Sins of the Flesh (Half-Breed Series Book 2) (25 page)

I returned to find Irix rooting through a checkbook.

“Hey, is that really necessary?” I felt guilty about going through the man’s personal finances. Searching his house for a grimoire was one thing, eyeing how much he paid for cable was another.

“Yes, it is.” Irix waved a stack of papers at me. “Dennis Hayworth bought this farm five years ago, and it’s been hemorrhaging money ever since.”

I looked out the door at the man. He was sound asleep. “So? Farms are a tight-margin business. What does his lack of success have to do with his knowledge of supernatural entities?”

“Because his lack of success ended a few days ago.”

I shook my head, not understanding. “Like a huge deposit in his checking account? Maybe he sold his crop. Maybe he made a deal with a demon. I’ll admit, the timing is suspicious, but without anything else... .”

“Here.” Irix thrust the papers into my hand. “There’s something very unusual that happened with this farm.”

It was a lab report from a leaf sample. Anthracnose. I winced. “It’s a disease caused by the fungus Colletotrichum ananas. I wouldn’t expect to see that here, since it’s mainly caused by high humidity and doesn’t usually appear on the leaves until later in the summer. Still, it’s treatable. It would probably take out this year’s harvest, but with appropriate intervention, the trees should recover and produce next year.”

“With previous years of losses, maybe he couldn’t afford to wait for the treatment.”

I nodded, reading the papers. “Ugh. This isn’t a new development. It seems the trees started showing signs two years ago, and the standard treatment isn’t working. Over half his grove is infected.”

“Sounds like a solid motive to me.”

But motive for what? I could completely see Dennis Hayworth would want to cure something that could destroy his entire pineapple farm, but why call on a volcano goddess and her fire servants for a fungus?

I moved a stack of papers aside, sat on the cluttered sofa and read the lab reports.

“The question” —Irix said as he sorted through a stack of books— “is what
would
a farmer call on if he needed to cure a diseased grove of trees?”

“An elf? Certainly not Pele.” I’ll admit my tone was acerbic, but I’d just driven a man to hump his porch support and was digging through his personal belonging as he lay outside sleeping. “I can’t speak for Mr. Hayworth, but I wouldn’t turn to a temperamental fire goddess for agricultural help.”

Irix shot me an amused smile. “Besides an elf. I’ve been summoned a few times, and Mr. Hayworth’s home doesn’t seem to be typical of a magic-user. I’m wondering if perhaps there wasn’t a mistake in the ritual, or if the man has a poor grasp on local mythology.”

I halted mid-report and looked up. “Screw up or not, he got a volcano goddess. The big question in my mind is what did he offer her? It had to have been more than a handful of pineapples or she would have been gone by now. He must have promised her something and didn’t deliver.”

“Or performed a vaguely worded ritual that allows her to stay.” Irix picked up a handful of books and began to leaf through them. “If these old gods are anything like demons, they’ll take advantage of any loophole.”

That too. I frowned at all the fungicide catalogues, feeling a pang of sympathy for Mr. Hayworth and his failing pineapple farm. According to Kristin, it was difficult to get these rituals to work. How had an obvious amateur managed to awaken a vengeful volcano goddess? The thought scared me. If Hayworth could do such a thing, how many other dangerous beings could be summoned or awakened by people who had no idea what they were doing? Suddenly the price on my head seemed small potatoes in comparison.

“There’s nothing here.” Irix tossed the books onto the desk. “All we’ve got is that something happened a week ago that cured the blight on this farm and caused Pele to show up. Maybe it wasn’t him. Maybe a competitor did this to ruin him and he’s just defending himself with the pineapple offerings.”

Could be. I hadn’t found anything indicating this guy was into black magic – or any kind of magic. “Or he hired someone to bless the farm, or pray the fungus away or something, and wound up with Pele along with a disease-free crop.”

“Then why isn’t the priest throwing pineapples in the fire? It’s not like this guy has a problem anymore. Pele is burning down farmers’ markets and hibachi restaurants, not pineapple farms.”

She had seemed to focus on man-made structures. The beach bonfire was the only one that affected a naturalized area, and if my suspicions were correct, that was the ritual fire.

I shrugged. “Maybe the priest doesn’t know what he’s done? Hayworth must have some sense of humanity about other people’s property or safety, otherwise why would he have shown up at the Hibachi place? He must have figured out what happened and is trying to help.”

Either Hayworth was a good guy who’d made a terrible mistake, or a sleazy farmer taking magical short cuts and putting the island at risk. Either way, his appearance at the fire tonight led me to believe there was something worth redeeming in the guy. Although we were unlikely to find out with him comatose on the porch in sex-induced slumber.

Irix snorted. “We need him to stay here, and guys that screw up like this tend to run for it. Hayworth may be the only one who can tell us how to send Pele back to rest, and he’s certainly the only human we’ve met so far who knows what’s going on.”

I pursed my lips. “So we take his id and passport just in case?” That would probably stall him for a day or so, depending on how quickly the DMV worked on Maui. Of course, we’d have to find it in this mess of a house.

“I was thinking more of duct tape and rope. We could stick him in one of the outbuildings, and I’ll question him tomorrow morning, once he’s slept off his insane masturbatory activity.” Irix gave me a stern look.

“Um, no. I’m okay with you questioning him, but I’m not okay with the rope and duct tape. I’ve got to live among the humans, and I don’t want to spend the next ten years in prison.”

Irix rolled his eyes, which looked silly given his current attire. “And stealing his identification isn’t a crime? Even without a driver’s license, he could hide on the island and we’d waste precious time trying to find him. Duct tape and rope. That way he stays put, right where we can find him when we need to.”

I scowled, putting on my best ‘immovable-object’ face. “Irix, I’m serious. We’re not doing something that amounts to kidnapping in the eyes of the law.”

“Fine.” Irix turned around and grumbled about my stubbornness and how he really didn’t care if the whole island burned down anyway. Which was true. He was only bothering to do any of this because
I
wanted him to. Yes, he found some of this interesting, but I could tell he’d rather be drinking daiquiris and fooling around poolside.

“I love you.” That got another grumble. “And I really appreciate you helping me out with this. When we get back to the hotel, I’ll let you tie me up instead. Deal?”

He turned, an unholy light in his eyes and a little smile hovering at the edge of his mouth. “And duct tape?”

“No way.” That stuff hurt like crazy when it was removed. “Let’s move this guy to the bedroom so I don’t feel quite so guilty, and we’ll come back in the morning for you to interrogate him.”

“Okay.” Irix grinned, and I shivered at the ruthless note in his voice. The incubus was downright scary, even when he was wearing a floral-patterned muumuu. “But if this guy doesn’t cooperate, I’m going to show him that a volcano goddess isn’t the only bad entity on this island.”

We drove back to the resort in silence where I took a much-needed shower while Irix crashed on our bed. He was a gorgeous tangle of sheets and tanned skin, and I eyed him appreciatively as I tiptoed past to dry my hair by the window. Moonlight sparkled on the tips of the waves, and tiki torches flickered orange against the dark, lighting a section by the pool where a party was winding down.

It was so peaceful. And peace was all I wanted. Irix was right. I needed to humble myself to Cleo, to take a step toward reconciliation. I glanced at his sleeping form then threw on a cotton dress and some flip-flops, snatching something off my dresser on the way out.

I skirted the pool and the few party stragglers, making my way to the area where they’d held the luau. Off to the side of the raised stage was a firepit, its stones cold and dark. Picking up a palm frond from under a tree, I laid it on the firepit and gently placed my gift on top.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t want to fight with you. Please forgive me.”

I stood there, hoping the goddess would appear. When I began to shiver from the cool night air against my still-damp body and hair, I turned to leave.

The next morning, the little gold orchid barrette was gone. The firepit was scorched black, palm-frond ash in the center. Glowing coals spelled one word across the rock. “No”.

Chapter 21

I
t’s Pele,” I told Kristin.

Kai waited patiently, surfboards in hand as I took the call. She’d wanted to cancel our lesson after hearing the details of last night’s confrontation with the goddess and the resulting fire. Worse, the hibachi place wasn’t the only victim of Pele’s wrath. Fires had sprung up all over the island, tearing through Kahului as well as some of the smaller towns. Her anger had fizzled right before dawn, ending all the fires and leaving everyone on edge about where the next one would occur. The arson was now being blamed on a team of individuals – motive still unknown.

After hearing the news and seeing the goddess’s message, I’d wanted to cancel too. But I needed this. I needed to wrestle with the sea and a fiberglass board as opposed to a hot-tempered deity. And I needed Kai – her easy laughter giving me hope it would all somehow turn out okay.
She
meant Hawaii to me, not Pele.

“I’ll work on it,” Kristin vowed. “If there’s some way to get Pele to go away, I’ll find it. In the meantime, did you get the protection ritual I e-mailed?”

“Yeah. I got it.” I had my doubts about its effectiveness. Kristin knew her stuff, but trying to power a ritual with enough juice to protect the entire island from fire wouldn’t be simple. Add in the fact that as a non-human I may not even be able to power it at all, and the whole thing seemed like a waste of time.

“The protection is triggered by energy output, so hopefully people will still be able to flick their Bics and light their gas stoves.”

“I got the package you overnighted too.” Good old Fed X — New Orleans to Maui in less than twenty-four hours. It held little vials of liquid, small enough for me to slide several into my shorts’ pocket.

“Throw them at the fire servant. Just in case the protection ritual doesn’t work.”

Because it wouldn’t. Work, that is. Ugh, I needed to have a more positive attitude. It would work, and so would the protection ritual. And now that Pele seemed to have finished with her temper tantrum, she’d come back to discuss this all in a reasonable fashion and agree to leave willingly. Yeah.

“The offering is pineapples,” I told Kristin. “Last night, some farmer threw pineapples into the fire servant, and it went away. I couldn’t find anything at his house, but we’re going to question him later.”

“Pineapples.” Kristin’s voice was thoughtful. “If it appeases the servants, it may appease the goddess.”

Doubtful, but I’d give it a shot. Although whether I was supposed to serve them to her on a platter or throw them at her head, I wasn’t sure. After last night’s activities, I was voting for throwing them.

“One thing that’s bothering me. This mage seems like an amateur at best,” I told her. “There’s nothing at his place that even hints magic-user. Maybe he partnered with someone else, or just got lucky?”

“Could be a partner. I doubt an amateur could do this solo. It’s a very difficult and precise ritual. Although weirder things have happened.”

If there was anything weirder out there, no doubt I’d encounter it later. That seemed to be the way my life was working out.

“Given what we saw in the guy’s paperwork, I’m assuming if he hired someone, it would have been to heal his orchard of blight.”

“Huh?” I could practically hear Kristin scratching her thick strawberry-blond curls. “A volcano goddess with
fire
servants? You summon one of them for passion or renewal – like when you want to start anew after a scorched earth sort-of thing. Not for healing plants.”

“Well something worked. The guy went from an orchard full of infested trees and fruit to a healthy harvest in a week.”

“Hmmm.” Kristin fell silent, and I could hear the faint noise of a dog barking in the background. “Do you know what ritual he used? Maybe it was some kind of combo spell.”

“Nope. I’ll give you a call after we talk to the pineapple farmer.”

“Leave a message. I’m in meetings most of the day, but I’ll check my cell. I’ll do some research, but if I knew what spell he used, I’d have a better idea how to undo it.”

“Thanks, Kristin. You’re the best.”

“Talk to you later, Amber. Don’t forget to have some fun with Irix. You
are
in Maui, after all.”

“Will do.” I was trying, but the little moments of fun were falling victim to the fire too.

Kai raised her eyebrows at me as I tossed my phone on a towel and reached for my board. “Pele, huh? Why couldn’t it be the goddess of rainbows and unicorns, or the god of gentle breezes and warm summer days?”

We walked slowly to the water. “Are there gods like that? Every one I’ve read about seems to be thunder, lightning, war, fire, and general devastating mayhem. Even the kinder, gentler fertility gods have a nasty streak.”

“Yeah, but if I had to face a destructive-nature kind of god, I’d want Thor, not Pele.”

I snorted. “Who wouldn’t? That guy is hotter than a ghost pepper with tabasco on it. I’ll take the thunder and lightning as long as I get to bang him first.”

“And that hammer... how phallic is that?”

The warm water gently tossed my board as we paddled out. “But only the worthy get to hold it. Not that I’ll ever know if I’m worthy, since I’m stuck with bitchy, aquaphobic, volcano woman instead.”