by Sofia Daniel
The monster’s bright eyes shone like beacons, making me twist back toward our destination. I hadn’t noticed him come closer, but with few humans brave enough to leave their homes after dark, the Jack of Smiles had probably become hungry enough to force eye contact.
“Thanks,” I said.
“Call me Coltrane.” The centaur continued down the street of one-story buildings toward the town’s outskirts.
“Is this the route a human would take to go on foot?” I asked.
“That’s right.”
To our left and right, beings stood outside the windows of human dwellings, likely trying to catch glimpses of innocent people sleeping in their beds. A shiver ran down my spine. Mother and Father always kept the curtains closed. Now I really understood why. Keeping my gaze forward, I clung tighter to the centaur’s back.
It took several moments before we reached the vast expanses of farmland that stretched from Doolish to the lower foothills of the Mound. At this time of the night, the mansions on its higher levels twinkled as though they were made of starlight—the Lucky bastards.
There was no sign of Sicily on the road, which either meant that she’d left earlier than I had thought or one of the creatures on the route had—I tamped down that terrible thought.
“This is cozy,” murmured Coltrane. The centaur galloped between two cornfields.
“How much longer to Hope Woods?” I asked.
“Ten minutes after we get to Charity Woods.”
“How far away is that?”
The muscles on his back tightened as though he had bristled at what I’d said. “Why don’t you enjoy the ride and leave the transportation to the professional, eh?”
Clenching my teeth, I loosened my grip around his waist. He was probably annoyed because I didn’t flirt back. Centaurs were nice enough when they weren’t trying to mate with human girls. They needed us to reproduce, as there was no such thing as a female centaur.
I shook a strand of hair out of my face. Putting aside the fact that two-thirds of their body was a horse and they had dicks the size and girth of a man’s arm, getting pregnant by a centaur was as dangerous as jumping into a pond full of grindylows. Without the help of a hag who specialized in midwifery, most girls died in childbirth.
Coltrane bolted forward. I jerked to the side and grabbed hold of his waist to avoid falling.
“That’s better,” he said.
My eyes narrowed. The centaur did that in Doolish Square when I held onto his shoulders instead of his waist. Had the Jack of Smiles really been trying to grab onto me?
Coltrane galloped through a copse of rowan trees, which led to a wood so dense, not even a trace of moonlight penetrated its canopy. A chill set over my skin, and I huddled closer to the centaur. Had Sicily passed through here on foot? I hoped she had found safe transportation. Tendrils of ice wrapped around my neck, cutting off my air. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing it away. The thing to remember about magical terrors was that nothing could hurt me if I didn’t engage with them.
Moments later, Coltrane slowed to a walk, and the rich, sweet scent of over-ripe cherries filled my nostrils. I opened my eyes to find us in a moon-lit clearing.
“Why are we stopping?” I asked.
He lowered himself onto his haunches, and I slid off the saddle and onto my ass. Thankfully, my jeans protected me from the moisture of the fallen fruit I’d squelched on my descent.
“We haven’t discussed payment,” he said.
“Ummm, yeah.” I stood and fiddled with my bracelet. “How many beads do you want?”
Pulling himself upright, Coltrane shook his head. “I don’t want your money.”
My spine stiffed. Bloody centaurs always desired the same thing from human girls. “It’s all you’re going to get.”
“Don’t play coy.” He circled me, his swishy tail whacking me on the ass. “It’s nothing you haven’t done before.”
I sucked in a breath through my teeth. Had Elijah been boasting about our arrangement all over Doolish? “What do you mean?”
“It was just a joke.” He stepped back, palms up. “No offense or anything.”
The muscles of my shoulders relaxed. He was just horny centaur trying his luck. I could deal with that. “How many beads do you want for the journey?”
He rubbed his chin. “Here’s the thing…”
“What?” I snapped.
“Hope Woods is a dangerous place, even for a centaur.”
I spread my arms wide. “No, it isn’t. Centaurs are impervious to dark magic, strong as ogres, and can gallop as fast as the wind. Or is all that stuff you guys always boast about just a rumor?”
“There’s a bargain ring going on tonight,” he said, sounding as though he hadn’t heard a word I’d said. “A blacksmith from the fifth level is planning on sacrificing all his human servants to help break his brother out of the Dark Fae Prison.”
My gaze darted from left to right. If I knew the location of this infernal circle, I’d be halfway there on foot by now. But because I was wholly dependent on this dubious method of transportation, I had to play nice and convince him to take me.
“But that prison is inescapable,” I said.
“So is the Isle of Fae, but that doesn’t stop people from trying,” he said with a shrug.
My thoughts jumped to Dad’s disappearance. If he had made a bargain, it had probably gone wrong, and he was toiling for someone within the Mound. I hoped to every human deity listening that his master wasn’t that fifth-level blacksmith.
Coltrane stopped circling and stood in front of me with his hands on his waist. “How about it, then?”
I raised my wrist. “Have as many beads as you like, but please take me to the circle. My sister—”
“As I said, it’s not money I want.” His dark gaze roved up and down my form.
I ground my teeth, a tension headache throbbing between my ears. For fuck’s sake! At this rate, Sicily would have condemned herself to a life of servitude.
“You want my body?” I snapped. When he gave me a salacious nod, I said, “It’s yours.”
Surprise flickered across his features. “What?”
“But call for me tomorrow evening,” I left out the fact that we planned on being in Balley Chashtal before nightfall tomorrow. “I want to buy some ointments to make it less of a stretch.”
His tongue ran along his bottom lip. “I don’t mind if you’re too tight.”
“Well, I do!”
“No.” He folded his arms across a well-muscled chest covered in coarse horsehair. “Once you meet the bargain-makers, I’ll never see you again, right?”
“No!” the word came out a pained howl. “I’m trying to stop my sister—”
“Alright then,” he said. “Tug-a-lug with a few licks, and I’ll take you to the circle. But you have to do it here and now.”
Nausea slithered up my throat. “What?”
The centaur bent the human part of his body, meeting my gaze with his twinkling eyes. His warm, tangy breath fanned across my face. “Get on your knees, make me cum, and I’ll take you the rest of the way.”
Panic seized my heart in its cold grip, disgust pooled in my mouth, and I took a step back. How dare the loathsome creature take advantage of my desperation?
I had no idea where in Hope Woods I could find the bargaining circle. It wasn’t like rings of mushrooms on the ground were signposted. I licked my dry lips. To save Sicily, I would endure anything, even if it meant getting a face-full of centaur spunk.
I cleared my throat. “Alright, then.”
“Alright, what?”
“I-I’ll give you a wank.”
“Don’t forget to lash that pretty tongue over my cock-hole.”
Angry, prickly heat surged through my veins and burned my cheeks. At this rate, I would bite it off… if only I could get my mouth around the centaur’s mammoth dick.
“Fine!” I snapped.
The centaur’s grin was so wide, it rivaled that of
the Jack of Smiles.
Chapter 5
“Yes,” Coltrane whinnied, his deep voice making the lining of my stomach tremble with a mix of revulsion and terror. “Shimmy down my undercarriage and make your dreams cum true.”
My nostrils flared. How had this asshole managed to twist things around so that I was the aggressor? I longed to swing my foot beneath that undercarriage and slam my boot into his horse dick, but I was in the middle of a faerie forest with no other form of transport and desperate to save my sister. Pressing my lips together, I dropped down in position.
I sank my knees into the soft, damp leaf litter, and the scent of rotting mulch filled my nostrils. Heat flared from the centaur’s hindquarters, making my skin crawl with the sensation of invisible ants. Keeping my gaze to the starry sky and away from the source of his excitement, I raised a trembling hand.
“I can lie on my side if you want,” he said. “Make it feel like you’ve tackled me to the ground, and I’m finally in your clutches.”
Coltrane flicked his head in the direction of his flanks. “There’s ropes in my saddlebag if you want me helpless and at your mercy.”
Despite trying to keep a neutral expression, my nose wrinkled. “Um… No, thanks.” Any pity I might have felt for this desperate creature was crushed under the weight of my worries for Sicily’s predicament. “Let’s just do it without the extras, so we can set off for the deal circle.”
His eyes sparkled. “You naughty girl!” he said with a low chuckle. “I could tell you wanted me.”
I shook my head. If his fantasy of me being eager for centaur dick got him off faster, who was I to complain?
A male scream pierced the air, followed by a boom. My head snapped up, just in time for me to catch the burst of white light a hundred feet away.
“What was that?” I asked.
“It’s just the bargain-makers.” He waved a dismissive hand. “They’re condemning some human victim to the deepest levels of the Mount. Now, about my—”
“What?” I scrambled to my feet and charged through the trees in the direction of the light, all thoughts of Coltrane and his horse dick flying into the ether. Their next victim could be Sicily.
“Oi,” Coltrane bellowed. “You still owe me for the ride.”
I continued charging through the trees. Moonlight streamed through the canopy of this side of the forest, illuminating the trunks in my way. Branches whipped across my face, but the pain was nothing compared to what my poor sister might suffer if I didn’t stop her in time.
Galloping filled my ears, and hot centaur breath dampened the back of my neck. “Pay me, you scam artist!”
Rage surged through my veins, making me run faster. Ducking under a low-hanging branch, I yanked off my bracelet of money beads and threw it over my shoulder.
“Take it!” I yelled.
With a panicked neigh, Coltrane thudded into a tree. The galloping stopped. Now that I knew the location of the deal circle, I didn’t care if the horny centaur had knocked himself unconscious.
My foot caught on a root, and I stumbled forward, my arms splayed out for balance. “Shit.”
“Who goes there?” boomed a voice from behind a thick bush.
I darted behind a thick tree trunk and stepped into something squelchy.
Footsteps—about half a dozen of them—marched close.
Sweat trickled down my brow, settling into the corners of my eyes. Anything could be out there. Possibilities raced through my mind. Angry dwarves, trooping trees… A shudder ran down my spine. Or they could be redcaps eager for human blood. Holding my breath, I waited for them to pass.
“They’re hiding,” whispered a male voice.
The strangers scattered in all directions. I held my breath, inwardly cursing myself for running away from Coltrane, who probably would have protected me from whoever was lurking in the trees. Heavy footsteps approached from my left, making my heart gallop.
I edged around the tree, trying to keep my movements quiet.
A bright beam from a flashlight shone on the right side of my face. A male voice said, “Found her!”
I raised my hand, shielding my eyes from the glare. “Who’s that?”
“Identify yourself,” he said.
“You first.” I squinted and could make out a six-foot-tall, human-shaped figure in black, clad in a dark helmet.
“Captain Lamb from the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces.” He lowered the flashlight. “And you are?”
Relief washed over me like summer rain, and I blinked the light out of my eyes. They might be wankers, but the peacekeepers were mostly harmless.
“Unity Quayle.” I stepped out from behind the tree. “You’ve got to help. My sister’s down there, trying to make a deal with the dark faeries.”
As the other peacekeepers emerged from behind the bushes, the captain rocked back and forth on his heels, seeming to think through my predicament. I swallowed hard, hoping he would come with me to the circle and help me grab Sicily.
Several moments later, he spoke. “Bargaining with faeries contravenes article one of section one of the United Nations charter,” Captain Lamb said in a tone of voice that implied I should have already memorized the UN rulebook. “Your sister is in a lot of trouble.”
“Are you going to arrest her?”
Silence stretched out, broken by the screech of an owl.
A frustrated breath huffed out from my nostrils. I glanced over the man’s shoulder in the direction where the magic had flared. First, the centaur, now the peacekeepers. If I wasted any more time trying to convince assholes to help, I would lose my sister.
I hurried past the captain and his men. “Out of my way.”
“Wait!” He held out a gloved hand. “You can’t go there.”
I dodged right, rounded a thick trunk, and sprinted through the darkened woods. No stupid charter would get between my sister and me. If they wanted to shoot iron pellets at my back, they’d have to aim through the bloody trees.
Heavy footsteps thudded from twenty feet away, and branches cracked underfoot like broken bones. I jumped over a tree root, skidded over a patch of something putrid, and picked up my pace.
Thirty feet ahead, two kissing trees stretched up to the moon, their trunks intertwined with a five-foot-tall gap at their bases. Magic spilled out through the space, its power tingling through my skin. My pulse quickened. Whoever stood in that circle was more powerful than the princes. Keeping low, I raced forward and into another flare of light so bright, my irises ached.
I squeezed my eyes shut, ducked my head, and hurried forward, but the light still burned. An unfamiliar female gasp reached my ears. I hoped this meant that Sicily was still waiting in line.
“Come forward,” said the type of arrogant, male voice that could only belong to a faerie.
“Sis?” I stopped and blinked, but everything was still white.
When the light cleared, my gaze fell on a circle of knee-high mushrooms that glowed silver in the moonlight. In the middle stood five masculine figures with black leather armor clinging to their muscular frames. Each sported membranous wings like a bat’s.
One of them turned around, swirling his long, midnight hair and flashing eyes as bright as a blue moon. The power radiating from him made my heart jolt with renewed terror.
His handsome features twisted into a snarl that revealed teeth sharpened into points. “Who dares to interrupt our circle?”
A breath caught in the back of my throat. Not at his fearsome appearance, but at the sight of my sister standing among him and four other leather-clad faeries. Her eyes were glazed as though she was caught in their unearthly beauty.
“Sicily—” All the moisture in my throat dried, leaving their membranes feeling like tree bark. Whether it was due to panic or the creature’s unearthly magic, I couldn’t tell, but my feet moved of their own volition toward the circle of mushrooms.
The faerie beckoned me closer, and my gaze wandered to his black nails, which also ende
d in points. Something about these males reminded me of the princes. How could dark creatures as powerful as these not be in prison with the rest of their kind?
Gunshots filled the air, and a tight fist of panic seized my heart, breaking me out of my semi-trance. Why of all times had the peacekeepers decided to interfere?
“Outsiders.” The faerie snarled.
“Sis,” I squeaked.
Sicily turned toward me, her gaze alert. Anguish flashed across her features. Whatever she had planned to do, she’d clearly changed her mind. Sicily lurched toward the low wall of mushrooms, her mouth open in a silent scream.
One of the other dark faeries grabbed onto her arm. “We haven’t finished with you.”
“Hey!” I rushed forward. “Let go of her.”
The first faerie raised a hand, his gaze darting to a point over my shoulder and then back to me. Forks of lightning crackled from his fingertips and filled the clearing with the scent of ozone.
He growled, “You would dare bring the outsiders to our sacred circle?”
“What?” I cringed under the force of his unearthly glare. “No.”
A second gunshot ran through the air, making my heart explode with panic. I fell to my knees, and warm liquid splattered over my face.
My stomach lurched. This had to be blood, but whose?
Sicily screamed.
“Stop,” I shouted at the approaching peacekeepers. “My sister’s in there. She’s an innocent human.”
The shooting continued, and a wave of magic flared out of the circle of mushrooms, bleaching everything white. The sensation of the world turning inside out had me splayed face-down on the forest floor like an out-of-place starfish. My ears rang, muffling the sounds of footsteps.
What the bloody hell had just happened? If this was a magical attack, the peacekeepers would have dropped to the ground. I tried to get up, but some invisible force kept me pinned.
Eventually, the light faded along with the pressure on my back. I raised myself onto my hands and knees and stared over the trampled mushrooms and into the circle.
Sicily was gone, as were four of the dark faeries. The fifth lay face-up, gasping for air. The jacket of his leather armor gaped open in several places, presumably from the gunshots, with dark blood oozing out from his wounds onto the parched earth.
