3
Danni
You have my word.
With a rider that could mean anything. My father’s word is worth shit. This guy…I have no idea. But hunting a monster from faery will be wore exciting that wiping the bar and waiting for the humans to wake up.
“Fine.” I need a bit of fun. I don’t know if he’s the right kind of fun or the wrong kind. Tonight I don’t care. “I’m Danni.”
“Oran.” He offers his hand.
I hesitate before shaking. Have I just made a deal with him? Mom always warned me about making deals with the fae, but I didn’t promise to do anything other than go with him until the humans wake. Shit. “You aren’t going to do anything sneaky like make them sleep for longer?”
“The spell is set. I can’t extend it. Plus the longer I put them to sleep for, the bigger the spell and the more magic it takes. Clocks ticking.”
If he can put people to sleep what is my magic? I need to find out, but now isn’t the time. Nor is it the time to be calling my parents and demanding to know what else they failed to tell me. It’s one thing to tell me I’m fae, and that there are others out there, and not to trust riders, but another to skip the part where I can do magic. Maybe I can get Oran to spill a little more.
“I’m ready. What areyouwaiting for?”
He grins and my heart trips over itself in excitement. Oh yeah, he’s the right kind of trouble for tonight.
“I’ll meet you out the front. Bring your bat.”
Dad would tell me to sit my ass down and leave the monster hunting to the rider. Mom would freak if she knew what I’m about to do. But she wants me to stay well away from riders and the fae, even though that’s what I am. This is a chance to learn more about who I am and what I can do.
Dad never talks about faery or what he does with the riders. But then he’s failed at every parental milestone, so I shouldn’t be surprised. That he lets me work at the place he owns is about the one good thing he’s done.
I lock the bar so no one can walk in and drink the place dry. Then I double check the door to be sure. My stomach is tight.
Oran waits in the carpark, head tilted like he’s listening. After a few heartbeats, I hear it too, the call of an owl that sends a chill along my spine. There’s something otherworldly about it, a discordant note in the cry that doesn’t belong in this world.
I knew there was something different about tonight. But without Oran to explain, I’d have written it off as bad blood and general tension between the men in the bar.
“It’s still close.” Oran strides toward a gleaming motorbike. He takes the bat off me and secures it to the side. “Get on.”
I climb on the back, with no idea where I’m going or what will happen when we get there. I don’t really care. I’ve been waiting my whole life for this kind of adventure.
Oran starts the bike, and the engine roars to life, throbbing between my legs. I wrap my arms around his waist and we’re on the hunt. I want to whoop with glee, but I bite my tongue.
He doesn’t drive fast—much to my disappointment—or far, circling around to the industrial area that starts only a block away. Eventually he stops the bike, parking in a bay on the side of the road. I climb off and he grabs a sword I hadn’t even noticed sheathed on the side of the bike, right next to my bat.
“What weapons do I get?” I can already see myself swinging a sword and fighting monsters like I was born to it.
He considers me for a few heartbeats. “What can you use?”
Besides a bat, not much, but I’d feel better with a knife or something. I shrug.
“If you are untrained with a sword, it’s too dangerous. Keep hold of your bat and be an extra set of ears and eyes for me.”
“Fine.” Though I want to do more than be the lookout. “Maybe you can teach me a few things so I can have a sword of my own.”
“It takes years of training to be even vaguely competent.” He scans the roofs.
I listen and search the shadows for movement. Without light, it will be impossible to see the telltale flicker of fae-gold in the monster’s eyes.
“It’s close,” he murmurs. “Do you sense it?”
I feel him. There’s an almost hum about him that draws me to him. Maybe it’s because he’s fae and I need to spend more time with my kind, or it’s been too long between boyfriends and he’s the best looking man I’ve seen in a long while. Add in the bike and the leathers and my panties are damp. “Should I be able to?”
