by Meg Xuemei X
Rydstrom ignored me. He only had eyes for the Fae female, yet a dark storm wheeled in his eyes.
“Get the fuck out,” he told her, and bluish light blasted out of him like the power of a cold star.
I raised my crossed arms to shield my face, though I knew it’d be in vain.
The starlight bypassed me and crashed into the Fae female, ripped her apart, and reduced her to dust.
“What?” I shrieked, my eyes going round. “What the bloody hell? You killed her! You can’t just kill people like that!”
“She annoyed me,” he said simply.
Once again, it dawned on me that I’d come to a world that played by completely different rules than the human world. But murdering people in cold blood like that…
“You can’t just kill whoever annoys you,” I yelled. “Are you all psychopaths?”
Should I now worry for my own life? I pulled the dagger out of my boot. At least I still had it. Neither the bouncer nor the guards had frisked me before they let me slide into their boss’s office.
But I doubted my dagger would fend off this Fae psycho. If I was smart, I would grab my clothes, flee right now, and never come back. On my way home, I’d call the cops to report a crime and give away the location of the Claws, Fangs, and Fiends.
I couldn’t believe that I’d nearly stripped bare for him! And residual lust still coursed in my bloodstream.
Just as I was about to escape the monster’s lair, no longer caring that I wore only my bra and underwear, a golden light filled the room, and the same Fae female materialized.
My mouth dropped open.
“The girl has more sense than you, King Rydstrom,” she scolded. “You can’t just kill anyone who annoys you. The girl who entertains you obviously doesn’t know anything about us.”
Us? So Rydstrom had tried to kill his ex-girlfriend? What kind of male was he?!
“What the hell?” I gaped at the two Fae.
“A cheap trick of astral projection,” Rydstrom said, his face dark and cold. “It won’t help your queen’s case by sending you to spy on me, Adele.”
He rose from behind his desk, his menace charging the room, his voice a snarl.
“Get out,” he ordered.
“Cool your tits,” I said and picked up my pants. I couldn’t wait to get out of here. “I gotta put my clothes back on first. Jesus.”
“Not you, Evelina. You stay,” he said. “I was telling her to get the fuck out of my realm.”
“This isn’t your realm, King Rydstrom,” Adele said. “If it were, even my projection couldn’t enter your domain. But I did not come on behalf of Queen Brigantia. I came for Evelina.”
I froze when she glanced my way. Why did she come for me?
“The Dawn Queen will be here in her glamoured self in three minutes,” Adele continued, speaking to Rydstrom again. “Never show Evelina in front of Brigantia. I don’t have more time to elaborate. I think you recognize now what the girl means to you. If you want her alive, do as I say.”
She vanished in a weaving light.
What queen? My head was going to explode over all these crazy “royals.”
“This is nuts,” I said, buttoning my pants. “What is wrong with people? I’m just an ordinary girl.”
And then Rydstrom was beside me, and I hadn’t even seen him move. Before I could react, he yanked my tank top down my head. I adjusted the shirt and opened my mouth, intending to tell him exactly what I thought of all this. But his scent and the touch of his hands on my bare shoulders muddled my mind, and I leaned toward him involuntarily.
Then he clapped his hands, the sound loud in my ears.
A guard pushed the door and slid in like a silent shadow.
“Take Lady Evelina to leave through the back door,” Rydstrom said.
The giant guard grabbed my arm and started pulling me away.
This was doubly humiliating. And I truly had had enough. I struggled against his hold and shouted at Rydstrom. “I’m not a backdoor girl! I have nothing to hide, and I’ve done nothing wrong!”
“Make sure she gets in her car safely,” Rydstrom added, ominous light flashing in his eyes. “And Evelina, you’ll start working here first thing tomorrow. Don’t be late, or it’s going to be deducted from your paycheck.”
“You mean I’m really hired?” I asked as the very strong guard dragged me toward the hidden back door that hadn’t been there before.
Surprise, anger, and a little fear swirled inside me. I’d gotten the job. I’d be able to support my siblings now. I should be elated.
So why did I feel like I was dancing toward my grave?
Chapter 12
I changed to a pair of spare pants in the SUV and went straight to school to pick up my siblings.
While they all shouted in the van, making my head spin, I kept replaying today’s events—from encountering a Nightling to stripteasing for a Fae mob boss. Oh, they called him king as well.
That meant I had three kings and one queen on my hands.
I’d pinched myself a few times to make sure I hadn’t fallen into the rabbit hole. I wished the whole thing was a bad dream, right from the moment when my parents had vanished.
What had I gotten myself into this time? Even the bad guys, who preyed on college girls with date-rape drugs at the frat parties, weren’t on par with these Fae “kings.” After I’d felt the power from all of them, I was certain they would consider rapists as nothing more than prey.
How could I survive in the Fae world when everyone but me was a predator?
And then there was this astral projection of an oddly dressed Fae female claiming the queen wanted to hurt me. I had never known these people in my life before this day. Had the queen sent the Nightling to go after my family?
This so-called queen would be sorry if she’d had a hand in that.
Adele also said that Rydstrom now recognized what I meant to him. I hoped he didn’t believe I was his fated mate as well.
How could I be a fated mate to all three Fae dudes? I snorted. What a mess.
They were all going to be disappointed when they finally realized that they’d come for the wrong girl.
My head pounded from the little brats still shouting in the closed space of the van. I finally shouted back, “Shut up and let me think for a second!”
“The bitch’s back,” Safiya murmured.
“Right, and you don’t need to hitch a ride on this bitch’s car next time,” I said.
“It’s Dad’s van, and Mom won’t allow you to treat me like this!” she yelled back.
Pain hit me again. “Try me,” I said, my heart going softer but my voice only turned harsher. “Keep staying on my bad side and you’ll get what you ask for.”
“Uh, Evie, you haven’t answered our questions,” Emmett said. “The twins especially wanted to know what’s for dinner tonight.”
“Uh?” I said. “Oh, the usual, meatball tomato spaghetti, with egg salad, pickles, and mozzarella cheese on the side.”
That was almost the only thing I knew how to cook. I learned it through YouTube on an All-in-one spaghetti recipe.
“No!” my siblings shouted in sync.
“All right then,” I grated. “You’ll get steamed broccoli too.”
“We hate broccoli,” they said.
Ungrateful brats. Didn’t they know how hard it was for me to get my ass to the kitchen? I hated cooking. And I was sorry that for a week, my cooking skills hadn’t improved.
“Can we have pizza tonight, Evie?” Asuka said quietly.
The twins and I barely exchanged words. Usually, they didn’t talk to anyone else but each other. And that puppy-dog look on his face got me. Even though I was the villain of the family in my siblings’ eyes, I could never kick a puppy.
“Fine, we’ll order three boxes of pizza,” I said with a sigh, caving in. I was sick of pasta, too.
“All large size?” Emmett asked from the passenger seat.
I sighed. “Fine. We do have six big mouths plus
mine.”
“I’ll order the pizza,” Cassidy volunteered.
“Absolutely not,” I said. “If it’s up to you, all three pizzas will be piled with sausages, bacon, and pepperoni. We need vegetables, too, and I like pineapple. So here’s how it goes. The twins get to decide one pizza, Safiya and Cassidy can pick theirs together, Emmett, Fawn, and I will have Hawaiian pineapple, and Fawn can take any piece she wants from any pizza box. Emmett will place the order when you sent your final request to him.”
I was a genius. Now I pitted the two troublemakers—Cassidy and Safiya—against each other. A smirk tugged the corner of my lips when Cassidy and Safiya started to argue.
As I cruised down the lane toward my house, I spotted a couple of Baron’s minions hiding in the trees. After another block, Rowan’s Fae thugs also appeared. They seemed to patrol the area. It was annoying, but as long as they didn’t trespass on my property and get into my face, I’d pretend they didn’t exist.
My siblings were oblivious to the presence of the Fae.
At the end of the alley, I pulled the van into our driveway, killed the engine, and hopped out of the vehicle first, so I could watch all my siblings get into the house safely.
My fingers twitched at my sides as I alternately watched the kids and scanned the perimeter. I hoped I didn’t need to pull out the dagger from my boot and toss it at anyone in front of my family. To my relief, they all filed into the house as fast as their little feet could carry them, eager to order the pizza.
Fawn, my youngest sister, lingered by the door and gazed beyond the trees.
“Go in, angel,” I urged her.
“Those men here aren’t a threat to us,” she said, her big, gray eyes turning glassy for a second. “But you’ll need to prepare for tomorrow’s attack. They’ll all be gunning for you now, Evelina Greene. A mage, a wolf, and a bear walk into a bar.”
A chill climbed up my spine. What did that mean? And how could she know those things?
Fawn blinked, her eyes resuming to normal. She beamed at me as if she didn’t recall her ominous prediction. “Are you coming, Evie?”
“In a minute,” I said, watching her go inside with an uneasy feeling knotted in my stomach.
I surveyed the surroundings, pushing my senses as far as they could reach. Fae milled around. They didn’t bother to hide from me. I tried pushing my senses further, searching for the familiar energy signature of Baron and Rowan, but I didn’t find them.
Feeling somehow disappointed, I pulled my senses back. Then I remote locked the van and strolled into the house.
My siblings sat around the kitchen table. Emmett was writing down what every team wanted. Cassidy and Safiya still glared at each other, though they seemed to have reached a compromise at the twins’ urging.
I went upstairs for a nap while Emmett took care of the orders. I slipped under the covers and relaxed, falling asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
A woman of stunning beauty with pointed ears and an intricate jeweled crown glared at me. She pointed a long, sharp fingernail, and three mighty kings—Baron, Rowan, and Rydstrom—wrapped me in chains and hauled me upon an iron cross.
I struggled against the heavy chains and screamed as the first nail pierced my palm. “You cunt!” I cursed at the black-hearted queen. “This dark, twisted version of Alice in the Wonderland is poorly written. Rewrite!”
This was too bizarre to be anything but a bad dream. That was why I shouted for a rewrite. I wasn’t going to let those fucking fairies take me as their tithe. No one sacrifices me to their ancient gods, even in a dream.
The second nail drove through my other palm, and I screamed again. Writhing in pain, I blasted the traitorous kings with curses that would make a sailor’s ears bleed.
“Silence, abomination,” the queen shrieked at me. “I hated you the second you were born. Now drive the long iron nail into her heart, Rydstrom, and fulfill your promise to me—your one true love!”
I trained my fiery, disdained gaze on the hesitant nightclub boss, his face torn in agony. Baron and Rowan watched in silent horror. I fumed, shadow fire twirling around me and hissing. “I dare you, Rydstrom.”
“I’m very sorry, Evie,” he whispered and rammed a nail into my chest. Agony exploded in me. That bastard was a poor aim. His iron nail missed my heart by half an inch.
While pathetic tears flowed from his sapphire eyes, the queen laughed.
I gasped for breath and fluttered open my eyes as someone banged on the door.
I wiped beads of sweat from my forehead with the back of my icy hand.
Marvelous. Just marvelous.
I got so tangled with the three Fae that now they were haunting my dreams.
Could that dream be a warning? To show me that the Fae would break my heart if I ever fell for them? I wrinkled my nose. Like that would happen! I might lust after them, but falling for the monsters? Hell no.
The urgent knocks continued.
“What now?” I shouted, throwing the thin cover off my legs.
“We’ve got a situation, Evie,” Emmett said outside the door.
“The pizza guy refused to deliver?” I stood, muttering darkly. Was it too much to ask for one thing to go right today?
“No, someone set a roadblock outside our fence, and the pizza guy can’t get through. Should we call the cops?”
I pulled my drapes and peeked outside.
It seemed a Summer knight was interrogating our pizza guy.
WTF?
I wouldn’t let them harass anyone who brought us food. I grabbed the Legend Heavy, yanked open the door, and flew downstairs with Emmett on my heels.
The rest of my siblings looked out through the window, afraid and animated.
“The guy looks scary,” one of the twins told me, then darted a glance at the rifle in my hand nervously. “Are you going to shoot him?”
An idea came over me. Baron had said that my siblings and I were different.
“How many dudes do you see?” I asked.
“Just one. Maybe two,” the other twin said. “Yep, two.”
“Describe them,” I said.
“They’re both really big, over six feet tall,” Emmett said. “Dark, short hair, and dark skin. They all wear an old T-shirt and jeans that are last season.”
“What do their ears look like?”
“Like ours,” Safiya chimed in. “They’re so handsome, though not as handsome as the first two guys, and you won’t allow us to talk to them. But you talked to them.”
My heart skipped a beat.
My siblings and I saw different things. They didn’t see the abnormality of the Fae—fangs, pointed ears, and maybe more otherworldly traits.
What they described had been my first impression of the Fae, but I could see through their magical disguises when I looked closer.
Why was I the only one who could see the truth of the creatures from the other world? Unconsciously, I pulled my hair away from my left ear and groped it. It was round at the very top. When I stared at my reflection in the window glass, I blew out a breath of relief. My ear was round and normal.
I wasn’t one of them. I was one hundred percent human. Just like my siblings. I was my parents’ daughter through and through.
I shook my hair down.
“You all stay here,” I ordered. “I’ll handle the gorillas.”
I pulled open the front door and stormed outside.
“What the hell is going on?” I said, heading toward the knight—actually two knights, one Winter and one Summer, judging from their dress code. They were still questioning the pizza guy.
A second later, my siblings also charged out, emboldened by the gun I carried, and none of them wanted anyone to take away their pizza. I yelled for them to return to the house. They didn’t obey right away, but they halted their march.
The pizza guy gave me a look, his eyes going white and wide, then he shoved the layers of pizza boxes into a Winter knight’s hand and fled toward his car.
What? He was afraid of me instead of the knights?
Well, I might look a bit wild since I felt some electricity in the air pulling the ends of my hair in all directions, but I was nowhere near as scary as the Fae.
“Wait,” I called. “You forgot your tips.”
“Keep it!” he shouted back and opened his car door.
Damn it. Without tips, he wouldn’t deliver any pizza to us next time.
I bolted after him, and when I reached the other side of his car door in a blink, I was a bit surprised by my speed once again. He turned on the key in the ignition as if his life depended on it and glanced at the rifle in my hand, his face paling.
“I want no trouble, ma’am,” he pleaded and raised one hand in surrender. His other hand secretly shifted the gear. “Please don’t shoot me. Please let me go.”
“Roll down the window and let me give you the tips,” I ordered.
His worried look turned to determination, then he footed the gas. The car shot forward like an arrow. I gave a chase, pounding the rear window with the butt of my rifle while yelling. “The rifle isn’t meant for you. Damn you, I must give you the fucking tips!”
The car fled, turned at the corner of the alley, tires screeching, and was out of view.
I had a bad feeling that he wouldn’t come back. He’d talk to the other pizza places and there’d be no more supplies of pizza for my siblings.
Anger rising in me in waves, I stalked over to the Fae and yanked the three boxes of pizza from his hands while he was still sniffing at my pizza.
He frowned at me. “You’ll eat things like that?”
“Who are you to judge?” I glared at him and handed the boxes of pizza to Cassidy and Emmett. “Didn’t I tell you to wait in the house?” I asked, giving all my siblings a stern, warning look. “Now get back inside. Leave two slices for me. And don’t pick off the pineapples from my slices.”
“Yes, Commander,” Cassidy said respectfully and marched back to the house, holding a box of pizza with both of his hands.
Emmett gave me a concerned look. I nodded to let him know I was fine, and he shooed my other siblings into the house.
“What did you tell the pizza guy to make him run from me as if I were a fiend?” I asked the Winter knight.
