Bad Fae: A Snarky Paranormal Detective Story (A Cat McKenzie Novel Book 3)

by Lauren Dawes

  “She’s never coming back,” I muttered. Dead. Dead. Dead. I stared at him, rage filling me like an overflowing cup. “Why?” I hissed. “Why did you kill her?”

  “I couldn’t have her warning you now, could I? I needed to reclaim Avi’s opal, and now that I have it back, I’ll be able to rule Wonderland.”

  Behind me, Avi shifted on her feet, then there was a swish of fabric moving. Clearly, she’d had enough standing around and listening and had moved back to her throne.

  I stared at the man who was responsible for Mrs. Brown’s death. I stared at the man who had maimed and slashed his way through my life, taking what he wanted in an effort to get what he wanted. Hayliel was dead. Ben was injured. My department was still reeling from an attack meant for me.

  Anger pummeled my body, making my blood catch on fire. Willis’s smug smile ignited the fuse, and I felt the spark rush through in my veins. Reaver appeared before me, just coming out of nowhere because it had felt my need.

  In one quick step, I scooped up the sword and lunged for him.

  But then…

  …. a black blur passed me and fell onto Willis instead.

  Avi had launched herself at her lover, a small dagger in her hand. Screaming, she slammed the deadly tip into Willis’s neck repeatedly until his head was cleaved clean from his body. When his blood was pooling on the floor, and his body had finally stopped twitching, Avi stood and threw the dagger away from her. It skittered across the hard marble floor, spinning a dozen times before coming to a stop about twenty feet away. Tendrils of black smoke wafted harmlessly from the metal.

  “Not that I’m not thankful, but why did you do that?” I asked.

  Avi panted as she looked over at me, holding her hand out in front of her. Huge, angry welts covered her palm, bleeding and puss-filled like it had been infected for months. “Because I don’t share my power with anyone, least of all males like him.” She tilted her chin at Willis, her expression twisted into pure disdain. “He was a fool to think he could take my power from me. He was an even bigger fool for underestimating me.”

  “Remind me not to piss you off,” I muttered, then frowned. I was pretty sure I was firmly into piss-off-the-fae-queen territory, so I added softly, “Anymore.”

  Her dark eyes darted down to the stone around my neck. “Now that the usurping bastard has been taken care of, I’ll take what’s mine.”

  Well, nope, that wasn’t part of my plan. Before she could get close, I pulled the black business card I’d stashed down the front of my dress and said, “Roxanne Monroe, Roxanne Monroe, Roxanne Monroe,” as fast as I could. I had no idea how quickly the vampire mistress would arrive, or if she could even get into Wonderland.

  The card spontaneously erupted in flames.

  “Catherine Ellen McKenzie,” a woman said in a purr.

  “Gah!” I whirled around to find the mistress of the Buxton Kiss standing there. The first time I saw her, she was wearing an Antebellum style dress. This time she was clearly in the mood for ass-kicking, dressed in black leather pants, a leather corset sinched painfully at the waist, and a pissed-off attitude. Her blonde hair was slicked back into a high ponytail, and her blue-lilac eyes practically sizzled with hate.

  Avi let out a strangled moan.

  I returned my gaze to the queen. “Surprise!”

  “How?” Her dark eyes darted from the vampire to me. “How do you have the vampires on your side? They’re loyal to no one. And how did she get into Wonderland, into my throne room?”

  I shrugged. “If I knew, I’d totally tell you.” Not. “Let’s just chalk this up to who-the-fuck-knows-but-Cat’s-happy.”

  Turning my body so I could see both threats at the same time, I saw that Roxanne’s gaze was fixed on the fae queen—her hungry gaze.

  “What have you brought for me, Cat? A present?” Roxanne opened her mouth, her fangs elongating with a hiss. “I haven’t tasted the blood of a fae for centuries.”

  Avi shuffled back another step, a look of horror on her face. Damn, I wish I had my phone to snap a pic. That would’ve gone straight onto social media with a couple dozen hashtags all related to getting-fucked-up.

  “No,” Avi said in a choking whisper.

  But the vampire wasn’t listening—she was advancing on Avi instead.

  “Roxanne,” I called, drawing her to a stop. She peered over her shoulder at me, her blue-lilac eyes glowing. “I didn’t call in my boon so you could have a snack. I just need you to subdue the fae.”

  “And that is all you require of me? To simply subdue her?”

  As tempting as it was to let Roxanne have at her, Astrid’s words echoed in my mind. Wonderland needed balance into order to thrive, so I couldn’t let the vampire kill Avi. “Yes. That’s all.”

  “And I can achieve this however I like?”

  I’d probably regret this, but I said, “Yes.”

  Roxanne bowed her head but never took her eyes from me. “Consider it done.”

  If I’d blinked, I would’ve missed it. One moment Roxanne was there. The next, she was at the throat of the fae, bending the queen back until her spine was an elegant arch. Roxanne’s mouth was at Avi’s throat, drinking deeply. Whether it was instinct to remain still while someone was tapping a vein, or shock, I didn’t know, but Avi remained completely still.

  I opened my mouth to tell her not to eat too much of the fae, but then shut it. She was subduing the queen, and that’s exactly what I’d asked for. Walking over to Sawyer, I leaned in close to his mouth to hear his breaths, then felt for his pulse. It was a strong, hard knock against the tips of my fingers.

  Happy he would survive whatever Willis had done to him, I grabbed the pair of warded cuffs from Sawyer’s pocket and walked toward the vampire and the fae.

  Wrenching Avi’s hands behind her back, I closed the cuffs around her delicate wrists and motioned for Roxanne to let go of her dinner. The vampire did, but with a look of displeasure simmering in her eyes.

  With her powers negated, Avi simply stood there, looking into the middle distance, blood trickling from the wound at her throat. I still checked the cuffs, then said, “I appreciate you coming, Roxanne.”

  The vampire wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth and sucked it off her finger with a slurp. “It was a pleasure. I haven’t had fae blood that good in centuries.”

  And with that declaration, she disappeared from sight.

  Twenty

  “Sawyer? Sawyer, can you hear me?” I kneeled beside my partner, watching the way his brow furrowed when I called his name. “Sawyer?”

  I checked my watch. There were only ten minutes left before we had to get out of here. “I’m not missing Christmas for this shit,” I muttered, mostly to myself. I’m sure Sawyer could hear me, though.

  At the sound of footsteps beyond the door, I reached blindly behind me for Reaver and stood. Placing myself between Sawyer and the entryway, I waited to see what else Wonderland had in store for me today. The footsteps still echoed, but they sounded as if they were getting softer rather than louder, farther away than closer.

  I relaxed, lowering Reaver, which was a stupid move because the large doors suddenly opened and the Seelie Queen glided into the hall, her white hair, skin, and pale eyes a complete contrast to her sister’s coloring and choice of décor.

  “Astrid? What are you—”

  Astrid walked over to her sister, studying her for a moment before turning to me. “Was she difficult to subdue?”

  I shook my head. “Not when the mistress of the local vampire kiss is in my back pocket, figuratively speaking, because I actually kept the card in the top of my dress.”

  Astrid cocked her head to the side, studying me like a hawk would study a wounded rabbit. “You’re in league with the vampires?”

  “They owed me a favor,” I replied carefully. It wasn’t a lie—they did owe me a favor—but now that I’d called it, I wasn’t sure I could claim that anymore. Astrid didn’t need to know that, though.r />
  “Hmm.” Astrid turned her gaze back to Avi. Gently, she pushed some of her sister’s dark hair away from her face, caressing her cheek. Sawyer moaned and shifted at my feet, and I immediately dropped into a crouch beside him.

  “Hey.” I smiled. “Back in the land of the living?”

  Sawyer’s gray eyes didn’t flicker to me. They were fixed on the two queens standing a few feet away. There was a grunt, and I turned my head in time to find Astrid stabbing her sister in the side with the same dagger Avi had used on Willis.

  Argh, it was a regular stab-fest here tonight.

  Leaping to my feet, I went to stop her when Astrid turned around, brandishing the bloody dagger at me. Her glamor was starting to disappear, revealing an angular face and dagger-like fangs. Behind her, Avi fell, too much blood surrounding her body.

  “Don’t be a fool, Catherine Ellen McKenzie,” Astrid hissed. “I won’t kill you because you aided me in my quest to regain my power, but my generosity is very limited. Interfere with me now, and I will slaughter you and your partner where you stand.”

  I gestured to Sawyer. “He’s kind of lying down.”

  Her lips pulled away from her teeth, and she advanced a step.

  Putting up my hands in the universal sign for slow your roll, I said, “Okay. Okay. We’re going.”

  I knew I should’ve fought a little harder on this one, but I was pretty much done. I’d wasted my vampire trump card on a back-stabbing bitch of a fae. I wasn’t going to give up Christmas for her too.

  Lifting up Sawyer’s arm, I draped it over my shoulder and hauled him to his feet. He grunted and clutched at the right side of his ribs as we shuffled out of the great hall. Getting back across the vast expanse of snowfield took us twice as long as on the way to Avi’s palace, Sawyer’s limping gait slowing us right down. Just as I’d given up any hope of getting out of Wonderland before my watch beeped, the shape of the haunted house that marked the entry and exit to Wonderland loomed out of the landscape.

  “It’s just up there,” I told Sawyer. “Come on.” I picked up the pace, dragging Sawyer with me despite his protests. “I’m sorry if I’m hurting you,” I panted through gritted teeth.

  “It’s okay,” he replied just as breathlessly. “I’ll be okay. Just go.”

  As soon as I brushed past the curtain that divided our two realms, I was rocked by the sensation of crawling spiders, and my ears popped. A few feet from the divide, both our watches began to beep in sync. I looked down at the lit-up face and silenced it. Forty-eight minutes we’d been gone.

  “How much time has passed here?” I asked, re-securing my grip on Sawyer’s waist. We stepped over one of the tracks and followed them to the front of the ride.

  “Forty-eight hours,” he said. “It’s Christmas night. I said I’d have you back for Christmas.”

  “You did.” I helped him over the roller coaster car then down from the haunted house’s steps. It had snowed while we’d been gone, the ground not just dusted in a layer of white powder but completely covered.

  When we finally made it back to Sawyer’s motorcycle, I brushed the snow off the seat and got him situated before sliding on in front of him. After our near-drowning a few weeks ago, I’d insisted on Sawyer teaching me how to ride his bike. Yes, these things were flaming wreckages waiting to happen, but if taking his motorcycle was the only way out of a situation, I’d do it.

  The engine took a bit of coaxing to turn over considering it had been out in the elements for the last forty-eight hours, but once it did, I slowly eased it out of the lot. As we drove, I wasn’t quite able to believe that Astrid had turned out to be just as bloodthirsty as her sister was when it came to power. I’d facilitated her power grab without knowing it.

  This was my take away…

  Kailon was dead.

  Willis was dead.

  Avi was dead, which meant I only had to worry about Astrid in the future—if at all.

  I figured we’d reached an impasse.

  I’d helped her.

  She let me walk out of Wonderland alive.

  I’d call that a win.

  I parked in the underground lot at our building, helping Sawyer into the elevator car which was waiting at the bottom. Propping him in the corner, I reached across and hit the button before returning to his side. His gray eyes were slitted in pain.

  “What did he do to you?”

  He shook his head. “He cracked me in the ribs. Pretty sure he broke a couple, then knocked me out. How in the hell did you get us out of there, Cat?”

  “I called in my favor with the vampires,” I said, fatigue straining my voice. “Roxanne showed up and subdued Avi. I got the cuffs on her, then Astrid showed up. You saw Astrid commit sororicide. I had money on Avi that she’d be the one to commit murder. It turned out I’d backed the wrong horse.”

  He leaned back against the wall of the elevator car and closed his eyes. Dark circles were already forming there, and I’d probably look the same. Wonderland was fucking draining. When the car glided to a gentle stop, I helped Sawyer into the apartment, turning toward his bedroom.

  I laid him down as gently as I could, then collapsed beside him.

  Christmas was just going to have to wait.

  Twenty-One

  I woke up suddenly, blinking blearily at the weak winter sun coming in through the drapes. Behind me, Sawyer was curled up against my back, his warm breath ruffling the hair on my nape. Tilting my head back, I took note of the time and groaned. It was ten in the morning. As in ten in the morning the day after Christmas. We’d missed it completely.

  Sawyer stirred, and his arm banded around me tightening ever so slowly. When I tried to move off the bed, he shook his head, and he dragged me closer to his chest. Burying his face in my hair, he murmured, “Merry Christmas, pussy cat.”

  “We missed it,” I replied with a huff.

  “I know how much you love this time of the year.”

  I shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t matter. I mean, we don’t even have a tree up.” We’d just been too busy.

  “Let’s put one up today, then. We’ll celebrate anyway. Who cares if we’re one day late?”

  I turned around to face him, looking into his clear gray eyes. “You’d do that for me?”

  He ran a finger across my collarbone, making me shiver. “I’d do anything for you, pussy cat. Don’t you know that by now?”

  I squirmed at his words. When he said things like that, I wanted to forget the deal I made with myself about not getting emotionally involved. I placed my hand on his wrist, stopping the scorching path he was drawing down between my breasts. “Don’t say things like that to me.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like you’d do anything for me.”

  Now it was his turn to frown. “But I would, Cat.”

  “Well, don’t. It makes me uncomfortable.”

  “We sleep together now, and I make you uncomfortable by speaking my truth?” he asked, one skeptical brow hiking up in question.

  “Yes… no… dammit, I don’t know, Sawyer. I guess I’m just trying to maintain some distance between us.”

  “Why would you want to do that?”

  “Because I need to maintain distance from you. We agreed to no emotions.”

  “Fuck that, Cat. You’re my consort. You’re it for me now. I can’t feed off anyone else even if I wanted to.”

  “I know,” I bit out, wondering why when he said it, it didn’t sound crazy. “I just…”

  “You’re still afraid it’s a bad idea?” he asked, his tone softening.

  I nodded.

  Leaning forward, he captured my mouth in a kiss. It was slow and gentle, and I let him have his fill even though I was terrified of the feelings bubbling up inside me. I let out a moan when he flexed his hips into me, his erection hitting me in the stomach. When he broke away, he leaned his forehead against mine and asked, “How can this be a bad thing? You respond to me. I respond to you.”

  “I don’t want t
his to break us, Sawyer.”

  “It won’t, Cat. I have more at stake with this arrangement. If you walk away, I will die, but I know you won’t do that to me. You care too much.” He framed my face in his hands, his darkening gaze boring into me. “What can I do or say to put you at ease?”

  “Say that we won’t form an emotional connection,” I blurted out.

  His eyes narrowed and he pulled away from me. “Why would that be such a terrible thing?”

  “Because emotions are harder to sever than a sexual relationship.”

  He pressed his lips into a hard line. “Explain to me why you don’t want to get emotional with me.”

  “I don’t think I can.” I sat up, threw my legs over the side of the bed and stood, stretching. I didn’t need to think like this before I’d had my coffee. I padded from the bedroom and paused at the front door when the intercom buzzed.

  I hesitated just a moment, then reached for the button. “Yeah?”

  “Cat? It’s Mason. Can I come up?”

  I glanced over my shoulder at Sawyer, who had just emerged from the bedroom. We were still dressed in the clothes we’d worn into Wonderland, and even disheveled, he looked amazing in his rumpled tux. Wordlessly, I asked him if he was okay with this, with having Mason in his personal space.

  As soon as he gave me a nod, I said, “Sure.” Then buzzed him in.

  I braced myself for a snide comment from Sawyer, but he brushed past me and walked into the kitchen to start the Krups.

  “I didn’t ask him to come over,” I blurted out, feeling Sawyer’s displeasure like a physical weight on my shoulders.

  He glanced at me dismissively over his shoulder. “It’s none of my business who you date, Cat, but explaining our relationship is going to be hard.”

  I opened my mouth to protest, then shut it just as quickly. He was right, of course. How could I sleep with Sawyer every night and maintain a relationship with another man? In short, I couldn’t. Was I truly okay with that, though? I wanted Sawyer. I could have him, so what was my issue? Was Sasha right, and it was more about what he was rather than who he was?