by Liz Schulte
“So this is you blending in?” I studied him carefully.
“Can I see them? Your real ears?”
A smile danced on the edge of Cheney’s lips then disappeared into a scowl. “No.”
“Why not? I want to see your pointy ears.”
“When you awaken your other half, you can see them all you like.”
“Oh, so it isn’t something you could just show me then cover back up?”
“I could if I wanted to.”
“Then why not? Do they embarrass you?”
Cheney scowled. “I’m not here for your amusement. I’m not a fun new pet. It’s always like this with humans. Just because we don’t look like you, doesn’t mean we’re less real than you.”
I realized that what was stirring in his roiling gold eyes was irritation. I’d apparently hit a touchy subject. “Whoa, whoa, whoa … I didn’t mean anything by that. I was just curious. I’m trying to understand what you are.”
“Same thing as you, princess.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Oh, I know exactly what you mean,” he said coolly.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“I’m the only thing standing between you and the people who will make you their puppet—and at no small cost to myself, I might add. Show me some respect.” The anger in his voice was thinly veiled.
“You know, just when I think you might not be such an asshole, you prove me wrong.” I grabbed my keys and my mat.
“Where are you going?” he snapped.
“The studio.” I slammed the door behind me.
“God damn it! Son of a bitch!” I beat on the steering wheel of my car. Everything was going so well, and then this man shows up and turns my life into a swirling drain of chaos. Where did he get off being so sensitive? He was the one ruining my life. Telling me I was something other than who I was. Making me leave Grandma alone in the hospital when God only knew what could happen to her. And on top of all of that, I’d lied to Michael, ignored him, and blown him off. Cheney Hunt may have come to protect me, but he was definitely a pain in my ass.
I parked in my normal spot outside of the studio. I flipped the lights in the studio on dim, put my iPod in the player and turned it way up. Ida Maria singing Oh My God bounced off the walls with manic energy. I jumped around the room, arms in the air, dancing out my annoyance, stress and irritation, and singing along to the parts I knew at the top of my lungs. It felt so good to be free, to not have someone watching me constantly. Cheney needed to back off. I would tell him that when I got home. Whether he insisted on protecting me or not, I still needed time away from him: time to go on dates and hang out with my friends. I needed to feel like I still had a life.
When the song was over I went to change it to something a bit more peaceful, and there, leaning against the doorway with a small, sexy smile and the casual grace of a viper, was Cheney.
I rolled my eyes and sighed loudly. “What are you doing here?”
“I told you, you cannot leave me.”
“I need time alone to relax. I cannot relax around you.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, but it doesn’t change anything.”
“Fine. You better settle in because I’m not quite done here.”
“More dancing?” he mocked me.
So he’d seen that—of course he’d seen that. I refused to allow myself to be embarrassed. “Have a problem with it?”
“No, I rather enjoyed it.” He flashed another devilish grin and crossed his arms over his chest, nodding for me to continue.
I marched to the counter, turned my music to one of the meditative mixes, and settled myself on my mat. I would not let him bother me. An hour later I finished my routine, throwing in a few extra deep stretches. If he liked to watch, the least I could do was give him a show. I felt great—limber and clearheaded.
“I feel like I should have a cigarette after that,” Cheney said, no longer smiling. “Or a cold shower.”
“No one made you watch.” I brushed past him and went out, locking the door with him still inside. A moment later he pulled on the door. I waved at him through the glass window front, chuckling as I walked toward my car.
His voice sounded in my ear. “Not funny, Selene.”
“I thought it was funny.” A purring voice I didn’t recognize came from behind us. Cheney turned faster than I did. “But what I really want to know is why the Erlking’s only son is slumming with a human?”
A woman with reflective eyes, a purring voice, and tight leather pants leaned casually against the wall behind us, her arms crossed over her chest. Cheney didn’t move, just stared with an unreadable expression.
“What’s an Erlking?” I said with my best innocent expression.
Cheney closed his eyes, and a Cheshire grin spread across the woman’s face. “And how can a human see me?”
I swallowed as she stalked closer. “I’m a witch.” I held my breath as she sniffed the air around me.
“Hmmm. A witch, you say?”
Why wasn’t Cheney doing anything? He was supposed to protect me.
“Convenient.” Her pupils contracted vertically, and I was certain she could hear my heart pounding. She curled her sharpened fingernails around my arm and Cheney sprang to life.
The same thin, curved blade appeared in his hand, and she jerked me behind her at the same time the metallic click of a gun being cocked echoed in the quiet street. “Why, prince, you brought a sword to a gun fight?” She didn’t sound concerned, and Cheney’s jaw tightened.
“You don’t understand what you’re doing, Sekhmet.”
“They all say that.” Her voice was bored.
The shock finally gave way and my brain started working again. Why was I waiting for Cheney to rescue me? I was hardly helpless. I closed my eyes and collected energy in my hands, readying to zap this strange person with an obvious Catwoman complex.
“Don’t do it, Selene. We’ll have to leave if you do.” Cheney’s voice broke my concentration. “She isn’t an elf. We can perhaps reason with her.”
I cracked open my eye, though I held onto the energy buzzing beneath my skin. The woman tilted her head and watched me with curiosity, her gun still aimed at Cheney.
“Sekhmet, I promise our story is worth hearing. You work with Sy, right? Call him. Be reasonable.” Cheney’s sword vanished and he held up his hands in the universal sign for surrender.
“I do love a good story.” She eased her grip on my arm. “Amaze me.”
“Let’s go back inside.” Cheney motioned for us to go back to the studio. He put his hand on my back, urging me forward and relaxing my tense muscles. “It will be okay. I promise.”
I sighed, letting the energy fade, and retrieved my keys. We went into the studio and the woman pulled out her phone, seeming to ignore us.
“We could have escaped,” I hissed at him.
“It’s too soon to run. You haven’t been awakened yet. We need your coven for that.”
“Hey, lover, it’s me.” The woman’s low, sultry voice seemed like a shout in the quiet room. “Heh. You better know who I am. I have a quick question for you. Do you know the Erlking’s son?”
She frowned and walked a couple steps away. “What do you mean, what am I doing? I’m about to collect the bounty on that half elf. No, you can’t talk to him.” She put a hand on her hip. “You know you aren’t in charge of me.” She was quiet for a moment. “Damn right you owe me. I’m putting you on speaker.” She pressed a button and walked over to us, holding the phone out.
“Cheney?” the voice came from the speaker.
“Sy,” Cheney said. “It’s good to speak with you again. How have you been?”
“You know, living the dream,” he said dryly. “How did you get involved in a half-elf bounty? Last I checked, your family wanted nothing to do with us.”
Cheney sighed, pushing his hands in his pocket. “That’s my father, not me. We’ve always been friends, have we not?”
/> “Not since Selene died.” The woman switched hands holding the phone. “You haven’t answered my question. Why are you involved?”
“She’s not dead,” Cheney said with an odd tone of defeat.
Silence rang back. The woman looked between the two of us. “I don’t have all night, Sy.”
“Just one more question, Femi.”
The woman sighed but didn’t say anything.
“You’ve been hiding her?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t bring her in. She’s in danger. I’m on my way.” With that there was a click, leaving glittering fragments of awkwardness between us in its wake. We all looked at each other, unsure what to do.
“Well, we might as well sit.” Femi gracefully stretched out on the floor. Cheney and I sat too, no one speaking.
“I’m Selene.” I held out my hand to her and smiled.
She gave me an easy smile. “Femi. Sorry if I frightened you.”
“No worries.” I waved off the apology. “So what are you?”
“Where is she?” The voice from the phone said behind me.
Femi gave a throaty chuckle. “Forget your glasses, old man? She’s right here.”
Sy looked down at me and I looked up at him, but his face was blank. “I don’t see anything.”
Cheney stood up and shook his hand. Sy was a little taller and broader than Cheney. His hair was buzzed close to his scalp and his silver eyes searched the room. With high cheekbones, a straight nose, and full lips, Sy was handsome, too—but where Cheney had a hint of the wild and predator, Sy was familiar and relaxed. “Touch him, Selene.”
“But—”
“You can trust him.”
I hated feeling like I was the only one who had no idea what was going on. Femi rolled her eyes in a commiseration. “Men. So bossy.”
I stood up and touched the back of Sy’s hand. He blinked, scooped me up in a big bear hug, and kissed my temple. A shocked giggle began in my chest and spilled out.
“Come on, people. You know what they say about curiosity and cats. You’re killing me,” Femi called from the floor, still lazily stretched out and leaning back on the heels of her hands.
Sy laughed and set me back down. Cheney’s hand came toward me but stopped short. I glanced at him and he shook his head. Sy sat next to Femi, nudging her with his shoulder and winking.
“Cheney?” I asked.
Cheney’s eyes were gold and swirling with emotion I didn’t fully understand, but he didn’t speak.
“I should have known that if Cheney was involved, you were back,” Sy said. “What happened, Selene?”
I turned toward him. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what’s going on. Did we know each other?”
Sy raised an eyebrow. “You could say that. Your father and my mother were siblings.”
I sat down. I had family. Cheney didn’t mention that. “So we’re cousins?”
“What exactly’s going on? Why does she look human?”
I didn’t notice that Cheney had sat down next to me until he spoke. “It’s a long story. You and Sy are related on the elf side,” he said to me, then directed his next words to Sy and Femi. “Selene doesn’t have her memory.” He gave a quick rundown on how I became a changeling and why he was here now.
Sy nodded. “I’ll do what I can to keep the bounty quiet. You know who posted it, don’t you?”
“I do.”
Sy took a deep breath. “And you’ll take care of her?”
Cheney’s jaw tightened and he didn’t look pleased. “I’ll guard her with my life.”
“Okay, okay, okay. Let me see if I have this straight. So you,” Femi poked Sy in the rib with her claw and he jumped, “are related to her.” She winked at me. “And you, how do you factor into this? It’s my understanding half-elves and regular elves don’t mix a lot.”
“Cheney and Selene have history, Femi,” Sy said, not making eye contact.
“What type of history?” she asked and Sy gave her a quelling look.
I cleared my throat. “I’d like to know as well.”
“It’s better if you remember for yourself.” Cheney stood and prowled around the room. “So how many bounty hunters know? Should we leave now, or can we wait for the awakening?”
“You probably have a week or two before others catch up,” Femi said.
“How’d you find them so fast?” Sy asked her.
“I’m just that good.” She smiled and hopped back to her feet. “Selene, can I talk to you?”
I nodded and followed her into the store.
She started talking, her back to me. “Look, I don’t know you and usually when I go out on a limb for someone I don’t know, I either get stabbed in the back for my effort or land in a shitload of trouble.” She whirled around, startling me. “But you mean something to Sy, and Sy is the first friend I made after leaving my people. I wouldn’t hurt him for the world, so I’m going to let you go.”
“I was never going to let you take me,” I said. Who did this crazy woman think she was?
She laughed. “That’s cute. Anyway, I believe that you have no clue about anything that’s happening. Here’s the deal: while Cheney does weave an interesting tale, I think there’s more to this story. He’s not telling you everything.” Femi leaned over the counter and fished around by the register. She came back with a pen and paper. “If you get tired of the elves, this is my number and a number for someone who can help you. She doesn’t deal with elves, but she’s all about humans—you’re half so I think you count.”
I took the paper with no intention of calling a complete stranger. “Um, okay.”
“And don’t let her boyfriend scare you either.” She laughed again. “You know how jinn are. I’ll let her know you might be calling.”
“Do you think I shouldn’t trust Cheney?”
She gave me a half-hearted shrug. “Who knows? I stay as far away from elf politics as I can, but you seem to be dead center right now. The faster you learn that everyone has an agenda, the better off you’ll be.”
“What’s your agenda?”
“Relax, Hermione.” She winked at me. “I track down bounties strictly for the cash. No purer motive than that. Now Sy’s gotten involved because you’re family. But Prince Charming in there? Well, I don’t know what he gets out of this.” She arched a thin eyebrow. “Watch your back. Don’t take any apples from strangers.” She patted my arm and almost knocked me over.
I rubbed my arm and rolled my eyes. “Holy fairytales, Catwoman.”
“Catwoman? Shit, Catwoman’s a pussy.” She chuckled and sashayed through the door in her leather pants and four-inch heels. “I think I might like you, Selene,” she said.
At the door, she paused and called out, “Sy, you owe me another bounty,” then she strutted away and was gone.
“What is she?” I muttered.
“A Sekhmet. She’s great, isn’t she?” Sy rested an arm over my shoulder in a familial way. “I’m glad you’re not dead, cousin.” He handed me a card. “If Cheney doesn’t treat you right, give me a call. I can help.” He kissed my temple again, then vanished.
Ugh. This world was so weird—and overwhelming. Cheney stood in the doorway, staring at me.
“So you forgot to mention I have family.”
“Let’s go home, princess.” He followed me to my car in heavy silence.
“Have you heard from Gram?” I asked, hoping to penetrate his mood.
“No, I can check on her if you like.”
“Thanks.”
The lights flitted by in the darkness as I drove the familiar path home.
“Selene … ” Cheney started, then stopped.
I raised my eyebrows, glancing over.
Cheney shook his head. “Don’t run off again. No matter how mad you get at me, don’t make me chase you. Had it been a different bounty hunter, we wouldn’t have been so lucky.”
I stopped at a traffic light and turned my head fully. I was just about to respond w
hen a memory clouded my visions and my thoughts.
Cheney and I were nose to nose. His eyes gleamed with fury.
“There’s no fucking way I will allow you to leave!”
“Are you going to stop me, prince?” I growled back, spitting out the word “prince” like it was an insult.
“Damn right I’m stopping you.”
“I don’t think so. You don’t have the guts. You won’t stand up to your father or do what’s right. I’m doing this whether you support me or not.”
“I need you to have patience.”
“I’m done with patience. I’ve waited for you for two centuries. Maybe it’s best if I go with my own kind.”
“I am your kind.”
“You have no idea how much I wish you meant that.” I brushed my hand down his cheek, then strode toward the door.
“If this is a ploy to get me to chase you, it won’t work. I won’t come after you, Selene.”
I turned back to him. He stood in the middle of the room, proud as ever. “Good,” I said.
“I mean it.”
I nodded and walked away from him forever.
I opened my eyes with a cry of pain. My head throbbed and heart ached. He was gone.
“Selene.” Cheney’s voice broke through the excruciating pain.
“Cheney.” Something dormant inside of me recognized the sound of his voice and took over. My hands grabbed his face. He was here; he was real. I hadn’t lost him. My heart sang with joy. I pulled him to me, smothering him with desperate kisses, trying to drown out the more practical voice in my mind demanding attention. It asked what I was doing. It told me I hadn’t almost lost Cheney—that was someone else.
Cheney kissed me back with equal passion and tried to pull me from my seat to him, but my seatbelt kept me in place. Horns blared behind us. It meant nothing. I had him.
Red and blue strobe lights pulsed outside of the windows, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t kiss him enough. Each kiss was further reassurance that my heart was not going to stay demolished. I ignored the loud knock on the window, but Cheney pushed me back.