The Lady of the Valley

TLotV Chapter 34

34.

It annoyed Astrid very much that Ellie was right. She didn't want Ellie to be right, but Sarris disappearing and stalking them were kind of big things that she had overlooked. How had he simply vanished?

How had she not thought of that?

After Ellie left she and Derek had scoured the parking lots and brick walls with flashlights looking for blood. Not that they expected to find anything after the storms. For good measure she inspected the area for magic as well. Usually it was more of a feel thing than visual, except for her magic. That she always recognized. Things like fire, rain, or wind storms had a habit of washing magic away too.

After an hour they still had nothing, save for a growing annoyance that they hadn't come back for a better look sooner. And Astrid's complete distrust that Ellie would actually leave the Temples alone.

Derek kept reaching out and touching her on the drive back. At first she thought it was a possessive thing, and it irritated her. Then she realized she was brooding and he was probably just trying to reassure her. The truth was every time his hand met her skin she wanted to melt into it and wrap herself around him like a needy cat.

He was incredibly distracting. Not being able to think of anything but him, of wanting to forget the world and bury herself in him instead made her feel weak, fussy. The fact that she only had to ask and he'd happily oblige, almost like he also melted at her touch, made her feel powerful. Sexy. She wasn't used to feeling both weak and sexy. Or either really.

When they arrived back at her house Drake and Ari were waiting expectantly for them. At least they'd had the decency to order pizza.

Astrid tossed the thumb drive Ellie had given them to Drake. "Everything Ellie says she has on Sarris, our supposed killer."

"Probable killer," Ari said.

Derek shot Astrid a curious look.

"Always a bad idea to put a random thumb drive into your computer," she answered.

"Drake is an art major, too. But he prefers digital arts and programs. Some day he's going to make blockbuster movies." Ari beamed at Drake's broad back. Totally smitten.

Somehow Astrid couldn't bring herself to roll her eyes at Ari anymore. She was starting to understand. Ari's love life was rather more complicated. She seemed to ride it like a mermaid jumping between waves and undertows. But yeah, Astrid kind of got it now.

"Isn't knowing how the movie effects work, like, banal or something? Breaking the magic?" Derek asked.

Drake had plopped down at her desk with his sticker covered laptop. He clicked into his sandbox program before plugging the thumb drive. "Are you joking? Getting paid to literally lie to people? That's fae as fuck."

"Okay then."

Drake printed out two copies of the file, which included pictures. He passed the prints on and scrolled through the digital file himself. So he was inserting himself into their investigation. Fine. That made asking him to go back to the coffee shop parking lot to look for fae magic easier.

"There's an audio file too," Drake said. One of the copies made it to Astrid and the other to Ari. Astrid raised an eyebrow, but Ari didn't notice. Derek peered over her shoulder.

"What's the audio?" Astrid asked.

"Looks like two songs from the band's album in the sixties."

She handed the file to Derek. "Play them." She sat on the back of the couch and listened while the others read. Both songs were very Sixties. The first had a pop-Beatles feel, but the singer had a deeper, smoother voice. More Barry White. It was a cute boyfriend song, lyrically, but the voice gave the song a lightly predatory edge, pushing an innocent crush toward something less comfortable. The effect was subtle enough that the listeners probably weren't sure why they didn't like the song. Or maybe she was projecting what she knew about Sarris now onto it.