Raging Rival Hearts

by Olivia Wildenstein

  Who were you thinking about back there, huh?

  His body became so rigid I could almost hear all of his joints fuse together.

  Was it Tracy? Or…what’s the other huntress’s name again?

  I knew exactly what her name was—Diane—I was just trying to get a rise from him.

  “I was not thinking about either huntress.”

  Who then?

  “No one, Lily. No one, all right?” His voice was no louder than the growl I’d heard in the woods.

  Why were you in that house?

  “I bought it.”

  I spun my face toward him. You bought a house? That house?

  “Yes, I bought it.” He emphasized the verb, clearly annoyed by my reaction.

  I wasn’t implying you’d stolen it or influenced someone to give it to you.

  His dark gaze slid to mine as though looking for confirmation of my thoughts in my expression.

  Congratulations. It’s a great house. Catori loves that house. She always said that— When she’d been a child, Cat had dreamed of living there…

  My skin prickled with goosebumps, and I shivered so hard it knocked my teeth together. I returned my gaze to the lake.

  He’d bought it for her.

  “I did not buy it for Catori.” His voice rumbled softly. “I do not have any designs on your sister-in-law.”

  I ground my knees to my chest.

  “Please stop thinking I desire her. Because I do not. Okay?”

  Was he expecting me to say okay? His actions said otherwise.

  He growled, “I am attracted to someone else.”

  I squeezed my lids closed. This conversation had been supposed to make him flee, not make him confide in me about his crush.

  “You do not know her,” he added, because my night hadn’t been awful enough.

  A long excruciating moment passed. My ego felt like it had just endured one of Kajika’s beatings.

  I was about to get up when he said, “Silas was pleased to see you.”

  Silas is a good friend.

  “He looked at you as though you were more than a friend to him.”

  No. We just haven’t seen each other since the night Alice…

  I avoided thinking the word died, but my glance at the patch of sand where Ace had gassed her, and where I had later incinerated her lifeless body, betrayed my thoughts. I’d burned her to prevent any beachcombers from finding her. Plus, I’d thought I would spare Kajika the heartache of burying her.

  He’d been so angry with me.

  Were you in love with Alice? I asked after some time. I’d never dared speak about her with Kajika.

  “In love? You cannot fall in love with someone you just met.”

  You fell in love with Cat the moment you met her.

  He set his gaze on the smattering of stars. “What I felt for Catori was not love. What I felt for her was…complicated. I had absorbed the spirit of a boy who cherished your sister-in-law. And she resembled my mate, whom I—” He shuddered. “Whom I had loved deeply. Part of me was convinced she was Ishtu.”

  As he said her name, he grew even more somber. Which was a feat considering his mood vacillated between drab and gloomy on his best days.

  Ishtu had broken his heart posthumously—a couple months back, Kajika had learned she’d had an affair with a faerie. Not just an affair, but that she’d loved the faerie.

  “I detest that you know everything about me.”

  I don’t know everything.

  “You know more about me than I do about you.”

  Oh, come on, you can hear all my thoughts!

  He fixed me with gleaming eyes, and it made me so self-conscious that I shivered. Slowly, he took off his winter jacket and draped it over my shoulders.

  You’re going to freeze.

  “My blood runs warmer than humans’.”

  I tried to give it back to him, but he caught the collar of his jacket and buttoned it around my throat, his chapped knuckles scraping roughly against my jaw. As he removed his hands, I caught sight of his knuckles—bruised and scabbed.

  Are you angry or frustrated?

  He peered at his hands. “I am just training.”

  Uh-huh. I doubted he truly needed to train; hunters possessed super-human strength.

  “So what is in Lake Superior?”

  You’re really not going to let it go, are you?

  “I really am not.”

  If I tell you, do you promise not to stop me from going there?

  He mulled over my demand. “Yes.”

  Fine. There’s a place called Copper Harbor, which was apparently reputed to have copper mines.

  A deep groove appeared between his black eyebrows.

  Holly’s book said Daneelies protected copper caves, and well—I swirled my fingers through the sand—I was thinking maybe I’d find others like Cat there.

  His eyes widened so much that his lashes hit the black lock of hair that always fell across his forehead.

  I shrugged. I’m probably wrong about more existing, but Cat said she wished there were others, so I thought I’d go check. Besides, I need to get out of Rowan. All I do here is ponder when I’m going to die, and it’s getting depressing.

  “Does Catori know about your theory?”

  No. And I don’t want her to know. I don’t want to raise her hopes for nothing.

  “You are not planning on flying there?”

  No. I promised Cat I would stop wasting my fire.

  “You failed to uphold that promise tonight.”

  I blushed at the reminder that I’d flown away from his house after seeing him— I stopped myself mid-thought. At least my embarrassment had made me warmer. I worked on unbuttoning his jacket, but my fingers kept skidding off the button.

  “Can we get there by land, or do we need a boat?”

  My fingers froze on the button. We? I’m going alone. You said you’d let it go after I told you.

  “What I said was that I would not stop you from going there. I never said I would let you leave on your own.”

  Kajika—

  “We either head there together or you do not head there at all.”

  That’s not fair.

  “What is not fair? That I accompany you on a trip that could potentially be dangerous and taxing? How is that unfair? Besides, Daneelies are of interest to me as well.”

  I side-eyed him. Why?

  “Because I care about all fae species.”

  Species? I grunted.

  “And no, I will not murder them.”

  I hadn’t jumped to the conclusion of murder, but I was glad he cleared that up.

  I want to do this alone.

  “I will not talk to you.”

  I snorted. Because that’s going to make your company so much more tolerable?

  “I thought you enjoyed my company.”

  I had to look at his face then to see if he was serious. He could not possibly think I enjoyed his company.

  His company was torture.

  One corner of his mouth curled up in an almost smile. The hunter didn’t do full smiles. At least not mirthful ones. He’d gotten smirks down to a tee.

  I finally managed the button and then tossed him his jacket, no longer cold.

  “I will pick you up at seven?”

  I’d leave that night. I’d hire a driver and—

  A flash of white teeth appeared between his curved lips. “You do that, and I will carry you back to my new home and lock you in my bedroom to keep an eye on you so you cannot escape.”

  I blinked. He wouldn’t.

  “I would,” he said quietly.

  Fine. I’ll be ready at seven.

  I stood and rubbed the grains of sand off my clammy palms, then started walking away. The quickest way back to the graveyard was through the woods, but the growling I’d heard earlier made me too nervous to head back that way, so I traipsed toward the road.

  Kajika matched my strides.

  What are you doing?
r />   “Walking you home.”

  You don’t have to do that.

  “Perhaps I want to.”

  Or perhaps you don’t trust me.

  He glanced down at me and grinned, a broad smile that made me stumble over a rock. He caught my arm to steady me and didn’t release me for so long that I had to shrug his hand off and put a full body space between us.

  We’d be stuck together soon enough.

  6

  The Drive

  I spent the night preparing for my trip to Copper Harbor.

  Not mine…our trip.

  I still couldn’t believe Kajika was coming with me. I honestly wasn’t sure how I felt about spending the next few days with him. In truth, I was glad not to go alone but wary of his reasons for accompanying me.

  He’d been so quick to mention that murdering the Daneelies wasn’t his intention. What if that was exactly what he planned? I shuddered. Kajika wasn’t a cold-blooded killer. He’d never taken anyone’s life since he’d been awakened. Except Blake’s, but that had been unintentional.

  Unable to sleep a wink, I showered and readied myself early. And then I sat on the porch to await Kajika’s arrival. When the sky lightened to the deep gray of dawn instead of the dark black of twilight, it hit me why he’d want to go with me. To please Catori. Sure, he said he no longer cared for her in that way, but if he located Daneelies, she’d be so ecstatic…

  Tires crunched on the gravelly driveway that snaked through the cemetery, and then a midnight-blue Porsche came to a stop in front of me. I frowned until Kajika stepped out from behind the wheel. He walked over to me and grabbed the carry-all I was heaving down the steps.

  What happened to the pickup?

  “It broke down.”

  So you bought yourself a sportscar?

  “I rented it for our trip. It drives fast, so instead of nine hours, it should take us seven in this vehicle. We could be back by tomorrow.”

  I didn’t want to be back by tomorrow; I wanted a longer adventure.

  His eyes sharpened tightly on me. “I did not think you would want to spend more time than necessary in my company.”

  I dragged the front of my boot through the gravel. You wouldn’t have to stay with me.

  He tossed my little suitcase in the trunk, then smacked it shut and folded his body back behind the wheel. I glanced behind me at the house, and then I got into the Porsche.

  As I pulled my seatbelt across my torso, Kajika said, “Just so we are clear, I am not doing this to win points with Catori.”

  It took me a minute to realize what he was referring to. How far do my thoughts carry?

  He revved up the engine and performed a sharp u-turn that sprayed rocks against the headstones.

  “I just have to see you to hear you.”

  Wow. So he could be standing on the other end of a crowded club and hear me? That didn’t afford me much privacy.

  “I am sorry, Lily. I wish I did not have this ability.”

  My own fault. Not yours. I sighed. Soon I’ll either be dead or back in Neverra, so it won’t matter.

  “You are not going to die. Ace would never let that happen. Catori will not allow it.”

  I absentmindedly stroked the buttery leather armrest. I hadn’t lost all hope, but I also didn’t harbor false expectations. Kajika, why don’t you go to Neverra? And please don’t say it’s to control the Seelies who come visit Earth, because you have a bunch of hunters who can do that.

  His fingers tightened around the wheel. “I like it here. I understand here.”

  But don’t you want to be with your family?

  “Eventually, I will be reunited with them.”

  That didn’t answer my question of why he was even still here.

  “I am not going into a place I cannot leave. What if it is a trap?”

  I blinked at him. You still think your people are being mistreated in Neverra?

  “I do not assume anything. Perhaps they truly are as content as Catori paints them to be.” He let out a whistling breath. “The same way I am content being here.”

  Content? You haven’t looked content since the day they awakened.

  “Because I do not smile and laugh as often as Cassidy does?”

  For one, you never smile. And I don’t think I’ve ever heard you laugh. And secondly, you go around scowling all the time. At everyone.

  Especially at me.

  “I am preoccupied, Lily.”

  What do you have to be preoccupied about? You just bought yourself a house. Your clan was resuscitated.

  The light from his dashboard played against his stiff jaw, against his Adam’s apple that jostled in his freshly shaven throat.

  “I am preoccupied with making money, since that is how the human world works.”

  I think you figured that part out.

  “I am preoccupied with finding the faeries desirous of digging their dust out from underneath my skin.”

  Ace will find them. He probably already has.

  “I am preoccupied with giving the new hunters enough training so they are adept at defending humans from ill-intentioned faeries.”

  I couldn’t help but feel the teensiest bit disappointed that I didn’t factor into his preoccupations.

  “If your safety did not preoccupy me, I would not have made this trip, Lily.”

  He said this so quietly I thought I’d imagined it.

  My face grew hot, as though all the fire remaining inside my body had converged inside my cheeks. We did not talk after that. Well, he didn’t talk. I worked really hard on not thinking any more desperate, silly things.

  I watched the horizon lighten, turning lavender and then gold, and then finally blue.

  When I was a kid, I petted a lupa—Neverra’s version of wolves.

  Kajika glanced at me.

  And by doing that, I opened a telepathic connection with the wild dog. So I know how it feels to have someone inside your head. Except in my case, all the lupa thought about was food. Which made me so hungry. I smiled at the memory. I’d hated it so much then, but today, I would give anything to be connected to a Neverrian beast because that would mean I would be home.

  Pity leaked from the hunter’s expression. I didn’t want his pity.

  I tucked my cheek against the headrest and closed my eyes. I thought some more about my world, and then I dreamed about it.

  And it was a wonderful dream.

  I was home.

  Kajika was there, too.

  7

  Zipline

  I woke up because the car had stopped moving. I stretched my arms and was about to apologize for being a sucky co-pilot when I noticed Kajika wasn’t there.

  For half a second, I freaked out, until I noticed the gas pumps and the twenty-four-hour convenience shop. We’d stopped for fuel. Kajika was probably inside. He hadn’t dumped me and the car on the side of the road or anything. I took off my seatbelt and got out. The air was brisk and wet, and the sky wooly with clouds. For a moment, the sound of rumbling engines and rattling suspensions faded, and I was back in Neverra, standing below the ribbon of mist that obscured the sun.

  But then squeals and gasps snapped me out of my daze.

  Three girls, arms laden with chips and chilled soft drinks, were gaping at me. One of them whipped her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans.

  “Look who we located off I-75!” the girl shrieked.

  I raised my palm to shield my face and turned, scrabbling to get the door handle open, but my fingers skidded off. A shadow fell over me. My heart pitched against my ribs as heat radiated off the adjacent body. I thought for certain the girls had moved closer, but then I heard the deep growl of a masculine voice. Muscles still tensed, I turned and found myself nose-to-spine with the hunter. I peeked around him.

  “Delete the footage, or I smash your phone.”

  The girls’ rosy complexions turned pasty. The cell phone slid and fell on the asphalt. The glittery pink rubber case cushioned its fall, but still
I heard a little crack.

  “Pick it up and erase the images.” The muscles in Kajika’s back bunched underneath his black cotton turtleneck.

  Shakily, the girl crouched and grabbed her phone. When she noticed the shattered screen, she flipped her head up so fast her brown ponytail whipped her gray hoodie. “Hey, asshole, you broke my phone.”

  “Erase the pictures.”

  “Didn’t you hear me? You broke my fucking phone!”

  “I do not care about your fucking phone. I care about those images. Must I delete them myself?”

  “It was a live video. It’s already online,” one of her friends said, but then backed up.

  Kajika seemed to grow taller before my very eyes. I touched his shoulder blade, and he flinched.

  I lowered my hand. It’s okay; it doesn’t matter.

  “Get in the car, Lily.”

  I got into the car.

  “What are you? Her bodyguard?”

  When the door snicked shut, he stalked toward the girls, who pranced away like a herd of deer, yelling the words “crazy” and “creep.” They piled into a compact red car and, tires screeching, took off.

  When their tail lights blinked out of existence, Kajika went back into the gas station. I burrowed deeper into the smooth leather. Soon he returned, settled behind the wheel, and handed me a small plastic shopping bag. My stomach growled at the scent of food. There wasn’t only a sandwich inside, though. There was also a pair of cheap black aviators and a black baseball cap.

  Are these for me?

  Kajika nodded as he pulled out of the parking spot and fired the car onto the highway.

  Thank you.

  “Does everyone in this world know your face?”

  I don’t know about everyone, but my father loved the Earthly media. It amused him to see how crazed it made people.

  “So he subjected you to it?”

  It was worse for Ace, but yeah, I got my dose of limelight. I didn’t like it. Thankfully, not too many people know I live in Rowan, or it would be a circus. I unwrapped the sandwich and bit into it. Mayo-laden tuna slid heavily down my throat and dropped into my hollow stomach. So where are we?

  “We are about to cross over Mackinac Bridge.”