Excerpt of The Fairyland Murders by J.A. Kazimer

Chapter 1

Of all the fey PI firms, in all the kingdoms, in all the lands, these twin hairless fairies had to walk into mine.

Of course I knew why they were here.

“My rent’s not due for two days,” I said, propping my feet on top of my worn desk. It groaned under the weight. Not that another forty-eight hours would matter in the scheme of things. I’d still be a few hundred short of meeting my monthly office space rent.

The PI biz wasn’t what it used to be.

And it used to be pretty damn bad.

Hell, I only had one case in the last month and I’d yet to see a penny from it. Of course, I hadn’t quite solved it either. But I would. Blue Reynolds, PI, always gets the job done. Eventually.

“Blue,” Peyton, the taller of the two fairies, said as he hefted his tiny pants. They rose an inch, showing off a pair of green and white kids’ socks. “We ain’t here for the rent. We want you to do a job for us.”

I leaned back further in my chair. “Nope.”

Frowning, Peyton consulted with his twin brother, Clayton, in a hushed whisper. They argued for a second, finally nodding in apparent agreement before facing me again. In unison they shot me equally creepy and earnest smiles.

A lesser man might’ve found their pixie-shaped faces and wistful plea cute. Not me. I’d dealt with fairies too many times to fall for their adorable act. In general, fairies were winged devils; these two were in particular.

“Please,” they said. “For us?”

Again I shook my head. This time with greater emphasis, so much so that the bones in my neck popped. I tilted my head back and forth working out the kinks as the twins regrouped.

“Come on, Blue,” said Clayton, the shorter brother. Shorter was relative since neither he nor his twin stood more than two feet tall. “It’ll be a piece of cake.”

“You said that about the last job.” I kicked off my combat boot and wiggled four toes through the hole in my sock. “I still haven’t found my toe.”

Peyton winced, but Clayton, true to his demonic nature, giggled. “Guess he didn’t go running wee wee wee all the way home like we figured.”