“Maybe we should call someone—a family member, maybe the hospital you escaped from?”
Myanin kept walking forward, causing Wendy to back up or get run over.
“Wendy Rhodes, I sort of liked you, a little, for a brief moment of time, but now you are becoming one of those humans that I want to squash like a bug.”
Wendy’s eyes widened, and she immediately stepped aside. “Yep, gotcha. You go, do your thing. I’ll just get out of your way. Don’t worry, I won’t call the police or anything. I mean, it’s not like you’re dangerous. Just a little crazy, and let’s be honest, who isn’t a little crazy these days?”
“Have a nice life, Wendy Rhodes.” Myanin pushed the door of the building open. “And maybe, in the future, be more careful about the purchase of drinks for strangers.”
“Damn right, I will.” She heard the woman say just before the door shut behind her.
Myanin took a deep breath and then started in the direction of the bright “Welcome” sign. That was the direction she’d been going when she’d stopped in this horrible city. When she made it out far enough from the lights that they were no longer giving her a headache, she pulled the phone from her pocket and clicked on the square that would pull up the map. She found Las Vegas then ran her finger across until she saw a state called California. It was the final state before the ocean. She had a feeling that it was going to be the last place she’d see before the elf king lost his patience with her.
She tucked the phone away and took off at a run. She’d be there in less than half an hour. Perhaps this California would have cotton candy. If they didn’t, she was tempted to start a war with the humans simply because of their lack of supply of the delicious food.
The djinn ran past the welcome sign and kept going. She decided she wanted to see the ocean. When she finally stopped, she was standing on ground that was covered in sand. Myanin had heard of sand. Thadrick had described it to her. She reached down and picked up a handful of it and let it run through her fingers. The grains were warm, even though the sky was dark, and the sun was no longer shining. She stood and looked around. Some people staring at her. Myanin noticed they were adorned in very small garments, very different from her own leathers. She must have stood out like a draheim in the mer-realm.
As she let her gaze wander down past the people, she saw a sign that read Venice Beach Boardwalk. She started walking toward the sign and past it, seeing small merchant stalls squashed in close to one another. Jewelry, food, and clothing that would not cover very much of her body was being sold everywhere. Myanin couldn’t imagine going into battle in such garments. She was nearing the end of the boardwalk when her eyes saw it. A large white cone with a pink cloud-like substance sitting on top of it. It wasn’t the actual cotton candy but a sign declaring what the shop sold.
“Venice Beach, you are my new favorite territory.” She headed for the small cart.
Right before she reached it, three men appeared in front of her. One was the man who had given her the card for Ludcarab four days prior. The other two were fae.
“You’ve had quite a little vacation,” the vampire said. “Have you enjoyed your time in the human realm?”
Myanin looked past him to the cotton candy cart and then back at him. “Iwas,”she emphasized the word, “until you and your pet fairies got in my way.”
“Now, now,” the vampire chided. “There’s no need for name calling.”
“There’s going to be a whole lot more than name calling if you three jackasses”—thank you Wendy for that insult—“don’t move out of my way and let me get my cotton candy.”
The vampire glanced over his shoulder and then back to her. “Found out you have a sweet tooth? Well, come with us and we will make sure you have all the cotton candy you want.”
Myanin was tired of talking. Before they’d even realized it, she’d shoved past them and was at the cart. “Four cotton candies please,” she told the human male who was staring wide-eyed at the three men she’d just knocked over. “Not on the sticks. Just in the bags.” She removed some of the human money she’d taken from a man who seemed very eager to give it to her and paid the man. He was moving like a robot as he prepared her order and handed her the bags one at a time. Myanin pushed down the cotton candy so that she had enough length at the top of the bag to tie it around the belt at her waist.
Once the three were tied on, she opened the forth bag and dug into the sticky, sweet goodness. As she smacked and licked her fingers, she turned back to the vampire and pissed-off fae. “Now, what was it you wanted to discuss?”
The vampire crossed his arms in front of him and stared at her as if she were an errant child. “Ludcarab wants to see you. Now.”
Myanin hummed as she swallowed another mouth full of cotton candy. “Does he?” She tore off more of her candy. “The elf king has been around for a long time. Surely he has learned that we don’t always get what we want.”
“He does,” the vampire said. “We both know you want to speak with him. I can see it in your eyes. You have the same greed lurking in them that he does.”
She shot him a look, her cotton-candy-covered finger halfway to her mouth. “Careful, bloodsucker. I could rip your head off from one breath to the next.”
The vampire didn’t seem impressed. He either didn’t care if he lived, or he was actually tired of living and hoped someone would kill him. It happened to some supernaturals who’d been around for a while. They just got tired of existing.
They watched her. The fae seemed leery with their raised chins, and bodies tilted sideways as if to pull a blade on her at any moment, while the vamp just seemed bored, his stance relaxed, and a slight smirk on his face. When she’d finished her first bag, she tossed it on the ground, licked her fingers clean, and then straightened her pants to ensure the bags of cotton candy weren’t going anywhere. “Let’s do this.” She waited for the fae to walk over to her. They were brought so they could simply flash them to Ludcarab, not because they had a chance in seven hells of defeating her in a battle.
They moved cautiously, as if approaching a wild animal, while the vampire sauntered. “Don’t touch me,” she told the one who reached out his hand. “I will place my hand on your arm.” The fae nodded, and she gripped his arm, probably a little harder than necessary.
One instant they were on the Venice Boardwalk, and the next she was standing at the top of a mountain looking down over a valley and a city. Ludcarab was there gazing out over the land as if it were his kingdom.
“Myanin of the djinns,” the elf king said as he slowly turned to look at her.
She folded her arms across her chest, but kept her legs slightly bent, ready for anything. “Ludcarab, traitorous king of the elves.”
Chapter 9
