9
Danni
There’s a new baseball bat beneath the bar with a gold ribbon and gift card around the handle. I pick it up and test the weight. Nice. Expensive. Better than the one I’d had. Then I read the card.
Danni,
You’ll be needing this.
Oran.
Ican think of a few uses for the bat, none of which involve hunting monsters. But I’m not stupid enough to swing at Oran’s bike.
After seeing Oran at the café, I avoided him and told Mom I had to go back to the bar to cover a shift. I hate that I want him. That seeing him makes my heart flip. He was a one-night-stand, that’s all, not the first and not the last, and yet he’s lodged under my skin.
It's been a week, and clearly he’s not dead since he’s leaving me presents at the bar. I want to toss the bat away, but he knew exactly what to give me to get my attention.
I want to give it a test swing, but there’s no room behind the bar.
“When did this arrive?” I ask the other girl on shift tonight.
“About an hour ago. He said he’d wait, but not in the bar. Who is he?”
I shrug. “The guy who stole my old bat. I’ll be back in five.” That’s all I need to say thanks, now piss off.
That’s what I’m going to tell him. I don’t want to let him worm his way deeper beneath my skin.
I step out, bat in hand, and search the carpark. I didn’t see him when I arrived. His bike is off to the side and easy to miss in the shadows. Oran is leaning on his bike, like he’s prepared to wait all night. I put the bat over my shoulder as I saunter toward him.
“Do I want to know what happened to the one you took?”
“I had to clear out some brathu, they bit through the wood, and me.” He lifts the arm that mom fixed up.
I don’t really want to know what brathu are. I saw his wound and have no doubt my bat is now toothpicks. “Thank you for replacing it.”
I meant that, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven him for ignoring me.
“I’d have given you a sword, but I need to teach you how to use it first, and I’m not sure you want to spend that much time with me.”
My heartbeat quickens. A sword? “Can I hunt with you?”
“Not at first, but when you are good enough.”
“What’s the catch?” And how did he get Mom to agree to this? Dad would have never agreed.
He lifts both hands. “No catch…I’ll train you for a year and day.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“There has to be a catch?” I’m fae, but I don’t trust a rider as far as I can throw him. “You might keep your word, but there’s a trick or a way to weasel out.”
“There is no trick, just a chance for you to learn magic and fighting and hunting, and if we want more…” he lifts his eyebrows. “Then there can be.”
This seems too good to be true. It's everything I want. “And after a year and a day? What then?”
He smiles. “You decide. I only want this chance with you. If you choose to go to faery, I will hang up my sword and take you.”
