Then again, maybe this guywasa shifter, while also just being a pompous dick.
Luckily for Max, the man was happy to continue on without his input.
“As to your other question: I felt the need to knock you out and float you through the window because I needed you as bait.”
“Bait? For who?” Max asked, bewildered. Who could he possibly serve as bait for? Was this guy trying to catch Levi orMargot? Or his mom?! He couldn’t think of anyone else he’d met who would have something a non-human would want.
The man threw his head back and laughed, the obnoxious sound bouncing off the walls.
“Why, for your half fae friend, of course!” he hooted, before his weirdly light green eyes focused on Max’s, with an intensity that sent a shiver through his body.
“But… I don’t know any fae! Or half fae,” he added, trying not to visibly draw back from that intense stare. And he really didn’t! He’d never met one, barely knew anything about them. All he knew was that they mostly hung out in their own realm, that they had a range of powers, and that they had a habit of causing trouble wherever they went.
If this guy was fae, though, that would explain an awful lot. He definitely seemed to enjoy causing trouble.
“Oh, don’t play coy with me,” the man said lightly. “Your lady friend with the enchanting eyes – she is the one I seek. She will come if I send her a token from you. Which limb are you least fond of?”
The enchanting eyes…? Wait, Poppy? He means Poppy? She’s half fae?!
The chains rattled as Max strained at them – but it wasn’t because of the threat to his limbs. No, it was the implied threat to Poppy that had his full and complete attention. He would rather die than have her come here and be subject to this guy’s whims, especially if hewasfae. They didn’t play by human rules.
If Poppy falls into this guy’s hands because I went off alone and let myself get captured, I’ll never forgive myself,he thought grimly.
Then don’t let her fall into his hands,a voice in his head replied.
The fae – if hewasa fae, which Max was thinking was more and more likely – laughed delightedly at his struggles,clapping his hands. “My, my. So our dour hero has a weakness, I see.” He paused. “Well, two weaknesses, I suppose, if you count ‘getting knocked out from a few gentle taps against the wall’ as a weakness. Which I certainly do.” His smile widened as he got right up in Max’s face, showing teeth that looked just alittletoo sharp to be human.
Max took a deep breath, trying to keep himself calm. He’d be no good to Poppy if he panicked.
This guy clearly likes to talk. So, let him talk.
“You’re right,” he said. “I’m not really much to write home about. So why would a half fae bother herself with me? And I left her on her own in the hospital earlier after she got buried under an avalanche, so I doubt she cares about my limbs.”
The words cut deep, but Max forced himself to say them.
The man rubbed his hands together in glee. “Oh, I am very much aware of that. Ihavebeen following you all this time, after all.”
Without warning, the memory came back: desperately digging Poppy out from under the freezing snow, and looking up to see a figure disappearing amongst the trees.
Telekinesis. An avalanche that moved faster than should have been possible.
“You!” he yelled, leaping forward, the chains pulling tight with aclangas he stopped inches from the fae’s leering face. “Youset off the avalanche!Youalmost killed Poppy!”
“Bravo!” the fae cried, his eyes sparkling. “I knew that you would get there eventually.” His expression turned thoughtful. “Poppy, you say? Not a name I would have chosen, but I guess she had to blend in with her surroundings.”
Max hissed, unable to contain his anger at himself for giving up even the slightest bit of information about Poppy. But then, amongst everything else going on, another thought occurred to him.
“Why do you think she’s half fae, anyway?” he asked, trying to sound casual and mostly succeeding.Hehadn’t detected that Poppy was half fae… but then again, it wasn’t something that he would ever have thought of to begin with, so maybe he was mistaken.
Shewaspretty special, he had to admit – she’d had an almost hypnotic effect on him from the moment they’d met. Maybe shewashalf fae. Maybe her human half had overridden her fae half personality-wise, and she’d turned out to be an absolutely lovely person who happened to have some sort of mystical power thrown into the bargain.
And he could hardly blame her for not mentioning it to him.Hehadn’t told her he was half shifter, after all – maybe she, like Max, had been waiting for the right moment to reveal her secrets and just hadn’t gotten the chance yet.
The man leaned in conspiratorially. “I have been tracking her via the use of her powers for years,” he said, lowering his voice so that Max had to lean in as well, straining against the chains – which reallywerestarting to dig into his skin.
“I have been looking for her for so long,” he continued. “We fae can collect powers from one another, you see – but she was hidden away in the human realm as a child, out of our reach. She has her father’s eyes, though. Once I saw her, I knew that she was the one.”
This is wild,Max thought, even as he bristled at the idea of someone daring to try and steal anything from Poppy.Imagine having to send your child to a whole other realm so that people don’t go around and steal their powers.
