He sauntered closer, stopping with the barest of space between us, forcing me to look up to see his face. I wasn’t a short woman, just over average height at five feet seven inches, but Liam made me feel petite.
He leaned down, cheek sliding against mine as he whispered into my ear.“You owe me.”
His message delivered, he straightened and gave me another lazy smile, one that widened as he caught my fulminating look.“An hour after sundown. I expect you won’t be late.”
I didn’t answer as he slid past me, too busy glaring at the wall. His exit was silent.
Sneaky vampires and their stupid games.
I’d be there, whether I wanted to be or not. Because he was right. I did owe him. Ten nights to be exact.
Guess he was calling in the first of those.
I stalked over to the door and slammed it shut, turning the locks and hooking the chain into place. Not that it would do much good, considering he’d already gotten past a locked door once tonight, but it made me feel better.
Turning back to the room, I was brought up short at the sight of my two roommates perched on the edge of the kitchen countertop, tiny feet swinging as they watched me. Inara and Lowen were pixies and had settled in the apartment despite every attempt to force them out. They’d ignored my repeated protests.I’d grown used to them now.
Each no bigger than my hand, their wings fanned behind them in a bright display. More beautiful than any butterfly wing, they were as distinctive as the pixies themselves.
Inara tended to be the bolder of the two. A pixie queen, she could be mercurial and autocratic, butI’d seen moments of softness, especially when she addressed her consort, Lowen.
Her wings were an iridescent green and yellow, the pattern unlike anythingI’d ever seen in nature. When they moved, it was like watching tree leaves rustling in the wind.
Her skin had a slight greenish tinge to it, and her eyes were overly large in her face. People often equated pixies to bugs because of those eyes, butI’d always likened them closer to a doll. In miniature, her features were delicate and fierce.
Lowen, on the other hand, was often the calming voice of reason, advocating restraint where Inara would leap into battle without considering the consequences. He could be just as fierce as she, but it took more to get him to that point.
I’d learned just how deadly he could be when a family of brownies had tried to move in. He’d dispatched them with a skill and precision that would be chilling in a creature any bigger than he was.
Where Inara was clad in the shades of the forest, Lowen more closely resembled a field of flowers. His skin was burnished copper and his wings the most vivid blues and purplesI’d ever seen.
“That crash was very well timed,” I told them.
It was as close as I could get to saying thank you. It was never wise to thank the Fae outright. They could use it as a way to enslave you, calling in debts likely to mean the end of you.
“That vampire has an agenda,” Inara said. She didn’t wait for my response, leaping off the counter and fluttering back down the hall.
I sighed. I couldn’t argue with that.
“What are you going to do?” Lowen asked.
“There’s not much I can do. I owe him ten nights. If he’s calling in one of those nights, I have no choice but to answer.” It didn’t make me happy to admit that.
You would think after the first time someone called in one of the debts I owed, I would stop handing them out like candy. Not the case. I had more debts floating out there than I liked to think about, including to my two permanent house guests.
Lowen lifted into the air, his wings a purple-blue streak behind him.“Sun’s coming up. You should get ready for bed.”
He flitted off, leaving me standing in my living room, first light already making its way across the sky.
*
Opening my door to head out, and hearing a startledmrphas a stranger teetered on the thin ledge next to it was not my ideal way to start off my night.
My hand snapped out, grabbing a well-muscled arm, before the person could fall the ten feet down. It was awkward, trying to keep from being pulled out of my apartment as I juggled the person and my bike in the opposite hands.
Somehow, I managed to pull my visitor inside with me. He sprawled at my feet, his eyes slightly wide as residual adrenaline kicked in.
There was a riot of golden hair around his face as he remained on all fours, breathing heavily at the close call.
