by Karen Lynch
I stopped and peeked around a corner. A thrill of excitement went through me, along with a healthy dose of terror, when I got my first look at a bunnek outside the pages of a book.
Standing at almost five feet tall, the bunnek resembled a blond, winged chimpanzee from behind – a very angry chimpanzee that was trying to climb through the broken window of a conference room.
The people in the room were using chairs to barricade the window as the bunnek snarled and swiped at them. One man cried out in pain when a claw raked his forearm, and the scent of blood seemed to excite the creature more.
I had to do something. The window was made up of three separate panes, and if the rest broke, there’d be no way the people inside could hold out against the bunnek.
As soon as the thought passed through my mind, I heard the crack of another window breaking. I did the only thing I could think of. I put my fingers to my lips and let out a sharp whistle.
The bunnek’s head swung in my direction, and my legs went a little rubbery when I stared into its milky white eyes. It growled, and my gaze lowered to the blood staining the fur around its mouth and across its chest.
I gulped.
The bunnek roared.
I ran.
As soon as I rounded the corner, I searched frantically for a place to hide. I had been an even bigger idiot than Trey, thinking I could catch that thing on my own. I’d be lucky if I lived long enough for the real bounty hunters to arrive and save my pathetic ass.
A whooshing sound came from behind me, and it took me a moment to realize it was the flap of wings.
I ran into the first cubicle I came to and dived under the desk. In the next instant, I heard the bunnek fly over me, growling savagely. I froze, not daring to breathe as it circled and came back around, trying to sniff me out. Not going to lie. I almost wet my pants when it hovered above me for a good ten seconds, and I was afraid to move for a whole minute after it flew away.
I crawled out from under the desk and crouched to listen. Hearing nothing, I tiptoed from the cubicle – and almost screamed when I found myself less than ten feet from the bunnek. It was facing away from me, so I backed up silently to make my escape.
My foot struck something, and I flailed my arms as I tripped backward over a potted plant. The bunnek roared as I scrambled to my feet and bolted.
I heard it take to the air again, and I ran in a zigzag pattern to evade it. At one point, I swear it got so close that I could feel its hot breath on the back of my neck.
There was no sign of Trey as I raced through the place like the hounds of hell were on my heels. He must have found a good spot to hide. For the first time in my life, I wished I was with him.
I thought I was a goner when I ran left instead of right and got cornered in the printer room. Spotting a door at the back, I yanked it open to find a supply closet. I ran inside and closed the door, panting hard.
The bunnek slammed into the door, making it rattle in the hinges. It wouldn’t hold for long. I looked around desperately for something to prop against the door, but all the shelves were bolted to the walls.
The door shuddered under another blow just as an idea came to me. I climbed to the top of the nearest shelving rack and pushed up on the ceiling tile. It lifted easily, and I shoved it aside to climb through onto one of the support beams. I put the tile back into place and crawled along the beam in the dark until I hit a wall.
I eased up a corner of a tile and peered down into a large office. Listening intently, I heard the bunnek crashing around farther away. From the noise, it sounded like it was thrashing the printers.
The crashing stopped abruptly, and I held my breath. If I stayed perfectly still, it wouldn’t find me. I just had to stay right where I was until backup arrived.
A chorus of screams cut through the air, raising gooseflesh on my arms. I’d forgotten about the people trapped in the conference room.
Before I could change my mind, I dropped down into the office below. I slipped out of the room and looked around, trying to figure out how to save those people without getting myself killed.
Maybe I could lure it away from the conference room and trap it somewhere. Only this time, I needed to be better prepared and have an escape route.
I glanced down at the gear I had on me, and a plan began to form. It was risky and more than a little crazy, but it might work if I timed it right.
More screams filled the air, spurring me into action. I made my way to the employee lunchroom I’d passed earlier and opened the refrigerator. It wasn’t quite noon yet, so the fridge was full of packed lunches. I emptied the fridge as quickly and quietly as I could and made a pile of food on the floor. Once I got its attention, the bunnek’s nose would lead it right to the food.
After all the food was laid out, I prepared the second part of my plan. My hands shook a little as I repositioned a table and some of the chairs, and my body felt like a wire pulled too tightly. There was so much adrenaline coursing through me that I was sure I wouldn’t be able to touch caffeine for a week.
I looked around to make sure everything was as ready as it could be. Taking a few deep breaths for courage, I stepped outside the lunchroom and yelled at the top of my lungs. “Dinner time.”
The second I heard the bunnek take flight, I raced back into the room and scurried up the tower of furniture I’d made in the corner. I was up in the ceiling and positioned above the pile of food by the time the bunnek came roaring into the room.
The beast tore into the food, completely oblivious to my presence. I eased the tile above it to one side and took out my bag of precious fey power. Deciding this was not the time to be frugal, I dumped the contents of the bag on the bunnek’s head and waited.
And waited.
It took a minute for the powder to have any effect on the bunnek, and it wasn’t exactly the result I’d hoped for. The creature’s movements slowed a little, but it went right on shoving food into its mouth as if nothing had changed.
On to plan B. I pulled the net free from my harness and spread it out. Here goes everything.
I released the net. It covered the bunnek, the edges of it hitting the floor with a soft thump. This time, the bunnek took notice, and it thrashed around, only managing to get more tangled in the netting. Before long, the iron did its job, draining the creature of its strength until it lay panting heavily on the floor.
I let out a silent whoop. I’d trapped the bunnek and stopped it from hurting anyone else. I didn’t need to do anything else but stay up here and wait.
But… I pursed my lips as I stared down at the bunnek. Why should I let someone else step in and reap the rewards of my hard work? I was the one who had put my life on the line. I should be the one to claim this capture.
I climbed down from the ceiling and turned around to find Trey standing over the bunnek. The creature glared and growled, but it was helpless under all that iron.
“What are you doing?” I demanded when Trey pulled out a length of rope.
He didn’t look up as he began to bind the bunnek with the rope. “I’m securing our capture.”
“The hell you are.” I stood over him. “You didn’t want to be partners, remember? And you hid away while I was out here trying not to get eaten.”
“I wasn’t hiding. I was biding my time, waiting for the right time to strike.”
“Meaning you waited until I did all the work,” I retorted. “You don’t get to jump in now and take credit for this one.”
He lifted the now subdued creature to its feet. “You owe me for that goblin job, and besides, no one is going to believe you caught a bunnek on your own.”
“I did catch it on my own,” I said through clenched teeth. “And like I told you, that goblin job was rightfully mine. I don’t owe you anything.”
“I disagree.” He smiled smugly. “Now, let’s get this fellow downstairs before someone comes to steal him from us.”
I shook my head in disgust and followed him out of the lunchroom. “This
is low, even for you, Trey.”
“No, it’s just the way things are done. If you don’t learn to play the game, you won’t survive long in this business.”
It was a short walk to the stairwell to grab our duffle bags and then continue on to the elevators. I shot daggers at Trey while we waited for the car to arrive.
He let out an exaggerated sigh. “Stop glaring at me. I told you that you need street smarts, not book smarts, to make it as a hunter. Think of this as on-the-job training.”
“Pretty expensive lesson, don’t you think?”
The elevator doors slid open, and we walked in. Trey hit the button for the first floor and turned to me. “It’s not like I’m taking all the bounty for myself. We’ll split it, fifty-fifty.”
“Wow. How generous of you?” I dropped my bag and leaned against the wall, suddenly tired.
Trey said something else, but I’d stopped listening to him. On a scale of one to ten, this day sucked an eleven. First, Agent Curry had accused my parents of being low-life drug dealers, and now Trey was stealing half the credit for my capture that I’d nearly gotten eaten for. On top of all of that, I’d missed out on having coffee with Violet.
We had descended several floors when I noticed the bunnek’s chest heaving as if its breathing was labored. One look at the creature’s wide eyes and panting mouth told me it was freaking out. Most faeries hated being inside a metal box, even one that wasn’t made of pure iron, but the bunnek looked like it was on the verge of a total meltdown.
Something niggled at me, and I focused on the memory that was trying to surface. Words on a page began to form. It had to do with bunneks…
Oh, no. The bunnek was drooling now, and its eyes were rolling around in its head.
I fell to my knees and started digging frantically through my duffle bag. Please, let me have packed it in here.
My fingers closed around a nylon strap. I yanked it from the bag so hard the small gas mask attached to it almost whacked me in the face.
“What are you doing?” Trey asked as I fitted the mask over my mouth and nose.
A low rumbling filled the elevator. It grew louder and ended in what sounded like a small explosion that echoed off the metal walls.
Trey slapped his hands over his mouth and nose, trying futilely to block out the noxious fumes that must be filling every inch of the enclosed space. He sagged against the walls until his legs gave out, and he sank to the floor, gagging.
I could have shared my mask with him, but I didn’t. The gas might be fouler than a skunk’s spray, but it wouldn’t harm Trey. It would, however, teach him a very valuable lesson.
“Bunneks pass gas when they’re frightened, and nothing scares them more than enclosed spaces. You’d know that if you’d read a book every now and then.” Leaning down, I smiled sweetly at him even though he couldn’t see it through the mask. “Think of this as on-the-job training.”
He tried to speak, but it ended in a fit of coughing.
I hefted my duffle bag on my shoulder and picked up the end of the rope Trey had dropped. The elevator stopped on the ground floor, and the doors slid open to reveal half a dozen police officers and two bounty hunters I recognized from the Plaza. Their expressions of surprise turned to grimaces, and they backed up when they got a whiff of the smell that flowed from the car.
“I guess being book smart isn’t such a bad thing after all,” I said so only Trey could hear me. Then I walked out of the elevator with my capture in tow.
* * *
“Are you sure you should be doing this?” Tennin asked as he slid a slip of paper across his desk toward me. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m seriously impressed by how far you’ve come since our first meeting, but tracking down a goren dealer is not your average job. There’s a reason it was given to your parents and not some other bounty hunter.”
I picked up the paper and read the name and address written on it. “I’m not sure of anything anymore, but it’s all I have to go on. The Agency has already made up their mind that my parents are working with the dealer, and the only way I can clear their names is to find him.”
Tennin leaned back in his chair. “I admire your tenacity, but be careful of whose toes you step on in your search. The Agency doesn’t take lightly to anyone getting in their way or making them look bad.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” The last thing I wanted was trouble with the Agency, but if that’s what it took to find my parents, then I’d risk it.
“I have to say I’m curious to see where you go from here. You are definitely Caroline’s daughter.”
“Thanks.” I tucked the paper into a pocket for safekeeping. “How does a Fae paparazzo become a confidential informant to a bounty hunter?”
The faerie snickered. “That’s between me and your parents. Let’s just say I was a little too eager to prove myself when I started in this business, and I landed in a tight spot one night. If not for your father, I wouldn’t be here now.”
“I can see why you’d keep your arrangement a secret. Other faeries probably wouldn’t like you helping out the bounty hunters.”
Tennin nodded. “Most of the faeries I associate with don’t care, but there are some others who would not be happy.”
“Your secret is safe with me.” I looked over his head at the new photos that had been added to his wall since my last visit. “Your pictures of Prince Rhys caused quite a stir.”
His chest puffed out a little. “That they did. You’ve been following the story?”
“Hard not to. The pictures are everywhere. Is it true the network is suing you over them?”
“They’re throwing their weight around, but my lawyer says they don’t have a case.” He grinned slyly. “If I go a month without someone taking offense, I’m not doing my job right.”
My gaze traveled over the collage of photos on the walls. Some were of human celebrities, but most of the pictures had royals in them. “Do the royals ever get angry at you for following them around and taking their pictures?”
“Are you kidding? They love being in the spotlight. If they didn’t, they would stay in Faerie.”
“I guess that’s true.” There were royals we’d only heard about, who never left Faerie. The Seelie queen and Unseelie king were two of those. And since technology didn’t work in Faerie, there wasn’t a single photo of them or any other royal who chose to stay in their realm. Hence the feeding frenzy over Tennin’s pictures of the new prince.
I’d never cared much about celebrity gossip, but I’d always been interested in the Faerie realm. Faeries were closemouthed about some things, such as the inner workings of their courts. I’d read all I could find on the subject, so I knew the realm was divided into two regions – Seelie, known as Light Fae, and Unseelie, known as Dark Fae – each with their own court.
Each court was ruled by a single monarch, and the monarch’s life mate was called their consort. The current Seelie monarch was Queen Anwyn, and the Unseelie monarch was King Oseron.
Since Court faeries were immortal, a monarch could rule indefinitely – unless they stepped down or were killed. It was said that Oseron had been king for over a thousand years, while Anwyn was a young queen with less than two hundred years on the throne.
There wasn’t much information available about Faerie politics, except that the two courts were constantly jostling for power. The faeries of the two courts might get along here, but back in their realm, they would be considered enemies. I suspected that was why so many of them chose to live here.
I studied a picture of the new Seelie prince. “Can I ask what court you’re from?”
My question surprised Tennin. “I’m Unseelie. Most humans don’t know or care much about our politics. You do?”
“I know a little.” I voiced another question I’d always wondered about. “Can you tell if another faerie is Seelie or Unseelie?”
Tennin quirked an eyebrow in amusement. “You’re full of questions tonight.”
“I have an unquencha
ble thirst for knowledge.”
He laughed. “Yes, we can. And before you ask, we normally only fraternize with others from our court, except for public events where everyone puts on a smile and pretends to be civil.”
I thought about the other Court faeries I’d met recently. “What about Orend Teg and Lukas Rand? Are they Seelie or Unseelie?”
Tennin’s easy smile fell away. “How do you know Lukas Rand?”
I was taken aback by his sharp tone. “I don’t. He and his friends were at Teg’s the night I went there. I got the impression he was someone important.”
“You could say that. He’s not someone you want to mess with.”
“Is he dangerous?”
“Yes. And his men are even more lethal. They’ll think nothing of killing anyone they believe is a threat to him.”
My stomach gave a nervous flutter. “Are they criminals?”
“No, but that doesn’t make them any less dangerous,” Tennin said soberly. “Let’s just say Lukas Rand is very powerful in our realm.”
“So, he’s Unseelie?”
“Yes. And that’s all I will say about him. Heed my advice, and stay far away from him and his men.”
“It’s not like I went looking for him. He isn’t someone I’d ever choose to be around. He’s too…intense for my liking.”
“Good. If you see him or his men again, remember what I said and walk the other way.”
“I will.” I shivered at his words, though his unwillingness to discuss Lukas only made me more curious about the other faerie. But not curious enough to ignore Tennin’s warning to stay away from him. All I cared about was finding my parents, and unless Lukas Rand could somehow help me with that, I didn’t have the time or the energy for him.
Tennin was heading out for the night, so I thanked him for his help and left. He lived in a nice area, but I was wary after my run-in with the two elves. I kept one hand on the fully-charged stun gun in my pocket as I walked to the Jeep one street over.
My phone buzzed, and I stopped to check it. It was a text from Violet asking if I wanted to do coffee in the morning. Definitely. My place at 9? I texted back.