by Lexi Blake
“He lied.” It was kind of what demons did.
She smiled, a ghastly thing. “Oh, but he did not. At least not at first. No one believes here. No one sees me here. They do nothing to protect themselves, and I had many babies. Their blood is so sweet I thought I had found paradise. Then he gave me his price.”
I waited but let her see the gun. She needed to know she was far from anything like paradise now.
“He told me I must kill you,” she whispered. “I did not want trouble with the vampire, but Halfer threatened to out me. He said you had to die before the Strong Arm of Remus got here.”
Lee gasped, his eyes widening. “That’s a legend.”
It wasn’t one I’d heard of. “What’s the Strong Arm of Remus?”
Lee shook his head. “It’s a story wolves tell their pups when they want to scare the crap out of them. It’s nothing, Zoey.”
“The demon does not think so.” The aswang shuddered. “He says it is hidden, and he wants it. He wants to control the wolves. I was to kill you before the fifteenth of July. He said you would get the object if I did not kill you.”
“I don’t even know what the object is,” I admitted.
“He was paranoid. He was sure the vampire was always behind him. He is…not right in his mind.” She moved her attention to Lee. “She is cruel. Will you be kind? Please kill me. I no longer wish to play these games.”
“He won’t help you.” I couldn’t give in now. “Where is Halfer?”
“I do not know,” she replied, and I watched as she tensed for more pain. She truly believed it was coming and yet she held out. “He always sought me. I did not follow him. I just wanted to be left alone to feast.”
I held my hand out to Declan, who tried to pass me the garlic. The aswang’s eyes had closed, her mouth tightening as she waited for more torture. And that’s exactly what it would be if I continued. “No, she’s done. She doesn’t know anything else. I need the sword now.”
“This is the sword of a warrior. This is the sword of a king.” Declan twisted the handle my way. “You wish to use it? What do I get in return?”
“I won’t punch you in the face again,” I offered.
He held the sword out, hilt first. “That is not what I would have chosen, but it will do. You actually have quite a powerful punch. Do not damage it.”
“I’ll try.” I gripped the sword with two hands. This was my job to do.
I turned back to the pitiful thing on the bed and actually managed to feel the slightest stir of something resembling sympathy. I raised the sword and brought it quickly down, separating her head from her neck. I tossed Declan back his precious sword which was quickly and efficiently taken by Padric. “We have to find an incinerator. We can burn the body here, but I’d rather the head was done elsewhere.”
It’s always a good idea to keep the head separate from the body when dealing with the undead. They have a pesky habit of putting themselves back together.
Lee tossed the head my way and wrapped the body up in the dirty sheet. Declan went to make a nice fire in the butchery, and Lee turned his brown eyes to me.
“Did you enjoy that, Your Highness?” His voice was neutral. It was the first time in my memory that he’d used my title. I got the feeling Lee wasn’t really into the whole royalty thing.
I thought about it for a moment and answered him honestly. “I didn’t. I thought I would, but in the end it’s all just death, and there is nothing joyful or fulfilling about it. It was necessary, Lee. It had to be done.”
He considered me for a moment before finally allowing himself to crack a small smile. “I’ll take over the duty of guarding you, Your Highness. Zack isn’t strong enough. Even if Quinn refuses you, and I don’t believe that will be the case, I’ll stay on until the demon is found. I’ll protect you, and other than a situation that I feel completely compromises your safety, I’ll follow your lead.”
“No more itineraries?” I asked with a half-smile because it sounded a little like heaven.
“None beyond the ones you set.”
I sighed with relief. “Thank you, Lee.”
We joined Declan and proceeded to make sure the aswang troubled us no more.
Chapter Nine
The sun was just beginning to set when Lee, Declan, and I sat back in my favorite park and enjoyed tacos from the local street vendor. We’d managed to clean up enough that we didn’t cause comment. The butcher who had shown us where the aswang nested had been kind enough to give us a place to clean up and a fire to roast the aswang’s head. Though she could never replace her precious child, I could see a burden had been lifted off her shoulders.
I was procrastinating. I knew I should head home, but I’d used Lee’s grumbling tummy as an excuse. It was kind of good to be back in my old neighborhood. I’d kept my apartment for a long time even after I bought my little house in the country. It had been important to still have a place in the city, but Dev convinced me to give it up after Danny and I moved in with him.
As I breathed in the early evening air, I wondered if my apartment was still available. There had been no voice mails on my cell when I checked after we burned the aswang. I’d expected Dev to leave a flurry of angry “get your ass home” messages, but there was absolutely nothing.
The silence said a lot.
“You are not enjoying your cat?” Declan asked, his voice not unkind.
“It’s great. I’m just worried about going home. What the hell do you mean cat?” I sat straight up and looked down at my beef soft taco with sour cream and guacamole.
Lee took a big bite of his fourth taco. Werewolves can really pack it away. “It’s definitely cat. You were right about this place. This is some damn fine cat. I’ll have to bring Zack here.”
“It can’t be cat, guys.” They had to be playing a joke on me. “People in the regular world don’t eat cat.”
“Trolls do.” Declan gestured toward the taco stand. I stared back at the perfectly human-looking husband and wife team who’d sold me tacos for the last five years. They bowed when Declan looked their way. I’d been surprised that they refused to allow Declan to pay them. “See, they know their future king.”
Declan got up and excused himself to get another lemonade, which he thought was the greatest invention ever.
I set my taco down. I really hoped Taco Bell wasn’t run by trolls because I was going to have to stop somewhere on my way home. I was still really hungry.
The ground in front of me shook as Daniel landed on the lawn. He was wearing a Superman T-shirt, which I found ironic, and those dimples came out as he smiled down at me.
“Hello, Z,” he said, his drawl satisfying something deep in my soul. “You’ve been a very bad girl. Dev has pulled out a good portion of that hair of his. If I don’t get you home soon, he’s going to be bald, and I don’t think any of us wants that. What’s he going to do with his spare time if he’s not fixing his hair?”
I frowned. “I don’t know if I want to face Dev, even though I was totally in the right on this one. I killed the creature and got the info I needed. Lucas Halfer sent her, by the way. He’s sending out the troops apparently.”
Daniel cursed and sat down beside me, his hand sliding over mine. It felt so good to have him next to me. “Damn it. I’m sorry, Z. It didn’t seem like a big deal last night. It’s been quiet, and I guess I didn’t want to admit that anything could be wrong. Are you okay?”
I nodded, enjoying being close to him. Danny and I had fought a lot, but we always put it behind us. “With the singular exception of really needing a shower, I’m fine.” I twisted around to put my feet in his lap. “And these are now my official zombie-killing shoes.”
“Zombies?” Daniel asked with an expectant smile.
“That was some fucked up shit,” Lee admitted as he got up and shook the grass off his jeans. “Zoey, I’ll be in the club at noon tomorrow. If you need me before then, just call. Don’t go running off on your own, okay?”
I saluted my new BFF.
Daniel shook his head, his face going grave. “Sorry, Lee. Dev fired you. He was adamant. You didn’t follow direct orders. No more bodyguards for her without a blood oath to me.”
“Quinn can fuck himself,” Lee said with an arrogant grin. “I take orders from Zoey. As for the oath to you, you can fuck yourself, too. You haven’t given me any reason to tie myself to you, Donovan. I’ll make an oath when I find the leader I want to dedicate myself to. I don’t think it’s going to be you.”
Daniel looked up at the wolf, and there was only the slightest hint of anger in his eyes. “Understood, Lee. Feel free to remove yourself.”
I rolled my eyes at the alpha-boy fight. “I’m happy with Lee, Danny. If you put Zack on my ass, I’ll just tranq him again and run off on my own. Lee and I made a deal. If he’s my bodyguard, I promise not to try to give him the slip.”
Shaking his sandy head, Daniel gave the wolf a hard look. “If you get my wife hurt, I swear I’ll kill you myself.”
“I’m sure you’ll try,” Lee muttered. “I think I’ll be going before the real fight starts.” Lee gave me a nod and I heard him say, “Good evening, Your Highness,” as he walked away.
Declan walked up, giving the wolf a regal nod of his head as he exited the park. He stared down at Daniel, whose face flushed at the sight of the future king of Faery.
“There’s two of him?” Daniel’s eyes widened.
“He told you he had a twin,” I pointed out.
“I thought it was a fraternal thing.” Daniel stood up. He stared at Declan like he really didn’t want to believe it. I probably should have mentioned it. I’d seen Dev’s twin before in a Hell plane vision, but Dev didn’t really like to talk about him. I’d kept it to myself, figuring if Dev wanted to talk to Daniel about his brother, he would.
“Nope, they’re identical.” I joined him, scrambling up. “He’s the one who saved me last night. It’s why I thought I was with Dev.”
Declan bowed slightly as he introduced himself. “Vampire, I am Prince Declan Quinn, future king of Faery. I did indeed save the fair Zoey from the beast, though she has yet to offer any real payment for the deed. I have had to steal kisses from her all day as she selfishly refuses to give them.”
“And they have the same taste in women,” I pointed out with a sigh.
I thought Daniel would laugh and have a good joke about me having to put up with not one but two horny faeries. I kind of thought he would roll his eyes and treat the prince like an obnoxious child. I’d gotten used to my husband being somewhat good natured about other men sometimes looking at me. Dev had helped him get over the crazy maniac vampire jealousy thing.
It had been a long time since Danny had gone a little crazy, so I didn’t expect his fangs to pop out to violent lengths as he reared his fist back and sent the prince flying through the air. His completely over-the-top reaction reminded me that the extremely possessive nature of Daniel Donovan was not something to be messed with.
Declan hit a tree with a nasty crack, but he popped back up, weapon in hand. Before we could move, he’d notched the arrow, drawn it back, and released it. There was a whizzing sound and then a thunk as it slammed into Daniel’s leg.
“Guards,” Declan yelled. “The vampire only. Do not harm my brother’s mistress.”
Suddenly the park was filled with warriors and weapons, and a couple of freaky flying things with big teeth. I stared at the flying creatures because they greatly resembled manta rays with their long spiked tails. They didn’t need water though. They moved through the air with a menacing grace that took my breath away. Those tails slapped around with audible cracks and came at Daniel even as two large Fae bore down on him with broadswords.
Declan stood in the back of the fray with Padric in front of him, and he managed to slam several more arrows into my husband’s body.
I found a place away from the fray because the truth of the matter was this wasn’t a fair fight. So I made myself comfortable. There were only eleven of them, including Declan, and they didn’t even have guns. Daniel moved faster than my eyes could track, but I was able to see how the Fae fell one by one under his claws and teeth. He reached up and pulled the Unseelie creatures straight out of the air, slamming the two into each other with a mighty crunch before kicking them against a tree.
I just sat and watched, comfortable with the fact that Daniel wouldn’t really kill Declan. He would enjoy the fight, but unlike my boyfriend, these Fae were immortal. Danny could take out all of his frustration on them and other than a nice long healing process, they would turn out okay. I thought about tossing Danny one of the knives I had strapped to my thigh, but just as I was mustering the will to get up and do it, I noted that he’d wrestled one of the long swords away. He used it to skewer a tall faery with blond hair. He’d already incapacitated half the small army.
While Danny was working through his problems, I was still worried about Dev. I pulled out my phone and checked my e-mail. Other than some Nigerian prince who really wanted me to help him smuggle money out of the country, there was nothing. Dev hadn’t even written me a single freaking e-mail, and I usually got five or six from him a day. There was at least one every day with an attached photo that I couldn’t open in public, but today I got nothing. How pissed off would Daniel be with me if his chief advisor left us because he was so sick of dealing with my crap? I found myself hoping the fight would last a little longer so I could avoid Dev.
There was no such luck as Danny stuck the sword into the last fighting Fae and began to move on Padric and Declan.
Declan watched Daniel with serious eyes even as Padric gave a great shout and leapt forward to protect his king. He looked pretty scary to me as he sprang through the air with a warrior’s cry and an upraised sword, but Daniel just punched him in the face with all of his might and the Fae flew backward. When he hit the ground, he didn’t get back up.
Daniel’s eyes were stark, his claws long as he stalked the faery prince, who now had the good sense to realize he was in real danger. Still, even with death staring at him, he was curious.
“What are you?” Declan asked, no longer bothering with his weapon. “You’re not a simple vampire.”
Daniel took him by the neck and hauled him up. His voice was deep as he talked around his fangs. “I’m a king, Your Highness, and not because my mother spat me from her womb. I am a king because I kill everything between me and my crown. Do you think I will not guard what is mine? She is my queen, my wife, my companion, my precious blood, and my property. I will kill you if you so much as think about touching her again. Do I make myself clear?”
“I believe I fully understand you,” Declan agreed, surprisingly calm. He didn’t fight Daniel’s hold, didn’t kick out. He merely waited.
Daniel dropped Declan, turning from him and starting toward me. “And don’t think your brother will be returning with you. He has work to do here. Take your ass back to Faeryland.”
Daniel stalked across his small battlefield, not caring that he stepped over various groaning bodies. He was completely ignoring the fact that he had three arrows sticking out of his body. He’d taken more, but the ones that had hit his chest had come out and the wounds were already healing. It was the three that had hit his legs and gone through to the other side he was struggling with. His body couldn’t figure out which way to push the foreign object out and he seemed reluctant to deal with them himself. He reached down and pulled me off the ground. His arms went around my back and under my knees.
“Property?” I wound my arms around his neck. It was the only thing on his list of words to describe me that I had issue with.
“Well, he pissed me off,” Daniel said as he leveled one last scowl at Dev’s brother. His eyes moved down toward me as we started to float. “And you were right. Arrows fucking hurt.”
Our flight through the city was far too short for my liking. Danny didn’t speak, but he held me tight and kissed my cheek. Even as we approached the balcony of the penthouse, I cou
ld see Dev pacing and watching the sky. It was no use because Daniel shielded himself when he flew. No one could see us as we made our way through downtown Dallas. The lights were beginning to flicker around us, but I couldn’t see anything but Dev and the emotion playing on his face.
Daniel landed on the balcony. Dev turned, his eyes finding mine, and I saw a momentary relief that was quickly replaced with anger. His eyes flared when he took in Daniel.
“Dude, what the hell happened to you?” he asked as Daniel set me on my feet.
Daniel gestured to the arrows sticking out of his body. “Your brother happened to me. He got handsy with Z, and I took offense. He brought out his little bodyguards and after I took them out, we came to an agreement. He won’t touch her again, and I won’t hack him into small pieces.”
“You took out Padric?” Dev’s mouth was slightly open in surprise. He dropped to his knees in front of Daniel, inspecting the wounds.
“I don’t know who that is,” Daniel admitted. “If he was with your brother, I assure you he got his ass handed to him. Now will someone go get a knife and cut these things out of me? I know it would be easier to shove them through but the wood hurts way more than whatever they used on the tips.”
“It’s made from a rock found in Faeryland.” Dev glanced up at me with little expression on his handsome face. I noticed he hadn’t shaved. There was a sexy five-o’clock shadow across his jaw. “Give me a knife, Zoey. I know you have at least two. I inventoried the armory.”
I pulled out the knives and handed them over. Now that I was standing in the same room with him, I really wanted to say whatever it took to get through this. “Dev, I think…”
“Not now, Zoey.” He dismissed me as he started to slice through the denim of Daniel’s jeans. “I’ll handle this while you go take a shower. You smell like you waded through corpses. When you’re presentable, we can discuss how this is going to work from now on.”
“Ultimatums, Dev?” I’d told myself I would be calm, but he was starting to push my buttons.
