The Haunted Hero: an adult urban fantasy (The Aria Fae Series Book 4)

by H. D. Gordon

  My head tilted as I honed in on their conversation, using my superior hearing to filter out the pounding of the dance music that vibrated through the place.

  The tall blond nodded, her glossy lips twisting to make the face all female kind reserved for particularly unsavory suitors. “Ew,” she said. “Yes, I saw. He looked totally rape-y.”

  The redhead laughed at this distasteful joke, but in the nervous way that said part of the humor was from true unease.

  “Look,” said the redhead. “Now he’s over there torturing those girls.” She nodded toward the direction she was indicating, her teeth bared a bit behind her lips.

  “As long as it’s not us,” replied the blond.

  They shared another laugh as the line inched forward. From across the bar, I followed the direction of redhead’s nod and pinpointed the subject of their conjecture. The man to whom they were referring was of average height with dark hair and even darker eyes. He wore jeans with an oversized football jersey and big chunky tennis shoes. His cheekbones were sharp and his lips too full and too pink. As I watched him talk to the ladies across the way, he licked those big lips several times and leaned in close enough to make the females uncomfortable—and I didn’t need to read their auras to determine this. They sported the same looks as the two chicks in line in front of me.

  I knew people well enough to know that physical looks were often deceiving, and so I reviewed the man’s aura instead. There was some obvious darkness there, but whether or not it was enough to make him a potential serial killer was difficult to determine. Most cognitive living things carry some darkness, and all of them carry secrets.

  “That one you were talking to out on the balcony was cute though,” said the blond, drawing my attention back to them. We were almost inside the restroom now, only two people in front of them.

  The redhead grinned. “He was, wasn’t he? And charming, too.”

  Blondie nodded, waggling her brows. “And he said he was a dentist. That’s, like, almost a doctor. That’s hot.”

  Redhead laughed. “He might’ve been lying. He looked really young to be a dentist.”

  Before they could continue the conversation one of the toilet stalls opened up and the two of them disappeared inside together. I tried not to judge, but I thought this was strange because I didn’t like to pee with an audience, though it must be normal behavior for females at bars and clubs because I watched other girlfriends doing the same. Shrugging mentally, I went into the stall beside Redhead and Blondie and handled my business while they continued their talk.

  “Pretty sure dentists make good money,” said Blondie from the other side of the stall. “Might want to get his number before we leave.”

  I washed my hands and fixed my hair a little in the mirror. Then, I slipped out of the crowded loo to go meet this charming dentist for myself. Dentists, after all, needed very steady hands. And very steady hands were capable of making very clean cuts.

  ***

  Now there was an aura to write home about. Having extended the feelers I usually kept close to protect myself, it was easy to pick up on Charming Dentist’s energy. In fact, it hit me as soon as I stepped out onto the upper deck.

  What struck me second was how handsome he was. Good looking in an all-America, you-can-trust-me-because-I-love-my-mom kind of way. He had light hair and blue eyes, a kind, open face and the build of an athlete. His smile seemed ever-present and contagious, all those around him laughing to something particularly witty that he must have just said.

  And his aura was as dark and oily as any I’d ever seen, almost disturbed enough to resemble a different species, but stamped with certain human trademarks that I recognized easily.

  This was the guy. I knew it without a doubt. There were terrible secrets hiding behind that charming smile, a predator cloaked as a sheep.

  The balcony we were sharing was less populated than the inside and the deck below, being the upper level of the bar and playing slightly less assaulting music. It overlooked the bay, the sweet sea breeze providing a nice escape from the smells of bodies and alcohol. There were maybe forty or fifty people out here, some leaning over the railing and admiring the reflection of the heavens on the water, others standing in groups or sitting at tables and laughing it up as they chugged down beverages.

  “I see him,” I mumbled as I wandered over to the railing, cutting some of the distance between the dentist and I.

  “How do you know he’s our guy?” Sam asked, her presence immediate in my ear.

  From the corner of my eye, I studied the target’s aura again, and goosebumps broke out over my arms and back. “I’m pretty sure,” I whispered.

  Over the earpiece, I heard Sam swallow. “Be careful, Aria.”

  “Don’t worry,” I told her, though it would be a lie to say there wasn’t a knot forming in my stomach as well, an offset of nerves that involuntarily reacted to the disturbed sight of that aura.

  I swallowed past this and set to work on being noticed by the man I was positive was the Seaside Surgeon. It was not an easy task, despite my display of skin, luxurious hair, and come-hither makeup. He was, after all, just as Redhead had described; handsome and charming and surrounded by admirers.

  If only they knew…

  The next few minutes I spent trying to figure out how to lure him away, but my opportunity came more organically than I could have hoped. He glanced my way… then did a double take, my main of reddish-brown hair surely catching his eyes. As he did this, I summoned my inner Raven and tipped him a wink and a smile that hopefully didn’t look as ridiculous as it felt.

  My heart stuttered as I watched the disturbed aura that surrounded him like a cloud flash with interest. Three minutes later, he approached me with a drink in hand. He smiled and held out the extra drink he was carrying, clearly having bought it for me.

  I took it and returned the gesture, though smiling at him felt all kinds of wrong. “Thank you,” I said.

  “You’re welcome.” He held out his hand. “I’m Carter. It’s nice to meet you…?”

  “Fae,” I answered, not entirely sure why I thought my last name would be more incognito than my first name, but I chalked it up to nerves. If my instincts were right, the man standing before me had sliced up half a dozen young women in his spare time. Surely that was enough to make anyone nervous.

  “That’s a pretty name,” he said, his tone convincing despite it all.

  I pretended to sip from the beer he’d handed me, considering that there could be something more potent than alcohol floating around in there. “Thank you again,” I said, smiling.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you here before,” he said, his light blue eyes roaming over me. “No, I definitely haven’t.” He glanced around. “Did you come alone?”

  I feigned a slightly distressed face. “Actually, I’m here with a couple friends, but I haven’t seen them for like twenty minutes.”

  Carter flashed a grin of perfectly straight teeth. “Ah, well, they couldn’t have gone far. Would you like help finding them?”

  I flashed my own pretty smile. “As a matter of fact, I would.”

  CHAPTER 7

  I giggled, the act deserving of an Oscar. “I don’t think they came out here,” I said, feigning a small stumble. When Carter hadn’t been watching, I’d poured out most of the beer he’d given me in the bushes, and now I was doing my best unaware-buzzed-young-lady act.

  “They weren’t inside,” he said, smirking as if I were being foolish and taking hold of my arm to steady me. “We checked both levels and the decks. They might have come this way because there’s this spot just over here where you can get a view of the bay that’s breath-taking.”

  “I’m feeling a little dizzy,” I said, rubbing at my forehead.

  “Well, then, the ocean breeze is just what you need. Trust me.”

  Not on my life.

  I giggled again, even though it felt a little like a piece of my soul was dying every time I did. “Okay,” I s
aid, “but you better not be taking me somewhere to kill me.”

  Under his carefully pressed Polo shirt, I saw Carter tense a fraction, but when he heard me laugh at this half-joke, he smiled that deceiving grin.

  “What a thing to say, Fae,” he said, pressing a hand over his heart as though I’d wounded him.”

  “Yeah, what a thing to say, Fae,” Sam mocked in my ear, and I caught myself just before muttering for her to shut up.

  Carter and I had exited out the back of Izzy’s, and with every step, he led me further and further away from the concentration of people. His grip on my arm was firm and confident, the look on his face reassuring, and it occurred to me that this was likely one of the last things his victims had been aware of, one of the final moments before they met their ends.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “It’s a surprise,” Carter answered. “I promise, you’re gonna love it.”

  I had him just where I wanted him, but to keep up the ruse, I pulled to a stop. “I don’t think my friends came out here, and they’ll be worried about me… Maybe we should head back.”

  Something flashed behind Carter’s baby blues that made every hair on my body stand on end, as if for just a moment a devil had replaced the All-American Prince Charming before me.

  “Relax, sweetheart,” he told me in a soothing voice. “I’ve got you.”

  I pretended to stand on a line of indecision for just a moment, then forced a smile to my face and nodded. “Okay, you’re right. I’m being paranoid.”

  Carter tipped me a wink that made my skin crawl. “You’re a smart girl. Come on, you’re gonna love this.”

  He continued pulling me toward the water, never releasing his hold on my arm. When we were nearing the docks, he spread a hand, gesturing toward where the moonlight reflected off the water. He wasn’t wrong about the vantage point; from right here, the lights of Grant City could be seen in the distance, the shoreline dotted with the glow of the boardwalk and buildings.

  “You were right,” I said. “Lovely.”

  As I was saying these words, I saw a flash of something silver appear in Carter’s hand as if by magic, and realized only as I turned and knocked it from his grasp that it was a syringe.

  My speed and quick reflex clearly surprised him, and for a moment he could only look confusedly from me to the syringe now lying on the concrete. I used this stunned silence to scoop up the syringe and hold it up under the moonlight.

  “What’s this?” I asked, dropping the intoxicated act like a bad habit. “You were totally going to inject me with this, weren’t you?”

  Without a word, Carter the dentist’s eyes widened, and he took off like a shot. I almost laughed, letting him get a few steps away before slipping one of the terrible heels off my foot and launching it at the back of his head. It whipped through the air and hit the desired target with a thud, eliciting a cry of pain and causing him to trip.

  He hit the pavement with an oomph! When he tried to get up, I held him in place with the same foot, having removed both the blasted heels and not giving one crap.

  “Dude,” I said. “I wasn’t done talking to you. Don’t just run off like a crazy person.”

  “Who the hell are you?” Carter spat, and his nice-guy routine was as gone as the wind. That devil he always kept hidden glared out at me from behind his blue eyes, the mask he wore shed completely.

  I leaned down so that he could get a look at me. “Not a victim,” I answered. “What’s in this syringe? I bet it’s an anesthesia. Am I right?”

  “I want my lawyer,” Carter said, struggling against my hold. “I demand to see my lawyer.”

  Now I did laugh. “I’m not a cop, dipstick, so you’ve got no rights here.”

  I knew he was going to scream before he did, so I tore his shoe off along with his sock and stuffed it in his mouth with an impressive efficiency. He tried to rip it out but I slapped his hands away hard, making him grimace. His face screwed up and that devil stared back at me with angry eyes.

  “Right, then,” I said, crouching down beside my captive. I glanced around to make sure we were still alone. “I’m going to ask you a question, and you’re going to answer. Are you the Seaside Surgeon?”

  Carter said nothing, but his aura told me everything I needed to know. I spoke into the communication device tucked into the front of my dress. “Tell Night Rider the package is ready to be picked up,” I said. “This is definitely the guy.”

  I stood, dusting my hands on the dress with a job well done. I only had time to pick up on the rapid heartbeat and panted breaths from somewhere behind me before the report of a gunshot tore through the night.

  Searing pain followed immediately after.

  ***

  I’d shifted. It was all there’d been time to do. If I hadn’t, the bullet would have lodged somewhere in my chest and been a good deal more dangerous. As it was, it tore through the top of my shoulder, causing an explosion of pain that ripped a cry out of me.

  In my earpiece, Sam shrieked.

  My training allowed me to concentrate through the haze that tried to descend over me, and I used my aura detector to single out the source of the gunshot in the darkness. Sure enough, twenty feet away, tucked behind a dumpster, was a bright fuchsia aura belonging to a female.

  “Should’ve left me alone, bitch,” Carter spat.

  He was climbing to his feet, but I used the arm without the bullet in it to punch him hard across the jaw, putting a good portion of my Halfling strength into the blow. Brian hit the pavement like a sack of bricks, knocked out cold.

  Then I could focus on the real threat, which was retreating like a frightened doe. Sweat had broken out over my brow, and warm, wet blood was running down my arm to drip on the concrete.

  “Oh, no you don’t,” I growled, taking off after the culprit.

  “Aria! Are you okay?” Sam all but screamed in my ear.

  “Yes,” I said, the words an effort while continuing my pursuit. “I’ll live, love. Don’t worry.”

  My eyes were drawn skyward as a unique flash of spirit soared through the air and landed somewhere ahead of me. I paused in pursuit, knowing that Remy was already on the gunman, and because I was starting to feel lightheaded from the loss of blood.

  With a few deep breaths, I returned to the still unconscious Carter and stood watch while the Night Rider finished the job.

  Twenty minutes later, both Carter and the gunwoman were stowed away in the county jail, and I was sitting on the couch in the living room of the beach house trying not to wince as Sam poured antiseptic over my wound and plugged it up with gauze to staunch the bleeding.

  “Nice work, Halfling,” Remy said, nodding at me appreciatively. “I must admit, I had my doubts.”

  “I didn’t hear any doubts when you suggested Aria be bait,” mumbled Sam, pushing hard on the hole in my shoulder and making me grit my teeth. “You should have told us the Surgeon had a sidekick.”

  Remy held up his hands. “If I’d known I would have, but what are the odds? Most serial killers work alone. There was no way to know that this guy had a crazy female counterpart who was trigger happy.” Remy looked at me then, and I saw real regret in his aura. “I am sorry you got shot, though.”

  “Yeah, but because you did, this guy can’t go cutting up any more women,” Raven offered, and I sat in silence as I realized this was likely the nicest, most positive thing I’d ever heard the Succubus say.

  Clearly I wasn’t the only one, and the look on our faces must have said it, because Raven scoffed. “What?” she said. “I can be nice sometimes… even though you totally ruined my dress.”

  “Right,” Sam said. “Well, I’ve plugged up the wound, but the bullet is still in there, and you might want to go see the doctor.”

  “Nonsense,” Remy said, and grinned widely at me. “I can take the bullet out. Just grab a bottle of liquor and something to bite down on.”

  “Um, no thanks,” I said. “I’m definitely a bada
ss, but I’ll take the doc over the too-eager demi-God any day.” I stood and felt a fresh jolt of pain in my shoulder. “Just let me change, and then, can I get a ride back to Grant City?”

  Remy nodded. “Of course. Least I can do. You’ve got a doctor there?”

  “Yes. She’s the sister of a… friend. She knows who I am and I trust her.”

  “Useful ‘friend’,” Remy replied, smirking in a way that I was starting to recognize as characteristic of him.

  Sam wandered over to the kitchen sink to wash my blood from her hands, but she gave Remy a nudge with her shoulder as she brushed by him. “You better not drop her or something, Night Rider,” Sam said.

  To this, Remy held up his hands and grinned, showing all of his white teeth. “I wouldn’t dare,” he told her, and looked at me. “I like her. Now, you ready to fly?”

  I slipped the black dress off under the large t-shirt I’d donned and pulled on some cotton shorts. “I was born ready, dude,” I said, and off we went.

  Out on the porch, I wrapped my arms around Remy, and he did the same. Despite being a rather intimate position, holding onto him was not like when I held onto Thomas. When he shot up toward the sky like a rocket, my stomach leapt up to my throat and I squeezed my eyes shut against it. Soon, however, I was opening my eyes again and marveling at the scenery.

  As we flew through the night, I held tight to Remy and let myself take in the sensation I’d never known as a Fae Halfling. I’d watched my mother soar through the trees many times as a child, her magnificent wings lifting her to the heavens while I stared up from above. One of my fondest wishes had always been to be able to do the same.

  Remy didn’t have wings, his ability to fly not dependent on them, but the motion and the sensation were the same. When we landed at Grant City Regional hospital a short fifteen minutes later, I’d all but forgotten that there was a piece of lead still lodged in my shoulder.

  We touched down near the private entrance where Dr. Rosemary Reid had told me to find her when I was in need of her services, and I held up a hand to Remy when he started to follow me in. “If you come,” I warned, “she’s gonna ask questions.”