "I hope this isn't a bad time," Devon said.
"Do you mind? Can't a man expect a bit of privacy in his own bath?"
Devon rolled his eyes ceilingward. Then he made a theatrical show of covering his eyes and turning his back to Strephon. "There. Are you happy now?"
"Hardly. What do you want, Devon?"
"What do I ever want? The Queen is asking for progress. What have you learned? Or have you been able to pry yourself from your busy social life."
"My social life, as you call it, is none of your business. If you must know, Miss True has decided to end our acquaintance, so you shan't have to worry about her distracting me."
"Ah." Devon shifted his feet uncomfortably. "I'm sorry to hear that."
Strephon snorted.
"No, I really am."
Strephon ignored him. "Miss Cooper turned out to be a blind alley. She knows little of the current political situation in the city. She did, however, confirm that the Reavers wolf pack is acquiring fae artifacts from some unknown source."
"Melchior."
"Not Melchior. Lord Melchior has his own dark designs to be sure, but the wolf packs are only incidental to them. I believe someone else is dealing with the Reavers, someone who wishes to upset the balance between the wolf packs."
Devon adjusted his sunglasses and scratched his nose. "Why would a fae care about the wolf packs?"
"Because some of the pack leaders are on the Council. Change the balance of power among the packs and you affect the Council. Get a foothold in the Council and you can control the city."
"Perhaps," Devon conceded. "But it's still a city of mortals."
"No, it is a city of magic. A city of werewolves and vampires, ghosts and demons; and yes, of humans too. It is a city of dreams and nightmares; and that, my cousin, is a currency the fae appreciate.
* * * * *
"So what did you do?" Cecily asked, leaning over the table with greedy ears.
"What did I do? Why, walked out on him, of course!" Cassandra said, indignantly.
"Is that all?"
"Well... I also broke a carton of eggs over his head."
Cecily giggled. "You didn't!"
"He deserved it! Can you imagine the gall of that man?"
Cecily straightened and took a sip of her tea. "He's obviously mad about you."
"Mad, I will grant you."
"Seriously. He's clearly suffering from feelings of inadequacy due to his disability, you as much as said so. On top of that he has a big load of angst over his wife's death. So he's built up these defense mechanisms to seal off the rest of the world. But now his feelings for you are starting to overcome those defenses and so automatically responds by acting like a horse's arse."
Cassandra gave her roommate a bland stare. "This from the girl who barely passed psychology."
"I know men," Cecily insisted. "Trust me."
"So he's either an emotional basket case or a jerk. Either way, I'm better off without him."
Cecily arched a cynical eyebrow. "Right. And you don't have any feelings for him yourself?”
"Pul-leeze, Cecily! He's just another in a long line of relationships that just didn't work out. I'd rather just forget all about it."
Cecily jumped up from the table. "Then what you need, girl, is a night out."
"What?”
"A night on the town is just the thing. Have some fun; have some drinks; meet some guys. You'll forget all about Steven."
"Strephon," Cassandra corrected.
Cecily smiled. "Ri-i-i-ght. No feelings for him at all."
Cassandra colored and reached to grab her coat. "Let's go," she said.
NEXT: The Spirit Is Willing