“The job I took was with a goblin named Grimm. What do you know about goblins, Kink? Aren’t they fae?”
She fluttered above the table. “The goblins are Unseelie. But they have their own leader who considers himself a king. For the most part, they keep to the west of the city and I don’t bother with them. No one from the Seelie court does. They are aggressive on a good day, so it works out better for them to stay in their own territory. That one of them was in downtown Savannah is interesting to say the least, although it’s not unheard of. Sometimes they get booted out for one reason or another.”
I kept my voice down and they all leaned in close to listen while I spoke. “While we were there, he gave me something to protect. He said it was a family heirloom someone else was trying to steal. After he handed it over, Feish, Robert, and I slipped through his window, and then Davin, Roderick, and Bruce busted into his room and trashed it. They had another goblin with them earlier, all dapper-like but I didn’t hear another voice during the break-in. No idea where Grimm went. Only that he wasn’t with them when they cornered me later.”
I gave them all the rundown on what had happened next, from sending Robert and Feish away to finding the ghosts hiding in that room and . . . “Vampire. That’s the word the Silver Lady mouthed to me.”
Eric blew out a low whistle. “That is not a good sign, not for this town.”
Kinkly nodded. “I agree. I think you should hide whatever it was that Grimm gave you.”
“It’s basically a family tree,” I said, remembering what Grimm had said. “But I don’t think that’s the important part. There’s a silver coin. It matches the etchings on the box upstairs.”
Eric groaned and we all looked at him. He pulled Suzy under his arm and held her tightly. “That’s the family crest of the current king of the goblins. I recognized it after we opened the box.” I nodded, motioning for him to hurry up, and he went on. “It means you’re on their hit list. Maybe because you’re helping Grimm.”
My palms went clammy, and I was suddenly doubly glad that Crash wasn’t there holding my hand. “What has that got to do with a vampire, though? That part doesn’t make sense.”
“What’s so important about those pages? Or is it that the coin is important?” Kinkly asked.
I rubbed a finger around the lip of my teacup. “It could be either. I didn’t find the silver coin until we were in that room below Grimm’s. The ghost found us soon after that.”
Kinkly frowned. “I could pay a visit to the goblins’ leader, see if he’ll talk to me. If one of his goblins is acting up, he might help. I could say that I’m there on Karissa’s behalf. He’s always trying to cozy up to her.”
“No, that would tell them we know they’re gunning for Bree,” Suzy said softly. “I say we take extra precautions. I’ll need to work with these new abilities, but the truth is we are stronger now with me like this. I’ll be able to manipulate water in all forms, and I should be able to shift to a new form once I get my strength back. And my ability to charm people will be seriously amplified.” She was frowning as she spoke even though the abilities sounded like an amazing addition. “I mean, if you want me to stay.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re part of the team. Taking more precautions is a good idea. We’ll stick together in pairs, at the least, and figure the rest out tomorrow.” I lifted my teacup, Kinkly scooped up a thimble we’d set out for her and grabbed some tea, and we all clinked our glasses together.
I stood with a quiet groan, my muscles seizing hard, and went to the front door. I opened it to find Crash sitting on the top step. “We’re all done.”
He turned just his head. “Do you want me to leave?”
The way he asked it made it clear he didn’t just mean for the night. I didn’t like it for so many reasons. But the vulnerability in him was what tugged at me. How many people had turned him away over the years? Too many, even if no one else saw it.
“No. I want you to stay. But my team and their safety have priority.”
He smiled as he turned and held out his hand to me again. I took it and let him lead me into the main living room.
We pushed all the furniture to the sides, threw couch cushions onto the floor, pulled blankets and pillows into the living room, and made a big plush bed. There was just enough room for us all to sleep with our heads clustered together in the center of the room and our feet sticking out like a giant pinwheel.
Suzy was to my left, and Crash to my right.
I looked over at Crash. “This is not how I saw our first night together.”
He burst out laughing. “Nor did I.”
Suzy giggled. “I don’t know, I might have imagined a giant orgy or two.”
A ripple of laughter flowed through the room, contagious in the way it always was for the overtired. I laughed until tears tracked down my cheeks, and kept laughing until those tears dried and I finally managed to rein it in.
Next to me, Crash offered me an arm, and I rolled into his hold, using his bicep as a pillow. He pulled a blanket up and over us, and his warmth sunk through me, my nose pressed to his chest, close enough to smell the fire and smoke that was so uniquely Crash.
“Sleep. You’ve more than earned it,” he whispered into my ear. “I’ll keep watch over you tonight.” I didn’t think he meant over just me either.
I yawned and snuggled against him, not caring if this was real or not. Not caring if he was only attracted to me because I was a little bit fae. Of the two men in my orbit, Crash was the one I trusted more with my life, if not with my heart. If he said he’d keep me safe, I believed him.
Sometime later, when everyone was sleeping deeply, the shuffle of feet on the wooden floor tipped my head up. Robert stood in the big arched opening between the living room and the entryway. I lifted a hand, reminded that there was one other man who would keep me safe no matter what it cost him. “Thank you.”
He lifted a hand back. “Friend.”
I closed my eyes, knowing without a doubt that for at least a few hours we were all safe.
And that was all I needed to finally let myself sink fully into a sleep that dragged me down into oblivion.
*_*_*_*
I woke not with a start, but a lazy stretch that made every bone, joint, and muscle in my body tingle—and not in a good way. More like a hey-you-forgot-your-Advil-last-night kind of way.
“Sore?” Crash asked quietly.
“Everywhere,” I whispered back.
He sat up, taking the blanket with him. It pooled around his waist, reminding me of one of the first times I’d met him. He’d been draped in nothing but a sheet. I missed those ignorant days. Back then, I’d had no real idea what I was stepping into—what kind of life-or-death stakes I would be asked to accept, again and again.
The tattoo on his ribs made much more sense now, the flames roaring up the side of his abdomen. I mean, when I’d first seen them, I had suspected it was because he was a blacksmith. But maybe it had more to do with his magic, and the way his kisses set my body on fire.
“Like what you see?” He winked at me, catching me staring.
I winked right back. “Checking out that tattoo. Thinking about the first time I saw it.”
His smile was slow and deadly for my rapidly beating heart. “You mean when I was naked?”
I patted his cheek—the cheek on his face, I mean, I’m not quite that brassy. “You had a sheet on.”
A sudden pounding on the door rolled me to my feet, knives in my hands. I barely remembered reaching for them. Apparently, the training was finally catching up to my reflexes, or maybe it was the other way around?
The door burst open and Corb stood there, eyes wide, a gun in one hand and a knife in the other, his eyes finding me first. “Bree, are you okay?”
I tucked my own knives back into their sheaths. “A little late, man. You missed the party and the after party.”
Corb slowly lowered his weapons, and although I couldn’t see where he’d put them, or even
where he could have put them, they disappeared. “Everyone’s okay?”
Crash brushed past me and headed for the kitchen. “I’ll make breakfast. And you talk in your sleep, Bree.”
Oh, that last shot was definitely for Corb, but he just breathed a sigh of what I could only assume was relief. “What happened?”
I turned as Suzy stood, her long hair braided back from her head in a bunch of braids that told me Kinkly had been at work while she was sleeping. I touched my own head and found the same look had been woven into my own hair.
“Someone set my powers loose,” Suzy said softly, totally not her usual self, but it wasn’t like she’d lost confidence. More like her own near-death experience had made her more mature overnight. “They did it so I would kill whoever I was with.” I noticed that she didn’t say it was about me, which I was grateful for.
We had to keep our cards close to our chests.
I turned back to Corb. “We figured you might be able to help her. Seeing as you brought her into the Hollows and all.”
Corb’s eyes were locked on Suzy. “How long did you have to fend off the urge? Twenty minutes?”
Suzy looked at me. “Four hours.”
Corb sucked in a sharp breath. “That’s impossible. You . . . Suzy, how did you survive?”
She didn’t look away from me. “It’s not my story to tell, not really. I just hung on, and Eric, Feish, and Bree, they threw me the lifeline that pulled me out.” She shrugged and then grinned. “I will say that they are all excellent kissers.”
I laughed and Feish giggled a funny warbling laugh that only made me grin wider. The smell of bacon tugged at me and I limped toward the kitchen. Every step reminded me that not only had yesterday been one of my longest nights in a long time, but it had also ended up with all of us sleeping on the floor.
“Why didn’t you answer the phone sooner?” I asked as I stepped up next to Crash and shooed him from the frying pan. “You chop the stuff for omelets.”
Corb moved to stand across from me and Crash as we prepped breakfast. “The phone was off. I was on a job that couldn’t be disturbed.”
“Delicate,” I said. “You don’t get many of those. Or was this something for Davin?” I wasn’t intentionally poking at him. But I wasn’t going to avoid the subject either. Crash’s muscles flicked like a fly had landed on him, and then he relaxed as if I’d said nothing.
“It was a job, pertaining to the O’Seans and the mess they left behind,” Corb said. “And the remainder of the details are confidential.”
Crash shot him a look. “Their sister causing grief?”
Corb’s jaw ticked. “Something like that.”
“Be careful, she’s quick with a gun,” Crash said.
Damn it, they both knew? And I couldn’t know, of course, not. Jerks.
I nodded. “My new job is like that too, delicate and confidential.” I couldn’t help but lock eyes with him. Because yesterday he’d been all about honesty and transparency, but here we were, less than twelve hours later, and he refused to be honest with me about a stupid job. Okay, maybe that wasn’t fair. Work was work, but in the shadow world, work had a nasty habit of showing up at home and trying to kill you.
And no, I did not feel bad for not telling him about the whole goblin situation.
Clearing his throat, Corb offered with a motion of his hand to take over the eggs, as if that would win him points. Well, it would, but not enough. I let him take my spot, stepping back with a flourish that would have made Vanna White proud. “Go right ahead. Far be it from me to say no to two gorgeous men cooking me breakfast. But maybe you should take your shirt off, too, so I can really compare.” Laughing, I turned my back on them as Suzy and Eric stepped into the kitchen. Kinkly fluttered in above Eric’s head and then she shot down to me.
“Do you like the braids?”
“They’re great, thanks.” I put a hand to them, already knowing that getting all the miniscule braids out was going to be a massive pain in the ass. But I wasn’t going to burst Kinkly’s bubble. Feish was the last to enter the room, and she was still giggling, whispering under her breath, “I’m a good kisser.”
When I turned around, it was my turn to catch my breath.
Corb had stripped off his shirt and tucked it into his back pocket.
Both men were naked from the waist up, and I wasn’t sure if I could breathe anymore. Kinkly shot forward and plastered herself to Corb’s back. “I call dibs on this one.”
He jumped and looked over his shoulder. “You’re a bit tiny for me.”
She bobbed her head. “Yes, agreed. If Bree is your type, you like ’em big.”
I sunk into a chair and lowered my head to the table, mostly because I wasn’t sure I could look without drooling. And I definitely couldn’t look away.
Suzy sat next to me. “You did tell him to take his shirt off.”
“I was joking. I mean, kind of.” I lifted my head, grinning wide and not blushing a bit. “Maybe I should have a harem.”
Crash twisted around first, but Corb was right behind him. Corb looked at Crash. “I could share. But I don’t think you could.”
Crash shook his head. “Not the way she means.”
The sound of skeletal feet on the wooden floors turned me around again. Robert shuffled in, and when his head swung toward the two shirtless guys making breakfast, he growled.
“Oh, Robert, you’ll always be my favorite,” I said, and for just a moment the swaying slowed, and I saw him as he had been when he was alive. Icy blue eyes that locked onto mine. But the image faded and he was just Robert again, swaying.
The two guys served up a big breakfast, and amid much ribbing, laughter, and side eyes around the table, we were . . . happy. That was the only word for it. In that moment, contentment filled my heart, and I felt more at home than I ever had before.
Because I was with the family who’d chosen me, and I’d chosen them.
Unexpected tears pricked at my eyes and I stood. “I’m going to shower.”
My plate was only half empty and I knew the others might wonder if something was up, but I didn’t care. I didn’t want to try to explain out loud how I was feeling.
“Don’t want to jinx myself,” I said as I pulled myself up the stairs to the second floor.
“You called?”
My eyes shot up to the oversized black spider waiting for me on the landing. “What in the hairy legs of hell now?”
12
Jinx the trickster spider stood on my second-floor landing, rubbing her long hairy legs against one another, a nervous tic if I ever saw one. “So is the boss here?” She shuffled forward, and I put a hand up stopping her.
“You told me about Grimm down at the Marshall House,” I said softly as I hurried up the last few steps, which effectively pushed her back. “What do you know about his situation? The goblins are up to something, aren’t they?”
“Grimm isn’t there anymore.” She rubbed a back leg against another back leg and squirted out a bit of webbing. Her many eyes all blinked closed at once. “That’s embarrassing.”
“Getting old, huh?”
“You have no idea,” she whispered.
“I have a pretty good idea,” I said. “I pee when I laugh too hard. Now tell me what is going on.”
She did a funny little tap with all her legs at once, like she was drumming on the hardwood. “I can see the goblins were here already. I came to warn you that they were talking about paying you a visit. They passed under me and didn’t see me. Grimm does not want Crash to know.”
“Why would they come after me? You’re the only one who knew I was going to see Grimm.” I found my hand dropping to the handle of the knife strapped to my right thigh. “What did you tell them, Jinx?”
“Nothing, I swear it! Please don’t kick me in the lady bits!” She hunkered low to the ground, like a dog cowering. “I watched them come down Factors Row, and they sniffed around and then started talking about you. They didn’t even see
me.”
I crouched so that we were eye to eyes. “Anything else?”
“They want to kill you, I think. They said something about setting the siren loose on you,” she whispered, then her eyes flicked to look at someone behind me. “Boss, I really came here to warn you.”
Crash stepped onto the landing with us. I was impressed that he hadn’t made a sound on the steps. “I believe you, Jinx. I also think you probably took your time as you tend to do.”
She lifted two front legs in what could only be called a shrug. “But I still came. I didn’t want to interrupt those two goons—they looked almost human. And they were wearing all black.” Her eyes did this rapid blinking thing that reminded me of a crowd doing the wave at a baseball game, and it really made my stomach roll.
“You can guard the front yard,” Crash said. “Stay in the oak tree out of sight. Don’t bother the fairy that lives there.”
She scuttled forward, ducking past me with a cringe that about pinned her to the wall—strike that, she climbed the wall and ran across it to the window Crash had broken with Robert.
She let out a weeee as she leapt through the open space, spitting a bit of web out of her ass as she flew.
“Corb left, and he took Suzy and Eric with him. He wants to see if he can help Suzy with her new abilities, and Eric doesn’t seem inclined to leave her side,” Crash said. “Feish and Kinkly are headed to Death Row to see if they can suss up any information. Feish has apparently decided she is a flirting fool.”
I thought about the romance books she’d bought. “Well, maybe she’s lonely.” I paused. “Thank you for everything, but I really do need to shower.”
He reached out and took my hand. “You look like you’re about ready to fall down, Bree. Even with that bit of sleep.”
I shrugged. “I took some Advil with breakfast and a hot shower will do wonders.”
“I can help with that,” Crash said, and gawd in heaven, the man blushed.
Midlife Demon Hunter: The Forty Proof Series, Book 3 Page 10