A Fae in Fort Worth

by Amy Armstrong

  Table of Contents

  Legal Page

  Title Page

  Book Description

  Dedication

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  New Excerpt

  About the Author

  Publisher Page

  A Totally Bound Publication

  A Fae in Fort Worth

  ISBN # 978-1-78184-917-0

  ©Copyright Amy Armstrong 2013

  Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright December 2013

  Edited by Stacey Birkel

  Totally Bound Publishing

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Totally Bound Publishing.

  Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Totally Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

  The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

  Published in 2013 by Totally Bound Publishing, Newland House, The Point, Weaver Road, Lincoln, LN6 3QN

  Warning:

  This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has a heat rating of Totally Burning and a Sexometer of 2.

  This story contains 88 pages, additionally there is also a free excerpt at the end of the book containing 3 pages.

  Huntress Chronicles

  A FAE IN FORT WORTH

  Amy Armstrong

  Book two in the Huntress Chronicles series

  The attraction between vampire hunters Ashley and Mitch is evident from the moment they meet, but if they are to have a future together, they’ll have to make it through a mission which might just cost them their lives.

  Being blonde, short and petite means that vampire huntress Ashley Monroe is never taken seriously. She always has to train twice as hard as her fellow slayers to prove she’s just as capable of getting the job done. About to begin a mission to find one of the lost grimoires, Ashley fears she might actually be out of her depth. The last thing she needs is a relationship to complicate her life further. Enter Mitch Rakowski.

  Tattooed badass and one-time vampire slayer Mitch Rakowski has never played by the rules. When old friend Raven calls in a debt, Mitch is forced to pick up his stake one last time. The minute he and Ashley meet, sparks fly. Mitch makes it clear he wants the feisty slayer, but Ashley fights him at every turn. The attraction simmering between them soon intensifies, but before they can form any kind of relationship, they have a run-in with the Fae in Fort Worth. The encounter forces them to visit the Fairy Realm—a mission which might just cost them their lives.

  Dedication

  This is for all my friends and family who continue to support me on my writing journey, and, as always, for my mother who I miss more than words can express.

  Trademarks Acknowledgement

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:

  Harley: Harley-Davidson Inc.

  Caribe Hilton: Hilton Hotels & Resorts

  Chapter One

  “Well?” Roland stared at me expectantly, his brown, overly bushy eyebrows raised high in query. “Do you think you’re up to this?”

  I tried not to glare at him but failed miserably. Just because at five foot five I was a lot shorter than the other hunters, with bouncy blonde curls and a petite frame, I often got treated like I was weaker than them—fragile even. It had been the same way my entire life and I was tired of it. I was just as capable if not more so than the majority of the hunters I’d trained with, both women and men. I worked damn hard to make sure I was always in shape and that my skills were honed to perfection. I’d killed a lot of vampires and there was nothing I detested more than people like Roland—my new handler at the Hunters’ Council—underestimating me.

  Just like my parents before me and their parents before them, I’d been born a slayer. It was in my blood. I hadn’t chosen my profession on a whim and I resented Roland’s question. Why wouldn’t I be up to the task? It was my job. I did it every single day without fail, and I excelled at it.

  “Just give me the details,” I said through gritted teeth, amazed I’d refrained from calling him an asshole.

  Roland chewed on his bottom lip as he studied me. He must have seen something in my expression that swayed him because he sighed heavily then nodded his head. “Fair enough. Though I do need to warn you, this job is…unusual.”

  I drew my eyebrows together while I waited for Roland to elaborate, but when he wasn’t forthcoming, I asked, “Unusual how, exactly?”

  As a slayer, it was my job to kill vampires and the odd werewolf who had gone rogue. We rarely got involved in issues with any other supernatural species, however, so Roland’s statement intrigued me.

  “Well, there’s this angel,” he began, averting his gaze from mine. “And this demon…”

  “Oh, hell no!” I started backing away from his desk as though there was something on it that could bite me. “No way.”

  I might have been great at my job, but demons were an entirely different kettle of fish. I’d heard that they could kill you with just a look. In my experience angels weren’t much more accommodating. If this job involved either, then Roland might very well have been right—maybe I wasn’t up to this task.

  It was only when Roland’s gaze met mine, his expression challenging, that I realised he’d tricked me. We’d only worked together for a short time, but he was well aware how much I hated people thinking I wasn’t capable, that I couldn’t do the job as well as the other hunters who were bigger and stronger than me. He’d used that fact to his advantage and I was impressed. My face broke out into a wide grin.

  “You sneaky son of a bitch!”

  Roland puffed out his chest like a damn peacock. “Thanks. I’ll take that as a compliment. So, about this demon issue…”

  “Fine,” I muttered begrudgingly. “But if I die on this job, I’m coming back to haunt your ass. Count on it.”

  Roland turned his back to stare out of the only window in his small office at Council headquarters, but not before I noticed a slow smile spreading across his lips. “You know, I always figured you for a glass-half-full kind of gal.”

  I pointed to the back of his head and threw in a glare for good measure. “Roland? Don’t push your luck.”

  * * * *

  Standing outside the ranch-style house, I knocked on the door then took in my surroundings as I waited for an answer. Roland had put me in touch with Raven, an old colleague of mine, and when I’d spoken to her on the phone earlier, she’d told me to meet her here. I hadn’t seen her in years so I had no idea what she could be doing in a place like this. It was a nice home in a nice area.

  Hunters moved around so often that we didn’t put down roots. We lived out of suitcases in low-rent motels until we hung up our stakes and decided to pop out a few kids who would be trained to be the next generation of hunters. Well, that was what most of my colleagues did. I liked my job too m
uch to ever see myself settling down with a husband and a house full of rug rats.

  From what I understood, Raven had been tasked with finding one of twenty-something grimoires which were scattered around the country. Demons had decided to escalate the war against angels which had until recently been contained. The grimoires held secrets on how to raise demons from the Underworld, but the ultimate goal was to raise Lucifer himself. To do this the demons needed to get their hands on the grimoires. This was not good news. My fellow hunters and I had enough problems dealing with all the damn vampires and now we had to deal with demons too.

  The book that Raven had been tasked with finding had been in the sights of a demon. Raven had recovered the book, but she’d only barely made it out with her life, so her handler at the Council had called in the help of the other slayers. The race was now on to find the rest of the books before they fell into the hands of demons.

  Roland, as cunning as he was, had tricked me into retrieving one of the grimoires. I could have told him no of course, but I’d never backed down from a challenge and I wasn’t about to start now. As far as Roland was aware, the book hadn’t caught the attention of any demons—yet—but it was going to be just as difficult to talk to the current owners into parting with it. I seriously didn’t fancy my chances of bringing home the goods.

  When the door to the house swung open, pulling me out of my reflection, Raven stood in the doorway, her expression warm and friendly. There was a slight blush to her cheeks and she was wearing a bathrobe. It was nearing midday, but I didn’t question her attire because all hunters were known to keep unusual hours. It was common for us to hunt until dawn then sleep right through the day. Raven looked good. She was a little older than when I’d seen her last, sure, but she’d kept herself in shape. I’d always liked Raven because she was one of the few hunters who had never treated me any differently because I was smaller than her, and that made a refreshing change.

  “Raven!” I greeted brightly, pulling her in for a hug.

  When we separated, she was grinning broadly. “Come in,” she invited, opening the door wider and stepping aside for me to enter. Even though it was good to see her again, I wished it didn’t have to be under such circumstances and I hated being the bearer of such grim news.

  Raven closed the door behind me then turned to meet my gaze. She must have noticed the troubled expression on my face because without taking time to make small talk, she asked, “Did you find it?”

  I nodded. “I’m afraid your vacation time is over. You’re not going to believe where we have to go to get the next book.”

  She groaned. “Do I need to be sitting down for this?”

  “That might help. And coffee sure wouldn’t hurt.”

  She led the way into a living room which was decidedly masculine in appearance—something else which surprised me. Raven, like me, was far from a tomboy, and I’d expected the place she called home to be somewhat more feminine.

  “Take a seat,” she instructed. “I’ll put on the coffee.”

  I nodded and sat to the right of a large sectional sofa while she slipped out of the room. There was a side table next to me and on it sat a photograph in a dark leather frame. I leaned in to get a closer look at the couple who appeared to be so very much in love and was unsurprised to see Raven grinning at the camera. She was fooling around in a yard and the man in the picture was laughing wickedly, hose pipe trained on her, soaking her through to her skin.

  “That’s me and Connor,” Raven said, making me jump. I hadn’t heard her come back into the room. “It was taken a few years ago in the yard out back.”

  “Oh.” I turned to face her. “I don’t recognise him from our training classes. Guess he’s older than us, huh?”

  The warm smile on Raven’s face disappeared in an instant and her body became as still as a statue. Her shoulders tensed and her jaw locked. “He isn’t a hunter,” she disclosed. “He’s a werewolf.”

  I stared at her, mouth agape, then took another glance at the photograph. “You were involved with a werewolf?”

  “Not were,” she corrected. “Connor and I are still together. This is his house.”

  I hadn’t thought it was possible for my mouth to open any wider, but I’d been wrong. I couldn’t believe what she was telling me. “Are you serious?”

  When her brow creased and her expression became wary, I felt the need to clarify. “Look, Raven, I don’t have a problem with werewolves in general, and it’s great to see you so looking so happy,” I said, nodding to the photograph. “But what about the Council? Do they know you’re together?”

  Raven pulled in her bottom lip and rolled it between her teeth. “No, they don’t. At least, not yet. Connor and I are going to tell them tomorrow when I meet with my handler. We put off telling them in the past for obvious reasons, and until recently we were on a…break, but our relationship is serious and I don’t want to have to hide it anymore. I love Connor. We’re not doing anything wrong so the Council will just have to deal with it.”

  I whistled. “Wow. I hope it goes well for you. I mean that.”

  Some of the tension in her shoulders dissipated and her warm smile returned. “Thank you, I appreciate it.”

  Even though hunters and werewolves were compatible in every way that mattered, it was strictly against the rules for us to have relationships with anyone but other hunters. That was the only way to keep the bloodlines pure. Vampire numbers were increasing so it was paramount that the numbers of hunters increased to deal with the problem. I hoped that things would work out for Raven, but I didn’t want to be a fly on the wall when the Council found out about her relationship. To say that the Council members were stuck in their ways was putting it mildly, but I could understand their concerns. Vampires weren’t going away any time soon and we were the only ones out there who were strong enough and motivated enough to kill them.

  Raven left to finish making the coffee and I took the time to think about what she’d said. I didn’t know what I would do if I was in her shoes. I’d have liked to think I could be just as brave, but in truth I wasn’t so sure. Like most of my colleagues, hunting wasn’t just a job, it was a calling, something I’d been born to do—and I loved it, even though at times it was difficult and fraught with danger. I couldn’t imagine loving someone so much that I would risk losing my job to be with him. It was unthinkable, probably more so because I’d never been in love. My job required me to travel around the country at a moment’s notice. Those circumstances were hardly conducive to forming lasting relationships.

  When Raven returned and we were both seated, steaming mugs of coffee in hand, we made a little small talk before discussing what was really important ―the grimoires. Raven began by telling me about Malaki, the angel who had more or less tricked her into finding one of the lost books. I could sympathise. I’d had a run-in with Malaki myself which had nearly cost me my life. The angel was not on my favourite person list.

  The more I learned of Raven’s story, the less I liked what I heard. I was just about to impart what I knew about the location of the grimoire we’d been tasked with retrieving when a tall, muscular and unbelievably handsome man strode through the door. His presence seemed to fill up all the space in the room. If I hadn’t been sitting down, the power he emitted would have been sure to knock me on my ass. Raven didn’t seem to notice, she just smiled at him lovingly. It was then I realised that this was Raven’s partner Connor, the man in the photograph. Raven confirmed my assumption when she introduced us.

  “Baby, this is my old colleague, Ashley. Ash, this is Connor, alpha of the werewolf pack here in Austin.”

  Alpha? Well, that certainly explained the power I could sense. I forced down my unease and curved my lips into a smile. “Pleased to meet you.”

  “Likewise,” Connor said with a small incline of his head. He crossed the room and took a seat next to Raven, resting his arm on the sofa behind her head, his body leaning into hers.

  “Ashley was just about
to tell me about the grimoire,” Raven explained.

  Connor’s expression darkened and a frown creased his brow. “You know I don’t like this, Raven. You nearly got yourself killed looking for the last book. I can’t let you do this again.”

  As Raven stared at Connor, it was as if the temperature in the room had dropped a few degrees. “You can’t let me?” she repeated, her stare turning into a frosty glare. “Since when do I need your permission to do anything?”

  It didn’t take a genius to see that Connor was all but vibrating with rage. “You’re my mate!” he snapped. “It’s my job to keep you safe.”

  Well, hell. That came as a shock. Raven hadn’t filled me in on that. The bond between a werewolf and his mate was breakable only by death. No wonder he was being so protective of her. Raven stuck her chin in the air and turned back to me, ignoring both Connor’s words and the fiery look in his eyes. I had to wonder how she put up with his temper. I knew I could never date a man who was so dominant. We’d end up killing each other.

  “Why don’t you tell me where we need to go to get the next book, Ash?” she asked, giving me her full attention.

  My gaze flitted between her and Connor before I made my decision to spill. Their disagreement was nothing to do with me. They could hash it out between themselves all they wanted after I left. Besides, I had a job to do and the longer we sat around yakking, the less time I had to do it.

  When I nodded, I saw a muscle in Connor’s jaw tick. Whatever.

  “And please tell me it’s in Hawaii,” Raven deadpanned.

  I grinned and shook my head. “Not quite. And before you ask, it’s not in the Florida Keys either.”

  “Palm Springs?” she asked hopefully.

  “Sounds like someone’s in need of a vacation. I don’t think you’re gonna be too pleased when I tell you the book is in Fort Worth, huh?”

  Raven’s face fell. “No shit.”

  Connor sat forward, elbows resting on his knees. Both Raven and I turned to see what he had to say, but his intent gaze was fixed on me.