I never once thought he’d voluntarily offer to do anything with Jo. I expected the two to be at each other’s throats even as we fought the Nether Royals, passing notes and mumbling insults. But my Fae Karen was finally being the bigger person and putting aside their differences.
“Must you always dress like you’re about to murder someone and attend their funeral directly afterward, devil woman?”
Jo smirked and tossed an arm around my shoulders. She embraced her inner Fae Karen, all sass and eyebrow, and replied, “Do you always have to wear the weirdest fucking outfits you can find and whine like your husband’s just left you for a younger woman, leaving you alone to raise three kids who you’ll one day need to put through college?”
I’d spoken too soon. Silly me. I should’ve known better than to expect these two to get along, ever.
We were wandering around another Fae city full of magic and wonder. Jo teased me every time I gaped and ogled the surreal architecture and unique monster varieties, calling me a total tourist. I mean, I was, but after walking for nearly fifteen minutes, it was becoming painfully clear why Cash hesitated to explain why my realm and this one differed for humans.
A human was yanked and pulled on a leash, and I pressed my lips together in disgust. She couldn’t be any older than fifteen or sixteen. My hand ached for my weapon, but all I got was a pretty boy’s hand.
“I know, my love, but we can’t be distracted.”
I shot him an angry glare. “Easy for you to say, you ass. Don’t you think you should’ve warned me? This is the first I’ve seen a human. I spent my life fighting to protect them, and that doesn’t just end because the Organization is run by a bunch of dicks.”
“Well said.” Jo eyed the cloaked Fae dragging the human along and hummed to herself, tapping a finger against her mouth. “I have an idea.”
Cash cut a threatening look at her, but glittering and in those ridiculous pants, it really didn’t have the effect he was aiming for. “No, it’s best we don’t draw any unnecessary attention to ourselves here, but I guess a thoughtless barbarian like you wouldn’t know that.”
“Oh? Now you’re all for sneaking under the radar, princess? Just because you’re incapable of killing a Fae discreetly doesn’t mean we can’t,” Jo taunted.
He threw his hair back with one hand like he was the leading man of a K-pop group. Pretty sure a blast of sparkles and hearts went flying out the minute he did. “You can’t honestly be serious. No one, not even those blasted Nether Royals, could tie anything I did here to me or my dove. I’ll wipe minds if I must.”
It was a wonder how he hadn’t caught onto her game by now. He always rose to every challenge and danced to her tune. Butmaybe that was the genius of this gorgeous Chaos Fae. She played every person around her like the Devil on his fiddle.
“Perfect. You stand guard, and I’ll take this one to have a chat with our little friend,” Jo grabbed me by the hand and walked straight for the unsuspecting bastard.
Cash was quickly on our heels. “What in the devil do you think you’re doing, woman?!”
“Training. Duh,” Jo said over her shoulder like it was the most obvious conclusion one could draw.
Impressed and totally on board, my pace matched hers. “Now that’s something I can get behind. Let’s see how he holds up to a little hellfire.”
Jo’s grin stole a couple beats of my heart. “No, no,Zescha, we do this the only way we defeat those evil douchebags and get back home. Time manipulation. Pheromones and your disabling power aren’t going to work on them. They have natural defenses against it, unfortunately. That’s one thing I do know. Which is exactly why they could kill us as easily as they did. So, we need to see if you can fast forward, pause, or reverse time.”
Confused, I stopped. “Fast forward, pause, or reverse? You mean in like, a Back to the Future crazy woo-woo sort of way?”
“Did you just callmy mateZescha, you incorrigible she-demon?! How dare you.” As always, Cash was stuck on the wrong thing.
Jo’s smile grew, completely ignoring the other Fae’s outcry. “Exactly, babe. It’s time to show you why they’re all so afraid of you.”
We stalked the Fae Jo mumbled was the same thing as the fox bastard I’d fought in the human world. The Fae didn’t call them Kitsunebis or foxes, but Tricksters instead. Green Dude had said something about being one, so I guess that was him being funny.
The name wasn’t especially imaginative, but whatever. At least I’d fought one before and knew what to look out for. Time was how I’d killed the last one, too.
“She’s never tried to reverse or fast forward time. It’s daft and risky, is what it is.” Cash’s complaints followed us, but they were whispered and wrapped in magic as not to alert our prey.
I could practically hear Jo’s eye roll. “What, you can’t keep something this low level contained?”
“Of course I can,” he barked in his usual indignant whine. “But she’s never tried anything other than freezing it. It could make her vulnerable if she expends too much of her magic trying, and who knows when Aram will come to try his hand at swaying her.”
Jo didn’t stop, but her pace slowed some. “V’s more likely to do better when she has something to fight for, and this could save her another forced interaction. Once we know what she can do and she knows the feeling, it’ll be easier to do when it matters most.”
Even Cash couldn’t argue with her.
It made sense. Attacking this asshole to save the human was a great motivator for me. It was the part of being a Hunter that I’d lost when the Organization turned out to be Bad Guys & Company. I didn’t do as well when I only fought for myself.
I didn’t know if I could reverse time, and if so, how much of it, but if Aram showed up, I could potentially get us out and stay a step ahead. I didn’t want to see what the bond did to me or him until I was ready to deal with it.
