Bad, Dad, and Dangerous

by Rhys Ford

  Hugh bit back a laugh as he followed Rykoff into the trees. Ruby was rigidly literal too. Was it a trait all fae shared?

  “I meant I’d like to share it with you in it,” Hugh said, enjoying the way Rykoff tripped over a tree root in response.

  “This is hardly the time to share intimacy,” Rykoff said.

  Were the fae prudes? Hugh wouldn’t have thought so, given how close to nature they seemed to be, but it probably wasn’t fair to make assumptions about a race he’d only just learned existed. Rykoff had practically bolted after their kiss after all.

  “What better time than this?” Hugh asked. “We need to rest and recharge. Sex helps with that. I’m attracted to you, and I’m pretty sure you’re attracted to me. Why not have some fun?”

  Rykoff pursed his lips. “I’m well aware of how casually vampires view being intimate with others.”

  Hugh laughed. “Are you slut-shaming me?”

  “I don’t know what a slut is, but I am saying you should be ashamed to be thinking of coupling at a time like this.”

  Sharing intimacy, coupling—Rykoff sounded like a character out of one of the Regency romance novels Hugh’s mother loved and he used to sneak as a teenager.

  “Suit yourself.” Hugh wasn’t going to pressure Rykoff into sex. “But you’re missing out. Casual sex is fun.”

  Rykoff huffed and tucked himself into his bed under the large oak tree, which was several feet away from the nest he’d prepared for Hugh. A respectable, puritanical distance. A wave of shame swept over him as he watched Rykoff turn woodenly to face away from him. He’d never meant to offend the fae. Hugh realized too late that he was being disrespectful of Rykoff’s beliefs. Whether they were personal or cultural was irrelevant. He was upsetting the fae, and that was a shitty thing to do.

  “Look, I’m sorry,” Hugh said as he lowered himself into the pile of leaves. They were shockingly comfortable. Whatever Rykoff had done was nothing short of a miracle. The leaf bed was miles more inviting than the car. He felt even worse for his flippant words now. Rykoff was being kind, and he was being an ass. “You’re right. We obviously have different views on sex. I’m not apologizing for mine, but I am sorry for teasing you. I don’t know anything about the fae, and I stepped in it by coming on to you. I won’t do it again.”

  Rykoff was silent for a few beats. “What did you step in?”

  Right. Idioms were out.

  “It means I messed up. And I’m sorry.”

  “And ‘coming on’ means an invitation for coupling?”

  Hugh choked on his own spit. “Uh, coming can mean something very different. But coming on to someone means showing them you’re interested in them.”

  Rykoff turned back over. Hugh could see his eyes, which seemed to glow on their own without help from the moon.

  “I am not disinterested in you,” Rykoff said gruffly.

  Hugh let that sit, quietly watching as Rykoff rolled onto his back, breaking eye contact with him.

  “You’ll notice I did not stop you from kissing me, though I should have. The fae don’t do casual couplings. That’s why I assumed you’d kidnapped the youngling. The fae do not abandon their children. How she came to be here makes no sense. A child is a blessing in our culture. Fae life spans are long, but the ability to bear children is not gifted to everyone.”

  So Ruby was even more of a miracle than he’d realized. And from the reverent way Rykoff talked about her, Hugh would definitely have to fight him to keep her here in the mortal realm.

  He’d deal with that once he learned more about the fae. He needed Rykoff’s help, and he wasn’t going to jeopardize it by telling him he’d fight him to the death to keep his daughter if need be.

  Chapter Six

  “IT TASTES of plastic.”

  Hugh grinned around the Twizzler in his mouth. “You eat a lot of plastic in the fae realm?”

  “No.” Rykoff rolled down the window and spit out his half-chewed candy. The woman in the car next to them frowned, but her scowl melted into a smile when Hugh waved.

  “Road trips are the only time I eat them. It’s the great American tradition—junk food and interstates,” he said as the light turned green.

  “It’s as disgusting as most human traditions. Like building these concrete monstrosities.”

  Hugh loved cities. So many people, so many emotions. It was easier to feed and easier to blend in. Not to mention he was fond of human amenities like twenty-four-hour pizza delivery.

  Though Cleveland wasn’t one of his favorites. There were plenty of opportunities to feed, but the pall of desperation and urban decay that hung over the city didn’t exactly make it a vacation hotspot.

  Not that they were there to sightsee. They’d video chatted with Ruby—with Hugh introducing Rykoff as a friend of his from work—so Rykoff could do a welfare check on her, and he’d grudgingly agreed she seemed well-adjusted and the picture of health.

  After that, Rykoff had wandered off deeper into the woods to open a portal so he could check in with whoever was helping him keep tabs on the rogue and found he was in Cleveland, of all places. Rykoff had been tight-lipped about what Ambrose might be seeking, so Hugh could only assume it was not good. He needed Rykoff to get Ambrose back to the fae realm so he could wash his hands of them both.

  Maybe he and Ruby should move after this. He didn’t exactly distrust Rykoff, but he didn’t trust him either. Rykoff had such a rigid moral compass. What’s to say he wouldn’t take Ruby himself, claiming it was for the greater good?

  Hugh couldn’t take a chance like that. He’d sort this out and then look for a new job. They could move across the country. Buy a house somewhere with lots of forest so Ruby could recharge whenever she wanted.

  “You may as well take a nap or something,” Hugh suggested. “We’ve got forty-five minutes until Cleveland.”

  Rykoff sighed. “I am well rested enough, thank you.”

  Hugh didn’t have to be able to sniff out his aura to know that was a lie. Rykoff had tossed and turned all night, like Hugh had. The sexual tension between them hadn’t diminished because Rykoff put the brakes on. He’d become off-limits, but that didn’t mean Hugh didn’t still want him.

  “We could get to know each other,” Hugh offered. “You could tell me more about the fae.”

  “I already know all I need to know about you,” Rykoff said, his nose wrinkling when Hugh took another bite of Twizzler.

  “But you remain a mystery,” Hugh muttered.

  Rykoff settled back in his seat. “Perhaps I will take a nap.”

  “You told me you’d help me with Ruby if I proved she was all right,” Hugh reminded him.

  “I don’t even know where to begin. Fae younglings like Ruby—they may be born to two parents, but they are raised by the greater court. Surrounded by adults who love and care for them. Guide them. Teach them. I don’t know how one person could do it. Especially one person who is not fae.”

  That stung. Not because Rykoff was insinuating that Hugh couldn’t raise her alone, but that there was a vibrant community Ruby should be a part of and wasn’t. His heart hurt thinking about it.

  “That came across harshly,” Rykoff said, his tone apologetic. “It was meant as more of a criticism of my ability to communicate what you need to know than any fault of yours.”

  Hugh swallowed and tried to clear his mind. He had about an hour with Rykoff, and then he’d be dropping him off and going his own way. He doubted they had cell phones in the fae realm. When Hugh left him, he wouldn’t see Rykoff again. His link to information about the fae world would be severed. So he needed to set aside his pride and find out as much as possible.

  “I want to be the best father possible for her. And that means finding out about what she is and how I can help her as she grows into the powers you were talking about. So hit me with it. Start talking.”

  Rykoff laughed. “I can’t give you a summation of what it means to be fae—not even if I had sixty days instead of sixty m
inutes.”

  That was fair, but Hugh needed him to try.

  “There are others who live in this realm,” Rykoff said before Hugh had gathered his thoughts enough to speak. “Fae who have left the court to live among humans. Some remain in contact with the fae realm, others disappear with intent to never be found. I will connect you with someone who can guide you. I was not being facetious when I told you I cannot be of much service. Fae lines are continued by the eldest. I am not the eldest. I will never have the opportunity to bear a youngling with a mate. I am largely kept in the dark about what raising one entails.”

  That was heartbreakingly unfair. And it helped Hugh understand Rykoff’s reaction to finding Ruby’s sock last night. Rykoff clearly wanted a child, but he could never have one. It surprised Hugh he was willing to help at all. It had to be the worst kind of insult to find that a vampire—a creature Rykoff obviously had a huge amount of disdain for—was raising a fae child.

  “I appreciate it more than I can say,” Hugh said. “And I’m sorry.”

  Rykoff shrugged. “It is what it is. I may not be able to have younglings, but I can contribute to the realm in other ways.”

  “Like hunting rogues.”

  His smile tightened. “This particular rogue, at any rate.”

  Hugh didn’t push for more information, letting the rest of the ride pass in silence as he digested what little he’d learned about the fae world. He’d rather find out more now, but the urgency diminished. He enjoyed hearing Rykoff talk. His odd turns of phrase were endearing. Hugh had only known him for a few hours, but he would miss him when he was gone.

  He dropped Rykoff off at a park. Hugh offered to stay and help, but Rykoff rebuffed him gently. Ten minutes after they’d arrived, Hugh was back on the road with the address of a fae who lived in Nebraska and a car full of buzzing silence. It seemed louder than the silence between him and Rykoff had been, but he didn’t want to break it by turning on the radio.

  It took him almost three hours to make it to Detroit, and he was tempted to stay in for the night and catch up on sleep instead of going out to meet his police contact. But wallowing in his loneliness wouldn’t do any good, so Hugh changed into something more appropriate for the club and headed out.

  He didn’t need to feed, but it wouldn’t hurt him to eat again so soon either. His body had become accustomed to the feast-or-famine diet. He liked to think of it as a tank he had to fill. If he fed enough over the summer, he’d be able to survive with small top-offs throughout the year.

  Was it as satisfying as draining someone every time he was hungry?

  No.

  But was it enough to sustain him?

  Also no. But he could limp along, getting weaker and hungrier, until winter break when he could slip away again for a quick meal. He wasn’t sure how the discovery of Ruby’s true heritage would affect his feeding schedule. He didn’t want to think about it now. He’d punt that problem down the road for later.

  Jared was waiting for him at a high-top at the back of the noisy club. The pumping music was overwhelming to Hugh’s enhanced hearing—he couldn’t imagine how much it must hurt Jared’s far more sensitive ears. Hugh grabbed a beer for each of them on his way over.

  “How have you been, Hugh? I’ve been looking forward to this all year!”

  Hugh reached out and shook Jared’s hand, palming the flash drive Jared slipped him and putting it in his pocket as he sat on the stool.

  “Can’t complain,” he said, picking up his beer to tap against Jared’s when the man held it up to toast.

  Jared was the captain of a police precinct here in the city. Hugh had met him ten years ago when Jared had been a patrol officer. He’d come upon Hugh stopping a mugging, and when he realized Hugh was a vampire, he’d flashed his amber eyes at him. Being a werewolf on the police force meant Jared lived under the same kind of secrecy Hugh did, and they’d become fast friends bonding over their struggles. Soon after, Jared started compiling cases for Hugh. Mostly criminals who needed to be taken off the streets but who the police or prosecutors couldn’t make a case against for whatever reason.

  It also helped that Jared’s father was a representative on the Supernatural Council. That was handy for smoothing over messes that bled through from the human world into the supernatural. Not that it happened often.

  Hugh was careful to keep a low profile and only feed where he wouldn’t be discovered, since he didn’t want to put Jared in the position of having to cover for him. He was sure Jared played a part in getting the police reports about the deaths taken care of quickly, but he never asked questions. They had no communication about the list other than the thumb-drive drop. Jared would find out about the deaths at the same time the rest of the world did.

  A commotion at the bar drew both their attention, and Hugh didn’t miss the way Jared’s hand went to his waist automatically. Always the cop.

  “We’ve had a serial rapist on the loose. No solid leads, but women say he starts a fight at a bar, uses the distraction to drug their drinks, and then leads them out back to an alley to rape them.”

  “Think this could be the guy?”

  “Fits the description. Average height, average weight. The women have all said he was nonthreatening, even when he was arguing.”

  The guy looked like a run-of-the-mill drunk bro arguing with the bartender who was cutting him off. But when Hugh looked harder, he didn’t see the haze of drunkenness in his aura. The guy was slurring his speech and weaving around, but his aura was crystal clear. And dark.

  Hugh tapped the table and stood. “I’ve got it. I’ll see you around, Jared.”

  Jared nodded and stayed put as Hugh made his way to the bar. The cloying sick-sweet stench coming off the would-be rapist, who was leaning against the very drunk woman next to him, was not a good sign. It was lust but mixed with something more sinister. There was no question his intent was to harm.

  He might not be draining the guy, but he would get a good long drink out of him.

  Hugh hunched forward a bit to make himself look less intimidating and shuffled closer, his attention fixed on the bartender like he was walking up to order a drink. His target didn’t acknowledge him at all, which was good. He didn’t mark Hugh as a threat, though the woman who was trying to pull her arm away from the guy seemed to recognize the malice that glinted in Hugh’s eyes was aimed at her attacker, not her. She stopped struggling, her gaze trained on Hugh as he approached.

  The man took advantage of her sudden capitulation and pawed at her more aggressively. Hugh separated them easily, grabbing the guy around his neck and tugging him backward into a bear hug.

  “Louis, buddy! I haven’t seen you in forever.”

  He leaned in and placed his lips against the shell of the man’s ear. “We’re going to walk outside and have a little chat. Struggle and I’ll hurt you. Go willingly and I promise you’ll walk away from this.”

  The man trembled in his embrace but stayed silent. From the miasma of addiction, violence, and lust leaking out of him, Hugh figured this might be the first good decision the guy had made in a long while.

  Hugh nodded to the bartender, who motioned over her shoulder.

  “There’s a staff door to the rear that’s unlocked from the inside. You’ll need to walk around to get back in, but uh, it’ll give you some privacy for your, um, reunion. Thanks for getting him off the floor.”

  Hugh wasn’t a mind reader, but being able to taste a person’s aura was almost as good as being able to see their thoughts. This guy he’d grabbed had a plethora of ill intentions on his mind, and from the depth of the depravity and darkness that streaked through his aura, Hugh wouldn’t be surprised if he turned out to be the serial rapist Jared had told him about.

  This guy would be fine after Hugh finished with him. Once he dove through the man’s baser lusts, he found a well of self-loathing and fear. From the remorse coming off him, he might even be able to turn his life around after Hugh fed off the fount of misogyny and lus
t that made him prey on women. He’d likely lose his sex drive, but that was nothing less than he deserved.

  Hugh forced the man onto the bench of a weathered picnic table in the small staff area. The cement was littered with cigarette butts and the stink of transactional sex. Hugh’s mouth watered, a Pavlovian response to the smell.

  The man shrank into himself as Hugh closed in on him, the taste of his fear cloying and sweet on Hugh’s tongue as he leaned in and took a deep breath. He didn’t get to savor feeding like this often. Letting his guard down enough to feed with abandon took a moment, since he was so used to keeping himself in check as he drew small snacks from the humans around him.

  He had no reason to keep his eyes from glowing amber, though. It added to the man’s fear, which amped up Hugh’s hunger even more. Splinters from the rough wood bit into his hand as he braced himself against the bench, using his other arm to wrap around the guy to keep him in place as Hugh nosed along his neck.

  He took a deep pull from the man’s aura. The chi flowed easily now that Hugh had shifted his focus to feeding. He could feel the hard cement through his shoes and the sting of the splinters in his hand, but those sensations were distant. All that mattered was the flow of energy he was sucking out of his prey. He’d had human friends describe the effect alcohol had on them, and Hugh assumed this was similar. He felt euphoric. Invincible.

  The flow of chi slowed, and Hugh concentrated on probing the man’s aura to make sure he’d stripped the darkness out of it. He didn’t touch the well of depression. Taking that would be a kindness, and Hugh wasn’t feeling kind after draining all the man’s homicidal rage and lust. This man had hurt women in the past, and if not for Hugh’s ability, he’d hurt more in the future. He deserved far worse than he was getting from Hugh.

  He let the man go, not bothering to catch him before he fainted. The guy slid off the bench, his shoulder taking the brunt of the fall as he collapsed onto the dirty concrete.

  A slow clap to his right startled Hugh. His head snapped up, his rising hackles only somewhat assuaged by the sight of Rykoff leaning against the building. He was standing under a pool of yellow light that made his skin almost glow. He’d have been irresistibly attractive if not for the undisguised revulsion in his expression.