I have a new release called Fae PI, it’s the second short story in an upcoming collection of prequels for my Elfhame Academy series. All of the prickle stories are part of overall mystery and told from the perspective of different characters who are going to be in my new series is coming out in the New Year. You can get the story on Amazon.
Excerpt from Fae PI
I pulled up outside the house. Blue lights flashed and a sinking feeling crept over me. Great. Just great. I’d hoped this would be an easy night. Maybe nab a bad guy or two, so I could get home for dinner with my daughter. I didn’t get to see Olivia much since she had started working at a college nightclub.
I pulled into an empty space and checked my phone. The human police had contacted me before they had called anyone else in. Their message had said it was urgent, but they hadn’t given me any specifics. I knew the Elven enforcers and the Fae trackers would be pissed off when they heard that. The thought made me smile.
As a Fae private investigator, I often worked both Fae and Elven cases since my office was bang smack in the middle of their territories in Colchester, the supernatural hotspot of England.
I ran a hand through my long purple hair and wondered if I should turn on my glamour spell to hide my features. Having long lilac-coloured hair, pointed ears, grey eyes, and large rainbow-coloured gossamer wings made me stand out. Although my wings were concealed underneath my long beige trench coat. Yet since the humans had been the ones to call me here, I decided not to activate the glamour. Instead, I made sure my weapons were hidden under my coat, then climbed out the car.
A young, rather green looking human policeman stood guard by the door. His uniform looked so crisp and shiny I almost laughed. Clearly he was a newbie. “Who are you?” He eyed me up and down with a frown.
I held up my private investigator badge and clipped it onto the lapel of my trench coat. “Nina Morgan, private investigator. I’m supposed to be here.” I pushed past him when I spotted a short, balding detective at the door. “Al, what you got for me?”
Al Green, a detective in Colchester’s Homicide and Major Crimes Department, gave me a grim look. “Good to see you, Nina, thanks for coming on such short notice. But I need your help on this one. A murder has taken place here. The worst thing is there is a fae, and an elf involved.”
I groaned. Wonderful, this was a shit storm waiting to happen.
“Are the victims male or female?” I took out my notepad. “Any idea who they are?”
“One elf male. One young fae female who is still alive. We’re not sure if she’s a victim or suspect yet.”
I swore under my breath. “This is a nightmare.” I shoved my hair off my face. Now I understood why they’d called me. The human police wouldn’t be equipped to deal with this kind of thing. The Fae and elves would fight for dominion over this case.
“That’s why I called you. I’m not getting anything from the girl. She is at the station, but I can’t keep this under wraps for long,” Al said. “Nina, can you talk to her? Get a statement before the elves get here. I haven’t called either the Fae or the elves in yet.”
“You know how much trouble I could get in for that,” I hissed.
I had been a copper on and off for decades, more decades than I could remember. The job had been everything until one bad case. Since then I had run my own business. As a private investigator, both cops and the Enforcers still called on me for help sometimes since I’d worked with fae, humans and elves.
“You’re still technically an Enforcer among the Fae. Which means you could talk to her.” Al gripped my shoulders. “Please, Nina. Someone needs to find out what happened here. As soon as the elves find out one of their own is involved, they will take control of this and put the kid away whether she is guilty or not.”
I hesitated. I could lose my licence for this. Both the Fae and the elves would come down on me hard if I stepped too far out of line. The elves would be harsher if they thought a Fae had killed one of their kind. So I understood where Al was coming from.
“Okay, I’ll talk to her,” I told him. “But it will have to be brief. Do you mind if I check the scene first? Is the body still here?”
