The Case of the Deadly Arrow Part 1

By Stephanie Burke

All Mai-Mai wants is to be left alone to run her coffee shop in peace, but disaster strikes again, this time in the form of a bigoted restaurant owner, social media crazies, and the biggest threat of all, a flaming arrow aimed at her head.

Mai becomes trapped in a deadly game with an assassin as she tries to get rid of the riots on her doorstep and understand the beast within her with the intimate help of a Dryad named Ptris. Can she maintain her relationship with her Gremlin Ry-Ry and uncover the mysteries of the deadly arrows before one of them hits their target?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Changeling Press
• Release date: Jul 26, 2019

Book preview

Burke

The Case of the Deadly Arrow Part 1 (Mai-Fly Mysteries 2)

Stephanie Burke

All Mai-Mai wants is to be left alone to run her coffee shop in peace, but disaster strikes again, this time in the form of a bigoted restaurant owner, social media crazies, and the biggest threat of all, a flaming arrow aimed at her head.

Mai becomes trapped in a deadly game with an assassin as she tries to get rid of the riots on her doorstep and understand the beast within her with the intimate help of a Dryad named Ptris. Can she maintain her relationship with her Gremlin Ry-Ry and uncover the mysteries of the deadly arrows before one of them hits their target?

Chapter One

"Here’s a funny little madness we all play. Not all Fae are Elves, but all Elves are Fae… What the hell does that mean?" Mai stared down at the tiny little strip of paper in her hands and was torn between laughing at the absurdity of it all and questioning someone’s insane idea of a joke.

Maybe some form of poetry? Ry asked, his confusion evident in the tilt of his head the frown on his lips.

He had yet to tie his hair back for work and was dressed in a tight pair of denim jeans that really left nothing to the imagination. With his long fall of hair flowing free and his green eyes practically glowing in mirth, he lay spread across their bed like a butt model for some exotic jeans… or maybe one of those stock photos that writers threw on the covers of their steamy erotic novels. Either way, Mai was enjoying the view while trying to puzzle over the strange little poem that someone sent to her personal email. Ry-Ry, for his part, was being exactly what she needed at the time, something her Gremlin excelled in… being sexy as hell.

It’s the beginning of a riddle… maybe? Mai looked down at the purple screen of her laptop once more before closing it up and shooting her lover a longer glance. Either way, I refuse to be late because of it. I have to open the cafe today because Kay-Kay and Bri are off on a romantic weekend getaway. That’s sweet and I’m all for new love, but it’s almost New Year’s and the place is still swamped.

That’s because you are Internet famous, Ry-Ry teased, rolling to a sitting position on the bed like he was some extra in a porn flick and hidden musicians were about to start playing the boom chicka-wa-wa fuck me now music. Really, the play of muscles under his pale skin and broad black markings was more poetic than the lines on her email that had captured her attention. In fact, she was feeling a bit like Pavlov’s dog, drooling as he moved his fine, bare-chested self around the room. Soon you will have no use for a poor little old mechanic like me.

As long as you keep my coffee machines brewing at maximum capacity, you’ll have a place in my life, Mai swore as she forced herself to stop staring and tied her own hair back in a curly tail, not even bothering with trying to straighten her locks today. It was four days until New Year’s. With after-holiday shoppers, the returns people, kids and teens out to spend their Christmas cash, and the curious who were hanging around because of the news of the trial and conviction of that crazy-ass sobby human, Mai barely had any time for herself.

Coffee machines. He pouted cutely, walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her from behind. He leaned in to nibble at her bare nape before dotting her neck with small, soft kisses. It takes so little to make you happy.

That’s because I have my priorities in line with success, she teased back, reaching around to grab his upper arms in a comforting hold, snuggling into his body. Their minute height difference made morning snuggles like this easier. No need to bend or stretch, just lean back.

And your coffee machines are in line with success in your life? he asked nibbling at her ear.

Business life.

And what about your personal life?

You keep doling out pregnancy free orgasms and erotic tongue baths and that will guarantee you a place in my bed.

So, he said, as long as I keep being your warm vibrator you won’t kick me out of bed?

Long-haired warm vibrator with a cute butt. She nodded seriously. It’s a hard job, I know --

You said hard, he interrupted her with a snicker. That’s what she said.

"It’s a hard job, she reiterated with a little emphasis on the word, but you take orders better than my B.O.B."

Your battery-operated boyfriend not doing the job?

Oh, he comes out on nights you have to work late. She laughed and he spun her around to drop a soft kiss on her lips.

So he’s the man who’s there when I’m not. I feel so used.

Mai snickered at his put-upon frown as she ran her hands through his silky, dark hair before cupping the back of his head and pulling him in for another kiss. But you like that feeling, she breathed, pulling away and trying to put her libido back where it belonged, in check while she attempted to go to work and keep her business running.

You know I do, baby, he purred. But only when I’m being used by you.

Sweet talker. Mai grinned as he dropped one more kiss on her lips before he pulled away to tend to his own long locks.

"Wait until you hear my talking tonight." He peered at her over his shoulder, pulling his hair back into its usual tight, low pony tail.

More, harder, yes? Mai asked fighting down a flush of arousal as she watched him lift his hands over his head to pull on a T-shirt.

More like ‘ouch,’ ‘ugh,’ and ‘my back.’ Got some imports that need rebuilt engines. I’m gonna need some TLC when I get home, baby. You gonna be up for it?

And by TLC you mean --

Hot showers, take out Chinese, snuggling on the bed, and The Romance Channel. You up for it?

For you, I’m up for anything. Mai giggled, content with the knowledge that no matter how rough her day was going to be, her night was going to be filled with comfort and love and cheesy Rom-Com movies that they both adored.

* * *

When will this day end? Mai asked Ptris and Ge-Ge, her temporary holiday hires, before turning her eyes to the line of people waiting to be served and the crowd of people gathering in groups waiting for the band to start.

Ge-Ge was a cute and bubbly Shefro who had no issues working with humans. She wore the traditional green her people considered a good luck color. Instead of her people’s color red hair, hers was a bright, nearly orange red.

Ge-Ge knew how to operate a business and control any unruly group of people. When Mai had interviewed her for the position, Ge-Ge commented that she had gotten bored running her own mansion, and a little bit lonely to boot, so Mai felt grateful that someone who had such great managerial skills was willing to step up and lend her a hand.

Ptris, on the other hand… what to say about Ptris? He was tall, slim, very quiet, handsome in a scary kind of way, and one of the few male Dryads she had ever seen. Ptris was old. No one really knew how old, but because of the power that he seemed to wear like a mantle, no one ever gave him silly names like Pti-Pti. His long blue hair flowed over his shoulders, and his purple eyes spoke volumes… if one had enough courage to look into them. He commanded respect with his very presence, and that alone was more than enough reason for Mai to hire him on. No one ever really got out of line with the water Fae because just looking at him, you knew that he would have no problem knocking a fool into next week. People behaved around him and that’s just how he liked it. There were less flashing cameras and murder-site tourists making problems when Ptris was around.

Mai’s shop was rocking, however. Her idea of luring Sobby’s sister out by offering her a gig had been too good an idea to let go. It just made good financial sense. After her shop had been cleared for opening, she had gone on the hunt for a perfect house band. It hadn’t taken long because of the publicity behind the case, and a lot of bands stepped up to audition. Mai eliminated several of them even before listening to them play because of the reason they wanted to play in her shop. A lot of them had a morbid fascination with the case slammed her right in the center of a controversy once again. If any band member said something about murder-coffee or dead frat boys, they were out faster than they could blink. The fact that several Fae bands expressed the notion that they needed to be around the scene of a death kind of creeped her out. There was no place for people like that, Fae or no, in her life.

The next criteria was skill. Mai didn’t care how cute you were with your band-worthy outfits or your wildly colored hair, she was the one going to be stuck listening to them all day, so they’d better be good. You could be as ugly as a blob fish as far as she was concerned, so long as you could play decent music and sing better than a reject from American Idol. After a week of auditions, she settled on one, a mixed band that consisted of two humans, Austin on drums and Jason on bass; a golden Devas named Mo-Mo on guitar; and as the lead singer, an Elf named Lu-Lu whose voice was a beautiful mix of Janis Joplin and Billie Holiday.

The Dashboard Pixies were the quintessential small-town band group just needing a big break to get that first record deal. They played a stunning mix of alternative, classic rock, and original composition that always left the audience wanting more -- and not one Christmas song in their sets. They didn’t care about the notoriety that surrounded Mai after the murder, then the assault, and the attempted murder; they just wanted a place to express themselves safely. Mai and Lu-Lu were already on their way to becoming friends, bonding over being in mixed relationships. Lu-Lu and the drummer, Austin, had been going hot and heavy for several years.

Right now, singing softly in the background, Lu-Lu was performing a beautiful rendition of Le Vie En Rose, one of Mai’s personal favorites. Lu-Lu’s ruby colored hair swung about her face as she leaned closer to the mike, the passion in her voice touching several costumers as they waited in the never-ending line for their orders.

Well, at least the Christmas season is over. Mai tried to cheer Ge-Ge up as she moved past to assist in taking drink demands from costumers who didn’t seemed to be bothered by the wait so long as the Pixies played on. "One more Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and I think my own nose would have gotten hot enough to burn this place down."

We didn’t even play that crap in the shop! Ge-Ge laughed. This is a reindeer free zone, though I hear they are tasty with roasted potatoes. She was working the espresso machine and making several different fruit flavored lattes at the same time. She moved with an efficiency that was almost scary.

But I hear it while I’m walking down the street, and in every store I’ve gone into since the day after Halloween. Christmas music is playing on every TV commercial, on the radio, blasted on speakers outside in the strip mall… Mai groaned, then pasted a smile on her face and taking the next order for the next human-type person in line who was nodding in agreement.

"At least it wasn’t Oh Come All Ye Faithful," Ge-Ge called back as she rushed to fill more of the orders that Mai typed into the POS system. There was a screen near the coffee machines so that whoever was taking orders didn’t have to shout out loud over the din in the store and that the coffee order could be verified by