by Liz Schulte
Baker smiled. “I know people, doll, and word gets around.”
Holden stood up impatiently. “Enough talking, Baker. Here’s your chance. The Doublemint twins are going to the bathroom. It’s best if Selene goes to him alone.”
“Why are you helping us?” I asked, still feeling lost.
“Because Olivia wants me to.” His eyes were honest and clear enough that I believed him. I nodded to him, and Baker went toward the vampire.
I nervously smoothed my light pink and silver slinky dress that fell softly around me, clinging in just the right spots. “May I have a seat?” I asked, but I didn’t wait for an answer. I sat down, crossing my legs so he’d have a good view of my tanned flesh.
“Mmm, a half-elf. Exotic,” he said, his voice low with a faint British accent. “My name’s Corbin, and who might you be?”
“Selene,” I said, offering my hand. He kissed it, his lips lingering, and I felt a pull against me that made my breath catch. It was everything I could do to not run from the table.
He looked at me with a creepy smile. “Delicious,” he said.
I smiled back, praying it seemed sincere, and tried not to yank my hand back.
“So what can I do for you, loveliest Selene?” His black eyes were dazzling. “Quick, pet, before your boyfriend gets past the jinni.” A slight smile curved his sensual mouth, and I couldn’t keep from staring. With his white blond hair falling casually on his forehead and his sharp, angular cheekbones, he was quite handsome.
“I could use your help.”
“I’m listening.”
“Well, I really should be speaking with Paolo, but then I saw you …” I let my voice trail off, licking my lips slowly and twirling a strand of hair.
“Yes, we could come to an arrangement if I knew what you needed.” He leaned toward me.
“Well, you see, there are these people who are trying to kill me, and I could use some strong allies. And who’s stronger or more fear-inspiring than vampires?”
He leaned back in his chair, his black eyes studying me. “Your elf can’t manage?” His gaze flicked to Cheney, who I still hadn’t looked at, afraid my mask of flirtation would falter.
“There are too many of them.”
“And just who did you manage to vex, love?”
“Oh, you know, the rebels, the Erlking, people like that.”
His laughter was a sly, suggestive thing. “Oh, is that all?”
“If it were less, would I be seeking outside help?”
“Is the jinni helping you?”
“Sort of.”
He sat inhumanly still for a minute. “Paolo won’t be easy to convince. Your people have already tried.”
“My people?”
“Yes, the half-elves. The rebels. How do you think you’ll manage to convince him?”
“I can be very persuasive.” A slow, lazy smile spread over my face.
Again he laughed. “I think your boyfriend would have an easier time of it than you, love.”
I winked. “He is tempting, isn’t he?”
Corbin shrugged dismissively. “Too straight-laced for you. I tasted what’s inside.”
“And what’s that?”
“Freedom,” he said, leaning in again. “Would you like for me to help you set it free?” He reached toward my face. Something in me screamed yes, I did want that—but the stronger part of me said nothing. Before a finger could touch my skin, Cheney was there, slamming Corbin’s hand to the table.
“You will not touch her again,” he growled.
Corbin turned his hand and gripped Cheney’s arm. They stared each other down, malice in their eyes. This was going downhill quickly. Holden took a seat next to Corbin and stretched out his legs. Baker plunked down in a chair near me.
Corbin eyes darted in Holden’s direction. Holden’s smirk practically begged for Corbin to keep going and suffer the consequences. His entire being gave off the confidence that he could kill anyone in the bar before they could blink—and his eyes danced with the anticipation of violence. The air grew thin around us. This was definitely bad.
Corbin released Cheney’s arm, looking slightly paler than before—maybe having Holden on our side was a really good thing. Corbin sat back, holding his hands in the air. “I won’t touch her unless she wants me to,” he said and winked—but I noticed he still shot cautious glances at Holden.
Cheney stood behind me and I smiled at him reassuringly. He didn’t return it. “Corbin, this is my husband, Prince Cheney.”
“You sneaky wench,” he said with a smile. “So you’re the future king of the fae? Selene certainly didn’t tell me that when she said you couldn’t keep her safe.”
Cheney’s entire body stiffened, but he kept his voice calm. “I am—and you were misinformed. I do not need help protecting my wife. We need help to overthrow the king and defeat the rebels, nothing more.”
“That’s plenty, mate.”
“Stop whining, Corbin. In or out?” Baker said in an impatient tone that made the tension drain from the air. Holden did not even bother looking at Corbin. He seemed focused on the door.
Corbin looked me up and down with undisguised interest. “Sending her over was smart. Your idea?” he asked Baker.
“Holden’s,” Baker said.
Corbin sighed. “Yeah, I’m in, but I’m not the one you need to convince. Paolo will take a lot more than a pretty face. And certainly not her face.”
“Is Paolo coming in tonight?” Cheney asked.
“No,” Corbin said. “But I’ll arrange a meeting.”
Cheney nodded, holding out his hand. Corbin plopped a cell phone into his palm. “How about you, love? Do I get your number?”
I smiled. “Not a chance.”
“That’s a shame. Here I thought we had something—”
“You thought wrong,” Cheney snarled, shoving the phone back at him and standing up.
Corbin shrugged. “What? Was it something I said?”
Cheney took a couple of long steps, then turned and looked back at me with no expression on his face, anger still radiating from him.
“I could see you home, love,” Corbin said seeming to forget Holden, enjoying Cheney’s torment.
“Not on your life,” I said before I realized that might be in bad taste as he’d probably been dead for ages. I stood up. “I would shake your hand, but …”
“I understand.”
“It was nice meeting you, Corbin.”
“Until next time, Selene.”
Holden and Baker stood up, too, heading back for Holden’s usual table. I stuck out my hand to Holden. “Thank you for your help, Holden. Tell Olivia hi for me. I’m sorry I missed her.”
He shook my hand in a crushing, cool grip. “She’ll be sorry to have missed you, too. Olivia likes you, and that’s a compliment.”
“I like her, too. We’ll have to get together sometime after all of this craziness.”
Holden released my hand. “I’m not getting involved, but talk to Sy about Paolo.”
Cheney waited, his face still giving nothing away. He held the door open for me, and we made it half up the stairs when he grabbed my arm and pinned me between the wall and his body. I could see him struggling with wanting to touch me and wanting to stay angry. I had no fear. Cheney would never hurt me. Though he held my arm firmly, there was no pain. He was always careful with me.
“You said we needed their help,” I told him, knowing exactly what he was upset about.
“So you told him I couldn’t protect you?” he growled into my ear, his eyes wild and breath hot.
“No. I said we needed a strong ally like them and that there were too many for us to handle alone. All true.” I ran my fingers softly down his cheek in direct counter to his firm grasp on my other arm. “He was trying to upset you.”
“It worked.” His grip finally loosened, and I wrapped my arm around his waist, pressing myself against him.
“You have nothing to worry about.” I kissed his n
eck. His mouth found mine, possessing it fully.
“Never let a vampire touch you,” he muttered a few minutes later. “Not even a hand shake.”
“Why?”
“It’s how they feed, by touch.”
“So they can’t touch anyone without feeding?”
“Not necessarily. They feed by choice, but all they need is skin-to-skin contact.”
“What do they take?”
“Life force.” I wondered if that was the strange feeling when Corbin shook my hand. He had said “delicious.” I suddenly felt violated. I wanted to go back and slap him. The nerve.
“That asshole.”
Cheney laughed, kissing me again. “Let’s check on your friends.”
I expected to find the girls huddled into a booth, staring at the creatures around them. What we actually found could only be described as an interspecies dance off. The once segregated room was now a melting pot of roaring laughter and crazy dance moves.
“Are they playing Baby Got Back?” I asked, watching Devin shake her ass on the floor surrounded by a circle of various Abyss creatures.
“You friends are … popular.” A smirk ticked on Cheney’s face.
“Where the hell is Sebastian?” I scanned the audience but couldn’t find him anywhere.
“Probably hiding.” Cheney laughed. “I guarantee you he didn’t expect this when he said he would come with them.”
“Serves him right for siding against me.”
“Should we try to get them to leave?”
“No, let them have fun. If they play Sweet Transvestite, we’ll know Devin has somehow hijacked the sound booth.”
“Do you want to join them?” he asked, tilting his head in their direction.
“Not really, do you?”
Cheney took my hand. “Let’s find Sebastian.”
We wove our way through the hordes of people. Cheney spotted Sebastian sitting at a booth alone, surrounded by purses and half empty drinks, looking bored.
He visibly lifted when he saw us approaching. “They took over,” he said with a sheepish expression. “I couldn’t stop them.”
I laughed. Sebastian was so out of his depth. “They aren’t soldiers. They’re grown women who are used to doing whatever they want. I’d say you’ve done a wonderful job babysitting them.”
“Selene!” Devin was suddenly at my side, pulling my arm. “You’re back just in time. Carl is going to let us do karaoke. Come on … Shoop.”
“Oh … I don’t … No, no, not a good idea.” I was not about to rap in front of Cheney, not for anything. “Who is Carl?”
“The DJ!” Of course. Why didn’t I know that? Silly me. “You have to. Don’t be lame.”
Cheney grinned. “Don’t look at me. It’s completely up to you.”
“Fine, let’s do this.”
I followed her into the crowd. It didn’t take long to get used to all the different types of people once I was among them and not just looking in from the outside. Moments later a microphone was shoved into my hand, and Devin and I did our best Salt-N-Pepa impersonation.
I wasn’t sure if the Abyss listened to much human music, but tonight they seemed to be enjoying themselves.
The next morning was a lot less happy. Everyone who wasn’t an elf had a hangover and the lazy attitude that came with it. I felt considerably better than the others.
“You don’t handle alcohol as well as we always thought,” Jessica accused me. “It’s the elf in you. That’s so not fair.”
I laughed. “Maybe—now I’m going for a run. Who’s with me?” I heard groans and mumbles in return. “If Cheney asks, that’s where I am,” I said, closing the door behind me.
I walked for a couple minutes, letting my body warm up, then took off at a slow pace. Soon though, I was enjoying the wind in my hair and the emotional release. Something stirred inside me, that feeling that I wanted to run as fast as I could with my arms spread wide, yelling as loud as I could—the feeling that I wanted to escape. It was the same part of me that wanted the vampire to touch me, to free me from the cage.
“You really shouldn’t be out here alone.”
I shrugged, warming at the timbre of Cheney’s voice. No one had ever affected me the way he did. This man had some sort of hold over both sides of me. “No one else wanted to come.”
He kissed my cheek. “You were thinking something.”
“Who, me? What could I possibly have to think about?”
“You’re not having second thoughts about our plan, are you?” His voice was light, but there was a trace of something heavier beneath it.
“No.” He didn’t really need to know about the strange urges to run away. Some things were better kept to myself. I wrapped my arm around his waist. “Has Gram come out of her room yet?”
“Briefly, but it didn’t last long.”
Gram and I had never really fought. I always did what she told me to do. I had a feeling the power struggle had just begun. “I don’t know if this is going to work.”
”She loves you. I know Edith didn’t make your life easy, but she’ll come around.” He tightened his arms around me.
“But do we have time to deal with her right now? Maybe you should just take her home.”
“Talk to her again. Calmly.”
“Right, because you did so well with that.”
Cheney’s phone rang, interrupting his excuse. “It’s Corbin, I should take this.”
I shrugged.
“Yeah,” Cheney answered. “That will work, where?—Yeah, I’ll be there.” He listened for a moment longer before hanging up with an irritated look on his face.
“Paolo agreed to meet with me, but Corbin requested you,” Cheney said, watching my reaction.
“When?”
“In a week. I want to settle things with my father before we meet with him. We don’t need them for that, and if I fail the meeting will be pointless.” He frowned. “I don’t like that they want you there. You’re not part of this bargain.”
The thought of Corbin requesting that I was included gave me chills. Never in my life had I felt like so many people other than myself had control over my existence. “Obviously, but we’re a pair. If you want them to help us, you can’t hide me from them. Especially when they already know I exist. You have to trust them.”
“That’s the problem,” he griped. “You had to flirt with the vampire?”
“I got him to help us, didn’t I?”
“Did you even consider the cost?”
I shrugged. “So what if the vampire likes me? I don’t see the big deal.”
“You don’t have enough people after you? You just had to add one more?” Cheney took a deep breath. “I just want to be a step in your decision making.”
I wanted to argue, but he had a point. I didn’t believe the flirting bothered him as much as it reminded him of my former self. “You will be … You are. But I’m coming with you.”
“You can come, but you have to stay with me the entire time and try not to draw attention to yourself.”
“I want to see Sy tonight.”
“And I take it you want to go alone?”
I shrugged. I didn’t really care. Cheney looked thoughtful. “He’ll be more likely to help if I’m not there.”
We strolled back to the house. It was hard not to bring up the subjects that weighed most heavily on my mind, but I felt for both of our sakes we needed a calm before the storm. The girls were still lounging around the house and Grandma was milling about the kitchen when we came back. I made a beeline for the living room, but Cheney caught my arm and gave a meaningful nod towards Gram. I went into the kitchen with a long-suffering look, and he went to the living room. Traitor.
“Good morning,” I said as I walked to the refrigerator.
“Selene.” Icicles were warmer than my grandmother.
I opened a bottle of water and leaned against the counter. “Did you sleep well?”
“Fair.” The air was heavy in the r
oom. It felt like she was waiting for an apology, but I stayed silent. I was right, damn it.
When I couldn’t take the silence anymore I said, “I’m going out this evening. If you need anything, Sebastian or one of the girls can help you.” I began to walk out of the room.
“Selene,” Grandma said, stopping me. I kept my back to her. She sighed. “I need to work with your coven as soon as possible.”
“I’ll make sure they’re ready. We can meet in the living room in an hour.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.” I went into the living room annoyed that some things never change—my grandmother being a prime example. She could not admit she was wrong or, at the very least, hurtful to me. If she would just acknowledge it or admit I was not the evil monster she always made me feel like I was, we’d have a much different relationship. I couldn’t understand what she found so offensive about me. It wasn’t the elf part—she liked Cheney. It wasn’t the witch part—she was one. Maybe it was the combination or maybe she resented raising me. Whatever it was, we’d have to hash it out someday, but that day wasn’t going to be today.
Cheney looked up from his phone as I came into the room. I shook my head and he frowned. The girls were talking about the night before and starting to show signs of life.
“Edith wants to meet with us in an hour,” I told them, sitting down on the floor with my back against Cheney’s legs, needing the sense of relief I felt whenever we touched.
“Would you like the chair?” he asked, stroking my hair.
“No, I like the floor.”
“Selene can’t sit still. She likes to stretch,” Devin told him with a smile.
“What does she want to meet with us about?” Jessica asked.
I shrugged. It was probably to tell all of my friends that I was evil and they should avoid me. If she’d say that to my husband, she couldn’t possibly have any qualms about trying to drive everyone out of my life.
“Hopefully it doesn’t involve movement,” Katrina groaned, her face smashed against the throw pillow. “I think I left my liver in the club last night.”
“There should be a spell to get rid of a hangover,” Jessica said miserably. “We could make a fortune.”
“I bet we could write one,” Devin said thoughtfully. “Do you think your grandma would help us with that?”
