The 'almost' part of that was because of two people who stood in front of us. One of them was a tall, pale man. His complexion resembled that of Basileus, but his blood-red eyes bespoke of a little more hostility.
Beside him stood a woman of thirty with long red hair. She wore a long red dress with a slit that reached to her waist. The clothes hugged all the right curves and suited her smooth, beautiful white face. Her green eyes swept over us and a sly smile graced her rose-colored lips. She folded her arms over her ample chest as her gaze fell on David.
"Mr. Dives, what a pleasant surprise."
David smiled and swept his arm in front of him to give her a majestic bow. What sprayed across the floor in front of him. "Good evening, Miss Lilith."
She glanced past us at the bathroom. Water flowed from beneath the door. She arched an eyebrow. "What exactly have you done this time?"
My eyes flickered to him and I pursed my lips. "This time?"
He chuckled. "Nothing serious. Just tore out a sink." He slipped behind me and grasped my arms. "But if you'll excuse us."
David pulled me towards the door, but the pale man stepped into our path, blocking our way. Lilith wagged a finger at us and clucked her tongue. "I know you better than that, Mr. Dives. You were here for a reason, now tell me it."
He whipped his head towards our left and pointed at something. "Goblins!"
Lilith didn't flinch, but she did laugh. "Do you really think I'm that-ah!" Her speech about her intellect was interrupted when a little green goblin leapt onto her back and pulled at the rear strap of her dress. The posh outfit slid up and revealed a lack of underwear.
About a dozen of them poured from the door marked for the janitor and sprang at the pair. Lilith's pale companion spun around and knocked them from the air. They slammed into the floor and left body impressions. A few managed to get past them and spring at us. David pulled me behind him and grabbed the lead one by the collar. He threw the green creature into its companions, then returned his attention to me.
"Run!"
I sprinted for the door with David close behind me. We reached the entrance and the giant stepped inside. He curled his lips and snarled at us. David pushed me out of the way and swung his fist at the monstrosity. It connected, but David came out the worse for wear. He yelped and pulled back his crinkled fingers.
The giant chuckled and grabbed him about the neck. He lifted David off the floor and squeezed. David grasped the giant's hands, but he couldn't loosen the strong hold. I looked around for something, anything to help. My eyes fell on a nearby table with its cloth.
I grabbed the cover and pulled the cloth off without disturbing anything on the top. I had to pause to admire my work before I turned to David and Goliath. I tossed the cloth over the giant's head, grabbed the four corners, and pulled. The giant dropped David and tugged on the cloth. He tore it from my hands and spun around to snarl at me.
David swept between us and swept me into his arms. He dodged a grab by the giant and slammed his shoulder into the front doors. They broke apart and we tumbled into the crowded streets. People gawked at us as we stood and brushed ourselves off.
David grabbed my hand and pulled me into his car. We sped off down the road. I glanced over my shoulder and watched the giant stumble from the club. Close behind him were our two other new acquaintances, and none of them looked happy.
David's voice brought me back to the car. "Looks like I won't be going to that place for a while."
I turned in my seat and frowned at him. "At least wait until those marks are off your neck."
David reached up and rubbed his palm over the hand prints left by the giant. He winced. "I feel what you mean. You still got what we found?"
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the coin. "Yeah, but I don't know what it means."
David turned us onto a new road and towards the older district. "Let's see if Cotio knows anything about this."
9
We arrived at Cotio's place and found the shop open for the late-hour business. I followed David inside and looked around.
"Doesn't this guy ever sleep?" I wondered.
We reached the desk. David smiled at me and held out his hand. "Do you really want to learn about his personal life?"
I shuddered and dropped the coin into his hand. "I'm sorry I asked."
Cotio stepped through the rear doorway of the shop and smiled at us. "Ah, just the two people I wished to see! I have found the origin of most of the hair you brought me!"
David raised the coin to show Cotio. "Does it have anything to do with this?"
Cotio stepped up to the desk and took the coin. He turned the object over in his hand and studied it. The little man furrowed his brow and his eyes flickered up to us. "Where did you get this?"
"In a sink, but you didn't answer my question," David persisted.
Cotio nodded and pulled out the bag with the hair. "The two are undoubtedly connected. Both belong to a leprechaun."
I blinked at him. "Come again?"
David leaned towards me. "He said both belong-" I scowled and pushed him away.
"I know what he said, but are they really real?" I wondered.
Cotio nodded. "As real as you or I, and quite dangerous."
I arched an eyebrow. "Dangerous how?"
Cotio cleared his throat. "Leprechauns are not what is shown on television in those strange food commercials humans are so fond of. They have an obsession with gold and will do almost anything to acquire more of it for their pot. Otherwise a leprechaun generally keeps to himself in their fairy realm outside the boundaries of humans."
David pursed his lips. "That explains why all the girls who were taken wore jewelry, but not why he took the women."
Cotio's eyes flickered between us. "Taking women? What would a leprechaun do with a woman?"
David shrugged. "That's what we're trying to find out. We just watched Latro be pulled into a running faucet by a pair of small hands."
Cotio looked down at the coin in his palm. "And this was in the faucet?"
David nodded. "Yeah, but what does that mean?"
A strange smile slipped onto the proprietor's face. "Let me show you."
Cotio set the coin on the counter and took up a nearby glass. He poured water into it and dropped the coin into the glass. The heavy metal sank to the bottom. Cotio rolled up one sleeve and dipped a finger into the glass. His fingernail touched the coin, and a bright light burst from the metal.
My eyes widened. "It's that light again! The one from the bathroom!"
Cotio removed his finger and the light vanished. He rolled up his sleeve and pursed his lips. "That is a light to the domain of the world of the leprechauns."
David nodded at the coin. "So you're saying that coin's a key to their world?"
Cotio nodded. "Yes. All the coins that are smelted by the leprechauns are keys back to their home. They always carry one around with them so they can go home whenever they please."
I leaned down and studied the glass. "But why did you put it in water?"
"For the same reason rainbows are always in their myths," Cotio explained. He dipped two fingers in the glass and lifted the coin. Water dripped off the bottom and into the glass. "The coin needs to be wet to open the portal. Often times the coin is placed in a rotten stump to expose the metal to water so they can use the portal as often as weather allows."
I straightened. "I guess that explains why all the women were kidnapped in bathrooms. There's probably a coin in all of them."
David furrowed his brow. "You said most of the hair belonged to a leprechaun. What about the other hairs?"
Cotio shrugged. "It was very coarse and stiff, almost like a hair from a comb."
David's eyes narrowed. "Like a pig's hair?"
Cotio nodded. "Yes. Why?"
I looked up into David's face. "You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?"
David half-turned to me and offered me his arm. "We have a pig to visit."
/> "You're sure he's involved? It is his bathrooms," I pointed out.
David smiled. "He's a male pig, my dear, and I very much doubt he cleans the bathrooms himself."
I sighed and took his arm. "All right, but I call dibs on the first insult."
David paid Cotio and we drove to Knock-knees Nick's, the first club we visited owned by Mr. Nick himself. The hour was about eleven and the whole place was hopping. It was a wall-to-wall grinding of bodies that danced to a pounding beat of a DJ who knew more about grinding records than recording on them. We found our target behind the bar serving an endless supply of drinks to his thirsty customers.
Nick recognized us because he gave us a sweet greeting. "Scram," he growled after his eyes fell on us.
David leaned his elbows on the bar and smiled at him. "Good evening, Nick. We thought we'd ask you a few questions."
Nick glared at David. "I know you're not cops, so get lost."
David drew out the coin and held it up in clear view. "Pity. We thought you might know something about this." He shrugged and pocketed the coin. "Guess we'll just have to tell the Paranormal Society that you're up to something fishy."
Nick's face turned a wonderful shade of white. His eyes narrowed and he ground his teeth together. "Hold on." He glanced at the bartender to his right. "Handle things here. I'll be right back."
Nick jerked his head to his left, and we followed him down the bar to a room marked 'Office.' We stepped inside the cramped room and Nick shut the door behind us. He slipped past us and settled himself into the large padded chair behind the tall, wide desk that sat in the back. There wasn't any other piece of furniture in the room except a filing cabinet to our left.
Nick leaned back and studied us. "What do you want?"
David shrugged. "A little info, and maybe a half dozen girls. Maybe not Latro, though." I glared at him. He shrugged. "Okay, maybe Latro."
Nick clasped his hands together atop his ample stomach and chuckled. "And you think I have them?"
David smiled and shook his head. "No, we think your lucky-charms friend does, and you're getting something sweet out of the deal." Nick's face fell. David planted his palms on the desk and leaned forward. "We want you to tell your friend to give the girls back, or we make good on our threat to tell the Paranormal Society."
Nick leaned forward and glared at David. "Let's just say I might believe your threat. What proof do you have that I'm involved?"
David pulled out the bag of fur and swung it from side to side in front of Nick. "Just a few hairs that belong to you, and some that belong to a leprechaun."
Nick eyes narrowed. "Have you told anyone about this?"
David pocketed the bag and shook his head. "No, but if you don't cooperate we'll be forced to."
He stood and placed his hands on the table. My eyes widened as I watched the bulge and thicken. He curled his lips back and showed off the pair of tusks that grew upward from his lower lips.
Nick's deep, rumbling chuckle finished in an oink. "Then I guess that means I'm going to have to take care of you now."
Nick shoved the desk aside. The wood crashed into the wall as the pig-man dove at us. David pushed me out of the way. Nick grabbed his shoulders and the two of them careened into the front wall of the office. The thin wood wasn't strong enough to support the crash, and the pair tumbled through the splintered boards and onto the dance floor. The patrons screamed and ran for the exit.
David tossed the pig off him and into the center of the empty dance floor. They both climbed to their feet. My mate took a step back and flexed his growing claws. "I think Latro will forgive me for breaking my promise."
I noticed the bag of hair drop from David's clothes. I scooped it up and slipped behind him to peek over his increasingly-tall shoulder. The pig-man's clothes burst open and pink, bristle-covered skin poked out from the seams. He pawed his feet against the great like a bull and clacked his hard finger-hoofs together.
"Come on, doggy. Let's see what you've got," he grunted.
I cringed and stepped to the side. "What she doesn't know won't hurt us."
David's own clothes tore open as he transformed into his wolfy self. The pair of them rushed each other and met in a hail of clawed and hoofed fists. The punches flew too fast for me to follow. They took turns tossing each other into the tables and chairs. I skirted the wall until I hit the women's bathroom.
A terrifyingly stupid idea hit me. I tightened my hand on the bag and slipped into the bathroom. The area was deserted. I hurried over to the sinks and unscrewed the heads. The one against the wall farthest from the door dropped a shiny metal present. I picked up the coin and pulled out the leprechaun hair from the bag. A quick turn of the faucet, and I stood poised to do something really stupid.
I took a deep breath and shoved both hair and coin under the running water.
A bright light burst from the coin. I looked away and shut my eyes. A soft tug at my hand turned into a hard pull. I dug my heels into the floor, but every club bathroom in the world had a slick floor. I yelped as I dove head-first into the portal.
10
I hit the ground hard and tumbled until I knocked into something that smelled of damp. The world spun around me, or it would if I had my eyes open. I opened my scrunched eyes and found myself on my back, gazing up into a clear blue sky. The hard object I hit was a tree stump, and beneath me was a fine field of grass.
I sat up and saw I lay in a meadow filled with flowers of every color and size. Softwood trees lined the perimeter, and a soft gurgle told me water ran nearby. Off in the distance I glimpsed snow-capped mountains.
A crunch behind me made me flip over and spin around. My eyes widened when I saw it was Latro who stood a few yards from me. Her mouth dropped open before it snapped shut. She balled her hands into fists and marched over to stand over me.
"What the hell are you doing here?" she barked.
I scrambled to my feet and glared at her. "Trying to save your sorry ass, that's what."
"Then you're the stupidest rescuer in the world!" she growled.
"Why?"
"Because you're stuck here wit ta rest of 'em," a voice spoke up.
I whipped my head left and right. My eyes caught on something behind me, and I turned to the stump. A little man dressed in a emerald-green suit sat on the stump. He had a four-leaf clover in his flat hat and a smile on his lips.
He stood and swept his arm in front of him to bow to me. "A pleasure to meet ya, I'm sure."
I pointed at the little man and glanced over my shoulder at Latro. "Is that what I think it is?"
She moved to stand beside me and grimly nodded. "Yes. It's a leprechaun."
The little man's bushy eyebrows crashed down. "I'm not an 'it' any more than you two are ladies. Ta name is O'Flanagan, and you'd be best to remember it as you might be here a while."
I folded my arms and glared at him. "Why?"
"Because you're not having what it takes to be leaving this place," he returned.
I grinned and opened my palm to show him the hair and coin. "You mean these things I used to get in here?"
His eyes widened and his mouth twisted into a hideous scowl. "Give tose ta me!" He leapt at me, but I held them above my head. The little man jumped up and down, but missed them by half a mile. "Give me tose! Tey be mine!"
"They be mine until you two tell me what the hell is going on," I told him.
Latro pursed her lips and pointed down at the hopping fool. "This little idiot got a curse on him and now he's trying to break it by kidnapping women."
I blinked at her. "What kind of a curse has someone do that?"
O'Flanagan stopped his jumping and glared up at me. "Ta worst kind! One placed upon me by a fiendish woman!"
Latro frowned at him. "You're the one who jilted her."
The leprechaun turned his face away and stuck his lips out in a pout. "How was I ta know she was a witch?"
"You shouldn't have jilted her," Latro scolded him.
&n
bsp; I held up my hands. "People? Er, person and leprechaun. Could I be caught up to this lovely conversation?"
O'Flanagan crossed his arms and slumped his shoulders. Latro jerked her head towards the little man. "This idiot jilted a witch, and now he's trapped in the leprechaun world until he kisses his true love."
I snorted. "You're kidding, right?"
O'Flanagan whipped his head up and glared at me. "Do ya tink you'd be here if it twas a joke?"
I held up my hands. "Fine, fine, it's not a joke, but how does pig-man fit into this? And why are the girls still here?"
Latro frowned and held up her bare left wrist. "Nick planted the coins in exchange for the gold O'Flanagan would get." She whipped her head to the leprechaun and glared at him. "And we're still here because there's no way in hell any of us are going to kiss him."
I arched an eyebrow. "He hasn't tried kissing you guys?"
O'Flanagan's shoulders fell. "Aye, I have, but it won't work if tey're not willing."
"And we're not willing because you haven't proven that you can get us back home at all," Latro snapped.
He balled his hands into fists and stomped his black boot against the ground. "I can, but it can't be done just any time! You have ta wait for ta water ta be turned on!"
"Prove it!" she insisted.
"Not until ya kiss me!" he countered.
I held up my hands. "Wait a sec! Why is it so bad that he's stuck in his own home world?"
O'Flanagan frowned. "Because I can't be making more of me fortune unless I have a way ta get to ta human world. Witout tat way I'm a laughing stock here."
By this time a small group of human women had emerged from the woods. From their modern, nightclub-esque clothes I ventured to guess they were the half dozen missing girls.
One of the larger ones shook her fist at O'Flanagan. "You little weasel. Let us go home!" The cries of her fellow captives answered her.
"Yeah!
"Let us go!"
O'Flanagan raised his arms over his head. "Fine, fine, I'll admit it." He dropped his arms to his side and hung his head. "I can't get any of ya back."
Their eyes widened. Latro stepped to the forefront and glared at him. "Then you did lie to us!"