Page 4 of First Snow
“One could say that,” Jareth relents grudgingly. He doesn’t like to admit it. Making sure The Trucebetween humanity and the Kingdom Beyondis kept is the legacy of his family. More precisely, the Faepart of his family. He was abandoned as a child in a world that isn’t his own. He’s lucky that his foster parents, hisrealparents now, are decent people. Jareth isn’t keen on keeping up the traditions and values of the Blackroses, but, unfortunately, someone has to keep the scum from both sides of the veil at bay. And with most of the High Faedead and magic such a rare occurrence in the human realm, there aren’t many left who can enforce The Truce.
The fairy nods solemnly.
“Whatever you wish, Lord Blackrose.” She bows deeply again, before she disappears with a flutter of translucent wings, leaving Jareth to clean up the mess.
Fucking bone fairy.Turning toward the severed body, Jareth sighs.
Chapter 2
Arttu
He’sonhisusualweekend run out to Seurasaari.Arttu crosses the wooden pedestrian bridge towards the island and breathes in the salty smell of the sea.The air is cold, but the first rays of sunlight illuminate the pathways and it’s early enough that the island isn’t yet crowded with tourists.
Work has been hectic lately. Arttu has been juggling several homicide cases at once with too few personnel; two of his investigators are on parental leave, and another is sick. To make matters worse, Viljanen, his scary harpy of a boss, is breathing down his neck since the whole fiasco with Arttu’s father and his high-ranking friends. But what was Arttu to do? Should he have let them fill their pockets with public funds just to avoid a scandal? But Viljanen has not yet forgiven him for solving the case on his own instead of coming to her. Maybe she thinks he wanted to distinguish himself, but the opposite is the case. Viljanen still has ambitions, and pissing off Helsinki’s political class by coming after several of their own isn’t going to make a good application for higher tasks in the police service. That’s why Arttu decided to solve the problem alone.
He shoves the memories of his father’s disbelieving face and Viljanen’s angry frown into the dark corner he usually hides them in and picks up his pace. It feels good to be outside and moving. The exercise distracts him from the bleakness of his two-room apartment and the sorry state of his private life. Arttu should probably be making some kind of effort to change his self-imposed isolation. He could go out with some colleagues, his mother has been asking him to visit for months, and Tuulia keeps trying to drag him to her parties and set him up with one of her too many, too young friends. Damn, he could just make the effort to socialize at the gym, but he just can’t bring himself to do so.
To make things worse, Sofia and Pekka have been worried sick since Mikael disappeared on a business trip to London. Arttu feels like he’s reliving a strange déjà vu. He understands his friends’ concern, but for all he knows, Mikael could just as easily have emptied company funds and fled to a tropical island.
The buzzing of an incoming call pulls Arttu out of his thoughts. It’s Sofia. Arttu expected her to contact him sooner or later. He offered to help her review the company’s records if she ever wanted to make sure Mikael hadn’t misappropriated money, but so far she hasn’t been willing to consider the possibility.
“Hei,” he says as soon as he accepts the call.
“Where can we meet?” Sofia sounds barely like herself, her voice choked with tears.
Arttu turns on his heels and picks up his pace.
“I can be home in twenty.”
“Are you on a run?”
“Yes.”
“Still our usual round.”
Arttu’s chest tightens as he involuntarily recalls the two semesters they all studied in Helsinki. Sofia and Arttu enrolled in business and economics, and Pekka went for a music degree. That was before Arttu realized he would never gain his father’s approval, no matter how hard he tried to live up to his expectations. Much to his father’s disappointment, Arttu transferred to the Police University College in Tampere after his unsuccessful time at uni. This step meant leaving his friends behind too, and although Pekka and Sofia supported him, their friendship wasn’t the same afterward.
“No,” Arttu belatedly answers Sofia’s question. “I’m out on Seurasaari.”
“Okay, let’s meet at the bridge, then.” Sofia’s demeanor has taken on a steely edge, all business-like and cold and weirdly at odds with how she sounded only seconds ago. A foreboding feeling washes over Arttu.
“Okay. See you there.”
He pushes himself to go a little faster and arrives at the bridge panting and sweating. Sofia comes to meet him halfway. She would have looked immaculate as always, had it not been for the dark circles under her eyes which even her luxury makeup can’t hide.
Arttu stops in front of her, catching his breath.
“What’s wrong, Sofi? Have they found him?”
She looks at him with an unreadable expression for a long moment until her facade cracks. Her eyes well up and she sways forward to hide her face against his shoulder. She doesn’t even spare his sweaty shirt a second glance. Her whole body is shaking with sobs, but she doesn’t make a sound while she cries. It’s eerie.
“No. But there’s another missing person. Jenna Scott. She knew Mikael. They worked together on occasion. I knew her too. This is bad, Arttu. Something really bad must’ve happened.”
A cold shudder runs down Arttu’s spine. What kind of shit had Mikael gotten himself into?
“She’s been reported missing but hasn’t been found, either?”
“They–” Sofia falters for a second, clearing her throat. “They say they’re both adults. They can go wherever they want. That they aren’t accountable to their families. I know what you think of him, but Mikael wouldn’t leave me like this.”