Page 42 of A Token of Blood and Betrayal (Kennedy Rain #4)

I returned to the residence with just enough time to grab Garion’s token and a bottle of water, then I met Melissa at my not-quite-totaled car.

“I thought you might have chickened out,” she said.

“I’m not late.”

“You’re almost late.”

“That means I’m on time.”

“Semantics,” she replied with a shrug. “Ready to rock and roll?”

“You look like you are.” She was dressed in a pair of boots, ripped black jeans, and a tightly laced red top. I wore my typical sneakers, jeans, and a nondescript T-shirt.

She grinned over the hood. “This felt appropriate for a midnight meetup.”

“Or a heavy metal concert.” I opened my door and sank into my seat. Melissa did the same, then scrutinized me.

“You look more Taylor Swift than metal.”

“I’m Taylor Swift and hard rock.” I started the engine and drove out of the parking lot.

Melissa must have sensed I was anxious. She kept up an almost nonstop conversation about music and movies but mostly about books. She apparently read a ton of fiction. I was jealous. I hadn’t had time to read for fun since high school.

I did a decent job of not fidgeting until I realized we had only one more stop sign before we’d be on the final winding road. My thumbs started tapping on the steering wheel. Less than ten minutes to go. I needed a distraction.

“Have you talked to Christian?” I asked.

She glanced at me. “This morning. Why?”

“Does he know about tonight?”

“Yep.”

“Will he be there?”

“Do you want him to be?”

I frowned in her direction. “I just thought he might want to be there since you will be, and you both want the spell to be a success.”

“True,” she said. I waited for her to continue. She didn’t.

My thumbs had started tapping again. I made them stop. “He said he was busy.”

Melissa snorted. “So that’s what he told you.”

I just shook my head as I slowed at the last stop sign. She was being extra cryptic for some reason—

Thump.

My gaze shot to the rearview mirror. Melissa twisted toward the back seat, fangs exposed and snarling.

“Nuh, uh, uh.” Canyon held a dagger to Melissa’s throat.

I yelped and slammed on the brakes, nearly giving myself whiplash. I was the only one who lurched against a seat belt though. Melissa and Canyon both remained exactly where they were.

“How did you get in here?” I demanded, my heart racing. Fey weren’t supposed to be able to magic their way into a moving vehicle.

“I used the door, of course.”

“The door was locked.”

“Was it?” he asked, sounding both innocent and patronizing.

“Yes.” I was sure of it. With my car damaged, I noticed every extra sound and weird noise, and I’d noted when the locks engaged.

“Maybe your memory has holes,” he responded helpfully.

I glared into the mirror. One more freaking hour and, assuming the spell worked, I would have had a nulled token to throw at his head.

“Get. Out,” I said.

“But it’s been so long since we talked.” His attention snapped from me to Melissa. That’s when I noticed the second knife he held pointed at her heart. “I wouldn’t do that, vampire. Is she supposed to be your bodyguard?”

The last part was directed at me. I ignored the question. “Put the knives away.”

“She needs to put her fangs away first.” He smiled broadly.

I rolled my eyes. “Melissa. Relax.”

“After I kill him.”

“Melissa.”

Eyes still murderous, she eased away from Canyon’s knives but remained facing him.

“Much better,” the fey said. “You may go ahead and drive— Demni, what did you do to your car?”

My jaw clenched. “It came this way. What do you want?”

He leaned forward until he was almost sitting between us and scowled out the windshield.

“Can I kill him now?” Melissa asked.

Canyon snapped his fingers. My car lurched like I’d hit a huge pothole even though I hadn’t taken my foot off the brake. I gripped the wheel hard, and when the rocking stopped, my smashed-in hood was… no longer smashed in.

I blinked. My car gleamed like it had a brand-new paint job. I really needed to learn more about fey and their magic. “Let’s let him live a few more minutes.”

Canyon leaned a shoulder against Melissa’s seat, which was brave, and studied me. “Are you late for another rendezvous?”

There was something intentional in the way he asked that question. It felt like he was leading me somewhere. Or circling around something.

“What do you mean?”

His grin was too mischievous, his eyes too intelligent. “Would you like me to go into detail?”

He knew something. Was it about the token? The spell?

Was it about Blake?

“Let’s talk tomorrow,” I said, facing forward again and trying my damnedest not to give anything away.

“I might be busy tomorrow.” He lounged back against his seat, and his gaze dipped downward.

“I’m open the day after too,” I said. What was he looking at? It was just below my view in the mirror.

“I’m king of the night court,” he said. “My schedule is sadly very full. We’ll settle this now.”

My curiosity wouldn’t let me ignore him. I looked over my shoulder to see what he was doing—spinning a black, palm-sized token between thumb and forefinger.

My breath stabbed between my ribs. It took everything in me to keep my hand away from my left pocket.

It felt like Garion’s token was still there, still a secret.

But Canyon had somehow magicked his way into my car.

He’d magicked my hood into better-than-new condition.

He could probably magic the token from my pocket.

“This”—he tossed the object into the air and caught it—“is how you get your life back.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “With a rock.”

“Catch.”

I twisted when he tossed it again, but he wasn’t throwing it to me. Melissa plucked it from the air.

The tension running through my body escalated. Garion was the only other person I’d let touch the token, not because I didn’t trust anyone else, not exactly, but because I didn’t want to dangle that kind of temptation in front of them.

Thankfully, Melissa was smart. She hadn’t seen the token, probably didn’t know for sure if the thing she held was it or not, but she analyzed it, turning it over in her hand, scratching at it with a fingernail.

While Canyon scrutinized her reaction, I let my hand fall to my side. And released a breath. The token was still in my pocket.

“It’s fake,” Canyon said offhandedly. His focus shifted back to me. “I think you know where to locate the real one.”

I frowned. “A real one what? What is it?” Yeah. I was playing dumb. I would for the next freaking hour.

Canyon sighed. “I know you have your memory back. I can see it glowing right where it belongs.”

“Stop looking at my brain.”

“I’m looking at my magic. The thing I don’t understand is why you haven’t given the token to me yet.”

“What token?” Melissa demanded. I wanted to high-five her for playing the dumb game with me.

“I could declare you in default right now,” he continued. “You’d lose your freedom, and I’d still get what I want. Shall I do that?”

Menace rolled off Melissa in waves. I recognized it, but her power was nothing compared to Arcuro’s or Jared’s.

“The vampire knows you have the memory back,” Canyon said. “Finding the token triggered its return. You have ten seconds to tell me the truth.”

“Kennedy,” Melissa said, a warning sharpening my name. She wanted to kill. I didn’t think she had a chance against a fey king.

I shook my head, partly to tell her to stand down and partly because the ruse was up.

My shoulders slumped. “Why do you want it? It will do more harm than good.”

“Ah,” Canyon said sagely. “You know about the curse.”

My brow furrowed. “You know about it?”

“That’s why I want Garion’s token specifically.”

Melissa’s lips pulled back to reveal her fangs. “If you want pain and suffering, I’m more than willing to provide it.”

“You’re king of the night court,” I said. “You have magic and influence. What else do you want? Maybe I can help you.”

Canyon looked surprised. “I’m threatening to declare you in breach of our bargain, and you want to help me?”

“I’d rather have you as an ally than an enemy.”

His expression shifted into something closer to curiosity, like he was actually considering my words. Then he shook his head like he was flinging the idea from his mind. “The only way you can help is to give me Garion’s token. Even if I make you djinn, you couldn’t do what he can.”

“What?”

“You can’t do what he can.”

“I know. But you said if you make me djinn.”

His stare felt more serious. More intense. “You don’t know, do you?”

“Know what?”

“What happens if you break your bargain.”

“I’ll be trapped in the fey dimension.” Then, because his gaze turned patronizing, I added, “Right? That’s what would have happened to Blake if he hadn’t fulfilled his agreement with Cyrielle.”

“Cyrielle is a peasant, not a royal fey. Break a bargain with one of us, and you become djinn.”

The skin around my lips felt prickly, like I’d suddenly gone pale. No wonder Jared, Nora, and Garion all said I didn’t have a choice.

“Djinn are made,” Canyon said. “They aren’t born. Garion was human once, long ago.”

I felt sick. I’d had no idea, though when I thought about it, Garion might have hinted at it. What had he said in the cemetery? He didn’t want this to happen to me.

“Eternal slavery changing your mind?” Canyon asked.

I looked at Melissa. She shook her head just perceptibly. Whether that meant don’t give him the token or don’t default on your bargain, I didn’t know.

I had to make a decision so I threw a Hail Mary.

“Okay.” I white-knuckled the steering wheel, hoping it looked like I hated myself for what I was about to say. “You’re calling in my debt. I have until dawn to comply. Meet me tomorrow morning. I’ll give you the token then.”

He studied me for so long I was certain he was about to laugh. Fey were obsessed with seasons and sun cycles. The dawn deadline was the only information I’d come across that sounded plausible. If this didn’t work…

Canyon’s expression turned grim. “You’ve been talking to someone.”

The dawn deadline was real? I didn’t release my breath yet, didn’t react at all.