4
Megan
Ilook up at Fin. His face is serious, which only makes him hotter. I remind myself that he’s still trouble. And he’s being chased by invisible yellow monsters. My stomach keeps clenching, and my bones seem to have melted—I hope that isn’t permanent.
I shiver. “You didn’t have to attack me with invisible animals to get me out of my dress.”
If I’d met him in a bar, I’d have broken my bad boy vow in a heartbeat…maybe two because I’m trying to be good. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a man in my bedroom, and here I am in no shape to do anything.
Every time he touches me, my skin hurts. Whatever venom was in the barbs is coursing through me and threatening to tear open my skin like I’m an overripe plum.
He helps me sit and undoes the zip on the back. The dress is ripped and dirty. I’m sure it will come out of my pay. I pull my arms free even though my skin is on fire and every accidental touch is torture. But he doesn’t pull the dress all the way off. He leaves it to pool around my waist. He’s staring at my belly. I glance at my stomach and wish I hadn’t.
Where I was stung, the swelling is like an overly large, red, shiny apple.
“How do you feel?”
“Like I have the flu.” Not a winter cold, but a proper, lay me out with a fever and chills and aches kind of flu.
I touch the swelling, half expecting something to explode out of my skin, but it’s firm and doesn’t seem to be pus filled.
“Did it lay eggs in me?” I think I’ve seen one too many horror movies.
“No. It’s only a sting. I don’t know why you’re reacting so badly.” He shrugs out of his jacket, but he doesn’t need to roll up his sleeve for me to see that he has a matching swelling.
I can take a guess, but it seems too fanciful. Maybe I misheard him, or he was making a joke. I draw in a breath that hurts because of the swelling near my ribs—how far does it extend into me? “Because they came from faery like you?”
He glances up, his eyebrows knitted.
“What did you mean by that?” I continue.
“I’m going to wet some towels to cool you down.” He takes a few steps away and I’m sure he’s about to bail.
“Fin…are you really from faery?”
He gives me a single nod and leaves.
I close my eyes and try not to move. My stomach is unstable and I’m sweating like it’s the middle of summer and I can’t find any shade.
I wait for the click of the front door as he flees, but it doesn’t come. Then he’s back and placing cool, wet towels against my skin. I let myself enjoy the sensation for a few sharp breaths before speaking.
“That’s why you could see them, and I couldn’t. Why could I see them after being stung?” I couldn’t see them clearly; it was like looking through a grimy window so all I could make out was color and shape and size. I don’t know of any bright yellow animals that can turn invisible, that they come from faery is the most logical answer.
That might be the fever thinking.
“I don’t know,” he says.
“Why were they chasing you?”
Fin sits on the edge of my bed and stares at the wall. He takes a moment, and I don’t know if he’s figuring out how to tell the truth or coming up with a lie. He gives a short sigh like he’s made a decision.
“There are riders, fae men who live in the human world and it’s our job to hunt the creatures that escape from the outer realms of faery.” He glances at me. “There’s more than one realm with the magic diminishing the further out that realm is. The human world has none.”
“Right, this is the onion skin on a magic onion with faery at the center.”
He tilts his head and smiles. My heart flutters and I’d like to blame the poison.
“Pretty much. So, I’m here to hunt the creatures that humans can’t see.”
