by Meg Xuemei X
Emmett lightly touched my shoulder. “What happened to you, Evie?”
Despite my effort to pull myself together, I still looked deranged and crazed-eyed. Emmett was a sensitive kid. And not driving our van was a huge clue something had happened.
“Just a small accident,” I said. “We’ll get the van fixed.”
“My man will drive a warded transportation for you from now on,” Rowan said.
“She’s on my security details,” Baron growled.
“Evie?” Emmett touched my shoulder again, and I turned to look at him. He darted his eyes between the two Fae, his eyes wild and worried.
“I’ll explain later,” I said.
I didn’t like accepting outside help. I preferred handling everything myself, but I was no longer in a position to hold on to my pride while I had a bounty on my head and six kids to raise in the meantime.
I didn’t even know how to cope with the assassins’ corpses we left behind if the Fae knights hadn’t taken care of the issue. Dealing with human law enforcement when supernaturals were involved was going to be worse than a nightmare.
I might act cocky and confident, but I was completely over my head in this other world. I felt like a toddler stumbling along and trying to fend off hellhounds with a stick.
So, yes, I would swallow my pride and get any help I could, including aid from these two insufferable, arrogant, yet panty-melting Fae hotties.
“We can take a bus to school and back, you know,” Emmett said. “You don’t need to do everything for us.”
“No way!” Safiya whipped around to stare daggers at him. “We’d have to walk two miles from our house to get to the nearest bus station. And I’m not going to be one of the uncool kids taking a bus!”
“It’s not safe for any of you to take the bus, Emmett,” I said. “But thanks for trying to help.”
“Is the car behind us our bodyguards, too?” Cassidy piped up. “We’re royalty now!”
I rolled my eyes. The eight-year-old was vainer than anyone.
As we cruised down the street to my house, I didn’t spot any suspicious activities, except for the patrolling Winter and Summer knights.
Both vehicles parked in the driveway. The drivers joined their counterparts at the perimeter, and my stalkers waited silently while I hustled the kids out of the SUV and shooed them into the house. Then I faced Baron and Rowan.
“Uh, thanks,” I said. “I guess I’ll see you guys tomorrow?”
“I don’t want to say goodbye yet,” Baron said, flashing me a disarming smile. “I want to hang out with you more.”
He picked up human slang fast.
“I think we should take it slow,” I said.
“I can take it slow with you in your house,” Rowan murmured, his scintillating voice like ice melting on hot skin. “I won’t do anything without your permission, I promise. Baron can be a pest, but I’m harmless.”
These Fae were going to be the death of me. I didn’t want to part with them either, but I didn’t want them to cross the boundaries too soon. Inviting them into my home that sheltered my family was a huge leap, and I wouldn’t take it lightly.
“And I’d be thrilled to answer more questions,” Rowan added eagerly.
I crossed my arms. Human guys would get the hint, but Baron and Rowan had no subtlety and believed they would always get their way. Well, too bad for them, I wasn’t—
“Evie, I’d like to invite them in.”
“Fawn!” I snapped, wheeling to her where she stood at the doorstep. “You can’t just invite anyone in!”
My sister had no idea of what she’d invite into our house. Hadn’t I laid out the house rules for my siblings the other night, including not talking to strangers or inviting them in?
Fawn tilted her head to the side. “They aren’t just anyone.”
“I accept your kindness with gratitude, Lady Fawn,” Rowan and Baron said in sync, smiling at Fawn fondly and strolling past me toward our house.
Lady Fawn?
I stood there speechless for a second, and then stormed after them across my front lawn.
“The lawn needs to be tended,” Rowan said, turning and snapping at one of his knights at the curve of the alley.
If they wanted to trim the grass, fine, but I wasn’t paying for Fae labor.
Rowan stepped in my house as Fawn held the door open for him, but Baron paused on the stairs. He sniffed, then looked down at the threshold.
“Garlic, salt, and iron,” he concluded, then regarded me. “They won’t stop anyone from entering your house, not even vampires. Someone gave you bad advice, Evie. And when garlic and salt become stale, they often attract bad energy.”
My face burned. Stupid Google. I could have used that money to buy food.
Baron continued with an indulgent, smug smile. “But now you have me. You have access to a vast of valuable information.”
I ignored him but I followed him into my house, making sure that my siblings stayed put. When I walked into the kitchen, my eyes went round at all the groceries piled on the counters. Where had they come from? Rowan had removed his trench coat and laid it on the back of a chair. He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and pulled stacks of T-bone steaks out of a grocery bag.
My jaw dropped open. Was I hallucinating?
Rowan pointed at Emmett and the twins. “You’ll assist me to make the best dinner ever.”
And my brothers answered his command as if his words were gold. I sighed at the injustice while Safiya perched on a stool and watched Rowan with a dreamy smile.
Well, the boys had food covered then. They didn’t need me in the kitchen. I tiptoed out of their territory, and found Cassidy interrogating Baron in the common room.
“Are you sure you’re Evie’s guardian angel?” Cassidy asked with narrowed eyes.
“Of course. I’m also Lady Evie’s best suitor,” Baron informed him.
I held back a snort. At least he didn’t say the word “mate” in front of my little brother.
“That’s fine. She has to marry someone eventually,” Cassidy said. “But I need proof. I’m not just going to let her marry anyone. She’s a catch. Where are your wings if you’re an angel?”
Smirking, I let Baron babysit my brother. For the first time, I forgot that both Baron and Rowan were actually Fae. Participating in my domestic life made them feel real for the first time. The pent-up panic and despair that had been building in me since my parents’ disappearance lessened a bit, as if the change had created a vent for those emotions to escape like black smoke rising from a chimney.
Fawn waited for me at the foot of the stairs. It was time I chatted with my little sister. I padded to her. She held my hand and we walked up the stairs to my room.
We sat in the middle of my bed and I started braiding her silver-blond hair. Her eyes moistened as I finished the braids. Mom used to do that for her.
“Everything will be fine, angel,” I said, kissing her crown. “I’ll take care of you. I’ll take care of everyone.” I paused for a second. “Fawn, how did you know the bad guys were gunning for me?”
The tears vanished as her normally gray eyes with depth beyond her years frosted with white.
“Fawn?” I called in alarm, holding her tiny arms. She was so fragile, so breakable. My little sister.
“One of us will be taken,” she said, her voice turning cold, sharp, yet somehow dreamy. It wasn’t the voice of a six-year-old. “You’ll turn. You’ll never be the same.”
A chill sank deep into my bones I feared I’d never get warm again.
“Who are you?” I demanded. “Are you my sister Fawn?”
“I’m the bone witch sent to you,” she said. “This body carries two souls—a young one and an ancient one. We must warn you, yet we must remain hidden from the true dark one who wants you dead.”
“Who wants me dead? Why?” My voice grew high-pitched. “Who’s the dark one?”
“Three kings have come. The wheel is turning,” the wi
tch’s voice pronounced as coldness filled me. “One betrays. One breaks the heart. One sacrifices. One unites. Survive the Wild Hunt, or all will be lost.”
“What is the Wild Hunt?” I asked urgently, trying not to freak out. I had no doubt now that part of Fawn’s persona was a witch, a seer. “Who will betray me? If there are three kings, why are there four predictions?”
Rowan, Baron, and Rydstrom were Fae Kings from the immortal realm, and all three of them had come into my life. But where was the fourth? Was there a fourth?
Fawn gasped as if she’d just surfaced from a deep dive. The white fog left her eyes. My little sister had returned. I patted her back gently to help her breathe, and then she finally stopped shaking.
“Fawn?” I asked, my voice dripping with worry. “I’m here. Are you okay now, angel?”
She looked at me with wide eyes, then launched into my arms. She didn’t deal with handling two souls that well, either.
“I’m cold and tired, Evie,” she murmured.
“I’ll warm you up. I’ve got you, angel.” I hugged her small body protectively while pulling the blanket around her.
“Don’t leave us, Evie,” she whispered. “I see you leave one day.”
“I’ll never do that,” I said. “I’ll never leave you.”
To protect her, I vowed to never pry any information from my sweet, innocent, six-year-old sister. I would wait until the bone witch persona manifested to ask any more questions.
Dropping her little head on my shoulder, Fawn fell asleep.
Chapter 21
“What happened to that girl after I left?” I asked Indira as soon as I got behind the bar at Claws, Fangs, and Fiends.
“She’s safe now under Rydstrom’s protection,” she said. “But he might cause a war between the Fae courts.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Fae kings and queens warred with each other for millennia. They’ve only had peace for less than twenty years after they signed the hunting the darkfae agreement.”
My heart skipped a beat. “How many kings and queens are in the fairyland?”
“Three kings and one queen: Summer King, Winter King, Night King, and Dawn Queen,” Indira said. Then she lowered her voice. “The Dawn Queen is the most formidable ruler. Rumor says she wants all the kings for herself. She’s only waiting for the Night King to surrender to her first.”
Black jealousy stabbed me, and blood thundered in my ears. The scene from two days ago wheeled in front of me. Rydstrom had kicked me out because the Queen of the Dawn Court was visiting him. The day we met he treated me like a passing fad, even though he’d expressed intense sexual interest in me.
Who could compete with a queen?
A dark thought clung to my mind. Was it possible that the Dawn Queen put the bounty on my head because some big fucking mouth reported to her that Rydstrom had taken an interest in me? Everyone had seen Rydstrom wrap his arm around my waist and half-drag me to his lair yesterday.
She might want to take out her rival. But how could I be a threat to her? And ten- million on my head was just nuts. But then Fae were nuts and they didn’t make sense.
The queen’s knights had entered the club to hunt a darkfae. The Nightling had called me a dark princess, and two Fae kings appeared moments later looking for a dark one. I shivered. The coincidences were piling up, and I didn’t like it one bit.
I swallowed hard. “Is the girl a darkfae?”
“Nope,” Indira said, her voice turning brittle and angry. “She’s a halfling—a half-Fae and half-human. Most pureblood Fae hold contempt toward half-bloods. If the Dawn Fae from yesterday had killed her like she was a piece of trash, no one would have done a damn thing to correct the wrong. If she hadn’t been inside the club, she’d be dead.”
Fear for Indira washed over me, and I laid a hand on her arm. “Are you in danger, Indira?” I asked.
If she were, I’d invite her to stay with my family. At least I had two security teams competing to guard me and my siblings now. She could be added to the security details.
She flashed a feral smile, her fangs showing. “No one dares to come near me. My pack protects me. And in the Claws, I’m also safe. Plus, my shifter gene is stronger, so I don’t smell like a half-Fae.”
“Is Claws a haven to halflings?” I asked.
“The hunting for the darkfae has gotten out of control,” Indira said. “Pureblood Fae can accuse anyone of being a dark one and kill them. Rydstrom established this place to protect some Fae. This ground doesn’t abide by human or Fae laws. Only the Night King’s rules.”
“I can see that,” I said.
Rydstrom had read the statement to the hunters yesterday before he destroyed them. It’d been brutal, but he protected the weak and helpless.
Indira leaned closer to me, her lips near my ear. “Rumor has it that Claws, Fangs, and Fiends was set up to find and aid the lost Fae princess, who’s close to twenty-two now. For a supernatural, there’s this Turning ritual—the transition from mortal to immortal. Once the individual survives the ritual, their natural power awakens. Turning is the most important event for any Super. If the Turning goes wrong, they go mad or end up dead. Not everyone can make the cut. Shifters and other supernaturals turn at eighteen, but a Fae always turns at twenty-two.”
My heart pounded. I was close to twenty-two. I shouldn’t be worried, right? Shadow fire had blasted out of me, but it was a one-time deal to save my siblings’ lives and mine.
The Turning had nothing to do with me.
“That’s crazy, isn’t it?” I whispered back. “And who’s this lost princess? Dude, I feel sorry for her parents.” I understood the pain of losing someone you loved. No, I hadn’t lost my parents. I’d find them.
Indira shook her head, and her nose rings chimed. “The pureblood Fae have been killing any halflings of the right age to eliminate the chance she’ll resurface. The princess supposedly escaped the Dawn Court twenty-one years ago when she was a baby in a cradle.”
I felt goosebumps rising all over my skin at the chill.
“It’s a monstrous act,” I said, righteous fury coursing through my veins, “to kill the other innocents just to stop one intended target from getting away. Is the Dawn Queen doing this?”
“You aren’t Fae,” Indira said, adding ice cubes to the glasses lined on the counter to prepare for the next orders. “You don’t understand the politics in the Fae courts. Cruelty and heartlessness runs in every Fae’s veins. And we’re all monsters one way or another. The bitch Dawn Queen leads the hunt. Her goons killed a friend of mine and I vowed to get back at them one day. The hunters would rather murder thousands than let one princess slip through.”
“The bitch needs to die,” I said.
And I was marked for death because I was twenty-one? It sounded insane. But someone seemed hellbent on keeping me from reaching my next birthday.
Hot rage, dark fear, and cold panic twisted in my stomach until I felt the terrible heartburn. I grabbed the edge of the bar. I couldn’t lose cool in this perilous new world. My family needed me, so I must survive, no matter what.
“You okay?” Indira asked, frowning at me. “You need a strong drink?”
Luckily, we had fewer patrons this morning, probably due to yesterday’s violence, so no one was paying attention to me.
I nodded. “Yeah, fine.”
For a second, I wondered if I should tell her about the bounty on me, but then I didn’t want to get her all worked up and worried. Besides, Indira had a big mouth. If she slipped her tongue and told her pack friends about the bounty, some of them might not be able to resist the temptation of ten million bucks.
I cleared my throat and tried to sound not too curious or nosy. “So, about this Turning. Have you ever been to one hosted in Claws, Fangs, and Fiends?”
She shook her head. “Only Rydstrom and his select few attend and supervise the ritual. K said they always did it in the heavily warded basement, one of the forbidden places in the
club.”
I made a mental note to sneak into the forbidden basement once I was familiar with the floor plan of the club. Indira must have caught the glint in my eyes and warned. “Don’t even think about it, Evelina. You’ll get yourself killed. Not to mention that Rydstrom’s men are lethal and merciless. This club has many levels and hidden traps, all glamoured, which is beyond your pay grade. I can’t even tell what your power is or if you have any. Anyway, humans and most of the Supers are only allowed on the ground level. The second floor is for Rydstrom and his people. The rooftop is for private parties, events, and orgies once in a while.”
My eyes flew wide. “Orgies? Did Rydstrom frequent orgies?”
Indira rolled her eyes. “Of everything I just said, your brain only focuses on the orgies.”
“I don’t have a big brain.” I smirked. “Well? Did he?”
“In the past, he only came to the club for the Turning,” she said, indulging me. “Only lately has he been coming to his office every day. I don’t know what transpired, but I felt something—something big is brewing in the air. Shit will go down.”
“Shit always goes down,” I said.
A gorgeous vampire strode toward us and ordered a drink as if I were her servant. I poured the poison for her in a glass that I hadn’t cleaned. As she stalked away, the club’s maroon door swung open with a bang.
Rydstrom swept in like storm, shadows and wind at his heels. Dark electricity whipped the entire floor, silencing the club. Everyone was suddenly alert, sensing the biggest predator had just appeared among them.
Even I straightened my pose behind the bar, though I rolled my eyes the next second at his drastic entry.
His sapphire eyes pierced through space, ignoring everyone, and found me. Fury twisted his gorgeous face.
My heart stuttered, and I wanted to hide. Not that I was scared of him, but I didn’t want to get into any more trouble. He might have caught me rolling eyes at him.