He licked his lips, drawing my attention to them. They were all I could see—damp, full, beautiful, and seemed to be calling for mine. My head lowered as he tilted his.
“Qué demonios?” The man still stood in the same place. Shock widened his eyes and mouth. “El diablo!” The box fell from his hands, slamming onto the floor. The shattering sound of glass inside jolted me away from Ryker’s mouth. Liquid leaked onto the wood planks. The smell of beer swam into my nose, suffocating my senses. The man continued to speak Spanish as we scrambled to our feet.
My bag lay on the floor next to us. “Sprig!” I opened the top, leafing through it. Snuggled at the bottom, a monkey-sprite lay sound asleep still curled around Pam, a book, and Daniel’s video camera. My shoulders sagged with relief. How the hell did he sleep through that? He had saved the camera from going into Rapava’s hands. The doctor had the files, which was extremely bad. I hadn’t even had a chance to go through them, but whatever was in them, Daniel had hoped I would keep it away from DMG. I failed him. Still, we had Daniel’s video. The thought of losing the last bit of visual and audio piece of him destroyed me. Sprig’s toes clung to it for dear life, like he had fallen asleep doing so. I felt so glad the little bugger was here and unharmed.
Fevered Spanish circled around me, drawing my attention back to the stranger. The dark-skinned man stood flinging his arms around, pointing at us with fear and suspicion. His Spanish was accented. It didn’t sound like someone who came from Mexico. My eyes examined the room, my brain trying to understand. The Peruvian flag hanging on the wall confirmed our true location and shoved the whole “how the hell are we here?” to the forefront.
“How—” Was all I uttered before Ryker cut me off.
“You.” His head turned, taking in the bar. Late afternoon rays streamed through the musty window by the front door. The sun looked a little lower in the sky than a moment earlier in Seattle. “You caused us to jump.” He turned to me.
My head shook automatically, wanting to deny this statement. But I felt deep in my gut he was right. This tavern appeared so close to the place I envisioned in my head before I tackled Ryker. I jumped us to South America. His magic existed, alive in me. It had been growing for a while and now flamed wildly. The powers had come alive to protect their home—the man they belonged to. It was the fever, which had been growing in me, the unbearable heat I felt when lying on the ground. His magic helped me heal and defend its owner.
My hands went to my stomach and moved to my chest. Before the jump, I felt it was contained to a small area in my gut, but the energy had broken open, and now it flowed everywhere. The warmth that immobilized me was his power coming alive.
Ryker’s face appeared hard, his focus laser sharp on me. The Latino man continued to wail in Spanish, spouting about how two people crashed into the bar from thin air. There were a lot of Hail Marys entwined in his rants. I understood him, but he wasn’t a priority. He finally ran, choosing to fear us from outside the walls of the cantina.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” The way Ryker’s jaw clenched, I knew he wasn’t happy. But I saved his life—both of ours—and had gotten us far away from DMG and Dr. Rapava. Why was he so upset?
“What?” I demanded.
“They are adapting to you. Your system is no longer foreign to them.”
“What are? Your powers?” I asked. “What does it mean, adapting to me?” Fear coated my throat.
He folded his arms; anger burned under his words. “It means I might never get them back, and you will become one of us.”
Time stopped. Sound dispersed. Only the thudding of my heart rang in my ears. “Y-you mean I will become fae?”
“Yes. Part. You are stealing my powers, who I am.” Every word was shot at me like a bullet, digging into my gut.
This could not be possible. Actually, it could be, but I didn’t want it to. I had been taught to despise fae, everything they were. Now I was becoming one.
Ryker’s expression faltered. His stare zeroed in on my face. “Zoey... ?”
As soon as he called attention to it, I felt the warmth sliding to my top lip. I touched the spot. My fingers came away with red liquid. The pool of blood dripped from my hand onto the floor.
Nosebleed.
Experiment.
Dying.
Ryker grabbed a napkin off the bar and handed it to me.
“Is it too late?” I whispered, placing the paper under my nose.
Ryker stood for a moment before he shook his head. “No, but it won’t be long.”
“We have to stop the powers from acclimating to me.” I looked at my shaking hands balled around my nose, streaked with fresh blood. “Before... before...” I couldn’t finish the sentence, but we both knew what I meant.
If what Daniel said was true, then I was a ticking time bomb. At any moment my defect could kill me. Ryker’s magic would be lost in me forever.
Only a few months ago, I was a collector. I hunted fae.
Now, I am the one hunted.
If death didn’t beat them to it first.
(Bonus Material)
WEST
I glanced over my shoulder. The fae were gaining on us.
Cooper, I yelled to my Second through our link. We’ve got to hurry up.
Then you make this thing go faster, he shot back.
My thumb pressed at the throttle trying to accelerate. The bike puttered and jerked forward, finally hitting the speed of a golf cart.
“Goddamn piece of shit,” I mumbled under my breath. I missed my Harley. Badly. But since the worlds crashed together and magic flooded Earth, the normal machines no longer worked. The crap I was riding was a version of the Otherworld’s bike. Now with the Otherworld and Earth one, I realized how “humanized” I had become and the things I missed: the vibrating of my sleek black bike between my legs, the roar of the engine, the speed it would take twisting you around a curve. Fae were advanced in many areas, but motorcycles weren’t one of them.
The shape-shifters behind us picked up their pace; their eyes glowing as they neared. I would have said, screw it, changed into my Dark Dweller form, and outran them in a second, but my claws wouldn’t be able to carry the merchandise.
Life had changed a lot since the walls fell four months earlier. Humans no longer ran Earth. The Seelie Queen and Unseelie King were now in charge. Had you asked me even four and a half months ago if the Light and Dark would ever be able to work together, I would have said you were nuts. But Lars and Kennedy were doing just that—trying to restore the world to some functioning order and attempting to get humans and fae to come to a truce. Understandably, humans hadn’t reacted well to the discovery of fae, and even worse knowing fae had been living among them for centuries.
Human-designed structures didn’t respond well to the force of magic crashing down on Earth. Buildings crumbled; bridges collapsed; cars, electricity, and Internet... gone. We had to start over, and Lars, the Unseelie King and a demon, was leading the way in developing the new world.
The R.O.D’s (Riders of Darkness) were now partners with the King. In the past we ran and traded a lot of illegal items as a way of income. Our current job wasn’t much different. Today, Cooper and I had retrieved several objects, which Lars’ lab and technical advisers needed. The natural fear of us, by both Dark and Light fae, created a perfect retrieval system for Lars. Because many of these things weren’t given up willingly, he knew we’d be able to get them for him better than he could. We were efficient, fast, and direct. Our reputation compelled some to bring items to us the moment they saw us riding up.
With our status and the skills, we learned to live on Earth in a biker gang, which was a perfect fit for us. Normally, a bunch of shape-shifters wouldn’t be a challenge. No more than an annoying gnat.
I growled under my breath, twisting the throttle again. Anger burst up my spine, stooping my shoulders.
It was me. The reason these guys even had a chance in hell to catch up. I was the weak link in t
he pack. The third-in-command of the feared Dark Dwellers was nothing more than an impostor.
Another growl climbed up my throat.
Fuck this. Shift and stop these assholes. I’ll take the merchandise back, I grumbled to Cooper through our network. Now that Eli had stepped down and left with Ember, Cooper was our new Second under Cole. We had lost quite a few of our family members in the battle, and none of us were ready to deal with this now, if ever.
Cooper turned to peer at me over his shoulder. You sure, man?
I shrugged lazily. Yeah.
I hoped acting as if I didn’t care would eventually make it so, but the deep thorn in my gut ached. It wasn’t like I hadn’t turned. I did during the war against Aneira, the previous Seelie Queen, but I didn’t let on how much it hurt and how hard it was for me to stay in the shape. I wasn’t right anymore. The Dark Dweller in me used to be dominant, but now I struggled for it to come out. I hadn’t told anyone, but I knew they could sense something was off about me.
The months (years to those on Earth) I was locked up in the dungeons on the Seelie side, with metal spikes digging into my throat, depleted my blood and magic. Dark fae also can’t be on the Light side for a long period of time without side effects. When I say side effects, I mean permanent ones. Death. Somehow I survived. Deep down I knew the reason had to do a lot with a certain girl—one with black-and-red streaked hair.
Ember.
For a long time I thought she was merely in my head and that I was dreaming I could feel her next to me, touching my face. But the raven, Grimmel, would say something later that made me realize she must have been there. Not in physical form, but in a dreamwalk. I never told her she was a huge reason why I was still breathing. Why every time I closed my eyes wishing for death to take me, I would force them back open and hold on another day.
My thoughts would start out on Ember, but my mind would slowly shift to another. A woman with long golden wavy hair, soft brown eyes, and a southern accent and smile, which could bring me to my knees. A girl my heart reached for at night—whom I saw in my dreams so clearly I forgot she was no longer part of this world.
She was dead because of me—because I let her get too close.
Cooper threw me the wrapped article, and I added it to the several things already in the front of my two-wheel, magic-operated bike. The SUV Lars had us use for the last run was at the bottom of a ravine—on purpose. That thing was even worse than the go-carts we were using now.
Coop shifted as he jumped from the bike. The pathetic excuse for a motorcycle hit a tree and fell to the ground. His clothes shredded into pieces, while long talons, red eyes, and sleek black fur hit the pavement facing the fae trailing us. A deep roar vibrated my skin as Cooper leaped for the pursuers. I kept my head forward. Irritation with Cooper shoved like a hot poker in my chest. He wasn’t whom I was mad at, but it didn’t change the fact I felt resentment.
This made me want to run again like I had when we first came to Earth, leaving my group in the Northwest while I traveled the States. Anger and frustration had invoked the need to get away—to be by myself. Not a normal Dark Dweller trait. But being raised by Ciara, my mother, was never setting me up to be normal. She was the free spirit of the tribe. The one who would leave me when I was a baby in someone else’s care and take off for days to be “free” with nature. This only got worse after my father died when I was two.
Like mother, like son, I guess.
Dark Dwellers are like pack animals and live in clans. But unlike Cole, Eli, or Cooper, who would do anything for their family and sacrifice anything to protect them, I was different. I loved my family and would do anything for them, but I didn’t feel the same undeniable devotion to stay.
My mom died when our clan was attacked in the Otherworld by the Dae, who had both pure Fae and Demon blood. I had no brothers or sisters, which was an abnormal trait for Dark Dwellers. There were usually at least two children in each family, and many times they were twins, like Cooper and Gabby. Not me. And knowing my mother, there had been no plans for more. One child held her back enough.
Deep down I still was a Dark Dweller. No matter how far I ran, I found my way back. It was not always because I wanted to. Sometimes they found me, like when I was in South Carolina.
My jaw clenched as a memory flickered through my mind. It always came back to her—the woman who gave her heart to me completely—her soft skin, long blonde hair, soft chocolate eyes staring at me with adoration. Then came the memory of those same eyes looking at me with utter fright and betrayal.
I shook my head, trying to dislodge her face from my mind. It was pointless. She was burned into my memory. The sounds of her terrified screams were etched into my soul forever.
I finally turned the bike onto Lars’ property line, stopping at the twenty-foot gates. The protection spells were securely in place. I leaned over and slammed my fist onto the buzzer.
An enormous man stepped from the trees on the other side, his chocolate skin almost blending in with the shadows. “Hey, R-man.” I smiled slyly as he grimaced at my pet name for him. Blame Eli. He started it. “Another delivery.” I motioned to the container holding the artifacts.
“Password.” Rimmon’s deep voice sounded more like a rumble. The man, even to me, was a scary motherfucker—bald, arms the size of children, a face so stern and ugly it caused most people to run away in fear. You’d think with his mass he would fight like a gorilla, but the man was like a freakin’ cheetah.
“Seriously? Come on, man. I’ve already been here twice today.”
“Password.” Rimmon folded his arms over his bare chest. His pants were a patchwork of a dozen khakis sewn together. There were no “regular” clothes that would fit him. He had to be part ogre.
“West is super sexy?” I grinned, getting joy out of vexing the large man.
Rimmon’s lids narrowed.
“No? Not that one?” I shrugged. “You’re right, too obvious and easy to guess.”
“Password, Dark Dweller, or I leave you standing at this gate with your dick in your hands.” The glint in his eyes led me to believe my dick would no longer be attached.
“You must be fun on game night.”
Rimmon started to pivot on his heels.
“Fine.”
The instant I did utter the words, the spell released its hold, and Rimmon unlocked the gates, opening them for me. I pushed the bike across the line. The back tires crossed, and the spell snapped back into place, sealing us into the safety of the Unseelie King’s property. Rimmon stayed at his guard post, while I rolled down the path to the front of the house.
The vast English-style manor came into view as I curved around the second bend in the road. The figure of a woman outlined the front stoop; her dark brown hair tied up in a loose bun, showing off her beautiful swan neck. Her slender arms were crossed, and the light from the patio displayed a frown furrowing her sculpted brows. Her full bowed lips puckered up, looking way too inviting for their own good.
Goddamn, she was stunning.
“I don’t know why you insist on provoking him. You know one of these times he’s going to ignore Lars’ instructions and kick the crap out of you,” the woman said. Her voice was like the most beautiful song you’d ever heard. She could tell you to fuck off, and you would do it willingly in the hopes you could hear her speak again or keep staring at her beautiful face.
I’d spent quite a bit of time at this house when we were preparing for war with the former Seelie Queen. You’d think by now I’d be used to Rez, but her beauty was not something you ever got immune to.
She was a Siren—and the Unseelie King’s mistress. Someone I needed to stay far, far away from. This was actually not a problem for me. Don’t get me wrong; I enjoyed ladies. All kinds. But I kept them at a distance. It was easier that way. I flirted and charmed them. It was a thing I was good at. Better than all my brothers. But I never let any of the women get close. Dark Dwellers were secretive by nature, and our group was even more p
rivate because we had been banished to Earth.
I slipped once and let someone in—completely. I would never make the mistake again.
Rez was another one I would simply have fun with and tease.
“You know me.” I grinned at her, stepping onto the stoop. She took a step back, peering up at me with her dark penetrating eyes. “I am more afraid you will kick my ass, darlin’.”
“Which is entirely possible.” Her lips twitched with the need to smile, but she kept a hold of them. “Come on; he’s waiting for you.” Rez looked behind me. “Where’s Cooper?”
“Got held up.” I gathered the items into my arms and followed Rez to Lars’ office. It still seemed he did not like us Dark Dwellers unattended in the house. He was probably sure one of us would pee on his thousand-dollar rug.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I stepped out of Lars’ office. He tolerated us since he needed us, and we were connected to him because of Ember, but the Unseelie King was still not comfortable to be around. He remained a demon under the King title. Cole and Eli seemed to get along with him all right, but I preferred being on the opposite side of the door, on my way to Mike’s Bar, or somewhere I felt comfortable.
Mike’s was one place that reopened quickly after the war. It had been a hangout for the seedy and outlaws and had mostly served humans. Now most of the customers consisted of the Dark fae underbelly.
Strangely, I missed the old place. Early on, we let it be known no one fucked with Mike. He was a human under our protection. He had helped us so many times there was no way we wouldn’t take care of him. Since no one wanted a Dark Dweller on their ass, they respected Mike and any other human clientele willing to venture in.
“You already done?” A woman’s voice slid silkily through the hallway. Rez’s figure stepped from the kitchen and leaned against the doorway.
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