Page 13

CHAPTER 13

“G oddamn, this asshole is heavy.”

“Because he’s the size of a brick shithouse.”

Fuck, did Jonah’s head hurt. He kept his eyes closed, trying to orient himself, but it was nearly impossible. He was jostled and swayed as the man carrying him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes made another annoyed grunt.

“It’s your turn to carry him again.”

“Fuck that. I carried him for nearly forty minutes, and you’ve only carried him for twenty, Witan.”

“This is as good a spot as any,” Witan said, and Jonah groaned quietly when he was dropped to the ground, and it sent a blinding bolt of pain through his head.

He could smell pine trees and cold snow, and he groaned again before touching the back of his throbbing skull.

He opened his eyes, staring at the blurry trees and the moonlit sky filtering through the branches. He blinked, and his vision cleared. He forced himself to sit up, breathing through the nausea and dizziness until they subsided.

Shit, he had a concussion for sure. Hell, maybe even a skull fracture. He touched his aching, throbbing skull before staring at the two fae standing above him. “What the fuck did you hit me with?”

The fae just grinned at him, and Jonah swallowed down another bout of nausea before staggering to his feet.

Weaving slightly, he studied the fae. “Since when did the fae start pulling chickenshit moves like hitting a guy from behind?”

Dairem bared his teeth at him. “Maybe you’d prefer I knock your fucking teeth out, pretty boy.”

The other fae put a staying hand on his arm. “Don’t, Dairem. We promised Caleb we wouldn’t hurt him.”

“Fuck that kid,” Dairem snarled. “He’s a whiny ass bitch.”

“Watch what you say about my fucking brother,” Jonah said, “or I’ll kick your ugly face in.”

“I’m not afraid of you, shapeshifter,” Dairem sneered.

“You should be,” Jonah said, staring him down.

“I’m gonna kill him,” Dairem said.

“If you do, Nimera will be pissed,” the second fae said.

“Why do you think I give a fuck if she’s pissed, Witan?” Dairem said as Jonah glanced around.

They were deep in Parsons Woods, and he studied the trees, planning his best exit route after he kicked the fae’s asses.

Witan rolled his eyes. “You’re not fooling any of us, Dairem. You’re still in love with her.”

“No, I’m not,” Dairem growled.

Witan just shrugged before turning to Jonah. “Get the fuck out of here, shapeshifter, and don’t come back.”

“Fuck you,” Jonah said. His head still throbbed like a bitch, but he’d gotten his land legs back, so to speak, and fresh anger made his hands curl into fists. “If you think I’m leaving my brother under a fucking fae spell, you’re a lot dumber than you look.”

Witan sighed loudly. “Christ, don’t be an idiot. Just stay away from the complex and let your brother live his life.”

“No fucking way,” Jonah said slowly and clearly.

“Let me kill him,” Dairem said. “Otherwise, he’ll be buggering around us and the complex. I know assholes like him - they can’t take no for an answer.”

“Just… fuck him up some more. Show him what will happen if he does come back,” Witan said with a dismissive wave before grabbing his phone out of his pocket and scrolling across the screen.

Dairem cracked his knuckles before grinning at Jonah. “Oh, this is gonna be fun.”

Jonah stared witheringly at him. “Jesus, you’re a stupid one, aren’t you? You know what I am.”

“Yeah, and you know what I am,” Dairem said.

“Your pathetic magic won’t work on an animal form,” Jonah said.

Dairem glanced at Witan, who just shrugged. “I mean, he’s not completely wrong. It’s less effective, but it’ll still work a little.”

“Fuck ‘em, I can still take him,” Dairem said.

He started toward Jonah, who grinned fiercely at him. “You ever seen a full grown hippo, asshole? I’m going to enjoy stomping your ass into the ground.”

He closed his eyes and concentrated. Nothing happened, and confusion followed by a tinge of anxiety infused his body. He opened his eyes, and Dairem arched his eyebrows at him.

“Was something supposed to happen?”

“What the fuck?” Jonah stared at his hands, which were definitely his human hands and not at all hippo feet.

He tried to shift again, this time into a rat, one of the easiest and least complicated of his transformations. There was still only an eerie emptiness, and the anxiety turned to panic.

Dairem and Witan were both looking at him now, and Dairem nudged Witan. “Isn’t he supposed to be an animal?”

“Supposed to be,” Witan said with a frown.

“Whatsa’ matter, asshole? You can’t shift?” Dairem taunted.

Jonah didn’t reply, but something on his face made Witan’s eyes widen. “Holy fuck, he can’t.”

“What?” Dairem stared at Jonah. “Maybe when I clocked him with the pipe, it knocked out his abilities?”

“Maybe,” Witan said. “Either way, your job just got a lot fucking easier.”

Dairem laughed before stomping toward Jonah. The grin on his face fell off when Jonah’s fist shot out, and Dairem’s head snapped back. He cupped his face, staring in disbelief at the blood pouring from his nose.

“You broke my fucking nose!”

Jonah didn’t bother to reply. Instead, he kicked the big fae in the knee and then drove a fist into his stomach. It was like hitting a fucking rock, and he danced backward, shaking out his hand when Dairem swung at him with an angry roar.

“Oh, I’m gonna turn that pretty face of yours into mincemeat,” Dairem snarled.

He charged forward like an angry bull, and Jonah ducked to the side, sticking his foot out and grinning when the fae tripped and sprawled in the cold snow.

He was back on his feet in a flash, shaking his head and splattering blood across the snow. “You motherfucker.”

Jonah shrugged out of his jacket and cracked his neck before winking at Dairem. “Is that all you got, big boy?”

Dairem snarled and charged again, swinging at Jonah, who dodged it easily before punching him in the kidneys. Dairem’s face paled, and he grabbed his side and backed away.

“For fuck’s sake, Dairem, stop fucking around with this guy. It’s freezing out here,” Witan said.

This time, when Dairem charged, his big body seemed to float, and he easily dodged Jonah’s kick to his sternum, grabbing Jonah’s foot and lifting him off the ground. He threw him into a tree, and Jonah grunted in pain as he landed in the snow. Fuck, he was pretty sure a rib had just snapped.

He bounced to his feet, ignoring the stabbing pain in his side and ducked back when Dairem suddenly appeared in front of him and swung at him. He wasn’t fast enough to dodge the blow. How could he be when the fucking asshole was using his fae magic? The only paranormal faster than a fae was a goddamn vampire.

Dairem’s fist caught him on the chin and knocked him back into the tree. His throbbing skull slammed against the hard trunk, and he barked out a cry of pain as the world shimmered and danced, and Dairem grinned.

“Not so fucking cocky now, are ya?”

He moved toward Jonah, his big body bounding lightly across the snow. Fuck, he was suddenly a lot more agile and graceful, which meant he was also using his anti-gravity magic. Jonah wouldn’t be able to dodge his blows… not when the big fae used magic to make his weight lighter and allow him to move faster.

Jonah closed his eyes and tried to shift again, his brain lighting up with fear when nothing happened. What the fuck was going on?

Big hands grabbed him by the throat, cutting off his airway. He kneed Dairem in the nuts, coughing and retching and stumbling away when Dairem bellowed in pain and released him.

“You fucking cheater,” he snapped as he cupped his crotch. “You don’t hit a guy in the balls, dude.”

“Fuck you,” Jonah croaked before jumping on Dairem. He wrapped his left arm around the fae’s neck and punched him repeatedly in the face with his right hand, the blood flying from Dairem’s broken nose to splatter against Jonah’s face.

With a roar of rage, Dairem tried to shake Jonah loose, but Jonah hung on grimly and continued to punch even when his hand broke with a harsh crack against the fae’s granite hard face. His only chance of defeating Dairem was by staying close and -

With another roar, Dairem tore loose and staggered back. His face was a bloody mess, his nose even more swollen and bruised, and his voice had a nasal stuffy quality when he said, “I’m going to kill you, shapeshifter.”

Jonah reached under his shirt and yanked the iron pendant free, holding it in his fist as he stared at Dairem. “Come and get me then, asshole. I don’t have all fucking day.”

The fae appeared before him in a flash, and Jonah slammed the iron pendant against the big fae’s chest. Dairem yowled a high-pitched scream as smoke billowed out from under Jonah’s hand, and Dairem wrenched away from him.

Dairem stared in disbelief at his charred and smoking flesh in the shape of the pendant before touching it lightly with his fingers. “Iron,” he mumbled.

Arms suddenly wrapped around Jonah, and he was yanked back against Witan’s body. His skin immediately went hot and painful, even through his shirt, and it felt like his back was being stabbed by an entire wasp’s nest.

He screamed as the sharp pain grew unbearable, his body bowing. He screamed again as something in his side shifted, and his broken rib tried its hardest to poke through his skin.

As the pulsing pain grew more intense, the arms around him loosened and then fell away. Jonah’s legs refused to support him, and he fell face-first into the snow, his back on fire and his skull throbbing.

He was rolled to his back, and he shrieked at the new agony in his spine. Witan grinned at him. The fae had black thorns, oozing a thick yellow liquid, poking out of his skin, and he used his finger to swipe some of the liquid from one thorn before rubbing it across Jonah’s forehead.

Fresh fire burned into his forehead, and Jonah’s moan of pain made Witan’s grin widen. He closed his eyes briefly, and the thorns retracted into his skin, leaving no trace of them except for a slight sheen of the yellow liquid on his tanned skin.

“What the fuck, Witan?” Dairem appeared, his voice a nasal honk, his nose canted severely to the left and blood flowing freely from it. “I had it under control.”

“Like hell you did,” Witan said as he straightened and booted Jonah in the thigh. “This asshole was about to drive iron into your fucking heart.”

“I had him,” Dairem said sulkily.

“Let’s go,” Witan said.

“We’re just leaving him like this?” Dairem asked.

“You were right,” Witan said. “If we don’t kill him, he’ll never leave Caleb or Nimera alone.”

“Yeah, but if Nimera finds out what we did, she really will be pissed,” Dairem said.

Witan scoffed. “Dude, she loves that idiot human. You don’t have a chance with her.”

Dairem didn’t reply, and Witan said, “How will she know? I’ll heal your fucking face before we get back home, you keep the goddamn iron burn hidden, and if we stick to the same story - that we dropped this asshole off at the city limits like we were told to do, there’s no proof that says otherwise.”

He booted Jonah’s thigh again. “We’re deep in the forest, right? If this asshole’s body is even discovered by some random hunter in the spring, I guarantee you the animals will have eaten any evidence that he was in a fight.”

“Yeah, but…”

“What?” Witan gave him an impatient look.

“He’s suffering,” Dairem said. “The poison might not kill him, but it’ll keep him weak, and exposure or an animal will kill him slowly.”

“Who the fuck cares?” Witan said.

“It don’t seem right to let him suffer,” Dairem said.

“He tried to kill you, you dumb brick,” Witan said. “Let him fucking suffer.”

Dairem’s face tightened, and he suddenly delivered his own kick to Jonah’s thigh. “Yeah, fuck this guy.”

The two fae walked away, and Jonah stared at the glimpse of the moon he could see through the trees as the fae disappeared into the forest. He coughed weakly and tried to roll to his feet, but he had no strength in his legs, and the throbbing in his skull had become a pulsing, blinding pain that surrounded him like a thick cloak.

He continued to stare at the moon, his eyelids growing heavier and heavier before he whispered, “Elora,” and let the darkness take him once more.