by Karen Lynch
I dived after the hama. My fingers closed around the tiny bundle of fur, and I landed on my stomach, clutching the creature in my outstretched hands. “Gotcha!”
I lifted my head and found myself eye to toe with a pair of black boots. My eyes followed the jean-clad legs to a gray shirt and stopped when they met a dark blue gaze.
Lukas Rand quirked an eyebrow at me, and from this vantage, I wasn’t sure if he was amused or annoyed. Based on my previous encounter with him, I was putting my money on the latter.
“And she’s back,” crowed his jokester friend. “Why is it that the ladies only throw themselves at your feet, Lukas?”
The faerie in question gave his companion a small smile that made my stomach do funny things, even though the smile hadn’t been directed at me. Damn faeries and their amped-up pheromones.
Rolling to my back, I sat up, still holding the frightened hama. I cradled it in one hand and used the other hand to fix my glasses, which had gone askew.
I let out a startled squeak when hands slipped beneath my arms and lifted me to my feet as if I weighed nothing. I spun to face Lukas Rand. His face was back to being impassive, but I thought I saw a gleam of amusement in his dark eyes.
“Thank –” My words ended in a squawk when he suddenly pulled me against his chest. Something brushed against my back, and there was a thud of a body hitting the floor where I’d been standing a moment before.
“Kerr, Iian, take care of this,” said his authoritative voice above the shouts and crashing sounds from the fight. Though the words were clipped, the voice was like warm honey, and I could feel the vibrations in his chest when he spoke. That combined with his tantalizing male scent made me feel a little lightheaded and more aware of him than I’d ever been of another man.
He’s not a man, I reminded myself. He was a faerie, and everything about him was alluring to humans. Apparently, I wasn’t immune to it either, and that revelation was like a bucket of cold water in my face.
I pushed back from him, and the steely arm holding me fell away. Avoiding his eyes, I turned toward the fight and watched two of his blond companions, who looked so much alike they had to be brothers, wading through the brawlers and pulling them apart. Some yelled in protest, but their complaints were quickly silenced when they saw who was interrupting their fight. Whoever Lukas Rand and his men were, they were well-known among other faeries, and no one was willing to challenge them.
“Lukas,” called Orend Teg. I glanced to my left to see the unhappy bar owner striding toward us. Teg took in the destruction, and his scowl turned almost scary.
“Thank you for stepping in,” he said to Lukas when he reached us. “I haven’t had a fight in here in ages. What set them off?”
“I think I have a good idea,” Lukas replied dryly.
There was a brief silence, and then Teg spoke, a note of exasperation in his voice. “Miss James, why am I not surprised to find you in the middle of this?”
I raised my chin. “Hey, this is not my fault. I was about to leave when one of your fine patrons tried to glamour me. I was only defending myself.”
“Who?” Lukas and Teg demanded at the same time. I wasn’t sure which one of them looked more pissed off.
I looked around the bar for the other faerie. “His name is Korre, but I don’t see him. He must have left. There was another faerie named Daoine who can back me up.”
Teg’s eyes were cold and flinty as he showed me a side of him I hadn’t seen in his office. “I know of Korre. He started coming in a few months ago. Rest assured, he will be dealt with.”
I shivered at the hardness in his tone. The fact that Teg didn’t question whether or not my story was true spoke volumes. He must have a reason to believe Korre capable of such a thing. Something told me the bar owner would not be relying on the Agency to handle this.
“As for you, Miss James, I think it would be best if you left as well,” Teg said.
“You’re kicking me out?” I asked incredulously. “But I did nothing wrong.”
The coldness left his eyes. “I know. If anyone is at fault, it’s me for being too distracted to realize you would draw certain attention. With everyone worked up from the fight, it would be safer for you if you left.”
I opened my mouth to ask what he meant by that, but someone collided with my back and threw their arms around my waist.
“Don’t ever do that to me again,” Violet shrilled. “My heart nearly stopped when you disappeared into that mess.”
I patted her hands, which were clasped tightly at my midsection. “I’m okay. Or I will be when you stop squeezing the life out of me.”
“Sorry!” She released me and came to stand beside me, where she let out a tiny gasp. I slanted a look at her to see her gaping at Lukas Rand and his friends with something akin to awe.
Kerr and Iian chose that moment to return to the group of faeries, which was getting far too crowded for my liking. I smiled at no one in particular as I grasped my friend’s elbow. “We’ll be leaving now. It’s been real.”
“But…but…” Violet sputtered as I started to pull her away.
I stopped suddenly and turned back to them. The closest one to me was Teg, and I thrust the hama into his hands. “Can you see that he gets back to his owner? Thanks.” Ignoring his shocked expression, I left, pulling Violet after me.
“But I don’t want to go,” she wailed as we passed a couple of elves nursing their bruised jaws.
Her protests fell on deaf ears, and the closer we got to the exit, the less fuss she made. I pushed open the door and drew in a deep breath of cold air, glad to be away from this place. If I was lucky, I’d never have to come back.
We were a dozen steps from the building when the door opened behind us. I looked over my shoulder and saw a dark-haired faerie step outside. I didn’t recognize him, but the intense way he looked at me made my skin crawl. I thought back to Teg’s comment about me drawing the wrong attention, and my stomach knotted in apprehension.
“Come on,” I said to Violet in a low voice, and we started toward the Jeep. The last thing we needed tonight was another unwanted faerie encounter.
I stifled a small scream when a tall figure suddenly appeared at my side. I relaxed slightly when I saw it was Lukas Rand’s wisecracking friend.
“What are you doing?” I asked him.
“Making sure you get home safely.”
“Yes, please,” Violet said eagerly.
“That’s not necessary. My car is parked just down the street.” I pointed at the Jeep less than ten car lengths away.
He nodded. “Then I will walk you to your vehicle.”
I eyed him suspiciously and resumed walking. “Why? What’s it to you if I get home safely or not?”
“Are you this distrusting of everyone or just faeries?”
“Mostly of strangers who follow me from bars.” I gave him a pointed look.
He laughed. “Fair enough. I’m Conlan, and to answer your question, I don’t get many opportunities to be chivalrous. Plus, I like anyone who can go toe-to-toe with Faolin.”
“I wouldn’t exactly call tossing a few insults going toe-to-toe.”
“Then you don’t know Faolin,” he said. “Men wet their pants when he gets that look in his eyes.”
“Good thing I’m not a man then.”
We stopped at the Jeep, and I unlocked the doors. Violet climbed in, but I paused with my hand on the handle and looked at Conlan. “Can I ask you something?”
He gave me a cocky little grin. “Is it my phone number?”
I couldn’t help but smile at him. “Teg and Korre both said something about me drawing attention to myself. Do you know what they were talking about?”
Conlan surprised me by reaching out to touch my ponytail. I pulled back, and he let my hair slip through his fingers.
“It’s your hair,” he said almost wistfully. “That is a particularly lovely shade of red.”
“Oh.” I almost slapped my head, feeling like al
l kinds of an idiot. There were no redheads in Faerie, just blonds and brunettes, so natural red hair was a desirable trait in humans. For the less than two percent of the earth’s population that were redheads, this was great news, and Scotland, for obvious reasons, boasted the largest faerie presence.
According to my mother, when humans found out this juicy bit, they flocked in droves to salons to get their hair dyed red. They soon discovered, to their dismay, that faeries preferred natural red hair and they could tell the difference.
I opened the driver’s door. “Thanks for answering my question.”
“It was my pleasure. A word of advice, though. Stay away from Teg’s. They can get some unsavory people here, and I can tell you don’t normally frequent such places.”
“Ha!” Violet called from the passenger seat. “You can say that again.”
Ignoring her, I climbed in and started the engine. I cracked the window to say goodbye to Conlan.
Violet leaned over the center console to bat her lashes at the handsome faerie. “Thanks for keeping us safe.”
His smile turned sensual. “Anytime, beautiful.”
“And we’re out of here.” I waved to Conlan and drove away.
Violet pouted. “But I like him.”
I shot her a sideways look. “Um, are you forgetting that you like girls?”
“I said I like him, not that I’d do him.” She sank back in her seat. “You’re no fun.”
“You always say that, yet you keep coming back.”
“True.”
Violet and I had met on our first day of kindergarten, and if there ever was a case for opposites attracting, it was us. I’d been the brainy, studious one, and she’d been outgoing and adventurous. In high school, I was the person other students had come to for tutoring, while Violet had run the drama club. I’d been class valedictorian; Violet had been prom queen. I dreamed of walking through an ivy-covered college campus with an armful of textbooks. Violet dreamed of a career on the big screen and walking the red carpet.
She opened the visor mirror and reapplied her lip gloss. “Tell me you at least got that hot faerie’s number?”
“No, of course not.” I pinned her with a hard stare. “You know that’s not why I came here tonight.”
She smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. Did you find out anything about your parents?”
“No.” A weight settled on my chest at the mention of them. I knew nothing more than I had when I left the apartment. At least, before I’d come here, I had hope of finding something to lead me to them. Now, I had nothing. I was back to square one, waiting on Levi Solomon and the bounty hunters to get off their butts and do something.
Violet’s soft voice broke the heavy silence. “It’s only been two days. They’ll come home.”
I nodded mutely, and my fingers gripped the steering wheel. I couldn’t bear to imagine what could have happened to keep them away this long, but I refused to believe the worst. Someone or something was preventing them from coming home, and I wouldn’t stop searching until I found them.
* * *
“Thanks, Bruce. Please, let me know if you find anything.”
I hung up the phone and looked at Finch, who sat on the desk, watching me with big sad eyes. He’d been depressed since I came home last night and told him I hadn’t found any leads at Teg’s. I desperately wanted to be able to give him some good news.
“Nothing yet,” I said, keeping my voice light. “Bruce is asking around, and he’s going to see Levi today.”
It was all I could do not to spit Levi’s name. My first call this morning had been to him, and he’d been delighted to tell me he had finally reported Mom and Dad missing to the Agency. Like I should be happy he’d done anything at all.
When I’d asked if he was going to look for them, he’d told me that wasn’t his job. The Agency would handle it from here. Before he’d ended the call, he had made sure to remind me to leave this to the professionals.
Helplessness and frustration threatened to smother me, and I got up to pace the small office. If I were the one missing, my parents would tear this city apart until they found me, and no one would dare tell them to let someone else handle it.
Now that our roles were reversed, all I could do was sit at home and make phone calls. I didn’t have their connections and knowledge of the city to go find them on my own, and none of their colleagues would tell me anything because I wasn’t in the business. What did I have to do to get these people to take this seriously?
My gaze slid over Dad’s neatly organized shelves of weapons and gear to the bookcase crammed with books on faeries and hunting. A frustrated sigh escaped my lips. I had everything a bounty hunter needed at my fingertips. If only I –
I spun and stared at the computer as if it held the secrets of the universe. It didn’t, but it did have something equally valuable to me. It contained all of Mom’s files and her detailed notes on every job she and Dad had done. It had city and state maps you wouldn’t find in any bookstore, lists of the places where they bought supplies, and every connection and contact they had. It was basically an encyclopedia of bounty hunting that had been accumulated over many years in the business, the kind of knowledge that could make a good bounty hunter great – and an average girl into a bounty hunter.
I smiled for the first time that day as I sat and logged into the computer. My heart sped up, and a thrill of excitement went through me when the reality of what I was contemplating hit me.
A sharp whistle interrupted my thoughts, and I looked at Finch, who was watching me with a confused expression.
Why are you happy? he signed.
My smile grew into a grin. “I’m happy because I have a plan.”
What? Hope lit his eyes.
“None of Mom and Dad’s work colleagues will tell me anything because I’m not one of them. So, I’m going to join the family business.”
Finch’s eyes widened. How?
“I still need to work out the details.” Such as how to get my first job. No bond agency was going to give a job to a novice hunter on her own, and you weren’t considered a real bounty hunter until you got your first job on the books.
Can I help? he asked.
“Of course. I can’t do it without my partner.” I thought for a moment. “You’ll manage home base while I’m out. And I’ll need help preparing for jobs. That is the most important part.”
Finch’s thin chest puffed out. I’m good at that. I helped Mom and Dad.
“I know. We are going to be such a badass team.” I put up a hand, and he gave me a high five – or a high four in his case since sprites had four digits on each hand.
I turned my attention back to the computer. Since no one would give me a job, that left me with only one option. I opened Mom’s spreadsheet and looked at the two jobs listed there. Immediately, I ruled out going after the goren dealer. I knew nothing of that world, and I’d have to be insane to try to take on a level Four on my own. The level Three wasn’t much better, but it was that or nothing.
I clicked on the job to open the details. The goblin had been active in the area for over a month, and based on several sightings, they suspected he was living in Prospect Park. Another team had already tried unsuccessfully to catch him before the job was handed off to my parents. In the job notes, I saw the words Lookout Hill. Mom and Dad must have thought the goblin’s burrow was in that part of the park. If they were right, that would narrow my search a lot and save me days of walking through the park.
I sat back in the chair, mentally reviewing everything I knew about goblins. They lived alone in burrows they dug between the roots of large trees. Notorious thieves, they couldn’t resist shiny, sparkly things, especially jewelry, and they were known to hoard the stuff.
I remembered a news story from a few years ago about a goblin burrow discovered under a massive oak tree in North Carolina that had come down in a storm. They’d found enough silver and gold to fill the back of a small pickup, everything from jewelry to flatw
are and serving dishes, to a silver urn, all items that had been reported stolen in the city over a ten-year period.
Goblins were so good at stealing and remaining at large because they were extremely fast and masters at blending into their surroundings. You could be staring right at one and not even know it. They weren’t dangerous unless they were cornered, which meant if I somehow managed to find this one, I needed to be prepared.
Filled with a new sense of purpose, I went to the bookcase and found the two books I’d read that contained the most information on goblins. I laid them on the desk, and Finch and I spent the next hour going through them for any mention of goblins. The books were worn from use and full of little slips of paper that Mom or Dad had tucked between the pages, containing their own notes on the subject matter. Touching something of theirs made me feel closer to them, despite the physical distance between us.
When I realized I’d gleaned all I could from the books, I closed them and stood. It was barely noon, which meant I had less than six hours of daylight left. Goblins were diurnal, so the only time I could hope to see him was before sunset.
I went through the gear, and with Finch’s help, I gathered the supplies I would need and placed them in my old school backpack. I donned one of my mother’s lined leather jackets because it was practical and warm, and wearing it gave me the little added boost of confidence I needed. Leaving Finch with a bowl of blackberries and a promise to try to be back by dark, I set out on my first job as a bounty hunter.
I quickly found a parking spot within walking distance of the park, and I hoped that was a sign this would be a lucky day for me. Pulling on my wool cap and gloves, I grabbed my backpack and got out.
It was a cold day, so I walked at a brisk pace as I went over my plan again. It was a simple one that I’d formulated with Finch’s help, and I worried I was overlooking something. Let’s face it; if goblins were easy to catch, they wouldn’t be a level Three, and that other team would have brought him in. Chances were I was going to fail spectacularly today, but I had to try.
Dad used to take me to Prospect Park all the time, so I knew exactly where Lookout Hill was, and I’d parked near the entrance closest to it. Despite the frigid temperature, it was a clear, sunny day, so there were a fair number of people in the park. I would have preferred to do this without an audience, but it wasn’t as if people weren’t used to bounty hunters doing their thing.