Faerie Kissed

by Jaliza A. Burwell

  I was fucking everything up for her.

  Sofia sighed and stepped back, looking defeated. Suddenly, the confident, upbeat woman who had been with us all night disappeared and all that was left was this sad, heartbroken frail-looking girl. “Tomorrow, I’m having dinner with my parents. Are you still able to make it?”

  Regret filled Waylon, his expression falling. “I wish—”

  “Don’t. Don’t bother saying anything else.” Sofia rubbed underneath her eyes, making me realize she was fighting to keep from breaking out in tears. “I’ll call you later. At least answer the phone.”

  Sofia moved to leave. I stumbled back, not wanting to be caught spying on them. I managed to hit the door, making it swing as she came around the corner and came to a halt. “Joslyn?” She blinked hard, her entire body stiffening.

  I forced a smile. “Sofia? This club is great, right?”

  She sniffed as her gaze went to the door still moving behind me. “Is the line long?”

  “No, thank goodness. If you need to go, better go now before the other women find a break in the music.”

  The laugh that came from Sofia was the most forced one I had ever heard. Pity rose in me for this woman. She had thought she was in a very stable relationship, and she probably would have been if I hadn’t come back.

  Sofia’s affirmative was a mumble as she slipped by me and went into the bathroom. When I walked by the nook, Waylon had his head down, facing away from me. He didn’t notice as I passed and went back to the table. Foster and Jason were already there with fresh drinks. I grabbed one of the beers and downed it.

  “Whoa, what’s with you?” Foster asked, grabbing the drink but not before I finished it. Waylon joined shortly after, telling us that Sofia called it an early night. The mood soured after that, all the fun gone as I kept replaying the interaction between Sofia and Waylon over and over again in my head.

  Didn’t this make me the other woman? We hadn’t done anything, but I was definitely beginning to feel like the other woman.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  After coming back from the club, the guys went to bed. I hid in my room, staring at my ceiling and thinking too much until the sun began peeking through the skyscrapers. My mind wouldn’t shut off.

  I was in the kitchen making tea when Waylon came out of the bedroom. He looked like he hadn’t gotten any sleep either.

  “Rough night?” I asked.

  He grunted, filling a glass with water.

  “Your girlfriend is really sweet,” I said around the rim of my steaming tea, using its warmth to try to hide my real emotions.

  “Sofia has her moments,” was his simple reply.

  “Like you?”

  “What do you want to say, Joslyn?”

  “Nothing you’d like to hear.”

  “Then it’s best you keep it to yourself.” Waylon’s scowl felt like a slap to the face. He turned away from me, giving me a view of his broad back as he filled his glass with water.

  Unable to stop myself, I stepped closer to him, touching his back.

  He whirled around enough to startle me. I jumped back, the hot tea sloshing over the rim and burning my hand.

  “Shit.” He grabbed the cup and then my hand, wiping away the tea with a dishcloth.

  “I’m fine,” I said, trying to pull away.

  His grip tightened. “I want to make sure it didn’t burn.”

  “Waylon,” I said softly, gaining his attention. “I’m fine.”

  Once he loosened his hold, I slipped my hand out from his. Touching him was a bad idea. I held my hand out, showing the back.

  “See. No damage. It isn’t even red.”

  “How?”

  “I’m fae, remember? We are a bit more durable.”

  Waylon frowned as he stared at my hand. “Right. Fae.”

  Sensing he needed distance from me, I moved to behind the counter, leaning against it as I watched him. “What are your plans today?” I asked.

  “I have to see Sofia.”

  “Right.” I stared down at the marble countertop. Being with Waylon felt so right, and very wrong at the same time. Sofia was an existence that hovered between us, and it was one I had no right to fight through. “I hope everything is going good with her?”

  “What do you want from me?”

  I was taken back by the anger in Waylon’s question. He was scowling at me again.

  “I’m not sure what you mean.”

  He clenched his teeth and slammed the cup into the sink. It shattered. I jumped at the sudden violence from him.

  “I have a girlfriend, Joslyn. A long-term girlfriend and it’s serious. Or was. Then you showed up and now I don’t fucking know and that pisses me off.”

  “Then don’t stay here. Don’t be around.”

  “It isn’t that easy.”

  “It is,” I pushed back. “It really fucking is.”

  What is going on?

  “Nothing.” I glanced at Berry as he stalked into the room, eyes on Waylon, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up.

  Waylon released a breath. “It isn’t, though. Your existence seeps into me, Jo. It fills me. I can’t just walk away from you. And all this other shit...” He shook his head. “I can’t not be around you, but I can’t act like Jason or Foster. I can’t ruin what I have with Sofia.”

  Waylon swore and then stalked out of the kitchen area. A few seconds later, the front door slammed shut and I knew he was gone. There was no telling when I’d see him next.

  “Time for a walk,” I said.

  Will you tell the others?

  I laughed. “Is that bitterness I hear in your voice?”

  It is annoyance. You are mine. Yet those humans act as if you are theirs. I am going to bite them soon to put them in their place.

  “No biting my friends.”

  Is that what they are?

  “It is all they can be.”

  Berry made a huffing noise as I gathered my purse and headed out, quietly closing the door so as to not wake the others—if they hadn’t been woken when Waylon stormed out. The city was interesting in the way there were always stores open and people out. I ended up finding a cafe a few blocks away that had their outside seating already set up.

  My server was all smiles as he took my order and went back in. I leaned back, noting everyone around me. Most had their heads down as they walked to their destinations, some chatting animatedly on the phone. There were a few runners trying to get their morning jogs in.

  I wondered briefly about Waylon. I remembered how he’d get up at six in the morning on a Saturday to get his run in and if it were one of his longer runs, I wouldn’t have seen him until late afternoon. Did he still run like that now? His body frame certainly said he did, but I hadn’t seen him dressed for a run since he began staying with me.

  A wavering in the air caught my attention as an older man walked by. A clear sign of a weak glamour. I blinked out of my thoughts and focused on him.

  He smells bad.

  “Looks like it too,” I said.

  The man turned to read the menu that the cafe had set out for pedestrians to peruse. He was over the middle-aged range, hair thinning, skin sagging. Exhaustion pulled at his shoulders as he slumped over.

  Then some of the real him slipped through, his skin a brownish green, hair longer and thicker, like vines. Then he was back to his human self.

  Damn. The man was struggling with his glamour, and from the glossy, twitching eyes, I had a theory as to why. My blood ran cold as a female human glanced at the man. Paused. Glanced at him again, then crossed the road, not caring that she was jaywalking and almost getting hit by a taxi who honked at her in irritation. She didn’t even acknowledge the driver as she got to the other side and disappeared around the corner.

  The fae didn’t seem to notice what had happened around him. I was positive he wasn’t reading the menu too. He swayed on his feet. Back and forth. When he stumbled, he barely caught himself. After shaking his head, h
e turned, shoving his hands into his pockets, and stumbled away.

  Is this what a fae gone bonkers looks like? Berry asked.

  “Yes, and it’s bad. Very bad.” I pulled out my phone and sent a text to Judah to meet up with me as soon as possible, sending my current location. He responded moments later that he was on his way.

  By the time Judah met with me, I was on my second cup of tea, and I spotted three more fae struggling with their glamour and looking too much like addicts as they skulked around.

  “Joslyn, how are you?” Judah asked after ordering some kind of coffee that sounded like it had too much going on. What had happened to having plain black coffee, maybe with some cream or sugar?

  “We are finally seeing the bigger picture,” I said and nodded toward a female fae. Her blonde hair was wild around her face, and when her glamour weakened, we got glimpses of feathers on her face and an extra eye. She had already managed to make an old woman think she was having an episode.

  “Shit.” He squinted his eyes. I kept my attention on him, and I knew the moment her glamour weakened again. “Fuck.” He whipped out his phone and sent out messages, his fingers flying over the screen. Judah was going to have this contained quickly.

  “My very thoughts.”

  “And you think this is because of those weak spots?”

  “I think so. Otherwise, there is another crazy going on in the city and that does not bode well for anyone.”

  Before we had a chance to get more into it, Judah’s drink was served, disrupting the flow of our conversation. I pressed my lips together and reached down, petting Berry and drawing comfort from him. Berry purred, pressing into my touch as he moved closer and settled back down.

  “Okay.” Judah leaned back in his chair, playing with his drink. He went to say something else when the phone he had placed on the table buzzed loudly, rattling as it shook against the tabletop. “Shit, that’d be the boss. He’s the only one that can get through. I need to take this.”

  I sipped at my drink and watched like a voyeur as he answered the phone.

  “Cowan speaking.” He listened briefly before his eyebrows went high. “Something came up. I know. I understand.” His shoulders slouched. “Yes, I will be there. That was never my intent. I’ll handle it.”

  The conversation pretty much went that way. He had the volume set to low so I couldn’t make out too much of what was being said on the other end. My own cell phone had quickly been set to be the same way, otherwise it felt like someone was screaming into my ears when I answered the phone.

  Judah hung up and sighed.

  “That didn’t go well.”

  He shook his head. “No. It didn’t. Helping you has caused a couple of complications. Some of the information I’ve been digging up takes time, and some of my contacts love complaining to Foster.”

  “Foster?” My eyebrows rose in surprise.

  His eyes flickered up to mine and he paled. “My boss.”

  Was this the same Foster as mine? What were the chances? I wanted to ask when his phone screeched at him in a way that had me jumping and Berry on his feet, growling. Those around us stared at us, mainly at Berry’s sudden aggression.

  “Sorry, this is an emergency.” He answered the phone again. By the time he hung up, he was swearing and getting to his feet. “You might want to come with me.”

  “Why?”

  “It involves our people.”

  That was all he needed to say. I was on my feet, tossing enough cash on the table to cover our bill and give our server a sizable tip. Then we took off at a fast pace to Judah’s car.

  What did the fae get into now? Was it related to this new fae addiction that was growing?

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The location ended up being on top of a car park. They had it blocked off so that they could hold a farmer’s market. It was the first one in the season and that alone brought in a draw of people excited to check out the vendors and get yummy goodies.

  Or at least that had been the plan. Cops were around, blocking pedestrians from going to the top level. They were waiting for backup to arrive so they could take down the mob. I made Berry wait in Judah’s car, not wanting to draw the extra attention. He was pissed, but he’d live, and I wouldn’t have to worry about law enforcement trying to take him away. Or giving me a fine because he wasn’t leashed.

  “This is bad,” Judah muttered as he pushed through the crowd. People grumbled as they scowled at him, but he didn’t give a shit. I grabbed on to the back of his shirt and followed close. No way could I lose him now, he was my way in.

  At the line of officers, Judah pulled out a special investigator’s badge. “The captain called me,” he said.

  The officer didn’t seem to believe him and was ready to turn us away.

  Judah smoothed out his voice and used a little compulsion as he said, “You will want to check in with your captain.”

  The poor officer didn’t stand a chance against Judah’s strength. He was powerful for a fae born and raised on earth. If he had been in Faerie, he would have been in the higher ranks as a soldier. The young man grabbed his walkie talkie and whispered into it. A moment later, he nodded at us and we slipped through.

  “The captain is fae,” Judah said. “His persona is nearing retirement age, but we already have someone younger ready to take on the role once he’s forced to retire.”

  “They’re going to do that to him.”

  Judah shrugged as he rested a hand on my lower back, claiming me essentially before all these men. “If we are long-lived, we have to be careful not to overstay in whatever identity we set up for ourselves.”

  “What about you?” I asked.

  “I still have a decade or so before people start wondering.” Judah came to a halt. “Shit.”

  “What?”

  He turned us, so that his back was to whatever had caught his attention and I was hidden behind him.

  “What is going on?” I asked.

  Judah sighed and looked down at me, swallowing. “I knew who you were the moment I saw you in the bar. And when you told me your name, it confirmed it for me.”

  “What are you going on about?”

  Judah didn’t say anything as he looked behind him and then back at me, frowning hard. “My boss. He has been looking for you for a long time. I was going to tell him about you, but then I ended up working for you and the magic won’t let me.”

  “Who? Who was looking for me?”

  “You have to know. From what I pieced together, you had what many people described as an epic love with him and his friends.” He rubbed at his jaw. “Definitely not a normal relationship.”

  I bristled at his judgment. “I suggest you be very careful with whatever you say next.”

  Judah realized his mistake and quickly backtracked. “No. No judgment from me. I couldn’t care less about others’ relationships.”

  “Right.”

  “Anyway, my boss has been searching for so long that all his employees know you. This is going to get awkward fast. I might even lose my damn job.” He kept rambling on, and I let him, a bit entertained about how awkward the situation was making this tough male fae. I leaned over enough to look behind him.

  Foster was there, talking with a man in a fancy suit. They were both scowling, wild hand gestures were being thrown around, and Foster looked like he was about to murder someone. I gave the other man credit, he did well holding his own against Foster’s imposing figure.

  “Foster already found me,” I finally said, putting poor Judah out of his misery.

  “Wait. He did?”

  “Yes. Not long after I arrived. It was that night I talked with you. I met with Alder and he sent me to another location. Foster and the other two tracked me down. He’s aware of the fae community now.”

  “Damn. He is a legend. Go figure the moment you are back in the human realm, he finds you.” Judah looked amazed, and I was sure Foster was just put onto a pedestal. “Come on then, I don’t need
to beg you to hide yourself then. And maybe he will stop giving me shit for missing some work.”

  Relieved, Judah grabbed my hand and pulled me toward Foster and the other man. Foster’s gaze cut to mine as soon as we began walking toward them. It felt like he had some kind of Josie sensor and the moment I came near, he knew. His eyes dipped down to my hand in Judah’s and darkened.

  “Shit.” Judah released me and put a little distance between us.

  I snickered as Foster relaxed at that. Such a man. I didn’t fault him though. If it were me, I would have done worse.

  “Judah, glad you can make it,” the second man said.

  “Captain. This is Foster, my employer.”

  The man paled and stepped back, thinking they were in a sticky situation now. I bet the two of them worked closely together in keeping the fae community hidden. Foster wasn’t supposed to know about it, so a lot of it had to have been behind his back. But now he was there too.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked him.

  Foster scowled and glared hard at Judah. “Filling in on a job.” He tilted his head over to a crowd of people apart from the one gathering on the other side of the police line, but all very human. They looked scared.

  “Ah.” That made sense. The way Judah stepped back from Foster, afraid he was going to swing at him, I had to gather that it was supposed to be Judah who had responded, except he was with me instead.

  “Captain Brown, let me introduce you to a special consultant of mine. This is Joslyn Naevana.” There was a hint in his voice that the captain was instantly able to pick up on.

  I smiled. “Hello.”

  The captain did look like he was up there in age. Made me wonder how long he had been in this role to look like that. Sharp gray eyes looked back at me, something dark in them shimmering. His pale skin was sagging around the cheeks, looking thin, and while he was in shape and looked good in the suit, he still looked like he’d struggle chasing after anyone young and fit. Though, I doubt he’d have any issues. Captain Brown was doing well in keeping his glamour up to date.