by Carly Fall
Revenge of the Fae
The Forbidden Fae series - Book 1
Carly Fall
Edited by
Kathy Lapeyre
Cover by
Covers by Christian
Westward Publishing
This series is dedicated to Rebecca Hamilton. Thank you for helping me find my muse and mojo and getting them back to work. I will forever be in debt to you for your guidance, your humor and your friendship.
Contents
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Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 1 - Blood of the Fae
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Also by Carly Fall
About the Author
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If you’re interested in grabbing a free time travel romance novella titled, Yesterday’s Kiss, please click the image below.
1
As the bus came to a stop, Avery Dubois shoved the phone into her jeans pocket and stood, ready to disembark with the other passengers. The sun was shining, traffic flowed without much issue, and her mood was good. If the werewolves left her alone, it might continue to be a really nice day.
However, she couldn’t get past the niggling of concern in her gut. It wasn’t caused by the shifters she worked with, but by something else.
She furrowed her brow and tucked a lock of auburn hair behind her ear. She hadn’t heard from her mother, Melia, since the day before, which was unusual. They typically talked at least five times a week, and Avery considered her one of her besties, not a parental figure.
However, she tried not to worry about it. At least, not yet. Melia kept busy by volunteering at the local church and homeless shelter in downtown Seattle. If she didn’t hear from Mom in the next twenty-four hours, then she’d stop by her apartment and give her a lecture about checking-in so Avery knew she was okay—the same lecture she used to receive as a teen. Right now, she had the werewolves at work to worry about.
As she stepped off, Avery lifted an arm to shield her eyes against the morning sun. A light, cool breeze caressed her cheek, and she inhaled deeply. The bus had smelled like sweat and disinfectant, so the fresh, air perfumed with just a hint of dew was a welcome change.
She realized the drop from the bus to the sidewalk was steeper than most curbs, so she turned and held her hand out to an older Asian woman, helping her down.
“Thank you,” the woman said with a grin.
Avery nodded, her heart feeling lighter now that she had one good deed under her belt for the day.
She continued up the sidewalk, her destination about a block away. Avery thanked the god of the sky that the rain had been held at bay for a second day in a row. As a framer for a Seattle construction company, her work was seasonal. This summer, usually the busiest time, had been fairly wet compared to last year, and it had caused setbacks on their current project—a mega-mansion in Bellevue, Washington.
Three bus rides and an hour to get to work became tedious, but the effort was worth it. The place was going to be amazing, and her chest swelled with pride knowing she was taking part in building it.
The familiar sound of a pickup truck rumbled behind her on the quiet, residential street before it came into view. Loud beyond belief, she didn’t know if the owner had done something with the carburetor, or if the thing was just on its last miles. Either way, the engine was deafening, not to mention highly annoying. With a sigh, Avery shoved both hands into her jacket pockets and braced herself for the harassment she knew would begin at any moment.
When the truck pulled up beside her, she kept walking and tried her best to ignore the men inside it.
“Well, well, well… it looks like the little faery is back at work today!” the driver yelled over the growl of his engine.
“She loves us, despite what she says,” the passenger said with a laugh.
Avery glanced over at them, trying to hide the ire building within her. Clenching her hands into fists, she longed to flip the truck and its werewolf occupants, but her magic was rusty at best. She’d chosen long ago to embrace her human side and live as a human would, just like her mother. That meant no Fae magic.
Instead of trying to set the truck on its roof, she smiled at them. They’d been trying to make her life a living hell so she’d leave this job, but she liked food and a roof over her head, so she wasn’t going anywhere.
“I love you like I love warts or toe fungus,” she said. “Not that I would know anything about either, but you dumb dogs certainly do.”
Their smiles faded, and she continued walking. She’d overheard them talking about those very issues yesterday at lunch.
Werewolves tended to be notoriously dirty, so the toe fungus didn’t surprise her. As for the warts, she assumed they’d been catching frogs in the forest. She shuddered while imagining what they did to the poor things.
All the shifters she’d come in contact with were also very prideful, and the fact that a lowly Fae knew about their disgusting feet would rile them up, which gave her a great deal of satisfaction.
The two sped off and left her in silence… at least for a while. When she arrived at the construction site, they’d start up again; unfortunately, there’d be more of them from the same Bellevue pack. She’d do her best to ignore them and make it through another day.
Five minutes later, she opened the gate leading inside the property, then climbed the steps into the trailer to drop her stuff in a locker and punch in. Thankfully, the office was empty except for the boss, Bob.
She didn’t mind the human. He was kind and respectful and always paid on time. However, she couldn’t help but wonder if he knew a bunch of werewolves and a Fae worked for him. The animosity between her and the pack was almost palpable at times, and the guys weren’t shy about slinging insults that revealed their true nature.
“Good morning, Avery,” Bob said with a grin as she shut the door behind her. She guessed his age to be about fifty, his balding head covered with a red Ace Construction hat. He stood about five-foot-six and probably topped the scales at an easy two hundred pounds. However, the weight didn’t slow him in the least. The man could sling plywood and wield a hammer with the grace and power of workers much younger and slimmer than him.
“Hi, Bob,” she replied as she opened her rusty, old locker. The trailer had definitely seen better days. It smelled of stale cigarette smoke that had imbedded years ago within the yellowing walls. A bank of lockers for the construction crew to keep their personal belongings hugged one wall and a dented metal desk where Bob kept track of the job’s progress sat against the other.
“We got a new guy today.”
Hopefully not another were-shifter. With a sigh, Avery set her lunch in the locker. Another shifter was the last thing she needed.
“His name’s Jake. Seems nice.”
She turned to him and smiled while strapping on her tan leather tool belt and trying to remain positive. “Sounds good. We can use the help.”
“Yeah, the damned rain has set us back.”
She found her timecard among the others and
punched in. “Well, then we’d better get to work, right?”
“Yep. I’ll see you out there in a few minutes.”
She left Bob and returned outside to the sound of hammers pounding nails. Avery knew Bob had hired her to comply with gender equality and diversity in the workplace. Not that there were a lot of women who enjoyed construction, but she also realized that if he needed to downsize or other problems existed on a job, she would be the first to go. That was why she always arrived on time, stayed a few minutes late, and tried to keep a low profile.
However, with the shifters around, keeping her head down and focusing on the job had become impossible. They hated her—not because she was a woman, but because she was Fae. The two species had been rivals since before she was born.
As a group, Fae hated the shifters because they used the sacred forests as their own personal playground. They hunted its precious inhabitants while the Fae worshipped every tree, every weed, every flower and creature Mother Nature had created. Both species loved the same place, but each viewed it in different ways. One lived off the land. The other prayed to it.
She ignored a few cat-calls as she stepped onto the concrete slab, walked over to what would one day be the master bedroom, and pulled a two-by-four from the pile that had been assigned to this area.
As she worked, Avery tried to imagine how the bedroom would be decorated. A huge floor-to-ceiling window would open out to the backyard, which right now was nothing but overgrown weeds, ferns, elderberries and juniper trees. If the property were hers, she’d probably clean up the yard and include a formal garden. For her, the more flora the better. She smiled at the thought.
Would the owner have marble tubs? She assumed so. Homes of this caliber certainly didn’t include plastic for those kinds of items. Hardwood floors would also be really pretty, especially if the plans called for keeping the more natural landscape outside.
“I heard there’s a little faery here I had to meet,” a low voice rumbled softly behind her while the whisper of breath on her neck sent a chill down her spine. She’d been deep in thought and hadn’t heard anyone approach.
Turning around, she kept the hammer in hand at her side.
The man staring down at her was definitely from a wolf pack. Avery smelled wet dog, the typical odor of a wolf. On top of that, each pack had its own distinct scent, and she recognized the aroma of the Rainier pack. It reminded her of rotting garbage.
To Avery’s way of thinking, it was terribly unfortunate that were-shifters were usually really good looking. This one had blond curls, bright blue eyes, and a full mouth she imagined could do sinful things to a woman. In her experience, whenever a shifter spoke, their beautiful façades disappeared into an aura of ugliness.
“You don’t see a woman on a construction site very often, especially a little forest nymph,” he said as he came even closer. She took a step back but didn’t turn away. He didn’t intimidate her, but if needed, she’d try to use her powers against him. Honestly, Avery felt more comfortable taking a swing at him with a hammer. She also didn’t want to try to use her magic because there was too much of a chance a human on the crew would see something she couldn’t explain.
“I assume you’re Jake?’ she asked, already knowing the answer.
“Yep.”
“From the Mount Rainier pack?”
He arched an eyebrow and stepped so close, she could smell the coffee on his breath. “How did you know?”
The best thing she thought that could happen to his pack was to have Mount Rainier’s volcano come alive and blow them all to bits. She’d only come across a member on rare occasions, but every single one had been an asshole to her.
She lifted the hammer and set the head of it at his heart, then exerted pressure and pushed. “Because you guys smell the worst.”
He stepped away and chuckled, but the comment didn’t seem to bother him. Since he hadn’t backed off very far, her chest tightened as a niggling fear crept up her spine. She’d been teased and sexually harassed, but the glint in Jake’s eye had her questioning if she was in real danger, or if he truly wanted to physically hurt her.
Lifting his hand to her throat, he wrapped his fingers around her windpipe. She grabbed his wrist and tried to pull his hand away, but his grip tightened.
She couldn’t breathe.
Avery closed her eyes for a second and attempted to remain calm to assess the situation. Certainly, Jake wouldn’t try to kill her here on the job site. He might be a were-shifter, but surely, he couldn’t be that stupid.
Could he?
He was trying to scare her, to mess with her, to make her life more difficult. From her past experience, it wasn’t difficult to peg him as nothing but a bully.
She glared up at the guy and brought the hammer up again, ready to smash it down onto his forearm. An act of aggression would only draw more attention to her, but at least it would restore her ability to breathe, and hopefully, scare him away.
“What the hell’s going on here?”
She glanced past the wolf and watched as one of the humans on the crew approached them, a nice guy named Victor.
Jake pulled his hand away, and she lowered the hammer. The crack of the break would have been very satisfying, but the beauty of taking fresh air into her lungs overran all other actions, and she inhaled deeply as he backed farther away from her.
“You okay, Avery?” Victor asked. A decent human in his forties, he had four kids to support, one in college. He and his wife had told her they couldn’t wait to watch their son, the first of his family to walk across a university stage, on graduation day. Victor needed this job which kept his family afloat.
“I’m fine, Victor,” she said, trying to keep her voice calm and soothing. “Thanks for checking up on me. I appreciate it.”
She’d deal with Jake on her own time, in her own way. Visions of knives through the wolf’s heart and staking him to a tree briefly whipped through her mind. Victor needed to stay out of danger, which meant as far away from her conflicts as possible.
By the time she’d answered Victor, Jake had put about eight feet between them, but turned and glared at the human. She wished actual walls separated the rooms because she felt the need to sit down and take a moment to gather her thoughts. However, she also knew—without looking—that other shifters had watched the exchange. Their stares burned on her back. She wouldn’t show weakness or vulnerability to them. The stronger she appeared, the more likely they’d leave her alone.
Or, so she hoped.
None of her coworkers had ever touched her the way Jake had. Previous episodes had consisted of verbal harassment, and once, someone had given her a tap on the ass.
Jake seemed willing to take his torment a step further than the rest of the shifters, and frankly, she shivered with unease. She’d definitely have to watch him and make sure never to leave her back exposed. If he was bold enough to try to choke her at their workplace, who knew what he might be capable of?
Avery took a deep breath and grabbed another board. She returned to hammering, not allowing herself to get caught up in her own thoughts. If Jake approached her again, she’d be ready.
2
The next morning turned out to be a carbon copy of the previous one. Avery called her mom and didn’t get an answer, helped the same Asian woman off the bus, and trudged up the hill to the worksite.
She said hello to Bob, then headed over to the framed structure that was now taking shape as a house. Today, she’d be working on one of the inner bathrooms where the framing was almost completed.
Frankly, working in the closed location made her nervous. If Jake decided to pull the same crap as yesterday, she’d be completely hidden from the rest of the crew. Yet, this same scenario also offered her the ability to use her magic, hopefully without being seen. If need be, she’d find some way to explain why a full-grown man had flown through the air. Of course, the wolves would know exactly what would have happened, but the humans would only get freaked out if
they fully understood the paranormal beings surrounding them each workday.
Avery hadn’t practiced magic in years but had spent a few minutes on basic skills before heading to the bus stop. If forced into a situation, she hoped she’d be able to use it effectively.
The rest of the morning went by without any issues. She sat with Victor at lunch and listened to more stories about his family. As far as she was concerned, the guy’s wife was a saint. She’d birthed four kids, raised them, and since they’d all reached their teenage years, she’d just gone back to work as a secretary for a garbage disposal company. Avery couldn’t imagine being responsible for four children; she could barely take care of herself.
At the construction site, the wolves generally ignored her, which brought her a sigh of relief. She assumed it was because of the humans in close proximity. Shifters tended to be wild but not completely stupid. Neither Fae nor shifters wanted unnecessary exposure. Since they were pack animals, she knew that oftentimes one would do something to head in a particular direction, and the rest would follow. She’d been afraid the others had witnessed Jake’s behavior the previous day, leading to more of the same. As far as she was concerned, she didn’t have to like the shifters, and they didn’t have to like her. They just needed to ignore each other enough to get through the workday without bloodshed.
Once Avery finished her assigned work on this bathroom, Bob requested she help out in the kitchen. She kept to herself even though surrounded by wolves, and the afternoon flew by. Each group pretended the other didn’t exist. Quitting time had come and gone without her realizing it, and the silence alone brought her out of her thoughts. Glancing around, she realized she was the only one left in the house. The light shined from inside the trailer, so Bob was likely finishing paperwork before locking up. The sun hadn’t set, but it was hidden behind some trees, casting the house in eerie shadows.
