by J. C. Diem
“What line of work are you in?” her deputy asked with a complete lack of finesse. As soon as he focused on Asha’s face, he was caught in her snare. Between the two of us, we could easily bamboozle most humans.
“We’re hunters,” I said truthfully. There was no point lying about it. Not when Harley and I both had guns and knives strapped to our belts.
“Hunters?” the sheriff asked, suddenly far more alert now. “Are you here to find the thing that’s been snatching people?” Their bodies still hadn’t been found and she was clearly frustrated.
“Yes, ma’am,” I replied.
“Whatever this thing is, it’s dangerous,” she warned us. Hunters were far more common now that everyone knew monsters were real. There was no law against hunting supernatural creatures, so she couldn’t order us not to go after it.
“It’s more dangerous than you know, Sheriff,” I said.
“You know what it is?” she asked in a tone that told me she already knew I did. She wasn’t just pretty, she was smart and perceptive as well.
“Why don’t you come inside and have some coffee?” Pru offered. “You’re going to need it once you hear this story.”
Cindy and Kevin exchanged a look, then the sheriff gestured at me to take the lead. I didn’t miss it when her hand automatically went to the Glock she wore in a shoulder holster beneath her left arm. Kevin was a leftie and wore his beneath his right arm. The deputy nervously looked around before following us inside.
Neither of our guests could see Leroy as the phantom hovered in a corner of the kitchen. He knew better than to distract us while we had company. We were pretending to be human. If they knew we had a ghost on our team, our cover would be blown. Rudy also remained absent as we took seats at the kitchen table. Asha put the coffee machine on, hunching her shoulders at the stares that were coming from Harley and the deputy. My team introduced themselves to our guests, then Pru told them what we were facing and the methods we would have to use to kill them.
“Trolls?” Kevin said incredulously, tearing his attention away from the girl he didn’t know was a dryad. “Trolls are real?”
“Everything is real,” Harley told him.
“Even unicorns?” Callahan asked dryly.
“Even them, darlin’,” I replied and received a sharp look. “I mean, ma’am,” I amended with an apologetic grin. My charm soothed her annoyance at the endearment that had come from me automatically. It was another quirk I’d never managed to shake.
“How are you going to kill these things without burning half the forest down?” she asked.
“We’re going to lure them here,” I told her. “We’ve learned they’re fiercely territorial and we plan to invade their lair. Once they have our scent, they won’t stop until we’re dead.”
“Are you people crazy?” Her tone was incredulous. “That’s a terrible plan!”
“We’re experienced hunters, Sheriff,” Harley said, tearing his focus away from Asha as well. “We know what we’re doing.”
“You think you know what you’re doing, but no one has gone up against a troll in eons from what you’re telling me.” She shook her head. “I can’t let you endanger yourselves like that. I don’t want your deaths on my conscience.”
I unleashed my fae charm and it swelled to fill the room. Everyone except Leroy was affected by it. Even Pru’s eyes glazed over. “We’ll be fine, Cindy,” I said, saying her name like a caress. A blush rose in her cheeks and her lips parted in sudden need. I’d never used my glamor to get a woman into bed and had never needed to. But it would be as easy as breathing for me if I was the sort of man who would stoop to that level. “You don’t need to worry about us,” I added. “We’ll take care of the trolls. Devil’s Peak will be safe again, at least until something else comes along that needs to be eradicated.”
I withdrew my magic and the sheriff blinked a few times before nodding. “If you say you can handle these things, then I won’t try to stop you. Call me if you need our help.” She nudged Kevin in the side to snap him out of his daze. “We have to get back to the office. It was nice to meet you all.” She stood and we all shook hands with her again before I escorted them to the door.
“What did you do to us?” Asha asked in an accusing tone when the cruiser drove away.
“He used his fae charm to bend the Sheriff and her deputy to his will,” Rudy said on my behalf as he reappeared. “That’s a skill you’ll probably have, too, once you get used to using your power.”
“I wish I had that ability,” Leroy said wistfully. “It would have made my life a hell of a lot easier.”
“No one should be able to bamboozle people like that,” Pru said in disapproval. She was still perturbed that I’d been able to affect her. She’d probably thought she was immune to my charms.
“I only use it when I have to,” I told her.
“He doesn’t need to use it very often,” Rudy added dryly. “His pretty face is usually enough to get most women into his bed.” He clasped his hands together and fluttered his eyelashes at me girlishly when I frowned at him.
“We would have succumbed to your every wish,” Asha said, still staring at me warily.
Harley swallowed audibly, once again beneath her spell. I was glad I couldn’t read his emotions as clearly as I could feel Leroy’s. I imagined all sorts of things were flashing through his head right now.
Seeing the kid had become lost again, Pru huffed out a sigh. “I’ll be in my den, practicing the spell that will break Harley free from Asha’s allure.”
Rudy and Leroy sniggered, but Harley was too enamored to know he was the butt of their amusement.
Chapter Twenty-Six
When I went to check on the witch an hour later, she looked over her shoulder when she heard me at the door. “Good, you’re just in time. I’m going to need something that Harley can wear to cast this spell on. Does Rudy have another ring we can use?”
“You called?” my sidekick asked as he appeared on the desk next to the cauldron. He’d magically heard his name being spoken and had come to investigate.
“Pru needs a ring for Harley,” I said.
“Why? Is she going to propose to the lad?” Chortling at his own wit, he held out his hand and another plain silver ring appeared. “Here you go, lass. This should do the trick.”
Giving him a withering look, Pru took it from him. “Darn, I left the brooch in my room,” she murmured.
“You mean this brooch?” Rudy asked, holding out his other hand to reveal the blue jewelry box.
“How do you do that?” she asked in exasperation and snatched the case from him.
“I’m a man of many talents,” he replied with slyly.
“You’re so small you’re more like a third of a man,” Leroy said as he drifted inside.
“Size isn’t everything, boyo,” the leprechaun said with his chin jutting out belligerently. “Height doesn’t always mean might.”
“I like how you rhymed that,” I said in admiration. “Nicely done.”
Unsure whether I was making fun of him or not, Rudy clamped his mouth shut and crossed his arms. He could be as touchy as an alpha werewolf sometimes.
“Shh,” Pru said to us all. “I need to concentrate to do this.” She pinned the brooch to her dress, then began casting the spell. This one wasn’t long, but it drained her of power and she had to draw more from the brooch. I didn’t need to pour my strength into her this time, but she was going to need to sleep half the day away to recover when it was done. Dropping the ring into the cauldron, she chanted the final line of the spell. The enchantment was designed to protect the wearer from allure. It was a general spell that should work against dryads, sirens and other species that could bamboozle men and women. This enchantment was far less flashy than the binding spell and merely seeped into the silver ring.
“Is that it?” Leroy asked, peering into the cauldron.
“That’s it,” Pru confirmed, then swayed in exhaustion again. “I need a nap, but f
irst I want to see if it worked.” She looked at Rudy expectantly.
He heaved a sigh, knowing what she wanted him to do. “I always end up being the teleporting minion,” he complained, but waited for her to pluck the ring out of the cauldron before whisking us all upstairs.
Harley was in the room we’d set up as a gym, working off his sexual frustration from the feel of his energy. He pushed out a last set of curls before setting the heavy dumbbells down. “Tell me you finished casting the spell,” he pleaded.
“I did,” she confirmed and held out the ring.
Bounding over to her with unseemly eagerness, he snatched it out of her hand and slid the ring onto his middle finger. His expression went from expectant to disappointed. “I don’t feel any different,” he said.
“You’re not supposed to, lad,” Rudy reassured him. “The spell isn’t tied to you. It’s bound to the ring and it’ll work for anyone who wears it.”
“I don’t really have any idea how magic works,” the kid confessed.
“You’ll learn,” I told him. “Let’s go and visit Asha and see if you can resist her now.”
“I hope so,” he muttered, using a towel to wipe away his sweat. Shirtless, he wore a pair of shorts, sneakers and nothing else. While he wasn’t quite as muscular as I was, he was in good shape.
I could feel Asha in her room. That was where she tended to hide when she was feeling overwhelmed by too many people. Pru knocked on her door and waited for the dryad to tell us to enter before opening it. Lying on her stomach on her bed, Asha looked startled when we all filed inside. “What’s wrong?” she asked, sitting up and closing the book she was reading.
“Nothing, honey,” I replied. “Pru cast the spell that we’re hoping will protect Harley from your glamor.”
“Oh.” She looked at the young hunter and blushed when she saw his state of undress. “Why are you practically naked?” she asked, looking away from him.
“I was working out,” he said, staring at her intently.
“Well?” Rudy demanded. “Is it working?”
“Yeah,” Harley replied with a relieved grin. “I still think she’s beautiful, but my mind is clear for once.”
“Thank God,” Pru said. “Now you won’t stare at her like a starving dog slobbering over a juicy bone.”
“Heh,” Leroy said in approval. “You tell him, Mamma.”
“Mamma?” the witch said, arching her eyebrows in surprise.
“It’s better than she-honky ain’t it?” the ghost said.
Heaving a tired sigh, she turned and walked out of the room. Crossing the hall to her own bedroom, she closed the door with more force than usual.
“She gets cranky after casting taxing spells,” Rudy explained. “I’m sure she’ll be nicer again after she’s had a nanna nap.”
“I heard that!” Pru snarled from her room.
Harley winked at Asha, who blushed even harder, then sauntered back to finish his workout. At my subtle gesture, the ghost and leprechaun left me alone with the dryad. “Can I speak to you for a moment, darlin’?” I asked.
Clasping her hands together nervously, she nodded. “Have I done something wrong?” she asked anxiously.
Closing the door, I crossed to her and took a seat on the bed. I left some space between us so she didn’t feel like I was crowding her. “You haven’t done anything wrong,” I replied with a smile. I needed to ask her a delicate question and didn’t want an audience listening in. “You’ve never been with a man, have you?” I asked quietly.
Her brow furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“You’ve never had sex with anyone,” I said in clarification.
Fresh color bloomed on her face, rising all the way to her hairline. “No,” she admitted in a small voice. “I guess you must think I’m weird.”
“Not at all, darlin’.” I reached out and patted her on the knee in what I hoped was a fatherly gesture. “I’m wondering why, though.”
Drawing her knees up to her chest in an unconscious effort to protect herself, she looked away. “I’ve just never felt a connection to anyone,” she confessed. “The thought of being intimate with any man I’ve met so far fills me with dread. It’s as if it would be wrong somehow. I can’t really explain it.”
“You don’t have to, sweetheart. I just need to know your preferences. If you don’t want to date anyone, no one here is going to try to force you to.”
“There’s something wrong with me, isn’t there?” she asked, tears welling in her eyes. “Why haven’t I ever been attracted to anyone?”
“What did you feel when you saw Harley wearing just a pair of shorts?” I asked.
Her blush returned and it was even deeper than ever. “I don’t know,” she mumbled. “I felt strange,” she added and put a hand on her stomach. “Like I had butterflies swirling around in my stomach.”
“That’s attraction, darlin’,” I said, breaking it to her as gently as I could. “You’ve never felt that before?”
“No,” she said unhappily. “What is it about him that makes me feel this way?”
“He’s not exactly ugly and he has a well-toned body. Most women probably find him attractive.”
“I’ve seen men who are nice to look at before,” she pointed out.
“Maybe it’s because of his urge to protect you,” I suggested. “He’s probably the first guy whose instinct was to look out for you rather than just jumping your bones.”
“You won’t tell him how I feel, will you?” she pleaded.
“I won’t say a word,” I vowed. The last thing our newly formed team needed was for the two of them to become embroiled in a relationship. She needed to focus on learning how to use her talents rather than to be distracted by the butterflies that Harley gave her. Giving her a final pat on the knee, I headed back to the living room.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Rudy and Leroy were whispering together when I entered the living room. “So, the dryad is a virgin, huh?” the ghost said quietly when I joined them.
“Have you two no sense of privacy?” I admonished them, knowing now that they’d both listened to our conversation.
“Nope,” Rudy replied without a shred of remorse. “Don’t worry, lad. Neither of us is going to tell young Harley how Asha feels about him. We’re more discreet than that.”
“I don’t want you throwing this in her face the next time you get into one of your moods,” I said to Leroy. “In fact, I don’t want you to mention it at all.”
“My lips are zipped, bro,” he said, miming zipping his mouth shut. He didn’t realize it, but he was incapable of saying anything about the dryad’s virginal status now that I’d ordered him not to mention it.
Rudy gave me a knowing look, well aware of what I’d just done. He was smart enough not to point it out. “When is Pru going to start working on setting the magical traps?” he asked, changing the subject.
“As soon as she’s rested,” I replied. “The full moon is only two weeks away now. We need her to set our traps, then find the trolls’ lair and leave a trail with our scent back here.” It was going to be tricky to find a path that would avoid any properties. We didn’t want any innocent humans to get in their way and end up being slaughtered.
“Asha’s trees should be able to guide us to their lair,” Rudy said.
“From what she told us, they won’t want to,” I reminded him. “They know how dangerous the trolls are and they don’t want to put her in danger.”
“We’ll have to convince them to somehow,” Leroy said. “Use your fae charm on them or something.”
“It doesn’t work on trees,” I said dryly. Not to my knowledge at least. I was still learning about my abilities, so maybe it was possible after all.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Rudy said, waving his hand dismissively. “We know we’re going to find their lair. Pru saw it in her vision.”
“That talent is going to come in handy,” I mused. “Even vague hin
ts of what’s to come will be useful.” I occasionally caught glimpses of the future as well, but I had no control over when they happened.
During the next twelve days, Rudy and I assisted Pru to cast various traps in the backyard. Our battle with the trolls would be mostly hidden by the house if they fell for our lure. I’d hired someone to mow the grass before Pru had gotten started, hoping it would contain the fire if it went up in flames. Harley and I dug a wide trench to act as a firebreak to protect the house. It could be filled in once we were done. We dug more trenches to make sure the fire wouldn’t spread to the woods.
By the time Pru was done, we had dozens of traps that were attuned to go off if anyone stood on them. She’d arranged them around a large area that we would use as a safety zone. I’d marked it with white spray paint to use as a reference point.
“I’m glad I have the brooch and your energy to bolster me,” the witch said, sagging in tiredness as she surveyed the seemingly empty field. “I wouldn’t have managed all that without help.” She waved a hand at the spells she couldn’t see. These weren’t normal traps. They would become reset automatically after they were triggered. It had taken extra energy to cast them, but it would probably be worth it.
I was the only one who could make out the enchantments. They appeared as intricate blue lines in circular patterns on the ground. They spread out around the safe zone, ready to be sprung. She’d laid more than just fire traps. Others would spray acid, or would rip and tear their victims to shreds. It would only take the trolls a few minutes to heal. We were hoping that would give us enough time to chase them down if any fled so we could finish them off.
“The full moon isn’t far away now,” Rudy said worriedly, looking up at the sunny sky as if he could already see the silver disc riding high.
“Asha, we need you to persuade the trees to show us where the trolls’ lair is,” I told her.
