Dead and Dusted by Lily Webb (most recommended books .TXT) 📗

seat,” Flora said, robbing him of the chance to object to my presence. Like a kid at the principal’s office, Mayor Nash skulked to the nearest chair and lowered himself into it.

“Am I in some sort of trouble here?”

“That depends on what you tell us in the next few minutes,” Flora said with a smile as she stood over him, which only seemed to ratchet up the mayor’s anxiety. “As I’m sure you know by now, Mr. Marth and Ms. Chamberlain died under very similar circumstances.”

“I’ve heard. Not exactly a great way to start the day, is it?”

“Not at all,” Flora agreed. “As I understand it, the two of them came here this weekend to negotiate with you about the sale of a protected piece of land on Mount Starcrest, is that right?”

“Well, I don’t know if negotiate is the right word to descr—”

“Then we’ll say it was to discuss it,” Flora interrupted.

“Okay, yeah, sure. That sounds right.”

“Why were the two of them interested in this piece of property?”

Mayor Nash sighed and shook his head. “That’s a long story, but the short version is that Leland wanted to turn it into a launchpad of sorts for some crazy Veil-exploring rocket of his. Zadie, however, wanted to turn it into a glorified solar farm.”

“It doesn’t sound like you were crazy about either of those propositions,” Flora said and paced in front of the mayor.

“No, I definitely wasn’t.”

Flora stopped directly in front of the mayor. “Why not?”

“I didn’t trust either of them to treat the land with the respect it requires.”

“I see. So, you were considering selling the land then?”

“Not really, no. Even if I’d wanted to, legally I’m prohibited from doing so. I only agreed to come here this weekend to see what exactly both of them were really up to. I know each of them well enough to know when they aren’t being fully honest with me.”

“You weren’t exactly being honest with them either,” I blurted, and both Flora and the mayor’s eyes shot to me.

“Excuse me?” the mayor asked incredulously. Though I wanted to kick myself for opening my big mouth, I couldn’t take back the words, so I just kept going.

“You knew there was something dangerous living in the mountains, but rather than share that fact, you kept it to yourself and now two people are dead because of it.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Mayor Nash said, and for a split second I believed him until I remembered the photo in my pocket, which I promptly pulled out and unfolded to pass to him.

“You sure about that?” I asked as he clutched the photo in one hand and all the color drained from his face.

“Where did you get this?”

“It was in Mr. Marth’s belongings,” Flora answered.

Mayor Nash scoffed and shook his head. “I should’ve known Leland wasn’t above putting us all in danger. Does this mean what I think it does?”

“What do you think it is?” Flora challenged.

“Leland sent some lackeys to scout the area illegally, didn’t he?”

“More or less,” I answered. “But I guess that’s what happens when people suspect something fishy and a coverup.”

“I wasn’t covering anything up,” Mayor Nash pushed back with anger flashing in his eyes. “I was only trying to keep the peace, the same as I’ve always done.”

“What do you mean by that?” Flora asked calmly, no doubt trying to defuse the situation.

“There’s a principled reason that we protect the area around the peak of Mount Starcrest. Creatures live there, dangerous ones, who are, well, quite aggressive about defending their lands. For hundreds of years, we’ve kept their existence a secret from Starfall Valley as a whole — which wasn’t very difficult, considering the harsh environments they live in.”

“Creatures like the one in that photo, you mean?” Flora asked, pointing at the piece of paper that now fluttered in Mayor Nash’s shaking hand.

“Yes. They’re oreads.”

“They’re what?” I asked, unable to stop myself, and Flora’s face lit up.

“Of course! Oreads are incredibly rare, territorial creatures. They’re literally manifestations and guardians of the natural habitats they live in,” she explained, and images of haunting blue eyes, jagged claws, and rocky teeth surged to the forefront of my mind. The creature in my dreams had called itself something similar: Nature incarnate, which fit perfectly because it looked like someone had literally carved it out of the mountain it called home.

“Yes, which is exactly why the government of Starfall Valley has a vested interest in preserving and protecting their environment and the borders between ours and theirs. If anyone ever trespassed or otherwise defiled their land, the oreads would kill us all — and apparently, thanks to Leland, we already have. No wonder he’s dead,” Mayor Nash said, and I shivered as images of snowstorms and avalanches rushed through my mind. If the oreads were really nature incarnate, did that mean my visions were right?

“And see, that’s the thing: Despite all the altruistic spin from Zadie and Leland about what they wanted to do with the land, I had a feeling all along that both of them weren’t after anything other than the oreads. I don’t know what either planned to do with them, but I’m sure it had something to do with money,” Mayor Nash said, and my mind jumped to the oread that Leland’s team had captured and held at Starforce Tech — until it escaped. What had they done to the poor thing?

Flora turned to me. “I suppose you were right, Selena. We aren’t dealing with fairies, but oreads are a kind of nymph, which are our distant cousins. We share some powers and capabilities.”

“Like the dust!” I shouted as the realization struck me, and Flora nodded.

“Exactly. It wasn’t a fairy’s dust at all that killed Mr. Marth and Ms. Chamberlain, it was a nymph’s. Typically, though, nymphs — just like fairies — use their dust to charm or cause mischief for their targets, not kill them.”

“But the dust can kill?”

“Oh, yes, absolutely.”

“But I don’t understand…” I trailed. “How could a