Page 1 of Hell Fae Captive

CHAPTERONE

CAMI

What the hell?

I squinted. Blinked. Shut my eyes. Then squinted again.

Because no. No, that didnotjust happen. That big, fluffy black dog did not just grow three heads before turning into a man with sharp, pointy ears.

He grinned, his teeth a slash of white against his dark skin. Obsidian orbs glistened with malice in his gaze, his expression radiating violence.

“Hello, Halfling.” His gravelly voice reminded me of grating rocks, his low growl an ominous promise of death.

Hellhounds loved to intimidate their prey.

Unfortunately for this asshole, I didn’t scare easily.

“What the fuck do you want?” I’d run into fae of all kinds on Earth. Midnight Fae, Fortune Fae, and Paradox Fae being the most common, but lately, it’d been mostly hellish beings stepping into my path.

This mutt probably thought I was his future dinner.

As I wasn’t all that inclined to be munched on, I’d have to change his mind.

He snarled, his lips dripping with saliva.

I merely cocked a brow. “Need a bib?”

He released a growling, snarly noise that would probably cause a normal human to run.

I yawned instead.

Having a Hell Fae for a dad made me rather accustomed to the bullshit supernaturals of the world. Of course, my mortal friends didn’t know about them. Had this genius attacked me at the party a few blocks over, we’d be having a very different conversation, one that involved the violation of the interrealm treaty—not that the Hell Fae ever seemed to respect the rules.

But he’d waited until I was alone and walking back to the dorm, so maybe he didn’t want to deal with bureaucratic bullshit after all.

Good thing my roommate, Allison, had decided to stay with Benji at the party. As a mortal with no idea that fae existed, she’d be freaking out right about now.

“Seriously, what do you want?” I asked, bored by his posturing. He was the third beast-like fae to attack me this week, and I was really tired of stabbing them. Perhaps I could talk this one down and save another outfit from bloodstains. Not to mention my dwindling weapon supplies.

“I have orders to take you in, Halfling.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, the last guy said that, too. My answer is still the same—no.”

I had no idea where these assholes wanted to take me. I’d tried calling my parents about it three different times, but they’d never answered or returned my messages. They’d probably changed their phone number and had forgotten to give it to me.Again.

My mom and dad weren’t exactly up for the Parents of the Year Award. They preferred the “she’ll survive on her own” approach to parenting. It’d worked all my life for the most part, so why change anything now?

“You think you have a choice?” the thing grated out, his voice scattering goose bumps up my arms. Becauseouch, it sounded like it hurt for him to talk.

“I think life is all about choices,” I informed him seriously. “For example, you have the choice to walk away now and leave me the fuck alone. Or you can try to attack me and see what happens. Personally, I suggest option one. It’ll be much less painful for you.”

Hellhounds weren’t particularly fond of silver.

And I had a blade tucked into my boot for an instance just like this.

My parents had at least taught me general self-defense as a kid. While normal seven-year-olds had received clowns and cartoons for their birthdays, my parents had introduced me to a game of grenades instead. When I’d turned ten, they’d upgraded grenades to knives. By thirteen, I’d had three guns to my name.

And so the training continued. For all I knew, my dad was probably sending these jerkwads as some sort of new test.