Fever Fae

by Meg Xuemei X

  “My office, Evelina. Now.”

  I sighed as he disappeared upstairs. The shit storm always seemed to find me.

  “Boy, he’s in a foul mood today,” Indira whispered to me. “That’s the third day in a row he called you to his office. Lay low and shut your big mouth. Whatever he says to you, you nod and agree. If necessary, apologize meekly.”

  “Apologize for what?” I asked, nerves fluttering in my belly.

  K strolled toward the bar, and I tossed a pleading look.

  “I haven’t done anything wrong, right, K?” I asked.

  “You’ve been gossiping since you came in,” he said.

  “Hey,” I said with steel in my voice. “I was cleaning and restocking resources while my mouth moved.”

  Then I hit my forehead with the heel of my palm.

  “It’s the barmaid uniform!” I said. “That must be it. He’s mad that I defied him. How dare he! I should be the one who’s pissed at him bullying me into wearing it in the first place.”

  I was wearing my own clothes today—a chic shirt with denim Leila jeans that hugged my hips nicely.

  K gave me a flat look. “Give our boss some credit. He never gets upset over such a trivial thing. The small mind thinks small.”

  “Or he might be unsatisfied with my performance yesterday,” I said, giving both K and Indira a meaningful look. “I think he caught me tossing a shot of whiskey at a rude werewolf before I was off my shift. Customers aren’t exactly gods, and we should be treated as dignified humans. So, K.” I offered him a friendly smile. “You know our boss more than Indira and me. I think he might even be fond of you. So, could you go to his office on my behalf and tell him that I’ve been working very hard and that yesterday’s incident was a one-time thing while I was in the middle of training?”

  “First, we aren’t humans,” K snapped. “There aren’t dignified humans here. Second, I’m not gonna stick out my neck for you. You’ve been a menace since day one and I’ve been trying my best to tolerate you before the boss eventually fires you.”

  My jaw dropped. “Ouch. I thought we were comrades.”

  “Don’t call me comrade. I’m not Russian,” K said. “And the rude one you threw booze at isn’t a werewolf. He’s a merman who came to visit his cousin. Werewolves and mermen are very different!”

  “They’re both shifters. What’s the big deal?” I said. Then I spotted Drake stalking toward the bar, glaring at me like a bulldog. “I’m coming! I’m coming! Jesus!” I shook my head. “Must they always be so serious and intense?”

  I took a deep breath and marched to the formidable Fae king’s office with my chin held high.

  Chapter 22

  I stormed into the luxurious office of glass, steel, and style.

  “If this is because I’m not wearing that outrageous barmaid outfit you bullied me into wearing yesterday,” I started, trying to sidetrack him from what I was really worried about, “I’m telling you—”

  Rydstrom appeared at my side the next second, faster than a flash of dark lightning, his hand tilting my chin up as he looked me over. I stared back, confused at his abrupt and intense examination.

  “I had only a cup of coffee and a small apple pie this morning,” I offered, trying not to squirm at the pleasant sensation of his touch. I wanted more of it, but I refrained myself from leaning into his palm. “Okay, maybe two pieces of cheesecake, too, from the kitchen, but I used a napkin after I finished. So there’s no reason for you to stare.”

  “You were hunted yesterday, Evelina,” he said gravely.

  “How do you know?” I jumped, then glared at him. Had he been involved? “Were you there?”

  “I have my resources,” he said. “You were seen with me in the club yesterday. That might have been the trigger.” He scanned my other parts to make sure I had everything, and his delicious touch only made me purr and flush. Guilt and worry darkened his sapphire eyes. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

  His obvious concern melted me. I was a sucker when people cared. So I didn’t want him to think the assault was his fault.

  “I’m fine. Don’t worry about it,” I said. “The first assassination attempt happened before I came to work for you. Someone sent a Nightling to attack my siblings and me in my dining room a few days ago. Clearly they confused me with someone else. I hope I can get the message sent to the asshole. I’m not a dark one or anything, just a human girl trying to make her way in life.”

  His brows furrowed. “A Nightling?”

  “Yeah, the other Fae said it was a Nightling.”

  “Describe it.”

  I did.

  He sucked in a breath. “That’s not a Nightling, Evelina. That’s a Demonca, a creature from Hell.”

  “What?” I shrieked, jumping back from his touch. “Satan is after my ass too? What does he want from me? The Devil is real, right? If Fae, vampires, werewolves, and all sorts of supernaturals have come to your club, then Satan can be real. This is bad! OMG, Satan, the great serpent from Hell, put a bounty on me!”

  “Not all Hell’s creatures are sent by Lucifer,” Rydstrom said drily.

  “How do you know? Are you his pen pal?” I asked, my voice remaining high-pitched. To try to calm my tits, I ran a hand through my tangled hair. I hadn’t brushed it thoroughly this morning since I hadn’t slept well—again—and had rushed to get my siblings to school.

  “We’ve had some dealings,” Rydstrom said. Hands in his pockets, he projected absolute calm, like he hadn’t just revealed some Hell spawn had tried to kill me.

  “For real?” I breathed hard, trying to pull more air into my lungs. “Maybe you can talk to Satan if he’s the one behind the bounty? Tell him that he’s going to waste big money putting a bounty on a nobody like me. It shouldn’t be his style, right? And when the truth about him putting a hit on the wrong girl comes out, he’s going to be the laughingstock in the supernatural community.”

  I knew I sounded ridiculous, but my mind was frozen with fear. Who wouldn’t be if Satan wanted her head?

  “I don’t think Lucifer is behind it,” Rydstrom said. “But I’ll get to the bottom of this.”

  Everyone kept saying that—the detective on my parents’ case, the Fae kings about the attacks against me—but no one had actually discovered anything yet. My parents were still missing. The attempts on my life continued. Fear and frustration warred inside me, and I struggled to think clearly.

  “How do you know it’s not a Nightling? What makes you an expert?” A Nightling was bad, but a Demonca sounded worse. I desperately wanted to deny the possibility of Hell going after me.

  “Nightlings are from my court—the Court of Nightmares,” Rydstrom said. “Some of the Nightlings might look similar to what you described, but the one that attacked you is not my subject.”

  “Then I’m a dead woman walking,” I said. My knees wobbled, and I sank into one of the chairs facing his fancy desk.

  “I won’t let you die. I’ll make sure you live to your old age,” Rydstrom said fiercely. He sat on the edge of the desk in front of me, his gaze intense. “A team of my knights will guard you day and night from this day forward.”

  “What?” I blinked. “Why do I need so many rival teams to guard me? It’ll only create more conflict than it is worth. Two Fae dudes who claimed to be kings already offered me protection. They also bicker a lot, which makes my head spin.”

  “Rowan and Baron,” Rydstrom hissed.

  I nodded. “They know you, too. I have to tell ya that they aren’t your biggest fans, either. What did you do to piss them off?”

  “I slew their father a century ago,” he said with a careless wave of his hand.

  I was shocked to silence for a second. No wonder their feud ran so deep. But who was I to judge? They were Fae, territorial and ruthless. Any excuse to fight made them happy.

  “The former king of Winter and Summer raped my sister before tearing her apart,” Rydstrom said, his sapphire eyes burning with old hatred.

&
nbsp; I couldn’t blame him for that rage. I’d tear anyone apart if they laid a hand on my family.

  “Did Baron and Rowan know why you killed their father?” I asked quietly.

  “I never saw any reason to explain myself,” Rydstrom said coldly. “They aren’t my match in war.”

  When it came to arrogance, no one could beat a Fae. But for once I couldn’t scoff, because I knew the pain of losing someone I loved. And the agony of Rydstrom’s loss had never gone away, never healed despite the passage of time.

  I rose from the chair and stepped closer. His eyes tracked my movement, and his shoulders relaxed slightly when I brushed my fingers on his muscled forearm. “I’m sorry, Ryds.”

  “I’ll be more than happy to remove both Baron and Rowan from your path,” Rydstrom said viciously as he stood. “It’s probably time to do so.”

  “No, no, no!” I jerked my hand away, my fingers tingling from touching his skin. “You aren’t going to remove anyone without my approval. I’m not going over all the security details again. And if you boys fight each other, my family and I will end up being collateral damage. So quit the pissing contest and try to get along until this shit storm of bounty hunting is over.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me, his shadow hissing and rippling at his feet, and I suddenly realized that no one had dared to talk to him that way. I took one step back and stopped, lifting my chin. I wasn’t going to back down, especially when my family’s and my life were in jeopardy.

  “You might be their king, but you aren’t my king,” I said firmly. “I’m a woman of independent mind and I don’t bow to anyone. I don’t want the three of you to fight over me. I’m not some kind of juicy bone. I’m my own person and always will be. If you want my friendship, then you’ll respect me and my wish.”

  “Friendship?” he asked, frowning deeply at me as if he’d never heard the word before.

  I gazed up at him. “Yeah, friendship. An amiable state of mutual trust and support between equals. Have you never had a friend before?”

  He stalked closer, heat swirling in his sapphire eyes. “Amiable.”

  I narrowed my eyes, about to tell him off for repeating my words. But before I could, he grabbed my waist and crushed me against his chest, then dipped his head and slanted his mouth over mine.

  Pleasure raced through me with a pungent bite. His scent of night sky and cinders filled my nostrils, and then I forgot the world all around me.

  The kiss was midnight fire and full of desire.

  I’d never been kissed like that, though I’d claimed hundreds of kisses from many lovers. But this kiss didn’t belong to the mortal world. It didn’t just make my toes curl, my breasts tender, and my pussy clench. It made my whole body want to burn with pure flame until I had nothing left.

  Wrapping my arms around his neck, I kissed him back with a fierce hunger I didn’t realize had been in me all along, dormant and waiting for the right person to strike the match.

  Heat flowed in me, gathering in my groin. A primal, feral need to claim and be claimed roared through me, like a new, wild Evelina yearned to be born. As hunger and lust beat in my every fiber, I felt the emerging of fangs as if I had them, too.

  No human could possess such an intense feeling and pleasure that burned like a small sun. The boundaries of my senses leapt to a much wider radius than before as the limit of my shell lifted, like that fine moment when my shadow fire had roared alive and blasted out of me to attack the Demonca.

  I climbed onto Rydstrom, craving him, wanting him, needing to make him mine and fuck him. This was insanity. This was mad fire. This would lead to destruction.

  But I no longer cared.

  The Night King lifted me, and my legs immediately clamped around his hard, narrow waist. One large hand held my bottom, the other fisting my lush golden hair.

  At his dominating urge, I opened my lips. His tongue thrust in, tasting like honey and spice. His powerful magic poured into me, so potent that I felt drunk.

  Hot fuck, I could sip his dangerous, dark magic. Maybe I should withdraw and play it safe for once? This kissing scene wasn’t what I’d pictured before I strolled into his office—I’d expected him to yell at me before firing me.

  I could have handled his rage. It was less dangerous than this.

  Yet instead of walking away while I still could, I grew aggressive and possessive as if I was born an alpha wolf all along. My tongue thrust toward his to claim my prize, and I liked how he slammed the tip of his wicked tongue into my hard palate.

  Pleasure rippled out like a shockwave. My cunt clenched hard, and I had no idea where his lust ended and mine began.

  Rydstrom squeezed my ass and deepened the kiss, both dominating and pleasing me. A feral moan escaped my throat, and he answered with one of his own.

  I wanted to fuck him. I wanted his massive cock inside me, filling me. I wanted to be fucked brutally and mercilessly, and I instinctively knew that he could deliver.

  Answering my need, Rydstrom lowered me until his huge erection found my most sensitive spot. I tightened my legs and ground my hips into his. He groaned roughly.

  “Ryds,” I whimpered against his demanding lips.

  He carted me toward his ebony desk, his eyes hooded and shining.

  Then a spark of lightning flashed and fizzed out. Rydstrom froze.

  “What the—” I cried. “Is that Adele lady going to show up again?”

  “I’ve enhanced the ward,” Rydstrom hissed, his voice slurring with lust. “She won’t appear again. No one can come in without my permission. However, I’m still bound by a certain court term. If I claim you in this realm, someone I care about will pay the price. But I can give you the finest, most intense oral pleasure and let you orgasm like you’ve never—”

  A knock sounded from the door.

  Rydstrom cursed.

  I jumped off him like a startled doe. While my pussy still throbbed with aching need, part of my brain started to function as cold logic sank into my skull like hard ice.

  Banging Rydstrom would unleash a sequence of domino effects that I couldn’t afford to deal with right now. As much as my body regretted not continuing what we’d started, the interruption was precisely what I needed to think straight again.

  Rydstrom reluctantly let me go and snarled at the door. “Yes?”

  An armored Fae knight I hadn’t met before pushed open the door and stuck his head into the office. His gaze darted between Rydstrom and me, as we still stood closer than a boss and employee should. At Rydstrom’s growl, the knight dropped his eyes right away.

  “Forgive me, Your Majesty,” he said with a bow. “The head mage from the Silver Circle is here. He said it’s an emergency. Demonca and darkfae have gone on a killing spree.”

  Chapter 23

  I finished my shift at the bar, continually glancing up at the second floor where Rydstrom met with the mage leader. After about an hour, he rushed out of the club and never returned.

  When I arrived home, the Fae knights still guarded the property, snarling at those from the opposite court when they crossed paths. At least they didn’t draw their longswords and charge each other now.

  Rowan and Baron had returned to their palaces, since they couldn’t just ignore their kingly duties. A knight from each court informed me the kings had decided to split their time between tending to court and courting me. I appreciated not having to suffer through their constant bickering, but part of me felt more alone than I had in a long time.

  Between homework and dinner, I called Detective Dallas, and he’d answered this time. There were no updates on his side, and he asked me to call him if my parents returned.

  By the time my siblings were safe and quiet in bed, exhaustion swamped me, but I was too charged to sleep. I’d spent all day worrying about a million things with no answers or solutions.

  Restless, I treaded to the basement where Mom used to teach me to meditate after my martial arts training. For some reason, my parents had always feared I’
d go into a rage. Didn’t they know their own daughter any better? Despite my training, I wasn’t a violent person.

  A couple floor cushions waited in the middle of the room, but I couldn’t relax enough to meditate properly.

  Bookshelves lined the walls, and I trailed one hand over books and memorabilia as I reflected on the events of the last week. I couldn’t stop the circle of worries that nagged at me. Mom and Dad disappearing, the Demonca attacking, the Fae turning my world upside down. I kept insisting I was a human, yet most of the Supers didn’t believe me, even though none of them could figure out my supposed non-human heritage.

  That was fine. I knew the truth, and I wouldn’t let anyone break the link between me and my family.

  And yet…

  Something different coiled inside me, a dark force, magical and beastly. It both intrigued and terrified me. It roared to be unleashed, for it had been bound unnaturally for too long.

  What would happen if I let it out? Would I become the biggest danger to my own family?

  Pausing my walk around the room, I picked up a picture frame of the nine of us from last Christmas. The photo showed us all laughing while the tree glowed merrily in the background. When my parents were around, I didn’t fight much with my siblings, and even Safiya was more amiable. My thumb brushed across the glass, and tears streamed down my face.

  Pain stabbed me in waves. Mom and Dad had been my rock, always knowing what to do and what to say. The longer I couldn’t find them, the slimmer the chance that I’d ever recover them. The bounty, my siblings’ safety, our future, and the Fae…all the problems just rushed at me, bombarding me.

  I slumped onto the cushions, curling on my side and crying silently as the pain kept lapping at me. I was alone now. I didn’t need to put on a brave façade. Tomorrow I’d get up kicking, fighting, and making jokes. But tonight all I could do was cry myself to sleep.

  As I drifted down, away from painful consciousness, a warm breath tickled my neck. Then a hard body pressed against my back, and an impression of the night sky and cinders and pure male musk reached me. Rydstrom’s scent.