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

wouldn’t hurt to
take the dust for use in my leaded glass creations. When the faeries saw what
I’d done, they were excited and offered small bits of dust. One of them told me
they weren’t allowed to do so, and I promised not to tell. They are quite
mischievous, and like to break the rules whenever they think they can get away
with it. We made a deal and I kept their offerings to myself. They spread their
dust around and let me know where to find it.”
    Even though his eyes never
warmed, Calis offered a half-baked apology. “There was more evidence of dust in
the woods today. I may have jumped to conclusions about your part in their
demise, but I must insist you discontinue using faeries dust.”
    I smirked over how it must have
pained him to admit he was mistaken. I gave Arianna a slight nod. She took a
deep breath and agreed to Calis’s request.
    “I’ll get rid of the dust I
have. As for the pixie, I don’t exactly know how that came to be. One morning I
went into the studio to fire up the furnace and there he was,” Ari said with a
shrug. “He came out of the shadows, claimed he’d protect me while I worked with
the dust and that I should gather as much of it as I could...” Ari’s voice
trailed off, then she said, “Now that I think about it, there’s been less dust
available to work with these past few weeks. The faeries drop the dust in the
woods, I collect and cover it immediately so it doesn’t fade. With the pixie
present for longer periods of time, I’ve been reluctant to leave my work.” Ari
locked eyes with Calis. “Is he dangerous to the faeries? If so, why?”
    Calis ignored her questions
with one of his own. “He’s ferocious, you say?”
    Ari nodded. “I was sure he’d
spell Luna, so we left the studio the day she came over.”
    “Does this pixie have a name?”
Calis asked.
    The conversation had taken a
leap into a place I wasn’t sure I wanted to go. Magic, pixies, and the death of
faeries were subjects for story tellers, not for reality. I shivered slightly
and then turned my attention back to the present.
    “Does his name matter? We
aren’t going to invite him for tea, are we?” I asked drily.
    “It matters; believe me,” Calis
said in a sharp tone.
    Arianna wrung her hands before
she admitted to not knowing. “It never occurred to me to ask. He is scary and I
wasn’t about to push my luck. I might be in as much danger from him as the faeries
are.”
    Calis agreed with a nod. “Find
out what he’s called, if you can. I have an idea who he is, I just need to know
before we move ahead.”
    I glanced at my watch. Work
awaited me at the Junction. Glass cases needed to be washed and readied for the
following day, floors had to be scrubbed, and stock replaced. That was just the
beginning of what had to be done.
    “Can we wrap this up? I have to
get back to the shop,” I said.
    “As long as I know you’ll both
work with me on this, I feel confident the faeries can be saved.” Calis glanced
at each of us and said, “Keep what we’ve spoken of to yourselves. It’s as much
for your safety, as it is for the faeries.”
    In agreement, I gave him a nod,
and Arianna muttered something about hard work for naught. I glanced at her
over my shoulder as Calis and I reached the door and said, “If things get any
more serious, there’ll be no recovering from what could happen to all of us.
There’s magic afoot, Ari. You and I both know it.”
    Abashed, Ari assured me she
understood. With a heavy sigh, she closed the door behind us and I heard the
lock click into place. As we walked away, I glanced back and saw her peering
out the small window framed in the door.
    Calis walked alongside me on
the path. The time had flown and the dusky evening had settled into darkness.
Tuned to hear any noise that might come from what lived in the trees and brush,
I was surprised when there was no sound at all in the woods.
    The faeries were absent… I saw
no critters, and I could only put it