A Fae in Fort Worth

by Amy Armstrong

  “You’re going to pay for that,” he promised. His face contorted and he bared his fangs, letting out another feral-sounding hiss.

  Mitch appeared at my side, his stake held aloft. When I turned to gauge his expression, he didn’t look happy. I couldn’t understand his problem—the odds weren’t too bad. I’d fought off as many as five vampires single-handedly in the past and now there were two of us. We could handle nine vampires between us.

  “I don’t like this,” Mitch said in an aside. “Stay close.”

  I was about to respond when the head vamp lunged with supernatural speed. To the human eye he would have been nothing but a blur, but as a hunter, I had the same speed and strength as a vampire. I had just enough time to duck to my right to avoid his razor-sharp claws, which were extended and aimed right at my throat. I turned, lifted my stake and plunged it into his back before he had the chance to come at me again. I twisted it and at the same time plunged it deeper. I knew I’d hit his heart when he let out an unearthly scream, falling to the ground on his knees.

  That was when the situation got a whole lot worse.

  As soon as I pulled my stake free from the vampire’s back, the other eight charged forward at the same time, all hissing and growling and baring their long, lethal fangs. Vampires were usually pretty damn cocky, believing they could take you out alone. They would often wait on the sidelines to get their shot at you, but these vampires weren’t taking any chances. I felt Mitch’s body slam into mine from behind.

  “Keep your back to me,” he shouted. “Don’t let them get behind you.”

  I hadn’t planned on it. If a vampire got behind you, it was game over. I fought with everything in me and even though it was difficult to fight while keeping my back plastered to Mitch’s, his presence escalated my confidence to a level it had never been at before. I caught one vampire in the jaw with a left hook and planted my boot into the stomach of another. I staked him in the shoulder blade, hitting his heart from behind as he was doubled over, wounded from the kick. Two down…

  The three other vampires in front of me attacked in unison. I fought off two, but one managed to find purchase on my wrist and he twisted my arm at an awkward angle. I cried out and had no choice but to separate from Mitch so that I could turn my body and flip the vampire over onto his back. I heard Mitch’s roar of frustration behind me, but I was too busy fighting off the vampires who were attacking aggressively to turn and see how he was doing with his own fight.

  At some point during my tussle, I managed to stake another vampire in the chest, hitting the dead centre of his heart. I was beginning to get tired, but there would be no end to the fight until each and every vampire had been dusted. I shifted position so that I could check on Mitch and noticed that he was now only fighting with two vampires, just like me. My relief was palpable, but it was short-lived. I’d only been distracted for a fraction of a second. It had been enough time for one of the vampires to grab hold of my arm and sink his teeth into the flesh at the underside of my wrist. I screamed as the pain washed over me.

  Ripping my arm free caused the vampire’s fangs to tear out a chunk of flesh and my wrist began gushing blood. I didn’t have the time to attend to it because both vampires attacked again. I matched them blow for blow, being extra careful to avoid their slashing claws and sharp fangs. I’d just raised my stake and aimed at the closet vampire’s chest when he leapt back and looked over his shoulder. The second vampire did the same. When I followed their gaze, panic seized me. Both vampires turned back to me and the laughter in their bright yellow eyes was evident even before they threw their heads back and roared with glee.

  Another group of vampires was heading our way. A lot of them. Too many. I was already weak from fighting and I’d only killed three out of five. I didn’t have the energy to fight more of them.

  “Mitch!” I called.

  “I see them. Fuck!”

  We had to run—there was no other choice. If we tried to fight them all, we wouldn’t win. I was about to relay that thought to Mitch when the two vampires in front of me came at me again and I had no option but to fend them off. We only fought for a few seconds, but it was enough time for the rest of the vampires to approach. A few seconds more and they had us surrounded.

  I’d always been brave while doing my job. I’d had to be. There was no place for fear when you were fighting for your life. But in that moment, I’ll admit I was terrified. I wasn’t afraid of death itself, but I didn’t want to die. I wasn’t ready.

  “Use the gun!” Mitch shouted.

  I hadn’t even remembered I was carrying it. I made a grab for it, but I didn’t get to it in time. When I felt something hit my back, I realised that the vampires behind me were pushing me forward into their friends, taunting me. My pulse was racing and sweat was dripping in steady rivulets down my forehead, but I kept on fighting. I wasn’t going to make this easy on them. I let out a fierce battle cry as I pushed away a vampire whose face was too close to my throat for comfort. It didn’t matter. Another vampire took his place, a new one. In the throes of blood lust, his face contorted with fury. One of the vampires landed a kick into the back of my legs and I fell onto my knees. I panicked, sheer terror overwhelming my senses when both my arms were grabbed and held out to the sides. One of them pulled the gun out of the waistband of my jeans with a throaty chuckle.

  “Ashley!” Mitch shouted. His voice was filled with desperation. Any reply I could have made got lodged in the back of my throat.

  I didn’t see the vampire who sank his fangs into my neck, but the bite was hard and it was deep. The scream which tore from my lungs was almost drowned out by the sounds of fighting, snarling and hissing. I tried to move my head out of the way, but the vampires had me pinned in place so firmly that I couldn’t move a muscle. I could do nothing but kneel there as my blood was drained from my body. I screamed again as another equally sharp set of fangs pierced my left wrist.

  Dizziness began to overwhelm me, and my vision became blurry. I waited for the blackness to take me, but it didn’t come. I was dimly aware of Mitch calling out my name again when everything around me froze.

  Is this it? I wondered, my brain addled with confusion, fear and pain. Is this what dying feels like?

  I didn’t know what was happening. The vampires in front of me were swimming in and out of focus, but I was sure they had stopped moving. It was as if they were suspended in time, frozen like a photographic snapshot or a movie left on pause. The vampires’ fangs were still embedded in my neck and arm, but they were no longer draining my blood. I blinked a few times to try to get my vision to clear when I heard Mitch calling out to me again. I found strength from somewhere inside and tore my arm free from the vampires who had been holding me. The movement dislodged the fangs from my arm, but I didn’t have strength left to free myself from the vampire who had been feeding from my throat. His fangs stayed embedded in my flesh and the pain was intense.

  I moved my eyes to the side to see if I could make sense of the madness when a dwarf moved into my line of sight. He was no taller than three feet. He had a long face with large pointy ears and his head was tilted to the side as he studied me.

  I watched with open puzzlement as he turned to my left. “Quite a pickle your friend is in,” he croaked. “Looks like I got here just in time.”

  I tried to move my eyes farther to the left without moving my neck, but it didn’t work. The slightest movement caused the pain to intensify and I still couldn’t see anything past the dwarf. Blood poured from my neck, soaking through my vest top.

  “Would you like me to help her?” he asked jovially.

  It was only after he’d spoken that my mind unscrambled and I realised what had happened. The dwarf, a species of Fae, had frozen time, suspending everything but Mitch and I, and he was offering his help.

  “No, Mitch!” I shouted, ignoring the jolt of pain which lanced up my neck. A wave of nausea hit me, but I bit it back. My eyes were growing heavy. “Don’t agree to it
!”

  “If I were to unfreeze them,” he continued as if he hadn’t heard me, “Your friend would die a very painful death. You don’t want that, do you?”

  “No!” I repeated, on the verge of hysteria. I didn’t want to die, but Mitch would be indebted to the Fae and there was no telling what the dwarf would make him do. Whatever it was the dwarf wanted, I knew it would be bad. I didn’t want Mitch to be put in that position. I didn’t want him to have to do something he might never forgive himself for because of me.

  “Help her,” Mitch said firmly.

  What little strength remained in my body ebbed away. I should have been relieved that I was going to live to fight another day, but when the dwarf turned to face me, a satisfied grin on his face, I felt cold seep into my bones. Guilt ate at me. This was my fault. Mitch was in this situation because of me. I should have been more cautious. I shouldn’t have gone charging in without thinking of the consequences. Hell, Mitch shouldn’t have been with me at all. He’d been doing me a favour by helping me retrieve the grimoire and now he was in debt to a Fae.

  The dwarf lifted his hand, palm facing me, and a blinding ray of white light surrounded me. It was so bright, so intense that it was like staring directly at the sun. I had to squeeze my eyes shut against it. I felt the vampire’s teeth being ripped from my neck and that was the last thing I remembered before the darkness finally consumed me.

  Chapter Four

  When I awoke, the first thing I noticed was that I was no longer in pain. I’d been poised for it, expected it, but there was none. I lifted my hand and felt blindly around my neck, but I couldn’t find the puncture wound from the bite. The skin was smooth, unbroken and untainted. Both wrists were also wound-free.

  The second thing I noticed was that I was comfortable, incredibly so. I was lying in big, soft bed, my head resting on a plethora of fluffy pillows. It was bliss. I yawned and stretched out my arms, revelling in my wellbeing. I felt no discomfort, no stiffness, nothing. If I didn’t know any better I’d have thought that the vampires, the fight, everything had been a dream. But I did know better. Even in my groggy, barely-awake state I knew it had been real. For as long as I lived, I would never forget the sensation of dread that had consumed me when I’d thought I’d been drawing my last breath. The terror had been all-encompassing.

  “Hey, you’re awake. How are you feeling?”

  Turning my head sharply to the side, I saw Mitch sitting in a chair beside the bed. He was leaning forward, his elbows resting on his knees and his eyes locked on me. Concern was etched into the lines on his face.

  “I feel great actually. How is that? What happened?”

  “One of the Fae here is a healer,” Mitch explained. “He took care of your injuries. Said you’d be good as new.”

  I nodded. “Here? Where is here, exactly?”

  Mitch’s expression darkened and his jaw got tight. He appeared…anxious. Unease rolled off him in waves. “We’re in the Fae sanctuary.”

  “Oh, right.” I sighed. “Did you get into trouble for coming here again?”

  Mitch waved off my concern. “They tend to overlook things like that when it’s in their best interests.”

  “Right. Mitch, look, I’m sorry. About the vampires, I…”

  “Don’t,” he interrupted. “You got nothing to apologise for. Ain’t nothing either of us could have done differently to change the outcome of last night.”

  “Last night?” I balked. “How long have I been asleep?”

  Mitch smiled and I felt the jolt in my stomach that was becoming a regular occurrence when I looked at him. “Fourteen hours straight,” he informed me.

  “What? Fourteen hours? Crap!” I began to sit up, but when the sheet which covered me started to slip, I realised I wasn’t wearing anything underneath. I gasped and grabbed the sheet, pulling it up to my neck. “What the hell? Did you…?”

  Mitch let out a husky-sounding chortle. “Wasn’t me. Scout’s honour.”

  He must have read my dubious expression because his chortle turned into a full-on, laugh. “Give me some credit, babe. I’m not so desperate to see you naked that I’d take advantage of you when you’re unconscious. I’m a patient man. I can wait until you wanna get naked in front of me. One of the elfin women undressed you. Your clothes were covered in blood. Your top was ruined, but the jeans survived. They washed them for you.”

  I ignored the earlier comment and asked, “Where are they? I need a top, my backpack is…”

  “Your backpack is on the floor by the dresser.” He nodded to the far side of the room. “Went back to get the bike. But you don’t need to put on any clothes on my account.”

  I followed his gaze then turned back to him. “Are you going to leave so that I can get dressed?”

  “No.”

  I blinked, but my body froze. “What?”

  His dark brown eyes locked on mine and he whispered, “Babe.” That was it. No apology, no explanation, no nothing.

  I glared at him, but as usual it had zero effect. He leant back in the chair and crossed one leg over the other, his right eyebrow raised challengingly.

  His new seated position enabled me to notice that he’d changed his clothes. A white T-shirt was fitted tight across the wall of his chest and I couldn’t stop my gaze from lingering there. A tattoo snaked up his left bicep, literally. Underneath the sleeve of his T-shirt I could just make out the tail of a rattlesnake which appeared to be coiled around a skull. I wondered if he had any more on his body. I swallowed then lifted my head.

  “Mitch.” I’d meant it to sound snarky, but it hadn’t come out that way at all. It had been breathy and Mitch’s eyes flashed in response. This was not good. We had things to do. There was no question that I was attracted to Mitch, but we didn’t have time to explore whatever the hell was simmering between us. When Mitch’s gaze grew heated, my breath caught. He didn’t look like he was going to move out of the chair anytime soon.

  I had to put an end to this, pronto, or I suspected I wouldn’t be the only one naked in bed. Jesus, why did my mind have to go there? I turned to the dresser and let out a frustrated sigh. “I need to get dressed, Mitch. If you’re not going to leave can you at least turn around or close your eyes?”

  When he failed to move, I decided I needed to be more insistent. I turned back to him, ready to fight my corner, but his eyes were closed.

  “Happy now?” he asked, his mouth curved up on one side.

  I was far from it, but if he had no intention of leaving the room, it would have to do. I slid off the bed, keeping the sheet tightly wrapped around me, and strode across the room to the dresser. I looked around and realised we must have been in a log cabin. The walls, the floor, even the ceiling was formed from a rough-looking lumber. There was only one door in the room. I wanted to wash up and brush my teeth, but I guessed that would have to wait. Besides, I didn’t want to spend any longer in the sanctuary than we had to.

  I unzipped my backpack and rifled around inside. I’d packed light, bringing only the bare essentials that would see me through a couple of days on the road. I pulled out socks, clean underwear, a pair of jeans and a plain, sky-blue, fitted T-shirt which came pretty close to matching the colour of my eyes. I noticed my cowboy boots sitting on the floor next to the door. It was difficult, but I managed to keep the sheet wrapped around me as I pulled on my underwear, all the while checking on Mitch to make sure he still had his eyes closed. I mean, seriously? Would it have killed him to leave the room for a couple of minutes until I got dressed?

  I’d put on my jeans and was pulling the T-shirt over my head when Mitch blindsided me. “We need to talk about Durin, the Fae who helped us last night.”

  Durin. So that was his name. I stilled and closed my eyes, one arm in the T-shirt and one arm out. I’d known this conversation had been coming, but I hadn’t been looking forward to it. Fourteen hours of sleep might have helped to heal my body and rejuvenate my spirit, but it hadn’t assuaged my guilt.

  I
slipped my other arm in the T-shirt and pulled it down my body. “I’m decent,” I informed him. “Has he told you what he wants in return for his help?”

  When he opened his eyes, I noticed that his earlier amusement had faded. “No. He wouldn’t tell me. Said he wants us both there. We’re supposed to meet him and one of the elders called Brokk.” He checked his watch then grinned. “Five minutes ago.”

  “Crap, it’s gonna be bad, isn’t it?”

  Mitch shrugged. “Guess we’re about to find out. Whatever it is, we’ll deal.”

  I wished I shared his confidence, but I had a feeling we weren’t going to like whatever it was that Brokk and Durin wanted us to do for them.

  “Do you think we can bargain with him?”

  “No, and don’t even try. If we ask them for anything else, we’ll end up owing them a life debt and we owe enough already.”

  I sighed and sat down on the end of the bed. “You mean I owe him enough already.”

  Mitch’s brow puckered. “Babe, I’m the one who asked for his help.”

  “Yes, to save me!” I fumed. “You shouldn’t owe him anything.”

  Mitch got to his feet then crossed the room until he stood in front of me. He crouched down and looked into my eyes. His expression had turned suddenly serious. I held my breath and waited.

  “Let’s get a few things straight and then I don’t want you to bring this up again, get me? I was being cautious last night, too damn cautious, but the fact is I would have charged in there and saved those humans the same way you did. You were just quicker than me. We’d have fought those vampires regardless of who made the decision to move in first.

  “You did the right thing, Ash. You not only did what you’d been trained to do, you did what you had to do. It was instinctual. We were outnumbered, plain and simple. None of what happened was your fault. Do you understand me?”