3
Jenna
Istabbed him, and he’s bleeding a lot. If he were a monster I wouldn’t care, but he’s killed four actual monsters that wanted to eat me—they just exploded and vanished—and if he hadn’t shot them, I’d be dead.
But heislike them, his eyes gleam golden when the light catches them. He called himself fae, and he thinks I’m one of them too.
He’s wrong.
My hands shake as I clutch my things closer. My life, and what I thought I knew about the world, is slipping through my fingers no matter how tight I grip. Drops of rain hit my head as I stare at him. I’ve already promised to patch him up, but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it. Though I do want to hear more about faery. Most people would laugh at him for talking about faeries.
I don’t.
He knows things that I need to learn. I need the questions I’ve held inside me for too long answered, and I may never have this chance again. That, and he didn’t have to do anything more than ride past and shoot. He could’ve ignored me.
I’m not sure I could’ve ignored him. He is beautiful with muscles that should be illegal filling out his black T-shirt. I glance away, not wanting to feel anything more than gratitude.
“Come on.” I turn and cross the road. I don’t stride confidently ahead like I’d done only a few minutes ago. Instead, I check every shadow and listen to every rustle. There are cops on the other side of the park, their lights staining the night. The monster dogs are out there, but even if I warn the cops, they won’t believe me.
He follows and wipes my keys before handing them over so I can let us into the apartment building. We make it inside as the clouds tear apart and dump their rain.
“Bad night to be out,” he says.
“Yeah.”
“You must have known. Sensed it in the air.”
I nod as I trudge up the stairs, I’d felt something though nothing I could describe or use as a reason not to work. “Why should I have known?”
I need to hear him say it again.Fae.
He doesn’t say anything as he follows me upstairs. I stop out the front of my apartment. I feel something now. If I let him in, my life will never go back to how it was. But I don’t know if the change will be better or worse.
Maybe any change is good.
I glance up at him, he’s tall with blond hair that curls against his cheek bones. His lips are pressed together, and his eyes are hidden in shadows. There’s no sign of the gold now—had I imagined it? He’s pretty, even in the dim corridor light.
A drip hits the floor. I know it’s not water before I look down. Blood.
Has he left a trail? Do we need to wipe up? I peer down the corridor but don’t see any other drips. I never expected my key to do so much damage. My hand trembles as I unlock my door. I’m sure I can see his blood on the metal.
I open my door, turn on the lights and let him in.
But even when I lock the door, I don’t feel any safer. I can’t shake the sensation that I’ve let one of them into my apartment. I need to stitch him and send him on his way. But now he knows where I live. The monster dogs know where I live.
Will they wait for me to walk outside, then tear me apart?
I put my bag, what’s left of it, on the kitchen table. There’s no way it can be salvaged. For a moment I stare at it, desperately wanting to pull the ripped edges back together and pretend that the attack never happened. I guess I always knew it was going to happen, eventually. Something would come too close and realize I could see it. Tonight I was lucky he was close.
Where are the monster-dogs? Still lurking in the park? I peer out a gap in the curtains. Three cops walk around with flashlights and I will them to leave before they are eaten. Beyond the pools of light, there’s only darkness. I can’t even see their glowing gold eyes. Though I’m not sure what I would’ve done if they had been staring back at me. I shudder and go to close the curtains.
He puts his hand out and glances up the street. He’s close enough that I can feel the heat of his body. It’s been a while since I had a man in my apartment. That drip again.
“I need to fix that.” I’m still not sure about apologizing, though. He grabbed me off the ground with one hand like I weighed nothing. But as he said, if he was going to hurt me and kidnap me, he’d have done it already.
“This place isn’t secure, and it’s too close to the park.”
“And?” I close the curtain and turn. He’s right in front of me now, and his pecs straining against the black T-shirt fill my vision. My pulse thumps hard and quickens. Not from fear this time. I tilt my chin and pretend to be unaffected. “This is my home.”
