As one, Marshal and I looked at Jenks, and the pixy rose up on a column of red sparkles.
"Belle!" he exclaimed, flushed. "I was just coming. I'll try it on in the hall."
Her black eyes bored into him, and I heard his wings falter. "Get down here and fold your wings-s," she demanded as the cat behind her fell over on her side and started to purr. "It will only take a moment."
"Yeah, but - " he started, and she bared her teeth at him.
Making a little hiccup of sound, Jenks dropped to the floor. "Belle," he pleaded. "Can't we do this later?"
"Fold your wings!" she demanded, and I made a soft sound of appreciation when she shook out the fabric and it unfolded into a vibrant, extravagantly embroidered jacket. It looked small in her hands, but I could tell it would fit Jenks perfectly.
"Oh, try it on!" I exclaimed, handing Marshal my cup and dropping to sit on the floor before them. "Belle, did you make that?"
"I did!" she said angrily. "The pixy turd won't try it on so I can size it properly!"
Jenks shrank into himself, and his wings drooped. "Aww, Belle," he complained, and Marshal hid a laugh behind a cough when the taller fairy spun Jenks around and pretty much dressed him like a sullen little boy.
"Turn," she demanded, and Jenks showed her his back, lifting his wings so she could do the ties in the back. "How does that feel?"
"Belle, it's beautiful!" I said, seeing the golds and reds swirling in unfamiliar patterns. Clearly she'd woven the cloth herself.
"It feels fine," Jenks grumbled, glancing at me like it was all my fault.
"Too tight?" she asked, and when he muttered that it wasn't, she put a foot on his backside and yanked the ties again.
"Now it is!" Jenks shrilled, struggling to reach behind him and spinning in circles. "Damn it, woman! I can't put my wings down!"
Belle was smirking, and I bit my lip so I wouldn't smile as she caught his shoulder and loosened them again. "The goddess-s-s help you," she said as she undid the ties altogether and Jenks shrugged out of it, throwing it back at her like it was a rag. "What is it with men and clothes? You think you'd rather go to war naked."
"I don't plan on going to war at all!" Jenks said, rising up an inch or so until he was looking her right in the eye. Behind him, Rex patted at his dangling feet, her eyes full and black. "And I can't go to war in that. The tails are too long."
"The tails are appropriate." Belle shook it out and draped it carefully over her arm. "That is not a suit for going to war. It's for celebrating. You won't wear it until I say you can. I can tell you're not planning on war. The lines are full of holes. I don't know how you ever survived without me."
Jenks spilled a red dust and sputtered, "I just spent all morning tending the lines. There's nothing wrong with them. Rex, knock it off!"
But Belle only smiled. "If you like it, I'll put the final trim on it and hang it in your clos-s-set. Thank you for allowing Jezabel to teach me that stitching for the wings. It's more complicated than I'm used to, but it gives wonderfully where you need it. Would you take offense if I s-sshow my sister when I s-see her again?"
"Tink's titties, I don't care," Jenks said sullenly. Belle stood there, waiting, and when I cleared my throat, he added, "Thanks. It's nice."
My mouth dropped open, and even Marshal shifted his feet uncomfortably. "Nic-c-ce?" Belle said, a pale green coming to color her face, a fairy's version of a flush, perhaps. "You think this is nic-c-ce?" She squinted at him for a moment with her lips closed over her long teeth. "Thank you," she said stiffly, knocking into him as she walked past the purring cat, her back stiff and her pace slow. With a little trill of sound, Rex got to her feet and padded after her.
I looked at Jenks, his feet on the linoleum as he watched her leave, then up at Marshal. "Wow, Jenks," I said as I got up. "You're a bigger ass than even me sometimes. Nice? That wasn't nice. That was exquisite."
His expression twisted up in annoyance and guilt, Jenks flew up to my eye level. "She keeps making me stuff," he said plaintively. "And she keeps trying to plant things. Nothing has even come up. The kids are laughing at her."
"Then maybe you should stop giving her bad seeds. She's trying," I said, not wanting to be too hard on him, but honestly, that had been a beautiful coat. "It must have taken her at least two weeks to make that, and you call it nice?"
Jenks looked at the hall when the cat door squeaked shut. "Actually, it was twice that if you count dyeing the thread. Um." His altitude shifted up and down. "Could you excuse me?"
I nodded, and Jenks darted off. "Belle?" I heard him shout, and my frown eased. Her kin had killed Matalina. I had destroyed their wings. And now we were all learning to get along. What was wrong with me?
"Rachel," Marshal said, and I looked up at the pure delight in his voice. "I'd forgotten how much fun you are to be around. That was a fairy, right? Why is she making Jenks clothes?"
I swallowed back a heavy sigh before it came out, wondering how this new wrinkle was going to iron out. No one could take Matalina's place, but Belle had begun to see where there was a need and did what she could. "She's keeping an eye on me," I said. "She'll murder me in my sleep if she thinks I'm going to betray her or her surviving family, now living with Trent."
Still laughing, Marshal set his cup down. Slowly his smile faltered as he realized I was serious. "Is this them?" He looked at the charms, obvious on the counter between us.
I pushed myself from the counter, feeling more space fall between us. "Yup. Let me get you a finger stick. I really appreciate this."
"Not a problem." Marshal took the tiny blade as I held it out, and he broke the safety seal with his thumb in a practiced motion. "How is Jenks doing? I talked to Glenn yesterday, and he said his wife died. Is that why Belle is here?"
The scent of redwood blossomed as Marshal massaged his finger and three drops of blood soaked into the first disk. A feeling of relief swept over me, and a slight headache I hadn't realized I was fighting began to dissipate. I'd spelled the charms right, and now I had something to use to find these bastards.
"Jenks is doing okay," I said. "He has his ups and downs, but he smiles a lot more."
"Good." Marshal looked at me, then back down at the next amulet. "How about you?"