Drow Mystery by Martha Carr & Michael Anderle

Author:Martha Carr & Michael Anderle [Carr, Martha & Anderle, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Published: 2024-01-29T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

The day dragged on. Ellis had plenty of work to do, but she resented the lack of excitement involved in tending mushrooms.

Amelia came down to check on them. Ellis panicked, certain their boss would dig through her pockets, find the elevator key, and…

She wasn’t sure how the woman would react. The Bromeliad’s owner had a unique flavor of menace. Mob bosses probably owed her favors.

If she catches you in sub-basement three, you’ll never leave. The thought stuck in Ellis’ mind and tempered her anticipation.

They left at six with a promise to return later that evening.

At her apartment, Ellis cleaned her new grapnel, then attached a small bag of dried firecap powder to it.

“You planning something, girlie?” Percy was wearing lemon-yellow pajamas covered in psychedelic swirls. With Muffler wrapped around his neck and Wormy perched on his shoulder, he resembled St. Francis on acid.

Ellis filled him in on Hector and the Bromeliad’s basement, although she left out the cave widows. She also omitted the kiss.

“Have you ever talked to a spider?” she inquired.

“As much as I’ve talked to any insect. Their brains aren’t wired for language. Most animals’ brains aren’t, o’ course, but dogs can get the hang of it.”

Flower insinuated herself under Ellis’ hand on cue, and Ellis petted the pit bull’s silky back. Her short tail wagged enthusiastically.

“Why do you wanna know about our arachnid friends?”

Ellis hoped she’d never be so unlucky as to have a cave widow friend. Also, telling Percy about cave widows would bring him closer to the truth about the drow, and she wasn’t ready for that.

“There were spiders in the basement.” It was an understatement, but Percy didn’t comment.

Ellis removed a dagger from her underwear drawer and inspected the blade. It was well-made, but it wasn’t moonsteel, and it was too short. When she could stab a cave widow with it, she’d be within range of its talons and fangs.

She searched the stacked pallets in her walk-in closet until she found a hand rake with three sharp points and decided that while she was in there, she might as well test her shadow magic.

She slid the door shut and turned off the dim lights. The door was hermetically sealed, so she was in complete darkness.

Magic pulsed in the shadows. Her sense of it was weak, as though thick gauze covered her hands, but it was there.

Ellis reached for it, but the darkness shied away and dissolved at her touch. She needed to relax, but her desperation increased as she destroyed the magic she touched.

She clenched her teeth and gripped a tendril of shadow. It wriggled in her fingers for a second, then shattered, and her hand closed on nothing.

Ellis sighed. She couldn’t rely on it.

She flung the closet door open and winced at the bright bedroom light.

“Do you still have that soldering iron, Percy?” she called.

The pet psychic skipped in, aglow with cheerful anticipation. His main problem these days was boredom, aside from the widespread manhunt targeting him. He was eager to help, no matter what the project.

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