by Nadine Mutas
“I see.”
And she did. His drive to prove himself was visible to the naked eye, pouring off him in waves. Well, she would not rebuke him for it. His need to go it alone played into her hands. This way she had him without the protection of his family, could win his trust, and bide her time until she saw an opportunity to save his life—only to take it the very next moment.
An inexplicable ache spread in her chest. She breathed past it, reminding herself this was it. This was her chance, finally, to break her curse, to save her own life.
“I can help you search for Rose,” Isa said, as much to distract herself as to drive the mission forward.
“Thank you.” That dazzling smile lit his face again, lighting Isa’s veins with prickling sunshine.
He tilted his head and regarded her with disconcerting warmth. “Hey, maybe you could help me with my fae powers, too. I can feel something different in me, like a humming presence that wasn’t there before…or maybe it was muted. But even though I know it’s there, I have no idea what to do with it. I don't even know how to access this power. I’ve tried a little, but I keep hitting some sort of block or wall. Is there something I need to do to unlock my powers as a fae?”
Isa considered it. She studied him closely, her attention snagging on his humanly rounded ears. If his glamour had indeed been lifted, his appearance and his powers should be those of a fae or… She frowned.
Well, yes, then again, considering who his father was, it would make sense that his ears weren’t those of the fae. As for his powers, his paternal heritage could also play a part in his inability to unlock them. “I’ll try to teach you. It’s possible you just haven’t tapped into it deeply enough, but I can try to show you.”
Basil’s shoulders relaxed and he took a deep breath. “I appreciate it.”
She held up a finger. “I will help you, yes. But know this—you will owe me a favor in return.”
Basil frowned. “What do you mean? Don’t you owe me a life debt?”
“Sure I do.” Isa shrugged. “But that debt will be paid when I save your life. Now, helping you with anything else, like finding your lost adoptive sister, or unlocking your powers, is another matter. Since you already thanked me, and thus accepted my offer of help, you are now bound to me with a favor of your own.”
Isa expected him to be angry, resentful of the way she sneaked that favor in there. But he surprised her. The corners of his mouth lifted in a sly grin that did all sorts of unwelcome things to her need for detachment.
“All right, all right. I can admit when I’ve been had. My adoptive mother warned me to watch out for favors when dealing with fae, and that thanking them would make me beholden to them. I guess I should have paid more attention.” He tapped his forehead with his fingers and saluted her.
Isa blinked, baffled by his reaction. He just seemed to take everything in stride, didn’t he? He was so unlike anyone else she’d ever met.
“Just one thing: The favor will not end my life, enslave me, or do either of those things to a person close to me.”
Ah, this she could handle. She cocked a brow. “Negotiating?”
One corner of his mouth tipped up. “Let’s just say a friend of mine recently had to learn the hard way how to cover all bases with open favors.”
She inclined her head. “Accepted.” Ending his life would not require her to collect a favor… This was just additional security. She cleared her throat. “Regarding your search for your lost adoptive sister…"
“Rose.”
“Yes, Rose. I was thinking…her exchange wouldn’t have been well-known.”
Basil came to attention. “Right. Because if the fae smuggled me out to hide me, she wouldn’t advertise the fact she’d done an exchange.”
Isa nodded. “If she wanted to spirit you away from danger, she’d have kept the entire thing a secret. If she brought back a human baby—”
“Witch,” Basil interrupted her. “The baby was from a witch family.”
“Close enough,” Isa muttered, waving a hand. “If she brought back a non-fae baby as a changeling to be raised here, and didn’t hide that fact, people would ask whom she exchanged for that baby. When the fae who were after you realized you were gone, they’d definitely have gone looking for any changeling swap made recently, and they would have come across the one with Rose. Unless the fae hid it well.”
Basil exhaled through his nose, his mouth pressed into a thin line. “Which means it’ll be extremely difficult to find any hints about Rose’s exchange.”
Isa was silent for a moment, pondering. She had no stake in his quest, had no reason to stick around until he actually found Rose. All she wanted was to bide her time until she could save his life and then break her curse. She could lead him on a merry chase through Faerie, pretending to help him look for clues of his lost adoptive sister, without ever getting him any closer to his goal.
And yet… “I know someone who might know more.”
Hope sparked in his eyes. “You do?”
“Well,” she shrugged, “I’m good at finding people. I have some resources, contacts we can tap for information. There is no such thing as the perfect crime, and word always gets out about everything. You just have to know where to look for rumors and gossip, and whom to bribe and charm into giving up more than they intended to.”
He bowed and made an extravagant flourish with his hand. “Lead the way.”
She nodded. “I suggest we stop at an inn and spend the night. It’s on the way to my contact. It's getting late, and it's been a long day for me. We can catch some sleep, and start fresh in the morning."
Basil let out a heavy breath. “If it’s on the way, sure. To be honest, it’s been a long, hard day for me, too.” He shrugged one shoulder. “You know, the whole finding-out-I’m-adopted-and-not-actually-a-human-without-powers-but-a-fae-with-an-unknown-parental-history-and-a-lost-adoptive-sister thing.”
Despite herself, Isa had to smile. She jerked her head in the direction of the path leading farther into Faerie, and started walking. Basil fell into step with her.
“If it’s any consolation,” she offered, “you’re taking this rather well. I’m not sure what I would do if faced with such life-altering revelations.”
“Maybe it’s because I think I always knew, in a way. Finding out the very thing I have always wanted, I have always dreamed about, is actually true, hasn’t felt like a disruption of my life, but rather like a missing puzzle piece has fallen into place, you know? It’s like my life up until this point always felt a little off, a little odd. Learning about this whole changeling thing, it just makes sense. I feel like…yes, this is what’s been missing. This is what my life should have been all along.” He shrugged, and winked at her with a half-smile that sent heat shooting up to her cheeks. “Why don’t you tell me about yourself?”
She almost missed a step, rushed to hide her stumble. “Me? What about me?”
“I’m just curious. You’re actually the first fae I’ve ever met. I’d like to know about you. Your life, your world, what’s it like to be a fae? What do you do for a living? Where do you live?”
“Um…”
No one had ever asked her such questions. No one had ever looked at her with this focus, this intensity, as if he genuinely wanted to know about her. As if he was truly interested in her, as if her life mattered to him. What a novel feeling.
She didn’t quite know how to respond to his questions, his forthright interest in her. She wasn’t well versed in social interaction, and it had been a long time since she simply chatted with someone. Not giving him an answer at all was rude, however. She had to say something, even if it was some lie wrapped in half-truths.
“I’m a bounty hunter,” she blurted out.
His eyes widened.
Her hand twitched with the urge to slap her forehead. Why, Isa, why? What had gotten into her? Telling him the truth… Oh, go ahead and spill the rest of your life story, why don’t you? She was usually so good at ev
asive answers and protecting her privacy.
“A bounty hunter? For real?” His expression was one of gleaming interest. “Now, when you say bounty hunter, do you mean as in a Star Wars Boba Fett bounty hunter, or more along the lines of modern-day bounty hunters who supplement law enforcement?”
She frowned at him. “I’m not sure I understand the first part of your question. Who’s Star Wars?”
“Who’s—” He stopped dead in his tracks, slapped one hand over his heart, absolute bafflement written in every line of his face. “You don't know Star Wars?”
“Uh…should I? I mean, I spent some time in the humanlands here and there over the years, and I know a little bit about human culture, but I’m not fully on top of things…” She studied him closely. “Are you all right?”
Basil took a deep breath, closed his eyes briefly. “Sure. I just need a minute.” Shaking his head, he started walking again. “I recognize the weight of my responsibility here, you know.” He glanced at her, his expression as serious as someone swearing an oath. “Passing on this sacred knowledge…” He nodded sagely. “This unique opportunity to teach a young Padawan all about the awesomeness that is Star Wars, and the fabulous tale of the Skywalkers.”
“Oh, it’s a tale? Is it some sort of human mythology?”
The corners of his mouth twitched, and the sparkle in his eyes almost did her in. “Yes. Yes, it is.”
She paused, tilted her head. “You are jesting.”
He raised his hands, palms toward her. “I am not. Jedi are a recognized religious group among the humans. And believe me, I take my Star Wars references very seriously.”
She pursed her lips, wry amusement bubbling in her bloodstream, so unexpected, unfamiliar. And yet…not at all unwelcome. “All right then. Are you a Jedi?”
His laughter was like the crack in the clouds that let sunshine spill forth. “Ah, I wish. Don’t tell anybody, but I do pretend I’m using the Force whenever I walk through a set of automatic sliding doors.” He flicked his hand and made a swooshing sound.
Her belly fluttered with lighthearted joy.
“Okay,” Basil said, as they continued walking, “I’ll initiate you into the world of Star Wars after you explain a bit more about your bounty hunter job. How, exactly, do you work? Who do you bring in, and why, and who hires you?” He gestured with one hand. “I’m pathologically nosy, so I need to know all the things.”
She shrugged. “Mostly criminals. Sometimes, when a fae commits a crime, they get the bright idea to outrun the law by fleeing Faerie. Bounty hunters like me are often tasked to go outside our borders, follow the trail of the escaped fae, and bring them back to face justice.”
“Is there no fae police or military to do that?”
“No, not really. There is a bit of a…military, if you want to call it that, but they don’t usually bother to go outside of Faerie just to find an escaped criminal and bring him or her to justice. If it is someone important enough, they will hire a bounty hunter to get it done. That’s what I do. Like I said, I’m good at finding people.”
“I guess then it’s especially lucky I ran into you.” That damnably attractive smile of his lit up his face again. “Seeing as I need help with finding Rose, and the first fae I encounter just happens to be perfect for that.”
Lucky… That was a matter of perspective, wasn’t it? What was one fae’s luck could be another’s tragedy. In a way, of course, she was lucky she had found the changeling she was looking for so easily. If it weren’t for that pesky life debt she owed him…
They’d reached the main road, illuminated here and there by floating will-o’-the-wisps.
Basil gazed up at the stretch of starlit sky visible between the towering heights of the firs left and right of the road, put his hands on his hips, and asked, “What was the hardest case you ever had to bring in?”
Isa bit off her reply before it left her mouth, but it echoed in her head, and in the darkest corners of her heart.
Your mother.
Chapter 7
Merle sneaked down the hall of her family’s old Victorian house, peeking around corners, listening…anticipating. Silence greeted her. It seemed like no one else was around. She knew better.
They always lurked. Lay in wait for her, watching her, ready to pounce on her when she least expected it. And she always, always, squealed. Damn embarrassing, that.
Not this time, they won’t make me squeak this—
A clawed ball of fur attacked her legs out of nowhere right before strong arms swept her off her feet and hoisted her over a muscled shoulder—and of course she damn straight squealed at the top of her lungs.
“Rhun! Dammit!” She pummeled her demon husband’s back—to no visible effect whatsoever—while Sauron, the Kitten from Hell, dashed away with glee.
“You. Are. Impossible.” She underscored each word with a swat at Rhun’s shoulders, though the overall seriousness of the message kind of got lost in the fit of giggles she couldn’t suppress any longer.
“Hmm. Yes. Yes, I am.” Rhun patted her butt, and then languorously stroked down her thighs—and up again until his fingers rubbed against the pulse at her core, caressed her through the fabric of her jeans. “And you adore me exactly like this, little witch.”
She moaned and dug her fingers in his T-shirt. Exquisite pleasure rippled through her in waves, and she wiggled her hips, pressed against his hand, trying to increase the sensation. He made a low sound of approval and nipped at her butt.
“Rhun,” she managed to say after a moment—through the haze of desire clouding her brain—“put me down.” Her body wailed in protest at the idea, but—“I need to mix a decoction. Low energy. Need to—oh, gods, Rhun!”
Muscles spasming with a sudden explosion of pure pleasure, she let out a sound somewhere between a moan and a sigh, and then sagged on his shoulder, limp and sated.
She sort of came to her senses again when he put her down on a stool at the kitchen island and gave her a kiss of heartbreaking tenderness.
“Which ingredients do you need?” he asked her with a smirk.
“Damn sneaky demon,” she muttered, though her reprimand had no edge at all.
She told him which herbs to get from the pantry, instructed in him how to chop them and slowly simmer them in water until they were thoroughly decocted. As the tangy smell filled the kitchen, she scrunched up her nose, already dreading the taste of the muddy result.
“I just came from Hazel’s.” She sighed, rubbing her forehead with one hand. “It seems like Basil took off on his own. He didn’t even say good-bye, just…left. His gear and weapons are gone, like his car.”
Rhun turned from supervising the simmering decoction and met her eyes. “You think he went into Faerie?”
“It’s the most likely scenario, considering it’s what they were talking about. Hazel’s distraught. She blames herself—”
“How so?” Rhun interrupted her. “Didn’t you say she had a silence spell on her, so she couldn’t tell him anything before?” After Lily called Merle earlier tonight with the shell-shocking news about Basil’s real identity and her lost twin sister in Faerie, Merle brought Rhun into the loop as well.
“Yeah, but she feels like she could have handled the revelation better. She’s afraid it turned out to be more about Rose, and that maybe Basil felt rejected, and like she didn’t have the mind to reassure him…”
“She worries too much.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. She has a point. I mean, Basil ran off by himself right after he found out. And just put yourself in her shoes…what if something happens to Basil over there? What if he took off because he felt he needed to prove something, and he’ll…” Her breath hitched, and the lump in her throat choked the rest of her sentence.
Rhun crossed his arms, leaning against the kitchen island with his hips. “You really think he can’t take care of himself?”
“It’s not that,” Merle said on a heavy breath. “It’s just…there�
�s strength in numbers. He shouldn’t have gone alone.”
He tilted his head in a conceding gesture. “Now what?”
“Now we’re all scrambling to find a fae who can take us into Faerie so we can look for Baz and Rose.”
“We?” Her darling demon cocked a brow. “Please don’t tell me you’re part of a proposed rescue mission for Blondie and the Lost Twin.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “So what if I am? Are you going to bark at me and tell me to stay home like a good housewife?”
He pursed his lips. “Aside from the fact that you should know better, and not accuse me of chauvinism when I’m the first person to believe in your skills and your ability to fight…”
She cringed.
“…what my skepticism was actually in reference to is what your participation in the rescue mission in La-La-Land would mean for the little spat you and Hazel are having with Juneau and her witches.”
At his mention of the Elder witch who’d provoked a rift in the formerly united witch community, Merle’s hackles rose, her power buzzing to the surface. Juneau’s misguided and reactionary persecution of Lily after she was turned into a demon—through no fault of her own—was a dangerous travesty.
Merle clenched her jaw. “What about it?”
“Well, you and Hazel are the linchpins of the opposition against Juneau, right? Sure, you’ve got other witches on your side, but you two, you’re the cornerstones of the movement against her. What do you think is going to happen when Juneau realizes both of you have left for an open-ended trip into Faerie?”
Her breath stuck in her throat. “Oh, gods. You’re right. I can’t leave. Why didn’t I see it before? If word gets out that we’re both gone, it’ll weaken our side in her eyes…”
“…and she’ll swoop in and strike.”