City of Fae

“Just … just give me a minute.” I was probably going to throw up. I sped up my retreat, turning my stagger into a jog. He wasn’t the cause of my nausea. It wasn’t even the spiders. Blood raced in my veins. My hand itched, as though something inside was trying to crawl from my skin. Dizzy, disorientated, I just needed space to breathe, to think, to steady my feet on solid earth. The last twenty-four hours had finally caught up with me.

I stepped off the sidewalk, my thoughts a whirl and my vision blurred, when the sudden blast of a horn and too-close dash of a car brought me to a jarring halt. Reign’s hand landed on my shoulder and spun me around. For a second, his eyes slitted and his skin seemed to stretch tighter over cheekbones, drawing his face back, lending it a sharp, hardened edge. My breath hitched and my body tried to reel back, but he clutched at my top and yanked me toward him as a taxi passed close behind me.

I shoved against him, landing the balls of my palms against his chest, but he no more moved than stone would. “Back off, fae,” I growled.

He plucked me off my feet, turned me around, and gave me a shove, just enough to gain some distance between us. “What did the spiders want with you?”

I scowled back. Who did he think he was shoving around? “This is your doing. You owe me answers.”

“I don’t owe you anything, American Girl. You should thank me. I just saved your ass back there and stopped you walking out in front of traffic.”

I should thank him?! “You’re so full of shit, you know that? The only reason I’m here at all is to figure out what’s going on with you.” Damn it, I’d left all but one sheet of the research with the spiders. After all of that, I’d only managed to grab the guest list. I checked my pocket, yup, still there. That was something, at least. Rubbing my arms, as though trying to sweep off the goose bumps, I closed my eyes and shook my head. “Will the spiders still be there? Will someone find them?”

“No,” he said, more softly. “They were there for you. They’ll have dispersed by now.”

“The window? We should warn someone.”

He gave me a less than impressed look. “You want me to walk into the head office of London’s press and declare I scaled their building, broke in, and rescued you from a cluster of spiders? I’d be mobbed, charged with criminal damage, and locked up before I could mutter the word lawsuit.” He spread his hands apart. “Rock Star Fae’s Grand Entrance Ends in FA Arrest.” He paused, waiting for me to return a counterargument. Eyes cold. “Yeah, how about we don’t mention the window, huh?” A car pulled up some feet from us and a couple climbed out. Reign seemed to remember we were out in the open, on display, and he was a fae-at-large. He stalked around me and propped his graceful figure against a wall, but kept his head down. “What did the construct say?” he asked without looking up.

“What’s a construct?”

“An avatar, a puppet …” he snarled impatiently. “What did it say?”

“Reign, what the hell is going on? This time yesterday I was stuck at my desk typing up reports, and now I’ve got the police on my doorstep and I’m trying to avoid getting eaten by organized spiders.” I closed my eyes and allowed the city sounds to soak into my thoughts, soothing and grounding me. “Was it magic?” I asked. “I saw it … The draíocht vapor. I felt it.” Shivers trickled down my spine. “How is that even possible?” An unkind slither of a smile danced across his lips, before the tip of his tongue darted out and moistened it away. How dare he smile, like this was a game. “You better tell me what the hell is going on, Reign, or I’ll give you up to the FA.”

“Alina.” His voice gained a sharper edge. He spoke my name as though wielding it like a weapon. Lifting his head, he narrowed his eyes, squaring his gaze on me. “It is very important you stop avoiding my question and tell me what it said to you.”

I blew my hair out of my face and planted a hand on a hip. “I’m not avoiding your question.”

“Then answer it,” he said quietly. His words contracted, sharpened to points, like the small canine teeth revealed as he spoke.

“It said something about the queen.”

His eyed widened, and his lips parted. He shoved off the wall and invaded my space, driving me back. I straightened, jerked my chin up, and glared. “Do you bully your groupies to get what you want? That’s a side of sexy-Sovereign we don’t see in the press. I know your kind were once brutal to the point of being vicious. Are you?”

He flinched and turned his head away. The twitch in his cheek betrayed how he’d gritted his teeth behind pinched lips. I’d wounded him. Good. Carefully, he met my glare. “What did it say about the queen, Alina?”