Faerie Dust Dead (The Luna Devere Series Book 2) by J.M Griffin Page A

faerie dust in any measure.
If she’s guilty of that, she’s culpable where their deaths are concerned.”
    I gave him a grimace and
whispered, “She’s coming.”
    Ari lowered a wide tray onto
the coffee table and offered us each an earthenware mug of brew.
    I sipped appreciatively and
waited for the next round of trouble to begin. Calis accepted the cup, but didn’t
drink from it. Instead, he studied the room until he noticed a leaded glass
window that glowed softly, hanging in the lamplight.
    “There’s faerie dust in that,”
Calis said and pointed to the piece. “You’ve no right to use fae creatures for
your own gain, Ms. Gentile. I warn you, it’s dangerous for you and harmful to
them.” He’d managed to keep his attitude in check, but I heard the underlying
steel in his voice. Whether Ari realized she was on shaky ground, I couldn’t
tell.
    Calis’s face grew colder than
I’d seen it thus far, as we both stared at Ari in turn.
    “They willingly gave me minute
doses of dust to make their images more inviting. I didn’t realize it would
hurt them.” Ari glanced at each of us and uttered plaintively, “I wouldn’t harm
the creatures, not ever.”
    His temper took over. His jaw
muscles pulsed and Calis slammed the coffee mug onto the table. “What did you
think would happen when you messed around with faerie magic?” Calis thundered.
“It isn’t of your world, and should never be taken for granted. Tell me
how it started, and why there’s been a pixie in your workplace with you.”
    How did he know Ari had a pixie
watching over her? Was there anything he didn’t know? Surprised, I gave
him a quick look and then stared at Ari, whose astonishment was also apparent.
    “Who the hell are you?” Arianna
demanded.
    Calis flicked his hand. “Never
mind that, just tell me what I want to know.”
    Her face reddened before Arianna
took a deep breath and blustered, “I-I don’t have to explain myself to you, or
anyone else. Who do you think you are, coming here and bullying me about?”
    She stood beside me as though I
gave her courage. Having little of my own, I had none to offer others. After
all, I was all bluster.
    Not to be put off, he assessed
Arianna for a moment. Then Calis countered, “You’d better tell me or we won’t
be able to save the faeries. How would you feel about that? They’ll all die,
Ms. Gentile, all of them. It’s just begun – we’re not too late, but I need both
of you to aid me in this.”
    With a lightening change in his
attitude, Calis had made headway with Ari. I wasn’t so sure I could, or even
wanted to give him my assistance, but somebody had to step up and work to save
the creatures. A sudden thought struck me.
    I asked, “If the faeries die,
whoever is in charge of them, will avenge their loss, won’t they?” Holy cow,
how would humanity survive such a plague as faeries, wielding power greater
than anything mortals could ever fight off? It was surreal to even consider
such a notion. I shook my head, tucked the idea into the back of my mind, and
waited for his answer.
    “I’m hoping it won’t come to
that. The three of us need to work out a way to stop the problem before it
grows out of control. Fae creatures have magic on their side, but truly, they
aren’t strong enough to survive the total loss of dust.” Calis took a seat near
the fire, I resumed my place in the rocker, and Ari settled on the farthest end
sofa, well away from Calis.
    “It all started when I made a
delivery to Luna’s shop a few months ago,” Ari said. “As I walked through the
woods, I saw shimmering faerie dust splayed over a tree stump. I hurried to
Luna’s, dropped off the artwork and then rushed home for a container to collect
the faerie dust. It was the first time I’d ever seen it like that.”
    Calis interrupted her. “Was
anyone around? Were there other fae present?”
    Ari shook her head. “There were
no faeries or creatures of any kind in the area. I figured it