by Karen Lynch
“Well, for one, you can doze off at the drop of a hat, and the bait needs to be asleep. Two, snoring attracts them.”
“I don’t snore.”
I raised my eyebrows at her, and she flushed. I continued as if I hadn’t been interrupted. “Three, one of us has to trap him, and I’m the best one to do that.”
“Fine.” Grumpily, she undressed. “But next time, I want full disclosure before I agree to help you on a job.”
“Deal.” I hid my smile as I took the things I needed from the bag. One of them was a real banti dream catcher, not one of the cheap knockoffs at the flea market. It had iron and muryan woven into it, and it was supposed to make the holder invisible to banti. I was about to find out if that was true.
The bedclothes rustled, and I looked over to see Violet lying in the middle of the bed with the cover pulled up to her chest.
“Relax.” I closed the drapes and turned off the lamp, throwing the room into semi-darkness. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
She took a deep breath. “I know. But I have to warn you it might take me a little longer than usual to fall asleep.”
“Want me to sing you a lullaby?”
A snort came from the bed. “I thought the banti was supposed to give me nightmares.”
“Ha ha.” I walked over to a chair in the corner and sat. “Now be a good little girl and go to sleep.”
We fell quiet, except for the occasional sound of Violet shifting around. After thirty minutes, she stopped moving, and her soft snores filled the room. I smiled to myself and relaxed in the comfortable chair. All there was to do now was wait.
I occupied my time by thinking about the missing ke’tain. Why would a faerie steal one of their religious artifacts and take it from their realm? Understanding the motive behind that might be the best clue to where the ke’tain was now. There were collectors of Fae objects who would pay a lot of money for it, but Court faeries didn’t need money. Lower faeries weren’t wealthy, so money could be a motive for one of them. Would a lower faerie have access to the goddess’s temple? There was so much about their world I didn’t know, despite my extensive reading on all things Fae.
I hadn’t made up my mind yet on whether or not I was going after the ke’tain bounty. It was a lot of money, too much to dismiss lightly, but did I really want to take on something like this with everything else going on in my life?
I was saved from answering by an almost inaudible whoosh of air across the room. Peering through the gloom, I was just able to make out movement at the bottom of the door. I watched in fascinated horror as green fog poured into the room from beneath the door and slowly solidified into a distinguishable shape. The creature was barely eighteen inches tall with green skin and matted green hair, and it strongly resembled the goblin I’d brought in on my first job.
Once it was fully formed, the banti turned its head slowly as if scanning the room for a threat. I didn’t dare breathe when its beady yellow eyes stared straight at me, making goose bumps rise on my arms. Pictures didn’t do these guys justice. In the flesh, they were as creepy as hell, and looked like something out of the nightmares they wove.
A soft murmur drew his attention to the bed, and he crept soundlessly toward it. He disappeared from my view for a minute before he leaped lightly up onto the foot of the bed. Violet didn’t move, and the banti stood stock still watching her until she began to snore again.
It was all I could do to sit there as the ghoulish little faerie walked over to peer down at my sleeping friend. I almost came out of the chair when he climbed up to sit on her chest. My entire body was tensed to spring, but I couldn’t move too soon, or I would lose him. I had to wait until he started to weave the nightmare because that was when he would be most vulnerable.
He held his hands out over Violet’s face, and yellow magic flowed from his fingertips. It wafted down and was immediately inhaled into her partially open mouth. A twisted little smile curved his lips as she began to twitch and jerk in her sleep, her arms pinned to her sides like someone strapped down to a table.
Not yet, I told myself as the tension in my body ratcheted up with each second that little monster was touching my best friend. When I’d promised to keep her safe, I’d forgotten I would have to stand back and watch this until the time was right.
Violet let out a whimper in the throes of a nightmare, and the banti snickered gleefully, enraptured by her dream.
I shot up out of the chair and stalked silently to the bed, gripping a large butterfly net in both hands. Violet moaned in terror, and I stumbled into the foot of the bed, dropping the dream catcher.
I righted myself as the banti’s head did a one-eighty, and those sinister yellow eyes burned into mine.
Chapter 3
VIOLET CRIED OUT again, breaking us from our stare down. The banti jumped off her chest and gave me a look of pure malice before his shape began to blur.
Oh, no. If he escaped, I’d never catch him, and I was not going to fail this job. Leaping across the bed, I sprawled over Violet’s legs and brought the net down over him. The second he was inside the net, I yanked on a string along the handle, and the opening of the net closed, trapping him.
The banti began to screech and thrash weakly in the net, but the thin iron threads sewn into the mesh prevented him from changing form and escaping. At the same time, Violet woke up screaming like the devil himself was after her. She wriggled out from beneath me and scrambled off the other side of the bed.
“Oh, my God!” She swiped at her face and chest as if she could remove the feel of the creature on her.
I took a step toward her, holding up the net. “It’s okay. We got him.”
Her eyes went impossibly round, and she backed up against the window. “Keep that thing away from me,” she screeched over the banti’s caterwauling.
My eardrums hurt from the noise coming from the two of them. Desperate for some relief, I sang a few bars of the first song that popped into my head. By the third line of “Shake It Off,” the banti looked like a limp doll inside the net, and Violet was staring at me with her mouth agape.
Still singing, I set the banti on the bed and opened the net. From my back pocket, I pulled a tiny iron-infused collar I’d stuffed in there earlier and fitted it around the faerie’s neck. The collar was designed for faeries too small for shackles, and it served the same purpose, with one added benefit. It rendered the wearer mute.
I stopped singing, and the banti opened his mouth to screech at me again, only to discover the wonders of the collar. His withering glare was enough to make me not want to sleep for a week.
“You had to sing my favorite Taylor Swift song,” Violet griped. “I’ll never be able to enjoy it again.”
“Sorry, but it was hard to think with all the racket.” I held back my smile. She’d be dancing around in her room to that song by tomorrow night.
She shuddered. “Why didn’t you sing when he showed up, before he got into my head?”
“Because I had no idea if it would work on him, and we could have lost him.” I carried the banti over to my duffle bag and put him into a small animal carrier I’d brought with me. I placed the plastic carrier in my duffle bag and looked over at Violet, who was already stripping out of my pajamas. She threw them at me, and I tucked them in around the carrier to cushion it.
Violet hurriedly dressed in her own clothes while I made sure I had all my gear stowed away. She didn’t speak again until we were in the hallway, walking toward the stairs.
“Despite having the single most horrible experience of my life, I have to say you’re a natural at this bounty hunting thing.”
“I’m sorry I put you through that. What was it like?”
She shivered and rubbed her arms. “You ever have one of those nightmares where you know you’re dreaming, but you can’t wake up? It was like that, only worse. I knew the banti was sitting on me, but I couldn’t move to get him off me. It felt like I was paralyzed.”
Remorse coile
d in my stomach. “God, Vi. I never should have asked you to do that.”
“I knew what I was signing up for – sort of.” She smiled for the first time since she’d woken up. “Know that was my one and only banti hunt.”
I pushed open the door to the stairwell. “I’ll make it up to you.”
“Oh, I know you will,” she quipped as we started down the stairs.
We emerged on the first floor and walked over to Amos, who resembled a stone statue. The security guard didn’t move until we were directly in front of him, and even then, only his eyes shifted to take us in.
“Can you let Marjorie Cooke know the job has been finished?” I discreetly unzipped the duffle bag and let him see the angry banti in the pet carrier.
Barely batting an eye at the faerie, he pressed a button on his headset and spoke in a voice almost too low to hear.
Violet and I wandered a few feet away to wait for him to finish the call. We were looking at a large oil painting of Princess Titania when the exit door slid open and two blond male Court faeries dressed in black entered. I barely had time to wonder about their hostile expressions when Violet let out a strangled squeak.
I looked past the two faeries at a third male, and this one I recognized instantly. It was impossible not to when his face had been plastered on almost every magazine cover, billboard, and social media site for over a month.
I took a moment to study Prince Rhys. He already wore the bored, arrogant look of a celebrity who had spent too much time in the limelight. He was handsomer in person, but so was every other Court faerie. I could see nothing extraordinary that set him apart from them.
My gaze moved to the three unsmiling, dark-haired faeries behind him that made up the rest of his personal guard. A sliver of fear went through me when I thought of the Seelie royal guard who had taken my parents. Queen Anwyn’s guard was completely separate from her son’s, but that didn’t mean they weren’t working together.
The prince and his men stopped a dozen feet from Violet and me, and one of the blonds in the lead raked his icy stare over us as if assessing us for threats. His gaze took in my inexpensive attire and narrowed on my duffle bag.
“What is your business here?” he demanded.
His arrogance rankled me, but I kept my expression and voice neutral because I didn’t want any trouble. I’d had enough dealings with Fae royalty and their guards to last me a lifetime.
“I’m here on Agency business,” I said.
The other blond guard moved to block the prince from our view. “You do not look like an agent.”
“That’s because I’m not an agent. I’m a bounty hunter.”
His suspicious gaze shifted to Violet, who stood mutely at my side. “And her?”
“She’s my assistant.” I moved protectively in front of her. The last person I wanted paying any attention to my best friend was a member of the Seelie royal guard.
“I’ve never met a bounty hunter,” said a new voice.
“Your Highness…” protested a voice from the back as the prince shouldered past his guards to stand before me.
His five guards automatically formed a semicircle around him. I swallowed as I faced some of the deadliest faeries in the world, who looked ready to end me if I so much as blinked wrong.
I looked into the blue eyes of the prince and got the strangest feeling I’d met him before, which was absurd. I definitely would have remembered meeting the Seelie crown prince.
We stared at each other for a few seconds before his mouth curved into a smile that transformed his aristocratic face from aloof to boyishly charismatic.
“I am Prince Rhys of the Seelie Court,” he said as if there was anyone over the age of ten who wouldn’t recognize him by now. Reaching out, he took one of my hands in his long fingers and brought it to his lips.
“Jesse James.” I didn’t want to give my name, but it would be rude not to. Chances were his men would have me investigated the moment they were out of sight, and giving a fake name would only raise their suspicions.
“Like the outlaw?” At my look of surprise, his eyes sparkled with humor. “One of the things I like most about your world is your history. I particularly enjoy the stories of the Wild West.” His gaze moved to my hair, which I’d worn in a ponytail for this job, and lingered there for a few seconds. “Are all bounty hunters as lovely as you, Jesse James?”
I raised my eyebrows. “I don’t think the male hunters would appreciate being called lovely.”
Prince Rhys laughed. “I guess not.” He glanced over my shoulder. “And who is your quiet friend?”
Reluctantly, I moved to Violet’s side, giving the faeries a full view of her. “This is Violet. She’s helping me on a job today.”
“Two beautiful hunters. I must be goddess-blessed.” As he’d done with me, Prince Rhys lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it.
Violet made an incoherent sound. I slanted a look at her and found her staring dumbly at the prince. Biting back a grin, I discreetly elbowed her in the ribs. It was enough to shake her from her daze, and she smiled shyly at him.
“It’s…nice…to meet you,” she managed to utter.
“The pleasure is all mine.” His gaze returned to me. “I mean no offense, but are you really a bounty hunter? I must confess I imagined hunters were like the tough western lawmen.”
“I’m not offended. I get asked that all the time.” I pulled my ID card from my back pocket where I always kept it. His guards looked coiled to attack, and it reminded me of how wary Lukas and his men had been with me in the beginning. Shaking off the memory, I held up the card for them to see.
One of the blond guards took the card and studied it intently before subjecting me to the same scrutiny. “You don’t look strong enough to hunt.”
I shrugged because it wasn’t anything I hadn’t heard before. “Hunting isn’t only about strength and speed.”
“Jesse is super smart,” Violet squeaked.
The guard looked skeptical as he handed me my card, but the prince appeared to be even more intrigued. The last thing I wanted was the attention of another royal, especially one from Seelie.
I was trying to think of a way to extricate Violet and me from the encounter, when Amos called, “Miss James.”
Relief flooded me as I faced him. “Yes?”
“Miss Cooke said to thank you for your help.” He pointed to the exit. “You can leave through there when you’re ready.”
“Thanks.” I adjusted the duffle bag on my shoulder and turned back to Prince Rhys. “It was nice talking to you.”
His smile slipped. “You’re leaving?”
“Yes. Our work here is done.”
“Then you will stay as my guests for dinner,” he said imperiously as if that settled everything. “I wish to talk more and to hear about your job.”
All five of his men looked ready to object, but I beat them to it. “Thank you, but we have plans.”
“Surely you can change your plans for one evening.” Prince Rhys flashed me the same flirtatious smile I’d seen on TV that made women everywhere swoon. He was charming, but I felt no attraction to him. Lukas had made sure I wouldn’t want another faerie again.
I shook my head. “I’m afraid I can’t. It’s a family obligation.”
His brow furrowed. “Tomorrow then.”
“Between family commitments and my job, I really don’t have much free time. I’m sure you can understand that.”
“Yes.” His frown eased, but his eyes still showed disappointment. Something told me it was a foreign emotion for him.
“Hope you have a great stay in New York,” I said as I snagged Violet’s sleeve and started for the exit.
The moment the doors shut behind us, I sucked in the cold air, but I didn’t slow our pace until we were around the building and back on the street. It took that long for Violet to find her tongue again.
“Holy Shih Tzu!” She let out a small squeal. “Did that really happen?”
I st
eered her toward the Jeep. “Do you mean the part where we met the prince or the part where you forgot how to speak?”
“Ugh. Don’t remind me. I have no idea what came over me in there.” She looked wistfully back over her shoulder. “I can’t believe we met Prince Rhys, and I was a blithering idiot.”
“You weren’t that bad, and I’m sure he has that effect on most people.”
“Not you,” she retorted.
“I have a good reason to not want anything to do with the Seelie crown prince.”
Violet’s face flushed. “Oh, Jesse. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Don’t worry about it. Besides, you wanted to meet someone famous at the hotel, and they don’t get more famous than he is.”
“You can say that again. Every celebrity I meet from here on out will pale in comparison.”
We reached the Jeep, and I stowed my bag in the back. “I’ll drop you off at home before I take our little friend to the Plaza.”
She pouted as she buckled her seat belt. “I don’t get to go with you?”
“You’re not a licensed bounty hunter,” I reminded her. “You helping me on a job isn’t against the rules, but it’s frowned upon. I don’t want to give Levi or the other bond agents any reason to stop hiring me.”
“Fine.” She slumped in her seat.
“You’re not missing much; trust me.”
She waved a hand. “It’s not that. I can’t believe I met Prince Rhys, and I didn’t think to get a single picture. My agent keeps telling me I need to do more to bump my social media following, and I let the perfect opportunity slip right through my fingers. I’ll never hear the end of it if she finds out.”
I started the Jeep. “I won’t tell her if you don’t.”
* * *
“Stop squirming,” I hissed into the front of my coat as the elevator stopped on the fourth floor of the hospital. “You’re going to get us caught before we even get there.”
Finch went still, not that I could blame him for fidgeting. He had already been excited to see Dad before I’d gotten the call an hour ago letting me know Mom was awake. The drive here had seemed to last forever.