by WB McKay
"Still always curious about The Morrigan, aren't you?"
"When you owe her a favor? Definitely."
"She knows I have the Fleece," I said, before thinking better of it. "I don't know if I should be telling you all these things that are going to make you worry right now."
"Don't you dare start keeping secrets from me now," he said. "A dishonest Sophie." He shuddered. "Who would you be?"
"You don't think that strong people carry the burden of truth for others?"
"I'm sure some of them do," he said. "But you're plenty strong, and you do a good job of telling the truth to those who are following you while still making us believe things will be okay. You inspire hope in the hopeless with the way you spread your truths."
"Well," I wiggled my shoulders, feeling my ego expanding, "I enjoy your high esteem." I smiled at the ceiling. "Sophie Morrigan, inspiring hope in the hopeless." I giggled. "Sophie Morrigan, bravely telling you to fuck off."
He laughed.
"This could go on for a while," I warned.
"That's fine with me." He stroked my side. "I missed you."
I leaned up and kissed him. It went on for a while.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
I walked into my house, more relieved than I'd ever been when one of Phoebe's pranks didn't explode in my face. It was the first time I'd been home since packing up to go to Faerie. I dropped my bag from my shoulder and leaned back on the closed door.
"Didn't expect to see you here so soon," said Phoebe.
"Is that why you didn't have a prank prepared for me?"
"I have a life outside of taking care of you, you know."
I just blinked at her. "You don't mean going on the trip to Faerie," I clarified. "You mean attacking me when I come in the front door of my home?"
"And other stuff."
"Right. Pranks. Taking care of me. You know, I think I'm too worn out from everything lately to even attempt to make sense of that."
"It's probably what's best for you."
I pushed myself up off the door and pulled my swords free. My friends needed a good cleaning, but not as much as they probably should have. I'd relied heavily on magic during my journey. I almost felt guilty when I looked at them.
"What are you doing here?" asked Phoebe.
"Fresh clothes. Making sure you haven't burned the place down."
Phoebe gasped and jerked away from me. "That's not funny," she said. "Never joke about fire where my tree can hear you!"
Don't laugh. "I apologize."
"You should." She huffed and followed me into my bedroom. This wasn't unexpected. Even after all the time we'd spent together in Faerie, she was always right next to me when she was curious what I was up to. "When are we doing the girl's night out?"
"Uh, I don't know." I'd already forgotten. "We'll have to ask Ava about her schedule."
"I'll email her."
"You have her email?" I asked, and then, "Ava has email?"
"A friend should know a friend's email address, Sophie."
I pulled fresh clothes out of my drawers and closed them a little too harshly. One of the books Owen had loaned me went tumbling off the top of the dresser.
"What's your problem?" she asked.
I plopped down on my bed and rubbed my forehead. "I don't know," I said. "I haven't had time to decompress, you know? The adrenaline of it all is over and I just… I'm left with all these thoughts and things still aren't resolved and I…" I jumped off the bed and grabbed my hairbrush. I threw the crown across the room, and wisely, the thing stayed where I put it while I tugged at the tangles.
"What is it?"
I sifted through my emotions. Finally, it came to me. "I'm pissed off at myself."
She settled on the bed and crossed her legs, ready for me to really pour my soul out, I guess. She tucked her fist under her chin and asked, "Why exactly?"
"I'm still dealing with Erik Bresnan and his minions. And this time they took Owen. If I had been more focused and taken him out right after I got the Fleece, he wouldn't have been able to do this. I thought that if I had the Fleece, I don't know, that he would give up? That sounds ridiculous, even to me. I don't know what I thought, but I wasn't thinking about him as a threat like I should have been. If I had, Owen wouldn't be dealing with all this shit right now."
"Were you even listening to yourself when you said all that stuff to Owen about hope and not dwelling on regret and negative things? Don't mope. Do something about your problems." Phoebe heaved a put-upon sigh. "This is such typical Sophie behavior. You're convincing yourself this is your fault so that it means you have control. If you can find a way to blame yourself for everything, you have control over the whole world. That's bullshit. Put the blame where it belongs."
"On Erik Bresnan," I clarified.
"Yes!" she said, exasperated. "Cut the bastard's head off. You'll feel better."
I smiled despite her gruesome proclamation. Even if I wasn't going to go out and cut off Bresnan's head right this instant, I did need to get out of the house and do something physical so I could stop thinking so much. "I appreciate the kick in the pants, Phoebe."
"That's what I'm here for," she replied. The mischief in her voice meant I would definitely have a practical joke waiting for me when I stopped by the apartment next. "Ask me for advice any time." I blinked, and she was gone. I guess she was no longer curious, she thought she had me all sorted out. That made one of us.
Ugh. Just the tone of my thoughts was enough to make me pull my hair out. I needed to get out of my head and punch someone in theirs instead. "FAB, here I come."
Ten short minutes later, I was walking into the MOD offices. The crown on my head garnered some stares, but everybody left me alone. I'd made it to the front door of the apartment before I felt it return to my head.
"I heard there are a thousand crows covering his house," said one of the women who sat at a cubicle near my office. She'd been there for a couple of years and I still had no idea what her job was. Her name might have been Maggie. "Pooping all over everything. Nothing scares them away for more than a few seconds."
The other woman leaned over and stage whispered, "I heard that at the last council meeting, there was bird poop on that crown of leaves he wears and nobody told him."
They both dissolved into a fit of giggles at that point, so I went into my office and burst out laughing. Erik Bresnan wore a crown of leaves. And a murder of crows bothering him? That had The Morrigan's name written all over it. He'd probably blame me for it, and it probably was partially my fault for drawing The Morrigan's attention, but I didn't care. He deserved much worse, and this? Well, this was hilarious. I hoped it threw him off his game.
Once I collected myself, I dug through my office for a good set of magic blocking cuffs. I found them and sat down at my computer. I sifted through my files until I found the flip-flop bandit's warrant and printed off a fresh copy. Thankfully, nobody else had collected him yet. It's not like he was high priority. The odds that the humans would connect the loss of their valuables to the flip-flops was low, and if they did, humans had a way of writing all sorts of magical things off. I mean, how they can "lose" a dozen socks in the dryer and not realize they are infested with gremlins is beyond me.
Fresh warrant and cuffs in my saddlebag, I pointed Bliss, my motorcycle, toward the seedy section of town. After a quick trip down the alley beside a strip club and through a portal, I was driving my bike down a winding road on the Caribbean island of Barbados.
The hot afternoon sun blasted me in the face. I'd need to make this one quick or my pale skin would be burnt to a crisp. The latest lead placed my culprit in a sea cave on the west side of the island. I swear, I spent more time in caves than I did above ground. If humans knew how many fae criminals hid out in them, they wouldn't be so keen to go spelunking.
I pulled Bliss into a public parking lot, got out my warrant, tucked the cuffs into the back pocket of my shorts, and hiked down to the beach.
I re
ad the name on the warrant and called out "Thad!" as I walked into the cave. The information I had said he didn't have any offensive magic himself, and that he was of small stature, so not a real physical threat. I wasn't in the mood to try and half-truth my way through this one, so I bawled out his name like a clueless human. "Thad! I need to see you!" Which was entirely true. I needed to see him so I could arrest him and get paid. Rescuing her boyfriend did a lot of things for a girl, but pay the rent wasn't one of them.
The cave continued deep into the rock on a steady decline while the ceiling stayed at the same height, producing a cathedral ceiling effect. It was dimly lit by a few small holes that punched through to the surface. There was a still pool a couple dozen yards in front of me, at what appeared to be the end of the cave. I knew that was deceptive though. The cave could continue for miles under that pool of water. I had no idea if my perp was a water fae. The FAB files listed his race as unknown. If I didn't find him, I'd probably have to get Art and have him search the water for me. Ugh. I hated having to call in backup for someone that sounded so mundane.
My worry about needing backup ended when a scrawny form composed almost entirely of gangly limbs and biting teeth dropped on my back from above. The overpowering smell of saltwater and seaweed washed over me. Either he was a sea fae and that was his magic, or he was in desperate need of a bath.
We tumbled to the ground with his teeth latched onto the back of my neck. They were sharp and drew blood. "Asshole!" I shouted, tossing my head back to knock into his.
It hurt like hell, but I was rewarded with a shout and the teeth left my neck. I grabbed the creature's arm and pulled while leaning forward, dropping it onto its back.
It was definitely a him. He was very naked and very scaly. Ew. "Are you Thad Warren?"
The fins on the side of his head flexed in and out, making a wheezing sound. He pressed his free hand to his forehead. "Yes," he said, sounding winded. "What of it?"
I looked him over and finally got it. He was a little tubby around the middle, but his chest wasn't rising and falling. He was breathing through the sides of his head, and breathing hard.
"You could use a good workout, buddy." I pulled out the warrant with my free hand and tightened my grip on his wrist. "You'll have plenty of time to do that in FAB lockup."
As expected, he tried to pull away from me. When that wasn't working, he snatched the warrant out of my hand and tried to eat it.
"Oh, real mature," I said through a laugh. "If you tear it up, it doesn't exist? It's on file at FAB. Nice try, though." I pulled my cuffs from my back pocket and slapped one around his wrist while he continued to gnaw on the warrant and made no progress. FAB used special paper that made them almost impervious. This sort of thing happened a lot. "You're under arrest for risking exposure to humans."
"Don't--don't you want to hear what happened?" mewled Thad through his thin fishy lips.
He'd given up on eating the warrant and spit it out. I left it on the ground when I jerked him to his feet. "Doesn't matter. I've got the warrant. You'll have to plead your case at FAB. If you come quietly I'll make sure it goes in the report that you were cooperative." I pulled his arms behind his back and clicked the other cuff into place around his wrist.
As usual, he didn't go quietly. I had to practically drag his ass out of the cave. FAB wouldn't send a retrieval team to anywhere other than a main road. It took me almost two more hours of dodging kicks and bites to haul him up the path to Bliss. Thankfully, there was a light pole nearby I could cuff him to.
"You're going to regret this, FAB scum," said Thad.
"I highly doubt that," I replied. "I'm working on a new life philosophy. Regrets are bullshit. Total waste of time and energy. I'm taking the energy I'd used to make myself feel like crap, and I'm being awesome instead. I just have to clean up one last mistake, and I'll be good."
I tried to imagine how amazing it would be to finally rid the world of Erik Bresnan, and a smile spread across my face. That would be the most epic of cheeseburger victory celebrations. Maybe I'd hold a barbecue and hire a burger chef to cater it. My stomach growled just then, as if urging me to get on it.
"Well, this is that mistake, Agent!" spat Thad.
"Oh, shut up," I pleaded, and to my complete surprise, he did. When I turned to look at him, I immediately realized what had happened. The Fleece had made him shut up. Or I had made him shut up? We had? I didn't know how to think of the Fleece. Either way, Thad wasn't able to talk.
It was nice, but it definitely gave me more to think about.
Eventually, a car came to pick him up, and with that, I'd finally finished off the flip-flop case. It wasn't anything all that remarkable, but I used to celebrate this kind of thing. Eat a cheeseburger. Go for a ride on Bliss. Remind myself that I was working a job I loved and living an awesome life. But the thing was, I had those celebrations because I had resolved an issue, and there was still a much bigger issue weighing on me.
"All right, all right," I said out loud to no one but me and the Fleece. "I'm on it."
It wasn't an hour later that I was idling outside of the building where the fae council met.
There were a lot of arguments that could be made for why what I was about to do was foolish. They were good arguments. Legitimate points. Valid and thoughtful and ideological. If the world were a perfect place, I might have listened to them. But I lived in this world, the one where some bastard kidnapped Owen because I took a toy that wasn't even his. Yeah. I had some rage in me. I tucked that down and away. If I was going to do this the way I wanted to, I needed to keep that rage held in tight.
I pivoted and climbed off Bliss. "Here I go." And there I went.
The tall doors flung open dramatically before me. Another day, I might have paused to enjoy how perfect that was, especially when the entire fae council jumped in their seats and turned to stare.
Mr. Supervillain himself looked right at me and his jaw dropped open. He hovered like a black cloud at Lana Kinney's side, his gray eyes always shifting around. The crown of golden leaves should have looked similar to the Fleece as I wore it, but instead it looked lackluster to me now.
Lana Kinney didn't appear as shocked to see me, she looked more pleased than anything as she leaned back in her seat with that smile on her face. I didn't take the time to wonder about that.
I walked the aisle lined with empty chairs. The public was invited to attend many of their meetings, but this had been a private one. I stopped at the end of the aisle with my hands on my hips. I wore my new half-shifted form, both because it was more dramatic, and because it made me feel more powerful. I reasoned that it made me look more powerful as well, not that I needed that, not with the Fleece on my head.
"Erik Bresnan," I called. His eyes widened. How he could have figured I was there for anything other than to deal with him, I didn't know. "You are to leave me and mine alone," I said. "You are no longer allowed to do anything you know will displease me, and if you feel unsure about something, you will have to check with me from now on. To be clear, you are never allowed to harm anyone I love, ever. And again, if you are unsure if I love someone, you are required to ask me before you do something that even has a chance of impacting their lives. Do you understand me? Answer me."
His lips shook with strain. "Yes." He spit in my direction, but it didn't hit me.
"You are to return everything you stole from Owen Kinney to the doorman at Olendra Suites within one hour." I looked at the clock on the wall. "Look at the clock, Erik." He did. "The delivery of the items you stole must be completed within one hour of this minute. And to be clear, I care about the doorman and you are not allowed to do anything that might displease him." I dusted off my hands and began to turn away, but then swiveled back on him. "Oh yeah," I smiled, "And you resign from the fae council, immediately." He blinked at me, saying nothing. "Right now."
He turned to the council, bowed his head, and said, "I resign."
The Fleece's magic barely felt like anythi
ng as it ran through me now, but I suppose I had proof that my words had worked well enough.
Lana Kinney beamed at me.
"Good boy, Erik." I pointed a finger at him. "If you try to find a way around my words, if you come after anyone I love, I won't be so lenient next time. Do you understand me?" He tilted up his proud chin. "Answer me."
"I understand."
"You've got a bit of bird crap on you." I pointed to his hair. "Just there." I left without looking back. Maybe the Fleece and I could get along after all.
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A Note From the Author
Thank you for reading Abducted by Faerie. There are lots more books to explore. The best way to keep updated is to sign up for the WB McKay newsletter at McKayManor.com. Everyone who joins gets an exclusive free copy of Born of Faerie, a prequel to Bound by Faerie that shows Sophie's first case at MOD. Our newsletter is the only way to get this book, so sign up now!
- Faith and Robert (WB McKay)
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The Stolen Magic series so far:
Bound by Faerie (Stolen Magic, #1)
Reaped from Faerie (Stolen Magic, #2)
Hidden by Faerie (Stolen Magic, #3)
Immersed in Faerie (Stolen Magic, #4)
Abducted by Faerie (Stolen Magic, #5)
Indebted to Faerie (Stolen Magic, #6) Coming Soon
Table of Contents
Contents
