by Roxie Ray
Sammy sighed and sat in my desk chair. I would’ve sworn I saw her roll her eyes, but she turned away too fast. “And what happened to the earth pixies?” she asked.
“They’re long gone. But I made a pact with your bloodline to protect each other’s descendants if this ever happened.” He floated to the floor, then walked closer, holding out a hand. “That necklace really did a number on you.”
“What about the shield?” Sammy asked. “At her apartment.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Am I in danger?”
Vlad shook his head. “No, it was just a precaution. We’ve shielded you all your life.”
“What?” I asked. My stomach churned. “You’ve been watching me all of my life?”
He nodded. “We have.”
“Why did you leave me with my parents?” I asked as tears filled my eyes. “Why didn’t you save me from them?”
Vlad’s face softened, and sadness filled his eyes. “There was only so much power we could inject into human affairs. We kept them from physically hurting you, but that was all we were allowed to do. Magic has a price. Protection spells take a lot of magic.”
“So, she’s safe?” Sammy asked.
“As safe as she’s ever been.” He turned his gaze back to me. “I’m glad I was able to meet you at long last. Your troupe were lovely pixies, and it pains me that they are no longer around.” His smile lit up his face and the rainbow in his skin intensified. “They would’ve loved you.”
He tipped his hat and disappeared in a shower of glitter.
“How is this possible? How did a pixie, small like him, have a baby that grew up big like me?”
“Pixies can take human form to procreate with humans, but they outlawed the practice long ago. Which is why you having enough pixie blood to be recognizable is a conundrum.” She pursed her lips. “Someone had a fling when they were not supposed to. It’s the only explanation.”
I wasn’t in any danger. As long as I didn’t put the necklace back on, I wasn’t going to pop any more pixie wings.
That meant Porter and I needed to finish our conversation. Breathing deep, I looked at Sammy. “Thank you. Thank you for helping me.”
Sammy saluted me with a wink and disappeared.
“We have an argument to finish, now that I’m not in danger of turning into a brownie or sprite or something.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said in a low voice and pulled his arm away from my shoulders. “I just want you to end the show.”
He looked exhausted, and sounded it too, but so was I. I didn’t want to fight, but there was no way in hell I was ending my show before I decided I was ready.
“I think we need a few days apart,” I said. “I’m going to go back to my apartment.” He didn’t stop me when I walked out of the office and went upstairs. The last thing I needed to pack was my laptop, but it was back in the office. Fuck it. I’d come to get it later.
With one hand on the front door, I waited to see if he’d stop me.
He didn’t.
Tears coursed down my cheeks as I drove myself to town and my apartment. My heart ached, knowing my job was more important to Porter than my love. He was willing to risk it all.
I piled my bags on my shoulders and traipsed up the stairs, ready to get into a superhot bubble bath and cry my heartache out.
As distracted as I was, I didn’t notice that my apartment door was cracked open until I was about to put the key in the doorknob. Shit. I tried to back away slowly, holding my breath, but the door jerked open and a hand reached out to yank me inside.
I screamed, but KayleeFan slammed the door shut behind me. All the soundproofing I’d done on the apartment so that the deli downstairs didn’t hear my moans meant they’d never hear me scream either.
“You’re going to give a special performance for your followers,” he said. His eyes were wide and crazed. He’d lost it. “And I’m going to be your co-star.”
Anger coursed through me. “I’m not going to do shit with you,” I snarled. If I could get to my bag, I could get that necklace out. Who knew what kind of magic I’d be able to do with it on?
But then KayleeFan pulled a gun from behind his back and pointed it straight at me. “Do as you’re told. Set up the cameras. Get ready to put on a show.”
22
Porter
We needed time to cool off. Both of us. No argument was ever one person’s fault. I wasn’t cocky enough to think this was all Kaylee’s fault. But it also wasn’t all mine. It wasn’t unreasonable of me to ask her to end this line of career. She’d already admitted that this wasn’t what she wanted to do with the rest of her life anyway.
I tried to get busy doing some laundry, but my mind kept drifting. What could I have said better, different?
As I folded towels in the beautiful new laundry room, my phone dinged.
After pulling my phone out and glancing at it, I was shocked to see a message from Kaylee’s channel saying she was about to do a surprise stream for her VIP followers. I’d set it to notify me if Kaylee was live streaming.
She left me to put on a show? I couldn’t believe she’d be that petty. Turning my phone over, I tried to calm down and ignore the blood boiling that she’d do something like this just to spite me. I wouldn’t have thought this of her.
The phone dinged again, and I couldn’t resist picking it up to see what else her notifications said.
This one said she was bringing in a special guest.
What? I clicked the link this time. Something was off. She’d never done a video with another person.
When the website opened, Kaylee was already live. She hadn’t started doing anything yet, in fact, she still wore the clothes she’d had on here.
But then a man came into view, and he had a gun pointed at her. “This live is going to be very special. You’re going to see Kaylee give me some head. Then I’m going to fuck her senseless.”
No. It was the fan, the one from the restaurant. And Kaylee looked terrified.
Clicking off the stream, I dialed Sammy’s number as I ran flat out for the garage. By the time she answered, I was in my car waiting for the garage door to open enough to peel out.
“Sammy!” I yelled.
“Yes, what?”
“Get to Kaylee’s. She’s got a crazed fan there about to rape her.”
“On it.” She disconnected the call and left me with my dragon ready to burst through my skin. My fingertips turned to claws in front of my face. That had never happened before.
I drove fast, breaking all kinds of laws, burning through stop signs, and barely held my dragon in check. Shifting inside the SUV would hurt.
My phone rang as I turned onto the far end of Main Street. Luckily, I was able to answer it with my voice thanks to the car’s system. My claws wouldn’t have been very effective in trying to press the phone’s touchscreen. “Answer call,” I yelled.
“It’s me,” Sammy said. “She’s safe. Don’t kill yourself getting here.”
“I’ll be there soon.” Sammy disconnected and I lowered my speed to just about ten over the limit. Getting pulled over right now would’ve delayed me even further and made more drama.
Still, I turned into Kaylee’s parking lot nearly on two wheels and took off running, barely remembering to put it in park, much less turn it off or shut my door.
I took the stairs three at a time and burst into the room to find Kaylee on her bed with her arms wrapped around her knees while Sammy stood in the middle of the room. The asshole fan was plastered to the far wall with his arms and legs spread. The room itched with magic.
“I figured you’d want to deal with him,” Sammy said.
“You’re amazing,” I told her. “I owe you one.”
Rushing to Kaylee’s side, I bent over her on the bed and cupped her cheeks in my hands. “Are you okay?” She was the most important thing. Killing that bastard could wait.
“I’m fine. Sammy got here in time. I’m so embarrassed. Everyone s
aw it.” She looked up at me with wide, tear-filled eyes. “You came.”
I pulled my mate into my arms and thanked my lucky stars for Sammy. It took me ten minutes to get here. He would’ve been able to do a lot to her in that time. “Thank you,” I mouthed at her.
She winked and disappeared.
Time began again and the thick magic in the air dissipated. The stalker slid down the wall and staggered to his feet. “What the fuck was that?” he yelled. “One second we were in here, the next I’m on the wall with this dude.”
He was disoriented, which was all I needed to cross the room and yank the gun from the man’s hand. “What’s your name?” I growled. “I want to know a man’s name before I kill him.”
“Max,” he gasped as he rubbed his hand. I must’ve hurt him when I snatched the gun.
Opening the barrel, I let the bullets fall to the floor, then threw the revolver across the room.
Then, I proceeded to teach Max a lesson in manners. It didn’t take long for my punches to render him unconscious.
“Porter!” Kaylee said sharply. “Don’t kill him. It’s too hard to cover up.”
I pulled my fist back in time. If I hit him one more time, I couldn’t be sure that it wouldn’t have been enough to knock him out for good.
Backing away, I pulled myself together and calmed my breathing. Kaylee handed me a wet towel. “Wipe the blood from your hands,” she whispered.
As soon as my hands were clean, I pulled her into my arms again as she called 911.
As soon as she cut off the call, she pulled out of my arms and walked toward Max. The next thing I knew, Kaylee was kicking him in the balls over and over.
I winced but let her get on with it. With any luck, he’d never be able to do this to someone else, even if he got out of jail.
But he wouldn’t. I’d make sure of that, and if I didn’t, her grandfather would.
Kaylee kicked out her anger and returned to me, snuggling into my arms again. “You were right,” she whispered.
“It’s the first time I wish I wasn’t.” Squeezing her, I sighed. “I really, really wish I’d been wrong.”
The police didn’t take long. A few minutes later, we were giving statements and watching them haul Max off to the hospital.
“Yeah,” one of the officers said. “You see this kind of thing a lot with sex workers. I used to work in Chicago, and it was an every night call.”
“Excuse me,” I said. “The lady isn’t a sex worker. She’s an entertainer. And even if she were a sex worker, that doesn’t excuse you belittling her or using terms that could be considered derogatory.”
The officer stammered. “I’m sorry,” he said. At least he had the decency to look ashamed.
“Shove your apology up your ass,” Kaylee said.
I couldn’t help but chuckle. She didn’t need me to school anyone about how to talk to her. She was not going to be shaken by this. I was so proud of my girl. I couldn’t wait to tell her how much I admired her.
Once the police left, after asking us not to leave town, Kaylee turned to me. “I don’t want to be here,” she said. “Take me home, please.”
I didn’t question it or ask her what it meant for our future. After what she’d been through, she could have or do anything she wanted. I got her in the car and as I walked around to the driver’s seat, I texted Sammy and asked her to explain to Bri and Skye and see if they’d take Kaylee’s car to my place.
She replied with a thumbs-up.
When we pulled into our driveway and I pressed the button to open the garage, I burst out laughing.
Her car was already in the garage. “How?” she asked.
“Sammy,” I said simply. “How else?”
We both stared at her car for a moment after we pulled in. “I swear,” she said. “Not much in this world scares me. I was scared today. But Sammy scares the shit out of me.”
I laughed harder. “Me too. For sure.”
After helping Kaylee inside and discovering the bags she’d taken out of here earlier sitting neatly on the kitchen island, I turned to her. “What do you need?”
She sighed. “A bath.” She didn’t wait for me to respond, just shuffled past me and toward the back set of stairs.
I couldn’t stand to be away from her, but I also didn’t want to suffocate her. I compromised by sitting on the bed just outside our bathroom door and played a match game on my phone.
She was in there a long time, and I began to get antsy. After an hour, I tapped on the door. “Kaylee?”
No answer.
I tapped again. “Can I come in?”
Nothing. Shit. I tuned in to my dragon hearing, which I’d been trying to not use for her privacy, and heard sobs. “I’m coming in!”
The door wasn’t locked, and I found Kaylee wrapped in my robe on the bathmat on the floor, curled up in a ball, bawling. “Oh, Kaylee.” Dropping to the floor beside her, I pulled her into my lap and held her tight. “It’s okay.”
“I always thought I was strong,” she said as she tried to control her tears. “I’ve never been more scared in my life. I don’t want to go through anything like that again.”
“We can get you bodyguards. And a sophisticated security system. Whatever it takes.”
She shook her head. “That’s not the life I want. I don’t want to feel smothered by being guarded. I want to be free.” After wiping her tears, she looked up at me. “I know what I have to do.”
“What?” I whispered.
“I’m going to shut down my channel. I want to do one last stream and say goodbye. Will you sit with me?”
“Of course. Whatever you need.”
She went to the vanity and touched up her makeup, then walked hand in hand with me downstairs to the office, where she turned on all the lights in place of her studio lighting and went live. I sat just off camera and tried to look supportive. With my luck, I probably just looked constipated.
She apologized to the viewers. “Tonight, one of my fans found my home and tried to force me to do a live stream with him. I was rescued just in time, and he’s in jail now, but I’m shaken. I’m going to be shutting down my channel. I wanted to come on and thank you, all of you, who have helped me, supported me, and helped me realize my dreams with your gifts and generosity. Never forget how much I appreciate you all.”
She shut off the live and the comments started coming in. I read them to her, afraid someone might say something mean and it would hurt her feelings in this vulnerable state.
They were all supportive, though. They all understood and said they’d miss her. Several asked her to come back when she’d had time to recover.
Hopefully, once she recovered, she decided to edit full-time, but if she wanted to come back to this, I'd find a way to be supportive.
Gifts began coming through. Every time one dinged, Kaylee cried a little more. “Most of them are so sweet,” she said. “But I can’t let something like that happen again.”
It was clear there were a lot of people who cared about her, even if it was only through a screen. “Come on,” she said. “I’ll deactivate it when the funds are completely transferred.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. “You could just take some time off.”
She stared down at the laptop she’d just closed. “I’m sure. It’s time.”
23
Kaylee
My spine tingled with fear as I sat in the chair under the lights. I hadn’t been on camera in months, but Bianca had a video go viral and now she was considered a social media influencer. This video was celebrating her success, so I’d allowed her to do my makeup on camera. She was in the middle of telling her followers that I was a video editor if they needed one. I blushed and tried to stay still as she pressed some shiny shadow onto my lids.
There was still a healthy dose of fear in me when it came to online streaming. I’d already had a talk with Bri and Bee about her safety, and their father was working on a security system for Bee’s new apartment and had
been taking her to the shooting range.
Her success was well-deserved, but I couldn’t let something happen to her the way it had me. She wasn’t in as much of a risqué genre, but still, fame was fame, and it was all dangerous.
By the time I got home from filming, my nerves had me totally exhausted. Porter was working late. My grandfather had quickly begun to lean on him, taking up more and more of his time. I was going to have to have a talk with Gramps. He needed to give me my mate back.
I hated ending up in bed alone, but at least tonight I was so tired, I went right to sleep. I didn’t stay that way long.
Porter woke me with kisses up and down my jaw. “Hey, gorgeous,” he whispered. “Need some company?”
I moaned and rolled over in bed. The pull in my chest was stronger than ever, so I could only imagine how he was feeling about it.
“How’d the party go?” he asked.
“Exhausting and nerve-wracking, but a success. I’m so happy for Bee.”
He grunted and buried his face in my neck. “Me too.”
Chuckling, I drifted my fingers into his hairline. “I’m sure you are.”
Moving my hands lower, I gripped his cheeks and pulled him up to face me. “Porter,” I whispered. “It’s time.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Time?”
I giggled. “Time. Bite me.”
Porter’s breathing quickened and the laughter in his eyes was replaced with fire and desire. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. Porter, I want to be yours completely.”
Moaning, he fell on me, pulling down the blankets and pulling up my sleep shirt. I hadn’t even realized he wore only his boxer briefs until his body pressed against mine, mostly skin to skin.
His teeth grazed my neck. “Do it,” I whispered.
With another growl, he pulled away from me long enough to shimmy out of his undies. I took the opportunity to fully pull my sleep shirt off. I hadn’t gone to bed in undies, so I didn’t have to take the time to remove them.