Ascent

by Bethany Adams

  Maddy brushed her girlfriend’s hair behind her ear. “Hurry or Deanna will get mad. We’ll see you at Fen’s place.”

  “Sounds good.” Anna gave Maddy another quick kiss before darting over to Fen to repeat the action. “Don’t try out the bed without me.”

  Surprisingly, Fen’s cheeks flushed. “Umm.”

  With a grin, Anna rushed out the side door leading to the stock room, and silence descended in her wake. What had Maddy’s life become that she could watch her girlfriend kiss the man Maddy had fought her attraction to without a flicker of guilt or jealousy? Maybe a little discomfort, but that was more social conditioning than anything. That and the desire to join them.

  “You don’t have to go with me if you don’t want to,” Fen said softly.

  “Of course, I do.” Maddy nudged him with her arm on the way to the door. “Especially if you have a couch I can take a nap on. Or is that what’s being delivered?”

  Fen smiled, though not as widely as he usually did. “Nope, you’re in luck. The couch and T.V. were yesterday evening. I even snagged my game system from Vek’s place.”

  “I bet he’ll be ticked when he realizes,” Maddy said. “Considering what you told me about his new love of Death’s Curse 3.”

  “Hey, he’s way richer than I am. He can buy his own.”

  Though Fen’s tone had been light enough, he kept his gaze averted as they headed out to his car, and he didn’t say much during the short drive to his new house. Was he having second thoughts about going out on his own? Pestering him for more information wouldn’t help, though. She was no Anna, able to coax out a person’s woes with ease. No, Maddy would have to wait until he was ready to talk.

  Fen pulled into a small neighborhood beside the river, and Maddy frowned at the series of cute houses they passed as they drew ever closer to the water. “Umm, Fen. Not to be rude, but…”

  “Isn’t this bad for Anna?” Fen finished with a sigh. “Yeah, that was my worry. But she was with me when I was looking and said it was fine. We’d still better keep an eye on her when you’re visiting.”

  Maddy blinked at that, turning to glance out the passenger window before he could see her surprise. Visiting. Why had that word caught her off guard? She hadn’t consciously thought about them living together since they hadn’t decided if the relationship would work, but her mind must have headed that direction without her. And it even made sense. If they all stayed together, they would need a bigger house than Maddy’s and Anna’s little condo.

  If.

  She had to admit that she loved the house as soon as she saw it. It wasn’t a veritable mansion like his uncle’s home in the mountains, but it had a cute garden tucked against the side and a private garage on the bottom floor. As soon as Fen parked inside, Maddy was out the door and peeking into the large storage room that made up the rest of the bottom floor. A good feature in case of flooding, so long as they—he—built tall shelving and kept true valuables upstairs.

  Maddy wandered back into the garage and smiled at Fen, still staring at her from beside the car. She hadn’t noticed when he’d turned it off or closed the door, but he must have been watching her study the place like an appraiser. He probably thought she’d come unhinged.

  Maybe she had.

  Fen said little as she explored the next floor, from the living room overlooking the river to the huge kitchen that Anna must have adored. But at the bottom of the stairs to the third floor, he hesitated, a tense, guilty expression flickering across his face. Was he hiding something questionable up there?

  “Do you have an unusual fetish you’re afraid to talk to me about?”

  Fen’s mouth dropped open. “What? No. I mean, no offense to anyone who does. But what the hell, Maddy? Why—”

  “You don’t seem to want me to go up there.” Maddy couldn’t help but laugh at his shocked face. “And you have this I don’t want to tell you something look going on.”

  “I do. Or don’t. Just…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Look, I kissed Anna, and I don’t mean that quick peck at the shop. We didn’t go any further than that, but I don’t know how you’ll feel about it.”

  “Oh.”

  Maddy took a moment to let that revelation settle. She’d thought it might happen, but the confirmation still came as a bit of a surprise. Did it bother her? The mental image of Anna in Fen’s arms flashed in her head, along with a variety of conflicting emotions. Not anger, though. Her body went hot, desire fighting with envy. She’d spent all that time worrying about what Anna would think, and here her girlfriend had shared a true kiss with him first. Maddy wasn’t sure whether to be amused or jealous.

  In the end, humor won out. Fen’s forehead furrowed as she started chuckling, and his bewildered expression made her laugh harder. How ridiculous were they? A bunch of goofballs circling each other, trying to either avoid or embrace the obvious depending on the day. Fen thought he was unworthy, Anna believed Maddy disliked the idea, and Maddy couldn’t grasp the concept of actually having both people that she wanted.

  “Maddy?”

  “God, we’re all idiots.” Her laughter faded, but her grin didn’t. Poor Fen looked so confused, and he was about to get more so. “Come here.”

  He shook his head. “What?”

  Before he figured out her intentions, Maddy stepped into his space, easing her body against his as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “We had a tiny kiss once, but I deserve equal treatment to Anna. I expect an equally fabulous kiss. Then, I’m going to take a nap on your comfy couch, and you and Anna can give me a tour of the upstairs later. Got it?”

  For once, Fen seemed incapable of speaking. But that didn’t stop him from taking action. His mouth met hers, softly at first. Tentatively. Then he ran his tongue along the seam of her lips until she opened for him, and they both caught fire. Maddy had to force herself to be careful of his fangs. His kiss was hard and hot, so much so that she nearly forgot herself more than once.

  The side of her tongue slid against his fang, almost near enough to scrape, and Fen wrenched himself away. “Dammit. Too close. I’ve gotta say my sympathy for my uncle has grown.”

  Maddy blinked. “Vek? You’re thinking about your uncle now?”

  “Only of how careful he had to be with Dria before she agreed to mate.” Fen ran his finger down the side of her neck, and she shivered. “Like him, I will not force anyone into a mate bond. It wouldn’t be right.”

  “Fair enough.” Maddy patted Fen on the cheek. “Guess that means it’s time for the nap.”

  She was no longer as tired as she had been, not after that kick to the system, but she marched through the living room to the couch anyway. It was situated on the wall perpendicular to the windows, so Maddy stretched out where she could see outside. Maybe watching the clouds stream by would slow her racing heart. It was worth a try.

  Chapter 21

  The lunch rush was almost over when the strange man came in.

  Anna paused, the plate she held bobbing until the hamburger almost toppled off. Her customer yelped, and Anna glanced down in time to save the food. Offering profuse apologies and silently kissing her tip goodbye, she settled the plate carefully on the table and left the lady to her meal.

  Her heartbeat pounding in her ears, Anna did her best to appear unbothered as she refilled a couple of drinks at the next table. There was no specific reason to be on edge, but there was an energy about the guy that thrummed against her water magic. She couldn’t decide if it made her want to flee or move closer.

  Anna set the pitcher of soda on the server station and took a deep breath to settle her nerves. An effort ruined by Deanna’s light tap against her forearm. “Hey, the gentleman who just came in asked for your table. I know you were hoping to get out of here early, but Cassie already had one more than you.”

  Anna tried not to be too obvious about looking at the guy’s table, but he offered her a smile when she inadvertently made eye contact. “Why would he ask for me? I’ve never seen
him before.”

  “Huh.” Deanna frowned. “Well, he gives you any trouble, let me know. I’m not going to stand for any creeps around here.”

  “Thanks.”

  Anna really, really didn’t want to go over there, even though the man seemed relatively normal. His button-down shirt and creased slacks stood out a little amidst the tees and shorts of the late-summer vacation crowd, but not so much that she would normally be disturbed. He could be a businessman who’d strayed from downtown for a change of scenery. His energy, though… It couldn’t be a coincidence that someone who ruffled her magical feathers had asked for her table.

  Though her legs grew heavy with dread, Anna carried a glass of water and a napkin-wrapped silverware set to his table. Somehow, she managed to place both down without her trembling becoming obvious, or at least she thought she had until the stranger flashed her a mocking grin. She ground her teeth together and resisted the urge to yank out his short, white-blonde hair. Forget being a business type. This guy acted more like displaced nobility than something as mundane as an executive.

  “Could I get you something else to drink while you look at the menu?” Anna asked in a voice honed by years of dealing with shitty customers.

  “I’ll not ingest hu—” The man coughed into his hand. “Forgive me. Water will suffice. Unless you have freshly squeezed juice made from the current harvest?”

  Anna blinked. “Ah, no. I’m sorry.”

  He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. “Tell me of your current food offerings, then.”

  Her stomach dropped at his unusual phrasing—yet more confirmation that something was not right with this guy. And Meren was still on the loose. If he had really been the one who’d attacked Fen in the river, he would have seen her, too. Good Lord. Surely, she didn’t have the villain ordering lunch at her table?

  “Well, we have fresh cod on special. Otherwise, the menu describes our various dishes better than I can. Is there anything in particular that you were wondering about?”

  “Yes, indeed.” One minute, the man sat like a king addressing a servant, and the next, he’d leaned forward, his fingers gripping her forearm. “I’m wondering about you.”

  Anna froze, her skin prickling with tiny needles of warning. “I am not on the menu.”

  Something like disgust filled his eyes before he quickly masked it. “Naturally not.”

  “Let go,” Anna demanded.

  The dangerous energy around him intensified, and the unusual tingle of awareness his touch created made her want to vomit from its force. Her mind hazed over, her thoughts becoming as muddy as the river water.

  “You mistake my intentions,” the man answered, letting go of her arm quickly, which reassured her. It was absurd to think he was a threat. They were in a public place, and he’d just been trying to get her attention. “I have neither violence nor seduction in mind. We are kindred, you and I. Children of water, if you will.”

  Anna tried to make sense of his words through her jumbled thoughts. Could he be implying that he was one of her people? Being a water fae would match his odd behavior and clothing, wouldn’t it? It might also explain the zing of energy she’d felt when he touched her arm. How would he know about her, though? Could her presence in the river have caught his attention? There was so much about her heritage she didn’t understand. For all she knew, her people had already been looking for strangers with their bloodline.

  “Ah, I see that you understand.” His grin returned, minus the mocking. “Good.”

  Another voice broke through Anna’s confusion. “You bothering one of my servers? I saw your hand on her, and that kind of behavior is not allowed here.”

  Deanna. Anna’s fingers twisted together as she fought the urge to scream. While she appreciated her manager looking out for her, it couldn’t have come at a worse time. The man might have important information about her ancestry. They might even share some kind of kinship, if only in magic. None of which she could say to Deanna.

  “He was just—”

  The scrape of the stranger’s chair interrupted Anna’s words as he stood. “Leaving. I find I am no longer hungry.”

  “Good,” Deanna said, eyeing him for a moment before hurrying over to an annoyed-looking family of five.

  The man leaned close to Anna, his fingers gripping her elbow in a slight hold. “If you wish to know more of your power, meet me at the park just down the river, and speak of this to no one. There should be enough people to ensure your safety. I’ll be waiting on one of the benches after your shift ends. If you don’t show up, I will not seek you out again, but you will lose your chance to learn about your heritage.”

  And with that pronouncement, the stranger released her and strode from the room with the arrogance of a king departing a ball, no doubt in his mind that his subjects stared after him in awe. Anna had to admit that she was doing just that, but it wasn’t often that one encountered fae nobility while waiting tables.

  Maddy excluded, of course.

  She shook her head. Why was she assuming the guy was noble? The stories of the fae depicted them as being sly and arrogant, so his behavior didn’t necessarily mean anything. Most of the fae Anna knew actually were nobility or royalty, and they didn’t act like that. Either way, Anna had to consider his offer. Her first thought was to call Maddy, but he’d said to tell no one. Maybe her people were secretive.

  Anna wanted to know more about her fae ancestors and the magic they wielded. She could breathe water and dry out her clothes. What else? Could he explain why the river had called to her with such intensity and if that pull would return? That information would be more valuable than anything.

  Out of habit, Anna cleared plates and brought out refills, but her mind wasn’t on her work. Thank God she’d been here long enough to operate on autopilot with relative success. It gave her the freedom to ponder the stranger’s offer before the end of her shift. A crazy decision, but it was the only one she could make. She had to find out what he knew.

  What was the worst that could happen?

  Meren had no doubt that she would come.

  She’d been far more resistant to glamour and coercion than he’d expected, but even if the suggestion Meren had tried to slip through her shielding failed to take root, her curiosity would lead her to him. Unfortunately, though, he still hadn’t decided what he preferred to do with her.

  Murder wouldn’t serve his cause, at least not yet. He wasn’t ready to leave that kind of serious message. Killing was…messy. It had taken far too long to scrub the blood from his clothes after the last two times he’d stabbed people, and neither of the wretches had even had the good grace to die from the effort. No, Meren would rather wait until he could recruit another assassin before he decided young Anna or anyone else needed to die.

  He could kidnap her, but that was another last resort action. He only had one safehold left. Why risk having it overrun by the Unseelie if Vek and the boy had some way to track the girl? Not to mention dealing with her whining. Humans always whined, given enough time. They had a bad habit of wanting things like food.

  But subversion…that would be delicious.

  Meren wasn’t certain Anna would be a suitable candidate, but their little afternoon meeting would give him a good idea about that. If she was as foolish as the average human, she would follow wherever he led for crumbs of information. And who knew? The Gwragedd Annwn were powerful water fae. She might end up trainable enough to be of some use.

  Propping his arm along the back of the bench, Meren smiled. All he had to do was wait.

  A warm hand settled on the curve of Maddy’s waist. She jumped, and if the touch hadn’t awakened her, the slamming of her heart would have. Who was it this time? One of her less-adept captors—or Kien? Her body trembled, but she couldn’t lie there without knowing. She had to see. She opened her eyes slowly, and only then did full awareness kick in. Fen crouched beside her, frowning down at her from beside the couch in the middle of his new living room. She sank i
nto the cushions in relief.

  “Sorry, Maddy,” he murmured softly, rubbing her waist in a comforting motion. “I called your name, but you didn’t stir. Hell, you slept through a team of movers carrying my new bedroom suite upstairs. Your phone pinged, though, and I thought you might have set an alarm.”

  Maddy took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Poor Fen. It wasn’t his fault she’d been dreaming of the cave where she’d been imprisoned by Kien, and she wasn’t going to tell him, either. Fen hadn’t been part of that plot, but he’d been forced to pretend he was in order to infiltrate the camp. He bore enough guilt without knowing how much the experience still haunted her.

  “Sometimes, I sleep deep,” Maddy answered in a rough voice.

  She rubbed at her eyes and cleared her throat before she sat up. Fen pulled his hand away, but he didn’t move from his crouch. As she slid her feet to the floor beside him, their knees touched, and she shivered with awareness from the contact. She had the sudden urge to leap against him, so strong she almost gave in even if it would have knocked him to the floor. Something in her craved reassurance that she was alive, and she did not want to risk sleeping with him out of that mad impulse. It wouldn’t be right without Anna, at least not the first time.

  Still frowning, Fen rubbed his fingers against the scruff lining his jaw. Sexy, although it would feel rough against her face if she leaned in and—

  “Stop looking at me like that, Maddy.” Fen stood so abruptly that she almost yelped, but the sound caught in her throat when she saw the evidence of how her glance affected him, now level with her eyes. “Dammit. I’m going to go make a late lunch. Want something?”

  She couldn’t help it—she had to quirk her eyebrow at a wicked angle.

  Fen groaned. “I’m talking about something to eat.”

  Maddy’s lips twitched. “Really?”

  “Do. You. Want. A. Sandwich?” he ground out, making her laugh.

  “Okay, okay, I’ll stop tormenting you.” Maddy grinned. “A sandwich would be good. I didn’t even think about food before I fell asleep.”