Small miracles.
The group of horned Fae weren’t speaking, and I had to wonder if they had a telepathic power that gave them the ability to leave things left unspoken.
Lyra had said I didn’t have good mind barriers, but it was thankfully not something I had to worry about with most. Along with the other necklace he’d given me, Cash put a stone on a delicate chain for me to wear. He claimed it would protect my mind for long enough to get what we needed. A temporary fix until we could correct my mind issue. He'd even given Kate one to wear.
Humans were too easy to read and that made her a liability. It was why I couldn’t tell her anything we planned to do that I wasn’t okay with Lyra knowing. The stone’s protection wouldn’t be strong enough against Mistress Chaos or who Cash had only referred to as the Nether royalty. I only fed her pieces of the truth.
Fortunately for us, our enemies weren’t likely to come here, at least not until after we’d gone. If and when we met them, Kate wouldn’t be there. That was the plan, at least.
I didn’t want to leave her anywhere I wasn’t, but Cash was right. She was a liability and most at risk. One of the favors he planned to call on would aid us in that area, though he hadn’t told me how.
I was grateful he was at least taking care of her despite their rough start. He grumbled, but Cash knew how important Kate was to me. The less danger we put her in out here, the better.
I wanted her with me at all times, but even I knew how risky it was to bring my weakness around our enemies. And Lyra was absolutely an enemy no matter what bargain we struck next time we met.
As much as it bothered him to agree with One, he made it clear I’d need to work on my mind barriers before we went back to negotiate terms for my help. Otherwise, our plan would end before it even started.
Cash didn’t seem too worried I’d be able to learn. He promised to teach me once he called on the favors he needed—favors he argued would give us leverage. His confidence we could allude Mistress Chaos until we were ready fed my own. I couldn’t explain it, but I trusted him more now than ever.
The Dark Fae’s pale hair was swept back and distractingly sexy with his pointed ears, sparkly skin, and the remaining runes on display. I’d noticed he didn’t have as many after we’d tangled in the sheets. He’d mentioned getting rid of them once, but apparently, he couldn’t erase all of them. Weirdly, I’d miss them if he did. All things considered, they looked oddly good on him.
The smug Hand of Death had worn calf-high boots with buckles lining the front. His coat could only be described as Matrix chic—one of Kate’s favorite franchises and the entire reason she’d been forced to collect her jaw from the floor after he magicked his new clothes into existence. The gorgeous asshole hadn’t worn a shirt under it, but of course, like everything else,it looked completely natural and alluring on his lithe yet strong physique.
To say he’d dressed the part of the on-tour celebrity singer of a Rock band would be an understatement, heavy eyeliner and glossed lips included. I half-expected him to start signing autographs and drinking like a fish. With as many smirks as I was given when he caught me staring, it’d been totally on purpose.
He flagged the guy behind the bar, and the tall Fae with pale hair and startling white eyes bent closer. My eyes snagged on the weird scales shimmering across his neck, but they weren’t Siren scales. After another glance, I realized he didn’t blink. He had the same membrane in his eyes as a reptile. Was he a Kappa, the water demon who was actually just another classification of Fae?
Cash whispered something in the Kappa’s ear, but it must’ve been wrapped in magic because I couldn’t hear it even with my heightened senses. In enemy territory, I wouldn’t risk speaking more than necessary to ask about it.
Kate wasn’t of the same mind. She opened her mouth and whistled. “My life is so much more interesting now. That dude has scales and a forked tongue.”
The Kappa bartender whipped his eyes Kate’s direction before slinking away and disappearing. The rest of the room stayed quiet in his absence. How close was this chick looking to see his tongue, and how did I miss that detail?
I couldn’t stop the laugh if I wanted to. “Well, at least one of us is having a good time.”
“Oh, come now, love. Just a couple hours ago—”
“Finish that sentence and see what I do,” I warned under my breath. “Where’s this contact of yours? We’ve been waiting for nearly half an hour.”
The weird fabric of the cushion that was both like leather and nothing like it creaked. “He’ll be here if he doesn’t want hispower to become part of my collection, my dove.” His purple cat eyes scanned the crowd. “No one’s brave enough to risk upsetting the Monster of the Realm, and no matter how many years I might’ve been gone, they’ll remember well enough.”
Kate harrumphed cutely. “Is he bragging, or am I reading Fairy Boy all wrong?”
I hid a smile behind my hand, whispering, “Turns out that the supernatural aren’t that different from humans, huh?”
“You can say that again,” Kate mumbled, disillusioned within two hours of learning about the supernatural world.
Cash’s expression fell, his fingers playing with the loose hair around my neck. “Surely you don’t mean me, love?”
“I don’t hear anyone else bragging in here,” I goaded. In truth, no one in this dark, seedy place had done more than moan and stare since we came walking through. As if they were too afraid.
I’d seen his power. Cash was clearly formidable, but even I hadn’t expected that after all the time he’d claimed to be gone that his mere presence would have this sort of effect, or they’d know him by sight alone.
Under my breath, I leaned close to his ear. “What if one of them tells our friend?”
Kate couldn’t hear me, but she leaned in anyway.
Cash’s eyes shut, his jaw tensing just long enough for me to catch it, then his nostrils flared. He dragged his purple gaze around the room, moving over it like a knife thrown in the dark. “It’s a risk most wouldn’t be daft enough to take, but we’ll be long gone before any of them could try.”
