Dog Eat Dog World: Limited Edition Bundle (Black Dog)

by Hailey Edwards

  Of course, it was a mess of his own making, but still.

  “Oh.” She lowered her weapon, and I noticed the price tag stuck to it. “Want to talk?”

  According to my alarm clock, it was four forty-five in the morning. I had planned on waking up at six so I could make Mai’s seven o’clock deadline. “Sure.” I covered a yawn. “First I need coffee.”

  “Why don’t we get an early start?” She smiled at my groan. “I’ll stop at Java Bean, my treat.”

  Right. Because from here on out, my cash flow was dammed. “Can I get a muffin?”

  Her lips pursed in careful consideration. “Blueberry, yes. Strawberry, no.”

  I pouted. “But I love the strawberry ones.”

  “Sorry, Princess.” She winked then spun on her heel. “I’m on an all-blue diet this week.”

  I was about to question how that was possible when it hit me I hadn’t made travel arrangements for my guards yet. Drawing on all the patience allotted to me at this time of morning, I summoned them.

  Both fae appeared, dressed and ready for battle, like five o’clock wasn’t the butt crack of dawn.

  “Has something happened?” Righty asked, scanning the area.

  “No,” I assured him. “It’s nothing like that.”

  Lefty kept a hand on his sword hilt. “Nothing got past me—” he glowered, “—except the fox.”

  I bit my lip and counted backwards from ten. “Leave,” I told him. “Right now.”

  He vanished with a pleased smirk I would be happy to wipe off his face with a two-by-four.

  “Am I dismissed as well?” Righty’s tone was milder, prickly but not hostile.

  I took a cleansing breath. “I’m sure you’ve overheard me planning for a trip to Daytona.”

  “Yes.” A thoughtful pause ticked past. “Daire and I have made our preparations.”

  “Daire?” Oh. He meant Lefty. “Ah. Good. I should have thought to ask you earlier.”

  “It’s no trouble.” Righty inclined his head. “Where you go, we must follow.”

  “Still, I should have given you a heads up.” His puzzled reaction made me think the direction of our conversation mystified him. “It was wrong of me to assume you had nothing better to do.”

  Emotions clouded Righty’s face, all conflicting and none I could easily identify. “I don’t.”

  Exhaling through my teeth, I accepted that a lifetime of Unseelie brainwashing wasn’t unraveled in a day.

  “Well, either way, we’re about to leave.” It felt weird telling him what he must have overheard, but since I rarely saw him or Lefty—Daire—without summoning them first, I wasn’t ever sure how much either of them knew or how often they pooled their information. “Will you two be riding down with us, or do you prefer alternate means of transportation?”

  “We spoke with the cat earlier,” he said. “We agreed that he would ride in the car with you and act as guardian until you reach your destination. Once there, Daire and I will resume our posts.”

  I perked up at that. “Diode’s here?” I had been afraid I wouldn’t see him before we left.

  Righty nodded at me. “He’s lounging in the living room.”

  “Excellent.” I plucked at my shirt. “Can I get some privacy to change, please?”

  Back in familiar territory, Righty relaxed into his role. “Yes, of course.”

  He poofed.

  The bedroom door remained shut, and I hadn’t heard footsteps, but when I inhaled, I no longer scented him. My nose was a hair better than Mai’s, but she couldn’t pinpoint the guards even when they were standing next to her. For the first time, it occurred to me that might be intentional.

  The ringing of my phone distracted me from bounding out to check on Diode. A quick glance at its display showed an unfamiliar number. I wasn’t sure it was a Texas area code. It looked more like a Nevada prefix. Still, this was my work line, so I answered. “Marshal Thackeray.”

  “I must meet with you,” a crisp, accented voice demanded. British maybe?

  Trying for polite, I didn’t snap back. “Who is this?”

  “I owe you, Marshal.” He sounded less than thrilled about it. “I always pay my debts.”

  “I’m heading out of town on business,” I lied. “Call me in a week, and we’ll set something up.”

  “That simply will not do.”

  Silence hummed in my ear. The call ended before I could wheedle more information out of him.

  I stared at the display. Weird. He owed me? Was that a veiled threat?

  Without caffeine to jolt my brain cells, I wasn’t sure. He sounded serious about paying his debt, which meant this weirdness wasn’t over yet. This guy wanted to meet, huh? Maybe next week wouldn’t be so boring after all.

  Just what my life needed. More excitement.

  After dropping my phone into my purse, I began detangling my hair.

  I ditched my pajamas for shorts and a tank top, set my compact navy suitcase on the floor, wheeled it over the threshold and then hesitated. The messenger bag filled with my marshal equipment hung on the doorknob. I had guards. I had Diode. Shaw would be a phone call away. I could go unarmed. Trust I wouldn’t need to defend myself.

  But my fingers itched for the strap. Being a marshal was the weight keeping me anchored to who I was. All the politics and Faerie drama weren’t me. Not yet at least. Trusting my safety to someone else wasn’t either.

  After snagging the worn satchel, I felt better for it. I didn’t need anyone fighting battles for me. Thinking of the strange caller, I grinned. In fact, exercise might do me good.

  “Look what the cat dragged in,” I snarked at Diode as I entered the living room.

  The panther-sized cat made a show of stretching before padding over to say hello with a purr so deep it vibrated my teeth when he leaned against my leg. I sank my fingers in his glossy highlighter-yellow fur and scratched.

  “The guards informed me of the situation,” he said. “I have taken measures to ensure my own comfort.”

  “Wow.” I was impressed. “Everyone around here is so…efficient.”

  Haphazard as Mai and I had lived our lives up to this point, I felt disorganized by comparison.

  “You are under enough stress as it is.” He flicked his tail. “We will not add to it.”

  I bent down and kissed the top of his furry head. “You’re the best cat ever.”

  His grin bared wicked, sharp teeth. “I know.”

  “Are we ready to roll?” Mai strolled into the room, wheeling a compact purple suitcase identical to mine. Except mine lacked the designer label. And the fancy color. And the retractable handle that actually retracted.

  Okay. Well. They were both suitcases on wheels.

  “Almost.” Diode prowled to the couch and returned with a brown paper bag clasped in his jaws.

  “For me?” I accepted the package and waited while he flicked his tongue in disgust at the flavor.

  “For me, actually.” He sat on his haunches and curled his tail around his front paws. “Open it.”

  I tore the bag—it had been stapled shut—and pulled out a thin black leather collar. “Um.”

  “That won’t fit you, fur face,” Mai said helpfully.

  The tip of his tail twitched. “You would think so.”

  He managed to make it sound like an insult, which amused me. Unlike her animosity toward the guards, Mai had a friendly, if antagonistic, relationship with Diode. Foxes were a part of the Canidae family, a fact Diode was fast to mention the first time she tried petting him.

  Bam. Just like that, a good old-fashioned cat-versus-dog rivalry was born.

  Ignoring their banter, I asked him, “What is it you want me to do with this exactly?”

  He looked like I had asked him to bark or something. “Fasten it around my neck. What else?”

  “This should be interesting.” Mai again.

  Afraid of hurting his feelings, I unfastened the buckle. “Yell if it pinches.”

  His r
esponse was to stretch out his neck and wait while I pressed the collar to his throat.

  “What the—?” A swirl of sparks blindsided me, and I stumbled forward, tripping over…a housecat.

  “Meow.” The boxy calico pronounced it the way a person would.

  Mai dropped her purse. “No way.”

  “Yes way,” he said smugly.

  The voice was right, but what the hell. “Diode?”

  The cat arched his back with a purr. “Who else would it be?”

  After recovering from the shock, I had to admit it was a neat trick. “How did you pull this off?”

  “You didn’t think all that late-night prowling was for nothing, did you?”

  “You’re a tomcat.” A jumbo-sized one. “I figured you were out…catting around.”

  “Not hardly.” His whiskers flexed. “A witch lives three blocks over to the east. She spelled the leather for me after the guards informed me of your travel plans. I, of course, will be accompanying you.”

  Mai whimpered, no doubt imagining those needle-like claws piercing her leather seats, but I was all smiles. “Are you sure it was wise to trust her?”

  His gaze dropped to my glove. Point taken. I had used a witch to charm the leather of my glove, but it was necessary. My magic killed people, and I wasn’t as proficient at wielding it as I would like to be. Yet. My glove was an extra layer of protection for me—and everyone I came into contact with.

  “Okay, well.” I glanced around the room. “I guess the gang’s all here.”

  Everyone except Shaw.

  “Cool.” Mai gathered her things and bolted out the door. “Last one to the car is a rotten egg.”

  Diode looked alarmed. “What?”

  “Relax.” I chuckled. “It’s just something people say.”

  He licked a front paw and smoothed the fur on his face. “People are, quite frankly, ridiculous.”

  “No argument here.” I stepped outside, waiting on Diode to saunter out into the hall, trusting the guards had made their exit while Puss in Boots was expressing his catty superiority. Once he strutted past me, I locked up the apartment, grabbed my bags and followed Mai down to the parking lot. When I got there, I pretended not to notice the blue-black truck idling discreetly behind a row of SUVs. Or the fact its driver stared a hole through my thin tank top while I crossed the blacktop and headed for Mai’s tiny sports car.

  If she noticed the truck—or its ogling driver—she didn’t mention it. I felt certain she hadn’t, given the fact she wasn’t throwing things or stomping her feet. Feeling certain my secret would last through breakfast, I helped Mai finish loading the car and then climbed in and held on tight.

  Chapter 8

  Mai wasn’t a bad driver, exactly. Her foot just had a high lead content. I also suspected she was colorblind, which explained why she had blown through four red lights and counting.

  While she continued shattering traffic laws at record speeds, I braced my right hand on the dash and pinned Diode to my chest with my left arm. His fur stood on end, and his piercing claws sank into my neck and chest.

  Breakfast had been a bad idea. Coffee sloshed in my stomach and the muffin… Oh, the muffin.

  “You’re not going to hurl, are you?” Mai decelerated by several precious miles per hour.

  “My stomach hasn’t decided yet,” I admitted.

  Diode’s words were muffled against my shirt.

  Mai reached over and patted his back. “I think he said he can’t breathe.”

  I eased my grip, and sure enough, Diode shot from my arms, panting as he hit the backseat.

  “Sorry,” I called to his retreating tail.

  He curled up on the floorboard on the blanket I brought for him and began moaning.

  “Poor fur britches,” Mai said, not sounding sorry at all.

  Then the hacking started.

  Panic spiked her voice. “What is your cat doing back there?”

  “It sounds like he’s getting carsick.” I exhaled slowly, trying to calm my own stomach. “This is his first time riding in a car.”

  Flipping on her blinker, Mai jerked the wheel and cut off an SUV behind us to reach the side of the road. Emergency lights flashing, she pointed to the cat and then to the door. “Get him out now.”

  I hopped to it, gingerly lifting Diode and depositing him on the gravelly shoulder in time for him to toss his Meow Mix. He let me help him back onto the floorboard, where balled up in shadow to rest.

  The car rocked when I climbed in and shut the door. I grimaced at Mai as I fastened my seat belt. “You’re lucky I’m not a sympathetic vomiter.”

  Punching the gas, she spun us back onto the interstate. “Should I roll down a window so you can stick your head out and—? Ouch.”

  “Not funny.” I frogged her thigh, punching her leg a second time to get my point across.

  “Damn it, that’s going to bruise,” she whined.

  “You’ll live. I know you packed makeup,” I teased. “You’ve got concealer.”

  “Which will clash with the tan I’ll be working on,” she grumbled.

  A blast of classic rock music earned me a sharp look from Mai. Even Diode paused in his moaning.

  “That would be me.” I pulled my cell from my bra. “Don’t look at me like that. It’s not Shaw.”

  “I was actually thinking now that you’re a marshal, you should invest in a holster or belt clip for your phone.” She reached over and tugged on my bra and tank top straps until my breasts jiggled. “A padded cup is nice, but phones are expensive. Yours needs more protection than that scrap of foam.”

  I looked down at my boobs. “Are you insulting my bra?”

  “No.” She hummed. “Well, maybe. Would it kill you to upgrade from plain white cotton?”

  “I have black too.” I even owned a nude-colored strapless number, so there.

  Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to the road. “Are you answering that or what?”

  “Yeah, yeah.” The display flashed the same number as it had this morning. “Hello?”

  “I have decided that I will come to you, in Florida.”

  I spluttered. “How did you—?”

  “How is not important. This is an urgent matter, and it demands an expedient resolution.”

  “Look, I don’t know what your deal is, buddy, or what it is you think you owe me, but I can promise you the only way we’re meeting up is on conclave grounds with magistrates watching.”

  Mai cut her eyes toward the phone. “Everything okay, Tee?”

  “I have to go,” I told the caller. “Don’t dial this number again.”

  “You have chosen to make this difficult,” he said. “Be that as it may, I will be seeing you soon.”

  He hung up on me. Again.

  I stared at the phone. “Maybe I picked a bad time to go on vacation.”

  “Who was that?”

  “I don’t know.” I recapped our first phone conversation while she nodded along.

  “That’s weird, even for you.”

  “Hey.”

  “Sorry, Tee, but you attract headcases.”

  I arched a brow. “Is that your professional opinion?”

  Mai was an intern with a counselor for displaced fae youth, kids without familial support who were struggling to adjust to their manifesting powers. Most of which activated around the time the kids hit puberty, a bad time to mix volatile hormones with burgeoning magical abilities.

  All too often young fae harmed themselves or others without the proper guidance. I was glad Mai would be there to help them sort through those feelings before they resulted in injuries. Between counseling and a private fae school system, fewer kids fell through the cracks like I had, and I was glad they wouldn’t carry the same scars I did.

  She told me once that my messed-up childhood had inspired her career choice.

  I guess being called an inspiration was better than being labeled a cautionary tale.

  Mai surprised me by answeri
ng, “Actually, yes, it is.”

  “I’ll be sure to mention that to Shaw the next time I see him.”

  “Go right ahead.” Her tone chilled. “He’s a prime example.”

  “You used to think he was hot,” I pointed out. “In fact, you encouraged me to pursue him.”

  “I wanted you to get him out of your system.” Her palms smacked the steering wheel. “I didn’t expect you to be stuck with that—that parasite for the rest of your natural life. Believe me, if I had a time machine, I would crank the dial for two years ago. I would stand next to Mable, shake a finger at you and lecture you on the dangers of dating incubi, no matter how sexy they are at first glance.”

  Mable had never been a fan of my romantic fascination with Shaw, but she respected him.

  “He’s a good marshal.” I amended, “He’s a good guy.”

  “As a marshal, I can’t dispute his record or his work ethic.” She exhaled. “As a guy? He sucks.”

  I would have laughed if she hadn’t been serious. “Nobody’s perfect.”

  The car swerved. “Since when are you defending him?”

  “I broke him, Mai.” I tightened my seat belt. “Not the other way around.”

  Her answer was a grumbled, “Yeah, yeah.”

  “Enough talk about Shaw.” The last thing I needed was to slip up and for her to figure out he was tagging along on our vacation. “Enough about the creeper on the phone too. I have Diode. I have the guards. Whatever that guy wants from me, he’ll have to go through conclave channels to get it.”

  A small frown puckered her forehead, but she finally nodded. “New topic.”

  Eager to turn the tables, I grinned at her. “I met a nice goblin at work last week.”

  Personally, I blamed the eighties flick Labyrinth for her goblin fixation. She burned through available goblin men like wild faefire, but unless I met their king and he was a dead ringer for Jareth, I wasn’t interested.