by D. N. Hoxa
“Do you have a car?” Julian asked, and I couldn’t help a grin.
“You’re going to love it.” He was going to hate it.
“I need some clothes first,” he said, looking down at his torn—but clean—clothes, and bare feet.
“And you need to mask your appearance. You need to look like someone else.” If somebody who knew him before saw him, I would be in big trouble with the ECU. If they figured out I’d lied about killing Julian, that would raise a lot of questions I did not want to answer. And I definitely didn’t want to be on the run again.
Without a word, Julian closed his eyes and clenched his jaw. I could hear his teeth cracking as he focused. I wanted to look away and give him a moment of privacy while he worked his magic, but it was impossible to tear my eyes off his face. God, he was so beautiful. I could stare at him sleeping all night long and never get bored.
Even when the lines on his face began to change, he still remained him. His hair, much longer than it had been the last time I saw him, turned lighter. His forehead grew a bit wider, too, and his brows thinner. His ears were no longer pointy, and when he opened his eyes, the violet was gone. Now, blue poured onto me like the waves of the ocean. Warmth spread all over my body. Maybe because I knew what was underneath that mask, but I still thought he was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen.
“How do I look?” he asked. His voice was hoarse, as if he’d just woken up.
“Good,” I whispered, just as a violet sparkle shone in his left eye. I squinted my eyes and got a little closer to him. There it was again, this time much more pronounced. “Your eyes are changing.” They went from blue to violet and back again too fast, and it was so obvious because both colors were very intense.
Julian sighed loudly. “I’m weak.”
“You’re not weak. You’ve just forgotten.” He told me before that fairy magic could become anything with practice. He’d managed to turn his whole energy into Blood magic before, but he’d been out of practice for almost a year now, so it was normal that he wouldn’t get it right the first time.
“I forgot a lot of things,” Julian said, his eyes more violet than blue now that he was analyzing my face. “Some of them deliberately. Like how beautiful you are.”
“Julian,” I warned because I didn’t have the heart to tell him stop. No matter that I wanted to hear him speak to me like that all day long, we both had a lot of other priorities.
“I had to be able to sleep somehow, didn’t I?” he said, a sad smile touching his lips.
“And now, you need to be able to disguise yourself,” I said halfheartedly and stood up. “Let’s go find Dena Waldorf.”
Nine
Driving Turtle with Julian in the passenger seat was almost surreal. The corner of my eye was permanently focused on every little move he made, and I was well aware that he looked at me in wonder every other second. Maybe he was right. Maybe I’d changed, too, I just couldn’t see it. Maybe I’d been a fool to think what we’d had could withstand different worlds, but then again, I never really believed I’d ever see this man again. Fantasies exist for a reason.
“You’re working on your own now,” he said after half an hour of silence. If tension could be seen, I would have crashed somewhere a long time ago.
“I am.”
“It must take up all your time.”
I smiled at myself. “It does.” Could he tell I was lying?
But…did it matter?
“You probably don’t get to go out much, do you?”
I was tempted to hit the brakes. “Where are you trying to get at, Julian?” We both knew the answer, but I had to ask.
“Just trying to know more about your life now,” he said.
“So ask what you want to ask. Stop going in rounds.”
Through the corner of my eye, I could see him grinning. Though he looked different now, I could still see the real Julian underneath that disguise. “Are you seeing anyone?”
For whatever stupid reason, my brain brought Bender’s face in front of my eyes. Squeezing my eyes shut to take a second wasn’t an option—I was driving—so I just bit my tongue until it hurt before answering.
“No.” And then, as if someone else had control of my body, I asked, “You?”
Julian didn’t hesitate. “No.”
Relief washed over me but not only because of his answer. We were there.
I stopped Turtle on the sidewalk, like a lot of other cars had done. Dena Waldorf’s street was quiet. I had no idea how many humans and paranormals resided in that neighborhood, but I hadn’t had time to do a thorough search.
The house was simple—two stories high, with a light wood facade and pretty white window shutters. A large willow tree grew in the front yard, creating the perfect shadow on the open porch for days as warm as this. There were chairs there, too, but nobody was there.
“This is it?” Julian asked when we got out of the car.
“Looks like it.” The address service I paid for wasn’t cheap, and they’d never given me the wrong address before.
With half my attention on my gun and my knives, I walked up the driveway and Julian followed me. The few people who walked down the street didn’t even look at us twice. Definitely human. Westbury wasn’t close to Hempstead—the Blood coven’s community base—but it was close enough to have at least a few Blood families living there.
“If something happens, let me do the fighting. You focus on your disguise,” I whispered to Julian as we took the stairs to the front door. He didn’t comment, so I took it that he understood. Right now, the most important thing was for him to stay hidden. If the ECU came after me again, we would be screwed.
The blue screen door was closed, but through it, I could see the front door was slightly open. That put my senses in high alert immediately. My beads buzzed. I got two knives from my hip belt because nothing good ever happened when a door that had no business being open was. There was always the chance that someone had left it like that on purpose, but that chance was very slim.
Pulling the screen door back, I was going to knock on the white door. Good thing I heard the noise before my knuckles touched the wood.
I could feel Julian growing tense behind me. My own heart began to beat faster. The noise coming from inside the house was that of someone fighting. I looked back at him, my wide eyes reminding him of what I said just seconds ago: stand down.
Julian only nodded. With a deep breath, I took another look around the street to make sure nobody was watching, and I pushed the door open.
The sounds were coming from the other side of the hallway, and they didn’t stop when I stepped inside. Whoever was fighting couldn’t hear us. Heart in my throat, I walked soundlessly inside the house. The hallway was simple, with two colorful, round rugs on the hardwood floor and with a mirror on the left wall. Doorways on both sides, but the sounds were coming from our left. Telling Julian to keep quiet wasn’t necessary. He walked behind me, silent as a ghost. Even I couldn’t hear him, and he was right behind me.
We passed the kitchen on the right and the living room on the left. The door across from me looked like a bathroom door, and to its side was another doorway, decorated with a pretty wooden archway with beautiful roses engraved on it. The sounds were coming from in there, so raising my beads in front of my face, ready to charge forward if needed, I stepped forward.
The first thing I noticed were the fairies. Three of them, two men and a woman, were on top of a long dining table. That wasn’t what froze me in place and made me forget to even breathe for a long second. What shocked me was the person those fairies were fighting against.
It was Lynn.
Yes, Evelyn Davis. Bender’s niece. My apprentice.
My jaw hit the floor as she spun on air and delivered a mother of a kick on a fairy’s jaw. I turned to look at Julian. Was he seeing what I was seeing, or had I completely lost my mind?
But Julian looked just as surprised as I was. That told me he saw what I saw. Lynn w
as really in there, fighting against three fairies.
It took me longer than I like to admit to get my shit together. Running forward, I jumped a knocked over chair and almost slammed against the table. I grabbed a fairy leg, and I pulled hard until the fairy fell face first right next to Lynn’s foot. Pushing myself up with my hands, I jumped on the table.
The two other fairies turned to me—and they looked very surprised to see my ears and my eyes—while the third I’d knocked down was already up again, charging Lynn.
The woman hissed at me and swung her arm back. I thought I’d dodge in time, but her fist connected with my jaw before I could even blink. Damn it. I was distracted. Too consumed with Lynn to even see the other fairy aim his fist at my gut. Air left my lungs in a rush and pain as bright as the sun spread all over my body when the guy hit me with his forehead right on mine.
I stepped back and barely managed to keep from falling. Could somebody explain to me what the hell is going on?
When the woman charged at me again, I got my answer. No, nobody was going to explain shit.
So be it. I shook my head to get my thoughts in order, and I let adrenaline wash over my body. This time, when the woman’s fist was close to my jaw, I did dodge in time. I bent down and slid one of my knives right under her breasts. With a cry of pain, she jumped back, just as her friend jumped at me again, his huge fists aiming for my face. I blocked him with my arms three times before I was able to kick him in the gut and push him back a bit. He was much bigger than me, and I wasn’t exactly at the top of my game, but I was getting there.
Forbidding myself to even look at Lynn fighting on the other side of the table, I focused on the two fairies in front of me. I dodged their hits long enough to see the pattern of their movements. Their strong suits were their fists. They moved fast, too. I’d never seen a fairy fight like that before. Their weakness was their legs. They didn’t move as much as they should have, and they didn’t defend their legs at all. I sent four of my beads forward, one on each knee.
The fairies stepped back. They looked down to see what had attacked them, and I got my chance. Holding myself with my hands, I spun around with one leg outstretched. The heel of my foot connected with the guy’s ankle. When he fell, I jumped to my feet again and introduced my fist to the woman, who was still looking at her fallen friend. Her dark hair fell all over her face when she charged me again. I bent back at the last second and sent my beads for her face.
They pushed her back, and she hit the other fairy, who was still fighting against Lynn. It gave me more than enough time to stab her in the gut. Crying out loud, the woman dropped to her knees. Someone grabbed me by my shirt and threw me back. I fell to the floor, my breath knocked out of me for the second time. The man I’d thrown off was on his feet, coming at me, violet eyes filled with madness. I dropped one of my knives, and before he could reach me, I sent my beads to his face and head. Moving my fingers back and forth as fast as I could—which was not fast enough for my liking—I gave myself some time to get to my feet before stabbing him with my knife three times.
His face a mess of blood, he looked up at the woman, still standing on the table. I don’t know what that look said, but before I knew it, they both began to run to the end of the table—and to the window.
Glass broke as they, covering their heads with their arms, jumped right through it. The third fairy followed. My body said to run after them, but I couldn’t make myself move because I couldn’t look away from Lynn. She was on one knee at the end of the table, breathing heavily, her right shoulder covered in blood.
Dropping my knife, I ran to her. She was shaking badly. I pushed her back until her butt hit the table. A thousand questions went through my mind at once, but I couldn’t speak as I searched her body for wounds. Her face was bruised badly, there was a tear on the side of her neck—not too deep—and her shoulder was bleeding a lot.
“You need to lie down,” I said to her, then looked at Julian, who still stood by the doorway, shaking his head to himself. “Come help me with a healing spell.” I could only hope he knew that by help I meant pretend you’re conjuring so Lynn wouldn’t know how strong my magic was.
Without a word, Julian walked over to the other side of the table. Looking into my eyes, he put his palms on Lynn’s chest, and I put mine above his. My head was a mess so closing my eyes wasn’t an option just yet. I held onto his eyes, which were more violet than blue, as I conjured the healing spell. A sigh escaped Lynn’s lips as my energy left the palms of my hands. My knees shook a bit. I was more tired than I wanted to admit, but I wasn’t used to conjuring so many spells in such a little time, fighting, and not resting afterwards.
When the spell was done, I fell on the white chair a little farther from the table, completely exhausted. I was going to need a minute.
“How are you feeling?” Julian asked Lynn, who had her eyes wide open as she looked at him. She was surprised because she had no idea who he was. She hadn’t seen him put on the disguise like I had.
“I’m fine,” Lynn mumbled and sat up. The room spun for her so she held herself by her hands for a second, before looking at me.
I could say nothing to her except shake my head.
Chewing on her lip, she jumped from the table. Her shoulder was no longer bleeding and the cut on her neck was nothing but a red line now. Most of the bruises on her face were gone, but there was still some yellow left on her skin.
“You shouldn’t have let them get away,” she said.
I couldn’t help myself. I laughed until my throat ached. What the hell was it with this girl?
“You should start by explaining why you’re here and not back home like you said you would be,” I said and Lynn’s cheeks turned bright scarlet. Julian stayed at the other side of the room as if to give us some privacy, but he couldn’t look away from Lynn, either.
“I never said I was going home,” she mumbled. “I came to find Dena Waldorf, just like you.”
“Why on earth would you come to find Dena Waldorf?” Couldn’t she see how absurd the whole thing was?
“Because I heard my parents talking last night. I heard them mention the name of the guy they found dead in your neighborhood. It was Dena Waldorf’s boyfriend, and you knew that. You just didn’t want to tell me.”
I was tempted to laugh again, but this time, I managed to control it. “Why do you care? What were you trying to get out of Dena Waldorf?”
“Information. I wanted to know who she’d hired to kill her ex,” Lynn said, and as if she’d just convinced herself that she had the right to be there, she folded her arms across her chest and raised her chin. “I wanted to catch that guy.”
“Lynn, you’re just a kid! You’re fifteen years old!”
“Almost sixteen, and I can handle myself just fine.”
Heat rose in my cheeks, and I stood up, feeling a lot stronger now. And angrier.
“Where did you learn how to fight like that?”
I had been under the impression that she had no idea how to fight. Wasn’t that why she’d come to me? There was no stopping the surprises with this girl.
“I taught myself.”
“So why the hell did you want to be my apprentice?”
“Because I want to learn how to kill. And I want to learn how to crack cases. How to look for information. How to find it.”
Her voice didn’t even shake. No sign of regret in her eyes. On the contrary, she seemed to be proud of herself. I didn’t know if that made me want to beat the shit out of her for lying to me or shake her hand for her confidence.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to let me in on anything. I can do it myself, as long as my parents are off my back.”
“Let me guess, you didn’t tell them I sent you home. They think you’re with me.”
Lynn looked at her feet. That was enough of an answer for me.
“I am with you, aren’t I?”
Shaking my head, I sighed loudly. “Tell me what happened here,” I said rel
uctantly.
No matter what I said to her, she wasn’t going to back down. I knew it because I would have never backed down, either. When I was a teenager, if I wanted something as badly as Lynn seemed to want this, I would have it. Arguing about it would only make me want it more.
“Like I said, I came to look for Dena, but she wasn’t here. I searched the whole place but found nothing. She’s packed her bags. Her suitcase is missing from under her bed—you can tell by the dust. Half her closet is empty, too, and there is no aspirin in the medicine cabinet. There’s no money or valuable things anywhere, which means she’ll be gone for a long time.”
I looked at Julian for a second. An amused smile took over his face as he analyzed Lynn. I had no idea what to even think of her.
“I did find something in the basement, though. Something missing. Whatever it was, it was in a box, buried in the ground, under concrete, which she somehow broke. I think it’s her grandfather’s stuff because it’s the only thing important enough to not leave behind.”
“And the fairies?” Julian asked because I was still unable to speak.
“They found me here and attacked me without bothering to say anything. I had to defend myself,” Lynn said.
“You never told me that you knew any of this.”
She never mentioned she could fight or that she could look for clues like this.
Lynn shrugged. “You never asked.”
“So you have no idea where she went?” Julian asked.
Her cheeks flushed again, as if she was ashamed. But she didn’t need to be ashamed. She was good. So much better than some of Finn’s agents I’d worked with who’d been on the job for years.
“No idea,” Lynn confirmed.
“I’ll go take a look around.”
Julian nodded at me to tell me that he would be looking for dragon blood. I doubted he would find anything, though. If Dena Waldorf even had any of it left, she would have taken it with her.