We walked between planters full of tall flowers with aromas so pungent I could smell them through my mask. Then we made our way through rows of fruit-bearing trees until the noise of the swimming competition was dampened. Occasionally I could hear the thump of the bass drum or cheer from the audience several stories below us, but it was muffled and reminiscent of football games at the other side of campus back when I was in college.

  I was starting to realize that the roof was deliberately a maze when we came upon another noisy opening. This time there were people standing, blocking our view of the contest. I scanned the tables full of masked-Fae around the perimeter.

  On the edge, away from the noisy group, sat a man in a rabbit mask. He was wearing a formal-looking, navy blue suit coat with tails but even from a distance I could see splits at the shoulder seams. A woman next to him in a feathered domino mask was wearing a faded blue dress that may have been nice at one point, but now looked a little worse for wear. The man was leaning back with one hand around the woman’s waist and the other holding up a gold chain to the Fae collecting bets.

  I elbowed Jack and pointed. He took the lead, and we squeezed through the crowd obstructing the entranceway. Jack took the seat across from the man in the rabbit mask and I sat beside him. The chairs were made of some sort of bamboo. I marveled at their pristine condition despite the perpetually damp weather.

  “Pete,” Jack said.

  “Jack,” Pete replied, “I hear you’ve been looking for me, and you brought a toy?” As he said this, he pulled the woman next to him onto his lap. “Mine will do anything for a little bit of dope. Won’t you, toy?” His hand caught her underneath the chin and squished her cheeks, his thick yellow nails digging into her.

  The lady didn’t answer, but relaxed into his lap as soon as his grip loosened. I was glad to have a mask on, so Pete couldn’t see my disgust.

  “Come here to do some betting? The contest over there was my idea. Someone had to make use of them frogs poppin’ up all over the city.” Pete chuckled.

  The woman on his lap laughed a little too loudly along with him.

  “Did you have anything to do with all those suicides?” Jack blurted out through the guffaws.

  Although I was shocked, I fought the urge to stare at Jack in amazement for being so straightforward. The noise behind us seemed to be swelling, but I was still unable to make out what dreadful contest was going on.

  “No, but I saw some things,” Pete said, rolling a chain between his fingers. “What do you think, toy, should I tell them?” A long tongue protruded from a slit where the mouth was on Pete’s mask, and he licked the lady’s cheek.

  “Sure, Pete, why not?” She asked.

  “Why not?! Why not?!” He stood, dropping the woman off of his lap.

  Her long, blond hair flew forward as she narrowly caught herself on the table and eased herself back into her chair. I could tell she was thin, and possibly injured. I hoped I could find a way to get her out of Pete’s clutches before the night was out.

  “This is exactly what makes you toys so pathetically dependent! Information is worth something. What is it worth to you, Jack?” Pete tilted his head in an unnerving way.

  “What do you want, Pete?” I couldn’t help but say something. I was finding it difficult not to detest the wretched rabbit. Not only had he attacked me, but it was apparent he had a disregard for human life that rivaled the last Pooka I had dealt with. “Money? That why you’re stealing gold necklaces from crime scenes?”

  “Ooo, the toy speaks,” Pete said mockingly. “Tell you what, Jack. If your toy wins the next contest against mine, I’ll spill the beans.”

  Suddenly I could feel a chill emanating from Jack’s arm. He clearly wasn’t pleased with Pete’s suggestion and was likely about to freeze him.

  “Give us a moment,” I said, standing and taking Jack a few feet from the table.

  “If I freeze his body,” Jack suggested, “his head would still be able to talk.”

  “OK, let’s slow down here,” I said, even though it was difficult to think from the commotion of the contestants and betters. “Pete may have information, but Lilith likely has evidence on her. If we can find her and take it from her, we won’t need Pete.”

  “He could be the one responsible though,” Jack said.

  “He said he didn’t have anything to do with the deaths, and I believe him.”

  “How are we supposed to find Lilith then? It’s almost sundown,” Jack said. He used his height advantage to peer over the heads of most of the crowd.

  Without waiting for Jack to argue, I whipped out my cell and dialed the number on the card. There was an electronic jingle in response from the other side of the crowd. The racket in front of us began to die down as the Fae stopped jeering.

  “Hello?” A man’s voice answered.

  “Who is this?” I asked.

  “You called me.” I could hear him say from the other side of the group and then he made a noise as if he were about to be sick.

  I pushed my way through the group with Jack beside me. When I got past the onlookers I found a confusing and grotesque scene. Five people were on the ground with buckets full of live frogs of various sizes. I couldn’t help but feel woozy as I watched a heavy-set man grab hold of a frog that was about the size of his hand. Green legs dangled from his fist. He then tilted his mask up and stuffed as much of the poor wiggling thing into his mouth as he could. It took all the effort he could muster to bite down. One of the legs stuck out of his mouth still kicking as a mix of globs and fluids poured down his chin.

  One woman was crawling after a frog that had escaped and was making its way to the planters. Another man had gorey chunks of frog flesh hanging down the front of his shirt. Beside a bucket, there was a man hunched over and retching. A half eaten frog was on the ground beside him, and he held a cellphone in his hand. Underneath a mask that was propped on the top of his head, I recognized my coworker.

  “Stevens?”

  “O’Malley?”

  I rushed over to him, helping him to his feet and guiding him away from the others. One of the Fae announced that a contestant was out and there were audible groans or cheers from the gamblers.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  “Lilith, I mean Dr. Collette…we’ve been on a few dates. We really hit it off with our shared interest in mercury poisoning.” Stevens was bent over as we made our way to an empty table.

  “Can you get him a drink?” I asked Jack.

  “I didn’t realize she was into this kind of stuff,” he said, removing his glasses to wipe a gooey substance off of the lenses.

  “Do you know where she went?” I asked him.

  “I don’t know. She convinced me to join that contest. I thought the frogs were fake.” He covered his face with his hands.

  From the sounds of it, Lilith was using him for information. I doubted he knew anything about the Fae, so it would be safe for him to leave. He would have an exciting story about this crazy girl he dated and a freaky club she brought him to. If he ever tried to return, there was no way they’d let him in.

  Jack returned with a glass of water with ice cubes in it. Stevens accepted graciously and took uneasy sips.

  “I should’ve known she was off her rocker when she wanted me to get her a steel box for tonight. Wouldn’t tell me what it was for, but insisted I show up with it. Now I don’t think I want to find out. I’m gonna get going. If you see Lilith, tell her to lose my number.” He stood up confidently and immediately went back down to his knees to finish throwing up.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Jack caught the shirt of a Lutin who was rushing by. “Can you help this guy out of here and get a cab?”

  “Of course, sir.” The Lutin bowed and took Steven’s hand. “This way, sir.”

  I then marched over to where Pete was stroking the hair of the woman next to him. I slammed my hands on the table. “I’ll do the contest.”

  Jack’s mouth was agape.

  Pete grinned evilly. “Good little toy, follow me.”

  I hadn’t pictured my day ending with me following a rabbit through hedges on a rooftop, but there I was. Since there was only one path through the shrubs, Jack and I hung back a bit.

  When the Pooka and his friend were out of sight, Jack said, “What are you doing?”

  “Why do you suppose Pete attacked me at the crime scene?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe because you caught him red-handed?”

  “He would’ve had to know I was working with you for that to even matter. If he thought I was under Mab’s orders he would’ve known better than to shed my blood. If he stayed hidden in the dumpsters, I never would’ve seen him. It doesn’t add up,” I said in a loud whisper.

  “What are you saying?” Jack asked.

  “Either he’s an idiot, which is a possibility, or he’s working with Lilith. Unless there’s someone else around here that wants to stop you from winning the game,” I said.

  By this point, we had stopped walking. The sun was sinking lower in the sky. Sweat or condensation from my breath was dripping down the inside of my mask. I desperately wanted to be finished with the bar and the whole case. Jack stood looking down at me with his too-blue eyes. His cool fingers intertwined with mine.

  “I can’t let you do this. It’s too dangerous,” he said.

  “Do you have a better idea?” I asked, but didn’t wait for his response. “I just agreed to play the contest. I can simply bow out in the beginning if it’s anything like the others.” Then I added, “I have bad luck with Pookas.”

  Without warning, Jack knelt down. He shifted his mask and pressed his lips to my hand. I was startled by both the gesture and the cold.

  “I will forever be in your debt,” he said.

  The whole thing was overly dramatic for my tastes, but I at least appreciated the acknowledgement.

  When we reached the edge of the hedges this time, I was surprised to see three black, wooden coffins lined up in a row. Towering over that side of the roof was some sort of silo with metal tubes leading down to each of the coffins.

  Only a dozen people were standing around the coffins and chatting quietly. I could tell they were faeries since some had horns or fur, and one woman had long silver hair like my mom. Pete was helping his “toy” remove her high heels. As soon as I saw a voluptuous, dark-skinned woman with long curls in a black and gold mask with horns I squeezed Jack’s hand. It had to be Lilith. She was wearing a black velvet gown with a slit up the side to expose her bare thigh. Her low cut neckline was encompassed by a golden flower design and when she turned I could see the same design making its way up the back of the dress. Her golden clutch matched her heels, and I had to admit she had impeccable style.

  Lilith walked into the center of the group and put her hand in the air to silence everyone. While she spoke, I noticed she was securely hugging the clutch under her arm.

  “The rules are as follows: Each contestant must go into the coffin. The coffin will be filled with sand up to the contestants shoulders. The plexiglass inserts should keep the sand from the contestant's head, and the contestant will wear an oxygen mask.” The way she went through the rules, it made the contest seem like a common chore and not a dangerous game. “Each contestant will have a button to press when they’ve had enough and want to come out. Whoever makes it the longest wins. Do keep in mind, the oxygen will run out eventually. Best of luck.”

  “I don’t like this,” Jack whispered in my ear. “It’s another one of Lilith’s schemes. Whichever one they put you in is likely rigged.”

  Although I agreed with Jack that this was part of Lilith’s plan, I wondered if the contest was more of a way for Lilith to waste our time. She likely convinced Pete to get us involved. I also suspected she was behind Pete attacking me. None of that mattered if we could get hold of the evidence hidden in Lilith’s clutch.

  I looked over each coffin. They appeared identical. The plexiglass was sturdy, the tubes were all the same length and width. The oxygen tanks had the same amount in each as far as the gauges were concerned. I twisted each one to check for leaks on the lines and didn’t find anything.

  “Are you going to play the game or not?” Pete asked, while removing the harlequin mask from his “toy” and replacing it with the oxygen one.

  I could now see the woman’s smeared eyeliner under her glossy, grey eyes. Her shoulders were slumped as if she were trying to be even smaller than she already was.

  There was a man on the other side of me getting ready along with a masked Fae patron. He appeared to be middle-aged and was in the process of stripping off a fancy suit. After unzipping my boots, I took my messenger bag off of my shoulder and opened it to put my phone inside. When I did this, the piece of paper I had inside fell to the ground. Jack bent beside me to pick it up.

  “Too bad,” Jack said looking at the picture of the woman. “She’ll never see her sister again.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “I didn’t tell you? This was one of the first bodies we found. It was too close to the water. Think it got washed away,” he said.

  I opened my mouth to yell at Jack for omitting vital information, when Lilith announced it was time for the contestants to get into the coffins or forfeit. I took the cat mask off and wiped the moisture from my face with my arm. With the oxygen mask secure, I climbed into the coffin and got onto my back. The inside of the coffin was surprisingly comfortable with padding and a pillow that I assumed were not typical for a corpse.

  A masked faerie I had not met slid the plexiglass into place above my shoulders. Then he added foam to seal the opening around my neck. I was unable to see it, but someone slid a small box into my hand. I gently brushed my thumb over the button on top of it to figure out how easy it would be to quit the contest.

  Jack stood over me, the jester bells dangling from his mask as he peered down. He didn’t say anything, but we met one another’s eyes in what I felt was an agreement to get what we needed by any means necessary.

  “Pete, baby, I change my mind! Please!” I overheard the woman in the coffin next to me scream.

  Before I could contemplate my situation, the lid slammed shut, rattling the coffin around me. It was now pitch black, and there was barely any space for me to wiggle my legs. I had never experienced claustrophobia, but I had never been stuck in a small space that was beyond my ability to get out of. Each breath I took was almost deafeningly loud, and my heart felt like it was trying to break out of my chest. This was definitely the dumbest thing I had ever done for a case.

  The combination of our need for information and my demise looming over me caused me to make a rash decision. I now felt more sympathy for the other humans involved in the contests who’d been coerced in countless ways. I could simply press the alarm button as soon as the coffin filled with sand, and Pete would have to be good on his word. He was a faerie after all. The only trouble was that I wanted to give Jack enough time to steal the container from Lilith’s purse.

  Suddenly a clicking noise echoed through the wooden box. Then, there was a woosh of sand. It was a bizarre sensation— heavy and terrifying. I began to hyperventilate. If I couldn’t figure out a way to calm myself, I would end up passing out. Breathing in deep through my nose and out through my mouth I pictured a time when I was young and buried myself in the sand at the beach. At the time I recalled trying to shape the wet sand into a mermaid tail. When I showed my mom she told me I looked nothing like any of the sea creatures she had met and asked why I wanted to smell like a fish anyway. The memory did not help me calm down.

  Inside the coffin, it was so dark that there was no change from when I opened my eyes to when I closed them again. I mused that my situation was like something out of an Edgar Allan Poe story, but instead of a bell to ring, I had what felt like a garage door opener.

  It was then that my dad’s voice floated into my head so vividly it was like I could hear him. “If you’re ever in a tough spot, sit back and hum out a tune before you make a decision.”

  For some reason The Road to Lisdoonvarna was the first tune to pop into my head. It had a steady, bouncy beat that made me picture a person travelling down a dirt path. I hummed out the A part unable to help myself from wiggling my fingers slightly, picturing the feel of buttons on my concertina. It made me realize the sand was not packed in quite as tightly as I had previously perceived it. After finishing the B part, I went on to think of another tune and then another. In my mind I was in a bar in Boston instead of a coffin in New Orleans. This went on for some time, but I was no longer bothered by my situation.

  I wasn’t sure how many tunes I got through, but I had almost finished the second round of the B part of a waltz when a gust of air and light flooded into the coffin.

  I squinted to see Jack’s maskless, worried face above me. He removed the plexiglass and sand began to topple towards my face. In a swift motion, he scooped me under the arms and pulled me up to a sitting position on the edge of the coffin. As my eyes adjusted to the sudden dim light around me, I took the oxygen mask off and let it fall to the ground. The blond woman had curled into a ball crying on the ground, and I was glad to see the middle-aged man sitting beside his coffin as well.

  On the other side, Pete was struggling with his legs, which appeared to be frozen to the ground in large blocks of ice. He was flailing his hand in an attempt to claw Jack and yelling all manner of obscenities at him. One of the planters nearby had been knocked down to scatter dirt over the ground and there was a broken chair beside it. Lilith stood on the far side of Pete with her hands crossed over her chest, refraining from interfering. There had obviously been some sort of struggle, and Jack appeared to have won.

  “I’m so sorry,” Jack said while lifting me out of the sand and holding me in his arms. “I knew he’d do something to mess with us. The button Pete gave you was broken. It must’ve been so horrible in there.”

  Still orienting myself to the situation I realized the little box was still in my hand. “It’s broken?” I asked.

  “Yes…wait…Hailey, you didn’t press it?” Jack asked.

  “Well, no,” I answered honestly.

  “Looks like Jack’s toy won,” Lilith said loudly enough for the other Fae around to cheer or groan at their bets.

  “It’s been over an hour! You could’ve run out of oxygen. Why didn’t you press it?” Jack whispered, carrying me over to a table away from the others.

  “I wanted to give you enough time,” I said. “Did you get it?”

  “No,” Jack said, “and it’s too late now.”

  As he spoke, there was a thunderous crash and the bushes beside us were flattened. The debris and branches began to move by themselves to twist and climb up one another. When they fused together their bark peeled away to reveal the white wood underneath. All around us the Fae had stopped what they were doing. They removed their masks and knelt down with their heads bowed.

  When the branches finished, there was an elaborate, white throne surrounded by sharp spears. The sky seemed darker, the air cooler. There was no longer any hint of music from below or noise on the roof. Everything was still. Mab had arrived.