I didn’t like the way he hesitated with that last part. Something told me I wouldn’t like what was different between our two realms. But my focus was on Kate and getting her on board before we took on a super villain.
What surprised me most was how little my friend needed to convince her I was supernatural, so I checked again. “You’re not confused? You believe me?” I pulled away as much as she’d allow.
Kate made a noise with her lips and shook her head. “I thought it was weird that you suddenly ran off with our hot Biology teacher. This makes way more sense.”
A smile pulled at my lips. “Well, in a way I did.”
“Yeah, but it’s not like you two are dating,” she argued, side-eyeing Cash with a thirsty look I’d recognize anywhere thanks to the few band obsessions she’d had over the years.
Kate was pretty boy obsessed, and my Fae Karen fit the bill. Which meant she was about to get very mean. Or maybe a better way to say it was antagonistically sarcastic.
She and I had both struggled to flirt normally. Most girls acted cute and blushed. The two of us were the farthest thing from cute. It worked better for her. In my case, it just led to a lot of fights and misunderstandings. My recent romantic life was plenty evidence of that.
“About that…” I started, wondering if it was worth it to talk about my very interesting relationship status when I wasn’t even sure if Phillip and Iwerestill dating. And how did a girl explain going from Nigel, the school hottie, to a whole group of supernatural hotties I traded spit with?
My thoughts darkened at the thought of Nigel. I’d have to tell her about what happened to him, too, and I didn’t even know how to start. Explaining this world and everything I’d already been forced to face was…a lot.
Cash cut in before I could, “Cheers. Now that the human understands a bit about what’s at stake here, we should head to our next location. We’ve dallied long enough, love.”
My hand itched to dig out my phone I’d left in the human world and text my two boys, worried about them despite Cash’s reassurance they were safe. What would they think after finding both discarded rings meant to track me? Would they know I’d gone through a portal, or would they be frantically looking for me? Would they think…I abandoned them? Or worse, that I might never come back? I didn’t even know if I’d get to go back.
Shit.
I was pulled out of my head when Kate’s eyebrows pinched together. “That’s some accent you got there, uh, mister. What even are you? A fairy?”
I nearly lost it the second Cash’s entire face and body responded with abject insult. Not just for being called a fairy—which wasn’t a far-off guess, though clearly a slur—but mister as well. If it was one thing Cash hated more than anything, it was being mistaken for an adult. Well, an older adult than he’d prefer.
“I beg your pardon!” he said in that ghoulish wail of his. “The name is Cash, human, and we prefer the term Fae.”
Kate scoffed, keeping an arm around my shoulders as she addressed my Fae Karen. “Same diff, pretty boy. And the name is Kate, nothuman.” He clicked his tongue, but my bestie ignored him like the champ she was. “So, are you like, powerful and shit, or are you just, you know, the comedic relief she keeps around? Bet my girl here runs circles around you she’s so powerful.”
I’d forgotten about this part of Kate’s personality. She’d build me up without basis. Though, in this case, she wasn’t exactly far off. But this wasn’t how I saw this moment going in my head at all.
The long-suffering sound that left Cash’s mouth was peak Karen. “How rude.”
Ever the clever snapback artist.
Aiming to calm the storm brewing, I got to my feet and offered Kate a hand. “There’s a lot to explain, but he’s right. We should get going. I’ll go over what’s important and hopefully not blow your human mind.”
“Consider my human mind so blown, chick. And in a good way. Best oral sex it’s ever had. I can’t wait to see you do your genetic monster girl thing. I’m already a huge fan of whatever it is you called yourself. A vampire hunter?” she rambled and grabbed my hand.
With a huff, Cash trailed after the two of us, gathering a few things on our walk to the front door. At least I hoped it was the front door or this would be extra awkward.
“Hunter, but that doesn’t much matter anymore, I guess.”
“Right, because first they created you to be some terrifying weapon, and now they’re hunting you because my girl can’t be controlled?” she oversimplified.
Grinning, I didn’t realize how much the tension in my body had eased with her unconditional acceptance of what and who I was. “Basically.”
Either the spell Mistress Chaos had cast on my pink-haired friend had calmed her human brain and made accepting a new existence easier, or she was just that easy-going. Either way, I was grateful.
We didn’t have much time to get things together before we’d have to pay our respects to our enemy. Better to go in with everything in our favor than out of time and resigned to our fate.
We still needed to find Jo. I refused to leave her out there no matter how much my Fae Karen argued we didn’t need her. We did. One knew Jo, and I hoped my gorgeous girl crush had all the intel on Lyra to give us the upper hand—or at least a better planto get the upper hand. That ancient bitch had miscalculated, and I’d make her pay for it.
I secretly hoped Cash was right about a day or two calm before the next wave of heat. I didn’t want to jump his bones in front of Kate. Unfortunately, I was never that lucky, so I needed time to explain things to my human friend. I didn’t want her on the receiving end of my lust beast Fae side.
To be fair, she was more likely to rally behind it rather than spurn my sudden and overactive libido. Kate was extremely sex positive, and she’d be nothing but supportive. I just didn’t know if I was ready to bare all.Literally.
