Fae Guardians Series

Chapter 3: Fae Trickery

Avery

His gaze narrowed. "You smell of iron and silver."

Fuck! I stepped in closer to him, his grasp not letting go of my arm.

"A girl can't be too careful these days. There are missing women all over the city nowadays."

He flinched as though I'd struck him. Did that mean he knew about the women? Or had played a part in their disappearance? Mother-fucker, he was going down.

His hand slipped from my arm and he took a step back. The loss of his warmth made the bitter wind against me sting. I couldn't let him leave. Not alive anyway.

"I thought we came out here to get to know one another better." I pouted. To strike without him being able to counter too soon, I needed to be closer, I needed him distracted.

"This was a mistake." He glanced over to the martini glass and nodded as though assuring himself of something. "Enjoy your evening and your drink."

My gut rolled from his sudden departure. Part of me screamed to stab him now while his back was turned, but I hesitated too long and he was gone.

What the f**k was wrong with me?

I stomped to the edge of the fountain, my hands shook as I took out the empty vial Maggie gave me for collecting Malcolm's blood to figure out what kind of Fae he was. Which should let us know if his kind were severely allergic to iron, some were immune, or silver. His genetic makeup would tell us his powers and the ways to take him down. Information I needed to never get sucked under like this again.

Not that I couldn't take him down now. I had silver and iron and one knife lined with both fastened into my dress. But the more I learned about the enemy, the better prepared I could be for the next one.

And find the one that had killed my mom. The one with violet eyes and white-gold hair. I swallowed down the acid burning the back of my throat and pushed aside the haunting memory that had never left me since I found her lying in a pool of her own blood when I was thirteen.

I unclasped the cork and carefully pour the golden martini inside to the black line. Some of the liquid spilled across my hand. Absently, I licked my hand then froze.

Fuck!

I needed to get to my car and call Maggie. There was no telling what Fae concoction Malcolm put in there. I fumbled to put the cork back into the vial, laying it in the protective pocket inside my purse.

When I moved too quickly, the martini glass shattered against the stone trail and my heels crunched on the shards.

I rushed to the garden's gate, but a thick chain locked it. The fence was too high for me to climb. Besides, I was beginning to feel lightheaded. I raced back inside the bar with my purse under my arm.

The floor wobbled back and forth like I was in a funhouse. Rock music shifted to a different beat from inside the club. Primal. Deep. It matched the beat of my heart.

Heat rolled through me and I stumbled forward. I had to get out of there. Had to get air.

Shit, s**t, s**t! What the hell was in that martini if one lick made me feel like this? I couldn't do the kill now.

My legs buckled and I tried to stop my fall. I clung to the wall, using it to help me drag myself forward. There was an emergency exit at the back of the hallway. I couldn't chance going out the front and running into Malcolm. Didn't think I'd have the strength to get far anyway.

I dug out my cellphone from my purse, my vision blurred at the numbers, but I hoped I hit Maggie's.

"Pickup now!" I slurred. "Fae s**t storm at Malcolm's bar."

My phone clattered to the floor as I teetered forward. This time, the wall didn't help me, and I fell face forward onto the floor. The last thing that hit my senses was how the floor smelled of beer and puke before everything went dark.

* * *

Voices murmured around me in the Fae language, but I couldn't make out what they were saying except the word chosen and another word that sounded similar to the Fae word for blood, but not exactly, like it had an extra syllable or two.

Then I was being carried. I kicked, trying to injure whoever held me and was met with air and deep chuckles.

I was dropped onto a bed.

Oh hell no! I rose up, screaming, my fists in the air and I was in my own bedroom...alone. I blinked, my chest heaving. There were no Fae or anyone, just me standing like a lunatic in the middle of my bed.

I sank down, my body trembling. The clock read one a.m. It hadn't been a dream. If Malcolm and whoever had helped him bring me here thought I'd give up, they didn't know who they were dealing with.

The martini.

I scrambled off the bed, hunting for my purse. f**k, f**k, f**k! Had he taken it?

I dashed through my apartment, throwing dirty clothes laying on the floor around, searching everywhere for the flask.

When I spotted my purse on the kitchen counter, my breath stuck in my throat. I crept forward. Please, please, please don't let the flask be broken.

My cell phone rang, and I jumped.

I raced to it, answering when Maggie's number appeared on the screen.

"Hello?"

"Where the hell are you? I've been calling for over an hour. I'm up at the bar and no one admitted seeing you."

"I'm home...sorry...they did some kind of spell and brought me here."

"Well?" she asked, the irritation evident in her tone. "What did you find out? Is Malcolm Fae? Does he have anything to do with the missing women?"

"Yes. No. I don't know about anything else, but he is most definitely Fae."

I crept around the couch to the bar where my purse lay. My hand trembled as I opened the clasp and peered inside. Fingers traced the protective line. It was flat. Empty. The bastard had taken the flask, which meant he knew I was on to him. So why let me live?

"Avery?"

Maggie's voice over the phone broke me out of my trance. "Yeah. Sorry. Look, it's late. I'll try again tomorrow night."

"You sure you wanna go back there after what happened tonight? Since he obviously knows where you live?"

"All the more reason to end this. Listen, get home and get some sleep." I ran a hand through my hair, too amped up with missing my mark and losing the vial to sleep.

"What about you?" she asked.

"You know me - "

"Yes, I do, and you need rest too."

"I will. Later. Once I've killed a few Fae." I ended the call, knowing she'd protest, but she knew me. Until I got this energy burning inside of me out, I wouldn't be able to close my eyes much less rest at all.

Checking my dress to ensure my weapons were still in place, I opened the door to my apartment. I crossed the threshold and it felt like I'd walked through a spider web. Invisible lines brushed my skin and I hastily smacked at myself to get the feeling off me. What the hell?

I guess I needed to request the landlord to spray for bugs.

I pushed outside and hiked down to the park that ran alongside my apartment building. There were always perverts and Fae around which was why I lived here. And it helped the rent was cheap.

"All right, let's get this done." I rolled my shoulders forward, strolling with my head down like I was upset and not paying attention.

Downhill, I caught a whiff of Fae, it smelled of burnt pine and sulfur. Had to be a leminax. Vile creatures that ate the hearts and livers of its victims.

"Lost little lamb?" a voice called out a few minutes later.

"What?" I gasped, feigning to be startled.

"Come closer and I will help you." It stepped out of the shadows. The glamour around it making it appear to be an old woman with a kind face, but I could see the jagged lines of a monster with razor-sharp teeth underneath.

This was what Fae were. Monsters. Even the seductive ones like Malcolm were this at their core. Evil. Never to be trusted. I clenched my fists. The bastard had taken the vial of gold alcohol from me.

I shook my head to clear the images of Malcolm's lips on mine when the creature before me glanced side to side, backing away.

"Wait," I softened my voice. Couldn't give away my secret too soon. "Sorry, I-I'm lost. Can you tell me how to get back to the road?"

Its grin broke through its illusion for a second. I didn't flinch. I knew what the leminax looked like without the disguise. Rows of teeth like a shark. Hardened gray skin only silver could penetrate. A misshapen head that looked more like a bear's than a human's and claws to give a six-inch dagger envy.

"Oh yes, I can show you the way. Come closer, dear."

I hesitated a moment and it sent its magic at me to bring me to it. The taint felt like needles prickling my skin. I kept my face neutral as I moved closer. My hand scratching my leg like a mosquito had bitten me, removed my weapon and palmed the dagger.

Its bony hand clamped on my forearm. "You are unable to scream."

I grinned, staring it right in its ugly face. "Why would I need to?"